#also not gonna publish that one for a while I’m already so swamped as is 😭
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spent like two hours in a vc trying to unravel a MESS of a 22 story step template just to get all the internal logic straightened out 😭 writing is so hard I never wanna look at a letter again
#of course I’m kidding I love writing#but this particular piece I was working on. oh jeez oh boy#not variations#allzy rambles#also not gonna publish that one for a while I’m already so swamped as is 😭#it gets confusing because teach is also giving us other story structures to look at#which is helpful#but also confusing#like plot triangle + 22 step structure + syd field paradigm + story circle all laid on top of each other at varying opacity like a#story structure sandwich#although plot triangle and Dave Harmon story circle in my case were self inflicted
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square cut or pear shaped
A/N: i listened to Marilyn Monroe’s “Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend” and had to write an engagement fic. Happy birthday, @dasfreefree // @freefree-likes-haikyuu!!!!!
(ao3 & ko-fi links will be in the reblog)
When Kaede took you to get your nails done before your anniversary dinner with Keishin, you got suspicious. Nails are attached to fingers which are used to wear engagement rings.
And Kaede cared enough about aesthetics to make sure your social media engagement announcement photo would be flawless.
If she did know anything, she wasn’t saying.
Noa might have let something slip. But Kaede had an airtight seal.
“It’s been a while since we’ve gotten manicures together, Kaede,” you glanced at her from the corner of her eye.
“I know. All of these work trips have been wiping me out.”
“Maybe I should get flame designs on my nails.”
“...Flames?”
“Yea, like the details they put on cars.”
Kaede smiled. “You’re so adventurous with your nails, ____. But you do have that important meeting with that publishing house next Wednesday. They already mistake you for an intern. I don’t think that design would help. It would be cute for our next girls’ trip though.”
And she was right.
So much for getting her to slip up that way.
There was too much evidence that something was going on. Your best friend took you to get your nails done. Your boyfriend was taking you out to a secret location. And it was to celebrate your two-year anniversary.
It could also be a coincidence. A rational side of you chimed in.
You and Keishin had only been dating for two years. There wasn’t a rush to get married.
Which almost convinced you until Keishin pulled up in front of your favorite restaurant.
Wondering if it’d offer you another clue, you examined what he was wearing— a button down and slacks. He winked at you when he caught you staring.
“Take a photo. It’ll last longer. Let’s go!”
You followed him to the restaurant, holding his hand. Your eyes slightly narrowed as he greeted the hostess.
If there’s a secret signal, I’m going to catch it.
The two of you were seated near a window with a great view of the nearby gardens.
Your favorite restaurant, on your two-year anniversary, with a great view? Keishin was definitely going to propose.
“Are you okay over there? You look like you just laid an egg.”
“Just thinking.”
“About what?”
“Just that you planned everything so well. Thank you.”
Keishin smirked at you. “Why do you make it sound like I don’t plan?”
“No no. That’s not what I mean.”
“So what do you mean?”
“That everything is so nice. Thank you!”
“Anything for you, my love.”
Dinner was...okay. You loved spending time with Keishin but waiting for the ring was exhausting.
“Is everything okay?”
“You don’t have to keep asking me that, Keishin.” You smiled, “I’m having a lovely time. Truthfully.”
“Ok."
You were about to go back to playing with your leftovers on your plate when your couple song came on.
Beaming, you looked at Keishin who smiled back. Your hand reached across the table for his.
“Oh, Keishin,” you pulled back to go into your purse, “I almost forgot my gift for you.” Handing him a long rectangular box, you waited for his reaction.
“Babe.” He grinned, opening the box.
You watched his eyebrows rise.
“____, I love it.” He took the watch out and put it on his wrist. The gold band reflected the light beautifully. The white face was classic and understated, much more his style.
“Oh,” you cooed. “It matches your outfit!”
“It does. I didn’t get you an anniversary gift.”
“You’re paying for dinner.” You wrinkled your nose. “I’d say we’re even.
Keishin lifted your hand and kissed your knuckles. “There is another surprise.”
Sitting up straight, your eyes grew. “There is?”
“Yea.” he smiled.
The waiter came to clear your plates.
“What is it?”
Keishin squeezed your hand and you felt your heart race.
“Per Ukai-san’s request,” the waiter set a plate in front of you, “the lady’s favorite dessert.”
“Surprise!”
With your focus on the dessert in front of you, you struggled to hold back your disappointment. “Keishin...I-This is such a nice surprise.” You smiled at him, squeezing his hand.
“You don’t like it.”
“What do you mean? It’s my favorite.”
“They have a new dessert menu if you want to choose something else.” He raised his hand to signal the waiter.
“No, Keishin. This is good.” You chuckled, “I was just expecting something else when you said surprise.” You picked your fork to dig in. “Thank you.”
+
The patter of Kaede’s feet preceded her appearance at your apartment’s well.
“Hello! Let me see it.”
“There’s nothing to show.” You bent down to take your shoes off.
“____, don’t be dramatic. I want to see the ring.”
“He didn’t propose, Kaede.”
After you finished taking your shoes off, you looked up at her, surprised she didn’t react.
Her nostrils kept flaring. You knew she was fuming. “I oughta clobber him,” she said.
“Oh, feel free to get in line.” You stomped past her. “I totally thought he was going to propose, too.” While you stormed around the house, you recounted everything that happened.
“He has to propose to you soon.”
You shrugged. “Waiting like any moment might be the moment isn’t really fun.”
“I guess it’s a good thing I waited to pop open a bottle of champagne, huh?”
A snort turned into a groan. “My wonderful boyfriend took me on an amazing date to celebrate our two-year anniversary. What a lousy thing to complain about.”
“You’re not complaining about the date though. And you love your boyfriend. A good night’s rest will do you good.”
“Ok, mom.”
“Off to bed, wise guy.”
+
You did feel refreshed the next day. And looking back objectively, last tonight was a great date.
When Keishin asked if you wanted to go on a walk, you agreed.
It was great walking weather, sunny with a light breeze. Keishin stood up when you got closer to the rendezvous spot.
“Hey, babe.”
“Hey to you, too.” He kissed your forehead and you leaned into him for a hug.
“Anniversary Celebration part 2, electric boogaloo.” You grabbed his hand. The two of you walked towards the cherry blossoms. “The blossoms seem to bloom earlier and earlier each year.”
“They’re probably confused. Winter this year was so warm.”
“I know. Kaede says the only good thing about all of this is that the predictions about the peak are starting to be off. So, she can go enjoy them before we’re swamped by tourists.”
“Yea, she doesn't like tourists.”
“Not at all,” you laughed. “How are Hinata-kun and Kageyama-kun doing? I’m sure they were happy to be back at the school’s court?”
After a moment, you turned to Keishin.
“Babe?”
“Hmm?”
“Are you okay?”
“Yea, sorry. Got lost in thought.”
“You wanna talk about it?” You searched his face.
“It’s fine.” He shoved his hand in his jacket pocket.
“Ok.” You squeezed the other hand.
“You asked about the freak duo? Yea, they’re happy to be back. I think Hinata’s excited to be vice-captain. He’ll be a great help for the late bloomers.”
“He makes friends so easily. In my humble opinion, it was a great choice.”
Keishin smiled at you.
After your second lap around the park, you tugged Keishin to stop.
“Okay, mister. What’s up? You’ve been so fidgety. Are you sure everything’s okay?” You pulled your hand from his.
“E-everything’s fine.”
“Are you seriously not gonna tell me?”
Keishin looked away from you, muttering under his breath. Then, he grew deathly still. “Look, ____,” he let go of your hand and dug into his pants pocket. “I’ve been carrying this around for month,” he pulled his hand out, “waiting for the right moment. And I’ll tell you: there is no right moment...So, right here,” he motioned around, “under the cherry blossoms, I’m just,” he pushed his hair back, “I’m just going to ask you right now.” He revealed a small jewelry box.
Your eyes grew as Keishin took your hand and got down on one knee. “No way.”
“____,” he cursed, mumbling under his breath. “My hands are shaking. Hold on, I’m really nervous.”
Even if you wanted to tease him or laugh, you were frozen with shock.
“____.”
“Yes.” You tried to memorize everything about this moment: the blond ends of his hair, the way his eyes looked steady, his earrings, the nicer jacket you got him last Christmas, the warmth of hand, the pink of the cherry blossom petals.
“You are the love of my life,” Keishin said.
“Keishin.” A weight pressed against your chest and your eyes started to burn. You reached up to wipe your eyes.
“I can’t begin to describe how important you are to me. We’re just made for each other, you know? And I don’t ever want to know a day apart from you. ____, will you marry me?”
“Of course, Keishin!”
The triumphant grin on his face thrilled you. Keishin sprung up to hug you.
It felt so right.
Being in his arms.
Knowing he loved you as much as you did.
Starting a brand new chapter of your lives together.
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what books did u get ? i rly need to get back into reading more now school is over
oh man. so I’ll give you what I bought & then I’m also gonna throw in some similar books that I have already read just because I can actually vouch for the quality of those
(brief note that my main qualifications when I was looking for books, besides not wanting YA, was that 1. they were not about straight cis white men and/or 2. they had particular appeal to one of the areas of sf&f that I have a particular fondness for and/or 3. they cost under five bucks. so there’s a lot of diverse lit, and a lot of novellas, and a lot of urban fantasy wizards who are also detectives/rebellious angels and or demons/necromancy/dragons/stuff that is explictly Lovecraftian adaptations but takes the piss out of Lovecraft/anything on this list/anything published by Tor)
new books that I have read:
(coming back to update this as I get through these books)
the Lovelace & Wick series by Jennifer Rainey – this is the Demon Husbands one I’ve been yelling about. Two gentleman demons in love – a Faustian tempter and a bringer of catastrophes – are growing increasingly dissatisfied with the work they do for hell, while also being forced to contend with new and dangerous enemies. Set in a vaguely-steampunk 1890s Massachusetts. Also includes monster-hunting steampunk scientist lesbian wives.
Deadline by Stephanie Ahn – fourteen months after a disastrous failed ritual, disgraced blood witch Harrietta Lee gets offered a ridiculously lucrative job quietly recovering a stolen artifact for a young member of a powerful magical family, and promptly finds out that this is too good to be true. Also she keeps meeting scary, hot women. Instantly the only wisecracking urban fantasy PI named Harry that my heart has any room for. (This one’s a bit Spicier than my usual fare but the author actually includes a list of content warnings including page numbers at the front of each book, which you can view with the preview option on the Amazon page.)
Hammers on Bone by Cassandra Khaw – A kid hires London PI John Persons to kill his stepfather. The first catch is that the stepfather is a Lovecraftian horror. The second catch is that Persons is too. This is like, the noir-est horror I’ve ever read and that’s something I am very into.
The Haunting of Tram Car 015 by P. Djeli Clark – An urban fantasy police procedural set in an alternate 1912 Cairo, in which two government officials are sent to deal with a strange, malevolent spirit in the midst of political upheaval as Egypt’s women demand universal suffrage. There’s a free short story prequel to this on tor.com called “A Dead Djinn in Cairo“ that’s worth reading first.
Three Parts Dead by Max Gladstone – high fantasy with a black protagonist, in which Tara Abernathy, a disgraced magic user and rookie associate in an internationally renowned necromancy firm, is assigned to resurrect a city’s murdered patron fire god – but first, with the help of a chain-smoking priest and a vampire-addicted servant of Justice Herself, she has to track down his killer.
River of Teeth by Sarah Gailey – in an alternate history where the 1910 “Hippo Bill” passed, Winslow Remington Houndstooth, an ex-rancher out for revenge, is hired to travel north with a ragtag crew – a con artist and pickpocket, a demolitions expert with a proclivity for poisoning, the most dangerous contract killer in the country, and the very man who ruined his life – and take on the dangers of the massive swamp that was once the Mississippi river, a place ruled over by deadly feral hippos and a homicidal riverboat gambling king.
or, essentially, a swamp-based heist Western with a cast including a British-East Asian bisexual man, a black nb person, an unashamedly fat woman, and a pregnant Latina lesbian, and also their pet hippos. Listen just go ahead and get the version with both stories in it
Silver in the Wood by Emily Tesh – Tobias has lived in the woods as long as anyone can remember; long enough that the nearby town tells stories of the Green Man, the spirit-king of the forest, who dwells in the trees. These stories are truer, and far more dangerous, than anyone but Tobias knows – so when friendly, handsome, curious Henry Silver buys up the neighboring Greenhollow Hall and starts investigating the local folklore, Tobias will have to decide whether to sacrifice the only life he has known for centuries, or the first person he has loved in all that time.
not-new books that I have read:
idk if you don’t know about the Wayfarers series, the first of which is The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet, but it is an absolutely stellar bit of sci-fi very much based around ideas of found family and discovering your own identity and place in the universe and love and compassion and stories based around sweet slice-of-life stuff in a scifi universe with lots of fun aliens and it is so very queer and so very heartwarming and all three books (which each have different casts, although the characters in all three are connected to one another and sort of cameo across all the books) are fantastic.
Urban Dragon by J.W. Troemner – Dragons are supposed to be ruthless, unpredictable, deadly, selfish creatures. So why is it that Rosa Hernandez seems to be able to keep her best friend Arkay in check? How did Arkay, a shape-changing dragon with lightning at her command, end up being found alone and starving and with no memory of her past by a homeless woman? And as evidence mounts that someone is hunting down supernatural beings, who can they trust? (I stumbled across this while looking for urban fantasy on TV Tropes and BOY am I glad I did. Good if you like close friendships between queer women or the enemies-to-lovers trope)
The Merry Spinster by Daniel Mallory Ortberg – of course I was going to read Daniel Ortberg’s short story collection, are you kidding me. Not “””darker””” fairy tale retellings, but fairy tales as often very surreal, psychological horror. Read this if you want to totally ruin “The Velveteen Rabbit” for yourself.
The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker – historical fantasy set in the early-20th-century Orthodox Jewish and Middle Eastern immigrant communities of NYC, about the strange friendship that springs up between a bitter jinn trapped in a mortal body and a masterless golem living among humans. and it gave me feelings.
The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor LaValle – a retelling of H.P. Lovecraft’s short story “The Horror at Red Hook” from the perspective of a black man. One of the better pieces of horror I have ever read.
Lovecraft Country by Matt Ruff – a very different take on a similar concept to The Ballad of Black Tom, wherein a mid-century black Midwestern family find themselves mixed up in the plans of a bunch of cultists and set out to disentangle themselves from this whole cosmic-horror mess. Apparently Jordan Peele is adapting this into a TV show, so I’m stoked for that.
new books that I have not read:
(& also a couple that are just books I want, and some that I just haven’t read yet but got free from the Tor monthly ebook club, which is very much worth joining)
Armed in Her Fashion by Kate Heartfield– I’m just going to let the official blurb speak for this one because there is absolutely no way I could improve on it
The Black God’s Drums by P. Djeli Clark – New Orleans-based steampunk fantasy about an airship captain and a stowaway who talks to orishas.
Rupert Wong, Cannibal Chef by Cassandra Khaw – Apparently several authors have written standalone works in this series, and Cassandra Khaw’s aren’t chronologically the first, but I love Cassandra Khaw and “chef for ghouls and pencil-pusher for the Ten Chinese Hells is forced to solve an inter-pantheon murder mystery” just sounds so good to me.
Bones and Bourbon by Dorian Graves – Cursed half-huldra PI is forced to help out his little brother and the demon who shares his body, and then everything goes wrong. Feat. carnivorous unicorns.
Labyrinth Lost by Zoraida Cordova – reluctant bruja attempts to rid herself of her magic and instead plunges her entire family into magical trouble. YA.
Robbergirl by S. T. Gibson – WLW retelling of The Snow Queen from the perspective of the bandit princess. YA.
Passing Strange by Ellen Klages – slightly-fantastical historical lesbian noir novella set in the burgeoning 1940s gay club scene in San Francisco.
The Black Tides of Heaven by JY Yang – admittedly caught my eye because the cover art reminded me of Moribito, which I adore. East-Asian-inspired epic fantasy which I believe has a nonbinary protagonist.
Rosemary and Rue by Seanan McGuire – I’ve been neglecting getting around to October Daye way, way too long considering how much I love Seanan McGuire and urban fantasy, but my mom started reading this and that pushed me over the edge because damn it, yes I want to read her take on the Wizard Detective genre that I have such a weakness for.
The Traitor Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson – this was recommended to me in a Tumblr post listing interesting, diverse fantasy, and I’ve been into high fantasy political intrigue lately.
The Paper Magician by Charlie N. Holmberg – came across this in a Twitter thread about fantasy worlds with unconventional and interesting magic systems. A newly graduated student of magic is bitter about being sent to learn paper-crafting magic rather than working with metal, until Murder Stuff Happens. YA.
Miranda in Milan by Katharine Duckett – queer fantasy sequel to The Tempest, with Miranda as protagonist.
Witchmark by C. L. Polk – post-WWI gaslamp fantasy MLM romance about a male witch in hiding, working as a doctor; the reviews seem to indicate people think it’s more ‘delightful’ than ‘literary’ but apparently it is pretty fucking delightful.
In the Vanisher’s Palace by Aliette de Bodard– East Asian WLW retelling of Beauty and the Beast and also one of them is a dragon.
Winter Tide by Ruthanna Emrys – another one of the rash of new Lovecraft adaptations that are turning perspectives around, this being one where the citizens of Innsmouth are the protagonists. Also has a really good short story prequel you can read for free on tor.com.
also I just feel like mentioning that I’m stupidly excited for Gideon the Ninth by Tamsin Muir to come out this fall because the review they’ve decided to put at the top of every blurb is “Lesbian necromancers explore a haunted gothic palace in space!” (not my exclamation mark) and I don’t know how anyone could more perfectly craft something to my tastes.
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February 1st-February 7th, 2020 Creator Babble Archive
The archive for the Creator Babble chat that occurred from February 1st, 2020 to February 7th, 2020. The chat focused on the following question:
What is the nicest thing someone has said about your story, whether its published or still a WIP?
Deo101 [Millennium]
Well, this is one I can answer right away. It's not a very straightforward answer, but I had someone reference me and my comic in an essay about reasons why they were able to love themself... It was for a creative writing class, and they just used me as an example of a greater thing (indie media)... and I only know about it because they asked me permission. but they let me read the essay, and it made me cry. I havent heard from them in a while and I really hope they're okay, but that really stuck with me in a way nothing else has. It's not really a quote, though, so the nicest comment I have recieved was "I can tell how much you love people by reading this story." It was really sweet in a way I can't quite articulate. People have been incredibly sweet to me, and I feel very blessed. I could make a long list detailing the kindness I have been shown.
LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)
Apparently Phantomarine (http://www.phantomarine.com/) has made more than one person cry already. Which, to me, is pretty darn high praise, given that I've barely begun the story
Having people find it and say "THIS IS EXACTLY THE KIND OF STORY I'VE BEEN LOOKING FOR" also hits a nerve. I know that feeling. You like certain themes/motifs and you wish someone would blend them together in just the right way. It can be magical.
And the last one is when I learned that children like it. A few have come forward so far - either in person or through their parents - and told me they loved it. It was around that age that I was building my own 'inner library' of inspirations for the comic. To know that I might be part of theirs, even in a small way, is just... the best?
Deo101 [Millennium]
that's all so incredibly nice <3
and now I wanna add to my list actually I don't want to interrupt, this is just a topic I wish I could sing from the rooftops about... I also had a student of mine (I am a teacher at a church) come out to me because he knew I would be okay with who he is. And, I have had people tell me it's inspiring to them, which kinda makes my heart melt. I'll stop now but, really I could go on and on about how open and loving people have been with me and my work, and how much it means to me.
Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)
Man... This is somewhat difficult for me to answer since I am so early into my comic creating journey. However, I will say that I recently got a comment on my comic Whispers of the Past (https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/whispers-of-the-past/list?title_no=191366) that made me smile. A long time reader commented that they always read my new pages twice, once on Webtoon, and again on Tapas. This really made me realize that my work has meaning to somebody other than myself, which is definitely what I need to hear when I'm doubting myself.
Mei
It's so nice reading about nice comments people have gotten and honestly... y'all deserve it!! I need to be in a better habit of commenting myself because I will promote comics to my friends for days on end but I'm too shy to leave a comment, even though I love receiving comments myself. I think the nicest comments I've received have been in combination with the conventions I was at last year. People told me that they thought the comic was funny, which I am incredibly thankful for. And one person who bought the book at the convention took the time to find it on Tapas and then comment on the latest page, saying that they'd talked to me, read the book, and that they liked it. That meant so much to me it was crazy! And another time, I was showing my book to someone at a convention and she said that she actually read the comic online, which honestly... It's so strange and surreal to me to meet anyone in real life who reads things posted online. It made my heart do smiley emoji. I think what LadyLazuli said is really right, this idea that you're a small part of someone's life or inspirations or just general day is pretty amazing?! Also this one guy commented on every page week to week with the same 'vase' joke on several updates and honestly the commitment was truly astounding
kayotics
I think some of the nicest comments come from one specific reader, who has mentioned a couple times that going back and reading the comic has helped them through some tough times. There was also one person who went to the effort of contacting me after their books were damaged from flooding, and wanted to buy new books to replace the old ones. This was wild since they wanted to do something so inconvenient (paying with cash by mail, and I didn't even have an online storefront in the first place) to replace the books.
twothirty
really early on i had 1 reader that would leave in-depth analysis of some character interactions and they were were spot on and made me really feel like people cared about this story . The other interaction that really stands out was doing the convention circuit last year I had a reader come up to say hi, and usually that interaction is just "i love your comic!" (which is amazing) but he also then talked to me at length about the story and again it was this feeling of just knowing someone out there cares about what you're doing. Comics feels particularly isolating so interactions like that really keep me going.
Funari (Raison d’Etre)
I've had two different readers tell me our comic has brought them joy during bad days. Sadly one of them I haven't heard from in 2 years and they were going through some rough times. I hope they're okay
Nutty (Court of Roses)
The nicest thing I've heard was when my coworker told me him and his daughter were reading it, and he told me that she's "drawing like me" with panels and stuff and keeps asking him "how do i make the bubbles" So they're gonna work on that and then he's gonna show it to me.
keii4ii
Any time someone gets what I'm trying to do with the story. I have a great fear of getting good intentioned people trashing the most important parts of my story (without realizing their importance). So whenever someone gets what the story is all about, whether as a whole or just one scene, it's a huge weight off my chest. Legit brings tears to my eyes. Even if I manage to overcome that fear some day, comments like that would mean a lot to me. Being understood has always been very important to me.
sssfrs (JOE IS DEAD)
Someone recently said they wanted to get a tattoo of something in the comic and that was cool. It also means a lot when people respond well to the jokes in the comic because I put a lot into the writing to make it funny. I hope it makes someone cry someday Joe Is Dead http://joeisdead.com/read
DanitheCarutor
Ffff all my readers have been so compassionate, it's jarring! In a nice way! Choosing one nice thing is hard, every comment has been nice. I guess the most flattering is when a someone takes the time to go back to the previous chapters to link little things up with the current events in the story, or when they manage to remember in spite of how webcomics update so slowly. There was a comment I saved a while back where someone remembered a small thing in chapter 3 and was doing some brainstorming with it relating to the current chapter at the time.
Every so often someone also leaves a paragraph with some of the most motivational gushing, it's so nice! Oh! Also, there have been a few people who've asked me to print my comic so they can have a physical copy (which I'm slowly starting to do), which is super motivating knowing a couple people like my depressing comic enough to want to own a copy of it.
keii4ii
Oh man, I too have saved screenshots of some of my favorite comments, but I don't wanna share them because 1) some of them are long and 2) maybe the commenters wouldn't want their names disclosed in a different context? They are great to save for a rainy day, though!
Tuyetnhi
Oh this is hard I remember one comment on tapas that they got their aunt and cousin reading it and I was flattered! Most comments I got were about the artstyle and progression of the story, which I hope to continue if school lets me. Still, I'm quite surprised that it drove someone to get their family to read a romance about someone's dream lover lmao
also same keii!
Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)
Honestly, I have far too many comments I should screenshot. But so many of them are praising the art, and I never know how to feel about it. Like, those types of comments make me happy, but I never know how to truly feel about them.
keii4ii
Art is admittedly easier to comment on. If I'm commenting on art on anyone's comic, I try to point out how it contributes to the storytelling, rather than "ooh pretty and shiny." Pretty and shiny is valid but I'd be just doing illustrations if that were my main goal!
Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)
But if 9/10 comments are, "Wow, the art is so pretty!" I can't really react to it much, especially since my own self-doubt is constantly reminding me of my mistakes.
FeatherNotes(Krispy)
I've been really excited to answer this question because it gives me an opportunity to thank any and all the fans and people who celebrate our work. I've been so humbled by all of the wonderful and amazing fanart we've received, music paired with scenes from our comic, and fans even imagining scenarios of the characters themselves-- I'm constantly blown away! I do have my most treasured moment however, and that was when we were tabling at TCAF a couple years back. We had been swamped with crowds, selling, and early mornings-- it was a long day! That was until we had one person who went through the trouble to see us in person, and handcraft a drawing to deliver to us, saying thank you, and in that moment I bawled!! They quickly left after us thanking them so much, and I'll never forget that and how much it gave us a fire to see this whole project through. We have it framed and it sits in front of our cpu
Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)
I got one comment where someone said that one of my main characters "seems sweet," and it just left me confused because, a) he's only said about ten words total, and b) in those ten words, he has somehow managed to be rude.
So how is he sweet???
But I mean, I should be happy that he seems likeable despite his attitude and reticence
Tuyetnhi
nice lmao
I do agree about the comments about the artwork being pretty and idk how to repond other than thanks lmao(edited)
Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)
Yep
That's pretty much all I can say
Because I would HOPE my art looks pretty good after a decade drawing haha
Tuyetnhi
tho tbh because of the nature of my comic, I do get the occasional thirst comment and I'm just sitting there bawling
Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)
Oh yeah, I get those
Tuyetnhi
"Wow he's buff"
"yea bc I made him like that lmao"
Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)
People drooling about my male MC mainly
It's so awkward, but I knew it would happen
Tuyetnhi
same, but for the male love interest and i'm like "this is expected lmao"
Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)
I KNEW WHAT I WAS DOING
keii4ii
I get like 0 thirsty comment despite one of the MCs being an athletic cat dude with literal secret tentacles (I'm okay with not getting a lot of thirsty comments, but I do find it interesting)
Eightfish (Puppeteer)
I've gotten thirsty comments and my comic is not meant to be romantic or sexy at all
Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)
Oh, I can leave you some thirsty comments
I love Lu
Eightfish (Puppeteer)
I was going to say they are inevitable(edited)
but kei proved that wrong
Tuyetnhi
same I love Lu too lmao
Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)
And will gladly praise his hotness
Eightfish (Puppeteer)
if your comic goes on for long enough, i think you will get some eventually. it is a rule of the internet
keii4ii
It's been ongoing since Nov 2014 XD But I guess it takes longer for some than others!
Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)
@keii4ii I don't think you quite understand
I have never been attracted to animal-people before
I have always found anthros and such weird
And yet
Lu is totally my thing
Tuyetnhi
Strangely attractive for a cat guy lol
points for those who get the ref
Eightfish (Puppeteer)
how do you guys know what their comic is?
Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)
He is way too attractive
keii4ii
Mine? Cronaj and Tuyetnhi came across it outside this Discord, I believe!
Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)
Yep
I have been reading it for a few years now
Although I can't say exactly when, because HoK has been a part of my life for so long
Tuyetnhi
I think I started reading it a year or 2 ago lol
DanitheCarutor
@keii4ii The only nice thing about Webtoons is that there aren't any profiles to check, so you can't look up fans via their comments. Also if you did Google their username there isn't a guarantee whoever you find would be that Webtoons user without them telling you. Lmao! About the thirsty comments, I used to get them a lot of Webtoons. There was this one scene where my smaller MC pulled the taller one to their face to say "Your friend is dead", before shoving him away and walking off. Some of my readers went wild! They wanted the two MCs to make-out so bad, even though the scene clearly had no romantic chemistry... or even the entire comic for that matter. My thirsty bunch came off really desperate and reaching at times.
Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)
Omg, that's just precious
Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)
I really have never gotten thirsty comments, with the exception of one or two very mild 'Oh, that character is attractive' comments. But I think my comics just don't really attract thirsty readers. Of course, I rarely get any reader feedback, so that's probably part of it.
keii4ii
@DanitheCarutor Yeah, that's a plus about the semi-anonymity! My screenshots are from less anonymous places, so yeah. Some are also from like... Discord, where the person may not even have expected the comment to be archived in any way. (Sometimes I actually asked if I could screenshot, but I don't know if I asked every time...)
sssfrs (JOE IS DEAD)
No one has ever reported finding my characters attractive
Deo101 [Millennium]
People thinking my characters are hot is a pretty common thing, and usually I don't mind but... sometimes it's the bane of my existence.
It's always a little bit weird, though
every time someone is like "dat ass " I'm like alright bud keep it to urself
it's part of why I made all of my characters adults, actually
people even before I started making it, just when I was talking to them about it or showing my art would STILL be overly sexual about my characters so I aged them up where it felt less weird for me.
kayotics
I’ll get thirst comments every once in a while, usually on tapas. I don’t mind it too much, especially since I’m usually making characters that I’m also attracted to? I usually think thirst comments are funny
DanitheCarutor
Pfff I'm in a similar boat to Deo's. Usually I don't mind, but there are moments where it sucks. Like there will be a really serious, or heavy scene and someone will pop up with "Make them kiss!!", "Don't be mean to your future hubby, X! Kiss him and make up!!". It totally feels they don't actually care about the story and just want something to jack it off to. xD I don't get a whole lot of thirst anymore, which is nice. I think the vocal group lost interest after being blue-balled for 3-4 chapters. Weirdest thing, I have yet to get anyone saying my characters are attractive... well, some readers used to say Julian (my questionable looking non-binary character) was pretty but they weren't really thirsty, just observations. At least they came off like that. My style makes characters look kind of ugly, so comments about any of my cast being attractive is non-existent. @keii4ii Ooh yeah, I can see how that would be an issue. Although, if you really want to show off some super nice comments, you can also just cover or blur out their username and icon image. A lot of people do that, it's really good for keeping up the user's anonymity, and I don't think they would mind since you're not using their words slanderously.
Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)
Can I admit I sort of wish I got some thirsty and shipping comments? I also draw characters I think are hawt so I kinda wish my readers felt the same way. XD I don’t really want them in Ashes were my characters are teens, but in Eryl where 95% of the cast is legal age, I kinda wish some people wanted to be a little bit thirsty about it. XD
Deo101 [Millennium]
Yeah, i just wish it wasnt... Idk sometimes it seems like thats ALL people see and it makes me sad
Like theres other stuff going on...
eli [a winged tale]
I feel you too Cap’n! I sort of expected shipping comments for AWT https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/keyspace-a-winged-tale/list?title_no=322364 but yeah they’re still kids discovering themselves! When I start my adult fantasy comic (tentatively planned), then I’m all on board for sure. For the question, I love and screenshot every comment to peruse whenever I feel down. I treasure all of them but one that particularly stood out for me was a writer reimagining all their stories with my art and characters and that just about made me cry happy tears
LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)
So far the only 'thirst comments' I've gotten are when the comic gets even the slightest bit... gay I can't say my story revolves around major LGBTQ+ themes, but people have picked up on random bits of subtext between characters (which is mostly intentional on my part, not gonna lie) and specifically take time to comment on them. It makes me happy to see people reading between the lines. And it also helps me know what the readers like or are really looking for. So... yeah, I'm gonna keep on that path
eli [a winged tale]
Did I miss that in phantomarine?? Howww
LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)
The subtlest of subtle subtext... which will become far less subtle over time
Nutty (Court of Roses)
i am deliberately pushing my main ship to get ppl into it lmao
YOU WANT THESE TWO TO KISS, I PROMISE
LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)
GOSH I know this feeling too well I feel like I don't want to overwhelm the readers, but I want them to still realize "...Hmmmmmm, yeah I kinda want this."
eli [a winged tale]
I’m so intrigued now
LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)
good
Eightfish (Puppeteer)
wait i can't think of anything remotely gay/romantic in phantomarine
besides maybe
phaedra and... cheth?
eli [a winged tale]
The shipping comments in AWT are currently on point at exactly where I want them to be
Eightfish (Puppeteer)
i don't believe you would go for that, but shipping enemies is a very common fandom thing
sssfrs (JOE IS DEAD)
I wish I had more people shipping my characters because I'm all alone in it right now
Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)
@Nutty (Court of Roses) I'm doing the same in Ashes. I'm being super obvious about Anor x Rava being a future couple. XD
So far I haven't really gotten any comments about it. Idk if my readers care about romance at all.
Which is okay, because I don't really write much romance into my comics.
Even though I secretly wish for a bit of shipping from readers.
sssfrs (JOE IS DEAD)
I have to find out how visibly and obviously gay the characters have to act before people pick up on it
Eightfish (Puppeteer)
sssfrs, your comic just doesn't feel like the kind of comic people would ship characters in, though. Even the relationship between the captain and the guy that left, though lovely, feels, i don't know, too mature to really ship?
sssfrs (JOE IS DEAD)
It's not the focus of the plot though so it's not essential just would be fun
Deo101 [Millennium]
people were shipping page 2 for me so idk
sssfrs (JOE IS DEAD)
That's a fair way to look at it
Deo101 [Millennium]
apparently they need to be next to eachother , in my experience
Eightfish (Puppeteer)
i think the art style plays a part, too
people were shipping my characters also from page two. But I have a "prettier" style than sssfrs
Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)
Yeah, I think the only way readers even know my characters are queer is from the extra art I make of them for Pride month each year. On panel the gay isn't incredibly obvious.
Deo101 [Millennium]
yeah, and I do WANT people to ship them so its not like I mind. I like shippers (when they are in line with my plans)
eli [a winged tale]
Yes Deo!! Exactly
sssfrs (JOE IS DEAD)
Some characters I think have a great dynamic but I just haven't published enough of the material that shows their chemistry yet so I can't blame anyone for not seeing it
LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)
^same for me
Eightfish (Puppeteer)
looking forward to seeing that in both your comics!
i follow both
eli [a winged tale]
That’s fair ssfrs I’m all for the slow burn
sssfrs (JOE IS DEAD)
It's true that my goal isn't to make the characters visually attractive and appealing in that way as much as in personality and interactions
Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)
I do keep seeing people leave 1* ratings for Eryl on WT and I can't help but wonder if it's homophobes angry about a character sheet I shared that mentioned the character was lovingly raised by two dads. Bc there has been nothing really controversial on-panel in the comic, and I have such a small audience it has no other reason to keep attracting hate.
Eightfish (Puppeteer)
yeah, that's what i was trying to say. couldn't think of a good way to say that though. but i like your art and feel like it fits your story well
( at sssfrs)
i don't think there are a large number of homophobes on WT. If anything, there's an overabundance of the opposite- fetishists
people leave 1 star on WT for random reasons like you not updating enough
don't worry about it
eli [a winged tale]
Link your webcomics? With <> . Love to check them out
Eightfish (Puppeteer)
https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/puppeteer/list?title_no=290620
Deo101 [Millennium]
I get a lot of fetishists, yeah....
Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)
https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/dark-wings-eryl/list?title_no=287293
Deo101 [Millennium]
https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/millennium/list?title_no=110866
Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)
Idk, maybe they don't like that I update in traditional pages, then, Who knows
All I know is every time my ratings start crawling back up, suddenly they'll take a big hit.(edited)
Deo101 [Millennium]
idk, some people just seem to do that kinda thing
I have thought it could be other creators before, too...
trying to make less competition or something. but that would be cruel and I dont like to think someone would do that
so I prefer to think its just someone who didnt like my stuff
Eightfish (Puppeteer)
eh i prefer to think the best of people
Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)
It's not like I'm super successful or anything. The algorithms haven't been kind to either of my comics so I'm hardly competition.
Eightfish (Puppeteer)
i'm not going to think it's other creators
Deo101 [Millennium]
yeah that's what Im saying
like its popped in my head and then I was like literally who would do that
thatd be reaaaaal messed up
Eightfish (Puppeteer)
hey, how to i add my comic name in paren to my name on this server?
Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)
Unfortunately I know a lot of creators who would. They just don't hang out in spaces like these.
Deo101 [Millennium]
just edit your nickname in the options
sssfrs (JOE IS DEAD)
Mine is called Joe Is Dead, on here http://joeisdead.com/ and on tapas https://tapas.io/series/JoeIsDead
Deo101 [Millennium]
oh right I actually have another comic. It was on hiatus over a year so I havent gotten into the habit of sharing it...
Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)
Yeah, go to the ... next to the server name and it opens up a menu with the 'change nickname' option.
Deo101 [Millennium]
https://tapas.io/series/Time-and-Time-again
sssfrs (JOE IS DEAD)
I put the title in my name
Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)
My other comic is here on WT: https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/children-of-shadow-ashes/list?title_no=145048&page=1
Eightfish (Puppeteer)
i just don't like dismissing negative feedback. I don't want to get negative reviews and just brush them off as jealous people because i know my comic definitely has room to improve and would rather negative feedback motivate me to look for ways how
got it, thanks!
sssfrs (JOE IS DEAD)
I love negative feedback. I want to put out the best work I can & hearing what people don't like or don't think is working helps me do that
Deo101 [Millennium]
theres constructive feedback, and then theres people telling me my characters are stupid and I think I can brush the latter off
Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)
Unfortunately, I have been the victim of vicious jealous reviews. I've seen a lot of ugly in the webcomic world over the many years I've been doing this. Some creators be petty.
Eightfish (Puppeteer)
@sssfrs (JOE IS DEAD) hm if i were to give negative feedback about your comic I'd say the biggest things are that you have a lot of characters that in my mind are kind of hard to differentiate, and also it can be really hard to tell where your characters are in space. But those don't matter too much, as they both will probably get better with time. Your biggest strength imo in your dialogue anyways
keii4ii
Not every negative feedback is relevant to my goals, is key for me. It's the whole "you can't please everyone" principle. My target audience does not include every person out there. If my target audience falls in love with what I make, then that's success for me. I don't need to impress the rest of the world.
keii4ii
(Thanks Tatsu.)
Deo101 [Millennium]
You have a different definition of "negative feedback" than I do.
Eightfish (Puppeteer)
who are you referring to?(edited)
Deo101 [Millennium]
You
Eightfish (Puppeteer)
in what way?
Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)
I can usually tell the difference between 'This person has a different idea of what this story should be than I do' and 'This person has it out for me because of jealousy or spite'
sssfrs (JOE IS DEAD)
Yeah I've found it really hard to juggle the consistency with where characters are standing all the time. I write out lists of the order they're spatially located in an effort to keep track of them. Hopefully I'll get better with practice
Deo101 [Millennium]
the negative feedback I am talking about is basically straight up hate. Constructive criticism, pointing out the flaws of a work, isnt "negative feedback" by my definition.
so saying "I want negative feedback" means something different for you than it does for me.
i WILL dismiss people being straight up rude to me
Eightfish (Puppeteer)
hm, I feel like a lot of people define negative feedback the same way i do, constructive criticism about what you could do better. If you say you dont want negative feedback you might get people thinking you don't want critique at all. imo what you are referring to might be more clearly just called "hate"
Deo101 [Millennium]
I'll consider it if someone is trying to help, even if most of the time I ignore it
Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)
I also get the random 1 star ratings on Webtoon, so I think some people are just easy to hate stuff(edited)
Eightfish (Puppeteer)
yo sssfrs, you keep track of where characters are in space by writing lists??
Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)
These are probably also the same people who dislike videos habitually on Youtube
Eightfish (Puppeteer)
i can't imagine working with that
Deo101 [Millennium]
I actually dont want critique at all.
Eightfish (Puppeteer)
it seems so hard
Deo101 [Millennium]
not if I dont ask for it.
Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)
Con crit and hate aren't the same thing, though
One is genuinely trying to help you improve, the other is just trying to bring you down.(edited)
And it's okay to not want the former
Deo101 [Millennium]
and I would say "negative feedback" doesnt include con crit
Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)
Just because you make something doesn't mean you have to want people to give crit on it.(edited)
Yeah
I agree, because GOOD con crit is usually polite because if the person knows what they're talking about, they were where you are now and will be nice about it.
Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)
From my experience the best critiques come from other artists doing similar work to you
Eightfish (Puppeteer)
i don't think all negative con crit is helpful, either. people also need to know what their strengths are so they know what to keep instead of just what to remove
Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)
They might not even be trying specifically to be nice about it
But their words feel less hurtful
eli [a winged tale]
I feel like there are comments which are reviews (fair enough, everyone has subjective opinions) but I feel like constructive criticisms should be more private and take place in specific settings (most importantly where the creators are in a position of wanting them)
Nutty (Court of Roses)
@eli [a winged tale] https://courtofroses.spiderforest.com/
eli [a winged tale]
What I think most readers don’t understand or know is that the comic that does make its way to the public quite often has already been through rigorous critique and feedback
Nutty (Court of Roses)
(sorry, was late to that haha, i agree on your feelings about crits)
Deo101 [Millennium]
see, I dont know what you mean by "negative con crit" In my experience, a critique that is negative is not a critique and is more an opportunity for someone to flex.
helpful critiques may FEEL negative, because they are pointing out your flaws, but they arent negative
Eightfish (Puppeteer)
i think you're defining "negative" and "hateful" the same way, but other people are not(edited)
eli [a winged tale]
I call them constructive feedback. Then on the other hand, yeah there are negative comments that are there to serve the OP’s sentiments(edited)
Deo101 [Millennium]
I use constructive if it is helpful, and negative if it is harmful
eli [a winged tale]
But I just don’t think the comment platform supports the constructive feedback part. The comments currently represent the OP’s views which are very much subjective. It’s hard to know if they are providing feedback from a place of knowing story structure/art competency
Eightfish (Puppeteer)
critique does mean a lot more when I ask for it from an artist I respect
eli [a winged tale]
Indeed. It’s quite an intimate process
Eightfish (Puppeteer)
but i can still take casual comments into consideration when trying to improve
things like, it's confusing, or i don't understand what's happening
eli [a winged tale]
I think trust in the critiquer’s background and intention for you to improve are imperative(edited)
Eightfish (Puppeteer)
speaking of comments that say the comic is confusing, god i hate getting those comments the most. Because they come from people genuinely trying to read and like my comic and represent a failure of my storytelling skills
eli [a winged tale]
Plus there is a skill/art (no pun intended haha) to giving feedback. That’s a whole nother can of worms
Eightfish (Puppeteer)
but better to hear that and know it than not
Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)
It's not always a failure of storytelling skills, though. Some people's brains work along a certain line, and when a story is told that doesn't gel with that, it seems confusing to the person. That doesn't mean the writing was bad, it just means that the author communicates differently than the reader.(edited)
Deo101 [Millennium]
^ thats what I was gonna say
I have a small group of people who I trust who are editors, writers, or artists. I go to them to see if I'm doing the best I can for my goals.
if people get confused then there isnt too much more that I can do...
not saying my work is perfect, of course...
Eightfish (Puppeteer)
i can't just brush it off by saying I communicate differently than the reader when I'm trying to communicate to the reader
Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)
But not every reader is your audience, though
Nutty (Court of Roses)
^^^^
your message sometimes can't reach certain people, and that's not your fault
Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)
If all the readers are confused, that's one thing. If only a few are, well, your writing style just wasn't for them.
eli [a winged tale]
For sure. Agree Capn and Deo. There’s a lot of work that goes behind the scenes that readers are unaware
Eightfish (Puppeteer)
true true. But there are a few people who have said the same things, so I've taken those to heart and added dialogue that made it more clear. I don't regret that
Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)
Your comic is public, and it's going to be seen by a very wide variety of people with all different kinds of reading comprehension and tastes. You're never going to appeal to all of hem, and plenty won't understand what you're trying to do. But that doesn't mean what you're making is bad. It just means it, like every story, is for a particular audience.
Yeah, if it's a repeated crit, it is something to keep in mind, but just remember that incorporating a crit shouldn't change what you're trying to do, only refine it.
Deo101 [Millennium]
Ive had a couple people say "I'm confused but Im enjoying whats going on" and I dont even know what I would begin to do about that
eli [a winged tale]
I usually trust my beta readers for that. If there are confusing parts then I would ask them how to clarify that best
I think these creator based forums are best to seek feedback and see what could potentially be remedied
Eightfish (Puppeteer)
Of course. And I don't think my comic is bad. But one example was when I realized some confusion stemmed from me having a speech bubble that read, "without her," and didn't realize "her" could refer to two different characters which would make what was being said have two very different meanings. It's easy to overestimate how understandable your story is as an author that already knows everything that's going on. I think confusion is a good thing to pay attention to- I've definitely read comics before and dropped them because the author didn't pay enough attention to introducing things to the audience
(also dropped comics because they paid too much attention to introducig things but)
Deo101 [Millennium]
yes, like I said I have a small group of friends who are all writers, editors, and artists who can give me a pretty dang good beta read.
eli [a winged tale]
They are so great. Don’t know what I’d do without them
LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)
At that point I'd honestly keep going with what you have - there are several stories I've gone into with confusion, but also greatly enjoyed them, or even got less confused over time. Some readers need time to put the pieces together. So long as someone enjoys it on some level, I think that makes the comic successful. Maybe not completely - but not every comic will be everything to all people.
eli [a winged tale]
Indeed. Sometimes as well you gotta trust your story writing/art skills.
Deo101 [Millennium]
yup!
and like I'm not doing too bad for my first comic so I think I got something going for me at least.
I understand I have room to grow...
but I would like to keep that to people who I trust wont steer me wrong
eli [a winged tale]
Always room to grow for sure!
Deo101 [Millennium]
and arent just pushing what they want from me on me
eli [a winged tale]
Indeed. Feedback/ beta reading has its own set of skills. There’s always places to improve but the key is to determine specifically where that can be and how feasible(edited)
Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)
I remember the first time I read Unsounded, I had absolutely no idea what was going on because of how Ashley structures her world-building. But there were aspects of it that were very engaging, so I stuck with it. After finishing the archives, I went back and reread. Now that I understood what all the terms meant, it made perfect sense on the second go-round. It's now one of my favourite webcomics. Some stories are just told differently, and that's okay.(edited)
eli [a winged tale]
There’s certainly an element of trust you must put to the creators that it’ll all make sense at the end
Deo101 [Millennium]
someone got very mad at me for how I have shown my trans characters so far.. I had to explain that the story isnt done yet, and they have to trust I'll bring it up
it's a WIP and there is some trust that NEEDS to be had
Eightfish (Puppeteer)
lol I have only one artist/writer friend (struggles of working in a non-art career), and she understands everything I write exactly as I intended it and I love it. But she's my friend for a reason- we tend to think the same way and read similar things. Don't think it's wrong to try to cater to a wider audience as well
Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)
@Deo101 [Millennium] I wonder if anyone will react once I reveal that Anor is intersex/trans on panel. I'm really hoping I don't find out if any of my readers are transphobes -or- angry that he isn't ostentatiously trans.
Deo101 [Millennium]
someone was mad I didnt show my cyborg transitioning cause it could be so cool of a concept to see his original robot body and I was like literally none of what you said applies to him also thats kinda gross
Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)
Uh
Wut
Deo101 [Millennium]
YEAH
Eightfish (Puppeteer)
There might be some transphobes. But it's worth dealing with them for the people who your comic will resonate with more for having a trans character in it
Deo101 [Millennium]
alsooooo some people might be upset, but then they will leave and you will be left with better people.
Nutty (Court of Roses)
I feel like me having a non-binary character and insisting on correcting everyone who misgenders them deters transphobes away p quickly.
Eightfish (Puppeteer)
^^^ some people will dislike, but those who like will really like
and a smaller, better fanbase is better than a larger one that cares less(edited)
LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)
hear hear
Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)
@Eightfish (Puppeteer) I'm hoping some will resonate with him! I don't think I've ever seen any intersex rep in any story, so I really want people to know they can have a hero like them.(edited)
Eightfish (Puppeteer)
I'm trying to think of stories with intersex rep
I feel like there must be some, but I can't bring any up : /
Sazed from Mistborn is written as though he's intersex, but he clearly identifies as male and the story treating him as intersex actually feels a bit disrespectful
Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)
Me neither. The only thing I've seen in stories is gross 'hermaphrodite' jokes when mocking a cis character.
I really want to give positive representation.
Eightfish (Puppeteer)
webcomics have so much lgbt representation. I feel as though I must have seen an intersex character somewhere in there, but I'm not sure I have.(edited)
it feels kind of weird(edited)
I've seen characters that don't have genders because they're gods or whatnot but I feel like that's different
Deo101 [Millennium]
I mean, I have intersex characters I supposed but theyre alien genders so I also think that's different and wouldnt call them intersex
DanitheCarutor
I don't know the whole conversation, but @Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios), you'll be fine! Most transphobic people quietly leave, only the really sad, pitiful ones make a stink and their opinions are pretty laughable. If you get crap laugh in their faces like they're morons. I would also say my character Julian is intersex, but I'm not sure how much it counts since it was a recent decision I made (after doing a lot of research) due to readers headcanoning them as an intersex character.
I think I know of a couple other comics with intersex characters if you want to check out some, lemme go look through my lists.
Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)
@DanitheCarutor I'd love to see other comics with intersex representation! And I think Julian totally counts? I don't see a problem with reconsidering a character's sex, gender, or orientation as we become more aware of issues in the world, or even just more aware of our own characters. Webcomics are always a work-in-progress and things change as we go.
eli [a winged tale]
@DanitheCarutor I’d love to know them too!
keii4ii
Re: clarity and confusion, sometimes a small change in wording or such can improve the clarity greatly, and that's great! But I agree that reader confusion doesn't necessarily = failure in storytelling. I've published my comic first in Korean, and a much improved version in English. The cultural difference in the audience has shown to be a huge factor in terms of what's clear and what isn't, or how certain things come across. And that's just one factor.
DanitheCarutor
So I only know of one comic personally, Drop-Out! Sure the characters are anthros, and the bubbles can be hard to read, but it is one of my favorite comics! Of course it's kinda heavy so be aware of that. http://drop-out.thecomicseries.com/ Although I checked out the Webcomic Library tagpacker and found a few. (including Drop-Out) https://tagpacker.com/user/webcomic.library?t=Intersex LGBT Webcomics also has a few that aren't listed in the above list. https://tagpacker.com/user/lgbtwebcomics?t=intersex @Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios) Lol yeah, I guess so. My readers made me put a lot of thought into it, and after the research being intersex actually fits a lot better with Julian's type of gender dysphoria and confusion than when they were AAB male. It also make some small, more intimate parts of the story feel more natural? It's hard to explain, it just feels better.(edited)
keii4ii
Like, making my work as accessible as possible has never been a goal for me with this story. So to me, it's not a failure that a large number of people can't see parts of the story that aren't being spelled out. I can totally respect "I want my work to be more accessible, so if all these people are not Getting It, then I need to do a better job" as a valid stance. Just not one I'm taking. It's all about individual goals and priorities.
Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)
Oh boy, writing a fantasy story with a very developed culture is kinda scary, because NOBODY is going to pick up on cultural nuances except for me(edited)
Deo101 [Millennium]
I DO want my work to be more accessible/reach a wider audience, but that still doesnt mean it will be for everyone, too.(edited)
keii4ii
Not gonna lie, I get a little salty when I see someone claiming their story is "for everyone." I feel like such a claim is disrespectful to different cultures and tastes.
Eightfish (Puppeteer)
i just started drop out and damn, that's one hell of an opening
Deo101 [Millennium]
Yeah I genuinely don't think it's possible to make a story for everyone lol
like... idk literally just by making it "sci fi" that excludes many people who just don't like sci-fi
Eightfish (Puppeteer)
i've never seen anyone claiming their story is for everyone
Deo101 [Millennium]
I feel like just to get to your premise, not even your personal execution you're already super narrowing the people down who will be interested
which is fine!!! and is necessary to accept imo
keii4ii
@Eightfish (Puppeteer) I've seen it. Not often but I've definitely seen it.
I've even seen a creator accuse another person of being heartless because the person was not interested in their Very Emotional And Universally Heartfelt comic, so uhhh yeah
Deo101 [Millennium]
Ope
Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)
Well then
That just sounds like an illusioned creator
Deo101 [Millennium]
I kinda like to think of it like music
I dont like a lot of songs that other people love, it's not that they're bad songs just... not for me(edited)
keii4ii
Yeah! I also think the word "taste" is very fitting
Deo101 [Millennium]
yeah for sure
keii4ii
Some of us can eat ghost peppers like popcorns. Others would even avoid like... crackled black pepper
Deo101 [Millennium]
ahahhahaha
mac n cheese has a very wide audience, but some people aren't into it
DanitheCarutor
@Eightfish (Puppeteer) Lmao! Drop-Out is quite a unique piece of fiction. I have also seen creators who say their comic is for everyone, then get made when someone isn't interested.
Deo101 [Millennium]
I'm gonna start saying millennium is like mac n cheese now
keii4ii
@Deo101 [Millennium] That reminds me of "what drink would your comic be" !!
Deo101 [Millennium]
ahahahahah
someone: my comic is WATER EVERYONE NEEDS IT
keii4ii
I answered: "I want HoK to be liquid bacon fat, so that it'll stay in your heart forever."
Deo101 [Millennium]
ew LMAO
Eightfish (Puppeteer)
even if your comic is water, some people don't drink water
Deo101 [Millennium]
but cute? I gues????
DanitheCarutor
That sounds like a fun game, "If your comic were food what would it be?"
Mine would be sardine pizza, only weirdos like it.
Deo101 [Millennium]
next weeks creator babble question
LMSLDJGLASJGK
Eightfish (Puppeteer)
@DanitheCarutor its got such good art. The characters are so unique and expressive. Don't think I've seen anyone not use anti-aliasing on such detailed art before, but it works here
almost all webcomics are some weird food. We're niche just by nature
DanitheCarutor
It DOES have great art! And it gets better as you go too, by the time I reached the end then looked back on the first pages for nostalgia it was almost like night and day with the quality.
Eightfish (Puppeteer)
fuck, really? but it's so polished already
DanitheCarutor
I mean, I guess that's not something to get excited about, most webcomics get better artwise as they go. Lmao! But still!
Eightfish (Puppeteer)
i love how the about page makes this sound like a fun roadtrip adventure
Deo101 [Millennium]
this feels mayble like the wrong chat for this discussion?
Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)
My comic would be a latte: A lot of people like it, but some people will never like coffee.
keii4ii
I can imagine HoK being like Chung Gook Jang soup? It's 1) Korean, 2) it warms you up, 3) it is very polarizing even among Koreans. It's kinda like... imagine miso soup on ultra mega steroid. Like a vegan version of supersharp stinky cheese. And 4) I love it.
Eightfish (Puppeteer)
im alphabet soup because i have a fuckton of dialogue
Deo101 [Millennium]
I'm actually gonna stick with mac n cheese. a bit childish, but it's nice! you can do some fun things with it to shake things up, but it's still cheese and noodles.
keii4ii
Mac n cheese is amazing.
Deo101 [Millennium]
I love mac n cheese.
another reason why it's my comic! I love it, and it's something I can actually make
Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)
As for food, WotP would definitely something like authentic Mexican tacos. Again, generally well-received, but can be a bit intense for a lot of people
keii4ii
I really like food analogies. Sometimes it's not Gordon Ramsey you're trying to impress. Sometimes you want to make something you and/or your loved ones will enjoy, and if that's "WAY too much [ingredient]!!!!" for everyone else out there, that's not a flaw!
Deo101 [Millennium]
yeah! :D
keii4ii
That's actually good food for thought (no pun intended): what niche aspects does your comic contain? How/why are they niche?
sssfrs (JOE IS DEAD)
@Eightfish (Puppeteer) How do you do it?
LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)
I think I once described mine as a corrupted tropical cocktail. On the surface: sweet, pretty, very colorful - but all the ingredients used to make it are rotten
sssfrs (JOE IS DEAD)
I thought of Cricket as intersex for a long time and I still don't know exactly where I stand on that.
Eightfish (Puppeteer)
I draw a diagram of where characters/ furniture are from above. Niche things: Most conflicts are resolved through anticlimactic conversation. Also there's this huge bit about consensual mind control. I wrote the comic I'd want to read, and somehow found a few people like me to follow along
I also usually don't have more than 2 characters interacting
so it's easier for me
sssfrs (JOE IS DEAD)
I have so many busy group scenes with people moving around. The most recent chapter was kind of a mess also because I wasn't really sure about the dimensions of the space they were all in
This scene was also pretty rushed in general
Re: intersex characters I feel like I've been shying away from that because I don't feel like I know enough about the topic to adequately represent intersex people
Joe Is Dead has a really specific aesthetic to it but I don't know how to define that niche. It's definitely something
Deo101 [Millennium]
I honestly could not answer that question about what niche things my comic contains. I don't know what about my comic is mainstream or not, I'm just making what I want to see and not really worrying about stuff like that.
keii4ii
For me, having an idea of what's niche about my comic actually lessens my worries!
It's a "okay, so I know these things are niche, which means people not liking or even getting those things =/= my failure!" kinda thing for me!
But I can also see how not thinking about what's niche or not can lessen the worries for others, too.
Deo101 [Millennium]
mhm, for me it means I can just go "well I like it anyways sooooooooo"
keii4ii
Yeah, that's the destination! We're just taking different routes to get there
Deo101 [Millennium]
I also genuinely just have a hard time determining whether or not something is niche
even if I thought about it for a while (I've been thinking about it since you asked, and I have thought about it before" I genuinely couldnt pinpoint it for you...
keii4ii
I used to beat myself up very badly every time someone didn't like a thing about my comic
Deo101 [Millennium]
D:
keii4ii
and "oh, 1) this is subjective, 2) I like it like this, and 3) my liking of it is valid" was how I crawled out of that hole
Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)
I don't know if my comic is specifically niche, unless you count "low fantasy" (or essentially fantasy with less magic and such) as niche
sssfrs (JOE IS DEAD)
My comic has a lot of specific nautical and history content that you could call niche
Also surrealism
Eightfish (Puppeteer)
i would call Joe Is Dead "niche," but not WoTP
I've read both
Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)
I... used to think my comics weren't niche. Ohohohohoho how wrong I was!
Deo101 [Millennium]
Id say millennium isnt niche then it's basically just gay sci fi it's p straightforward
Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)
My comics are very, incredibly, undeniably niche.
DanitheCarutor
@sssfrs (JOE IS DEAD) It is difficult to understand if you're not intersex yourself, even though I studied a lot before making the decision about my character I still don't know if I'll represent the topic properly. The best you can really do is get into researching all the medical stuff, talk to people willing to share their experiences with being intersex, and watch videos of people talking about it from a professional and personal perspective. The hardest thing to get right about something so subjective and personal is that everyone's experiences are different, so no matter how much you research you just gotta do your best with the info you have, then figure out how your character would experience it personally.(edited)
Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)
I don't think anything magical happens until Chapter 11 of WotP, now that I think about it
Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)
Also @DanitheCarutor thank you for the links!! I'll have to give those comics a look!
sssfrs (JOE IS DEAD)
I’m still backreading and I just saw the food question, that is great
JID would be saltcod
Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)
Ooooh
sssfrs (JOE IS DEAD)
Or like pickled herring maybe
Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)
Bacalao
Noice
(Bacalao = Puerto Rican salted cod)
sssfrs (JOE IS DEAD)
They have it in spain too iirc
Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)
Ashes would be very bitter black coffee someone forgot to drink and it's just been sitting there for two days. Eryl would be well-aged wine spiked with tabasco sauce.
DanitheCarutor
Sorry for derailing. Anyways, I feel like my entire comic is just a ball of niche? The subject matters are uncommon and the main characters are awful and unreliable, but that's my aesthetic so I'm sticking to it. I've never particularly cared about people liking my comic due growing up not being liked myself (you kinda get over it after a while), but I do like finding people like me. @Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios) No problem! I hoard stuff like that, so I probably have a link for everything.
Urm, I don't mean I like finding unlikable people like me, I mean people who like the same types of stories as me.
Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)
Honestly, Dani, I connect to your comic quite a lot, for what it's worth!
DanitheCarutor
Thank you! ;v; In a way it's kind of nice having a comic that doesn't fit in. It tends to stand out, especially with my choice of medium. Although at the same times it's really hard to get feedback that applies to what you're doing! Arg!
keii4ii
It is such a Struggle, for sure -- getting relevant feedback
Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)
I feel you! I'm in the same boat with Ashes. It's also incredibly niche and there just aren't that many pencil comics out there- coloured or graphite.
DanitheCarutor
Being a creator who likes feedback, but also likes making niche content, is so hard! Why can't everyone like niche content??
Lmao!
sssfrs (JOE IS DEAD)
As niche as the setting and tone of Joe Is Dead are, the main story arc is a very generic hero adventure thing that I hope will appeal to wide audiences
eli [a winged tale]
Niche content
I’d love to know more! What niches are you exploring?
snuffysam (Super Galaxy Knights)
The nicest thing anyone's said about Super Galaxy Knights Deluxe R http://sgkdr.thecomicseries.com/comics/ is that they really became invested in the characters. Like, that's the kind of story I want to make - the kind where the characters really stick with you.
snuffysam (Super Galaxy Knights)
As for what food my comic would be... I'd say squid ink pasta. It's the kind of food that makes you go "what the heck is going on here" if you're new to it, but once you actually eat it you'll (hopefully) go "oh, that made way more sense than i expected and was actually pretty tasty"
sssfrs (JOE IS DEAD)
I don't know if you're talking to me directly but I'm using a lot of maritime history and literature stuff that I've been obsessed with for a long time as the setting of the story, and then the whole thing has a really morbid and nihilistic tone, while also somehow being funny because I have a background in comedy/satire writing
And then heavy biblical themes
It's essentially a Renaissance period retelling of the Joseph story from the bible
With pirates instead of shepherds
Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)
For me, I’m not even sure what niche Ashes belongs to. (https://www.flowerlarkstudios.com/cos/) It’s dark, it’s weird, it has a twisty plot that slowly trickles information, and it’s an odd mash-up of genres. I often try to describe it as Miss Peregrine’s Peculiar Children meets Farthing Wood. It’s mostly urban fantasy with some horror elements and talking animals. Basically it’s about a bunch of unaging teenagers with supernatural, angel-gifted powers and a bunch of woodland critters fighting (although so far it’s more running from) eldritch monsters. But it’s main focus is on each character battling either mental illness or some other kind of inner demon.
keii4ii
There's also the aspect of: what's niche in one culture may not be niche in another. In Korean media, Fantastical Old Korea is a very common setting for all sorts of genres: gag a day, romance, all-ages adventure, gritty crime drama, zombie apocalypse, you name it. If the work spends a lot of visuals showing mundane everyday moments, often that's a shorthand for "sit down and stay a while; this is a heartfelt tale that takes its time." My comic uses such a setting. When I began to publish it in English, I was surprised that people were expecting it to be one of these AND NOTHING ELSE: a) exciting magical action adventure b) mythology-driven, all about gods and spirits My comic is neither of those. It definitely contains elements of adventure, but that's the plate the meat is served on, not the meat itself. So I guess the usage of the setting is niche.
Like, imagine a civilian life drama set in WWII time. The civilian MC may have a family member or a close friend in the military, but the story focuses on the MC's experience. Imagine presenting that story and people expect it to be... military action? Not a perfect analogy, but hopefully a good enough one.
Kelsey (Kurio)
To be fair, Korea would find fantastical old Korea less exotic than those outside of Korea heh
keii4ii
That is definitely a factor. Even today, you can find semi-Old Days-like places IRL within like... 3 hours of drive.
I'm weirded out that my culture is considered exotic, but it is what it is
(To clarify, weirded out =/= offended.)
Kelsey (Kurio)
Well any culture can be exotic to people outside of that culture
As an outsider looking in, it can be fascinating to learn about a culture I don't know much about
Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)
Anything unfamiliar is usually considered exotic. I know in both England and America, I never really learned anything about any Asian country growing up. I had to seek out the info myself, and as it was very unfamiliar to me, it seemed exotic!
Kelsey (Kurio)
Especially their myths and stories
Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)
Oops, exactly what Kelsey said, I typed too slow.
keii4ii
Yeah, the thing is I've been told I should not be using this setting to tell this story because it's a doomed combination. But ehh, I decided not to listen to that. This story with this setting and all of its elements is what I wanted to read.
carcarchu
slice of life set in a historical setting sounds really refreshing actually(edited)
Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)
But I know I’d probably feel strange if someone told me New York was exotic!
carcarchu
sometimes historical settings can get really bogged down by politics and whatever other drama, having a quiet slow paced story set in the same kind of world is something i'd be interested in reading
Kelsey (Kurio)
Nothing wrong with trying the approach you want to
Who knows, you might end up with a unique combo that helps your work stand out
Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)
Yup. I’m a firm believer in writing the kind of story you’d want to read. No matter how niche.
Tuyetnhi
Totes agreed on this. For me, when I had to drop my dark drama series for my romance story, folks were like "Dang, I thought you like writing dark things!"
I do, but romance comics.... [clenches chest]. I also want to write a story that I want to read so lmao. Dream lover elements along with some dark horror influences is something I want to try doing lol
carcarchu
this is not a webcomic but try reading coelacanth if you're interested in the combination of horror with romance @Tuyetnhi
Tuyetnhi
ooo I'll keep that in mind
carcarchu
it's really so unique i love coelacanth so much
Tuyetnhi
is it a novel? :0
carcarchu
it's a manga
Tuyetnhi
aaa
Yeah I probably check it out sometime lmao
back on the idea tho, I also wanted to add some Vietnamese influences in the mix since there's not a lot of stories about Vietnamese disapora, so that's included in the cauldron lol
Eightfish (Puppeteer)
@keii4ii what's your comic? I wanna check it out(edited)
keii4ii
@Eightfish (Puppeteer) It's https://heartofkeol.com/
(I get extremely nervous whenever I know someone is checking out my comic for the first time )
DanitheCarutor
To answer @eli [a winged tale] question. I'm delving into stuff like mental illnesses and disorders, medical illnesses, abuse, trauma and later on, self-care. The comic itself is slow and character centric, I guess you can say it's like a character study. The story can be really depressing depending on who is reading, and it has some softcore horror bits sprinkled in. I'm kind of a nerd for mental health, sad stuff and everything medical so I figured I may as well make a story embellishing those interests. In short it's a sad, character driven, psychological drama about two extremely flawed individuals. Not particularly exciting compared to all the other webcomics out there, but somebody has to make that one pretentious, psychological slice of life piece.
keii4ii
What compounds my issues is that my comic does have enough adventure elements for someone to mistake it for an underwhelming adventure story. "This is an adventure story but there's not enough adventure in it?" kinda thing.
@DanitheCarutor Character studies FTW!!! Yours has been on my 'gotta check this out' list for a long time now!
Tuyetnhi
Oooo
Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)
I also am a fan of psychological stories
Especially if they're sad(edited)
Tuyetnhi
Kei idk why but I was reminded of .hack SIGN when u said that
"there's so much talking! where's the action?!?"
keii4ii
@Tuyetnhi That's actually not a terrible comparison -- though .hack//SIGN has other issues that my comic hopefully doesn't have XD
Tuyetnhi
I'm pretty sure it's miles better than that old anime lmao
DanitheCarutor
@keii4ii Pff I need to check out your comic too! I remember reading it at one point, but I don't remember what happened to make me lose track. From what little I remember I really liked it.
keii4ii
The thing with .hack//SIGN was it had a lot of promises of mystery that never went anywhere, within SIGN. I've heard those mysteries do go somewhere within the franchise, but you had to watch/read the entire franchise, which I wasn't going to do. I hope my comic will be a good read on its own, when finished.
Tuyetnhi
sadly, I was one of those suckers that went to consume the .hack games and mangas to get some context from SIGN in the late 2000's lmao
I hope the same as mine, despite being mostly saccharine and self-indulgent nature lmao
keii4ii
Self-indulgence is a strength of indie comics.
eli [a winged tale]
I love all the themes y’all explore! They’re so important
Tuyetnhi
I feel like I have a reason for everything when working on that comic but if that's what it boils down to, I'll take it lol
keii4ii
TBH I produce my best writing and art when I focus on pleasing myself.
Because if I'm trying to please others, I don't even know what they want, so I waste my energy panicking.
But when I'm creating for my inner reader, I can be self-critical in a productive manner!
Tuyetnhi
so true ya
RebelVampire
Hey guys. I kind of feel as this has deviated a smidgen too far from the topic, so maybe reel it in just a smidgen. XD(edited)
Desnik
so the nicest thing anyone's ever said about my comic is that they wanna read more :3
I kinda dread reader dropoffs so the will to see the whole story through fills me with joy
#ctparchive#comics#webcomics#indie comics#comic chat#comic discussion#comic tea party#ctp#creator interview#comic creator interview#creator babble
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okay i’m trying to make an executive decision to work on updating all my fics, yes! even the mob psycho 100 and one punch man fics! even the osomatsu-san/one punch man crossover!
so here’s my little list of fics i need to work on:
did you say ‘please just follow me?’ i thought you wanted me (cause i want you all to myself) - one punch man - saitama/genos, genos/metal bat.
i used to have more of an idea about where i was going with this before my computer crashed a while ago and i lost all my notes on it. but it’s unrequited saitama -> genos and might actually end in genos/metal bat. i might get more steam for it when season 2 drops.
i have three lines for this written so far
hands down - one punch man - saitama/genos.
i think i have an outline for this somewhere, but i’ve really run out of steam to update it despite how popular it was. again, once i rewatch the series and/or watch season two, or read it or something i might get more steam but for right now it hasn’t piqued my interest.
and now i just sit in silence - mob psycho 100 - gen (may have slight teru/mob)
the main reason i haven’t updated this is because it’s super depressing.
i do have a vague idea of how it will end but i haven’t decided how much of canon it needs to follow before i get to that end
born from - mob psycho 100 - gen
i do in fact have an outline for this! i am stuck on a puzzle and i know nothing about puzzle-writing...i should probably do some research while i’m at work for the puzzle i’m currently working on. and it would probably be a good idea to reread the manga.
this has a blog so i can keep myself up-to-date on it all.
do i wanna know? - mob psycho 100 - teru/mob
i know what the endgame is gonna be and all but i don’t totally remember what all i was going to do with this. i think there was going to be some mob/onigawara in it? and maybe some shou/ritsu and reigen/serizawa
i should work on an outline at work
better things - danganronpa - ishimaru/mondo
again, i know what the endgame is but since i don’t have an outline i’m not entirely sure what my initial plan was on getting to it.
five oh five - jojo’s bizarre adventure - various
it’s a silent hill au and i think i’m the only one invested in it. it’s not even an ongoing story so much as a place to drop little drabbles i’ve thought of for it here and there. so it’s not one that i feel all that pressured to update.
starfish crusaders - jojo’s bizarre adventure - various
i do have another chapter started for this! unfortunately i think it’s too soon for that chapter. i guess i could skip around a bit, and finish up the chapte ri have started, publish and backtrack, but part of me thinks that i should write jonathan meeting speedwagon or joseph & suzi q meeting caesar before i move on to polnareff meeting avdol.
unlike other fics where i don’t have an outline, i have a really clearcut idea of the order of events and how the fic will end (more or less). like five oh five it’s more for drabbles than anything else but there will be something of an overarching plotline.
something to hold onto - osomatsu-san/one punch man - karamatsu/chibita, saitama/genos
i think i’m only gonna do one more chapter of this fic.
to be honest, i actually keep forgetting this one even exists. it was a very weird au idea that i had and i frequently forget it’s one i actually wrote down. but it never really had a long premise to begin with, so i think if i can bang out one more chapter it should be good to be finished.
tell me where it hurts - danganronpa - ishimaru/mondo
there’s only one more chapter left of this one, too, and i’ve actually started it, i’m just not sure how to end it. i really need to stop procrastinating and just work on it, and see where it gets me, even if i’m not totally satisfied. i can always go back and edit before i publish, but i think putting it off is just making matters worse.
let’s call the whole thing off - jojo’s bizarre adventure - jotaro/kakyoin, background others
i have a vague idea for a few things that will happen in this fic but i don’t think it will be a long, ongoing thing. i haven’t had a desire to work on it because i initially started it for my ex-boyfriend before he dropped all interests we had in common and we broke up.
i do have the next chapter started but i haven’t been thrilled with how it’s turning out, but i might as well finish it up and publish it.
the blood is rare and sweet as cherry wine - jojo’s bizarre adventure - jotaro/kakyoin, avdol/polnareff
i have a couple different next chapters started but i haven’t decided on one yet, hence why it has not been updated.
i really should make an outline for this fic.
it’s mostly a fic of drabbles rather than a fic with an overarching plotline, outside of them eventually getting together.
she told me to come but i was already there - jojo’s bizarre adventure - jotaro/kakyoin, background hol/polnareff/avdol
i have the last chapter started but not finished, mostly because it will be a very long chapter and i have not had the focus needed to work on it.
i have most of the final lineup prepared but i need a month where i am not swamped to just work on writing it and not on worrying about other stuff I have to do.
also i have been thinking about writing a follow-up to it but have not decided yet if that would be worth it, although i do have plot ideas.
heart of glass - jojo’s bizarre adventure - jotaro/kakyoin, background avdol/polnareff
i actually have a full outline written of this. all i need is the time to follow it through. i have the next chapter started, but have not felt like i had the time to seriously focus on it in the way i feel i need to for a fic of this magnitude. so it has been a little while since i updated because i actually need to sit down with what i have written (all of which is on the computer, so not something i can do at work) and work out what is left to be written of the next chapter and just do it. hopefully april will be less busy for me.
heads on a science apart - jojo’s bizarre adventure - jotaro/kakyoin
i have a vague idea of the endgame for this and something of a plotline to follow but i should still write out an outline. i have not started the next chapter yet and am not sure what to do with it.
i mostly update this as my mental health needs it.
warmth - jojo’s bizarre adventure - jotaro/kakyoin
no endgame in mind! no outline! i’m a wreck!
no but really i should write an outline for this poor fic. so far all i have in mind is that i update it as my mental health dictates with no particular aim about the story. i know that i eventually want to describe all the ways things are different, but i need to set up an outline in order to do this well.
masterpiece theatre - akira/mob psycho 100 - kaneda/tetsuo, potentially teru/mob
only the vaguest ideas of what i’m doing here, i just wanted to explore tetsuo’s mental state and write some kanetetsu since i barely see any in the tags on ao3. i also really want to explore how tetsuo would interact in this kind of an alternate reality and in reaction to other espers who have come about their talents more naturally (and others who have not)
fics like 30 prompts to keep the nasties away and jotakak week 2018 just need to be updated by prompt. i know 30 prompts i had started the next chapter but lost it when my computer crashed. i have the last chapter of jotakak week started, but it’s the middle part i’ve been struggling on.
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Ordinary Suggestions to Get a Phone for your Young Kids in the House
My toddler is a couple of years old, and his favorite toy is definitely my iPhone 10.
I actually stash it just about everywhere: behind fluffy teddy bears, among text books, behind potted plants. He locates it every time and runs up to all of us, clutching it in his small closed fist and wailing the moment I say no, he crumples onto the ground and sobs.
Maybe it's much worse, I believe. A few weeks back, was his chance to stash the smartphone.
Until pretty recently, it was encouraged that adults avoid showing children under 2 screens of any sort, including TV, iPads, or cellphones. In 2015, it slightly eased the rules.
My husband and I broke this guideline in the past. I can not remember whenever we first hold a cell phone before his eyes, but over the last couple of months, we've watched in scary as my child has developed a full-blown dependence on phones, a long time before he's also old enough to own one.
Over the last decade, much continues to be written about the fantastic screen time debate: how often should our kids be exposed to screens, and at what age? As lately as Oct 2016, a newspaper published a feature that colored a dark vision of kids and screens, with a quote from a Facebook professional assistant saying that only bad things lurks inside our devices.
Just after going through the story, we went into full anxiety mode and implemented a rule inside our house where nobody is permitted to give our new kid a mobile phone. For the time being, this has kept the devil away.
Nonetheless, I know there will come a period when I'll yield towards the inevitable and buy my son his first mobile phone. The possibility currently makes me anxious.
According to a 2015 survey, 74 percent of kids between the ages of 13 and 18 possess their own mobile phone, while a 2017 survey indicates that nearly 44 percent of children get their own personal cell phone program between the age range of 10 and 13. In linked houses those that have a lot more than 3 gadgets, kids get their first tablet when they are 5 years old, and their first phone at age 7.
Nowadays, many couples with children are putting technology in kids' hands when they can keep them. However when it comes to what kinds of cell phones parents should purchase their kids, the market offers very few options: There is absolutely no iPhone equal for children, and there never has been. For the most part, children are stuck with their parents' hand-me-down smartphones, and the responsability is on the parent to install the required parental configurations.
Therefore, why has not the market profitably made a mobile phone for kids? And if it did, what would such a device actually look like?
While parents tend to be shamed for using screens to distract their little children or watch over them by default, many adults will concur that presenting their a child a cellphone can be part and parcel of being a accountable parent in 2018.
In reality, a smart smartphone for children ought to be simply because strong as possible, maybe it would have a way to text if there is a school crisis or various other type of emergency, or not allow them to carefully turn away their navigation or eliminate messages.
Others suggest that such a tool should be sociable media-free. No photo and no internet may be the thing we kept hearing from parents. Without a video camera or online connectivity, kids cannot take selfies or build relationships social networking, two actions parents are desperate to control.
Whilst tablets have already been systematically promoted to young adults, efforts to develop cellphones for kids have almost universally failed. We have seen a whole lot of mobile phones for kids over the years and they are all junk.
In 2014, one kids' tech business introduced the Kurio Google android cellphone, that was designed to operate and appearance just like a grown-up cell phone, although with safety features and use restrictions to cover all situations.
While pretty bland-looking, the telephone had all the stuff an excited mom or dad would've imagined: it blocked 450 million websites, allowed father and mother to remotely view texts and call logs, and provided period limits about apps long before Apple introduced similar features. It actually included a customizable in case of emergency form, featuring the child's allergy information and bloodstream type. And in 2018, VTech, a toy firm, revealed the KidiBuzz, a smart phone for kids between the ages of 3 and 9 which allows kids to send and receive text messages, photos, and voice messages.
The kids smartphone was a wonderful flop and it had been forgotten the same year it had been introduced. The unit was expensive to manufacture, but since it was not top quality, it could not really be sold at a proper price, it had been not really Apple or Samsung, and this group the cell phone was targeted at, pre-tweens/tweens, is quite brand and look-sensitive.
In the mean time, the KidiBuzz offers 32 percent one-star evaluations in Amazon, with a single commenter observing that it generally does not even make a decent paperweight.
Part of the issue with child-focused cell phones is functionality: many of these gadgets occupy an amorphous gray space between a toy and tool. The KidiBuzz, for instance, presents features like video games and applications, but doesn't also let users place calls. Couples with children looking for clever cell phones for children on Amazon may also run into dozens upon dozens of nonfunctional play phone items, gadgets that appear to be cell phones but are in fact toys which come equipped with numerous ringtones and flashing lights.
One more added challenge is that items marketed simply because kid-friendly, have an integral expiration date. There's very little activity taking place in the child-specific space, since it just doesn't size well. You're discussing a very little segment from it: kids age range 4 to 10 or 9 to 12, etc. And it's likely even smaller than that, mainly because at a certain age I don't think kids want the unique phone. They need the same gadget you're using.
More often than not, the truth is which the devices people need to use will be the devices from the big producers. So why build something that's purpose-built and a single model of these devices when you could fundamentally consider any manufacturer's style and use a parental settings app to greatly help control this?
Yet, there is true anxiety about giving developing kids access to devices that are nothing lacking addictive to grown adults. And even more research has emerged linking unnecessary screen time to, among other activities, unhappiness, reduced rest, and speech postpone in newborns. All that has pushed a handful of entrepreneurs to create choice solutions for children.
The primary problem with supplying teens smartphones, is that, for lack of an improved term, it's such a sexy, glossy device, you intend to download games, open the internet. That is almost inherent to the phone. Personally i think it even myself in my phone. It's a very effective issue.
The first version of the Light Phone was meant to be used as little as possible: it could place telephone calls, and basically nothing else. The coming Light Telephone 2 will also let users text. It's one of a handful of entries in the smart, or dumb telephone movement, that was spurred by a growing concern about phone dependency.
While not designed for kids, the Light Mobile phone has gotten significant amounts of particular attention from couples with children. Adults struggle with this problem: they need a smartphone therefore the youngster can contact them within an crisis, but Snapchat actually scares all of them.
The Jitterbug, which includes a large screen and good sized type, is one more dumb smart phone routinely cited as an excellent choice for children - though it was developed for seniors. The Jitterbug can make phone calls and send and receive texts; at significantly less than $50 for the turn phone version, it's also considerably cheaper compared to the Light Phone 2, which includes not delivered out yet but is currently priced at $280.
Some producers are bypassing mobile phones altogether by entering the wearables marketplace. GizmoWatch, for instance, enables couples to track their children' location and provides alerts if they business outside a particular radius; in addition, it lets young adults textual content and make phone calls to up to 10 friends on a preprogrammed contact list, allowing parents in which to stay touch with their kids while curbing their display screen time.
While not technically a wearable (if you may hook it to clothes using a carabiner-like accessory), the Relay, an identical to walkie-talkie gadget, can be an additional entrance in the children' technology space. These devices presents itself as a middle surface for much less tech-savvy parents who are worried about screen time, but don't desire to navigate the complex globe of parental control apps. There's no way to watch a negative YouTube video or seek out something unacceptable using the phone, because there's no display.
But devices like the Relay and the GizmoWatch also appear to be exactly what they are: items for children. And that may be a issue. Almost always there is some chance with wearables, but I'm a little hesitant to state they're gonna be a big seller. The demand compared to alternate options is such that the effect is commonly fairly limited. I can get my kid a kid smartwatch, that they may or might not wear, or I could give them a phone.
Wise watches, aren't going to substitute mobile phones for kids. Children want more. They are swamped with messages to remain interconnected all the time. This is actually the world children are growing up in.
Without better answers, adults are mainly stuck passing off their exhausted iPhones or Androids or buying an old smartphone, that still is priced at hundreds of dollars.
There is only a certain comfort and ease there because that is what mom and dad have always used. Handing down our previous smart phones is low-cost as well as the parental handles work pretty well. Children aren't some special animal that require special tools with regards to smartphones. They may be little human beings, and I prefer to respect them with regards to tech.
And instead of creating services, manufacturers have begun adding features and benefits to make their adult-driven items more child-friendly.
Apple's new iOS 12 parental controls include a Display screen Time feature, which allows you to set time limits for specific applications and track how much time they're shelling out for their smartphones.
Google has unveiled Google Family members Link, a free app that allows couples with children to monitor their kids' screen time as well while remotely lock their products if they're spending too much time using them.
These kinds of program work-arounds aren't ideal - kids are supposedly cracking Apple's Screen Time by just changing enough time setting on the device, but they're a recognition that kids of a certain age want to possess a similar thing everybody else has. And if everyone else comes with an iPhone or an Google android, many will not settle for anything less.
However ultimately the anxiety parents experience around what types of devices to get their teenagers so when may also be a way of projecting fears about our own complicated romantic relationships with smartphones.
The answer may possibly not be discovering the right device for our kids, but wrangling our very own impulses, especially because a handful of analysts say that adults who are way too sidetracked by their gadgets are forming behavioral issues in their teens.
Young Children can do what you carry out, not everything you let them know to do. You have to model great digital habits.
Actually, a 2016 study found that although 77 percent of parents thought these were modeling good screen habits for their kids, these were spending an average of nine hours each day with their screens, far more time than their little children were.
When I pointed out that I used to be spending a lot more time scrolling throughout my email and Twitter than I had been playing on the floor with my son, I recognized that the concern was not with displays warping his vulnerable mind. It was that I'd already allowed my phone to warp mine.
So nowadays, we do not use our phones at all in front of our son. This is a habit that may be easily designed for later years and really depends on the parents to keep our teenagers away from smart phones until they grasp responsibility.
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Text
User-friendly Hints to Get a Smart Phone for your Young Children in the House
Having young adults and using a phone before them is not easy, and perhaps not suggested. Young Children need all kinds of things that's in your hands, and your mobile phone is the correct mix of pleasure and simplicity. Hiding your smartphone is actually a swift alternative.
It could be even worse, I think. A month ago, was his chance to tuck away your phone.
Right until pretty recently, the advice was that couples with children avoid showing kids under two screens of any sort, including television, iPads, or cellphones. In 2017, it slightly reduced the guidelines.
My husband and I violated this guideline a long time ago. I can not keep in mind when we first hold an Apple iPhone before his face, but during the last few months, we've watched in horror as my kid has developed a full-blown addiction to phones, a long time before he's even old enough to own one.
During the last decade, very much has been written about the fantastic screen time debate: how often should our children be exposed to screens, with what age? As lately as Oct 2018, a paper published a feature that coated a dark vision of children and screens, having a estimate from a Facebook executive assistant stating that only poor stuff lurks inside our devices.
Soon after going through the storyplot, my husband and I went into total panic mode and implemented a guideline in our house where nobody is permitted to give our son a smartphone. For the time being, this has held the devil at bay.
Still, I understand there will come a time when I will give in to the inevitable and buy my son his first telephone. The possibility currently makes me anxious.
Regarding to a 2015 record, 72 percent of kids between the ages of 13 and 17 have their own phone, while a 2017 study indicates that nearly 43 percent of children get their own personal cell phone strategy between the ages of 10 and 13. In connected homes people with a lot more than three gadgets, kids get their first tablet if they are 5.5 years old, and their first phone at the age of 6.
Nowadays, many parents are putting technology in kids' hands when they can keep them. However when it involves what kinds of cell phones parents should purchase their kids, the marketplace offers very few options: There is absolutely no iPhone comparable for children, and there by no means has been. Generally, kids are stuck with their parents' hand-me-down smartphones, as well as the responsability is normally on the mother or father to install the required parental settings.
So, why has not the industry effectively made a mobile phone for children? And if it do, what would such a tool actually appear to be?
Although parents tend to be shamed for using displays to amuse their students or watch them by default, many men and women will agree that presenting their a child a phone is also part and parcel to be a accountable parent in 2018.
Ideally, a smart cell phone for kids should be as strong as is possible, probably it would possess a way to text if there is a school crisis or various other kind of emergency, or not really allow them to carefully turn off their navigation or eliminate text messages.
Others suggest that such a device should be public social media-free. No photo no internet may be the issue we kept hearing from couples. Without a camera or connectivity, young children are unable to take selfies or engage with social media, two activities parents are desperate to control.
Even though tablets have already been systematically marketed to young kids, efforts to develop cell phones for young kids have nearly universally failed. encontrara mas informacion We've seen a whole lot of mobile phones for kids over time and they are all junk.
In 2014, one young adults' tech company unveiled the Kurio Android smartphone, which was made to operate and appearance just like a grown-up smartphone, but with safety product features and usage limits to protect all scenarios.
While fairly bland-looking, the telephone had all sorts of things an anxious parent would've wished for: it blocked 415 million internet sites, allowed parents to remotely view texts and contact logs, and provided period limits in apps a long time before Apple introduced similar features. It also included a customizable in case of emergency form, featuring the child's allergy information and bloodstream type. And in 2017, VTech, a toy company, revealed the KidiBuzz, a phone for children between the age range of 5 and 9 which allows children to receive and send texts, photographs, and voice communications.
The kids phone was a wonderful flop and it had been forgotten the same year it was released. The unit was expensive to manufacture, but since it was not branded, it could not really be marketed at an effective price, it had been not Apple or Samsung, and the age group the cell phone was targeted at, pre-tweens/tweens, is very brand and look-conscious.
In the mean time, the KidiBuzz provides 34 percent one-star evaluations in Amazon, with one commenter noticing that it doesn't even make a strong paperweight.
Part of the issue with child-focused cellphones is functionality: several devices occupy an amorphous grey space between a toy and tool. The KidiBuzz, for example, presents features like video games and applications, but does not even let users place phone calls. Parents searching for sensible cell phones for kids on Amazon might also come across dozens upon dozens of nonfunctional play mobile phone items, gadgets that appear to be phones but are in fact toys that come equipped with various ringtones and flashing lights.
One more added problem is that products marketed simply because kid-friendly, have a built-in expiration date. There's very little activity happening in the child-specific space, because it just doesn't level well. You're discussing a very little segment of it: kids ages 5 to 10 or 8 to 14, etc. And it's really most likely even smaller sized than that, simply because at a particular age I don't think children want the special cellphone. They need the same gadget you are using.
More often than not, the reality is that this devices people need to use will be the devices coming from the big producers. So why build anything that's goal-built and a single model of the device when you could essentially take any manufacturer's style and use a parental controls app to greatly help control that?
Yet, there is true panic around giving developing children access to devices that are nothing lacking addictive to grown adults. And even more research has emerged linking unnecessary screen time to, among other activities, unhappiness, reduced rest, and speech hold off in babies. All that has pushed a handful of entrepreneurs to make alternate solutions for kids.
The primary problem with giving young adults cellphones, is that, for lack of an improved term, it's such a sexy, glossy device, you want to download games, open the web. Which is almost inherent to the phone. Personally i think it even myself in my own smart phone. It's a very effective point.
The first iteration of the Light Phone was designed to be used as little as possible: it could place cell phone calls, and fundamentally nothing more. The coming Light Telephone 2 will also let users text. It's one of a handful of entries in the smart, or dumb mobile phone movement, that was spurred by a growing concern about phone addiction.
Whilst not intended for children, the Light Mobile phone has gotten significant amounts of interest from parents. Couples struggle with this dilemma: they need a mobile phone so the youngster can contact them within an emergency, but Snapchat actually scares these people.
The Jitterbug, which includes a substantial screen and larger type, is another dumb cellphone generally cited as an excellent option for young adults - though it was developed for seniors. The Jitterbug can make calls and receive and send text messages; at significantly less than $50 for the turn phone version, it is also significantly cheaper compared to the Light Telephone 2, which has not delivered out yet but is currently coming in at $290.
Some manufacturers are bypassing phones altogether by getting into the wearables marketplace. GizmoWatch, for example, enables couples with children to track their kids' location and alerts if they endeavor outside a particular radius; it also lets little children textual content and make phone calls to up to 10 friends on a preprogrammed get in touch with list, permitting parents in which to stay touch with their children while curbing their display time.
While not technically a wearable (if you may hook it to clothes having a carabiner-like accessory), the Relay, an identical to walkie-talkie gadget, can be an additional access in the kids' tech space. These devices presents itself as a middle floor for much less tech-savvy parents who are concerned about display time, but don't wish to navigate the complex globe of parental control apps. simply click the following page There is no way to view a bad YouTube video or seek out something inappropriate using the phone, because there's no display.
Though devices just like the Relay and the GizmoWatch also look like exactly what they are: products for kids. And that may be a problem. Almost always there is some potential with wearables, but I'm a little reluctant to state they're gonna be considered a big vendor. The requirements compared to choice options is in a way that the impact tends to be fairly limited. I can get my child a child smartwatch, that they may or may not put on, or I could provide them with a phone.
Smart watches, are not going to replace phones for kids. Children want even more. They're swamped with messages to stay interconnected all the time. This is the world children are developing up in.
Not having better alternatives, parents are generally stuck passing off their worn out iPhones or Androids or buying a vintage smart phone, which still costs a huge selection of dollars.
There's only a certain comfort and ease there because that's what dad and mom have always utilized. Handing down our aged cellphones is certainly low-cost as well as the parental handles work pretty well. Children aren't some particular animal that want special tools with regards to phones. They are little humans, and I favor to respect them with regards to tech.
And instead of creating services, producers have begun developing features to create their adult-driven items more kids-friendly.
Apple's new operating system parental settings include a Screen Time feature, which allows you to set time limits for particular apps and track how much time they're spending on their cell phones.
Google has launched Google Family Link, a free app that allows couples with children to track their children' screen time as well seeing that remotely secure their products if they are spending a lot of time using them.
These kinds of program work-arounds aren't ideal - children are apparently hacking Apple's Screen Time simply by changing enough time setting on their device, but they're a recognition that kids of a particular age want to possess the same thing everyone else has. And if everybody else comes with an iPhone or an Google android, many will not accept anything less.
But ultimately the stress parents feel around what sorts of devices to get their children and when can also be a means of projecting stresses about our own complicated romantic relationships with mobile phones.
The solution may not be discovering the right device for our kids, but wrangling our own impulses, most importantly because some analysts claim that adults who are overly distracted by their devices are forming behavioral issues in their kids.
Children can do what you do, not everything you inform them to do. You have to model good digital habits.
Actually, a 2017 study found that although 76 percent of couples with children thought they were modeling good screen habits for their kids, these were spending typically nine hours per day with their screens, a lot more time than their kids were.
When I pointed out that I was spending far more period scrolling through my email and Twitter than I had been playing on to the floor with my child, I noticed that the challenge was not with screens bending his sensitive brain. It had been that I'd currently allowed my mobile phone to bend mine.
So nowadays, we do not use our cell phones at all in front of our son. That is a habit that can be easily formed for later years and really depends upon the adults to maintain our teenagers from phones before these individuals understand responsibility.
0 notes
Text
Striking Difficulties When Hoping to Design a Cell Phone for Young Children
Having children and utilizing a cell phone before them is not smart, and most likely not strongly suggested. Children yearn for everything that is in your hands, and your phone is the right mixture of enjoyment and simplicity. Hiding your phone is a quick remedy.
Maybe it's more painful, I think. Last month, was his turn to stash the smartphone.
Until fairly recently, the suggestion was that parents avoid showing children under two screens of any sort, including TV, tablets, or smartphones. In 2015, it somewhat reduced the restrictions.
My husband and I violated this guideline in the past. I can not remember whenever we first cradled a cell phone before his eyes, but during the last couple of months, we've viewed in horror as my kid is rolling out a full-blown addiction to phones, long before he's also old enough to possess one.
During the last decade, very much continues to be written about the fantastic display screen time debate: how often should our children come in contact with screens, with what age? As lately as Oct 2019, a newspapers published an attribute that coated a dark vision of kids and screens, having a estimate from a Facebook executive assistant stating that only bad stuff lurks in our gadgets.
Soon after examining the storyplot, my husband and I went into extensive anxiety mode and implemented a rule inside our house where no-one is allowed to give our kid a cellphone. For the moment, this has held the devil at bay.
Yet, I know there should come a time when I will succumb towards the inevitable and buy my son his first phone. The potential already makes me anxious.
Regarding to a 2016 record, 72 percent of children between the age range of 12 and 16 have their own telephone, while a 2018 survey indicates that nearly 46 percent of kids get their own personal cell phone plan between the age groups of 11 and 12. In linked homes those that have more than three products, kids get their first tablet when they are 5.5 years of age, and their first telephone at the age of 7.
Nowadays, many couples with children are placing technology in kids' hands when they can hold them. But when it involves what types of cell phones parents should actually buy their kids, the marketplace offers hardly any options: There is no iPhone comparative for kids, and there never has been. Generally, kids are stuck with their parents' hand-me-down smartphones, and the responsability is normally on the mother or father to install the required parental configurations.
So, why has not the market successfully made a phone for kids? And if it did, what would such a device actually appear to be?
Even though couples with children tend to be shamed for utilizing monitors to distract their young children or watch over them by proxy, many people will concur that giving their a kid a cellphone is also part and parcel to be a responsible parent in 2019.
In a ideal world, a smart smartphone for young children ought to be mainly because strong as possible, maybe it would possess a way to text when there is a school crisis or some other kind of emergency, or not really allow them to carefully turn away their tracking or erase messages.
Others claim that such a tool should be public social media-free. No picture no internet is the matter we held hearing from adults. Without a camera or connectivity, young children cannot take selfies or engage with social media marketing, two activities parents are eager to control.
Even though tablets have been systematically advertised to young kids, efforts to build up cell phones for teens have almost universally failed. We have seen a whole lot of cell phones for children over the years and they are all junk.
In 2014, one kids' tech business introduced the Kurio Android cellphone, that was designed to operate and look just like an adult smart phone, but with safety product features and use limitations to protect all scenarios.
While pretty bland-looking, the phone had everything an eager mom or dad could have wanted: it blacklisted 450 million websites, allowed father and mother to remotely view text messages and call logs, and provided time limits about apps long before Apple introduced similar features. It actually included a customizable in case there is emergency form, featuring the child's allergic reaction information and blood type. Later in 2017, VTech, a gadget organization, launched the KidiBuzz, a smartphone for children between the age groups of 4 and 10 which allows children to receive and send texts, photos, and voice communications.
The youngsters cell phone was a wonderful flop and it was abandoned the same year it had been unveiled. The unit was expensive to produce, but as it was not top quality, it could not be marketed at a proper price, it was not Samsung or Apple, and this group the smart phone was aimed at, pre-tweens/tweens, is quite brand and look-sensitive.
On the other hand, the KidiBuzz has 33 percent one-star testimonials on Amazon, with one commenter noting that it generally does not even make a good paperweight.
Part of the issue with child-focused cellphones is features: several products occupy an amorphous gray space between a gadget and tool. The KidiBuzz, for instance, presents features like video games and applications, but doesn't actually let users place calls. Parents searching for sensible phones for kids on Amazon may also come across dozens upon dozens of nonfunctional play mobile phone items, devices that appear to be phones but are actually toys which come equipped with numerous ringtones and blinking lights.
Another added problem is that items marketed as kid-friendly, have a built-in expiration date. There's very little activity taking place in the child-specific space, because it just doesn't scale well. You're talking about a very small segment from it: kids age groups 4 to 10 or 8 to 12, etc. And it's really most likely even smaller sized than that, mainly because at a certain age I don't believe kids want the special cellphone. They need the same gadget you are utilizing.
By and large, the reality is that the devices people want to use will be the devices coming from the big manufacturers. Why build something that is intent-built and an individual model of the device when you could fundamentally consider any vendor's style and use a parental controls app to help control that?
However, there is real anxiousness around giving developing kids access to products that are absolutely nothing short of addictive to grown adults. And even more research has emerged linking excessive display screen time for you to, among other things, depression, reduced rest, and speech postpone in newborns. All which has pushed a handful of entrepreneurs to produce substitute solutions for kids.
The main problem with supplying kids cell phones, is that, for insufficient an improved term, it's such a sexy, glossy device, you want to download games, open the internet. That is almost natural to the telephone. I feel it also myself in my mobile phone. It is an extremely important point.
The initial iteration of the Light Phone was meant to be used as little as possible: it might place cell phone calls, and effectively nothing more. The coming Light Mobile phone 2 may also let users textual content. It's among a small number of entries in the minimalist, or dumb telephone movement, which was spurred by a growing concern about cellphone dependency.
While not intended for kids, the Light Telephone has gotten a great deal of curiosity from couples. Adults have a problem with this problem: they need a cellphone so the youngster can contact them in an emergency, but Snapchat actually scares all of them.
The Jitterbug, which features a good sized display and large type, is one more dumb smart phone repeatedly cited as an excellent option for young kids - even though it was initially developed for more mature adults. The Jitterbug can place phone calls and receive and send texts; at significantly less than $50 for the flip cellphone version, it is also considerably cheaper compared to the Light Telephone 2, which has not delivered out however but is currently coming in at $300.
Some manufacturers are bypassing cell phones altogether by getting into the wearables marketplace. GizmoWatch, for instance, allows couples to track their children' precise location and alerts when they opportunity outside a specific radius; in addition, it lets kids textual content and make calls to up to 10 friends on a preprogrammed contact list, allowing parents to stay in touch with their kids while curbing their display screen time.
While not technically a wearable (if you can hook it to clothes having a carabiner-like accessory), the Relay, a similar to walkie-talkie device, is an additional admittance in the kids' technology space. These devices presents itself as a middle floor for less tech-savvy parents who are worried about screen time, but don't want to navigate the complex world of parental control apps. There is no way to view an undesirable YouTube video or search for something unacceptable with the cellphone, because there's no display screen.
Though devices just like the Relay and the GizmoWatch also look like exactly what they are: products for children. And that could be a problem. Almost always there is some chance with wearables, but I'm just a little hesitant to say they're gonna be a big vendor. The demand in comparison to alternate options is in a way that the effect is commonly fairly limited. I could get my kid a kid smartwatch, which they may or may not put on, or I could provide them with a phone.
Smart watches, aren't gonna substitute cell phones for little children. Kids want even more. They're swamped with messaging to remain connected frequently. Go Here This is actually the world children are growing up in.
Not having better alternatives, parents are generally caught up passing off their exhausted iPhones or Androids or buying a vintage phone, which in turn still will cost a huge selection of dollars.
There is just a certain comfort and ease there because that's what father and mother have always utilized. Passing down our older phones is definitely low-cost as well as the parental settings work fairly well. Children aren't some particular animal that require special tools when it comes to mobile phones. They may be little humans, and I prefer to respect them when it comes to tech.
And instead of creating new products, producers have started developing features to make their adult-driven products more kid-friendly.
Apple's new iOS 12 parental settings include a Display screen Time feature, which allows you to set time limits for particular applications and track how much time they're shelling out for their cell phones.
Google has introduced Google Family members Link, a free app that allows couples with children to monitor their kids' screen time as well while remotely lock their products if they're spending too much time using them.
These software work-arounds aren't ideal - kids are reportedly cracking Apple's Screen Time by just changing enough time setting on the device, but they're a recognition that children of a certain age want to own the same thing everybody else has. And if everyone else has an iPhone or an Google android, many will not accept anything less.
mira aqui Yet ultimately the stress parents experience around what sorts of devices to buy their young kids and when may also be a way of projecting concerns about our own complicated associations with cellphones.
The solution may not be discovering the right device for our children, but wrangling our own impulses, especially because plenty of analysts say that parents who are exceedingly distracted by their gadgets are creating behavioral issues in their little children.
Teens will do what you do, not what you inform them to do. You must model good digital habits.
Actually, a 2016 study found that although 78 percent of parents thought these were modeling good screen behaviors for his or her kids, these were spending typically nine hours each day with their screens, a lot more time than their kids were.
When I pointed out that I used to be spending far more time scrolling through my email and Twitter than I was playing on the floor with my child, I understood that the issue was not with screens warping his sensitive brain. It was that I'd already allowed my mobile phone to warp mine.
So nowadays, we try not to use our mobile phones at all before our son. That is a habit that can be easily shaped for later years and really depends upon the adults to keep our teens away from cellphones right until they understand responsibilities.
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I Don’t Want the World to See Me (Cause I Don’t Think that They’d Understand #12
Thanks for your patience, everyone! There’s still one more to go to get Bucky caught up, and then it’s back to WEMtbB. IDWtWtSM pieces will go back to being sporadic instead of a steady installment, so the main story will be updated more frequently (well, that’s probably not the right word, but you know what I mean). I do have to warn you - I don’t have anything written for either of them, so it will probably be a couple of weeks between updates.
Also - I hate school it makes me want to cry.
This is a companion piece for When Everything’s Made to be Broken (I Just Want You to Know Who I Am) from Bucky’s POV - if you haven’t yet read WEMtbB, this won’t make much sense.
#12 takes place during part 42
***If this is your first time reading through, and you HAVEN’T yet read through part 45 of WEMtbB, this will contain major spoilers***
Word count: 2790
Warnings:
For the entire work: Language (I have a potty mouth), violence, and angst. This will probably get pretty dark later on, and there will be smut. If that’s not your thing, you may want to avoid this story.
Additional warnings specific to this part: physical assault, injury, violence, threats/mentions of death, Bucky’s really pissed If I need to add anything else, PLEASE LET ME KNOW. If you don’t want me to publish the ask, I won’t, or you can feel free to do it as a Nonnie. I will not take offense to any trigger warning requests. Your well-being is important to me and I do NOT want to trigger anyone.
Bucky sits quietly in his quarters; he’s uneasy, to say the least.
Other than this morning’s horrible awakening, all went well today; better than he could have hoped, actually. Within ten minutes of meeting Mikhail, Bucky had more than a good enough read on the other man to put himself at ease. There was absolutely nothing about Mikhail that set him on edge, and he couldn’t find even the smallest hint of deception; had it been there, he would have seen it. Nat agreed once she spent a bit more time with him, so Bucky is confident that his judgement isn’t clouded. It eases his mind somewhat to find that he has an ally to watch over his girl when he can’t; not nearly enough, of course, but it’s something. Bucky tries not to think of the letter Mikhail wrote – it’s currently stashed at the house Bucky commandeered as his base while out on missions, and he prays it stays that way. Mikhail made him read the letter, and made him promise…God, he hopes it doesn’t come down to honoring that fuckin’ promise…
The mission had been faked well and the pictures he’d handed in were praised by the Krakkens. They suspected nothing, as far as Bucky could tell, but he’s not about to get cocky. Not after this morning.
It’s a struggle not to get up and pace – Bucky needs to move, needs to do something – but that’s not something the Soldier would do unless he was starting to break through his programming. The Soldier has no anxiety, no fear, and no reason to be restless. The Soldier is efficient and does not waste energy, so movement is limited to what’s necessary for physical maintenance and missions. However, the Soldier is not here right now, so Bucky feels like he’s ready to crawl out of his own skin.
He rolls his shoulders a bit. The ache in the right is almost completely gone, but stress has made him a bit stiff. His earpiece itches, but he ignores it. Bucky doesn’t want to call any unnecessary attention to the fact that he wears it almost constantly, even though he could pass it off as part of his diligence. He wants to make sure his team can reach him if necessary, so it needs to stay in.
Bucky glances at the clock. Might as well try to catch a bit of sleep before tonight’s plans are executed.
***
Bucky wakes with the sound of his own scream ringing in his ears.
It wasn’t real. She’s alive, just on the other side of that wall. It was just a dream. Her blood isn’t warm and sticky on his hands. It wasn’t real. It didn’t really happen. It was just a dream. He isn’t really the Soldier. It’s just an act.
For the most part.
He shakes uncontrollably as he moves to sit at the edge of the bed, resting his head in his hands as he tries to muck up the guts for what he has to do next.
She’s coming. Even if he couldn’t hear her, he’d still sense her.
It’s for the best…she’ll be safer this way…
Yeah, but It’s still going to tear him in two.
…And here she is.
“Why are you here?” It doesn’t come out as harsh as he would have liked, but it’s almost impossible to pretend when there isn’t an audience physically present. He knows without looking that her heart is in her eyes, and it’s so fucking hard to lie to her.
He’ll do it, though. He’ll do it every day for the rest of his life if that’s what it takes to keep her alive.
“I just…I heard you scream. I, uh, I know you don’t remember, right now, but I used to soothe you after your nightmares.” Her quietly spoken words hang in the air, heavy on his heart. He wants to tell her that he remembers, that he knows exactly who she is. He wants to close the distance and hold her, to tell her that he’s going to get her out of this nightmare.
He doesn’t, though. He can’t. He won’t make another mistake like this morning.
“Do you want me to leave?”
He wants to scream no, no he doesn’t want her to leave, but Bucky knows he has to send her away. Still, the words don’t come easily, and when they finally come they aren’t nearly as blunt as they should be. “If I wanted you, I would have gone to you.”
“Okay. I’m…I’m sorry. I’ll leave.”
Bucky doesn’t move until he hears the quiet snick of the door closing, and even then he doesn’t have the luxury of showing his despair. He still has an audience.
He remains still as he focuses on keeping the raging storm contained.
He hears an unwelcome voice coming from her room at the same time as Stark’s warning through the tiny earpiece – then her breathless scream.
“I’m gonna fuckin kill that goddamn bastard,” he mutters as he swiftly rises, fists already clenching.
“Might I recommend beating the piss out of him, but stopping just short of killing him? You can kill him later, Barnes, after we get her out of there.”
Fuck off, Stark. You’d want to kill him too if you were the one standing here.
The door almost comes off its hinges when he leaves his room, and her door fares little better. Looking wildly around the dimly lit space he finds that Grigory has her pinned against a wall, and the fucker is trying to kiss her, but then she bites him and knees him in the balls, just like she’d been taught. The flood of pride Bucky can’t help but feel is quickly swamped by rage when Grigory strikes her across the face and she crumples to the ground.
Something inside Bucky snaps – that prick really shouldn’t have done that.
Bucky closes the distance before grasping Grigory by the shoulder and roughly turning him, using Grigory’s momentum to his advantage when his fist violently collides with the other man’s face. There’s a satisfying crunch – most likely a cracked eye socket.
Eye for an eye, asshole. You were fuckin’ warned.
Not giving him even a second to recover, Bucky’s left hand finds Grigory’s throat and he uses his unyielding grip to force the other man to the wall. The metal hand isn’t squeezing quite enough to asphyxiate, but Bucky can clearly hear Grigory struggle to breathe. A small smirk crosses Bucky’s otherwise expressionless features – the effect must be chilling, because he can feel Grigory’s fear through his grasp.
“What the fuck are you doing? Stand down, Soldat!” Grigory’s panicked command almost makes Bucky laugh, especially when he looks down to see Grigory’s dangling feet kicking like a child hanging from the monkey bars. Huh. He hadn’t realized that he’d lifted Grigory off the ground.
There’s a teeny, tiny part of him that thinks maybe he shouldn’t be enjoying this quite so much; despite everything he’s gone through, Bucky’s nature is to protect, not to harm. This isn’t even the Soldier – when the Soldier is in charge, everything is about efficiency and effectively completing a mission, brutal as the methods may be. No, this is all Bucky, even the enjoyment of inflicting pain upon the creep that had dared to hurt the woman he loves, and it’s a side of himself that he hadn’t known existed.
Apparently his need to protect her brings out the worst in him – he doesn’t feel guilty, though, because at the end of the day he’s okay with whatever gets the job done and keeps her alive.
They brought it on themselves anyway - they really shouldn’t have messed with his girl.
“Don’t kill him, Buck.” Now it’s Steve’s voice in his ear; Stark must not have thought he could talk Bucky down. “Don’t take the chance. She needs you alive to get her out of there.”
Bucky hears without listening, too focused on the man in front of him. “You have no orders to harm her. And you are not my Komandir,” he growls. There. That should be a good enough cover.
“I am Kapitan’s second in command!”
Bucky squeezes his hand just a bit tighter, and Grigory struggles to inhale.
“I am entitled to do with her what I wish! What the fuck is wrong with you?” You’d think the guy would quit talking, but no.
Bucky is unable to help himself; he slams Grigory’s head into the wall hard enough to loosen some teeth with the way Grigory had been clenching his jaw – he’s gonna have a dandy of a headache in the morning. Good.
“Buck!” From the sound of his voice, Steve is probably wearing the Eyebrows of Disappointment, maybe even the Frown of Disapproval. “Now is not the time!”
Yeah yeah yeah.
“You have no orders to harm her.” Bucky throws the bloodied man to the floor. “Or touch her. She was given to me, not you.” It makes him feel almost nauseous to speak of her as though she’s nothing but a belonging, but he still has to play a part and this will serve to justify his actions.
Grigory mumbles something as he leaves the room, but Bucky is too busy watching her out of the corner of his eye to pay any mind. She’s sitting, at least. That’s good.
It kills him that he can’t rush to her.
“Thanks, Bucky,” comes the soft murmur from the floor. Damn it, that broken whisper fuckin’ hurts to hear.
He stills, careful not to let any of his reactions betray him as he considers what he can get away with under the assumption that his motivation is to care for a possession. A plan quickly formulates; the Soldier had never been given a companion, so this is new territory. Fortunately, this means he has a little bit of leeway, since there isn’t a precedent he needs to abide by.
Well, first things first; lock the door, so there aren’t any surprises while his back is turned. Grigory didn’t have the clearance to do what he did, so there shouldn’t be any reason for anyone to come after the Soldier; in fact, if anyone gets into trouble, it’ll probably be Grigory. Can’t be too careful, though.
“She’s okay, Buck. You should probably just leave. We’ll keep an eye on her.”
Shut up, Steve. No one asked you.
Steve’s resigned sigh comes through before the connection goes silent - his quiet acknowledgement that Bucky is likely going to stay, at least for a little while.
Bucky concedes that leaving would probably be the smart thing to do, but when has he ever been accused of doing the smart thing?
He turns, careful to school his face into a bland expression. As he helps her to the bed and looks her over for injuries, he’s extremely careful to avoid eye contact – his emotions are so raw right now that he knows, he just knows that if their eyes meet, she’ll see right through him.
He carefully inspects her head – she’s got a bump on the back, but it’s not as bad as he’d feared. She’ll probably have a headache but it doesn’t seem like she’s concussed. Her cheek, however, looks awful; the skin isn’t broken but it’s already swelling considerably. That’s gonna start throbbing like a son of a bitch if she doesn’t get some ice on it.
Goddammit, he refuses to remain completely helpless while she hurts. She’s getting some fucking ice.
He turns and leaves without a word, closing the door behind him before going into his room to retrieve the key the Krakkens had given him “just in case he wanted to lock up his prize while he was gone.” Sick fucks.
Bucky knows they probably have a copy, but he’s fairly confident that Grigory doesn’t, and right now he’s the bigger threat. Going back in the hall, he uses his key to secure the deadbolt that locks her in from the outside before retrieving some ice and a plastic bag. He wanted to get her something for the pain and swelling, even just something over the counter, but he’d have to go to the medical bay for that and that would raise too many questions. The ice will have to be enough.
Thankfully the trip is uneventful and quiet until he gets back to her room.
He can clearly hear her sobbing from the other side of the door, and he has to take a few moments and several deep breaths to lock away his emotions before reentering her room. It’s hard, so incredibly hard, to act as though he isn’t just as distressed as she is, but somehow he manages to pull it off. Thankfully she doesn’t question it when he chooses to stay; he really doesn’t know what he would have said if she’d asked, but she stayed quiet, watching him pull a chair next to the door and settling in before she laid back down with the ice against her cheek.
It doesn’t take her long to fall asleep. Bucky raises his hand and gently taps his earpiece – anyone watching would think he was simply pushing an errant strand of hair out of his face.
“Alright, Barnes, you’re good to go. You’re clear to take out the six men we discussed earlier, but no more. That asshole took up too much of your time tonight.”
Bucky nods, and proceeds to do what the Krakkens brought him here to do.
He kills.
***
“Stark, I need a few minutes before you switch the cameras over.”
He hears the quiet confirmation to his whispered request as he returns to her room, ghosting in to find that she’s still in as deep a sleep as she was when he’d left. She’s so fucking exhausted – he can see it in her eyes and her somewhat clumsy movements – she must not have been sleeping at all before he got here. Either her body has reached its breaking point and has finally allowed her slumber despite the danger to her, or she actually feels safe enough, now that he’s here, to let her guard down enough to sleep even though she thinks it’s the Soldier and not really him.
Bucky has a feeling he knows which one it is – she’s a mom, for fuck’s sake, she’s no stranger to sleep deprivation – and he’s humbled by her faith in him. Whether or not he deserves it is irrelevant; it will exist either way.
Maybe…maybe their relationship can survive this? Bucky allows himself the smallest flicker of hope. He’d gone into this knowing there was a decent chance that even if they lived through this ordeal, their bond might not. It’s a price he’s willing to pay if it means that she’s in the world somewhere, alive and with the boys.
The boys. They need their mom. How could he do less than anything and everything it takes to bring her home to them? No price is too high for him to pay to see it done.
A quiet sigh escapes as he bends to gently place a kiss on her temple. “I love you, and I promise we’re doing everything we can to get you out of here. I’ve never met a dame as strong and brave as you. Keep bein’ strong, alright? Your boys need you. I need you, even if I have to love you from a distance. I know you might not want me anymore, after all this is over, but you’re still gonna be my north star. I’d be lost without you.” His whispered words are quiet enough that he can barely hear himself, so he knows she wouldn’t have been able to hear the words even if she’d been awake, but he needed to say them.
He reluctantly goes back to his chair by the door – Stark claims his technology is unhackable, but there’s no point in taking any careless chances; they shouldn’t override the video feed any longer than necessary. Bucky sits as he was before, crossing his left ankle over the right and closing his eyes to snatch whatever small amount of sleep he can get.
“Barnes, you need to slouch down just a little more to match the last images from the video feed.” Starks voice comes across quietly, almost hesitantly – as he rearranges himself, Bucky wonders if Stark heard his whispered words. Oh well, it’s not like his feelings are a secret. “And switch your legs – your right was over the left before…alright, you’re going live in 3…2…1…”
Bucky relaxes as much as he can into the chair as the familiar lullaby of her soft breathing soothes him into a dreamless sleep.
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#bucky barnes x reader#bucky x reader#bucky barnes fanfiction#bucky barnes fanfic#bucky barnes imagine#my work#i don't want the world to see me (cause i don't think that they'd understand)#IDWtWtSM#12
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Super Seventeen || Chapter Two
word count: [1391]
featuring: [...nothing really tbh, some meanie]
published: [july 10, 2017]
Mentally going over his dance one more time, Minghao couldn't help but worry. His friends all assured him that he was a top-notch dancer but he still wasn't quite confident in the new routine he had choreographed for himself.
Plus he had originally choreographed a different dance six months ago, leaving him plenty of time to polish it for the competition, but when he posted a snippet of the dance on his Twitter he had gotten a surprising amount of hate comments. An amount big enough to make him restart the entire dance, two weeks prior to the current date.
He had less confidence in this one. But the audience's opinion was key.
As the group of people in the waiting room slowly went in, one by one, leaving him practically alone in the room with two other boys whom he had absolutely no courage to even look at, Minghao started to panic. Should I just do the original dance? But then I would have to request a song change, and I already submitted the form with the music selection on it -
His thoughts were interrupted by a loud phone call, gathering the attention of the other two boys in the room. Their gazes were so piercing that Minghao would've dug a hole back to China right then and there if he could. Blushing, he bowed slightly and then muttered to himself, "Finally understand what a 'bitch face' is now.
"What do you want?" Minghao hissed into the phone. "I almost have to go on."
The other line was the frantic voice of Mingyu. "Minghao. We - we've got a problem."
Minghao felt something stir up in his stomach. Like something bad was about to happen. As a superhero, he got that feeling way more often than he would prefer. "What problem?"
Mingyu gulped, giving Minghao a dramatic three-count before responding. "The school... May or may not have just exploded."
~~~
Minghao supposed that that was the part in a book or movie or whatever where he starts freaking out, but he was strangely calm when Mingyu said this. Like the eye of the tornado.
"Okay. Is anyone dead?"
Mingyu, seemingly caught off guard by Minghao's question, took a while to respond before stuttering out, "N-No. No one's dead, as far as I can tell. So... what should we do?"
Minghao was a bit surprised. "You're asking me? Why not Hoshi? Or Jun?"
He should've expected the guilty answer from Mingyu. "Um. Well. We tried Hoshi's cell, but he isn't picking up."
Minghao couldn't exactly say he wasn't disappointed. Everyone knew that he did carry leader traits in him - he was, after all, the leader of his dancing group back in China - but here, in Korea where he wasn't even fluent in the native language, there was little chance that the members would turn to him for a change. He attempted covering up his true emotions and replied with the same reasonable voice. "Makes sense. He went on just a few minutes ago, he probably left his phone on mute or something."
Mingyu sighed. "Of all the times he could've went on. Anyway, do you have a rough estimate of when you can get back? We really need more people on deck here."
"Did you guys get Pristin?"
"Not yet. We're calling them next, and maybe even Yixing hyung and Taeyeon noona."
"Alright, solid plan." Checking quickly to see if the other two boys were listening, Minghao quickly dashed around a corner in fear of being overheard. "Split up the team that's there and get one team to go into the school and look for something that could've triggered the explosion. Just give the teachers some stupid excuse and then leave to change identities, they'll believe it with all this chaos going on. The other team can stay and deal with the entire rest of the school. All - what, nine of you? - going at once would be too suspicious."
There was a faint appreciative whistle, followed by Mingyu's voice again. "Damn, Minghao, you're pretty hot when you're in charge."
Minghao could feel his face rapidly heating up, returning to his usual shy self. "Uh. Thanks?"
"Yah." Minghao could hear Wonwoo slapping Mingyu's arm. "He has a boyfriend, dumbass."
"Well I'm your dumbass."
"Oh my - " Minghao practically threw up. "I'll leave you guys to your flirting. I have to go on soon anyway. Bye."
He then hung up without another word, exhaling in an attempt to relieve some stress. With the semester coming to a close at school, he had been swamped in an overwhelming amount of work and superhero duties. It had gotten to the point that he was even starting to regret ever giving in to the superhero offer. However, every now and then, he would just sit there and take a few deep breaths. It's going to be alright. It's going to be alright. It's going to be -
"Number 86, Seo Myungho."
"Shit!"
~~~
Chaotic.
If Chan had to describe his current life situation in one word, it would be chaotic.
First off, he basically flunked the competition after slipping on a random ribbon that was lying in the middle of the stage. Jun, who had accidentally seen Chan's performance after getting lost finding his way out of the theatre, assured him that it looked okay, but that was little help to Chan's self-esteem. It also didn't help that Soonyoung had came in a couple of minutes later with a smile on his face claiming that he had done better than he thought. There go my chances of living up to Michael Jackson's expectations.
Second, Minghao had rushed in close to the end saying that their school pretty much exploded. Soonyoung, Jun and Jungkook had originally thought that he was kidding, but Minghao's detailed explanation of him and Wonwoo's phone conversation eventually convinced everyone. (Of course, he had left out any details hinting at their superhero life, since there was still part of the 97 line present).
So now they were cruising back to the school. They had purposely split up the group so that their little group of four could discuss on the way back without any chance of someone overhearing.
Soonyoung, who was driving, immediately turned serious once they acknowledged that they were safe. "Did Wonwoo say anything else?"
Minghao thought for a second before shaking his head. "I'm pretty sure he had me on speaker phone though, if that helps, since Mingyu also commented."
"Why am I not surprised," Chan muttered to himself. Honestly, those two were always together.
Minghao then launched into a description of his suggestion to the group. After contemplating possible outcomes, Jun then offered to call them, already taking out his cell phone.
Minghao leaned over to see who he was calling. Chan tried to as well, but since he had called shotgun and Jun was behind him, it proved to be a much more difficult task.
Once the other end had picked up they were greeted by the wonderful sounds of screaming, crying and that static-y noise when the person is fumbling with the phone. "Jun hyung! How'd the performance go?" Hansol partially shouted to be heard over the background noise.
"Now is not the time to talk about performances you idiot," Minghao chimed in. "Did you guys follow the plan I gave you?"
"Uh. Hold on. Let me find a better place - "
His voice then cut off. Jun raised his eyebrows. "He hung up on us."
Soonyoung, who had reached a red light, saw the opportunity to whip his head around in disbelief. "Are you fucking serious? I'm gonna - "
Jun's phone then interrupted them. Picking up, they once again heard Hansol's voice, minus the commotion in the back. "Crap, I'm sorry, I accidentally clicked the 'end call' button. Anyways, yes, we are following the plan. We've got the hyung line without Jisoo hyung and Wonwoo hyung along with Mingyu hyung on superhero duty or whatever you call it, and the rest of us are attempting to 'be among the other students'. I don't even know how Wonwoo hyung explained it."
"... okay. Have you guys gotten anywhere yet?" Soonyoung asked.
"What? They only just left, so probably not." Hansol said. "Unless you're talking about the student team in which case I've won three rounds of rock-paper-scissors - oh shit can't talk right now -"
"THIS BITC-"
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New Post has been published on WilliamBruceWest.com
New Post has been published on http://www.williambrucewest.com/2017/05/26/west-week-ever-pop-culture-review-52617/
West Week Ever: Pop Culture In Review - 5/26/17
Here we are, on the verge of a 3-day weekend, which means nobody’s gonna read this thing. Still, “the show must go on”…
Well, the week was filled with spider news, as last Friday Sony announced that Tom Hardy will star in a Venom film. If you’re not “in the know”, Venom is a Spider-Man villain comprised of an alien symbiote suit and Peter Parker’s professional rival, Eddie Brock. Sadly, the film’s not meant to cross over with Spider-Man: Homecoming or any bit of Tom Holland’s portrayal. I’m starting to think Sony’s deal with Marvel Studios is actually a bad thing, as it seems like Spidey’s addition to the MCU is to the detriment of his expanded universe to which Sony still owns the rights. I don’t really care about a Venom without a Spider-Man. To add to that, yesterday, Sony announced a film starring Spider-Man supporting cast members Silver Sable and Black Cat, to be directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood (Love & Basketball). I really don’t think there’s much to say about these characters without the possibility of a Spider-Man cameo. I get where Sony’s coming from; they have all these characters, so they might as well do something with them. That said, earlier talks made it sound like they were building their own Spider-Man-centric film universe, but since the MCU deal went through, Spider-Man no longer seems to be part of the equation.
Meanwhile, the Licensing Expo was this week, and we got our first look at the poster for the animated Spider-Man movie, starring Miles Morales. Apparently it was created by a child. Maybe a Make-A-Wish kid? Seriously, that thing is terrible.
youtube
It wasn’t all bad Spider News, however, as we got the third trailer for Spider-Man: Homecoming. They’re basically giving away the movie at this point, but I’m still a guaranteed butt in a seat. A lot of people are having issues with it, but I kinda like that this is basically Iron Man 4. I really didn’t need a new Spider-Man, so throwing Tony Stark in there is a good way to get me interested. I mean, I liked Tobey Maguire. I liked Andrew Garfield. I’m sure I’ll like Holland, but I’m kinda tired of the Spider-Man revolving door. Now that he’s tied into the MCU, I hope the Holland casting sticks. Then again, we’ve had three Hulks already, so…
This poster, however, is horrendous, but endearingly so. I mean, it’s really bad Photoshop, but I still kinda like it. It’s busier than Times Square at rush hour, but I love it in all its ugliness. It looks like it should be airbrushed on a denim jacket at the mall.
Across the aisle, things aren’t going so well for the DC movie slate, either. First up, Doug Liman has dropped out of directing the Justice League Dark film due to his commitment to Lionsgate’s adaptation of the young adult series Chaos Walking. In case you didn’t know, Justice League Dark would focus on the more mystical DC Comics characters, like John Constantine, Zatanna, Deadman and others, battling supernatural threats – ya know, like the kind the Suicide Squad had no business fighting. I’ve got no interest in this, but that’s ’cause I don’t really like magic. If they manage to get Swamp Thing into the movie, though, I think it’ll increase its appeal. Right now, though, they’re just a bunch of magical nobodies coasting on the Justice League name which might not even hold any power if that movie fails this Fall.
In sadder news, Zack Snyder bowed out of Justice League post-production work to spend time with his family as they grieve the loss of his daughter, Autumn, to suicide. It was revealed that Joss Whedon was brought in to finish the film, which now has fans cautiously optimistic. Just last week, there were reports that there had been so many reshoots that the film was basically a different movie from what was originally shot. It’s possible, however, that these reshoots were part of Whedon’s plan. It’s really unfortunate what the Snyder family is going through, and it’s deplorable that some folks are making jokes about the situation.
In other movie news, it was revealed that Tom Cruise’s upcoming film, The Mummy, will kick off a Universal Monsters cinematic universe called Dark Universe. I bet they stayed up real late to think of that one! Anyway, Russell Crowe will portray Dr. Jekyll (who also appears in The Mummy), Javier Bardem will play Frankenstein’s monster, and Johnny Depp will play The Invisible Man. The next film in the franchise will be The Bride of Frankenstein, to be released on Valentine’s Day of 2019. Ya know what’s funny? DC’s Justice League Dark film was also going to be called Dark Universe. Somebody’s gonna have to lawyer up!
In TV news, it was reported that Hamilton scribe and star, Lin-Manuel Miranda, will voice Fenton Crackshell-Cabrera AKA Gizmoduck in the upcoming DuckTales reboot. Cabrera? Really? He’s even brown now to go along with the name change. I know some folks are gonna have an issue with this. Hell, I even kinda have an issue with it. But if they’re gonna inject some diversity into Duckburg, I guess I’d rather them do this than, say, Launchpad McQuack-Jenkins.
While we knew that Bobby Moynihan was leaving Saturday Night Live, just hours before the season finale it was revealed that Vanessa Bayer would also be leaving. Then, Monday morning, it was reported that Sasheer Zamata would also be leaving the show. I’m really gonna miss Vanessa, as she definitely grew on me. Her characters have this adorable aloofness to them that I’ve come to enjoy. She’s got a big future playing the best friend in romantic comedies ahead of her. Sasheer was simply underutilized. She was always in the background of sketches, or only had a line or two. I hear that she really shined in the writers room, coming up with sketches like Black Jeopardy. I feel like SNL will merely be a footnote on her resume, as she goes on to bigger things, like Noël Wells and Jenny Slate.
Last week, I had the pleasure of joining some of my favorite people on the Nerd Lunch podcast, where discussed some of the greatest pop culture deaths. Nobody was safe, from Santa Claus to Michael Knight! And I finally got to join my pal Vincent (@RobotsPJs) on a podcast, which has been years in the making. We had a great time, and I think you’ll have a great time listening to it, so check it out!
Song of the Week
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This week, I’ve got “It Ain’t My Fault”, by Brothers Osborne. Not only are they local boys, but I love the fact that this song/video has layers. Read the title and then watch the video. They’re trying to tell us something – the same kind of thing that sank the Dixie Chicks all those years ago. My how times have changed!
Things You Might Have Missed This Week
Fresh off playing nurse Claire Temple in the Marvel Netflix shows, Rosario Dawson is in talks to play Dr. Cecilia Reyes in the X-Men spinoff film New Mutants. Just go to medical school already, Rosario!
Twin Peaks made its triumphant return for those of you who are fans. Based on the ratings, that’s not many of you…
The Get Down was canceled by Netflix after one season.
Chicago Justice was canceled by NBC after one season.
The Ben 10 reboot was renewed for a second season at Cartoon Network.
SpongeBob SquarePants was renewed for season 12 at Nickelodeon, taking it through its 20th anniversary.
Trial & Error was renewed for a second season at NBC.
The Black-ish spinoff, College-ish, received a 13-episode order on Freeform.
TruTV’s Impractical Jokers will enter national weekday strip syndication this Fall.
The bodies haven’t even gone cold and they’re already announcing a reboot of the Resident Evil franchise, this time produced by James Wan (Saw).
Tom Holland has been cast as young Nathan Drake in the film adaptation of the Uncharted video game.
In the realm of musical sequels that no one asked for, Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again! will be released July 20th, 2018.
Elizabeth Banks is producing a Charlie’s Angels reboot, scheduled to be released June 7th, 2019.
Tom Cruise announced that a Top Gun sequel is planned to begin filming next year. Fat Val Kilmer is waiting by the phone.
TJ Miller is leaving HBO’s Silicon Valley at the end of the season.
Surprising no one who’s been paying attention, Power Rangers continues the trend of just adding “Super” to the title of its latest incarnation’s second season with Power Rangers Super Ninja Steel
The Boss Baby 2 is a-coming, March 26th, 2021.
Sophia Bush is leaving Chicago P.D. after last night’s season finale
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In the UK, there’s an annual event called Red Nose Day, where they’ve been raising money to end child poverty for nearly 30 years. Launched by the nonprofit Comic Relief, the event has since raised over $1 billion globally. The event came to the US in 2015, where you can buy a red nose at Walgreens for a dollar, with the proceeds going to the charity. One of the co-founders of Comic Relief happens to be Richard Curtis – writer and director of one of my favorite movies, Love Actually. Now, a lot of people hate the film because it gave way to Garry Marshall imitations like Valentine’s Day and New Years Eve. You know, those schlocky romantic comedies with an ensemble cast where all the storylines converge at some point. I don’t care, ’cause I happened to like those movies, too, but I especially like Love Actually.
Well, to celebrate this year’s Red Nose Day, Curtis reunited most of the cast of Love Actually to give us a 15-minute sequel to the film, called Red Nose Day Actually. We get to catch up on the characters 13 years later, and I have to say that I was smiling the entire time. It was great seeing those characters again, from Bill Nighy’s Billy Mack to Hugh Grant’s Prime Minister. I could’ve done without Rowan Atkinson’s meticulous shopkeeper, but it was even sorta nice seeing him again, too. You feel old as shit, though, when you see little Sam, who’s now 26 years old. I think his segment made me the happiest of all. Or maybe it was seeing Jamie and Aurelia and their kids. Or maybe it was seeing Martine McCutcheon again (why doesn’t she get more work stateside?!). I don’t know. I loved the whole damn thing.
The special originally aired in the UK in March for their Red Nose Day, but they’ve gone to great pains to keep it off the internet. Yesterday was the US’s Red Nose Day, and a new version of the short aired last night on NBC. Ya know, they should really have everyone celebrate on the same day worldwide, but what do I know? Anyway, I actually missed the NBC version because of things, but I was intrepid enough to find the UK version online. This morning, however, NBC posted it on their website so I was able to compare and contrast. The only real difference is that the UK version cut out the Laura Linney update, with Patrick Dempsey as her husband. It was a nice aside, but I guess British audiences don’t know who Dempsey is, so they didn’t miss out on much. Anyway, I wish more movies would give us short reunion updates, maybe on anniversary edition Blu Rays or something. It was nice to get just a taste of what everyone’s been up to, without them being burdened by a full film that would be more than likely fall short of the original. If you’ll excuse me, I’m gonna go watch this thing a few more times, but it’s safe to say that Red Nose Day Actually had the West Week Ever.
#Country#DC#Knight Rider#Marvel#Movies#Power Rangers#Race#Syndication#Television#Video Games#West Week Ever#X-Men
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West Week Ever: Pop Culture In Review - 1/6/17
Happy New Year! Welcome to 2017, where we’re gonna lose even more celebrities than we did last year! That’s right, kiss Betty White goodbye!
On the movie front, since we last got together, I saw Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. Yeah, it didn’t do much for me. Now, let me back up a bit. I did miss the first 20 minutes because I had double-booked the night. So, I did miss the setup, but my friend caught me up so I’d know who everyone was. There was Hector “Space” Gonzalez, and Trixie Bang Bang, and Gay Karate Man, and He Who Shoots From Canister Vacuum. And they were fighting the evil Sir Capes A Lot, who was building the Death Star. I got all that. Still, something about it just left me empty. I feel like it’s a giant Easter egg of a movie for those hardcore Star Wars fans, but I’m not sure what it offers the casual fan. ***SPOILER ALERT***I mean, it’s just one big suicide mission. It’s impressive how they’ve worked it into the existing tapestry of A New Hope, but it’s not a story that had to be told, especially since no one made it off that beach. Just kinda bummed me out***END SPOILER***. Anyway, every Star Wars fan I know loved it, so I’m happy for them.
I finally watched the Justice League Action special I mentioned in the last post. It was OK. I mean, I loved that a lot of familiar voices were back, like Kevin Conroy and Khary Randolph, but I’m not sure I’m sold on the animation. First thing to remember is that it’s not the Justice League/Justice League Unlimited that we got over 10 years ago. It’s aimed at a younger audience, and the episodes are best described as “bite sized”. In the special, the Trinity team up with Captain Marvel, Swamp Thing, Green Arrow, Plastic Man and John Constantine to fight evil D’Jinn brothers. It was OK. Like, it wasn’t riveting, but it felt like the kind of thing that would be released directly to DVD. Not sure I’m gonna be DVRing it every Saturday morning. What did y’all think?
Since I’ve been a booster of it since the development stage, it’s with heavy heart that I can confirm that Girl Meets World has been canceled by Disney Channel. I was a huge fan of Boy Meets World, as I feel like I basically grew up with Corey, Shawn, and Topanga. Their stories weren’t as zany as the TNBC fare, but they weren’t always heavy, either. Sure, every now and then you’d get an episode about how Shawn’s poor white trash, but those episodes were few and far between. So, that’s kinda what I expected from Girl Meets World. And I’ve gotta say I was disappointed because that show got heavy as FUCK sometimes! Is there a God? Why did Maya’s dad leave? Is Farkle autistic? It’s like every episode just HAD to teach a lesson. Oh, and they reminded us Maya was poor white trash every possible chance they could get.
I loved the legacy aspect of it, but it just didn’t hit on all cylinders like I felt Fuller House did (which, by the way, was just renewed for a 3rd season on Netflix). Sure, Full House was treacly dreck, but then again, so was a lot of Boy Meets World. They were both ensconced in the world of TGIF at one time or another, and had similar ingredients. I just feel like Fuller House came back with nothing to prove, while Girl Meets World seemed like it was fulfilling some mandate from Disney that it had to be educational. It is surprising, however, that it’s not getting a fourth season, as Disney tends to love their 100-episode runs – the point at which the shows become no longer profitable to produce. Sure, Even Stevens and Lizzie McGuire only ran two seasons, but later hits like That’s So Raven and Hannah Montana got four seasons.
To be honest, part of me feels like the cancellation stems from star Rowan Blanchard’s tweets last year, where she came out as identifying as queer. Now, Disney is a pretty progressive company, but I’m not sure they knew how to spin that, and the renewal question has been up in the air since then. Still, a lot of folks are discussing the fact that Raven-Symone is a lesbian, yet she has her That’s So Raven reboot coming to Disney Channel, so maybe I’m wrong. Some fans are hoping the show will be picked up by Freeform (formerly ABC Family), where it could tackle more mature themes, but I think it’s done for now. The final 3 episodes air this month.
In TV news, there were a few bait and switch situations this week. First up, it was reported that Will & Grace was definitely coming back for a limited 10-episode run following the success of that voting video they did a few months back. Recurring guest star Leslie Jordan started blabbing that it was a done deal until Debra Messing finally came out and said that nothing had moved past the talking stage at this point. On the one hand, I loved Will & Grace during a tumultuous time in my life, but I’m kinda done with it. I want a Will & Grace reunion about as much as I wanna see a Mad About You reunion (God, that was a horrible finale!). Still, Hollywood’s out of ideas, so I’d say it’s still happening.
Next up, reports came out of The International Consumer Electronics Show that Conan would be moving to a weekly schedule, a la Full Frontal with Samantha Bee and Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. It’s been rumored that the show had been having trouble booking high profile guests, and the best ratings came from when Conan would travel and tape on location. By the end of yesterday, however, TBS reported that there were no plans for a format change “at this time”. So, just like with Will & Grace, it’s happening. They’re just upset they couldn’t get in front of it fast enough.
Speaking of cable shows, Archer is finally moving to FXX this season. The original plan was for FXX to be Fox’s cable comedy network, while FX would handle the dramas. However, when FXX launched, it just became the home of The Simpsons until It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia got shuffled over there. The fact that they didn’t move Louie and Archer, however, made it seem like a vote of no confidence for the spinoff network. Archer’s is little long in the tooth these days, and it’s no longer the crown jewel it once was, but I wonder if it’s got the juice to get more eyeballs on FXX. I hope it works because I love Man Seeking Woman and You’re The Worst over there, and they could both use more viewers.
In comic news, DC Entertainment President Geoff Johns confirmed that there would soon be an announcement regarding a new DCTV television show. Now, it’s not clear if this is another Berlantiverse series, a la Arrow/The Flash, or an unconnected show like Gotham. I’m curious if it’s just a confirmation of the Black Lightning show that had already been ordered to pilot by Fox, or if it’s something completely different. Also, it’s being reported that Johns will write some Watchmen comics this summer. This is a terrible idea since so many fanboys treat Watchmen like it’s their Bible, so there’s no way this will be well-received. They tried the Before Watchmen series, which didn’t really catch fire. They just had to go and reintroduce the concept in DC Universe Rebirth #1, so now I guess they’ve gotta do something with it. I’ve never felt Watchmen was “untouchable”, but I have no desire to revisit that world, so this project simply isn’t for me.
In wrestling news, it’s being reported that Diamond Dallas Page and “Ravishing” Rick Rude will be inducted into the 2017 class of the WWE Hall of Fame during Wrestemania weekend. The latter one really means a lot to me. I think Rick Rude was my first favorite wrestler because he was my introduction to the concept of a “ladies man”. The way he would pick a random woman out of the audience, and bring her into the ring. He’d kiss her, she’d pass out, and then he’d gyrate over her. That was a true pimp move right there! Like most wrestlers, he died before his time, so I guess he’s gyrating over angels now.
Things You Might Have Missed This Week
Supergirl star Melissa Benoist divorced her husband of 21 months, Blake Jenner
Woody Harrelson is in talks to portray Obi-Wan’s mentor in an upcoming Star Wars film
Former UFC champion Ronda Rousey lost to Amanda Nunes in 48 seconds, after training for over a year for her comeback.
A Charmed reboot is in the works at The CW. It’s reported to be set in the 70s, but will have some kind of connection to the original series.
Mariah Carey “lost the plot”, as out British friends might say, when her pre-recorded track messed up on New Year’s Rockin’ Eve. She claims they intentionally sabotaged her for ratings, while Dick Clark Productions reports that she didn’t even come to soundcheck.
80’s pop star Richard Marx and wife, former VJ Daisy Fuentes, subdued a crazed passenger on a Korean airline. In other news, how the Hell did Richard Marx land Daisy Fuentes?!
It was revealed that Drew Barrymore’s upcoming Netflix sitcom Santa Clarita Diet is actually a zombie show. Meh. I’ve been over zombies since 2006.
In Arizona, folks reported seeing a winged demon, heralding the beginning of the apocalypse. Yup, 2017 is gonna be swell!
When I first heard about The Mick, starring It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia‘s Kaitlin Olsen, a lot of thoughts went through my head: Is Sunny over? Is Fox gonna bury it? Will it even be funny? Luckily, I got my answers pretty quickly. No, Sunny is still going, as they scheduled The Mick around its shooting schedule. Fox didn’t bury it, but instead gave it some prime real estate after one of the last regular season football games of the season. And was it funny? Yeah, it’s funny.
If you haven’t heard of it, Olson stars as MacKenzie “Mickey” Murphy who’s going nowhere in life. She’s got no money, no prospects, and a deadbeat boyfriend. She decides to pay a visit to her wealthy sister to hit her up for a loan when the FBI raids the party, carting her sister off to jail for fraud. Once released, Mickey’s sister and brother in law flee the country, leaving their 3 kids in Mickey’s care. There’s the college bound bitch daughter, there’s the privileged snob teen son, and then there’s the precocious little boy who doesn’t really know what’s going on. Of course Mickey butts heads with the older two, while befriending the maid, Alba. The pilot plays out somewhat predictably, as most of it had been shown in TV spots leading up to the show. It’s the second episode where things really kick into gear. A loan shark comes after Micky, while she and Alba are getting high at a rave. Meanwhile, the kids’ bitchy grandmother has come to take over the house, and grandma doesn’t play!
I thoroughly enjoyed both episodes that aired this week. As I said before, it debuted on Sunday, which I feel is a better night for it. Instead, however, its regular timeslot is Tuesdays at 8:30, following New Girl. It being a Fox show, however, it probably doesn’t have a prayer. After all, I thought Grandfathered would be a sure thing, and now Stamos is back on Fuller House duty. No, I doubt we get a second season of this thing, but I’ll enjoy it while it’s here. That’s why The Mick had the West Week Ever.
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