#especially since recently i've been having only nightmares because of the stress some peoples give me 🙂

[kelin-is-writing]

dreamed of dabi yesterday night and it was the most amazing dream i’ve had in a while 🥰

[fio-violet]

Fluffy help (part 1)

Throughout the day, the Killer did not behave normally. He looked tired all day, and it bothered him a lot. He couldn't compose himself, couldn't remember the script, got confused in words, and got scolded for it. It was obvious that he had been distracted just today, and at the wrong time, they had a lot of work planned for this day, and he could not collect his thoughts.

"- Hey, Kill -" knight shouted, "- You're a little confused today, are you all right? -" Nightmare asked with a little excitement, this behavior is strange for his boyfriend, usually he is collected when they are on set.

"- I don't know, I've been feeling tired all day, -" the Killer replied, rubbing the back of his head with his hands. "- And now I have a little stress because of the huge number of failed takes, the Director is clearly not happy with me today -" he looked calm, but who knows what is on his mind now.

While the two actors were talking in the other corner of the stage, a timid trainee entered the hall and began to approach the workers who had previously asked the Barista for a certain coffee. Surprisingly, our coffee boy remembered what kind of coffee one or another employee ordered. Now he had gone through almost everything, and there were only two glasses of coffee left on the tray, intended for the monsters he likes.

Ccino had noticed during his rounds that the Killer and Nightmare were talking about something, and to his surprise, it was the Nightmare who took the initiative, and usually the Killer tries to get Him to talk. "- Is something wrong? -" it flashed through his mind as he approached them. He decided that he would definitely ask them about it, but probably later, but for now he tries to smile, and not give away a certain embarrassment and confusion.

"- Hi guys -" a little timidly greeted the two actors, the Barista.

"- Oh, hi, Ccino -" Nightmar said, smiling slightly as the Intern approached them.

"- Hello, baby- " the Killer tried to act natural in front of another favorite monster.

Ccino tried not to show his embarrassment at the Killer's response, but the flush on his cheekbones betrayed it.

"- Y-your coffee. Knight you asked for your regular coffee without additives. And the Killer asked for an espresso with a double dose of caffeine, right? -" of course, he is sure that he remembered everything correctly, but always clarified.

"- Yes, thank you, Ccino -" said Nightmer, still smiling slightly as he took his drink from the tray.

"- That's right, thank you -" the Killer also kept up with the Night and took his glass. Then they simultaneously moved closer to their trainee and kissed on the cheeks from different sides. Ccino, who had not expected such actions, started at first in surprise, and then, as it dawned on him, his face flushed again, and he froze in place, trying to recover himself.

"- Heh, you're so embarrassed again, you should get used to it by now, -" the Killer said with a light laugh, taking a sip of coffee. "-But you get even nicer at times like this -" he continued after a short pause. Nightmare just grinned, as if agreeing with his second boyfriend.

" -B-by the way, -" Ccino said, still looking at the killer in confusion, "- You usually drink coffee with additives, but today you decided to drink the same coffee as Nightmare, with double caffeine." He tried to change the subject to one that bothered him more. "- I noticed that you are silent more than usual, in conversation the Nightmare spoke more than you, something happened? -" Ccino was already looking at his boyfriend with concern.

"- W-wow, you're really observant -" the Killer was actually confused and pleased to some extent, the idea that his boyfriends noticed his condition, even though he tried to hide it so that he could focus on work.

"- I said it was noticeable -" Nightmare said with a grin.

"- Hey, I'm worried about you and the Nightmare, of course I'll notice the changes -" he managed to confuse both himself and the two actors at the same time, but Ccino wanted to know what was going on with the Killer today, maybe he got sick or something.

"- Ccino, the Killer probably overworked recently, this is the result of the actor's hard work -" said the still slightly confused Nightmare.

"- So...are you tired because of stress? -" the barista asked.

"- Most likely -" the Killer replied with a slight smile, finishing his coffee, the drink should help him relieve fatigue until the end of the working day, and then the wave of fatigue and drowsiness will cover him with a vengeance. By the way, Nightmare had almost finished his coffee.

"- Have you thought about taking the day off? -" Night threw the empty glass in the trash and looked at the slightly cheerful Killer.

"- I can't, there's a lot of work, have you seen the script at all? -" a little indignantly asked the Killer, remembering how many times today he forgot words or dialogues until they finished shooting, it was some kind of show.

"- Then you can rest in the evening -" the Nightmare continued after the Killer's response.

"- We can spend this evening together, -" the Intern suddenly suggested. There were slightly surprised looks at him, but he continued, "- I mean, we could help the Killer relax and de-stress this evening, so that he can have a good rest and go back to normal work tomorrow. -"

"- Hmm, this idea could be tried, -" Nightmare was more interested in how it would come out and what it would lead to. "- What do you say, Killer? Would you like to spend the evening with us? -" he was smiling maliciously.

"- Tempting offer -" in response, he also smiled maliciously. "-It still depends on what we will do -".

"- We can spend the evening at my place, my apartment is small, but I think that's enough for us -" it seems that at the moment Ccino is not embarrassed by his own proposal, but who knows if he will regret it or not?

"- Are you sure? -" the Killer asked doubtfully.

"- Yeah, it's all right. I will enjoy your company. By the way, you haven't really been to my house that often, have you, Killer? -"

"- Well, Yes, it is -" he said.

"- I have animals at home, cats -" on the word "cats" the Killer perked up a little "- I think they will help you to relieve some stress. As far as I know you like cats too -"

"- Yes, it is. Only now I'm envious -" the Killer replied, slightly offended.

"- It's starting -" Nightmare said softly, a little irritated. The Nightmare does not allow the killer to bring home animals, especially since it is a big responsibility, and they still need to take care of this animal, and they do not have time for all this. They disappear all day at work, they come home almost at night, with this mode, the Nightmare doubts that the animal will survive with them.

They were saved from even more questions by the Director's voice calling for them to return to the set.

"- Well, we're leaving, they're waiting for us -" the killer said in a more cheerful voice, throwing away the empty сup of coffee he had drunk.

"- Yeah, it's time to get back to work. -" Nightmare agreed.

"- Well, I'll see you tonight, baby. -" the Killer said, and gave Ccino a quick peck on the forehead. Nightmare also kept up and gave the Barista a quick kiss on the nose.

Ccino stayed where he was, feeling his face start to burn again with embarrassment. He was happy, there was no doubt about it, but he also wanted to cheer up the two guys who were already walking away from him and talking about something.

"- I'll regret this -" Ccino thought. - "Hey!", he shouted, running up to them. They turned and looked at him in slight surprise, about to ask something, but the trainee silenced them with a quick kiss on the lips. When they realized this, they were at first slightly shocked, they did not expect that their coffee boy, who was always embarrassed by any kisses and words, would climb up to them to kiss himself.

"- T-this is to c-cheer you two up when you're on set -" Ccino tried to explain his action quickly and confidently, as it delays them, but with each word he blushed more and without saying anything else quickly left the set.

Nightmare and the killer only looked slightly surprised as the trainee left, then went to the set in high spirits.

"- You're a bad influence on him -" Nightmare said.

"- As if you don't like it when I do it or he does it -" the Killer replied, laughing a little.

"- Fuck you! -" nightmare exclaimed in embarrassment, quickening his pace.

"- Come on, I love you -" the killer exclaimed, catching up with the nightmare and giving it a quick kiss on the temple.

"- Me too... -" he replied, calming down a little, and the Killer's smile widened.

Well, the evening promises to be fun.

(To be continued ???)

I finally finished this part. I really worked on it, and I hope someone likes it. Please excuse the mistakes, my English is not so good. (QwQ)💦

I was inspired by these people: @zu-is-here , @help-im-a-gay-fish , @yuriyuruandyuraart , @kotikaleo , @jann-the-bean .

Thank you for your inspiration and for loving this ship. ( UwU)✨💜💜💜

Killer!Sans by @rahofy-sketch

Ccino!Sans by @black-nyanko

Nightmare by @jokublog

[reynaruina]

So, I've scrolled through your PT Dib AU tag, and I've seen lots of people interested on Dib's thoughts and psychology cause, as you said, he's some sort of vent character to you, so you can see very clearly what's going on in his mind.

One of the things that made me like your AU so much (i'm not really a big fan of AUs, i rarely get into one at any fandom) is that the course of things isn't at all inconceivable leaving from the canon's viewpoint. Of course, there are a lot of different aspects from canon, but it is not an unbelievable path. If Membrane was this cold monster, I could totally capture Dib ending up an alcoholic, paranoid, problematic depressive adult. Specially paranoid.

But some stuff are still veeeeery interesting to me. You see, I've always felt a strange connection with Zim, since the first time I watched IZ. Only recently I discovered that he is typed not only with the same mbti type as me, but also the same enneagram. While re-watching the show I related to him in a spiritual level that honestly I never felt with any other character before. So I'm really interested on how you're picturing him!

Canon Zim is a big-picture person, so much indeed that his lack of attention to details is what most backfires at him. So PT Dib's Zim believing that if he keeps waiting and persisting on Dib they will eventually work it out seems totally on point, is a long-term plan, and it's very likely it will work. On the other hand tho, gosh, I'm totally astunned by his patience. Canon Zim can get impatient and try using shortcuts that obviously end up becoming self-sabotage, and he not being aware of other people's feelings at all doesn't help either.

The fact that PT AU Zim is so, so dedicated to Dib to the point that he has to be careful with everything he does and says must be so stressful to him. Like, at least from what I interpreted, I know Zim doesn't have anything else to put his efforts on; He was banished from his own planet, ripped out from his mission, and Earth doesn't have anything to offer to him, besides from Dib, which incredibly (and I think the most shocking thing on this AU) he was able to notice his feelings for. So he kinda can't mess this up, cause if he does, it's all over for him too.

So having not only to deal with his own frustrations but also with somebody else's seems like a fucking nightmare (if I was on his place, at some point I would just explode with Dib, and the nearest your Zim got to it from what I remember was the "What's wrong with you?!" moment). How exactly is he dealing with it? Or is he not, at all?

I mean, at least he can still get distract from his own feelings by paying attention to Dib's, but suppressing it can be unhealthy, and he can't really talk to Dib about what is tormenting him cause, as you said, he will just interpret everything as he wants to and it would probably worsen things. He has Computer and Gir to talk to but, they're AI, so how well can they help him with that?

We all talking about getting Dib a psychiatrist but honestly Zim should be getting one either lol he can just make some small arrangements on the entire story not to sound crazy (imagine him going to therapy and "my irken leaders send me to conquer earth as a joke :(" lmao) but god I feel claustrophobic thinking about his side of things. He is truly strong for it.

As someone already said, you better be giving this man the fucking best orgasm of his life after this, preferably more than one. we're counting on you. no pressure. u_u

Hi there! First of all let me give you a big fat Thank You for this whole ass short story of a comment! It’s rare I get long ones about my content like these, and especially rare to see one that digs so deep into something in my story. Honestly I almost teared up a bit with your descriptions of Zim’s mental state because fuck, yes, this is all what I’ve been trying to point out this whole time!! Dib is the more obviously in need of help just because he looks like he was pulled right out of the sewers five minutes ago, but if you take a moment to consider what Zim’s going thru just to try and save him (as you have) you can tell he’s in more in more danger of breaking down as time passes. You are right to say that canon Zim is not very patient and does try to use shortcuts wherever he can, and this Zim was no different a few years back, but ever since he realized his feelings for Dib and started noticing his state he’s just had a few too many close calls for comfort by allowing his impulsive behaviour to push through and has learned the painful way to take his time w shit. I might delve into stuff like that more later on c:<.   And about how Zim’s dealing with all this pressure...well, he’s not. He’s mostly ignoring the whole issue, and he surely isn’t trying to bring anything up with Sober Dib. Gotta keep up appearances, ya know? For the good of the fragile human. No matter how much his own psyche is starting to break apart in the background... But he does break down sometimes, and wherever that happens whoever’s closes to him bears the blunt of it as you saw with the Gir stuff and the Computer chapter. And I can assure you these kinds of things will keep on happening, keep on getting worse as time goes on, and there will come a point where he can’t keep it all in anymore.  I can’t tell what’s gonna happen when that comes thru, all I can say is, it won’t be a pretty sight :c

[shibalen]

💥hewwo can I pwease get a romantic male matchup for bnha (darkbox bc I live for angst) (music box) when you have the time uwu

Levi he/him gay entp supposedly (also if it's not too much to ask please no characters under the age of 18 please)

I've been described as having a strong and loud personality, I'm extroverted and outspoken. I'm pretty eccentric too.

I value friendship, kindness and standing up for others.

Goal wise I'm pretty aimless. I dont have any goals, if I die well I guess that's it babey. In the meantime I'm just here to help animals and people who need it.

Positive traits: I always stick up for people in need, I'm good at reading people, I'm good with animals, I love to make people smile and laugh, cheerful, good at talking my way out of bad situations, uhm. Friendly!

Negative traits would be: hot headed, loud, stubborn, arrogant, comes across as intimidating:( good at getting into bad situations, gets into fights very often. Can be spiteful, I've been described as a pyromaniac so theres that. Can be sadistic

What pisses me off: my father. I can and will cause trouble for that man for as long as I live. And people who pick on the weak.

My hobbies and interests areeee: true crime babey! Crying over video games, baking, the occult, taking naps, dream interpretations and tarot readings

Likes: animals, cats specifically, stars, fire, sunsets, supposedly haunted places, storms, being dramatic for the hell of it, tormenting people in a good hearted way

Dislikes: uhhhh hot weather I guess.

Quirks: uh I have 5 cats! Ones my fathers but he never takes care of his cat so i pretty much count him as my own (plus he likes me more than my dad and it pisses my dad off hehe) I have weirdly accurate intuition, it makes reading people easy, knowing what they want to hear and what they dont.

Uhhh dates and relationship wise I'm honestly happy doing whatever my s/o wants to do. All I want is to see their face light up.

My love language is physical touch, I dont like touching people but if it's someone I feel strongly about youd have to pry me away from them.

I once got kicked out of a library for starting a fight in it, trashy I know but I wasnt going to stand there and do nothing while my friends were being bullied and pressured into getting involved with a really dodgy man. I scared the bullies off for good at least B) they never bothered my friend again babey

Oh I'm also known around the area I live in as someone who's good at finding homes of lost pets. Often times I come across a lost animal and befriend it in no time and use my connections to find its family.

Sorry if this was rly long and thank you for your time!! I hope you have a fantastic day uwu if anything's too difficult to come up with ideas for I'm more than happy for you to change anything to make it easier for you too!

♡︎ matchup for anon

heya! here i am with another late matchup but i hope you still see this. i'm sorry about the delay (╯_╰)

bnha: i match you with . . .

natsuo todoroki !!

• this was one of those "heureka!" moments for me. you both hate your dads and hot weather? it's a match made in heaven! okay jk, these are just nice add-ons.

• what really made me consider Natsuo were your values and personality. kindness and friendships are important to both of you. Natsuo's a medical student so i am convinced helping others is high on his priority list too. he loves your driven and passionate nature because he doesn't go sugarcoating bs either.

• you're definitely the more energetic one while Natsuo only gets hot-headed about the things that are the most important to him. i think it's a good compromise, you can help each other out :)

• he was a little taken aback and cautious of your explosiveness at first but warmed up to it quickly after learning what a kind person you really were. now he thinks your dramatic attitude is funny during your sillier moments ٩(◕‿◕｡)۶

• speaking of, you lads met at an animal shelter. there had been a dog that was astray in the neighbourhood of his home, so Natsuo, being a responsible boyo, took it to the local shelter.

• then there you were, standing by the help desk with five kittens wrapped in your jacket in your arms. apparently someone had been trying to drown them so you'd taken care of the situation accordingly.

• Natsuo understood jumping into a lake to rescue the poor animals because he would have done the same, but you could have had just called the police?? it was extremely ridiculous but admirable at the same time to beat all those guys up.

• your chat turned into a pleasant conversation afterwards as you were waiting for the animals to finish their check-ups. Natsuo was a bit shy but you didn't mind and kept the chat going which he appreciated.

• later he volunteered to help you look for good homes for the animals you'd both found. during this project the two of you got to know each other quite well and ended up hanging out together afterwards!

• and from that point on, everything fell into place naturally. the growing spark between you was undeniable and you both knew it. Natsuo definitely liked you longer, he was just a lil dense about it . . .

• you're nothing short of a hero in his eyes but dear lord he worries for you. when he's attending lectures he sometimes can't help but wonder if you're all right and not getting involved in anything violent.

• attends to your possible injuries while nagging you not to be so quick to start a fight next time. in return, you playfully bully him for being such a mom.

• you join forces with Fuyumi to pick on him about your relationship. even though you're already together, soft Natsuo still blushes when his affection for you is brought up, it's entertaining for both you and Fuyumi.

• idk if you've heard but Natsuo's 181cm tall!! hugging someone has never been easier even if you happen to be taller than him. the only thing is his skin's naturally kind of chilly so he's lowkey worried if you dislike it but you always assure him he's perfect!

• one time he was stressed over exams so you baked him some blueberry muffins. he gave you the biggest hug and kiss because it's exactly all these little things you do that set his heart racing for you ♡︎

• "last night i saw a dream about being a frog and eating giant flies, it was gross."

• "oh, that just means your love life is about to become fun."

• "i'm not sure how those two are related."

• "just trust me. i'm a pro at this."

• he also likes giving you headpats as much as he likes receiving them! his hands are quite big so he often runs his fingers through your hair when you're cuddling or hugging. it's especially relaxing after a long period of studying. also him carring you on his broad back ԅ(￣ε￣ԅ)

• you enjoy the little things in life and complain about your fathers together. you've agreed to wait a while before even mentioning your relationship to them because, honestly, Natsuo doesn't want any more horrible influences in your life.

• you get him sucked into the world of video games. it's always fun to watch him struggle but he never gets salty about losing maybe a lil he adores your smile as you laugh at him for being so bad at them.

• your dates include: helping out at animal shelters and retirement homes, video game and movie nights (especially about true crime), arcades and astronomy tower explorstions. i feel like Natsuo's more into traditional, romantic and chill dates and that's your usual thing. though i see sometimes you going to get coffee and ending up solving a 50-year-old murder case instead (✧ω✧)

❦︎ ink box

— despite Natsuo's best efforts to distance himself from Endeavor, it wasn't quite as easy and everyone was very much aware of the Todoroki family. and now the son of the number 1 hero had a lover.

— it wasn't actually that troublesome at first. some newpaper paparazzi occasionally annoyed you but you didn't care for them. most of the time Natsuo and you had your peace during dates aside from a few casual fans.

— but of course there are all sorts of people out there, some out for revenge, some for money, and being desperate means using even the lowest of methods to get what you want.

— so one time it happened, and it was all that took. several bitter villains thought they'd get their revenge through you, silly as it may sound. they made a big show of kidnapping you and demanding Endeavor to 'make up' for his wrongdoing. but all got resolved thanks to heroes, the only casualty being Natsuo's heart from almost exploding from worry and his deepening hatred for his father.

— later on, it wasn't that Natsuo was worried about you not being able to handle yourself, he feared what might happen if more of powerful villains came after you.

— so, after some debate, you agreed not to meet up for a short while to let the fuse of the incident settle down. it would be safer once the media forgot about it. you still texted and chatter over phone though!

— but then a week turned into two weeks, then into a month. you were wondering what was taking Natsuo to say the coast was clear and did a straight-up inquiry through a video chat.

— you could see he was restless the entire time. he said you should wait longer just to be sure everything was calm before meeting up. you became irritated because he was obviously lying and not being his normal, brutally honest self.

— why was he giving you this crap straight to your face?

— truthfully, Natsuo hadn't been sleeping all right recently. ever since that day he had reoccurring nightmares about something awful happening to you. they were just dreams, he knew. yet considering his ruffled up past and the frequency of those horrible visions, it would have been lie to say he was unaffected.

— paranoia just wouldn't leave him alone, and no matter how much he wanted to hold you in his arms again and hated making up stupid excuses, the voice at the back of his mind whispered this was for the best.

— after a month and a half had passed you've had just about enough, however. whatever reason he was keeping you in the dark for did no longer stop you from crashing into his house and demanding the truth.

— Natsuo knew you and expected this to eventually happen. after you made such a powerful entrance though he also knew there was no getting around it this time. really, it was comforting knowing you cared so deeply.

— he told you exactly what had been happening and you resisted the urge to punch him in the arm for having such a mindset. but the look in his beautiful grey eyes was so heartbreaking you threw yourself to embrace him instead. your touch was everything Natsuo had craved for for all this time.

— you skillfully assured him for the next couple of hours while keeping the talk light-hearted (he had obviously been overthinking way too much already). soon enough the issue was resolved and you had a sleepover right there to make uo for the lost time (Shoto and Fuyumi kept eavesdropping on you because y'all were being way too loud in a cute way).

— "i love you, Natsu, but if you ever keep something like this a secret from me again, i can't guarantee the safety of your arm or your front door."

♫︎ music box

— If I Had An Airplane by SayWeCanFly

— This December by Rick Montgomery

— Round & Laundry from Carole and Tuesday

— Haven't Had Enough by Marianas Trench

— Bowie On The Radio by Ryan McMullan

♡︎ runner up: Dabi / Touya Todoroki

thank you for requesting, hopefully you enjoyed this! i'm really pleased about matching you with Natsuo, it's just so perfect. have a lovely day and remember to take care of yourself ♡︎

[nonbinaryresource]

hey im not sure if you'll be able to help with this but if you can id like some advice - I've been getting gender-related nightmares lately. they vary a lot, but its always me being one gender and wishing i was another. they're pretty bad and im really not sure what to do.

I’m so sorry to hear that! This sounds really not fun.

There are a couple things you can start working on to temper these dreams.

First, a short-term solution might be - if you’re able - to try different sleeping pills. Meds can react different for people, but some sleeping pills may just help lull you to sleep, while others may konk you out until morning. Melatonin is a good one if you have trouble getting to sleep and may be a gentler alternative to others. I also like a glass of barley tea before bed. Tastes good and does help me drift off to sleep. My mom uses drowsy Benadryl because it gets her to sleep fast and keeps her asleep most the night. Since Benadryl is an antihistimine, it actually blocks a neurotransmitter in your brain that leads to REM sleep, which means you’ll likely get less dreams - but you might also feel less well rested overall, as you’ll get more light sleep and less deep sleep as a result of not having any REM. But it might be worth it for you to take every once in a while. Tylenol PM is the one that basically just knocks me out until morning. I personally don’t like the feeling (I’ve compared it to a sudden coma striking me down - but I also don’t have a lot of nightmares), but I’ve suggested it to friends who were having PTSD nightmares before, and it konked them out good, too, and let them finally get some good night’s rest.

Long-term, what does your sleep hygiene look like? A big part of cutting out nightmares is implementing good sleep hygiene techniques. This means:

Going to bed on a schedule

Not exercising or eating right before bed (at least one hour between exercising and sleeping and 2 - 3 hours between eating and sleeping)

Exercising during the day/getting your body moving

Cutting out screentime 30 - 60 minutes before bedtime

Doing a relaxing activity before sleeping (a puzzle, reading - if you use an ereader only use it on nighttime mode, light stretching, self-massage, meditation, taking a hot bath or shower, journaling about your day)

Cutting out light in your bedroom while you sleep - a sleeping mask can be a quick and easy way to do this

Adding a gentle white sound machine or sound machine that produces relaxing nature/animal sounds and keeping it on throughout the night. A cheaper option could also just be to play some soothing (classical/instrumental would work) music overnight at a softer volume. The sound can not only help you get to sleep but can help you stay asleep, so they may help you stave off your nightmares as well

Lower the temperature in your room if you sleep with any blankets so you can stay a good temperature at night and not heat up too much

Try chamomile tea and/or lavender lotion to help you relax into sleep

I don’t know the science behind this one or how much stock to really put in it, but I have heard that wireless signals produce tones that we can’t outwardly hear but that can disturb our sleep, so it might be worth storing your wireless devices outside your room, if possible, while you sleep, and moving your router/modem if it’s stored in your room

As a final tie in to that list, it can help to stop and acknowledge the dream. Especially if you’re having trouble getting back to sleep, take a few minutes to actually physically write out your dream (keep a dream journal and a book light by your bed!). Then re-write the ending so it’s happier. This is hard when your bad dream is more psychological than physical in nature, but it could just be something as simple as re-ending the dream with, “And I realized that whatever I identify with at that moment is my gender, and I’m valid no matter what I look like or what anyone else says. I took power in validating myself and felt much more comfortable and confident.” Acknowledging the bad feelings brought up by a dream can help take away its power. It’s kind of like when you have a problem and you share it with your friend, and even though your friend couldn’t do anything to fix your problem, it feels better to have shared the weight and made it somehow lesser for yourself. And re-writing the ending to be happier can help you get a hold of the bad feelings and re-direct them to more peaceful ones, which can help you confront the nightmares in general as well as help you get back to sleep.

As well, a lot of nightmares are brought on by real life stressors - and it certainly sounds like yours could fall under this reason - so doing what you can to address these stresses during the day can also help temper the nightmares.

What are your long-term coping mechanisms for any negative gender-related feelings you experience? In the second part of this recent ask, I went over a whole lot of ways to mentally cope with any negative gender feelings or just stress brought on by questioning. I would suggest checking that out! Even if you’re not really struggling during the day, spending some time getting in touch with your feelings and fears and worries might help reveal something to you that you’ve been denying or reveal something is a larger issue for you than you’ve been saying.

Finally, one last thing you could look into trying is practicing lucid dreaming. Using lucid dreaming to confront nightmares may be something that’s more helpful with a therapist’s guidance, but it might be worth looking into on your own if that’s out of reach for you. I know a couple people who have practiced lucid dreaming on their own to at least moderate success. Lucid dreaming is already used in therapy to help treat recurring nightmares and PTSD.

Lucid dreaming is a form of dreaming where you are aware that you are dreaming and can therefore take control of the dream and what is happening to you. It can also help you regulate your emotions within a dream so the dream is less scary and powerful. It’s also a tool to let you re-visualize the path and end of the dream so you can cut out the bad stuff and end it in a way that you want it to end. At the very least, it gives you a more ‘physical’ way to confront the feelings in your dream. I put this one as a last suggestion because it can take a lot of practice to be able to lucid dream, much less do so effectively, and I would estimate it could be even longer-term than the other long-term solutions I have listed above.

I don’t dream much (or don’t remember my dreams, anyway), so I’ve never really given much thought myself into lucid dreaming, so I can’t suggest any particularly good places to start, but I do know when I was looking into a couple years ago, there was information on how to practice lucid dreaming pretty easily available on the internet.

I hope something here helps and you start getting some good nights of rest!

[gif of the drawn Chippy the dog, a small white dog with fluffy ears, laying on a blue pillow. In front of them is a picture frame facing them, labeled “Your picture”. Another arrow is pointing towards Chippy that says “Dreaming of you”, while above Chippy is a pink dream cloud that reads “Sweet Dreams”.]

~Pluto