#but I don't judge a book by it's cover!

[red-dead-sakharine]

Loopholes

I saw the tags in @changeling-fae 's reblog, so...

"I swear" does not necessarily mean he put it in the contract. He might have, but we don't know. He gives us his word, not a magically bound contract for this. Though I personally think he will not break his word, considering that Korilla says he's always fair and honest, it still is something to be aware of.

"never use the crown..." doesn't mean he can't use his innate powers against mortals. Or his army. Or send other lackeys, like Korilla or Yurgir, against mortals. Or use ordinary weapons against mortals. It only refers to the crown's power specifically. And against puny mortals he hardly even needs the crown to snap them out of existence.

"to dominate a mortal" doesn't mean he can't use the crown to kill, maim, torture, teleport, displace, tickle, explode, humiliate, and-so-on a mortal, or conquer the material plane. Dominate is a very narrow, singular action to exclude.

In short, he literally only gives us his word, that he won't use one of his weapons to do one specific thing with mortals. He can still use the rest of his arsenal, to do whatever else he wishes.

It's such an obviously flimsy promise full of loopholes, I was very disappointed, that Tav wasn't able to point it out to him at least with an insight check.

And considering that he states during his post-credit scene, that he'll "come knocking at your door", I'd say he was very deliberate with his wording here, and doesn't intend to spare the material plane. But we'll probably never know for sure. He could just mean to take us out for dinner, after all. Right? RIGHT?

[quackle]

there's no fucking way she's straight like absolutely no way.

[giantkillerjack]

Uh-oh! You are like, SOOO awkward!!

You're so awkward that it is occasionally mildly uncomfortable for people!

You're so awkward that sometimes people are confused by you and then there are awkward silences!

You're so awkward ...... that ultimately no one is harmed!!

Oh damn!!! What a vile crime you have committed! What an unforgivable thing it is to make a fellow human briefly confused!

Why, if *I* were ever briefly confused and kind of uncomfortable as a result, I'd be devastated.... by the absolute net zero change in my happiness and health! - From which I might never recover!! Yes indeed! No punishment can ever be enough for you!!

So you better absolutely hate yourself for it.

Better be SO MEAN to yourself about every single missed social cue so you don't forget your horrible crime! Meaner than you'd ever dream of being to someone else for the same thing! This is YOUR responsibility!

You need to show the world that you KNOW you are bad by punishing yourself constantly! After all, think of all the people who BENEFIT from you punishing yourself! - No, really! Think about it! Think about who benefits from your pain.

Think of alllllll the definitely-good people that your definitely-necessary self-torment definitely helps! I mean, you can't just cut off their definitely-life-sustaining supply of your suffering, right?? Sure, everyone else has a breaking point, but you're probably the only person in human history who doesn't, right? Best not to question it probably. Sure, it's a symptom that billions of people with trauma have had, but who knows? You could be a one-in-seven-billion exception. Anything's possible!

Instead, better just accept that idea that bullies carry like guns in holsters - the idea that people who have trouble with social cues deserve to suffer. Better carry on the burden they placed on you until you drop. Aid the cause of the callous by enforcing shame and suffering upon yourself extra hard; try your best to do their work for them. They're very busy.

Better not recognize that you need patience and kindness to heal from your trauma. Better not find out that it was trauma rather than personal weakness filling your head with self-hating thoughts. Better not find out it wasn't your fault.

Better not find out that awkwardness is not inherently harmful or unkind, and, in fact, the people who act like it is *are the ones enacting harm and being cruel.*

Better not get righteously angry when you realize just how much unnecessary damage this has done to you. After all, if you get mad, you might realize you deserve better. You might even feel brave enough to DEMAND better! You might build boundaries that keep you safe! You might make other people think they deserve to feel safe too! And we obviously can't be having that, so...

Better not show yourself even a little kindness a little bit at a time.

Better not make a habit out of it after all that practice.

Better not get confident.

Especially if you can't first wipe out every trace of awkward. (And you probably never will. Because people who experience absolute social certainty at all times tend to be insufferable assholes that enforce the status quo. And you just don't have the stock portfolio for that.)

Better not be confident and awkward because then you might confuse and delight people

- you might accidentally end up making other people feel less shame for their social difficulties

- you might make isolated, traumatized, and shy people feel like they deserve to be included in social situations

- you might even make them feel they can be themselves around you

- you might start loving the effect you have on a room

- you might enjoy conversations more

- you might forgive yourself and bounce back from shame more easily and frequently

- you might come to enjoy some of those moments of harmless confusion you cause because NOBODY expects the Confident Awkward, and that can genuinely be an advantage in social situations

- you might stop apologizing so much.

- you might find that socializing is like a video game: it requires practice but also a safe space for it to be fun and positive.

Or if you can't become assertive and confident, better not remain awkward and shy and quiet, and then love and forgive yourself anyway!

Why, it would be carnage!!

In either scenario, you run the risk of finding out that it's not your fault that safe spaces full of kind people can be really hard to find, create, and nurture. You could end up building a skillset that helps you do those things if you're not careful!

If you start giving yourself even the tiniest amount of grace at a time, you will find that you've accessed a gateway drug with extreme long-term side effects:

- You might realize that it was never your fault that it took so long to like yourself.

- You might realize that you were always worth talking to, even when you didn't like yourself and communication felt impossibly difficult.

- You might realize that you'll still be worth talking to even if communication becomes harder as you age and/or experience disability.

- You might come to know that you deserve to be heard even on bad days when words come slow and blurry.

You might discover that you were always deserving of kindness, first and foremost from yourself.

So. As you can see, it's FAR too much of a risk to start granting your awkward self free pardons for your many heinous and harmless crimes. Better to just leave it there.

[kimabutch]

My Hot Take is that moralizing on how people choose their next book is very silly.

If you have to get mad at anyone, get mad at publishing companies that market books by emphasizing only one aspect of the books (ex. plot, atmosphere, representation, themes, tropes) and ignoring all other aspects that potential readers might enjoy.

When you get mad at people who choose books cause the plot sounds intriguing, or they want to see themselves represented in a character, or cause it has particular tropes they'd like new takes on... it makes you sound like people who say that genre fiction is inherently inferior to "real" books. You sound goofy!

[ilikestuffthatsparkles]

Can we all agree that Boltons would dress like this?

Like, their outfits are always on a thin line between swag and tacky, and I love it.

[lemonduckisnowawake]

I just want to make clear something

Vampire Books I'm Interested In

literally anything platonic, ZERO ROMANCE. The zero is very important. Not low. Not a little. Not background. Zero. None. Nada. 전혀 없어야데.

if it must be romantic, at least it shouldn't take itself seriously or be Dramatic and Thematic or have the romance NOT be between the vampire and human. The vampire should be their weird friend who sometimes bites whipped cream cans or honey bottles as a nervous tic

Blood, Gore, Violence, Viscera, Alllll the Guts and mess

if there must be an age gap, consider how funny it would be if the human was older than the vampire

"i am not a vampire. Vampires cannot be Christian. The fact that I hate sunlight, hate garlic, and that my hand is burning as I clutch the cross around my neck that is ONLY BY FASHION CHOICE covered by a turtleneck is NOT AN INDICATION OF ANYTHING!"

if there must be a sexy blood drinking scene, consider how funny sexy it would be if the vampire sips his blood from a wineglass like some tired, adhd, chaotic lawful detective trying to crack a hard case because obviously there is nothing sexier than that

"no. I'm not 'magic.' I'm actually a biological construction created for the purpose of carrying different bloodtypes in me to administer it in emergency cases during this space and matter war. The fact that I am a failed product does NOT negate the fact that I'm not magic. I am *science*" which is to say sci fi vampires

Honestly, just go back into the original lore of vampires and make them bloodthirsty but so calculating. After seeing what Frieren did with demons, we really are missing out on monsters who use the power of words to lure in prey

Vampire Books I'm NOT Interested In

"Bloodsucking is so sexy and intense and dangerous. You want to let me suck your blood so bad. Literally. Please. I will die without blood." Go get a blood transfusion and stop gaslighting women with your easily preventable life or death situations. No, I don't care if vampires are illegal citizens. Just rip out the government leaders' throats and establish a tyrrany where an adventure begins where peoole realize that revenge and violence only creates cyclical cruelty and -

"I will reform this vampire through the power of love and blood."

If it has a shirtless man cover and/or a couple cover, I am automatically suspicious of it

Yes that DOES mean Magiford falls under this. My point stands

However, I will read any and all of these if I'm feeling evil enough and need a victim to target

[im-a-chunky-potato]

I would definitely be like Sigma here. "Wow, you are a genius, and you manipulate everyone you meet. But if you are a terrorist... why do you look so innocent🥺"

[tealeavesandthorns]

[writeouswriter]

Hrghggh I want this book but can only find the ugly cover version anywhere to buy, usually wouldn't be a problem if I was getting a better deal, but I just really dislike this one for some reason and can't find the good cover I know for a fact exists anywhere

[toastingpencils37]

Thinking back on it, I don't think hearing "Leggo my eggo" and my brain automatically thinking of "Leggo" as "LEGO" was quite normal

[littlelordalphinaud]

I love writing characters that communicate differently, because my verbal ability varies wildly from day to day and I like giving my characters parts of me.

Adya mimics and mimes. They repeat back the last word or sound they heard and gesture with their hands to communicate.

Ihzi can speak in full sentences but that exhausts her and makes her feel uncomfortable and unsafe, so she uses her own dialect, and just uses the single words to get her point across.

Sai communicates with sign language, or by her Esteem, Sana, taking over their body and speaking verbally.

Raza has so many accents and languages and dialects crammed into them that they struggle to sound like they're from one place and people often struggle to understand them when they get excited and talk fast.

Tola understands Eorzean but only speaks Drivanian, relying on Ysayle to translate what's necessary to the people around them.

Nergui has a very intense stutter, so often tries to shorten her sentences so she can get them out quicker, avoiding words with W or S sounds as they make it worse.

All of these characters have varying education and intelligence levels. Nergui is an Archon, Ihzi stopped getting any education at age 5, but none of that is related to their methods of communication.

Sometimes I get self conscious, as when I've written characters with alternate communication in the past, people have accused me of ableism and mockery, when I'm only trying to give voice to my own experiences.

If you have characters that communicate in unique ways, please let me know! In replies or reblogs, I'd love to hear about them!

[foundfamilyhq]

[hydrachea]

I have! The writer (not the artist) of the comic also has a fanfic series on AO3 and it's so good 👀 also you are so right with the wriosige comparison LOL. I'm also reminded of people’s behaviour re: furina, esp wrt her relationship with neuvillette. Good god 💀

OH SHIT REAL? AND CHRISTMAS IS STILL IN SIX MONTHS?

It's bladefly but I'll check it out if I can for sure, the writing in the comic was great even if it's not ot4. Really I've read a bunch of bladewolf too. And kafblade. I like Blade. Was that obvious? Surely not.

Oh boy, Furina... Both her and Hu Tao suffer from an unfortunate case of being the literal boss of their respective guys, but because they're short women (bonus for having a flat chest as well), boom - the daughter beam hits without fail. As a short flat adult woman myself, it irks me a lot. The day fandom stops making assumptions about characters based on their appearance and then treating them as canon... It's still far off, isn't it?

[kikuism]

maybe the reason i haven't read an emily henry book is bc the covers look like that

[shymaidxn]

❝ don’t you dare talk to me like that. ❞ pretend im on my multi. from fenrir

andor sentence starters | @lunarcry

Retracting her hand, holding it to her chest, but...Not taking a step back. The fear and surprise that laced her face for the briefest of moments fades into her previous seriousness. Diantha even takes a step towards Fenrir - even if her arms are now stiff and unmoving - taking a deep breath and continuing.

"I'm sorry if I offended you in any way. But you have feelings too. Even if you don't want to talk about them...I saw how upset you were, and wanted to make sure you were okay. That's all." Her delivery is a little stiff, as is her whole body, but Diantha was nothing if not a genuine girl. It took ever ounce of strength in her to not cower away from all of Fenrir's hostility and bite, but she stood strong by choice. Not even in the sense that she liked Fenrir that much, but in the sense that...She knew hurt when she saw it. And they were working together, in the end, no longer true "enemies", so the hostility on Diantha's side had melted more into an...understanding worry. She's stupid for feeling that, she knows that. And she knew she would get such a reaction from such a hostile primal. But, even then...

"I just wanted you to know that I'm here if you needed somebody." That was all she could really offer her, but she was glad to do it.

[thegirlwholied]

asking for reasons, what is the worst book cover you've ever seen?