#healing fiction

[marsymallows]

Exploring Slow Living: Documentaries, Movies, and Books

I don’t know a lot of people who share the same desperation I have for a slow life except for my boyfriend, a friend I constantly talk to these days and a bunch of online strangers in a Reddit sub I’m subscribed to. My boyfriend lived in a farm. LOL. But setting aside all the memes and controversies now infamously associated with that line, he really did and he has always dreamed of leaving the…

[trendynewsnow]

The Healing Impact of Toshikazu Kawaguchi's Stories

The Healing Power of Kawaguchi’s Stories At the book signings of Toshikazu Kawaguchi, it’s not unusual to witness fans overwhelmed with emotion, often moved to tears. His enchanting fantasy series transports readers to a whimsical cafe in Tokyo, where patrons can journey back in time as they wait for their coffee to cool. The narratives focus on everyday individuals grappling with profound loss…

[ink-the-artist]

mage

[malinaa]

if i think about the hunger games in peeta's perspective i WILL start sobbing

[deersoncupcakes]

I think about starflight the normal amount

[shyranno]

Here, have more Dad Maul--i hope it helps the dopamine because it for sure helped mine ;u;;

[high-queen-of-the-court]

TSC RELEASE DATE??????????

[dedalvs]

When will humankind learn the lesson of its hubris and begin to heal itself? Also can you recommend any undergraduate or graduate level resources (textbooks etc.) for learning about fiction? I already read Writing Fiction by Burroway. Thanks in advance

January 14, 3182. Make a note of the date and return to this post when it comes.

To your second question, I've never read anything on writing fiction, only writing in general. I've found something valuable in every book on writing, even if there were things in the book I found less valuable. For example, I read Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within by Natalie Goldberg, and while there was much of it I didn't care for, there are some passags that have stuck with me 22 years later. When it comes to writing guides, I think the best thing to do is read what interests you while understand that what you are really doing is building your own writing guide inside you. You're absorbing what you find personally meaningful and using it to create your own personal styleguide that, like it or not, you'll be following for the rest of your life. Rather than rejecting that, and trying to decide which text will be the text that tells you how to write, embrace it, realize that you are going to do what you're going to do, and then try to work within that framework. That is, if that's what's happening, how will you approach a styleguide? What will it mean to you to read a very didactic text (i.e. "All serious writers must do x; no serious writer every does y") vs. a loosey-goosey one (e.g. "Dance naked in the garden of your creativity and allow your flowers to bloom!")? What are you looking for in these texts and what will you do with information or strategies that you find valuable?

Returning to Writing Down the Bones, I have to say I found the book to be mostly woo. It was more a kind of self-help/empowerment book than a book on writing, in my opinion. But there is something in there that I'm sure I'd heard before but which finally resonated with me. Specifically, it was the way she articulated that it really, truly doesn't matter what you put on the page when you're drafting. Drafting is not the time to reject. Even some idea comes to you that you find absurd, illogical, thematically inappropriate—whatever. It's not the time to push it away. Indeed, it's wasted effort. Editing and revising is the time to question. If you're writing, you shouldn't let anything stop you—even your own brain.

Why it took till then for this idea to take root, I don't know. It could be how she worded it. It could be that it came at the right time. Perhaps I was more open to new ideas when I was reading this book. It may also have something to do with a transition that had taken place for me in writing. After all, when I started high school, I was not regularly using a computer (we'd only just gotten a computer that stayed at home). When I started writing, I wrote by hand—on paper. It's a much, much different thing to edit and revise when you're writing on paper than it is on when you're working on a computer! I mean, digital real estate is cheap. When you're writing by hand, it can literally hurt to write seven or eight pages—and then to discard them in editing! Right now I'm working on a novel draft where I've decided an entire section needs to come out. If I'd written that by hand?! I can't even imagine.

I guess the tl;dr of it is I don't have a specific text to recommend. Rather, I encourage you to look around and grab anything that interests you. In doing so, though, I encourage you to approach it differently, focusing on what in it you find valuable, without either wholly rejecting it or feeling you have to follow it to the letter like an Ikea manual. I even found something valuable in C. S. Lewis's The Abolition of Man, which I honestly can't believe I read.

If you'd like some fiction advice that may be generally useful no matter what you're writing, this is what I can offer:

A valuable skill to hone is being able to read your work as if you have no other knowledge of it. In other words, you need to be able to read your work like a reader. One of the most difficult things to do with fiction is to cut. You usually have a lot more characterization, a lot more plot points, a lot more detail, etc. than end up on the page. The important question is if you cut something, will the reader notice? Will it actually feel like something's miss it, or will a reader never notice? Mind, I'm not saying that as a writer you can't tell if something is superfluous, or that anything you cut will be superfluous. I'm saying sometimes even if you cut something important a reader will still get the impression that what they are reading is whole and unedited. That isn't a good thing or a bad thing: it's a neutral thing. The question you'll have to answer is what is this whole that the reader is getting, and is that whole something you're satisfied with?

Get multiple rounds of feedback from many different readers. I say this not because it's vital, because beta readers are important, because you have to have multiple perspectives on your work, etc. None of that. Getting feedback from many different readers is a form of self-care on the part of the writer. I was deathly afraid of feedback as a young writer. I welcomed praise, sure, but anything else felt too painful to bear. This changed when I took a short fiction class at Berkeley. Suddenly a short story of mine wasn't getting one round of feedback: it was getting fourteen. And not just from the professor, but from fellow students. This was a minor revolution for me in terms of accepting feedback. If I were to take, say, one round of feedback, certainly there would be some praise, but there would also be notes like "awkward phrasing", "why did x character do y?", "this is unclear", "too much description", etc. These things would burn me. I would seethe reading them, and it would hurt so deeply. But! Imagine that one of them circles a paragraph and writes "too much description" and then the other thirteen readers say absolutely nothing at all about that paragraph—maybe one even puts a smiley face next to it. THAT puts the criticism in its proper context. Maybe your writing isn't too bad! Maybe there isn't too much description. Maybe that particular reader just wasn't vibing with it, and maybe that's okay. And then let's look at it from the other perspective. Say thirteen out of fourteen papers have a sentence marked and all of them say things like "huh?", "what's this mean?", "confusing", etc. Guess what? The sentence is probably confusing. And for some reason if everyone's saying the same thing it hurts a lot less. It means, yeah, you probably made a little mistake, and that's okay. It's not one person singling you out, and it's not the case that they don't know what they're talking about. I can't emphasize enough how freeing it is to look at reviews of your work if you have a handful or more to draw from rather than just a single good friend.

It's okay to write the fun part first. You may have a plot device you're really excited about, but to get there, you have to introduce your characters, have them get together, have them go to a place, meet someone else, etc. And it may take time and energy to write all that. You may feel pressured to get through that before you get to the part you really want to write. You certainly can, but you do not have to. I don't know if younger writers can appreciate exactly what it means to have a computer. You can write a little bit now and literally copy and paste it into some other document later. Try doing that with a typewriter! You can write something like "Insert paragraphs later of characters traveling to x location". You can even drop a variable in there so it's easy to find with the search function later (e.g. "ZZZZZ insert scene description here"—now you just need to search for "ZZZZZ"). You can put it in a different color on the screen so it's easy to find when scrolling. You can paste a freaking photo into your document! It's extraordinary what you can do with a computer that you couldn't do in years past. You've got a ton of options. But most importanly, when your work is done, no one will know what order you wrote it in.

In fiction, nothing has to happen. Villains don't have to be punished; heroes don't have to win; characters don't have to have a specific arc that comes to some conclusion. Honestly, one of the tropes (if you can even call it a trope) that I find most frustrating in sequels for movie franchises is after the characters are introduced, they take a few character and assign to them the major story conflict, and then for the rest, they give them a mini arc. It's like, "Mondo 2: Exploding the Mondoverse sees our hero Larjo Biggins take on new villain the Krunge as the very core of the Mondoverse is threatened with destruction! Also, Siddles Nuli learns its okay to be left out sometimes and she shouldn't get her feelings hurt, and Old Mucko learns that even though technology is advancing, sometimes good old fashioned common sense is just what the doctor ordered!" If you get to the end of your story, and you feel it's done, you don't have to panic if you suddenly realize we don't know whether Hupsi ever made it to Bumbus 7. It's okay if Story A is resolved but Story B is not.

I don't care if you used Trope A in your new story even though you used Trope A in your past seven stories and neither should you. Seriously, you think anyone was complaining when Agatha Christie put out another mystery novel? "Oh. Mystery again, huh? Gee, we were all hoping you'd write a book about the struggles traditional fishing villages are facing in the wake of industrial modernization." No we fucking weren't!

I hope you find some of this useful. Whether you did or not, though, be sure you enjoy what you're doing. If you are, you're doing the right thing.

[thisisxli]

𝐓𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐲-𝐓𝐨𝐞𝐬. - 𝐓𝐨𝐮𝐲𝐚 𝐓.(𝐃𝐚𝐛𝐢)

Rs: Touya Todoroki(Dabi) x GN!Reader(amab/afab)

Warnings: angst

Tags: Reader is Hawk's sidekick, reader and Touya are childhood friends, Touya is shitty at feelings, Dabi persona, Touya has a cute feet tapping habit, platonic or romantic however reader wants to take it

Summary: Dabi is confused when you easily figure out his real name and identity. Why? Because of the habit he has, tapping his foot on the ground.

Recommended song:

wc: 0.4k

"Just send me a quick text of your location if anything goes wrong, a'ight?"

"Okay, okay. Bye, Hawks," you softly smile, ending the phone call with the number three hero. You weren't a pro but you were a sidekick. Not one that was constantly by his side but one Hawks was fond of. "You done calling with bird brain?" A raspy voice calls out. Touya? Your breathing starts to quicken a little bit in anticipation.

You quickly turn around to see a familiar pair of turquoise eyes, one you knew years ago and knew now. His hands was deep in the pockets of his black coat and his black hair framed his burnt face. You almost didn't recognize him. "You..." You breathe, halting and avert your eyes to his feet, one of them tapping on the ground. You chuckle.

"Why did you call me Touya?" His question slightly catches you off-guard, his expression unmoving. "Well, I called you Touya because.. it's you. I know it's you, Touya, you don't have to deny it," you smile bitterly when you watch a muscle in his face twitch, a little blood leaking from his metallic stitches. "Well.. I'll be damned. How'd ya know,

(Y/N)?" He emphasizes your name in his sentence, nearly shaking you to your core. Your name felt so familiar yet so foreign rolling out of his mouth. You on the other hand was surprised to say the least, you didn't think he remembered you. When you think of your reasoning, you snort before letting out a laugh. He raises a brow at you.

"You still," your laugh dies down, staring at him with fondness and old grief you experienced for the old young him, "you still do tappy-toes. You tap your feet whenever you're excited or nervous." He stiffens at your words. Seriously? You noticed that it was him from that? Not even his own family recognized him. But you were a whole different type of weird. Funny, he thinks. "Wasn't expecting that," he raspily chuckles before his face drops into his usual stoic look. "But I'm letting you know now.. That I'm not that Touya anymore. Call me Dabi-" "not a chance," you smirk, walking closer to him. Why were you doing that? He's dangerous and you know it. It starts to irk him when you were only a few feet away. "I'm serious. It's Dabi," he lowers his voice, staring down at you. That's also when you realize. He was right, Touya was gone. The Touya you knew was gone.

He wasn't that little boy anymore. Suddenly your vision becomes blurry but you could tell he turned his back to you. "We'll meet again," he turns his head at you, murmuring.

As a tear fell, your vision became clear again. But he was already gone. Again.

a/n: i enjoyed writing this! Thank you @scardey-cat for the idea! I'm really sorry for taking so long to post this but here it is! I hope you like it and I hope others enjoy it also! Thank you for reading.

[orcelito]

showing off the commission i got from @ruporas for my fic, In the Next Life!

i'm still so incredibly excited about this. it's been some months since the story event that caused these scars, but i wanted SO BADLY to be able to see what they'd actually Look like... & Here They Are.

ruporas rendered the scars So Well, i just cant stop Looking at them... there's a Fresh & a Healed version, which ruporas was kind enough to give me without additional charge (Thank U Again😭😭) so i get to see what it looks like at different stages.

Lichtenberg Figures. in terms of actual scarring, lightning strikes that people survive don't tend to leave permanent scars, but the lichtenberg figures that they (usually temporarily) leave behind are just So Cool... Now, what happens when you get someone who can survive an amount of electricity/lightning that would be Frankly Lethal to any normal human person?

This :]

[elithelakes]

sure, we all love found family in fiction. but recently i’ve been thinking about what exactly draws me to it so much. and thinking about it, it’s unfortunately all too obvious. i’m obsessed with the idea of someone not being required to support and love another person, but doing so anyways, and doing it to such an extent that they essentially become family to each other. why? well, there were people in my life that should have automatically supported and loved me, but they didn’t; it’s the idea of someone doing something by choice what someone else wouldn’t even do by requirement. what one person saw and said “that’s an unlovable mess” another person saw said “maybe you are a mess but i’m going to go out of my way to love you anyways”. needless to say i’ve been crying for a while.

[stoneshipper]

imagine your f/o...

... cuddling by the fireplace with you! when it's cold outside, they look forward to nothing more. imagine coming home from a rainy day to find them stoking the fire, turning to smile at you when you walk in the door. they wait only long enough for you to kick your shoes off before taking you in their arms and leading you beside the hearth of the fireplace. with the sound of the fire cracking and the warmth against your skin from both the flames and the heat emanating from your f/o, it's easy to relax and spend a quiet night at home ❦︎

dividers made for me by kynibyou! 🍂 prosh¡p dni.

[littleteenagethings]

And darling, you need to be patient with yourself. The pain does not vanish overnight. You heal one day at a time, one step at a time. And maybe, just maybe, in six months from now, you will find yourself enjoying a day where the pain ceases to exist. Be gentle on yourself, allow the healing process to take place.

Excerpts from the book I’ll never write #411

09.04.2023

11:17 pm.

[hesperidiumsky]

They should make more annoying aromantic characters.

[thewrothode-if]

Reading up to the father asks makes me want for a reconcilation less. which is sad because he seemed like a good father during the good years in the game itself but damn...the way he would not care at all about his own child. Even if they remind him of their mom feels like they are less than an old rag to him. And for what? His reason is just completely selfish.

So far the way he is talked about in this blog seems like he is irredeemable in my eyes.

Like no remorse unles We really earn this mf's love? fuck that shit. How about he earns mc's love, they dont owe him shit.

Maybe the actual story will make it worth it but for now i hope he dies from diarrhea.

I totally understand this rant. If you don't want to reconcile with your father, you won't be forced to in any way whatsoever. So keep on hating his ugly ass.

But I love happy endings and when people see their wrongdoings. That's what will happen with him if you do choose to reconcile the relationship. He'll feel shitty, and he'll want to make up for all the horrible things he's done to you. And I think it's beautiful.

He will never take the first step to fixing the relationship, but showing him you're better by choosing to do so is a powerful move (in my eyes). It's so much easier to hate people for what they did than to forgive them.

But like I said, both paths are equally epic and I love to write angst so you have a lot of good stuff to read on both routes.

[gothamite-rambler]

Damian Helps Mr. Freeze

Context: Damian decides this is a good deed he wants to undertake, always intrigued by the man's story. He accepts that this won't necessarily turn Victor into a good guy, but it's an opportunity that could help the man get his wife back.

Mr. Freeze (talking to himself): Would eating spicy food kill me? I never enjoyed it, but now that I can’t have it, it feels different. Thoughts for later.

While Victor debated possible hot foods he could eat cold, Robin!Damian quietly snuck into the frigid former outlet store, now transformed into Victor Fries' icy domain. Fortunately, no one had been frozen, but the young hero wasn’t there for a fight him. He had a proposal to offer the German scientist.

Robin!Damian (calling out): Hi, Victor!

Mr. Freeze (turning around): Um, hi. You're the new Robin?

Robin!Damian: Yes, how could you tell?

Mr. Freeze: You’re shorter and… brown. No offense—I promise, it’s just that the other one is—

Robin!Damian: A skinny white boy who looks like he needs a feeding tube?

Mr. Freeze: Ja, that is insanely accurate. It's a pleasure to finally meet you, I like the hero suit, the hood is a nice touch.

Robin!Damian (pridefully): Thanks, I requested that alteration be added to make it my own.

Mr. Freeze: Understandable. How did you get mixed up with the Bat though?

Robin!Damian (lying with ease): My father and him go way back. Old college friends.

Mr. Freeze (falling for the lie): I can’t say I agree with him getting a new child sidekick like that, but at least he’s not the Joker. No offense, but what are you—number five or four?

Robin!Damian (holding up four fingers): Four, but I’m the best.

Mr. Freeze nodded then sighed, tapping the glass dome that protected his face.

Mr. Freeze (concerned): I know why you’re here, kid. You want to take me down. Just run along—I’m not in the mood to freeze a child. Crow brought this up when we were in Arkham, and I hate that he made some valid points.

Robin!Damian (bitter tone): Let’s not bring up Scarecrow.

Robin!Damian tightened his fist, suppressing his remaining anger from the time Scarecrow refused to fight a child.

Robin!Damian (continuing): I have a proposal for you, Victor. I’ve read your file multiple times, and your story is truly tragic. I’m sorry about your wife’s illness and the suit you’re trapped in.

Mr. Freeze (melancholic): It’s quite all right. I continue to search for a cure while committing crimes. Honestly, the crime part is just an enjoyable hobby... a means to an end. I don’t want to burden you with my life story.

Robin!Damian (reassuringly): No, no, no, you’re fine. It’s admirable that you haven’t stopped trying to save her. Although the life of crime is definitely a negative, your love for her remains strong. And if it helps, your suit is impressive.

Victor's eyes softened with appreciation.

Mr. Freeze: I need it to live, but thank you. I upgrade it frequently. You’re making a good impression. Would you like to help me?

Robin!Damian (nodding eagerly): Yes.

Mr. Freeze (pleased): Always wanted a young apprentice.

Robin!Damian (raising his hand and shaking his head): Working with Batman is something I’m committed to. I meant I can help heal your wife. I know a guy—Ra's—

Mr. Freeze (aiming his freeze gun at Robin): Oh no, not that crazy dictator and his pit of green goop. I’ve heard the effects it has on that formerly dead man. How is he, by the way?

Robin!Damian (unfazed): Batman pays to keep people from dying, and he’s an awesome hero.

Mr. Freeze (surprised but understanding): Really? Good for him. As for you and Ra's, I have to pass. I’m a man of science… mostly. I don’t trust that hocus-pocus.

Robin!Damian: Let me finish, sir. I convinced him not to use the pit and insisted he help find a cure for your wife. Ra's recently updated me; he’s gathered his best scientists, and they’ve made progress on a cure for the fourth stage that Nora is in.

Mr. Freeze (taken aback): They’ve... already started working on a cure?

Robin!Damian: Mm-hm. And Batman’s okay with Ra's helping you.

Mr. Freeze lowered his freeze gun, hesitation evident on his face.

Mr. Freeze: Wirklich? (For real?)

Robin!Damian (nodding): For real. Batman and Ra's have a... rocky relationship, but he said that if it helps cure Nora, he’ll allow me to contact him. Just so you know, there’s no guarantee a cure will be found quickly, but they do have one for the third stage.

Mr. Freeze (hopeful): A cure has been found for the third stage? That’s… wunderbar!

Damian nodded with a smile.

Damian: I had to negotiate a lot with Ra's, and I definitely owe him for this, but he’s willing to help you—no strings attached.

Mr. Freeze (shocked): No… strings… attached?

Damian had agreed to travel to an island to fight ninjas for his grandfather to secure this deal—a secret he had to keep from his parents. But if he could help someone he felt warranted aid, it would have to be done.

Robin!Damian (tight smile): The toughest part was getting him to agree. Heroes like me put our lives on the line for people like you. Here’s his business card.

Damian held out a laminated red-on-black business card for Victor to take.

Robin!Damian: Give him a call and set up a meeting. I want to help you with this, Victor. I really do, so please take the offer.

Victor took the card, a half-smile breaking through his usually solemn demeanor.

Victor: Hm, you are a good kid.

Robin!Damian (nonchalantly): More of a good hero, actually.

Victor nodded, patting the young boy on the head. His hand was cold, but Damian felt a warmth inside, satisfied to have helped a tragic villain.

Victor: I swear if this works, Nora and I are going to be the best villain couple ever. I have a suit for her and a cool freeze gun and—oh, Scheiße, I shouldn’t have said that out loud.

Damian, having disconnected his communication device before entering the lair, waved away those concerns.

Robin!Damian: I factored that in, and I support your teaming up when Nora awakens. Batman won’t be around for long, but I will, and I think you both would make great foes.

Victor (jovial tone): Kid, now I really like you. Honestly, count yourself crossed off my list. I won’t ever freeze you.

Robin!Damian: I’m going to brag about that to the others. Bad news for now, though—I have to take you in, but the cops won’t hurt you or anything.

Victor (resigned to his arrest): Ja, factored that. But I will honor my promise and not freeze you. I’ll call this dastardly man after they lock me up. I did miss my old cell; it gives me time alone with my thoughts.

Damian nodded in agreement as he and Victor walked out of the warehouse.

Robin!Damian: Oh, and I heard you’ve been having temperature issues in your cell. I can talk to someone about that as well.

Victor: Danke, it's as if they don’t understand I require cold to live! Young hero, your father would be proud of how well you handled a villain of my caliber.

Robin!Damian (smiling): Making sure to tell my entire family that too. You're very welcome, Victor.