#toss the negative stuff out of the window and focus on the positive things

[mysticalskunk]

worst part when someone accuses you for a long time that your writing tone is "aggressive" or "attacking" or "confronting" or "passive aggressive" or "too strong" you are scared that this is what others perceive you as so you rewrite everything ten times because you have no idea how you will come across despite not even using a "tone" in your writing because you are such a deadpan individual irl and you really just like helping and giving advice on certain stuff because it's fun and technically it's a silly thing to get upset over since only that one person kept saying that so when I asked other pals they are genuinely confused why i would even ask that

[retiredteabag]

What Happened To You?

Pairing: Kirishima x reader

Genre: angst with fluff :)

Word count: ...

Synopsis: You were a very positive girl, but when you have one of the hardest weeks ever and break down, who will be there to comfort you?

——————————————————————————

This week was so great, perfect justttttt perfect. <— that was sarcasm, it was most definitely not perfect. :(

Y/n was a very positive girl, not only for others but also herself, if she was struggling she would focus on the good. She would constantly go to bed and try to clear her mind, de-stress and not talk to others about negative stuff because she knew it would bring her down and make others worry. She would wake up everyday with the idea that no matter how busy she was, she could make the day great.

This week was no different, but as you know, time carries on, stress builds, it can wear a person down. Exams were coming up, y/n’s family had been really busy and although y/n loved her family she just couldn’t talk to them right now. All of her clothes looked weird these days, thank goodness UA had a uniform. Her classmates seemed so cheerful, she didn’t want to ruin that, so she carried on.

She would run everyday, it became a routine and it helped her cool off, today was just like other days. She tied her shoe laces, pulled up her hair, stretched a bit, and got on her way. She usually went the same route and she knew her way well.

She was running when she lost her footing. Ouch, what the heckkk, that never happens. She had twisted her ankle, she could tell, not from the pain but from the grossly worrying ✨crunch✨ she winced, couldn’t even feel the pain yet but she had fallen too. As she tumbled down the hill the earphones in her ears were ripped out, covering her head she came to a stop.

A large sigh escaped her mouth. ‘It’s alright, it’s okay’ is what she said to herself, she got up and it was very apparent that the adrenaline rushing through her body was basically gone now because her ankle hurt like hell. ‘It’s alright, it’s okay’ she mumbles to herself. She can walk, she can. It just ~really really hurts~ and she can push through.

She’s almost up the hill when she remembers her earphones weren’t with her. Another sigh. She turns and waddles down the hill again. ‘It’s okay, you can get you music going, make it back, get a hot shower, and then sweatpants. :) sweatpants.’ and that became her motivation.

She bends over, grunting loudly, much like a hippo, and gets her earphones, she’s plugging them in as she makes her way up the hill and starts her music.

?? Starts her music. ?? ‘What the hell?’ Pressing the volume button, she turns it up. Pauses and unpauses the music, checks her data, even wastes one of her precious skips on her free Spotify plan 😩 The next song was her favorite-most recent add. She unplugs her earbuds and presses play, the music loudly booms out.

‘It’s alright, it’s okay my earbuds are broken it’s cool it’s not like their expensive’ and she carries on. Tosses them in a public trash bun and makes her way back to the dorms. Smiling and waving at people on the street and ❤️boy does her foot hurt❤️ She’s just back at the building when she sees Momo.

“Hey y/n!! How was your run?” She smiles at you and you smile back.

“It was good, how are you?” Momo says she’s well and they go their separate ways. A very tiny part of y/n is sad that Momo didn’t notice the pain she was in, but then again, it’s not like she gave any evidence of the ache in her ankle. This was her fault.

She opened her dorm room door and closes it up. She sighs and takes off her shoes, her socks are sweaty and gross as she removes them (🥵) she had missed dinner and she groans in disappointment. Hopping in the shower she stretches her back.

Update: the water never got hot enough and she had run out of conditioner.

‘It’s okay some people don’t even use conditioner, it’s fine...’ she thinks, but her hair already felt uncomfortable. The idea of her favorite soft sweatpants she bought from the men’s section is all she wants right now, and luckily for her she had cleaned them that morning. Her ankle is crying at that point and for some reason her shins and thighs really hurt. Maybe she can text and ask Jirou to get them for her :D

“Heyy Jirou 👋🏻”

“What’s up?”

“Your dorms right by the washing machines 🥺 I was wondering if you could get my sweatpants from the farthest right machine, their pretty big and dark blue.”

“Oh y/n, the machines broke, the water pipes burst this morning 😯 I can’t believe you didn’t know, all the clothes were soaked”

“What? oh my gosh :( well it’s okay, how are you?”

It wasn’t okay, things were getting progressively harder for y/n to be positive and now she can’t even be comfy while she stresses out about exams. Y/n spent another hour and a half going over school stuff while icing her ankle. And she’s embarrassed to say she went through a few toilet paper squares whipping away her angry tears, her tissue box empty as it was also allergy season.

She went to bed stressed and sad. But she still went to bed with ‘it’s alright, it’s okay, tomorrow is a new day, I can do this’ her eyes closed and luckily got some shut eye.

She did not wake up from her alarm, nor the sun, nor a villain attack, no, it was the 🙂throbbing pain🙂 in her ankle. But heyyy it’s alright just choke down a few ibuprofen, probably some acetaminophen since she finished off her ibuprofen last night and God knows she doesn’t have the extra $$$ to buy name brand meds right now.

And dangggg did her legs hurt, she shimmies up her skirt and tucks her shirt in, she’s looking in the mirror as she ties her shoes when she notices her bruises, ya know the purple and yellow globs of skin all along her knees. Great.

It was hard to keep a positive mindset that day. She was really struggling to keep it up. And it wasn’t hard for others to tell. She smiles as she takes her seat in class, Ochaco immediately notices her bruises.

“Y/N WHAT HAPPENED?!” She wails, y/n shakes out a laugh sorta sound and shrugs,

“I don’t know, like they just come outta nowhere, it’s so weird, I probably got them on my run or in training.” She smiles at Ochako.

“Y/nnnnn” she wines, “you gotta be more carful!” And then she turns around to respond to iida calling her.

Y/n sighs, you were tired, unmotivated to even focus on the lesson, your normal happy vibe wasn’t there anymore and you were definitely not the only one who could tell.

Kirishima was a really observant guy, he knew from past tests how worked up you got over you’re studies but this didn’t seem like the same stress. You looked overworked and tired, not to mention the bruises, ᵂʰʸ ʷᵉʳᵉⁿ’ᵗ ʸᵒᵘ ᵗᵃᵏᶦⁿᵍ ᶜᵃʳᵉ ᵒᶠ ʸᵒᵘʳˢᵉˡᶠˀ :(

He spent most of the lesson focused on you, the frown on your face made his stomach hurt.

“Hey y/n! :D” Kirishima dances over to you.

Your face immediately brightens up, “Hey Kiri, how are you?”

“I’m doing well, I just wanted to check up with you.” He has a kind of concerned look on his face, a cute eye smile but his eyebrows furrow together.

Y/n pauses, but then smiles, “D’awe Kiri that’s so sweet, I’m doing well, thank you for asking”

Kirishima isn’t dumb, yeah he’s not the smartest book-wise, but he’s really good at reading people.

“Oh, okay, just making sure.” He’s disappointed and a little sad you didn’t confide in him. He rubs your shoulder and gives one last smile.

As he leaves your hand traces over the phantom chill of his lingering touch. For some reason his concern brings a tinge of tears to your eyes. ‘Geez get over yourself y/n’

In other news, your ankle was doing terribly 😁.

——————————————————————————

There’s a certain line for you, a certain line that if crossed you just can’t help but break down. At this point you were close, but not in the danger zone. You shoulda known better than to spent the night studying again.

You wake up feeling terribly rested but what did you expect? There was a noise at the window and you thought you were imagining it at first but it continued. The blinds screech open and you make a mental note to try to never provoke that noise this early ever again. But all thoughts leave you at the sight of a baby bird.

Laying on your window ledge is a baby bird, probably not a week old, there was nearly no fuzz on the innocent creature, definitely no wings yet.

Y/n is kicked into action. The baby was hurt, barely moving. Y/n’s tentative hands scoop the lil guy and he’s cold, shivering, and still as loud as ever, a strangled noise comes from y/n. She did not care if she was gonna be late, this bird was gonna die.

And this is the part I hate the most because there’s nothing, nothing she coulda done, nothing. And she just watches as the little bird wiggles slowly and then just stops. Her mind is as silent as ever and her lips are sealed, her eyes water and she doesn’t know what she’s supposed to do, just let it sit there? Does she bury it?

As tears roll of her cheeks she sets the little bird in an empty shoe box, she sets the box on the window sill and then she leaves.she leaves as if nothing just happened. She’s still taking it on okay? That was literally he most sporadic thing she’s ever done, there was no plan, no thought in that event, she just watched a creature die. ‘It was just a bird, it’s alright, its okay y/n’

But tears are still rolling off her cheeks and she knows it’s not just about the bird, it was about everything, not talking to her family, her friends, stress over school, her bad days piling up, it just crashed. She hid herself in the bathroom and washed her face with the sink water. There were no towels so she had to dry it off with tissue paper that stuck to her face. Her tears never stopped, though her eyes clenched painfully, and her hands kept rubbing and she kept taking those deep breaths it seemed that nothing helped and then she sniffled and then a choked squeak left her. Her eyes kept watering and her head ached. Her legs ached. Her bandages foot ached. Her heart ached. She cried loudly, she can’t remember the last time she cried audibly, but she’s gasping and wailing.

At some point she picks up her feet and splashes her face again, this time drying it with the bottom of her tucked shirt. Her eyes are red and swollen but if she walks into class with her hair and head down nobody would notice.

People noticed. She was late, Aizawa scolded her and she cleared her throat before apologizing. Nobody could tell yet as she took her seat. Froppy pokes her back from her desk,

“What happened, ribbit?”

Y/n clears her throat loudly and coughs a bit, she leans back and tilts her head, “I just slept in.” Her voice does ~not~ sound like her. And everyone can tell. Bakugou is staring and from the back of the room kirishima watches carefully again.

By the end of class y/n’s head is down and covered by her arms, her eyes are closed-the light only worsening her headache.

The girls whisper about her, nothing malicious, just about their worries, she wasn’t herself, y/n was a morning person, never late, never. She always greeted the class and today she sounded so distressed.

“Hey y/n, lets head to lunch, todays lesson was so boring I was just thinking about how hungry I was all lesson.” Ochacohad a smile on her face as she looked down at your sunken form, your head still on the table.

“Nah, Ochaco, I’m not too hungry today.” You mumble.

“You okay y/n? you seem kinda down.” She squats down to try to look at you.

You clear your throat and take a deep breath to fix your voice, “yeah I’m just tired is all no worries, you lift your head up and smile at her. Her face only grows more concerned at your swollen eyes. “O-oh okay, hang in there y/n we’re here for you.”

She walks sideways to share glances at the other girls and also look at you. They leave to the cafeteria and you scold yourself for worrying them. Everyone else is gone, you sigh and tug on your hair.

The noisy drag of rubber on stone fills the room and you flinch up, full attention. A chair drags it’s way in front of your desk, a mop of vibrant red hair clears your view. Oh. Well... that’s a thing.

“Hey.” He says

“Hey.” You say, trying to sound little congested as possible, but your nose is just so clogged and your throat is a bit scratchy. “We’re you not too hungry? You should still get something, I have somthing in my bag if you want- oh well maybe I don’t but I have some cash for a vending machine.” You spew out, he doesn’t respond.

He just looks at you, and he feels the guilt he felt yesterday once again, he should pressed kn more, her shoulda made sure you really were okay, he could tell you were upset yesterday but he shrugged it off and now you were pretending to not care and offer him snack money.

You had obviously been crying, why? It had to have been this morning, what happened, were you stressed again? He doubts you would’ve cried about sleeping in, so what was going on, why didn’t you confide in him? Did he make you uncomfortable?

“Y/n.”

“Yeah? What’s up?” You quickly answer, trying to clear the air and make it as little awkward as possible.

“What happened?” His eyes hone in on yours, his deep rooted compassion always shines through his eyes. “What’s wrong?” He asks quieter.

You would be lying if you said this didn’t make you want to cry again. “Ahh yeah I’m just so tired these days, but it’s really-“

“Nah” he breaks you off, “nah that’s not it, I’ve seen you tired, we’re classmates y/n, this isn’t like you.”

It stresses you out even more to have to talk about this and years are vèrÿ ćłôšē to spilling out. Nevertheless you mumble out, “what do you mean? It’s me, Kiri.” The pained smile you wear hurts him physically.

“No, no, y/n I can tell. What happened to you? Why are you so... sad?” He weighs his words, questions wether or not he should be saying anything at all. “You would light up a room, what happened? What made you like this?”

And bam. Wow kirishima, thanks, you have officially made y/n cry, do you feel good about yourself?

Tears slip over your cheeks and he doesn’t look up until they hit the desk. He pulls his legs together and suddenly is on his feet, “oh, oh no!!! Y/n I’m sorry, what’s wrong, hey, hey it’s okay.” Officially freaking out®

He dashes over to the back of the room to grab some tissues while he violably hits his head, ‘why did you say that??? What’s wrong with you? You made a girl cry!’ He internally yells at himself.

“Here.” He hands you some tissues and awkwardly rubs your back. “I’m sorry. I never meant to make you... upset.” His feet fiddle and his knee bobs on up and down with the pitter patter of his shoes.

“No, I’m sorry, I never meant to worry anyone, I want to go back to normal, this-“ you swallow, choking on air, “this week just, just sucks.”

“Hey.” He bends his knees and balances on the balls of his feet. At your eye level, he yanks your chair towards him, pulling you in so you’re facing him. “No, don’t apologize, I want it.”

What. The. Fwak. Is you saying kirishima?

“I want you to worry me, I mean I don’t enjoy worrying about you but I want you to be comfortable with me, and tell me when your stressed or bothered by something, or when you’re excited about something or when your sad about something, it’s not a burden you know? I want it, I want you to be close to me.” ̶L̶a̶y̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶i̶t̶ ̶o̶n̶ ̶t̶h̶i̶c̶k̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶r̶e̶ ̶a̶r̶e̶n̶’̶t̶ ̶w̶e̶

You just stare at each other, his eyes are dead serious, he doesn’t break eye contact for a second.

“Y/n?”

You look at him again, not having found your voice quite yet you simply nod.

“There is no pretending in friendship, in any relationship, y/n. We have to be honest with each other, you need to- to let others care about you, ya know? The girls were really worried, we all were, so when you feel like this you gotta tell us. Okay? Can you do that for me?”

And for the first time that week, it really was alright, it really was okay, and just like always, tomorrow was another day, and even though today wasn’t the best y/n now realized the incredible importance of her friendships, the increasing admiration for Kirishima and the growing hope for today’s tomorrow.

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(Unedited) I’m not the most happy with this, I wrote it so quick because my original writing of this was deleted suddenly and I had to rewrite it and I didn’t want to forget anything, anyway, I’ll make it better in the future, hope you enjoyed it, even just a little.

[writing-the-end]

LoL Chapter 15- Enemies or Allies

Masterpost

A Wizard Hermits tale (AU belongs to @theguardiansofredland )

Back in the capitol, Milliara, the hermits discover they aren’t the only ones who have entered the Chimaera’s Championship as a non-guild team. New faces with similar ideas, or new enemies to take on? 

Ecto belongs to @cooler-cactus-block

Red belongs to @theguardiansofredland

___________________________________________________

“Did you really register us as team STAR?” Grian mumbles, glaring over at Doc. They never should trust a puppet mage. “We’re the hermits, not some silly dodgeball team.” 

“They know we’re a guild as the hermits. A guild that isn’t legal. At least now they won’t be suspecting us.” Doc takes the scroll, passing it off to TFC. Milliara was busy, busier than he’s ever seen it. The championship brought people from all over Lairyon, here to see the best mages compete for glory, gold, and good times. “Come on, now that we’re checked in we can go to the accommodations.” 

“I was wondering why our packs were so light.” Mumbo hums. “I don’t have to carry my own bed and home.” 

“Thank the gods.” Tango breathes. He likes camping out with the other hermits, but having to carry the tents and bedrolls long distances is a pain. He hurries to catch up with Impulse and BDubs, chittering about what events they plan on doing. It feels weird, walking down the streets of Milliara after last time they were here. Welcomed back as a team, after Magistrate Dolios threw them out and told them to disband as a guild. Tango winces, remembering the cape in Dolios’s dark office. He’s not losing another guild, not like Impulse, Zedaph, and he has before. 

They round the corner, walking over a raised bridge that rises above a swamp canal, spotting the inn they were given. It’s made of old, weathered wood, almost no windows on the bottom floor. One window on the top floor is broken. The building looks to be leaning, only propped up by the chimney at this point. TFC shrugs. Better a roof over his head than sleeping in a tent. He marches towards the door, invoking the others to join him.

“Here we ar-” TFC is cut off as soon as he opens the door, heat blasting his face and hot magma  illuminating the tavern of the inn. Water splashes the group, followed by a shout. 

“Mitch! You’re gonna burn the whole town down!” A kipling yells, sending a wave over the lava and forcing it to cool. 

“Jerome said the wood was magic tempered.” Mitch shrugs, looking over at the large creature at the bar. Someone the hermits can only assume is Jerome, who shrugs and returns to his drink. “So long as it didn’t burn you, what’s the harm?” 

“You did almost burn these people.” The kipling waves behind him, pointing at the hermits. The group can only stand in shock and a bit of fright. It...wasn’t exactly the nicest inn in Milliara. Far from that, in fact. The tavern was small, dark, with the only light coming from a dying fireplace. Barstools were rickety, the one holding up the fuzzy beast hardly taking his massive size. Chairs were held together with glue, mismatched around each different table. A bartender cleans varying mugs, no set complete. Only six other people are in the tavern, including Mitch, Jerome, and the kipling. 

“Uhhh, hello?” Wels’s response is more of a question than a statement. “Are...are you competitors for the Chimaera’s Championship as well?”

“We were ssssstarting to think we were the only team that wasssss boarded up in the lossssserssss cabin.” Joe leaps back, alarmed as a talking snake slithers past him. The snake climbs up the cooled lava, curling up next to the fireplace. To the hermits’ surprise, the snake becomes a man, stretched out in front of the warmth. 

“Is that what this place is?” Doc grumbles, looking around. He’s stolen from beggers richer than this. 

Next to Jerome, one of the mages stands. A brown mop of hair frames a boisterous face, childish eyes hidden behind tinted glasses. “Don’t listen to my friends. They’re just a little hyper. I’m Sky, these idiots behind me are Quentin,” 

“Hey!” Quentin retorts to the idiot label, but Sky isn’t listening. 

“The hothead is Mitch, and his friend Jerome.” Sky points out the ginger haired flame mage, who’s doing his best to clean up the cooled magma. Lucky for him, he’s got the help of Jerome, who’s own earth magic handles the rock easily. “Ty is the snake.”

“I’m a basilisk, dude.” Ty sits up, eyes sharpening into a challenge for the gloved leader. 

“Still a snake, in a way. Whatever, there’s also Jason-” He points out the last person, reclined in a chair with his feet on the table. He winks and salutes hello, not getting up from his perch. “And...uh, where’s Ssundee?” 

“Last I saw him he was out in our room, tinkering with stuff.” Quentin nods to the stairs. 

Cleo furrows her eyebrows. “The window was broken open in one of the rooms above.” 

“Ah, so he’s out shopping.” Quentin sighs, stepping over Mitch and Jerome as they clean up and flopping down in a chair.

The hermits squeeze in, retrieving keys from the innkeeper. Groups pair up to find bedspace, their meager supplies tossed into their rooms before returning to the tavern floor. A few remain upstairs, taking the time to rest. 

Once he’s downstairs and settled, BDubs frowns, looking at his drink as he’s hit with the aftertaste. He knows a thing or two about ale, and this tastes like swill. “They really put us up in, like, the worst place possible.” 

“I think they did that to every team. You know, we aren’t quite as important to be a guild, to get the good accommodations.” Quentin mutters, pouring out his drink and watching it foam on the floor. Disgusting. “But you guys...you’re big. How’re you not a guild already?” 

“Let’s just say the magistrate doesn’t really like us.” Grian sighs, flopping across his chair in an awkward position. Surely not the way a chair was designed to be sat in. 

“Screw that guy.” Everyone looks up, quite surprised to hear Ty hiss out his words. To say such a negative thing about Magistrate Dolios, in the open. What if an arcane guard walked by? “He thinks he’s so high and mighty, so perfect. It’s annoying.” 

“Things...have changed since that man came to power.” Jerome adds. 

“That’s right, your kind lives much longer than most species.” Xisuma leans forward. 

“Mhhmm,” he scratches at the crown of his head, fur petting across fur. “Guilds aren’t what they used to be. Guilds used to be just groups of friends, or maybe organizations with likeminded interests. Anything could be a guild, anyone could be a guildmember. Now...now it’s a status symbol for the wealthy and powerful.” 

Xisuma glances around, seeing other hermits nodding. He itches to tell their fellow competitors their plan, but Doc’s red robotic eye keeps him silent. He knows that what they’re about to do is treason. No one else needs to know about it. They could rat them out, and then Dolios will have every reason to arrest them. 

“I’m just glad we get to compete in the games!” Scar cheers, earning a chorus of agreement and a few toasts. “What do you think changed the Council’s mind to let teams compete?” 

“I...I’ve been wondering that as well.” Doc growls. Why all of a sudden now? The games have been closed to guilds only for years, and now the Council is letting anyone join in? It seems unusual. But it doesn’t matter- this is the perfect coverup. He looks around, pushing the thoughts out of his head. He needs to focus on planning the heist. It needs to go off without a hitch. They have no room for error. “I thought I saw another nonguild team joined? Have they been boarded up here as well?” 

Sky shrugs, tapping his gloved fingers against the pewter cup. “We haven’t seen anyone but you guys.” 

“Do you think they flaked out?” Etho appears suddenly, reclining in a chair as he appears from the shadows around it. The other group, who have called themselves Team Crafted, all leap in surprise by his arrival. The hermits have grown used to his shenanigans by now. “Or maybe the guilds intimidated them into quitting.” 

The talking continues, but Doc has retreated into his own conversation. As welcoming as it is to meet another group of mages who seem just as frustrated as them about the Council and their restrictions. But can they be trusted? He’s learned a thing or two about trust, his time spent as a criminal and a rebel. They may all be laughing and sharing this horrible beer now, but come tomorrow, come the tournament, and they will do anything to win. He doesn’t know if they’re to be trusted as allies, so he’ll see them as enemies. 

The door crashes open, jolting Doc out of his mind. Across the way, Jerome sighs, putting his head in his hands. “Ssundee, what have we told you about kicking doors?” 

“I found new friends!” The person in the doorway skips in, black curls bouncing alongside a five-oclock shadow. Brown overalls are stained with oil, as are blue gloves. “Though it seems like you guys found even more.” 

“And that’s Ssundee.” Sky states, finally able to reconcile with his whole team. “Ssundee, this is the Team STAR. They’re competing in the championship as well.” 

“Oh, so you’re the last nonguild team that signed up!” Ssundee surges forward, eyes glimmering with excitement, curious to see everyone. 

“Last? What about the third group?” Iskall tilts his head. 

“Those are my new friends!” Ssundee waves to the open door, where three figures stand in the precipice between sunlight and the dark tavern. Iskall raises his eyebrows, watching as the shortest one joins Ssundee’s side. They already look like best friends, even though they’ve hardly known each other. The other two enter in, the tallest closing the door behind her quite abruptly. 

“Three people? That’s not a very big team.” Grian questions, sitting up to get a good look at the trio. It’s an odd mix, three very different people and three very different attitudes. 

“We’re the wanderers! I’m Red,” The short kipling motions to himself, smiling. “And my friends are Ecto and Avon.” Red motions to each one. Ecto offers a short wave, a coy smile appearing on her face from under a brown hood. The last one doesn’t respond, sticking to the corner. Grian’s eyes widen as he notices that the last has massive black wings. What kind of magic is that? 

“So this is everyone who dares go against the guilds?” TFC looks at the eclectic bunch. He can’t help but laugh, shaking his head as the wanderers scrabble up the stairs and over one another. And he thought the hermits were a strange team. “They won’t know what’s coming for them.”

[cutegirlmayra]

When your tired after a 16hr shift yesterday so you rant about Sonic and explain why aggressive writing vs. neutral writing helps with sharing ideas

Me and my online Sonic friend talking about Belle.  (I’m skipping some dialogue throughout the chat, this was lazily put together lol)

WARNING: It’s long, and it’s a rant. So please note that I’m blatantly aware of how wrong my aggressive, sleep-deprived rant was and that I’m stating “DON’T PRESENT YOUR IDEAS LIKE THIS!” because this is not a healthy nor effective way of sharing ideas.

ALSO, ALL THE MENTIONS OF WHAT I BELIEVE MY FRIEND IS FEELING OR THINKING DURING MY RANT ARE ENTIRELY MY OPINON. If she tells me to delete something or change it I will without hesitation but I find it funny, as I look back, to insert what I think might be going on in her mind XD She might have been oblivious to me but I’ll get her thoughts and change anything if necessary.

It’s also how most trolls and antis and even some ‘not experienced writers’ write their ideas out, and it can be easily avoided by using Neutral Writing Methods. So this is a ‘don’t do this, but try this’ post. Enjoy my badly written, sleepy aggressive rant~<3 (Also, my friend gave me permission to share this lol)

Me: She could be for entertaining little kids. But we already have too many OCs, and they're not 'dying off' any time soon so...I smell a mini-series backup plan...and I don't like what that means for Sonic. And it is cute, sorry, my brain is off the hook right now, I'll keep things to myself cause you may not like what I'm predicting and I'm getting sad thinking about it ;-; so, want to be wrong.

(Friend mentioned “Tinker Bell” spin on name.)

That's precious, but can I get a link to the reference sheet plz? Reference sheets can tell a lot about a chara's functionality if you compare it to the 'needs' of the casts. it can help predict their role. I think she's meant to help but also entertain the kids, maybe planted with a secret. Her goal could be to come back to Mr. Tinker but Eggman abuses that and tricks her into a new robot. I got a weird theory about her but I'll just say that she's probably gonna go a bit dark. But be cute and make the audience go, "Aww, poor thing! She's a cinnamon roll" at first, wonder if they'll equip her with 'happy backstory, tragic ending' kinda thing to switch the usual 'tragic backstory happy ending' but I feel this is a tragic character meant to pull emotion out.

(Friend understands my concerns but mentions there hasn’t been a ‘Bad’ Oc for the comic)

No one sets out to create a 'bad character' especially professional writers like these guys. But what makes a character 'bad' is if you ruin or oversaturate their purposes. If she's a main character that over-shines others with too much story then the audience feels 'betrayed' because they want that screen time for the main casts to express themselves and shine through. That's just an example. When working with IPs like Sonic casts, you HAVE to remember the fanbase is expecting things Do you like my OCs? be honest lol Not from my prompts. There's a specific way to handle a OC that helps the main cast shine and reveals their characters more. AU Ocs help Canon Characters in many ways.

(Friend admits they have not seen my OCs in some of my fanfictions, they’ve only really read my prompts.)

Oh, well, some of my fanfictions have OCs, not Lavinya, she's just a mascot. My Sonic OC that retried XD Sorry, I'm misspelling a lot but I hope you don't mind, my spellcheck sucks and I've given up on it lol Oh, so you don't know Harmony, Ol'Wizzy, and Data?Or the Metal Series? Well, there are specific Ocs that my readers like and they express/compliment the canon characters to where even though they're a main character, they don't intervene with the Main Cast's goals. They actually help. Then everything I'm gonna say won't have much merit so I'll just focus on waiting to see if my predictions for Sonic IDW will come true, but I really hope they don't do what it looks like they strategically might be pulling... I hate SEGA marketing- 

(The beginning of my aggressive rant, please note that I’m not thinking about my image and am writing tired and lazy. This is an example of how NOT to express your opinions in negative ways. It doesn’t influence good at all.)

Their ploys are outdated and frankly, do not work for their IPs market. They target the wrong age group, they have no idea how to organize themselves, and they don't have a leading 'elder' so to speak (just a professional among them) to make good calls. So you have young adults (not super professionals, this might be their first real company job) trying to target internet culture and failing their IPs. They're doing outdated Nintendo tactics that only worked for NINTENDO! Also some other companies that have DIED so why are you copying their marketing strats!? stop! lol

Friend: Did you study marketing because this entire convo kinda flew over my head in terms of understanding (This should have indicated to me that my words were coming off too factual and had too many ‘jargons’ going on. I was losing my ‘reader’ through my rant, but my tired brain would not cease!)

Sonic's trying to morph into something he's not and they're following outdated college course books and it's not gonna help... they're leading Sonic further down and the creators in japan have no power cause all the power is in the stock holders who are stupid money-hungry americans who have lost faith in American SEGA leading SEGA of Japan to move on to other things

Friend: mostly just got you don’t like the marketing (Huge red flag! This means my friend is starting to tune my info out, it’s because I’m presenting my ideas in a slightly aggressive writing style. There are trigger words here that lead an reader to start doubting you. This is why, in most of my answer posts, I make sure to write Neutral writing methods, but I’ll mention that more after my rant lol XP)

It's just bad. Lol I have a Frankenstein degree, (Now I’m justifying myself, which was caused by my aggressive approach. If I simply stated this in a more ‘neutral writing method’ then I wouldn’t have to worry about creditability claims because I’m not trying to sell my idea as the high authority on it.) which means I have knowledge on many different fields. I never took a fully -dedicated- 'marketing class' I took a lot of different communication classes that went to my overall major. One was directly about how you present, sell, and look at marketing tactics. So I have my fingers in many different fields, my major was "Creative Writing for Fiction and Film with an Emphasis in Video Production and a Cluster in Theatre Arts." So I can be on camera, off camera, post and pre production, creative table and actual filming. Does that make sense? (I’m not fully awake to realize what I’m writing, but it’s clear at this point I’m starting to wake up and realize I’m ranting and tossing my ideals of how to present ideas out the window, but let’s watch my follies and learn from them, shall we?) I have theories on what SEGA is going to do, and I have my worries because it's all outdated. It worked for older companies but those companies also targeted a varying audience, which SEGA refuses to see themselves as for a 'teenage audience' which is exactly why they boomed in the 90s. Their target audience is now 20s.

Friend: There are Kids who also like Sonic, even if they don’t play the games though. (Due to my aggressive tactics from not thinking clearly about, not just the what, but the HOW I’m writing, it has turned my friend into a ‘contrasting neutrality’ which is amazing by the way that she did this! She noticed my writing was turning aggressively ranting, and being my friend, didn’t want to be rude about what she was noticing. -I’m guessing lol- so instead, she took the commentary approach, which is to state the good as well. This is a terrible position to put your reader into, and you should make sure to always have good examples and good praise mixed in to contrast any opposing or aggressive statements you ever make. -though you should avoid aggressive writing at all times- Sadly, this does put the reader, in this case my friend, in a very vulnerable position. It leaves them open for attack... but thankfully, she’s a wonderful friend and had trust that I wouldn’t hurt her on her counter-follow-up.)

So instead of using their 40 to 50 year old charts, start with looking at early millennial trends and desires. They tried for 'angst' to 'adultify' Sonic but it busted because we are STICKLERS for animation. Because their story was so scrapped together and had no actual character depth, motivation, or even emotional growth to develop for future game lore, they went for the 'easy made game' (Easy baked oven quote lol that’s just mean XD) We loved the trailer, it was well made, but they threw their animators elsewhere and made the programmers (WHO BLANATLY ADMIT THEY DONT KNOW HOW TO DO STORY/GRAPHICS) and made them do things they aren't trained in. Those micro-head movements and mouths took them A LONG TIME to figure out.

(My friend is now agreeing with me several times through my rant. This is a tactic that is used as ‘avoidance’ but also for ‘appeasement’. She’s probably tuned out by now, but respects what I’m saying but is also incredulous at it as well. It’s fair, I’ve cornered her into my sleepy-time rant, and being the lovable woman that she is, she is simply waiting for me to realize my follies lolol I wish she would have told me but I think she knew I was beyond ‘logical reasoning’ at this point and was just letting me get it all out lolol What a good friend TDT)

Animation can't be learned that fast AND expect them to program a game AT THE SAME TIME. Sonic Forces was a 'split up SEGA' trying to get those who survived and said, "Yeah, I'll stay in this job." to do things that THEY AREN'T EVEN TRAINED IN. you put a game programmer on animation and some other stuff they didn't know what to do with and expect it be a top-notch seller.

Friend: (in more attempts to join in and be a ‘participant’ of the conversation I’m clearly dominating -MY ABSOLUTE BAD- she tried to engage normal conversation flow into the discussion again. At this point, she probably did notice I wasn’t my usual self, and just decided to play along and enjoy the ride lolol I’m just guessing this tho, but it’s a good chance to reflect on what ‘wrongs’ I was doing and what ‘rights’ she was doing during this situation ;)b) My big issue with SEGA is that they rush everything. A lot of things would’ve been better if they had the proper time.

That was resolved actually.

Friend: Oh? It was? (Although this looks like an encouragement, it’s actually just another avoidance tactic to help me ‘get the venting out’ but it’s clear she’s not fully onboard anymore. When you write to discuss, you have to leave room for other’s opinions to shine through as well. Healthy conversation doesn’t mean forcing the other person to comply to you. A lot of this is educated guess based on past research, she knows this, and it’s clear she’s got her own research. Please remember to never shoot someone down when they try to engage you in your conversations. But again, this is the ‘don’t do this’ and me upset at my tired self for not waking up fast enough to contemplate how I was coming across in my wordings. Let’s continue to investigate and dissect the train wreck, shall we?)

That was an issue a few years ago but SEGA is taking their time, it's just that they can't organize themselves and hire the right professionals. They have old tactics, they have rookies that aren't 'Fresh Blood with professionalism' like they need. They don't need an old fart who knows his stuff, they need a new guy who is dedicated and passionate about their company who will remain there, learn them in and out, and knows his stuff SPECIFICALLY for the things SEGA needs. You have to grow that. You have to hire a very talented and young spunky and fresh professional, have him work with you for 10-15 years, and start training others. But SEGA is already recognized as a 'established' company.

(Friend is still agreeing with me, but is aware of my way of presenting it isn’t “As nice as I usually present it” so she starts mentioning the symptoms of Japanese Work Culture. A wonderful, insightful point to mention! But let’s see how I butcher this as well...)

It's not Japan though! (Again, shutting her down. Tsk tsk, sleepy me. Wake up, you lazy bum.) They won't let Japan interfere! They're all really rude to japan actually. The guys in charge, anyway. We all respect the officials, but SEGA of America people just want results. They are just funders, they don't actually work the company.

Friend: So you blame them for everything? (She’s trying to help me see that my writing is coming off as ‘hate’ which is because of my aggressive writing follies I’m doing so bluntly. Let’s please all admire my friend’s patience as she lets me rant and kindly waits for me to realize how bad I’m handling my 16 hr shift from yesterday lolol)

Look, business is really unfair, and I get that, but if I have to rant (I’m starting to wake up more, oh goodie.) I'd say they really need to humble themselves and ask Japan to please take ownership again. They kicked out people due to a money crisis but they need a game that will be 'safe to secure money but get enough excited momentum to help us push on and continue.' which isn't Japan's strategy usually. Japan likes risks, they also like money too. They trust America too much (especially in the beginning) because America is a HUGE consumer. For the world in fact. But I think they sacrificed too much for the company (common in Japan) and trusted America too much in making decisions. The officials are too nice to say that America screwed them over because America wanted full control. Well guess what? They have too much control now and their product is sinking..

Friend:  You’ve got a lot of fire about this topic. (After I completely disregarded reading her follows-ups and continued to rant, my unconditionally kind friend finally threw in the towel, realizing I was no where near my usually ‘present’ self and was probably just flopped back in her chair smiling at my idiocy of not understanding her kind and subtly hints.) Go ahead and rant it out. (BOOM! Obvious right!? I should have corrected myself but at this point, I was writing like wild fire with droopy, waking up eyes and didn’t even read it during my long paragraphs...)

Sonic won't ever fade away due to it's fans, but the company is struggling to figure itself out for YEARS now. I just worry what they plan to do next. But I have a theory that they are really putting the next game in Japan's hands, a lot of activity is happening in SEGA of Japan, and they're spending WAY MORE TIME on the next installment of Modern Sonic (or Classic, still unsure which one it is yet.) I really think they need a remake game to give them profit, then use that profit for their next big installment. But so far, I think they are working on a game BUT corona might have effected production so I'm sure they are working but I'm concerned if Corona helped manage 'time and quality' or is helping to ruin it...That I can't investigate yet :( I just wish for the best (I’M FINALLY WAKING UP FULLY AS I STOP AND REALIZE-) Sorry for my rant! My theory talk showed through and I don't usually like doing that so forgive me. I'm tired and that's why T-T

Friend: It’s cool we all need to rant sometimes. (My friend’s going to make it to Heaven TwT she’s so kind.)

(Then I profusely apologized a billion times cause I realize how badly this all went down. lol)

(But the terror hasn’t ended... she mentioned some youtube videos mentioning other opinions as well. -which I’m usually cautious of cause some of them can be fanon.-)

OHhhh did he mention the arcade crash??? the literal WORST event in SEGA history??? That's literally where they sank the titanic, SEGA has never recovered from selling off their stocks. (I’M BACK AT IT AGAIN. -facepalm-) Shareholders are everything now and it's the biggest loss ever. Also, the problem is that kids don't play the games, (Rereading my follies and wanting to answer but still only just waking up...) but SEGA can't figure out why they like the characters and can't seem to take the FREAKIN' TIME to learn their lore. (Overwhelming the conversation again.) My easy steps: Re-establish Sonic lore CANONLY AND CORRECTLY, Re-gather the Japanese Officials original plans and notes, guides and study art, Re-make some popular games with the most details on Animation, Fluidity of motion graphics, and with modern Technology incorporated into the game. Once that is accomplished, they will have enough money to then- Create a continuity. Only with a flowing story and relevant past lore can they start moving forward. Animation will target their audience, Story and character re-established arcs will bring nostalgia and new blood to the field of their games, and then Japan's influences will keep it authentic for the continuities so we don't have fandom mixing with canon NEARLY AS BADLY as before anymore. Ugh, it does matter their sales, but I literally bought a book on the history of SEGA, and read a really compelling history article about more then just the Console Wars... I know SEGA has survived literally the edge of extinction on multiple fronts, but someone needs to take charge of their Sonic branch, and it's... it's just too outdated. kk, sorry for the rant.

Friend: (After being multiple times ignored, even after my brief moment of clarity, is still an angel. Frustrated, maybe, but an angel.) And your steps sound really good. Also mostly just listen to his vids if you ever do. It’s ok we all need to rant. (THE WORLD DOESN’T DESERVE THIS GURL T-T)

I'm tired so my 'angry' is showing and it's not professional XD do you mind if I post my rant? lol Actually, no. (Realize how awfully I delivered my ideas, this is where I begin to see my errors and where the clarity comes into play. -we all have our off days lol- )

Friend: Go for it

I want to but it's too aggressive. I'm too lazy to rewrite it out so I'll just save that for another day XD You got a rare treat

Friend: (This is actually interesting and fascinating to her. But she realized then that I finally did see my error.) Concerned you’ll get aggressive responses back?

Honest opinion is sometimes too blunt and I need to be careful about that

Friend: I mean it’s always good to try and get most of the anger out so you seem more professional (Saint. Literally. A saint. She’s puts up with too much of my crap XD)

That, and also the war of 'But this is Cutegirlmayra? She's so sweet and constantly puts her answers in supportive, positive lights so that if SEGA were to see it, they would feel empowered to try it instead of threatened and throw it off as hate or something unprofessional.' I have an image too. I can't post something super aggressive or I'll lose trust. You're right.

Friend: I’m glad you put a lot of thought into everything you post

I apologize for it tho T-T I didn't mean to dominate with such opinions...lol I worry who I influence, you know?

Friend: Most people don’t and trust me they get into trouble cause of it. And yeah.

I don't want to create trolls or heated arguments. I want to teach people they can safely express an idea without using such awful communication. Exactly, it's professional fanism. lol Positive writing is what companies and their employees actually read. (I’m almost fully awake now lol, realizing my blunder and starting to explain why I was in the wrong. Good on me, pat on the back, admitting I was coming off as aggressive is the first step to changing and getting better lolol Also, I’m including her more, and I’m saying “You’re right.” and she’s going “And yeah.” which is a indicator that the conversation is slowly returning to an enjoyable and healthy one. ;w; happy endings lol)  That's why I skip the aggressive stuff, even if it's passive, I write in a neutral setting so everyone feels safe to read, even someone who works at SEGA.

Friend: (Mentions some nintendo youtuber rant and also news as well, then says-) It was honestly very professional sounding and not rude. (MY HEART, YOU KNEW THAT WAS AN AGGRESSIVE RANT lololol So nice to me TDT)

Lol you had to have seen how slightly aggressive it was tho. (I’M CALLING YOUR BLUFF, BESTIE lol) You literally asked, "You blame America for it?" which is not always true but semi-true. They were way too prideful (Aggressive word) and haughty (Still aggressive terminology) about their success in other Japanese products that they wanted to completely change Sonic to their own wishes, pushing out Japan's creative "licenses" (I use this word loosely, and this gives a slightly aggressive feel but is also more dumbed down so it's more 'passionate' than just aggressive)

Friend: Yeah I saw it was slightly aggressive (Either is starting to realize it or at last admitting it now that I am fully aware of how I was coming across. I also used indicators to show what words were aggressive to help illustrate my point. This is showing I’m much more awake now :)b)

Gotta use those neutral tactics or no one will feel comfortable just reading your idea and instead, will constantly look for a place to intercept with aggression back, whether they agree or not, they're looking for ways to self-insert their aggression if you are also aggressive. I can't write something that doesn't somewhat support and uplift SEGA of America. Why? Because like I said, they literally have survived EVERYTHING and have stuck around. Without them, there wouldn't be an American branch and the money issue would have ended SEGA. Some might say, "But they've done so much harm than good! Why is the money thing such a thing to be praised for?" But it's huge, it's so big, it kinda does offset the wrongs. (Now I’m doing the healthy thing, doubling back and mentioning the good to try and recover. The damage may be done, but she did recommend some videos for me and was polite, so I’m just trying to smooth things over and leave on a ‘wrapped up’ conclusion. But... I should have just left it there in all honesty xD Some things you can’t double-back and correct lol) America is a great business-influenced mindset. None of us would be fans of Sonic without them.

(Friend continues to agree but realizes I may slip into ranting again. She just asks if I can watch the videos.)

America does have it's advantages in some fields and areas, but their biggest most redeeming quality is that they saved SEGA which gave us our biggest love and obsession: Sonic. Now, my usage in that writing was still off neutral, but combined with the slightly aggressive statements, made a GREAT contrast. It's still slightly praising

Friend: And they stopped Japan from giving him a human girlfriend right away.

Me: Exactly.

Friend: I will always thank them for that. (She’s still a sweetheart, working herself into the conversation so it stays healthy. lol Such amazing follow-ups too!)

So although I don't like what's happening, I'm also grateful... to a degree lol We need SEGA of America, which is why I think Japan just ignores them now lolol they know they owe them a lot. 

(Friend mentions videos and as I go to save them to my ‘watch later’ sees that one of them is about Nintendo.)

Yeeeahhh I've noticed that Nintendo is starting to trail into 'cash grab' tactics and that's sickening (MORE AGGRESSIVE WORDING??? HAVE YOU NOT LEARNED YOUR LESSON CHILD?! It takes time to fully wake up lolol) cause before, I literally thought, "Nintendo can do no wrong" their marketing was ON POINT! but the stuff they said about Peach and now... I think new, unprofessional blood (like SEGA) has entered Nintendo and the older guys are either 'training' or 'retired to other ventures'. Nintendo is having it's own 'we used to not be prideful but now we're getting a little too pompous (Another aggressive wording... This can easily trigger people to comment with further aggression either against you or for you, but no aggression is the ideal. Which is continuing to show my lack of remaining conscious lol) about ourselves' and they're starting to act like Disney before their big crash. Disney also had 'limited time offers' with their VHS movies. Now, Nintendo is doing that. They'll make money, but at what cost? When you lose your costumer's trust...

Friend: And yeah the 35th Mario thing immediately reminded me of the Disney vault

Me: Yep. I'm worried for Nintendo. Don't get me wrong! Disney is really good with money grabs, but they... they also act high and mighty (More aggressive statements, wake up, darn it!!!) and their fanbase literally calls them 'an empire' so the fan-trust is gone. That makes you 'lame/outdated' and fans begin to look for 'what's cool?' instead.

(Friend is now re-realizing I’m ‘in and out’ so is trying to use a effective avoidance tactic by asking about different things to help my ranting fully stop.)

Sorry, I'm tired, I get on these rants and I don't mean too. (Trying to shake myself awake again.) I'm sorry.

So we returned to a healthy conversation, but I hope this interesting insight has revealed how to and what not to do about Aggressive Writing. Always stick to Neutral writing if you can, putting in a compelling counter-argument. In this aggressive writing demo, you saw that I tried to cover up my follies by saying counter-praise, but praise writing can be just as bad as aggressive writing. Passive writing can sometimes be annoying (aggressive word choice) too if you come off as disinterested or uncaring, which can still result in negative comments coming at you, or someone overly praising in their writings.

This has been all I’m showing you cause it’s kinda embarrassing ^^; but I hope it helps you in what ‘not to do’ while writing your ideas out :)b

Learn from my sleepy-time mistakes! lol

[authorkimberlygrey]

Hi! I LOVE your blog, seriously my fav writer blog. How and when, and even where do you write? How do you find the energy to write? I’ve been working on a few WIPs for a few years, and lately I’m wondering if I should just throw all my outlines out the window and just completely revamp my writing practices, because I’ve felt so constructed by the outlines, lately. Much love, adore your stuff 💙

I’m your fave?😭😭 awwwwww ❤❤❤❤❤❤ that makes me so happy! I’m glad you like my blog and I hope you continue to like it. 

On to your questions tho: 

First off, feeling constricted by outlines is a Big Mood, my friend, I used to go into super detail on my outlines, I’m talking I planned out individual scenes and blocked out interactions. Which was a pain when, inevitably, I’d have a Great Idea in the middle of a scene that would make the entire outline pointless. 

I can’t stick to an outline, so I just don’t. I make an outline, sure, but the minute it stops working for me? I just chuck it and make a new one. Yeah, I make a lot of outlines, and sometimes having such a thin outline can get me into trouble because I don’t know what I’m getting into (but that’s easily solved by yet another outline.) 

I do some drawing so it helps me to think of outlines as sketches, its a structure for me to put more detail onto, but its not anything final or permanent.

An outline is there to help you, as soon as it's not doing that, toss it and make an outline that is helping.  

As for your other questions, and tips on revamping your writing process, check  under the readmore because I ramble lol

For those of you in a hurry: 

Be kind to yourself, positive reinforcement will always work worlds better than negative. Give yourself rewards for your victories, no matter how small they are. Make writing a habit! I write at 7 every night, it helps to have a schedule, it trains your brain. Go with the flow, but don’t let yourself go over a waterfall. Take breaks if that’s what you need, but make sure its a break not an abandonment.Find the root of the problem, don’t attack the symptoms.  Find what works for you, don’t worry about what everyone else is doing. You can look for examples that will help you, but don’t compare yourself to others. It never makes you happy. 

I tend to think of myself as a pretty laid back writer. I don’t usually sit down at the computer and pound out 4k words a day usually my total word count when I save and exit is 500 words. Sometimes its less. Yesterday I went to bed with 200 words, it wasn’t a lot of progress, but it was progress. 

The secret, for me at least, is finding the balance between being kind to yourself, but also not letting yourself slack off. 

For me, that means I have to actually try at writing for 30 minutes a night. If I sit at the computer for 30 minutes and come up with half a sentence, that’s fine, that means I need to figure out what the problem is and get through it tomorrow. 

I see a lot of writers beating themselves up for not hitting big numbers every night, even I can fall into that a little bit. We want progress, its natural, and when we don’t make progress then it can be frustrating and it's easy to fall into the temptation of putting yourself down over it. 

Resist that. If you sit down and get frustrated and beat yourself up over writing, you’re not going to want to do it. You’re going to dread sitting down to write every night and as a result, you’re going to procrastinate it more and now you’re writing even less. 

Instead, be patient with yourself. Sit down and figure out why you’re not writing. Are you distracted? Are you not sure what needs to happen in this scene? Are you afraid of it being bad? 

If you’re distracted by stuff going on around you, find a quieter place to write, or get some headphones. Even if you don’t play music. 

If you’re distracted by the internet *cough* tumblr *cough* I recommend Forest, its a chrome extension and app that grows a little tree as you focus and you can use it to plant *real* trees as well, so bonus! 

If you’re not sure where the scene is going, outline it! When I’m stuck I go down a list: What Needs to happen, what do I want to happen, and how do I get those things to work together? 

If you’re afraid that your writing is going to be bad, you have to be a bit sterner with yourself, but that doesn’t equal being mean. Sit down and accept imperfection, sometimes I sit down and I tell myself that I’m not walking away from the computer until I get at least one sentence down, even if it means that I stay up all night. I am yet to stay up all night at the computer. Sometimes one sentence is all that I get, sometimes that one sentence leads to another, and another, and eventually I’ve got a paragraph, or a page. 

And if you’re interested in how I do my writing

I hate working at a desk so I have a comfy chair in the living room that I sit in. Sometimes if its too distracting there I’ll go to my room and chill on my bed to write. Like I said above, 30 minutes a night at 7pm every night unless I’m giving myself a break. I recently discovered the wonders of scrivener and have transferred over to that (Ywriter is a good free alternative btw!) OneNote and Microsoft word made too much of a habit of toying with my emotions ((and sacrificing my outline to the Dwellers of the Void)) so I’ve mostly quit writing there. I do save there though because I’m paranoid about losing stuff. 

My elaborate backup system is as follows: 

Every night after I finish writing I save on the computer and onto my USB. (note that I save every night as a new, dated file all in one folder.)

After every chapter, I save onto another document on my computer and onto Google docs. I used to send chapters out by email as well for an additional back up but I’ll admit that I’ve gotten lazy about that. 

and when a draft is complete its saved in every location and onto another back up USB. 

I’ll admit, I’m paranoid about losing stuff. but on the other hand, I also very rarely lose stuff so who’s the real winner here?

Anyway! Thank you for the question anon! I hope you enjoyed my giant rambling answer and I hope your writing goes well going forward! feel free to message me any time if you’ve got more questions or even if you just want to talk, I’m always up for more friends ❤❤❤

[starryfictionalgirl]

Partners in (Fighting) Crime Chapter 9: Dear Future Husband

Masterlist Partner’s in (Fighting) Crime

Relationships: Peter Parker x fem!hero!reader, Michelle x Reader (best friends) 

Warnings: Brief nudity, occasional dirty joke. Peter being a little munchkin :)

Summary: You and Peter are in the honeymoon phase of your relationship.

A/N: So yeah this chapter is based off of the song by Meghan Trainor but it fits because I want this to be a fluffy chapter and this is a fluffy song so please enjoy!!! 

You and Peter walked down the school hallway, you holding his hand with your other arm wrapped around his bicep. A few kids stared, in shock that Peter had finally landed himself a girlfriend, and one that was as pretty as you. But neither of you paid attention to them because you were both too lost in each other’s eyes. It was like you were both in your own little world. One filled with happiness and love and no one could pull you two out of that trance. When Ned and Michelle spotted the two of you they both immediately did a double take and smiled. 

“Well hey it’s about time.” Michelle says and Ned’s jaw was hanging as you and Peter blushed and snuggled a little closer to each other. 

“Wait so you guys are together now?” Ned asks. You and Peter look at each other and bite your lips. 

“Yeah!” You both answer happily and you kiss his cheek and he blushes more and then you rub your nose against his and the two of you giggle as he does it back to you. 

“Ew, if you guys keep being that sweet you’re going to give the whole school a cavity.” Michelle says and you roll your eyes at her. 

During chemistry with Peter and Ned, Ned tried to focus on his work but couldn’t because of you and Peter giggling and passing notes to each other during class. You smiled and sighed when you saw one of Peter’s notes. 

According to the textbook, the strongest type of bond might be chemical, but I bet our love could challenge that. ~Sweet Pete  

When the teacher wasn’t looking you quickly threw your arms around Peter and gave him a huge wet kiss on his cheek. Then when she turned around again to look at you, the two of you were blushing but seemingly hadn’t changed positions. 

During your lab, Peter took the time to briefly show you how he made his webs. He pulled out a little secret drawer at his station and mixed two chemicals together to form the sticky substance that came out of his web shooters. You raised your eyebrows and nodded. 

“So that’s where that stuff comes from?” You ask him and he nods. 

“And here I was thinking it came from somewhere else…” You joked and raised your eyebrows and his face turned red as tomato, making you giggle. 

At lunch he brought you some treats. 

“I brought some of May’s cinnamon rolls for you.” Peter says and hands you the bag. 

“Aw Pete you are too sweet.” You tell him and break one in half and give him the other half. Michelle and Ned tried to talk to each of you but you were both too absorbed in each other to listen to them. 

“So Y/N what did you think of that math test-” She noticed you weren’t listening and just staring into Peter’s eyes. 

“So Peter what did you think about that English-” Ned sighs as he sees Peter staring back at you. Michelle tries waving her hands in front of the two of you but neither of you even blink. 

Michelle and Ned look at each other. 

“Let me try something.” Ned says and puts a pea in his spoon and then launches it like a catapult into the back of Peter’s head. He doesn’t move. “Damn. That must be some connection there. That usually always works." 

"I’ve got something that might work.” Michelle says and jabs her finger in a spot on your shoulder. 

“Ow!” You exclaim and look back at Michelle. “MJ that was my pressure point…" 

"I know. I had to take drastic measures to break up whatever’s going on with you two.” Michelle says. 

“Sorry. I just can’t help it. Peter has the prettiest brown eyes. It’s impossible not to get lost in them.” You say and Peter blushes. 

“Yours are prettier.” Peter says and looks into his lap, smiling sheepishly. 

“Aw baby!” You exclaim and poke his nose and he giggles and the two of you rub your noses against each other again. 

“Wow this is escalating fast.” Ned says that afternoon when walking next to Michelle. You and Peter were a bit ahead of them, hands interlocked and swinging back and forth. “They’ve barely kept their hands off of each other or even talked to anyone else besides us since they started dating. And it’s only been a day!" 

"It’s just new relationship feels.” Michelle explains. “Give them a week it’ll wear off soon." 

Well a week passed by….and it definitely wasn’t wearing off any time soon. You and Peter literally spent all your time together. Either doing homework, being in school, or fighting crime. Sometimes you would study together as you fought criminals. 

"Which particle of an atom has a positive charge?” Peter yells at you before tossing a money bag to you as you hovered in the air above the criminals that had robbed the bank. 

“Proton! Duh! Give me a harder one Spidey!” You yell back at him and toss him the bag. The robbers started charging him now. 

“Uh…” He panicked when they started shooting at him. “Karen can you think of a good review question for me to ask Y/N?” He asks her. 

“Hey Dragonfly! How do you determine the pH of an acid?” He asks and tosses the bag back to you and you dart around, dodging the bullets that were being shot at you. 

“Take the negative log of the concentration!” You shout back at him and toss him the bag. Finally the cops showed up and you set the bag down and you and Peter left to let the cops arrest them. 

As the sun set you made your way back to Peter’s house. You offered to help Aunt May cook and stay for dinner. Peter crawled up the wall to his window and you flew close behind him, not wanting to get spotted. Once Peter opened his window he held out his arm for you and you wrapped your arms around his shoulders and he held you close to him by your waist as you let your wings sink back into your body and disappear. 

“After you m'lady.” He says chivalrously and you slid in his window and onto the ground, giggling and blushing from your nickname. 

He came in after you and shut the window behind him. 

“Well Queens is a lot safer now tonight thanks to you princess.” Peter says and takes off his mask and tosses it on the ground. 

He takes your hand and kisses the back of it sweetly. You take off your mask as well and he can see you blushing and biting your lip from his sweet actions. You let out a soft gasp as he pulled you into his chest and kissed you sweetly. 

“And thanks to you too Spidey.” You tell him and he laughs and dips you and continues to give you multiple pecks to your lips. 

“Oh hey you guys are back.” Michelle says casually and both you and Peter jump apart when you see Michelle and Ned sitting on Peter’s bed. 

“W-what are you guys doing here?” Peter asks casually in a high squeaky voice, running his hand through his now slightly curly hair. 

“You said you’d come study with us.” Michelle reminds you two. “Remember we asked you both at lunch today while you were making goo goo eyes at each other?” You both blushed and stared at the ground. 

“So did you stop any crime today Spider-Man?” Michelle asks Peter. 

“Did you fly in and save the day Dragonfly?” Ned asks you. Both you and Peter’s eyes widened and you turned to each other. 

“Did you tell-” You both said to each other at the same time. “No I didn’t-I swear I’d never-" 

"Relax guys we figured it out on our own.” Ned assures the two of you. 

“How did you figure it out?” You ask. 

“Well it’s obvious.” Michelle says. “Whenever Peter’s busy for the Stark internship and you have to study, Dragonfly and Spider-Man show up to save the day.”

“Not to mention you were both conflicted about falling in love with two different people, but now you’re totally into each other.” Ned adds. “So we can obviously deduce that you were falling for each other’s personas. That and once we had that figured out we just told each other your secrets." 

"And don’t worry we won’t tell anyone else.” Michelle says and Ned raises his hand.

“On my Jedi honor.” He promises to you. 

“Okay. Well that makes this all a bit easier I guess.” You tell Peter and he nods. Suddenly you both hear Aunt May knock on the door. 

“Coming in!” She says and Peter grabs your hand and pulls you into his bathroom and shuts the door. “I heard Peter and Y/N. Where are they?” She asks. 

“They’re in the bathroom.” Ned says then regrets it. Aunt May’s eyes went wide. 

“Together?…” She asks. 

“What are we going to do?” You whisper shout to Peter. “She knows we’re in here together. We can’t come out in our underwear that would make her think things….” You say and blush and so does Peter. 

“Don’t worry I’ve got emergency clothes for us under the sink.” Peter says and gets them out for you both. May knocks on the door. 

“Peter, honey what are you and Y/N doing in there?” She asks in a concerned tone. 

“Uh nothing!” Peter assures her as he steps out of his suit, leaving him in just his boxers. 

“I just fell down on my way over here and Peter’s helping me clean up the scrapes!” You tell her and you hear May sigh in relief. 

“Oh okay I thought you two were doing something weird in there!” She says and laughs. 

“Yeah don’t worry!” Peter calls back. “Nothing like that’s going on in here-” His breath hitches when he sees you topless in front of him, covering your breasts with your arms and your chest plate lying on the ground. You blushed as he stared at you, mouth gaping. 

“Peter!” You hiss at him and he shakes his head to try to snap himself out of his trance. 

“Why don’t you have a bra on!” He whisper shouts. 

“I don’t need to wear one under the chest plate there’s one built in. That and the clip in the back restricts my wings and-okay seriously?” You cut your explanation short when you notice the tent in his boxers. He blushes and covers it.

“I’m fifteen and my girlfriend is topless in front of me what did you think was going to happen!” He exclaims quietly. He notices you staring at it and he gets a small ego boost. “You uh, like what you see down there?” He tries to say cooly and lean against the wall. 

“Peter!” You hiss at him again and he jumps off the wall and quickly gets back to the task at hand and tosses you one of his shirts and a pair of gym shorts and then you both respectively face away from each other to change. 

You both came out and you kissed his cheek then went to the kitchen to help out Aunt May while Peter studied a bit with Michelle and Ned. At one point while you were mixing the sauce you made Peter came out from his room and over to the counter. 

“Wow that smells amazing.” He says and sniffs over the pot. 

“Do you want to taste?” You ask him and he smiles and opens his mouth.

You laugh and feed him some with the spoon. He smiles but then his face turns into a grimace and he spits it out into the sink. 

“Was it that bad?” You ask him. 

“It was really bitter…” He says and gets a glass of water to get the taste out of his mouth. 

“Yeah I probably should have mentioned that I never really learned to cook…I’m good at decorating pastries…not so much at making them though.” You tell Peter and shrug. 

“That’s alright sweetheart.” May says and pats your shoulder. “It just takes practice. You’ll get the hang of it soon. I think you might have just added a bit too much rosemary…” She says after taking a taste with her finger. 

You decided to let Ned and Michelle stay for dinner since they were here anyway. You all had fun and laughed a lot. Tons of inside jokes and more Star Wars debates from Ned and Peter. Peter didn’t notice but Ned had set up the camera on the counter to film you all having fun. 

“You’re the Han Solo to my Leia.” You tell Peter and you swore you had never seen his eyes light up so bright. 

Michelle also dared the two of you to reenact a scene from Lady and the Tramp and slurp up a noodle together. Everyone cheered when you and Peter’s lips met and you broke off the noodle. The two of you giggling and then Peter stole a few more kisses from your lips. 

But unfortunately the night had to come to an end. And so you gave your boyfriend a reluctant goodbye at the door to his apartment. Your foster father Happy glaring daggers into Peter, while he stood there stiff as a tree trunk. 

“By Pete. I’ll see you tomorrow at work.” You promise him and give him a big hug and kiss him sweetly on the lips. The kiss lasted for about five seconds before Happy coughed, signaling he was a bit uncomfortable. 

“See you tomorrow princess.” He tells you and you give him one last peck on his cheek before leaving down the hall.

At first you hated that he called you princess but now he didn’t really call you that to tease you, it was more of a sweet and endearing term so you allowed it. Happy stayed behind to give Peter the “talk”. He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. 

“Okay now just so you know, I’m not some big overprotective dad okay.” He tells Peter. “I mean I’ve only had her for a year. But she’s grown on me, and I think of her as my own.” Peter nods. “And I know you’re a good, sweet kid and you wouldn’t want to hurt her but since I know you can be a bit…reckless when it comes to your spider thing, just don’t do anything stupid that could hurt her. Please.” He begs. 

“Of course Sir, I would never want to hurt your daughter. She’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me.” He says and smiles a bit. 

“Okay well I’m going to go and try to forget I heard that.” Happy says and leaves. 

“I’ll text you later Happy!” Peter calls down the hall. 

“Please don’t!” He calls back. 

That night Peter was cleaning off his suit when he heard something tap his window. He went to it and looked confused as he opened it. 

“Mr. Stark?” He asks when he sees Iron Man floating outside his window and he smiles. “Why are you here? Did you want to congratulate me on the boat thing, I actually saved it this time with some help from my new girlfriend-” He rambles and Tony opens up the mask and cuts him off. 

“Yeah you’re girlfriend is what we need to talk about.” He says seriously and Peter’s smile falls. 

“Is something wrong?” Peter asks. 

“No. Unless there needs to be.” Tony says. 

“What are you talking about?” Peter asks. 

“I know who she is Peter.” Tony says. “After seeing you two fight together and now hearing you’re dating Happy’s daughter it wasn’t too hard to put the pieces together. And I’m not going to tell Happy anything, because again his cardiogram but I just need you to make sure that she doesn’t get too rebellious…" 

"Rebellious how?” Peter asks. “We both fight the bad guys we’re both on the same side." 

"Are you?” Tony asks. “Because I remember when Happy used to bring her to work a few months back before the Civil War, she was hanging around Steve a lot…I even saw him teach her a few fight moves. So something tells me he’s aware of her abilities as well. And now…Steve is a war criminal. And her helping him in any way will be considered illegal and we will have to arrest her and lock her away.”

“You want to lock her up!?” Peter exclaims. 

“Not at the moment but if she’s found suspicious of anything then we will have to give her some form of criminal punishment.” Tony explains. “So I just thought I’d give you a heads up, and make sure she doesn’t do anything that would make me have to take her away from you.” He warns then puts his mask back on and flies off. 

Peter shut his window and went to sit down at his desk. He tried to keep working on his suit but he just couldn’t bring himself to do it. All he could think about was you, and pray that you wouldn’t do anything that would make his mentor arrest you. 

A/N: Next part will come sometime early next week!

Tags:  @johnsonxstilinski @emilyinwonderland3@dailyavenging@slythergirlimagines @purplekitten30@wizardinthewrongplace @gogoca @gerardwayisapotato @a-typical-antisocial-fangirl @sammy-salamander   @aesthetic-sks

[paladin-of-nerd-fandom65]

Confrontation

A follow up to both “Revelations and Truths” and “A Little Bit ‘Bout Me: The Benito Zucco Diary”. All credit for helping me keeping moving forward with these stories goes to @lightdusk, @fireflyxrebel, @nightglider124, @tarisilmarwen and many others. Constructive criticism is welcome 

Have a nice read :-)  

Cigar smoke rose into the ceiling as the fan blew at its medium speed; providing some coolness in the daytime heat but really it was doing was keeping said smoke in limbo, giving the room a nasty smell of burnt tobacco. This sort of smell however didn’t bother the young man who was puffing away in the slightest as he stared outside the window the city streets outside. The streets were bustling with many people of colors and what warmed the man’s heart perhaps the most was the sight of a young father showing his son the sights while the little boy asked so many questions to him as they usually do. It was sights like this one that provided Benito Pugliese Zucco, the man looking out the window not only his primary motivator for the election campaign but also the foundation for why his life deep down had ‘misery issues’.

Basically put, his father Anthony ‘Boss’ Zucco had done the same sort of bonding with him when he was alive but since he was criminal guilty of orchestrating an ‘accident’ to a circus act resulting in their demises all due to a protection racket gone wrong, he was sent to the electric chair when his son Benito was at the fragile age of 12 years old.

Ten years after that sort of trauma, the young Zucco now had the wealth and the political drive to run for the position of Mayor in this city. The ideology of his choice was commonly referred to by more liberal media outlets as ‘Fascist in nature’, a claim he doesn’t actually dissuade given that he was raised as such from his father due to ties with Fascist Italy in his family’s past and so far it’s has actually won him a very good winning chance of the election due to the main bulk of the Jump City agreeing with his statements that promise greater job quality, stronger crime security, renovating old homes into much cheaper places for lower income people to move into; in a lot of ways, Zucco’s policies he hopes to achieve seem like the sort of goals not one single dang candidate focuses in this city given all the controversies surrounding the public sector regarding race, gender and other ‘SJW’ topics that get in the way of what really needs to be done. Zucco, on the other hand, wins over the city’s populace due not only focus but the large amount of personal honesty that comes into his interviews and politeness to rival candidates from all sides, especially in light of nasty arguments that erupt each time there’s an election around the corner. Ok, ok, the politics and promises he knows he can keep are all well off and planned but for Zucco, they honestly are more of a secondary goal compared to what he’s after: discredit and ultimate illegalization of Meta-human vigilantes, in particular the Teen Titans.

This is where the Fascist allegation comes in since in the proud majority of his speeches he’s performed since his debut, Zucco often talks toward some of the more negative aspects the Teen Titans have done throughout their soon-to-be five year stewardship of the city’s protectors not limited to the amount of collateral damage ranging from city blocks needing their roads repaired or even one or two incident involving an entire skyscraper’s windows being shattered, of course not accounting for the amounts of civilians hopelessly caught in the middle of terrorist attacks from the likes of the HIVE Five and the Titans’ retaliations often ending with some innocent s hospitalized. The young boy and his father outside of his Party HQ’s window could be potential victims of the Titans’ battles if said team did not practice the ever so valuable caution they don’t exhibit all too well. In his mind, the Titans’ might never practice any sort of caution given of their status outside the law and by now being on the brink of collage, therefore not giving them any sort of discipline from adult authority from parents. Often when trying to defend civilian families in his speeches against the Titans’ lawless measures against crime, Zucco faces criticism from Pro Titan folks from all sectors of Jump city Society in which makes him weary for not exactly what he said, but rather what he can accidently say. That accident slips being his semi-reasonable dislike towards the Titans’ leader, Robin the Boy Wonder.

“Just what do you think you’re doing, Mr. Candidate?” speak of the devil.

As Zucco turns around, he sees both Robin and his Tamaranean ally and romantic partner Koriand’r (translated in English as ‘Starfire’ from what he hears)  just entering his door and giving him a questionable look that ranges from both stern to downright nearly murderous, for Star and Robin respectfully.

“So you do watch the news do ya, Gray boy?” Zucco asks while lightly taking out his cigar out of his mouth.

“Indeed we have” Star says in a rather disappointed tone, “from what we have observed within your speech patterns and dogma, you wish to antagonize us in the eyes of these humans, yes?”

“Hey, hey, now Goldie, I didn’t ‘antagonize’ anybody against you. I was just simply giving my personal thoughts on the matter of you guys wrecking everybody’s damn stuff whenever the costumed freaks popup” Zucco shrugs as he stamps his used cigar unto the ashtray, “If those votes end up going to me and giving me the right to move into the Mayor’s office, that was their choice not mine.”

Robin’s near murderous glare only tightened at that statement “Fine then. I wonder if they’ll make that choice when they hear of what your little Trade Federation actually does; mercenary hiring, naval blockades against Asian cities including Singapore, trading with rogue nations including North freaking Korea?!”

“Your point, pal?”

“Why? What do you plan to do if you are Mayor?”

“Clean up this damn city, lower the crime rate to nonexistence and basically show the folks here that your heroics just simply can’t work in an age where people want action and their just dues, not superheroes.”

Robin places his hands on the desk across from Zucco and began pointing his finger “We all made mistakes and slip ups in the past, even I had made very bad ones, but we’ve learn from them. We’re not going to be kids forever and you have to realize that, and it shouldn’t be too hard for you given that you’re almost our age and here you are acting like a spoiled, rich and smart aleck brat yourself.”

“Smart aleck?!” Zucco nearly yells “Well pardon my thick accent and bluntness here Grayson but you do realize that you haven’t even attended school for God knows how long, you live in a T shaped Tower with high tech gizmos, walling you guys outside of a world filled with crappy drivers in the streets, sh*tty sewer buildings that are ‘meant to serve the homeless in our land’, a military in need of more praise that what they get, and all you guys do whenever you’re NOT trying to help with the city’s people is just keyboard away on your fancy shmancy computers on how racism is the biggest tragedy in any country when you’re not being racist yourself towards the hard working…”

Before Zucco can go on with his political spiel, Robin grabs him by the collar of his shirt, and mercilessly tosses him into the nearest wall. Tightening his fists, Robin’s begins his approach to Zucco, who’s barely recovering from such a throw, and preparing to punch down had it not been for Star grabbing his arms.

“Friend, please...”

“Star, let go will you?”

“Not until you calm yourself. We do not wish to provoke authorities here.”

By the time Robin had calmed in Star’s arms, Zucco had gotten back up, only spitting once with blood from his jaw before taking his seat at his desk.

Starfire had let go of Robin and he was able to stare down at the Mayor candidate with a simple question, “You know for the fact this is more than just helping these people Zucco, don’t you?”

Zucco had taken another cigar from black leather trench coat and began lighting it “Ok I admit. I have some minor issues against you Gray boy.”

“Against me? What did I ever do to you?” Robin asks with a questioning tone coming out.

Star back him “From what we can recall, we do not hear of a Benito Zucco amongst civilians neither of evil doers within our proximity or even of the other Titans.”

Zucco puffs out “Oh don’t play stupid with me. The name Zucco should’ve been a dead giveaway to you.”

Robin raises an eyebrow before noticing something…he knows the inside shirt Benito is wearing and he remembers that smooth looking 1930s hat he wears. He had seen them before. He had seen them, with a certain Italian speaking man and his brothers…Talking to his father John…just two nights…before the ‘accident’...

“Wait a minute…”

“Robin, is something troubling you?”

“Star, I think I know…who this guy is.” Robin then turns towards Benito “Does the name Anthony ‘Boss’ Zucco, crime lord who was eventually executed on the electric chair, ring any bells?”

A short silence follows…

    “He was my Papa.”

Robin can only bulge his eyes in utter shock.

The guy who had been bad mouthing his team, the man who created a trading company that can hire people like Slade, the one was saying the Titans needed to get out of town…he was the son of the man who got his Mama and Daddy. He knew he had a bad feeling about him since the first time he heard him speaking in the T Car’s radios. It looks like his now resurrected mother and the Court of Owls wasn’t the only thing coming from his past with the subtlety of a sledgehammer. Benito Zucco was the Boss’ son and he… knows his secrets…he knows all about him…and…

“If you does you any favors, I won’t spill the beans about your identity to the public Grayson” Zucco interrupts as he puffs from his cigar “Also, don’t worry about your mom Mrs. Grayson going around axing people, my boys in the Jump PD have read all about Talon and sent guys from the FBI and Russian Spetznaz after her. They don’t know who she is either so we’re all good here.” Zucco finishes with soft smirk on his face.

Robin snaps out of his thought s and reflections upon hearing this and simply nods. “So…I guess…we’ll be heading out now.”

Starfire couldn’t help nut nod in agreement “Yes, I believe we…wish to apprehend the archfiend Mammoth attacking your financial center just now.” She wasn’t lying; they just got a text via their communicators from raven about Mammoth attack the Continental Bank

“Yeah you go do that. Just try your best NOT to get me more votes.” Zucco says, gesturing a ‘just please go away’ hand.

Within the next thirty seconds, Robin and Starfire had left the Jump Civic Authority Party’s main HQ and on their way to battle HIVE member Mammoth with their teammates.

Zucco breathed out hard; he thought he was the one with anger issues.

 Epilogue

Richard Grayson sat on his bed’s edge with some bandages wrapped around him right biceps in light of today’s battle against Mammoth and his surprise attack, being HIVE reinforcements. He just couldn’t stop reflecting on the last few weeks and the impact they can have on his teammates. Not only was his mother alive again and out there stalking God knows how many potential targets in his assassin driven mind but now his past becomes full circle for know the son of his mother’s murderer is running for Mayor of this city and who knows what sort of policies will he place that can harm his team. Maybe it can even devolve to outright illegalization, forcing his friends to go into hiding or away from the city they have defended for years.

As his bare feet were lifted from the floor and lied to the opposite side to his bed from him, Richard honestly wondered…was it really worth fighting crime and getting themselves involved in his crime fighting crusade? Now he himself didn’t want to stop, he made an oath when he was eight years old swearing to fight for Truth and Justice under a candlelight with his hand on an Old Catholic Bible. But he wonders about his friends…Cyborg only became what he was because of an automobile accident severely damaging him inside and out…Beast Boy was trained since age even younger than him and from even stricter adopted parents…Raven and Starfire were literally born for destruction (against the Mortal Realm and against the Gordanian Empire respectfully)…point being Richard MADE his choice…the others didn’t and a past that he himself lived through will affect them..Just like how his obsession with Slade had done all those years ago.

A light tickle rubbed on his feet, taking Richard out of his thoughts and looking to the left side of his bed, seeing Starfire cuddled under his blankets and her hair lightly brushing on his toes. It was seeing that innocent sight of her literally next to him that Richard realizes if Star can stay close to him after all these years and whatever challenges come up next, his other friends can do so as well. With that comfort in mind, Richard’s eyes began to shut themselves while the ceiling fan above him blew at medium speed.

[fountainpenguin]

The TV Tropes Trivia page for "The Fairly OddParents" says Birch Hartman once had an idea for a film that was never made. Timmy, feeling sorry for all the other kids Vicky babysat, would wish that every child has a fairy godparent. Because Vicky was under 18, she would also get a godparent - Jorgen Von Strangle. And with fewer fairies to stop them, the Anti-Fairies and Pixies would take over. What do you think? Would Amity allow this? Would Timmy's wish brainwash them so that Vicky seemed nice?

Aww, seriously? I got cheated out of seeing Pixies? Dude, that’s so lame.

The obvious problem here is that it’s been established in show canon that there are not enough godparents for every child. Some fans seem to believe the number of Fairies is 81,000 because that’s how many could fit in the stadium in “Temporary Fairy”. My assumption was that it was just how many fit before it reached capacity, so I personally upped the count a tad.

I did some math last year to figure out how many Fairies were alive during H.P.’s time, and came up with about 7,000 (By the time Wilcox is born, that’s less than the population of Faeheim alone, which bothers H.P. a lot and gives him old people feels). Taking into account the rates they reproduce (including fairies not having babies after Cosmo), this is proportional to how many humans were alive in the time period parallel I set him in.

Unfortunately I tossed that math thinking I wouldn’t need it anymore, and I don’t remember WHAT time period it was and can’t be bothered to work it out right now, but there were dirt floors covered with straw, people mainly used curtains instead of doors, living rooms and kitchens were typically combined into “keeping rooms”, and a firepit in the middle of the floor (not over by the wall in a fireplace just yet) was the main source of light (Candles came much later- lanterns were only for genies for awhile).

Note: I tried to keep Fairy technology advancing at the same general pace human society did, though of course Fairies live longer. H.P. has seen people write with clay tablets, engrave on metal, use ink and parchment, and type on paper. It took them longer than humans to figure out papyrus because it’s not available in most areas of the cloudlands.

ANYWAY, I ended up having like 86,909 Fairies alive. They’re just not a people who reproduce very quickly. Actually, since edibles have to be grown on Earth, there have never been too many Fairies who farm. It was actually the people who were rich enough to survive on Earth who claimed the farms first (they could afford transport costs of goods to and from the cloudlands); thus, it did not benefit the poorer populations to have larger families who could work the soil. Unlike humans, the Fairykind had the option of looking to Alien societies when they built their own. The idea of rent sprang up very quickly. It behooved poorer families to have fewer kids so they could save money.

Worldbuilding tangent: Those of us ladies in first-world countries are usually anticipated by society to become mothers; raising children is seen as one of the most important things a woman can do in her life. 

Not so in Fairy society! The Fairykind can only gain nutrients, fill their hungry stomachs, and even get most taste from food not touched by magic- aka, food grown in Earth dirt that hasn’t been tilled with magic-made tools. This is why they settled the cloudlands around Earth to begin with, and not around some rocky planet that couldn’t support life.

However, even with the expanses of the Earth before them, food has always been a limited resource. Ergo, society promotes the idea that parenting is more of a leisure activity, and you shouldn’t have kids unless you know you can afford them. A homeless or struggling Fairy with kids is viewed even more negatively than a homeless or struggling person without kids (particularly with the way Fairy menstrual cycles work, b/c many subspecies have “breeding seasons” and stuff that marks their fertility, and at other times - for decades or centuries at a time - they could mate as much as they wanted without the risk of pregnancy. As a result, “accidents” are viewed by outsiders in a very “Wow, your parents are either really stupid or really hormonal” kind of way.

The subspecies lower on the ladder are constantly “always fertile” like humans; hence, why they’re on the bottom of the ladder. Remember that Cupid’s family line are the ones who designed the social ladder in the first place; they based it off cycles like this. Obviously, they are more prone to accident babies, and more prone to struggling, and they continue to be cast in a bad light by society.

And yes, Praxis deliberately tried to cast Ambrosine into the struggling position when he cut off his funds after Ambrosine had H.P. as a teenager- and Ambrosine put H.P. in the same scenario when H.P. had his third kid and there was still no supportive mother in sight.

Do you see where I’m going with this? Promote the idea that status can only fall with marriage and not raise a lower-ranked person up, and ta-da! The Fairy caste system is in place and keeps the power in the hands of wealthy fairies- families who tend to marry cousins to keep their wealth in the family. A poor full-blooded fairy is technically still ranked higher than, say, a rich elf on a legal level where inheritances and things are concerned. In personal interactions, not so much.

Compare this with Anti-Fairy society, which places a heavier focus on family loyalty- if you choose to keep the kid. In Anti-Fairy society, you basically have the right to give up the kid at birth since you had to have the kid if your counterpart did, whether you wanted to or not. Antis dumping their kids in the middle of nowhere is the stereotypical exception rather than the rule, and used by Fairies when they want to paint Antis in a bad light. In reality, Anti-Fairy society has systems in place where you can take pups, and other Antis who want kids but are infertile because their counterparts haven’t had any can adopt them. 

However, if you choose to accept the kid and you begin spending resources on it, then this idea of family loyalty comes into play, because bats roost in colonies, see. It’s a very, “I didn’t HAVE to keep you, but I did, so don’t you dare make me regret this by dishonoring the family name we’re risking for you” kind of thing. With these family ties in mind, if a teenage Anti-Fairy parent kept their kid, it would reflect poor on the teen’s parents for not stepping in to help them raise it. Raise, yes- politics are a different story sometimes.

SO! This idea of parenting being a leisure activity for Fairies contributes to A) Fairies not rioting when they couldn’t have kids anymore, and B) Their population being small.

What were we talking about again? Oh yeah. Family size, the Fairy population, and Amity. Sorry.

86,909 Fairies alive in my headcanon at the time of “Jimmy Timmy Power Hour”. There are more human kids than that. If this wish affected the entire world, this means that even Fairies who haven’t been trained to be godparents would get sucked into this.

Realistically, this is a wish that the Fairy Council would never allow, and it should shut down Cosmo and Wanda’s wands. You would think this would be one of the very first additions in Da Rules, because it could seriously screw up society and cause unnecessary stress, panic, and chaos.

So it’s not so much Amity having a say in whether this wish is okay or not, though they would be the ones to decide which fairies get which godchildren, and it would a be a rush job so they wouldn’t study personalities first. The godparents they have on file probably have personality details written that they could glance at, but they don’t have time to evaluate ALL the Fairies. In fact, they probably wouldn’t have time to evaluate all the kids: Hence, Vicky may have slipped through the ranks there. 

Odd that she’d end up with Jorgen. Jorgen’s position as Keeper of Da Rules is pretty important, so you’d think he and the Council would be the absolute last resorts, and Amity isn’t allowed to assign them without their permission. I suppose they would have said, “This is important, so I’ll volunteer”, and Amity assigned them to the first kids to come up. In which case, Jorgen and the Council likely would have been “brainwashed” by the wish in the same way they were by the Secret Wish (and they’d probably treat it as seriously).

Of course, things would be a little easier on Amity if the wish only affects Dimmsdale (especially if Timmy just wanted all the kids who had been bullied by Vicky to get godparents). In theory, Fairies (and Anti-Fairies) who have passed their certification classes and been licensed to be godparents apply to Amity in the hopes of being assigned to a child. So, when Timmy makes the wish, Amity would simply take all these certified newbies and assign them to godkids, and possibly make certification classes easier, or even offer temporary certification to students “because this is an emergency”.

Still, there is a godparent shortage going on right now, and evidently has been since “Temporary Fairy”. Jorgen said in “The Big Fairy Share Scare” that Fairies simply weren’t pursuing godparenting as a job anymore- probably because you have to pass all those tests and you get paid by commission; you’re out of luck if your kid loses you and you don’t get assigned to another one for years. 

Additionally, after the ban on fairy babies was lifted when Poof was born, many fairies are entering that age where they’ve accumulated sufficient funds to support themselves and are looking for leisure activities (or otherwise taking advantage of this opportunity for parenthood in case the window of opportunity closes again). They’re interested in settling down and raising families. There are only so many times you can be ripped away from a godkid before you begin craving something more permanent. 

Cosmo and Wanda are a team and had been with Timmy for many years; they were confident in their ability to raise Poof while still being his fairies (though we know this was rough on Timmy at first during Season 6). Some other godparents, after losing their kids, probably decided to take some time off. Fairy World is having a baby boom right now, so to speak. If Timmy made this wish for all the kids to have godparents, then these godparents would definitely be ordered back onto the field. Retired experts are first in line, before hopeful newbie fairies (or dust forbid, Anti-Fairies) are approved for work.

If this movie ever does get made, I’ll have to debate over whether or not I consider it canon. I’ll probably say, “It’s canon, but depending on the number of kids who get fairies, you may need to pretend that each godparent is assigned to multiple kids, except Jorgen because he does what he wants”.

[streamingnscreaming]

Ever since I was a kid, I’ve sought out isolated spaces to hide in and listen to music.  Usually they’re dark spaces because it helps me shut out all that extra stuff.

Music sinks into me, and I sink into it.  It both calms me and validates my neuroses (hence the title, “Streaming N Screaming”). I’ve never had another thing that forced me to focus, be mindful, if you will, to quite the same degree. It’s very hard for me to turn off my internal monologue in my waking life, but when I put on my headphones I kinda can.  I can isolate instruments, lyrics, song structures, feelings and their boiling points.  The control it gives me once it (somewhat paradoxically) shuts off everything else around me is liberating.  The liberation holds even when I’m listening to the most distressing, discordant sounds. Or when the melody’s nice, but the lyrics are downright depressing, maybe even violent.

I remember my first time hearing Sharon Van Etten wailing about wanting to stab her eyeballs out so she’d never have to see a former lover again.  I told my friend I loved it so much I thought I was gonna throw up.  (This is a real sensation I experience when hearing a song I really like for the first time.  It may sound hyperbolic and fake, but … it’s true!)

That’s some psychological and historical background to my music sensibilities. Here’s a little more on how it’s played out in my non-isolated, sharing life. 

Right now it’s July 2018, and I’m just about to turn 31.  If you do the math, you can see that I missed coming of age in the mixtape era by just a hair.  My music obsession really took shape just as tapes phased out and we got a desktop computer.

When CD burning technologies (and then Napster + torrenting, bless up!) became available, I started obsessively making 80 minute mix CDs for my friends, family, and, when I started feeling things down there, crushes.  Lots and lots of crushes.

I think the last mix CD I made was for the second woman I met through Tinder.  I’ll date it the tail-end of 2015.  

The mix I made was really fucking good, but she didn’t have anything to play it. CD drives had disappeared, I just hadn’t gotten the memo.  

It made me super sad because I had always found the gesture to be extra romantic and intentional.  You had 80 minutes to shine, and song order definitely made a difference. I also usually went that extra mile and made collaged CD sleeves, writing something sentimental but comical (because I was scared of being TOO sincere) on the disc itself.  

Needless to say, she (my Tinder 2.0) couldn’t play it.  And now that I’ve tossed all my obsolete technologies out the window, neither can I.  

Once I came to terms with the fact that streaming took over, I migrated my methods and took playlist-making into overdrive.  There’s practically nothing I enjoy more than hunting for the perfect tunes to capture a feeling, event, person’s spirit, or what have you.  It’s isolating and it forces me to be mindful.  

And as a way to bring more intentionality and focus back into my waking life, I want to return to the 80-minute model and make purposeful, curated music things.  I can barely play the guitar or sing, but I do have a premium Spotify account and I do still like to isolate myself in the dark.

So welcome to Streaming N Screaming.

I first thought about making this in June, a particularly rough and emotionally-draining month for me for reasons that do not belong on the Internet.  Normally, this would send me into a sad listening and curation streak (which is actually my baseline … my listening habits do not stray much further than six degrees of Leonard Cohen), but I thought instead I’d lean into the “Opposite Action” psychotherapeutic modality (is this NOT how you go about making playlists?) and create a PLAYFUL playlist.  

At just 4 minutes shy of a fully-loaded compact disk, PLAYFUL marks my first attempt at curating an audio story.  I want each story to have its own consistent theme, but with lots of different genres - some that hopefully surprise listeners in their ability to speak to a certain feeling, experience, season, or ... food?  

In listening and re-listening to Playful maybe 38+ times, I’ve picked up on some things.

Firstly, the flute.  The flute turns up in a lot of these songs and I’ve got to say,  he’s just a really playful little guy!  It makes me wonder if, taken out of an orchestral context, flutes can ever really bring anything but play or levity into a song.  Like, there’s Ron Burgundy and his jazz flute.  Can there earnestly be a sad flute?

Another thing I realized is that I cannot stand music that is both positive sonically and lyrically, almost like a double negative.  Something that sounds upbeat while musing about being happy or in love is gross.  “I don’t not hate that song.”  

A lot of the things I put on here have oppositional qualities once you separate their parts.  “Jameel’s Space Ride” by Thundercat is a chiptune-y playful backdrop for musing about police brutality.  Harry Nilsson’s “(Thursday) Here’s Why I Did Not Go to Work Today” is a slow, piano jazz number that’s also about being a self-aware lazy motherfucker.  Tyler, the Creator’s “Boredom” is bright and lively, and it may also be motivated by a similar isolation that I find myself in writing this post right now.

I think there’s a lot here.  And, being that stuff just don’t quit, I’m going to try not to quit, too.  As day turns to night and my psyche ebbs and flows through feelings of happiness and numbness, I will isolate myself in the darkness and drag and drop things into digital playlists.