#it's sunday therefore i can post those edits :)))))))))

[exiitiosus]

❰ eddie munson's personal files ❱ endless edits. spicy edition.

[itlivesproject]

It Lives Within: Finale Update

Hello, everyone!

It's been nearly a month since we aired chapter 20 and then had to go back on hiatus to revise, edit, and program the final three chapters of the climax. Now that some time has passed, we do have some updates on the games progress. And seeing as we forgot to make a project anniversary post on January 23, which marks TWO YEARS since we began this project, I'd like to take this time as well to commemorate the beginning of this project.

Thank you to everyone on the team who has been with us since the beginning and those who joined us along the way, thank you to all our fans, followers, and readers whose support motivates us to keep going even when we're exhausted, to fan creators who make art, fics, edits, theories, memes, posts, and more because we see basically everything you guys create and it never fails to make our days, and thanks to Pixelberry for creating the It Lives series in the first place 💗

Now, for the update! Some good news, some bad news. Bad news first: we aren't finished yet and so we still do not have a set release date. However! Here's the good news:

Chapter 22's edits are completed. We finished the revisions and have tested them on our beta testers, and all the issues and concerns have been addressed! Therefore, our big "rewrites" are taken care of and we can put our full focus onto completing the epilogue.

We will be releasing chapters 21-23 not in the format of one chapter a week, but all in one weekend. We're not sure which weekend yet, however we will have a fun, It Lives filled weekend and release chapter 21 on a Friday, chapter 22 on a Saturday, and chapter 23 on a Sunday. That way, you can experience the climax closer together and all at once, rather than having to continue to wait week after week after a long hiatus to finally get the whole climax. We will probably tell you one to two weeks ahead of time when we have a final date for release, but if I were to give you an estimate, I would guess we will be ready probably around late February.

We're excited to share the completion of this story with you, and know that because we're taking our time, we are going to give you the best ending we can give you. Thank you so much for your patience and understanding!

[achilleanfemme]

In 2023, Let's Remember that Jesus Was a Poor Man

I’ve been thinking alot about this picture lately that I first came across online probably 4 or 5 years ago, you can view it at the start of this blog post. It’s a black and white photo of a mule drawn covered wagon. Painted on the wagon cover is the phrase, “Don’t laugh folks, Jesus was a poor man.” This picture was taken in 1968 as part of The Mule Train. The Mule Train was a train of mule drawn wagons that rode together from Marks, Mississippi, one of the poorest areas in all of the USA at the time, to Washington DC as an act of protest to highlight the need for poor people, especially poor children, to have their basic needs met. The Mule Train was part of the original Poor People’s Campaign which Martin Luther King Jr. was a leader in before he died. Marks was populated predominantly by poor Black sharecroppers who were descendents of enslaved people, which was no accident either. Disproportionate Black poverty was and is a feature of US racial capitalist society, which was built by enslaved Black people, and became prosperous by the total theft of value generated by their labor while living in bondage. Much like Southern Black people in the USA in 1968, Jesus too lived under constant state repression and under oppressive social regimes as a Palestinian Jew living under Roman Imperial occupation.

I love the implication of the claim that this wagon makes. The idea that the God of the universe became human and lived, walked, worked, loved, ate, cried, laughed, and died amongst us is earth-shatteringly profound. Yet, when this Creator of everything that was, is, or will be became a human-being, God chose not to be born into a wealthy, aristocratic family. God chose to become a poor man living under occupation. Therefore, how our societies and economies treat poor people is reflective of how our societies and economies would treat God if God became human in our day. 

At my lovely Episcopal church in Dallas last night, sitting in the pew, participating in our lovely Lessons and Carols liturgy that we always do the first Sunday after Christmas, I heard this passage, John 1:1-14, like I’d heard it for the first time. In this passage, the author of the text refers to God as “the Word” and “The Light” which are common Biblical titles for God. I, however, couldn’t escape this idea of “what if these titles, the Word and the Light, were replaced with the phrase “the Poor Man”? After all, our Mule Train drivers named Jesus as a poor man. How might we hear this passage differently in our time? In this place?” 

Therefore, I invite you to read this New Revised Poor Man edition of John 1:1-14 below, adapted from the Common English Bible. I took the liberty of abandoning this motif a few times for clarity.

John 1:1-14 - Common English Bible

In the beginning was the Poor Man

    and the Poor Man was with God

    and the Poor Man was God.

The Poor Man was with God in the beginning.

Everything came into being through the Poor Man,

    and without the Poor Man

    nothing came into being.

What came into being

    through the Poor Man was life,

    and the life was the light for all people.

The Poor Man shines in the darkness,

    and the darkness doesn’t extinguish the Poor Man.

A man named John was sent from God. He came as a witness to testify concerning the Poor Man, so that through him everyone would believe in the Poor Man. He himself wasn’t the Poor Man, but his mission was to testify concerning the Poor Man.

The true Poor Man that shines on all people

    was coming into the world.

The Poor Man was in the world,

    and the world came into being through the Poor Man,

        but the world didn’t recognize the Poor Man.

The Poor Man came to his own people,

    and his own people didn’t welcome him.

But those who did welcome him,

        those who believed in his name,

    he authorized to become God’s children,

        born not from blood

        nor from human desire or passion,

        but born from God.

The Poor Man became flesh

    and made his home among us.

We have seen his glory,

    glory like that of a father’s only son,

        full of grace and truth.

When I read this adapted passage, the first thing that it reminds me of are two verses from John 12:7-8 CEB:

““Leave her alone,” Jesus replied. “It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial. You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.”

This passage comes from an absolute favorite Gospel story of mine, the raising of Lazarus followed by the story of Mary and Martha and the perfume. In the story, following Jesus’ miracle of raising Lazarus from the dead, Lazarus, Mary, Martha, Judas Iscariot, and Jesus share a meal together in Mary, Martha, and Lazarus’ home. In the story, while Martha is serving the table, Mary gets up and pours a very expensive bottle of perfume (worth a year’s wages) over Jesus’ head, anointing him, and then wipes his feet with her hair. The others are outraged by this act, but Jesus understands it as a holy sign of devotion from his dedicated follower, Mary, who seems to know that Jesus is quickly approaching his death. 

When Jesus says “You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me” it sounds kind of dismissive of the plight of the poor. However, if you are familiar with the full text of the Gospels and Jesus’ work and ministry then you understand that Jesus cares more for the poor and the outcast than any other group in ancient Palestinian society. 

If we interpret John 12:7-8 through the lens of Jesus being the Poor Man then the verses take on an entirely different meaning. If Jesus is leaving his humanly and earthly life, but the poor are staying, that means that Jesus is staying, embodied in the lives of the poor. It follows that, if we want to know how to best worship God on this side of the eschaton then we need look no further than the homeless person on the side of the street asking for money. We need look no further than the single mother working 70 hours a week to keep her children fed and housed. We need look no further than the Central American refugees at our southern border fleeing persecution and immiseration, seeking a better life in the USA. 

The Poor Man, the Peasant King, is with us everyday. Jesus lives in our hearts but he also lives in the places furthest out of the eyes of mainstream society, where poor and working people struggle to meet their basic needs under the oppressive thumb of a patriarchal, nativist, racial capitalist world system. As we enter into 2023, let us boldly worship God by working towards making a world where all unjust systems and institutions are torn down and the world is remade for the perpetual worship of our Creator, meaning a world where all poor people are fed, cared for, loved, and free.

[clevervonskelli]

I finally edited my post-finale, notes-app thoughts so that they're somewhat intelligible and I'm leaving them here in one rambling lump. 

- ROSIE!! I would give this man all the screentime ever. The depiction of his mission and crash was executed so well! Nate did a stellar job with that and later at the concentration camp. 

- Take the "true" out of the "we were the masters of the air" part! I hate it. Who put that in there? It sounds corny, and weird, and like they achieved some sort of divinely dictated status and it really pisses me off. The vibe is manifest destiny, American imperialism-type shiz and I hate it. Just "we were the masters of the air" with a different emphasis in Anthony's Crosby voice would have been great. Miss me with that "true" bullshit. Yes, this miniscule moment is what I will fight over. 

- Ngl, I thought there was some sort of design/editing oopsie when a tumblr post last week zoomed in on the opening credits where it shows a collection of dudes standing beside a plane and one of the ones wearing a life vest had Rafe Law's face. But now I'm so happy that in the show Lemmons got to take flight and participate in such a cheerful mission. 

- The roles and screen time for the Tuskegee men: It should have been better for sure but it was at least tasteful?? as weird as that sounds. In my (white) opinion, their initial introduction offered a very limited look at the unit as a whole but still felt a lot more intimate than for other characters we have seen more often. In episode 9, Macon, Jefferson, & Daniels didn't say much but they felt so integral to the scenes they were in and had quiet moments (like the nods when they arrived at the new camp or being right in the thick of the scramble during the liberation) that felt all the more powerful because of the lack of dialogue. 

What I would have really liked is for their storylines to run through every episode as more of a parallel to those of the 100th, with equal attention dedicated to them/their missions, but at least they weren't simply tossed into the show in a way that felt careless or grudgingly forced. 

- I'm not sure I like Solomon as the one lifting the guard during the march. Yes, the circumstances really did lead to some of them helping each other like that, even as wild as prisoners toting the guns might seem, but having it be a Jewish POW in the show felt very morally pedantic, like some sort of Sunday-school lesson on being the bigger person. I can only speak as a non-Jew, but it felt odd! Instead of being an effective way to underline the complexity of the relationships between prisoners & captors or Germans & Americans it felt like it was trying too hard to also connect to the Holocaust elements of the episode. I feel like the result was clumsy and strange in a way that I don't think it would have been if it had been a character other than Solomon taking those actions. 

- And while I'm on the subject of the guards/prisoners angle...

That one guard yelling and bragging about how to handle the prisoners was awkwardly done. I can't remember it exactly, but if the show wanted to highlight that "not all Germans and not all the prison staff were Nazis but some definitely were and those ones were real bastards!" then they should have had the other guard looking conflicted or upset by it or something. There should have been some kind of nuance distinguishable to the audience.  Most of the faces were just so blank it felt like one guy was giving the scene his all while everyone else spaced for that take.

- They managed to convey the "old men and kids" thing pretty well without hitting us over the head or putting it in the voiceover. There's a more effective way for it to have been done, I just know it, but I have no actual suggestions and therefore must be gracious. I'm just happy they tried to show a tiny bit of how staggeringly drained and unrecognizable the entire German nation was by the end of the war. MotA's ✨bombing morality discourse✨ often felt unsettled throughout the show, but I think the attempt at illustrating that the first country the Nazis invaded/attacked was their own ended up being more successful. 

- I'm not sure exactly what they were doing with the moment where Buck and the horse stare into each other's souls but I love how it gives us the opportunity to have cracky, 'Cleven is a horse boy' jokes 🐎. 

(Ok, but seriously, what was with the horse? Were they trying to increase tension wondering if it would reveal them? Was it to show how dire things had become in Germany compared to when earlier they had such technological might? Was it supposed to be one of the emaciated horses they often passed while on the march? Is it for white horse symbolic reasons? Just for the aesthetic? WHY?!?). 

- I could have easily spent 40 minutes just watching the POWs trying to pack up for the march and I still wouldn't have had enough. I'm absolutely wild for the details and background stuff in Stalag III and I can't wait for all the gifsets and whatnot to be able to take a closer look at things ❤️

- They gave Crosby his locked supply shed moment!! I was really hoping for that, or when he intellectually destroys the 390th's navigator, to be included and it is so satisfying to see. I love having something else to focus on besides his voiceover and early episode struggles (both of which I do enjoy) or the weird af way they did the him+Sandra thing (which I quite despise). Add it to his Nietze quote and anxiety concerning their roles in the war and I feel like we got a decent characterization of him again. 

- I guess I can accept not enough budget for a 10th episode but there wasn't even enough for Meatball in the finale? Man, I'd sure like to go back in time and crowdfund that shit. 

- When Sammy yelled "they won!!" as the kiddos were playing after everyone leaves Thorpe Abbotts I got super annoyed. 

The hero worship would be very real of course, but Hanks & Spielberg can't convince me that a British kid who has been living a huge chunk of his life in a country at war would not make that a "we won!". Not only was England a part of the victorious side but Sammy was basically a part of the Thorpe Abbotts/100thBG family and therefore would likely feel like a part of any of their successes too. It's kind of petty but, again, it felt a little too "USA! USA!! USA!!!" for my tastes. 

- From the moment his casting was announced I expected Callum Turner to put his entire being into this role and he certainly has. They nabbed a 6'4 dude built like an old growth pine to play a man who was something like 5'6 and 120lbs soaking wet, but I could definitely see the vision. His dedication has been so clear in other episodes as well but there was just something about Episode 9 that went above and beyond. Maybe because there are scenes where Egan is alone more often (or at least separated somewhat from the others), just like when he first bailed, but Callum's facial work and body language was impeccable. 

[comradesbooks]

CRASH COURSE IN WRITING MAGIC SYSTEMS THAT NOBODY ASKED FOR

Disclaimer: I reference some popular media in this post to use as examples of what and what not to do when writing magic systems in fiction. In spite of my horrible sense of humor, understand that I’m not berating any series, I’m just making a point. Like what you like.

AHEM.

In a medieval or ancient fantasy world, magic is a staple, and while it can be a challenge at times to work with a magic system, I’ve found that effective magic systems have three clearly established factors playing into them. These factors are as follows:

1. Rules and Limits

2. Plausible Purpose and Canonical Background

3. CONSISTENCY

1. Rules and Limits. When it comes to writing a magic system, I feel that the most daunting part of it is the sheer amount of freedom you have with it. It’s to your custom. There are no rules until you set them, and if you don’t set firm rules in your magic system, you end up with a weird free for all that makes your story fall flat. The hero needs to reach the peak of some secluded mountain to battle an ancient wizard threatening to destroy the world? Let’s just teleport to the guy and hit him a few times with lightning until he dies! That’ll do it! With logic like that, you have a story that lasts less than 10,000 words. And no lonely soul in the wee hours of a Sunday morning is going to want to read that to pass the time. 

This is why rules and limitations are vital to any magic system. Say your aforementioned hero (who is currently trying to reach that wizard but has no clue where he is) works with magic or has a sidekick who works with magic. Now say that this world does have teleportation magic, which is pretty OP. How do we limit it? Well, maybe teleportation, although possible, is dangerous because it makes the user tired, which is pretty impractical when you’re getting ready to have a final showdown with an all-powerful wizard. This could lead to a side arc that the hero must go through in order to reach the pesky wizard, therefore adding conflict to the story and opportunities to meet new characters, develop your world, and lengthen your adventure.

Earlier seasons of The Fairly Odd Parents come to mind. For those who grew up watching Butch Hartman’s brainchild, you might remember Da Rules, a huge book full of all the rules a godchild and his fairies must follow during their partnership. While rules are made up on the spot in some episodes, there are quite a few that stick around throughout the series and act as a hindrance in Timmy’s hare-brained schemes. In one early episode, Timmy wishes that he was the best skate-boarder in the world. This is fun, until he is challenged by his evil babysitter to a skating contest. Because of the stated rule that he can’t make wishes to win contests, Timmy is stripped of his magical skills, and is forced to git gud on his own in order to beat Vicky. If it weren’t for this simple rule being established early on in the series, the episode would have never happened at all. It’s a simple and childish example, but it gets the point across well enough. 

Put bluntly, limitation and necessity are the parents of invention. If you don’t have rules, you don’t have conflict, and if your story doesn’t have conflict, then you don’t have a story.

2. Plausible Purpose and Canonical Background. Why does your world even have magic in the first place? Why does it exist? How does it exist? How does it affect your story and the characters in it? If it’s just a background element or plot device, either edit it out of your story, or rework your story to make it important, if you want magic so badly. If characters rely on magic for their way of life, make it clear how magic affects people and how they use it in their day to day lives. If magic isn’t a common occurrence, do people fear and shun it? This could be a driving force in your story. 

To add to this, magic systems are about as interesting as their origins are. Magic doesn’t just exist. That’s not unique. It should have some kind of explanation to it. Even if it’s vague, it’s fine, if there’s a good enough reason. Maybe no one knows its true origins and so it’s only crazy theories that exist, which could be up to the reader to determine magic’s origins in that world. Open-ended world-building and characterization can be interesting, if done well.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is a good example. Skyrim introduces a new magic system to the Elder Scrolls series; the Thu’um. To put it bluntly, the Thu’um is an ancient school of magic that was used only by Dragons. Humans couldn’t use it until a goddess allowed them to use it to fight the Dragons in ancient times, because without it, humans had no chance of overthrowing their cruel masters. Canonically, the Thu’um is a very powerful kind of magic, which at one point was used to break a piece of Skyrim off during a battle between two Dragon Priests, Miraak and Vahlok. The story behind the human use of the Thu’um is pretty metal, and therefore, interesting! While it doesn’t have to be quite that brutal, there should be an interesting story to the magic, which could also play into the rules limiting the use of that magic. Using Skyrim as an example again, while humans can use the Thu’um, it requires decades of training to actually do anything with it because the practice is not natural to humans like it is to Dragons. While a handful of mortals have been born with the ability to use the Thu’um without much training at all, only very few have existed in history, and even fewer actually used their gift. The magic is insanely powerful, but has strict limits and rules, depending on who is using, limiting the amount of people who can use it.

Use of the magic system shouldn’t be all the same either. There are different people who are going to practice it, and those different people are going to have different perspectives on the craft. A great example to look at is bending in Avatar: The Last Airbender. While the bending of elements in the show is technically a martial art, it’s treated like a magic system. Each nation has its own style when dealing with their respective element. Waterbenders are more fluid in their motions when waterbending, while earthbenders are very rigid and forceful when they’re chucking rocks at your face. Firebenders are offensive and aggressive, while airbenders are defensive and agile, preferring avoidant tactics in combat. Variations exist, such as the three main Waterbending styles, according to Wan Shi Tong; Northern Style, Southern Style, and Foggy Swamp Style. Some intellectualoids like Toph are knowledgeable enough to make brand new techniques completely unheard of in their craft in the form of metalbending, lavabending, bloodbending, and lightningbending. Others, like Iroh, are even able to borrow from other elements to come up with completely new techniques, like lightning redirection and using different parts of the body to firebend when the limbs are bound. Having multiple ideals in a world not only creates organic diversity, but also opens the doors to conflict. What if two kinds of magic users with differing ideologies clash? What kind of chaos could ensue?

3. CONSISTENCY. It’s pretty simple on paper, but writers seem to struggle with keeping their magic systems consistent. A small example in High Guardian Spice would is the portal magic introduced in the first episode by Aloe. If you have a portal that can take you from Point A to Point B with no established limits, why didn’t Sage and Rosemary just teleport from their hometown to the Academy? When the girls get trapped in a cave, why didn’t they just magic their way out using portals? Avoiding plot holes is easy if you stay consistent. If you write yourself into a corner, consider reworking the previous two factors in your story. To prevent writing yourself into a corner, plan your novel out before you write it, and don’t be afraid to rework some things if you get stuck. They’re called drafts for a reason!

This little brainbarf boils down to:

You make the rules in magic systems. Those rules can be whatever the heck you want, but to make a good product, you need to stick to the rules you set, and still find a way to make it interesting.

Take everything I say here with a grain of salt, as I’m mainly a fanfiction writer, however I have worked with fantasy games, and have rewritten some magic systems to make them more “novel-friendly”. (*cough cough* Skyrim, I’m lookin at you *cough cough*) 

Just understand that everything I said is entirely correct and valid and if you think otherwise, you are automatically wrong in every way.

I can provide examples of my own work with magic systems, if anyone is curious. I can also write up a part two, if anyone is open to discussion! 

[rinaweek]

💜 rina week 2023 guidelines 💜

who can participate in rina week?

anyone! this event is open to all

because of this, rina week 2023 is a sfw event. any content deemed nsfw will not be reblogged by the official rina week account

what can rina week participants submit?

the seven prompts are there to inspire any form of content - whether that is fanfiction, artwork, gifsets, edits, manips, social media aus, fancams, or anything else you can think of. we encourage participants to get creative; the more content the merrier!

where will rina week take place?

content created for rina week will be reblogged on tumblr and retweeted on twitter

if you post your content on other websites (for example, if a fanfiction is posted to archive of our own, or if a fancam is posted to youtube), we recommend you create a post with its link on tumblr or twitter so that the official rina week account can promote it

when is rina week taking place, and when should i post my content?

rina week 2023 will run from sunday 5 november to saturday 11 november. while there are specific prompts for each of the seven days, there is no expectation for creators to stick to them

this means two things:

if you are late posting a specific day's prompt, it's totally fine! you're also welcome to skip a prompt or merge two prompts together. properly tagged rina week content will still be reblogged or retweeted up to a month after rina week ends - so don't stress too much about meeting those deadlines

it is also not necessary to stick to any of the prompts. if you'd like to create some general rina related content to promote the event without the confines of a prompt, you are more than welcome to. just ensure it is properly tagged if you would like the official rina week account to reblog or retweet it

why does rina week exist?

to increase content in and promote the creators of the rina fandom

how do i as a content creator participate in rina week?

post your content to tumblr or twitter with the hashtag "rina week 2023" and tag @rinaweek in your post. we will attempt to reblog or retweet every post (unless it is nsfw as mentioned above)

if we happen to miss your post, please feel free to dm us. however, bear in mind that the official rina week account may not always be online, and therefore we may not see your post directly after it is posted

faq can be found here. additional faq will be answered on 7 october 2023 for any questions not outlined in the above post and the current faq post. please feel free to leave your questions in the google form linked here if you have any

[ruby-red-inky-blue]

A rundown of my TWTaS writing playlist because I cannot be stopped

this will no doubt be the longest post I've ever made about this fic so strap in:

general atmosphere/plot songs:

El Tango De Los Assassinos (yes, from Mr&Mrs Smith)

This was my mood setting for Jyn and Cassian in the early chapters, especially the rooftop scene in chapter 9.

Runaway by The National

This is a sad and gentle backdrop that I pictured being played in Baze's diner in the first half of the fic a lot.

The Boys of Summer (live) by The Hooters

This is here largely because I have been trash for this song since I was thirteen and it has a lot of Yearning in it. Let's say it could also be playing in the diner, that would make sense to me.

Starlight by Muse

this was maybe the first song I ever saw on a rebelcaptain edit (it was this one by @proinsiascassidy) and it has sparked my ongoing obsession with them and starlight - the word, the concept, stargazing, everything. Therefore, it had to be on here, even though I feel like it's an outlier musically.

St Jude by Florence + The Machine

This has EXACTLY the peaceful, suspenseful, sorrowful, hopeful vibes this ship needs especially in this setting, and it is addressed to "St Jude, the patron saint of the lost causes" so. yeah.

Never Let Me Go by Florence + The Machine

This is a big Depression song, and this fic is Depressed, so it works for both of them equally. The water/ocean theme and the chorus of "never let me go" feels much more Jyn than Cassian to me, but the Overt Christian Overtones make a lot of sense for Cassian and "the crushes of heaven for a sinner like me" is. come on.

Lithium Sunset by Sting

Listen this song is literally about antidepressants what do you want me to tell you.

Between Two Lungs

This is as triumphant and cheesy as the playlist gets, folks. They're in love! And they want to live, goddamnit!

Sunday Bloody Sunday by U2

Somehow several songs about the Irish Troubles ended up in this fic that is 100 percent not about that (although I picture Lyra's father as someone who was Involved in the Troubles, but this doesn't factor into the story enough to explain it and I think I came up with it because of the playlist).

.

Character and relationship themes:

Shallow by Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper

Look I wish I could roll my eyes at this song but unfortunately the lyrics are perfect for this fic in every way and I gotta respect that. The singers should be reversed for this fic but. Yeah sorry the lyrics are really good.

Bridge Over Troubled Water by Johnny Cash

To counteract the unhealthy vibes of most of the other songs on here, here's a sweet, peaceful song about selfless devotion and helping and comforting each other, because that is also a part of how I see this ship. It's also another song I definitely think was playing at the diner. Actually I think I actively hinted at it once. (Edit: I sure did! Chapter 26)

The Only Hope For Me Is You by My Chemical Romance

Listen. Desert vibes. Starts with echoes of "remember me". It's comparatively aggressive and very heavy on the war metaphors (that may not be metaphors). It's kind of perfect.

Summertime by My Chemical Romance

from the same album, same vibes. Very apocalyptic but in a hopeful way? They're throwing bricks and promising to run away together. This is a no-brainer.

Song for Someone by U2

This may be THE rebelcaptain song. It's devastating and so full of baggage but it's so tender and so hopeful and I will champion this song as their anthem until I die.

Work Song by Hozier

Is this a song about deep, deeply unhealthy, heartfelt devotion? Does it contain the Classically Rebelcaptain lines "When my time comes around, lay me gently in the cold dark earth/ no grave can hold my body down, I'll crawl home to her"? I rest my case.

I'm Not the One by 3OH!3

This works so so well for both Jyn and Cassian, it's like a conversation between their younger selves, and also I really drew on this for all those moments where they see themselves and their screwed-up childhoods in each other.

Man in Black by Johnny Cash

This is Draven. Straight up in my head Draven is always wearing black and this song is why.

Firefly Theme by Sonny Rhodes

This is clearly Bodhi, and it's perfect.

Brothers In Arms by Dire Straights

This plays in Bodhi's backstory for me. Because it's a War Trauma song I guess, but also because it has this heavy, heavy sense of loss of friends, of innocence, of self. It's so heartbreaking, and it's so gentle and quiet and deceptively peaceful.

Solsbury Hill (live) by Peter Gabriel

Culturally this makes NO sense but this is my go-to-Chirrut song. It's spiritual and uplifting and it is just so deeply comforting to me.

Fields of Gold by Sting

So this makes even less sense both culturally and lyrics-wise, but it feels like Baze to me. I cannot explain this.

River Lea by Adele

I could quote this entire thing this is TWTaS Jyn in a nutshell

Raised By Wolves by U2

This is a very Jyn song to me. It is bleak but it's defiant and I think it makes a lot of sense as her starting point.

21 Guns by Green Day

God I love this song. It's perfect for them in every way my god. This fandom should be full of Green Day songs. This song works so well for Cassian especially early on in the fic, and I think it really gets the vibe so right.

Golden by Fall Out Boy

This is so so Cassian and his horrible self-esteem and his self-imposed isolation for the sake of others.

You Found Me by The Fray

Since this is, once again, Overtly Complicatedly Religious, it feels very Cassian. This song is so so bitter and I feel like that makes a lot of sense for Cassian re: faith and life and everything.

The Unforgiven by Metallica

This is the Very Bleak Backdrop for young Cassian's disillusionment arc/downward spiral, so like mid-teens to his undercover op. It also works for Draven, which is neat and very sad.

All Eyes On Me by Bo Burnham (yes)

This song is so bleak and so trance-like in the absolute worst most viscerally depression-like way. This is a song for someone who is SO close to just giving up, with the faintest of cries for help left ("hands down, pray for me"). This is for Cassian at nineteen or twenty, alone and spiralling and vaguely dissociating. It's bad and this song is so good and so upsetting to me.

Zombie by The Cranberries

More Troubles music. A very good song, deeply heartbreaking.

Wake Me Up When September Ends by Green Day

This song straight up is why everything bad that ever happened to Cassian happened in September. There is no way to convince me this song is not perfect for this character in every way.

Any Other World by MIKA

Welcome to more bitterness and self-effacing nonsense, because again, I can't be stopped.

Der Weg by Herbert Grönemeyer

The last third of this song makes SOB. It's a song all about the horrible grief that comes with losing someone way too soon, and about learning to live with it. It's so fucking sad on its own merit, and it does work scarily well for Cassian and the memories of his family. Hell, you can split those lines up for each of them perfectly, and it ends with one of the saddest loveliest lines in the world, this song is A Lot: "Habe dich sicher in meiner Seele/ Ich trag' dich bei mir bis der Vorhang fällt" (I keep you safely within my soul/ I'll carry you with me until the courtain falls)

What A Catch, Donnie by Fall Out Boy

This is for Cassian ("I got troubled thoughts and the self esteem to match", "they say the captain goes down with the ship/so when the world ends, will god go down with it?" and all that), but mostly for Cassian and his father, for these lines: "I will never end up like him/ behind my back I already am"

Leningrad by Billy Joel

This makes absolutely zero sense for this fic and emphatically should not be on here but the first stanza is giving me inexplicable Cassian-and-his-dad vibes.

24 Frames by Jason Isbell

Due to the lyrics, this is obv very much Cassian and his mother and brother, but really his whole family. Also a whole lot of bitterness against God, see above. (It's also a holdover from the glorious Cassian playlist that Disney has since retconned so there's that)

It's Time by Imagine Dragons

I don't know how I landed on this but it actually works So Well for baby Cassian who is already disillusioned but also still very very naive about how much change and revenge he can affect. And it illustrates the rift between him and Gael so nicely. It catches the whole unhealthy song and dance of "you might change and you should get out of here but I never will and so I have to stay and let this place kill me". I feel insane for reading this sentiment into this song but I truly think it's there?

Stay by Hurts

This song is super fucking cheesy and very on the nose but it's here for a single line that fucking breaks me re: Cassian and Gael every time: "And I wonder if you know/ how it feels to let you go"

Hurt by Johnny Cash

I'm making this whole list partially so I get to scream about how much real estate this undefined relationship has taken up in my head, and yes, that includes Hurt playing on a loop whenever I think about them. This is fully Cassian anywhere between becoming a cop and meeting Jyn (and starting therapy lol) to Gael, I mean, it has it all. It's A Lot, but it's so on brand.

How to Save a Life by The Fray

Yes, it's The Song From Every TV Drama! Once again, is it overplayed and cheesy by proxy? Kinda! Is it perfect for this fic? Yes! This is Gael for most of his adult life re: Cassian, probably. Like, the man did what he could and he got out when he had to but knowing the person that once meant most to you in the world is killing themselves by a thousand cuts somewhere and does not want you to save them is just about the worst feeling I can imagine and this song is as close as I got to that.

Objects In The Rearview Mirror May Appear Closer Than They Are by Meat Loaf

Again, very very specific and pretty on the nose, but the first stanzas of this song are so very accurate to what I had in my head that I feel I couldn't write Gael grieving for Cassian much better. With the flashback to little boys getting into hijinks and running around and such hope for the future and then "I can still recall the sting of all, the tears when he was gone/ they said he crashed and burned/ I know I'll never learn/ why any boy should die so young"?? and also "There are times I think I see him peeling out of the dark/ I think he's right behind me now and he's gaining ground" GOD.

Whatsername by Green Day

I needed to know what Gael's headspace was so I could write him in not-a-flashback-time and it's. It's Whatsername. It's all stages of grief and it's a bit of a breakup song and also the first lines feel so real to me, anything that mentions thinking you saw someone you know but then it wasn't them is giving me OC feels now, as seen above. And Whatsername has the absolute perfect balance between "this killed me but I've put it behind me" and "this person will haunt me until the day I die". I love this song.

.

Not on the playlist but there in spirit:

Slipping Through My Fingers by ABBA

Because this OC lives rent-free in my head, I have a song for him and his oldest daughter that makes me cry. I'm assuming this is normal.

Not in Nottingham by Mumford & Sons

This would 100 000 % be on here if it were on Spotify. To my continued horror, it isn't. It would round out this collection of sad, hopeless songs nicely and it is also near and dear to my heart due to being from maybe The most formative movie of my childhood.

The Scientist by Coldplay

This is the be-all-end-all Galen and Jyn song and I will never budge from this. It doesn't really factor into this fic but again, it's here in spirit.

[poupeesdecirque]

Travel Blog: Leipziger Buchmesse Thursday

or: Meeting Cross, BOOKS and Traffic

Welcome to another Travel Blog it has been some time, I will split this into several entries as I was on the road for 4 1/2 days. I met a lot of friends and even some D.Gray-man cosplayer, challenged myself and had the chance to cosplay all 4 days this time. It might take some time until I post them all as I have 1500 photos to get through, but let's start :D

Wednesday 20th March - Travel Day

There is not much I can tell about my traveling day other than I loaded the car, almost forgot a lot of stuff (foreshadowing: I actually forgot plenty) and was stuck in traffic several times. I arrived in Leipzig as the sun was already setting, just joined my friend and had dinner before we went do bed.

Thursday 21st March - First Con Day!

Started my day with my usual inking sketch and a little workout as I felt quite fine, my other friends would arrive around lunchtime. But as I went through my stuff I noticed I forgot the bag & Jar of Tim for Sunday... off. I decided to use the dollbag I brought along and my jar for breakfast with some tinfoil.

I will not include all my food in here this time as I had basically the same breakfast, lunchbox and dinner for several days (dinner was supposed to be wraps but I had too many toppings and just ... threw everything onto a plate. Snort. But will mention it here once, I usually like to include it but only when it's something different from day to day.

Anyways! My first Cosplay this time was past!Allen again, this time with more accurate hair as I grew the short side out over the past few months. And with the fact I now need glasses this was the first time for my cosplaying with my actual glasses.

We headed out to the fair and just walked around, saying hello to the peeps I knew who were vedors or had a booth at the artist alley. As my other friends arrived I was alone quite some time and wandered the glass hall for the time being and then...

I found D.Gray-man Cosplayers! Allen and even Cross I am still in awe. As you can see tiny Bookman was with me.

We talked quite some time and took a few photos, mainly of Allen & Cross I only joined them for 1-2 shots but it was truly fun.

I had told my friends I was with cosplayers but they went shopping and somehow we didn't find each other... therefore I decided to part with the other DGM Cosplayers to find my friends.

Before I found my bunch I was able to meet the dear Julia again <3 she's such a sunshine of a person, seriously ;w;

Alu & I took some photos then, I will only tease those here as I still need to edit them all, it's a lot to get through. He also urged me to finally eat a thing (got some coconut rice pudding) as well... we didn't want the 'Chihuahua' to come out again like on Connichi Friday.

We stayed at the fair until it was closed for that day and my friends needed to fetch groceries. I had mine but I decided to go with them anyways.

I am not sure if it was the smartest decision because ...

I got stuck there. For 2 hours. For a distance that's like 3 minutes. T_T

The day ended late and I was just done for the day.

But I had dinner at least. At this point I was just glad I had the coconut rice pudding in before because oh boy that traffic was horrible OTL

[daveinediting]

It's definitely a new experience watching a production spin up online through conversations and photographs, the evidence of a production team working hard to tell a story on the fly... a process that's its own fascinating story.

It also helps me make predictions about my own day.

The morning was, as expected, an exercise in absorbing the script. Reading and making notes. Reading and making plans. Reading and setting up the project in Premiere Pro. Thinking about what's coming my way and how I'll want to engage with it. And so on.

The morning was also about semi-front row seats to the work of two other professionals: the composer and the graphic designer who both got a head start on the day leaving me about 6-8 hours behind. The graphic designer took their cue from the producer about opening titles that also suggested the design for close credits. The composer sketched out some ideas first thing upon getting the script.

One of the challenges of the day on the post production side, was that our composer had to tag out around 10 that night. She wouldn't be available all the way through Sunday when we polish polish polish... so there had to be finished music before the first cut was even on its feet.

And so it was.

For example, she had the music for the fight scene done well before I actually got around to cutting the fight scene. The music was done before I had an idea for the fight scene. Pretty much before I saw the footage for the fight scene.

And guess what?

It turned out brilliantly. As if she'd scored the music to what I cut instead what happened… which was that I cut the fight scene and then laid the music under it.

Speaking of editing, I finished my Saturday on the early side. Around 230 Sunday morning.

What can I say?

When your first time doing this takes you through 5AM Sunday morning...

Two-thirty in the morning seems pretty reasonable. 

In other news and once again, the writing team pulled off a quirky script with heart. It seems to be their signature regardless of genre. There's a cleverness in their work, a natural tendency to find the humanity in any circumstance including the fantastic, the strange, and the absurd.

And yes. They also have no problem finding the laugh out loud funny when they want to.

Their signature seems always to be a certain empathy for the characters they create that I find heartening.

I'm told, by the way, they have a secret weapon: one amongst their ranks who seems to thrive in the ungodly hours of the morning.

The reason that came up?

They delivered this round's script, intended for an 830 Saturday morning shoot... at 430 the same morning. After which, between call time and when cameras rolled, the director and producer reconciled diverging ideas for the script's ending with a clever compromise. Something that both served the story as well as each of their objectives, literally (and wonderfully) having it both ways.

I told them there's brilliance in their disagreements.

Which there is.

The major editing challenge of the day was Scene 2 of the script that was one of those very complicated to shoot scenes. It also, therefore, happens to be one of those scenes that's a headache to edit. This time around, we're talking about two speakers and four audience members for which there's three takes of the wide shot encompassing the entire scene, a two-shot of the PTA president and fundraiser, singles of each, a single of one of the group members and a two shot of that group member (the spy, actually) and the person next to whom they're sitting, as well as a two-shot of another pair of group members sitting nearby. Every take of the scene is the complete scene. There's full dialogue in every take. There are reactions in every take. There are different performances between the takes.

Just contemplating all those takes made my brain hurt. 

I was still working through all those takes when the producer and director came over after the shoot to drop off the afternoon's footage and talk through what they'd done... as some changes were made on the fly and weren't reflected in the script.

The best thing, though? The absolutely best thing once the director and I commiserated about Scene 2? 

He told me Scene 3 was done as a single take. And then it turned out scene 4 was shot as a single. Scene 5 was a short single. And Scene 6 was a fight scene involving a mop and an umbrella for which there was plenty of footage but not egregiously so. It's one of those things where I could see what the director and photographer were going for and I leaned into it.

Hard.

I think in my career, I've done a piece on boxing with actual fighting in the ring. I cut a short film that involved a fight on a beach with a flaming sword. And then this one with the mop, the umbrella, and the guy who gets his feet completely knocked out from under him. I haven't yet been able to stop watching and re-watching that section of film. If I'd been able to resist that temptation, I easily would've been to bed by two in the morning instead of two-thirty.

Oh well.

Anyway, last night's rough cut features full color correction, sound design, and music. We're missing the graphics that are forthcoming today. And I've got the sound mix yet to do.

However.

We're set up today to do what we've always done while some teams are still shooting and some editors are just grappling with their first cuts. When the director and producer wake up, they'll look at my overnight cut and judge it on the spot. They'll track any obvious misstep on my part that needs fixing. They'll think about what's already great and  figure out if there's even more great to wring from the footage. Or more funny. Or more intensity or empathy. Then they'll come over later this morning and we'll polish the first cut to within an inch of its life. We'll regard different options available to us, try a few of them out, and when we're done...

You better believe it. We'll be done.

A fully no regrets experience by the time we deliver our work.

And yes. Now that you ask...

There's nothing like it.

🙂

[dollarbin]

Shakey Sundays #30:

Zuma, Part 3

Yeah, I'm a total cheapskate.

My buddy Greg and I just had a long men's weekend together that featured no wives, no children, a frig stocked with light alcohol, pickled vegetables and not much else, and free access to another frig of the walk-in variety which had nothing in it except aging, leftover meat.

Greg, as host, politely suggested a shopping trip was in order.

"There will be no shopping, Greg," I boomed. "I did not come to shop."

Four days later I headed home, leaving behind a lot less of the pickled okra and asparagus, none of the White Claw and not a single piece of the aging meat. Old hamburgers and old chicken had featured in every meal.

Yum: Greg and I never went hungry, nothing went to waste and, best of all, zero dollars were spent on hummus, tomatoes or kale.

I can tell you the exact moment I became a dedicated, lifelong, tightfisted miser: check the price tag and you'll see that in November 1993 I hauled Zuma out of a Dollar Bin. That 99 cent investment set my standard going forward for reasonable purchasing. It's a standard I maintain: after all, nothing should cost more than a copy of Zuma. Tacos should be 89 cents a piece, but you're allowed to get a few of them; beers should be 59 cents per can, max.

Well, the world has changed. I wound up recently with different friends in a very dubious Mexican restaurant. I say dubious because there was more than one hostess and they both looked like super models. Beyond them I saw cloth covered tables, elegant dishes artfully arranged and signature cocktails served in hand blown glasses. Instantly my inner-miser started sending out serious distress signals to every inch of being, most especially to my ass.

Why my ass, you ask? Because my wallet (which is 20 years old and is really nice - after all, it was a gift and therefore I did not pay for it myself) was safely secured in a pocket beside my ass, and my wallet, and its contents, were in some serious danger because the tacos were clearly not going to cost 89 cents.

Seriously: how can any purchase ever seem worth it if you bought Zuma for 99 cents? Let's lean into the final two tracks on Side A and experience the record's yin and yangs of greatness.

Lookin' For A Love is unique to the record in that it's a full-on Crazy Horse track which was not produced by Young's long-time cocaine fiend of a producer David Briggs. Here they are again:

Poor Briggs is long dead, but he still scares me. Not only did he look like Young's one-time beer buddy and neighbor, Charles Manson, he also consistently pushed Young to make his music more gnarly and terrifying. If Briggs edited this blog there'd be a lot more suggestive pictures of Linda Ronstadt and Carly Simon posted to attract leering eyeballs; plus "ass" would be the least coarse word in a post.

A lot of what makes Zuma great is Briggs' dangerous influence. Girls? They're stupid. Birds? They're dangerous. Briggs had the guys record most of Zuma in his own Malibu home after daily, day long sessions at the bar and after telling his neighbors they would just have to deal with it. Those neighbors were apparently too frightened of Briggs to put a stop to it.

Instead, Neil himself put a stop to it: once the record was done he went back to his own home to record Lookin' For A Love. The band came with him, but Briggs was not invited.

And you can tell! The song is, well, pretty. Neil sings with (relatively) positivity and hope; Pancho, Ralph and Billy work through the changes with (relatively) sober care.

Had he been in charge, Briggs would have surely destroyed this version, ordered everyone to the bar for 6-8 hours, then had them do it over and over again until Neil's yearning on the beach turned from sensitive longing to leering threat.

But I love this song. Briggs made Young great a lot of the time. And sometimes Neil did the right thing and ditched him.

But let's flip the only remaining coin in my guarded wallet and listen to perhaps the most terrifyingly good song in Neil's whole career.

Over the years Shakey's put different spins on Barstool Blues: sometimes he says he has stoned during its creation; sometimes he says he was drunk. We'll split the difference here and assume it was a whole lot of both because the one consistent claim Young makes is that he has no memory whatsoever of creating this song. He woke up the next day and it already existed.

On occasion I've seen people blacked out drunk and still moving. Mostly they've been pissing in public and puking, sometimes at the same time. Never have they been making transcendent art.

But his ability to do just that, friends, is a big part of what makes Neil Young so special:

[adventism-atheism-orthodoxy-me]

Sabbath: A Perpetual Sign

The Reason for the Sabbath.

Questions about Sabbath Answered.

Wasn't The sabbath for Jews? The argument that God instituted Sabbath at Creation and not at Sinai is a hard question for me. By tradition, we know that Moses wrote both books. We also know that he was writing a history of the Israelite people - their origin story as it were. Do you not think that it would be important to emphasize culturally significant distinctives within the narrative? Even if you believe that the Bible was inspired, this question of cultural distinctiveness vs universal applicability, I think, cannot really be answered. The question becomes even more murky if you subscribe to the idea that the Torah was, if not written later and attributed to Moses, was edited and revised by scribes in the post-Babylonian Captivity to emphasize culturally important distinctives. Frankly, I do not think that this question can be answered by restricting our investigation to the Torah.

Isn't observing the Sabbath a form of legalism? There is nothing to disagree with here. Sabbath is a day of rest - a day of rest for all people. This doesn't directly support the idea that Sabbath is special and separate from Sunday for all people at all times. Certainly within the tribes of Israel, gentiles would experience a Sabbath rest on "Sabbath", as would the animals, and every other segment of society. But again, this is a culturally distinctive day.

Can we even know which day the Sabbath is? One thing that could have been mentioned here - experiments with "other" numbered weeks. The most obvious example being the French Republican Calendar. Because the internet is dying, I couldn't find some of the links I used to find back in the 90's when I'd look for such off-beat stuff, but the French Republic tried the 10-week calendar, and it failed. I would say miserably, but I can't find many references - other than ones that just say the French Republican Calendar was eventually retired. Quora provided some interesting results.

Wasn't the Sabbath done away with at the Cross? This is an extremely well argued criticism of silence on the subject of the Sabbath in the New Testament.

What did Jesus have to say about the Sabbath? Jesus kept it. Period. Yes, he reformed it too.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Final Thoughts - Deuteronomy 5:15 "Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the Lord your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the Lord your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day."

Ezekiel 20:12 "Also I gave them my Sabbaths as a sign between us, so they would know that I the Lord made them holy."

Imagine how much more powerful the deliverance from slavery to sin, death, and the devil should be commemorated. And Christ rose on the 1st day, confirming the completion of his work.

My thinking is that both days are important for different reasons. The Orthodox Christian remembers the Sabbath. It is the day of the Old Covenant. The day dedicated to the Old-Testament Saints who foresaw our Salvation. It is the day of a lighter fast - I might even say slightly more celebratory - and here in the States, at least, Saturday truly can offer a Sabbath Rest.

Sunday is the day of Christ's Resurrection. That is undisputed. And nothing forbids celebrating the vanquishing by a "mighty hand and an outstretched arm", of our slavery to sin, death, and the devil.

I think most Sabbath arguments boil down to the poverty of Western liturgical life. My understanding is that the Western Mass is shorter than the Eastern Liturgies. There are fewer celebrated feast days, and those days that are celebrated have shorter services. Obviously Protestants have broken that down to one day a week - Sunday, with an optional Wednesday night Bible Study.

In our Western way of reducing things to Either/Or; both/and is never given it's due. Historically, not only did Jewish celebratory practice cover the week, but also their year with festivals like Passover; beyond that, some celebrations spanned years with Jubilee celebrations. Next to that, even Orthodox practice seems somewhat truncated, though many Oriental Orthodox Churches having separated from Rome early in their development have maintained a strong Sabbatarian tradition. No churches that I'm aware of celebrate a jubilee year equivalent.

At the end of my pondering, I believe that the truth is that God transcends anything we might read into our Holy Texts and traditions. Indulgence will be given to God-fearers regardless of their celebratory practices (Colossians 2:16).

If he does not, then we are all doomed, because all have sinned and fallen short.

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have mercy upon me a sinner.

[alexstorm]

When I look now at normal rock music review pages or channels, people on comments or chat forums call the new songs boring, unoriginal since it's kinda Bowie like and don't like it, more the fans who find Alex so hot and love him say how much they love the new songs which is not a shocker lol. And some in the GP really can't stand Alex I've read some comments about him whew and some say gossip blogs might not like him. So it doesn't look that good for this album (a. maybe the band too) there's a little bit from every perspective from the fans side who got Matt's shit and general public who have other reasons, and some other big artists bringing out their albums the same time that's another point. But I don't think they do not care. Otherwise this sudden the song he said which isn't a single wouldn't be out with a fast edit of a live show and they wouldn't have done an album pre sale for the UK tour tickets they want to sell but they have to understand that they want something from the public, the public can go and listen to another band there are plenty rock bands.

Also a side note every time a video or song comes out there are so many spanish/portuguese comments and very less english. I noticed this especially now with this release.

Again, you need to leave your little fandom bubble and look at this from the outside. The GP does not follow any fan pages or looks at comments. Their first contact with this album is the press the Monkeys are doing right now and the release of these three singles. None of them paid any close attention to Matt's crazy girlfriend or have followed the tour as obsessively as the fans. If people don't care about Alex or the band it's because they don't know them. Nobody in my friends circle knows who the Arctic Monkeys are (and therefore don't pay 80+ € to go to their concert with me). I do this thing on my Stories called #songsunday where I post songs that describe my mood that day, that are stuck in my head for a while or have moved me in some other way. Usually, my friends and followers give feedback what they liked. I posted Mirrorball one Sunday and it was crickets. So you see, those will be the two reasons why they might not sell as much - people don't know them or won't like the new direction. No drama caused by Alex's companions will deter people from buying this album.

And yes, the Brazilians are everywhere and from my personal experience very intense. It's an acquired taste for me. lol They adore the Monkeys hence all the groupie action down there.

[marvelfans4blm]

Marvel Fans 4 BLM - Rules and FAQ!

What is Marvel Fans 4 BLM?

Marvel Fans 4 BLM is a charity auction where fans offer works in exchange for donations. Our focus is to raise money for various Black Lives Matter organizations as well as focus on creating content for Black Marvel characters. 

Who is allowed to participate?

All fans from any and all Marvel fandoms are welcome! We ask that if you are under 18, you do not offer or request explicit rated content.

How does it work?

Creators sign up to offer their works. Bidders then pledge donation amounts in auction-style. The winning bidder donates their pledged amount to a charity; once that donation is confirmed, the creator starts, uh, creating!

What is the schedule?

Monday 15 June - Sunday 28 June: Creator Sign Ups

Monday 29 June - Sunday 5 July: Browsing Week

Monday 6 July - Sunday 12 July: Auction Week

Sunday 19 July: Proof of Donations Due

Sunday 15 November: Check-In

Sunday 31 January 2021: Fanworks Due

More FAQ, Rules, and Resources under the cut! 

What items are acceptable for creators to offer?

All creations should be centered around one or more canon Black characters in any Marvel fandom (movies, comics, TV - any Marvel adaptations!). Other characters are welcome to join the fun, as long as they are not the main focus. Shipping and Gen content alike are welcome! Creations accepted are:

- Fanfic

- Digital art (original art, moodboards, manips, edits, etc.)

- Physical art (artworks, crafts, merch, etc.)

- Podfic

- Fan vids

- Translations

- Fan labor (beta work, sensitivity reading, culture-picking, fact checking, SPAG editing, etc.)

If you’d like to offer something not listed, feel free to ask.

I wanna be a creator! Tell me more!

More details will be shared at each stage, but here’s an outline to get you started! 

Creator sign-ups run from Monday 15 June to Sunday 28 June. You’ll sign up via a Google form and there you can specify what type of fanwork(s) you are offering with some relevant details like characters, pairings, and content you are willing to create in addition to other notes for bidders to see!

As well as fundraising for important causes, this event is intended to create new content for our favorite Black Marvel characters. With that in mind, we will not accept any previously published or created works. The exception to this is physical goods and crafts. 

After the auction closes, we will put you in touch with the highest bidder and from there you two work together to create something great! Once you have your bidder’s prompt, you’ll have until 31 January 2021 to complete your work for them. We’ll have a check-in on 15 November but it’s up to you to follow through by the 2021 deadline. Unfortunately, failure to complete by the deadline will mean you will be unable to participate in future events - until you meet your obligation to your bidder.

You can offer up to three works for auction, but please be honest and respect your limits. We want both creators and bidders to end with a complete work and enjoy the process! For physical goods, it is up to you and your bidder to decide how to handle shipping - keep this in mind when setting your starting bidding price. 

After posting, you can tag us in and any works that follow our rules will be included in our AO3 collection and featured on our Tumblr! 

I wanna be a bidder! Tell me more!

From 29 June through 5 July, you will be able to view all items up for bid, as well as check out each creator’s other works to get a feel for what they can do. You may also reach out to contact individual creators if you have questions. We recommend that if you have a specific idea in mind, or a rarepair, or something the creator has never done before, that you reach out and confirm they will be able to fulfil your request before you bid on them.

From 6 July through 12 July, bidding will be open. All bids will be placed in US dollars, with a $5 minimum starting bid and a $2 minimum incremental bid. Bidding will not be anonymous. Group bids are welcome. 

You may bid on as many items as you like, but please keep in mind that you cannot retract a bid, so make sure you can commit to donating the amount(s) that you bid. You may donate to any of our approved organizations listed below, or ask the mods for approval to donate to another cause that is working towards BLM goals.

For physical fanworks, whether or not your final bid includes shipping will be up to the creator. Once we receive confirmation of the donation, we’re no longer responsible for communication between creators and bidders. Be aware that for physical fanworks, creators will need your address to send you the item. If you aren’t comfortable giving out personal information, we suggest you bid on other auctions instead.

Once the auction is over, we will confirm the final amount for your winning bid(s); do not donate until you receive this confirmation. As soon as we have proof of your donation (pdf receipt that shows date, organization, and amount, all other info can be redacted) we will put you in touch with your creator. At this point, it is up to the two of you to work out how you’d like to proceed to ensure that the bid is fulfilled by 31 January 2021.

If you don’t hear from your creator after we connect you, please reach out to them yourself! If it has been a couple of months and you haven’t heard from them at all despite your efforts to get in touch, let us know and we’ll try to contact your creator on your behalf or help you assess the situation. Unfortunately, there’s always an inherent risk that a creator may fall through for various reasons. If this happens, we hope that knowing that you donated money to support an amazing cause will lessen the disappointment of not receiving a promised fanwork.

Remember that this event is designed to create content for Black Marvel characters, so please be sure to keep your requested works aligned with our Content & Conduct guidelines.

What charities will be supported?

We want participants to feel connected to where their efforts are going. There are multiple organizations linked in our Resources section below, along with master list sites that are updated regularly as new donation opportunities arise.

Creators will be allowed to specify up to three sites that they’d like their winning bidder to support with their donation. Any of the sites or organizations linked in our Resources section are acceptable. Creators can also decline to list a preference, and their winning bidder will be permitted to donate to any of the sites or organizations linked in our Resources section.

We are also open to suggestions! Other donation opportunities requested by the creator and vetted by the mods will be welcome.

Can I sign up to provide more than one offering? Can I sign up as a creator and a bidder? Can I bid on more than one offering? 

The answer to all of these is an enthusiastic yes! Creators can make up to three offerings. Just be sure not to spread yourself too thin; we want everyone to have a successful participation. Do not agree to participate, either as a creator or a bidder, unless you are absolutely committed to following through.

Content & Conduct

This event is designed to spotlight Black characters in a positive way. This doesn’t mean we require fluff, smiles, and happy endings, but it does mean that for this event, we require that you think critically about what you are presenting and how that representation fits within the larger context of the way fandom treats characters of color.

All creations must be centered around one or more canon Black characters, meaning they must be the main focus of the story, artwork, etc. They should not be sidelined in favor of other characters, and if there is any shipping (which is not required, Gen creations are more than welcome) they should be in the main pairing.

This event is designed specifically to support BLM and therefore we expect all participants and creations to align with the values of the movement. To that end, we ask that you do not create or request fanworks that celebrate law enforcement or the military. This is not the appropriate event for a cop AU or similar. For characters canonically affiliated with law enforcement or the military, be critical of how those institutions are portrayed, as well as how BIPOC are treated by and within those institutions.

Some additional points to keep in mind:

- Some Marvel characters have canonical physical, mental, and emotional disabilities - including invisible ones like chronic pain and mental illness. These should be treated respectfully, with due diligence given to portraying their lived experience.

- No perpetrating anti-Black stereotypes or tropes.

- No sympathetically portrayed Hydra or other Nazi analogues.

- No explicit or romantically portrayed non-con.

- No sexual/romantic relationships between adult and minor characters.

- No sexual/romantic relationships between family members.

- All content shared publicly should be tagged appropriately and thoroughly. 

Any offerings or creations that do not adhere to these guidelines will not be promoted on any of our social media platforms, and may affect your ability to participate in future events.

Resources

Creating: 

Writing With Color blogs, recs, & resources

Sam Wilson Birthday Bang resource page

Guide for non-Black authors writing Black characters

Common Microaggressions

Stereotyped vs Nuanced Characters and Audience Perception

Donations: 

Black Lives Matters carrd

Say Their Names carrd

BLM card master list

Homeless Black Trans women fund

Who are the mods?

@a-majesti, @awesomesnafu, @gavilansblog, @samstevebuckyhq, and @thundercakes22​ are your friendly mods. We bonded together over our love for Sam Wilson, and are amongst the mods & organizers for a variety of Sam Wilson-centric spaces, including the Sam Wilson Birthday Bang, SamSteve Small Gifts, SamSteveLove on Twitter, and the Sam Wilson Appreciation discord.

I have another question!

No problem, we’d love to hear from you! Email us (marvelfans4blm at gmail) or send us an ask here on Tumblr.

**Mod note: Thank you so much to @fandomtrumpshate and @marveltrumpshate for generously sharing their resources!

[hellroots]

『 MOBILE FRIENDLY RULES 』

— here you will find my rules or can also find them on my gdocs as well once i’m done with it. please like this if you read it, but otherwise don’t interact with this post, thank you. rest assured that i always read my moots rules before following and that i fully expect the same courtesy. i tried not to let them get too long but feel free to ask me anything you wanna know about them if it’s not clear ok?

 『 THE MUN』

NOXTROMUN, THEY/THEM, 21+, BRAZILIAN

shy but friendly ! i don't follow for follow, if i follow you that means i've read your rules and want to write with you. i have no triggers nor squicks of my own except drama in the dash, for that reason i do not engage in callouts/witch hunts and if you do it on a constant basis i might have to hard block you for my own peace of mind. although i may come off too strong/harsh, i am always up to talking things out privately. as long as you are civil, so am i. any form of hate will be deleted and blocked -  sometimes mocked, if i’m feeling cocky…

『 THE BLOG』

HELLROOTS, INDIE ( POTENTIALLY TRIGGERING AND NOT MINOR FRIENDLY ), HIGHLY SELECTIVE & PRIVATE MULTIFANDOM MULTIMUSE

primarily run on a low activity \ effort and with a slow speed.. my muselist changes a lot, depends a lot on what i’m watching lately so bear with me please. this is a drama free zone, therefore do realise that mun ≠ muses and (obviously) writing ≠ condoning !! as a quick note, do keep in mind that my blog is my safe space, just as your blog is yours - you are responsible for your own internet experience just as i am responsible for mine. should anything in my blog annoy/trigger/squick you, i strongly encourage you to block me & not write with me - your mental health is far more important ( for me, and hopefully for you as well ) than rp. on that note, please do not softblock me - that’s annoying, just hardblock please.

『 THE TRIGGERS』

TRIGGER HEAVY, PROPERLY TAGGED AND TAKING NO CRAP

i  usually  tend to write for trigger heavy fandoms (such as asoiaf, kingdom and others) and may incorporate some of it into my writing, muses' backgrounds and overall characterization. if you're bothered \ squicked \ triggered by that, i kindly encourage you to reconsider and not follow me. no amount of rp fun is worth your mental health.  i try to tag everything accordingly and i fully expect the same courtesy for our followers' sakes. be aware that there may be mentions of death, gore, violence, consanguinamory \ endogamy (especially when it comes to the lannisters and kekkei genkai clans), rape ( kingdom, though it will only be mentioned on the character’s backstory ) and cannibalism ( hannibal and kingdom ) , as well as unhealthy relationships and dynamics alongside with powerplay, and otherwise bad behaviours.  for all that is sacred, please, do note that i, the mun, do not approve, support or condone any of these actions or behaviours !!  i simply am capable of separating fiction from reality. as long as everything is properly tagged, with mutual consent and there are no minors involved (muse and especially not muns), . i support the right of a consenting adult to explore these awful dark topics in a safe fictional environment with other like minded consenting adults, people shouldn’t have to share their traumas to strangers on the internet to explain why they write what they write, be considerate. if that notion bothers you perhaps you might not want to interact with me, for both of ours sakes. fair warning, most of my graphics and aesthetics might trigger those who have xylophobia/hylophobia (phobia of trees or wooded areas), and considering it is a main theme here i will not be tagging it, i'm sorry. but its too many. however, if you want me to create a special tag for you, there's no issue! it will be either "[your mun name] don't look!" or "[your url] don't look!", whichever you prefer. QUICK EDIT/ADDITION: i do not believe that aging up fictional characters is inherently a bad thing - from what i understand, the whole appeal of aging up a character is that while you like their personality but you do not want them to be kids (for whatever reason) but insteasd adults. if you are one of those who think that aging up a character is automatically something bad (without even knowing why it was done in the first place) don’t bother following me because i do think that opinion is quite silly.

『 THE INTERACTIONS』

OC, DUPLICATE, MULTIMUSE AND CANON DIVERGENT FRIENDLY

my tagging system is simple, i tag triggers as "tw; x" and . images that may be sensitive or triggering as "cw; x". you can further see how my tags work by taking a look at my tag dump post, just search ‘tag dump’ on my blog and you will find the most recent one i’m using.    i shitpost and talk oocly on the dash constantly but you can easily blacklist my tag if it bothers you.  here's something you should know about me:  when i'm doing drafts i usually don't feel like chatting much, so please do not spam me because i won't be able to reply, i love to talk with my moots but sometimes it overwhelms me.  on that note, please don't pester me for replies ic or ooc, i am slow and chances are that if you try to guilt trip me or just nag me about it i'll leave as the ones i'll get to in the later end on purpose, just out of spite. yes, i be like that.   please be patient - i’ll never pressure you and expect the same in return.  plotting wise: i prefer to just wing it with just a faint idea of where to take the thread but honestly i'm cool with anything. please be considerate when formatting your replies, i have a bad eyesight & if i can't read it, i won't bother with it.   my own formatting is simple and clean.   on a smaller note, please bear with me and my muses as my muses ramble a lot but you don't have to match the length, just give me something to work with. if we write together, the chances of me making edits/tagging you in stuff are really big, just lmk if you don’t like that though !

『 THE FLEET』

MOSTLY BI/PAN MUSES, MULTISHIP AND MULTIVERSE, SMUT FRIENDLY

i love shipping but i like my ships to be devices to move the plot/dynamics/muses forward, every once in a while though i partake in some much loved self indulgent shipping. just because i ship a certain pairing don't presume that my characters are approaching yours with second intentions, please.   most of the time i like to reblog those relationship memes, so if you’re interested in a ship the best way (other than  sending me a message ofc) to let me know is by sending ones. there will be some triggering ships here ( like the lannisters, both cersei x jaime and joanna x tywin are my otps, and potential inter clan ships, like with the hyugas - i mean how the hell you think they keep the byakugan in their family?? ) that may either be played with trusted friends or be mentioned/reblogged sometimes, all properly tagged so you can easily blocklist/avoid it.  most of my muses are either bi or pan, those who are not will be specified. don't be afraid to reach out to me for shipping right off the bat - i'd rather have you to be open and honest with me about the interactions you want than lying to me, just know that there will be needed some plotting and threading first to see if your muses match. as an adult, my blog is smut friendly, i partake in sexual sunday a lot because some of my muses are very lewd in nature, you can blacklist my tag if that bothers you as well.

『 THE FINAL NOTES』

GENERAL RP ETIQUETTE APPLIES, CREDITS, THANK YOU FOR READING MY RULES

lastly but not least, general rp etiquette applies on my blog: no godmodding, forced ships, etc. there’s only ONE thing that truly makes me go apeshit crazy, and it’s when people don’t read my rules. i ALWAYS find out and it’s not pretty; i block it like it’s hot, ♪ ♫ ♬ block it like it’s hot ♪ ♫ ♬.   i strongly assure you that i always read your rules before both following you and also before sending memes, just in case. on a much smaller note, i’m not so hot on single shipping and i really feel weirded out about people forcing me to pic who i’m going to interact with due to theirs DNI’s. while i get DNI’s when it comes to actual predators, when it’s something seemingly random chances are that i’ll softblock you because it weirds me out how volatile some can be when it comes to a hobby. i have some trigger heavy hcs ( for example, the one about jiraiya’s hypersexuality being rooted in trauma that he suffered at a young age ) that i share with only a few muns that are closer with me, so i’ll be mentioning them every once in a while but won’t share them, please don’t insist.  i don’t really like most of the main characters of the franchises i write for, and when it comes to certain characters  i reserve the right to decline an rp for my own comfort. for further info on what i use to make my graphics please check my “CREDITS.” tag.  most of my stuff is made by me, i’ve got a lowkey rph in case you wanna check it out it’s @brazucahelps, however if you want a custom content i can see if i get a free time to come up with something :D

 IF YOU READ THIS FAR, THANK YOU SO MUCH — JUST ONE LAST THING, COULD YOU PLS LIKE THIS SO I KNOW YOU’VE READ IT? <3 THANKS!

[rinaweek]

rina fest 2023 guidelines 💜

who can participate in rina fest?

anyone! this event is open to all

because of this, rina fest 2023 is a sfw event. any content deemed nsfw will not be reblogged by the official rina week account

what can rina fest participants submit?

the theme is best of rina. share what you love the most about rina (for example your favourite tropes, favourite moments, favourite dynamic, or anything else!) by posting any form of content you'd like

this could include fanfiction, artwork, gifsets, edits, fancams, manips, social media aus or anything else you can think of. we encourage participants to get creative

please note: it is not necessary to stick to the theme. if you'd like to post other rina related content to celebrate the weekend, then go for it. the more content the merrier!

where will rina fest take place?

content created will be reblogged on tumblr and retweeted on twitter

if you post your content on other websites (for example, if a fanfiction is posted to archive of our own, or if a fancam is posted to youtube), we recommend you create a post with its link on tumblr or twitter so that the official rina week account can promote it

when is rina fest taking place, and when should i post my content?

rina fest 2023 is a weekend long event running on saturday 6 may and sunday 7 may as voted by the fandom, and you are welcome to post content on one or both of these days

however, if you are late posting content for the event, it's totally fine! properly tagged rina fest content will still be reblogged or retweeted by the official rina week account up to a month after rina fest ends - so don't stress too much about meeting those deadlines

why does rina fest exist?

to tide us over during the series hiatus, and to increase content in and to promote the creators of the rina fandom

how do i as a content creator participate in rina fest?

post your content on tumblr or twitter with the hashtag "rina fest 2023" and tag @rinaweek in your post. we will attempt to reblog or retweet every post (unless it is nsfw as mentioned above)

if we happen to miss your post, please feel free to dm us. however, bear in mind that rina week admin may not always be online, and therefore we may not see your post directly after it is posted

faq will be answered on 15 april 2023 for any questions not outlined in the above post. please feel free to leave your questions in the google form linked here if you have any

[courtlyharlequin]

Hey Alice... I think we’re lost. Please don’t get mad! If we just keep walking straight, we might be able to head out of the forest. As your guide, this little white rabbit can’t fail you here! But do tell me, Alice, did you multiply or am I seeing double vision? There’s five hundred of you!

Yes, five hundred! Five. Hundred. 5-0-0!!! Oh my goodness... this growth is absolutely insane especially since your journey down the rabbit hole started roughly about a month ago. Thank you for trusting me and the boys to lead you to a real happy ending. Thank you for not getting mad at me for disappearing every now and then.  And most importantly... thank you for not getting mad at me ahahaha! Do not panic. Remain calm. I know the way. I just need to start at the beginning... where is Ches- I mean- Chen’ya when I need him the most. Hey! Where are you off to? Come back this instant, Alice. These parts of Wonderland are dangerous! Ahhh I don’t think they can hear me anymore... Deary me... Oh look! A fork in the road! A sign too! Let’s see... what does it say....

Event Details:

Prologue:

Perhaps you should have listened to that hopeless guide of yours, the meek white rabbit that lead you to this Wonderland. As unreliable as she may be, she probably has a better sense of direction than you. She would serve as lovely company now in this dark and eerie forest. The clouds shroud the moonshine. You shiver in the cold, pulling your cloak closer for warmth but to no avail. The grip on your basket tightens as the wind howls and the leaves crunch beneath your feet. Even the slightest sound sent you into a panicked frenzy. You regret your decision. You thought you could make more progress but it seems that you dug a deeper hole. Where is that silly rabbit?

SNAP!

What was that? Oh... just a twig.

AWOOOOOOH!

And wolves too? Wonderful. Your pace quickens.

“Please, please, be dawn already!” you pray, running away from the source of those rather terrifying sounds.

Light on your feet and with a shaky breath, you ran as fast and as much as you could. The contents of your basket, snacks the little white rabbit packed for you, shook vigorously. They would probably crumbs by now. You lift the cloth wrapped around the carrier to check. And to no surprise they were. Nevertheless, every bit is present therefore if you submit to your hunger anytime now, broken cookies and biscuits would suffice.

“Later,” you chide yourself.

The task at hand is to find shelter for the night— preferably a cozy cottage of an elf or something of the sort, a safe haven where you could eat comfort food and spend the night. Wishful thinking. A cave would honestly do. You’re tired for crying out loud! What kind of shortcut did that rabbit have to take?

Oof!

Irritation blinds you. You didn’t see where you were going. Not to mention this cloak’s hood covers a good portion of your field of vision. You pull back the soft fabric to see what you collided with. The surface isn’t hard enough to be a tree nor is it furry enough to be a creature of the night. You brace yourself for the worst. 

Drawing back the hood, an ethereal site greets you. He’s gorgeous, something out a fairytale. Quite princely. Too princely. Too good to be true. His skin lacks sign life. His complexion is of a sickly pale. Something isn’t right.

He reaches for you. You step back in shock. 

“Are you lost little lamb?” a smug voice coos.

Event Rules:

First things first: don’t save the event banner edit (or any edit of mine, really). Just click on it for better quality. 

Okay now we can get to the actual rules and details~

Yes! Another milestone event~ I will save the cheesy thank you note for the end as this isn’t the section for lovemail and gushing.

Lost in the Woods is an event where you, the reader, somehow managed to get lost in a rather spooky forest with no company whatsoever. While running away from the many dangers of this place, you bump into a certain someone. Who is that someone? What do they do?

Imagine the rest of it! Tell me what you want to happen. What do you envision? Daydream away, but don’t be too specific! Tell me what kind of vibe do you want i.e. fluffy, spicy, spooky etc.

Here is an example: “The person before me was Riddle! Oh how glad am I to see him... he knows his way around Wonderland and now he’s offering to help me get out of the woods though it would seem that he’s hungry as well. I would like to share some snack with him~”

Another example if you don’t feel like writing out a scenario for me: “I bumped into Riddle and I would like to share snacks with him. I want a fluffy vibe.”

Something like that. And for all of these event related requests, please put a “🌙” somewhere in your request so I can sort them out.

This event is just like my Café Rosé Event albeit with a different concept and procedure.

However, unlike the previous event, I will be writing headcanons, scenarios, and oneshots for this event. My general requests are still closed so you cannot request anything that is not related to this event. Also note that you can only request once for this event so choose wisely!

And of course, all of my standard rules still apply.

This request acceptance period for this event will be from Sunday, September 20th @ 1:00AM PST to Tuesday, September 23rd @ 1:00AM PST.

That’s a total of three days.

It may change depending on how much requests I get for this event, but I am swamped with school work and three other requests are rotting in my inbox so keep that in mind.

If you have any questions, please message me or send an ask off anon so I can reply to you privately.

Author’s Note:

First and foremost, I would like to apologize to anyone looking forward to my twstOBer spree. While I have written several pieces for the event, this milestone it more important to me so I dropped that event. I’ll still post the ones I have written so there’s that. Plus this event is just as spooky~ But anyways-!! I said this many times throughout this post, but I’ll say it again: thank you, thank you, thank youuuu! A number like five hundred may seem small to other blogs, but to me, it’s a very big number. Moreover, I achieved this milestone in a mere month and a half! That’s insane to me. I’ve never had such rapid growth on any social media account before. Thank you all for reading and enjoying my writing. I know I’m not the most active or most socialable blog on this platform but you all mean a lot to me. Old or new, I appreciate all of you. I hope that you’ll continue to support me until the next milestone event: 1000 followers. See you then~