#begging readers and authors to stop romanticizing abuse | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

ultramarine-spirit · 10 months ago

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Hello Mari, I'm not here to ask about something about wmmap but rather about another issue that has been bothering me in particular...

It's about female characters in abusive relationships.

So, I guess you already know that there are quite a few manhwas where the female lead ends up in a relationship with a very abusive male character and everyone hates him for that, right? Well that's not exactly my problem, no one likes to read couples that romanticize abuse, I understand why people hate it, I do it too, especially the male lead. My problem comes with the hatred of the female lead.

Okay, hate the relationship, I hate the guy for being a jerk but I don't like that they hate the female leads for staying with them. Many of these protagonists always have stories where they suffered abuse as children because the father hated them or the family ignored them, etc. At least to me it makes sense that a person who grew up this way can't fully distinguish what is healthy love from one that is not. If all you knew in your life was abuse, then why would you view abuse from your partner negatively?

And with this I do not intend to justify the couple, that it is okay for them to be together and that they should be together, of course not. I am completely against that.

My point is to stop hating fl for choosing the abusive ml!! I feel like that is like blaming the victim, if in a relationship the man is the abusive one and she still decides to stay with him it is still not his fault! Instead of hating the fl by calling it "stupid" or "annoying" they should try to understand the protagonist and hate the author for creating something like that.

I know that many of these stories are not for the purpose of showing an abusive relationship but rather they really sell it as if it were the best love story of all, but if we are able to use our criteria to know that the relationship is wrong then we should be able to understand that it is not the fl's fault for continuing to love her abuser.

I have thought about this for a long time but it resurfaced in me when this new webtoon came out called Beg or better yet, Cry. I have seen many criticize and hate the protagonist, Layla, for staying with Matthias but the girl suffered a lot of abuse, it is not her fault for not knowing what a healthy relationship is, and the guy did everything possible to abuse her.

I come to you because you really are the most reasonable in the entire manhwa community that I have found, those on Twitter are a bit weird (and in fact i saw these types of comments from them) I want to know if I am really the only one who thinks like this and I am overthinking it or not?

(Sorry for the late reply, I've been busy!)

I'm probably going to say something that will get some people mad, but manhwa readers aren't particularly progressive/feminist. Yes, even if most readers are young women and even if they claim to be feminists. So you have situations like the one you just described (I haven't read/seen the manhwa you are specifically referencing, but I definitely believe people would hate a FL based on those reasons), people hating on a FL for not choosing the ML they like, etc. I remember some people were even angry at Athy when she said she wasn't thinking about marriage yet (she is 15-6), because she didn't choose Ijekiel, and also because she didn't kiss Lucas. This misogynistic behavior is also pretty easy to spot just by paying attention to how readers treat any female character that's not the FL (I swear, as soon as a female character is introduced you'll have people commenting "She better not be a bitch" or something along those lines). Stanning the FL means nothing if you think she is the only good female character, or if the only female characters you like are the ones that are subservient to her.

But to be fair, otome isekai manhwa itself is not a particularly progressive genre either, so maybe it makes sense that it attracts readers like that. Of course, there are exceptions, but in general, the most a manhwa will do is portray the FL as a swallow caricature of a "girlboss". MLs are allowed to have plenty of flaws, but the moment a FL doesn't follow that (honestly, very boring) archetype, has ugly flaws, or dares to go against the ML's wishes, a lot of fans will hate her.

My theory is that the manhwa fandom has the worst of both the kpop and anime fandoms, so that's why this happens.

#idk what to tag this as lol #manhwa

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shannygoatgruff · 4 years ago

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My Brother’s Keeper - A Deeper Look (STORY SPOILER)

A Closer Look - Author’s Breakdown of the Story

(Contains Spoilers)

So, I said I wasn’t going to do this, but I know what it’s like to read a book or watch a movie and end up with more questions than answers. Personally, it irritates the fuck out of me. While I want you, the reader, to draw your own conclusions from My Brother’s Keeper, I want to give you some behind the scenes looks into the story, as a whole, to help you along. If you think I was saying something else, then, by all means, run with it…I ain’t mad at you.

Chapter 1

Hvitserk is sitting with his first victim and he’s just zoning out. He’s having a crisis of conscious about what he’s doing, that’s when he starts thinking about Ivar. To make himself feel better about the situation he’s in, he starts to compare himself to Ivar, saying that Ivar is the sick and sadistic one.

Ivar leaves Hvitserk alone with Astrid – something he does a lot. He likes to get his head together and figure out what he’s going to do. He gives Hvitserk a lot of downtime with their victims. It’s not until Hvitserk makes a “mistake” does Ivar appear. He shows up when Hvitserk can’t handle what he’s done. He’s the one that tells Hvitserk that everything is okay and he’ll take care of him. He makes it better for him and allows him to room to grieve over what he’s done.

Astrid, the first victim, never sees the two of them together. She’s dead before Ivar comes into the room.

Chapter 2

Hvitserk wakes up from days of being unconscious only to find that Ivar has taken care of everything. He wasn’t strong enough to deal with the fact that he’s done it again. He’s gone and killed another person, so he needed to retreat into himself. When that happens, Ivar handles everything – he cleans up the mess. He takes care of Hvitserk and makes sure he has everything he needs. He makes sure the bills are paid, cooks breakfast, calls into work…he is the protector. He’s the sadistic one that finds all the murder and mayhem amusing, while Hvitserk is embarrassed and ashamed of it.

Hvitserk says something important in this chapter. He says he had a normal childhood filled with love and it was happy. That no one touched him that he just had some doctors tell him they didn’t know why he was like he was.

He’s recreated his past so much in his head that it was happy. None of the bad things happens because remembering hurts – and he doesn’t like pain. He doesn’t deal with it well. His colorful recreation of the past is an important foreshadowing for the rest of the story.

Chapter 3

Hvitserk is in awe of Ivar’s strength and the fact that he’s everything that he isn’t. But, Ivar is jealous when Thora is around. Ivar is angry because he wants to go out and party but Hvitserk wants to stay in with Thora – always tearing Hvitserk between the life he thinks he wants and what he is. This is important because it shows how he’s constantly split between who he is and what he thinks he should be.

However, Thora is the key to this chapter. Notice, that she and Hvitserk have been dating for over a year, yet, she’s never met Ivar. She only knows what she’s heard of him when he has a meltdown, or from what Hvitserk describes. As he’s on downstairs, throwing shit and arguing with Hvitserk, she’s too scared to leave the room.

Hvitserk makes it a point to keep them apart because he’s afraid of what Ivar will do to her. And Ivar wants to kill Thora because she’s his last little piece of conscious, that if (Ivar) can just get rid of, Hvitserk will be free.

Chapter 4

This chapter was loaded with clues.

Hvitserk spends a lot of time talking about how charismatic Ivar is and how everyone just loves him. How people are just drawn to him – how he’s the complete opposite of his brother. While Ivar is magnetic, Hvitserk is awkward. It’s no wonder people don’t pay him much attention when the two of them are around.

When they spot Kalf, he only interacts with Ivar. Ivar’s putting the moves on him and Hvitserk are watching like a stalker from across the table. Even when they get up to leave the club, Hvitserk walks behind them and watches the way Kalf walks with Ivar to the car.

Ivar is the one that gets Kalf in the car and bashes his head against the dashboard. All Hvitserk can do is sit in the backseat like a giddy school girl. Yet, Hvitserk is the one that carries Kalf into the warehouse (Ivar can’t because of his disability). If you notice, Ivar never does anything that exerts physical strength against his victims – he’s more mental strength. He’s got a physical impairment. But, to Hvitserk, he’s perfect.

Anyway, again, Ivar and Hvitserk aren’t in the room at the same time when poor Kalf is being abused. Ivar takes his time and goes first, while Hvitserk is zoning out, looking around the place. He doesn’t like blood and yelling and Ivar makes sure there’s a lot of that, so he likes to leave the room. Hvitserk is just about the power he gets from rape. He doesn’t need all the other stuff.

When he starts having sex with Kalf, Ivar is in the room, egging him on – but Ivar doesn’t partake. Ivar NEVER partakes. Ivar doesn’t have sex with anyone (again, it leads to his disability) and because they don’t dabble in each other’s pleasures. Hvitserk doesn’t torture, Ivar doesn’t rape. It’s that simple. But, Ivar loves to push Hvitserk to the brink of becoming an animal. He sees what Hvitserk wants to be and can almost get him there.

Once it’s over, and Hvitserk is spent, before the guilt sets in, Ivar is there to take care of things. Again, he makes sure the body is disposed of, because it may be too much for Hvitserk to handle and then he may admit to himself that he went too far. It’s easier for Hvitserk to block it out that way if he doesn’t know all the details.

Chapter 5

Hvitserk is on edge because killing Kalf didn’t satisfy him. He’s devolving. He’s not getting off on the one victim every so often anymore. He needs it more and more now. It used to be that just rape was enough. Now it’s getting to the point that he doesn’t care so much what happens to them afterward as long as he can fulfill his needs. He needs more. Each one has to be bigger and better than the last.

Even being with Thora isn’t enough for him to settle his nerves. He doesn’t want to believe that Ivar is right and he needs this, but it’s in his blood. He can’t stop it. Still, it doesn’t stop him from feeling guilty when he finds out that Kalf had a life before meeting them; one of them being Thora.

Of course, he’s overwhelmed when he finds out and runs to Ivar. He has to disappear because only Ivar can comfort him. And while he’s away, passed out from the guilt, Ivar takes care of him, the house, and everything else.

Chapter 6

This is the chapter where Ivar takes Hvitserk to the cabin for his birthday. It’s his way of showing him that it’s okay to be who is he. The cabin is also it’s also reminiscent of the shed where some of the abuse used to happen when he was little. By making a place like that, as an adult, Ivar is giving him his power back. The fact that Hvitserk is giddy about making plans to bring someone back to the cabin shows that he’s farther gone than he thinks.

Chapter 7

Ivar and Hvitserk have a conversation on what their idea of a perfect world would be like. Hunting people, doing what they want. Thora having the kids, and just the two of them raising them. It shows that they are inseparable. And no matter how much Hvitserk thinks he wants to be with Thora, he really wants to be with Ivar. He’s left his girlfriend in the bed, sleeping, to join his brother in his bed to talk about how he feels, his dreams…all the things he should be sharing with his girl. Ivar is truly his partner, not Thora. Ivar treats Hvitserk with the care of a lover and Hvitserk is in love with him – not in a romantic way, but in a romanticized way.

Chapter 8

The biggest clue is in this chapter. Again, Ivar has left Hvitserk alone with a victim. Yudu was more than happy to leave with Ivar but found herself in Hvitserk’s clutches. She never saw the two of them together. She thought she was getting the one brother but got a surprise.

When Hvitserk is talking to Yudu, and teasing her because she wants to leave, he tells her that she can’t. That he’s not the bad guy, Ivar is. He says, “He won’t let you. When he comes back here, he’s going to do everything he wants to do. Then he’s going to kill you because he wants to or he’s going to make you beg him to put you out of your misery.” She responds, “What the fuck are you talking about? You’re the fucking pig rapist…you sorry sack of shit!” She was genuinely confused.

It wasn’t until she starts telling Hvitserk that he’s weak and he’s nothing does he lose his temper and his sadistic side comes out. He kills her with the type of force that Ivar would use. It takes someone making him lose his cool for him to snap like that and be fully aware of it. But once he calms down, he blacks out just when Ivar is there to take over and protect him.

Chapter 9

This chapter shows the dynamic between the two brothers. Ivar is the polar opposite of Hvitserk. Nothing bothers him. He’s in control. Hvitserk is around, but Ivar is making sure he’s being babied and protected. Not even the television is going to upset him. Ivar is in control, of everything.

It also shows how quickly both of them can be distracted when they see something (someone) they want. Their new neighbor makes them forget all about Hvitserk’s insecurities because they can only concentrate on who she is and that they want her.

Chapter 10

Another chapter loaded with clues. The entire time Hvitserk is talking to Aud from the screen door, Ivar stays out of sight. Not only is he feeding lines to Hvitserk and helping him not to be so awkward, but Aud has no idea that Ivar is even there. She thinks she’s only dealing with one brother. Hvitserk is trying his hand at getting his confidence – Ivar says that Hvitserk needed a win and he needed a confidence booster that’s why he helped him talk to her. Even when Bishop Heahmund came around, he talked about Ivar, but no one ever saw Ivar. Even when Hvitserk invited them out, he said Ivar would come, but they’ve never met him. They don’t know if he would show.

Chapter 11

Bishop and Aud were able to be subdued by being drugged. Hvitserk said that people usually talk to Ivar, but the two of them were talking to him. When they got up to dance, they had their drinks spiked and that’s how they became victims. They wake up and Aud is chained to the fireplace and Bishop is being led around by a dog collar. Hvitserk wakes up because he doesn’t like how things went down, so he checked out, but Ivar was there to take over. Ivar coaches Hvitserk along with how he wants to see him punished. Then Ivar gets to be as sadistic as he wants and kills Bishop. Then Hvitserk gets to be gentle with Aud’s corpse. Again, showing the difference between the two. But, again, the two of them never hurt the couple at the same time and relied on very different styles of torture.

Chapter 12

Hvitserk has the illusion that he can leave everything behind and marry Thora. But, he admits that he doesn’t know what love feels like. He only knows it in relationship to Ivar. While he should be thinking about Thora and their future, he’s thinking about Ivar and how he fits into it all. Then he slips into how he would like a house in the country where there are no people around, so he can party as much as he wants (the same kind of secluded house he rents at the end), right before he thinks about how fast he can snatch up the hostess.

Chapter 13

The state of the house is a metaphor for the state of Hvitserk’s mind. There are dishes in the sink and the house isn’t tidy. That’s not like Ivar, who is a neat freak. Hvitserk is afraid to talk to Ivar because he’s scared of his reaction and all these different fears and insecurities – that’s what the house looks like. But, true to form, Ivar handles it with ease. He looks disappointed but gently tells him, he doesn't want this. The violence within Ivar in direct opposition to the gentleness he shows Hvitserk – even when he’s unhappy with him.

Chapter 14

This chapter is what it is. Hvitserk is losing his damn mind. He’s suffering because he hasn’t gone out, Ivar’s not talking to him, he feels alone and he thinks he’s doing what’s best for him. But his true nature is in the basement in a case, just waiting for him. Oh, what to do? Take the woman in the cage, or say no? Decisions, decisions…

Chapter 15

Hvitserk doesn’t have the willpower he thinks he has. He’s blaming Ivar for torturing him because his rival is the one in the cage. He breaks down like a little kid, and Ivar sits beside him and wipes his tears like he just scraped his knee. He tells him it’s okay and he understands. He even asks, how he can make it easier for him – take her to your room, or set up the cot in the basement? The tug of war over Hvitserk’s life between him and Ivar is the same war that Hvitserk is constantly having within himself.

Ultimately he gives in and gets mad when she doesn’t fight back. He resents the fact that Ivar is making jokes and seems to be enjoying watching him break all of his promises. It’s not until later that he decides that Ivar is the bad influence and tells him that he’s leaving does he realize that Ivar isn’t going to let him go.

Chapter 16

This chapter is full of clues.

Somewhere along the night, Hvitserk kills Judith. When he wakes up he’s looking for Ivar to make it all better. But, when he comes upstairs he notices the door locked and can hear Thora’s voice. Thora is not alive when she’s with them both, at the same time. When Hvitserk talks to Ivar through the door, notice how she only replies to Hvitserk. She says things like, “You’re scaring me.” “Why are letting this happen.” “Open the door.”

When Ivar finally opens the door he’s covered in blood. Hvitserk rushes to her and covers her body with his own. He uses his shirt to try to wipe the blood from where her face once was. When the police come, he says he’s covered in blood. There’s blood on his cheek from where Ivar smeared it there. His hair is matted to his head with sweat and tears. There’s blood all over him. He looks like Ivar did, covered in her blood…

Chapter 17

This chapter goes into their background. You find out about the sexual abuse suffered by all the kids at the hands of Bjorn, Ragnar, and Rollo. I assume Bjorn was probably abused, too. This is always when you learn that Hvitserk raped Guthrum and killed Ubbe when he was a kid. You learn about his sexual misdirection and how he was pretty much taught that if you want sex, you take it. You also realize that he lied about saying that he had this great childhood full of love. It’s not until he’s given the truth serum does he talk about the painful memories.

Ivar shows up, outside the glass doors, when Hvitserk is at an incredibly vulnerable point. He’s on the floor, being held down feeling all this shit from his past and he’s in pain. All he wants is Lagertha to let him see his brother but she keeps denying him and feeding him drugs. But, when he needs him the most, he catches a glimpse of him. He’s not far away, but he’s just not quite able to get to him. The least he could do is warn them that Ivar doesn’t like it when Hvitserk is unhappy.

Chapter 18

So this wasn’t part of the original story. I had to try to work it into it, and I hope I didn’t make it worse by doing so. But, folks were asking for some Ivar POV so there it goes.

This was Ivar coming into the facility to take care of a broken down Hvitserk. He had to tell him what to do to stop taking their pills, and how to get himself right so he can get out of there. The story recapping how Aslaug died was important because it shows what Ivar resents about Hvitserk, killing their mother, but the fall out of the accident. They both went through the windshield, and both were half dead. Their mom said to always take care of each other. That’s something that Ivar remembers.

He also remembers killing Sigurd. He did it to protect Hvitserk. That was the first time he protected his older brother and that’s when he reminds him that their job is to protect each other.

Ivar is only around Hvitserk when no one else is around. He’s telling Hvitserk stories about things that happened when they were little, things that Hvitserk may be able to corroborate, but he’s high on the meds from the hospital, so anything is possible. Ivar is reminding him that he’s strong, too and he protects him the same way Hvitserk tried to protect him (Ivar) when he was young – even if it’s what killed their mom. It’s what Hvitserk needs to hear because he needs to get himself together to get out of that place.

Chapter 19

This is another chapter that wasn’t part of the original story.

The key here is in Lagertha’s reaction to meeting Ivar. She’s nervous around him and afraid to upset him. She says things like, she feels like she knows him. She asks him questions like was he at the trial – things like that.

She tries in every way possible to gently tell him that Hvitserk is getting strong on his own and doesn’t need him to protect him anymore. That he’s made so much progress. Having Ivar around would set him back. She even had Hvitserk write a letter to Ivar saying that he needed to try to make it on his own, without his help.

Ivar is annoyed by Lagertha because of the hold she has on Hvitserk. But as usual, no one has ever seen the two of them together.

Chapter 20

It all comes out here. Hvitserk feels abandoned by Ivar, but he misses him. I alluded to him stockpiling his pills and using them to drug guards, doctors, and everyone else to do whatever he wanted. Eventually, breaking out of the facility. That’s why he’s back at the cabin now.

He’s found himself another, young, naïve girlfriend who doesn’t know any better, and a house in the country – far away from everything. The only thing he needs now is Ivar. Of course, he’s not taking his meds anymore, so he’s starting to get little itches of his urges back.

Then like magic, Ivar appears. They have it out. Of course, Hvitserk is stronger now and he can say how he feels without the fear of Ivar’s reaction which makes Ivar proud. That’s all he ever wanted was his brother to fully accept who he was. But Hvitserk still doesn’t like how he went about it. He makes Ivar read the file, that diagnoses him will all kinds of disorders, including Dissociative Disorder (Multiple Personality Disorder). He tells Ivar that they tortured him into believing he is crazy. That he made him up because he supposedly died when Aslaug did.

Think back – Hvitserk made up having a happy, loving childhood. He made up having a relationship with Ubbe. He made up the fact that Ivar didn’t die in the car accident. The guilt of having his brother and mother die in a crash that was “his fault” because he told his mother what was happening and she tried to protect him (only Ivar - she never tried to protect any of the other boys) was too much for him. He did the only thing he could - his young mind fractured and protected his brother, forever

No one ever saw the two of them together. All the times Hvitserk passed out, the Ivar personality took over, because he’s the stronger, dominant personality and was the protector. He was always there whenever Hvitserk needed him, no matter the time of day or night. He was Hvitserk’s polar opposite – smooth, charming, handsome, able to lure people in with just his smile. He was everything that Hvitserk was too self-conscious to truly be. He was the side of Hvitserk’s consciousness that was constantly fighting within himself about giving up their life of murder. He was the side that wanted to take more risks, make the kills bigger and better.

HVITSERK is a truly sadistic person and to know that both sides are in him, makes him an apex predator. The fact that he had years of therapy means nothing. Especially, when Ivar says if you let me back in, I will never leave again. Hvitserk just shrugs and leaves the door open for Ivar to come in if he wants.

Then he goes over and sits and asks Lagertha what he should do. He’s already got her tied up and waiting…he’s back at it again. But now, he’s complete with his other half.

Though it seemed the other way around, Hvitserk truly ended up being, his brother’s keeper.

@youbloodymadgenius @idea-garden @kol--mikaelson@mooniemouse @didiintheblog @waiting4inspiration @tempt-ress @where-beauty-goes-to-die @crazyaboutmotleycrue @oddsnendsfanfics @geekandbooknerd @ivarthebloodyking @honestsycrets @xbellaxcarolinax

#My Brother's Keeper #dark ivar #dark hvitserk #modern ivar #modern hvitserk #shannygoat #companion piece #hope I answered your questions

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anxiousstark · 5 years ago

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Sparks fly up | t w o

MASTERLIST ☾ BUY ME A COFFEE

Pairing: Billy Hargrove x Reader.

Summary: 003. She had always been replaced by the same person, Eleven. First, it was Papa who replaced her, then Jim Hopper. Maybe she was replaced because Eleven was younger and had to learn to manage her powers. Or maybe it was because 003 didn’t remember what she could do. Billy Hargrove seems to be the only person who wouldn’t replace her.

Disclaimer: I do not condone Billy’s actions or behaviour on the show nor do I intend to romanticize abuse.

Warning: Swearing, angst, neglect.

A/N: Some parts of this story will be a little slow-burn. Sadly, I hardly have time to write since I started university a couple of weeks ago and I also work after university until night.

Eleven and Hopper were cuddling on a couch while Three was lying on her bed, a book in her hands and the door fully open. It was a peaceful morning despite the looks Jim Hopper directed at the oldest of the girls, still a little annoyed at her for not having paid enough attention to the youngest. But at the same time, thankful to have her with them. For another inexplicable reason, Hopper didn't know how to talk to the teenager with an adult’s mentality

Someone knocked on the door and Hopper did not move, directing his gaze to Eleven so she would get up and open it herself. El looked at him, smiled and used her powers to open the door showing Joyce Byers with a grin on her face.

Three got out of bed and went to the kitchen, looking for something cold to drink.

"You haven't eaten yet, right?" Joyce closed the door behind her while Eleven shook her head.

"We only have Eggos." He stretched his arms and yawned.

“Great!" A big smile brightened her face. "I invited all the boys to eat as Will's request. They're coming to my house. Jonathan and Nancy took care of buying several things yesterday and I had to come and invite you." She looked at the phone. "I called you but nobody answered and it seemed to be communicating.”

Hopper got up from the couch. "Mmmh, I think I need to buy a new one."

The woman nodded. "So are you guys coming?" Joyce smiled one more time as she observed how Eleven grabbed Hopper by the arm and smiled enthusiastically. She wanted to see her friends again and couldn't wait until night. She also wanted to know more about that girl she had seen in the gym with Mike.

Hopper grabbed his jacket, just like Eleven, and they opened the door to leave the house until Joyce stared at Three. "Hey." She whispered. "I came here to invite all three of you, not just them." The woman had to have a conversation with Hopper. She believed that Three was not receiving the attention she deserved and, after all, she was simply a teenager trying to survive in a world that wanted to lock her in a lab for what she could do. But unlike El, she didn't know anything about her previous life.

Three looked at Jim Hopper and he nodded, for he had already assumed that Three would come with them. Everyone already knew that she lived with Hopper, there was no reason why she had to be locked in that house 24 hours a day. Now that Hopper was thinking about it, it may have been hard for her. "Grab a jacket." He smiled at her. "It's cold." Hopper, Eleven and Joyce left the house, deciding to wait for the teenager in their respective cars.

Three quickly grabbed a jacket and walked to the door. Last night she did not have the opportunity to get to know everyone in-depth, and with some of them, she had only exchanged a few words. She knew that Jonathan and Nancy were the same age as her and that made her nervous because it was easier to be liked by Eleven's friends than people her age. And it was harder knowing she couldn't have a conversation like she was a normal teenager because she wasn't.

She was going to go out when the phone rang and she couldn't help feeling confused since, according to Joyce and Hopper, the phone wasn’t working properly.

She sighed and approached the wall where the phone was, picking it up. "Yes?" She heard what appeared to be a person breathing heavily. "Mike, if this is a joke I'm going to-." She couldn’t finish speaking because she was interrupted.

"I won't forgive you." A woman's voice rang out, and she seemed to be mourning.

“Mmmh." A shiver ran through her body. "I think you got the wrong person."

"I didn’t." Her voice was now louder. "I’m not mistaken, Y/N. Although I suppose you are now called Three. Incredibly, you are still alive, you should have died the same day HE did." It seemed that she was crying while laughing chillingly. "This time you are not going to escape, you are the next. Murderer." The woman hung up the phone and Three stood there, eyes open and heart beating at a thousand per hour. Y/N? Was that her real name?

Murderer?

Eleven entered the house, asking her why she was taking so long. She simply smiled and said she wanted to check if the phone wasn’t working. Leaving the house, she tried not to seem worried, without success, considering that when she got into the car, Hopper asked her if she was okay. To which she nodded. A lie.

Without thinking of the call, Three had had a good day. Nancy and Jonathan had taken care of preparing food for everyone and it had turned out quite well. She had the opportunity to present herself more comfortably to all of them, answering the expected question of why she had no powers, to which she answered the truth. She didn’t know.

She could see how much Eleven loved her friends and how she became friends with Max, who hugged Three when she saw her enter the Byers house. She also talked a lot with Jonathan and Nancy, and even though she was shy at first, everything had gone well. Jonathan was really nice and Nancy seemed very happy with the idea of having one more girl around.

The fact that she was a laboratory experiment did not matter.

But things went wrong again. They had spent the whole day at the Byers' house and it seemed that the children would sleep there with the intention of spending the night together and playing D and D.

Things got too much for her, she had spent too many hours surrounded by people. And although she felt appreciated and wanted, she also felt overwhelmed and a strange pain in her chest because she was not used to it.

So with the excuse that she was tired and that her head hurt, she got Hopper to let her walk home. Although he had insisted on taking her, like Jonathan, as it was already too late and it was dark.

Walking on one side of the road she felt that someone was following her and she tried to convince herself that it was her imagination due to the phone call she had received.

She took off her jacket, although Hopper had said it was cold and the trees were moving due to the wind, she wasn’t cold.

She felt like vomiting because of the nerves she felt, now it was not her imagination. From the other side of the road, it seemed that someone was watching her. She stopped dead and began to cross the road slowly, intending to approach the other side and hoping to see that there was only one wild animal but she perceived green eyes in the dark, the eyes of a human. Eyes that she swore to have seen before.

She didn’t fully cross the road when a light dazzled her and a big noise scared her. She covered her eyes with her arm.

"What are you doing here at this time?" Someone spoke to her. She got used to the light and realized that it was Billy Hargrove, in his beloved car. Three looked to the right, still seeing those eyes. Without answering, she walked quickly to the passenger seat and got into the car. Feeling calmer at the smell of Billy, which she had memorized although she had only seen Billy once.

"Woah." He smirked. "Didn’t think you were this type of girl.”

Three didn’t answer, still looking into those eyes. She extended her hand and pressed the button that closed the doors, feeling safer that way.

Billy left the bastard image behind when he realized she seemed anxious. He looked at where she was looking but couldn't see anything. "All good?"

"Hmm, I think someone is following me."

"Who?"

"I don’t know." She ran her hands through her hair and wondered if she should tell Billy what had happened. "Do you know how to keep secrets?"

Billy thought about the father shit he had and the times he had been beaten by him. "Yes, I know how to keep a secret."

She started talking quickly, telling him about the call she had received, knowing that later on, she would have to talk about her past and explain to him that ‘Three’ wasn’t just a nickname. It was her name. The number that marked her.

The teenage boy was confused but listened attentively to her. She seemed so anxious that he could also feel the same.

“Let me check.” After listening to her, Billy decided to get out of the car and go check what was on the bushes, but Three stopped him while grabbing his arm, thinking that it wasn’t a good idea.

“Don’t get out of the car.” It seemed like she was begging. “It could be dang-.”

Something fell on top of the car, almost breaking the front glass. Both teenagers screamed bloody. But what was bloody was the glass of the car where the words ‘You are next’ appeared as if magic was.

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cbk1000 · 7 years ago

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I just read the most profoundly disturbing thing I have ever beheld with my own two fucking eyes, and I need to rant about it. You guys can’t help me process it any better, but at least we can all join together in a mighty chorus of ‘what the ACTUAL fuck??’

This is not a funny post lamenting another weird creature/human atrocity that I delved from the darkest depths of Amazon, this is a situation where I’m putting the rest of this rant under a cut because I’m going to include large chunks of text that romanticizes child molestation.

You have been warned. Do not read on if you can’t stand that sort of content.

So, if you’ve been following this blog for a while, then you’ve seen me gleefully lampooning the batshit romances of an author called Mary Anne Graham. This is the author of pee hole fingering fame and that one time a man’s top ho killed herself using a wooden paddle she had carved into the exact likeness of his penis because he was having too much gay sex with his boyfriend and neglecting his harem. There are always anatomical oopsies galore (including a man having two different openings to his anus) and general wtfery that’s usually absolutely hysterical.

I picked up her new book on Kindle Unlimited a while back, read most of it, guffawed my way through it as usual, and then forgot about it for a bit while I read other books that understand metaphors actually have to make sense and melting eyes do not denote desperate infatuation, but rather some kind of deadly disease. I went back to it today deciding I’d push through it to the end, since my Kindle said there were only twenty minutes left to the end of the book.

What a fucking mistake that was.

This book was full of the usual hilarious dipshittery until the last few minutes, when it suddenly took the most disturbing turn I’ve ever seen. I’m going to post the synopsis so you understand the basic premise of the story, and then I’ll summarize the scene leading up to what I’m going to copy and paste, so you understand the context.

Synopsis: Russian gypsy Prince Vladimir Batalova didn’t await meeting his soul mate. He’d known her for years. She was the daughter of Tobar, the gypsy who married Vlad’s mother and saved her from her abusive marriage. Vlad’s noble father abhorred the youngest son produced by his idiotic marriage to a dirty gypsy. Tobar accepted Vlad, treating him as family, equal to his own son, Nic, and his daughter, Mala. Vlad returned Tobar’s affection and considered Nic his brother, but Mala? He’d never felt brotherly about Mala. Vlad spent years dreading the letter that would tell him of Mala’s marriage to a fine gypsy lad. Instead of a letter, he got Tobar and Nic delivering Mala to London to save her from certain ravishment. They asked Vlad to fulfill his mother’s dying wish: that Mala be brought to him to enter society and find a husband. Now, Vlad must turn the gypsy he loved into a debutante, find her a husband and have her under his roof, within touching distance. Even with the help of all his friends, the sixth sense he shared with his buddy, Boz, and some faerie magic, Vlad knew he could never find a happily ever after. His forever was forbidden unless he convinced Mala that the bond they had shared wasn’t the one they should share – and that taking each other was worth losing the family they both adored.

So, they wind up getting married under English law, everyone is happy, everything is shiny, etc., and then Mala is suddenly carried off by an unknown horseman. Vlad figures out that it’s her brother and that he’s taken her back to their encampment, so he and some of his friends hightail it over there to get her back. Turns out Mala is not willing to go because she has convinced herself that because he didn’t perform a Romani wedding with her, he means to throw her aside and vanish eventually, just like he did when she was younger (shortly after meeting one another and becoming family, he suddenly up and took off and never explained why). He says it’s because he’s a demon or some shit, and the reader is suddenly made aware that he has this deep dark secret connected to why he ran away years ago, though at no point prior to this does the narration mention that something ugly is gnawing at his conscience. (Conveniently, it explains that the secret is so terrible even he forgot about it. But then he remembers it well enough to make a very detailed confession of something that happened years ago.)

Mala tells him that she will not return with him unless he confesses this secret and she can judge whether or not he truly loves her and will be faithful to her for all time.

So he does: ‘”I swear to you that I’m no deviant. I’ve never had a sexual interest in children. Never. Well, never until you were twelve and I came to meet your Papa and attend his wedding to my mother. Mother introduced us and my heart stopped. I froze and don’t even recall if I spoke. Then you ran up to give me a hug in welcome and my most private part unfroze with a vengeance.”

He paused for breath and to give her a chance to kick him and run away--but when she did neither, he continued. “I was horrified at myself, but helpless against the force of my response. Through the ceremony I positioned myself behind a small shrub of a convenient height and vowed not to so much as look at you. Course, I couldn’t look at anyone or anything else. When the women began dancing around the couple after the vows, I watched your budding breasts jiggle when you kicked and imagined myself...,”

A noise in the background halted his words, and he jumped ahead. “That night, around the fire, Tobar gave an amazing, emotional speech, where he said that in marrying my mother, he acquired another son. My blood father hated me for existing as I was a living reminder of his unpardonable lapse of judgment in wedding a damned gypsy. Your father accepted me, Russian blood and all. I couldn’t repay his affection by lusting after my step-sister. I left that night and vowed to stay away until whatever demon that had possessed me was evicted.

He then muses over the following two months, which were apparently filled with a bunch of orgies. He begs Mala not to push him to tell her about this part, because she doesn’t need to know everything. Also, apparently becoming a ‘nude buffet centerpiece that any party guest could stroke or taste or lick or nibble’ is much worse than sexually assaulting a child that her father entrusted to you for protection after welcoming you into his family. Mala agrees not to push him on the orgy stuff, and he continues:

“I thought it possible that I’d exaggerated the event in my mind. I returned about two and a half months after we first met, vowing to treat you as a younger sister. I kept my vow until I spotted you as I rode in, strolling in an area secluded from the caravan by a stand of trees. You were flirting with a lad a couple of years older. He brushed your hair back and tilted up your chin for a kiss he never got. I leapt off my galloping stallion, stormed over and told the brash bastard that if he so much as looked at you again, I’d geld him. I was jealous as hell.”

“You were?” Mala asked. “I thought you were acting like an enraged big brother.”

“No,” Vlad said. “Hell, no. Despite my every vow and intention, my love, I have never, for a single second, felt like your brother. My obsession with you grew worse, and more obvious. Your father says he saw it and so did Nic, but neither of them had a clue how low I’d sink, how evil I’d become. I kept myself mostly under control that visit, save for a few brush ups with some of the other fellows who had dreams and intentions that I destroyed rather ruthlessly. It was my next visit when my demon overthrew my will. That’s when the true evil started.”

“That’s nonsense,” Mala said.

“No, it’s not,” Vlad said. “All I can say in my defense is that the first time was accidental. I was away from the tribe, fishing and trying to clear my head and cool my loins. I succeeded only in aggravating the fish. After I packed up my gear, I strolled in the woods for a bit. A splash and a giggle drew my attention, and I stalked to a stand of trees and dense brush and peered through. ‘Twas you, dressed only in sunlight and your golden skin. You were bathing. Your youth, my supposed honor and morality, all of it commanded me to leave and give you privacy. I didn’t. After that, every night, at every campsite, I did it again and again.”

Mala blinked. “You watched me bathe? And the other girls as well?”

“There were other girls?” Vlad asked. “There are no other girls, Mala. There are no other women.”

He steeled himself and continued. “And yes, I watched you, but I did more. I pleasured myself as I watched. I invaded your privacy and desecrated it. I reviled myself for it then and every moment since then. I ordered myself to stop but I didn’t. I couldn’t. I’d leave so I’d have to stop, but I could not stay away. Then came my worst transgression. One winter’s night, your father and brother left with the other men to scout and liberate some horses. They asked me to sleep inside the vardo with you. I tried to do the right thing and made myself a separate pallet, but you complained of the cold. It took pitifully little for me to join you in your cozy nest. You cuddled up to my back innocently, for warmth.”

Vlad paused and closed his eyes, but she made a noise of protest so he looked at her again. “My flesh felt every sweet inch of you, and I ate it up like a starving man at a banquet. Eventually, I drifted off to sleep. When I awoke, our positions had reversed. You’d turned over and I spooned you. My arm lay around your waist, but I moved it up until your breasts rested upon it. I jiggled them, slightly, imitating the way I watched them move whenever you danced. You didn’t wake, and I recalled your father and brother’s jokes about how deeply you slept. So I cupped your breasts through your gown, teasing your nipples to pert fullness that I couldn’t see.”

“Oh my Great Duck,” Mala said. “I thought I dreamed that. You turned me over, and climbed atop me, didn’t you?”

“To my everlasting damnation, I did,” Vlad said. “I hiked up your gown and positioned myself against your feminine mound. I moved your gown off your shoulders to uncover your breasts. I sucked you and humped you like an animal until I found the most shameful, the most splendid release of my life. I was beyond disgusted with myself, so I got up, cleaned up, and went outside to build a fire or kindle it or something.”

He goes on to say that he afterwards fled and “signed on to crew a ship leaving for America. I needed an ocean’s distance to keep me away else i’d return and likely do something even worse.”

So, he has just confessed that when she was a child, he took advantage of the fact that he was a trusted family member to peep on her while she was bathing and wank to the sight of it, and then sexually assaulted her while she was sleeping. This confession, btw, takes place in front of her dad and older brother. She probably is disgusted and horribly upset and they kill him with their bare hands, right?

Nope. The whole purpose of this scene was for the heroine’s insecurities to be soothed and for her to realise that the hero has wanted her and only her all along:

Mala watched shame and love battle in Vlad’s eyes and recognized it as the expression she’d seen there for years. She hadn’t understood it then, but she understood it and him now. ‘Twas with effort that she managed not to dance as she said, “Ask me again.”

He then asks her to marry him once more, her dad and brother are like, “Yay! Let’s get this gypsy wedding on the road”, they have a Romani ceremony, and then the book ends with this scene:

Vlad drew her close for a kiss, but paused to ask, “Do you finally understand that I’ve loved you since the moment we met, that I’ve never willingly spent a second apart from you, and that I will hold you in my arms, my heart and my life until eternity ends?”

Mala was crying too hard to answer, so she nodded as he took her lips with tender intent, feeding her back happy tears, flavored with a taste of forever.

I’m going to fucking DESTROY this thing in a review. I cannot fucking believe a functioning adult actually wrote this as part of a romantic happily-ever-after. This lady likes to talk about how her characters are all a ‘little batty’ because they’re just so in love and it’s all a bit tongue-in-cheek--no, you unbelievably stupid fucking asshole, they are not ‘a little batty’, they are literally child rapists. Confessing to your bride that you were obsessed with her when she was a CHILD and that you FUCKING MOLESTED HER IN HER SLEEP is not a goddamn HAPPY ENDING!!!!!!!!!!!!

#i'm fucking incensed #i don't even know how to process this #what the unholy fuck is wrong with this woman #how the fuck could you think this is romantic???#this is the book that makes fifty shades look completely well-adjusted

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