#hopefully this reaches its intended audience

[leillorien]

fell for the oldest trick in the book 🤦‍♂️

long time no post! i’m currently in the middle of my annual lotr rewatch and i can just never resist these two <3

#lotr #lord of the rings #legolas #gimli son of gloin #legolas x gimli #gigolas #i don’t think i’ll ever get the hang of tagging things here #hopefully this reaches its intended audience #trying to remember to post here…. #my art #okay byeeeeee

[blueraineshadows]

MC x Ominis Gaunt

Midnight Melody

( GN fluff SFW)

No amount of tossing and turning was going to make the bed any more comforting, in fact, the sheets were now twisted about MC's legs and the pillow just wasn't sitting right at all. Behind closed eyelids came the haunting, flashing images of spell casting flashing through the dark, bodies laying face down in the dirt, rough voices carrying threats echoed in their ears. There was a tightness in MC's chest. No matter how many times they delivered death, it just never got any easier.

With a sigh of defeat, MC untangled themselves from the bed sheets and padded softly across the worn rug of the dormitory floor. Bare foot and in thin, cotton pyjamas, MC shivered as they followed the metal grating towards the Slytherin common room. The thought of a warm cup of cocoa and a roaring fire quickened their steps. Hopefully the common room would be deserted at this ungodly hour, but as MC neared the steps, the soft sounds of the piano reached their ears.

MC paused in the central room, the lure of the fire was tempting, but the delicate melody drifting from the other end of the room proved more intriguing. MC tiptoed carefully towards the sound, peering around the corner to where the piano stood and held their breath. There seated before the instrument was Ominis Gaunt, his pale, slender fingers dancing delicately along the keys.

The melody was soft, melancholy, and it seemed to swirl around MC, luring them in until nothing else seemed to matter. The tension in MCs chest began to loosen, replaced by an ache that they didn't understand. Standing there in the chilled room, the muted light chasing shadows of the ever shifting black lake through the windows, the music shrouded MC with a loneliness that seemed to swallow them whole.

The weight of the trials, the Keepers, this Ancient Magic that swirled with vigor through their veins, it all pressed down on MC. Almost 16 and a killer, wanted by dark wizards and goblin kind, weighed down by so much and yet, through it all, MC burned with the need to prove themselves. They ached with the need to be something, to mean something. Otherwise, it was all for nothing.

Ominis sat with a straight back, he was graceful, as always, his chin angled at that perfectly haughty tilt. MC lingered, watching him, wanting so much to take a step forward, but holding back. Ominis had been cold with them, suspicious of MC's motives towards Sebastian, angered at the time they spent together. MC never intended to push wedges between them, but at the same time, was not prepared to apologise for their friendship with Sebastian. If anything, MC wished for the opportunity to get to know Ominis better. The Gaunt family must have untold dark secrets and skeletons hidden away, and curiosity always got the better of MC. But it was the aura of something dark, something haunting that attracted MC more than anything. MC figured they weren't the only one who was kept awake by painful, lonely ghosts.

Ominis paused, his head tilting to one side, hands resting lightly on the keys. Silence descended upon the room and MC fancied they could hear the thuds of their heartbeat echoing off the stone walls.

"It would appear I have an audience," he said coolly. "I don't play for others, just for myself."

MC swallowed. "I...I'm sorry. Its just the music...it was so beautiful." Feeling foolish, MC twisted their fingers around the hem of their pyjama top. "I will leave you in peace, again, my apologies."

"Wait," Ominis said. He hadn't raised his voice, but it sounded like a command all the same. He beckoned with a pale hand. "I know that voice. Come closer, MC."

MC hesitated before padding softly towards the piano. Ominis patted the bench beside where he sat. "If you must listen, do it here rather than skulking in the corner."

MC stood and eyed the small bench, then Ominis. That was awfully close. The corner of Ominis' mouth twitched upwards. "Come now, I don't bite."

MC shivered and moved to sit on the seat. One so pale as Ominis was, it led one to imagine that he would feel cold to the touch, but MC found that warmth radiated from him. Their thighs brushed a little, the thin cotton of MCs pyjama bottoms no barrier against the warm flesh of his leg through his trousers.

"Do you play?" He asked.

"Not even a little," MC sighed. "I envy anyone who can play."

"You could always learn. You appear to be a fast learner, and then there is your stubborn streak when it comes to getting things just so."

MC stared open mouthed. His eyes glittered in the shadows, the ghost of a smirk playing on his lips. "Come now, tell me what you'd like me to play. Perhaps I can chase the shadows back a little."

MC almost gasped aloud. It was like he had seen into their thoughts. MC pressed both hands between their thighs as if in a prayer, feeling nervous all of a sudden. What if he did bite?

"What you were playing before, I quite liked it," MC said carefully.

"Awfully melancholy though, don't you think?" He said. "Perhaps something a little lighter?"

"Oh, I don't know, "MC said shyly. They looked around the deserted common room. "Melancholy seems to be rather apt right now."

Ominis looked thoughtful as he smoothed his finger tips over the ivory keys. "Hmm, as you wish."

He began to play again and MC watched. Not his hands on the keys, although the fluidity of his movement was beautiful, no, MC watched his face. The emotion playing out across his fine boned features was beautiful in a different way. It brought a pang to MCs heart to realise that Ominis had no idea what he looked like, he had no idea how captivating he was lost in this moment. Entranced by both music, and him, MC was unaware of how close they had leaned towards Ominis, caught in his gravity.

Ominis played to the end, took his hands from the keys and sat there quietly as if waiting.

"You are a gifted player, Ominis," MC said softly, breaking the silence. "Thank you for letting me share it."

He inclined his head in acknowledgement. He had the most beautifully shaped lips. "You're welcome."

MC shifted on the bench, suddenly too aware of the press of his thigh, his warmth. A flush coloured their cheeks. "I should go and try to get some sleep," MC mumbled. They made to stand, but long fingers reached to clasp their wrist, the grip cool and firm.

"We got off to an unfortunate start, you and I", he said. "I regret that."

"As do I"

Ominis nodded. "Well, if it should interest you, I will be here again tomorrow night. Perhaps I can play for you again."

MCs breath hitched a little. "That would interest me very much."

His lips twitched a little, lifting in the corners. The pad of his thumb swept across the inside of MCs wrist. "Let me be clear. This isn't something I extend for just anyone. Come alone, don't even mention it to Sebastian."

"Then, why me?" MC held their breath.

He turned his head towards them, his eyes eerily meeting theirs as if he could see right into MCs soul. "Indeed," he whispered. His grip on their wrist subtly tightened for an instant before he gently let them go. "Until tomorrow then."

"Good night, Ominis." MC stood and moved to touch him on the shoulder but stopped, swallowing hard. What had just happened here? The thought was almost too much to answer, so MC turned and padded quickly away. Cocoa and comforting fire forgotten, they hurried back to their twisted bed sheets. The tightness had returned to their chest, but it was a different kind of tightness. It was more like expectation now.

Burying their face into the pillow, MC tried not to think of graceful hands and beautiful lips, the warmth of thigh against thigh and a melody so haunting it hurt. Tomorrow night felt a long way away, but the anticipation was sweet enough, that MC found a smile in the darkness.

There is now a part 2 to this little fiction. Thank you x

#hogwarts legacy fanfic #ominis gaunt #ominis x mc #slytherin mc #ominis imagine #ominis gaunt x mc

[devilbombers]

very old sketch but im still so mad abt nobody on twitter laughing at this so hopefully it reaches its intended audience here

#EVERYONE BLOWS UP ALL MY OTHER UNFUNNY ART BUT THE ONE TIME I THINK ITS REALLY FUNNY NO ONE CARES #hate yall #nier #nier replicant #sketches

[shinakazami1]

Honestly I'm so sorry about how you were treated this past while, I can sympathizes with u cause something similar happened to me like 3 years ago too with a bigger audience. Its unfortunate alot of ppl take things at face value and never looks deeper into things, you didn't deserve to be treated like that and hopefully after some time you'll gain some trust back that the fandom broke with you. I wouldn't blame you if you are furious at some people. When I first saw it I didn't even realize you had more socials besides AO3 (very dumb of me ik lol,, also I love your "a good luck charm" fic sm it makes me naw at my enclosure) and was BAFFLED at the accusations with the lack of proof, and I really wish more people thought like that too, but alas people follow blindly. You definitely did everything right, taking accountability of your mistakes and fixing them. I wish you the best and hope the rest of this year treats you softly and warm <3 if you ever wanna just scream and let out some of those built up emotions u probably have dont be afraid to reach out cause ill be like those drunk bitches at a party who back u tf up<<333

Thank you for coming here. I'm glad you can enjoy that work - Since my collab partner left the fandom, I have been having a hard time returning to it but I do hope to give Good Luck Charm justice :]

I don't really know if I want the trust of people who chose to judge without any proof but, I know they got the information from a figure many look up to.

I do know my trust for them had gotten smaller. The effects of everything on me isn't exactly something many considered - during the whole thing, I couldn't eat for several days and had gotten sick for a few weeks. But I didn't intend to really inform folks openly about it as my health was not important in the moment and certainly I wouldn't want to seem I use it to get pity. I really didn't want yes men in all this, I wanted folks to at least listen to the actual proof of what did happen.

I do feel my privacy was never respected, as stated otherwise by them. If that were the case - this would have been discussed privately and details would have been ironed. And with how many people got involved due to being pinged in the server, I feel it should have accounted by people who in charge. While in the end it seemed to have been discussed - I feel it was a bit too late. And the responsibility wasn't taken in the other side.

Had I done well with my response to the situation? I think so, but I don't know if some things couldn't have been some better but I certainly don't want to have round two to figure that out.

But thank you kindly, for your support. It truly means a lot.

And even if I'm angry at many people who kept silence - I get it, to some extend. But I'm most glad for those who did decide to break it, like you.

Thank you for the wishes, hope the same for you!

#Ask #Wasterfeathers #I gotta finally return to writing but studying takes a lot of brain space dhdhhdhe #But that's neither here or there #Thank you for reaching out #Drama thing #Idk if I Tag it like that or not

[hanzajesthanza]

a collection of some thoughts and anxieties around creating witcher books content in the same space of the games and netflix adaptations 🤔

its difficult to be a fan of the witcher books that deliberately creates and share books-only content (meaning content that’s not interexchangable with or cannot be mistaken for games and netflix content, or content that cannot be understood by with games-only and netflix-only fans) because the books fandom is much smaller, and for that reason it feels like you’re doing something “wrong” if you make books-only content, because the amount of interaction will also be much smaller than if you created or shared games and netflix content.

it’s difficult to see the amount of interaction you’re receiving in a proportional manner, since the term “witcher” is now applied to many different mediums with fanbases that widely vary in size. netflix-witcher or game-witcher posts can reach over 100,000 or 10,000 notes, and books-witcher posts just do not have that kind of audience — if you reach 1,000 on a books-witcher post, that’s an amazing, “viral” amount, and 100 is already an “i’d like to thank the academy” type of honor. but if you go from making games content to books content and the number of people interacting with your post drops, it’s not due to the quality of your work degrading — it’s due to the number of ‘people who are familiar with what your work is about’ dropping.

another difficult part is that creating content about the books is that it almost has a different timespan to it, on both sides, first of the fan creating the content — the “bigger” projects at least — requires careful thought, planning, mulling over, fact-checking, detail-checking… even the smallest doodles can get really deep into the canon content, and book fans tend to enjoy that.

this is of course not always the case, as we have memes, funny textposts, and fun little 5-minute “i was bored at work” type doodles which get passed around. but the books have a lot of material to check with, and for fans working on something “bigger,” this takes more time — for instance, there are no canonical visual designs generated for the characters and settings of the books, so a books-only fan who is interested in drawing characters in a scene from the books cannot reference a visual to create their designs (unless taking from official art or other fans’ designs). they will instead typically (hopefully?) reread the passages in which these characters and settings are described. same goes for fanfictions, doubly so if you value being canon-compliant, in-character, and using canonical places, descriptions, and names. and also for “meta” type posts or analysis.

and this is really because a lot of the fans of the books do care about canon, want to dive into and deconstruct and discuss what is canon, the parts of the books we love. a majority of fans of the books are likely not willing to fudge the details and make it all up, they want to do something by the books that they love. that’s why we’re here in the first place.

due to the long time it tends to take to create a books fanwork, that also leads to another anxiety about not producing enough fancontent for the books, when really the work you put in is just leading up to a “bigger” project, so it’s unfeasible to post a completed work every day. (i’m not saying this is the problem of only fans of the witcher books, i’m aware of the hellish way in which the internet treats creators and artists, but for me personally, i feel like this anxiety is tied to being a fan of the books as opposed to being a fan of the games or netflix).

and on the other side of things, of the fans appreciating the fanmade content. a majority of books-witcher fancontent lives for years in fans of the books minds, since there is not this constant churning of new content. my visual memory remembers artwork from five+ years ago because it means so much to me. these works are NOT intended to disappear forever once you post them. moreso, they become part of an archive of fanworks (indeed, scattered across various websites, but…)

this all, of course, varies widely by personal inclinations and the internet sites you tend to engage with the fandom on, but the major trend which i have seen is that the fans of the books experience time in the fandom in longer spans — in “fan lifespans”: how long you’re engaged with (or obsessed with) the media at hand, in “content lifespans”: how long content is valued, remembered, shared, in “content time”: how long content runs for (relevant to time-based mediums like, a tiktok vs a long video essay), and more…

and because of all of the above, perhaps the most difficult thing to see is that sincere joy and passion of the fans of the books who are just so obsessed with whatever you’ve just created or shared.

with all of this being said, i think we have to stop comparing ourselves to the games-witcher fandom and the netflix-witcher fandom. the books are not the same thing and the fans do not have the same fanculture.

so to all fans of the witcher books who create books-only content:

you’re doing just fine.

know that the other fans have your back and understand the “research,” “big project,” “long-form” method of creating fanwork. novigrad wasn’t built in a day, and good things take time.

the work that goes “unseen” is part of your own personal journey as a fan and can be a really valuable experience of getting closer to the books, so don’t feel the need to rush it for the sake of getting new things to the other fans. just have fun and enjoy taking your time :)

#posts written standing in the frame my bedroom doorway just in the spur of the moment #txt #the witcher books

[respectthepetty]

Reading the (Visual) Rainbow 101

Lesson 8 - Recap

Because I get so many asks about colors, I decided the best way to celebrate Pride is to educate anyone who is interested in how to better Read the (Visual) Rainbow and simultaneously allow myself to appreciate queer media.

Well, we have finally reached the end of these lessons, and now it's time to review what we have learned. But before we begin, I want to thank the thirty-some-odd people who showed up twice a week. You're cool kids, and I appreciate you. Hopefully, you learned a thing or two, and if not, at least I provided something nice to look at.

Let the recap begin!

Lesson 1 - Visual Rhetoric [Rainbow]

In the first lesson, we learned the basics of rhetoric, which is the art of persuasion. To figure out what the media (text, show, film) wants to persuade us of, we must look at the rhetorical situation such as who is the creator, who is the intended audience, what is the purpose of the piece, what is the argument, and what is the tone, as well as other points. We must also figure out which rhetorical appeals the creator is using to persuade us: our emotions (pathos), with logic (logos), or through credibility (ethos).

Much like the first lesson where we applied these concepts to Eugene Lee Yang colorful "I'm Gay" video, we are going to walk through all of these lessons for Lil Nas X and Jack Harlow's "Industry Baby" music video to see how much knowledge we gathered through our time reading the visual rainbow.

Lesson 2 - Colors [Red]

We stepped into the red for our second lesson with Jessie Ware's "Free Yourself," Sam Smith & Kim Petras's "Unholy," and Troye Sivan's "My, My, My" and learned about colors. We covered the basics of color theory, color psychology, and color symbolism. Color theory looked at ways we can combine and mix colors for different visual situations by using hues, tints, shades, and tones, while color psychology taught us how colors are connected to humans' emotions and behavior. We used both to see how colors are used as symbols which is known as color symbolism.

Applying this lesson to our example video, we notice mainly pink with some red and purple tints (blended with white) mixed in.

Using color theory, we know the lighting is brighter and they are more warm colors. Color psychology tells us that these are happier hues and normally associated with femininity. The symbolic value of the colors could be establishing the lighter tone of the video and possibly commenting on gender and masculinity.

Lesson 3 - Other Visuals [Orange]

The third lesson moved into the orange with George Michael's "Freedom" and Hayley Kiyoko's "She" to examine how objects provide metaphor, metonymy, and meaning. For example, clothing, posters, signs, and books can all provide additional information about the piece's purpose as well as represent a larger abstract idea.

In the example video, we notice Lil Nas X in his jail cell polishing his Grammy Awards for "Old Town Road", fixing his framed multi-platinum record for "Montero (Call Me By Your Name)", and walking past a poster for his 2021 performance at the BET Awards.

We should note that all of these objects were points of controversy in the rapper's career. "Old Town Road" was removed from country lists for not being country enough, which prompted multi-platinum country singer Billy Ray Cyrus to join the song. The song ended up wining several awards including two Grammy Awards and was nominated for Best Record of the Year. His music video for "Montero (Call Me By Your Name)" titled after himself and the queer film of the same name caused a ruckus due to its explicit queer themes which some believed to be harmful messages. His performance at the 2021 Awards caused the same issues due to his on-stage kiss with one of his male dancers.

Once again, all deal with controversy regarding the rapper's queerness and societal norms/labels, so the music video is making a statement about these concepts. The title of the song is also stylized in all caps ("INDUSTRY BABY") as if shouting the artists are new generation of show business.

Lesson 4 - Barriers & Boundaries [Yellow]

For the third lesson, we danced in yellow with Silvy in "Queen" and Joel Corry x MNEK in "Head & Heart" to see how external barriers and boundaries are shown to demonstrate internal emotional disconnect between characters. An object between two characters, different background colors, lines on windows, doors, bridges, and much more could serve as visual barriers. People could even be a barrier between characters. We also looked at how other objects can serve as boundaries such as bars showing oppression, and levels and steps demonstrating power dynamics.

Because the example video is located in a prison, we see plenty of bars.

Yet strangely enough, the rapper nor his collaborator, Jack Harlow, are kept behind them. If they are shown behind bars, the doors are open, they are walking around them, or the gates are opening. As much as people want to oppress them, the men are free to walk and dance around as they please, and aren't at odds with each other since there are no barriers between them.

Lesson 5 - Group Effort (Go Team Go!) [Rainbow]

For the fifth lesson, we had to call on some rainbow friends in The Internet's "Come Over," Bob the Drag Queen's "Gay Barz," Saucy Santana x Latto's "Booty," and Scissor Sisters' "She's My Man" to see how a group of people helps the leads reinforce the story's purpose. If each character has their own color, it shows that a group effort is needed to accomplish the goal. If a main character wears the same color as the rest of the characters, he belongs to the group. But if the lead is wearing a different color than all the rest of the characters, he is independent from the group or being ostracized. If the two main characters are wearing light and dark clothing, the story might be about balance.

The rapper and his accomplice both wear the pink prison uniforms, so they fit in with the entire group. However, both the rappers take off their shirts to distinguish that they are different from the rest who remain fully clothed.

The only outliers to the group are the prison guards who wear black uniforms. However, it is shown that both prison guards lust after the leads and are depicted as the repressed characters contained to single rooms, while the pink prisoners are more sexually and physically free.

Lesson 6 - Cultural Awareness [Green & Blue]

The sixth lesson required we sit in the green and blue to gain cultural literacy as we viewed Avicii's "Silhouettes" and Bad Bunny's "Yo Perreo Sola." We had to understand that in order to learn about some of the visuals we were seeing, we had to understand the culture from which they came, and we had to move away from ethnocentrism which is assessing other cultures based on our own culture's expectations.

Although the video is American, which most of us are culturally included it, the video has several American, Black, and queer culturally references.

The video begins with Lil Nas X being sent to prison for essentially the crime of being gay, but the case alludes to his real life legal issues with Nike after releasing a "Satan Shoe" even though the company had no issue with the previous released "Jesus Shoe." The obvious references are to the films Escape from Alcatraz and The Shawshank Redemption which both deal with (innocent) men being sent to prison and being treated unfairly. The video also includes Colton Haynes, an actor in the very popular Teen Wolf and Arrow, who was forced to go back into the closet due to Hollywood's expectations of action stars.

Lesson 7 - It Could All Mean Nothing [Purple & Pink]

Finally, we landed in the purple and pink and learned about the use of literary criticism and critical media studies, so we could find the best ways to analyze media such as Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande's "Rain on Me" video. We had to come to terms with the fact that some visuals don't enhance the narrative, but we also recognized that although they don't matter to the story, they still provide information about the rhetorical situation.

The example video features mostly black men in the prison which is reflective of America's disproportionate and unjust incarceration rate of Black men. The rapper had previously made comments about the Black community's denial of homosexuality after his 2021 BET Awards performance, so the open displays of Black queerness were a cultural note as well, but don't necessarily shape the video's purpose.

Jack Harlow wears a KY necklace but that merely tells us he is from Kentucky, while Lil Nas X receives a book about aligning his chakras with a secret tool hidden in it. The book could be symbolic of him restoring balance, but it doesn't hinder the narrative if we don't understand it.

Lesson 8 - Recap: A Full Circle! [Pink -> Red]

In this lesson, we ended where we began - dissecting a video from an openly queer artist for its visual rhetoric as we move through the colors of the rainbow.

Gathering all of our elements, we can come to the conclusion that the rapper's message was one about not conforming to the music industry's standards regardless of the punishment, mostly in regards to queerness. That message was explicit, but the minor visuals we noticed along the way reinforced this message.

Because that's what visual do.

So if you learned anything from these lessons, let it be that visuals support the narrative so we can have a better understanding of the overall message.

Now be free on this hellsite!

Happy Pride!

All the video examples were by queer artists or focused on queer themes, and all the visual examples came from various countries' BLs. If you have any videos or visuals you know that include examples of the concepts covered in these lessons, please feel free to share them with me, so I can add them to my always-growing collection.

Once again, I greatly appreciate everyone who showed up for this journey through visual rhetoric and queer media, and my parting gift on this last day of Pride is one final activity.

Activity

To celebrate our four-week educational adventure coming to a close, I would like you to watch Tegan and Sara's "Closer" and simply enjoy it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9e9NSMY8QiQ

#Reading the (Visual) Rainbow #lesson eight - recap

[ichayalovesyou]

The Needs of The Many

The First Servant, COVID-19, Pike, Spock, and SNW’s Overarching Themes

So, yesterday’s episode of Strange New Worlds was very… heavy.

Strange New Worlds overarching themes this far have been fate, perspective, and sacrifice.

Even the audience knowing who lives and who dies based on having seen TOS actually SERVES that narrative! Uhura, Spock, Chapel, M’benga, even Pike, they have no idea that they can’t die until after TOS and it’s films. While Samuel Kirk has no idea he’s going to die by the end of TOS’s first season. They don’t know, but we do, and even then, crazy things could still happen. Nothing is set in stone, nothing is exactly as it appears.

The pilot’s most blatant message is that the future is what we make it. That we can choose whether we live (warp drive) or die (warp bomb). As well as that growth can be found even in the most inhospitable and unknowable environments like the vacuum of space.

Children of the Comet declares that just because we know something will happen, doesn’t mean it’ll do so in the way we expect. Whether or not it will br at immense cost to ourselves is undefined (Mahanit does not perish destroying Persephone 3 thanks to Enterprise’s intervention).

The Ghosts of Illyria establishes life after being forcibly changed shape, and the message we leave behind when we go where others cannot follow. What appeared monsterous was only there to help the crew survive what they themselves did not. It also establishes Rukiya, who in some ways is going through something similar to Pike. Instead through the outside perspective and grief of Dr. M’Benga, her father who is desperately trying to save her life, sacrificing much in doing so.

Memento Mori celebrates a Starfleet holiday where those who were killed in action are remembered, and La’an takes her first steps toward actually acknowledging her grief over what happened to her and her family on the Puget Sound at the hands of the Gorn. We also get Hemmer’s Aenarian perspective on death, and Uhura being uncertain what her purpose is in the face of it.

Spock Amok forcibly changes Spock and T’Pring’s perspectives on each other’s lives through an accidental body swap. The R’Ongovians are won over to the side of the Federation by Pike using their own radical empathy tactic. Neither Spock or T’Pring’s lives, or the R’Ongovians, are what they appeared to be to the other side.

Now, Lift Us Where Suffering Cannot Reach, asks us whether the sacrifice of a small child enduring a slow and painful death at the hands of a machine beyond its creators’ comprehension is worth the comfort and stability of an entire civilization.

In this case, do the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the one?

In this particular case, I think the answer is no.

I believe this will profoundly change how Pike perceives his own, seemingly, inevitable sacrifice and the reasons that he does it for. I think with every passing episode of Strange New Worlds, it’s going to prepare him for that moment in its own unique way. Hopefully, by the time he reaches it, he will be sacrificing himself with a sound heart and mind (which is something he does not have right now but we’ll get into that later).

If we can extrapolate from the dialogue and facts of the episode, Magellus isn’t at all the enlightened utopia that it pretends it is. The guard that Alora kills calls their society a hell. They refuse to help others in need with their technology, including colonies of their own desperate people. The blood of generations of small children is on the hands of everyone who is complicit in The Ascension of The First Servant. The whole thing is very Those Who Walk Away From Omelas by Ursula K LeGuin. At least in this case, those who are walking away (namely, The First Servant’s father) intend on returning with reinforcements.

All I can think of is our culture’s attitude toward front line essential workers and disabled people even now as the pandemic rages on. How our culture and our government is so desperate to return to a sense of “normalcy” that in the US we have the highest rate of COVID-19 deaths in the world to date.

Our normal was never good, and in our insistence to return to it, immunocompromised people die in droves, the comorbidity of being a minority, for the greater “good” of our civilization. The victims are in the minority, and no matter how much we call it a noble sacrifice to our sense of normalcy or our economy, it is unprecedented, horrendous, and worst of all unnecessary. Most of all because the people who die from COVID don’t choose to, just like raffling off a child to become The First Servant. They don’t consent to their deaths, the society that sustains the bloody cycle does.

It is not the minority that should be sacrificing itself, but the majority that should change so that everyone can live, no deaths required. Whatever the discomfort may be, it’s better than the alternative. The Magellans could leave their city, their so-called paradise if they really cared that a child had to be murdered every few years to sustain their way of life. But they do not and have not, and may never unless a great unrest takes place.

Now how does all of this apply to Pike’s journey?

I keep mulling over in my head the key similarities and differences in the Magellan edict and Pike’s mantra from Through The Valley of Shadows.

Science, Servitude and Sacrifice VS Service, Sacrifice, Compassion, and Love

What the Magellans lack that Pike (and in turn the Federation) does not is the additions of compassion and love. Which is why the First Servant’s sacrifice is in vain, as it is to a unloving and unsustainable culture. It is also, ironically, what Pike lacks regarding, not other people, but himself.

It’s something we have seen him struggle with since the very beginning, as in The Cage. As in Dr. Boyce saying “damnit Chris you treat everyone on board like a human being except yourself!” When he says he serves the living and the dying, he is absolutely referring to Chris, who lives like he’s dying.

Pike, like many other captains we know, has a serious Martyr/God complex. He’s depressed on an existential level, he is looking for reasons worth dying for rather than for reasons to live. He’s even treating his eventual disability like death so he doesn’t have to think about living! Even though he will very much still be alive after the radiation takes his voice and mobility away from him. “If I don’t save them who will? If I don’t die for a cause who will? Surely, I am the only person who can do this, this is the only way I can do this, and there’s no unforeseen consequences to this action I’ve yet to take! Sounds convenient!”

He’s clinging to terminal deadlines because he doesn’t want to think about the future, the real future, the one he’s a part of. He’s constantly, constantly looking for a good enough reason to die so that the people who love him will stop arguing with him about it. Pike is using his paragon of martyrdom persona and his captaincy to hide that he is incredibly depressed. He doesn’t want a future that he can’t imagine, so he’s decided it’s going to end with the only answer he’s received, regardless of it’s context.

He puts very, very little value on his own life. Constantly hurling himself into immediate danger throughout his time on Discovery, out of guilt and out of principle, and out of his own unaddressed emotional struggles. I think the only reason he’s (mostly) stopped doing that in Strange New Worlds is that he is holding out for the big one. He has to live so he can “die” later. He’s got “I give my life for you” down pat, has learned to tolerate “you give your life for me” but severely lacks in “nobody gets left behind.”

Spock ends up following this pattern too under a veneer of logic, and as much as both of these characters preach that the needs of the many outweigh their own, and that that mantra holds truth and nobility to it, that doesn’t mean they aren’t worthy of saving as well.

Spock puts himself at great risk to ensure Pike lives a full life in The Menagerie (messy/problematic metaphors aside), Kirk and the Enterprise crew risk their lives to bring Spock back from the dead in The Search for Spock. Nobody gets left behind, the needs of the few motivate the many to change themselves, often for the better. ‘You gave your life for us, we give our lives for you’ ensures everyone lives, not that one person dies. Even when that one person believes their purpose is to die for others.

My hope is that tragedy Pike witnessed in Magellus puts things into perspective for him and that other episodes continue to do so. So that when the time comes, he doesn’t sacrifice himself because he doesn’t think his life is important, or at least, that it’s only important because of that moment. Hopefully before the end Pike figures out the most important things to him about living. Learning to value himself before the accident permanently changes him and his capabilities. That when he does sacrifice himself it’s because he loves life, and loves who he is as a person, and gives of himself in spite of that. Or perhaps something else may come into play…

Given the overarching themes of perspective in Strange New Worlds, I don’t think his fate, or where his storyline appears to end in The Menagerie, are exactly as they seem. And I am greatly looking forward to seeing that narrative spun if SNW continues to move in this direction.

#LONG post #Star Trek meta #meta #strange new worlds #Star Trek #star trek strange new worlds spoilers #Star Trek strange new worlds #snw #Star Trek snw #lift us where suffering cannot reach #Captain pike #captain christopher pike #Christopher Pike #Chris Pike #Star Trek tos #Spock #the menagerie #through the valley of shadows #star trek discovery #the search for Spock #star trek iii: the search for spock #operation annihilate #children of the comet #the ghosts of Illyria #memento mori #Spock amok #those who walk away from omelas #ursula k. le guin #ichayalovescaptainpike

[theoristsden]

Theorists Den revival

Welcome to the Theorists Den 2.0

What is it? A blog dedicated to archiving all the major JSE community theories, observations, and “what if”s. Yes you’ve read right, community’s.

The blog has been inactive between 2019 and 2022, but still it contains over 400 links featuring all the JSE community’s discoveries and ongoing hcs/theories I managed to gather since the beginning of ego lore on the channel till my hiatus. And as the title says - I am intending to revive it.

Ever wanted to get into theorizing but didn’t know where to start? Want to catch up with all the lore and ideas that have been in the community since the start? Well this is your lucky day. The archive of this blog is separated into:

fully fledged&lengthy theories,

shorter hypotheses&thought dumps,

observations&confirmed hints,

masterposts and full timelines of videos, posts, and literally everything ego.

This is not a personal blog and will not clutter your dashes with spam, but will only be a place for theories and operate whenever there’s new discoveries.

Can I use this archive for my theorizing needs? But of course. This archive is fully accessible on both desktop and mobile and will be updating as the lore progresses.

How can I contribute?

Reblog. Either this post, or the archive itself (in the description). The more people know this archive exists, the more it’ll evolve, the easier it’ll be for people to catch up with events and find theory material! You don’t find this archive useful? Well maybe this is exactly what your followers need, let them know it’s a thing.

Submit theories! Asks, submits and dms are open. Think you’ve noticed something new? Have a theory you think others should read? Tag @theoristsden . The posts will be added as soon as I get the time.

See a “broken link” or “link gone” note in the archive and have a reblog of the post you think was there? Maybe the OP renamed their url and you happen to know what their url is currently? You’re welcome to contact me. This blog has been open for a while and a lot changed on the platform since...

As an ex theorist myself, I know how disheartening posting theories can be- especially when your blog is new and your audience is small. Hopefully this blog can become a platform for those wanting to reach the community but lacking the means :) especially when this website is so broken.

All opinions are welcome! If you disagree with someone, feel free to provide your opinion and ideas. But no bullying of others for having different opinions than yours will be allowed here. An opinion can’t be right or wrong, same way a theory can’t be right or wrong. (assuming it’s not denying existing canon, of course… then it’s technically not even a theory…)

You might notice that I never took any theories down, even if they ended up being “wrong”… That’s because we don’t write to be “right”, we make theories for fun. An idea that you think is dumb, might be exactly what someone else needs in order to finish a theory. Sharing our thoughts and findings are the only way to understand the overly complicated hints that are being thrown at us.

Do not contact OPs of old theories intending to prove them wrong and definitely not to call them out over “freaking out” over something that turned out to not be a hint. This community existed for years, of course not all theories are correct, we used to jump at shadows back in the day and the current attitude might be completely different... even the ones who wrote the posts might not even believe in them anymore so remember to stay mindful and check what dates posts were posted on before contacting OPs.

Don’t want your theory to be in the archive? No problem, pinpoint the exact post you want me to take down.

And lastly, @therealjacksepticeye hasn’t been active here in years but its a tradition to write this so: if you end up stumbling upon this blog- feel free to use it. This can be a good place to check what the community has discovered so far or look for new ideas! *whispering* the community doesn’t need to know if you use it… It can be a secret y’know…

Signal boosts are extremely appreciated, again- this is not a self-gain personal blog. This is a community blog. I may be operating it alone, but the entirety of this archive wouldn’t exist without this community... 

- @aceofspades-lena

Old notes:

Update 18/01/2019: An experimental theme is now up!

The archive should be back to being fully accessible on desktop. This theme was checked in advance, but I’m human too and could’ve missed something so if you happen to see posts appearing on top of each other/images that seem to be in the wrong place/or just random havoc and broken pages- please let me know!

-

Update 14/01/2021: Activity.

As you might have already noticed, the archive has been inactive for a very long time and unfortunately it’s probably going to stay that way… But it’s going to stay up regardless so that current theorists who might want to get into older theories that existed in the community in the past :3

-

Update 24/06/2022: Revival + theme bugs

I’ve went through the archive and double checked how many links are still working… Seems to be somewhat okay XD Added a few new posts to the archive but there’s still a p huge gap between 2019-2022, which will likely stay forever ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I’ve also noticed a few visual bugs in the blog’s desktop theme but that’ll have to wait. It should be usable for the time being regardless… just sometimes shows the wrong avatars on posts.

#jacksepticeye #antisepticeye #jse egos #jse theories #jse community #theoristsden

[barachodabloom-blog]

By Your Hands and the Art of Subversion

Hello everyone! It's been commonplace for people to talk about "subversive narratives" and how their favorite shows subvert tropes often considered dated and tired. But what does that mean? Why are people obsessed with "subversive media"? The TV Tropes definition of a "subversion" is when the story sets up a well-known trope the audience would expect in that work's genre and then goes in a different direction, going against the audience's assumptions of what would happen. At least that's the intention. Subversion has been used in many different ways from Doki Doki Literature Club pretending to be a romance novel before revealing itself to being a horror VN to the tutorial in Undertale turning out to try to kill you. And it's been used as a storytelling tool since Shakespeare. Used effectively, subversion can be used to make a good story more enthralling and exciting. But subversion can also fall apart. It depends a lot on the context surrounding the time the work was released in, so if you don't know the context, it becomes meaningless. For example, it was shocking to see Samus Aran from the original Metroid turn out to be a sexy woman if you beat the game fast enough since female protagonists were a rare sight in 80s video games. But if the game was released today, the reaction wouldn't be nearly as strong because it wouldn't be unusual for a modern audience.

So where does By Your Hands come in? I touched on this in my "The Making of By Your Hands" but BYH was created as a response to other FVNs. It takes the audience's expectations of certain FVNs and their tropes and subverts them to (hopefully) create something unique. This game was created with the intention that the audience is well-versed with FVNs beforehand. Now unfortunately I can't tell you the full extent of how the game uses subversion because that would spoil things that aren't in the game. I'll just talk about the non-spoiler stuff. By Your Hands is specifically a subversion of the contemporary college-setting furry dating sim that's seen in VNs like Extracurricular Activities and After Class. It also takes some cues from Psychological Horror FVNs that could be read as a response to those tropes, although in a very subtle manner that won't be apparent until we reach the end of the game. It was envisioned so that the intended audience of the game (avid FVN readers) would be caught off guard by how the plot and characters played with the tropes that were made standard in other FVNs of its genre.

To go in-depth, you'd expect Tucker to be this dumb, himbo-y character who likes sports a lot based on other tiger characters from these types of FVNs. I mean the two tiger FVN characters I think of first are Torahiko from Morenatsu and Lin Hu from Nekojishi, both of them are these nice, muscular, kinda ditzy, childhood sweethearts to the MC. Then he starts to speak. And it becomes obvious that he's not your typical FVN tiger character. The protagonist doesn't have preferences or hobbies because he's always been in a controlled environment before he goes to college. The childhood friend confesses that he's in love with you as soon as he can and gets rejected if you aren't on his route. The athletic best friend is more submissive and doesn't go head-first into every situation. The hot teacher constantly reminds you of the boundaries that a teacher and student should maintain and he's also a History teacher instead of an English teacher. The dark, brooding love interest isn't a muscular, macho dude in a tank top but a goth twunk who loves drag. And the characters who are a tiger, wolf, and lion respectively do not have their own routes. In fact, the tiger dies at the game's inciting incident. And so on and so forth. The game uses subversion of common FVN tropes in order to make a setting that's wholly unique.

Now initially I was hesitant about making this game a "subversion" of these slice-of-life dating sims. The first is that I didn't want to create a "slice of life game for people who don't like slice of life" and have people think that I hate slice of life. Indeed, By Your Hands is mostly a Mystery but it's also slice of life as well. I didn't want to gain an audience who'd diss slice of life and not consider it a worthwhile genre. It's one reason why there's a group of people who really hate DDLC, because it uses the dating sim aspect as a framing device for the actual plot rather than as a way to do interesting things with the genre and that's not at all what I wanted to do. A more ideal work that subverts genre expectations would be Invincible. It subverts superhero tropes and archetypes but it never outright disrespects the genre and it manages to take the genre to places it wouldn't have if it stuck with all the genre conventions. So even though BYH does subvert and commentate on tropes common to furry slice of life dating sims, it doesn't say that they're stupid and you're an idiot for liking them. I love slice of life and I wouldn't mind seeing more of them. It just showcases what a slice-of-life FVN would be like if that story beats and characters went a little differently.

I also didn't want to call it a subversion because when people see a work call themselves a "subversive story", they think they don't know what they're talking about and that they're only using those words because it makes the work sound really cool. Marketing-wise, having your hook be "A subversion of the slice of life FVN" sounds really stupid, so I'm not doing that. However, I think calling BYH a "subversion" in devlogs, discord servers, and basically anything that's not trying to market the game would be fine. My audience knows I believe that's what BYH is and if they disagree, it's no big deal. And I didn't want to show a lack of understanding of the genre by subverting a trope…that's not common in any FVN, slice of life or not.

But why a subversion of this specific genre? What prompted this idea? Well, when you have a community of people who are making and reading a particular thing, tropes and archetypes start to form. Soon people in the community will get attached to using those same tropes and archetypes and that's when things start to stagnate. When this happens, you can do two things. You can create something completely new with the genre, but then you risk of alienating the existing audience, going back to the "slice of life for those who don't like slice of life" concept I mentioned and most people aren't awesome enough to achieve that. The other thing you can do is make a response to those tropes and the works that helped cement them in the form of a story. You can use those same cliches but spin them around to explore something new. That's how we got works like Watchmen, Neon Genesis Evangelion, South Park, and Nier: Automata (as well as the rest of the Drakenguard series). I'm not saying that By Your Hands is as good as those works in general but what I'm saying is that I feel we need FVNs that are responses to the conventions of the genre they're in. We're seeing responses to Echo with VNs like Burrows going out of their way to give the player more agency in what they're doing, unlike the VN that came before it. With By Your Hands, the goal here is to show the flaws of a typical slice-of-life furry dating sim and see how the genre can do better in regard to character arcs and the setting. I'd like for the general FVN community to make better and more refreshing VNs. It would kinda suck if this scene stagnated to death. You can still enjoy your standard fare of FVNs but it's overall better if individual genres were able to expand their horizons. That's why By Your Hands and other VNs use subversion in their narrative, so they can push the limits of the genre and see its full potential.

I hope you enjoyed reading this. Have a good day and see you later!

#blog #by your hands vn #furry #furry vn #FVN

[localsharkperson]

Here's a first post on a blog that'll either come out seeming either incredibly prescient, or incredibly arrogant, depending on how my life works out. I'm writing this particular post for an audience that doesn't exist, yet I'm fairly certain one day will. I've been working on improving my writing for most of my life, and it was only over the last few years that I've finally reached a point where I feel like my quality is at a publishable level. As a result, this post immediately predates my attempts to start tossing it out into the world to see how it will do.

As for why I'm addressing a hypothetical audience, I can't precisely say. I'm making this post because I want to leave a record of who I was when I was starting. I want to show people that the authors they take inspiration from, the metaphorical titans that their subconscious places so far above themselves, started in many ways the same as them. It's quite narcissistic to assume that some people will one day look at my works in a similar way, but the one area of my life I don't lack confidence in is my writing. I know I'm good. Better, even, than a number of people that make a living off of writing. So long as I can persevere in my efforts until luck strikes and I land a profitable position, I'll make it. Who knows how long that will take, but I intend to work too hard to be ignored forever. What matters to me in this moment, and hopefully matters to me when I eventually reach that fabled zenith of success, is cementing a record of what I was when I started. I intend to record in this post all that I wish I knew about the artists I look up to, when they were at the same point in their career. How did they live their life? What were they doing when it all began? What were they like, before they had proof that their work was worth something to anyone but themselves? So, in an effort to answer that, I'm going to record below the state of my very current self with far more honesty than I normally would feel comfortable with.

I'm writing this on an iPad my father recently gave me (he traded in several other apple devices to afford it, but I still worry he spent too much on me), on a desk short enough that my poor and leaned-back posture uncomfortably shoves my gut into its front edges. My aunt's 12 year old chihuahua, Emma, is sitting to my left, in the dog bed we purchased for her, and the tablespace to my iPad's right is littered with the half-completed pieces of a lego typewriter I'd intended to finish over a month ago. I began the day listening to Machine Girl, both because I enjoy their music and because I intend to fly to a Denver concert to meet up with my friend in a few months. I'm listening through bluetooth headphones (a glitchy type of wireless connection, if bluetooth technology has been left behind by the time I end up successful) that I worry were too expensive, but I enjoy too much to return, and my phone's music app, Spotify, has long since worked through the album I'd selected at the start of the day. Now it's playing a random selection of upbeat electronica, none of which I recognize or particularly enjoy, but neither do I find offensive to my tastes. Above my desk is a framed portrait of my first published work, a piece of poetry that won a college competition, and it's been hanging there for a month without providing me the inspiration I'd hoped it would. I never turned in the $50 check I'd won for it, or attended the ceremony. I don't know why, but both scared me.

The Texas weather is pleasantly cold, for us, at 34 degrees, and I've been enjoying the familiar back-and-forth argument about the quality of the weather that I carry on with my warm-natured Grandmother, who I live with. She's let me stay with her for coming up on three years now, at first while I attended college, now while I work the only full time job I could find with a $15 an hour wage. I dropped out of my college ASL Interpreter course for a variety of reasons, including but not limited to disillusionment with Deaf Culture, anxiety, the Coronavirus pandemic, executive function disorder, and a litany of other factors too obscure for me to recall at the moment. I fear that chief among them is a profound but hidden nature of laziness, some sort of apathy that is intrinsic to my being, but I constantly fight against that fear. I have an appointment scheduled with my doctor coming up, to review the anxiety meds that I feel have steadily declined in efficacy, and I've sat with my shirt uncomfortably hiked up my side for who knows how long because I've been too lazy to adjust how I'm sitting. My right eye twitches uncontrollably every now and then, probably from dehydration, because I have a knowingly unhealthy predilection for any kind of flavored drink that isn't water. Mostly soda, if I'm honest, though I won't name the brand because I hate corporations. At least I recently switched to diet versions.

I finished my first book about six or seven weeks ago, a pseudo-fanfiction of the Monster Hunter franchise. It's a good book, I'd say. Not amazing, not terrible, but enjoyable, and there's many parts of it I'm proud of.

It's thus far the pinnacle of my personal achievements in life.

I gave it to my friends to review, particularly interested in two of their opinions, and one has finished and enjoyed it. I've grown up constantly being told how amazing my writing is, to the point that the words feel dull and dishonest, but these friends knows that, and it's their criticisms that truly filled me with pride. My father is reading it, constantly reinforcing to me how amazing it is, but I know he has more than a little bias. It's only when my work is honestly critiqued that I feel a sense of pride in it, because the highlighting of what's wrong implies that all that wasn't mentioned was truly of quality. I await my second friend's completion of the book with absurdly baited breath, an anticipation stronger than any Christmas Eve eagerness I'd felt as a child.

I've planned making this post for years now, because the idea of leaving a permanent record of what I was at the beginning has always been attractive to me, and thousands of pages worth of content have flitted through my mind at some point or another. Yet, sitting here and actually writing it, I feel my motivation flagging. I know, very consciously, that I will quickly regret leaving this post so short. I know, logically, that it is my hunger and lack of ADHD medication in my system that is leading to my desire to leave this post as it is, but that knowledge doesn't make the impulse easier to dismiss. I could take my medicine, eat something, and return to it a moment later, but a tingling sense of tiredness is creeping from my shoulderblades to crawl down my arms. It's a sensation like stretching when tired, a desire to give up on what I'm doing. That I've continued typing is remarkable.

I think, if you're reading this for its intended purpose, which would be insight on my state of being when I was still unsuccessful, these last sentences might sum up my present self the best. I have irritable ticks, compulsive scratching and popping of pimples. I constantly daydream of writing, but flag after three or four hours of working on projects. My utmost fear is not that my work will be of poor quality, but that I will lack the drive to complete it. I am terrified of my difficulties forcing myself to work on my passions, because I know that that laziness, or tiredness, or whatever word might exist in some language to accurately describe it, is my largest obstacle to success.

I suppose, if you're reading this in ten years, I'll have succeeded.

Thank God.

[grymmnox]

weekly fic recs #6

missed last week but uh. doing it now. this week will be posted later tonight, hopefully

same as usual. & = platonic, / = romantic.

edit: forgot the line break or whatever mb

Oneshots

Over every extinguished past; tucuxi - bungo stray dogs

teen | 16.5k words | chuuya & dazai, chuuya & yosano, chuuya & kunikida, ADA & chuuya, chuuya/dazai

summary:

It’s been a little more than a month since everything almost went to shit, since the Armed Detective Agency and Port Mafia faced off against Dostoyevsky, since Yokohama almost lost its fragile, balanced peace.

And it’s also been just about a month since Ranpo emerged from Poe’s book, all pride and glowing accomplishment for solving 500 murders in a week, and just a passing comment about the other guy losing patience and starting punching people.

--

Chuuya emerges from Poe's book, exhausted, to discover that Dazai has been severely injured. Standing guard in the Agency's infirmary, Yosano, Kunikida, and Chuuya find unexpected common cause in their desire to keep Dazai in one piece despite his best efforts to hide his vulnerabilities from everyone around him.

Even If My Blood Drains, You’ll Still Run Through My Veins; SapphireSunstone - bungo stray dogs

teen | 4.4k words | chuuya/dazai

summary:

“Listen, what I’m about to say is insane, but I have amnesia.”

Chuuya immediately tried to slam the door on Dazai’s face.

Recovery; rutu14 - bungo stray dogs

teen | 11.4k words | chuuya/dazai | READ TAGS

summary:

Dazai shows up to Chuuya's apartment uninvited to deal with the fallout of using Coruption after the events of Dead Apple. They end up taking care of each other more than anything else.

Liquid Courage; harrowoftheboar - bungo stray dogs

teen | 10.5k words | chuuya/dazai

summary:

"You're not allowed to talk to me,” Dazai mutters.

This time, it’s Chuuya’s turn to blink in confusion.

"Whuh?" he blurts out intelligently, expression warring between flustered and pissed off.

Like a stubborn, indignant child, Dazai crosses his arms and turns his nose up.

"You can’t talk to me.”

“And why the hell not?” Chuuya barks, anger winning out only for the sake of preventing him from thinking about the fact that Dazai Osamu just called him pretty.

It doesn’t help, because the next words out of Dazai’s mouth hit him like a punch to the chest.

“I'm married." -- OR: Dazai gets drunk and accidentally reveals his and Chuuya's secret, forgotten, illegal marriage to the entirety of their friends and family.

In Pain and Sickness, You Would Still Be Dear; My_Kind_of_Crazy - bungo stray dogs

general audiences | 2.3k words

summary:

“Ack, what a pain.” Dazai rolls away from the sun, grumbling as he notices that the ache in his throat has only gotten worse. He buries his face in his pillow, whining to himself. “I’m bedridden with an illness that won’t even kill me in the end. How unfair.”

Reaching for his phone takes longer than he’d like, his arms heavy and sluggish when he tries to make them move. A series of notifications already fills the screen from various members of the Agency. They’re no different than what he’d expect— demands to know where he is and why he’s slacking off, missed calls that he must have slept through. Dazai sighs, intending to clear the notifications and go back to sleep.

The latest text from Atsushi stills his hand, though.

- Is everything okay?

<>

Dazai's sick. The Armed Detective Agency takes care of him.

the tip of the iceberg (hides the true depth under the water); DeviBlue - bungo stray dogs

teen | 4.7k words | chuuya & dazai, chuuya/dazai, dazai & hirotsu, chuuya & hirotsu

summary:

This was not a good idea.

Hirotsu knew this was not a good idea, and he tried telling Mori that multiple times. Yet the boss just smiled and waved him off.

“The boys will be fine, Hirotsu-san. What’s the worst that can happen?”

What’s the worst thing that could happen as Soukoku’s newly assigned handler? Well, to start, Hirotsu was only assuming this position because the teens managed to kill their last handler. And the one before that. And Mori refused to disclose what the boys did to the first one.

OR

Hirotsu becomes Soukoku's new handler and learns how little he truly knows about them and their relationship.

icing is sweeter than blood; soupthatistoohot - bungo stray dogs

teen | 3.2k words | chuuya/dazai, chuuya & dazai, ADA & dazai

summary:

Finally entering his dorm, Dazai was prepared to flop down onto his futon and drown his sorrows in whiskey — except there was someone sitting on his futon.

“Ehh? What are you doing here, slug?” he groaned at Chuuya, who wore the smuggest fucking grin of his life.

“What’re you talking about?" he asked, all cocky and boisterous. "It’s your birthday, I wouldn’t miss it for the world!”

Or:

Dazai hates his birthday, which is exactly why Chuuya insists on celebrating it.

Got a ride that’s smoother than a limousine; Xx_Strawberry_Cheescake_xX - bungo stray dogs

general audiences | 3.1k words | chuuya/dazai

summary:

Dazai and Chuuya get paired up for another mission.

It was supposed to be a short mission. Around 5 hours at most.

It ended up lasting 10.

Dazai hitches a ride on Chuuya's motorbike and has many regrets.

wordle incident: five dead twenty injured; DraculasDiary - bungo stray dogs

teen | 2.3k words | chuuya & dazai, chuuya/dazai, dazai & ranpo

summary:

"Ranpo~!" Dazai chirps to his beloved coworker. Ranpo only raises an eyebrow in turn, though, rattling around a hard candy in his mouth.

"Do you, my silly friend, happen to know the five letter word of the day?"

Ranpo pauses, tilting his head to the side as he digs for another of his candies.

"Zibeb, I think?"

Dazai blinks.

"... How the fuck do you spell that?"

in a garden of memories; aicoconut - bungo stray dogs

teen | 3k words | atsushi & ranpo, atsushi & dazai, dazai & ranpo, dazai & kunikida, atsushi & yosano

summary:

“That's where you’re mistaken, Atsushi!” Dazai is the one who speaks this time. He’s flopped over upside down on a desk, hands behind his head. “The target’s presence has been requested by the government. Her information hasn’t been kept discrete, and she is genuinely enjoying herself as a tourist. Her operations are far too public for this to be mafia work.”

“Oh. Couldn’t she be just a tourist then? Without being affiliated with anyone?”

Dazai shakes his head, and Atsushi finds himself wondering how his mentor doesn’t have a headache after staying upside down for so long.

This Is Okay For Now; bluemango0406 - bungo stray dogs

teen | 8.3k words | chuuya/dazai

summary:

“Shit, Dazai--” Chuuya snaps, his eyes fleeting down to look at his ex-partner with concern, “You’re fucking burning!”

Now, Dazai’s eyes flutter open, heavy, to meet Chuuya’s gaze and Chuuya hates how his chest constricts unpleasantly when he sees dull, amber eyes that are glossy stare right back at him.

“I know, Chibi,” Dazai murmurs and his voice makes Chuuya internally wince with how raspy it sounds, “I told you I’m dying—I’m essentially burning alive as we speak.”

OR: A fic where Dazai is sick and Chuuya takes care of him

it was just red; eluvion - bungo stray dogs

teen | 4.1k words | ADA & dazai, chuuya & dazai, chuuya/dazai

summary:

On being lost, and being found. Or, Dazai, Chuuya, and the Armed Detective Agency in the week of the anniversary of one Oda Sakunosuke’s death.

Complete Fics

We Shall Be Monsters; My_Kind_of_Crazy - bungo stray dogs

teen | 2 chapters | 12.8k words | chuuya/dazai, chuuya & dazai (pre-slash or gen)

summary:

Dazai's used to people looking at him with fear. He's the Demon Prodigy of the Port Mafia, unfeeling and inhuman. It would be strange if people didn't find him frightening.

But, recently, he's not the one they're all flinching away from. He's not the one they whisper about. He's not the one they call a monster.

Bit by bit, he pieces the clues together-- and he realizes that there are people in the mafia who don't like Chuuya.

Obviously, he has to do something about this.

darlin’ i’d wait for you, even if you didn’t ask me to.; osachuuzai - bungo stray dogs

teen | 5 chapters | 12.8k words | chuuya/dazai

summary:

This is the closest thing he’ll get, although his selfish human heart shrivels at the thought of it. But if he could continue to have Chuuya in his life, and even let himself pretend that Chuuya loved him a smidge more than what was true, to let himself believe that Chuuya wanted him the way he wanted Chuuya, then he would take being left on the sidelines.

And now he was going to watch the person he loved more than anything be given away to some undeserving random who would never know how long Dazai had suffered in silence. They would never know how long Dazai had waited for Chuuya.

And perhaps Dazai would keep waiting.

He knows Chuuya isn’t selfish like he is, he knows Chuuya would never ask him to wait. But god, years down the line Chuuya will be happy with somebody else and Dazai still doesn’t think he’ll be ready to move on.

[ or : dazai is in love with his lifelong best-friend. said best friend is about to receive the initials of his soulmate, and dazai's not quite ready to lose him. ]

Phosphenes in Our Starry Eyes; im_tired_too - bungo stray dogs

teen | 2 chapters | 7k words | chuuya/dazai, dazai & chuuya | READ TAGS

summary:

Two different outcomes would always come out of this situation.

1. Chuuya would coax Dazai to put down the razor; he would listen. Chuuya would then treat the man’s wounds.

Or

2. Chuuya would coax Dazai to put down the razor, and it wouldn’t work.

Trigger; amabe - bungo stray dogs

not rated | 2 chapters | 6.6k words | chuuya/dazai, akutagawa/atsushi | READ TAGS

summary:

"We don’t need to kill,” Fukuzawa said over the com, ever calm, and Dazai heard it in his earpiece, the surety. Ranpo had a way out. Fukuzawa would have allowed it if there was no other way.

“Osamu. Shoot.” Mori’s voice crackled through and it was silence and screaming all at once—a sound he had not heard in an age. That tone, the initiation. He didn’t even breathe as his muscle twitched and fired. There’d been a head there a moment before. Now he was just looking into a skull, shattered into a million pieces.

The blood dripped down his cheek and it was so familiar, so crushingly familiar, that seeing out of both eyes was dizzying.

A Demon, an Angel, and a Detective Walk Into a Bar; StarlitClouds - bungo stray dogs

general audiences | 5 chapters | 11.6k words | dazai & ranpo & yosano, dazai & ranpo, dazai & yosano, ranpo & yosano

summary:

Ranpo’s gaze was piercing as he looked Dazai up and down. Still, no matter how much research Dazai had done and how much he had prepared himself, he couldn’t have predicted what Ranpo said next.

“Demon prodigy, eh?”

It was over. Ranpo knew. What had Dazai been doing, thinking that no one in a detective agency would figure it out? He was going to be kicked out now— no. He was going to be arrested. Of course they would arrest him, they were—

“You know, I hate Mori. Yosano hates Mori. I've already deduced that you hate Mori as well.” For the second time that day, and the only time in Dazai’s lifetime, Ranpo managed to surprise Dazai a second time in the span of only a minute. “Want to help us prank him by moving all the furniture in his office exactly 2 inches to the left?”

…

Yes.

He wanted to do that more than anything else in the world.

Or: what happens when Osamu Dazai and Akiko Yosano, the former Demon Prodigy and Angel of Death respectively, as well as Ranpo Edogawa, current Greatest Detective in The World team up together? (Spoiler alert: chaos. Lots and lots of chaos)

The Walk to Home; its_just_me27 - bungo stray dogs

teen | 20 chapters | 95k words | chuuya/dazai, akutagawa/atsushi

summary:

All Chuuya has for the day is a rough notebook, a few pens and his phone. He has yet to buy the textbooks. He’ll do that during the weekend, he decides. He rummages through his bag and picks out the notebook. It’s a thin book, really, mostly because Chuuya doesn’t expect himself to make elaborate notes or anything. Maybe he’ll just record the lectures on his phone and listen to them like podcasts before the exams.

“That’s my seat,” he hears a voice that makes him look up.

“Excuse me?”

The other guy clicks his tongue in annoyance. “I said that’s my seat. You’re sitting on my seat.”

“Are the seats permanently assigned or something?”

“No.”

“Then sit somewhere else.”

The other guy blinks at him. Chuuya is ready for a fight if he has to. It’s not like he hasn’t dealt with bullies in the past. He’s somewhat proud to say that he has, perhaps, made them cry a lot more than the other way around. So, yeah, he’s ready for anything.

Except that the guy only smirks at him.

Incomplete Fics

reconcile; whatagoodegg - my hero academia

teen | 7/? chapters | 83.4k words | midoriya & shigaraki, aizawa & midoriya, class 1-a & midoriya

summary:

Midoriya and Shigaraki get hit with a Quirk that basically locks the both of them in an indestructible box and makes them unable to physically harm each other. The only way for them to get out?

They have to reconcile their differences.

Obviously, this is easier said than done.

grim’s notes: honestly might’ve already included this one in a previous reclist? i dunno. it’s a good fic tho

When Realities Collide; LowlyWriter - my hero academia

teen | 6/? chapters | 74.9k words | aizawa & midoriya, midoriya & tsukauchi, midoriya & nedzu, aizawa/hizashi, hizashi & midoriya, bakugou & midoriya, midoriya & todoroki, midoriya & shinsou

summary:

(Formerly known as Into the Deku-Verse)

Shota sneers at the teenager across from him. His defense raises like the hairs on the back of his neck as he glares steadily, ready and waiting for whatever will come from this encounter. He narrows his gaze when the teen shifts; just the thought of sharing this rooftop with Japan's most notorious villain makes his skin prickle. “Deku.”

“Y-yes!” the teenager cries out in relief, taking a small step towards Shota, “I’m Deku! I’m so g-glad you—”

“Deku,” Shota growls darkly, flicking out his capture weapon hastily to snag the villain before he can make his move. He's quick to tug it taut, leaving no room for Deku to escape. “You’re under arrest.”

“I-I’m what?! W-wait!”

tl;dr

Hero Course student Izuku comes to the realization that he is definitely not where he's supposed to be.

haghdjafalkbh yeah i did it. ok. ok goodbye (for now) i will be posting this week later tonight hopefully probably.

#[.grims weekly recs] #[.grims recs] #fic recs #reclist #mha fic recs #bnha fic recs #bsd fic recs #bungo stray dogs #bungou stray dogs #my hero academia #boku no hero academia #bungo stray dogs fic recs #bungou stray dogs fic recs #my hero academia fic recs #boku no hero academia fic recs #good enough

[globalkids]

COP27- Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt

COP27  was full of people from all over the world  who are working on different initiatives to address climate change. We attended many sessions from organizations and every one of them is working on their own separate project that  they’re passionate about and that brings us one step closer to climate justice. 

For example, we attended a few sessions that had Indigenous people as its panelists, they were from different  countries like Brazil and Mexico. They presented some of the problems their communities faced due  to climate change, and spoke about  their rage due to lack of  equal treatment back home. They explained  that climate justice is social justice and demanded equality to be given to them .  if It was relevant to hear that from them, because  of their relationship f to nature  and  their   belief to give back to nature if they want  to take from it

Another interesting  session was titled  From the People to the Highest Court, one of the panelists managed to get 18 nations together to revise a resolution that they’re intending to present to the United Nations and then take it over to the International Court of Justice. That reminded me of the activity we did in the  Global Kids CFR Summer Institute where we practiced how UN meetings occur and the process of drafting resolutions and voting  for whether they should pass or not. 

In one of  the sessions that focused  on  supporting  women and youth, an Indian lawyer in the panel talked about how they are working to provide women in India and other countries with opportunities to learn about  climate change and  sustainable development . They also help with financing programs that have the  same  goal  in  order to help spread awareness about  climate change in as  many places and  to as  many people  as possible. 

Finally, in  one of my favorite sessions, the Partnership for the SDGs session,  Yohany spoke on the panel.  I  got  to talk to a scientist who does research  about sea acidification and  their work with legislators to create laws that are coherent with  the  plans  to  fix  or reduce the found acidifications. I talked with him about the abandoned Safer storage ship  that’s on the shores of Yemen and is threatened to  start  leaking its load  of 1.1 million barrels of crude oil at  any time. This connected the issue of climate justice to my own community back home in Yemen.  He gave me  his email address after  our  discussion and told me to email him with more details after.  He can talk to his colleagues that can  make a diagnosis of  the ship using radars to see how bad its erosion is so far and other details regarding the ship. That should be helpful to presenting this case when trying to gather donations to start the mission of offloading the barrels off the ship because of the more details we will have.  

Overall, the COP 27 was a promising  event and  hopefully successful. Many  of  the  sessions we attended were focused on ongoing projects from people and organizations that  have different fields of interest but are all aimed to bring Climate Justice to the people who’re affected by their field. There was an entire pavilion dedicated to youth and kids which was good but at the same time I thought it was insufficient. That pavilion was one out of so many, and you couldn’t notice it unless you’re looking for it. Moreover, it only had youth in its audience so it was not very useful because their messages weren’t reaching the people who were in charge and had real power to make change. But nonetheless, it was a great experience  attending COP and I learned a great deal that I didn’t know before. I’m hopeful about the effects some of the presented projects will have and I look forward to hearing about them. 

-Mohamed Ahuthaifi from International High School at Union Square

[realestateppc]

Best Real Estate Advertisement Networks Platform in USA - 7Search PPC

7Search PPC is one of the greatest real estate advertising networks on the market today. It is an efficient method of increasing revenue for your real estate company. It offers a platform for effortlessly creating, managing, and optimizing real estate ads campaigns.

When things aren't going your way, it's difficult to come up with Real Estate Marketing Ideas.  Perhaps you've had a difficult month. And they're looking for new ways to shake things up. This list will get your creative juices going.

Do not attempt to complete anything on this list. Simply concentrate on doing what you do very well.

We've divided them into two categories: "Traditional" and "Online" real estate marketing concepts. Each category has some sub-sections as well.

Never let your marketing be 'comfortable.' Always look for new ways to improve what you're doing. Hopefully, something from this list of 200 paid by click real estate will inspire you to become a better Realtor.

Too frequently, I see an agent pick up a marketing notion and put it to the test. Then come to a halt. That is not how marketing operates! Marketing takes time...and effort to make the concept more effective.

These 200 marketing ideas should inspire you to think of new methods to grow your firm. And novel insights into how to improve long-term performance.

What Are the Four Ps of Real Estate Marketing?

The four Ps of real estate marketing are well-known principles. These four tactics are used in all effective real estate marketing efforts. They serve as the template for creating a successful marketing campaign on social media platforms, blog postings, or virtual tours.

Property

The property is on the market. It extends beyond the physical property to specific features that appeal to potential buyers. A buyer might opt for a four-bedroom property with a pool. If you found them a property with an infinity pool or a stunning seaside view, it would be a one-of-a-kind feature. Creative real estate ads attract prospective buyers by identifying these unique features of the property.

Promotion

Real estate marketing isn't only about closing one transaction and moving on to the next. It is all about utilizing all of your resources to broaden your reach. Real estate agents utilize both offline and internet platforms to spread the news about a property. This method creates awareness in areas frequented by the target audience.

Using social media to build a loyal following, demonstrate competence in the subject, and generate prospects is part of an online marketing plan. Use the resources available on your social media page to launch paid ad campaigns, perform virtual tours, contact with possible buyers, and learn about their requirements and desires. Your social media profile should preferably be associated with real estate.

Blogs are yet another powerful internet avenue for expanding your audience. A Real estate ad for PPC website is a fantastic resource. area to present your portfolio and add stuff that shares your knowledge and experience. Contribute to other real estate-related blogs to expand your brand. Use search engine optimisation (SEO) tactics to increase the likelihood that the blogs will be found by the intended audience. Keywords, hyperlinks, frequent content generation, and adding images, videos, or infographics to material are all SEO tools. 

Price

The value of a property can make or break a real estate marketing plan. Potential buyers may vanish without a trace. If the cost is prohibitively expensive. The following are some examples of price-determining elements for real estate

The house's location - what state or county is it in?

Is the neighborhood and its surroundings safe? How close are facilities, shopping malls, and recreational areas? How is the school district faring? Are the folks pleasant?

Property condition - older houses are less expensive. Kitchen and bathroom upgrades can increase the value of a home.

Placement or Positioning

In the real estate sector, position or placement is concerned with ensuring that advertisements and marketing activities reach potential purchasers. Furthermore, the target audience must regard the advertisement trustworthy and informative. Make sure that all of the specifics are included in the ad language without seeming too salesy. Profit from the property's distinct qualities and tempting price.

Should I Consider Hiring a Real Estate Marketer?

Real Estate Advertising Idea hiring a real estate expert is a great alternative for property owners who want to sell their home. Selling real estate is difficult. You must prepare and stage it while actively seeking possible purchasers. To attract potential consumers, your advertisement must be placed in the appropriate spot. Otherwise, all of your marketing efforts would be in vain.

A real estate agent has the means and skills to reach a large number of potential clients. A real estate professional's strongest skill is developing marketing strategies. They have a social media presence with potential purchasers, and their blogs generate a significant amount of traffic and leads. They also have a network of other real estate agents who can purchase the listing. All you have to do is pay a little charge to obtain the property sold.

Determine the Property's Dynamics

Property Advertisement, Is it a flat, a townhouse or a detached house with a garden? Is it better suited to a single individual or a family? Is it in the leafy suburbs or in the city? Consider the neighborhood, facilities, schools, safety, leisure activities, and other distinctive elements such as parks, transit, animal friendliness, and physical characteristics. Such characteristics provide the property its own selling attributes, making it marketable.

Determine the Target Audience

Once you know the specifics of the property, it's straightforward to predict who might want to live there. Create a marketing plan centered on this demographic's potential purchasers. If the target audience is college grads, make the advertisement's phrasing and features appealing to that demographic, Real Estate Advertising Platforms.

Real Estate Advertising Marketing Concepts

Online advertising is a new approach to generate more leads. For these visitors, you will need some landing pages, but that is all.  Your strategy should be to obtain their contact information and then place them in a drip series.  Real Estate Marketing Ideas for this type of campaign center on the many platforms available for advertising.

Google Adwords

Google advertising is an effective but costly technique to generate visitors to your website.

Facebook Ads: This is a less expensive option to Google Ads, but it takes a little longer to set up.

Check out our Facebook ad guide.

Ads on Bing and Yahoo

Bing Ads are an excellent alternative to Google Ads. Best Real Estate Ad The platform has a lower level of competition and As a result, it is less expensive than Google.  This advertising network may typically get you clicks for as little as $.15.  This is an excellent approach to draw attention to your available properties and advertise your business.  For your firm, you should test these adverts at least once a month.

Paid Ad Placement on a Local Website

Local websites will almost certainly offer spots on their page. You can buy these slots for a minimal monthly fee and gain a lot of traffic to your website.  I discovered websites that list adverts for less than $5 per month.  These kinds of links can also improve your SEO.  Real Estate Marketing Ideas that generate qualified website traffic while also increasing your SEO presence are uncommon.

Make use of this strategy right away.

Real Estate PPC partners with companies from other states; By collaborating with a moving company from another state, you can catch potential customers before they leave their hometown.

Affiliates: In exchange for a 'per lead' charge, affiliates will drive traffic. You can specify how much you are willing to pay per lead. These businesses make it simple to engage excellent internet marketers.

Newsletter advertisements

A list of real estate marketing ideas would be incomplete without this one. For less than $100, you can get your name and brand into the inboxes of hundreds or thousands of people.

Listings by Location

Most map searches include local listings. These are critical for appearing in front of individuals looking on mobile devices and via maps. The majority of real estate advertising marketing ideas for these localized listings are the same. You need complete and up-to-date information on all of these profiles. You should also seek feedback on these platforms.

#real estate ads #real estate ppc #real estate online ads

[artg476tayler]

Blog Post #9 Rationales Refined

More Money Mate

The Challenge

This is an infographic showcasing salaries Graphic Designers can make in Australia. It shows the difference education and experience can have to these numbers as well.

The focus is on salary averages and experience, as that is what held most information and could showcase a larger difference visually. This infographic is designed to create awareness to people who are interested in or are in the Graphic Design field. To make them aware of how experience and education can really affect salary prices. Also to learn if this career and the average salary is something desirable or not.

The Approach

I specifically chose this topic as I did this project while studying a semester abroad in Australia, and wanted to learn about the salaries of my future career in a different country.  It is also a taboo and important topic that people should know about before picking their career or education. To make this visually pleasing and understandable I focused on illustrations and typography. I created illustrations to show the larger difference that more years of experience add to salaries, as well as bar graphs to show the differences. The visuals are important to represent the data easily.

What I did

I used typography to create a hierarchy between the graphs and labels of each bar.

I created illustrations to show the topics visually.

The colours are contrasting and bold to represent the field of Graphic Design.

Tools : Illustrator.

Less Waste

The Challenge

This is a repackage for the Colgate toothbrush.

Colgate uses a lot of unnecessary plastic for their toothbrush packaging.

I found during research that Colgate has made some changes to becoming more sustainable with their packaging. Though they had never changed the package on their most popular and basic toothbrushes. This re package is designed to show how simple it can be to make a new package that still matches the brand but is not hurting the environment. To inform people that small changes when it comes to materials has a huge impact and to think of that when making purchases.

The Approach

I created this new packaging with the intention of using recycled paper instead of plastic to make it more sustainable. This material is also easily accessible making it easy for the company to transition to.

I wanted to create a more unique shaped package that was similar to their toothpaste. That's where the triangular shape idea came from. It also makes it easier to open than the previous packaging. This shape would also make it great for stacking when making shipments. I also kept the same colours in the new packaging as well as the words/typography. The information was not changing on this redesign only the material and shape which is why I didn't change it.

What I did  

I used photography to showcase what my design looks like with its product and capture it as it would look when being sold.

The typography is similar from the original package making it simple and easy to read.

I created and printed my prototype with higher quality paper.

I created the illustrations and gradients used.

Tools : Photoshop, and Illustrator.

Office Hours

The Challenge

This was a flyer created to advertise a new coffee shop opening up and to bring in new customers. To inform people who may not have known, that a new business is in town. It is important when opening up a new business to get the word out and make people want to visit and hopefully continue to.

The Approach

I decided a flyer would be the most effective way to reach the intended audience as it's small and gets sent directly to people's homes and then through word of mouth. I specifically shaped this flyer to a takeaway coffee cup as it made it unique to catch peoples eye and memorable. It also has a coupon on the back of it to encourage people to bring the flyer in and stop by the business for the first time. It shows a simple image of where it is located to have people think about when they're headed near that direction next.

What I did

I Created the logo and a few main company colours to use.

Used images and photoshop work to make it look realistic.

Typography for hierarchy and information.

Tools : Illustrator, and Photoshop

[makoza]

Said fuck it and added a couple tags to that post. Hopefully now it will be reaching its intended audience and not the rabble. XP

If one of you guys saw my post and thought it wasn't for you, I assure you it was. Please, never be afraid to reblog something from me. Even if I mess up and don't tag properly, trust me when I say my posts are always for you guys first and foremost.

That said, like I said before, I'm not going to stop anyone from interacting with me cause I frankly do not care, but I don't want people thinking they can't reblog from me just cause a bunch of antis are. I'm proship, I promise. Even if I don't actively always say it.

#random shit #mike-rambles #i swear to you my blog is a safe space for all proship peeps #especially those in the self ship community #proship #proship safe