#cruelty is not a strength

[notyournightsky]

i’ll never understand why fandoms tend to view kindness as a weakness and cruelty as a strength

[chernabogs]

You know I'm thinking about it, and I don't know if we're really considering the impacts of Malleus' actions on the people who are asleep enough. Obviously they have a right to be pissed, and some likely will be pissed, but I'm thinking of other responses too.

For example—imagine you got a taste of everything that you wanted out of life. The ideal world, where everything is going as planned and nothing seems wrong. You're not sick, let's say. Or you have lost loved ones back. Or your stress is non-existent.

Then you get wrenched out of that. Turns out that entire world was nothing but a dream/illusion, and there is no way for you to ever get that back again. Would that not emotionally decimate some people? Especially those seeing lost loved ones again, or other severely impactful life events. Like not only would it cause fury, but the absolute despair that Malleus' actions can cause that can likely turn into long standing mental health crisis in some individuals is absolutely mind boggling.

He's doing this because he thinks he's giving everyone a gift, when really, he's setting them up for some of the lowest pits they can fall into.

[sincetheducksleft]

I do think Tony and Carmela are an example of the trend in most fictional narratives for male rage to come from being denied something you feel you deserve (acceptance, freedom, love, a fair shot, or in this case a family of origin that loved him and a chance at a healthy adult life), and for female rage to come from exceeding your capacity to absorb the cruelty of others, usually men.

[halluciniwaynia]

my other thing I like about DECT is that it’s a very friendly introduction to metafiction literature that isn’t just smarmy fourth wall breaking but also isn’t so intensely layered like house of leaves that someone completely unfamiliar with the concept couldn’t get it

[urzeliaofnowhere]

Listen -

From the standpoint of a writer and an audience member, I understand the value of Harrow's lesson of choosing love over strength... but as someone who's also a fan of Epic the Musical -

*"Ruthlessness is Mercy Upon Ourselves" playing in the background while I'm nervously sweating remembering how the theme of Open Arms went down in the Musical.*

[copyqueer]

thinking about how bentham has spent most of his life as an underling in criminal organizations

[cowboycarters]

the only thing i think of when i see things like 'what would you tell your younger self' is specifically i wish i could tell 19 year old me that so many people will love the kindness you have and always will have - that is the real definition of resilience, and not abrasiveness out of violence you unfortunately had to go through. people love and want that gentleness all the time. not a character you portray out of being hurt...which makes you more isolated and misread and hurt when it's impossible to connect with anyone. you made a lot of things in your life for the wrong reasons and not being true to yourself

[ruinakete]

♡ ・ kindred beasts, shared breaths ━━━ boel drabble, featuring zephia & eremiya

TRADITION WAS MERELY A SPECTACLE AMID THE STUDY OF HUMAN NATURE; in which, in all aspects this mage dragon knew itself to be familiar, came the assumed predictability of the bishop's reaction once all was prepared and she had been herded into the tent's corner without struggle, like the very sheep she pretended to wear the flayed skin of. thus, predictability bled into a loose stream of evasiveness and retaliation,

bishop returned its gaze with not a hint of emotion. dragon bared its fangs in the kindest of smiles. bishop stepped right. dragon followed suit. bishop stepped back. dragon closed the distance.

"sister eremiya," it drawled in a low hum, reaching for her when the next retreating step bumped her lower back against the abrupt edge of a table. claws flex above her stomach, a ghost's threat of physicality, and━━━ah, there it was. the twitch of her otherwise stern countenance, curling her lips into the small beginnings of a scowl. it pushed further, tilting its head to the side as it mimicked a purr, "won't you tend to me?"

and her answer was ever so obstinate in the face of that in which she had no fear for or to. "do not waste your breath," raspy, not unlike the growl of a beast condemned within a human's throat, "you have paraded those wounds long enough. i want nothing to do with you nor your dirty faith."

an arched brow and a wider grin was all her refusal evoked from it, to which her frown only deepened, to the extent of furrowing her brows and twitching her nose.

"hm, disappointing. even after i spoke so highly of your talent to each attendant who wished to close these wounds themselves." zephia offered a half - hearted shrug of one shoulder, pulling back its claws to clasp its hands behind its back. though it straightened its posture, she had not budged from where she leaned against the table and away from it. another hum, "i suppose i'll be forced to ask my hound for aid, instead. but, ah, i'd hate to bring this up with him. he's prone to dramatics when it comes to me, i fear. you know how children get."

the slightest glance was laid upon eremiya, not ignorant to both the sudden twitch of her hand nor the stiffness of her once relaxed shoulders. amusement brightened two - toned eyes and, once the delight formed itself as laughter within the back of its throat, it played the innocent gasp of a sheep. "oh? do you know him? my darling hound; griss is his name. mark on his cheek? scarred? half - done and half - cut robes? quite the sight, no?"

but the emotion darkening eremiya's gaze could not be fright, no, for her body would have followed the reaction in full, from trembling hands to twitching eyes. thus, mage dragon opened its mouth to continue, before the sudden twist of the bishop's clenched fist tore its very breath from it. gasping, it halted itself on instinct. the magic seeping from her fingers was recognized, swiftly, though little could stop the unconscious stumble backward, a clumsiness it immediately righted.

"if you ever command that runt to stalk me again, i will rid you of your stupid dog." her fist remained closed, stubbornly withholding the stolen energy within the intangible gates of nosferatu. then came the scowl, spreading so naturally across her face that zephia could not help but utter a small, breathy laugh at the successful sight.

a shaky inhale racked its chest, but it continued to prod and poke despite the heavy exhaustion weighing its body. "you're c━━━confident, sister." her gaze narrowed; it wheezed out another laugh. "he'd tear you to shreds in seconds."

and, just as it had been torn away, the loosening of her fist filled in the gaps in the mage dragon's chest, seizing its breath and forcing it to settle on its own. though it shivered at the wealth of magic given back, unmeasured to the extent of evident noticeability.

eremiya clicked her tongue, unimpressed seemingly, "yet he had not."

obviously not. "hm - hm. . . because i told him to keep you alive. what fun are you dead?"

silence, a dreading pause, before she sighed and took hold of her staff from where it stood leaning against a nearby crate. "you have been healed, zephia," she said, "now leave me be and remember my vow."

fangs unsheathed behind its grin as it tilted its head almost curiously, "see? now was that difficult to do?" as she would have bent to its expectation in no other manner. a revelation she could only scoff at. yet her gaze only widened when it leaned to ask, "though i remember you making a great deal over not knowing how to control your magic. but after a feat like that. . . had you lied to surprise dear ol' me, i wonder?"

a pause before eremiya masked her incredulity with a sneer and shoved past it, "the battlefield needs me. make yourself useful and return to whichever den you crawled from, fool." softly, with the twitch of zephia's ear, she sighed, "how exhausting. . ."

OBLIGATORY INTERMUSE BOEL INTERACTION, FINISHED !

[realm-of-possibilities-62]

Written on 3/15/24.

[myplasticadversary]

Perhaps having another breakdown thinking about Kendall wanting to be like his dad and not wanting to be like him and being like him after all but only the bad parts ((:

[philomelia]

the reason cassie would never consider killing her mother in her modern verse is because violence is not a part of cassie's life. she is raised in a very sheltered, very comfortable, sort of way, despite the constant movement (and despite cassie's desperation to believe otherwise). if you put cassie into a situation where violence is normalised, or at least tolerated, she will adapt to it and it will become another weapon in her arsenal. in her hunger games verse, in her fantasy verse, in her apocalypse verse, violence just becomes a tool for her because she has been regularly exposed to it.

[gcldfanged]

When do you gaze at your soulmate?

When they don't know you're there

you want to see who they are at their core. your love smiles for you. they put on a brave face. they tell you off when you're out of line and they encourage you when you know your mistakes are piling up. they're the one who is always there. but there are moments you catch them unawares and that is when you watch them. you want to see the expression their face takes when they aren't being brave for you. you want to see how they smile when it isn't designed to lift your own burdens. you want to see what they say to everyone else. how they talk about you. how everyone else encourages them or if they let anyone be there at all. you want to see what is underneath it all so you can prove that's who you love. the parts of them they try to hide. the parts they think you don't already know and adore.

Tagged By: @poeticphoenix (thank you, this was interesting!) Tagging: @annjiru, @unforestalledreturn, @holyguardian, @byanyan, @florafound

[cavettrobert]

This AI Facsimile brings Hogan Equine’s powerful poem, “Where Change Is Made,” to life—a testament to the quiet strength of grace in the face of cruelty!

[megabunnie]

If I can remain half so kind, so gentle, so thoughtful as my children, then I will be a very good person indeed.

[scottguy]

Real men lift others.

Barack Obama still has it.

#RealStrength