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thewriteblrlibrary · 5 months

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A Step-by-Step Marketing Guide so we can spite traditional publishers (and make people cry).

~ This is a guide specific for fiction/writeblr. All of this is for free and there is little social media posting/ads involved (unless you want to venture into that). ~

Within the writeblr spheres, there's this underlying hope that our stories will find their audience. Perhaps we'll have a fandom full of fanart and video essays, or maybe we'll be an instant classic and sit on collectors' beloved bookshelves. Our stories could sit within the deepest corners of someone's heart and maybe they never tell a soul about what's so special to them. Maybe our stories become those 'underrated masterpieces'.

Or we just want to see people ugly cry over our writing.

Whatever your hope may be, marketing is an important path to venture on (especially because traditional publishers are rejecting diverse books in favor of ones that are already famous + the whole sub-par machine thing they seem obsessed with.)

And thus, my childhood marketing obsession will hopefully be of use to you. This is all for free (unless you want to spend money) and you don't need to figure out social media platforms (unless you want to, and this guide works if you decide to take that route too.)

Step One: Characters

Marketing spheres will define these fictious people as 'avatars' or 'the target audience'. You could also call them characters. Because that's what they are: fictional people.

For this step, you shall create characters that would love your story.

And here's some great news: You've already done this.

Perhaps you wrote your story to comfort a prior version of yourself. Perhaps each character in your story holds an aspect of your personality. Perhaps you were ridiculously self-indulgent and made the story you would've loved to read. These are all possible characters you can reuse for marketing.

Write down 2-4 quick archetypes for these characters. You'll chose an aspect of your story (characters, themes, or the younger-self that you wrote it for) and write a thumbnail sketch. (Main issue, fears, wants, personality traits if they relate to the main issue.)

I'll do it for my story (the Land of the Fallen Fairies) down below:

Anuli-like (my MC): Overthinking and aloof. Wants a happy ending but thinks their current personality/character isn't good enough for one. The present stales in comparison to the past/the childhood they lost. The 'gifted theater kids'. Kamari-like (side character): Postpones happiness in favor of creating a perfect schedule/getting accomplishments. Heavy masking. Creative but doesn't create anymore. Promises themself they'll enjoy themselves later, when they've earned it. Workaholics. My younger self: Wanting a fantasy escapism to embody the traits they wish they had in real life. Dissatisfied and worried about reality. Perfectionists. Self-indulgent: People who love plants and forests and fantasy worlds far away from reality/humanity.

Great! Now it's time to find these characters.

Step Two: Setting.

(Let's assume you're using the internet for your marketing. But a similar method works for real life too.)

Where do the characters live?

In order to figure that out, we need to discover the characters' interests, what they watch to solve their problems, and who they find #relatable.

(You can do this for each character or for all the characters at once.)

For example:

Anuli-like -

interests: Stories. Analysis videos. Fantasy escapism. Things that remind them of their childhood. (so nature, warmth, comfort, play, imagination and the times they would actually enjoy learning.)

Places to look: Nature quotes, ambience videos, children's shows and fairytales (comfort shows). Fandom culture - fanfic video essays, fan art.

Solving problems (the problem being wanting a 'happy ending' but feeling that their personality/lifestyle/characteristics aren't right for one): Mindfulness things. Self-healing. Quotes and meditations and candles galore. Slow living. Nature vlogs. Self care. All that 'live in the moment' culture.

Places to look: Slow living. Nature vlogs. The 'softer self-help' (spirituality stuff. Magic/ overnight answers). Witchcraft. 'aesthetic nature' places. Guided meditations.

#relatable: Burnt out gifted kids. People who think so much that their life passes them by. Storytellers and creative who create to make sense of the world. People who like dark, gory things in spite of who they want to be. People who don't like reality.

Places to look: Those 'learn better and remember everything' places. (The 'burnt-out gifted kid' recovery places.) Stop overthinking spots. Those quotes on Pinterest from poetic people who think too much /aff. Storyteller places. Dark academia. Classical music. One off quotes/ poetry.

Okie dokie. Once you have this, find channels, social media accounts, blogs, songs, books, etc. that fit with the categories you wrote down. (They should appeal to the characters) You can search up some of the terms you listed into searches and see who pops up. Bonus points if you find people that overlap with multiple sections.

I know I didn't include booktube or booktok in here. You can if you want too. But those can be a bit... 'consume these 500 books'. You also want to find other places where people who would like you story live, even if they don't follow booktube or booktok.

Congrats! Now you know where your characters live!

Step Three: the scary part

Take everyone you found on your search for the settings and write them down a list. Make sure you get an email/contact info. (they usually list them somewhere under 'for business inquires') Also feel free to watch their content and get to know what attributes these settings have.

And now... we talk to them. about our stories. You can do it. I believe in you.

This called 'pitching your product' in marketing spheres. But you can be informal about it.

I know it can be difficult to talk about your work, so here's a tone to have:

'I made this thing I like and I think you'll like it too'.

What you'll do is send an email (or dm) that goes like this (inspired by Creative Hive on youtube):

Hi [name],

[Genuine compliment]

[Quick sentence or two about your story. Include the themes and who it appeals to. If you have a logline/sentence summary, include that. But I find that the underlying themes and 'who's it's for' is more engaging.

For my story, I might say something like.

I've written a story you might enjoy, since you like [interest]. It's called the Land of the Fallen Fairies. It's a nature-themed commentary on the pursuit of happiness and fixing yourself to deserve that happiness, told by an overthinking, unreliable, houseplant narrator. It was supposed to comfort me when I got frustrated with myself and my happiness chasing, and I hope it can comfort others too.

(That's probably a bit long and I can trim it down a bit.)

You can phrase it like a gift if you want too.]

[Call to action.

'If you like it, I'd appreciate a mention on your [platform].

I know this part may be difficult to mention (imposter syndrome is not fun.) But I promise that if they do like it, they'll be happy to mention it.]

If they don't respond within... four-ish days? (A week at most). then you can include a follow up. For this you can include a template with info about your story. This way it's easy for them to talk about your story.

The template:

title

genre

blurb

Author

where to find the book

Bonus points if you have an additional, physical thing to send them.

Congrats! Now do this pitching process a few times until you've covered most of your bases. (Pitch to as many people as you can. It will get more comfortable as you do it. Play your favorite song and don't let yourself think too hard about it.)

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The benefits of this process are that you find people that are already interested in the themes and vibes of your story (in comparison to to ads, which get shoved in everyone's faces.). Someone your audience already trusts will talk about it, which means you don't need to do all this trial and error to find your audience and make content for them.

It's basically a bunch of people talking about something they like!

AND you diversify your audience across niches, but with an underlying theme/interests. Booktok/booktube must appeal to everyone, so it's a hit or miss for recommendations. (Unless there is someone that specifically does one genre/type of story.)

From here you can do fun little things to build up hype and make the book launch feel like this fun event. (I love it when that happens so here's my thoughts about trying to create an event with your story... although that may require another post entirely.)

preorder goals

charity goals

Arg's and puzzles

fund with side plushies and trinkets

Book blog tour

book boxes

as many memes as you can make

rewards (like bookmarks or posters or smth) that people can get for supporting

Talk about the process of creating your story. I know this one channel called 'Dead Sound' that creates 'making of' videos for his short films and they are some of the best videos on youtube.

Okay dear storyteller! Now go forth and share your story with the world!

Additional resources:

Creative Hive <-- a youtube channel that goes through the pitching process.

This video is also very good <-- Haven't watched the rest of the channel but I assume it's also good.

One of the best marketing channels on the internet (the videos are actually entertianing to watch.

Seth Goldin <-- I read his book and took the parts I liked and modified for storytelling marketing.

Dead Sound <-- propaganda to watch the short film series he has (he did the whole 2-d 3-d style wayyyy before spiderverse did... and he's one person making these. One person. It's amazing.

Glitch <--- If someone can figure out how The Amazing Digital Circus was marketed then I will pay you money. It seems to be a lot of memes and funny things.

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descendant-of-truth · 1 year

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I've been wondering if I should make this post for a while, but I'm just gonna come out and say it: the Sonic movies are not pro-military just because Tom is a police officer. I'd argue that the movies are pretty anti-military, actually.

So, let's talk about Tom first, since he's kind of the elephant in the room with this discussion. Tom is the sheriff to a small town where he rarely has to deal with any real crimes; he usually deals with more trivial problems like people's cars breaking down, and we see him help a family of ducks cross the street.

He's an officer partly out of a sense of obligation (reportedly his family has held this position in some way for over 50 years), and partly because he wants to be in a position where he can protect people in serious situations. His goal at the start of the first movie is to start working in a bigger city where he can be more helpful.

I won't say that Tom isn't something of an idealized vision of a cop, and that in the wrong hands, he could easily be used as a form of military promotion. But I think Tom is like this for a different, more specific reason: to be used as a sharp contrast to literally every other government official we see.

Question: who exactly is the villain in the first Sonic movie? Robotnik, yes, but who is he? What does he represent?

Well, he's pretty much the face of the military.

Robotnik is under direct orders from the government to look into the power outage incident, and that turns into a mission to capture (and experiment on) Sonic - and regardless if Robotnik was authorized to use lethal force, he does so anyway.

And the thing is, all of the higher-ups know he's unhinged and dangerous, but he keeps his job because he gets results regardless of his methods. Heck, the first thing we see him do is lie to Tom about who he is and what he's there for so he can get inside his house to search it. Not exactly the most flattering portrayal of military investigations.

(He even gets punched by Tom after forcing his way into the house anyway)

Tom then proceeds to spend the rest of the movie on the run from the government, going out of his way to protect Sonic (who is quite literally an illegal alien) at the risk of his own livelihood. Clearly, adhering to his job description is not something the movie views as morally correct here.

Second question: who's the villain of the second movie? Still Robotnik, but he's not employed by the government anymore, so he can't really represent them anymore, right?

No, but considering Sonic's adopted family was actively manipulated by a government spy, who was meant to marry his new aunt in order to target him, and Sonic proceeds to get tased and thrown into a cage along with Tails by the other military personnel present at the fake wedding... I think it's safe to say that they are, once again, a central antagonistic force in this series.

(Yeah they do a funny where the spy turns out to have fallen in love for real, but I think we can all agree that was done for the sake of keeping a whimsical tone and not to endorse what was actually happening with the government there)

Which brings us to the third movie, which is still unreleased at the time of writing this. And one final question: how exactly do you think they're planning to write an adaptation of Sonic Adventure 2?

They've already set GUN up as the villains. That alone is central to Shadow's backstory, and the writers have clearly done their homework on Sonic lore. And even if they've somehow wildly missed the messaging of the franchise they've made two successful movies off of, the fact of the matter is that there is no adapting SA2 without anti-military sentiments. Like, they would have to work pretty hard and completely butcher both the game and their own movies up to this point for that to come out being pro-military.

This part's more in speculation territory, but here's a thought: what do you think Tom is going to do when he finds out what happened to Shadow?

Remember, Tom is an idealized small town sheriff who has this job out of obligation. He hasn't had to deal with the darker side of all this stuff until he started protecting Sonic, which - just as a reminder - has led to his house being searched, his car being cut in half, Sonic almost getting killed at least twice, his sister-in-law being manipulated, Sonic and Tails getting locked in cages... I'm probably even missing a few things.

Once everything that happened 50 years ago comes to light (especially if the theorists are right about Tom's family having been involved in it), I honestly wouldn't be surprised if he just. quit being a police officer. or got into activism. or both.

But even if we limit the analysis to just the two movies that are out right now, I struggle to see how "Tom shirks his duties to protect an alien child from being experimented on by the government" is in any way a pro-military sentiment.

In conclusion: basically every problem in the Sonic movies is the fault of the government in some way, so can we please stop talking about the series as if Tom is singlehandedly making them pro-military, now. Thanks

#sonic the hedgehog #sonic movie #sonic movie 2 #sonic movie 3 #tom wachowski #dr robotnik #movie robotnik #analysis #meta #This is mostly constructive but I am. just a bit annoyed XD

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mcntsee · 3 months

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— ★ works in progress!

↳ these are not in any specific order!

— KAZ BREKKER

— my wife

↳ (Kaz Brekker x reader)

Summary: This marriage was not an act of love, just pure convenience. Kaz thirsting for revenge, and her itching for a way out.

Snippet: Perhaps, in this alternate life, they might have fallen in love. In that scenario, Kaz speculated he would have invested genuine effort into getting to know her. Truly know her. And just maybe, their wedding would have been a celebration of love, not a calculated ruse.

— crimson smoke - 3.1K words

↳ (Kaz Brekker x sister! reader)

Summary: Stealing the Neshyenyer

Snippet: Her eyes widened in fear as she tried to step away from him. Her father's grip was relentless. She managed to break free but found herself unable to step back further. She whispered, "Da..."

— routine

↳ (Kaz Brekker x reader)

Snippet: But maybe routine was meant to be broken every now and then.

Still, he waited and waited, but she never came.

— what’s your name?

↳ (Kaz Brekker x civilian! reader)

Snippet: Initially, a person’s name holds little to no significance to us. However, as we build a relationship with them and feelings arise, their name acquires a new meaning. Someone's name signifies the feelings it evokes in you.

— breaking my heart

↳ (from jesper’s pov + slight platonic!crows)

Summary: Jesper’s heart breaks at the sight of Kaz Brekker, his boss and the coldest person in Katterdam, on his knees.

Snippet: His breath caught in his throat as he watched Kaz’s usually steady form falter. He watched as his knees gave way, and sank to the ground, pressing his forehead against the cold earth.

— the problem

↳ (Kaz Brekker x reader)

Snippet: “I fell in love with you.”

“Say it again.”

— my angel

↳ (Kaz Brekker x reader)

Summary: Epilogue for Fires of passion, ashes of hate from Kaz’s point of view. (Can also be read as a standalone or first part to my devil)

Snippet: She remained the sole divine thing he believed in— the one enduring belief he still clung to.

— my devil

↳ (Kaz Brekker x reader)

Summary: Epilogue for Fires of passion, ashes of hate from reader’s point of view. (Can also be read as a standalone or second part to my angel)

Snippet: He was the forbidden fruit she couldn’t resist—the captivating rebel who stole and kept her heart.

— my dearly detested

↳ (Kaz Brekker x reader)

Summary: Enemies to lovers

Snippet: "I've known you for a while now, Rietveld. Although my family wasn't much into Lij festivities, I remember you and Jordie being part of it, just like me."

— old friend (request by: lottle-is-little)

↳ (Kaz Brekker x civilian! reader)

Request: I was wondering if you could write Kaz x reader (female) where the girl is from Lij and was best friends with Kaz (like Alina and Mal) and Kaz finds photos of them and Jordie together before they moved to Ketterdam (she stayed behind when they went and lost contact) and he misses her a bunch and him and the Crows go to Lij and meet her and super fluffy and happy

— the waves (request by: @lottle-is-little)

↳ (Kaz Brekker x grisha! reader)

Request: Reader is a part of the Counsel of Tides and Kaz doesn't know and something happens where the Counsel threatens the city because of something that happened and the reader comes back to the Slat exhausted from using their power too much at once and passes out and Kaz takes care of them.

— stalker (request by: @tayrae515)

↳ (Kaz Brekker x reader)

Request: Reader having a stalker. Maybe it starts out as creepy notes the reader hides but ends up with the stalker approaching her (kidnapping or not.) and Kaz saving the reader by dealing with the stalker. Maybe it even ends with Kaz's attempt at admitting he cares about the reader.

— my head, my heart (request by: @nicole198205)

↳ (Kaz Brekker x reader)

Request: kaz brekker x reader where the reader has been struggling with like migraines or something and attempting to hide it from kaz but he eventually finds out?

— pull me closer (anon request)

↳ (Kaz Brekker x reader)

Request: maybe they are sleeping together for the first time, but not in a sexual way. like, they are cuddling for the first time after working on his touch aversion for so long?

— stay with me (anon request)

↳ (Kaz Brekker x reader)

Request: reader is from The Menagerie, and Kaz is paying her in debts, as well as Inej's, and she's one of the crows, she's in love with Kaz, he's in love with her, but the something happens and she's afraid that Tante is gonna take her back to The Menagerie, and she decides to run away but then Kaz says the famous "Stay. Stay in Ketterdam. Stay with me." to her.

— my demons, your fears (anon request)

↳ (Kaz Brekker x grisha! reader)

Request: kaz brekker x reader oneshot where they grew up together as neighbors but then the reader's parents died and Kaz'a family took her in and she went with him the Jordie to Ketterdam and was with Kaz helped Kaz swim out of the Reaper's Barge because she's a tidemaker. Anyway, her and Kaz used to be together but they broke up and then the reader had a nightmare about Jordie and woke up screaming and crying and Kaz comforted her and brought her to his bed to sleep for the night and in the morning she was confused why he helped her and they get back together or something, you can choose the ending.

— those eyes (request by: @yhaywhwvsh)

↳ (Kaz Brekker x reader + slight platonic! crows)

Request: Reader finishes what she wanted to do in Ketterdam (her goal) and she only stayed because of Kaz, but after that argument "You would be nothing without me, Brekker", "I saved you. Don't forget that." she leaves. She comes back to Ketterdam after the Ice court heist and all that shit and the new Crows met her?

— don’t panic, love (anon request)

↳ (Kaz Brekker x gn! reader)

Request: i was wondering if you could do a fic where Kaz or Freddy can tell the reader(gn if that's okay) is going to have a panic attack before they knew due to Kaz/Freddy seeing the signs and provides the reader with comfort and helps them calm down

— THE CROWS

— long live (anon request)

↳ (slight Kaz Brekker x reader + platonic! crows)

Request: six of crows x reader (platonic)/slight Kaz x reader based on the song "Long Live" by Taylor Swift?

— you shot me! (anon request)

↳ (platonic! crows x reader)

Request: 31. "You shot me!" "Oh, don't pretend to be surprised. It's unbecoming." So maybe some sort of just heist gone wrong but with comedic elements. Of course someone got shot but its funny right

— FREDDY CARTER

— I’ll take care of you (anon request)

↳ (freddy carter x reader)

Request: fluffy one shot of Freddy Carter taking care of the reader when she’s sick, Thank you so much ILYSM!!!

— SIMON "GHOST" RILEY

— the aftermath (trojan horse pt.2)

↳ (ghost x reader + platonic TF141)

Summary: Zero is dealing with the aftermath of their London mission. Luckily she has Simon by her side. And of course, the rest of her team.

Snippet: He grappled with disbelief. A lifetime of enduring pushbacks, hits, and abuse had etched a belief of being unlovable. Yet, here she was, loving him effortlessly, as if it were as natural as breathing.”

— ALASTOR

— angelic prey (anon request)

↳ (alastor x angel! reader)

Request: We can have a yandere Alastor with an angel reader... After Charlie went to heaven, the angel reader was moved by his proposal to save the demons... So to help Charlie the reader went to the hazbin hotel... What no one counted on is that Alastor fell in love with the angel reader... Now what would happen?

— CRIMINAL MINDS

— come back to me (anon request)

↳ (spencer x reader)

Request: spencer reid x reader (preferably non bau reader) where reader goes missing and they are gone so long that they are presumed dead. And they are never found (at least not found alive)???

#banners by cafekitsune #six of crows #kaz brekker x reader #six of crows x reader #fanfiction #kaz brekker #angst #fluff #oneshot

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accirax · 3 months

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Alright, let me throw my hat in the ring for predicting who the upcoming DRDT MV is gonna be about. Spoilers for the series up to the second victim reveal.

So, I know that earlier today I said that I thought the MV might be about Levi-- I even voted for him on googledetective's poll. However, after actually looking at Yoidoreshirazu's lyrics, I have another prediction who (at the time of writing) has 0% on said poll. I actually think this MV could be about Rose?

I woke up as an unaware drunkard

While Rose obviously isn't known for excessive alcohol consumption, I think you could use her sleepy demeanor as a substitution for drunkenness in this song. Alcohol is a depressant, which "can affect concentration and coordination and slow down a person’s ability to respond to unexpected situations" as the Alcohol and Drug Foundation puts it. Similarly, a person as lethargic as Rose might have trouble remembering what's just transpired, or quickly answering questions. Sleeping may be another way that Rose chooses to get away from her problems, an "addiction" similar to someone who drinks to forget.

All of this bickering goes on til the dawn comes Worn out, we all look horrible Until all thousand voices become hoarse

Chapter 2 was full of lots of fighting and yelling, of which Rose was neither a participant nor an enjoyer.

I’m giving into you, but you don’t even have anything to say And my body is dyed

In order to pay off her debts, Rose has to give in to what the Spurlings ask of her. Her art and her soul are now forever dyed by the intentions and ambitions of the Spurlings, as opposed to her own expression.

And then The sacred mountain is covered in mud, it’s smeared and chipping away, ah yes, it’s not half bad I’m a milligram away from succumbing Getting drunk again and again, unexpectedly- Ah, it’s not half bad I’m a drunkard unaware of my rival in love, so

Rose's "sacred mountain" is art itself. Even if she isn't a sculptor working with clay, it's still the journey to which she wanted to dedicate her life. Her dream is chipping away, but she says it's not that bad because she knows the alternative would have been worse. Still, she's on the verge of giving up because of the depressing state her life has fallen to. The sentiment is then basically repeated with her choice to numb herself to the world around her, being an "unaware drunkard"-- it seems chill on the surface, but she still regrets giving up so easily and not being able to contribute more.

I'm not entirely sure who the "rival in love" is. My best guess is that it would sort of be herself? Or, like, the love itself is the rival. Her desire to make art for herself and love her life is the rival of being responsible and loving/supporting her family by making art for the Spurlings.

The singing voices are uncountable And once one gets lost in them, they end up at your xx

If this is Rose's MV, this section is clearly about her nightmares. The "singing voices" would be the other participants of the killing game, specifically those who screamed out in pain from massive injuries or death. Rose gets lost in her memories via her dreams, and those visions stick with her as part of her photographic memory. You could interpret the "xx" as "door," which just means that they always wind up right in the forefront of her mind. But, you could also substitute in "canvas" or "tip of your paintbrush" to incorporate how Rose often paints the things that worry her.

Hey, look at how pretty it is, the daydream rondo一 I hide a thousand and can only spit out ten

The paintings of Rose's dreams are beautiful, but Rose always has to hide them behind black paint, lest the Spurling Foundation fully steal her soul. Still, she's frustrated that she can't paint what she wants more often.

Please don’t let this fleeting happiness go away, Until I can lend an ear by your side I’m giving into you, but you don’t even have anything to say And my heart is dyed

Rose has at least tried to make friends in the killing game. The two most notable, in my opinion, are Teruko and Nico. I'd like to believe that her brief interactions with the two of them, at some points in time, have made her happy, at least in comparison to the rest of the killing game. In Rose and Nico's FTE, Nico mentions how they like that Rose is a chill person who will just hang out and listen, and when Teruko asks Rose about her secret, Rose explains to Teruko that talking to others helps her work through her complicated thoughts and emotions. These two pieces together make me believe that Rose likes showing that she cares by listening to others, so "lending them an ear" is her way of reciprocating that happiness. Both of them are pretty quiet, but they've still changed who she is right now, for better or worse.

I’m a drunkard unaware of the story

Rose's sleepiness and general withdrawl from social interactions prevent her from getting involved in major portions of the story, such as helping Levi reconnect with Ace. Her fears also directly prohibited her from being aware of certain pieces of evidence when she refused to enter the Playground to investigate Arei's body.

Finally, I also think that the style of the music just kinda fits Rose. Veronika would probably say that I'm just primed to believe that after Venus and I assigned Rose the song Always Tired, which has a similar low-key, depressing red flavor. But, while much siller, Cartoons by Louie Zong (which pretty much everyone agrees was Rose's from the official playlist), also has that slow synthetic/tech beat. (Does that make sense??? I don't know what instruments are.)

Obviously, I didn't go through every lyric, but I felt that most other lyrics were either pretty self-explanatory, ignorable, or more of the same. The lyrics of the song definitely lead me to think that we could be looking at a Rose MV, but there are a couple of other factors arguing against that interpretation.

The first is the choice to give Rose an MV now of all times. Our first MV was Sleepy, a song for Min which came out shortly after she died. Our second was Literature Girl Insane for David, which came out shortly after his show-stopping reveal which made waves in the killing game and the fandom. Rose... well, she did have some important scenes this chapter, between the reveal of her secret and her breakdown outside the Playground, but neither of them were particularly recent or relevant to where the story is currently paused.

Well, DRDTdev did say that not every character is planned to have an MV, and that the creation order of them isn't totally within his control. So, if the idea for Rose struck now, then we could get a Rose MV now!

For what it's worth, I realized that it probably doesn't make sense to give this MV to anyone who's involved in the Chapter 2 murder. Even if we're still a few months out from that reveal, I feel like it would make more sense if we just waited until the chapter was over to give the killer a nice MV sendoff, much like Min. I, along with... pretty much everyone else I asked back in August didn't think that Rose was going to die this chapter, so she's most likely free from that mark.

The second is the quote in the description under the video, "I lack self control." I... really don't know what this would mean for Rose. Generally, I think she's pretty good at controlling her emotions, and I agree that that part might point in the MV more in the direction of Ace, Levi, Veronika, or someone else.

Still, I think that the lyrics of Yoidoreshirazu fit Rose pretty well, and wanted to explain my thoughts somewhere. Most importantly, new content! Thank you DRDTdev; stay healthy out there!!!

#danganronpa despair time #drdt #drdt spoilers #rose lacroix #nico hakobyan #teruko tawaki #my theories #yoidoreshirazu mv #i wonder what made drdtdev tell us the song's title ahead of time this time. i guess just bc the thumbnail he wanted to use has the title?#yoidoreshirazu is a bop i'm excited that anyone who hasn't heard it will get to know it better #what if it's bandori cover.... haha jk unless?#don't actually do that it would make the video get copyrighted instantly

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gentlebeardsbarngrill · 3 months

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Not OFMD specific but might be of interest

(copied without permission given to reproduce)

Found in Private Eye 16-29th Feb

Warner Gloss:

Labour's business charm offensive continued last week, as Keir Starmer proudly posted that he had met with David Zaslav, CEO of Warner Bros Discovery, aiming to "work in partnership with the creative industries to drive growth".

Named by the New York Times as the man who "blew up Hollywood", Zaslav in fact seems to be doing everything he can to prevent growth in the industry. Having merged hi cable TV company, Discovery with entertainment conglomerate Warner Bros in 2022, Zaslav took on $56bn in debt and enacted cost cuts of £3bn.

To achieve this he set about binning TV shows and films that had already been completed in order to claim large tax write-offs - most notoriously superhero caper Batgirl - and removing shows from streaming services to avoid paying residuals fees.

In a move that might have had more appeal for St

armer, Zaslov also hired Chris Licht as CEO of CNN in 2022 to make the news service more appealing to conservative viewers - but then fired him within a year after ratings hit rock bottom. Under Zaslav's watch, the stock price of Warner Bros Discovery Inc has fallen by nearly 60% - probably not quite the growth Starmer would hope to discover!

END

Firstly thank you for your round-ups, much appreciated!

"make the new service more appealing to conservative viewers" Why am I not surprised.....

Secondly I am disturbed that the possible future leader of the UK or his advisors didn't do more investigating before agreeing to or asking for this meeting, very disappointing.

Thirdly "removing shows from streaming services to avoid paying residuals fees" Should we be concerned by this for series 1 and 2?

best wishes

Susannah

Hey omg I'm like 3 days behind on messages/replies/asks I'm sorry! This weekend was crazy! Hi Susannah!

Oh interesting! I've never read Private Eye, I'll go check them out now! Oh darn- looks like a paywall, thank you for pasting the text! (And no problem about the recaps! Thanks so much for reading them!)

To address your second point: I wish I knew more about Keir Starmer! I'm in the US so I only know tangentially about him. You would think someone would have vetted the situation a bit more though (although you know Zaslav has been a bit of a sneaky little fucker about everything until he was outed more recently). Sorry I don't have much to say on that point!

To address your third point:

Yeahhhhhh, my hope is that it won't affect OFMD too much because it's a bit more of it's own thing (and not a WB proprety like the Coyote movie). I think they could actually make money selling S1 and S2 as opposed to loss since there's such a demand for it, so personally I don't think it's going to be much of an issue, but I have no real authority or reason to believe that except common sense (which we all know hollywood doesn't always have).

@fuckyeahisawthat had a good take though, it's kind of anything goes unfortunately.

I have faith though... because like a lot of my tumblr colleagues have said, David Jenkins would have probably told us by now if in fact, there was literally no hope. He's been pretty good about putting out hints and letting us know where to focus our efforts, and as of yet he hasn't flat out said "Thanks anyway guys, but its not going to happen.

That in itself gives me hope for s1, s2 and s3.

Anyway, thanks for the write in Susannah! I'm really sorry again it took me so long to answer, and then I doubt I gave you anything of real substance @_@. I hope you're having a lovely day, and would love to chat more!

Take care, sending love!

Abby

#ofmd #our flag means death #s3 #ofmd s1 #ofmd s2 #david jenkins #asks #asks answered

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sonicasura · 3 days

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Transformers Earthspark: Personal Changes

I figured I should write this as I plan to write stuff on it. Transformers Earthspark, an show with interesting concepts despite the mixed execution. I honestly like some of the ideas proposed by it in Season 1 as they aren't actually bad. We rarely get a post war setting for the series since most writers prefer the standard formula and the Terrans hold potential when you remember that Cybertronian are an endangered species whose numbers have only decreased due to war.

This is mainly a simplified list on what changes you'll see in my work involving Earthspark. Points with an asterisk * are new.

Dot doesn't allow her kids to become child soldiers. She wouldn't have a problem if it was self defense lessons as there are people who don't like Cybertronians or will harm her family for the Terrans' nature. Otherwise, the Maltobots are allowed to learn about Cybertron's history and culture.

Megatron is a rogue with the personality of an asshole cat. (Murderous nature partly fizzled out for causing problems to people he dislikes.) The Decepticons had fallen apart after a nasty dispute and gone their own ways. Megatron vanished once GHOST began to hunt any bot not aligned with them. He hides out at the Maltos upon discovering a massive plot that would put all Cybertronian life in danger.

Bumblebee remains rogue as his trust in Optimus is in tatters. He gets involved with the Maltos under the same reason Megatron does and is responsible for the Terrans' self defense training. (Megs handles their history/culture.) Tendency to have war flashbacks.

No Emberstone saves or Prime reverence. Mo is traumatized by Quintus' false reality dream and doesn't like the Cyber Sleeves anymore. Jawbreaker alongside Thrash help with her trauma. Scars are prone to occur alongside the chance of life changing injuries for everyone.

GHOST Autobots have a tense relationship revolving Optimus. This only grows once Bumblebee's current location becomes known. Optimus often questions if he made the right choice as he looks at the unanswered orders involving his rogue Autobots.

Decepticons begin to reform under a new cause. The preservation and protection of the Cybertronian race as GHOST attacks intensify. Starscream leads them under an anti-hero alignment since they will do things the Autobots won't to keep themselves alive. (Think Venom or A-Team.)

Fighting between siblings specifically Robby vs Mo, Twitch vs Thrash, and Jawbreaker finally snaps. I seen potential conflict involving these five that no way in hell is gonna be ignored under my watch. Nightshade and Hashtag act like mediators at times but some fights can't be dissolved so easily.

More enemies for each respective group alongside painful clashes such as Bumblebee vs Optimus. Flora/fauna mutated by Energon, bad Autobots like Pharma/Sunder, and more volatile Decepticons like Astrotrain. No one is having fun when shit hits the fan.

Disabilities like Dot's prosthetic leg are on display. Mandroid slowly gone insane due to Energon poisoning through his experiments as once neutral views regarding Cybertronians were corrupted. First exposure is creation of the Arachnamechs. His students' death amidst the friendly fire tips him over the edge. *

Experiments involving humans and Cybertronians herald by Mandroid. Most of his Energon induced is a result from trying to hybridize both in some way. He eventually forgets about Alex after the second confrontation. Examples: Synthetic blood that boosts healing, skin which repairs through Cybertronian nanites, etc. *

Karen and Agent Schloder are distant with each other. The former isolating herself despite the latter's attempts to reach out. He works at GHOST to keep an eye on her but soon realizes Croft is a lost cause. *

Alex begin to tone down his obsession involving Bumblebee after awhile. He realizes it makes the bot uncomfortable and bring back awful memories. Bumblebee is still Alex's favorite but it is on a healthy level. *

Dad #2 is addressed properly to the Terrans. They learn that not everyone would be okay with the term or might not be someone they can trust. Parental figures is a concept the kids want to understand better so any further issues and discomfort are avoided. *

That's all I could think of at the moment but will expand the list should more be added or changes are needed.

#sonicasura #maccadam #transformers #transformers series #transformers earthspark #tf #tf series #tf es #tfes #tf earthspark #canon divergence #canon rewrite #personal take #personal idea

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darksideofthemamon · 2 months

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God in Hellblazer vs Lucifer comics

I have a lot of thoughts on the angel characters from Hellblazer/Sandman/Lucifer (basically the DC/Vertigo comics era). I've had them for a long time but I guess I'm only getting to writing about it now. I have a whole essay to write about Remiel from Sandman, but for now, this should do as a warm up.

Though Hellblazer and Sandman are supposed to be in the same universe, it gets really messy with different writers and storylines going in different directions, more so when you include Sandman's spin-offs, like the Lucifer comics and its sequels.

I think one of the most glaring differences is their portrayal of God. God seems... so much nicer in the Lucifer comics (both the Mike Carey (2000) and Holly Black (2016) runs).

And I think a lot of this is caused by the themes of each story.

Hellblazer has some really strong political themes going on, so much that I can't possibly analyze them all. What I do know is that gods/angels/etc in the story tend to represent people in power and privilege. So for example, look at what John says to the archangel Gabriel in the bottom right panel: "You're the ones that make the frigging rules for us, and you don't even understand us!"

In effect, God, as well as the heavenly hosts, tend to be portrayed as jerks.

The Lucifer comics take a different approach. The story's themes tend to gear more towards family, identity, and free will. The protagonist is a really headstrong guy who wants to be free of his omniscient, omnipotent, dad. In his words (upper right panel): "This face is mine. This scar-- is mine. You may not have them. Not without my permission."

Because of the "messed up family" angle, God tends to come off as more well-meaning, but flawed.

Reading the comics together and considering them in the same universe can get jarring when God is so patient with Lucifer, but so damn harsh towards The First of the Fallen and Gabriel.

(and yes I know the Lucifer spin-offs aren't or are dubiously canon, but for this analysis, just consider them canon)

When Lucifer rebels and causes a whole war, God gives him a domain to rule over in order to give His son what he wants: to be away from Him. (top panels)

But when First of the Fallen and Gabriel even step a toe out of line? They get cast out of Heaven in painful, soul-crushing ways. (bottom panels)

And I guess it just ends up coming off as if God has some pretty massive favoritism towards Lucifer?? XD Like wow the Morningstar gets so much leeway, but FOTF and Gabriel get tossed out so fast??

In the end though, it doesn't bother me. I think the dynamic can even enhance the story in fascinating ways.

The story where these 2 portrayals get reconciled is through Gabriel's character in the Lucifer (2016) run by Holly Black.

Gabriel in this run shares a backstory with his Hellblazer self, and though the specific events leading to his Fall were only briefly touched upon, his treatment and relationship with his Father retains those themes of free will and identity, while also portraying God as harsh and tyrannical.

When a God that turned evil tries to take away his free will, Gabriel cries "Get out of my head! I was beyond your mercy before. Now I am beyond your reach."

God tossed him out so mercilessly the first time, so why does He get to control him now?

Gabriel in Hellblazer is a proud snob who views things through a very self-righteous black-and-white lens. It's revealed however, that his Father's strict rules and harsh punishments have left him anxious, guilty, and afraid (especially following an eye-opening interaction with John Constantine).

When he opens up about his problems to Julie (actually a succubus named Ellie) in Hellblazer, she says: "Look at you. What did he do to make you feel so scared and guilty?"

When it's revealed in Lucifer (2016) that Gabriel killed God, Lucifer says: "Our Father turned His back on you. And you were so angry. You've been angry for so long."

The Lucifer (2016) comic manages to show God through the lighter lens while also acknowledging his harsh treatment of Gabriel.

And we see this in Gabriel's character. In Hellblazer he's nervously looking over his own shoulder, in Lucifer (2016) he's proudly passion's fool.

And while we're talking about Gabriel, his self-actualization arc is one of the main reasons I love Holly Black's run despite its flaws!

I love how they continued his story from Hellblazer. There's a story about a guy living under his strict father's thumb who fell from grace when he was cast out, then got back up with the help of family and friends who support him. It says something that by the end of the story, he no longer works for Heaven but instead for Hell, serving under Mazikeen who acknowledged him at his lowest. He also gains his wings and heart back-- the former from Lucifer and the latter from Raphael, his brothers.

That's all I have to say XD. This was just supposed to be an observation but I ended up talking about Gabriel lol

#vertigo angels #sandman comics #lucifer comics #hellblazer #lucifer morningstar #first of the fallen #gabriel #analysis #just my thoughts

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multicolour-ink · 4 months

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For the Daemon AU, can you give a glimpse of what it feels like when the brothers hold/touch each other's Daemons?

Dæmon AU

I'm very glad you asked this question ^^

In order to explain how I go about this idea in my AU, I will need to go into how it is dealt with in the source material; there will be some spoilers

In His Dark Materials, the purpose of dæmons is to be a person's soul. As such, it is a forbidden act to touch another's dæmon, as you are putting physical harm on their very spiritual nature. We see throughout the series that when it is done to another person it causes them great harm and distress.

In the last book, Lyra (the main character) and her companion, Will, have fallen in love, and find out after that they can touch each other's dæmons without feeling any pain, but instead a joy and an intimacy that they have never felt before. They are then left wondering afterwards if "any lovers before them had made this blissful discovery".

So from this, it seems to be implied that only lovers can touch and hold each other's dæmons. Which (to me at least) I never really felt like that was the whole story. We never see any platonic relations try the same thing, and (as of the time I am writing this) the author has not gone into any more detail about it. I always assumed from when I first read the books, that the touch signified a great bond of trust, and that was it.

However, given that the books do delve into more mature topics than most children's books - such as sexuality, growing up, and many religious themes - it's understandable why the touching of Lyra and Will's dæmons was used for this specific scene.

But, seeing as my AU does not reference these topics in any way (rather just takes a concept I enjoyed and puts it in a verse that already has fantastical elements) I wanted to change up the significance of the way dæmons are handled. In this AU, touching one's dæmon is a sign of great trust, no matter romantically or platonically. However, many people don't even trust this philosophy. In the time frame of when the AU takes place, many centuries have passed, and stories and superstitions have caused people to perceive touching one's dæmon as a taboo. An act that is believed to destroy a person's nature. So they don't do it.

That doesn't mean that other's have tried it. Many, including Mia and Pio, have got curious and attempted to see what the touch was like, but never went through with it out of fear.

Platonically, Pio and his brothers even got close to touching each other's dæmons when they were kids! But one of the younger brothers got hurt, and Pio (as the older brother) realised that this taboo must be real, and swore that neither of them or the rest of the family could do so again.

Mario and Luigi on the other hand, were already born with this trust. Their bond as brother's meant that the link between them, this link of trust and platonic love, was entwined forever in their souls, and they would never have a problem touching each other's dæmons.

Unfortunately, on the day they were caught by their mother...the brother's were told that this act could lead to them potentially hurting each other. Unwilling to let that happen, and wanting to keep the other safe, they refused to ever interact with each other's dæmons; but in doing so, they unintentionally closed off part of the trust/link that had been born with them, and thus caused a strained rift to grow between them (even if they couldn't fully sense it).

But to answer your question as to how the bros felt to hold/touch each other's dæmons; in short - warm. It always felt like holding the other's dæmon was like holding another piece of themselves. A soft caress deep inside them that was comforting. You can imagine how it felt to have that bond reawakened again, when all was said and done!

#hope this wasn't too long #I know that themes explored in the books can be messy subjects to some people #my AU delves more into themes of trust #and how you can reclaim a bond that you thought was closed off forever #super mario #mario #luigi #daemon au #his dark materials #hdm #daemons #brothers #do not tag as ship #just a note for you all #I'm stepping further away from social media because I want to #it's better overall for me #I'll still be here! - just posting things on the fly but not on a strict schedule #just a more relaxed pace #multicolour ink answers

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unholyhelbig · 2 years

Note

Ronance with "No, NO, don't throw up in that" PLS

[A/N: I really, really enjoy writing these idiots. This one is specifically dedicated to @hellmo]

Masterlist | Join my Taglist | Prompt Suggestions

Summary: Robin shows up at the Wheeler residence intoxicated, and ready to admit feelings.

TW's: Vomit, and drinking, and probably awful grammar

Halloween was Three Months Ago | Nancy Wheeler x Robin Buckley

Nancy Wheeler opened her front door, sleep worn and irritable. Her hair was wild, the curls having dried against her pillows in a wild ringlet of distress. She had fallen into a fitful sleep halfway through making flashcards and was rudely awakened by soft pattering on her windowpane that she figured was rain.

It was, in fact, not rain. Robin Buckley had scooped up a handful of pebbles from Mrs. Wheeler’s back garden and began pelting them one by one at the glass in small, muffled noises. The moon was full, and Nancy could see her clearly inebriated. She pushed open the window and breathed in the cold night air.

“What are you doing?” She whispered harshly.

“I can’t go home, my mom’s going to kill me!”

Even drunk Robin had enough sense to know that she shouldn’t stumble into her home, filled to the brink with knick-knacks that were easily breakable. Her mother had fallen asleep on the sofa on more than one occasion, waiting for her to get home. It was better to beg for forgiveness than ask permission, and that was only achievable when she could see straight.

Nancy frowned before waving Robin to the front door and ushering her directly into the basement hangout that Mike and his friends usually inhabited. Their latest campaign was set up on a folded table, and string lights gave the place a soft glow. Robin could sleep off her intoxication here.

She deposited Robin on one end of the sofa. The girl let out a small noise between a whoops and sorry. Robin tiptoed back up the steps to the basement and allowed herself to close the door, close them into a cool darkness aside from the string lights, reflecting gold against Robin’s freckled cheeks.

“No, no!” Nancy had reached the bottom of the steps just as Robin reached for an old bucket of Halloween candy that was a replica of a stormtrooper. Mike hadn’t used it in years, the same stale tootsie rolls marinated with bat-themed peanuts and discarded lollipop sticks. “Don’t throw up in that!”

Robin let out a gross sound and heaved into the bucket twice. Nancy cringed. The whole place smelled of bile and beer and she was suddenly regretting closing them in here. But Robin’s eyes were glassy, and her cheeks were flushed. Nancy wanted to take care of her in that moment. In every moment, maybe. She hadn’t stopped to think about it before.

Carefully, she maneuvered the bucket from Robin’s lap and tossed it out the back door, onto the grey moonlit grass. It seemed like a problem for later, smelled like one too. She got Robin a ginger ale from the basement fridge, avoiding the old popsicles and miller lights her father stored.

“Drink this,” She ordered, sitting next to her on the couch and cracking the metal seal. Robin groaned and fell into Nancy. Her breath was hot with alcohol, her nose close against the crook of Nancy’s neck. “Or not.”

“You’re so nice,” Robin mumbled into her throat, the words tickling. “I didn’t think I’d ever end up on the Nancy Wheeler’s couch. Mike’s cool, beautiful older sister that has a bunch of guns. Where did you get guns?”

Nancy laughed “You’re drunk.”

Robin nodded and swallowed the mostly sour taste on her tongue before accepting the glass of water that Nancy offered. It dripped down her chin and soaked into her collar until it was damp. Nancy watched as the girl’s jaw clenched and unclenched at the hydration. It must taste like metal, she decided.

A word stuck out to her. Beautiful. She remembers the first time Steve told her that she was. It was written in chicken scratch on a torn piece of notebook paper that she embarrassingly shoved into a box somewhere. She felt prideful that the Steve Harrington had complimented her looks, the swim captain, the all-American boy.

Johnathan had called her beautiful too. It slipped out between heated kisses after a years-worth of tension. She barely heard it over the pulsing of her own heart. But stilled when she did. It felt nice. Just as it had when she read the words from Steve. Nice.

This felt different, and not just because Robin had just upchucked into her brother's favorite Halloween pail. Even with her drunkenness, there was sincerity behind it. Not just saying it because it felt like the right thing to say, or because Nancy was hastily trying to undo a belt buckle.

Nancy situated Robin on the sofa with another glass of water and a decorative pillow. She could drool on the patterned side and it would blend right in. When she stood, Robin’s fingers found her own, squeezing. “Nance?”

“Yeah, Robin?”

“Thank you for taking care of me.”

“Of course.”

Instead of going upstairs, she found herself settling into her father’s old recliner, pulling a throw blanket over herself. God forbid Robin falls to the floor in her sleep, hit’s her head on the edge of the coffee table, and bleeds out. That’s the reason she told herself she stayed as she drifted back into sleep.

Nancy jolted awake to the sound of a whirring blender upstairs. Her mother had been on a health kick lately. Every morning on the dot she would blend a stalk of celery, a cup of water, and chia seeds that she had ordered in the mail. She choked it down unhappily before whipping up breakfast.

The girls’ eyes flicked to the sofa. Was last night a dream? No, of course, it wasn’t. She wouldn’t’ be down here if it was all in her head. Robin was laying face down, her nose pressed against the cushion. The glass of water on the table had been drained.

“Oh my god,” She groaned, voice muffled “Who is sawing?”

“My mother,”

At the sound of Nancy’s sleep-riddled voice, Robin shot up way too fast for her own good. Her stomach clenched and she fought off the urge to vomit. She must have been drinking way past her legal limit last night, and now she was on Nancy Wheeler's couch, in Nancy Wheeler's basement. With Nancy Wheeler.

“Hi,” Robin said.

“Hi.”

Nancy felt her cheeks warm up despite herself. Robin’s hair was messy, her voice thick with hangover. Her shirt was wrinkled, the imprint of the pattern on her pillow made little red intents against her skin that Nancy wanted to sooth. She pushed the front of the recliner down instead, giving herself solid ground to stand on.

Robin groaned as she sat up and Nancy was worried that she would lose whatever water that she had gotten down. She looked positively green but swallowed hard and kept everything down. There were rings on every finger and a necklace that hung low against Robin’s chest. Not as if Nancy was looking.

“How much of a fool did I make out of myself?”

Nancy shrugged “Honestly, I’ve seen worse. You did vomit in a replica stormtrooper helmet.”

“Great.”

The blender stopped upstairs, and the scent of food began to waft under the crack of the door. Nancy could hear the morning news streaming through the television they kept in the kitchen. She had forced herself to focus on the words of the newscaster, no matter how garbled. School closures due to weather. A car crash off the interstate. Nothing that sounded monster related.

“My mom always makes enough for a whole village.” Nancy found herself saying, cupping the back of her neck nervously. “You could stay for breakfast if you’d like. Or you can sneak out the side door. Though, I can’t stop whoever catches you.”

Robin weighed her options; Nancy could see it behind her soft blue eyes. They reflected the multi-colored string lights that plunged them into a dull glow. They were pretty, Nancy decided. Robin had a tendency to mumble, and apparently get drunk, but Nancy liked this small moment between them. Didn’t want it to end.

“Breakfast sounds good.”

Nancy found herself smiling “Good. Can’t believe I got the resident band kid to agree to stay at the beautiful mysterious Nancy Wheeler’s house for breakfast.”

“Oh my god,” Robin grabs the throw pillow and pushed it against her features, letting out a muffled scream into the fabric. “Vecna take me now.”

#robin buckley #Nancy Wheeler #Ronance #Ronance fanfiction #robin x nancy #nancy x robin #Stranger Things #Stranger Things Fanfic

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seetheothersideofparadise · 1 year

Text

The King Will Bow: Fallen Crown

I asked in a poll what I should write and Whumper Turned Whumpee won so IM DOING IT! Had an idea I was thinking about using and this was just the push I needed, enjoy :)

Summary: Julian is well known and respected for his work in training servants, bodyguards, pets— whatever the client has asked. Cecil is a new up and coming trainer looking to make a splash, and decides his most recent project will be Julian.

Tags for this one are: Whumper Turned Whumpee, Kidnapping, Defiant Whumpee, Talk of Conditioning/‘Training’, Drugged, Bound And Gagged Whumpee, Creepy/Intimate Whumper, Dehumanization, Talk of past and implied future Pet Whump, Blindfolds, Blood, Nosebleed (But Not Broken), A Little Violence, POV Whumpee, and Human Trafficking. Tell me if I missed anything!

Note for the worldbuilding, while the characters act like the whole profession of ‘Kidnapping and Training People For Their Own Gain’ isn’t something to blink twice at, this is because they’re rich assholes. This is a rich asshole thing, not a normalized thing.

—

Julian was very good at what he did.

There were many people in the world who wanted servants, pets, bodyguards— the specifics varied. They needed people who were trained to never disobey them. And Julian? He could provide that.

He didn’t do the dirty work of choosing who was sent to him, or even capturing them. Someone else always took care of that and sent them his way. Someone who wouldn’t be missed, someone who could disappear and barely raise an alarm— someone who could be taken away and molded into someone else. And Julian trained them into their new lives.

Of course, it was forceful, because none of them were too happy about it, but that didn’t matter. They didn’t matter, they were a tool and it was Julian’s job to make them see that, however he saw fit. Once they were ready— obedient and pliable— Julian sent them on their way, or sold them off to the highest bidder. It was out of his hands then, maybe he’d see them around if he was around whoever they were shipped off to, but he never acknowledged them. They weren’t his problem anymore. They didn’t matter.

Julian was a trainer and a very good one at that, respected in his field. Sometimes other trainers coming up and asking him for advice on the process and what he did. There were people who requested a job be done by him specifically, even paying extra for it. He got to go to events with people who controlled whole chunks of the city and sit and chat with them like old friends. Julian was powerful.

He just… Was feeling a bit off at that moment.

Julian blinks a few times fast, trying not to sway at one of the most important events of the year. He manages to make it to his table and take a seat, feeling woozy all of a sudden. He sets his drink down in order to rub his face, wondering if maybe he’s had one too many. He wasn’t counting really— he was to excited. He had been talking to the Maxwell Ravens a few moments ago. To get the respect from that guy meant getting it from everybody. If he could get into his inner circle— be a trainer endorsed by him— it would change everything. His career would skyrocket.

He really didn’t want to go home early but Julian wasn’t seeing many options. The last thing he needed was to pass out at an event like this— people would laugh at him for years to come and that’s the exact opposite of what he needed.

Julian groans into his hands as his vision sways harder. The lesser of two evils it is.

Doing his best to walk straight, Julian makes his way across the room and over to Maxwell himself, flashing an apologetic smile. Those who were talking to him a moment before flash looks at Julian before shuffling away when Maxwell murmured something that Julian didn’t hear. It was getting hard to think but he forced the words out anyways. “Hey, I would love to talk with you more about business and pleasure and everything in between but I got some loose ends I need to take care of in the morning so I gotta jet! Get a good night’s sleep y’know?”

Maxwell regards him calmly. It’s hard to get a read on the guy— his ‘I think I like you’ face and ‘I think you’re a bug beneath my shoe’ faces are disturbingly similar. But he smiles politely all the same and nods. “Another time then.”

“For sure.” Julian agrees. “You got my number right? Anytime you want my services, I’m there. I would be such an honor that I’d do it for free!”

“I’m aware.” Maxwell says. There’s a flicker in his eyes— darker, Julian thinks?— but it’s smoothed over so quickly that he’s not certain. “You’ve sent several emails with the same message. And told all my associates how much your work could benefit me.”

Julian winces. Maybe he went a little hard on the sell there but— Maxwell could really change things, he had to shoot his shot. He laughs, albeit awkwardly, and holds his hands up. “I’ll chill out on that— sorry, you’re just— it’s an honor to even be in the same room as you!”

Maxwell’s expression doesn’t change. Julian supposes he probably hears that a lot. He’s basically a modern king— the way people talk about him sometimes sounds like he’s being worshipped, and for good reason. Maxwell controls the fate of the entire city in the palm of his hand.

Nonetheless, Maxwell continues, looking down at his drink and taking a long sip before running a finger around the rim of the glass. “I’m sure it’ll happen again sooner or later, and I’m sure one of these days, I’ll find a way for you to… Benefit me.”

Julian’s heart skips in excitement but he holds back his enthusiasm. He’s struggling to maintain the conversation at all— he better go. Julian dips his head and murmurs one last goodbye and thank you before heading for the exit. He feels eyes on him when he leaves but doesn’t dare turn back.

Julian allows his efforts to drop as he makes his way to the garage. He can feel a headache coming on from his effort, and it only gets worse from there. By some miracle, he makes it to his car without tripping over his own feet, finding they’re heavier than before, but just before he opens up the driver’s door, he realizes there’s no way he can drive without crashing. He’s barely even standing— he feels worse than before— and nauseous. Like his limbs are weighing down on him.

“Had too much to drink?” A voice asks from behind. Julian jumps, spinning around. He’s able to identify the person pretty quickly— Cecil Winters, a trainer like him. He got into the business just two years ago— Julian was surprised to hear that someone who hadn’t been around that long got into an event like this that quickly. It took five for Julian had to get invited— how’d he get picked so quickly?

Cecil looks him up and down, almost amused. Julian rolls his eyes, turning back to his car. “‘m fine.” He spits out. His words slur a bit but it doesn’t matter— Cecil might be a rising star but if it’s Julian’s word or his, Julian is pretty confident people will believe him. This damn newbie isn’t gonna ruin his reputation, no matter how fast he’s moving.

Julian refocuses his attention on his car, trying to think of a way he could get home. He could call a professional driver— or would that tip people off? Damn it, why wasn’t he paying attention to how much he was drinking?

Out of his rear view mirror, Julian sees Cecil stroll up to him, though not quite face-to-face. There’s something about the way he’s moving that’s so— off putting. Julian doesn’t understand it.

“Or maybe,” Cecil grins a little wider and Julian ignores how it creeps him out, “It wasn’t about the quantity of what you drank, just what was in it.”

Julian stops at that. It’s… Wrong somehow. Sends alarms in his head. Why is this little punk freaking him out so much? Is he high? “‘he fuck are ‘ou talkin’ about?” He slurs, sending Cecil a side glance. The world goes fuzzy at its edges.

Cecil laughs at him this time, openly. A bitter and furious feeling hits Julian— how fucking dare he? Does he know who he is?

“You’ve lasted longer than I gave you credit for, I’ll give you that. But there’s no way you’re driving home like that.”

He rolls his eyes at that, anger burning at the edges— who the hell does he think this guy is? “I told ‘ou—”

He doesn’t get another word out. In the blink of an eye, Cecil rushes him, grabbing him and wrestling him into the ground. Julian immediately shouts and fights back, but his limbs don’t quite hit as hard as he would like. Cecil wastes no time slamming him into the ground, knocking the wind out of him, and pinning him on his stomach. Julian attempts to thrash and kick him off but suddenly there’s a hand gripping his hair, pulling his head back, then smashing his face into the floor as hard as he can.

Julian gasps in pain, blood oozing from his nose. He’s taken hits before but not like this— not this brutal. The stars in his eyes take a while to fade and Julian wants to struggle but the hand in his hair lets go and he can’t keep his head up. His faces hit the ground again, lighter this time but with his new injury it feels just as bad, and Julian chokes on his pain.

He barely registers that his arms are being messed with until something tightens around them, forcing them to be folded behind his back. The fog in his head makes it hard to think but Julian tries to brute force his way out of whatever has his arms in a hold. It doesn’t budge— he’s weak and it strikes fear in him when he realizes it. His arms are restrained by something tough, and his years of experience of using very similar restraints tells him it’s leather. He can move and jerk all he wants but it only serves to tire him out. Julian is trapped.

Rage finds him easily. “You fucking—” Julian seethes but is abruptly cut off. Thick cloth is shoved into his mouth and tied around his head. He struggles as hard as he can, trying to buck Cecil off of him and not freeze and panic like his thumping heart wants him to but he doesn’t have the energy. He’s so drained, and it doesn’t help when something is strapped to his head that blocks out his eyes, plunging him into darkness. It only makes him feel more tired, eyes drooping.

Julian bites curses out, muffled through the gag but it’s all he has. He’s panicking now— terror and anger mixing until he doesn’t know what is what anymore. Cecil ignores him, humming as he seems to swap his position, now pinning his legs down and beginning to strap them together too. No amount of kicking does anything— his attempts are pitiful at best and before he knows it, there’s two straps on his upper and lower legs, giving him very little room to work with.

“There we go.” Cecil says at last, satisfaction and pride in his voice. Julian finds it hard to focus, sleep pulling him in, but the terror and fury just barely keeps it at bay. “I know you can’t see it right now but you’re a work of art. In fact, I think you look better like this.”

There’s a brief pause before there’s a hand grabbing his chin, forcing his head to move one way, then the other. Julian shouts angrily, muffled but hoping it gets his point across. Cecil doesn’t say a word to acknowledge it, still humming to himself.

“Yeah, lots better.” He can hear the grin in Cecil’s voice. He runs a thumb over the gag and Julian tries to snap at him but it doesn’t really work. “Someone needs to be muzzled.” Cecil laughs to himself, and Julian’s anger boils over even more. “I’ll get one just for you. But we have to get going— after all, you do have a busy morning ahead of you.”

Cecil lugs Julian over his shoulder like he’s a fucking bag of flour. Julian shouts curses into his gag, swearing vengeance and threats that are never heard, and the wind is knocked out of him again when Cecil throws him onto a cold, metal floor. Julian figures out pretty quickly that it’s a van when it starts up.

He tries screaming and fighting but he’s rapidly running out of energy. Everything is getting so heavy and Julian can’t stand it. It’s clear to him now— something he drank wasn’t right, meaning— meaning Cecil planned this. He wanted to do this all along and was just biding his time.

Julian doesn’t know what the hell is going on but he’s betting on hostage negotiations or— something of that nature. He has the money, that status— kidnapping him has a lot of uses. But it doesn’t matter— Julian is gonna get out of this and ruin Cecil. He doesn’t care how but he’s gonna make sure his career ends here and now.

The drugs wear him down bit by bit by the second. Julian feels his eyes grow tired and tries desperately to stay awake and not miss a thing, but it’s a losing battle. He’s too tired to move anyways— better to sleep the drugs off and deal with in the morning.

The second he stops fighting it, Julian passes out.

—

That’s the first part! Julian is about to find out really quickly that it’s not a hostage negotiation in the slightest, and get a taste of his own medicine along the way.

Hope y’all enjoyed!! Been wanting to do some Whumper Turned Whumpee stuff and just got the perfect excuse to :)

#atlas writes #The King Will Bow Series #whumper turned whumpee #creepy whumper #intimate whumper #blood #nosebleed #drugged whumpee #bound and gagged whumpee #blindfolded whumpee #dehumanization #kidnapping #defiant whumpee #pet whump

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clonehub · 2 years

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To kinda bounce off what mysteriouslypleasantcat said, it's already a difficult enough issue to balance and Disney-Lucasfilm keeps shooting themselves in the foot by not even stopping to consider the implications of anything they write. (Sorry in advance if this is weirdly or badly worded)

If you look at Star Wars in a vacuum, it makes plenty of sense why anyone with any random skin tone would join the Empire. At least on paper there's no such thing as "race," everyone is ostensibly just human. In-universe, blackness does not exist as a cultural concept, Asian-ness does not exist as a cultural concept, etc. Sure, there are cultures that may be dominated by people of a particular persuasion, but the line between them and anyone else is cultural, there isn't a universal collective mindset that separates dark-skinned humans from light-skinned humans, etc.

But art doesn't exist in a vacuum. And it's obvious to anyone who thinks about it for even a moment that all of the decisions with regards to casting PoC are done purely out of a desire to increase "diversity" or are specifically racially-motivated. Every single piece of Star Wars content that's come out in the past 7 years has been affected it: the VAST majority of PoC included in the Sequels, the Disney+ series, the recent video games are all either villains working FOR the fascist overlords, are heroes that get sidelined by other characters (usually white people), or are ultimately reliant on white characters to solve their problems.

Finn, Poe Dameron, Rose Tico, Boba Fett, Moff Gideon, Reva/Third Sister, Trilla Suduri/Second Sister, Cere Junda, Lando in TRoS. Fennec starts as a villain, graduates to anti-hero and then secondary protagonist, then gets shafted along with Boba on their own show. Pedro Pascal's face is hidden 98% of the time he's onscreen. 2/3 of the Sequel trio is overshadowed by a forced romance between a white woman and a literal fascist dictator. The core cast of an entire animated series is literally white and whitewashed clones of a brown-skinned Polynesian man. Trilla is the primary antagonist of Jedi: Fallen Order before being redeemed and then immediately and graphically executed, and her and Cere's personal issues are apparently only solvable by the intervention of a white man that is younger than both of them. Sung Kang and Rosario Dawson are both heavily made up for their roles as aliens. Giancarlo Esposito is very openly and 1-dimensionally fascist, Lando has, what, 3 cumulative minutes of screentime?

There's a reason George Lucas portrayed all the Imperials in the OT as crusty old white men with names like Wulff and Wilhuff. Setting aside any in-universe reason non-white people might join the Empire, setting aside any real world examples of non-white peoples interacting favorably with fascists and imperialists, the image of fascists as crusty old white men was and is the predominant image of fascism and there is a reason George Lucas played into this image in his movies.

This message that Disney seems to be putting out, intentionally or otherwise, of "hey look brown people can be villains too" really REALLY sucks when you're aware of the fact that brown people have ALWAYS been villains in white culture

(posting without comment bc all of this is right)

#ask

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imekitty · 3 months

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Is there a specific moment, choice, or line in one of your fics that you've always been really proud of but never gotten the chance to speak about? If so what is it?

I'm actually proud of a lot of lines/moments in my fics, very proud of a lot of plot points I was able to somehow tie together in a really coherent way that made it look like I knew exactly what I was doing all along lol.

The problem is that I can't remember most of them off the top of my head, but I know if I were to read through each fic, I'd remember writing each and every line and my thought process behind each.

BUT one I do remember is the "good" ending for Disparaged when Danny refuses to get on his knees when Maddie orders him to and Maddie ends up on her knees in front of Danny as she realizes with horror what she has done. I really liked that mirror of the first chapter.

But now that "good" ending has fallen away and is no longer what I consider real. But maaaaaaybe I can achieve that mirror again when I finally actually finish the Dis series.

Someday...

#imekitty ask #writing #fanfiction #disparaged

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gffa · 2 years

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I have a lore question, oh great Master Lumi. Do you happen to know where exactly the terms "crèche" and "crèchemaster" in relation to the structure of the Jedi Order come from? I see them a lot in fanfiction, but I don't think I've seen them used anywhere in canon. As far as I can tell, the actual term for a group of younglings raised together is "clan". And I know creche is, like, a British term for daycare, but these fanfic writers can't all be British. That feels unlikely.

Hi! You flatter me, but I do actually have an answer for this! Well, mostly an answer. I think Jedi "creche" started as fanon, one of those things that I'm not sure of the precise origin of/which authors or fics started it, but it spread pretty quickly. (Unlike the "lineage" thing, which I think started with Ruth Baulding's writing? Or at least was popularized by hers.) However, it made its way to Lucasfilm canon in 2019 with Master & Apprentice where it was mentioned several times:

Obi-Wan’s crèche-mate Prie, for instance, had been partnered with a Master who was expert in two things: forming Force-bonds with animals and unarmed combat. So Prie spent most of her time on undeveloped worlds, protecting new settlements from both wild animals and would-be marauders. Once she had even ridden a horned beast two meters high.

Only yesterday, Dooku had chosen [Qui-Gon] as Padawan. He’d spent his last night in the younglings’ crèche laughing with his friends, imagining all the adventures he would have, and practicing with his lightsaber in the sparring room until Master Yaddle ordered him to bed.

“Qui-Gon whispered, “The dark side?” He knew it was a thing all beings carried within them, a part of himself he would learn to guard against—the crèche masters had taught him all that. But it still sounded a little like some kind of ghost or monster, a mysterious thing that would leap out from the shadows to get you when you weren’t looking.

Qui-Gon sometimes questioned why Padawans were transferred from the crèche to their Masters in the middle of most species’ adolescence—exactly when every change became more difficult.

But this morning, he’d had to pack his few possessions in a small bundle and leave the crèche where he’d lived as long as he could remember.

Obi-Wan said, “You know, I never had problems with that as a youngling. Being independent, I mean. I broke rules right and left. They even called me rebellious. Probably the Masters were surprised anyone was willing to take me on as an apprentice.” In fact, Qui-Gon had been warned about this very thing. He’d long since assumed that the crèche masters’ concern was overcautious.

It’s also mentioned in Into the Dark and The Fallen Star in The High Republic books, but I don’t have quotes on hand currently. So, it’s never appeared in the movies or the TV shows as “creche”, but the supplementary materials have included it (to be fair Claudia Gray--who wrote all three of the books that quote it--came from fanfic backgrounds as far as I know, so she probably read a fair amount of fic before she became a SW writer), but generally I use “clan” for the group of younglings that were raised together, and “creche” for the actual physical place that the babies are raised in. You can use “creche-mate” as well, but “clan-mate” seems to be more common. I don’t think the movies or the TV show have specifically stated the younglings were in clans, as far as I remember. Like, the group of younglings in Attack of the Clones were the Bear Clan, but I don’t think they were called that in the movie. Or the younglings in The Gathering arc may be in a clan together, but I don’t think that word has ever been used. But there’s evidence in supplementary material for Lucasfilm canon for “creche” and lots of evidence in Lucasfilm canon and Legends canon for “clans”, so there’s some basis!

#jedi order #meta #reference

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emahriel · 5 months

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Hi! First of all I just want to say that I adore your blog and Fjorn! One of my favorite tumblrs 100% (:

I have a question about oc’s and development and backstory. I have a Female high elf (rogue) and i’m trying to write a backstory for her, like where she comes from, her family, past lovers etc what happened before she met the companions basically. But its SO hard and usually i have no problem with this but with bg3 i feel like i’m more limited with the ideas, because i want it to make sense with the bg3/dnd universe. Like the place she grow up in etc, i feel like that has to be a place related to high elfs in the bg3/dnd universe if that makes sense? Anyway do you have any tips when writing backstorys for your oc? Thanks a lot!

Hello there! Thank you so much for the love, I appreciate it! I’m gonna be honest, I don’t have very good tips when it comes to writing backstories and I feel like I’m still in the process of figuring that out myself – but I’ll share tidbits from my process if it can help!

Generally speaking, I take specific concepts or ideas from other medias/characters I like to start with (for instance, the idea of a tragic past and trying to escape from someone for years until a nautiloid snatches my Tav away – a miracle in disguise, aka the beginning of bg3). I also knew I wanted my character to somewhat go through the following states: good – evil – neutral.

Thus began the process of reading! So the first thing I did was figure out if there was a good race that would work with that. I was thinking of a Drow or maybe a Tiefling, but I eventually settled for Aasimar despite them not being in the game. Then I stumbled upon Fallen Aasimar and was like damn… this is perfect for the concept of a ‘‘damned’’ character. After figuring that out, I thought about the class and what would fit the best. Tbh I had just watched The Witcher: Blood Origin (wasn’t great) so a big inspiration for Fjorn was Merwyn and Fjall (with Fjall being assigned as her protector, and Merwyn – an Empress- being evil), so I settled for Paladin since they swear Oaths and it worked with that concept. It wasn’t until Larian announced Paladins and showcased Oathbreakers during the Panel from Hell for Patch 9 that I decided that’s what I would choose for him. Dark Knight is one of the most interesting classes for me in FFXIV, and I really wanted to have something similar for Fjorn; I thought it fitted the idea of ‘‘sometimes you have to do bad in order to do good’’.

So yeah, I take characteristics from other characters that I really love and just combine all of my favorite things together! It’s not really a tip, but something worth mentioning is that the different Wikis out there are extremely useful: Forgotten Realms Wiki, DnD 5th Edition Wikidot, Baldur’s Gate Wiki, DnD Beyond, (wouldn’t recommend Fextralife), etc. I also spent quite some time on reddit just looking up other people’s DnD OC concepts, which did spark some ideas! I wouldn’t worry tooooo much about things not making sense though, the one thing I love about DnD is that you can go absolutely wild and get away with almost anything.

In your case, would probs start reading up about high elves, although I feel like they could come from nearly anywhere. According to different wikis, there are different kinds of high elves in the Forgotten Realms: moon elf, sun elf, star elf, dark elf and llewyrr. There’s most likely way more info about them out there, possibly also more kinds, but this could serve as a base. Click on one and then read about them until one catches your eyes and just go from there since they may have different cultures, different upbringing, different characteristics, etc.

Sorry this is kinda all over the place, but I hope this helps you a bit more!

#em: asks #sry this is a mess and A LOT #idek if this helps at all........

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