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dropofgoldensun · 3 years ago

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omg hiiiii i am here from cat (@luvdsc) wondering if you could offer any advice about college apps 🙏 especially about the uc piqs? thank you so much i hope ur doing well!!!!!!!!

yes yes hello friend !! 💝 miss cat directed you to me because i did my college apps last year !!! (yikes one year passed already?? why does that feel ages ago 🤧)

first of all, congratulations on making the decision to apply to college !! i know it’s been hard for a lot of people our age to figure out the college situation recently, so i’m proud of you for choosing to take the extra step this summer to buckle up and write those essays 💞

i’ve compiled a few tips on answering the PIQs (i was actually in the middle of typing this up when i received your ask haha), but some of them can be applied to other essays, as well !! they’re all under the cut (because, unfortunately, being brief is not my forte) 😊

(and for reference, the prompts i chose were #2 (creativity), #6 (subject), #7 (community), and #8 (anything) !!)

tip #1: understand the prompt.

before you even begin writing, it’s important to understand what the question is really asking. for the UC PIQs, this will look different depending on which four prompts you decide to do.

in question one, for example, they want to know about your skills in leading others, but notice that they’re also curious about your resolution abilities and teamwork experience. or in question two, they don’t want to know that you paint and that you love painting—they could be asking how resourceful you are, how you think outside the box when you have an idea.

once you know the question you’re going to be answering, you can move on to brainstorming!

tip #2: write down three (3) key takeaways.

these are like the most basic, not-even-a-sentence answers you would give to each question. so for me, in response to question eight (“what do you believe makes you stand out as a strong candidate for the UCs?”), my answers were perseverance, courage, and character. i had a story about that, so i wrote about my experience with martial arts.

i recommend you do something similar. decide on three things that you want to communicate to your audience, and write them in the footnote of your document. your goal is to cover all three points so that, if anyone were to read your essay, they would walk away understanding those three things about you.

i found this strategy really helpful for keeping my essay streamlined while writing—if a sentence didn’t relate to any of those main points, i would cut it since those words would take up valuable space in the word count. stay focused on what needs to be in this essay, and if you have extra words left in the word count later, you can add those details back in.

and once you’re done with your essay, make sure to refer back to your takeaways and check that you covered all of them sufficiently!

tip #3: highlight your stories.

i sent cat an ask a couple days ago with a few pictures of my response to an end-of-year college counseling survey that referenced this tip (you can find it here). basically i said that, when choosing what topics to write about, pick things that interest you! if you get excited talking about it, your audience should get excited about reading it, because they’ll pick up on the passions you have and then everyone’s excited !!! :D

i’ll tell you a secret: everyone you meet, everyone you see, has countless unique experiences that few others may have. me? i spend hours making mashups out of kpop songs. i earned my black belt years after a traumatizing experience during training. i get russian harry potter and spanish dr. seuss books from the library. and i created a collaborative online google photos album for my classmates that now has thousands of entries. although these aren’t necessarily unique to only me, they’re still special enough to the point where, when you put them all together, you get a better image of the person i am, and what i value.

so find a story, a habit, a hobby that makes you different, because i believe that everyone has them. give them some food for thought, or that one-liner that sticks in their brain and won’t go away. and remember: these stories don’t all have to be extraordinary—they should be about people or moments of special value to you, because that’s what matters.

personal tip: when i was brainstorming ideas, i decided that the best way to get ideas out there was to go on a rant (because sometimes it helps to just have a conversation with yourself !!) and i recorded myself, so i could replay what i said !! this was so so crucial to me finding my own voice for writing essays. notice the way you word things when you talk—a good line or two may make it into the final draft :)

i found it helpful to read sample essays as well! they give a lot of great ideas on the kinds of topics people write about. (also, it’s kind of fun, because who doesn’t love a good story?)

but the people reading your essay won’t be there to just enjoy your story; what they really want you to do is to tell them what you learned from your experience. they want to know whether you’re teachable and willing to grow both as a student and as a young adult. so make sure to take note of the life lessons you learned, experience you gained, character you built, etc.

minor tip on ending your essay: if you’re telling a story that happened in the past, then close with what you learned and how you can apply that to your life moving forward. if you’re telling a story that has no definite end yet (like a passion or dream you have), you probably don’t have everything figured out (and you can say that in your essay!), so it might be better to close with your hopes for the future.

tip #4: ask your family for help.

peer-editing is one of the most effective ways to detect errors and inconsistencies in your writing, because, after staring at your essay for so long, you might gloss over glaring contradictions. for all of my essays, i printed them out and asked my parents to help me revise them. we’d meet every other night (or every night, depending on how much time was left) to review and discuss improvements.

i actually kept some of those printed drafts (only the first and the final ones for comparison), and let me tell you from experience—you’re probably going to have a lot of drafts (i think the most i did was seven? but you don’t need to go that far!). this part of the process does take some time, so remember to be patient and kind to yourself :) these essays won’t happen overnight!

enlisting the help of others also helps keep you accountable. one of the struggles many seniors face while writing essays is just... setting aside time to do them. and even though the constant reminders from your parents will definitely get repetitive and a bit stress-inducing, i can tell you from personal experience that i’m so glad they did; otherwise, i don’t think i’d have my essays done in time :’)

while writing college essays is challenging, your family will be there supporting you each step of the way. chances are that they’ll have their own pointers to pass on to you, since they probably remember doing this process themselves! and, out of everyone in your life, they probably remember the most about you (because you probably don’t remember much when you were four or five), so they might have a couple starter ideas for topics when brainstorming. you can rely on them for their advice and their experience.

tip #5: self-editing.

here’s the part that takes the longest time.

use action words. this is probably something you’ve heard all throughout elementary school where they didn’t like you to say “said” because it was “boring”… but honestly, the difference between “doing my own version” and “infusing it with my personality” could go a long way. also, use words that you would actually use in an essay—then it’ll have your own special flair, and not sound like it’s taken from some stuffy 80s textbook!

here are some of the words i used (once again, you shouldn’t use these words if they don’t sound like something you’d write/say): potential, overlay, wrestle, launch, analogous, weave, infuse, experiment, outlet, revel, fascinate, satisfaction, pursue, expand, distinction, capture, range, archive, engage, beyond, build, adversity, cultivate, preserve, commit, explore, convey, naturally

also, be on the lookout for repeated words. i once wrote an essay without noticing that i used “hope” three times in the same paragraph. don’t do that! use synonyms :) personally, i tended to run short on synonyms, so i always kept a tab or two open on my computer reserved for searching up new words.

side note: unfortunately, during my search for synonyms, i discovered that thesaurus.com just didn’t give me what i was looking for. i highly recommend using wordhippo instead; it has so many more options and they’re grouped by the different definitions of your word! i found the synonyms i needed really quickly and it was very satisfying!

avoid the passive voice! my teacher gave me this tip for theses or any other college-level writing. here’s an example of the passive voice: “there was a large part of me that wanted to turn back.” that’s twelve words taking up precious space in your word count! instead, say something like, “i considered turning back.” you’ve just freed up eight words :)

tip #6: final revisions.

this is the step where you fine-tune your essays. meet that word count.

read your writing out loud. does it sound like you? it should. every writer has a different voice, and you need to ensure that yours is pervasive throughout your essay. feel free to use contractions—not only do they reduce your word count (this was a good thing for me, since i had a problem with getting under 350 words), but they also give a more casual tone to your essay, as if you’re telling a story to someone in the room.

next, pretend to be an admissions officer and have someone else read your essay to you. do you get excited hearing about this student who shares your name? if you do, there’s a good chance the real admissions officers will love your essays, too. this also gives you a chance to review to your essay as a whole. pay attention to the overall flow. is there a clear beginning and end? do you resolve the issues and overcome the trials you brought up? listen to it as if it’s a story, and take this time to enjoy what you’ve written. you worked hard!

final thoughts / encouragements.

oh my goodness, did we make it to the end? honestly if you did, thank you so much 🥺

okay but despite my relatively optimistic tone throughout this post, i’m still going to be honest with you—the college essay writing process is difficult. it requires you to look inside yourself and analyze the “why” behind some of the things that you love, and that isn’t easy to do at all. it’s intellectually and emotionally challenging, because not only do you need to use so much energy writing, but you also have to dig deeper to understand yourself, and that’s not easy, either.

but i wanted to encourage you, too. no matter what you may think of yourself at 12am, 2am, 4am writing these essays, believe you have a personality that others love and will love when they meet you. you are an interesting person with unique experiences who deserves to share your thoughts with others. you have so many people behind you, supporting you during these next few months. and when you find that you can’t write any more, remember to take time to care for yourself. have a warm shower. go to bed early. i could go on and on about why sleep is good for your brain but i’ll spare you the details in this post 😉

one last thing: keep the bigger picture in focus. remember, by december or january, you will be finished with most of the application process. that’s no small accomplishment. you can do it. 💝

i really hope you found tips that you were looking for, and that they’re applicable to your own PIQs and other essays !! if you have any other questions, feel free to send in another ask (i promise my response won’t be this lengthy LOL) 💘💓

oh, and if you feel comfortable enough reaching out about anything in particular, i’m only a DM away 💕 i wish you the best of luck on writing your essays and i hope you enjoy your final year of high school !! 💗🌸💟💖

#asks #college tips

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wistfulwatcher · 4 years ago

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Hello I saw your tag on that "im 25 and dying post" please tell us how it got better for you. Im 26, still living with parents, currently having a fight with my boyfriend, and i still have a year until I get my bachelors. The comparison to everyone younger than me is killing me.

I'm really sorry to hear that you're struggling, but I hope you can take some solace in the fact that that post has a lot of notes and you are absolutely not alone in feeling the way you do! I can certainly try and share my experience, but unfortunately I think the biggest factor is just time (and like, a buttload of self-reflection).

I moved back home after college and worked full time at an administrative job I was doing during school breaks. I majored in psychology and anthropology in college, and was planning to eventually go into forensic psychology, but wasn't interested in going straight into grad school. So I did that administrative job for about a year, and tried to find something that was a bit more stable and at least semi-related to my field. I did end up finding a new job when I was 23 - stable, semi-related to my field (a psych/research background was required), and decent pay (especially as I was still living at home). Exactly what I needed, since I still wasn't ready to start looking into grad school.

I was doing pretty well, until I started getting comfortable at that job, and then I started getting hit with the "I'm not doing enough," and "I need to look into grad school," and "will I ever find a boyfriend?" (friendly reminder that 23-year-old me thought she was straight, yikes), "how will I afford to move out, I have to save my money and do it soon!", "I'm not doing anything but watching TV, I'm wasting my life," "I'm lonely, but I'm too tired to try and make friends," etc., etc.

But it wasn't constant. I'd have a flurry of those questions and fears, and then days where I was just living life and doing my job and taking care of my dogs, without any of that. And I don't think I felt good or particularly comfortable those days, it was more like I just wasn't actively thinking about it, like when you feel "good" after a physical pain goes away and you're just normal.

Eventually, I started thinking about all of these concerns I had, and the fact that it felt like it was URGENT whenever I thought about them. It felt like I needed to get my shit together immediately. I also started to acknowledge that there was this big sense of guilt around those concerns; I was too old to be living at home, I was too old to be single, I was too old not to be starting a career. I felt like I was wasting my life (cue the guilt), and I realized that part of why I felt like I was wasting it was that I felt like I was missing milestones I wouldn't be able to do at a later time because the older I was past "normal" the more humiliating it would be to try (cue the shame and embarrassment, hard).

I also started to doubt that I wanted to go into forensic psychology. More importantly, I started to seriously doubt that I wanted a "career" at all. My job (as I kept that same semi-related to my field one) was absolutely a job, not a career. And I think this was a huge tipping point for me, because a career had always been a given in my life. I'm passionate about what I'm interested in, so it literally just never occurred to me that I would be content with a job. I also started acknowledging that I had some messed up associations about being content with a job meaning that I was lazy (because the only way to be ambitious is with a career and, more damaging, a lack of ambition is fundamentally bad).

Now, I need to clarify that all of the above occurred over the course of years. I was constantly seeing "friends" (i.e., of the facebook variety) go to grad school, start careers, get married, buy homes, etc. And with all of that alongside the entire mess I've outlined in the above paragraphs, it was really, really, tough. It gets hard to find a foothold in better thinking, I believe, when seeing all of these people (some younger) doing things "right" was really just compounding my guilt and shame. (I feel like it's worth mentioning, too, that I was always "an individual" growing up, march-to-the-beat-of-my-own-drummer, yada yada. I feel like that's worth pointing out for others who may be in the same boat, because I think it can lead to another layer of shame in comparing yourself to those around you - especially if it's a big part of your identity that you DON'T do that, because I think it's inevitable as you get older, and you're looking to reach these milestones that prove you're an adult.)

So, here I am, acknowledging that I feel guilt and shame about what I'm not doing. And suddenly I ask myself my first really important question: Do I want a career? The question hot on its heels is: Do I want to go to grad school? Honestly, my answer is no. There is nothing in me that's excited by the prospect. But what, does that mean I'm just going to work my job for the rest of my life? How is giving up going to make me feel better about Not Doing Enough?

As I'm opening this door (remember, years), three things happen: 1) I realize I'm gay, 2) I watch Dirty 30, 3) I start playing D&D.

First, realizing I'm gay. Woohoo! Not only was this exciting because girls are amazing, but it made me seriously look at myself. Realizing I had spent 25 years assuming one thing about myself that turned out to be completely wrong made me question everything for a while. I started to ask myself, "Do I really like this?" more often, which seems like a really obvious question, but I'm not convinced that it's one people ask themselves consciously all that often. But once I did, I realized how freeing it was to answer, "No," and move on to something I did like.

Second, I watched Dirty 30, the Grace Helbig/Mamrie Hart/Hannah Hart movie. It feels dramatic to say that it changed my life, but the older I get the more I honestly think it did. Mamrie Hart's character is a dental hygienist who is freaking out about turning 30 and feeling very much like that text post I reblogged. But (spoilers), at the end of the movie, she decides that she loves her job (job, not career!) because it's comfortable and she has fun at work, and that it makes her happy. She has other things going on, but the idea that a character in a film is content with her job and choosing to "settle" into her life as-is and she's genuinely happy about it? I honestly can't think of a single other time I've seen that happen on-screen. I still think about that ending very often. And after seeing it, I started to ask myself another question regularly: "Am I happy?" Again, this feels pretty obvious, but I think there is something incredibly empowering about making sure you are happy on a regular basis, instead of just assuming that you're fine until something hurts.

Third, I started playing D&D. This is not a plug for D&D! (Well, maybe a little.) One thing that happened to me when I started to get into the urgent-guilt-shame-confusion mess of my mid-20s was that I got very much into a routine of go to work, come home, sleep, go to work, come home, sleep, be totally brain-dead on the weekend, repeat. I found it very difficult to feel creative because I was just wiped, and as all of my creative outlets (gifs, fanfic) are self-motivated, it was really easy to brush them off. I ended up starting Critical Role (this is also not a plug for CR! well, maybe), and I wanted to give D&D a try myself. (I was VERY lucky - my best friend happened to be listening to the Adventure Zone at the same time I started CR, and she wanted to try to run a game. The stars truly aligned!)

I started playing, then DMing, and found that it was a great fit for my interests. I used to be a theatre kid, and I was getting to act again (something I didn't realize I was missing). I was getting to build and flesh out characters, which is what I love the most about writing fanfic. I was also discovering that I was stretching myself - world building and plot had never been my strong suit, but as a DM it became the majority of my creative effort. It gave me soft deadlines with people I didn't want to let down, and it made me truly social again for the first time since college. Essentially, it was filling in all of the gaps of what I felt lacking in my life. This isn't a D&D plug because it wasn't D&D specifically, but rather a hobby that satisfied what was missing in my life. For example, I didn't realize how isolated I was before D&D until I had regular interactions with friends, and that isolation absolutely made the urgent-guilt-shame-confusion worse.

D&D gave me that final push to realize that I was OK with having a job and being passionate about hobbies instead of trying to fit myself into a career, because I was getting out of that hobby what I had been convinced I would get out of a career. I started to really value that I could punch out and go have fun doing exactly what I wanted to do. (It feels so obvious as I type this, but it took me a long time to get here! Sometimes it really is that simple!)

The above is specific to my job vs. career struggle which may not be in the mix of things you're struggling with. But what I do think is universal/can be your take away, is that sometimes you just have to actively choose to let go of the pressure to be doing things. Which, I know, sounds so much easier than it is (and part of why I think it just takes time/is part of growing older). But I think it's something that can be worked at over time, by checking in with yourself about what you feel, why you feel it, and what you need to make yourself feel better in the present.

It's been 6 years since I started that semi-related job, and I'm still there. I still live with my mom. I'm still single. My circumstances have not changed since 24, but honestly? I'm OK. When I check in with myself about it, I do enjoy living with my mom and our dogs (even though I'm 30 and "real" adults move out). I am happy more often than I'm not (much more, actually!). I have a job that allows me to be done after 8 hours, and I have hobbies I look forward to doing each night (and the energy to do them, most of the time). My weekends are free to play D&D with my friends and laugh until I cry. That is what I've worked out as my definition of what I want life to be right now. You'll notice it includes none of the "milestones" that those younger than me have hit.

As I noted on that text post tag, I still struggle with this. I definitely have days where I think, I'm a mess, I'm not DOING anything. It's hard. But time does help, those days become fewer and farther between.

I know that was probably a hundred times longer than you wanted it to be, but I did want to illustrate just how much of a process it is. It takes time. My summary advice is to check in with yourself often, be honest about what you want and what you need, do not let anyone else define where you "should" be. And if you aren't living life how you want to be, identify what you can do (however small) to make yourself feel like you're getting closer.

#ask #me #personal #i am so sorry this is a novel #i hope that it helps you even a little!#can you believe i can write about myself for 2 hours? embarrassing lmao #long post

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cosplayinamerica · 4 years ago

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Princess Daisy : pencils_and_pincushions // photo: that_fedora_photographer

I’m a Canadian cosplayer who has been cosplaying since 2007. I’ve had a love for Victorian fashion since I very young age (my little kid brain basically made the connection that Victorian dresses = women dressing like Disney princesses IRL), but the thing that kickstarted my desire to learn sewing was going to a fabric store with my mother when I was in my senior year of high school and seeing a Butterick pattern catalogue that had Victorian-inspired costumes. Almost instantly I had a lightbulb moment that if I learned to sew, I could actually wear those big fancy gowns I loved.

I entered university and, over the next few years, spent my free time reading and learning everything I could about sewing. In 2007, my best friend invited me to Anime North - she was going as a gothic lolita-inspired version of the Queen of Hearts, so I decided I would make a Mad Hatter to accompany her.

I was so excited that I jumped in completely head-first, and it ended up being my first foray into both sewing and pattern drafting. In hindsight it was wildly ambitious for a first project (and I’m still a little surprised that I actually pulled it off!), but I’m so glad that my enthusiasm made me persevere and psh through the challenges, because I learned a ton from that experience and ended up with a cosplay I was thrilled with.

I remember seeing myself in the mirror the first time and being so happy when I realized I’d been able to bring something to life from my imagination. When my friend and I got to the con, things only got better from there - the atmosphere was so energetic and colourful thanks to all the amazing cosplays, and it was filled with so many fun, enthusiastic, and friendly people. From that day I was officially hooked on cosplay.

I’m part of the Toronto Steampunk Society and, each year at Fan Expo Canada, we hold an Annual Costume Challenge where we pick a theme and encourage people to make a costume based on the theme. A couple of years ago, the theme was ‘steampunk video game characters’ and one of my friends in the TSS, Modern Myths Cosplay, thought it would be cute to do Princess Peach and Princess Daisy.

I loved the idea and, after more discussion, we decided to do a steampunk twist on the Super Smash Bros Brawl version since it was fancier and seemed to lend itself well to a steampunk interpretation. Though Daisy isn’t officially in Brawl, my friend was fortunately able to dig up some fan edits of Peach in Daisy’s colours, so with that we were set.

I usually make my outfits myself, but since my friend and I wanted to ensure our cosplays matched, we decided to work collaboratively and divide things: I would create the bodices and accessories for both gowns, and she would create the skirts and crinolines.

I started off by drafting the base bodice patterns. Since I draft all my costumes, I used my existing bodice block/master patterns for myself and drafted a bodice block from scratch for my friend based on her measurements. One neat thing about working this way was that it basically turned into a girls’ weekend where I was able to teach my friend more about pattern drafting, which ended up making the process unexpectedly fun and memorable.

After I finished fitting my friend’s bodice block, I got to work drafting our bodice patterns based on the reference pics we had collected. Being able to tackle both bodices ended up working well since it enabled me to draft them in a way that made them visually match identical while taking our respective body shapes into account.

A couple of mockups and fittings later, we had an idea of how much fabric we needed, so we went fabric shopping. My friend suggested that we go with richer, more regal-looking tones instead of strictly game-accurate colours, so when we found a place selling gorgeous peau de soie and sparkle organza, I was instantly sold on a gold and burnt orange colour scheme.

We split the fabric based on our respective portions and worked on them separately. I cut and sewed the bodices, which was fairly straight forward but time-consuming! The part that sticks in my mind the most was the center front panel because it had so many pieces and layers - two types of satin, two types of organza (including one that had to be ruched to the base panel in multiple places), five rows of lace, interfacing...and that doesn’t even include the lining!

I also created our jewelry and crowns. The brooches and earrings were made from filigree settings that I painted, glued gems, and attached pin backs and earring hooks to, and the crowns are made from craft foam painted in gold acrylic, with embellishments assembled from painted filigree stampings and gems.

My friend created our cage skirts from 1/4 PEX pipe and brown grosgrain ribbon, which ended up being the perfect hoop skirt material since it was cheap, lightweight, and strong enough to support the huge, heavy skirts. She cut and sewed our skirts (including attaching meters and meters of trim that I’d painted white to better match the game colours) and she also made our bloomers.

The gowns were a huge undertaking and, thanks to work and general real life eating up time, we did end up engaging in the dreaded con crunch, but fortunately in the end we were able to get them to a state where they were pretty and wearable!

The response at the convention was absolutely amazing - I don’t think I’ve ever had a costume elicit the reactions that Princess Daisy did. We figured that, since we were cosplaying the princesses from Mario, there was a good chance we might be recognized, but the thing I wasn’t prepared for was how genuinely happy and excited people were, especially when they saw us together. We literally had kids waving at us from across the street when they spotted us.

Even grown-ups loved it - we were frequently stopped for pictures, and even a couple of the folks in the dealer’s room who were running booths would break into huge smiles and ask for pictures. Plus, people loved the steampunk twist and were delighted when they realized how much our costumes matched.

The best, most heartwarming response to my Princess Daisy cosplay happened when I met up with some other friends and one tapped me on the shoulder, pointed behind me and said, “I think she wants a picture with the princess.” I turned around and, standing a few feet away, was this adorable, super shy little black girl who was staring in my direction. My heart instantly melted and I went over to her and had a little chat and took a picture with her.

As a black cosplayer who has run several panels on BIPOC cosplay and spoken about the importance of diversity and representation in cosplay, being able to show that sweet little girl that someone who looks like her can be a princess - and showing kids of other races that Princess Daisy can be black - was a vivid reminder that representation does matter.

Since I got into the hobby, cosplay has been a big part of my life and has positively impacted me in so many ways. It has been an incredible creative outlet that has given me the chance to express myself, and it has allowed me to meet so many wonderful people - many of whom are now among my closest friends. However, I think one of the most rewarding things about cosplay has been how it has allowed me to provide BIPOC cosplay representation and visibility within my local cosplay community. I often do Afro-steampunk cosplay, and one of the most unexpectedly moving things I’ve experienced has been other BIPOC saying to me that seeing my outfits make them feel like they can cosplay.

It has been humbling and has motivated me to get more involved in the cons I attend. For the past several years I’ve run panels on diversity in cosplay/steampunk as well as sewing and cosplay construction, which has enabled me to share the knowledge and skills I’ve learned. I also lead the steampunk section of the Anime North Fashion Show, and I’ve made a point to recruit as diverse a roster of models as possible. I’m happy that we’ve been able to showcase steampunk looks inspired by various cultures including Chinese, Indian, and Morrocan.

Another plus is that the sewing skills I’ve learned from cosplay have come in handy in other areas of my life. It has been fun - and surprisingly empowering - to be at a point where I can use my sewing ability to create one-of-a-kind outfits for formal work events (like office holiday parties) that make me feel pretty and confident.

Something I’ve frequently mentioned during my BIPOC cosplay/steampunk panels is that the simple act of showing up to a con or event in cosplay can have an impact because you never know how much that visibility can inspire other BIPOC to get into the hobby, so my advice to anyone wanting to get into cosplay is to do it! Overall I have found it to be a fun, creative, energizing experience.

While I’ve been extremely fortunate to have had overwhelmingly positive experiences while cosplaying, I recognize that, unfortunately, BIPOC do sometimes face harassment and outright racist comments (especially online) that can make getting into the hobby seem scary. Finding welcoming, supportive spaces in person and online can be a big help (the POC Cosplay group on Facebook is great for this) - plus, thanks to things like #28DaysOfBlackCosplay, there is more visibility and inspiration out there than ever before.

The other thing I’d add is to treat each cosplay as a learning experience. Being able to work so closely with my friend on creating a cosplay was a completely different creation process than I’m used to, and it was really cool to be able to learn from each other’s different working styles and experience. It was great to teach her pattern drafting and see how happy she was to learn skills she could apply to future cosplays, and I was so excited when she showed me her PEX pipe hoop skirt method. Looking back on my Princess Daisy cosplay makes me smile because it’s almost like a physical representation of the fun we have cosplaying together.

#princess daisy #princess daisy cosplay #cosplay #black cosplay #black cosplayer #poc cosplay #poc cosplayer #cosplay interview #steampunk

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oneofthekoolkids · 3 years ago

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So basically I will be getting on my copium. I’m glad we’re getting an ending for c!Wilbur and I’m excited for the lore we’ll be getting from those in the future.

But for Realz, I’m just.. not having a fun time with all of the complaining. Nobody’s fault, but I’ve been hyperfixated on the DSMP for over a year and it’s been some of the most fun I’ve been able to have. I understand that even if it’s not now, all good things must come to an end, but the doomposting to me feels really unnecessary and makes me more genuinely upset than I should be in a space I go to to have fun.

Call me sensitive or obsessed or whatever, but this is what I do as a hobby, my creative outlet, how I get through my day. The idea of it ending and the way other people are complaining is just too much for me right now and I KNOW I can’t be the only one

I don’t know what my goal is with this post, im not telling people to stop complaining/doomposting, because that’s dumb, they have as much as a right to talk about it as I do, I’m just expressing my thoughts

.. so anyway Who wants to talk about anything but the current state of lore?-

#dream smp #uh oh- cringeee

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charmedseoull · 4 years ago

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The Aftermath of Fanfiction Authors with Reba Interview

Before You Read the Interview

I contacted Reba after she posted a Reddit thread titled “When a fic becomes too popular and the author deletes their account and/or work. Explained.” on a throwaway account. We discussed details of the interview during December over email, then started the interview in January. This interview is not associated with a project and is its own independent work. Reba has chosen to remain anonymous.

She provides insight on potential reasons to why fanfiction authors abandon their work from the perspective of a fanfiction reader. She also answered general fandom questions and questions about herself so readers could understand her background.

Charmedseoul is a BTS-focused anonymous historian who documents fandom history using Fanlore. If you would like to be interviewed to help document perspectives in fandom, please contact her on Twitter @charmedseoul or on Tumblr @charmedseoull.

Parts of this interview have been edited with links to Fanlore and Wikipedia pages for understanding. Any information in [brackets] serves for further clarity for readers and elaboration of information.

Now presenting the interview with Reba, long-time fanfiction reader and participant in fandom:

When did you first join fandom culture?

I joined fandom culture in 2014. I feel like fandoms really peaked during this time. [Presence of SuperWhoLock and other Tumblr specific fandoms.]

What fandoms are you in? How have your experiences in them been?

I will be honest and say fandom culture isn’t for me- so I can’t say I’m active in any fandoms (I’m just a silent consumer) but growing up I was a fan of music artists mostly; Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande… I loved the IT 2017 movie adaptation for a long time (I still do), and early 2020 is when I got into BLACKPINK, then BTS. My experience with all of these has been good, and maybe that’s because I don’t see any of the drama and arguments online- but I don’t regret any of my past interests because they all made me happy at one point in time.

What do you like about fandoms?

What I like about fandoms is how happy it can make an individual; getting excited for a new music video, smiling at behind the scenes photos… it can bring someone a little joy if they are having a bad day.

What do you dislike about fandoms?

I don’t like stan culture at all; fandom drama, arguing on twitter with strangers to defend an artist who doesn’t even know you… it all seems toxic. While I'm sure healthy stanning does exist, I don't think it's easy to achieve at all.

How long have you been an ARMY? What are your opinions about the fandom? How has your experience in the fandom been?

I became an ARMY in early 2020 when Map of the Soul: 7 was released, so only a year. I really do like the fandom; ARMY is the only fandom I’ve seen where there are so many fans worldwide of all different ages, and that just shows how BTS and their music really is for everyone. There is so much BTS content that there’s never a dull day, so my experience in the fandom has been enjoyable!

Did you ever leave ARMY and take a break then come back?

I’ve never left ARMY, that being said, I’m a newbie and haven’t been here for long.

When did you first start reading fanfiction?

I have been exposed to fanfiction since 2014, but I wasn’t in any fandom back then and started reading fanfiction in 2017.

What do you think the purpose behind fanfiction is?

We mostly read for entertainment but there is definitely a purpose to fanfiction, as for all art. Fanfiction is a great thing for both reader and writers, it can be an outlet for many people, a way to experience things that you don't have a chance to experience in your own life. It also can be a good base ground for people who want to start writing, or for someone who finds reading huge paperback novels difficult. Fanfiction is so easily accessible, you can pull up a story to read or share your work at the press of a button.

As you’ve read fanfiction over the years, do you feel like anything about fanfiction has changed?

Yes! Fanfiction is taken a lot more seriously now, people who write fanfiction treat it like an actual novel with plotting and editing- the quality of fanfiction in general is a lot better. Fandom ships have also changed; when I was a teenager Harry Styles fanfictions were crazy popular, now the fanfics that seem to be more popular are BTS! So that just shows when music evolves, pretty much everything else does too.

As a reader, how do you view authors?

I'm always amazed by fanfic authors because they practically write whole novels for free. Writing can be such a personal thing, and it does take talent; there is a story the author wants to convey, and when a story is told in a beautiful way, it leaves a lasting impact on the reader. I’m sure that must be a euphoric feeling for the author- it means they told their story, and they did it well.

Do you think many other readers share the same view as you?

No, not at all. There are readers out there who don’t really think about the time and effort authors put into their stories. I’ve seen readers expect so much, and criticise something so little. It’s sad- people should be able to write whatever they want, writing is supposed to encourage creativity. Authors shouldn’t have to fear backlash for doing just that. Being creative.

Why do you think so many authors delete/orphan their work after it gains popularity?

When a story gains popularity- it attracts good and bad attention alike. Unfortunately the negative affects us a lot more, it’s just human nature. While authors do put their work out there, I don’t think they are ever prepared for their stories to become so popular. I am sure it is overwhelming and that’s why authors feel the need to distance themselves from it all and delete/orphan their work.

What stories prompted you to start thinking about why authors delete/orphan their works?

I read a story called mixtape (IT movie) and I was around long enough to see chapters be uploaded each week. I also saw the struggles the author went through when their fanfic began to rise in popularity, which eventually led to the story being completely deleted from the internet. So I thought this could have been a one-off since I hadn’t read many fanfictions. I then moved onto BTS fanfiction and decided to read the most talked about ones first, only to see a lot of them were by orphaned accounts (so not just a one-off occurrence!). House of Cards by sugamins was the one that got me thinking, I thought “why would somebody not want to be associated with this amazing writing?!” That’s when I began to do some research and stumbled across your interview with the author!

How do you think backlash for a work harms an authors mental health?

An immense amount of feedback, positive or negative, can take a toll on one person. A lot of authors can be reserved people and they write because they are passionate, as an outlet or just a hobby. So when their work does receive backlash it can be very upsetting- it could make them doubt their reasons and capabilities and affect an author so much they might stop writing all together.

How do you think some authors manage their mental health and not delete a work?

This is a hard question because everyone deals with backlash differently. I know some authors who are not bothered by backlash and they choose to ignore it and move on with their day, and then there are other authors who are more anxious and have to put a lot of measures in place to protect their mental health; from your interview with sugamins they explain how they didn’t want to destroy their work, just distance themselves from it, so that’s always an option.

Taking time away from social media and getting enough rest, it is important to not neglect your well-being. Finding a way to cope when you feel low; animals tend to ground me and improve my mental health- they are loving and don’t judge you for who you are. Maybe you cope by talking with friends, or listening to your favourite song. It doesn’t matter what it is, as long as it helps.

At what point with mental health do you think authors start to consider deletion/orphaning?

I think an author starts to consider deleting/orphaning their work when it completely consumes them. It is not healthy to be fixated on something that is no longer bringing you happiness, you need to let it go. If you are an author reading this, just know you are not your feedback, it doesn’t define your existence, okay? Fanfiction should add to your life, not take away from it.

Why do you think some readers invade an authors privacy?

Sometimes, people care more about the author than the work they have created. So when a fanfic has deeply touched a reader and helped them through so much, they want to reach out in any way and tell them so- this can be invasive if the reader is not careful about their approach.

How do you think authors manage this privacy invasion?

Stopping it before it happens; not using your real name, having a separate account for writing, don’t link social media accounts in your works etc. If privacy has already been compromised and a reader is making the author uncomfortable, then disabling comments on their works, making a new social media or changing their accounts to private would be smart. Just knowing how to keep safe online.

At what point with privacy invasion do you think authors start to consider deletion/orphaning?

When you are at risk of being doxed. I think when readers are going as far as finding authors’ personal accounts and messaging their friends- anything along those lines is scary and the reader is going from a supporter to an intrusive stranger real fast.

Why do you think anonymity is important for fanfiction writing?

When your full name is attached to everything you do, people have a very easy way to get back to you. This is why authors keep an anonymous profile, and it is important readers respect that. Most authors don’t want their family, friends, employer etc to see that sort of stuff. It is completely okay to remain professional and keep fanfiction writing separate from personal life.

Do you think fanfiction writing should stay free? Do you think authors should be paid for their work?

I do think fanfiction writing should stay free on the sites they originate from (AO3 for example). However, if the author wants to take their work elsewhere to earn money then I don’t see an issue in that. I am glad you mention copyright law with fanfiction in particular because the author of mixtape (the fanfiction I mentioned earlier) tried to self publish their work while keeping canon names, the author tried to justify it as a parody work and everyone was so concerned that they reported the book until it got removed. I have seen stories on Wattpad become published books to purchase, however, the names had been changed to original characters- I think this seems like a much more logical move to avoid any legal repercussions.

As a reader, how has an author’s work connected with you personally?

I have had works connect with me on a personal level, one in particular is Somebody To Love by LOVERVMINS (orphaned). My standards are impossibly high after reading that fanfic and I don’t think I will ever come across something so beautiful again. Somebody To Love is a taekook fic that was uploaded to AO3 in 2019, the author ended up deleting all their works but thankfully left this particular story up. I was immediately captured by the incredible writing and unique plot; the story of two lovers who were never meant for each other, but destiny found its way anyway… I apologise in advance for how long this summary (with spoilers) is, but I think my thoughts are proof of how this story has connected with me so much!

(Spoilers for Somebody to Love by LOVERVMINS. Please feel free to scroll to the next bolded question to avoid spoilers.)

In this story, Taehyung is a successful lawyer while Jungkook is just a student, despite the difference in status and wealth, they are intrigued by one another from the very start. After meeting Taehyung, Jungkook is left feeling confused about himself, the internalised homophobia is strong to begin with but as the chapters progress Jungkook goes from someone who is afraid of society and what people may think, to strong and outspoken. Taehyung plays a fundamental part in this, because if Jungkook were to never meet Taehyung, he wouldn’t have realised who he really was, he wouldn’t have been brave enough to discover his sexuality and fall in love in a time where it was so unaccepting. Taehyung is bold and confident on the surface, giving little regard for anybody other than himself, but his concern for others soon changes after he meets Jungkook, he becomes a better man. He could have had his heart desires- but Taehyung was no longer selfish from those few months he spent with Jungkook, so he stayed with his wife to be a good father.

Taehyung makes Jungkook promise him he will find somebody to love (hence the title), and he does, Jungkook finds somebody to love and he is happy- Taehyung finds this out when they unexpectedly meet a few years later, this is the final time Jungkook and Taehyung see each other… but knowing Jungkook is happy, leaves Taehyung happy.

There are different kinds of love, some last forever, and some just for a chapter of your life. It is clear Jungkook was Taehyung’s forever. And I don’t think Jungkook’s love for Taehyung ever went away, he just found another kind of love like he had promised. Jungkook had to live his life; he couldn’t wait for Taehyung, to leave his marriage in the unforeseeable future, or watch him raise his kids from afar, this shows that even if society were accepting, their circumstances were too far gone- if only they met sooner, or in another life. It makes you imagine a world where they could have been together, it makes you think beyond the story even when it’s ended.

It has been a month or two since I read LOVERVMINS work, and I still feel a pang in my chest every time I think of Taehyung’s letter for Jungkook in the epilogue.

Why do you think others think they have the right to know an authors personal information?

I think in this day and age, everything about a person is on show, so people just expect that sort of information from you. Authors appreciate feedback- but they don't know the reader, their family or what they do for fun. Vice versa. You only see a small glimpse into the authors life, and the stuff you see is what they feel comfortable enough to show. That should be enough.

Do you consider writing an art form?

I do consider writing an art form. Writing is like painting an image in the readers mind. I think it is better than visual art because when you are reading a story, not everyone is going to envision the exact same thing, it is up to the imagination. I think that is what makes it so beautiful- we all collectively love a story, yet, we somehow interpret it differently.

Why do you think Archive of Our Own is the ideal platform for fanfiction writing?

I think Archive of Our Own is ideal for fanfiction writing because they give you many options with your work so you are comfortable- it is easy to remove comments, delete an account, or orphan works while keeping your account etc. It is important authors get control of what happens to their work if they want to leave and go in a different direction.

Do you think other fanfiction writing platforms like Fanfiction.net and Wattpad are ideal or lacking?

I think Wattpad is ideal for younger audiences; it’s more visual with book covers and the layout in general is more appealing, I also feel like the stories on there are targeted for pre-teens. When I first got into fanfiction, I did start on Wattpad because it was easier to navigate. I look back now though and do think it is lacking in terms of quality, a lot of the stories are written for shock value and don’t really make much sense because of that. It is hard to find a story on Wattpad that ticks all the boxes (but not impossible). Wattpad also had a breach with data last summer and everyone’s emails got pwned so that made a lot of people move to AO3. I have never used Fanfiction.net so unfortunately I can’t speak for that one. Overall, AO3 has much more content, you can find a story with ease once you know how to use the site.

How has fanfiction writing affected the people in your personal life?

How did you find out that your sister is writing fanfiction?

My sister wrote a Harry Styles fanfic in 2014 which gathered around half a million reads on Wattpad, she got comments from people telling her how much her fanfic has impacted their lives pretty much every day. My sister and I are close and we share the same friends, I noticed when we would have sleepovers she was always on her phone and never paid attention to the movies we were watching. I think all the numbers did affect her for a moment and it wasn’t until my sister started her exams that she realised she had to put her concentration into those to pass, that’s how she came to the decision to delete the story. I asked her recently if she regrets deleting it and she told me she doesn’t at all, she now looks back and doesn’t think her writing was good back then. So I think that shows authors do know what they’re doing and what is best for them in the long run.

My sister had a one direction fan account on Instagram that had 100k+ followers (insane!), she was always open with her interests and I found out she started writing fanfiction through that account.

What personal reasons do you think authors have for deleting/orphaning works?

The list is endless; maybe the author wrote the story in a bad time in their life and they want to delete it because it reminds them of that time, they could have left the fandom, or they simply do not like their story anymore- they grew up and know they can do so much better. It is okay for an author to grow apart from their work, it shows they are growing as a person too.

Why do you think authors get backlash from writing dark themes?

I think authors receive backlash from writing dark themes because it can be triggering for some and can bring up unpleasant memories.

What do you think are the responsibilities of an author when writing dark themes?

A safe bet would be to tag anything relating to abuse (physical, emotional, etc), mental illness (eating disorders, self harm, suicide, etc), graphic violence and rape/sexual assault. That’s what comes to mind. And if a trigger occurs only in a certain chapter, then having an additional warning in the chapter notes would be helpful.

What do you think are the responsibilities of a reader when reading dark themes?

If dark subjects are included in the tags, don’t read the story if it could trigger you. It is as simple as that. People decide to read the fanfic then get mad at the author for triggering them. I am not trying to insult anybody who has triggers, maybe they read a story and their specific trigger was never mentioned in the additional tags… this is what the ‘chose not to archive warnings’ box is for, with this option, it is handled in AO3’s FAQ that major tags are not necessary. In shirt, this means there may be triggering content in the fic that is not disclosed by the author. Plus, there is usually a pop up banner before you click on a story which reads ‘this work could have adult content. if you proceed you have agreed that you are willing to see such content’. There are so many warnings, you can’t miss them. It is a case of reading at your own risk, you can’t blame the author if you do not like the result.

Do you think authors are facing too much pressure from readers about what themes they write?

I do think authors face unnecessary pressure with the themes they write; they are put on such a pedestal that when they write something that isn’t what the audience want, they receive a lot of negative criticism. Authors, no matter what themes you are writing, there is no need to worry if you are writing for yourself and putting out the content you set out to create.

Why do you think authors write dark themes?

Dark themes are simply an exploration of difficult emotions along with unpleasant events or consequences. Authors write dark themes because it serves a narrative purpose. And authors don’t have to be ‘dark’ people or experience all of these unsettling things to write such content.

Why do you think readers read dark themes?

Dark themes are not for everyone, I personally don’t think there are enough dark works out there. I read dark themes because it interests me more, I want to know how the characters are going to cope with the consequences, or heal from the trauma. Other readers might prefer dark themes for the graphic content, this is fine too. Fictional violence is not real- we all know this, so there is no reason to be terrified.

Why do you think so many authors want to have their work get popular?

People may disagree, but I think it has a lot to do with validation. Subconsciously, authors want people to like their work- a rise in popularity means readers are seeing the authors work, and hopefully taking enjoyment from it. This isn’t a bad thing as long as you realise validation does not equal self-worth. There are people out there who write and do not gain much attention, but that doesn’t stop them from posting their work anyway.

Do you think a work’s popularity is important?

I personally don’t. I read a range of fanfictions- some are super popular, others are not. It is the content I am more interested in, not how many hits/views it has.

Should we judge authors for deleting/orphaning their work?

Not at all! I am sure authors have thought long and hard before coming to their decision.

How should we view situations where authors delete/orphan their work?

For a reader, it can be upsetting when authors delete/orphan their work, especially if there is no possibility of reading that story again. However, we need to show compassion and view the situation from the authors perspective; gaining popularity on a fanfic isn't as pleasant as it might seem, it is much more complicated than that. A lot of feedback, both good and bad, can be overwhelming. Mental health is important, and if that means distancing yourself from something so popular, then it must be done. Privacy can be compromised, people in your real life might find out you write these stories and not be accepting, or readers become invasive which is a scary situation to be in. And a mixture of personal reasons, people are allowed to grow and change and want to distance themselves from things they are no longer proud of.

What do you think authors should be aware of in case their work does get popular?

This is a good question… I think authors need to be aware that with good feedback, also comes bad feedback. You cannot please every single person on this earth, but that is not your job- so do not take it personally.

Do you have any last messages to readers of this interview?

I want to thank you in particular, Charm. This interview is probably the coolest thing I’ll ever get to do for the BTS fandom and I’m so grateful that our paths crossed so we could create this interview together. You are such a kind soul and it has been a pleasure from start to finish.

For the authors reading this interview; I am just a reader, but I do understand how it can be hard for you to continue on when you are going through so many struggles readers don’t get to see. Just know you are appreciated, and you are supported no matter what you decide to do with your works in the future. Having popular works shouldn’t feel like a burden, there are blessings hidden in there- you have made readers feel a rollercoaster of emotions with your talent, you are able to engage with readers around the world, and you have created a beautiful story from nothing… you did that!

For the silent readers like myself: let the authors of your favourite work know how much you loved it (in a respectful way) before it is too late! I so wish I had the chance to tell the author of Somebody To Love how their story broke my heart then healed it again. Treasure the fanfictions you love because they very well could be gone tomorrow!

Thank you for reading this interview. Further below are reminders and information about this interview and Charmedseoul’s Fanlore projects.

Reba has chosen to remain anonymous. No social media or information about her will be released publicly.

This interview was conducted through email from January 31, 2021 to February 1, 2021 with Reba’s consent and protections under Fanlore’s Identity Protection policies and the posting website’s privacy policies. Unauthorized reposting of this interview is forbidden.

Due to the casual nature of this interview, repost of this interview is strictly prohibited. Linking and sharing is appreciated. Translation and unauthorized repost of this interview is forbidden.

Thank you for reading. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask and I will do my best to answer them.

#bts #bangtan sonyeondan #fandom #fandom meta #fandom interview #fandom interviews #fanlore #charmedseoul #charmedseoul interviews #fanfiction #fanfiction author #fanfic #fanfiction meta #fanfic meta

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nad-zeta · 4 years ago

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Match up! ^̮^

Heya can I get a match up for a ikevamp guy? I am 4’9 petite girl, with pink dyed hair! I’m really insecure about my thighs so every week I try to watch what I eat and exercise~ I am also a INFJ and Pisces who loves to travel and explore. My goal in the future is to become a interpreter and hopefully be able to travel the world! I am kind, hardworking, and always keep myself busy~ With school i am always extra by taking harder classes and being pres in 2 different clubs. (I’m in like 5 clubs with a part time job on top of that) I love to read, sleep, eat, and play otomes on my switch hehe~ I also free write from time to time because I use it as a outlet to express my creatively and control my feelings when I am mentally not at my best. I dislike my strict parents, and all the standards they expect of me. I know they disapprove of my plans for the future but it’s what I want to do, and what I believe will make me happy, rich or not. I also hate bugs and escalators with a burning passion. I will literally start screaming when I see tiniest of bugs. (Sorta the same with escalators but it’s just in my head lol) While I am the shortest of my friend group I am either the mom friend or the sassy one but I don’t mind being both :) I love and care for everyone but myself and usually always put others before myself, and will always make sarcastic remarks to my friends because they know I truly care. I’ve only dated once and it was because of peer pressure, but I sorta play hard to get because I don’t want waste my time with a fling. When I have kids, I want them to be able to leave comfortably and want to make sure the man I marry will constantly be there for not only me but for them. My real parents divorced and my real dad decided to give up his rights, so I want to make sure when I start a family he will stay with me through life so my children won’t have to deal with going between homes and moving from one place to another. Thanks in advance~

Hi hi, love! ☺❤Thank you so much for the request and sorry for taking sooo long with it! I hope you enjoy it, 🦋dear and I hope you have a super good day! ❤🦋🌻☺

So I match you with............ Napoleon

The first time you arrived at the mansion, you practically ran into Napoleon while looking for the exit back to the Louver. Napoleon swiftly grabbed hold of your hands and pulled you through the halls back to the magical door only to find it shut. The two of you pulled at the handle to no avail. That is when Comte appeared out of nowhere to explain your situation to you. You were honestly so shook and scared. You low key shut yourself in your room for the first few days venting out all your negative thoughts into your journals.

The residents started to get worried that you had basically shut yourself in your room. Napoleon, who had been the first one to find you when you first arrived, decided to take you under his wing. For some reason, he felt responsible for you. He came to your room the next afternoon (cause lets be real both of you most likely slept in until noon) carrying a stack of freshly made pancakes. He knocked on your door, and when there was no answer, he slowly opened it to peek inside. He was almost so shocked at the sight before him that he nearly dropped the plate.

For in the room you were busing doing some leg exercises with your music on full blast. He waved his hands around to get your attention when finally you noticed him. To say you went as red as a beet would be an understatement, "Silly petite nunuche, just what are you up to." He curiously eyes you as he placed the pancakes down on the desk. As the two of you sharded the bruch, you had explained to him that you had always been insecure about your thighs so you would eat and exercise in order to get them to a place that you would be satisfied with. Napoleon couldn't help but burst into a fit of laughter, he couldn't see anything wrong with your thighs. He simply shook his head and then offered to teach you fencing as a way to tone up your legs.

Since that day, every morning without fail, you would meet Napoleon downstairs, ready to workout together. He taught you all the basics of fencing, and soon you were a natural. The two of you would fence for hours and hours. Occasionally Jean would join the two of you and teach you a few new moves for you to use to over through the former emperor.

After fencing, it had become somewhat a tradition for the two of you to have lunch together. As time went on you and Napoleon got to get to know each other better and better

For example, you found out that he had a rather big soft spot for children and would spend his afternoons teaching them. You being the overachieving hard-worker that you are, naturally decided to check out his school. You were amazed at just how much knowledge Isaac and Napoleon managed to pack into these young minds.

As you were watching the two men in their element, a little girl meekly came up to you and asked you for help. As you explained the work to her, you found yourself surrounded by more and more children. And it wasn't long before you were teaching a class of your own. You low key thanked the fact that you had taken so many extra classes back in the future as it had enabled you to be rather knowledgeable. Napoleon couldn't help but smile in delight at the sight of you teaching the children and decided to offer you a position in his small makeshift school. Now in the mornings, you and Napoleon would fence, and in the afternoon you would teach together.

You loved sitting with the emperor during the breaks, simply just chatting about anything and everything. Although you never noticed it, Napoleon would often watch you with a fond smile painted across his face. He admired your the hard work, patience and kindness you would show to the children whenever you taught them. At this point in time Leon was absolutely smitten with you, but you, you were playing hard to get. He would often turn on the charm only to get no results, it was very push and pull between the two of you. And to the outside world, the chemistry and attraction between the two of you had been clear as daylight

When Napoleon found out you loved to travel he was over the moon, as it was a hobby of his to explore in his free time. Now whenever the two of you weren't busy, Leon would whisk you off to some unknown place for the two of you to sightsee. Oh how he loved to explore places with you, whether it is hidden caves or visiting nearby towns, he would always be wearing the biggest grin. One of his favourite trips, in particular, was the one where he had confessed his feelings for you.

After a while, the man caught on that you were playing hard to get, so he decided that he was done beating around the bush. After your daily fencing match, he told you to meet him in the main hallway in an hour. You were beaming in excitement as you loved to travel around with Napoleon, the man just had a knack for finding the best destinations. You met him in the foyer, and before you knew it, he had swept you off your feet and plonked you down onto his horse. He had absolutely refused to tell you where he was taking you. At some point in the journey, he had placed a blindfold over your eyes as he continued to ride on. Once he had reached the destination, he carefully helped you down from the horse and gently took both your hands in his, to lead you further. With a satisfied nod, Napoleon finally allowed you to remove your blindfold.

You were absolutely awestruck at the sight before you. He had taken you to a hidden waterfall surrounded by flowers. You looked down to see that he had even set up a romantic picnic under the shade of a great big willow tree.

The two of you chatted away when finally, Napoleon decided to confess his love. He took your hands in his and looked you dead in the eyes. However, before he could say anything, out the corner of your eye, you saw a bug crawling onto your picnic blanket. Without a second thought, you screamed your lungs out and leapt into Napoleon's lap, holding onto him like a scared cat. To say that Napoleon burst out into laughter would be an understatement. This man was literally in tears, laughing at your reaction as he slowly reached over to flick the bug off the blanket. He laughed, even more, when he saw that dissatisfied frown dancing across your face. Now cradled in his arms, Napoleon couldn't help by lean in and whisper a quick "I love you" against your lips before giving you the sweetest, tenderest of kisses. He poured all his love and affection for you into that kiss.

Since then you best be sure he would tease you mercilessly about your hatred for bugs.

He honestly didn't mind your sarcastic comments, in fact, he found that side of you to be rather amusing. As this would spark a game of wits between you and Napoleon which, to be honest, usually ended in a tickling match.

Napoleon was in absolute awe at your strong personality and resolve. More so when you told him about your strict parents and their disapproval of your future choices. Napoleon, who had been the emperor of France, knows what you are going through in terms of having big expectations and standards placed on your shoulders. He would support you wherever life took you as he knows now that the true meaning of life is to do what makes you happy, not to do what others expect of you. And so he would support you in whatever choices you made. Just as you have brought a sense of peace and calm to his life, he tries his best to do the same for you.

Leon knows about your tendency to put other before yourself, so you best be sure this man will pamper you and shower you with love and affection. He loves that you are always helping the people around you, so he had made a vow to be the one that puts you first and protect and aid you whenever you are struggling. When he sees you have taken on more than you can chew and you are starting to burn out he will gently wrap you in his arms and kiss your cheek as he asks, "mon amour, what can I do to help.

Oooh, this boy loves that both of you are sleepers. His favourite part of every day is to wake up before you at noon and just watch your sleeping face. He loves those quiet, peaceful lazy mornings the two of you spend together. He will legit shower you with small little kisses to wake you up. He loves to cuddle with you, his favourite place to have you is nestled in his arms, as the two of you sleep the day away. He absolutely loves to spoil you with brunch in bed on the days he wakes up before you.

Napoleon knows the second you are not mentally or emotionally at your best. He knows that during those times he has to give you some space to write. Although Leon can be a little clingy at times, so he will definitely insist you sit in his arms while you write out your emotions. Will definitely drop a few playful kisses on your cheeks and neck in an attempt to cheer you up. If you want to talk out your feelings, he is always there to lend an ear, but he understands if you would want to write it out.

This man will 9/10 times insist you read him your writing masterpieces. He knows you are an excellent writer as he may or may not have peeked at some of your stories.

He will reassure you every day of his love and devotion for you. The day he confessed his love, he gave you his heart, body and soul in an oath. A vow, mind you, that he renews every single year on your anniversary. He is madly in love with you and has found peace in life with you that he has never found with anyone else. He has devoted his life to caring for and loving you.

You can 100% be sure that if the two of you cuties ever have children that he would be the greatest dad and husband anyone could ever ask for. After you had told him about your past and your family, he is sure to remind you every single day just how much he absolutely loves and adores you.

Often the two of you cuties, can be found snuggled up in bed together sleeping the day away, sharing in each other warmth and love. If the two of you aren't enjoying a peaceful day relaxing, you are off on some crazy fun adventure, travelling the world and exploring unknown places together.

Other potential matches.................. Comte

I hope you enjoyed this dear and I hope you have the best day! @mioreos

#ikevamp napoleon #matchups #submission #ikesen matchup #match ups #matches #matcha #ikevamp #ikevamp matchup #ikevamp match up #ikemen napoleon #ikemen vampire napoleon #napoleon bonaparte #napoleon ikevamp

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t100ficrecsblog · 4 years ago

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an interview with @changingthefairy-tale

What are you working on right now? Right now, I’m focused on BellarkeFic-for-BLM (I just got an amazing canon prompt I’m really excited to finish). I’ve also been participating in this round of the Chopped Challenge, which has been fun and challenging. In between prompts, I’ve got two WIPs that I’m slowly cranking through. Shoutout to every single reader who’s been incredibly patient while I’ve been so slow on those updates — though, reminder that you can donate to a BLM organization (even a $3 donation works) and request an update to get those higher on my prio list while I’m focused on that initiative.

What’s something you’d like to write one day? My absolute dream job and the ultimate goal is to become a showrunner for a prime time TV show. I love TV shows — I love the way actors and directors and crew take a script and breath life into it, I love how you take a general idea for a story and mold it into something amazing as you go, I love how a series gives a story more time to be fleshed out and explored, I love the concept of a writers room and collaborating on a story. It’s a different ballgame from fic writing (which I do for fun) and travel writing (which I do for a living), but I’m determined to make it happen. JRoth, I’m coming for your job, babe. 😉

What is the fanwork you’re most proud of? I’m still really new to fic writing, especially compared to some of the powerhouse writers in this fandom. And I’m sure one of my WIPs (when finished) will probably supersede this. BUT, my one-shot about Madi calling Bellamy on The Ring (She called you for 2,199 days) is something I’m really proud of. I’m a long-winded writer, so one-shots have never come naturally to me. This one just…clicked. It’s got some good lines in there that I’m proud of, and based on the feedback I’ve gotten, it really made readers feel something and connect to the story. It’s not my longest story or my most thought-out. But it shows my growth as a writer these past few months, and I’m proud of that.

Why did you first start writing fic? I started writing fic as a creative outlet for my writing. My day job is writing about travel and credit cards. And while I enjoy that, it’s just not as creative. My dream is to write for a TV show though, and I was craving a way to flex my creative writing muscles in a low-stress way. I started watching The 100 when it first came out, but I didn’t really get into the fandom until I came back to the show during the S5/6 hiatus. That’s when I started reading fics and reblogging stuff about the show on Tumblr. During the S6/7 hiatus, I had this idea for a Greys Anatomy AU, and my sister (who is also a major fan of the show) was like, “You literally write things for a living. If you want to write a Grey’s AU for t100, there is absolutely nothing stopping you.” I published my first chapter on that The Choices We Make in Dec. 2019, and the rest is history.

What frustrates you most about fic writing? For me, I think that the most frustrating thing isn’t even about fic writing itself; it’s the fact that it’s a side-hobby and not something I can dedicate my full attention to. When you write all day for your day job, then do some for your freelance gig, and then turn around and try to write for a few hours every night for fic… that gets hard sometimes — especially since starting quarantine where I’m not traveling, going out with friends, getting a break from it, etc. Fic writing is a creative release for me, and I absolutely love crafting and writing these stories that involve some of my favorite fictional characters. And I love interacting with other writers and fic readers, I love talking about ideas and exchanging headcanons and fangirling over my favorite writers’ works. But (because there’s always a but), sometimes I just don’t have the mental energy or capacity to write at the end of the day when I’ve turned in 3 deadlines for work. I’ve got all these ideas floating in my head, but only so much time and mental energy I can dedicate to it.

What are your top five songs right now? Oh boy. So I live alone, which means I’ve got either music or Netflix on in the background 24/7 because ya girl doesn’t like silence. I have a different playlist for different moods. I’ll share my fav song from each of those playlists. Lol Fvck Somebody by The Wrecks (On my “Summer state of mind” playlist for when I wanna dance it out in my kitchen like an idiot)

Don Quixote by Drapht (On @talistheintrovert’s “My Good Bitch Murphy” playlist for when I’m feeling *edgy*)

that way by Tate McRae (On my “Pandemic Jams” playlist bc I like angsty music and this song is a Bellarke MOOD)

Washington on Your Side from Hamilton (On my “Feeding my Broadway Obsession” playlist for when I wanna sing show tunes and plot overthrowing the government)

Tea by Noah Davis (Shameless plug for Noah bc it’s a bop and I literally dated Noah’s older brother in junior high — so proud of this kid for making his dreams a reality)

What are your inspirations (books, songs, other fic, really good cake)? All of the above, except I like pie more than cake. lol But really, I kind of use everything around me for inspiration. “The Choices We Make” is inspired by my love of Grey’s Anatomy. “Intertwining your soul (with somebody else)” is inspired my the first draft of my YA novel (though the setting was adapted to a grounder canonverse AU). “The Day He Shut That Rocket Door” and “She called you for 2,199 days” were inspired by @historyofbellarke‘s headcanons that were brought up in S7 speccing conversations (shoutout to her for enabling my angsty ass). My most recent WIP “There are some things written in the stars” that I started as part of Chopped (but will continue because I’m obsessed with the idea) is inspired by my love of Timeless. And I have an entire Notion database filled with fic ideas — some one-shots and some multi-chapter fics — that are inspired by quotes, songs, conversations with friends, books I love, shows I adore, random HCs that pop into my head while I watch, my own life experiences, etc. I take inspiration in any form it decides to come in. 💕

What first attracted you to Bellarke? What attracts you now? I’m a ho for enemies to lovers — the idea that you can put your worst foot forward and show someone all the ugly parts of you… and that they’ll see that and somehow look past it to see the good stuff too, falling in love with your whole self instead of just the pretty parts. Yeah, it’s my favorite romance trope. And that tension is what originally drew me to Bellarke. Now, it’s a combination of things. I love each of these characters in their own right. I relate to Clarke in a lot of ways, and I aspire to be her level of badass. I straight adore Bellamy Blake (flaws, stupid decisions, and all) and would marry him in a heartbeat if he were real — I’m not even kidding. lol But I also love their dynamic. They are partners, best friends, perfect compliments to the other. They see each other in a way no one else does, and they are the one person the other constantly risks everything for. They are both so driven by their responsibilities to their people, yet that all typically goes out the window the moment the other is at risk. I don’t believe in soulmates in real life, but it’s nice to get to believe in this fictional world that they are just made for each other.

BESIDES Bellarke, what character or pairing do you like best on t100? My favorite character besides Bellarke is John Murphy. His arc has been BY FAR the best on this show, going from that little shit in S1 to this “asshole we love” in the middle to now a true hero in this final season. And through it all Richard Harmon has been amazing to watch on screen.

My favorite pairing besides Bellarke is Linctavia. Yes, that ship is problematic in a lot of ways, but I still loved their dynamic. Lincoln helped Octavia navigate this new world that she was so desperate to be apart of while being mindful of her safety. And I thought they were a good match — he helped tame her fire without putting it out, and she helped challenge the way he was raised. Given time, I think they could have become one of the most stable and loving relationships on t100. Of course, that couldn’t happen because Jason needed Bell’s actions in 3A to have heartbreaking consequences, O to spiral for her own character journey, and whatever mess happened off-screen between Ricky and him. But they still remain my favorite ship aside from Bellarke.

Why did you decide to start writing for bellarkefic-for-blm? The second I saw that Sam was planning on doing this, I reached out to ask how I could help/write/be involved. The BLM movement is so important, and this is an amazing way for me to contribute while pursuing my passions. It’s a way for the fandom to get involved and do something good. And ultimately, this helps organizations that need donations. Shameless plug for everyone to please go check out the Bellarke Fic for BLM page — check out the many amazing writers and artists we have participating, and send in prompts. Most of us are allowing WIP chapter update requests, and there are a number of us (myself included) who are matching donations made! No donation is too small, and you’ll be supporting a movement that is a necessity in the U.S. and beyond.

What’s your writing process like? My mind is literal chaos, so I plan and outline like hell in order to make sense of everything. When I get an idea for a fic, it goes on my Notion database. Within Notion, I write down my inspiration for the idea, and a pretty in-depth summary of where I want the fic to go — dialogue ideas, any feelings/emotions I want to invoke, literally just a brain dump of all my ideas. From there, I’ll arrange that brain dumb into an outline. If it’s a one-shot, I’ll generally write the whole thing in the Notion doc. But multi-chapter fics will get a checklist within Notion for me to keep track of progress, and I’ll actually write the fic in Google Docs. I generally start writing from the beginning of a story, but if I get stuck or have an idea for a later scene, the fact that I’ve outlined heavily allows me to jump around as ideas come to me. I’ll read each one-shot or chapter after I’m done to make sure it flows before publishing. I post chapters for my WIPs as I write them, which I should really stop doing. lol For my readers’ sakes, I should work ahead and publish on a schedule rather than making them wait for my slow ass to finish chapter to chapter. But right now, that’s my process!

What are some things you’d like to recommend? Oh goodness, too many fics to possibly name. Instead, I’ll link to my AO3 rec bookmarks (which isn’t all-inclusive of the amazing fics I’ve read in this fandom, but it’s got some good favs in there) and shout out all of our awesome Bellarke Fic for BLM writers. Y’all should check out their work (and send in prompts)!

Where’s the best place to find you (twitter? tumblr?) I’m @changingthefairy-tale on Tumblr and @changingthefairy_tale on AO3! My ask box is always open for anyone who wants to scream about the show, ask about specs, talk about my fics, etc. Come say hey!

#bellarkefic for blm #bellamy blake #clarke griffin #john murphy #bellarke #bellarkefic for blm interviews

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ceallachs · 4 years ago

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thank you.

This announcement is a little overdue, but I’ve gained over 1k followers on this blog! 🥳🥳🥳

I actually passed this milestone a while ago. Life has just been getting to me with so much to do that I can only manage a couple of drawings at a time. So I don’t have anything special other than my heartfelt thanks and some words. Under this post, I address a lot of things in regards to my art journey, fandoms, future plans with BakuTodo, and a lot of it is about AkaKuro.

So if you are interested, please read on. If you’re here just to check my art, thank you. Thank you for taking the time to let my work be part of your day and for your support. ^^

I know I was mostly only posting KnB/AkaKuro stuff until only a couple months ago, so the change from KnB to BNHA was pretty drastic and nerve-racking. I’ve been thinking of making the move as early as December 2019, but I hesitated for the longest time. As someone who has built their fandom “identity” around AkaKuro and KnB, making that move to another fandom, to another OTP even, may have come as a surprise to a lot of my old followers and friends. I do not keep track of every individual followers I get; surely some have left, or maybe some still stick around to see if I will get back to AkaKuro again, one day.

Interests are fleeting and people change constantly. In a time where people always jump onto the next big thing to another in a short span of time, I can say that I have a pretty good streak of committing to my main fandoms. My first online fandom lasted for seven years. The next was KnB, and this one lasted for nine years.

I was a teenager when I joined the KnB fandom and now I’m in my 20s. I still love AkaKuro with all my heart; it will always be a big part of who I am, but I have to admit at some point where I am now in life, and I will say I have already moved on.

This is an excerpt from my Twitter that I thought I should also address here because it sums up everything I’ve wanted to say. I’ve made some major tweaks and edits and added more things to properly articulate my feelings about the matter. I hope it is understandable enough.

It started in November.

In the first few months of dabbling with BakuTodo, I was very, very scared. I was worried because I was such a prominent person for the AkaKuro fandom; I hosted and held events for years, I stayed "active" for AkaKuro even five years after KnB had ended. I wrote fics, drew stuff, promoted every AkaKuro thing I can even when all my AkaKuro friends have moved on. I have so much AkaKuro merch and doujins because it had taken over my life that prominently.

So after all of that, I didn't know what would happen with a change because I felt like I was already in too deep to move on now. I wasn't sure if I could (should) like anything else, or if I was even allowed to like something else as deeply as AkaKuro without letting people down.

Eventually I just gave in three months later and became more vocal about this new interest. I lost followers which was expected, even those whose handles that became very familiar to me because they actively interacted with me about AkaKuro and KnB before. It stung but not as badly as I thought it would. The change was nice; I felt free.

I think it's only now that I've become comfortable to admit all this in public. To admit my worries, to admit that I've liked a ship more than AkaKuro for a while, to admit that the weight of AkaKuro being prominently tied to my name like an identity has become too heavy a burden to bear. I still do love AkaKuro, it's a part of my life that will never change, I think. But it's also not my main source of happiness nor inspiration anymore, and I hope that, it's okay for me to feel that way now that I've said it out loud.

It's strange to explain, but I think it's because I've dedicated a huge chunk of my life to AkaKuro that I think I've already exhausted all I have to give for it. Nine years of being solely dedicated to one ship is a long time, you have to admit. It's not like my other ships that are more casual, so that burst of excitement will always be present when it gets brought up once in a while. With AkaKuro, my feelings for it have significantly mellowed down, like a precious memory now tucked away in a special place in my heart.

A friend told me that it's okay to move on, and that somewhere down the line AkaKuro will become something I'll look back on fondly even though bittersweet. I have no doubts that'll be the case. But it's also nice to finally just be honest and set myself free.

I've also been feeling very guilty of promising an AkaKuro zine last December and now... it is just the last thing on my mind. I have so much more I want to do that is no longer about AkaKuro, and I shouldn’t force myself to do this zine out of obligation. But if ever someone else were to host an AkaKuro zine, I will support it and even participate if the timing is right.

About my future plans, I don’t think I will be drawing KnB again out of leisure (maybe for commissions, or projects, etc). I still have a lot of unfinished and unreleased KnB fanmerch though (an AkaKuro yukata standee and Carnival AkaKuro standee, and maybe a re-release of some old charms for the last time), so that may be the last of my contribution to this ship out of my own volition for a while. It would be a waste to scrap them.

Right now, all my love and inspiration for anything creative and self-indulgent is being driven by BakuTodo and it’s the best feeling I’ve had in a long time. I want to draw more about them; I have long list of ideas I’m excited to get into. Not only that, my love for writing was reawakened too, and I hope to also post fics about them along with my art.

I still love AkaKuro, and people can still talk to me about AkaKuro, but it is definitely not my priority ship anymore. Who knows if I'll come back to it again, but for right now, I hope everyone will be okay with the change. And if not, that's okay too and I expected it, I also put this out here to give the go signal if anyone wants to unfollow or not. I know there are people who only follow for specific content, and I've come to terms with myself to be okay with this happening with me.

Just know I'm happy where I am. I'm grateful to friends and acquaintances who still stick around to support me even after this, and I also understand if some don’t. I hope those who leave will find another content creator to cater to their needs. Thanks for giving me a chance. ^^

I hope this clears up the kind of content to be expected from me from now on. I will never forget my time in the KnB fandom because this is where it all started for me. I will also be slowly getting rid of more AkaKuro doujins, fanmerch, and official merch collection once the lockdown situation eases up. Hopefully someone else will find homes for them.

Tumblr is not my main social media but I still do like the format of blogging here, so I stay to cross-post my art from Twitter and Instagram.

From exclusively drawing cheebs, I’m now also drawing non-cheebs and I’m having a lot of fun. My art is far from perfect and that’s okay. As someone who gave up on art for nine years, being able to do it again now, sharing and posting my art and actually be happy about it is more than enough for me. I’m not striving for perfection, I know where my level is at. Drawing and writing are both hobbies I hold dear -- a creative outlet for me to express my love for what I’m currently passionate about and what makes me happy. I really appreciate it if you stay with me for this ride because I know I’ve come a long way these past 2-3 years.

To anyone who views my art, likes and reblogs, leaves nice comments and all, I hope you know that I appreciate you a lot. I rarely get messages on here, but I do read tags on my posts often, and going through them always puts a smile on my face to know that I have an audience here who genuinely likes what I do.

There isn’t much more for me to say here so I think that will be all. Again, thank you for 1k+ followers! If I can make even just a single person happy with my art, whether you’re new here or just dropping by or have been following me for a long time, I’ll be content. And if I can make someone like BakuTodo too through how I portray them, that’d be even more amazing. ^^

Until next time. 💖

#chii speaks #akakuro

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circumstellars · 4 years ago

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Fic Writer Interview

Tagged by: @under-the-shady-tree (aw thanks, even tho I don’t write much and don’t have much to offer!)

Name(s): Stellar

Fandom(s): The Umbrella Academy

Where you post: just on ao3 like everyone else m8 (but I posted a couple on tumblr first - they were only ficlets)

Most Popular One Shot (by kudos): The Light from the Other Room

Most Popular Multi-Chapter (by kudos): I have 0 time or mental capacity for multi-chap, and haven’t done one since I was a kid. Never say never, I guess, but certainly not right now.

Favorite story you’ve written so far: I dunno, they’re all ok I guess? Maybe Aphonia, I really don’t think Luther whump with bonus family angst gets the loving it well deserves in this god forsaken fandom.

Fic you were nervous to post: All of them, but the 2 PWPs ofc x 1000, because even if you feel fine about it at first, if no one finds it hot or interesting then it makes you the weirdo smh. I’m not a casual enough writer to pull smut off well, I’m so wordy and flowery, and I’m always like ‘man everyone is gonna think I’m a total virgin’ shshshshshk which sounds ridiculous for a jaded, exhausted adult knocking on 30′s door to think (still).

How do you choose your titles?: Dunno, I pick themes from the piece, or a phrase or quote that I feel encompasses whatever feeling it is I wanted to convey with the fic. Like many others, music is an inspiration for some, it’s hard not to make the connection!

Do you outline?: Yes, but loosely. I should be better at it, but in the few times I’ve managed to sit down and spit something out, if I don’t actually start writing and just watch where it goes on its own, it may just end up going nowhere at all.

Complete: All of them? I only have written ficlets and one-shots.

In-Progress: All the ideas, none of the lack of ADHD, full time college, or job. It’s not as easy to multitask writing as it is with my other creative outlets, I have to commit all my brain power to it when I do it, and I’m not afforded that luxury rn.

Coming soon/not yet started: I have 1 wip, that I wish I had the time to look at. the outline was the consequence of my and a couple friends just shooting the shit about Omegaverse tropes and one thing led to another... *vibrates*

Prompts?: Prompts actually help me. My personal experience with my ADHD is that no matter what it is, school, work, hobbies - the more open ended something is, the more difficult it is for me to get started, or finish. It’s not that I don’t have a million ideas of my own, I just can never settle them down and narrow it down enough - I just need someone to tell me something specific they want and suddenly I’m able to zone in and start hyperfocusing on the task. Part of it comes from the motivation to create for someone. I lose all energy to create if I can’t share it and hope someone gets enjoyment out of it. So prompts for anything I create, writing included, actually are quite welcome.

Upcoming work you’re most excited about: hahahahahahahaa :’) maybe one day, if I can rest, pls, but tbh, if I do get a break soon, my first stop will be to read tons of fic first thing. I find that to be my priority. I miss reading. - @taakotuesday69 @melivian @spikeymarshmallows @talkingcinemalight @ashayathyla2 I mean so many of you write fic, all more so than I do! There’s tons more, so if you’re a fic writer and would like to do this, consider yourself tagged!

#my nonsense #tag games #stellar answers #mywriting #myworks

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husbandograveyard · 4 years ago

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Matchup for @lirulee

Hi!! First of all, congrats on the milestone!!!✨ And thx for taking the time to read and answer to all this! (I hope it’s not too much) My match up i want it to be for One Piece!😍

I’m a 30 y/o straight fem! I’m a taurus and an ENFJ! I’m short and curvy, blue/green eyes with pale skin and freckles and dark blonde hair. I dress a mix of classy and girly (flower patterns, etc) but always comfortable. I’m a musician, mainly a singer, but i also play the piano and guitar, i also love anything artistic or crafty (eventhough i’m not very good at it). I love to cook (and eat), boardgames and videogames, dnd… I’m a nerd, basically. I’m very social (eventhough i can be awkward and shy at first) so i love to just hang out with some friends driking tea and chatting all afternoon. I also studied psychology.

A fun thing about myself could be that sometimes i make up a blatant lie but i make it sound very plausible, and i push it as far as i can to see how far they believe me (and see the expression on their faces while they process what i’m saying), but i always tell it’s a lie right after cos i can’t stand the idea of lying, i’d feel terrible. Also, it’s always mundane things, never anything serious, and it never affects that person, they’re more like made up facts. I’m not mean, i promise 😭

I’m insecure about my body and my social skills, i’m a worrier too and i tend to doubt myself but i’m also very determined. I’m also a bit of a control freak but i’m learning to be more chill. I guess my biggest fear is feeling apathy for life again, i’m very very lively and cheerful and for a few years i felt apathy and it was killing me, so i fear falling into that again, but that makes me work more against it so i won’t 💪✨

Favourites: i’m a vegetarian so even if i love some kind of food i no longer eat it, that aside i really really love tomatos, a lot. I also really like salads? I know it can be quite basic, but there’s so many options with them… Also popcorn!! 😍

Favourite colors are pink and teal, but i feel bad for the other colors if i choose a favourite 🤣 I love sloths and any kind of felines, i also really like lizards! I don’t have a favourite music genre, i can go from metal to britney spears in a sec.

My dream is to be a great singer, i don’t care about fame, but i’d like to be able to sing as much as i want and the hardest songs. I’d love to make the world a better place and help others with my music, i’m a bit of an idealist and a dreamer 🤣

Well, thanks again for reading aaaaaall that, i feel like an awful person tbh but i didn’t know what to cut (😓),and thanks for my match up! I will love it 🥰

I slipped and this one became quite long actually! I hope you enjoy this one Liru, I match you with....

OTP: Bartolomeo

Barto’s enthusiasm, your pranks and just your general bubbly attitudes that are not afraid to mess with people make you a dynamic duo that is absolutely feared and loved everywhere. Whenever people see you walking up to them they already know that they’re either going to have a great afternoon, or going to be left in embarrassment.

When it comes to being an artist, Barto is not necessarily very musically inclined, but you can bet that he’s your absolute biggest fan! He will admire everything you do and even if you miss a note, he’s already on the floor with heart eyes and tears streaming over his face cause he cannot believe such a sweet angel is his partner!

Having such a fanboy as a boyfriend, putting you on a pedestal every single day, for everything that you do, means wonders for your confidence. Even on bad days, Barto is full of admiration, and after a while you cannot help but believe all the positive things he says with his puppy eyes and genuine tones.

Barto likes taking you outside to experience life, to make sure you never revert back into that apathy. He wants you to feel the sun on your face, smell flowers and the salt of the sea, feel rain on your skin, shiver in the cold as you walk through fresh snow crisp beneath your feet. Barto wants to show you every date just how beautiful the world is, and how his world is even better with you in it!

His love language is words of affirmation, but he’ll also bring you gifts from travels whenever you cannot come along. Usually they’re quite obscure but cute things that only the two of you can understand the significance of.

Finally, you two have different things to geek out over, but you can spend hours listening to the other gush over their hobbies. You two are two nerds that are just as happy with an elaborate date night where everyone in the restaurant shoots you strange looks because of the conversation topics, as with a movie night indoors with your favorite snacks and all kinds of nerd-theories to share as well as cuddles!

Runner up: Shanks

Another extrovert who will put you on a pedestal and make you feel like the queen you are! Shanks is another one who will compliment all your insecurities into oblivion, nowhere to be seen anymore. Your social skills help you find a perfect place in his crew.

Shanks is your biggest fan when it comes to all your creative outlets, showering you in compliments and loving every single thing you create. He likes staying indoor with you as you are busy with your hobbies and just admire the view.

Why he’s not your #1 match: Shanks unfortunately cannot spend as much time with you as Barto would and while you would go on similar adventures, they would just not be as frequent and they would include more potential danger. You need to be out and about and experiencing things, not be on edge the entire time that people will come for either of your heads.

BrOTP: Brook

Two master-musicians together, of course! You bond over all your instruments, songs and often perform and practise together. Brook is more than willing to join you in some of your pranks so you can pretend to have found a skeleton or something else similar, just to spook other people.

Brook is a great uplifting friend! He is interested in all your nerdy hobbies and you can spend hours putting interesting new twists on the games you already play. Brook knows a way to make everything exciting, so even when you’re feeling a little down and apathic, he’ll just grab you by the hand and get you involved.

There is never a boring day in your life with this tall skeleton friend! And with his age, he also has plenty of wisdom to share whenever you need advice on anything!

#one piece #matchup #one piece matchup #naku no matchups #500 followers event

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shelbyfm · 5 years ago

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sorry this is late babes ! i got busier than i thought i was going to so without further ado i’ll put the cliff notes version of sy shelby’s starling existence under the cut and you know what to do from there ! 🖤 but if you’re gonna slide into my dms do it on scarlet bc that’s where i am on mobile !

jack gilinsky. cismale. he/his. ／ josiah shelby just pulled up blasting st tropez by post malone — that song is so them ! you know, for a twenty - four year old center fielder for the los angeles dodgers, i’ve heard they’re really -abrasive, but that they make up for it by being so +audacious. if i had to choose three things to describe them, i’d probably say the creak of a well - worn leather glove, shotgunning another cheap beer just to feel alive, and the taste of copper on your tongue. here’s to hoping they don’t cause too much trouble !

. ⊹ ┈ › 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐓𝐒 .

NAME : josiah david shelby .

BREAKDOWN : josiah ( god supports , heals ) david ( beloved )

NICKNAMES : sy , jd , josie ( finn only tbh ) , shelbz , shel-bay , bay .

AGE : twenty - four .

BIRTHDAY : november twenty - third .

ZODIAC : scorpio & sagittarius cusp .

GENDER : male .

PRONOUNS : he / him .

NATIONALITY : american .

ETHNICITY : english , french , italian .

HOGWARTS HOUSE : hufflepuff .

MBTI : estp ( the persuader )

INSPIRATIONS : lucas scott ( one tree hill ) , adam parrish ( the raven cycle ) , nick miller ( new girl ) , ron swanson and andy dwyer ( parks & rec ) , adam groff ( sex education ) .

HOBBIES / SPECIAL SKILLS : baseball , procrastination , midnight snacks , getting the last word , saucy brow lifts , sleeping in , running away from his problems , hitting first and asking questions later , developing newer and more creative defense mechanisms .

VICES ; acerbic , brash , careless , cataclysmic , defiant , duplicitous , destructive , greedy , ignorant , meddlesome , narcissistic , obnoxious , provocative , reckless , selfish , troublesome , vain , volatile , wanton .

VIRTUES : athletic , challenging , charismatic , curious , debonair , forthright , fun - loving , intrepid , invulnerable , jocular , loves his sister so much he could die , loyal , passionate , playful , protective , witty .

PINTEREST : xx

˚ . ⊹ ┈ › 𝐁𝐀𝐂𝐊𝐆𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐃 .

sy was born poorer than poor and spent his formative years watching his grandmother do her very best to keep the dust from coating everything in their ramshackle little trailer in oklahoma .

his mother wasn’t around much . after running away to chase after one band or another and coming home with her waistline significantly thickened , she didn’t much take to motherhood , not when running off to the nearest dive bar or casino to spend whatever meager paycheck she could scrounge up was just so tempting .

in fact , sy’s memories of her are often fleeting . she was a whirlwind of a woman , beautiful despite the hard life she led , but in and out the door too fast for him to ever really get to know her . and after some of his grandmother’s jewelry ended up in the pawn shop twenty miles up the road she didn’t come around the house anymore when she found the locks changed .

sy’s grandmother , affectionately known as nan , did her best to raise her grandson better than she had raised her daughter . though truth be told , the practice wasn’t much different , his mother had just been a bit of a bad seed .

religion and discipline were a staple and so every sunday found the pair walking to the church in their parish to give thanks and receive the blessing , a tradition that sy hasn’t kept up with since her death but i’m getting ahead of myself .

his nan made a modest living for where they lived , she wasn’t spoiling the boy but it was enough to put food on the table and get them to and from where they needed to go .

he had a few close friends in the neighborhood and they usually got together in the evenings to play whatever games they could , sometimes soccer with a ball that looked like you could put your foot through it , or basketball on the single hoop with no net that was somehow still standing in the local “ park ” . summers were spent walking down to the pond that passed for a swimming hole to get some sort of relief from the heat .

he picked up a job at one of the local motor shops to help with the bills , though his nan insisted he spend his time working on his schoolwork first . he’d still slip a portion of what he came home with into her purse when she wasn’t looking .

he played sports in school , their community doing what they could to scrounge up funds for a ramshackle team for each sport . he primarily ran track and cross country ( in a uniform that looked like it was straight out of an 80′s movie and felt like it too ) . he was a decent hurdler and the fact that he usually walked everywhere he needed to get gave his stamina a certain edge on the kids who were better off . but his true passion was baseball . sy could write poetry about the diamond , and most of the assignments he managed to turn in involved the sport somehow . ( he almost got caught cheating once when he turned in a paper that wasn’t about it but he’s always been lucky af )

their school team wasn’t anything special . they played with heart and had fun doing it but they were never going to make it to state with nothing short of a miracle even though it was clear sy ( and a couple of his buddies ) had the potential to be more than just has - beens who got stuck living in their hometown for the rest of their lives . during sy’s eighth grade year , his junior high team made a pretty valiant push and made it to the regional championship but they were simply out - spent by some of the other teams and came home disappointed .

someone must have recognized sy though , because a few weeks later a letter arrived from one of the elite baseball camps in the country stating that he had been sponsored to attend for the summer . his friends were excited for him and it was probably the best summer of his life , but tensions rapidly grew sour when he returned home , after all , none of them had been granted such an opportunity and they wondered what made him so special where they weren’t .

it certainly didn’t help that he got home and noticed their trailer was a little refurbished , they had a new ( ish ) television and a cable antenna on the roof without the pieces of foil sy had stuck to it at an attempt for better service . and then little gifts started to arrive here and there , new cleats , a better glove , all things with the sheen of wealth attached to them and all in the name of this new sponsor he seemed to have attracted . it didn’t go over well with his friends and he could see the jealous glint in their eyes which led sy to hide away the new treasures , or take them out back and absolutely destroy that gleam that came with new gear .

high school was not a time he wanted to spend ostracized , especially when everyone in town always looked back on it like it was the golden time of their youth before they settled down into the daily grind of adulthood . he was nothing short of angry and miserable , his loneliness that festered into rage finding a nice outlet in smashing his fists into the noses of whoever crossed his path or looked at him wrong .

it was around that time that a girl showed up on his doorstep , all knees and elbows and with a big smile insisting she was his sister . judging from the own sparkly state of her attire , sy managed to put two and two together as to just who his new sponsor was and promptly shut the door in her face . ( the fact that his mother had suddenly come out of the woodwork and ran into him around town on occasion to ask for money was another clue . she could sniff out money anywhere )

finnley buchanan was a revelation to him . persistent to the extent of climbing in through his window to press her point home until sy was forced to accept that this nonsense story she was spinning about his father and her mother had a certain ring of truth to it . he didn’t want a new family , he was content in his small town with his nan and his friends and everything would go back to normal just as soon as he tossed all his shiny new stuff in the trash .

his nan wasn’t having it , plain and simple . she wasn’t going to force him to reconcile with a father he had never known , but she certainly wasn’t going to allow him to pass up an opportunity to get out of their tiny little town . and so sy kept going to those baseball camps every year , and after keeping in touch with his new sister to a point where he was forced to accept the unlimited texting plan she forced upon him just so his nan would stop good naturedly grumbling about the amount of time he spent tying up their landline .

he’d spend a few weeks a year with her family , a holiday here and there , his eyes almost falling out of his eyes the first time he walked into a house with an honest to god foyer . he didn’t exactly see eye to eye with his new - found father and step mother and they didn’t seem to want to get to know him much beyond tossing money at a problem to solve it ( not that he allowed them to really know him )

he didn’t even accept their money for college , stubbornly insisting on getting in on his own merit . and thus shipped himself of to north carolina upon accepting a scholarship . the guitar skills he’d picked up in his lazy weeks spent with the buchanans and his classic good looks made him immensely popular which didn’t bode well for the state of his ego as we know it . between classes he managed to further perfect the art of binge drinking and beer pong and with his scholarship only covering tuition and board , he found himself employing his fists at night to earn some cash for incidentals . something that very nearly got him kicked out of school when he showed up to practice with a split lip and bruised knuckles a few times too many .

but luck was on his side and he was drafted after his sophomore year before they could start a more thorough investigation into his extra - extra - curriculars .

sy spent about a year working his way around the farm system of the minors while they tried to refine his issues before getting called up to play for the baltimore orioles . he played for them for about a year but after a run - in with one of the batting coaches that was rather hush hush he was unceremoniously traded to the los angeles dodgers .

˚ . ⊹ ┈ › 𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐎𝐍𝐀𝐋𝐈𝐓𝐘 .

being a cusp baby, he kind of bounces back and forth between his moods . most of the time he’s all jokes and sarcasm . but catch him at the right time and he can be broody AF .

he is a lot smarter than he looks , but that’s an incredibly well kept secret because on the outside he is a Professional Idiot.

makes the worst decisions i have ever seen anyone make ever . highly impulsive and should never be allowed to give someone any sort of advice .

unless you’re asking what to put in your solo cup or if you’re craving a midnight snack . then he is 10 / 10 your guy .

he is incredibly loyal , so long as it serves his purpose . because at the end of the day he’s still an impulsive idiot and that devil on his shoulder made the angel tap out years ago .

bought his nan a new house with his signing bonus and sent her money to take care of her with what he had but since her death he’s doing his best to spend it on the dumbest shit possible and acting out in one way or another because he’s still a child .

tldr : he’s a piece of shit

˚ . ⊹ ┈ › 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐍𝐄𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒 .

just going to add a little disclaimer that i am the biggest hoe for anything angsty and painful . i also love love love when people slide into my dms with a hc or two .

𝐞𝐱 - 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬 ; for whatever reason there was a huge falling out and now things are just super awkward . half the time at parties they’re just on opposite sides of the room mean mugging each other until booze and tempers flare .

𝐟𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 ; these two were never supposed to be a thing . in fact , before this past summer they hardly ever spoke and when they did the discourse wasn’t exactly pleasant . but there’s a fine line between love and hate and all it took was a couple of drinks before the dynamic took a turn .

𝐞𝐱𝐞𝐬 ; i’d sell my soul for something that’s just angsty and messy . maybe they were at the point of saying the l word .

𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐩𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 ; all that sneaking around , taking the back doors in and out of places . meeting up in darkened corners 👌 👌 👌 that’s that shit i do like

𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 ; i’m such a sucker for a good bromance or two where the gc is just filled with memes and dragging each other up and down the wall . but at the end of the day they’re you’re boys and no one else can talk shit about them but you

𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐮𝐬𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐬 ; a fwb here and there , the odd one night stand , someone who you just look at and want to punch them in the face for some inexplicable reason , an unrequited crush ( on either side )

#i think i just wrote the longest cliffs notes edition known to mankind #excess:intro

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boystownhq · 5 years ago

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[ R-E-S-P-E-C-T Find Out What It Means To Me. On Communication! ]

Recently, I’ve been noticing a trend of people communicating out of character in the vaguest way possible, or alternatively being aggressive to the point of turning people off. I’m here to talk about the happy medium that helps us communicate our wants, goals, and limits. And to remind everyone of a few key things to always keep in mind when writing with other people in a group setting.

There’s also plotting and letting go of plots. Sometimes when you reach out to people, you’re really excited about a plot, and when it starts to play out, things go awry, and it creates a conflict that becomes difficult to deal with IC and we turn to OOC solutions. Character chemistry changes sometimes, or sometimes our writing styles don’t match. That’s OKAY! If you’re not feeling it, all it takes is a quick message. Something like:

YES ✓ “Hey, I’m not really feeling this plot/thread and would like to drop it. Thanks.”

NO ✘ Immediate unfollow and/or block.

Dropping threads/plots/etc does NOT give anyone the right to treat your fellow writers poorly. Being short with people and getting upset over in-character interactions is not the way to go. IC should never cross over into OOC, and we need to take a step back and really think about what we’re actually upset about. Be concise and specific when you message each other so nothing’s really left up in the air. Please remember that behind each character is a real, imperfect person using this roleplay as a creative outlet. Be patient with each other, avoid taking things personally, and if you can’t mesh well out of character, it’s easy to just bow out of a conversation with common courtesy and leave each other alone before things escalate. I’m going to go over a few points I think we need a refresher on.

Brace yourself, this is a long read, but worth it!

Consent: ALWAYS check in with your RP partners and make sure it’s okay to do something before just writing it, however insignificant it might seem to you. Please do not godmode dialogue, actions, or extensions of said characters (pets, children, parents, or other NPCs they’ve made) unless you’ve asked for permission. When in doubt, ASK to make sure it’s okay!

TAGS and Triggers: Please remember that a character’s actions and viewpoints do NOT reflect the actions and viewpoints of the writer. A little louder for those in the back: IC =/= OOC. We’re in a roleplay with a variety of characters that deal with things like infidelity, internalized homophobia, crime, sex negativity, sex positivity, family issues, race issues, gender norms, gender fluidity and other issues that affect people in the LGBT and POC communities every day. All we ask is that everyone portray these issues respectfully and if you don’t know how to, then please do not attempt to until you’re more educated. Nobody wants to read a mockery of issues we deal with on the daily in real life. While we love seeing diversity, you do NOT need to write about deeper issues to make your character interesting. That being said, don’t take it upon yourself to play blog police. Come to the admin if you see something that’s a cause for concern, and keep in mind that you do NOT have to interact with every character in the RP. We have a list of triggers, please tag them accordingly. As much as we all love seeing steamy aesthetics and faceclaim posts on the dash, please tag NSFW accordingly. Need something added to the list? Please reach out to the admin so we can add it!

SMUT: Sometimes, people bring in FCs that we REALLY like! And maybe you wanna write your character and that character getting together, but consider this: maybe that person doesn’t want to jump right into smut. It can come off as fetishizing if that’s the only thing you ever want to plot or write about. People do NOT owe you an explanation as to why they won’t write smut. Respect that. If your character is aggressively pushing a sexual plot and you are asked to stop OOC, then you need to full-stop. Sex is a sensitive subject, whether you think so or not, and we respect everyone’s boundaries here. We strive for a safe space to write IC and OOC. That doesn’t mean don’t write smut ever, just have full, explicit CONSENT. It’s that easy! Don’t be pushy or borderline creepy about it, because that’s the surefire best way to get unfollowed. Have a question? Come to the admin! You don’t have to tag NSFW, but you can if it’s getting extremely graphic, just out of courtesy.

Plotting: Are you reaching out to plot with someone? Have some ideas ready, don’t rely on the other party to come up with all the ideas. Is someone reaching out to you? Make an effort to bring something to the table, but if you feel pressured into coming up with a plot all on your own, it’s okay to decline if you’re not feeling it. Need help coming up with stuff? Reach out to us! We can help. Just don’t reach out to your peers, say you want to plot, and never come up with a starter or anything, then come back time and again asking for ideas when the other person still doesn’t have any. Not only is that annoying, it’s off-putting and indicative that the rp will rely on one person for the most part. Not cute!

Inclusivity: Don’t be afraid of branching out. Everyone likes writing with friends, and that’s a given, but make a conscious effort to reply to open starters. I understand sometimes people are nervous, but that’s something we need to work through. If you’re nervous approaching someone, consider that they might be nervous to approach, too. Don’t make assumptions about people based on what you see alone. Some people gravitate to certain characters, but that doesn’t mean they won’t interact with you. If I had a nickel for how many times people assume my characters won’t want to interact with theirs when that’s not true at all, I’d have a lot of nickels! Open starters are the best way to get a feel for a character. Be creative in your interactions and the way you invite other characters to interact with yours through starters for best results.

YES ✓ “Hey, a starter from this character I haven’t interacted with, let’s gooo!” NO ✘ Ignore starters because you think they only bubble rp and won’t reply to you. (Open starters are open for a reason!)

Respect Time and Muse: Sometimes, people have muse for certain threads, certain characters, and won’t always get to every single reply they owe. If you feel like there is a problem, too much time has passed, please approach that person because it’s likely they missed a response. Tumblr activity feed can be a little weird, and not everyone uses thread trackers. That’s okay! Again, this is a hobby. That being said, don’t agree to plot if you don’t see yourself following through, and please don’t disregard threads you have with other people. That’s frustrating, and you wouldn’t want the same done to you. Some people might be on sporadically throughout the day, or on for a brief time at night, or even be on all day! Either way, they don’t owe you an explanation as to how they’re using their free time. If it gets to the point where anyone is feeling pigeonholed in a plot, it’s affecting your ability to roleplay your character, and you’ve tried communicating, then reach out to us and we’ll help. Everyone’s got the right to write what they enjoy and progress their character’s development.

He Said She Said: Did you hear something from a third party about a person and now refuse to interact with them IC or OOC because of it? You should probably take a step back and ask yourself if it’s actually true or just hearsay just because someone else didn’t like them for whatever reason. A lot of us have similar or same aliases, but we’re not all the same people. If someone personally does something to you, if you SEE certain behavior, by all means bring it to the admin’s attention. But please don’t spread rumors or buy into unsubstantiated claims. That can be more damaging than you realize. Again, we’re all real people on the other side of the screen. What if it was you being talked about?

Unfollowing vs Blocking: Look, we get it. You’re not gonna mesh with everyone. Sometimes people won’t get a hint, or do things that you just do not agree with fundamentally on an OOC level. We have a no blocking rule because we don’t want anyone feeling left out. If you wish to unfollow a character, that’s not optimal, but allowed, but please respectfully let that mun know so they don’t continue to try interacting. If you have been asked to stop interacting, please respect that so it doesn’t HAVE to escalate to admin intervention. That being said, we are here to help and help keep the peace between everyone, so do reach out to us for any reason. Don’t block people. If it does escalate, reach out to the admin so we can step in. If you want to unfollow someone, be sure it’s not solely because of IC actions.

TL;DR: COMMUNICATE OOC and be respectful to your fellow writers. At the end of the day, nobody wants to feel ignored, disrespected, or passed over, so please don’t be the reason why somebody feels this way. Be inclusive as much as you can, but respect that you won’t mesh with everyone. Don’t spread false rumors. Character chemistry, writing style, or content will vary from character to character and mun to mun. If you have any questions at all, the admin team is here to help! But it’s not that deep, Jay, it’s just RP. YEAH, WELL that’s not an excuse to treat people poorly. We can do better.

#boystooc #Jay This Is A Wendy's #🙏🙏🙏#🌿🌿🌿

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