#and honestly its just cathartic. and helps me process things

[barrenclan]

you dont have to publish this ask if you don't want to. but i just wanted to say that im not sure how i really feel about ranger becoming disabled and how it could kinda be read as for audience catharsis. youre a good writer and i dont want to interpret your writing in bad faith, and obviously i dont know your full intent behind the choice to blind ranger. but a lot of the audience reaction in the replies and such made me a bit uncomfortable as a visually impaired disabled person myself. disability as a punishment for evil is a pretty common (and ableist) trope. i dont think you really did it to the extent its done in other media (especially with a character like daffodilpaw as a good guy. like death, disability affects everyone, good and bad) but yeah the audience reaction made me a little uncomfortable that they were viewing it as deserved or cathartic or punishing. it especially didnt sit very well with me when paired up with hacksaw, his partner and another very evil character having lost a chunk of her wing just before. like i said at the start you dont have to publish this ask if you dont want to. i dont know how the story is going to go, and pinepaws injury could very well impact him in the future for example. but i figured i should voice my current in-the-moment discomfort, especially if it helps you in your future writing endeavors. otherwise, i really liked the new issue!

Since this was asked about twice I will go ahead and publish it; and say that firstly, I really appreciate you both bringing up your concerns and going about it in a very polite way. I don't want anyone to feel afraid to bring things up about the story or put me on a pedestal, I'm not a perfect person just because you like my stories.

And in terms of your asks themselves - I honestly do apologize that it came off that way, I didn't intend at all to play into the trope of disability as a karmic punishment for evil. I'm not disabled myself, or at least not in the visual or mobile way, so it is likely just an actual blindspot for me in terms of my writing. Disability is absolutely not a punishment for anything, and if you're blind or missing a limb there is nothing wrong with you at all.

If knowing my thought process helps at all, here's how I came to that story decision:

I want Ranger and Hacksaw to try to attack Pinepaw but both have their arrogance that's been building for the whole story checked. Also, it needs to be in some way that actually hinders them so they don't just keep attacking. -> Well, I don't want them to die, because I have things I want to do with their characters after the event ends. So, what would be an interesting and symbolic injury that takes them off the table? -> Hacksaw's main source of attacking other people is by divebombing them, so losing a wing would really impact her sense of strength. And, Ranger relies on outward control so much that losing his sight would damage a lot of his ego as well. There are some things about the characters I can't talk about just yet which, depending on your opinions, might change how you feel, but those were my general ideas.

I completely didn't realize how easy it to fall into that trope and I'm very sorry that it made you uncomfortable, that was very much not my intention. Like you said it's so normalized in media that most people don't even think about it - and certainly something I'll be more aware of next time I write anything like this.

[venbetta]

Okay, I wanted to talk about this animation by @/Johantly on Twitter

It's 1:31 animation of Freddy in the Endo Daycare having his existential crisis, it slaps so hard... and I just need to ramble about it. (I was trying to add pictures, but it's not loading properly, so... wahh)

The first few seconds have me interested. It's something about the way Freddy moves, feels natural/humanoid. The cut of the camera to a lower mid shot angle gives it a similar feel to a TV show/movie.

Something about the different shots adds a nice a flow that tickles my brain

I also love the use of the voiceline and how it was edited, as its one of those lines that Freddy asks at some point during the game; as if he's having an epiphany about what Gregory saw earlier.

He brings it up with such casual skepticism (his tone makes me giggle), despite saying, "I believe you if you say you have." Hearing that line in game makes me wanna flick him- don't question me, Freddy, I know what I saw >:(

Anyways the natural cut off of dialogue just works, his little quirks of speech and movement in this animation makes him so human like.

The model for the endo daycare is so well crafted that the setting is dark but has a nostalgic vibe. The original game model is cold, dark, and creepy, but for some reason, when I look at this one, it feels different. Nostalgic, as I mentioned, and kinda warm in a weird way. I don't know. Conceptually it's fucking creepy with the endos hanging around, but honestly this gives me the vibes of a college kid going back to his childhood room and reminiscing on the memories. It would be interesting if we find out if the glams remember their training.

Side bit, his mention of never being allowed in the endo daycare is interesting, despite saying he might have been born there. Knowing what we know from HW2, seeing the programming process of juvenile endos is a delicate yet fast-paced one. I've had personal headcanons about what it was like, and Hw2 sort of confirmed it.

It's kinda odd that Freddy isn't allowed to be in the daycare, though, but maybe the existential dread is probably the reason why the techs don't let the main mascots go back there.

Freddy's soliloquy has always made me feel for him, I like listening to it. He sounds so introspective and frantic about it, so seeing it animated with his movements was.. cathartic? (Help I've watched this thing 9 times now)

The glams themselves aren't that expressive in the game. They experience emotions, yeah, but I mean physically emoting is rare or pretty stiff. The most facial expressions we get are in the beginning cutscene, maybe the dissamble ending, and the front entrance cutscene- Freddy being at the forefront. It's kinda hard to emote as a robot, but this animation does a great job with the limited range of expression.

Using Freddy's ears, hands, eyebrows, and his shoulder pads to emote is impressive. I've seen a lot of good security breach animations and they all have their own ways of making the glams emote, and I always love watching them (I'll probably link my favorite fan animations at the end). Also, this one of the few animations I've seen where they actually rigged Freddy's eyebrows to move. Hell yeahhhh!!!

But how Freddy acts in this just gives me joy. "Monty in a different" as he looks over himself, reaching to touch an endo as he says, "They are all the same." He's just so sweet acting.

And the music swelling adds so much more to his monologue. The crescendo as he says, "If I am mass produced, am I still art?" HITS SO FUCKING HARD

I made a joke tweet comparing the shot of him reaching up to the light with Ariel in Part of Your World, but it honestly has that same vibe. He's dramatic, he's whimsical, he's dumb, and also a little annoying, but it's okay. We still love him.

The light shutting off as he breaks out from his dread is kinda funny, though, and Gregory awkwardly standing there adds to it.

Sorry, this is such a cornplate thing to say, but he also uses a contraction when he says, "Greg, I'm not nearly that annoying, am I?"

GOD HES SO SILLY

Then Gregory nodding in response, causing him to get a little droopy is comedy. It's not gut busting humor, but it's the little things that make me giggle okay. Freddy needs to be self-aware, and damnit, if a 12 year old doesn't humble him, then what's the point?

Get called cringe like the rest of us, Freddy.

Okay, the fazerblast commercial doesn't have any reason to go that hard, but it does. The opening sequence for it with Freddy standing there is so... GGHHFHG :33

I'm normal.

He's so cool. I know I called him cringe just a second ago but I'm fan regardless of his flaws okay. This makes me want to play fazerblast with him.

The running, jumping, and shooting he does is *chef's kiss*, even if it's at Monty's expense. Bro should've had a fazerblaster...

Also their faces... it's like Freddy doesn't even remember doing that commercial.

I love how embarrassed he gets, it's so cute-

And it's hard to tell if Gregory is impressed by Freddy's agility or by how cheesy the ad is. The cut was like a cutaway gag in The Office or Family Guy.

Either way, this is peak. I loved this animation, it's only been out less than a week and I've watched it officially 9 times... (and maybe more)

It gives me a sense of comfort. The amount of time and effort put into something that was a small side project is an incredible feat, and it has so much jam packed in a one and half minute animation. It feels like it could be a scene from SB or even a movie. It's so fucking good. This is just a self indulgent, cornplate post and I don't care what anyone says about it. I just like rambling about fnaf sb stuff especially if Freddy is involved.

Here's the playlist full of my favorite security breach animations (some are music videos)

Anyway, thanks for reading..

[iwonderwh0]

Spoilers for Network Effect (5th book of the Murderbot diaries)

Murderbot is honestly so cathartic to read, as it provides and explores the things and topics so many other sci-fi promised to but embarrassingly failed to deliver. Main character not striving to be human nor being determined to destroy humanity, but in fact being grossed out by the concept, is already such an amusingly unpopular approach it really feels like a breath of fresh air. Murderbot not "falling in love", but being so devoted to its Transport friend to the point of being ready, and insisting on being used as a part of the malware to help it get back something that is really important to it? You're kidding me, this is so cool. And in general, the infiltration in Network Effect, the way it goes through becoming basically non-physical entity. FINALLY, oh my god, YES, finally I see someone utilising non-human characters in the narrative in a way that actually takes into consideration their nature and uses the insane potential of it. Already the fact that processing multiple inputs at the same time is consistent part of the narrative that is used a lot and isn't forgotten about. I'm just so glad that I finally found media that is about entities that are partly or entirely digital that ISN'T some kind of fear mongering story about humanity with the insistence on making it into some kind of moral lecture, like it's so fucking difficult to find an example of sci-fi around this topic that wouldn't fucking try to do that. Murderbot is ironically being better at being a caricature too though, by actually focusing on a story and using critique of the capitalism to be a part of a world-building rather than focusing it into a one single place, single Corporation of Evil™ or something like that. No, it's everywhere and it's casual. So casual, in fact, that you can recognise it as something that really much exists today, and not just in an abstract future.

I love this book series. It's finally a sci-fi written by a person who genuenly loves the topic of non-human characters and grants them freedom to be what they actually are, and isn't just using them as some strawman argument in some completely unoriginal tropes and ways that were done too many times with little to no diversity.

[hederasgarden]

Hey Ivy 💕 I’m looking for some advice. I want to get back into writing, I haven’t written anything in literal years. I don’t even know where to start. I know logically the thing to do is just….start writing, simple as that. Use the muse, find the prompt, just start. But every time I try I get so incredibly cringed out but my own work and cannot continue. This isn’t even to post it anywhere or share it with anyone, it’s just for fun and a hobby, I know it doesn’t even have to be good, but then I think if its not good and I’m literally not going to post it anywhere then why bother do it. Any advice would be most welcome 💕💕💕

It can be really hard to get back into writing after being away from it for a while, especially when you’ve built up expectations for yourself. I think the first question to ask yourself is why you loved writing in the first place. Was it a fun, relaxing way to unwind? Did you enjoy crafting plots, exploring emotions, or developing connections between characters? Or maybe you loved engaging with fandoms, interacting with readers, and sharing your work with others? If you can pinpoint that original why it might help. 

For me, one of the biggest driving forces is how writing makes me feel. It can help me relax and disengage from stressors in my life but there’s also something thrilling about building a plot, diving deep into a character’s emotions, and getting that cathartic payoff when everything clicks into place. However, there are plenty of times when writing makes me feel the opposite and I’ve felt like deleting everything and quitting. I’ll probably feel that way again at some point. Tomorrow maybe. It’s all part of the process. 

I also would like to potentially publish some original material someday so I approach writing fanfic as a way to hone my craft. But not everyone wants to do that and that’s okay. Writing can just be silly and fun. 

Anyway, here are two pieces of advice I’ve found helpful:

Have zero expectations for your first draft.

I often cringe at my first drafts—they always feel so flat, and I miss a lot of the imagery and depth I want to convey. But honestly, that’s okay. The first draft isn’t about being good. It’s about getting something down on the page so you have material to work with. One trick I’ve found helpful is setting a timer for 10-15 minutes, and allowing myself to write stream of consciousness without editing. You’d be amazed at how much you can get done that way. Once I have a chunk of writing, I’ll go back and tidy it up, fixing grammar and adding more description and emotions. I rinse and repeat until I’m satisfied. It’s like adding layers and depth to a drawing.

I think people might be surprised how long it takes me to get to a finished product. 

Find a cheerleader.

I'd be lying if I said I didn't find a lot of motivation and inspiration from the feedback and interactions I get. However, we all know interaction on Tumblr can be tricky so I’ve learned not to solely depend on it. Instead, throughout my time in fandom, I’ve built friendships with other writers and readers and I can’t tell you how much it helps to have someone to talk to about your work. Whether it’s sending them snippets of your story, brainstorming plot ideas, or just getting them hyped about what you’re working on, having that support can make all the difference. Let them hype you up. Seriously. It's a game-changer. 

I know it’s hard when you’re feeling self-critical, but don’t be too hard on yourself. Writing is a process, and sometimes it’s messy and you hate it at first but you have to keep showing up. Even if you write 10 words one day, that’s progress. 

My inbox and DMs are always open to talk anon. I hope you can rediscover your joy of writing.

[quinloki]

Hiii (*^▽^)/★*☆♪

Hope today is better? 💜

I just saw your post about outlining and so I wondered how do you prepare for a story? Or a chapter before you write it?

I'm just curious, because all my stories I know how I want them to start and how I want them to end and in between I'm just winging it, which is maybe also a reason why everything takes so long. 🥹

Aside from a very weird case of sleep walking last night, today is pretty good so far =3

Story process… ah… I’m pretty messy. Usually, I’m just building out from a central idea.

I wrote Quicksand because I wanted Crocodile to loom over the reader, holding a door closed to keep her close. It was supposed to be a One-Shot. But then I created the Grandline Metro, and the Cult of Personality dating app, and

Well, it got away from me.

Doflamingo was supposed to be the good guy.

As a general rule it goes:

Core idea (surprisingly this isn’t always Want X to Rail Reader)

What gets me to the core idea?

What happens after, or is the core idea the end?

With Some Direction I just wanted to write Zoro being forced into a government mandated arranged marriage. Because he’s such a protector I created reasons for the reader to need protecting.

Which initially was just “a stalker”. Which turned into a kidnapper. Which meant deciding who that was…

I feel like I write like a bully - I decide what I want to happen, and then I figure out what would need to happen to make that want happen. (Admittedly, sometimes no matter how much I want it to go a certain way, it can still veer off.)

A Light Touch happened because of a pun, and then turned into a very personally cathartic story about getting to defeat a stalker. I just wanted Kid to have a reason to gift the reader a glass prosthetic so she’d have a light touch. 😂

Honestly? I’m answering this ask not too dissimilarly from how I’d build a story. Just sit and write out an idea. I do try to get start -> middle -> end set. I did manage that with A Truly Mythological Christmas, probably my most solidly outlined story.

But Hey Doll has like… no notes xD I have plans for the next couple chapters, and the only thing guiding me is that I want these two to get married. How they get there is anyone’s guess right now.

I have EXTENSIVE notes for Heart of Gold, but despite that I’m struggling to put down words for it. I think that’s more that I’ve lost the connection to Law, and I just don’t want to half ass it. I’m still gonna try to buckle down on it, cause I want to do book twos for the Metro saga next year.

In the end I’m just kind of… doing my best. I do try to write my ideas and thoughts down so I don’t forget them. I have a whole file dedicated to “ideas” - and sometimes that becomes its own story, and sometimes those ideas get yanked into other pieces.

I do jump over things sometimes, and write out of order a lot. It can be easier to go back and connect something if I already have the next but written. Sometimes writing that next bit helps me summarize the events leading up to it and if that summary feels sufficient, then that’s what I go with.

Sorry, I don’t know how helpful any of that is ^^; — if you get stuck sometimes the best thing to do is talk to friends about it. I cannot count the number of times I explained a story, had someone suggest something and then my brain thought of something almost wholly unrelated and I was off again.

Without the conversation and the friend’s suggestion I wouldn’t have ever gotten there. And sometimes the friend’s suggestion is exactly what I needed it.

You don’t have to write in absolute isolation ^_^ creativity is very much a group effort.

[justlet-melive]

here’s a question :3 uh do you have like any favourite anatomy or reference books/texts. or any tips for doing study’s??

sorry if this is like annoying or weird idk i’ve just been a little obsessed with your art lately. the way you capture shape and movement is so fantastic. you have such a talent for capturing characters personality through visual quirks too. idk like the way you draw ellie tlou is so specific. it’s not exactly on model but it’s kind of better lol. i can instantly tell most of what you need to know about her. same with your recent astarions like idk you’ve just managed to capture a real physicality about him that i think can be hard. idk i’m maybe biased but i think without any exposure to the game you could probably guess how he moves and sounds from your art.

idk uh sorry if this is worded weird i feel like i always do that LOL okay though anyways i adore your art it’s just so distinct. i’d eat it if i could. i’d honestly do a lot to capture even a fraction of the magic you’re creating. okay hope this message finds you well BYE

no need to feel self conscious about doing me a kindness in the form of gratifying to read, thoughtful observations of my fanart!!!!

thank you. very late response because i wanted to respond with some equally thoughtful advice and also let my ego calm down a bit, but..

im 'lazy' and like to keep drawing for fun as easy as possible. So i dont have any reference books hm... You obviously look at art and are able to relay to yourself and others what you saw and felt. thats the skill you should always indulge. looking at all kinds of things youre drawn to and observing why. best ref! (thanks again btw, best feeling being on the receiving end of that. to be... astarion voice: Seen in the Eyes of Another)

I have studied (and continue to do so when i get the chance) figure drawing at my community college, which was a big leap. i ended up focusing a lot on the relationship between the ribcage/pelvis/flow of the spine at that time. still my favorite part of drawing lol. During my most recent artblock i started copying muscle anatomy pages from a Morpho book as a way to keep drawing without a proper fixation. which is great because i also love the weight of flesh :^D

if you'd like my 'woo-woo advice' it's to get lost in the process and less invested in the results. and never be embarrassed. it'll keep you drawing (behind every piece of successful fanart is a mountain of scrap drawings of Fictional Guy #2378 facing 3/4 left.) and its meditative!! cathartic? personally i like to have a song/playlist to keep up the emotion im trying to work out going throughout my drawing session. helps me tell if the expression im drawing feels 'right'

and on the topic of drawing off model--!! Anytime im onto a new character i do spend a few sessions tracing their proportions/copying their models. after i figure out more or less what about their original design makes that Character i like to lose the training wheels. artistic interpretation is more interesting for me to look at and create. and i think it frees you up to better convey a feeling. the more you draw something the more you settle into 'what works' but i never set out to draw the same way twice! usually never anyway

thank you again for taking time to observe my drawings, and relaying back what you saw and felt. it honestly makes my day(s) to the point i almost feel guilty about it

[i-just-want-to-destroy]

HELLOOO CHRIS originally i didn't wanna send this ask cus i thought i sound weird SO its totally fine if u choose not to answer,, i hope you're doing amazing as always.

not to get super cheesy with it but like, there's always been a lot of things that i've been dissatisfied with in life and writing/reading fanfiction, or consuming media in general—sort of lessened that empty feeling? like, within these stories you could find a way to live beautifully. back then it felt like i was completely dissociated from a reality that i couldn't bear to stomach. somehow reading shit w like, fucked up mcs and equal amounts of trauma made it seem like i could make it all work eventually. i would say its pretty embarassing to admit but it is what it is now. i don't mean to say all this to trauma dump either btw but to just convey how much ur work has impacted me.

anyway, what i wanted to ask was: what is your motivation to write? how did you begin writing/reading? like get into literature/films etc. what was it like when u first started writing? is it more of a hobby or something you'd like to make a career out of? have u ever written any original works? sorry for the barrage of questions, i've been a fan for a long time and ive only just now mustered up the courage to send a message in😭 HAVE A GOOD DAYYYYY💌💗

essay below

theres this common idea that fiction is escapism and theres definitely some truth with that, whether as a writer or a reader, but escapism is not all there is… i think fiction is a way to try to understand why life is the way that it is. imo its also why it can be really cathartic to read something sad and absolutely fucked up. as strange and as horrific a piece of fiction can be, real life is always worse. you can try to write the most out of pocket story with the craziest characters doing truly some insane shit, and real things that happen in real world will have you beat no matter what.

but a story isnt about being accurate to the real world fact by fact, right, its about reading someone elses perspective—or alternatively; writing *your* perspective—on how a series of events so absurd, so unfortunate, and occasionally beautiful, can make sense by the end of it all. there is a comfort in that, in making the pain and the love matter, even if we’re all dead by the end of the story. theres also the connection too, right? by knowing that someone out there feels the same way, or knowing that there is a different way to look at things, there is a knowledge that youre not alone.

this is to say that i dont think its embarrassing at all if reading (and writing) these stories help you to live. it helped me too, and still does. and tbh this is the healthiest a coping mechanism can get. it can be really, really difficult to let yourself feel things irl when things get really bad, and sometimes stories (whether a prestige movie or just some fluff fanfiction) can help you to release and process some of those difficult feelings.

moving on. yeah ive written og stuff before lol and i hope ill eventually write more .. or even better, finish at least one. id love to publish one day but, not to be pessimistic, i also know its not an easy thing to achieve due to a myriad of reasons (skill level, opportunities, etc). so its not smthg im dead set on. im happy as long as i can keep writing! its fun, its a cope, its my main way to express myself.

on why i got into lit/writing/film its honestly such a boring answer. like a lot of people i was a big reader as a kid which led me to be on my parents’ laptop plagiarizing stories on microsoft word. i torrented movies on IMDB’s “Top 100 Movies of All Time” list before i could do algebra. i mind poisoned myself since young and im still dealing with the repercussions of that. i dont remember the first story i wrote but it was highly likely a plagiarization of X-Men.

thanks for the ask and it means a lot to know how youve connected with what i wrote, rly truly genuinely, and the interest is very flattering. i hope for an amazing week ahead for you

[lewdladylily]

so it looks like hypnosis can be a productivity/motivation boost? i'm kinda interested in that, but i've no desire in doing the sexual aspect of it (bc ace); do you think it could still work with these stipulations? -öé

Absolutely, but there are a few things to understand. The biggest is that hypnosis is not exactly a science. What works for you is going to be different from what works for me. It's seriously also not a substitute for any sort of medical help, physical or mental. It is a supplement at best. For me, it can get me past the last speed bump, so to speak, to be able to concentrate better or overcome executive dysfunction.

Also, you are almost certainly going to need a trusted partner willing to do this with you. Its possible to hypnotize yourself or use resources that don't involve anyone else, but it isn't easy or as effective. It doesn't need to be one way, by the way, you could trade off hypnotizing each other, so that does help.

Also, being hypnotized and allowing this sort of suggestion to influence you is a learned skill, and though you can see some effect early on and those effects can be dramatic, shaping your triggers and suggestions to what you really want them to be with the effectiveness you want will take many, many hours of work and practice from both the subject and the hypnotist. The ease at which I can switch into different modes to overcome things like executive dysfunction took a long time to learn

That all said, there is no reason it couldn't work. Hypnotism is not inherently sexual, sex is just a very powerful motivator to do that necessary work, and unless you are a hypnofetishist there are very few people willing to do something this weird.

Its like, the experience of pretending to be a puppy, kitten, or similar is fun and cathartic. But very few people do it because it is "weird". It's pretty much just fetishists, little children, and furries - all groups who tend to ignore the mainstream sensibilities on what is weird, cringy, or even deviant behavior when deciding what they want to do. That's where you need to be if you want to get into hypnosis. Maybe your reason for breaking away from standard accepted behavior and motivation to continue sinking effort into that isn't sex, but you'll probably need a reason beyond the eventual hope that it might help you deal with executive dysfunction better.

Basically, if you want to do this, you are going to have to learn to have fun with it, or at least get something else out of it that makes you excited to do it. And there are plenty of non sexual reasons! I mean, the utter relaxation of a trance is worth it alone in my opinion. The enhancement to non sexual petplay could be another motivator, honestly pet play (even without sex) is something everyone should try once just to see if they like it.

Now, using hyposis in a practical sense is a bit more involved. I'll break down how it has worked for me, including for writing this week. In this case, I overcome executive dysfunction and anxiety difficulties by using a dronfication command then receiving orders from an outside source. As a drone I don't stop thinking necessarily, but I have very little impulse to think or do anything of my own will. I've happily sat staring at a wall for 15 minutes in something like a standby mode, waiting for more input, or repeating an assigned phrase over and over and over.

If the drone mode is working right, and it doesn't always work right, the dronification command allows me to feel as if I am a tool being used by others, decoupling the connection between my own motivation and decision making process and what I think and do, instead handing it to someone else, externalizing most sense of decision making and motivation. In essence, the suggestion is I become a robot who does nothing but obeying commands, and is incapable of doing much without those commands. I do and think what I am told, nothing more, nothing less - if I start acting autonomously, the suggestion starts to break.

Fortunately, I have a great deal of leeway in how I perform a task, because I am a thinking robot. I am ordered to write, I will write. But I will also go get water to make sure I am hydrated, I will go to the bathroom, I will make sure I get snacks as needed, because all those things are helpful to writing. However, at the end of my task I tend to just stop. If the suggestion is still in strong enough force, I will not choose a new task or activity of my own volition. I am good at breaking out of the suggestion as needed, but I might end up staring at a wall for ten minutes before I realize "hey, I should probably stop being a drone". There are solutions to this end point problem of course, like leaving behind an exit trigger for me to find once I am done with my task.

So you can see how if you are not into the idea of dronification, it might be hard to implement a dronification mode because your mind will fight it, not embrace it. You will need to find the imagery and methodology that works for you to achieve the effects you want, and find a motivation to do it. You are not just going to have to be ok with cringe and weird, you are going to have to embrace it and make it part of you. I strongly suggest (sexual or non sexual) pet play and/or becoming a furry as onboarding because they complement hypnosis so well. They feed back on each other and strengthen each other very well. Pretending to be a puppy is fun, but when you feel compelled to bark instead of speak, your mind is clouded except excitably puppy thoughts, and it feels more right to crawl on all fours instead of walk it is a completely different experience.

Now, as far as non sexual hypnosis resources, I haven't a clue. I am firmly in this for sexual reasons, the other benefits are side benefits. And even then I barely scratched the surface in terms of how to learn to do this stuff, I was basically trained by Raven and I have no real idea where she got her ideas and knowledge. All my knowledge is from her, and while I have some experience as a hypnotist I've never started with a rookie subject. I'm happy to explain more about my own development in hypnosis if you think that might help.

[dukeofankh]

I mean, nothing I said was suggesting that nothing can or should be done. I have a couple things I can think of but people are already rightly pointing out that my experience, like all experiences, isnt universal. Calling out a shallow take isn't something I'm doing because I'm so so wise and I know how to fix everything.

I have heard the take that part of the fix for this will probably be a lot more white men with podcasts, and that is almost definitely *part* of the fix. It is legitimately difficult for young men to find content about random ass basic hobbies that isn't being served to them by low-key fascists. That needs to change. When talking with other progressive men, something that came up a lot was after school programs, especially ones that bring boys in more contact with their communities and expose them to different kinds of people in positive ways. Hate breeds in ignorance and isolation.

You already seem very anti-terf, which is great. That is also part of it. I don't honestly think that women are the cause of this problem but like, in terms of fixing this and convincing men that feminists are on their side, yeah, some small part of it is probably looking at the state of feminism currently and recognizing that it has devolved in many very public online spaces into reactionary gender essentialism and that radical feminism takes up a lot more air than anyone would like to pretend it does.

"Sure I wholeheartedly reblogged something that claimed that any man who seems decent is just trying to let women's guards down to make it easier to assault them, something all men are trying to do to women at all times, but that's just venting. Ignore that broadside that me and my friends just unloaded on you and everyone who looks anything like you, if you think that your hurt feelings about that matter, that's on you for not recognizing that our pain justifies saying literally whatever we want" (to call up a random example) is certainly a standard that it is possible to enforce in some more isolated corners of the internet, but there has been a serious breakdown between the personal and the public, which is hell for messaging as a movement. This is no longer drinks with friends, this stuff gets broadcast worldwide to men who are trying to get a sense of what feminism is about. At some level, what is cathartic to say will have to give way to what is tactically wise to announce.

The only men who will willingly share space with that sentiment if it is core to this movement are either convinced that they are personally exempt from examining their own privilege, which is its own problem, or men who agree wholeheartedly that all men are evil, them included, and are trying to atone. I've interacted plenty with both in male feminist spaces. It's not a winning team. I am aware how hard that will be. 4B type political lesbianism/lesbian separatism seems to be having a moment (at least as a meme) right now as people process their grief in this moment. That's understandable. But it's not wise.

Considering this is happening in the wake of the US election, and I'm saying this as a Canadian, it's also worth gently and precisely noting that even if the harm is the same, someone who voted for trump didn't necessarily do it because they despise women. If we're just looking at the raw numbers and saying "we're doomed", that's probably not helpful or, luckily, accurate. The project of changing the cultural narrative is huge and depressingly long. The rise of reactionary right wing populism when a society starts failing its young people economically isn't. That is a different, and much easier project. If you don't want people to vote for right wing populism, you need to give them left wing populism, and infiltrating the democratic party and pulling all the same tricks the right did but towards economic policy that will provide the next generation of men with the opportunity to own homes and pull their weight supporting families will do a hell of a lot more in a much shorter time than systematically changing each and every man's heart, especially considering a lot of the people who voted for trump weren't men. This project will outlast us, but MAGA doesn't have to.

If your vision for the deradicalization of right-wing men begins and ends with "other men telling them that that's gross and to stop it" then I'm sorry, you do not understand how masculinity works.

"Men who hold patriarchal status" and "men who are feminists" are two groups who overlap less than you want them to. I'm sorry. That's not solely because men are so happy with patriarchal status that they don't want to risk it by policing misogyny/queerphobia/racism, It's because being misogynistic, queerphobic, and racist, end expressing other forms of toxic masculinity(and often abusively so) are part of how people establish and maintain patriarchal status. The men who have the ability to stop this via nothing but peer pressure are the very people who are doing it. That's by design. And engaging in feminist intervention is, in and of itself, usually the abrupt end of that status and its associated power to persuade misogynistic men.

Like, I have worked in blue collar jobs as a notably queer person. It was pretty much a constant deluge of verbal abuse. In my experience, most blue collar work environments are exploitative, abusive, and bigoted, and very gleefully so. On the occasions I have spoken up about someone saying something that was super fucking out of line (asking me which of the girls walking by was hottest. We were installing a portable classroom at a middle school), believe it or not, they completely failed to be shamed! Because nobody else on the crew gave a fuck. *I* was the weird one. They ghosted me. A full blown company ghosted me. I suddenly didn't have a job anymore because they just straightforwardly stopped telling me where the next job site was.

Like, this doesn't mean that it's your job to do it, but this vision you have of these big groups of men where everyone is on the fence and there is precisely one shit stirrer who can be shut down by a brave feminist man who can single handedly set the example for all these other guys...you are high. You are describing an "everybody clapped" level absurd scenario. Most of these truly virulent misogynistic guys either have zero friends, because, you know, our society is atomized to fuck, or they are in a group where the feminist guy is actually the weirdo who can be shut down and ostracized much, much easier than the misogynists, because there is no such thing as a man misogynists respect who stands up for women.

You might be saying "well, we're talking about longstanding personal relationships, actually. Like, they need to have to want to spend time with you and then, as a side effect, you can mind control them out of being a threat to us."

Problem with that being:

1: Many feminist men also have no friends, see the atomized society above.

2: Feminist men already stopped hanging out with men who make rape jokes because why the fuck would we want to spend time with them.

3: That isn't just because we respect women so hard. We are in many cases talking about men who are also deeply queerphobic, heirarchical, violent and abusive to other men. What initially drew me to feminism and women was a lack of heirarchical squabbling and constant bullying, and the ability to be openly queer. A lot of men who came to feminism did so because they knew that the patriarchy was not a place they would find success or acceptance. These are not the men who are gonna be able to change right wing minds.

4. Men do not view themselves as a monolith. There is no universal brotherhood of men. The actual meaning of the term "Fragile masculinity" is that men are constantly expected to prove that they are deserving of the status of being a member of their own gender. There are large swathes of men--including most of the men who you'd look to as examples of good, feminist men who you want to undertake this project--who are considered failed men, sissies, f****ts, soyboys, ect. They are. Not. Going. To. Convince. These. Men. Of. Jack. Shit. Much less successfully *shame* them. Jesus.

I know all of this sucks. I know it would be cool to be able to just point at a group and have them be responsible for the work. But nah. It's gonna have to be a societal project, one that will probably outlast all of us. Sorry. The thing you want these men to do is, absolutely, the morally correct thing to do. But presuming that it would be effective is, and once again I am so sorry about this, just ignorance of how these social groups function.

[sweetmidnights]

❤️💙💛🤍

hi lovely! thanks for the ask :)

♥️ Red: Do you ever feel anxious or scared while writing? If so, why?

honestly, i do sometimes. i feel the most anxious while writing when my characters are anxious or going through something bad/traumatic. i don’t know why but i can feel my characters’ feelings as acutely as my own sometimes and it makes it hard to write. especially when it’s my comfort character.

i would say i only ever feel scared when writing when i’m doing final edits before posting something new. and not new as in a new one-shot for a character i’ve written a hundred times but new as in new fandom, new genre, new ship, etc. i always want people to like what i write but i know that i have left all of my previous fandoms hanging with fics.

💙 Blue: What inspires you to finish writing a fanfic, and what makes you quit writing one at any stage in the process?

when i’m writing a one-shot, i’m usually inspired to finish by wanting to know what happens next. because i so meticulously plan my long fics, i lose that sense of mystery or hits of dopamine and it’s harder to keep coming back. sometimes outlines feel like i have already told the story for me because of how much time i spend in my head with the outlines.

oof, i definitely am MUCH more familiar with quitting a project. there are lots of reasons i quit a fic. one of them is the mystery aspect i mentioned above. sometimes it’s because i don’t get joy from the character/fandom anymore (im so sorry cm). other times it’s because i feel like im screaming into the void and i get too into my head about whether or not what i am writing means anything to anyone but me (so sorry kai/oc readers, i promise im still working on it!). there are a lot of reasons i quit writing a fic at any stage of the process and i wish sometimes that i had better follow through with finishing my long fics.

💛 Yellow: Do you ever alter, highlight, or de-emphasize certain canonical traits in a character? If so, why and describe how.

oh, i absolutely do. for me, writing is a very cathartic part of my life. i rely on it quite a lot to release the emotions i keep pent up inside me. so when i meet characters who i see myself in (emily prentiss, henry fox, alex claremont-diaz), i like to highlight the parts of them that feel so familiar to me. with emily, especially, i loved leaning into her avoidance and her isolation but also into her contradictory coldness and warmth, of her immense strength and also her desire to be seen/held/supported (though she would never ask for it). with my firstprince boys, i also like to lean into the parts of them that i find myself in.

i don’t often change things about characters and if i do, it’s usually not a super big change. i get frustrated reading fics that get too ooc, so i try my hardest to not write in a way that leaves characters too ooc. that being said, sometimes i do de-emphasize traits that aren’t as important to me or that don’t really align with how i see and connect with the character. like with acd, i love to lean into his adhd and abandonment issues but i like to add in the specific symptom of rejection sensitive dysphoria because it really helps add some meat to his motivations. or, for example, with henry fox, i usually don’t like to spend as much time working through his inner turmoil about his queerness and i tend to favor his grief or his familial abuse in its place.

🤍 White: What's a fanfic scenario or idea you'd like someone else to write so that you can read it?

okay please for the love of everything i need kai bartley/reader fic. smut, fluff, angst, hurt/comfort, i need it ALL.

i also would love to read a fic where henry fox has a lesbian twin sister/sibling and we get to equally see her/them fall in love with an oc as we see henry fall in love with alex. that’s just my own fantasy realm, though.

realistically, i think i would love to see a kai bartley/reader fic that grapples with the reader going through grief and other hard times and being comforted and loved by kai through it all.

[agumonger]

1, 7, 14, 18, 26, 37, 55 and 76 (this one specifically about rh) for that fanfic ask post

1 Do you prefer writing one-shots or multi-chaptered fics?

Multi-chaptered. It's very rare for me to do one-shots, but I wanna look more into them because they're a lot simpler to make. I just really like the progression in multi-chaptered fics. 1000noches is kind of both, as its has "chapters" but it's an extremely short and simple story.

7 How do you choose which POV to write from?

It depends on the scene, which character needs to be developed more, and which character does most of the action or undergoes the biggest development.

For example, picture a scene where Alice tells Bob a secret she's been hiding. If you want to focus the scene on Alice opening up, you write from her POV. If you want to focus on Bob's reaction and how he feels about the secret, you write from his POV. I also recommend Alice's POV if the reader already knows about that secret, in which case we'll probably find Alice more relatable since we know the same information as she does. If we don't know the secret either, we're more likely to feel like Bob.

As another example, if a character has to "learn a lesson" in a scene, and we are meant to experience that lesson too, we should be on the POV of the character who goes through that lesson.

Or at least that's how I feel. I also personally avoid writing from the villain's POV for *too long* unless they're meant to be sympathetic - I often handle their scenes from their henchmen's POV. If they're "irredeemably evil", too much immersion into their POV might make them feel like they need positive development - or is this just a me thing? Oh, unless the villain is comedic and cartoony like Bowser. Then go ham.

14 how do you write emotional scenes? Do you ever feel what the characters feel? Do you draw from personal experiences?how do you write emotional scenes?

Oh, ho ho. Yeah? Yeah. Yeah I do. I kind of try to imagine how I would feel, then code it through the character's own personality and background. And sometimes I've noticed my eyes getting wet. But I've recently become the kind of person who cries at movies sometimes. I think at times I almost cried during the fucking Mario movie. When Mario and Luigi reunite. Them feels...

And... yeah. I get sort of inspired by my own experience but I morph everything so it doesn't become the story of my own life. I try to not to indirectly reference real people or real events I've gone through. A good example is Bruno's silent panic attack in chapter 4 due to his bad grades. It was inspired by one time I realized I had to repeat a whole year and cried my heart out at the high school bathroom. Writing that scene felt incredibly cathartic, and it weirdly helped me find some closure after some complicated years.

Something I've noticed about emotional scenes is that they usually need buildup. In order for us to care about a character, we need to through a journey with them, get to know them. Emotional resolutions become more poignant when there's some story building up to it. In book 1 it's gradually hinted at that Briana is not yet okay, and though I feel I should tweak some of the buildup, when it all breaks down in chapter 9, it breaks hard because it's been bubbling up for six or seven chapters. Maintaining a certain degree of relatability, without hammering the point home over and over again, is key, or else we won't connect with the emotion and the scene will either feel hollow or cheesy.

18 Do you title your fics before, during, or after the writing process? How do you come up with titles?

Honestly... before. I'm such an avid pre-planner with my stories, that I usually have a draft of the whole plot, a title, a theme and a bunch of characters before I even start actually writing.

I don't really know how I come up with them. I usually try to think "is there a theme running through the story?", "what kind of feel do I want it to have?", "can I sum it up in two or three words?"

I usually try to make my titles: memorable, concise, descriptive, distinct, searchable (!) and honest.

Oddly enough, my only regret with Someday as a title is... how common it is as a word. When I search "yume nikki someday", sometimes I get lots of "oh I'd love to play Yume Nikki someday but i don't have the time right now" and stuff. Since thing happened infamously with Digimon Adventure's 2020 adaptation, called... Digimon Adventure:. Yes, with a colon. And you don't pronounce it. You're supposed to just say "Digimon Adventure" out loud. The colon also doesn't show up in some places, such as a hashtags, so when you search the adaptation online, you find the original from 1999. Terrible choice.

By "honest" I mean, make sure the title actually has something to do with the story or theme. SO many books have the word "devil" in the title to make them more intriguing and marketable but they're just random thrillers or something. For me, two to three words is the key, even better if they can be hashtag'd. Make it relevant to the story or themes, make it pronounceable!!! A lot of people keep calling Digimon Extend "Digimon Extended" for some reason. Really, keep it simple, people don't have good memory. (?)

26 Which of your fics would you call your wildest ride?

1000noches (La noche de las mil noches), for real. I wrote it in a month, one chapter per day (each chapter was about a page long), then I illustrated it, one drawing per day, I posted once a day, I ATE Shinanne's Digimon 02 meta at a breakneck pace and literally changed my entire perception of Daisuke while I wrote it. It was made in a frenzy and it's my most successful fanfic yet. But then again, it's short, simple, and it features popular characters.

37 How do you choose where to end a chapter?

Well, I usually try to center each chapter around a theme. My biggest two examples are Extend and Regulus Harbor. In most of their chapters, the theme is either a confrontation or a lore revelation, or an introduction, or characters coming to terms with something. I like it when you can call a chapter "the one where X happens" in just one sentence.

But I don't think I'm that great at deciding what should go in each chapter... I often just add scenes in order until I reach 15-20 pages because it's the chapter length I like, but this is very arbitrary. Sometimes I have to move scenes to the next chapter because of this... often these haphazard chapters are the ones without a main confrontation going on.

In Digimon, setting up a chapter flow is easy. You introduce some concepts, have a bad guy of the week show up, fight, advance the plot in some way, then point towards the next step.

In Regulus Harbor, I've noticed I usually do it roughly by going through one day chronologically. Which means that chapters often begin with Itsuki or Danny (more or less diurnal charas), and end with Lydia, Fermi, Gakkoros or Jokesta (nocturnal charas). I also like to have an introductory scene and an outro/cliffhanger scene that shows where the plot is headed next.

55 Of the characters you write for, which is your favorite? Has that choice been swayed at all by your followers/readers’ reactions to certain ones?

I absolutely adored writing Goupemon and Blightmon, the villains, back in Digimon Extend. And also Sketchmon, the comic relief. In Regulus Harbor, I love writing Gakkoros and Jokesta, the main uh... antagonistic force? And also comic relief kind of. But I also love writing Danny because he means a lot to me, he's one of my oldest OCs. And of course, my boy Itsuki. I think Jokesta is my fave to write. That has been amplified by my readers' reactions to my comedy scenes... apparently I'm good at writing random comedic characters!? Says a lot, huh. I wonder how I learned that. (Please watch Nichijou.) Usually my favorite characters to write are my audience's favorite characters. Can you guys tell I'm having a great time or...?

76 Did you have any ideas that didn’t make the final cut of [Fanfic Name]?

I know this one's for RH but I'll do it for Extend too. I had this mini-arc at the beginning of season 3 where Monmon and her three uh... former family members...? would be sent to different universes along with the protagonists. I don't remember why I wanted to do it. I also cancelled a lot of stuff season 2 was supposed to have - more Armor evolutions, more time for Iván to shine in his "evil self" (?) but halfway through I realized it was getting stale so I cut all filler and went straight to the endgame before Goupemon's return. Oh and also Goupemon was going to be semi-redeemed - Pandemmon was going to be the final boss. There was also going to be a meeting with the 02 cast full of mistranslation moments.

As for Regulus Harbor, it was originally going to have 14 Reached, and Lydia didn't exist until very late in "production". Before I came up with Fermi, she was supposed to have an unrequited crush on Danny, which is why she acts so weird around him in chapter 1, and why Fermi isn't there yet. I retconned this as Lydia just being really giddy about finding a new Reached with potential and not having to rely only on the children.

Regulus Harbor actually has... tons of scrapped ideas behind, mostly leftovers from when it was a... Spyro fanfic idea? Mixed with an AU with a small Digimon cameo? The original idea was a fangame-type story based on Spyro: A Hero's Tail with 14 player characters with different elemental powers. The 14+2 element symbols are here. You may recognize these symbols as they were used for a map in my game, 311. This was [REDACTED] believe I came up with it so long ago. The scrapped elemental powers are Rock (merged into Earth), Space, Qi (merged into Life), and Crystal (will appear not as an element but something else :3).

The AU thing had a cameo from Devimon... who absorbed the power of all Dark Gems in the world (this is a Spyro concept, there were 40 in the game + 150 in my story +10 more in the AU) AND this was the original idea for Gakkoros!!! YEAH. He would eventually become something like "the incarnation of darkness itself", called Darkuro back then. Again, YEAH. It was 2007... Also, a character based on Ophanimon, called Lishiro (later Ilendora) would try to purify him, and I kept changing Darkuro's redeemability. Deciding on a final veredict took me years, and so far I'm really happy with the result.

Ishmael was going to be a human, powerless incarnation of Gakkoros, trying to get his power back. RH was going to take place in New York in real life, only with humans, all of them coming from different places in the world. The cursed mirror idea is actually very old, from ~2010 probably.

Itsuki's inclusion in the story was extremely late, not decided until 2018-2019. An old OC named Nano, the oldest character of ALL of them, created around 2005, was going to be there instead. Nano's personality was divided into Panuk and Itsuki. Interestingly, you can see a door representing him in Someday's Meta-Nexus. All of the Meta-Nexus doors represent OCs from different stories in different universes, most of which I didn't write at all. Panuk's door is actually repurposed from Víctor's, from Digimon Extend. I've actually been thinking of replacing one of the doors with a new one for Víctor or Joaquín, since it was for a Homestuck OC... and I'm so over that phase :')

There are more unused ideas but I still have them around my head just in case I do use them.

Also, if you've read a11 of this, uh, yeah! Thanks! And you're welcome. ???

[barrenclan]

WWAAAH THIS ISSUE OH MY GOD!!!! I think i start half of my reaction-to-a-new-issue asks with "omg this issue" BUT I CANT HELP IT LITERALLY THIS ISSUE ALMOST MADE ME CRY (in a good way). im so happy for this little blue man and his family starting to patch up some!!! Slugpelt opening up about her trauma to her kids, i really love your portrayal on love-bombing and manipulation with Cashew. I think it's really important for things like that to be portrayed properly in media without it being romanticized. And obviously yeah SLUGPELT admits she romanticized it when she was younger because he was the only one to treat her that way and he was HERS but you dont romanticize it with your writing and !!!! literally i admire the way youre able to portray these things so well in writing so much. And honestly those lines of "he was the only one to tell me those things" and the fact that thats what got her so hooked to him,,, stung a little bit bc its like very vaguely relatable to me and auuuh my heart!! I'm glad she realized that he didn't love her but the fact that she loved him while knowing it was just a game to him hurt a bit. i was not expecting to vaguely relate to the equivalent of a middle-aged mother but slay i guess. And Daff's reaction,,, and Slugpelt's response to that? Mannnn my HEART i love seeing Slugpelt come around and actually try to be motherly to her kids. i love her this is a slugpelt fan club. NOW PINEPAW COMING OUT TOO!!! Dude. When i first read the line of him saying "now if were all spilling secrets.." I honestly thought of the skull thing at first. But then after like two seconds and getting a little further i was like OH MY GOD HE'S GOING TO COME OUT ISNT HE. I have so many thoughts about that scene but I cannot materialize them into cohesive words. just. the whole thing was so well done. and im glad it went well for him. His whole spiral of "oh god i messed up why cant i just be normal and-" really hit me so hard and then proceeded to run me over twice, as someone who is gay that is often a thought process i would fall into, so seeing it portrayed in something is so validating man. but everyones reaction. slugpelt comforting him and being supportive, reassuring him its not weird, and that he's ok. asphodel having a look of guilt initially, assumably because of all of the times she would poke and prod at him for "needing to have kits some day" (call back to one of the first issues) , and then instantly teasing him over how she's seen him look at cormorant. Daffodil,,, man i was honestly worried about her at first because I didnt know how the implication of pine liking the same cat as her would come off to her, but her reaction??? priceless. literally so wholesome. i love how she just sees it as something exciting and something they can relate and bond over, i honestly wasnt expecting her to react like that but at the same time she generally does seem like a good sport so im not surprised in the end. seems in character for her. literally i love her. sweet baby child. literally the whole pinepaw coming out section almost made me cry it filled me with so much joy and love i love these silly little cats so much. going to be thinking about this so much for the next week istg

MADDDYYYYY

TYSM I'm super glad you liked the issue!! I really wanted to get across Slugpelt's perspective, to help understand why she could be taken in so thoroughly by someone like Cashew. She's got virtually no support structure in her life, and has been shown pretty much nothing but rejection her entire life, so when someone actually (seems to) choose her it means a lot. And since she's been shown to be such a distant and sometimes hurtful mother, I made sure to try and show why she is that way.

Pinepaw chose to share delights instead of horrors today! He already got everything he wants to talk about with those bones outside him, and Cootstorm did ask him not to tell anyone else.

YEAH the coming out scene was really fun and cathartic to write tbh, and actually I wasn't gonna include it in my initial planning but decided I needed to. I had considered the possibility of his family reacting badly (since they do live in a traditionalist group) but in the end like... I don't want to. "Confused but supportive" feels much better narratively and character-wise. You're right about why Asphodelpaw looked guilty too, especially since she's figuring some things out about herself as well. Daffodilpaw is my sweet kitty and she may be a little confused but she got the spirit <3

I'm so glad you like it,, they are all my silly little children and I love them dearly

[softness-and-shattering]

And recognising that some jokes enforce the status quo means recognising that jokes arent harmless. Like suicide jokes, one occasionally can be funny or cathartic, but making them constantly changes how you think and hurts you.

I had this experience as a teenage girl, in a way I honestly suspect mightve tipped over into clinical paranoia but we cant diagnose these things in hindsight. Everyone in their various protective ways said "you are female, men are dangerous". "Men only want one thing. Cover up, dont walk alone at night even just down the street.". I became wary of my teachers. I thought any man walking down the street behind me was likely to rape or murder me. I became uncomfortable around family members who have never shown a single red flag. I also didnt have any guy friends. I got into womens venting facebook groups and I thought I was being careful, I thought I was being a good feminist. I thought everyone lived this way because thats what people kept saying.

Thats not healthy precaution. Thats not reasonable wariness. It was abject terror. And it was leagues out of proportion with any kind of helpful guardedness. Panic works in very specific situations, and long term living your life is not one of those situations. Long term anger and bitterness doesnt serve you well, even if its justified. Maybe especially if its justified.

The goal always has to be healing. Accurate threat assessment and logical steps taken toward safety with a couple backup plans. Im not saying get into a car with a guy you just met, or meet someone from the internet far away from other people. Im not saying love your oppressor. Just that once you add up all men and all cishets and all abled people and all white people etc etc thats most of the worlds population, and if you refuse to engage with them ir cannot civilly engage with them, youre cutting yourself off from multitudes of opportunities, and many many good people who are doing the work, who's hearts are in the right place, who can help you, who you can even befriend or love if that happens to be. You go out and you take and reasonable precautions, you trust your mind and your gut, and at the end of the day you go home to your ease and safety.

It is not justice or activism to be terrified. It is not ignoring or allowing oppression, to work towards healing from your trauma. If anything, healing is the best way to personally fight oppression. "Dont let them get to you" but with actual coping strategies instead of repression.

Anger is part of the process. Make bitter jokes. But make it part of the process of healing, not of everyday wallowing. And of course when its ongoing its going to be painful. Pain, like fear, is a warning of danger. Just make sure your logically verifying who specifically is a danger what circumstances are a danger, and what is only fear and bitterness holding you down.

i see "men bad" jokes as very similar to suicide jokes. like making them every once in a while isn't the worst thing, but if you Keep making them constantly. it DOES shape how you start thinking and you WILL become a more unpleasant and bitter person and also make people around you uncomfortable. and sometimes you just gotta choose to not make or engage with certain jokes, even if they are amusing to you, because its just not who you wanna be

[jinxquickfoot]

✨, 🍉,🎀,💌

From this ask game

✨What's a fic you've posted you wish you could breathe life into again and have people talking about it? (or simply a fic you wish got more credit)

The One Where T'Challa is Shuri's Weakness, which I wrote with @fluencca. It's honestly one of the best things I've ever worked on. I wonder sometimes if the title puts some people off, as Black Panther is one of the best MCU movies but not necessarily the most popular text in fandom land. But if Irondad is your thing, if Shuri & Peter being genius teenagers together is appealing, or if you just like kidnapping and angst fics, I really like this one and think a lot of people would enjoy it.

🍉in what ways has writing helped you process trauma and/or navigate through your own life?

So many ways. The big one for me is that I had a falling out with my high school friend group. There were sides, and I was in the smaller half, watching the bigger half grow closer and closer while some of us got shunted out. Which is why Civil War Fix-Its are so healing for me, because emotionally-speaking I always identify so hard with Tony. And I prefer Civil War Fix-Its over bashing fics that take sides, because for a long time, all I wanted was a final conversation with those friends where we all said sorry and acknowledged mistakes were made on both sides. That, and the idea that even after everything that happened, that Tony and Steve still miss each other. I find that idea very powerful and comforting.

🎀give yourself a compliment about your own writing

...this is hard. Okay. I think I do theme really well. That tends to be my go-to when I'm constructing a base for a story. I have a moral tale I want to tell (usually something I've just learned for myself and now want to express narratively), so I have some characters learn it. Usually through a hostage situation because hey, whump is self-soothing and cathartic.

[letstalkwhump]

Let’s Talk Whump No.2

Welcome to Let’s Talk Whump. 

I’m Malice from @whumpers-inc and I’ll be your host. Today I’m talking to an awesome mutual of mine, @whumpy-daydreams also known as Harri! I’ve admired her writing from a distance for a while now so it was so good to be able to interview her today!

Let’s talk about you! Tell us something about yourself :) My name's Harri, I'm 21 and in my last year of uni. I love worldbuilding and have been creating a world for the last 6 years with stories spanning hundreds of years in it. I also love medical related things and have a passion for surgery

What does “whump” mean to you? For me it's a way to process pain and a chance to see characters overcome hard things. It's also just fun though!

You’re a familiar face in the whump community. How did you find it and what made you want to join? I can't remember how I found the whump community, but I've liked whump ever since I can remember. I joined the community because I wanted a place to reach and share whump, which I hadn't found anywhere else

Do you have a favourite(s) whump trope? Defiant whumpees are the love of my life. Its so cathartic to see a character keep fighting even when they're trapped and to try so desperately to keep going. I also love dangerous/morally grey whumpees because it makes the whumper so much scarier. On the topic of whumpers, whumpers who make jokes and are sarcastic/taunting are also great. Also lab whump, mainly for the sterile environment and aesthetic.

Defiant whumpees, my beloved! They’re so good. Speaking of favourite pieces, tell us one that you’ve written? Probably 'smile for the camera' or 'countdown to freedom'  because I think the writing flows nicely and has a more imaginative writing style. Also in countdown to freedom, I really like the use of the cowntdowns in different ways.

“Smile for the Camera” is so good. I love filmed whump, it’s on another level! Is there anything new you’re working on at the moment? I constantly have works in progress, my main whump one (land of liars) is something I update when I have inspiration for it. At the moment I'm trying to work on a fantasy wip that I'd like to publish someday, but it's still mainly in the planning and plotting stage

Sounds like you’re pretty busy! What does your writing routine usually look like? Definitely more of a night writer, but then again I am basically nocturnal. I dont often have food or drinks because I'll forget about them when I'm writing (I have ADHD). Sometimes I'll have a few days where I'll write loads but it's usually just when inspiration strikes and then I'll write a couple of pages in one go.

We could be writing schedule twins, honestly. You really can’t control when the inspiration will strike… Do you find your writing ability varies from piece to piece? Especially with writing whump, I struggle with being too repetitive, and also I use a lot of dialogue. In my head, it's like I'm watching a film and just copying down what happens so it often flows easily but I'll have to replay things in my head or rewrite a part a lot to get it to make sense.

Do you have any words of wisdom or writing advice for us? Read things and find writing techniques you like! Maybe there's a way someone describes smells that you like, and another person mixes dialogue and action. Try out different ways of writing and experiment sometimes. Another tip is to read your writing out loud once you’re done. This helps find places where it's unclear or doesn't make sense (or spelling/grammar errors)

We’re hyping everyone up here. Are there any whump blogs you’d like to shout-out? @whumblr 's writing is just incredible, I remember reading 'home is where the hurt is' in about 2 days because I just had to know what was going to happen next. Also @straight-to-the-pain has excellent whump and is part of the British medical whump gang. Plus all of the amazing whumpy gif makers! They're all incredible and provide such good inspiration.

So good to have you here. Thanks so much for joining us today, @whumpy-daydreams!

To everyone reading, have a whump-derful day!

[i-left-my-room-tidy]

favorite thing to do in each of your drs?

[thanks for this ask!]

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HP DR

splurging 😭😭😭 I've always had a bad habit of hoarding things in my CR, and the fact that i scripted (technically) unlimited money for myself doesn't help that. i have the backing of two great families (grindelwald and martell; black, crouch, and malfoy don't count; the gaunt vaults have nothing to add, so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯), and while those major houses took hits during the two blood wars, ultimately, it didn't detract from their wealth.

so, yes, I'm just grabbing as much as i need. as someone who's financially struggling in my CR, it's so fucking cathartic to not worry about a serious restriction in money. i do have a limit set for each shopping session, though—my uncle became stricter with my spending when i came back from leeds with several bags of clothes (rich or not, he said, i can't be careless with how i spend—which, alright, point).

i usually just buy clothes and trinkets—i rarely buy books unless i feel i can actually finish them. I'm still unused to not using a phone to search for articles or stories online. some of the things I'm ecstatic at having spent money on include: an original 59 gibson standard (y'all i actually cried over this), several issues of the antique doll collector magazine, and an honest-to-god ballgown (i can try drawing a replica of it when i have the time). if I'm lucky, i can also find some good vintage thingamajigs at garage sales [i once bought a pair of wooden hairsticks with dangling pearls, which actually resemble the ones i wear in my naruto DR—lmao it made me kinda freak out when i saw them].

- - -

Naruto DR

experimenting with my sharingan, or elemental bending in general. i don't think i can ever get bored with doing either of those things. they're frustrating, sometimes, when i feel as if I'm not making progress with a certain aspect or process (like controlling multiple elements at once, or working on my stamina)—but overall, they're activities i could never stay idle with, and i enjoy that.

I've only recently started practicing with my mangekyō abilities (I'll make a post about the eyes themselves in the future). it's fun, and just the slightest bit morbid, but genuinely exciting. I've used my mangekyō on rats (and afterwards, feeding their remains to my snake), and smaller variants of its power on shady individuals. the actual abilities of my mangekyō sharingan are a bit, erm, psychologically violent, so take it with a small grain of salt when i do talk about it.

elemental bending, on another note, is so fucking convenient. i keep telling my clanmates to be more creative with their jutsu (looking at you, you fucking elders), because any job's easier when you approach situations from a different angle—but everyone mostly leaves me alone to my, and i quote, "freak of nature shenanigans". i actually laughed when madara told me that—shifting really makes you OP, huh. anyways, i use elemental bending not just for combat-related activities, but also mundane ones. even just a gradeschool level of understanding on how science works might suffice. basic house skills: cooking, washing clothes, ironing, scrubbing floors; alright, chores, but they're actually fun when i apply elemental bending on them.

although, the radicality of some ideas i borrowed from history are really seen as strange. and no, nobody's accusing me of witchcraft or foul play, it's honestly just weird to them to see me use the science we're familiar with.