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presidentofthelipglossclub · 8 months

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i have come up with a new, extremely self indulgent AU for tfrb:

basically what happens is each individual character in tfp accidentally finds out about the rescue bots, whether it's through a ground bridge mishap, an intel scouting mission, even a situation where they get rescued.

this starts out with mostly autobots, because i assume griffin rock is either in autobot territory or a neutral/unclaimed area (or it's off the grid and nobody knows about it) (i think the last one is the funniest), but the decepticons also learn about them eventually.

now. here's where the funny/self indulgent part begins. none of them know anyone else knows. the autobots AND decepticons all assume they're the only one who knows about these bots, and that the team has been trying to live a normal, calm life away from the war.

team prime doesn't know optimus and bumblebee already know, and the decepticons don't know that these guys have connections to the war. and of course, the rescue bots always manage to worm their way into every. single. bot's. spark. all of them individually grow to care about the rescue bots, and independently decide to keep them secret. nobody wants their new friends to get hurt!

anyways shenanigans of course ensue because it's very hard to keep a previously extinct group a secret from all of your friends, and since everybody knows but doesn't know everybody knows it becomes a lot of ridiculous sneaking around and badly lying to everyone.

the rescue bots are SUPER confused by all these bots who keep showing up, but they pretty much just assume that someone spilled their secret and everyone after are all showing up to meet them. eventually i think they would start to figure everything out, but they don't fully comprehend that everyone has been trying to hide them from each other until some big reveal happens.

the way this pans out is probably the end of the war honestly, because again; no one wants these guys to get hurt, physically or emotionally, and if that means having a ceasefire so be it.

#tfrb #rescue bots #transformers rescue bots #transformers aligned #tf aligned continuity #aligned continuity #tfp #transformers prime #i just think it would be funny #in my mind everyone would be trying to internally justify keeping this secret bc all the war bots are kinda out of touch w their feelings #and don't want to admit they're soft for the rescue bots #so it leads to many identity crises #they're all like “oh they could be useful in the future i don't wanna reveal this info to quickly”#or “maybe they can give our side an upper hand and if i spill they could get found and persuaded to the other side”#some specific cases i like to imagine:#shockwave would have a rly hard time trying to logic his way into keeping their secret #he can't admit he wants to help them so he just pretends he wants to experiment on them and study their abilities #which he does want but he also cares abt them #ratchet isn't the softie type so the feelings he has towards the rescue bots really off put him #he also feels bad about not telling optimus but really doesn't want to involve the rescue bots #megatron is completely in denial #he claims to want the rescue bots as a tool to eventually win the war and rebuild cybertron #but he never can bring himself to actually use them #soundwave. just any interaction between the guy who doesn't talk and a team full of the biggest gossips ever.#i love the rescue bots so much and since it's canon that everyone who knows them does as well i've decided they have irresistible charm

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wonder-worker · 3 months

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"Administratively, too, [...] queens were considered the legal lords of their landholdings. [...] Grants noted that the queen's officials had administrative autonomy without being subject to the king or anyone else, and evidence of the same assumption can be gleaned from court rolls that were recorded with headings indicating the lord of the manor whose court proceedings were being enrolled. As an example, some court rolls for the manor of Haveringatte-Bower specified that it was the court of [Margaret of Anjou] that was in session, while later rolls recorded Elizabeth Woodville as the lord of the manor court."

-Michele Seah, 'My Lady Queen, the Lord of the Manor': The Economic Roles of Late Medieval Queens", Parergon, Volume 37, Number 2, 2020.

#queenship tag #margaret of anjou #elizabeth woodville #I really appreciated how Seah acknowledged the uneven surviving evidence for her subjects and how that affects her analysis.#It was very brief but it was more than what most historians do so it was very refreshing :)#my post #english history #this is for @ anon who asked if its true that Margaret mostly hosted her own courts while EW mostly stayed with her husband #I'm not sure which (if any) historian has said something like this* but I highly doubt it's true !#We don't really have solid itineraries in place for either queen to make any kind of firm conclusions of the sort #(ie: about their residences or anything else) though I'm sure it would have varied depending on the situation #But either way it's explicitly clear that both Margaret and Elizabeth held their own courts in their own lands on multiple occasions #And we also have evidence of both of them residing with their husbands in regular circumstances #*tbh this is too long to get into right now but this assumption does fit into the few 'revisionist' interpretations of both Margaret and EW #(which imo is just as degrading as her traditional interpretation for the latter) so I wouldn't be surprised if some #historians may have framed their situations in such a way and relied entirely on their own assumptions to do so #Either way as far as I know there is no evidence of any such contrast existing - at least not on a consistent basis.#and the evidence we do have contradicts the assumption #Hope this helps! I figured a proper excerpt from this article would clarify the point better than any direct answer from me <3 #also in case anyone was wondering I *think* the title ('My Lady Queen the Lord of the Manor') was referring to administrative accounts #of EW based on what Seah wrote here - though ofc I'm not sure #queue

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not-poignant · 4 months

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Hi Pia

Feel free to ignore if this is unwelcome, but have you ever thought about publishing traditionally to sublimate your income and draw in new readers? I know you've self published two books already and that you didn't feel like they did very well, but maybe the experience would be different if someone else was in charge of marketing and all the other business stuff?

Obviously everyone's experience is different but as an author myself who's published both trad and self, traditional publishing has been a completely different experience and has allowed me to focus more on writing because I'm not the one responsible for advertising/marketing/financing anymore.

There are a ton of literary agents nowadays that want to represent diverse and lgbtqia+ fiction, some of them even in Australia.

Websites like Reedsy, AgentQuery and Jerichowriters have extensive directories to find literary agents.

(This is lengthy folks so I'm putting the other two parts (and my response) under a read more! Also putting it under a read more so the anon can skip my response since it's very 'here's all the reasons I can't do this' and they just might not want to read that, lmao)

(continued -> )

Trad publishing houses have better resources for marketing and helping authors get more attention than any self publishing website could.

Obviously most authors, unless they're really prolific, don't get a huge advance (the average is between $1000 - $5000) but getting your foot in the door or on the traditional publishing "ladder' so to speak can have a huge benefit for your serials. Because it gives you more exposure. Plus it's in the agent's best interest to find a publishing house that accepts stories that contain darker themes and negotiate the best deal for you.

For some reason places like Amazon and the like accept and keep up more "dark" books that are traditionally published than they do with self pub ones. Maybe because they have more respect or leniency for publishing houses? I have no idea. But you could use this to your advantage. I think I remember you mentioning that writing novels felt quite isolating to you? But you already have 2 completed novels (3 if you count the fae one) that you could potentially revisit or rewrite to your liking and get them represented by agents.

You already have a loyal readership and that's very attractive to trad pub houses and agents.

As well as trad publishing, you could also make s simple website that doesn't require much maintenance. It could be just a landing page that says something about you and then has links to your tumblr and patreon where you're more active. That way you increase the chances of getting your serials found by additional readers and also come across looking more "professional". Not that you're not professional now. You are and I admire you greatly, but the unfortunate reality is a lot of people still judge by appearances and some will be more drawn to an author's website than a tumblr page, at least at first. So I think having a simple landing page would open up another door for you to benefit from.

Trad publishing is work but definitely not as much as self publishing, and you can continue on with your serials. Getting an agent can be time consuming but I personally believe the pros outweigh the cons and I also believe that your stories would be a huge treasure to the growing lgbtqia+ market. Seriously there needs to be more!

These are just suggestions and thoughts and like I said before, feel free to ignore. But I know you've mentioned wanting to grow your career in the past and I genuinely believe you can do so with some of these pathways.

Okay, my response. Posting this because firstly I think the suggestions could work very well for other authors reading this! And I hope they take the advice to note, and secondly because I haven't talked about this for a hot minute so let's talk about it again.

So the TL;DR is yes I have considered traditional publishing. I have actually been traditionally published in short stories, poetry, and also had my art published on covers and re: interior illustrations. But my Fae Tales works got soundly rejected when I sent them to publishing houses that were doing open calls for that sort of material. I've never heard back from an agent and I never expect to, heh.

Now for a bit more detail

I have been traditionally published before (it's how I got my writing out there long before I ever wrote serials), and yes, I have approached publishers with my writing since then. In fact Tradewinds was written for the traditional publishing market, and it got soundly rejected, and then shelved. The reasons it was rejected ran the gamut from 'I don't like that these fae eat humans no one is going to relate to these people' (while the editor then went on to publish vampire books idk) to 'There's too much worldbuilding you can't expect readers to keep up with this' to 'Your stories are too long, no one wants to read characters talking all the time.'

Meanwhile in my online serials I was getting feedback like 'my favourite chapters are the ones where the characters just sit in a room and talk' lol.

The traditional publishing world is also not quite as utopian for most authors as you make it seem. I'm friends with a lot of authors who are traditionally published because that's the world I came from, and unless they're solely in KU and doing generic rapid release formula romances, none of them are making that much money. Certainly not enough to live off. It may have been that you were very fortunate, anon, but I know hundreds more traditionally published authors that left trad pub to make money, and I know about 5 in trad pub personally who are making enough to live off of.

Only one of those is really writing what she truly loves to write, and even then, publishing houses have refused to commit to her entire fantasy series (and she's regularly in 'Top 10/20 Women Fantasy Authors in the World' lists) and forced her to finish the series prematurely. Something I never ever have to worry about in self pub.

The reality is that in trad pub these days, you're still in charge of most of your marketing unless you're one of the big earners for the publishing house. In fact I'd be expected to keep even more of a social media and marketing presence than I do now. I don't do almost any of the things you're supposed to do as an author in marketing to be appealing. I don't have a Facebook author account. I don't have an Instagram author account. I don't maintain or regularly send out newsletters (which automatically puts me in the like 0.05% of authors who make money doing this lmao).

I don't know if you ever have looked that closely into what m/m publishing houses expect from most of their authors, but the newsletter swaps, cover releases, review circuits, interview circuits and more are fucking grueling. We're expected to be responsible for our advertising and our marketing to a fairly massive degree. Some traditionally published in m/m still have to pay for their release blitzes out of pocket. These publishing houses, by and large, do not offer advances. You say most authors don't get large advances. I don't think most authors in this arena get offered advances at all unless they're somehow miraculously acquired by a Big 4.

We're expected to have an already established social media presence because of that (that's why it's so appealing to publishers that we have social media presences already, anon, so we can market, they can save money, and we still see only a minimal cut from the royalties).

And you still have to focus on your finances, because publishing houses like Dreamspinner straight up didn't pay a whole bunch of authors for so long they destroyed careers. They still haven't paid some of their authors. And they're still running a business and people still buy their books.

Trad publishing houses have better resources for marketing and helping authors get more attention than any self publishing website could.

This is true if a) they're a big publishing house and not an indie publisher of which most LGBTQIA+ publishing houses are and b) they're willing to use them on you.

The authors that make the most money get the most resources. If they believe you're going to earn back your advance and move thousands or tens of thousands of units per book, then yes, you will get those resources.

I have been told so many times now - even from friends who run publishing houses, including one who works at HarperCollins - that my work will never be mainstream enough to have broad appeal. They literally told me not to keep trying re: trad pub, because that was my dream for a long time. These folks have given me rock solid advice in the past, it's one of the reasons I'm doing so well now via Patreon + Ream. But they were like (paraphrasing) 'you don't write 60-80k romances and you don't want to and that's not your strength anyway, you're multi-genre which makes you hard to market, you write psychological and literary trauma recovery which is hard to market, you write character studies which are hard to market, publishing houses often don't commit to series anymore if the first two don't move units and if they pulled the plug you'd be contractually obliged to never finish that series until your contract was up.' I could go on, but it was like yeah...actually. Fair.

They do, but most publishing houses want very formulaic dark romance which is not what I write.

I have a 300k omegaverse slowburn that still hasn't had any penetrative sex in it, anon. Publishing houses don't want that. They don't expect anyone will wait 4 full length novels to get to literally a single penetrative sex scene.

But you already have 2 completed novels (3 if you count the fae one) that you could potentially revisit or rewrite to your liking and get them represented by agents.

If I rewrote them to my liking, trad pub wouldn't want them. They'd be too long! I think agents etc. take one look at me and go 'oh god, no thank you!' I'm not an easy sell, by any means.

Plus I'm very e.e about all of that with the knowledge that they then give me only about 10-15% of the royalties on the sales, vs. self-pub where I get around 70%, or subscription where I around 80% of it. When someone subscribes to me, they don't have to worry about 85-90% of their subscription fee going to a publishing house. I don't have to think about how many thousands and thousands of books I'd have to sell to make the same amount that I do now via subscription.

As well as trad publishing, you could also make s simple website that doesn't require much maintenance.

If it was that simple, I'd be doing it. I don't mean this in a facetious way, I mean it in a: I've made a lot of websites, in fact I run one at the moment not connected to my writing (I've been running it for so long it's now in its 20s and can probably has a driver's license). I find it so tedious that I barely remember to check in on it. But forgetting about it means there's always maintenance to keep up with when I get back to it.

Running websites is simpler than it used to be, but it's still not simple. There's hosting and hosting costs, there's server changes, there's back-end maintenance etc. I'm considering it for down the track, but there's a reason I decided to go the route of Patreon over my own site. There are authors (like Christopher Hopper) who actually do subscription through their own domain, but it's a lot of work.

Even placeholder sites are still work. They need updating, details change, story titles changing etc. Maintaining my Patreon + Ream About pages is enough, they're always both a little out of date, lol.

Not that you're not professional now.

Oh no, I mean from a 'traditional publisher looking at me to see what kind of candidate I am' I'm really not though. Like I said, I don't have the newsletter (100 subscribers who get one newsletter a year is not really a newsletter), I don't have the Facebook/Tiktok/Insta/Twitter/Bluesky/Threads accounts, etc. I write multi-genre across multiple steam levels, and I'm allergic to writing serials shorter than 150k. One of my best performing original serials was an 800k contemporary story with no sex in it but a lot of BDSM. It can't be marketed as clean or sweet, it's not high steam, an entire chapter is 'boy saves snail from rain.' Also he was cruel to animals, so not exactly what I'd call a sympathetic main.

And yet that story did so well for me via Patreon + Ream, because people want the kinds of stories that publishing houses generally don't want and I happen to be writing them.

Anon I just literally do not believe an agent would want to represent me. I have 0% belief in that. Not from a self-deprecating angle but from a 'I am not a good bet for the trad market' perspective. From a 'I have so many friends who are trad pubbed authors who stare at me like I'm insane for writing serials as long as I do' perspective. From a 'professionals in the industry have told me it's amazing I'm doing so well in serials because there's no way they'd take a risk on what I'm doing' perspective. From a 'just because it's queer and diverse doesn't mean it hits literally any other thing a trad pub is looking for' perspective. I've been doing this for 10 years. There are agents who represent work similar to mine who know what I'm doing and wouldn't touch me with a ten foot pole. They're not missing out on a trick, they know I'm not broad appeal, and they're right.

Also the only way I'd have the energy to manage trad pub is by quitting serials. And honestly, I never found trad pub all that much fun while I was doing it for non-novel stuff. It was fine, and it is nice to have my stuff out there, but it was a ton of admin and a lot of going back and forth between people who really only care about marketing a product, and that's great and what they excel at! But I'm too disabled to turn this job into something crushing just to potentially make more money, I'd rather just quit and go back onto a full Disability Pension. I can't see any way I still get to write the stories I want to write, in the way that I write them, and be remotely appealing to a single reputable trad pub or agent.

Also *gestures to everything in this article*

#asks and answers #pia on writing #pia on publishing #i appreciate your thoughts anon #and i'm so happy it's working out well for you #and that you're able to live off what you're doing #you are one of the rare outliers in the world of publishing #and i truly wish you all the success in the world #i do think a lot of your advice will go to help a lot of writers who sometimes check in #at my tumblr #but yeah no i don't even write that much 'dark' stuff in the classic sense #of what trad pub wants #right now the publishing world that i'm adjacent to #seems to view me as some kind of oddity #'i don't know how he's making an income off all this stuff that we know would never work for us'#'how odd and strange'#'best leave him alone'#most authors are thankfully not doing what i'm doing #in which case yes they should absolutely consider agent representation #and looking into trad pub #unfortunately i'm not like a CS Pacat #even though she's a role model for me #and when i tried to write for the more traditional market #which was perth shifters #i honestly really struggled

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sysig · 4 months

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Finally made a Parapluesch OC, introducing Mama Oz ♥ (Patreon)

#Doodles #Parapluesch #Do I need to tag all of them? I don't want to so I won't lol #I can tag my original I guess :P #Mama Oz #She's based on this absolutely ridiculous and darling object I found at the same place I got my new-to-me video games haha #So apparently in the 60s this specific type of - magazine rack? in the shape of a kangaroo?? was made??#Ridiculous. So ostentatious. I fell in love immediately and had to make her into a Parapluesch #Like as soon as I laid eyes on her standing there I was like ''Oh you're from Die Anstalt'' - Instantly started filling in her backstory #Mama Oz's deal is your classic Stages of Grief - in her case from losing a child #Since she's a plush she never had an actual baby but she lost Her Child if you get me - she stopped being played with #And so she projects that grief onto others and adopts them in an attempt to get Her Child back #Except if this new relationship isn't within that framework then she rejects it and goes to the next one #She doesn't really realize that she's inconveniencing them by trying to adopt them and limiting herself from forming lasting connections #Not allowing change or growth - stagnating and trying to reclaim something lost #One of my favourite parts of Die Anstalt is that each of them is shown to have flaws #They still need and are deserving of help! But their uglier symptoms aren't shied away from #Dolly and Lilo use self-harm as a coping mechanism #Sly is shown to seek out the high at times and be short and destructive #Dub takes pride in his overwork #Kroko is surly and prickly #Don't even get me started on Dr. Wood lol #So it's fun to imagine what Mama Oz would be doing to - even by accident! - harm herself or others #The whole point of helping them is for them to become their best most comfortable selves :D #I also think what's especially funny is that I've been Meaning to make a Parapluesch OC for /years/ now #I always planned for it to be a Gender Dysphoria diagnosis since that's in the DSM and I had a design and route planned and everything #No. Kangaroo magazine rack. Okay #Lol

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kacievvbbbb · 29 days

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Truly from the depths of my struggling heart. Viva La Vida by Coldplay belongs to one Toshinori Yagi aka the one and only All Might.

Coldplay should just sign over the rights of the song at this point promptly too.

#the song just works on so many levels #cause yeah there’s the grander theme off glory days gone past #but there’s another layer of was; I really effective or good if the minute I left everything that I had built crumbled around me #because Toshinori was the symbol of peace but any peace that can’t survive without one man isn’t true peace at all #it’s a stalemate #hero society #should never have been so easy to collapse without all might #and honestly even though it was never really fully explored that was always a layer of the story I enjoyed #the ways in which a complete dominance in a field especially one as important as heroing can hurt just as much as it can help.#because if yagi had actually let people stand beside him if he hadn’t helped to create a space where other heroes could grow complacent #because all night was there. hero society would never have collapsed so easily without him.#it’s touched on but not a lot not dope if icalry about all nights dominance #it’s why I feel like if you watched the show and your geniune conclusion was that Deku should have become the new symbol of peace #then I just think we didn’t watch the same show #And don't get me wrong I'm not saying that yagi was wrong for saving people or using his powers to the max but it was touched on repeatedly #this kind of deep fear/belief that he had. That only he could save these people and if something happened to them it was on him.#Like every case could only be solved by him and it wasnt a pride thing if anything it was a trauma response same with Izuku #the tags for this got so long i swear i don't mean to do this😭#the symbolism #symbol of peace #all might #yagi toshinori #mha toshinori #mha #bnha #boku no hero acedamia #my hero acedamia #mha analysis #music #coldplay

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longagoitwastuesday · 1 month

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Every day I am haunted by the fact JJK could be amazing but it will be just idk Bleach or something

#I've seen a lot of people complaining about the fact that it's impossible to fit the ending of every unfinished arc #in the five chapters that remain for the manga to end for good #And it all just... legitimises my fear and apprehension haha #And it's a pity! It's a pity! The dynamics were so good! And yet nothing! Sukuna was so good! And yet nothing!#It was so nice how he seemed to play with the idea of transcending human categories and values but even the values of curses so to speak #Well beyond everything. Well beyond positive/creative nihilism even! He was not like Mahito #I wonder if Mahito is more a negative nihilism with a funny edge or a positive nihilism. For now it seems positive #with how he seems to have said something like 'nothing matters so we can do whatever we want and create what matters'#But Sukuna transcends all that! It could have been interesting to see how that developed in a way that wasn't just childish edginess #But no. And then there's all the idea of curses and sorcerers not being all that different #and so not really entirely possible to say one side is good and the other bad #There was the idea of the very source of powers with fear and love playing a role here in such a juicy way #And then there's the entire thing happening with Gojo as a concept and the very concepts he plays with which I could eat like an apple #but also I would let those very concepts eat at my heart as a worm inside an apple #Full of holes and rotting inside out and yet delighting at the sweetness #It could all be so good! And yet! Most of the manga is a few sketched dynamics and concepts and a very long fight with Sukuna #promising half finished arcs #WHY it could have been so good. And I don't think criticism is a matter of 'fans being spoiled! Go write your story!' or something #It's not a matter of things not going as fans would want them to be. It's a matter of not writing well #or cohesively things established by the author themselves. And I think that's a fair criticism #If we are to take manga as an art‚ which I wholeheartedly support‚#then we can subject mangas to artistic or literary or whatever you want to call it analysis. There are works that are better constructed #than others‚ and there are works that have good ideas but poor execution. And it's always a pity #In the case of JJK it's truly breaking my heart and the comments I see around about these five last chapters are not helping xD #God it could be so good. So good. And I'm not talking about in specific to me‚ which yes that too given the topics‚#but just so good in general. It could be so good. It could have been so good #And yet it's starting to look more and more like any other shonen. It truly breaks my heart haha #I talk too much #Jujutsu Kaisen #I used Bleach because I think that's one of the mangas that has been the most a let down to the friends I have who like shonen

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admiral-arelami · 8 months

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AITA If My Favorite Character is a Fascist?

Uh oh. The Fascsplainers are at it again. Yes, we know what fascism is, thx.

#help my favorite characters are fascists #empire bad #chiss ascendancy bad #I'm too damn old for lectures about the nature of good and evil #or about what is *more* canon #like seriously?#Star Wars needs to get over its obsession with canon anyway #though I tend to go with what the author who created the character thinks #even if I like the TV show #(no comment on the LA show lol)#the age-old arguments about canonicity never helped music art or literature either #so let's just sit back and enjoy what we enjoy #and get over this whole purity culture thing #in any case it's fiction and necessarily *up to interpretation*#good evil morally gray? I don't really care #because it's FICTION #people like what they like #look I hate reylo too but let people have their fun #so they can take a break from the hopeless dumpster fire that is the real world #lol honestly I didn't even know there *was* an anti-thrawn tag until today #thrawn #as soon as the word “fascism” came up we knew this was going to be about Thrawn #canonically bad thrawn #tell me you've never read the thrawn books without telling me you've never read them #he's a bad man #AND a fascist #just here to remind you #PSA

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wolfsong-the-bloody-beast · 4 days

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They believe you’re the Herald because they need to. Without that hope, all that’s left is despair. We’re both bound by duty. Our lives aren’t ours to live. Don’t make this harder than it has to be.

#Dragon Age #Dragon Age: Inquisition #DAI #Blackwall #Thom Rainier #DA gifs #DAI gifs #gif #I somehow went from 'he really made it personal' and 'my lady don't' to giffing almost the entire thing #sir please chill #you guys haven't even held hands yet #one step at a time #don't make me chase you #I mean of course I know what his problem is - his baggage doesn't help in the light of the current events huh? HUH?#do you ever think about Blackwall - especially after catching feelings #standing there somewhere in the background as people sing to the Inquisitor during that horrible night?#or when the title of the Inquisitor was bestowed upon them as the whole courtyard cheered?#how would that feel in his case?#a weird mix of pride and inadequacy and sadness? something precious slipping through your fingers? ouch #this whole thing is actually kind of funny for my character - the way I headcanon her #she was just out to have some fun #get somebody to warm her bed #she's a qunari ex-merc living in a predominantly human environment and honestly not that much of a romantic #she finds life's simple pleasures when she can and #she's used to being told no #BUT NOT LIKE THIS #wtf? what's up with that?#gotta poke whatever this is some more #what could go wrong?

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quadrantadvisor · 7 days

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Always wondered what the fandom consensus about this is (or if there is one). Also, why do you think grimwalkers and/or Hunter don't have magic? Is it a natural part of being a grimwalker, is it because their ortet was human, or did Belos do it on purpose?

#please please i am so curious #toh #the owl house #hunter toh #toh meta #polls #my rambles #I don't have like super firm feelings about this but #i guess my headcanon is that previous golden guards did have magic and that Hunter is the first successful one without a working bile sac #belos experimenting with the formula and it not always working out could help explain the sheer number of grimwalker skeletons #also if darius was being mentored by hunter's predecessor i would think he'd notice if the guy couldn't do magic #and if that's the case him making fun of hunter for it is SO dickish #which isn't necessarily out of character lmao especially if he resents hunter for being the guy's secret love child or something #just. not really caring and needling at whatever is most effective to get under his skin #yeah I really can go whatever way with this but I think it's interesting if hunter is the first one without magic

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shrikeseams · 2 years

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Thinking about some of the meta I've seen about the flight of the Noldor (and I'm not vagueing anyone, I've seen this kinda thing a few times and from folks I don't follow, so they've already trickled out of my head, sorry, bit it's not personal)--ANYWAY. The thing is that there's an underlying assumption that the noldor should have trusted the valar, because the Valar told them that the Oath couldn't be fulfilled and that they couldn't win against Morgoth, and that was ultimately proven correct.

But like. The thing is. The Valar had just proven to be incredibly fallible.

The wonderful Light that drew the elves on to Valinor? That they built their lives around? That's gone. And it's gone because the valar just very publicly screwed up. It's gone because the Valar released Melkor, and fucking told the elves that he was trustworthy, and they were extremely wrong. The Trees are dead because they couldn't bring Melkor back into custody in a timely manner. None of this inspires confidence in their ability to deal with Melkor in the future.

Finwe is dead because the Valar were wrong.

Valinor has been proven to be unsafe because the valar were wrong.

(Arguably the kinslaying at Alqualonde is further proof that the Valar can't keep Aman safe against elves, let alone one of their own number.)

Feanor called it on Melkor. Feanor was proven right to build fortifications, even in Aman. Feanor was proven right to make back-ups of the Light, even if it was stolen. (Just because he wasn't going to hand them over for Yavanna to crack like eggs doesn't mean they wouldn't have been put to good use.) Feanor has been trying to leave Aman for a long time, and right at that crisis point he looks like a great bet. It would have looked like he'd seen it all coming, and that the Valar had invited disaster into their own home.

Hindsight is 20/20, and during the Darkening Feanor looks like a damn oracle. Why would they believe the Valar at that moment? The Valar have just lost an INCREDIBLE amount of face and authority. Trust is very easy to break and very difficult to rebuild.

#Tolkien #Continuing the tradition of talking out of my ass #But tbh I stand by this one #It's not countertextual. It's just recognition of human nature #Or elven nature in this case #But the choices made in the Silm typically feel very human to me #Tbh I think the Valar never really *regain* that authority #Maybe with the Vanyar #But between Alqualonde and the drowning of beleriand? The failure to take sauron into custody? Numenor?#I don't think they get much public back-talk (they've proven too dangerous for that)#But it's hard to trust a political OR religious body that fucks up so enormously and publicly and whose failure invokes such violence #Especially for anyone who didn't make the Journey or who wasn't raised in Aman itself #Tbh I suspect a lot of the elves of ME see the Valar like I see the democratic party (us politics)#There's no doubt to me that they are *better than the alternative *#And sometimes they'll do something very helpful! But they do not actually have my best interests at heart #They are useful. They are better than the alternative. And they are not worthy of true unfaltering trust.#San shoots the breeze

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linagram · 3 months

Text

[ 𝙲𝚑𝚒𝚋𝚊 𝙽𝚊𝚘𝚖𝚒'𝚜 𝚃𝟹 𝚅𝙳] 𝙰 𝙶𝚛𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚄𝚙 𝙲𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚍'𝚜 𝚃𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚛𝚞𝚖

naomi's vd and mv.. oh these ones.. these were hard to write. i feel bad for naomi but i also can't deny that she's a very messed up person..

Warnings for Naomi's VD: descriptions of murder, violence, abusive family dynamics.

Warnings for Naomi's MV: themes of physical and emotional abuse, descriptions of violence.

(sounds of footsteps)

Miki: Do you.. think Ishizu-san is going to be okay?

Hinode: Well, we took the memories of Eiko-san talking about Eiji-san, so he probably should feel less jealous of him now..

Hinode: But I wouldn't be surprised if he ended up remembering Eiji-san once he sees him again.

Miki: Speaking of Eiji-san.. When is he going to show up?

Miki: It's time to interrogate the fourth prisoner and he's still not with us..

Hinode: Ah.. Let's not worry about that for now.

Hinode: I'm sure he will join us very soon.

Miki: .. He's still alive, right?

Hinode: Why wouldn't he be? It was just a broken arm, I'm sure he's fine.

(the door opens)

Miki: Hello, Chiba-san. We're here to-

Naomi: Akasaki Tao.

Miki: What-

Naomi: Akasaki Tao, 10 years old. He was my student and my victim.

Hinode: .. Starting with this, huh?

Naomi: I just want this to end as soon as possible. Ask me anything you want and I will answer.

Miki: .. Are you mad at us, Chiba-san?

Naomi: "Mad"? *laughs* I'm not mad at all. Just.. confused, maybe?

Naomi: Like.. I just want to know why.

Naomi: Why would you change your mind so suddenly? Maybe my video showed you something you didn't like?

Naomi: Did you finally realize just how bad my crime was?

Miki: .. I guess you could say so. But also..

Miki: *in a lower voice* Chiba-san, we already know that you're a child murderer, but you really couldn't sit through three trials without trying to kill another kid, huh?

Naomi: .. Hm? What's that supposed to mean-

Naomi: Ah.. I understand now.

Naomi: My apologies, my memory has been quite blurry lately.

Naomi: Probably because of my punishment.

Hinode: Naomi-san, just why do you dislike children so much? Do you just find them annoying?

Hinode: Or maybe you're jealous of them?

Naomi: ...

Naomi: *laughs* Why would I be jealous of that brat?

Naomi: I'm talking about both Asahi and Tao right now.

Naomi: God, they're literally one and the same. It's almost like Asahi is a reincarnation of Tao- Never mind, he's actually older than him.

Hinode: Well, even though Asahi-san's personality is.. quite unique, he's not completely alone.

Hinode: He's very close with Miki-san and lately, he seems to have become friends with some other prisoners, like Akio-san and Kei-san.

Hinode: Yes, there are prisoners who would gladly hurt him, like you and Yurika-san, but..

Hinode: Asahi-san is still loved. And you aren't.

Naomi: .. It's kind of cruel to say things like that, don't you think so, Hinode-san?

Naomi: But it's true.. I wonder why I wasn't able to become close with any of the prisoners.

Naomi: Maybe there's just something wrong with me.

Naomi: Maybe I'm just not a cute child who can get away with anything, no matter how immoral and disgusting their actions are-

Naomi: ...

Naomi: Haha.. Fine. Maybe I really am jealous.

Naomi: .. But I still can't be mad at Tao. I still feel guilty about murdering him.

Naomi: .. Tao's family didn't care about him at all. He came from a family that was very well-known in our town and they had such a good reputation, but we didn't know what was going on behind closed doors.

Naomi: His family.. was very similar to mine, actually. Maybe that's why I feel bad for him.

Naomi: His parents weren't sad about his death. Honestly, maybe they actually were relieved.

Naomi: His classmates weren't sad about his death. Some of them even were happy about it. Children really can be so cruel sometimes, haha..

Naomi: So when I found out about his situation.. I just didn't know how to feel. Was I supposed to cry? Was I supposed to be angry? Was I supposed to be happy and proud that I've ended his suffering?

Miki: .. I think we saw Tao-san's parents talking to you in your second video.

Naomi: Ah.. Right. They did talk to me about Tao and.. the way they treated him.

Miki: T-they've just told you everything?!

Naomi: Um.. Kind of. However, they also made sure to make it sound like..

Naomi: It was Tao's fault from the start.

Naomi: "Oh, he was just too hard to control!", "He wouldn't understand us if we tried something else!", "We've always told him to be careful, but he didn't listen!"

Miki: ...

Hinode: Miki-san, is everything okay?

Miki: .. Y-yes. I'm fine. I'm fine.

Miki: .. Did they know that you were the one who killed him?

Naomi: *shrugs* Not sure. But I feel like most people knew it was me.

Naomi: I.. don't remember the days after my murder that well, but for some reason, people were more worried about me than Tao.

Naomi: Like they looked at me and kept saying "It wasn't your fault" and they told me just how good of a teacher I am.

Naomi: Tao's death felt.. like some kind of twisted celebration.

Naomi: Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that the whole town celebrated a kid dying, but it was more like..

Naomi: .. He caused everyone a lot of trouble. Nobody had any good memories related to him.

Naomi: And his parents really made it sound like he was just being his usual self when he died.

Naomi: He just wasn't careful enough. It was an accident. It wasn't anybody's fault, except it was kind of his fault.

Naomi: And because of their reputation and my family's reputation, people just thought of it as a sad little story and didn't think too much about it.

Naomi: They knew that if they think more deeply about it, they'd probably get in trouble for doubting our families.

Miki: ...

Hinode: Miki-san, if you're not feeling well, you don't have to-

Miki: .. How did you kill him?

Naomi: Hm? You never saw it in the video?

Miki: Just tell me how you killed him.

Naomi: Well.. To put it simply, I ran him over.

Naomi: *laughs* Mom was right, I really am not the best driver.

Miki: Did you do it on purpose? Was it planned?

Naomi: No, not at all. It just.. happened, I guess.

Hinode: .. It wasn't intentional?

Naomi: It's still a murder though. It doesn't matter if it was intentional or not.

Naomi: It was a rainy day, I couldn't see that well and my mental state was.. not that good.

Naomi: Everything around me was blurry and even when I saw what I thought was some kind of silhouette, I didn't stop.

(bell rings, machinery sounds)

Naomi: Ah, is the interrogation over already?

Hinode: Naomi-san, but why were your mental state "not that good"? Did something happen?

Naomi: .. Haha, don't worry about it. Just my mother being.. my mother, I guess.

Hinode: You're the oldest prisoner here and you still felt like you have to do everything your mother says?

Naomi: ...

Hinode: You've said that your family is very similar to Tao-san's.. Could it be that your mother also often said that "you weren't careful enough" or put all the blame on you?

Naomi: ...

Hinode: .. So it's like.. Even though you're an adult who has a job, can drive and owns a car, has a good reputation, is respected by so many other adults and loved by so many kids..

Hinode: You still feel like a child who will get punished if she does something wrong?

Hinode: It's just that you don't know if you should be afraid of being punished or you should be asking to get punished.

Naomi: .. Haha..

Naomi: Hey, if you think I am so evil, why don't you just kill me already?

Naomi: Do it. End my suffering, just like I've ended Tao's. Come on, a murderer like me doesn't deserve to live.

Miki: We can do just that.

Naomi: Huh?

Miki: Oh, wait.. We can't, actually. You would need like three guilty verdicts for that..

Miki: What a shame. Also, Chiba-san..

Miki: If you're so evil, why should we end your suffering anyway? Please, go ahead and suffer more for us.

Naomi: What-

Miki: And also, stay the fuck away from my brother, thank you very much.

Miki: Prisoner 004, Naomi, sing your sins!

42% ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓░░░░░░░░░░░░ 100%

[ Naomi's Trial 3 MV: Like An Adult ]

The video starts with younger version of Naomi writing something on the blackboard. She smiles and turns to the classroom, looking proud, but then she suddenly gets hit with a paper airplane.

She looks at the classmate who made the airplane and sees that it's actually her victim, Tao.

"I hate it, I hate you, I hate myself

It's always the same every single day

Do you think you're better than me? You're just a stupid child

And I'm the adult here, so I have all the power"

He laughs and Naomi looks around. She sees that all of her classmates are just Tao's clones and all of them are laughing at her. She starts to shake and she walks closer to one of the clones.

"Ugh, I can't take it anymore, so annoying, won't you shut up already?

Looks like I have to solve this problem like an adult would

I have to show that I'm stronger, I have to show that I'm better

Violence is the only way to stay in control"

She grabs the chair next to him and starts beating the boy with it and it looks a lot like her Undercover MV scene, where she does the same thing, but to one of the guards. She laughs as she does so and she starts beating other boys with that chair as well.

"Your looks, your posture, your voice, your face

Everything about you is not mature enough

Don't laugh, don't cry, look them right in the eyes but not for too long

Go on, look at me, be honest with me, don't feel sorry for me, just like an adult would"

But then, Naomi hears someone's steps and turns to look for the source of the sound and she immediately drops the chair. She doesn't notice that all of the clones are already lying on the floor, covered in blood. She can only see her mother, standing in front of her, looking shocked and disgusted.

"Oh no, am I still a disappointment to you?

Am I still not enough? Am I still too much?

Being a failure is the only thing I'm winning at

So please reward me for at least trying my best"

The setting changes and now we can see a playground. Naomi's younger version is sitting on a swing and we can see that she has some bandaids on her legs and arms. Naomi sees a kid playing with his mother and being happy and having fun, but when the mother leaves, the kid casually breaks the toy he got from her, not seeing it as a big deal.

"Can't you be more grateful? You have everything I don't

Nothing is ever enough for you, you're just a parasite

So I have no choice but to crush you like a bug"

Something about his behavior angers Naomi and she attacks the boy, making him fall on the ground. Everything around Naomi is blurry and she can't even see the boy's face clearly, but it looks like she's really enjoying this. And then, her mother appears again, but this time, she looks older. And we see Naomi's older version still attacking the boy as well. The boy looks a lot like a certain prisoner too.

"Ah, looks like I will never change

I am still a stupid child in your eyes

Not good enough, not good enough

No matter how hard I try, I will never truly grow up"

It starts raining and we can see Naomi and her mother walking somewhere. Naomi's mother looks really angry and she's yelling at her, but Naomi doesn't seem to care and her eyes look completely empty. Even after her mother slaps her, she still doesn't care much and even laughs. She walks to her car, ignoring her mother who seems to be against her driving, and simply smiles at her as she closes the car door.

The rain gets worse and we can see flashes of lightning. Naomi is driving and it looks like she's very close to having a mental breakdown. She seems to be having trouble breathing and she's crying and laughing at the same time and she's not looking at the road. When she finally looks at it, we can only see another lightning flash and it's brighter than before.

We see a room that looks kinda familiar and it feels like we've seen it in Naomi's second video. Naomi's mother opens the door and runs into the room, looking worried. She tries to talk to two people who seem to be Tao's parents, but they interrupt her and ask her to follow them. She agrees and they walk into a different room. When the door opens, Naomi's mother gets even more shocked than in the beginning of the video and her face goes pale and we can see drops of sweat on her face. And then we see what made her react this way.

"My looks, my posture, my voice, my face

Everything about me is not mature enough

Don't laugh, don't cry, look them right in the eyes but not for too long

Please say you feel sorry for me, just like a good parent would"

There's younger Naomi, sitting on the couch, completely covered in bruises and scratches, her hair is a mess, her eyes are even more empty, even her pose looks unnatural, but she's still smiling. It's actually the biggest and most sincere smile we've ever seen from Naomi. She starts laughing again and as she does so, her mother covers her mouth with her hand, refusing to believe that this is happening and Tao's parents help her leave the room.

"Nothing but a disappointment, nothing but a disappointment

Useless child pretending to be an adult

A teacher who has nothing to teach

A failure who has nothing left to fail at"

Naomi just continues laughing and clapping her hands and even crying tears of joy, but then the scene changes and we see the real Naomi, staring directly at the viewer, with eyes that are completely black and her face shows no emotions at all.

"So won't you crush me already?"

The video ends.

#tbh shun and naomi are the most “difficult to judge” prisoners in my opinion #both of them are obviously mentally ill and they definitely need help and friends/family that they could actually trust #but also i really don't think that even if they got the help they needed they would stop being like that #like.. the trauma was too bad especially in naomi's case. sorry 😔#🎤 voice dramas! 🎤#🌼guard 002: andou miki 🌼#❤️‍🩹 guard 003: kuroki hinode ❤️‍🩹#🌿prisoner 004: chiba naomi🌿#milgram #milgram oc #milgram project #ocgram

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