#everything useful I can think of

[baratrongirl]

Hi! I wanted to know if you had any tips on writing fanfictions, especially hurt/comfort. I have so many ideas and I wrote down what I want to do but have no idea how :/

I've been thinking about this ask for weeks now, and I'm still not sure how to go about structuring the reply. So I'm afraid that this isn't going to be the most coherent response, because it's actually a much bigger question than it looks.

Who?

The first thing to consider is who you want to get Hurt, and who you want to do the Comforting. This might be simple (your comfort character is the one who gets Hurt and the one you like to ship with them is the Comforter), but it doesn't have to be. A story with two principal characters is obviously easiest to write, but you can have multiple characters Comforting. (I would only recommend this if you have a group of close people, e.g. the Wright Anything Agency in Ace Attorney fic.) Part of a good Hurt/Comfort is that it increases the relationship level between the characters. So you can write about an existing Romantic Relationship, or a close friendship, or acquaintances, or even strangers if you wish - knowing that they're going to be closer at the end. Having a character who Comforts the Hurt character in the way that they need can be a way of boosting a friendship to a romantic relationship, since the Comforter's responsiveness can be a way for them to show their love for the Hurt one.

Wow this post will be long.

What?

The nature of the Hurt will determine the length of the story. A small Hurt, like receiving homophobic or transphobic abuse from one stranger on one occasion, will not need a great deal of Comforting. A big Hurt, like being kidnapped or abused over a period of time, will need a large amount of Comforting.

There could also be a situation where one small Hurt reminds the Hurt person of other times they have been Hurt in the past, and they have an emotional breakdown that is disproportionate to the size of the current Hurt. (e.g. Klavier's history with his brother Kristoph, or Apollo's history with being in foster care)

Think about what you feel like writing. Emotional abuse? Physical abuse? An injury? Sickfic? etc. And also whether you need to vent about anything in your life. Give your own chronic illness or disability to your favourite character, so it gets written about authentically. Or write about an injustice that is bothering you, with as much understanding as you can muster.

What do you Enjoy? What do you Need?

Is there something that you really like to read about in fic? I personally like it when a usually strong character breaks down emotionally or faints. I'd hate it if one of my actual friends fainted in front of me in real life, but the whole point of fiction is that you can explore "what if"s.

If you're writing about your own illness or disability, is there a way that people can help you that they never seem to think of? Can you write the Comforter doing the exact thing that you yourself want people to do?

Do you want to write something really extreme, like having a Bad Person point a gun at your favourite character? And have their Comforter come in to scream at the Bad Person and karate-chop them? Do you want to have your Hurt person get Hurt by jumping in front of a bullet aimed at the Comforter? Go for it! It's fiction, no one is really getting hurt, but you can explore real feelings through the writing.

Balancing the Story

I always feel that the amount of time/number of words spent on the Hurt and the Comfort need to be relatively balanced. It isn't usually half and half, but maybe more like one third to two thirds? Two fifths to three fifths? Hard to say until you start writing, of course.

I've definitely read stories where the Comfort part turns into a Budding Romance, and it's left the story feeling unbalanced, because that Romance part would have been much better as a sequel. I've also read other stories where the Hurt/Comfort has only been one or two chapters in the entire thing, and it's worked fine that way.

Comforting

I always feel that the Hurt is easy to write but the Comfort less so. It's easy to write a factual account of Klavier breaking his fingernail on a guitar string and how it's the last straw on a shitty day. It's harder to figure out how Apollo is going to help him feel better.

So here are some things that the Comforter needs to do. Listen - The Hurt person may well know what they need. They might need physical affection like a hug. They might need to be left alone. They might need the other to be present in the room but not touching them so that they can breathe. Or they might not know what will help, in which case the Comforter needs to guess at things.

Help - Things which might help in various situations include physical touch, a blanket/pillow/plushie, a drink of water, ice cubes, etc. The Hurt person might also need to scream or yell for a while about the situation until they can calm down. Are they unconscious? Do they need medical attention or to be taken to hospital? Are they sick or injured enough to need an ambulance?

Talk before Doing - Consent is INCREDIBLY important when a person has been Hurt. "Would you like a hug?"-type language if the people are not so close. Ask whether they want to be held loosely or squeezed tightly. If the Comforter has to leave the Hurt person, e.g. to get a first aid kit or some water, have them explain verbally what they are doing.

If the Hurt person is having a panic attack or something similar, then have your Comforter talk them through it. Have the Comforter ask the Hurt person to put their hand on the Comforter's chest, to feel their breathing, and to try to match their breathing. Lots of talking from the Comforter is especially important if the Hurt person is incoherent or unable to speak at all.

Alternate Communication - Some neurodivergent people may go mute in extremely stressful situations and they may have a card which says that it's hard to communicate right now, or multiple cue cards, or a workaround like typing on their phone. Think about how your characters will communicate when Hurt and when well. If the two people in the story are incredibly close, then they might use body language rather than verbal communication. The Hurt person might drop their head onto the Comforter's shoulder, signalling that that they need to be held. Consent CAN be non-verbal and it can seem clunky if an established couple are still expressly asking for consent verbally. (Some smut stories make this mistake, having the couple ask for everything with words, making it seem like they're having their first time together rather than being two people who know each other extremely well.)

Stay Calm - Even if your Comforter is absolutely freaking out inside, have them attempt to stay as calm as possible. If you write from their point of view, you can show the internal freakout as well as the attempt to stay calm. It's often easier to write from the Comforter's point of view especially if the Hurt person is going through something like a faint or a panic attack, because their mind will be blank.

Anything Special that ONLY that Comforter can Do? - Here's an idea you can have for free. I've seen a fair number of authors write Apollo's Perceive as an actual medical condition, that it gives him a headache or migraine or makes him overload. What I've never seen anyone do is have Klavier give him a pair of sunglasses! Migraines make a person sensitive to light, Klavier is a rock star and carries sunglasses everywhere. It would make total sense for him to put his rockstar shades on Apollo's sore eyes.

Try Not to Write in Therapy Speak. Unless your character talks about having been in therapy in the fic, or is known to have been in therapy in the canon, try to avoid overly psychological language. It sounds clunky and unrealistic to have a character analysing themselves - unless they are a person who would authentically do that! (e.g. Miles Edgeworth post-"death") This is triply important if you are writing in the past (e.g. Victorian times, before most therapy was even invented).

Dealing With Commenters

So you've written your story and published it, and now you have people commenting on it. Hopefully they will be polite, enthusiastic and encouraging you to write more.

Sometimes they will be flipping weirdos, coming into your nice Klapollo sickfic and asking you to write a story where Athena is pregnant and having morning sickness, and not only do you have any particular interest in Athena, you are squicked like mad by pregnancy! YOU CAN SAY NO! "No." is a complete sentence, but you can also say "Sorry, that idea isn't for me, I hope you find someone else who can write it for you."

Okay, I think that is literally everything I can think of for now. Some other people might be along to comment on this post, see if they have anything interesting to add. Good luck with your writing! Sorry it took so long to answer you but honestly, it's a hard question :D

[batcavescolony]

Katniss is such an unreliable narrator. She says "Then something unexpected happens. At least, I don't expect it because I don't think of District 12 as a place that cares about me" girl you deliver strawberries to the Mayor, you hunt and trade for the district, when you fell at Prim being chosen someone caught you, when you went to Prim people parted for you, when you volunteered EVERYONE stopped. Idk how to tell you but I think you're a pillar of the community.

[mynnthia]

was talking with a friend about how some of dunmeshi fаndom misunderstands kabru's initial feelings towards laios.

to sum up kabru's situation via a self-contained modernized metaphor:

kabru is like a guy who lost his entire family in a highly traumatic car accident. years later he joins a discord server and takes note of laios, another server member who seems interesting, so they start chatting. then laios reveals his special interest and favorite movie of all time is David Cronenberg's Crash (1996), and invites kabru to go watch a demolition derby with him

[xxplastic-cubexx]

obligatory beach divorce doodling

bonus rough cover redraw of x-men #41 (1995) But Beach Divorce below cut

[gascreates]

a new star

[inkskinned]

the thing about art is that it was always supposed to be about us, about the human-ness of us, the impossible and beautiful reality that we (for centuries) have stood still, transfixed by music. that we can close our eyes and cry about the same book passage; the events of which aren't real and never happened. theatre in shakespeare's time was as real as it is now; we all laugh at the same cue (pursued by bear), separated hundreds of years apart.

three years ago my housemates were jamming outdoors, just messing around with their instruments, mostly just making noise. our neighbors - shy, cautious, a little sheepish - sat down and started playing. i don't really know how it happened; i was somehow in charge of dancing, barefoot and laughing - but i looked up, and our yard was full of people. kids stacked on the shoulders of parents. old couples holding hands. someone had brought sidewalk chalk; our front walk became a riot of color. someone ran in with a flute and played the most astounding solo i've ever heard in my life, upright and wiggling, skipping as she did so. she only paused because the violin player was kicking his heels up and she was laughing too hard to continue.

two weeks ago my friend and i met in the basement of her apartment complex so she could work out a piece of choreography. we have a language barrier - i'm not as good at ASL as i'd like to be (i'm still learning!) so we communicate mostly through the notes app and this strange secret language of dancers - we have the same movement vocabulary. the two of us cracking jokes at each other, giggling. there were kids in the basement too, who had been playing soccer until we took up the far corner of the room. one by one they made their slow way over like feral cats - they laid down, belly-flat against the floor, just watching. my friend and i were not in tutus - we were in slouchy shirts and leggings and socks. nothing fancy. but when i asked the kids would you like to dance too? they were immediately on their feet and spinning. i love when people dance with abandon, the wild and leggy fervor of childhood. i think it is gorgeous.

their adults showed up eventually, and a few of them said hey, let's not bother the nice ladies. but they weren't bothering us, they were just having fun - so. a few of the adults started dancing awkwardly along, and then most of the adults. someone brought down a better sound system. someone opened a watermelon and started handing out slices. it was 8 PM on a tuesday and nothing about that day was particularly special; we might as well party.

one time i hosted a free "paint along party" and about 20 adults worked quietly while i taught them how to paint nessie. one time i taught community dance classes and so many people showed up we had to move the whole thing outside. we used chairs and coatracks to balance. one time i showed up to a random band playing in a random location, and the whole thing got packed so quickly we had to open every door and window in the place.

i don't think i can tell you how much people want to be making art and engaging with art. they want to, desperately. so many people would be stunning artists, but they are lied to and told from a very young age that art only matters if it is planned, purposeful, beautiful. that if you have an idea, you need to be able to express it perfectly. this is not true. you don't get only 1 chance to communicate. you can spend a lifetime trying to display exactly 1 thing you can never quite language. you can just express the "!!??!!!"-ing-ness of being alive; that is something none of us really have a full grasp on creating. and even when we can't make what we want - god, it feels fucking good to try. and even just enjoying other artists - art inherently rewards the act of participating.

i wasn't raised wealthy. whenever i make a post about art, someone inevitably says something along the lines of well some of us aren't that lucky. i am not lucky; i am dedicated. i have a chronic condition, my hands are constantly in pain. i am not neurotypical, nor was i raised safe. i worked 5-7 jobs while some of these memories happened. i chose art because it mattered to me more than anything on this fucking planet - i would work 80 hours a week just so i could afford to write in 3 of them.

and i am still telling you - if you are called to make art, you are called to the part of you that is human. you do not have to be good at it. you do not have to have enormous amounts of privilege. you can just... give yourself permission. you can just say i'm going to make something now and then - go out and make it. raquel it won't be good though that is okay, i don't make good things every time either. besides. who decides what good even is?

you weren't called to make something because you wanted it to be good, you were called to make something because it is a basic instinct. you were taught to judge its worth and over-value perfection. you are doing something impossible. a god's ability: from nothing springs creation.

a few months ago i found a piece of sidewalk chalk and started drawing. within an hour i had somehow collected a small classroom of young children. their adults often brought their own chalk. i looked up and about fifteen families had joined me from around the block. we drew scrangly unicorns and messed up flowers and one girl asked me to draw charizard. i am not good at drawing. i basically drew an orb with wings. you would have thought i drew her the mona lisa. she dragged her mother over and pointed and said look! look what she drew for me and, in the moment, i admit i flinched (sorry, i don't -). but the mother just grinned at me. he's beautiful. and then she sat down and started drawing.

someone took a picture of it. it was in the local newspaper. the summary underneath said joyful and spontaneous artwork from local artists springs up in public gallery. in the picture, a little girl covered in chalk dust has her head thrown back, delighted. laughing.

[hinamie]

i'm exactly as normal about him as I thought I'd be

[holographings]

i could not prevent it

[bluerosefox]

Her Astrophel and Sterling

hmmm

Hmmmmmmmm

You know what.

You know those AU's where the Batfam finds or learns about either hidden or thought to be dead Al Ghul Danny! with a deaged/daughter Dani (Ellie) (I should know, I created a few of those storylines) but what if, now hear me out, what if instead of them finding Danny first its Talia.

Do I want Talia discovering her thought to be dead son to be alive? Yes. Do I want her to find him while investigating Amity Park when the League gets reports of 'Lazarus creatures/water'? Yes.

DO I WANT HER TO KNOCK ON THE FENTON'S DOOR, fully ready to pretend/honey talk her way into the house to uncover what the Fenton's know, ONLY TO MEET A LITTLE ELLIE?!

YES.

Ellie whose eyes and hair look like a copy of her Beloved but she can see bits and pieces of herself as well. Talia knows the child in front of her was not fully her's though but everything makes sense when she hears a voice, a voice she hasn't heard in ages but as a mother just knows, speak out.

"Ellie! I thought I said do not answer the door my Sterling."

"But Daddy, yous was busy fighting the hotdoggys!"

Talia's eyes widen when she finally catches sight of familiar black hair and blue eyes.

and she could only lightly whisper a old nickname she hasn't dared uttered in ages, a name she secretly gave her son due to his love of the stars "Astrophel..."

[corpsentry]

pick your battles

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Behold, a Bunny!

(for @alliechickfic on twitter)

[royalarchivist]

Fit: Oh yeah, the great outdoors! All we need is a can of beans, and we'll have a good time.

Phil: There's two empty seats, I can't remember what– who they're for though. [Snorts then leans off-screen and laughs]

Fit: [Slowly realizes what Phil said] ...No. No. No. No! No! NO! WE ARE NOT DOING THIS RIGHT NOW! WE ARE NOT DOING THIS, PHIL. Ok? We are not doing this.

Sneeg: Do you wanna talk about it...?

Phil: [Continues laughing]

Fit: No man, this- this man thinks trauma is funny. He thinks trauma is funny– He thinks interpersonal emotional trauma is funny! Yeah, we're all laughing, Phil. We're all laughing. Yeah– [Monotone voice] "Hahaha! So funny." So funny. So funny.

Sneeg: Alright, bro. Why don't you go–

Fit: Gaslight girlboss, right? Yeah, that's what we do, that's what we do.

Phil: Oh my god– [Exhales and laughs] That tickled me, that was a good one. Uh, right–

[swiggity-swexual-i-am-asexual]

As per usual, it’s DP crossover with (probably) DC, although you could probably adjust it for other fandoms

ANYWAYS

A little kid and his mother are trick or treating in another city, perhaps at some kind of event rather than knocking on doors, and the kid is dressed as Phantom. It’s very adorable, with his little ghost-shaped bucket and clearly homemade and already stained costume—listen, white only works if you can just fly over street grime or phase it out of your clothes—and his slightly I’ll fitting wig. The kid is SO happy to be out and about dressed as his favorite, and maybe even showed it off to Phantom back in Amity Park before his family left.

The hero, insert whoever you wish here, is probably in civvies and just enjoying the event. The kid, meanwhile, is so glad when people ask who he is so he can explain, and so- the hero gets to hear ALL ABOUT the local town hero who is probably pretty small time despite the kid’s clearly exaggerated stories. The hero certainly never heard of him, but the kid’s mom confirms that Phantom really was the town hero, despite some mixed reviews of the poor guy.

“Did you manage to show him your costume?” the hero asks.

“Yeah! We went down to the cemetery to leave flowers and I got to show him my costume.”

Wait. Cemetery? Maybe it was part of theme, because Phantom had to be named that for a reason, but… it sounded like…

The kid ignores the suddenly VERY still hero and instead turns to his mom. “Momma, do you think we should bring him candy? He doesn’t get to trick or treat like we do, and I can work super hard to get him a bunch!”

The kid’s mom just smiles. “We could, but maybe we should bring him something homemade. I bet he’d like something more filling, teen boys like him have a hollow leg.”

The kid wrinkles his nose. “Like Vernie with the pizza bagels?”

“Like your cousin, yes. We can make some cinnamon rolls and take them to his memorial, maybe bring some of the apples from your grandpa’s garden…”

The hero is pretty much forgotten as the two-part family wanders off, not quite intentionally forgetting the hero is there so much as the hero somewhat accidentally ended the conversation when they just froze and didn’t ask anything further.

Not that the hero didn’t want to. But they’d learn something very serious.

One—there was a small town hero they’d never heard of. Two—that hero was apparently a teen. Third—most pressingly, the teen hero was both beloved enough to have kids dressing up as him and dead enough to have a grave.

This… might require some phone calls.

[feelingtheaster99]

Riz is much too tired to defend his friends to his mom but him saying “NOOO mom Kristen does CrossFit now” to explain how he’s not carrying Kristen was so fucking funny

[teaboot]

tranny freak :)

[i-dreamed-i-had-a-son]

So I'm fully in a Transformers Prime binge rewatch and holy SMOKES I did not remember how gay this show was. Like obviously Starscream is twinktown central and Knockout is very flamboyant, yes--but Megatron is so obsessed with Optimus (and vice versa) it's not even funny! Here's a compilation of the best moments from *just the first half of S1*:

Megatron returns after who knows how long and one of the first things out of his mouth is "No one rids me of Optimus Prime except me!!"

Megatron "dies" and Optimus is immediately depressed to the point where Ratchet asks about it and unlocks Sad Reminiscing

The Autobots are trying to figure out what the Decepticons are up to and Optimus starts with "Starscream is no Megatron, but--" just say you miss him

Megatron is literally comatose and his coma dream is him and Optimus fighting over and over again. Optimus just keeps respawning. Bro is LITERALLY living in his head rent free

In fact when Bumblebee gets inside Megatron's head Optimus is literally the First Thing he sees

Why is Bee in there? Because Optimus is deathly sick! And one of the only things that rouses Optimus from his nearly catatonic state? Learning Megatron is alive!

Megatron is also the only one who has the knowledge to save him so now they're both on their deathbeds together and their fates are linked etc. etc.

Bumblebee gets the info he needs by telling Megatron that if he doesn't give them the cure, Optimus will die (and Megatron will therefore not get to kill him)

Megatron (who had figured out this was all about Optimus before Bee even told him): "After our deep history together, to NOT watch the spark ebb from his eyes with my very own...well played, Scout." And then he gives him the cure

Starscream is about to kill Optimus and Megatron--as the FIRST thing he does after getting out of his coma--literally knocks him out of the sky, saves Optimus's life (priorities), and completely lets Optimus go. Which brings the Deliberately Saving Optimus's Life count up to 2!

Will add on as the show continues, but this is just like. 14 episodes in. At this point, forget allegations, they've been fully tried and convicted lol