#dark mentor

[joncronshawauthor]

The Dark Mentor: How Tough Teachers Shape Fantasy Heroes

The wise, benevolent mentor figure is a fantasy staple. Think Gandalf or Dumbledore. But modern fantasy increasingly embraces darker mentors, those who shape protagonists through trauma rather than wisdom. These harsh teachers don’t guide heroes toward the light. They push them into darkness to forge them into something new. Dark Mentorship in Guild of Assassins My novel Guild of Assassins…

[tampire]

Maleficent Is Wicked All Along

[literaryvein-reblogs]

Hi, I like your blogs but I want to ask how to write a flawed mentor? And how about writing reluctant mentor

Writing Notes: Mentors

You can use related tropes as a guide. Here are some examples I found for you:

FLAWED MENTOR

The "Anti-Mentor"

Think they are great at what they do and decide to train others in their ways. However, they are more often than not the worst at the very things they teach, and thus training with them could be considered anti-training.

In some cases, their student will be well aware of how bad they are and simply attend their lessons out of pity. Others will be honest and tell them how bad they are. There are those students who will think they are being great teachers by showing them what not to do.

Alternatively, the teacher may actually be good at what they do but terrible at teaching it. In these cases, they just don't know how to get their lessons across.

It's not so hard for the student to surpass the teacher here, because the teacher had so little to surpass.

RELUCTANT MENTOR

The "Apathetic Teacher"

Jaded, misanthropic, and very likely a Deadpan Snarker, this is the teacher who's been in the job too long. Dislikes students in general — been there long enough to know they're thick and (usually) irritating.

Hates the school, hates the job, really hates the management — but because s/he's known virtually nothing else, s/he still sticks at it, putting her/himself through it year after year.

Sometimes, this person started out as a young, Enthusiastic Newbie Teacher, who got beaten down by rowdy kids and an uncaring system, turning the teacher jaded over time. There's usually one person who will find that their no-longer-gives-a-shit attitude makes them a Cool Teacher anyway, or at the very least an occasional confidant.

They're likely to seek solace in the bottom of a bottle.

It's often implied, if not outright stated, that even their home life doesn't offer them much respite, either.

In pretty much all Save Our Students movies, one of these (if not an entire school of them) will serve as a foil to the idealistic teacher.

If the school is an inner-city one, expect this teacher to be the one to make some remark about how they can't really expect anything from kids with this "background".

Occasionally, an apathetic teacher will be won over by the enthusiasm of an idealistic teacher and will start caring about the students too.

In psychology, these people are called "burnouts."

This kind of teacher is likely to hand out an Extremely Easy Exam.

Apathetic Teacher vs. Sadist Teacher

The key difference between Apathetic Teachers and Sadist Teachers is the former hate their jobs while the latter hate their students.

Sadist Teachers often seem to take a sick glee in torturing their students; the teachers this trope describes don't seem to take much joy in anything, least of all their work.

This is quite similar to the "read a lot" advice we constantly hear. So, you can also go through your favourite stories (literature, films etc.) and learn from how your favourite authors write the character you are aiming to create in your stories. If I wasn't able to include here the exact one you need, you can look through the sources below. Hope this helps & thanks so much for your kind words :)

Sources: 1 2 3 ⚜ More: Writing Notes & References

[je-suis-applebread]

Sealed Mentors AU: Full set

Here's all the blorbos in one place so it's easier to look at them and compare and whatever (send questions please please its a subliminal messaging please please please please)

AU masterpost

[intermundia]

"The visual script [of Revenge of the Sith] shows the moment where 'burnt' Anakin is rescued by the Emperor—whose gesture echoes that of Obi-Wan touching Luke's forehead in Episode IV."

So the sheer number of allusions between Lucas's work on the prequels and the original trilogy is so satisfying to me. His whole philosophy of "it's like poetry, it rhymes," influenced the prequels on both a macro- and micro- scale. From mirroring themes and large structural choices, to tiny visual beats like this. The prequels are in open dialogue with the originals, and imho it's different from how the Force Awakens recycled and reused story beats, it's not mere reference out of nostalgia. It's very intentional and the meaningful connections that improve both sides of the conversation by virtue of the link.

[the-bar-sinister]

My absolute favorite kind of mentor and protege relationship is when the mentor absolutely cares about their protege and wants them to succeed

--but they are passing on lessons that are just so, so incredibly toxic and harmful, fully believing them to be the key to success.

[picnic-at-dreaming-rock]

realising what I actually need from Suzanne Collins is just a multi-volume panem history book

[flamingpudding]

Fictober23 Prompt: 8 - "Give me that, before anything happens."

Fandom: DPxDC

Rating: G

Warnings: -

"Don't touch that." Constantine said without even looking up from the book he was reading through for research. Phantom had joined the Justice League dark only recently and was still in that sort of mentor - glorified babysitting - state. It was just his luck that he lost in the stick draw and had now to 'mentor' the who-knows-how-old-he-truly-is Ghost King.

He should have stuck this job to Zatanna. The 'kid' was curious as a cat and apparently wanted to touch every good damn artifact in the House of Mysteries that Constantine had ever gotten his hands on.

"Don't touch that either." The Brite muttered without looking up, he was so close in figuring out the actual meaning of the curse placed on a good damn church bell that causes everyone who hears it to fall asleep at midnight sharp and wake up at 8 AM later like nothing happened. Behind his back Phantom stuck his tongue out at the man before reaching out to poke the artifact that caught his eye anyway. However the House of Mysteries had other ideas as it reconstructed itself at the right moment and put the artifact further away from Phantom.

The Ghost King pouted, crossing his arms and floated over to where Constantine was pouring over a curse seal. Phantom hummed as he looked over the Brites shoulder grinning. "Oh I didn't know you could use ghost speech for curses!"

"Say what now mate?!" John's head snapped to the side to stare at Phantom who was now floating over his shoulder. "It's in ghost speech? What even is that?"

The Ghost King had the nerve to give him an unimpressed stare that really made the Brite need a smoke, but he had given Zatanna his good damn word not to smoke around the 'kid', so that was a no.

"Ghost speech. The language of the Infinite Realms also known as the Ghost Zone, After Life, Hell, Home of the Damned, and so on and so on." Constantines eye twitched as the Ghost boy shrugged. He let out a suffering sigh and pushed his copie of the curse seal over to Phantom.

"What does it say?" The other blinked for a moment before turning his eyes to the photo. A scratching static white noise filled the Brite's ears and he yelped in pain, covering his ears. The noise instantly stopped and Contantine glared at the Ghost King who sheepishly scratched the back of his neck. "Sorry, I will say it again in English."

Constantine only grumbled something inaudible before motioning for the other to continue.

"You idiots don't sleep enough. Go and get at least eight hours of sleep. If you don't sleep by midnight I will be the one to make you sleep."

"The hell?"

"That's what's written there."

"Don't tell me we have another good damn Sandman problem on our hands." John gripped with one hand at his hair, he really hoped that wasn't it because dear good he did not want to get Batman or one of the other Not Dark heros involved.

"Nah, he goes by Nocturne, he never liked that name some philosophers came up with. But this does go against the agreement I had with him."

Was this how Batman felt when his Robins went against his orders? Or how the mentors of the Yonge Justice feel when the teens sass back? Because Constantine was sticking this ancient kid of a Ghost King onto Zatanna the next change he got.

"You know how to lift that curse then?" Instead of going further into a rabbit hole, Constantine decided it was easier to just find out if the Ghost King can lift a good damn curse he had been working on solving for days now instead of finding out who the hell Nocturne was now.

"Of course I know." Phantom answered easily, floating on his back around the room like he was going with the flow of water. Glowing green eyes going along the shelves where various books and artifacts were thrown on, in no particular order.

"Great. Let's go and fix this then." The man muttered, getting up from his chair and grabbing his coat. "I need a bottle of whiskey after this and a good damn smoke…"

Phantom just followed behind the man ready for his second official job with the Justice League Dark. He grinned happily of finally getting some outside action only to come to a sudden halt as the Brite man whirled around glaring at the Ghost King only inches from his the other.

"Phantom?"

"Yes?" The 'kid' answered nervously.

"Give me that, before anything happens. How often did I tell you NOT to touch anything of the artifacts? Do you even know what that thing does!"

Reluctantly like a reprimanded child the Ghost King handed over a golden plate with a glowing green crystal embedded into it, Constantine remembered it being the leftover part of a demon they had banished. The man narrowed his eyes. "The other one too."

"Fine…" Phantom handed over a crystal zepter, John had picked up from an ancient tomb. "Didn't think you noticed me picking them up, since you didn't say anything before I even touched them."

"Mate, you are forgetting who currently owns this house."

[holyraconteur]

Imagine this:

Spider escapes from Quaritch only to end up lost and stumbling into the hands of an Ash Na'vi scout who immediately plucks up this strange little human and brings him back home to present to Varang. Without hesitation, Varang lifts him up to eye level, staring deep into his soul. After a long, silent moment, she deems him satisfactory and declares, with quiet finality, that he will stay by her side as her ward.

[hiiperfixate]

MY BELOVED MENTORS AU

Sorry it's kinda a lot of words

Hehe new AVA Au I made and can't stop thinking about. I used a slightly different art style than normal just to differentiate it from my other project(Don't Leave)

[canisalbus]

What kind of clothes would Vasco wear after Machete's death? He tends to wear bright and warm colors, and I was wondering if he would start wearing dark and cool colors to reflect his inner state

I also had thought that he might start to veer towards more somber shades. In reality, late 16th century fashion was dominated by dark colors, if you look at portraits from late renaissance/early baroque eras you quickly notice that pitch black was the most fashionable color (compare that to early and high renaissance fashion from 1400 to 1550 which was visibly more vibrant and colorful). I might be bending the timeline a little bit by having him dress in vivid blues with gold accents, but it's his signature style and I think it mirrors his luminous, free-spirited and approachable personality well. After Machete's death he might've experienced a period where jewel tones had lost their luster to him.

[not-so-superheroine]

Jesus is my older brother, not my dad.

other christians don't seem to feel the same?

am i missing something where he insists on such a thing except perhaps with actual little children?

[sskybooks]

MASTER POST!

These are character development prompts 1-100. There are some funny, some serious, but all of them to help flesh out your character. (I also screwed up the numbering somewhere soo... things may or may not be out of line."

#1 What if your character was in a zombie apocalypse?

#2 What would your character do if they got everything they wanted?

#3 What would your character do if they were evil?

#5 What would your character do if they saw a tyrannosaurus-rex?

#6 What would your character do if accidentally hurt someone really badly?

#7 What would your character do if a cult member asked them to join them?

#8 What would your character do if they met the Grinch?

#9 What would your Character do if a gun was put to their head?

#10 What would your character do if they were kidnapped?

#11 What would your character do if they were deserted on an island?

#13 What would your character do if they met the Batman?

#14 What would your character do if they got reincarnated as a child?

#15 What would your character do if they met the hulk?

#16 What would your character do if someone slapped them?

#17 What would your character do if there was an earthquake?

#18 What would your character do if the world flooded?

#19 What would your character do if the president suddenly showed up at their front door?

#20 What would your character do if they where told “you can’t come.”

#22 What would your character do if they owned a Walmart?

#24 What would your character do if they could only eat one food for the rest of their life, what food would it be?

#25 What would your character do if they were a superhero? (And what would their powers be?)

#26 What would your character do if they were forced to perform on stage?

#27 What would your character do if they were a ruler of the world?

#28 What would your character do if time machines existed, what would be the first thing they’d do?

#29 What would your character do if the mailman handed them a baby?

#30 What would your character do if they were homeless?

#31 What would your character do if there was a serial killer on the loose?

#32 What would your character do if their wanted poster went up?

#33 What would your character do if they turned into a monster? (like their body turned into a monster form)

#34 What would your character do if they went to a farm?

#35 What would your character do if during of of the biggest battles of their life their mom called them?

#36 What would your character do if they discovered their sibling/friend was abused?

#38 What would your character do if they could be granted three wishes?

#39 What would your character do if they got magic powers? (or if they already have them, what would they do if they have none?)

#40 What would your character do if they were deaf?

#41 What would your character do if they couldn’t speak?

#42 What would your character do if they can’t feel anything?(physically)

#43 What would your character do if they were blind?

#44 What would your character do if their hair fell out?

#45 What would your character do if they were imprisoned?

#46 What would your character do if every time they said a mean thing a disfiguring tattoo appeared on them?

#47 What would your character do if their best friend died in front of them?

#48 What would your character do if a loved one turned evil?

#49 What would your character do if they got a surprise kiss?

#50 What would your character do if they met Jinx? (From arcane)

#51 What would your character do if they were placed in front of the end of the world button?

#52 What would your character do if they couldn't use their legs?

#53 What would your character do if they where stabbed?

#54 What would your character do, if didn’t have a phone? (Or if they already don't have one;) What would they do with one?

#55 What would your character do if a lost child came to them?

#56 What would your character do if they where shunned?

#57 What would your character do if they where handed drugs?

#58 What would your character do if they couldn’t talk

#59 What would your character do if someone stalked them?

#60 What would your character do if someone had a crush on them?

#61 What would your character do if can't use their arms?

#62 What would your character do if they found treasure?

#63 What would your character do if they met Thor?

#64 What would your character do if they where called ugly?

#65 What would your character do if their car was hijacked? (Or their mode of transportation)

#66 What would your character do if their home was invaded?

#67 What would your character do if they were stalked?

#68 What would your character do if they were treated as property?

#69 What would your character do if they witnessed a murder?

#70 What would your character do if they were paralyzed from the waist down?

#71 What would your character do if they lost an arm?

#72 What would your character do if they were failing at school? (or if they already are what if they suddenly got an A+)

#73 What would your character do if they failed at their goal? 

#74 Bird talking to a sea fish goddess and ask to turn into a fire breathing dragon and to have multiple different pastries shops.

#78 How does your character do with a discriminatory world, culture, or home life?

#79 What would your character do if they became allergic to their favorite food?

#80 What would your character do with wings (or without)?

#81 If your character was a ghost who/where would they haunt?

#82 What would your character do with a key that unlocked any door?

#83 What would your character do if (in universe) they found a book written about them?

#84 How would your character react if faced with their greatest fear?

#85 What would your character do if they found out they only have a year left to live?

#85 What are some favorite headcanons and fan theories? or small details about them.

#86 "What would your character do if they met an AU version of themself"

#87 "What would the OC be like without trama (or with trama)?

#88 What would your OC do if a person they knew was dead. Was chilling at a cafe.

#89 What would characters think of Bob Ross?

#90 what would your characters do if they started turning into a tree?

#91 what would your character do if someone told them they looked like an in-universe celebrity/famous person?

#92 what would they do if someone stuck a spoonful of mayonnaise in their face and told them to eat it?

#93 What would they do if they woke up and their hair was a different color?

#94 What would they do if a donkey started following them around (or any other animal)

#95 how would they react to a dancing chicken (with music coming from who knows where)

#96 What if they fell off a very high cliff?

#97 What would your characters do if suddenly they couldn’t understand what each other were saying? Then had to communicate other ways?

#98 what would your character do if they got turned into an animal?

#99 how would your character respond to back hugs?

#100 How would your character respond to scalp massages?

[shima-draws]

Scrolling through the BNHA tag on AO3 and while it does make me very happy to see so many Aizawa + Izuku centric fics it also makes me sad bc WHAT ABOUT ALL MIGHT. I know canon has established how much Aizawa cares about his kids and Izuku specifically but Toshi loved him FIRST!! Toshi was the one to take Izuku under his wing and train him and care for him and help raise him and mentor him and LIVE for him despite everything telling him he couldn’t. And he was the one who refused to let Izuku go off on his own and did everything in his power to make sure he was at least eating and sleeping and being cared for despite being and feeling so powerless. Toshi’s such an important part of Izuku’s life and people need!! To address that more!! That’s his DAD!!!!

Anyway I see the ‘All Might bashing’ tag and immediately scroll past. I don’t trust you if you don’t love and appreciate Yagi Toshinori and his place in Izuku’s life like he deserves

[je-suis-applebread]

Sealed Mentors AU: The Warrior of Volition

Second mentor-mentee combination of Sealed Mentors au. Don't believe her resting face, she cares for him.

As always - questions are welcome

AU masterpost

[radiance1]

[That one au but mixed with my Teddy Bear au where Danny got his accident at like 5-10 but because he was with his Teddy Bear on hand he kinda turned into that Teddy Bear basically.

A mix up of these two specifically where he's Ghost King and Pariah took it upon himself to be his kinda Mentor.]

So Pariah and Trigon meet each other at some point, with Trigon half-heartedly insulting him because he lost his status as king, but Pariah willingly gave it up so he literally could not give more than 0 shits.

So then they Pariah decided that his successor-to-be should get to know Trigon's daughter, and Trigon was like: Are you sure? Because she would probably infect them with that 'Morally good' shit.

Pariah waves it off, because his successor-to-be is already morally good and hasn't even enslaved a race or destroyed a planet yet.

Trigon:

Pariah:

Trigon: Are you okay?

Pariah: What do you think.

Trigon pats him on the back awkwardly, because no tyrant should have to go through that.

So then one Teddy Bear Danny, adorned in his star cloak, a misty ice crown with an ever-shifting constellation hovering over it, and a ring around his stubby limb, appeared in the DC universe and told to go and find the daughter of Trigon, who he would hopefully be able to make an alliance within the best-case scenario.

Which Danny is a bit confused about because he doesn't know who Trigon or his daughter is, but he's at least willing to try! Also, he might get side-tracked in exploring here and there.