#ask babovens

[babovens]

for spotify wrapped, #7 and #17? :0

AHSLFHDLSHAL alas, this year has been prime Vocaloid season with the ENG Project Sekai release

[babovens]

hey quick q! i didn’t see this on your commissions post (tho im on mobile so i may have missed it) but: are you open to binding original works at all?

Hi hiiii!

Great question because I haven’t even really thought about it until now (so apologies, this might be a bit long 😅)

The short answer is yes! I’m absolutely open to it!

The long answer is yes, but I will take original work commissions on a case-by-case basis. This is mostly because bookbinding is truly a hobby for me, and I’d like to spend my time reading fics from fandoms that get my serotonin going (not to say an original work wouldn’t get me hyped, but I’m just really deep into mp100 rn 🤣)

The terms and conditions for original work are pretty much the same as for fanbindings, EXCEPT:

- No need for authors permission (since you’re the author)

- I’ll need to be sent a link to a Google doc of your story through DM.

Themes/tags I won’t consider, shipping prices, and timespan are all the same.

Pricing wise, the book will follow the same prices as fanbinding, but I will additionally charge for labor ($10/hr). To give an estimate, the 15k book I’ve just about finished took about 6hrs over the span of a week (and that’s not counting the hours it takes for the glue to dry overnight 🙃). Depending on the length of the book, that number will increase, so keep this in mind when thinking about affordability.

I’ll add all this to the original commissions post! Thank you for the question!

[babovens]

Mob/Teru/Ritsu/Shou who out of this group is your favorite and why

Personally I feel like mob is literally the man, like he’s that guy. But something about Teru strikes a chord with me

Oh god I have to CHOOSE ONE KIDDO!?!

(I apologize in advance. This is gonna be looooong).

So my favorite characters in any fandom tend to be the ones I can find bits and pieces of myself in. The ones I can connect with. That’s what’s special about MP100. I’ve found little bits and pieces of my self in almost all the characters.

I connected with Ritsu’s dilemma of never feeling good enough, that even though he is so talented at so many things, he never feels fulfilled because the one thing he wants to excel in, he can’t. No matter how hard he tries.

I connected with Shou and how responsible he is, even too much so. He took on a huuuuge load he shouldn’t have had to (defeating his dad) and ended up hurting himself in the process. He is very self sacrificing (even though, although funny, fanon Shou is often portrayed as the meme kid who wants to watch the world burn).

But then there’s Teru and Mob. The ones who’s characters hit me the hardest.

I love Mob because what he’s going through are things I’m currently struggling with. Mob is going through a really hard time in his life where he doesn’t know what to do. He’s not lazy, but he doesn’t have self-motivation. The things he does are things others have told him to do. Reigen may tell Mob he doesn’t have to use his powers, but we still see how often Reigen uses them for his own benefit. Tome tells Mob to join the telepathy club or they will disband and she’ll be sad. Using his powers and joining a club surrounding psychic powers are both things he doesn’t want to do, but almost does simply because he was told it was the “right choice.”

But that’s not what he wants. He’s very talented in the psychic power category, yes, but that’s not his passion. That’s not what makes him happy. He finally does find that with the Body Improvement club. That was his choice, not something someone else told him was “good” for him.

I’m still searching for that. What I truly want in my life. Is my goal to have a good career? To own a nice house in the woods? To have kids? To be financially stable enough to support my hobbies? I’m still figuring that one out (and there are answers to this in Mob’s character arc, but that’s a S3 spoiler, so I’ll skip for now).

And then there’s TERU. Ohhhhhhh Teru. We love to make fun of his fashion, of his bald head, and his enemies to friends arc. But what myself and many others love about him is the subtle character traits he has that makes you raise an eyebrow. Like in S1 when Dimple asks why he’s living in a one bedroom apartment and Teru decides to not elaborate on why he, a 14 year old child, is living by himself with no parents in sight. Since the series is technically from Mob’s POV (for the most part), Mob doesn’t ask so Teru doesn’t tell. Therefore, we don’t really know.

And that’s what intrigues me.

There is so much both unknown yet implied about Teru that makes his character fantastic to unbox. He has so many quirks and oddities that make you go “what happened that made him like this? Why was he so desperate for attention? Why was his first instinct to fight when seeing another esper?”

And that’s how I connect with Teru. I haven’t really done any looking back on my childhood until recently, mostly because my opinion on life was “whelp, I’m not dead so I guess I turned out okay and was treated right.”

But looking back, there are some events in my life that have contributed to the way I am today. Especially the many parts of myself that I don’t like. It wasn’t until I started asking myself “why do I feel the need to get perfect grades? Why was I so obsessed with people acknowledging me when I was younger?” (Which is honestly similar to pre-Mob Teru. Just more subtle and less, uh, violent.)

So that’s a really long answer to: If I really had to choose I’d say it’s a tie between Teru and Mob? I GUESS?!?

[babovens]

i see your bio and !!! fellow danny phantom fan music major! i am Delighted! what's your major instrument? my major instrument is clarinet but i've been playing piano for even longer and i've recently taken up singing

OOOOOO MUSIC MAJOR HI!!! Ahhh clarinet is such a fun and beautiful instrument! A friend at my high school school was a crazy woman and played a Bb, a bass, and a piccolo clarinet 😳 (I didn’t even know piccolo clarinets were a thing).

My major instrument is actually my voice haha! I currently double as both a musical theatre and opera major so I do aaaaaalllllll the styles of singing (MT, pop, punk/rock, baroque, opera, even dabbled in heavy screamo for a little bit).

But that’s only what my major is. Before then, I was a percussionist for… uh well basically since I was born 🤣

Both my parents played in percussion (and marched in the snare line at different drum corps) so naturally, I picked that up too. 4 mallet solo marimba was a fav, snare drum in the drumline was a jam, and I played drumset in pit orchestra, but I love love LOVE timpani the most (I wanna HIT SOME BIG OL DRUMS)!

[babovens]

your book for butterfly effect is so cool! i like the cover pattern, and the way you formatted the text inside! how did you go about making the cover? i want to do more bookbinding myself, but can't seem to find a good way to write the title for the cover

Ahhhh! Thank you so much!!! ♡´･ᴗ･`♡

I’m new to booking binding as well (Butterfly Effect is my second successful book) so I’ll try to explain this as best as posssible.

(Also, this is bookbinding on a budget ‘cause I still gotta pay for college 🥲)

So, the title:

I treated the title like I would the title on a scrap book and went to my local craft shop to buy some letter stickers. I tried to find one that not only matched the feel of the story itself but also the inside cover. It might be best to find the stickers for the cover first and then go onto your document to find a font that closely matches the stickers.

However, if you want to go the expensive/professional route, I see many people use a Cricut machine to make the inner cover match the outside covers text exactly. But, once again, bookbinding on a budget!

For the actual material for the cover itself:

The green floral print is just nice paper from Hobby Lobby (they’ve got a huge selection of ‘specialty paper’ that’s not cardstock), and the spine is fabric that I made into book cloth (here’s a tutorial on how to make it).

As for the measurements, I followed this tutorial (start at 2:48) BUT! Instead of using an entire thing of fabric, I measured 1/4” on both sides of the spine PLUS how much fabric I wanted to show on the front of the book. So, for Butterfly Effect, I measured 1/4” on each side plus 2” on each side.

Hopefully that made some sort of sense! 😅

Feel free to ask any more questions if you have them! Happy bookbinding y’all!

[babovens]

7, 26, 36, 63, 75! :D

Forgive me Spiffy, these turned into a mini therapy session XD

7. Are you in love? Do you want to be?

Does Katsuya Serizawa count?

Okay, but seriously. I really, really, REALLY want to know what it’s like to be in love. I’ve had 2 experiences with dating and both times were, well, horrible to be honest. So whenever I watch movies or read stories that describe how amazing it feels to have someone who understands you completely, I honestly get lonely. That being said, I can’t imagine myself in a relationship anytime soon. I’m too busy and too scared to be that vulnerable to someone.

26. What’s the most life-changing choice you’ve made so far?

Actually, this happened not that long ago. So, my dream since I was a kid was to be a broadway star. THE leading lady. So I got into one of the top 10 Musical Theatre universities and I thought I was set. However, after Freshman year, I began to discover that I didn’t like the stage or the spotlight as much as I used to, but… instead of listening to my feelings, I shoved them down, ignored them, and continued to take 20 credit hours, spend way too much time on music I didn’t even like, and believe that what I wanted was to be the lead and the star of the show. Because in a top 10 university, if your dream isn’t broadway, what are you even doing here? Why are you trying? You are not one of us.

Just quit already.

It didn’t help that my voice teacher, mom, dad, and some friends all wanted me to make it big, but it wasn’t until I said out loud, “I don’t want this,” that I began to discover what I truly loved. I like crafting. I like so do goofy voices. I like sitting outside in the sun and transposing/transcribing music for others. I love singing in a group. I’d much rather be in a chorus or in the background than be a leading lady.

And that’s okay.

So I’m still going to go through with my degree (I’ve gotten this far) but I’ve realized I’m content with pursuing the simpler side of the performing career. It doesn’t make me any less of a person or performer. In conclusion, your life is your own <3

36. Have you ever met someone who had a very similar personality to your own? Did you get along?

My best/childhood friend IRL and I are EXTREMELY similar personality wise. And considering we’ve been best friends since kindergarten, I’d say we get along pretty well XD

Despite many of our career paths and talents to be very different, (she is devoted to helping others through her work and I’m content with just, well, being) we still are the most supportive pair to each other. We even entrust each other to read our wild fanfics which honestly act more like therapy sessions than anything. It’s nice to have someone that I can trust with those things.

63. How confident are you, really?

This question just called me out with the ‘really’ at the end XD.

The simple answer is absolutely not, but I’m really good at faking it. I used to be much more confident in myself but college kind of threw that in the garbage. I think day after day with rejections from auditions saying “Your voice is too low” “You’re too tall” “Your physique doesn’t match your energy” “You don’t match our vision” really got to me. It taught me to not love the things about myself that make me unique such as my height or my low voice. I’m getting better at being confident in myself, but some days are harder than others.

75. Do we have a moral obligation to care for others? To what extent?

Hard question but my answer is ...y-yeeeeeeeeees???

I’m all about having the freedom to choose what you can and can’t do, but like, just be kind to others? Please? That’s a loaded answer I know, but I can’t force anyone to do anything. I just hope that people do the right thing. Just be a good person

[babovens]

The funky asks!! 1 & 99!

WOOO! Let’s do it!!!

1. Are you bothered by your cosmic insignificance?

I MEAN, YEAH KIND OF XD

I really feel this when I’m laying in the grass and staring at the stars and there… there are just so many… And then I feel small (which as a girl who is 6’ tall, that doesn’t happen often) but like, it’s kind of nice at the same time. Feeling small I mean. But at the same time, it’s a little freaky seeing firsthand how large the universe is. Like, I’m just one person among billions, I’m one tiny speck among an infinite amount of stars.

99. Do you believe in magic? Are you superstitious?

Hee hee, yeah… I do believe in magic. Well, kind of. Sooo... Oh! I’m gonna take my favorite choral piece “Northern Lights” by Ola Gjeilo. Seeing that performed live is the weirdest experience because time moves slow, fast, not at all, but too fast at the same time. But I know how long it actually is, and I know why I love it so much since I’ve studied music theory, but… that doesn’t explain the goosebumps that never fail to appear every time I listen to it. That doesn’t explain how it sounds haunting yet beautiful at the same time. Doesn’t explain my emotional response to it. That might not make a whole lotta sense, but I guess what I’m trying to say is that though there are explanations for magical things, that doesn’t mean that there isn’t magic involved.

As for superstitions, I am not superstitious… EXCEPT during a full moon. I don’t know why, but every time, without fail, something weird will happen on the day before, the day of, or the day after a full moon. Like this Monday! It was the day after a full moon and all of my classes were canceled. Like, why? I’m not complaining, but there was like, 0 explanation as to why from my professors quit class??? What is going on???????? (It’s the moon clearly).

Thank you for the asks Toasty!!! <3

[babovens]

For the fic ask game:

9, 22

GASP! One of my fave SeriRei authors!!! Thank you so much for the ask!

9. How did you get into writing fanfiction?

- The very first fan fic I wrote was a Dragon AU for Super Mario Galaxy when I was in 5th grade. I didn’t realize it was a fan fic, nor did I know what fanfic was at the time, but I still had the beautiful thought of “what if this… but DRAGONS!”

However, I didn’t start posting my work until 2021, when I was in the undergrad trenches. I thank mp100 and Toasty for that push 💜

22. Did you do anything special to celebrate finishing a fic?

- Didn’t finish a fic, but I posted the first chapter of my long fic: Adrift! Hell yeah I celebrated. Went to an Irish pub and listened to the open band session that plays there. It was so refreshing (and then I immediately started working on the next chapter while there XD)