#other characters are liable to be added at any point

[bladeweaver-if]

Bladeweaver Demo Update (8th Nov 2023)

Please restart your game from the beginning. I have added an additional personality stat which will not be recorded if you continue from a later save. This should be the last time you'll have to do this, apologies! Now on to the post :)

Demo Link

It's been a while!

After a solid few months of writing, I'm happy to announce that another update to Bladeweaver's demo is ready, finishing up Chapter One and beginning Chapter Two - which is a completely different beast compared to Chapter One, with more variation in scenes and two different versions of how things play out, depending on your chosen mentor.

This update also includes a few bugfixes for earlier content that had been pointed out as well as some alterations to earlier scenes and stats. Bladeweaver's very much a beta, so I'm going to be tweaking lines and maybe entire scenes long into development.

If you hated this wait between updates fear not, because the next update or two will come out quicker than this one as I start writing a simpler section of Chapter Two for a while - these will be much smaller than this update, though.

Bladeweaver's wordcount has gone from 29k as of the last update to over 80k total words in this one. That's more than 50,000 words written in the last two months, which I'm pretty happy with as a newcomer to writing IF.

I estimate that Chapter Two is around a third of the way done at this point (though that's liable to change depending on what I choose to write in the future), I expect the chapters to grow in size as the story continues and becomes more complex.

I do hope you enjoy the update and, if you have any feedback, please don't hesitate to send it to me here, on itch or via the Bladeweaver Discord, where we have channels set up for bug reports and things like that: https://discord.gg/bVE5gy6BB8

Anyway, on to the content of the update (spoilers under the cut)

In this update you can:

Discover more about Callen and Sonia's relationship (Chapter One)

Choose your childhood hobby and begin building your character's stats (Chapter One)

Take a glimpse into the past, where a solemn promise is made

Experience another strange dream

Get a look at a slightly older (eight year old) MC's usual day-to-day life, which includes plenty of training and education with their chosen mentor while the other is currently absent. You have plenty of choice regarding how you feel about your education, as well as the ability to begin to choose your stats to build your character's physical and mental proficencies

Further personalize MC's personality and how they act towards people

Learn more about the general world via the new codex, as well as get a view of your character's relationships, personality and statistics (this content is a definitive WIP and will be updated and improved as development continues)

Meet Samuel Alban, or Sam as he prefers to be called, the first of Bladeweaver's 4 ROs! He's a friendly, exuberant boy who loves the outdoors and making new friends. Naturally, you can punch him in the face.

Heed the call of a phantom voice.

[romana-after-dark]

Blessed be the Fruit: Chapter 3

Commander!Joel Miller x Handmaid!Reader

Series masterlist Join dark!Romana's tag list Dark!Romana's Masterlist

Summary: You begin to realize everything is not as it seems in the Miller households.

AN: Sorry this is kinda a boring chapter but I felt I needed to do some building. Next chapter we will start getting debatched lololol but I wanted to focus more on Ellie if that makes sense?

Content and Warnings: DARK JOEL! DUB CON!

Although no violent rape happens like in TWW, reader is under systemic misogyny and a society of ritualized sex abuse. Everything other than the violent rape scenes, everything that happen in either The Handmaids Tale book or show are liable to happen here including but not limited to discussion of rape, child abuse, child marriage, ritualized sexual abuse, sexual abuse in general, acts of violence, major character deaths, mentions of miscarriage but never shown and never pregnancies we know of. Big ole homophobia warning, specifically in regards to lesbophobia. As for Joel, PIV sex, breeding kink, degrading (slut, whore etc but thing like Raider!joel) forced breeding and breeding kink, power dynamics, Joel is not the good guy but he’s also not the worst, slightly rough sex but not violent. Warnings are liable to be added as the story goes but I’ll always update. As always if I miss something please tell me, but i extensively label my warnings and in the end media consumption is your own choice. If you would like to know if this is a happy ending or not you can message me and I’ll tell you that way I don’t spoil for everyone but you can decide if this is for you.

Immersability: Reader has long hair, can conceive children theoretically. At one point, she has to pose as Ellie's mother and I know this can be loaded in terms of skin tone. I am no genetics expert but I know dark skinned parents can have white passing children, like Lional Richie and Nicole Richie. It's up to you to see if this is going to take you out of the story or not.

Only additional warning I can think of is sexualization of a minor but it's not from either of our Miller brothers.

Support writers, reblog and leave comments!

*****************************

Elizabeth was watching you in the doorway as you kneaded bread. All day she had been lurking in corners and hallways, eyeing you with that intense stare.

“Can I help you, Miss Miller?” You ask her, never daring to look away from your task. Like wild animals, eye contact could be seen as a challenge, and the wild, abrasive girl was not someone you wanted to test.

Looking around, Elizabeth checks the surroundings before scurrying up to you. “Did he hurt you?” She said, scanning the expanse of your body despite nothing but hands and neck being visible. 

A flush creeps up that you attempt to stifle as you think of last night, of Commander Miller stuffing himself down your mouth, but the concern in Elizabeth's eyes softened you. “No, he didn’t.”

She took your word rather quickly. It was clear that although she seemed to know her father was capable of harm, she was ready to push that thought away whenever possible. “Okay. good. I know that old man can get a little crazy.” She chuckles a little bit in a nervous manner as she looks up at you and hesitantly you smile back. She was something else. 

“You can relax a little, you know. With me anyway.”

You smile, but don’t acquiesce. “I don’t think that’s a good idea, Miss Miller.”

“You don’t have to call me Miss. Miller. Ellie, preferably. Miss Ellie if you really need to.”

Brave girl. You suppose that’s what happens when you have strong protection of a man like Commander Miller. “You’re the firstborn daughter, Miss Miller is appropriate.”

“Not the first born daughter, actually” 

Oh, that was new. There was no reason you would know this information, know any information on the Miller family really. “Oh” was all you could manage.

“My mom and dad had a daughter before. You can’t say anything about it, my parents barely talk about it. I only found out because Gina was drinking a few years ago. I got in trouble at school and she drunkenly told me that Sarah would never have done this, blah blah blah.” She rolled her eyes, but her downcast face shows her genuine hurt. “I asked who Sarah was, she told me that was her daughter, actually her daughter before the handmaid system. She died from a terrorist attack, that’s all I know.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.” You were. Both of the death of the young Miller child and of how cruel Elizabeth’s mother was. The girl was privileged in many ways to be sure, but she was still a victim of Gilead as much as anyone and with her mouth, will be lucky to survive her 30’s. Commander Miller must know this, of course.

She shrugged. “It’s whatever.” She watched you braid the bread to get it ready to rise. “You’re not going to tell anyone about last night, are you?” Her voice suddenly sounded so young, vulnerable. She is just a teenager after all, no matter her rank.

“No, Miss Miller.”

A sigh of relief. “Oh thank gooood”

Your eyes widen at her taking the lord's name in vein, but she brushes you off, waving her hand. “Oh please, I’ve been questioning this shit since I was a kid. That’s how I got this bad boy.” She points to her face, the scar that cuts into her eyebrow.

Could Commander Miller… no, he wouldn’t hurt her, would he? You’ve seen how protective he was of her… did she get disciplined at school?

Your questioning look must have been obvious, so Elizabeth clarifies, seeming eager for someone to talk to. From what you could tell, Riley was her only friend. Too old for the kids, too unmarried for the wives. She spoke with pride. “When I was 10, I told Gina I wanted to be a commander. Gina told me girls can’t be commanders, I said I wanted to be the first. We went back and forth for a while, eventually I said I didn’t care about gods plan, I didn’t want to have kids…” She brushed back her hair she had down. Out of regulation. “Gina backhanded me, her wedding ring cut my eye.”

You never liked Gina. Wives weren’t someone to be liked, they were to be respected… but now you didn’t have that for her either. “Honey, I’m sorry.”

“I’m not.” She wore her scar like a badge of honor.

“What did the Commander do?”

“You can just call him Joel to me.”

Now that made you laugh. “No way.”

“Can you at least call me Ellie? I hate being called Miss Miller.”

You sigh. “Fine, but only when it’s just us.”

She grinned at that. “Anyway, I ran out of the house and to my uncle Tommy’s. Gina doesn’t like Tommy and neither does Tommy’s wife, Deborah. Deb and Gina were yelling at Uncle Tommy that this wasn’t his business, Uncle Tommy yelling that I was his niece so it was his business, I was bleeding, it was a whole thing.” Ellie chuckled, clearly hiding the trauma with humor. It was not lost on you that she called her mom Gina. “Dad was gone on business that night so he took me to the hospital and I stayed with him that night until dad came back. He was so goddamn mad.” She chuckled at the memory. Only reason he didn’t hit her right there is I begged him not to. He told her if she ever laid a hand on me again, she’d end up on the wall.”

You knew this wasn’t the point, but something of the idea that Commander Miller was so protective of his daughter was… endearing? Turned you on? Both?

“He seems like a good dad.” You spoke honestly, setting the bread to rise.

“He’s fine, I guess.” Ellie jokes. “Won’t teach me how to read though. Says he’s worried I’ll read something I shouldn’t and get caught.”

As you clean up, you feel her eyes still on you. “Yes?”

“Did you learn how to read before?”

How old did she think you were? “Well, not at school-” You were about to tell her your mom did when she jumped in excitement.

“So you know??”

“Yes, but-”

“Can you teach me?”

“Ellie! No way! You dad will kill me!”

“No he won’t!” She whines. “I’ll make sure of it-”

“No.”

“Yup. You’re teaching me.”

That makes you turn around, facing the insolent girl with more determination. “I said no.”

“I’ll pick the lock to my dads office, I’ll steal some shit. He won’t even notice.” She began walking away.

“El-” When she walks out, you shut your mouth quickly as Lisa walks in and avert your eyes.

She speaks in a warning, taking the bread you were tasked with and setting it aside. “Don’t let the girl fool you. She’s not your friend. She’s got no filter and I’m willing to bet she’d throw you under the bus to save her own skin. That’s not an insult, but she is still a child no matter what Gilead says.”

“Yes ma’am”

She hesitates before relaying her message. “Commander Miller wants to see you tonight.” When you look up to her with a questioning glance, she cut you off. “I don’t know, and I don’t want to know.”

The less you know, the better.

*

Your heart was beating out of your chest as you stood outside Commander Miller’s door, trying to knock, but you couldn’t do it. Commander Miller was intimidating, and after last night, he told you he wasn’t going to waste a single drop of his cum on your mouth again…

You didn’t need to knock, Commander Miller opened the door. He seemed so different from the man you had seen last night in this very room; he was calm, collected. This was the Commander Miller you’d known before.

 “Well, don’t just stand there.” He gestured inside his office and you carefully scampered inside. When Joel closed the door, you braced yourself, wincing when he steps away from the archway. He seems to notice. “Sit down.” Commander Miller gestured to the couch, and when you sat down on the couch you expected him to lay you down, but instead he sat on the couch across the coffee table.

“You tell anyone about my daughter?”

Eyes wide, you attempt to placate what you felt was an oncoming storm. “No! No promise, please-”

Commander Miller raises a hand to hush you. “I know. I doubt you would.” He watches you for a while with that intense stare, hard eyes on you before sighing gruffly and sinking further in the chair. Arms crossed in contrast to his spread legs, black pants and a white button down; far more casual than she’d seen a man other than your husband and lover since childhood. Frozen in fear, you hand pry your gaze from his face and take in his features. Strong, alkalinen nose was always the first thing that caught your attention. He was commanding, but his soft eyes endeared trust. It was no wonder he was one of the earlier leaders of the Sons of Jacob. Commander Miller was a natural leader.

“Relax, will you?” Commander Miller brings you back to reality. You don’t respond, so he sighs, standing up as your eyes follow him. “Drink?” He asks.

This must be a trap. “No, thank you.” Handmaids weren’t allowed to drink.

Commander Miller chuckles and mutters a low “Good girl.” but sets a drink down in front of you anyway. Good girl… the term of endearment settled low in your stomach… maybe you were a harlot after all, so easy…  “You aren’t pregnant, so drink if you want.” He grabs his own drink and returns to his seat after grabbing a few items off his shelves. Books and magazines. “Listen, nothing’s happen’n tonight. You aren’t ovulating so theres no point. Let’s just… get to know each other better. I think that will make this whole arrangement less stiff.”

“This whole arrangement?”

He points his finger up and gives it a twirl, signifying the household. “All of this. I never asked for a handmaid, so I’m not exactly thrilled.”

 A small, nervous laugh escapes you. “You’re not thrilled?” Immediately you regret your attitude but Commander Miller huffs a laugh.

“I suppose you did get the short end of the stick on this arrangement.” He concedes. Still fearful, you try to keep the pose of a submissive handmaid.

“I am honored to at the opportunity for penance, Commander Mill-”

But Commander Miller waved your words away with a flick of his hand. “Joel is fine.” When he saw you about to protest, he cut you off yet again. “Joel.” He insisted. “I know my daughter’s tryna get you to call her Ellie, that’s okay too. Just don’t tell Gina.”

Commander- Joel, Joel spent the next two hours trying to get to know you here and there. He let you look at the old women’s magazines you remember your mother reading v early on and when he saw you actually reading, he allowed you to browse the bookshelves. It was dangerous, all of it, but surely this was common… Surely the commanders, wives and children broke molds sometimes… it was only human to want a connection.

And you wanted a connection. You couldn’t help but fall into him just a little bit

*

There was a big dinner being held tonight, all of the Miller’s family and friends were attending, some of which you knew. Angela had been sent over to help prepare so as to not leave it all to Lisa, so you and her were chopping vegetables for the salad that would be served shortly.

“Angela?”

“Yeah, honey?”

“The other day…” You look around the kitchen… empty… still, you speak quietly. “You called the younger Commander Miller…” another pause to check. “Tommy?”

Angela smiled and chuckled. “Yeah, I did. What about it?”

“Well… are you… and Commander Miller…” You lean in to whisper. “Outside of the ceremony?”

She turned to you, curious. “Did your Commander Miller” She mimicked your whisper. “Outside of the ceremony?”

You nod.

“I was wondering how long it would take. These men are all the same.”

A sigh of relief. “So it’s not just me.”

“No, not at all. It’s very common.”

Family began to arrive as you and Angela set up the table. Mr. and Mrs. Jones arrived along with her father and mother. Riley and Ellie attempted to run off together but Gina snapped at Ellie to socialize in the parlor. The younger Commander Miller arrived with his wife, Deborah, a mousey looking woman who never looked pleased to be here. A few others trickled in, including a man about the age of the younger Miller who Mrs. Miller promptly introduced to Ellie. 

“Commander Bedford, this is my daughter, Elizabeth, a friend of Mrs. Jones.” She glared at Ellie until Ellie curtsied.

Gina may not have noticed the man learning at Ellie, but Ellie sure did. “Do you know my dad?”

Commander Bedford began to speak. “Yes of course, but we actually have another connection, I’m your friend Riley’s uncle, I just moved back to the area, actually. I remember meeting you a few times when you were just a child.”

Disgusting. 

“Bedford!” A booming voice came from the other side of the room. Thomas Miller. “How the hell are yuh!”

Gina chastised him, but Commander Miller paid no mind. At first it appeared as if Thomas was merely friendly greeting an old friend, but the subtle way he placed himself in front of Ellie was clear to you. 

“Tommy, good seeing you.” Bedford seemed less than pleased.

“How did things go in Chicago- oh, I suppose the women don’t need to hear about this.” He chuckles.

“I suppose not.”

“Ellie sweetie, why don’t you go show Riley that painting you’ve been working on, the one you showed me last week?”

Ellie jumped at the chance, finding Riley and running away from the crowd. 

“Actually, Bedford, will you excuse me and Mrs. Miller for a moment? Joel’s birthday is coming up and we have to find a way to annoy him.”

Impressive. Bedford excused himself, and when Tommy turned to Gina, his voice was suddenly darker. “If Joel wanted her with a 40 year old man, he would have arranged a marriage months ago. Stay in your place.”

Gina didn’t back down. “My place as her mother is to find her a match.”

“You don’t care about a fuck’n match or her, you just want her out of your hair. Now knock it off before I tell Joel.”

That was enough to shut her up. You moved on to the wine cabinet to look for the wine Mrs. Miller wanted tonight, but as you are looking, Thomas Miller was suddenly leaning against the wall. “Nosy little lady, aren’t you?” and you startle at the sudden realization.

You turn and curtsy. “I’m sorry, Commander Miller, I was just-”

“You were just eavesdropping.”

“I didn’t mean to-”

“Yes you did, but it’s fine.” He had the same eyes as his older brother. Soft, putting you at ease. Kind. “Listen, had Gina said anything to you about Ellie or marriage recently?”

Now you were put in a position, stuck between a man you barely knew and the lady of your house. You should have loyalty to Gina, not the brother of your commander… but one looked at you like furniture and one seemed to have the young girl’s interests in mind…

“She um… She said Commander Miller spoiled her, and that the reason she wanted me was to uh… start over…”

Commander Miller rolled his eyes. “Bitch.” He looked back at you. “Only reason he married her in the first place was because he knocked her up when they were in college. Our parents made them get married so goddamn fast and then told everyone Sarah was premature.” Chuckling, he seemed like he expected you to laugh along, but you were. He stops, dropping the charm and turning only slightly serious. “You can relax, you know -” Tommy calls you by your name. Your real name. Not Ofjoel. “That’s your name right? Angela told me.” Angela, not Ofthomas. “It’s fine. I swear I’m not like other commanders. I’m a cool commander.” He tries to joke, but it lands flat. “Sorry, I don’t really know how to be normal about this. I know Joel is intense but I just can’t seem to fit into the whole strange new world bit.”

He seemed genuine. Thomas, Angela and Ellie seemed like the first real, genuine people you’d met in years and it was jarring… but you didn’t want to ruin it. “It’s okay. I’m just not good at acting normal. This is all I’ve really known.”

He looks sad at that. “Yeah, you’re pretty young aren’t you?”

You nod.

“I’ll let you be but… if Gina says anything to you about Ellie, wanting to set her up or something… can you please tell me? Or tell Angela to relay the message?” 

“I will.” You promise, and you intend to keep it. She was just a kid, after all.

The wine you needed was almost out so you went to the wine cellar to fetch another bottle. As you descend the stairs into the cool basement, your mind reels from the revelations of the last few days. What the hell was going on with the Miller household?

However, when you open the door to the cellar you find another secret of the Miller household and this time you thought you might be the first to find out.

Riley jumps off where she had Ellie pressed up against the shelves, arms disentangling from each other, lips unlocking in panicked gasps. Riley’s blue dress rustles as she quickly steps back from Ellie’s white, the colors separating as they did.

You watch them in shock as the two teenage girls gape at you, fear in their eyes and red flush in their face. A face that said they knew they were going on the wall.

*****************

Dun dun DUUHHHHHHH

Yeah sorry, Deborah is an oc lol I just could not picture Maria as a wife lol

Ellie, Ellie, Ellie...

And fucking Gina keeps getting worse.

Again, not a thrilling chapter but I think it sets the stage of a few relationships.

I promise next chapter we'll finally get more of Joel

please let me know what you think!

@my-secret-shame-but-fanfiction @dins-riduur-anthe @morallyinept @fan-fiction-floozyy @med494 @taliarose12 @flvrdoll @k-ra @sam-2me @ramblers-lets-get-ramblin @moriartyyouwhore @hereforthepedrofanfic @alwaysmicado @noisynightmarepoetry @kyloispunk @jenna-ortega @lunitareads @labyrinthofheartagrams @swimmjacket @magpiepillsjunior

[cricketnationrise]

Congratulations on 500 followers, babe! It's awesome that you're doing another ficlet fest. Here's my prompt:

Time: 1:30 a.m.

Location: Hollywood

Character: Alicia Zimmermann

Song lyrics: "Another name goes up in lights; you wonder if you'll make it out alive" from "The Lucky One" by Taylor Swift

Rating: T

HI BABE <3 I love this prompt, and I hope you like where it led me! There's never enough Alicia content, so I was really excited for the excuse to write some. 💜🦗

read the rest of the ficlets here!

🏒🏒🏒🏒

1:30am, hollywood

Alone in the back of a taxi, finally hidden from the view of the cameras, Alicia lets her head fall back against the headrest with a heavy sigh. 

It’s been a long time since award shows were fun, since after parties were anything other than an obligation pushed onto her shoulders by her agent. Tonight had been especially harrowing: enough meaningless small talk to make her want to tear her hair out, not enough food, and toast after drunken, incomprehensible toast. It was hard to believe that Alicia had ever liked the crush of people; that she had, at one point, craved this part of being an actress. More and more, her perfect idea of a late night features a warm body next to hers, a cup of chamomile, and a delightfully trashy romance novel—not backhanded compliments and uncomfortable shoes. 

Above all, Alicia is tired.

Tired of the run around, tired of the hustle, tired of spineless directors and co-stars that didn’t bother to learn their lines. Tired of constantly getting her picture taken, tired of being hounded by the press, tired of being critiqued on everything from her outfit to her choice of project. Tired of the endless travel, tired of remote filming locations, tired of never being in the same time zone as her apartment for more than a week at a time. There just has to be a way for her to have more control over her career. Surely she’s paid her dues by now.

At least her taxi driver isn’t trying to make conversation, or ask for an autograph—either option was liable to send Alicia over the edge tonight. She frowns as they pass a billboard for a new movie, starring some girl she’s never heard of. Blown up to larger than life, it’s impossible to miss the excitement in the starlet’s eyes, the yearning for more. Alicia feels tears gathering in the corner of her eye and looks away hurriedly—when was the last time she had felt like that?

She still loves acting, is the thing. Still loves throwing herself into a character, really connecting with their desires and fears, breathing life into someone who would otherwise just be words on a page. Still loves becoming someone new. But everything else that comes along with being an actress makes her want to scream.

Finally at her hotel, Alicia pays the driver and makes it up to her room in a haze of exhaustion and general torpor. She changes into pajamas and brushes her teeth on autopilot. It's only as she’s reaching over to turn the bedside light off when she notices the red blinking light of the answering machine. 

It’s probably her assistant. Maybe her agent. Both of them have been in constant contact on this press tour, keeping her in the loop on travel changes and adding more “quick appearances” to her schedule that end up being several hours and completely draining. But if she doesn’t check it, she’ll miss something important. With a defeated groan she checks the machine, tension leaching out of her when a man’s voice comes from the speakers instead of any of her all-female team’s strident tones. 

Hi, euh, hello, Alicia? This is Bob Zimmermann, we met last week at that terrible premiere?

Alicia actually finds herself grinning as Bob’s Quebecois accent and stumbling words spill out into her hotel room, his genuinely hesitant and careful words wrapping around her like a blanket. She didn’t know him from Adam at the premiere party, but a shared eye-roll during the director’s meandering thank you speech prompted her to wander over once it was done. The warmth in his brown eyes was reason enough to keep talking to him after introducing herself.

The message rambles a bit about how awful the movie was (he’s not wrong, it positively reeked of studio interference) and a bit about how his hockey team did this week before he clears his throat. The change in tone has her listening with bated breath. 

I know timing is going to be an issue for both of us, but I really enjoyed talking to you last week, and I’d love to take you to dinner and get to know you sometime— Sometime soon, eh?

He leaves the number of his hotel for the next two days and his pager number before saying goodbye. Still grinning, Alicia scribbles down both numbers and turns off the machine. She turns the light out and settles into bed with his voice echoing in her head and thinks. 

A single, unlooked-for message, the possibility of a date with an interesting man, and Alicia feels lighter. And more determined than ever to make some career changes — she wants to love her job again, just as much as Bob loves hockey. And she’s been around long enough, has enough clout, that she really thinks she can change her job to suit her desires. 

Resolved to sit down with her agent as soon as she’s in the same city again, she closes her eyes, replaying Bob's message in her mind as she drifts into sleep. 

Bonne nuit, Alicia.

[xplrvibes]

Did you watch Quackity's stream? Thoughts?

I actually surprisingly caught most of it.

I say surprisingly because a) I hate livestreams in general, as you know, and b) it was like 2 hours late so I kind of forgot about it.

But there were no ads so I hung in there once I got in!

As far as thoughts: it was alright. I don't get that video game or the point of it at all, and nothing that happened in that livestream made me want to understand it better lol. I was just there to watch snc get drunk and say shit that was liable to get them canceled 🤣.

There was no barking, but lots of sexual innuendo and *prolonged eye contact* between those two so it was still your basic drunk snc content lol.

Bonus points for Quckity throwing them into a mid-life crisis about their ages (cause 27 is ancient, ya know 👵) and for some reason, the story about them both applying to IHOP but Colby having to go to Dairy Queen cause IHOP didn't want him was hilarious to me. I don't know why - I think it's the thought of them needing to work together to find any fulfillment in life even back then 🤣.

Another bonus point goes out to Colby's semi-panicked, "You can't say that, I have a girlfriend!" to Sam when Sam was accusing him of wanting to bang a video game character's sister (?) - which happened right after he was totally comfortable to put on a bear mask and comfortably kiss Sam twice. The duality of man lol.

Anyway, I will probably rewatch it at some point if it ever hits youtube, since I did miss some of it, so that in and of itself is a good sign. Out of all the drunken livestreams they've ever done, I don't think it's taking home a medal - but it was solid fun. 6.5/10!

Any other thoughts?

[psychic-refugee]

The accusers chose the Court of Public Opinion, in the District of Social Media as their venue. It is a bench trial with me, the Honorable Psychic Refugee presiding, at the Psychic-Refugee Tumblr Courthouse.

Judgement

The accusers have walked back their most heinous accusations and the current ones do not meet the standard for criminal behavior. This is a de facto retraction. 

Therefore, the accusations for rape and sexual assault are dismissed. 

For the accusations against his character, I do not find the evidence to be compelling or persuasive. Therefore, I find the accusations, both explicit and implied, to be unsubstantiated.

PHW has not been proven guilty by preponderance of the evidence, on all counts.

Opinion

The accusers’ story got bogged down and confusing through their own words and actions. Their “evidence” as-is would never hold up in a real court. In the Court of Public Opinion, however, where I can accept the evidence for the sake of argument, I still find it confusing and unpersuasive. There is no crime alleged nor facts established, only alluded to. A majority of the crimes aren't even lobbed at PHW, only that he was a bystander and they felt he should have done something more. What he could have done more than the others who were also at these parties, I don’t know. They don’t say. I don’t think it’s fair to single him out as “he should have been my hero.” If he was a minor at these parties, he’s not liable as he doesn’t own the home, nor is he responsible for others' actions.

If he was not a witness to the crimes, then his testimony would be hearsay and there was nothing he could have done besides encourage the accuser to go to the police. 

His alleged assault on others is hearsay. It’s a rumor of a rumor on Twitter. I’m never inclined to believe a rumor. To date, these alleged victims have not stepped forward. 

His alleged assault on one of the accusers was clarified and fails to meet the standard of criminal assault, if it happened at all. 

The accusers have failed or refuse to even establish the fact they were ever at the same party as PHW during the time frames they proffered. There is legitimate doubt that one of the accusers has even MET PHW. 

They all have failed to establish any facts at all. 

The burden of proof is on the accusers, and they’ve literally said they have none.

The “evidence” they do have, isn’t evidence of PHW doing anything, much less anything criminal. They’re all just screenshots of conversations, the accusers themselves vaguely alluding to supposed crimes via tweets. None of that together or separately proves any wrongdoing, even if the screenshots are all real.

It is alarming these Twitter posts are being taken as gospel that PHW is guilty of anything.

"Believing women" means that I don’t presume their motivation or assume bad faith in their accusations. Given that the situation involves trauma, I try to also look at the evidence through a nuanced lens. That means that I try to give some grace in the story not having 100% exacting details. I try to give grace to their mindset and behavior. I don’t expect those experiencing trauma to make the most prudent legal or logical decisions.

"Believing women" DOES NOT mean that I take their story as fact, and also harshly condemn the accused without hearing their side and seeing their own evidence to refute the accusations. It DOES NOT mean that if someone brings up a good point contrary to the accuser’s story with publicly known facts or circumstantial evidence, that the person is a monster for daring to scrutinize an alleged victim at all. 

"She's a victim" cannot be used ad infinitum, nor can it be used as blinders to facts. 

"She's a victim" is not a panacea for deficits in evidence or behaviour that suggests malice. 

I still have a duty to scrutinize the evidence either side puts forth and make a decision. My decision has no bearing on anything consequential, other than what I choose to watch and content I create. So, take my opinion with a grain of salt.

While I try to give grace and nuance to the accusers’ behaviour through the lens of trauma, I still find their behaviour troubling and even malicious. I don’t judge the fact they went to social media if they felt it was their only avenue to be heard. I don’t judge the timing because trauma can take a while to process.

Calling the situation “canceling” and looking rather flippant and gleefully vindictive to said canceling on MULTIPLE social medias, it does put doubt in my mind of their motivations. I did not presume a motive, but I can’t ignore a possible motive if they make their opinions known and broadcast their own actions. No one told them to post on tiktok and Twitter, they chose to and therefore opened those posts up to scrutiny.

I looked at their behaviour and came to a well thought out and reasoned conclusion. 

At some point, grace has to run out if they give more reasons to doubt them than not.

The phrase “You know how to make this stop,” is very concerning to me and I would like more context.

The accusers did themselves no favors by continuing to post after the accusations broke. By choosing to post and not seek legal counsel, the story got chaotic and muddled. They poisoned their own well. Further, they implicitly admitted to using hyperbolic language when they walked back the allegations to lesser offenses or no offenses at all. 

What’s worse, is that they may have turned their alleged assaulter into a victim.  Given how we saw things in real time, their victimization of him has more evidence than his alleged victimization of them. Intimate photos of him have been circling and the accusers may have leaked them or at the least encouraged them to spread.

“my god am I happy these [leaked nudes] r on the internet.”

This was the death knell of any pity I might have had for accusers. My grace has run out. 

It is abhorrent that the accusers went on a character assassination campaign, rather than reinforce their evidence of their alleged assaults, fix the deficits in what they had already proffered, or go to the police/seek legal help.

It is suspicious when they stoop to attacking the character of the accused rather than prove actual wrongdoing. This "scorched earth" tactic to assassinate character is the exact playbook of misogynists and what MeToo and Believe Women was trying to fight against. They are the monsters they accuse "rape apologists" of being. 

The two worst assertions of his character were that he’s racist and a paedophile, neither of which have anything to do with the alleged assault.

In this instance and at this point, I am compelled to seriously question their motives.

For the sake of argument, I’m assuming all pics I saw were authentic. 

For the accusations of racism: The two “exhibits” referred to were insta post likes and a video of him saying the racial slur “coon.”

The insta posts in question are pictures without captions and no context. I did see these for myself on the insta profile before the account was locked. Only two pictures had me wanting more explanation. One was the word “Supremist” against a yellow background, and another was an Iron Cross. The Supremist pics were either right next to or very close to the Iron Cross.

The word has a lot of connotations, and I want more context. I don’t automatically presume it’s racist as a standalone word. It does give me more pause, however, when it’s close to an Iron Cross.

The Iron Cross itself has a long history and there is some evidence it’s used for other things than Nazism now. The question is: what was it used for in THIS context AND what was PHW’s understanding of it at the time of his “like?”

The insta user’s name was found to be in an article that explained their photos were political art. https://curate.la/event.php?id=17301 So, it’s possible that yes, the photos do refer to racist ideology, but within the context of political art. Did PHW know it was political art? 

The burden of proof is on the accusers, they have failed to meet that burden. 

The video is allegedly him quoting lines from a movie that he was ultimately cut from, that happened to have a slur in it. He is an actor. CONTEXT MATTERS. Is Leonardo DiCaprio a racist for being Calvin Candie in Django Unchained? There is circumstantial evidence that connects the video to a movie with racial themes. Them (2021) Them (TV Series 2021– ) - IMDb. 

Allegedly he was cut from this movie and is not listed on IMDB, but he is shown as a cast member in google. google.com>Them 2021 cast (last visited 13 February 2023)

I find this evidence to be persuasive. In the video he had an odd accent along with clothes and hairstyle not typical of his personal style. There was no one else in the video and was speaking directly into the camera. He wasn’t hurling a slur towards anyone specific. It also explains the use of the outdated slur, the movie takes place in the 1950's. He was playing an upsetting character, so I get why people are upset. That does not, however, make him racist.  

I would also like to point out that we haven't seen the original post for this video. There could be tags or a caption to give it context. All I've been able to find are reposts of this video with no original tags.

Even with the haircut, clothes, lack of victim the slur was directed at, and the lack of any context, people jumped to conclusions. 

PHW has not been proven guilty of being racist by preponderance of the evidence.

For the accusation of paedophilia: None of the pics were of children. None of the child-like art was of children. None of the art had naked or sexualized drawn children. None of the pictures were sexual at all. The closest picture to a child was a caricature/anime style of a small being that might have been a child, but it wasn’t naked nor was it sexualized. The only captions were in a different language that I am not fluent in. PHW liked these photos with no comment.

Again, I have no context for these photos and nothing even at face value suggests to me that they have anything to do with paedophila.

PHW has not been proven guilty of paedophilia by preponderance of the evidence.

His alleged kinks were brought up and I definitely am not going to give that any judicial notice. Kinks are personal and frankly never anyone’s business. 

These kinks are not relevant, and I do not give them any judicial notice and are struck from the record.

All pithy court jokes aside, my opinions and judgement might be disappointing to some. I can live with that. I’ve been articulate and impartial, I was WILLING to believe the accusers.

Through the accusers' own petty, malicious, and feckless words and actions, they convinced me not to trust their word. 

There's nothing more for me to do and I don’t expect more of myself than I would expect from others.

I can only consider the evidence I have before me when making a decision. That means, I give myself grace to be proven wrong later on. Maybe there is more, substantiated evidence that will come to light. Maybe he'll surprise me and come out with a full confession and apology. I will consider that evidence when it’s brought before me, and I can change my mind.

I will not punish someone for hypothetical evidence that may never manifest.

There is no pride or prize in jumping to conclusions under the guise of feminism.

/s/ Psychic-Refugee Hon. Judge Psychic-Refugee Court of Public Opinion District of Social Media - Tumblr

****

Any further posts on PHW and this situation will be put under #Percy Found Not Guilty, I hope to help cleanse the main tag of this situation.

[baronessofmischief]

I think in terms of deciding whether or not to write accents phonetically (I’m against it) it mostly comes down to the fact non-native speakers will almost always do it incorrectly and it ends up being seen— however well-intended— as an insult, parody, or stereotype. This can also be said of (and has been said many times about) using other languages in a story. If you haven’t lived in and taken an active focus on actually studying the way accents form and evolve and function within a specific environment, including speaking extensively with people who have that particular dialect or accent, you are much more likely to do harm than good in including it in your writing.

There are innumerable places where it could be done incorrectly; accents, dialects, and language will be used differently across age, gender, class, social standing, environment, time period, subculture, context, and individual persons, even when the two people speaking are from the exact same culture. It’s not to say you can’t do it, it’s to say if you’re going to do it, you need to do it right. You need to be able to justify how and why you wrote something the way you did outside of “It sounded good.” Back it up with research and justify your reasoning, and above all be receptive to criticism and admit when you’re wrong or unaware of something pointed out to you.

I’m not even someone for whom English is a second language and I can frequently tell when an accent or dialect is being used incorrectly because I’ve seen it done even with American accents. It’s very easy to tell when someone who isn’t southern or midwestern or northeastern isn’t a native to those regions.

And I know it ’s hard! But guess what: writing is hard. If this isn’t something you’re willing to commit time to, best not to use it at all.

Plenty of other people can talk more about the foreign language aspect, but if you want advice for writing accents in English: don’t write it phonetically unless it’s an entirely different word (ex. “Y’all” being a contraction of “you all”). Number one: it’s harder to process and puzzle out in a written format especially since every writer is likely to do it differently using their own arbitrary set of rules, and number two, you’re much more liable to make your character look like a cartoon stereotype which any number of people will at best, simply back out of a fic and possibly not read your work with those characters again, or at worst, be insulted or harmed by the depiction. It’s worsened by the fact that if that reader says nothing, you the writer get away with it, and if they DO say something, they risk backlash or active harm. It’s a lose/lose situation.

Instead of changing the spelling of the word and adding a bunch of apostrophes, focus more on actual vocabulary and slang to the point you can give the reader enough flavor to ‘hear’ how that character speaks and move on. Additionally, don’t have them spout random phrases that don’t make sense in context of the scene just to emphasize the fact they’re “not from around here.” There are very few cases where someone is going to project random idioms as a means of announcing their presence to the room as someone with a different way of speaking.

Environmental context clues should inform the reader of what region the character’s voice is from. You the author know what the character is saying— so write what they’re saying and trust your readers to fill in the gaps. If you’re a native English speaker, writing broken English is going to come across as rude and ignorant no matter how well you think you’ve done it.

[stormbabylore]

Job Transitions: Rogue -> Ninja

A friend of mine in game asked an interesting question some time ago about whether or not I follow game canon for the transition from Aeryn's starter classes into her specialized roles, and that's been really fun to ponder!

I'll split this up into a few posts, because it's liable to become quite long. For starters: rogue and ninja!

(Very minor class quest-related ARR spoilers behind the cut!)

N I N J A

For the rogue/ninja quests, the story of the class is canon for Aeryn - but the class itself is not! I adore the rogue questline and its characters with the entirety of my heart, and early rogue is probably my very favorite class to play. I was sad it ultimately branched into ninja, because although I find the characters for that story equally compelling, I find the class and its mechanics far less so. It looks really cool, don't get me wrong! But something about the flavor of rogue just appealed to me more, and I didn't want to skew away from that aesthetic, regardless of how much I enjoy the ninja lore and characters!

As I was already committed at that point to Aeryn being an archer main with lancer on the side, it didn't seem terribly realistic that she would also somehow become a ninja. So I ultimately decided on a path of adopting the rogue/ninja story for her lore without canonizing anything else.

The way I play it, Aeryn got on the radar of the Dutiful Sisters and was approached by Jacke, perhaps after he'd heard about her from various informants across Limsa. After assisting Jacke and his crew on a mission and getting caught up in their competition with Milala, they forged a bond of friendship and mutual understanding, such that the Sisters felt comfortable calling on Aeryn now and then for aid, trusting in her skill and discretion. Some of them (V'kebbe and Underfoot included) taught her to wield a set of daggers as well as how to maneuver in the shadows, but only as a backup means of defending herself in situations when carrying her bow or lance would be too conspicuous. In this way, the rogue story happens more or less canonically, just with Aeryn along for the ride in more of a sniper capacity as archer. She grows to love her silly little rogue family without necessarily becoming one of them.

Likewise, Aeryn does not truly become a shinobi. She does get some twinge of feeling from the soulstone she returns to Oboro; and I believe Oboro likewise has some glimmer of insight from the stone as it passes from her to him, such that he suspects she might join them. But in spite of his optimistic attempts to invite her into the fold, it seems Aeryn is incapable of learning the mudra. Try though she might, the mystical natural magics of ninjutsu simply will not resonate with her. (I feel she would be blocked from this in the same way she is blocked from most magic in Eorzea.) However, she picks up rather quickly on the physical techniques that Oboro and Tsubame teach her, expanding on the skillset taught by Jacke and his crew. And like with the Dutiful Sisters, her bond with the shinobi becomes one of friendship. She is invested in their mission - and forcefully involved due to Karasu's interest in her as Oboro's little "horsebird chick." Whether at Karasu's meddling or at the request of Oboro or Tsubame, Aeryn joins them on their missions as bard, and thus the storyline progresses much as normal - with just a dash of added sneak-sneak.

So Aeryn does technically progress from rogue to ninja as outlined in canon, but without ever actually picking up the class. She participates in the story and adopts extra skills but remains bard/lancer. As a result, Aeryn learns to move more gracefully/quietly as well as to work with her surroundings to mask her presence in a way she never quite learned from Ywain, Luciane, or any of her other mentors. She already knew quite a bit about close-combat, particularly hand-to-hand, from Ywain; but the shinobi and the Sisters helped her learn how to fight with small weapons when needed, including the best ways to incapacitate someone in those circumstances (both fatally and otherwise). She canonically starts carrying daggers at all times for situations when it might be more cumbersome to have her bow or spear along, such as when crafting or gathering. And she is considered an honorary member of the Dutiful Sisters and a friend to the shinobi, to the degree that she is often involved in their adventures. But that's the extent to which the rogue/ninja class is "canon" for her.

That's all for ninja! More class lore to come!

/ponder

[crossdressingdeath]

something in trespasser that really got to me was like. the lack of reactions from the companions until the anchor is too bad to ignore. obviously some of them did notice (sera, bull for sure, probably cole too) but to me it seemed like certain companions (varric, cassandra, cullen) forgot or ignored that the quiz being “Herald of Andraste/The Inquisitor” didn’t mean that the anchor was a threat to their life from the beginning. it certainly feeds into the feeling that quiz has to play those roles, part of which is because of the expectations of their companions! anyways id love to hear your thoughts about the anchor in trespasser, this is giving me so many angsty fic ideas

The way I see it, Bioware had four options re the cast reacting to the Anchor. One: no one notices, Quiz does a good job of hiding it until they can't anymore. Two, my personal favourite: everyone notices, Quiz is not doing as good a job of hiding it as they think they are but no one knows how to raise the topic and/or doesn't want to risk causing problems for the Inquisition during the Council and so keeps quiet; this is where we get into things like Sera's "Don't say their hand looks bad, it looks really bad" journal entry. Three, everyone notices and talks about it because hey, when your friend looks like shit you kind of want to ask about that. Four, only some of the cast notices but it's the ones who were already established as being particularly observant (Bull, Cole, maybe Vivienne) or who have been present the whole time (the advisors) and Quiz's LI (since by Trespasser it would be pretty difficult to do any sort of "character with the highest approval" thing a la IHW given by this point in the game you're liable to have maxed out a lot of the companions). Bioware chose... none of these. For reasons. It leads to a bunch of the characters feeling incredibly callous, because... for example, if Sera notices that Quiz is seriously messed up on the first day of the Council, why do the advisors—who've been with Quiz the whole time—not seem to notice anything's wrong until the Anchor starts going off during meetings? Are they completely oblivious to the fact that Quiz is in fact still a person with mortal limits, or do they just not care?

Anyway, though, the Anchor. This is absolutely not canon since Bioware is allergic to acknowledging that being the Inquisitor is not a good thing even when it lets you-as-Quiz clearly be so completely done with this role it's not even funny (I'll never be over how all the angry responses boil down to calling Orlais and Ferelden ungrateful and not "How dare you force me to keep to this role after it was no longer needed" but that's a whole other thing), but it's like... the Anchor is literally tearing Quiz apart from the inside out, but if your Inquisitor is unwilling, or even just tired and ready to stop, just being the Inquisitor and Herald of Andraste would be tearing them apart just as much, just metaphorically instead of literally. Everything about this situation is killing Quiz! The game focuses on the physical impact of the Anchor, but unless your Quiz is all for playing head of a bunch of heretics who expect them to be a good little Andrastian forever the mental and emotional strain of the whole situation would be just as bad. Especially if you consider the added stress of Quiz thinking that even if they survive the Anchor their only reward will be... continuing to be the Inquisitor indefinitely. Hard to really want to survive your agonizing, apparently unavoidable death when all you're getting is more of being crammed into a position you hate.

[andromedaexists]

The Hours || Michael Cunningham

★★★★☆ 1/2

TW: SUICIDE

I just finished my next book! I told you guys that I hopes I would like the next one more than the last and I did! holy shit

I am going to throw my thoughts and discussion below a cut due to the nature of the book. Please be advised by the trigger warning and keep yourself safe.

omgomgomg this book is amazing. I was very hesitant when I first picked it up. I knew that the very first thing I would read in the book was a suicide scene. The prologue depicted Virginia Woolf's death.

This make me uneasy. Especially since this is a genre of book that I normally would not read. It was already out of my wheelhouse and then added sensitive material like that front and center.

However, I did have to read the book for class, so I pushed through.

This novel tells the story of three women (Mrs. Clarissa Dalloway in the 90's, Mrs. Laura Brown in the 40's, and Virginia Woolf). The way it approaches this is by alternating POVs. Each 'chapter' is a scene from one singular day in each character's life. And through this singular day we learn the overarching plot of the story.

It is such a new (to me) way to tell this kind of story and I am all here for it! Not only that, but the writing itself was done well. I never once got lost or didn't know what was going on, even with the sparse amount of details that the author gives at any given moment.

But I think the one thing that I have remained undecided on is the physical format of the book. You see, I am a hard back kind of person. If given the option for a hard back copy, I will take it. So when I saw that I could get a normal paperback or a hard cover, I went my normal hard cover route. I did not expect what came. It was as if I ordered this book off wish! It is tiny. The paperback is normal size (I've seen ym classmates editions), but the hard cover is legitimately like 3"x4". tiny

Past this point I will be discussing the overarching plot, if you wish to not have that spoiled for you, you can finish reading here!

Virginia writes a book about Mrs. Dalloway, then commits suicide before she is able to move back to London with her husband.

This book is then bought by Laura Brown, a self proclaimed bookworm who doesn’t understand how someone like Virginia could be driven to suicide. She then reads the book and contemplates suicide herself (not due to the book, just came to the realization that she could die because of the book. She lives because of her son and unborn child). Laura eventually leaves her husband and children, but lives.

One of her children, the son, is Richard. He meets Clarissa at 18 and gives her the nickname Mrs. Dalloway after the book his mother used to read. Seems to be the most significant tie to his mother that we get through the narrative of this story. However, this day that we see of Clarissa is the day that Richard kills himself. This brings Clarissa and Laura together at the end of the book.

The way that we learn this overarching story is very interesting. We know from the very beginning that there is a tie between Clarissa and Virginia through the name Clarissa holds. We also know from the beginning that Laura reads Virginia’s works. However, we do not know how these three women are connected other than through the literary work. We do learn the names of Richard (from Clarissa’s pov) and Richie (from Laura’s pov) at the beginning of the book, but his last name is not revealed until he dies at the end. It was an oh moment for me, as you can see in my notes. I didn’t put it together until the last name was revealed.

Overall, I think this book is amazing. It reveals information on a need to know basis and does it’s best to not spoil it’s overarching plot until the last three sections of the book. Wild.

I am planning on writing little things like this every time I read a book just to help me keep track of them. If I don’t write down my opinions and thoughts right away I am liable to forget them. I am hesitant to call these a review because i’m really just not comfy with that lol I will do my best to make sure I appropriately tag and warn about topics. If I miss any please let me know!

[bestsmmpanels-world]

PR Agencies and Social Media: 4 Tips to Power Social Brand Building

The Significance of Virtual Entertainment for Advertising

PR experts today are utilizing virtual entertainment to one or the other enhancement or add to their current techniques, flagging an advancement in the job of PR throughout recent years. Advertising experts were among the initial not many to grasp the force of online entertainment, making them pioneers in the social space. Alongside taking care of site content, increasingly more PR stars are liable for their organization's and clients' online entertainment presence. The continuous shift towards, what industry specialists call 'the online entertainment discharge', shows how the customary long structure official statement is evolving. As per David McCulloch, head of advertising at Cisco Frameworks, "The public statement representing things to come will convey its substance in message, video, SMS, microblog and digital broadcast structure, to any decision of gadget, at whatever point the peruser chooses, and ideally it will be pre-validated and transparently appraised by numerous confided in sources."

ALSO VISIT:-Creating an Effective Brand: How President Obama Used Social Media to Create a Brand

eMarketer expects PR along with advertising firms to observe an expansion in their online entertainment income in 2011. Discoveries from a joint report by the Transworld Promoting Office Organization and Worldcom Advertising Gathering show:

In 2010, 28% PR firms expressed that between 15-33% of their income came from web-based entertainment.

This number has become by 44% in 2011.

That's what the review shows, when contrasted with promotional firms, the PR business is more powerful in utilizing online entertainment.

The Street Ahead… Industry research firm IBIS World has anticipated the variables that are probably going to fuel the development of PR firms before long and the normal pace of development.

PR firms are supposed to develop at a normal annualized pace of 5.7% to $12.8 billion from 2010-2015.

This spray will be credited to the expansion popular by organizations who need PR firms to deal with everyday connections with customers and the push on their virtual entertainment destinations like Facebook and Twitter.

The new shift from customary media to more straightforward media (online entertainment) will bring about PR firms spend significant time in or sending off divisions dedicated to websites, person to person communication destinations, versatile media and webcasts.

More than four-fifths of PR firms are expecting an expansion in computerized and virtual entertainment work from now on.

Whether it is talking with clients according to the organization perspective or working with an in-house group, PR offices should be virtual entertainment prepared. Position² records a couple of rules that will help your organization get by and hang out in the computerized space:

Making a Pitch Online entertainment has given an entirely different importance to the idea of 'testing out'. While the possibility of messaging a public statement to columnists, editors and bloggers isn't totally outdated, it is simple for the perusers to raise a ruckus around town button and just drop it. Consolidating online entertainment in your PR methodology will guarantee your pitch is heard over the racket. To really involve online entertainment in your PR pitch plan, we suggest a couple of focuses that can be added to your 'plan for the day: o Stay away from the Extravagant Stuff:

An excessive amount of data bound with extravagant expressions like 'front line, strategic applications to further develop business process, and so forth' can put off perusers. Keep in basic.

o Getting your Tweets Right:

In the event that you are anticipating utilizing Twitter to make a pitch, remember, you have 140 characters to hit the nail on the head. As per Nicole VanScoten, an advertising expert at Pyxl, getting your tweets right prompts high reaction rates than email.

o Don't Spam them:

Whether its writers or bloggers, nobody likes to get irregular tweets or Facebook messages. It would be smart to find out about the writer or blogger prior to connecting with them. Peruse their Twitter profile or individual blog to see whether these are the contacts that should be focused on and afterward make your pitch.

o Fabricate a Relationship:

Whenever you have sorted out your contacts list, the subsequent stage is simple. Building a relationship with a writer or manager includes getting on their radar. What you can do is a) look at their Facebook page and remark on the posts you like b) retweet their messages and c) remark on a blog entry. This will guarantee your presence on their radar, even before you choose to make a pitch.

Here is an illustration of a decent pitch made by a PR expert to a showcasing blogger:

For PR geniuses, utilizing virtual entertainment to make a pitch saves time as well as cash, other than yielding a lot higher reaction rates.

Conveying Worth to Clients The last 2-3 years have seen PR offices wear an altogether new job in associations. A huge piece of a PR expert's work includes teaching clients on the advantages of virtual entertainment. Taking care of an organization's or a client's record these days incorporates all that from building brand dedication to advancing and observing substance on different virtual entertainment stages (Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn). To be an effective, we accept a PR firm ought to convey worth to its clients. The following are a couple of straightforward ideas:

o Making Content:

PR organizations are supposed to be specialists with regards to composing. In this manner clients anticipate that your organization should sort out some way to transform a drilling declaration into fascinating substance. This could either be a mission or an organization blog. Producing great substance won't just get the necessary media inclusion, yet will likewise assist with creating leads.

o Recognizing the Forces to be reckoned with:

Recognizing and creating associations with the 'powerhouses' in the PR space is an additional benefit. Rather than essentially searching for bloggers and writers who are mystically expected to make buzz and drive deals, it will be more shrewd to:

o Figure out who the genuine forces to be reckoned with in a boisterous commercial center are. This should be possible by associating with columnists, bloggers and writers who cover the subjects that are nearer to the market your client is keen on.

o Remember, the size of one's crowd doesn't necessarily convert into powerhouse ubiquity. o Drawing in and Checking Discussions:

Web-based entertainment observing and commitment is imperative for any PR organization that needs to convey worth to its clients. Brands grasp that they need a social presence, but at the same time are quick to work with PR offices to realize the thing is being said about them on the lookout. By utilizing virtual entertainment observing apparatuses, for example, Brand Screen, you can:

o Measure your powerhouse scores: Web-based entertainment checking instruments make it simple to recognize writers and bloggers with high force to be reckoned with scores.

o Handle Emergency Circumstances: By keeping a watch on blog discussions, twitter messages and Facebook posts, your office can assist with recognizing difficult situations. Following this, you could either diffuse the circumstance yourself, or caution your client requesting that they answer as the need should arise.

o Measure the purchaser feeling for clients' image (s) and items (s) and evaluate influence.

o Measure the association between public statements and news inclusion with virtual entertainment action.

o Evaluate the adequacy of your correspondence systems.

o Furnish you clients with space mastery in view of the information acquired.

o Measure definite measurements, for example, fame, share-of-voice and so on.

At the point when recordings of rodents going around at a Taco Ringer outlet in New York City were posted on YouTube, proprietor Yum Brands saw its stock sink to an unsurpassed low, with clients questioning Taco Chime's cleanliness principles. In practically no time, copies and adaptations began duplicating. Clients searching for consoling data from the brand struggled with tracking down it. In spite of the fact that Yum Brands' PR group was not totally uninformed (the Chief posted a conciliatory sentiment on YouTube), observing the circumstance better and drawing in with clients continuously might have turned away the PR emergency.

With the advertising business advancing quickly, the need to screen online entertainment channels has never been more significant. As indicated by Daryl Willcox, pioneer behind PR industry data firm Daryl Willcox Distributing, listening is a basic piece of online entertainment system - a proactive cycle as much as a receptive one. A study by his organization shows that practically 60% of PR offices and divisions that screen online entertainment channels spend under two hours seven days doing as such. These insights demonstrate the developing requirement for PR organizations to screen virtual entertainment.

Figuring Out your Online Entertainment Tool stash

With such countless online entertainment stages to browse, how might you understand what's best for you? As experts in PR space, it's not generally about putting a PR pitch on Twitter or Facebook; the web-based entertainment stages with the most worth should be utilized to associate with a client's ideal interest group and ought to work as a significant spot for brands to interface with columnists, bloggers and purchasers. We accept that every virtual entertainment apparatus has its own advantages, contingent upon what your organization wishes to accomplish.

o Facebook and LinkedIn:

While Facebook and LinkedIn are practically ideally suited for laying out and keeping up with associations with media, these devices are somewhat more private than Twitter. It would be astute not to begin sending companion solicitations to all journalists imaginable. Subsequent to utilizing Twitter to start a kinship with a columnist or a journalist, you can then follow this up by interfacing with them on Facebook or LinkedIn. Assuming that you are hoping to increment commitment or support your image's standing for esteem, then Facebook is the spot to be. For example, when the Solid Decision brand planned to develop its fan base and increment commitment, the organization chose to focus on its immense Facebook fan base and sent off an ever-evolving coupon on the Sound Decision Facebook Page. This was upheld through an assortment of PR strategies. Endeavors by the brand's PR group brought about the Sound Decision's Facebook page developing from 6,800 to almost 60,000 fans. The PR group additionally conveyed north of 50,000 get one-get without one coupons.

[anarchy-and-piglins]

Maybe this is a stupid question but what's red bros au?

-holds you gently- There are no such thing as stupid questions Anon only stupid answers, we do not believe in stupid questions in this household! Also it’s an AU me and Kit came up with that I once again forgot to properly explain before making random posts about it whoops- Asking questions about AUs is the main factor that makes me post about them tho!!

Basically we went “hey you remember those really angsty au fanfics that used to be popular where the mains were teenagers and lived with their abusive af family and then they met some of the other characters and you get slowburn found family as they try to hide their shitty home life from their new friends but eventually they figure out family is a choice and it has a happy ending? We wanna do something like that but very specifically with out self-indulgent favs”

So: Mumbo and Techno are brothers (we associate both of them to the color red for some reason, thus we named the au red bros. it’s not a great name lmao) and their parents are... bad. Them being brothers is also why this art Kit made features black-haired Techno! (He really wants to bleach his hair and dye it pink since that’s his favorite color but his parents won’t let him. They also won’t let him grow it out any longer, which has him very >:I)

Grian is the catalyst for all the fics events, Mumbo meets him and they become maybe-friends-maybe-more (ie Mumbo has a big crush but he’s an idiot at first). He introduces Mumbo to his DnD group ‘Boatem’ (With Tango as the DM). Fundy is also there since he’s related to one of the other hermits (not saying which one yet, but it’s somebody I haven’t mentioned in the previous lines ;) ). Fundy and Techno are just -neurodivergent handshake emoji- it’s very cute.

Wilbur is Techno’s long distance best friend who he plays video games with but has never met with in real life because he lives on the other side of the country. Phil is Wil’s dad and Tommy is Wil’s not-brother.

The fic also involves Technoblade running away from home at one point and he meets Skeppy on the streets and they become immediate crime buddies it’s terrible...

(In terms of ages, Mumbo and the other hermits are all in the 16-17 age rage, Techno and his friends (wilbur, skeppy, fundy) are 11-12, Tommy is baby and Phil is the only adult rip this grandpa)

[slashingdisneypasta]

When is the next horror house fic coming? Maybe they invite Y/N to go to the beach. And how would the boys feel if one of them tried to make a move on Y/N, in her bikini. 😭😭

😂😂 Sorry but no one would get even close to Y/N in her bikini, because Jason is on the job, protecting her from sin 😂😂

Except Jennifer- who is also liable to hit on Y/N. I mean, they are friends... but Y/N is a gorgeous girl and Jennifer is a RAGING SUCU-LESBIEN. But she only gets one chance- Cuz Jason does not discriminate. If he gets wind of any funny business with you two Jen is immediately voted punted off the island XD

Really the only person Y/N is totally 'safe' (Apart from Jason himself) with is Tiffany, cuz she's totally Chucky-Sexual. And Jason knows this. He and Tiff are mostly cool.

Also Patrick actually- he has SUCH little interest in Y/N XDDD Sorry. He's off tanning somewhere.

Yeah, you'd think that Carrie would be fine too, but... I mean, she's not gonna hit on reader or anything but Jason can tell that red face is not because of the heat XD She's not into Y/N or anything but you're just so pretty and she's never seen a girl in something like that before!! (Underwear doesn't count, its not as pretty)

Norman is similar but Jason doesn't have to worry about him as his 'mother' will handle it. She, on the other hand, Jason has to worry about.

Chucky wonders around (As best he can, without being seen. Ya know, since he's a doll and y'all are at the beach) making things WORSE. He is the anti Jason. Jason is THIS 👌 close to burying him.

OKAY ONTO THE MAIN DUDES.

Stu has acquired some great, big binoculars so as to... you know... spy on Y/N without Jason sqashing him. Jason still notices though and sighs.

Billy is honestly busy getting flocked by fans of his own, haha 😅 He's a pretty boy, what can I say? He half thinks it'll make Y/N jealous but she's busy picking gradually through the picnic basket Norman made for the trip, excitedly. Billy feels quite dejected.

Freddy (Who has not changed his outfit one bit, except added a Hawaiian shirt over the top of his sweater which totally defeats the point) is o b v i o u s l y occupied the whole day scheming and trying to get by Jason, getting thwarted every time obviously. His plans get more and more abstract and ridiculous like a Sylvester and Tweety cartoon, where Y/N is Tweety, he is Sylvester, and Jason is Hector the Bulldog. (God, I could make a oneshot of just those shenanigans)

Bubba is genuinly distracted, as he has never been to the beach before and is enjoying the calming effects of paddling, and rooting through rock ponds, and making sand castles. When he does notice Y/N (Since during the ride over there she was wearing something over the top so he didn't know), he just sort of... short circuits for a minute XDDD Before Jason gives him a warning look, it sinks in, and Bubba turns right around to head back to the ocean. Time to cool off. Not messing with big brother Jason today. Nope.

Predictably, a fight breaks out when Freddy snatches Stu's binoculars, Stu starts following him around complaining, Chucky tells Jason what's happening, Jason throws Freddy, Freddy ends up knocking into Bubba and sending them both the the ocean floor, that catches Billy's attention as he starts laughing, and, yeah... a brawl/verbal fray breaks out.

QUESTION- Should I include Jerry officially in the Horror House as a secondary character, like Patrick and Carrie? Like, he won't hurt you again, he's learnt his lesson, but just be sorta... around. Being himself. Some more colour, you know?

[aminiatureworld]

Affection

Characters: Albedo, Beidou, Keqing, Zhongli, gn!reader

Word Count: 4,705

Warnings: Swearing

Premise: Sometime we know something is impossible from the start. But still we walk towards it, even if we know it will hurt us. It’s only flirting, only a smile or a hug or some food. Even if nothing comes of it, there is nothing to regret. Even if it hurts.

In which the reader gives affection, expecting nothing in return.

Author’s Note: More “new” characters! I’ve been neglecting Keqing and Beidou, they deserve some love. I hope as always their characterizations live up to expectations! This was very fun to write, so I hope you enjoy it!

I couldn’t tell whether to make this melancholy or fluffy, so I guess I half-and-half-ed it. Best of both worlds, right? Although the tone feels definitely lighter.

Albedo

Your friends never could figure out why you were flirting with Albedo.

“That alchemist has nothing on his mind but work,” one of them once told you, “he’ll never reciprocate your feelings you know.”

“I know.” You’d replied, smiling the sort of smile people put on when they’re trying to show they’re not annoyed. “I know he doesn’t like me in that way, you don’t have to tell me.”

“Then why are you doing it?”

“Because I want to.” You’d shrugged, shifting the conversation to some other topic. In all honesty, it wasn’t as if your friend was lying. But neither were you, not really. There wasn’t any good explanation for why you were flirting with Albedo after all. You knew that he’d never take it seriously, knew you weren’t good enough for it anyways. Maybe that’s why you flirted with him. Maybe it was better to make the slightest fool of yourself than drive yourself mad thinking about something that could never be.

So you continued on your merry, if slightly self-destructive way. Every time you saw Albedo, which was quite a bit considering the fact you were often posted around Dragonspine and spent a lot of your free time in the square right outside his office, you ran his way, asking him what he was doing, or telling him about your own day. You’d developed this habit of leaning in a bit whenever he spoke to you, and the slight pause he gave as his smile grew wider whenever you did made your heart soar.

Not that you ever started thinking there was ever a chance. I mean, come on. Albedo was Albedo and you were you. There was a great deal of distance between the two of you, as if you were standing on opposite sides of a bridge which was liable to fall at any moment. You could shout across at each other, but never did you attempt to walk over to him, knowing it’d surely result in disaster.

Still, why did you flirt with Albedo? The question sort of haunted you at times. You enjoyed his company, you’d even told him you enjoyed his company. He’d smiled his sedate smile, pausing for a moment to look away from the painting he was working on. “I enjoy your company too.” He’d said, before turning back to his work. It was a quiet, calm, even sort of response, just the sort you’d expected. And yet you kept going, and though you made no attempt to push the boundaries or go any farther, you still wondered at times what the point of it was.

Perhaps following that line of thought was a bit dangerous. You found the more you asked yourself what you expected out of your closeness with Albedo, the more absent you seemed to be. It wasn’t as if you were trying to avoid him or anything, no quite the contrary. It was only that you tended to want to be alone when you were thinking about something like this. Reaching out was hard, especially to the person who you were thinking about.

“Are you alright?” You glanced up from the lunch you were pondering over to see Albedo leaning over you. Feeling your cheeks redden you jumped slightly.

“Albedo! Oh I’m so sorry, I wasn’t paying any attention to my surroundings! Sit down!” You gestured vaguely to the spot on the bench next to you. Albedo smiled politely, sitting down as directed. He seemed to sober however once he was sitting, scanning your face for something, though you weren’t sure what that something was.

“You seem… absent recently, I was wondering if something was the matter.”

“Oh, I’m perfectly fine!” You shook your hands out in front of you. “I guess I’ve just been sort of busy recently, or maybe a little tired I guess. You know that the festival is coming up, right? Well Acting Grand Master Jean is really running us ragged! But I promise I’ll be back to normal soon!” You laughed awkwardly; it wasn’t as if you weren’t telling the truth per se, just… not the whole truth. But you’d rather not put all your troubles on Albedo, not when he was reaching out to see if you were okay. Smiling once more you attempted to switch topics. “How’s your research? Have you found something new while I’ve been gone?”

“Yes, I’ve begun to study the reaction between macrophage and eukaryotic cells in contrast with prokaryotic cells, and how adding elemental effects to reactions either speeds up or slows down the reaction. But I’m glad to hear you’re alright,” Albedo seemed to relax a bit, leaning backwards slightly on the bench, “everything has been much quieter with you gone. It’s unnatural, I can’t focus as well. I keep finding myself distracted by little things. I look forward to participating in our conversations once more.”

“Well I’ll be there soon!” You promised, heart fluttering slightly. Did he really mean that? I mean sure, it didn’t mean anything more than what was on the tin. Your situation hadn’t changed that much. Still, it meant something to you that Albedo wasn’t just tolerating your presence, that he was actually somewhat involved in your friendship. “I promise I’ll have some very interesting topics of conversation when I come back.”

“Good.” Albedo nodded once more before smiling slightly sheepishly. “My workspace is currently going through a cleaning and the lab isn’t supposed to let any foreign substances in in; would you mind terribly if I ate with you?”

“Not at all!” You responded. “I love spending my free time with you. What have you brought?”

Why did you flirt with Albedo? Why did you seek out his presence despite you and everyone around you knowing full well that it was never going to come to anything? What did you even think of Albedo? Well you could answer that last one at least. You loved him. You loved him very much. And even if he didn’t reciprocate the way you did, even if your friends told you it was pointless and your mind chastised you for putting yourself through the ringer, even if all that was true, you weren’t going to stop. Because you were Albedo’s friend and he was yours. And for now that was enough.

Even if a part of you continued to hope that one day this would change.

 Beidou

Beidou was utterly out of your league and you knew it.

It wasn’t exactly a difficult conclusion to come to after all. Brash, outspoken, good with a sword, Beidou embodied that sort of restless, self-reliant spirit you wish you yourself could emanate.

It didn’t hurt that Beidou had essentially rescued you from destitution, having found you languishing in a corner of one of the seedier docks of Liyue, and having taken you in quickly after the fact. You owed her a great deal, and was glad to do so. After all you’d fallen hopelessly in love with Beidou.

Life aboard a slightly illegal ship was bound to be an intimate one. Everyone knew everything about everyone else, and it was very difficult to find someone that hadn’t heard about your crush. Someone who wasn’t Beidou, that was. Although it wasn’t like you attempted to hide it; you just never brought it out in the open. And who could blame you? How could anyone who’d nearly died of starvation waiting for some sort of divine help compare to the bravest captain you’d ever met?

So you two settled into a routine of sorts, at least in your mind. You ate every meal as close to her as possible, something which had been difficult at first but as the “secret” spread around became almost comically easy, you discussed your plans with her first, gave her various trinkets you’d found in your travels, asked her opinions about your weapon then asked her to train with you. The training sessions had almost killed your resolve not to tell her, nothing was so intimate as having someone constantly checking your posture, moving and arm here a leg there, closely monitoring how you moved and acted.

All the while you said nothing. It felt selfish after all to even think about it. Beidou had many a time told her crew that they were one big family. On top of the obviously platonic motives behind her love for you, you weren’t about to impose on the crew by trying to take the spot as favorite or partner. It’d make you feel sleazy.

But damn if sometimes your resolve wasn’t tempted. It was the night after a particularly successful raid, and everyone was drunk out of their minds. Even you were tipsy, although compared to the rest you were positively sober. Sitting next to Beidou, who was walking up and down the tables making speeches of various levels of comprehensibility, you thanked the archons above that this woman had saved you. It was all worth the pain and suffering, if only to see her smile, which was blinding at the moment.

“You were brave, my dear compatriots! Distinguished! Honored! Positively courageous!” Beidou let out a slight “hic”, her vocabulary always did turn a bit grand when she drank too much. “Indeed, I’m sure not even the greatest of emperors had an army which could rival the visage of our band of brothers! Storming the deck, why we all might’ve perished! Damned visions, they’re for cheaters! For fraudsters! You all fight without them, and in doing so you prove yourself far more valiant, far more exemplary than they do!” Evidently Beidou had forgotten she herself was a vision wielder. Then again, so had everyone else.

“On this night of victory, of perilous and prestigious triumph, I wish to congratulate the greatest of warriors! This! My proverbial right hand man, the distinguished…” Beidou turned around towards you, gesturing in a very flamboyant sort of manner. You stood there, shocked by the sudden attention, blushing deeply, brain so filled with awe that you only half realized Beidou couldn’t remember your name.

“Yes! This person, this noble scalawag!” Beidou lifted you up so you were standing next to her, archons was she strong. “Now I don’t believe in laws, but if I did I’d marry them I would! You all ought to be more like them, mark my words I want to see some shaping up! There are no levels on this ship, but if there were they’d be higher than you all! Pay attention to my words, they are final!” And with that, speech apparently over, Beidou planted a soft, if slightly messy, kiss on your cheek.

If it weren’t for the people around you, you might’ve fainted.

The next day announced itself with a headache, though as the least hungover of the group you were put in charge of dishing out the medicine and water. The whole ship appeared to be groaning, and though the crew was usually quite active and excited at almost any hour of the day, you could tell that most of the men and women just wanted to roll over and go back to sleep.

“Captain wants to see you when you’re done with your rounds.” There were a few other people helping you out, and the one that informed you about this raised an eyebrow as you promptly turned white as a sheet, before a splotchy shade of red covered your face. What was she going to say? Had she remembered what had happened the night before? You admitted to yourself that maybe banking on Beidou forgetting was a doomed cause from the start. Beidou was perhaps brash and a lover of alcohol, but her memory was sharp, and she somehow managed to never drink herself to total incompetence. If you challenged a drunk Beidou to a duel your chances were going to be about the same as if you’d challenged her sober. Hell maybe they’d be even worse. With that grim thought in mind you distributed the last of the medicine, wiping your hands needlessly on your clothes before walking towards the captain’s cabins.

You loved Beidou’s cabins, they somehow seemed both incredibly grand and inexplicably homey. With furniture made out of a plush and luxurious red sort of material, it was nonetheless crowded by knickknacks; drawings, carvings, and other such paraphernalia littered the shelves and the dressers. Beidou had once told you almost all of it was from current or former shipmates. The luxuries they stole had no use in her home.

“Captain Beidou?” You ventured. The captain was at her desk, scribbling out something, probably a plan. She loved to plan in her free time, whether or not the plan was something doable or a total fantasy. Now she looked up, setting her pen down and smiling her classic, cocky grin.

“Ah, my favorite shipmate. How’re we feeling today?”

“W-well!” You managed to get out, a bit distracted by the nickname. Ah, it seemed she had remembered at least part of it. “Um, captain, I was told you wanted to see me.”

“Yes, I did. I’ve been thinking since last night, thinking a great deal, and I was wondering, what would you think to becoming my partner, in a, well, romantic sort of sense.”

“So suddenly?” You replied, eyes widening but nevertheless cracking a smile. Beidou’s confession had been blunt, devoid of all the usual flourishes. And yet it was what you wanted, what you’d always wanted.

“Well why not?” Beidou shrugged nonchalantly. “After all considering how you’ve been acting towards me for the past few months, I figured why not become my partner. Unless I’ve been reading you wrong of course.”

“No!” You exclaimed. “I mean yes, I mean, well yes to the first and no to the second. I’d love to become your partner, and you haven’t been reading me wrong.” Your gaze dropped to the floor. “I just figured I wasn’t good enough. I mean you’re… you. And besides, you said we were all a family. I figured you wouldn’t want me as a partner.”

Beidou raised her eyebrow slightly as her smile melted into a smirk. Shaking her head slightly she approached you, raising your gaze every so slightly. “Well I can tell you right now I’m not too good for you. Not only are you good with a weapon, but you’re about as tough and fearless as they come. I don’t want to hear about how you’re secretly scared or whatnot. Everyone is that doesn’t matter. But you fight well and without second thought. And I admire that. And as for the speech about family, well a romantic partner is family of some kind. Besides the crew won’t mind, they’ve been talking about it for ages.”

“I guess they have.” You blushed; apparently Beidou hadn’t been as uninformed as you thought.

“Any last words before you’re my partner?” Beidou’s smile was as wide as you’d ever seen it and just as infectious; you grinned back.

“I love you.”

“Good. Now,” Beidou smiled, planting a soft kiss on your cheek and then a peck on your lips – something which left you grasping for coherent thought “let’s tell the others.”

 Keqing

Working with Keqing was an experience akin to slowly dying inside.

You’d become somewhat enamored with the Yuheng of the Liyue Qixing ever since you’d first met her. Her brusque and honest manner was refreshing, and when listening to her talk about the archons, about Liyue, about how the past and the present tied together, you never really seemed to question her. She always gave off the impression of intelligence, and, unlike some others you’d met, she had the brains to back it up. And what could you say? Before you knew it you had a crush on her.

Yet working with her showed other sides of Keqing too. She was very self-conscious when it came to compliments. Not that she minded them per se, as one time you’d asked her if your constant praise was a bother. “I just never know how to respond.” She’d admitted, and to be fair you understood that. But as long as she told you she liked them you’d compliment her.

Of course you knew it could never go beyond that. Keqing was your coworker; she was your superior in almost every way, both in occupation and in character. She never lost her cool or found herself off guard when fighting treasure hoarders or when dealing with rowdy citizens. She was efficient, capable, and aware of her incredible abilities. And she didn’t feel the need for a partner, something she had told you every time someone else worked up the courage to ask her out. You couldn’t bring yourself to impose on her like they did, not when you knew what her answer would be.

It was a slightly disheartening existence, and indeed sometimes you wondered what the point of it was, wondered if you shouldn’t just quit. But that wouldn’t be fair, not to Liyue, and not to Keqing herself. She relied upon the other members of the Liyue Qixing  to work efficiently and without sudden disruption. And the sudden quitting of someone who was hardly at the bottom of the ranks would’ve certainly done just that.

Besides, Keqing was first and foremost your friend. It was a bit of a fragile friendship, yes, but it was friendship nonetheless; and you valued that friendship well above your own infatuation. If you had to bottle your feelings up so be it. You owed it to Keqing to keep it together, to not impose on her what she obviously didn’t want and to not punish her for it by drawing away. So it hurt, so what? A lot of things hurt, doesn’t mean they aren’t worth doing or experiencing. And this was certainly one of those things.

It was late evening, and most of the cubicles were dark. You sat, writing the last few sentences of a report, trying to ignore the headache that had been developing since earlier that day. A friend had attempted to set you up on a blind lunch date, and though you appreciated their motive the whole thing had been a chore, and now you were late on your work.

“Almost done?” Keqing’s voice broke through your mental grumblings. Looking up at her you nodded, and Keqing smiled in satisfaction. “Good. Can’t have one of our best workers getting sick on account of working too hard.”

“I won’t get sick.” You assured her. Finally stamping the paper you let out a sigh leaning back in your chair.

“A difficult day?”

“You could say that,” you admitted, “a friend went on a slightly appreciated but incredibly unnecessary mission to get me to go out on a date. Honestly, I’d rather her just treat me to lunch.”

“I can understand the feeling.” Keqing frowned in sympathy. “People are too obsessed with the idea of romance, so much so it blinds them. There are more important things in this world.”

“I’d say most people consider love pretty important.” You commented. Keqing shook her head in response.

“Perhaps, but aren’t ideals better than individual wishes? Romance may be fun, perhaps, but there are other things to consider. Besides, I find your company far more enjoyable than I would any date.”

“You do?” You responded, heart fluttering slightly; you hoped Keqing didn’t notice the blush spreading across the bridge of your nose and coloring your cheeks. Luckily it was slightly dark in the office.

“Oh certainly,” Keqing waved her hand dismissively, “you’re the best coworker and friend I’ve ever had. No significant other could give me advice like you do, or help me so much when I’m struggling with work or with my thoughts, and dates are so formal and boring and awkward compared to spending an afternoon with you. Really I’m perfectly content relationship wise with our friendship. Relationships are full of pitfalls, people keeping this little thing from their partner, or omitting that little act. No, better to have an open and supportive friendship like we do.”

“I’m glad you think so.” You replied, and really you did. You’d known since day one that a romantic relationship was off the table. So if you could stay by Keqing’s side and support her, if only a little longer, then you’d be perfectly content.

Even if a part of you still wished that things could’ve been different.

 Zhongli

To be fair to Zhongli you weren’t sure how much he understood of any type of human relationship. The fact that the Geo Archon had befriended you in the first place was an achievement in itself.

And yet he had befriended you, and soon you’d found yourself falling in love with the slightly aloof, slightly out of touch geo archon. Zhongli was much more than that of course. Surprisingly open, the ex-deity took to finding out information about humanity with zeal. Always eager to ask you questions and to hear about how your day had gone or how you felt after something particularly happy or sad or gratifying, Zhongli had morphed into a pseudo confidante for you. Someone you found yourself relying on more and more. His gentle nature didn’t hurt either, or his looks for that matter; all in all Zhongli seemed like the perfect sort of person, and though you knew that you’d never be able to measure up to an archon, you found yourself unable to suppress the overwhelming love you felt for him.

Zhongli didn’t seem to mind your openness at all, indeed he sort of relished it, or at least he seemed to. Every time you reached out to grab his hand he gladly slipped it into yours, and whenever you ran up and hugged him after a long period of not seeing one another he always hugged you back. He’d eat lunches with you, and sometimes dinners, and sometimes weekends were spent running around Liyue, or at home listening to one another’s stories or reading one another’s books. It’s truly a magical sort of feeling to share a book with someone. But then again with Zhongli everything seemed magical.

Of course affection aside the whole matter never crossed the line of friendship. You never told him of your affections, and in return Zhongli never initiated anything further than conversation. Not that it bothered you; you felt there was a bit of a gap between you and Zhongli. After all surely it was idealization which caused you to recognize that someone like Rex Lapis had no want or inclination towards engaging in a relationship with a mere mortal. Facts are facts, and there’s no changing them, no matter how much you wanted to.

And yet how odd fate is.

“What is being in love like?”

You looked up at Zhongli, trying desperately to act as if you hadn’t felt your heart rate spike to unhealthy levels.

“Uhm… what do you mean what is love like?”

“I’ve noticed mortals are very enamored with love. I have to admit, my experience with romance is minimal; archons and adepti seldom see romance as something that affects them. But I want to know, as a human, what is love like to you?” There was no mockery or sense of superiority in Zhongli’s face. Not that you expected there to be. Zhongli never looked down upon humans as unequal. Many times he’d told you he admired them. Taking a breath you thought of your answer.  

“Well… hmm. Love is very different for everyone. To some love is like an inferno; it’s very sudden and very intense. It sort of burns them up, it’s all they think about. I think that’s less love, more infatuation, but to some that is indeed love. To others love is sort of… staid. It’s being able to rely on them, to talk to them about anything and everything without feeling embarrassed or like you have to put on some sort of show. It’s knowing that there’s someone who will always side with you or help you realize what’s right, or be there when you feel terrible. To them love isn’t passionate, it’s comforting.”

“And to you?” Zhongli interrupted, a look of thoughtfulness on his face.

“Well to me it’s somewhere in the middle, I suppose to most people it’s somewhere in the middle. And this is only romantic love after all. Love is so big, so all encompassing, I think it’s hard to pin down. But to me romantic love is both; it is the passion that causes people to do crazy things and espouse crazy sorts of ideals, and it is the staid comfort of knowing there is someone who will always understand you, and always support you in that understanding.” You paused, realizing you’d been prattling on a bit. “Why, may I ask? Is there a reason you want to know.”

“Yes,” Zhongli admitted, voice slightly less calm than usual. “I, I’ve been thinking about my feelings towards someone a great deal recently; they’ve been alien, although not distressing per se. They feel as if I’m always on some sort of edge, but I don’t feel upset by it. Instead I want to approach it, want to be around the person who makes me feel that way. I wanted to understand that emotion more. I wondered if it was love. Thank you for answering my question, it was most enlightening.”

“That person must be very lucky.” You replied, keeping your tone as light as possible, trying to ignore your emotions, which had risen and dropped so very quickly. “I suppose I’ll have to lay off on the affection now. Part of love is sometimes being a little bit jealous, at least in the beginning, at least for some people. It’s silly, really, but I wouldn’t want to impose.”

“I wouldn’t worry about that.” Zhongli’s tone was surprisingly wry, as if there was a joke somewhere you’d missed.

“Why?” You asked, brow furrowing slightly.

“Because the person whom I was enquiring about is you.”

Honestly you would’ve been less surprised if Zhongli had told you that he was going to run away from Liyue and join the circus. All you could manage to sputter out was: “Are you sure?”

“Of course I’m sure!” Zhongli chuckled slightly. He raised his hand, gloved fingers ghosting your cheek as he tucked a lock of your hair behind your ear. “I’ve suspected it for some time, but I wanted to be sure. Are you alright with me telling you this?”

Alright? You were over the moon! Had you ever been this happy before? You weren’t sure, but you were happy now.

“Of course it’s alright. Zhongli, I’ve liked you for months now.”

“Then why didn’t you tell me?” Zhongli tilted his head slightly in confusion. You stared down at your hands, slightly embarrassed.

“I thought I wasn’t good enough for you. I mean you’re an archon and I’m a mortal. I’m hardly different from the other people of Liyue, and I just, I don’t know, I was scared of rejection, I was scared you’d think I was overstepping and that our friendship would crumble. And I didn’t think I could stand that.”

At first Zhongli said nothing, instead he held out his hand. You gladly placed your palm in his, comforted by its warmth.

“You shouldn’t hold yourself so cheaply,” Zhongli spoke softly, “there are a great many extraordinary things about you. Your affectionate nature, your determination to live even when the world is dark and dangerous, your willingness to open your heart to some ancient archon who knows little of humans. If that’s not extraordinary, I don’t know what is. I don’t feel towards anyone as I do towards you, at least I haven’t in a long time. So don’t think of yourself that way anymore, please.”

“I won’t.” You replied. And it was true. You knew you wouldn’t be able to, not anymore. Zhongli would make sure of that, already you could tell.

To some love burns like fire in the mind, to other it wraps you up in a blanket of comfort. You felt incredibly lucky, for you despite yourself demanded both, and somehow fate had bestowed it upon you. And for that you would be forever grateful.

[epicene-humanoid]

some trans Jeff thoughts:

he realized he was trans in elementary school and just went fuck it I'll just start introducing myself as Jeffery and see if anyone decides to stop me (as we know, jeff winger can get away with almost anything)

he got top surgery the second he could afford it (around the same time he started at his law firm), and probably bribed someone to keep it a secret

"I'm jeff winger and i would rather look at myself naked than the women I sleep with" are the words of a man proud of his transition

he's really insecure about his fashion sense, which is why he mostly dresses like the douchey guys at his firm in the start of the show, he thought you can't go wrong with the sleazy lawyer look

he will never admit it but he feels super good about the dean hitting on him, because the dean is a (cis) guy, acknowledging that Jeff is more manly than him

i think he starts out stealth and comes out to everyone one by one, probably starting with abed because he knows abed won't judge him and will probably just see it as an interesting backstory.

abed just says it's cool and maybe worth a prequel exploring Jeff's transition, and jeff asks him to predict how all of the members of the group will react to him coming out.

abed's predictions:

britta will be over-the-top supportive and do a ton of research about trans history, probably put together a slideshow just to prove how progressive she is, and jeff will be a little bit weirded out, but also touched that she did all that for him, though he would never let her know that

shirley will be confused, because she doesn't know how someone she trusts and knows so well could be part of a group she was raised to hate, but ultimately realizes that there's nothing actually against the lgbtq people in the bible, and, as a cool character development arch, starts to advocate against use of the bible to justify bigotry

troy will just think it over and decide that Jeff's physique and coolness are even awesomer knowing how much work he'd had to put in to be like that, and respects Jeff's manliness even more

annie will give him a hug, say something sweet about how she'll always love him, and worry about his health, because even she read somewhere that taking testosterone makes you more likely to have a heart attack, jeff will explain that the risk is still only as high a cis guy, and she'll be the one to always remind him to take his shots

peirce will say at best say "jeff winger used to be a chick?" and at worst call him a slur, either way there's sure to be a lot of misgendering from him, and pestering to know Jeff's deadname (needless to say, Jeff just doesn't tell peirce)

the whole group goes out of their way to keep their beach trips a secret from pierce (the girls don't want him there anyways, he's too liable to be creepy) even though jeff knows that even if pierce saw his scars, all he would have to do is make up a story about some childhood accident and pierce would never question it

sorry this ended up being super long. can I hear some of your headcanons for him?

YES ALL THIS!!! yes yes i’m fully accepting this as canon oh my god

i’m about to type a whole ass ESSAY at midnight because i have been DYING to talk about this for months ajfdksljk,,, this is going to be obscenely long and i might end up adding even more to it as i continue to rewatch the show because there is truly no shortage of trans jeff content (especially when you’re trans and see transness in every little thing ajdkslfkjs)

spoiler warning for literally everything about this show under the cut <3

i 100% agree, i feel like he realized he was trans super young, especially since in the show we see him as a little kid a couple of times. 

like look at little jeff with the oversized sweatshirt and little ponytail!! that’s childhood trans fashion. not to be dramatic but part of me thinks that jeff’s dad left before he fully came out to his family (which gives him even more angst about it, because until that one Thanksgiving episode, he’s never able to prove to his dad that he’s a better man), but part of me thinks that his dad left after he came out (which adds that spicy i-should-have-stayed-in-the-closet guilt that he has to work through). 

either way, because his dad wasn’t there, he had to base his concept of masculinity on something else, which was becoming a lawyer!! there’s some line that’s like “after the dust and divorce papers were settled the only man i looked up to was [the lawyer guy]”. like, replacing your father figure in your mind with the concept of “a job where you can talk your way in and out of anything and distort other people’s concept of reality”? that’s trans.

 and the fucking THANKSGIVING EPISODE... i struggle to watch it without crying hehe <3 yeowch! the dichotomy of willy jr. being the “wrong” kind of man because he’s “too soft” but jeff also not being enough despite adhering to all the social standards of masculinity... fuck!! this whole scene of him telling his dad “i am Not well adjusted” and talking about how he gave himself an “appendix surgery scar” when he was a kid and he still keeps the get-well-soon letters from his classmates under his bed? oh my god. the implication of people loving him not despite his scars but because of them?? trans. i can’t think about this episode for too long or i’ll start yelling.

OH and this scene? where he talks about how his mom got him a girl costume for halloween?? and everyone said “what a cute little girl” and after a few houses he stopped correcting them?? and “once the shame and the fear wore off, i was just glad they thought i was pretty”?? THAT’S TRANS... the man needs validation oh my god... and then in all the halloween episodes we see he has these ultra-masculine costumes (a cowboy, David Beckham, one of the fast and furious guys even though he never watched the movies, a boxer with his DAD’S boxing gloves... god) costumes are about becoming something else and he always chooses to be hypermasculine and that is trans.

THE PHYSICAL EDUCATION EPISODE!!!!!!! being uncomfortable during P.E. is a queer experience. period. but him being specifically uncomfortable in the clothes someone else is assigning to him? trans. “are we gonna talk about clothes like a girl? or use tapered sticks to hit balls around a cushioned mat like a man?” TRANS. and him eventually stripping in public? celebration of transness. and the fact that he eventually becomes comfortable in both the uniform and his own style!! trans!! god i love this episode. 

AND AND AND!!! the gay dean coming out episode!!! where it’s the three of them discussing the best way for the dean to come out as gay despite not entirely identifying with that label!! so we have both frankie and the dean who are sort of ambiguously queer, and jeff who’s a stealth trans man who’s probably only out to only the study group at this point. this scene where the dean and jeff have this like eyebrow communication while frankie is talking is just so cute. queer-to-queer communication. “I am so curious” “oh?” “intellectually.” “oh...” ajfdksljfk this scene just screams high school GSA to me and i love it so much.

and SPEAKING of the dean!! i totally see you on that. i feel like jeff has some internalized homophobia/biphobia (like he’d throw punches over someone else, but when it comes to himself he has a lot of shame). and also seeing the dean so confident in all his different outfits/costumes has a weird affect on him bc it’s like “okay, the dean, a cis guy, can do that, but i as a trans guy could Not because that’s Breaking the Rules”. which, like, throwback to the halloween thing. of course there’s no right way to be masculine, but mr. winger does not know that.

another thing!! the episode where their emails get leaked? that includes his emails with his therapist. fuck!! he was outed to the whole world in that episode!! no wonder he was so fucking angry!! this whole episode (and really any time he mentions his therapist) is so interesting when you think about them as a person he talks to about his transition. OH which adds to the thing with the dean!! “and you told your therapist you wanted to be alone this weekend” and “not you jeff, i know you’ll be visiting your dad” ”I told you to stop reading my emails”. luckily his study group has his back and just makes fun of him for emailing astronauts lmao

and WHO can forget “they’re giving out an award for most handsome young man!!!!” what else is there to say about this line besides: he’s trans. you know he didn’t get awarded enough for being a handsome young man when he was a kid, and no amount of compliments when he’s fully-grown can really make up for that. some people crash a kid’s bar mitzvah to cope with the fact that they struggled to be seen as themselves when they were a teenager <3

also his weird relationship with pierce? where he kind of hates him (understandably lmao) but at times has this almost-friends-almost-father-son relationship with him? especially in this episode where he’s forced to bond with him and ends up having a good time by accident (at a barber shop no less, the perfect place to Be A Man with your Man Friend). idk what to say about him besides the fact that pierce says his mom wanted a girl when he was born and made him dress like a girl (and his middle name is anastasia!) so if they’re gonna do any bonding over transness it’s gonna be that. 

okay one last thing and then i’ll shut up for the night. this episode kills me (and almost kills jeff hahahahelpi’mcrying). it’s a very Trans thing to not be able to visualize your future self, it just is. growing up trans at the time he did? i don’t know what kind of future he saw for himself, but i’m so happy that he ended up with a group of friends who became his family and love him the way they all do. i’m so emotional over this asshole it’s ridiculous. 

in conclusion:

they’re trans, your honor <3

[shihalyfie]

The difference between Taichi and Daisuke

Because Taichi and Daisuke both fit a rough model of “the brash shounen protagonist”, and because Daisuke, as Taichi’s junior, is intended to invoke him in certain ways, it’s easy to pin Daisuke as just being a slightly derivative version of Taichi in a different context. In actuality, as much as there are similarities between the two, there are other ways in which they’re actually polar opposites!

Although 02 is a sequel to Adventure, 02 is a very different kind of story, one that prioritizes being about relationships instead of Adventure’s simple self-actualization. This means that the characters that are at the center of the narrative are very different because the way each of them grow has very much to do with the story each wanted to tell -- and what each wanted to portray in their respective groups.

The most important thing to understand about both Taichi and Daisuke is that their surface demeanors are extremely misleading.

I discussed in my earlier meta about Taichi that, in fact, a lot of Taichi’s behavior comes from the fact he’s too chill about things -- he’s very easygoing and initially doesn’t seem very argumentative. That emphasis is on initially, because, nevertheless, Taichi has a tendency to try and take charge and push the group to do ambitious things, and when confronted about his ideas maybe not being so great, he starts arguing about it. Adventure episode 7 has him say something pretty condescending to Yamato in the course of it, and it’s only the first in what’s going to be a lot of these incidents. If you want to confront Taichi, he will fight you back.

While it leads to a certain degree of conflict (especially with Yamato) in the earlier parts of the series, it also means that, from the very get-go, Taichi is someone who has no problem making decisions on the fly and getting everyone to go forward with him. It’s also especially important in light of the Adventure group having been a bunch of kids from separate circles tossed together thanks to the circumstances; his ability to make quick and firm decisions helps them come together when they otherwise wouldn’t be able to do things cohesively.

On the other hand, Daisuke, despite having an abrasive surface demeanor, is extremely deferential, and, well, kind of spends the early parts of 02 rather lacking in a spine (I say this with affection, I promise). Unlike Taichi, who often sometimes tried to push forward with whatever he wanted to do even if it was a bit on the dangerous side, Daisuke is so deferential to other people that, during these early episodes, he actually gets carried around by other people more than he can be said to pull others forward. It really doesn’t take much for everyone to override his opinions as long as they’re assertive enough.

Certainly, part of it is because Daisuke’s dealing with his seniors -- Daisuke is an extremely deferential person who’s craving validation, and so he looks up to his seniors and is constantly deferring to their judgment. But even the nine-year-old Iori is capable of getting Daisuke to shut down, just because Iori’s a very assertive person, and Daisuke shrinks so easily. Daisuke’s early-series tendency to lash out at others is largely very defensive, mainly because he’s lacking in validation and plays very poorly with how easily he feels threatened or how much he can’t tell whether he’s being made fun of. (Rather like an overly on-edge puppy, basically.)

But in any case, the important part is that as far as important decisions go, for this part of the series, Daisuke is not the one making them.

Still, what Taichi does have as a leader, he’s somewhat lacking in a certain other area: emotional sensitivity. A lot of his friction with others in the early parts of Adventure involves him stepping on someone’s toes (such as accidentally insulting someone with a well-intentioned but insensitive joke, or being callous with Koushirou’s computer), and when he’s confronted about it (usually by Yamato), actually gets defensive and starts fighting back about it, which leads to things like escalated conflicts with Taichi and Yamato violently punching each other out.

Even by the time of Our War Game!, Taichi is indicated to still have somewhat of a problem accepting responsibility for when he’s offended someone else or doing something wrong, and it’s pretty clearly a big reason he and Sora are still in a very bad fight during the events of the movie. Most of the time (at least during Adventure and Our War Game!), by the time Taichi’s realized he’s messed up, he’s already deep in hot water.

In comparison, initially brash as Daisuke can be, when things really come down to it, even the early episodes indicate that not only is he much more non-confrontational, he’s actually significantly more emotionally sensitive. In 02 episode 7 (one that’s still pretty high up in his phase of being rather too shallow when it comes to issues about Hikari), he does what even Our War Game! had indicated Taichi at being really bad at doing: immediately apologizes to Iori on the spot and takes back his statements that went over the line with Takeru. Even this early part of the series still has clear indications he’s more attuned to considering his friends’ feelings without being prompted to do so (in 02 episode 10, he immediately catches on that Miyako’s not feeling well, with nobody else having to point it out).

On top of that, as much as he has an occasional tendency to lash out angrily at people, unlike Taichi, Daisuke almost never resorts to ad hominem (insulting the other person directly); abrasive and argumentative as he may sometimes be, he isn’t the type to call people names or be condescending. This is a really important distinction that’s often overlooked (not only with fictional characters, but also often in real life in general); it’s the difference between “you’re stupid” (ad hominem) and “what you’re doing is stupid”. Daisuke very often does the latter because he’s defensive and quick to criticize, but it’s vanishingly rare he will ever go as far as to try invalidating a person, nor does he ever really look down on anyone; it’s an important key to understanding how he’s actually the type to support and respect others even despite his tendency to get argumentative.

Daisuke having the Digimentals of Courage and Friendship points him towards Taichi and Yamato, and it’s important to not neglect that latter part -- as much as Daisuke’s surface traits and character design beg you to think more of Taichi, Daisuke’s tendency to be more emotionally sensitive and constantly consider the feelings of his friends is much like Yamato’s, especially since Yamato also had a tendency to have a somewhat abrasive exterior but actually be emotionally passionate about those he cared about. As a result, Daisuke never, ever gets in a fight with anyone to remotely the same violent and anger-filled degree Taichi and Yamato would get in back in Adventure, because even when he gets kind of close in 02 episode 11, he ultimately ends up sidetracked by thinking seriously about what his seniors have to say about friendship and trying to figure out what Takeru’s feelings are that it defuses very quickly. In the end, Daisuke’s just too conscientious about other people’s feelings to let it get that far.

The first time Taichi is properly recognized as the Adventure group’s “leader” is in Adventure episode 28, and the word is used directly. Taichi even initially denies it, before everyone brings proof in the form of pointing out that he was the one capable of bringing them all together when they’d split apart, and Taichi later demonstrates his abilities as a leader himself when he properly delegates Koushirou as the one to solve the card puzzle. Everyone states that they trust him as the leader, and defer to his judgment in this situation; for the rest of the series, the group continues to acknowledge him as someone who eventually calls the shots and makes the major decisions over what the group will do next.

No equivalent to this scene exists in 02. In fact, Daisuke is not the leader of the 02 group in the same way Taichi is the leader of the Adventure group, and, to push it further, I would even go as far as saying that the 02 group does not have a leader at all.

Understanding why the 02 group doesn’t have a leader, or, more accurately, doesn’t really need one, has to do with the fact that the 02 group has a very different relationship with each other than the Adventure group does. Taichi was responsible for holding the entire Adventure group together and organizing them because they were liable to fall apart without someone as the lynchpin, but the 02 group started off as a social circle before they were a fighting group, and therefore will stick together as friends even if nobody’s holding them together per se. This leads to 02 episode 19 featuring them deciding to work independently to the point Daisuke gets left behind -- compare the equivalent episode in Adventure and how Taichi is treated, and it’s pretty clear Daisuke doesn’t actually have a very commanding role in the group. (You can think of it as an inverted version of the Adventure group’s relationship with socialization vs. fighting coordination; the Adventure group figured out how to fight together fairly quickly but fell apart as soon as Taichi was gone, whereas the 02 group is predisposed to hang out together as friends but takes much longer to learn to coordinate from a fighting perspective.)

Even after Daisuke starts to become more assertive, however, he still doesn’t always take an active role in terms of coordinating or calling the shots -- the most prominent example being the Giga House incident in 02 episodes 28-29, in which he doesn’t mind deferring to the others as they all strategize. It’s a huge contrast against the Adventure group (which was rather big and in need of someone to organize such disparate people) deferring to Taichi to make the final calls and to lay down the goals for them to follow, whereas Daisuke can make decisions or suggestions, but is much more liable to defer to his friends’ ideas or what they want to do if they happen to have any better suggestions. Daisuke doesn’t have the bird’s-eye tactician abilities Taichi has nor his natural charisma, but he shows all signs of being well aware of this; when the 02 group makes a major decision, it’s always one they make together, and although Daisuke eventually does gain a certain sense of independent will, he still puts extremely high value into what his friends think about the situation before going forward with it. As much as Daisuke was certainly the most influential in getting the group to reach out to Ken, it's ultimately the rest of the group that chooses to find their own way to reach out to him, each on their own terms -- Miyako in 02 episode 25, Hikari in 02 episode 32, Takeru in 02 episode 37, and Iori in 02 episode 38 -- and while Daisuke did originally have a clear intention to reach out to Ken regardless of what the others thought, he still very much did actively bid and hope for the others to get along with him in their own ways (see: 02 episode 30).

(This also has the side effect that, as much as Daisuke’s surface demeanor might suggest that everything would be a reckless disaster with him around, the fact that he takes his friends’ stances on the situation so heavily in regard means that he’s actually less likely to do something catastrophically stupid in a major situation, as long as his friends are sufficiently able to keep him in check.)

In the course of Adventure, the skill that Taichi begins to hone is “becoming a leader” in every sense of it -- organizing others, bringing them together, and learning to be ever so slightly less impulsive by thinking through his decisions a bit more instead of leaning on the first thing that comes to his head. The Adventure group, twice on the verge of falling apart, is ultimately brought back together under his lead, and it’s his charisma that allows all of them to trust him and what he wants to do.

It’s not hard to see why; he has qualities for it that come to him naturally, in that he treats people equally and without prejudice, and is a soccer captain-like tactician who is capable of taking a bird’s eye view of the situation and organizing things around them. As demonstrated in Adventure episodes 16 and 28, he’s good at delegating roles when people need suitable guidance.

Daisuke, on the other hand, has a very different specialty: emotional positivity and support. Once he starts shedding the defensive abrasiveness he’d had a tendency to fall into during the first half of the series, his true capacity for being a very pure-hearted, emotionally sensitive person who puts the well-being of his friends first and foremost before anything else comes through. This means he’s the member of the group who’s the most brimming with “positivity” and “the will to push forward”, especially over the course of the second half of 02 in which things are taking a larger and larger psychological toll on the group. Again, the 02 group doesn’t actually have a true “leader”, and many of those traits Taichi has that Daisuke lacks ultimately have to be substituted by some of the other members in the group, but Daisuke’s main skill is in “leading the charge” with emotional support -- and that’s why he ends up often being the one most proactively pulling them forward (and, on a meta level, is why he’s the main protagonist even if the story is arguably more about Ken).

Of course, Taichi and Daisuke do end up having traces of the others’ strengths -- Taichi ultimately comes around to being more emotionally sensitive and handling others maturely (especially in 02), while Daisuke receiving a proper support group and validation from his friends allows himself to show the assertiveness he’d struggled to show in the first half. But ultimately, their strengths are their own, and tailored very well to the dynamics of the particular groups they’re affiliated with.

Once eight years have passed since 02, we can now see this disparity in personality to the point it’s started having major differences in their future paths. Taichi’s in the middle of an existential crisis, drifting away from a lot of his friends and not sure what to do with his life, whereas not only is Daisuke cheerfully hanging out with his friends like 02 was only yesterday, he’s very clearly aware of what he wants to do with his life (after all, he’s had that very clear goal since he was in elementary school).

In regards to why Daisuke’s not having nearly as many problems with his career path: it’s because Daisuke’s satisfied with the low hanging fruit.

Daisuke has always admired Taichi ever since they were both tiny kids, and it’s easy to see why, given Daisuke’s deficiencies prior to the start of 02 -- being a natural leader, charismatic, and extremely assertive, Taichi very easily presented an ideal image of an idol for Daisuke to aspire to. Kizuna makes it clear that Daisuke is just as senior-adoring and Taichi-adoring as he was back in 02; he has a lot of faith in his seniors to be able to pull amazing and great things off.

Daisuke himself, meanwhile, is happy with only the idea of running a ramen shop, and is practically playing the whole thing by ear without thinking of it too hard. While Taichi hasn’t really said anything about the matter, it’s pretty easy to believe that there is no way in hell Taichi would be satisfied with something like that as a career; he’s always been the ambitious type who wants to do big things, and the fact he’s taking political science and economics at a major university (if it’s anything like the real uni, it’s not easy to get into!) indicates that, even if he doesn’t know exactly what, he certainly would rather do something bigger and more influential with his life.

But the drama CD provides a lot of insight into Daisuke’s current attitude regarding the whole ramen shop thing, and he’s rather grounded about it all, admitting that he doesn’t entirely know what he’s doing and being very quick to admit his own faults. I mentioned earlier that Daisuke is actually good at taking responsibility for his own failings, and it’s likely his lack of ambition stems from the fact that he simply doesn’t consider himself cut out for huge, amazing things to begin with. But that doesn’t matter to him, because he’s happy with simple things, and, more importantly, he’s happy as long as he can continue to support his friends -- and receive support from them in return. Said drama CD includes him relating a long narrative about how, after initially being unsure of what to do, he took all of the little pieces of information and suggestions he got from his friends extremely seriously, even when they didn’t think much of what they were doing or saying at the time -- in short, Daisuke’s life really does involve appreciating and loving his friends.

This is important to consider in light of the fact that the 02 group is cut out for a very different future from their seniors’ -- again, look at the difference between Taichi’s eventual future of “history-making diplomat” and Daisuke’s of “ramen shop owner”. Even when you take into account the whole success story of his shop becoming a chain (which, knowing him, may well have been by accident), as far as world-shattering impact goes, the most influence Daisuke is ever going to have with that career is in regards to food. But this ties into the fact that Daisuke really is that kind of person, someone who’s more community-oriented and sensitive about bringing happiness to the people around him more than he’s capable of aiming for the abstract, whereas Taichi is the kind of person who is much more ambitious and able to enact larger impact over more usually disparate groups of people, even if it means not necessarily having the same type of support group Daisuke has.

And, on a larger scale, it ties into the reason why 02 group is so easily tied at the hip despite their seniors so clearly drifting apart -- it’s baked into the difference between their dynamic and their seniors’ dynamic. The Adventure group is comprised of the kind of people who shoot for individual achievement and self-affirmation over all else, but the 02 group is somewhat dependent on each other for support. As I’ve said before in the relevant meta, this isn’t fundamentally a bad thing -- it ties more into how they choose to live and what they want to prioritize, and as far as the 02 group goes, Daisuke’s priority of mutually supporting his friends ties into the overall group’s priority of valuing their relationships to each other over necessarily shooting for high individual achievement, and finding their own happiness that way.

It’s also interesting to think about why Taichi has his goggles back by the beginning of the movie, meaning that, at some point, Daisuke gave them back to him and started wearing the orange sunglasses we see him with for its duration. Of course, Taichi having the goggles is for meta reasons, since there’s a lot of symbolism associated with Adventure itself and Taichi’s past association with it, as well as its own connection to his past...

But it’s also interesting to consider the fact that even as early as 2003, Daisuke was considering passing the goggles on to someone else. (They’ll eventually end up owned by his own son, but you can imagine the trail of who passed it to whom at what time for yourself.) The same drama CD track implies heavily that Daisuke initially wore his own pair of goggles specifically for the sake of emulating Taichi as “the person who had the power to protect everyone”. Taichi passing his own pair onto him was proof that Daisuke was now worthy of accepting that power and becoming capable of his own courage.

Yet by 2003, Daisuke already considered himself confident enough in said abilities to be willing to pass them onto someone else. You can imagine the circumstances of why he decided to give them back to Taichi for the time being (perhaps he noticed Taichi slipping into an existential crisis?), but the point is that while the goggles still have symbolic meaning, Daisuke’s capable of carving his own path and figuring out what he wants to do without needing to use the exact same thing Taichi did. Instead of chasing after someone else for it, he managed to find his own strengths within himself, and thus, ends up finding happiness in a very different way than Taichi does.

[wildborn-witch]

“There are tales spoken in hushed whispers, beyond the ears of the Emperor’s Coven, about a tribe of witches who were bonded to spirits—mystical beings born of wild magic. An ancient race they were, said to have been the first children of the Titan when it fell. Taking the form of beasts, they had the ability to heal and speak to the Isles, calling upon its natural power. These gifts they shared with the witches, who took their name in gratitude, and together, they and their descendants settled near the Heart, wishing to live in harmony with the wilderness and their ancestor.’ 

“Centuries passed, and eventually their neighbors came to wield magic of their own, sparking a new age of discovery. In this time, the original covens were formed, each following one of nine disciplines, yet they all recognized the ancient tribe as the first masters. On their part, the tribe stayed distant from the others, though anyone willing to learn from them was welcomed among their ranks.’

“Everything changed, however, with the coming of the Savage Ages. Chaos reigned, and conflict and unrest divided the land until a new figure arose: a mysterious witch who called himself Belos. Claiming to be an emissary of the Titan, he vowed to bring unity to the Isles, insisting that unbound magic only brought disorder. One by one, the nine covens bowed to his teachings, but the ancient tribe resisted—they saw him for what he truly was, and would not give up the old ways. Their defiance led to their destruction, as Belos and his coven hunted them all down until, at last, only their chief remained. Accused of high treason, he was sentenced to petrification, frozen in stone as Belos took the title of Emperor over the Boiling Isles.’

“It has been thirty years since the tribe’s extinction, and the spirits have fallen silent, fading into myth and legend. But nothing lasts forever, for a new awakening has begun. The old ways will be found once more, and in time, the Isles will see the return of…’

To those who have followed me already on both this blog and my main account, I want to thank you all so much for your patience and continued interest as this has taken shape. To those who are here for the first time, my name is Drekasál, and I’m proud to announce the official master post and FAQ for the Wildborn AU!

I intend to update this as often as possible as I continue to work on new pieces—both artistic and literary—as well as answer whatever questions that may come up in the future, but for now, I figure the basics would be good to start with, first and foremost being…

What is the Wildborn AU?

The Wildborn AU is my personal contribution to The Owl House fandom, centering around my witchsona Tristan O’Connor who is its main protagonist. Taking place after the events of Season 1, it explores my own take on the history of magic on the Isles by introducing the Wildborn—a tribe of ancient witches bonded to powerful spirits of the same name.

Lore

Originating from days long before the Savage Ages, the Wildborn came into being when the Titan first fell, and hold great power over the Isles’ primordial forces. Reflecting their wild natures, their spiritual forms take on the form of beasts, both mythical and mundane.

In the past, the spirits had a rocky relationship with the early witches, whom had not evolved bile-sacs yet and thus relied on harnessing the wild magic of the Isles through glyphs. At some point in history, however, a young witch from an ancient tribe formed a Bond with the Thunderbird, the first of the spirits and their guardian. After that, the two groups grew closer, with more witches and spirits  forming Bonds with each other, eventually becoming the Wildborn tribe. Harnessing the power of their spirits, the Wildborn witches did not need to rely on glyphs, and those pairs who developed strong Bonds could Merge to become a new being, a reflection of the spirit’s beast form combined with the traits of their witch.

Regarded as the first masters of wild magic, the tribe was well-respected for centuries, even as other witches eventually evolved bile-sacs and formed the original covens. Tragically, that came to an end during the Savage Ages, which saw the appearance of Emperor Belos and his enforcement of the coven system. Seeing the Wildborn as untamable and a threat to his teachings, he ordered for their persecution, hunting them down and forbidding any mention of them, until at last it seemed they had been wiped out. But the tales still persist, and the spirits live on, waiting for the day their Guardian will return, and restore balance to the Isles...

Inspiration

This AU draws inspiration from both Wolfwalkers and Brother Bear, both of which are beautifully animated movies, but the latter especially I consider a criminally underrated Disney movie. Wolfwalkers mainly inspired the Hellhounds, the secondary group of characters in the AU, but both movies played a part in developing the Wildborn themselves, particularly their powers and portrayal as animal spirits.

The Characters

Tristan O’Connor - Protagonist in the Wildborn AU. He is a faun witchling enrolled in the Beast Keeping tract at Hexside School of Magic and Demonics. Shy yet kind, he has a deep love of nature and the wild, though it is a passion he has been forced to curb up until now due to the rigidity of the coven system. It is revealed later on that he is Bonded to the spirit Anam, making him the first living Wildborn to exist in thirty years.

Aedh - Deuteragonist in the Wildborn AU. He is a member of the Hellhounds, a pack of wolf-like fire elementals who live hidden beneath the Titan’s skull. Daring and adventurous, he doesn’t have the same bitterness against witches like his elders, having not been born during the time of their persecution, and he welcomes Tristan warmly as a friend. He proves vital in helping the witchling adjust to his Wildborn powers, teaching him how to be a Hellhound when he is Merged with Anam.

Anam - Tritagonist in the Wildborn AU. He is Tristan’s Wildborn spirit, originally being the soul of a Hellhound pup born with “too little fire”. As the AU progresses, it is discovered that he is Aedh’s younger brother and littermate, thus making Tristan, through his Bond with Anam, Aedh’s spiritual brother and and a member of the pack.

Tuft - Supporting character in the Wildborn AU. He is Tristan’s pet griffin, getting his name from his tufted ears uncommon to his kind. A frequent companion of the witchling, he is fiercely loyal and protective, accompanying him on his adventures in the wilderness.

Eleri O’Connor - Supporting character in the Wildborn AU. She is Tristan’s mother and a member of Bard Coven, stated to be well-respected as a master of her craft. She is shown to be a caring and loving parent, though she constantly worries about her son, partly due to her frequent absence in the household, as well as her fear that Tristan might never fit in and suffer for it. Although she is Adar’s daughter, she is not Wildborn herself, having never Bonded with a spirit.

Adar O’Connor/The Thunderbird - Supporting character(s) in the Wildborn AU. Adar O’Connor is Eleri’s father and Tristan’s grandfather, and was the last great chief Bonded to the Thunderbird before the extinction of the Wildborn tribe. When Adar was sentenced to petrification, the Thunderbird permanently Merged with him to save his life, and they act as guides to Tristan and his allies as the AU unfolds.

Arduinna “Rina” Ward - TBA

Arwain the Seeress - TBA

This list will be updated as new characters are developed and added!

Are the main cast of The Owl House involved?

Yes, actually! Their roles are still being developed, but I do intend for Luz to play an important part in this AU, given her rediscovery and usage of glyph magic, and she becomes one of Tristan’s close allies. Eleri herself has had interactions/relationships with Eda and Lilith in the past, when they were attending Hexside together as teenagers.

Is this an open AU? (Can anyone participate/make connections?)

I definitely wish for the Wildborn AU to be as open-ended as possible, as I love making potential connections with the stories/characters of other creators in the fandom. Fair warning, however, that this AU is still in constant development, so things are liable to change! Don’t be afraid to reach out if you have ideas you want to run by me!

Is fanart/fan fiction allowed?

Y E S. Fanworks are 1001% allowed and would honestly make me the happiest person ever ;;V;;

Master List

Eye of the Storm - Lore of the Thunderbird.

No Mercy - Hellhound lore

Reassurance - Aedh welcomes Tristan

Locked or Free - 100+ follower Instagram DTIYS

One Being - Tristan describes the Merge

Dumb Animal - Tristan and Aedh encounter Boscha’s gang at the Knee

Tristan’s Beast Form - Reference sheet

Forces of Nature - Wildborn lore

The Thunderbird - Official model sheet

Adar Concept Art

Hellhound Reference

The Last Wildborn - Official banner

Healing - Gift art/animation for @sobsinfrench​

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If you have any more questions for me, don’t be afraid to submit an ask, and my inbox is open if you want to reach out to me directly! I also post artwork and occasional updates to my main blog @drekasal​, so be sure to follow me there as well! Thank you all so much for reading through this, and have a wonderful day!