#not your typical book

[bonefall]

the worst parent poll made me realize just how many ppl in the fandom are willing to jump straight into abuse apologia. bc on one hand you have ppl dumbing down crow's abuse to "him just being mean" and on the other end you have ppl saying that curlfeather didnt abuse frostpaw because she sacrificed herself and frost + her siblings love her so she couldnt possibly be an abuser. truly mindboggling stuff take these serious topics away from the fandom asap.

Part of me feels like it's because many in this fandom have a feeling that if a character's actions are abusive, it means you're "not allowed" to like them. Like there's an impulse where if you liked a character, it MUST mean they weren't THAT bad, because you'd personally never like "an abuser."

As if it reflects poorly on your own morality, as a person, that you connected with An Abuser. Understood them, even. Even if it was just a character.

If it's immoral to Like Abusive Characters, of course your reaction is going to end up being abuse apologia. To enjoy something isn't logical, it's emotional, so you will get defensive about it when questioned. When you do, it's not going to be based on logic because you didn't reason yourself into that position in the first place. It's an attack on you as a person.

I feel like that's often the root of abuse apologia in this fandom, and sometimes the world at large; "If I admit that this character/person IS abusive, it means I was doing something bad by liking them, so I have to prove to everyone else that they weren't or it means I'm bad too."

And to that I say... That's a BAD impulse! Grow up and admit you resonated with a character that did a bad thing! If that's an uncomfortable thought, sit with it!

Sometimes abusers are likeable! They usually DO think they're justified in their actions, or doing it for "a good reason," or were just too preoccupied to care. MOST of the time, people who commit abusive actions are also hurt or traumatized in some way. You might even empathize with them. None of this means their actions have to be excused or downplayed.

"Abusers" aren't a type of goddamn yokai, they're people just like you and me. You don't help victims of abuse by putting the people who hurt us in an "untouchable" category.

In fact, all it does is make you less likely to recognize your own controlling behavior. You're capable of abuse. People you love are capable of it, too. People who love YOU can still hurt you.

In spite of how often people regurgitate "It's Ok To Like A Character As Long As You're Critical Of Their Actions," every day it is proven to me further and further that no one who says it actually understands what that means.

All that said; I think it's no contest which one's a worse parent, imo.

They both mistreated their children, but Curlfeather did it through manipulation without verbal or physical abuse. She politically groomed her into a position of power so that she could use her as a pawn. It can be argued if this counts as child abuse-- but it's firmly still under the broad category childhood maltreatment, which is damaging.

(though anon I'm with you 100% at seeing RED when "but she sacrificed herself" is used as an excuse. Curlfeather's death does NOT CHANGE what she did to Frostpaw in life. I think it's a valid point to bring up when comparing her to another terrible parent for judgement purposes, such as in the context of this poll, but I really hate the implication that redemption deaths "make up" for maltreatment.)

Crowfeather, meanwhile, is textually responsible for putting Breezepaw through verbal AND physical abuse, as well as child neglect. His motivations include embarrassment from a hurt ego, revenge on his ex, and being sad because of a dead girlfriend. This abuse drives Breezepelt towards radicalization in the Dark Forest.

You could argue Curlfeather is a worse person for Reedwhisker's murder, but as a parent? It's not even a question to me. Crowfeather's one of the worst dads in WC.

[limerental]

people who say ciri is "overpowered" are weak sauce. she's got all this near impossible power but only came to it through repeated tragedy, bloodshed, and compounding trauma, having lost everything including her sense of self over and over.

the thing about ciri being so overpowered is that thanks to all the awful shit that happened to her, she teeters on a knife edge of using her power for good or for evil.

[ultfan]

me when tumblr recommends me someone defending dr3 in the tags and i read through the entire thing and get mad bc they don't understand what brainwashing really is.

[bratprinceofexy]

Hey, quick reminder to the fandom, the word m*dget is a considered a slur/derogatory word by many little people, and you should probably not use it to describe Andrew, Aaron, or any other short person. I'm happy to see that it's been in less fics recently, but I still see people using the word in jokes a lot.

[nadiajustbe]

After months of running away, objecting and arguing with his brother, Prince Justin finally marriess Beatrice of Strangia. And it's... not bad, definitely: the weeding was big, rich and loud, made for four people, marrying at the same day. Beatrice herself is a great, a strong-willed person who knows how to dab socks and manage the country.

He can't tell anything here is objectively wrong: on the contrary, every single detail, from the number of candlesticks arranged in an even circle on the chandeliers, to the color scheme of the napkins and the distribution of seats at the huge tables, semeed horrendously perfect. People approach him, glowing with the wide smiles on their faces, sharing their remorse that the Royal Wizard — as If they thought it would be great to remind him about this miserable fact, or somehow guessed he wasn't keeping it in mind himself — can't come to see his dear friend on such a important day of his life.

For fully unknown reason, Justin almost finds the fact that he isn't there a good coincidence, at least a little bit, walking around a huge decorated hall, so full of music and voices he can't quite hear his own steps. Royals and commoners of all wise and statutes are eager to shake his hand, tipping a glass or two of wine with him.

But aside of that, things go pretty smooth. His own brother is smiling at him, almost as If they never argued about anything in their lifes, proud and clear. Prince Justin finally found a place of patience, stopped running around his problems, throw yourself into the flames of a chaos, burn himself with their tongues, without considering the consequences. He became what they all called, "a model prince", in the end of the day.

And, watching at all they do, and hearing all they say, Price Justin thought that they may be right. That the feeling of tingling uneasiness will ease with time, earning itself, that he'll find the way of ruling, the way of earning trust and respect hundreds of times larger than the one he has. There's nothing that tragic in leaving your own country forever, when you're an adult general with important issues on your mind? Justin thought he could handle it.

It lasted for about a week. Even less, if Justin had to be honest, counting days, unsure whether the whole week has passed yet. Less than a week of time, stretching and testing him, ticking with the hands of the clock. Less than a week of missing his small garden outside of the castle, where cats would climb on trees and water would rush through small, calming stream. Less than a week of missing Valeria's scribbles, silly painting on wich Justin was almost always shown somewhere at the top of the paper and childish, mischievous laughter.

Less than a week of one particular name jumping on the tip of his tongue, showing up in his own thoughts, appearing before his eyes everytime mighty mountains cleared the path into the Ingarian fields, somewhere in the distance.

There's nothing wrong in the feeling of loosing something so dear to you tearing you up, he reasoned. Most accordingly, his own reasoning had much more swearing, army slang and vague wording within it, but it sounded close to that.

And there's definitely, absolutely nothing wrong in being so eager to see your friend, whom you are not sure you will ever meet again. No matter how often your last meeting — brief, sore and painfully quick, accompanied with with the impatient clatter of horse hooves and the order to move forward — flashes in his own memory, keeping him awake at night.

There were simply so many things to tell, and so little time in which saying them had at least some sense.

And the irony is, Justin didn't even know, what exactly those words were supposed to be.

He looked up at the celling of his hew home, trimmed with gold, while Princess Beatrice was moving a little uneasily by his side, having long since fallen asleep.

The other disadvantage of marriage turned out to be sharing a room with another person. Justin didn't want to wake her up, nor bother her the nonexistent problems, seeping through his fingers like sand.

Still, he was at the right place. He had to be at the right place. He was a Prince with a powerful Princess by his side, wounded in worthy amount of battles, getting his long-earned rest. That's what every fairy tale says: happily ever after comes after Prince finds his courage to find a Princess, and they face not a single problem after that, filled with joy. There's a reason they never show married life in this books, If you squint.

Except, it didn't feel right. Nothing, written in ink, engraved on the paper, felt right. The walls gave off a ghostly coldness, the curtains swayed in the wind in rather strange way, the halls drowned those present with its grandeur, completely different from the one he knew. Even the selling — higher power knew how much he wanted to close his eyes just not to look at it — looked even more distant than the one they had in the library, mirroring his reflection.

Here it goes again.

He liked Ben. He liked him a bit too much for his own well-being, or at least that's what his brother had been telling him. And his brother was a big fan of reminding Justin of all the wrongs in his life.

According to him, there were a lot. According to him, more than a half of them led to the Royal Wizard.

Not like he cared. Of course, screw the rules, let your own worries consume you, let your legs take you whenever they want to go, let the darkness eat you alive, let it decide what are you made up from.

His brother could scream at him all he wanted. That's wouldn't have changed anything. Justin knew there were things and people worth fighting for.

It didn't matter, now that he was away. That's not something a model prince should be thinking about, but it was certainly something Justin couldn't help but think about despite this new status.

Everything returned to Ben, in the end. As If it was a cycle.

To than strangely big amount of moments they didn't get to share, to occasional smiles and words in a language he could never quite make out. To the days when his friend couldn't even understand what he himself was saying, looking fascinated by every thing that met his eye, asking unusually basic questions. To quiet melodies, created by the strumming of the guitar strings, which he always deeply, unreasonably cherished. To that too peaceful ideas — he told him the only thing that could stop the Witch of the Waste was well-armed army, and certainly not a planting of fields, but Ben always clang to more idealistic ideas than Justin did.

Every thingle moment, unwillingly running across the celling — as If Justin's own image wasn't really his — collected a cluster of such a strange, pulling sensation somewhere under the side, that he wanted to punch something. Or hit it with a sword.

Shit.

His vast, colourful vocabulary had no substitute for this particular word.

If he's gonna stay here for a second longer, no damn princess will save him from what he's about to do.

Justin doesn't really remember how exactly he got out of bed, leaving a disheveled blanket on the mattress, the floorboards creaked somewhat under his weight.

Gathering his things into a small cloth knot, moving as quietly as possible so as not to wake Beatrice or anyone else important enough in the castle, Justin quickly glanced at the clock on the wall.

There was a brief conclusion, made on a rush of his mind, the same way every of his questionable, unbearably harsh ideas, that never led to anything remotely sane or logical: he held the status of a model Prince for about a dozens decades less than he was supposed to do so.

Yes, definitely less than a week.

Justin didn't give himself benefit of the doubt. Whatever the hell will be going on there after he does what he does is not his problem.

He was never supposed to be a King of this country. He's more of a solider. A general. A dog, a servant, an inpatient mysterious costumer gone to buy spells. That felt right.

The curtains had stopped waving, freezing in a slippery, eerie moment. Justin could swear the sound of water droplets hitting the metal supports of the balcony began to reach his ears. A thread of chill stretched through the crack in the window, making its way into the room, right under the sleepwear.

The dim glow of the candles cast shadows across the corridors, echoed by the heavy boots of guards and servants.

He couldn't get straight through the main exit. As if his situation wasn't a total crap without this fact.

The cold was getting on Justin's nerves as he opened the window wider, hastily pulling on a green coat and rough shoes. Tons of fighting about saving his "unacceptable" clothes definitely paid themselves off.

Justin looked down, gripping the handle of a huge, door-like window tighter with his fingers. Only a couple of meters, no more that two floor — no thing that a proper army man couldn't handle.

He jumped onto the balcony, grabbing the handrail with one swift movement. He took one last, quick glance around the room before turning his back to it.

Beatrice continued to dream, almost motionless now, like had never known any strong worry. Raindrops, from that moment large and unpleasant, flew into the room, blowing out the lights of the candlesticks with the howl of the wind, that was treacherous enough to start picking up again now.

The flame went out. Justin closed the window.

He jumped over the partition, holding on to the small connecting bars.

It was very stupid. Very unclear. But there was no difficulty in crossing the mountains of Strangia, even on foot. Justin did much harder things. No matter how majestic the borders were, they could hardly compare to the fearless dryness of the Waste.

He knew where he was going. Of all the houses that had ever been in his native country, he knew exactly which door to knock on. And Ben might laugh at him for it — he would have every bloody right to burst into pure mockery — and at the same time he would not mind in any way. He liked Ben, no matter what it meant.

Justin jumped off the balcony, landing nimbly on the ground.

He was going home.

[yanderes-galore]

Hi. Would you write a pet-like concept for Fetch (Fazbear's Frights)?

Oh yeah! I can try ^^ May not be the longest but it can be done.

To clarify to those new here, THIS IS PRETTY MUCH JUST AN OVERPROTECTIVE PET CONCEPT AND MEANT TO BE SCARY.

It's more like if you took over for the main character of the Fetch story.

Yandere! Fetch Concept

Pairing: Animal/Pet-like

Possible Trigger Warnings: Gender-Neutral Darling, Murder, Stalking, Blood, Jealousy, Overprotective behavior, Really that's it.

Ah yes, Fetch would be an overprotective robotic pooch.

He's mute but he does communicate via phone texting.

Fetch easily gets attached to whoever his assigned owner is.

Perhaps you found him and he connected to your phone while you weren't aware.

Or you found him after the events of Fetch and fixed him up?

Fetch does exactly as his name says.

He fetches items for his owner.

Fetch happens to know just what you want at all times.

Hungry? The robotic dog is robbing a local store to bring you your craving.

Bored? Fetch will find a game to play or a book to read.

All the while the robot texts your phone to talk to you.

Usually phrases like;

"HRU?"

"Like my gift? :)"

Surprisingly, you rarely see Fetch.

He's always there, though.

Fetch diligently watches over his owner.

You'll be sleeping at night while glowing orange eyes watch over your house.

He really is loyal like a normal dog.

He thinks he's the best companion for you.

No other human or animal can compare!

Fetch sees you like a close friend, as a dog would see their owner, y'know?

He feels he has to protect you and meet your every need.

Sometimes you'll see him enter your house and sit in your room.

Then you have to remove him... only to get a text later from him.

"Y did U lock me out? :("

Honestly, he'd work the same as he did in the book.

If he felt you were being threatened, Fetch would kill whatever hurt you and drag it to you.

He's proud of it, too.

You're terrified and he's just like...

"Friend safe now! :)"

In his mind, he's doing as he's told!

Dogs protect their owners, right?

Isn't that what he did?

He gets horrendous when you have family or pets.

They could never replace him.

You don't need them.

Murder is just a task to him.

Which is why he doesn't understand your crying when you come home to your robotic pet covered in blood and gunk.

Surrounded by corpses.

"U would not replace me, right? Y R U sad? :("

Looks like the only way to get rid of this robotic menace is... destruction.

Hopefully he's still susceptible to baseball bats...

Or else you may not make it out of this alive.

"Friend not happy with Fetch? :("

[todayisafridaynight]

Maybe I'm just stupid, BUT SNAP UR FILIPINO??? PHILIPPINES MENTIONED 🇵🇭. Nice to know there's a few more Filipino creators in the Yakuza community :]

heh... thats me..... 🇵🇭.......

[hanzajesthanza]

it kind of bothers me that witcher fans don’t really unite under sapkowski’s name like other fans of fantasy authors do (e.g. “tolkien fans”).

in practically any other fandom of fantasy books, save for the particularly rancid authors known for their disappointing and shameful behavior or views (e.g. jk r*wling), it’s just regular business to say the author’s name. but sapkowski’s name is treated like a dirty word in the witcher fandom, for really no good reason…

it must be asked — what is stopping us from doing so?! why don’t we call ourselves sapkowski fans. it would be much easier than saying “i’m a fan of the witcher, but only the books, i don’t consider the various adaptations canon, etc. etc.” … “half a hundred words, when three are enough!!”

[actualhumancryptid]

Finally caught up with Under the Bridge. Can I say how happy I am to have Cam finally yell at stupid Rebecca? Her annoying book-writing investigation nonsense makes me want to strangle her.

Ep 6 was a damn good episode. Dusty makes me cry. I wish somebody, anybody, gave a shit about her.

[tidesfate]

“&– - So you are the one the tides of fate carried here to stop this transgression.” // @luhnsilvars liked for a dialogue starter

[hellsdogs]

Mishima Sen, the Interpersonal Intelligence, Emotional Intelligence. Sen excels in interpersonal intelligence, the ability to deeply understand the emotions and motivations of others. His empathy allows him to sense and even manipulate the feelings of those around him, making him exceptionally perceptive. It is what makes him a good artist but also a good listener, a good shoulder to cry on, a good company, a good conversationalist. He sees and understands, he reads people/ His weakness: Sen's deep emotional awareness, however leads to obsession and compulsiveness. Instead of focusing on his own emotional needs, he often suppresses them, choosing to delve into the emotional states of others. This makes him compulsively interested in other people’s feelings, to the point where he loses himself and risks dangerous over-involvement. His ability to manipulate emotions, although is not always intentional, but if he uses that on someone, it can lead to darker, obsessive behaviors where he bends others to his will or spirals into unhealthy relationships. The more he feeds this need, the more likely he becomes a threat, both to himself and others.

Ueno Junji, the logical-Mathematical Intelligence.

Junji is the logical-mathematical intelligence, excelling in critical thinking, problem-solving, and understanding complex systems like geopolitics and societal structures. His intellect enables him to analyze situations which makes him an effective journalist with the ability to unearth hidden truths. His weakness: Junji's weakness is his lack of self-awareness, particularly regarding his own intellectual limits. While he is undoubtedly smart, his confidence in his intelligence leads to arrogance. It blinds him to potential errors in judgment. His belief that he can outsmart others leads him to lead grand schemes—assuming he can maintain a facade as a reputable journalist while secretly engaging in criminal activities. Ultimately, his inability to accurately evaluate his intelligence will bein his downfall, as he overplays and gets caught.

Yamazaki Dai, the Intrapersonal Intelligence, Business and Strategic Intelligence. Dai’s intelligence lies in intrapersonal intelligence, which is the deep understanding of oneself combined with business intelligence. He is aware of his strengths and weaknesses and possesses the strategic mindset to run a large criminal organization as efficiently as a corporate empire. Dai can think long-term, weigh risks, and make calculated decisions, blending knowledge of finance, and law with his inherited sense of duty. His weakness: Despite his self-awareness, Dai is confined by responsibility. He gres up with an almost uncontrollable violent side that conflicted with his duties. He must constantly manage and suppress his primal instincts as he ages, to remain a composed leader his clan needs. This internal conflict creates tension within him, where his responsibilities prevent him from unleashing his true self, a more violent and impulsive person. If pushed too far, he could snap, endangering both his leadership and the stability of the Yamazaki Clan.

Kimura Taketa, the Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence, Street Smart. Kimura is the bodily-kinesthetic intelligence, where his physical abilities and survival instincts are highly developed. His street smarts enable him to navigate the criminal underworld with ease, relying on adaptability, quick thinking, and hands-on problem-solving. He understands how to survive in dangerous environments by leveraging his experience rather than academic knowledge that he couldn't have. His weakness : Kimura's life of pure violence and lack of emotional intelligence are his greatest weaknesses. While his bodily and practical intelligence allow him to survive, fight and rise, they come at the cost of empathy and emotional understanding. He is cold and detached, treating survival as a game of brutality. This detachment leaves him emotionally barren, incapable of forming meaningful connections or understanding the emotional consequences of his actions. His worldview is devoid of empathy, which isolates him from others and makes him dangerous in a way too.

[rocksalt-and-pie]

im going to berlin on thursday to see the welcome to nightvale live show and I just found out that our universally beloved and admirably reliable public transit system has once again decided to go on a nationwide strike on THAT EXACT FUCKING DAY and I had to find out via some fucking pseudo destiel meme on tumblr of all places 🤡

[bitegore]

baru cormorant seems to me to be a series that suffers miserably for me having read machineries of empire first. unfortunately everything BC is doing strikes me as something MoE did better and more believably and with much a greater and more grounded eye for how systems, complex system interaction, and oppression like. work

[quatregats]

Knowing about Hornblower psychology lab rat and being forced to read about Freudian psychoanalysis for a class, now I really need to know if CS Forester was also throwing that in there as well

[cctinsleybaxter]

Is this common? Do other people do this? I’ve never felt disrespect for someone’s book rating system or lack thereof, but I’m sort of baffled by the idea of regularly using the good.reads scale and then dropping it when a book (nonfiction or otherwise) deals with ‘heavy topics’ outside of personal experience

[betty-burnout]

got a cpap prescription finally but i feel like it's about to make my bedtime routine a) strict and b) somewhat alien