#i wouldn't go as far to say they're a cult but maybe a really fucked up mlm scheme

[emystic]

The Belle Agency's means of recruitment

The Belle Agency acts as a talent agency but secretly is a supernatural awareness foundation. They carefully use the most appealing and skilled members as agents by utilizing the most common talents or skills they might have to be able to be known for (for example Shanice is a model and actress, and Alasie is a teen idol) to give an excuse for them to be known all around thus granting them more access to more locations than just their main branch.

The recruitment tactics of the Belle Agency in recent decades versus when it first started are drastically different. At the end of the day, the agency's ultimate goal is to protect the supernatural and those with extraordinary abilities. However, the methods are built through calculated pragmatism such as often those recruited as agents are usually the most exploitable from vulnerability to foster loyalty. The unspoken agreement of being indebted to the Belle Agency creates a complex dynamic where loyalty is both a choice and a consequence.

This highly contrasts the genuine compassionate legacy of the original founders before the new head, Natasja Belle took over a decade ago (she's the oldest daughter of the original founders and a dhampir). The original magical human and vampire married pair (Wilma and Clavell Belle) that founded the Belle Agency and treated it for the abnormal and supernatural to have a safe environment to live in, building it to be a society or to eventually adjust to a human-run society (whichever they chose). They used Wilma's acting career as a way to help fund the foundation.

#focused; character development #i wouldn't go as far to say they're a cult but maybe a really fucked up mlm scheme #like they promise you all this great stuff but you have to complete so much stuff for anything #cause natasja the head lady in charge is just kinda of a bitch #like she got her own reasons but she still is #her mom though is a sweetheart like wilma cares about anyone #all the og belle agents are the biggest wilma stans they hate she retired #hell i am sure like most quick after they realized how unhinged natasja was #in a way they kinda represent how actual talent agencies swoop in to take young talents that no nothing about the entertainment industry #suck them into shitty contracts and throw them away when they become liabilities or stop doing the numbers #like they probably only keep shanice around because well she's good at what she does despite being a pain to higher ups #but as soon they get enough her they will instanstly replace her with alasie who is much more naive and just is happy to be a popstar #belle are legit manipulative fuckers lmao

[panie-wanie-dean-bean]

Oh noes i hav 2 separate cult au thoughts if i may throw my pennies into the hat, panie 🥺

The first thought is wondering how hungry for power/favoritism cult au Jack would be. I mean with his history as the golden boy of the circus, and manipulating Rory for his own gains since they were young (to give him a new loving home ofc), whats to stop him from doing his best to climb the ranks of the cult harem?

It can't be too hard, just being his kind attentive self, doing what he's told, being an excellent leader (and giving the best dick out of all 9 of them), of course their great leader calls upon him more often than not. Sure it starts with nightly trysts, and asking his opinion on new programs to implement, but...being a leader is so stressful afterall. The MC went their whole lives thinking they were human, and now have all of these duties and expectations.

He wouldn't mind if they vented to him sometimes, asked for his thoughts on their decisions when they doubt themselves, having a shoulder to cry on when they're at their lowest and are feeling vulnerable. He's privy to all their secret desires and insecurities, they've told them as much whether they're leaning on his shoulder, or he's thrusting between their legs as they cling to him. groaning and mumbling how much he's "their favorite" and "if he'd ever want to run away just the two of them, they'd go with him ina heartbeat" through panting breath, running their hands through his hair.

During their pillow talk, maybe the boys pop up in conversation on occasion, Joseph looks so lonely, and he takes such good care of Rory... would it be so hard to ask him if he would spend some time with him? He practically idolizes Jack, and the MC would love it if he tried to be a really good friend to him on occasion, like he is for them~ and they'd be more than happy to reward him for doing such a good job

Maybe they ask him for more favors, just how far is he willing to go to please them?

and what would he do if he ever finds out that MC has done the same with the other boys in a different capacity? (Ik the wise choice of action would be to ask that maybe MC went through the same song and dance with the other boys, told Ian, Nick, Shaun, or Jean that they loved them the most and would run away with them ina heartbeat if they ever got the chance, and how angry/hot that'd probably make Jack)

but in all honesty Im way off topic and just thinkin ofa normal MC havin a bad day, and cuddling with Bo, and kissin his lil snoot and tell him that they're gonna pack him with a bunch of candy and money in a suitcase and run away from their adult Job, and they'd live near a beach lika hermit with their puppy.. before just getting up and going to work the next day, cult au or not.

I mean he's a boyfriend but a pet dog actually, but a boyfriend, and every family dog has to hear either the running away speech, or our rants about a tv show and how we'd write it better while they chew on something on the couch, not caring.

Hey, what? What the fuck, you just waltz in here, say the sexiest most correct shit ever and then just leave? How dare, I wish to kiss you on the mouth. The only thing I disagree with is how often Jack and y/n can be together. Jack's teaching full time and has to practice acts and lines with his friends for their show once summer break hits. He's not absent per say but spending a lot of time with him is rough, for me at least, if you're cool with kids then y'all can hang a lot more often. He does make time for you obvi but he's a busy body and doesn't feel comfortable taking a real break, a habit you might just have to shake him out of

#whispers of an angry god #cult town au #sdj Jack #sdj Bo

[dilfdoctordoom]

I have to ask what happened to Atleza, did she get retconned out of existence or was there a comic I missed. It seems like a wasted opportunity for Adam and Gamora.

The answer is neither! As far as we're aware, she does still technically exist; she just hasn't been so much as referenced since Thanos (2003) & Marvel: The End.

What we do know is this: before the Annihilation Wave hit, Gamora, Adam & Atleza were all happy together outside of reality (see: Thanos (2003) for this).

Then sometime right before Annihilation hits, something bad happens. "It was said that [Gamora] had been humbled by the great powers of the universe, abused... and discarded" (Annihilation: Ronan) implies that, at least from Gamora's side of things, it wasn't an overly willing choice to leave.

Adam's described as being "driven insane by the psychic agony of the souls destroyed in [Annihilation]" in Thanos Imperative: Ignition. This is also where you can see him in the same style costume he's wearing in Thanos (2003).

Adam appears in Thanos (2003) #6 where he says he's going to Gamora & Atleza. This issue comes out in Febuary of 2004. Important because in She-Hulk (2004) #7-8, Gamora & Adam appear! Together! Atleza is never even alluded to! This issue came out in September of 2004.

That whole story ends with Adam, Gamora & Pip agreeing that they'll handle who is going to rule the planet & Adam says it's going to "take a while".

Going off Gamora's mental state, I'd say this takes place before her "humbling".

From alll of this, we can assume that sometime between Adam's appearance in She-Hulk (2007) #8 and just before Annihilation: Prologue (because Gamora's already set up shop by the time the wave fully starts), that they are both pulled away from Atleza.

Adam I think is the easiest to explain; he got some prior warning of the Annihilation Wave, got dragged back, went insane before he could help out. I would say that he got dragged out when Xandar hit it, like he felt all those souls die, but Gamora had already left by then and I don't imagine Adam sitting on his ass while she's leading a cult.

Gamora's... not so easy to explain. She didn't know the Wave was coming, so she can't have left to stop it. She isn't looking for Adam... She's leading the Graces & being a little evil but it's fine she's hot enough to pull it off.

They both get to reunite at the end of Annihilation: Conquest & then they join the Guardians, have several one-on-one interactions & neither mentions the daughter that they are raising.

It's all really fucking weird, I'm not gonna lie. Events from Thanos (2003) get full on referenced later in cosmic Marvel (keeping in mind -- that's the series that reintroduced Peter Quill) so it's odd that there's a whole lot of nothing about Atleza, when it's clear from the first arc that she exists & is important to both Gamora & Adam.

But. There's a very very specific reason I've been mentioning the dates & IMO I think this is why Atleza vanished: Marvel kind of hated superhero kids in this era. Atleza's erasure happens around the same time as OMD, etc, so I wouldn't be surprised if there was some editorial meddling going on there. Marvel's real shit at letting characters make big life progressions & objectively, Gamora & Adam having a daughter together is a major progression.

I don't see her getting brought anytime soon, either, or at all, if I'm being honest. Gamora regrettably takes more from the MCU nowadays than she does from her own comics history & it's at the point with her where I get excited if a writer knows what Annihilation is in general.

And because it's not gonna be mentioned for Gamora, it can't be mentioned for Adam, either.

I will say that the best shot of an Atleza namedrop, maybe even appearance, in the coming years is probably from a Ron&Ron miniseries. They're doing a lot of work with that era (the Silver Surfer & Adam Warlock minis are wonderful & I'd highly recommend them) & a follow up has already been announced. Still in the Infinity Watch era, but hey, if they continue, maybe they'll hit Atleza eventually.

#q & a #gamora #atleza #adam warlock #that got much longer than i thought it would so tldr: no marvel hasn't mentioned her since like 2003 afaik they're never gonna bring her up #again & im very mad about it

[monstersinthecosmos]

Isn't it implied that Armand was sexually abused even before Marius when he was basically a child sex trafficking victim? Kind of don't even want RJ to touch that backstory at all at this point tbh

Oh yes, I would say it's not even "implied" as much as very clearly part of his backstory. He's kidnapped and trafficked and winds up with Marius because Marius purchases him.

I will say when I talked about this yesterday I said "Especially because Armand's experience of it doesn't fit neatly into RJ's whole 'rape makes you tougher' trope since Armand doesn't ask the reader to think of it as rape." which!!!!!! I will fine tune here and say I meant his experiences with Marius are the rape he doesn't try to sell us as rape. Please don't get me started on TVA meta and Armand's reliability as a narrator since we are in AMC land today on this post. He's clear about what happens to him when he's trafficked, and when Marius first "rescues" him he's so traumatized that he's nonverbal.

So it absolutely does not make him tougher; it makes him traumatized and vulnerable. I think even his respite of living with Marius is undone when he gets to the cult and re-embraces his fervent religious beliefs. It makes me wonder if he's overcorrecting and seeing his time with Marius as sin. He doesn't recover from this for like 300 years!

But that kinda leans into like a lot of the casual readers' ambiguity about who & what Marius is, also about Anne's intentions writing it/the branding contamination of her erotica career. I would even argue that a lot of casual readers don't even make it this far into the series, anyway. This is probably the most divisive book in the series because some people read it as fun vampire erotica that's just packed to the rafters with sexy & extremely common kink tropes, other people go WAIT WHAT THE FUCK? lol.

I'm not completely buying that the team on this show actually read the whole series, or at least not as deeply as fandom nerds have 😂, and like I think everyone has to remember that Tumblr & fandoming are echochambers and people outside in the regular world tend not to be this sensitive to these topics. Especially when it comes to topics that are more familiar in queer spaces. So it wouldn't surprise me if the Venice era was read uncritically. I almost wanna say maybe even read as Anne intended but what the fuck has this show told us about what Anne intended? LOL.

But there's a lot of ambiguity in TVA with Marius's intentions again don't let me waste Marius meta on an AMC post and the thing people often romanticize about him is that he rescued Armand. And like I just wonder if the show, seeing how they're handling Claudia, would lean into the like Ricean precocious child trope and try to play it off that Armand is asking for it or enjoying it.

And much like the way they're portraying Lestat, I think it's worth noting that Marius's actons often come from grounded places, and the harm he does is not always intentional. Personally I don't think the show has framed Lestat as particularly sympathetic, although they've given us some clues about why he's like this. I think fandom is really extrapolating on that stuff and woobifying him LOL so just. WHEW WOULD THEY DO THAT TO MARIUS? HAHA. fucken yiiikes.

I am *eating popcorn gif* waiting to see if the completely rampant Lestat apologism will extend to Marius bc it's hilarious to me that he has been demonized by fandom along with his fans but yet Domestic Abuser Lestat is just sad about his ex uwu louis is so mean 2 him

So anyway yeah idk man. I'm not thrilled with what the show is saying about teenagers and sexual assault so I definitely have some concerns about Armand. But I also feel like it would be such a cop out to age him up, because him being turned at 17 and looking like that is so important to his character. All of this stuff is important to his character. Like idk I don't want them to shy away from these topics but I just hope like, if there's meaningful feedback from Season 1 maybe they write it more sensitively and with more nuance going forward.

I hate to say it but we can only hope that the show continues on its path of making it the fuck up and maybe none of this will make it to the screen anyway. hopes & prayers. please leave my son out of this adshjgkadg

#vampire pajama party on amc

[tobiasdrake]

Let's talk about the Sheikah. They're apparently a race created by the gods to serve their mortal descendants. Firstly, that raises the same moral question as the Clone Trooper debate, yet it's never brought up.

Secondly, we're told that in the time between the Imprisoning War and the Great Calamity the Sheikah became essentially captains of industry, pioneering world-changing tech, and then the people of Hyrule became afraid of them and made them destroy it all. And the ones who wouldn't take that became the Yiga.

Do you see the problem here? Hyrule essentially committed cultural genocide on the Sheikah, and the ones who didn't just sit there and let their culture get wiped out are the villains.

Getting back to the propaganda angle, it offers a disturbing image of "anyone Sheikah who doesn't serve Hyrule absolutely is evil."

Okay, this is actually a pretty good one.

The lore surrounding the Sheikah is problematic, to be sure. I can sort of understand why people turned against the Sheikah. Ganon seized control of the Guardians, Divine Beasts, etc. and turned them against the people of Hyrule. This wasn't actually a failure of the Sheikah; We're told that the plan failed because Zelda couldn't tap into her sacred power.

The Hylian princess screwed up. And the Sheikah were then scapegoated and blamed for it. It's a believable tragedy that people would rather go "Sheikah tech BAD!" than "Whoops, our beloved princess sure fucked up real bad, didn't she?" It's the effect of a cult of personality that monarchs inevitably carry with them.

It's worth noting, however, that this particular version of Zelda is absolutely fascinated by Sheikah tech. Indeed, Breath of the Wild's story is something of a vindication for the Sheikah. Link uses Sheikah technology, the Sheikah Slate and towers and all those special Slate abilities, to retake control of the Sheikah's great weapons and turn them on Calamity Ganon as was originally intended. And this time Zelda doesn't fuck up.

But it's not really dwelt on. Where the narratives for the other races are put front and center, the Sheikah narrative of being misblamed and then vindicated sort of just exists in the background. And the game never goes quite so far as to say, "So maybe it was bad for the Hylians to turn on them like that," even as their tools are the entire driving force behind Link's journey to end the Calamity.

Even in vindication, the game's just too busy celebrating Link to pay the Sheikah their due.

And by Tears of the Kingdom, it's... mixed. The Guardians, Towers, and Divine Beasts seem to have been done away with at some point. Nobody really talks about what ever became of those. But everyone's on board with Purah forging ahead with new tech development, including a new version of those Sheikah Towers. So. IDK what the current state of things is for the Sheikah.

#the legend of zelda #loz #sheikah

[cherrybombfangirlwrites]

15 tags 15 mutuals! 💜💜💜

Tagged by: @bloodlessheirbyjacques and @pinespittinink thank you!

Tagging: @jezifster @mjjune @italiangothicwriteblr @rose-bookblood @memento-morri-writes and anyone else who wants in!

Answer these questions either with yourself or an OC. Imma do myself and Princess Sapphire because i want to.

Me~

Are you named after anyone? No joke, my mom named me after her favorite book character. She named one of my sisters after another favorite book character of hers too.

When was the last time you cried? I watched Dead Poets Society for the first time recently and HOLY FUCKING SHIT WHY DID NO ONE WARN ME I BAWLED MY EYES OUT and THAT ENDING NOBODY TOUCH MEEEE IT WAS WAS SO SAD

Do you have kids? Nope, and I don't plan to. Imma live my best life as the cool witchy and single wine aunt

Do you use sarcasm? What? No.... I would never..... :)

What's the first thing you notice about people? How they stand and how they speak. I can tell a lot of things about them just based on that, including whether or not they're a fellow neurodivergent

What's your eye color? Blue <3

Scary movies or happy endings? Happy endings, I CANNOT do horror it scares the shit out of me. (spooky is cool, but actual horror and jumpscares is too far)

Any special talents? Does my obsession with history count? I do paint but it's more of a hobby and I'm not trying to get good at it

Where were you born? In the cult ridden hell that is Utah :P

What are your hobbies? Writing, obviously. But I also read, paint, and watch movies.

Have you any pets? Two dogs! I have a little maltese mutt who's six years old and a crumuginy old man, and a three year old goldendoole puppy who is the biggest turdler (toddlerxturd) there ever was. We also have a rabbit in our backyard but he belongs to my sister and she's the one who takes care of him.

What sports do you play/have played? HAHAHAHA No. Sports and I have never gotten along. Let's just say that the scenes of Mia in PE class in the movie Princess Diaries sums up my experience with sports perfectly.

How tall are you? 5'4''... Being short runs in my family, you should see my grandma, she's been a whole head shorter than me for a long time

Favorite subject in school? ENGLIGH AND ART BABY! But history also has a special place in my heart

Dream job? Full-time author and part-time party princess

Princess Sapphire~

Are you named after anyone? Nope, I'm the first in my line with my name!

When was the last time you cried? ... When I was like six I think? Father wouldn't let me ride the horses cause they were "too dangerous", but now I ride one all the time and ITS HARDDD.

Do you have kids? No... *looks at Raven* but maybe one day... if I met the right person...

Do you use sarcasm? Who me? Neverrrr ;)

What's the first thing you notice about people? The way they talk. It says a lot about how they act and who they are inside.

What's your eye color? Sapphire blue, in case you haven't guessed, that's where I get my name from.

Scary movies stories or happy endings? Happy endings are boring, gimme the good stuff, I'll take scary stories!

Any special talents? I can run really fast

Where were you born? In castle of Greyvenhill <3

What are your hobbies? Adventuring! anything that involves going outside and exploring.

Have you any pets? No but I would love to have one. Does Raven's horse Dante count?

What sports do you play/have played? Running and Dancing

How tall are you? 5'5''... I'm not that short!

Favorite subject in school?

Dream job? A pirate or cartographer <333

#tag games #writing #writeblr #writing community #writers of tumblr #my ocs #original character #about the author #writing blog #creative writing #writeblr tag #15 tags 15 mutuals #oc: princess sapphire #sleeping beauty retelling

[killian-whump]

I'm sorry my friend, but I think I'll have to disagree with you on this NFTs situation. You're making Colin seem as a ignorant guy, someone gullible who can be manipuled and tricked into things. I don't think so. He's smart, he knows what he is doing. A quick google search would teach him about NFTs. He's not a poor baby who has been cheated and misleaded. I don't think so. He's smart and I think this was just a big mistake and he knows he screwed it, for his fans but mostly for himself.

I highly doubt Colin did a Google search about NFTs. He wouldn't have to. His brother and his dad are both big into NFTs and have been for some time. And Colin's not really the most technologically advanced guy, either. His lack of social media savvy is almost legendary. I really can't see him opting to learn about something via the Internet when he has TWO trusted RL sources to ask about it.

But the problem is that, unlike most subjects, people who are into NFTs actually aren't the best sources on the subject. They tend to have a skewed opinion that downplays the negatives - and they also tend to be insular and "protected" from what the outside world is saying about the subject. In that way, the cryptoverse is very cult-like. It's like asking a Scientologist about Scientology. Sure, they'll tell you all about it, and they'll be telling you the truth as they know it - but what they're telling you isn't what 90% of the rest of the world would classify as the "truth" on the subject.

Experience is usually the best teacher, but not when it comes to scams and cults. In those cases... Well, experience just means someone's already fallen for the scheme.

So no, I don't think Colin really knew what he was getting into. I think he trusted what Rothberg was telling him, what his brother and his dad were telling him... and he thought he knew what he was signing on for. I don't think he anticipated the size or depth of the reaction he was going to get. Then, maybe, he might've looked into things more and sought out other sources to explain what the reaction was all about - but by then, it was too late.

Regardless, we're likely going to have to agree to disagree on this topic. You clearly want to believe that Colin knew exactly what he was doing from the get-go and willfully went ahead with it anyway. I'm not gonna choose to believe that when there exists (IMO) a better explanation.

Look, I'll be blunt.

To me, it's far more believable that Colin was a little too nice, a little too ignorant, and a lot led astray and he done fucked up... than that he just woke up one day and decided to see how much money he could con us into spending on cryptocurrency.

That shit just doesn't track for me 🤷‍♀️

#colin meta #tsr debacle

[struggle-but-its-all-ocean-floor]

Not much of a question but I'm really thrown off by this min hee-jin/ador/hybe controversy, like did not expect this sudden collapse. Really hoping this doesn't affect these young girls too badly and, honestly, that they get mhj the hell out asap. I know she wants ador independence but I hope she never gets it. She may have carefully crafted nj's brand, but I'm hoping they'll be able to continue without her. Leaking artist info? Having a meltdown bc another group also made a chill minimalistic song and had a lot of success? Just bizarre. I wouldn't say I'm a nj fan but I don't want them dragged down with her, and mhj seems like the type to try to take people down with her. What do you think about what's going on?

I don't know all the details, but good riddance. That woman is trash, so good for her for sabotaging her own career. It's hard to think of her getting out of this unscathed, but she might find success elsewhere - for some reason, she has an entire cult behind her.

Also, it's funny people were okay with her being a creepy pedo, but it's her greed and audacity to fuck over a billionaire conglomerate that does it for people, smh.

Reddit being Reddit is defending her "creativity", saying this will negatively impact NJs. She is not unreplaceable. Maybe their next cb won't be as good (it will certainly be the most anticipated), and Hybe might fumble the bag initially, but they have enough money to keep NJs at the top. It's not like people wouldn't get tired of this Y2K crap eventually, and who knows if MHJ wouldn't have failed to transition them to a different sound. She was at SM for a long time and, as far as I know, none of the groups she worked with fell off after she left...

All in all, I'm happy they're getting rid of her, and not worried about NJs. Not to sound heartless, but I don't give a shit about the group and they have Hybe and millions of fans rooting for them so I doubt they won't be okay. I hope MHJ didn't brainwash them too much - she certainly seems the type to.

Anyway, I'm sure it will all end well for Hybe and NJs.

Thanks for the ask! Sorry if I sound unsympathetic to NJs. I'm biased against them tbh. They're all everyone talks about and I don't get it. Their outfits and concepts creep me the fuck out, they're too young, MHJ is a pedo, etc.. Like, yeah... sorry.

#ask #new jeans #text #thanks for the ask!