#helpless. child.

[viktorgf]

—OCS as HORROR TROPES | METAPHORS

what’s up slimes 👉🏻👈🏻 @a-treides tagged me so lawng ago to do this uquiz thank you jackie you are always clutch w these tags i love u endlessly

—MEAT AS HORROR

meat hooks and conveyor belts and cold metal. the warm eyes of a stupid animal, completely unaware of the watering mouths that await it. "cut here" lines drawn on the body, slabs of steak that bleed and bleed, unrelenting. are you hungry? would you kill to stay alive? you feel like prey, or maybe like predator. sinew is stuck between your teeth, and gore dribbles down your chin. don't chip your teeth on the bones. you feel like the top of the food chain, and don't see the eyes gleaming behind you.

—JUST CATHOLIC TRAUMA

(tw for implications of self harm here) god is judgment. every action is weighted, every action is watched. tally marks on a scoreboard, on skin, your body on a golden scale, and you can't shed enough weight to stop it from tipping. worship isn't enough. sacrifice isn't enough. guilt lays across you in layers. blankets, sheets of snow, cling-wrap cutting off your circulation. you can't save yourself, but you can never stop trying. fire licks at your heels, a constant reminder of what is inevitably waiting for you.

—THE HORROR OF THE MOTHER

complete control over you, your complete reliance on her. you are a helpless child, and she makes every decision for you, asserting to you that she knows what's best. hysterical, emotional, even in her love for you, especially in her hatred for you. the fruit of her loins has rotted, and you cannot escape her scorn. distance means nothing if you're doomed to become her.

—FAMILY AS A CULT

you will never need anyone else. outsiders will hurt you, aim to corrupt you and ruin you and leave you in pieces, but your family will always be there for you. everyone has the same eyes, the same smile. the same sickly yellow light cast over their skin. the same tastes, the same food that melts to gray sludge on your tongue. family recipe. hugs last too long, touches linger and sting like sunburn. don't stray too far. if you come back looking like a wolf rather than a sheep, the dogs will eat you.

tagging— @shellibisshe 💎 @scalpelsister 💎 @tacticalhimbo 💎 @rosayoro 💎 @teamhawkeye 💎 @bearsgrove 💎 @loriane-elmuerto 💎 @pitchmoss 💎 @kanos 💎 @pinkfey 💎 @cetra 💎 @confidentandgood 💎 @jackiesarch 💎 @unholymilf 💎 @florbelles 💎 @rhettsabbott 💎 @lavampira 💎 @wlwaerith 💎 and you!

[voiice-of-the-soul]

It irritates me alot when people say that making medic more compassionate is ''missing the point of his character'' when he is literally shown to be in the comics.... did you miss the part where he showed concern for both sniper and miss pauling's well being in comic 5 and 6.

His actions are a combination of genuine attachment + clinical interest and these things do not cancel out one another. He is always pushing boundaries and going against the grain and i think this is what led to him losing his license in the first place. He felt stifled by the rules imposed on him.

He is shown to be extremely passionate so it makes sense that he would use his endless fascination with medicine as a way to show his affection. He loves his friends so he will find a way to make them borderline indestructible. Malpractice is his love language.

[transhowell-wizard]

i fucking love luffy. his main character energy is unmatched by any other protagonist. sometimes he gets the shit beat out of him, but he’s watching his opponent the whole time. he’s taking it all in. he’s categorized all of their weaknesses and after he eats some meat, he’s wiping the floor with them while pointing and laughing

[chaoswarfare]

dp x dc prompt #36

i’ve seen a lot of prompts about de-aged danny running around gotham from the GIW, and one of the bats find him and practically adopt him on the spot.

what i want to see is a very self sufficient four year old danny that has already been successfully escaping for a while with just some minor help from gotham, and is only found because he’s doing something stupid while running away from someone.

i want danny getting chased by the GIW through the city, and the bats only notice when he tarzan swings by them with laxer fire chasing him.

[snifekinner]

nations locking eyes with their countries' child monarchs knowing that they are both puppets of the people who really rule

[ginniesfangirllife]

............

No. I refuse to view these two as the same person.

[thevirgodoll]

there’s a part of us as young adults that reaches out to be loved like a helpless child that craves the simplicity of being cared for and being seen. it is so hard to adjust to the coldness and cruelty of interpersonal relationships… they are so drained of love. i only want to be held by warmth when i reach out to be held. anything less can go.

[frzrbride]

i think if people aged up the terms they use (girl-boss, girl's girl, girl math, i'm just a girl, etc) as pseudo female empowerment to actually resonate with the adult women they're targeting they'd realize how meaningless and empty those terms are - woman boss, woman's woman, woman math, i'm just a woman. immediately there's already a shift of seeing how ridiculous these terms sound when talking about adult women in this cutesy, repackaging of internalized misogyny.

[blood-orange-juice]

I just realised that Childe's random and seemingly pointless FL activation (the Golden House scene and the courtroom scene) is not rage, it's panic.

That one emotion that he demonstratively lacks.

I kept wondering why did he display cold type of anger in other cases but suddenly went all out in these two situations. That's why.

Types of stress response: fight, flight, freeze, fawn, foul legacy.

(technically it falls under fight but meh)

Also, uhm, he isn't actually hot-tempered then. Or reckless.

[backpackingspace]

Okay so I've been thinking about @nonbinarylocalcryptid Astyanax lived/daddy odysseus au. Which is some good shit in general. Yall should check it out. But specifically I'm think about what it would be like for this child to grow up on calypso's island. He would have been what ? 3-10 there??

[seagreenstardust]

Anyone still calling late game Katsuki an abuser in 2024 is just not paying attention. Full stop.

[furiousgoldfish]

Ways abusive parents try to separate you from your human rights:

They threaten to call the police on you if you don't obey them

They threaten you with jail-time and insist that the police will take you away for disobedience

They actually call the police, or emergency services, to create consequences for disobedience

They threaten to 'give you away' to groups of people they deem 'worse' than themselves

They threaten that you'll be kidnapped and sold if you don't obey them

They threaten for you to be put in a home

They threaten you with inhumane living conditions in a home (you won't have you room, you won't have anything, they'll beat you up ever day, etc)

They threaten to institutionalize you if you don't do as they say

They threaten to put you in a mental hospital/psych ward/asylum

They threaten you with court, institutions and government

They convince you that every institution, social service, law enforcement, or any other organized group of people is on their side, and against you, and would fight on their side and enforce their rule over you

They act as if disobeying them is against the law/religion

They insist that nobody will ever want to hire you or pay you a salary

They imply or outright say that it's a waste of space if you were renting out a place or had a place of your own, you do not have the right to occupy your own space in their eyes

They take away your necessities if you disobey them (food, ability to use the bathroom, clothing)

They destroy your property as a form of revenge, and insist it never belonged to you and that they had every right to destroy it

They make sure you're not exposed to educational materials that would inform you that you have a right to safety, food, shelter, and protection from violence and threats

They fight very hard to convince you that what they're doing to you is NOT abuse (saying things like 'you don't even KNOW what abuse is, or 'I'll show you abuse'), and they make sure you're not exposed to any resources or education that would help you recognize abuse

Punishments for standing up for yourself or any attempts to reach justice or point out how unfair, inescapable, hypocritical and painful your situation is

Not allowing you to speak, punishing you for talking back, convincing you that you have no voice and you have no right to defend yourself in any measure

Exposing you to media or real-life situations where children are abused just as badly, or worse than you are, this is a part of grooming they do to convince you that child abuse is normal, acceptable behaviour and not abuse at all

Suggesting that they could do all this to you, and even outright threatening it, implying strongly they know they can get away with it, since others can

Convince you that everyone else has it worse, and repeat how lucky you actually are to have them

They list all of the things that would be happening to you if they weren't so kind to you (you'd be starving on the street, be kidnapped/sold/tortured, die from lack of resources, be abandoned, not survive in any possible way)

Convince you that you're not, in fact, a human being and thus have no business expecting human rights (brainwashing, calling you animal names, calling you demon/satan/monster)

Accuse you repeatedly of being a financial burden, shame you for costing money, demand credit/favours/services/labour/obedience in return for giving you survival resources like food and clothing and school supplies

Neglect to inform you that government is giving them a tax-break for every kid they're supporting and that the society is built so that children would be financially taken care of and do not need to earn their food, shelter or basic necessities

Scare you into believing that every other authority figure (teachers, boss, police, judge, authorities) would treat you even worse and would demand even a higher degree of obedience and submission from you, threaten you with how badly the interaction would go for you if you were to stand up to any other authority figure

Insist that if you were to act with this level of spite, refusal, rejection or disrespect to any other person, they would simply snap and kill you (implied death threat – you're lucky that I'm not ending your life right now)

Act like they own you, to the degree that they feel they have every right to end your life and would not be arrested or blamed if they were to kill you, since you're just their property

Add more if you have lived through other experiences that left you feeling like you had no protection, no rights in the eyes of the law, and no way to recognize your humans rights are being violated. Even one single item on this list means your human rights were kept from you.

[solargeist]

theres something kinda funny abt the fact that Watchers are very smart, like they’re observant and practically stalk players to learn more and more abt them and the worlds-

But they inevitably cannot help seeing them as children, despite all the studying and watching, they will think players are small, cute, and dumb !

The urge to guide and foster them into strong wise warriors is too much. The players need them to survive, surely.

Though seeing them as kids might be too kind to say actually, Watchers look at players like…. Maybe a new puppy… Ready to train, but then if the barking is too much, if they don’t listen, if they cry and they bite.. The Watchers don’t want it anymore.

Really depends on who you ask ! You’re in better luck if the Watcher sees kids over animals tho

[skyward-floored]

Febuwhump Day 1 — Helpless

Day one! Just a reminder that I’m sticking to my lu Incredibles au for this, which is more or less a superhero au (if you need more explanation, feel free to ask!). I’m not going to do every day of febuwhump this year, but I’m going to do a bunch! I’m excited to share what I’ve been working on :)

Also me and @thepinklink collaborated on things this year— she’s made some fantastic art to go with the fics! :D

You can see today’s here!

Anyway, here’s some more Hyrule backstory, as suggested by a couple people. Warning for some child abuse (nothing extreme, but it is there) and mentioned past injuries.

Read on ao3

————————————————————

Link clutched his bag to his chest as he crept down the hallway, heart thudding in his ears as he stepped shakily past a door with a faint light shining out from under it.

It didn’t open once he was past though, no voices coming from inside, and Link softly exhaled, continuing on his way.

He made extra care to avoid the boards he knew creaked, even though they were hard to spot with the only source of light being a sliver of uncertain moonlight shining in through a window. He had most of the boards memorized at least, but it was still tricky, and the bit of snow piled on the sill wasn’t helping matters.

Link bit his lip as he stepped past the stairs and the rotten board to the side that nobody had replaced, and squinted through the dark for the door that led to the street outside. It was right over here somewhere, but the faint light from the window didn’t reach this far.

“Where do you think you’re going?!”

Link’s heart shot straight up into his throat as a hand grabbed his arm and yanked him backwards, forcing him to drop the small bag he’d had clutched in his arms. His meager possessions spilled out on the floor, and Link swallowed thickly as he looked up at who’d caught him, a man named Carok.

“Well?” he asked sharply, and Link scrambled for an excuse, his exhausted mind not up to its usual speed.

“I-I was just... I wanted to go outside?” he stuttered.

“In this weather?” Carok snorted, glaring at him. “No... I don’t think so. You know the Eyes of Ganon don’t take kindly to deserters, brat.”

But I’m not deserting! I’m not one of you! You just won’t let me leave! Link wanted to wail, but his throat had grown too tight for him to speak anymore.

“We give you a home, a dry place to sleep, food and shelter and a purpose, and you repay us by running away?” Carok spat, and Link looked down at his dirty boots, trying not to cry. Crying always made it worse. He wouldn’t cry.

Carok glared at him, and dragged Link back down the hallway, ignoring his weak struggles to get away.

He’d been so close.

He’d thought everyone was asleep, and since he’d had to heal that one guy’s hand (his stomach still rolled thinking of it), he assumed they would think he was still too tired to try anything. And admittedly, he was exhausted, but this was the first chance he’d gotten in ages to try and get away.

He’d only been stuck with this group for a few months, but he wanted out.

And he’d completely screwed it up.

Carok opened a door and shoved him inside, and Link’s hands grew clammy as he looked around, realizing he was in the cellar they always locked him in when he’d done something really wrong.

“Boss’ll deal with you tomorrow,” Carok growled as he slammed the door and locked it. “Take some time to think about how grateful you should be that we take care of you.”

Link didn’t bother replying that they hadn’t even remembered to feed him today.

He whimpered as Carok stomped away, and he sat down, tucking his arms around his knees and curling up into a tight ball. He’d try and get out, but he’d been thrown in here enough times to know that it wasn’t possible. No windows, and no doors aside from the one he’d just been shoved through.

Just dark and oppressive, and even colder then where Link usually slept.

He sniffled, allowing the tears he’d been fighting to keep back come out now that he was alone. Pain throbbed out from his arm where he’d been grabbed, and Link lit his palm up just a little, rubbing his hand over the worst of it while tears slipped down his nose.

Bruises were tricky though, and he could only ease the soreness a little. Not to mention they hated when he used his powers on himself, and he was still worn from using his healing so much, so Link only soothed the worst of it before letting his light fade, the darkness falling over the room once more.

Link rested his head on his knees, and closed his eyes, barely able to tell the difference from having them open.

He just wanted to leave. The other places he remembered living had been bad, but this one was millions worse. His old caretakers may have forced him to heal every little scrape and prick of a finger, and gone between ignoring and screaming at him at the drop of a hat, but at least the worst injury he’d ever healed there had been a broken arm.

Here he had to deal with gunshots, and knife wounds, and horribly burnt hands that were nearly blackened from—

Link swallowed thickly, trying not to be sick again. He’d already thrown up once after he’d healed those burns, and didn’t want to smell it all night.

Once he managed to get his stomach to settle, Link thought back to his failed escape, dread chilling his bones at Carok’s parting words. The boss wasn’t forgiving at all, and Link really didn’t want to be in the same room as him when he found out he’d tried to leave. He still had the scar on his back from the last time he’d messed up.

Link wiped his nose, wrapping his hands tighter around his knees.

He was sick of living like this, stuck with people who only wanted his powers, constantly scared of what he’d be forced to do. It made living on the streets look like fun in comparison, and that was saying something.

A sudden exhaustion washed over him, and Link buried his face in his knees.

He hated them. He hated this place, and the people who kept him here. And he so badly wanted to hate his powers that had gotten him trapped here too, but he... he couldn’t.

Despite it all, Link liked having powers. They made him feel special, and fixing injuries always felt right, deep in his chest. It was useful too, even when it wore him out and made him feel dizzy, and Link really did like them. He just... wished they hadn’t gotten him here.

Link looked back at his bruised arm, and something hot burned in his middle as he thought again of escape.

This was only a setback. He wasn’t going to stay here, he was going to get out, and never do anything he didn’t want to ever again! He’d find somewhere where he’d never be cold, or hungry, or hit when he did something wrong, he’d go wherever he wanted!

Link wiped his face with his sleeve, and settled in for a cold night, thoughts already going towards another escape attempt when he got out.

He would get away from here.

And when he did, he’d finally be safe.

[orange-coloredsky-archive]

the "3000 year old child" trope has the possibility to be genuinely intriguing and could explore the way children are treated across time no matter their apparent level of intelligence. it could be funny it could be heartbreaking it could be horrific to think about. too bad 90% of it is just an excuse to be a creep. sad!

[noxexistant]

on oscar and morris delancey

steven berkoff, the fall of the house of usher / the fall (detail) by alan stephens foster / two friends by malcolm t liepke / wikipedia, “law of holes” / embrace by peter wever / margaret atwood, the blind assassin / how the light gets in / hera lindsay bird, mirror traps / tabitha suzuma, forbidden / sue zhao, where to begin