#To Be Truly Free

[lennjamin-o7]

To Be Truly Free

Chapter 22

The Sleeping Empire had held all the power for centuries. What else did you expect when the Emperor was an undying Vampire? King Philza and his sons, Prince Wilbur and Prince Theseus, have never faced a real threat to their power. Twenty years ago, the Blood God spoke through his Holy Conduit, the King of Scywar. A prophecy that one child born in the month of the Summer Solstice had the potential to crush the hearts of the Vampiric Lords once and for all. As such, a decree that every child born in June must serve the Blood God's church. Technoblade thinks this whole thing is dumb, but no one really cares what he thinks. As one of the children born in June, known as the Blessed Ones, Technoblade dreams of a different life. One not enslaved to The Church. He dreams to know what it means to be truly free. Or- Another Dark SBI Vampire AU. This time, Technoblade is the Human.

[sohrleas]

I've FINISHED IT

I've Finished the Drawing!!

This is a scene in @lennjamin-o7's wonderful To Be Truly Free ( https://archiveofourown.org/works/37544800 ) that I imagine Philza wishes would've happened. Wishes, because Techno is actually more like a feral cat who is violently opposing the adoption.

There are some imperfections, but I'm happy with it as it is, so I'll leave it.

I made a post with the progress, I'll stick that link here if anyone wants to look at it: https://www.tumblr.com/sohrleas/759664710323945472/im-finished-ill-make-another-post-with-just

(If I could figure out how to insert the timelapse, I would.)

Anyways, it's done!!

Here's a version without the shading:

[hezraela]

A fanart for "to be truly free" by @paladinpalindrome I couldn't remember the number of the chapter but this scene had me laughing so hard.

Go check the fic out it's really good. For once we got the sbi adopting techno that's refreshing

[virgildraws]

TO BE TRULY FREE FANART!!!

Finally!

(If you haven’t read @paladinpalindrome ‘s fic ‘To Be Truly Free’ - do itttt it’s so good!)

[conscious-pisces]

“The highest activity a human being can attain is learning for understanding, because to understand is to be free.”

—Baruch Spinoza

[haveyoureadthisfanfic]

Summary: The Sleeping Empire had held all the power for centuries. What else did you expect when the Emperor was an undying Vampire? King Philza and his sons, Prince Wilbur and Prince Theseus, have never faced a real threat to their power. Twenty years ago, the Blood God spoke through his Holy Conduit, the King of Scywar. A prophecy that one child born in the month of the Summer Solstice had the potential to crush the hearts of the Vampiric Lords once and for all. As such, a decree that every child born in June must serve the Blood God's church. Technoblade thinks this whole thing is dumb, but no one really cares what he thinks. As one of the children born in June, known as the Blessed Ones, Technoblade dreams of a different life. One not enslaved to The Church. He dreams to know what it means to be truly free. Or- Another Dark SBI Vampire AU. This time, Technoblade is the Human.

Author: @lennjamin-o7

[floristkills]

Just a boy and a totally normal crow with zero nefarious intentions 🕊️

A little fanart for To Be Truly Free by @paladinpalindrome Check out the fic, you know you want to (⁠◠⁠‿⁠・⁠)⁠—⁠☆

***click for better quality***

[mumza-superiority]

ok so I’ve been thinking about this for a while but I sketched out a picture of @paladinpalindrome ‘s Techno from their AMAZING AMAZING AMAZING fanfic, To be Truly Free!!

(I know, art?? on main??? crazy)

I don’t have access to drawing digital right now so it’s just sketched out on my sketchbook and the picture quality is eh but I hope it’s good!!! This fic is so amazing sjejkwiekwkde (i added a bit of chat from that one part hehe)

closeups under the cut!

[taiyami]

I was not meant for the 9-5 Family Man vision. I was born to be the village fool with no family nor friends that stays a hermit in his home crafting obscure creations that would make people who have no concept of thought-provoking art say "what kind of drugs was that guy on! Lol!" None. I am sober and unmedicated as a brick. I want newcomers to move to my town and be told when they see me "yeah he's a little weird but he's harmless". I am still loved despite my flaws and unconventional social skills. I am not pushed to be anyone else, nor expected to be more than I am.

[soaring-kite]

hey what fanfic were the sleeping empire/vampire sbi memes for?

I'm glad you asked. So glad you asked.

It was

To Be Truly Free (link above) by @paladinpalindrome aka CleanLenins.

Synopsis: "The Sleeping Empire had held all the power for centuries. What else did you expect when the Emperor was an undying Vampire? King Philza and his sons, Prince Wilbur and Prince Theseus, have never faced a real threat to their power. 

Twenty years ago, the Blood God spoke through his Holy Conduit, the King of Scywar. A prophecy that one child born in the month of the Summer Solstice had the potential to crush the hearts of the Vampiric Lords once and for all. As such, a decree that every child born in June must serve the Blood God's church.

Technoblade thinks this whole thing is dumb, but no one really cares what he thinks. As one of the children born in June, known as the Blessed Ones, Technoblade dreams of a different life. One not enslaved to The Church. He dreams to know what it means to be truly free.

Or- Another Dark SBI Vampire AU. This time, Technoblade is the Human."

ISN'T THAT SO COOL??? I'm begging you, go check their fics out — you won't regret it.

[cleanlenins]

Hello Lenn!

I’ve been following your mc sideblog for a like, a few months(?) and have been reading to be truly free since the first chapter and I just have to say:

You are literally my favourite fanfic writer. Between updates I just keep rereading to be truly free over and over again. It’s just so brilliant, every sentence is just so !!!! Idk how to describe it, I don’t think I can describe it, you can just tell you poured a lot of love, energy and time into it and it paid off so well! All the scenes just work so well. And the characterization! You capture everyone’s personality perfectly and I love how you write Techno. I get so hyped for your updates I’ve literally spoken about it to real life friends lol. Also! You introduced the politics and worldbuilding so well so well that I just me wanna know more.

I’m sure you get this a lot, that you’re a wonderful, really talented writer.

(Also that ask you sent anarachy-and-piglins, yeah how are you able to get me SO hooked with one tumblr ask? that was amazing I will be thinking a lot about it thank you very much, if you have even one crumb to share about it I would love to hear)

You know anon, first I gotta thank you because I did NOT realize I had asks turned off on paladinpalindrome. That's a big oopsie on my part. And you sending this ask let me know I did that so now I can fix it. So, omg thanks.

Second of all, I am currently a puddle of goo. Just, goo on the floor. This comment was so nice, I just completely melted. I am the first goo to be able to use a keyboard because you are just SO INCREDIBLY NICE. I don't even know WHAT to do with you telling me I'm your favorite fanfic author. I am overjoyed that you enjoy my story that much. I'm having a blast writing it, and it just makes it so much fun knowing that others like it to.

You saying you reread it is breaking my brain. Like asjkhks. Someone liked it enough to reread. I'm blushing. Blushing is something goo can do, right?

I do pour a lot of effort into it. I want it to be good. I enjoy making it good. Even if sometimes I get a little stuck, I love the story so much and want to do it justice. Sometimes I feel a little like I am being a bit too much of a perfectionist with it, seeing little flaws that are probably not there or not a big deal, but I think that is everyone who tries to make art or write or create in general. Like, Characterization? I try really hard on that. Like really really hard. I want it to feel authentic. I don't want the characters to feel ooc. But I also want to indulge in the writing tropes that I find fun. Which means thinking of realistic reasons for those situations to occur. And I am so so touched to hear that I am doing that successfully. It makes me feel great.

Also, the politics and worldbuilding is so fun, but also INCREDIBLY exhausting. Why did I make the world so big, oh ancients. (The answer was because it's fun but keeping everything straight is very hard).

I'm so incredibly happy that you think I am doing a good job. That is-well, goo-inducing. I don't have the words to describe the happy bubbling feeling. I am twirling my hair.

I'm assuming you mean the Dark Royal SBI ask I sent to Anarchy-and-Piglins. I don't have a ton of concrete ideas on it yet. If I do write it, I won't post it until I have the whole thing written out. Just because that would maybe help me NOT blow it up into a 100k word monster like To Be Truly Free has become. Maybe. Hopefully.

As for crumbs with it, hmmm. I kinda like the idea that Tommy doesn't like Techno at first? You know, he's jealous of all the time that Will spends with Techno and so he isn't warming up to him. But at a dinner, Techno secretly offers to eat Tommy's vegetables that he doesn't want to eat (they were carrots, why would Tommy want to eat carrots? ew). When Phil turns his back for a second, Techno scoops them up in his hand and shoves them all in his mouth in one bite. When Phil turn back, all of Tommy's veggies are gone so Tommy can go play. Techno has to pretend that he doesn't have a mouth full of food, because that isn't very polite. Luckily, its not all that strange for him to be a little less talkative. Tommy starts to warm up to him after that.

Phil knew, of course, but he wanted his new sonboy to get along with his kids. However, he doesn't give them a chance to do it again so Tommy still has to eat his veggies.

Thank you so much for the ask! And thank you for your kind words <3 <3 <3

[lennjamin-o7]

The realization hit me at 4am, woke me up in a cold sweat. Techno was born june 1st. He was born in the second year after the prophecy iirc. The first batch of blessed are all dead. Does this mean techno is like- the oldest blessed? Like, sure there's gotta be some other june 1st kids but probably not that many in the capital right? Oof. The way he handles the little ones on the wall and blitz too makes so much sense to me now. Oldest sibling technoblade /hj

Muahahahahaha! He is both Oldest and Youngest child! Look upon my works, ye Middlest Child truthers, and DESPAIR! /j

(Technically, he is middle as well, when you consider Wil and Tommy's ages when they were turned. If there is one word that describes me, its indecisive lol)

Technoblade is definitely one of the oldest Blessed, but he is not THE oldest. Like you said, there are others that were born the same day. I don't have any specifics on who they are. I would say, when you get down to the hour, there are probably 4 other blessed older than him in the capital.

You know the term "parentification", where parents basically turn their oldest child into a 3rd parent to take care of the younger ones? Yeah, there was definitely a LOT of that. Can you really see a priest or a disciple calming an eight year old with a nightmare, or helping a four year old button their pants? A lot of the older Blessed acted almost like parentified oldest children, not just Techno.

Of course, not all of the Blessed are helpful to the little 'uns. Some of the older Blessed are the kids first (and worst) bullies. Some Older Blessed try to hide their flaws behind the obvious mistakes of the younger ones, so they don't get in trouble in their stead. And, sometimes, Technoblade will help a kid out, only for the next day, the kid to pretend they didn't know him, for fear that there would be retaliation from either the bullies or priests. They are trying to survive. Even if they are grateful, they don't want things to get worse.

So, yeah, he's a big bro. He's a little bro. But mostly he is bruuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuh.

[sohrleas]

Anyone want to see what To Be Truly Free drawing I plan to work on the next time @lennjamin-o7 streams?

Boys tangled up and cuddling! It's meant to be...well, kinda what Philza Expected the journey to be like when bringing his New Son home. Y'know, with Techno WANTING to go and not banged up and injured and angrier than a wet cat.

Some things I want to adjust:

I need to look at the description of the interior to see how wide it is. I can scrunch up the boys to adjust it, Tommy will just have to deal with being a bit cramped.

Check anything about what they're all wearing.

I want to adjust Wil's upper body so he's slouching a bit more. Get a sore back, loser

Just a little size adjustment here and there--easy enough to do on the computer (Techno's head needs to be a bit bigger, need to double check the leg lengths)

Maybe move Wil's arm so it's resting on top of both his brother's heads

[stil-lindigo]

I am so sorry to bother you with this stupid question, but Bisan has asked for a complete stop in economic activity. Can I still donate to help Palestinians or is it better to avoid any transactions for the week ? Thank you so much for what you're doing

hello anon. don't apologise, you're a breath of fresh air after the recent visitors in my inbox. I think a slightly more accurate description of Bisan’s ask is to stop or minimise all economic activity not in direct support of Palestine. Now more than ever, I would encourage people to donate to escape funds for Palestinians, to direct aid organisations like CareforGaza and the PCRF, and to buy e-sims as they’re running low.

Below I’ve compiled a list of resources below but this is definitely just a small sample size of what you can do to help during this strike. This post here is an extremely comprehensive resource that I’d recommend you have a look at.

credible organisations that are doing work on the ground in Palestine:

Care for Gaza:non-profit charity that distributes money, food and other resources directly to families in Gaza.They maintain a regular presence on Twitter and Instagram. You can donate to them via Paypal here.

PCRF / Palestine Children's Relief Fund: non-profit organisation that distributes essential food and resources to families in Gaza. Most recently, they delivered 30 tons of vital medicine, and 82,000 pounds of flour.

Medical Aid For Palestinians: deploys medical teams to treat Palestinians suffering under Israel's malicious bombardments.

Donate e-sims to Palestine: massive post with tutorials and relevant links, with discount codes included in the post and in the replies.

help people leave palestine (donate what you can)

Help a Family Evacuate Gaza (GoGetFunding)

Save Sanaa and her Family (Gofundme)

Save Amjad Saher and his family (Gofundme)

Help a family of 13 escape Gaza (Gofundme)

Help a Palestinian children's book illustrator save her family of 12 (Gofundme)

[embraceyourdestiny]

to any americans who feel "paralyzed" and "dont know what to do" to help with gaza:

reading a fucking book. i beg of you.

in a time of knowledge suppression is it your duty to arm yourself with knowledge.

read about americas occupations in the middle east.

read about 9/11 from outside of america and see how they inflicted senseless harm and violence to countless amounts of people and have been suppressing your rights for the past 2 fucking decades.

read about any of the countless wars from the past 30 years. especially from a civilian's. and the victims and survivors' perspective. listen to the horror stories and do not plug your fucking ears as to what your country is doing.

and read about fucking gaza and palestine and keep up with what is happening no matter how "sad" or "uncountable" you might get.

dont look away from this.

you dont have the right to be comfortable during countless active genocides.

if you're knowledgeable, you're powerful, and our current state doesnt fucking want that.

you have the power to change things if you open your eyes and scream to the world.

wake the fuck up.

Edit: please check the reblogs there are readings and ways to help

[conscious-pisces]

“If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear.”

—George Orwell