strongladysworld

Latest Posts by strongladysworld

20 Ways Your Character Might Self-Sabotage

(Because sometimes the biggest threat to them… is them.)

➵ Pushing people away before they can leave.

➵ Saying “I’m fine” when they’re not, and getting mad when no one sees through it.

➵ Pretending not to care so they don’t get hurt.

➵ Quitting things they love when they start to go well.

➵ Staying in bad situations because at least it’s familiar.

➵ Ghosting when things get too emotionally intimate.

➵ Joking about real pain so people don’t take it seriously.

➵ Falling for people who are emotionally unavailable.

➵ Making plans they know they’ll cancel.

➵ Overcommitting to avoid dealing with themselves.

➵ Getting angry instead of being honest about fear.

➵ Comparing themselves constantly, to everyone.

➵ Never celebrating wins, only fixating on flaws.

➵ Sabotaging good relationships because they don’t think they deserve them.

➵ Chasing chaos because peace feels boring (or unsafe).

➵ Apologizing too often or never at all.

➵ Giving up halfway just to say “See? I told you I’d fail.”

➵ Playing the therapist friend but never talking about their own pain.

➵ Procrastinating until it's impossible to succeed.

➵ Acting like they don’t care about something they actually desperately want.

peace and quiet

Shirley Jackson, Hangsaman, 1951

Have you ever read so much fanfiction and consumed so much fanart that you genuinely forgot what canon is?

You were the healer—the last light of your party. But now your final ally dies in your arms, and there’s no one left to save. The enemy jeers, calling you useless. You look up, eyes hollow and black. The light is gone. The Void answers. You're no longer a cleric. You're something far worse.

I control the narrative, I whisper to myself like a lunatic while the characters in the story I'm writing are not following my orders.

“I’m just going to write because I cannot help it.”

— Charlotte Bronte

No safety. No food. No aid. No water. No healthcare. No education. Is this what it means to live? Is this what world accept as life?

If a group of animals were trapped, starved, and cut off from the world like this, people would be outraged. But because it's us—human beings—somehow, the world looks away.

These are unbearable days. Everything feels heavy. Each hour presses on my chest like I’m being suffocated.

My family needs urgent help.

Basic survival has become nearly impossible. Bread—just bread—now costs over $25 a day to make.

We are not asking for luxury. We are begging for life.

Please, if you’re reading this: help. Reblog this post. Talk about us. Donate if you can. Even a small act can mean everything right now.

#crisis #humanrights #emergency #donate #pleasehelp #tumblrcommunity #survivestories #reblogtohelp #signalboost

Endlessly diabolical how you can't say words like rape and suicide uncensored without either being criticised by idiots or punished by conglomerates.

Mary Oliver, from “I Worried”, Devotions

I control the narrative, I whisper to myself like a lunatic while the characters in the story I'm writing are not following my orders.

Should I be studying? Yes. Am I reading Iron Flame instead? Also yes.

Should I be studying? Yes. Am I reading Iron Flame instead? Also yes.

Happy Sunday! Hope it’s cozy with some good reads.

The Bird King by G. Willow Wilson is a historical fantasy set in the sultanate in Granada just before the city is taken over by the armies of Isabella and Ferdinand, as well as by the reaching hands of the Inquisition. Fatima is a teen concubine born at the Alhambra; when she discovers that she and her best friend, a magical mapmaker named Hassan, are in danger, she chooses to flee, with Inquisitor Lulu hot on her heels.

I loved the magic in this novel. Hassan's abilities, the eerie djinn, the demonic unleashed curses, the winding journeys, the stories of the Bird King, were all wonderfully surreal and well-crafted by Wilson. The world-building is rich on the historical side as well: the gaps between cultures of the visiting Castillians and the Muslims of Granada, the insidious manipulation and influence of the Inquisition as well as its real-life horrors, and the atmosphere of Europe at the time of the conquering of Spain, all feel accurate and complexly depicted.

Some choices felt strange—such as both protagonists being Caucasian or Circassian, often considered white ethnic groups, in a story so inspired by Islamic folklore and belief. Some parts of the story dragged as well. But the horror provoked by the Inquisition, the power of mythmaking and faith, and the bonds between the characters all made this a very compelling read.

Content warnings for Islamophobia, homophobia, torture, violence, sexual assault.

You’re not doing life right unless you have pen pals 💌

Worlds enough for the both of us.