#and I think it's weird to blame normal people for this

[eelclaw]

the protagonists of the broken code. who's rootspring

i am tbc's number 1 hater! negative thoughts below

shadowsight: other characters sometimes acknowledge that he was manipulated by ashfur, but the narrative puts all of the blame for the ashfur situation on him, neglecting that (a) he did exactly what he was supposed to do as a healer (obey and take messages from a starclan cat), and (b) the codebreaker hysteria was far more a product of clan culture than the actions of a single apprentice. he isn't treated like the victim that he is, and it is frustrating and not cathartic.

bristlefrost: what the hell does she even do. what does her spy arc accomplish or contribute (like mother, like daughter). she finds out that bramblestar isn't bramblestar far too early. she's so perfect and she has no flaws and she's so empty. i want her to be worse. how much more interesting would she be if she was sneaky and selfish? if she was loyal to the imposter because she truly believed in what he was saying? not to mention how she reciprocates rootspring's feelings with literally zero warning, and ceases to have what little character she'd had to begin with. i genuinely don't care that she dies, they did nothing to make her an engaging character. miss bristlefrost, i'm sorry they did you so bad.

rootspring: first rootpaw thinks he's weird because of his father. i hate this because i hate tree. later, rootpaw thinks he's weird because he can see ghosts. so they give him this "i just want to be normal" deal, and the clans suddenly pretend that ghosts are silly and not real. sure, rootspring and tree are the first clan cats with this specific power. and i get that the clans have very rigid beliefs, and they are afraid of anything that contradicts those beliefs, and that's interesting! but ghosts have been appearing to clan cats all the way back to tpb. fireheart tries to kill clawface at one point and he senses spottedleaf's spirit beside him, there to avenge her death. so rootspring's issue is stupid and he's nothingburger to me.

bramblestar: the arc really depends on me giving a shit about what happens to him. which i don't.

i think bramblestar is unintentionally a bad person and a great character. he proves himself by rejecting tigerstar, but he's still deeply insecure. he makes mistake after mistake (conspiring with tigerstar; hesitating to save firestar from the fox trap; forsaking his children after finding out they're not biologically his; using his power over squirrelflight as a warrior, deputy, and leader to control her), and for none of these mistakes is he held accountable (no thunderclan cat except leafpool learns that he plotted with tigerstar; he is allowed to remain deputy; his children think he was the best father ever; in every situation, squirrelflight seems to bear the consequences of his actions).

in other words, bramblestar gets chance after chance to redeem himself, and he keeps fucking it up. again, that's interesting! there is a story here about how difficult childhoods affect adults, and how powerful men are not held responsible for hurting people. except that's not how he's written. he's written as a completely good person, a brave and noble leader, and all of the clans respect him and they need to get him back.

there's a crazy amount of bramblestar worship in this arc. even rootspring, a brand new skyclan apprentice, thinks about how important bramblestar, the thunderclan leader, is, and how all the clans wouldn't be the same without him. i can't take it seriously.

graystripe: graystripe also got a crazy amount of worship. i couldn't stand reading every few paragraphs about how great he is.

side note: shadowsight, bristlefrost, and rootspring all want the same thing. they advocate against killing bramblestar's body. wouldn't it be more interesting if the protagonists had different perspectives and opinions? if they wanted different things? for example, it makes sense that shadowsight wouldn't want bramblestar dead. he feels like the only way to make up for his mistake is to recover bramblestar alive. but bristlefrost could be in favor of killing bramblestar, because the only way to make up for her mistake (supporting the imposter) is to get rid of him. putting our protagonists at odds would generate some interesting conflict.

conclusion: i also have problems with ashfur (why does ashfur try to stir up trouble with codebreaking which will certainly get him caught when he could just take over bramblestar's body and live quietly with squirrelflight), tigerheartstar, mothwing, starclan, the dark forest insta-death water, firestar possessing rootspring, the pacing (oh my god! they were debating whether to kill bramblestar for like three books! and for three more books they were running in circles in the dark forest!), etc. but i've already written a lot and i'm out of steam lol.

let me finish by saying these are kids books, and i'm not expecting them to be the cream of the crop, but there are a lot of writing choices which are incredibly misogynistic and/or completely baffling from a narrative standpoint. i still have a soft spot for this series though. dammit. okay bye

[neverbesokind]

.

[daftpatience]

why do u hate horses

the answer is manifold:

i know too many unpleasant horse facts (the foam sweat, the lungs bleeding, the fingerlegs, the old age castration, etc etc)

the city i live in is full of farms and i went to school with horse girls

homestuck

too many virility metaphors

[dykedvonte]

Mini rant below and in the tags, the only time I’ll talk about this and my personal take on it.

The way people talk about hypothetical male Anya on Twitter and the idea of how Mouthwashing would play out if the genders were swapped makes me remember how people still don’t take sexual assault and rape with male victims with the same gravity, especially when the perpetrator is female.

[onebrainsel]

I feel like this might've come up at some point. Someone must've discussed it, right? But, hear me out:

Alys Rivers could be a bastard of House Strong. And if she was, there's a chance that all the Velaryon Boys could be magically inclined. And that, my friends, brings me joy.

I was thinking specifically about Lucerys when this thought occurred. But some, or all three of the boys could be witchy and weird too! I mean, they're already weird, but in a Targaryen brand of weird. So why not have them be weird in the 'forest witch, first man, ancient eldritch magic' way.

Harrenhal is a rite of passage, and aunty Alys is there to be their cool but slightly unnerving guide.

Accidentally astral projecting into people's dreams, so they're all just awkwardly staring at each other in that same void Helaena was at in the season 2 finale.

Having this weird innate ability to understand the forest, instinctually knowing more than they should etc.

Honestly, this can go a myriad of different ways. A huge sandbox, if you will.

[sukibenders]

The way people are becoming anti-children nowadays is really sad. And I'm not talking about people not wanting to have kids of their own, that's fine and something that shouldn't be shamed nor up to someone else to debate. No, I'm talking about the people who adamantly hate these little humans for simply existing, wanting to ban them from spaces due to them having emotional reactions that they are still learning to understand (you know, the kind of lessons that everyone had to learn and figure out at one point). It's gotten to the point where I've even seen these types of people genuinely support children being harmed and deny their hurt under the consensus of "Well then maybe they shouldn't be there," in your average public space. Like, imagine thinking hating on children, people who need assistance and guidance, is something to be proud of.

[lilac-udon]

I sometimes think sunny think about basil more than basil think about sunny, even though most people see basil a bit yandare ,stalkerish. From the og I don’t believe he has those traits, you can say he is very obsessed, but to me is more of his desperation calling for help towards sunny, the only person known what’s he is hiding.

Basil is not as clingy , maybe emotionally but not physically. What I meant is he considers other feelings than him but at the last tree days it’s probably his limits.He behaves too well to the point he breaks and starts acting weird. A lot of people believe is, Basil was about to commit suicide after getting the photo album. He was already in a very low point of his life, if he is obsessed with sunny he would have wanted to see him one last time but he didn’t. But sunny appears, and he still probably decided to kill him self anyway, giving away his precious item to sunny even before knowing sunny is leaving. Then was the river scene, I personally think he might have the thought to drown himself after one last time seeing their old favorite hang out spot . But unexpectedly met Aubrey and her friends. (This might be more of a stretch)

Let’s compare the hiki route, where the last scene with the siren, many assumed it’s because basil still committed suicide, and that siren is for him. In this order, he probably didn’t get the photo album and trying to get it, before getting it the last straw was his grandma passing away.

All of these, there’s never any creepy clingy behavior of wanting , forcing himself to seeing sunny, he made up his mind very long time ago actually . And the only difference is sunny wanted to see him (or not

[f1owermoon]

sorry i just. need to rant for a second

[unproduciblesmackdown]

"normal" meaning "unquestionable" & the embrace of that cropping up anywhere such as an aim to be on the unquestionable side of a Normal / Weird binary, thus surely being a comfortable effortless indelible version of Good that stems from "just be normal"

ppl out here like freud 2.0 where well they had the sufficiently normal Nuclear Household family(tm) experience so they're sufficiently normal for it, versus the weirdos who had the Questionable family times so as to end up with Issues, surely unlike all those who are Family Issue free, i.e. normal, no question. like how also Going To School is Normal, so of course there's that idea that anyone who didn't go to school normal style or did but Did That Wrong are the people made Weirder with Issues. & when what's Normal is what's Good is what's Unquestionable it's like why would i need to question it when it's so normal? why wouldn't some rando asshole nepo man be Meritous & Good at business when he's so Successful at it. speaks for itself, same as Your role of being treated entirely differently does, this can't be questioned, blame it on your own failures; again how the supposedly "questionable" experiences (unlike other ones, which need no Legitimate questioning) are pathologized like. people talking about disabled ppl's lacking "social skills" being this meaningful Driver of ableism just like poor people's lacking "financial literacy" being that darn cause of classism & resource extraction, the already Questioned vulnerable [you're just doing it wrong / failing] people are the cause of their own mistreatment, Normal people who are so socially & financially successful are helpless, this victim blaming (can't question it. Normal) sure totally doesn't speak to abuse being "normal" as well

which, good thing abuse totally isn't Normal i.e. in the territory of unquestionable things (with, obviously, the idea that Abuse (Real abuse, if you like) must be Exceptional in addition to, if not to Really be, "obviously" questionable) since if something can't be questioned then surely it's also How Things Were In The Beginning, Are Now, & Ever Shall Be (catholic prayer paraphasing re: god, for referential context) & there's just nothing to do but invest in & play into it For Success & resent / punish / try to eliminate disruption, like people just existing but doing it Weird, c'mon, be a better person please, obviously....meanwhile people out here approaching queerness in a way that accepts & acts according to the unquestionable normal of abuse of queerness, such that oh the "abnormality" of being queer (that is, "normal" people's abuse in the face of awareness of queerness) is unquestionable, such that Oh No, investment in that abuse now & forever world without end amen, & now punching down on the people who are just Being Weird & Disrupting this embrace of the norm: radfems invested in "all bodies will be classed as men & women & the former abuse the latter" & hate women who already disrupt this premise; pointing out ace exclusionism as terf logic just applied in the different context where queer vs nonqueer binary is neatly detected just as the gender binary is & people who already prove that & the way it's defined is not the case are the real problems, infiltrating Unquestionable (Normal) Queerness & delegitimizing it i.e. being The Cause of e.g. homophobic abuse, which will also unquestionably exist, so if we're gonna blame someone as Needing To Change it'll have to be uhhh already also affected Weird people who are ruining things, they're the Real causes of this abuse, so they're basically men, basically cis, basically straight. boooo to trans ace bi pan aro nonbinary gnc people....hardest to be binary gender "same sex" "romantic" "visible" Truly Queer couple currently holding hands in public or in front of family, & it's You Mfs who make it harder, not, yknow, the people who were already always embracing & perpetuating the abuse bolstering Normal(tm) Cishet Just Being Normal. and of course don't forget going after poly people & others disrupting / not accepting premises about Unquestionable Relationship Structures/Requirements. so not just being normal

also the beloved concept broken out that, of course, Being Normal = Being Good, b/c hello, unquestionable?? where it's like meaningless ideas that abuse is Abnormal like ":( hurt people hurt people" (inherently a framing to counter any response to [person is hurting me] that's not silent secret sympathy forever i guess. nobody's using this catchphrase to argue for Hey Quick let's all intervene to stop someone being hurt, lest they go on to hurt anyone themselves) like & yet everyone is hurt, yet not everyone is doing shit where these arguments are broken out after they're already getting away with nonsense & we're telling others to just stop complaining, while also not everyone isn't getting shit on for being "disruptive" & perchance the real hurtful problems for trying to Stop being shitted on, or just have a little more breathing room to day to day live while it happens. everyone's hurt bitch let's get you some "what's the actual patterns & context of supported power imbalance made emergently evident by whose choices & life are constrained & undermined & made smaller" like. or the expanded idea as that well all abuse comes from Being abused, i.e. the Cycle, never mind that abuse is everywhere as per its being Normal, & nobody's intervening every time it manifests despite its supposed exceptionality thus rareness & supposed indication that someone's Being abused to cause it. just gotta roll with it, wow. & pathologize being victim to it, abuser in the making, Vulnerable People are dangerous, those insulated & given more access to systemically backed power in an oh so Normal way are surely oh so Safe as well. the very rich families are all lovely havens. the abused people are treated so well & embraced & supported by all the more Normal people they encounter, certainly not Also isolated, bullied, victim blamed by these Normal friends family coworkers new partners randos in public randos who are "professionals"

but yknow uh literally just be normal lol. aaand post. and like "lol being Anti Being Normal? just like a weirdo" like yeah of course. and what, i'm gonna try to win the heart & mind of someone like "of course you have blue hair & pronouns" & convert them, as would definitely happen if only all transgenderists were Normal about it? and the perspective of "what Unquestionable Good is ever actually coming from striving to get to point at Others as Weird" involves going like "nooo i wanna see myself & be seen as Just Being Normal" instead of like having ideas / arguments about how to be considerate towards people which can be articulated in any other way & involve effort & said consideration (ft. anything able to be questioned)

[bobmckenzie]

me when other people have multiple f/o's portrayed by the same actor: omg that's so cute I love that for them 💙

me when I do it: what the FUCK is wrong with me. freak

[emulation-0]

its so odd thinking back to my life a few years ago compared to now

[mr-kriiingle]

COMFORTING A PERSON FOR DUMMIES

[sevicia]

When I was in my second year of high school I remember sitting on the bleachers w/ my friends and we were like joking & laughing & stuff like that and suddenly two of them go "I'd kiss you! Come here!!" and proceed to kiss and I was like trying to act normal but inside I was freaking out like WHAT HOW DID YOU DO THAT. IS THAT NORMAL.

And through the years I've realized it's actually pretty normal for friends to like, kiss and stuff like that, but I just can't wrap my head around it .⁠·⁠´⁠¯⁠`⁠(⁠>⁠▂⁠<⁠)⁠´⁠¯⁠`⁠·⁠. I think it's because I'm WAYY too sensitive and take everything too seriously.

Like I remember when I was around 7? A girl who called herself my friend (I did not consider her a friend. she was very mean to me) went up to my desk so I looked up at her and she went "WOW you look so cute I wanna kiss you!" and I, seven years old and clueless towards the cruelties of the world, closed my eyes, to which she started literally howling with laughter and telling me how stupid I was to think anyone would kiss someone like me.

I mean I know I don't have to worry because I am the world's weakest soldier when it comes to social interactions -> won't ever get close to someone to the point they'd feel comfortable like actually kissing me but the thought makes me so anxious .⁠·⁠´⁠¯⁠`⁠(⁠>⁠▂⁠<⁠)⁠´⁠¯⁠`⁠·⁠. sometimes I find a lot of comfort in being so throroughly unattractive cause I don't have to worry about all that. But also I don't wanna be alone forever. RAHHHHH 🦖🦖🦖

[timeisacephalopod]

One time I read an article (I believe on buzzfeed) about this woman who was playing with her dogs in her front yard when they, apparently out of nowhere, straight up ripped her arms off and I will NEVER forget how almost every comment on that article was from dog people claiming she abused the dogs with no evidence of that whatsoever because they could not imagine a dog doing a Bad Thing. And like one of the dogs was a boxer, which is a breed I'm very familiar with- they obviously don't rip owners arms off with their other breed of dog friends normally. But I also think it's absurd to claim someone abused those animals when sometimes dogs do fucked up shit. Doesn't make em evil or bad, sometimes dogs snap like people snap and that's fine no need to moralize which dogs are Bad Dogs but there's also no need to claim someone who went through a horrific tragedy and was victimized by their pets of all things was abusive to said pets with no proof.

Another person in the comments pointed out how weird and cult like everyone else was acting and as a cat person who has been told a number of times how awful and horrible my pets are I gotta agree lmao. Crazy what dog people will do to defend the obviously indefensible rather than being like "damn that's fucked up has anyone done a check on those dogs to see if maybe they've got a health issue that caused them to lash out like that" or otherwise act normal instead of jumping straight to victim blaming someone with no fuckin arms. Like damn dog people will call cats evil for eating you after you die (dogs do that too by the way, do you expect them to STARVE to death because you think your corpse matters more than your pets life? Wtf. Plus not all cats OR dogs will eat you post death so ??? Not to mention if I stick YOU in a room with nothing but dead grandma you will eat her too if I leave you there long enough why vilainize cats for *checks notes* eating food when starving) but then defend dogs doing literally the most fucked up shit I've ever read a pet doing. Of course the dogs were not evil or bad, sometimes shit happens and that says nothing about dogs as a whole but I wish cats got even REMOTELY the same respect from those same people. If you can acknowledge a couple dogs ripping their owners arms off probably doesn't make those dogs in particular evil there's no reason to treat all cats like they're evil incarnate.

[randomrandy]

Random post: “reblog if you *thing I agree with”

My brain: if you reblog this you’re a virtue sighing whore who just wants internet clout. If you don’t reblog this you’re a heartless monster who should be shot in the street. Kys

Me: wtf

[cherrysnax]

I once heard that dreaming about someone constantly means that they’re thinking about you. Maybe these people miss you too?

kneejerk reaction is that I hope they’re not thinking of me tbh