#if anybody wants me to trigger tag for cancer mentions let me know and i can definitely do that going forward <3< /div> Explore tagged Tumblr posts

[coquelicoq]

just got a biopsy to see if my [checks notes] 15-week period is because of cancer. however then my friends drove me to get chocolate and the new martha wells novel so, you know, there are pros and cons here.

[wordsnstuff]

Tips On Writing About Mental Illness

-- These are my personal tips based on personal experience when it comes to reading and writing about mental illness and mentally ill characters. This isn’t meant to offend anyone, so let this serve as a trigger warning to those who might find the subject matter of this post uncomfortable. That being said, I hope this is helpful to you!

Do Your Research

It is INCREDIBLY important to do your research on everything when it comes to mental illness. Know the difference between a story and a stereotype, know symptoms, read about and listen and talk to actual people with mental illness, hear their stories, know how people express mental illness, everything. There is more than one form of self harm. There are multiple mental illnesses under the umbrellas of anxiety and depression and obsessive compulsive disorder and post traumatic stress disorder. Also, I highly recommend, if you’re working on a larger piece of writing, that you talk to a licensed psychologist or specialist doctor about mental illness, because the internet has a ton of misinformation and false facts about it and it’s more reliable (obviously) to talk to a professional. When it comes to subjects like this, it’s imperative that you know what you’re talking about.

Use Primary (And Reliable) Sources

Like I mentioned previously, there are a ton of primary sources out there made by people and about people with mental illnesses, so utilize them. Even if you, yourself, suffer with mental illness, it’s always wise to explore the different ways people experience it and the different ways it affects their lives. It simply makes you more educated and that’s never a bad thing. Read people’s stories about their illnesses, read interviews, listen to podcasts made by professionals or read blogs by doctors or whatever. Tip that you probably already know, try to stick to .org, .edu, and .gov sites when doing internet research. There are obviously worthy exceptions but use your common sense to know an unreliable source when you see one.

Do Not Make Mental Illness The Character’s Only Identity

Your character should not only revolve around mental illness because in real life, mentally ill people still lead actual lives. A character can be depressed and still work hard in school. A character can have schizophrenia and really love their partner. Yes, mental illness does affect every part of a character’s life, but it doesn’t make those parts go away. Mentally ill people are not shells of human beings. Avoid giving your readers the impression that it’s reasonable to believe that they are.

Portray, Don’t Romanticize/Desensitize

Romanticization of mental illness has become incredibly common, especially on the internet. While there is a major stigma against people who actually have mental illness, there is also a stigma against people who fake it because it’s ‘trendy’ or whatever. You need to keep this in mind when even talking about mental illness, because this reaches further than only writing about it: mental illness is an illness, not a personality trait. Self harm is not something to be taken lightly. You aren’t “cute but psycho”. Mental illness is an illness, whether you can see it or not, and you wouldn’t buy a t-shirt that says “cute but a cancer patient” on it. Portraying mental illness can and should be done in a respectful manner. Those horrid pro-ana or pro-mia or “screw neurotypical people” or self harm glorifying blogs and sites and stuff are ridiculous and harmful to people of all levels of mental illness. Do not be like these people when you’re writing characters with mental illness. You’re portraying an illness, not a fad.

Portray Symptoms Instead Stereotypes

People who suffer from depression are not constantly crying. Schizophrenic people don’t stand around seeing imaginary butterflies all day. People with bipolar do not have a mood swing every five minutes. Obviously, these are extreme examples of stereotypes associated with mental illnesses, and there are tons of less detectable one, but I think you get the point. Yes, delusions are one of many symptoms of schizophrenia, but most of the time, a symptom does not constantly affect a person with mental illness. This just kind of goes with the territory of do your research, so please educate yourself on how mental illness is actually displayed in a person’s life.

Make Your Mentally Ill Characters Ones Your Readers Can Identify With

Like I mentioned previously, mental illness should not be the only trait that your characters hold. Your characters are portraying people, which have interests and hobbies and things they like and dislike and feel and experiences that have shaped them. Use those to appeal to the reader. It’s no secret to readers or writers that most books are popular, in part, due to relatable characters and situations. If you’re writing a book that is telling about a character’s struggle with mental illness, you will probably be reaching an audience of people who have that illness, and you want to make a character that they can identify with. These characters are not only difficult to form, but imperative when it comes to literature about mental health. These characters and portrayals make the readers feel understood and less alone, which is a huge responsibility that you need to come to terms with and be prepared for.

Give Up On The “Crazed Killer”

Maybe this was acceptable 30 years ago, but the world has matured and educated itself a great deal (We aren’t there yet, though) about mental health and what it actually means when somebody is mentally ill. However, the stereotype that people with mental health issues are destined to become murderers or school shooters or whatnot is harmful and the literary world needs to start realizing that mental illness is not the all in one solution to the issue of “why is my villain doing this? Oh yeah, cause they’re crazy”. Taking that easy way out is lazy. Come up with a real arc for your villain. 

Mental illness can play a part in what makes people do horrible things, but it’s usually not the main cause. And if you’d like to justify making mental illness apart of your character, focus on the events that lead to the illness, not the symptoms themselves. It’s more interesting and doesn’t feed into the stigma when it comes to mental illness. Yes, mental illnesses can be linked to genetics, but in most cases, they’re caused by other factors-- like psychological and environmental ones. Either way, it is better to develop a backstory for a character with mental illness. Not only because it makes your character more human, but it can educate people on mental illness and what causes it. 

Be Prepared For Criticism

There will be people who don’t identify your characters and therefore dismiss your understanding of mental illness, even if you suffer from it. It’s common sense that everyone with a mental illness experiences it differently, but it’s not as common sense as you may believe. Remember two things when it comes to writing about mental illness: 1.) You are starting a discussion, which is incredibly important and difficult, and you are responsible for however that discussion starts. 2.) You will never get it 100% right. Not all of your readers will identify with your characters. Your story will not reflect every reader’s truth. It is a sensitive subject and the world still hasn’t made up its mind on it, but starting the discussion is important and the more awareness this issue gets, the closer we are to solutions.

Know Your Mental Illnesses

I’ve made another post about mental illnesses that was made to educate and raise awareness about mental illness. It lists quite a few mental illnesses and details about them so you can check it out here. There are countless other resources out there for you to learn about the different types of mental illnesses and specific forms of mental illnesses. 

Be Truthful 

Be honest about how mental illness affects people’s relationships and careers and families and self-image. Stories about mental health don’t always have a happy ending and they definitely don’t have much of a happy middle either. Your mentally ill character’s partners, majority of the time, will probably be a bit uncomfortable if they learn your character is self-harming. Your character’s family will probably try to down-play your character’s illness because of common denial that comes with learning about anybody you love being sick. A character with depression will probably find it very difficult to get out of bed some days, let alone go into work and pretend everything is peachy keen. Be honest. Be realistic. Be raw about how mental illness can destroy people and, if your story is about a person recovering, how seeking help can be really really hard.

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[summerohnine]

Fic Masterlist

Link to ao3

Link to my prompts

**Will update with new fics**

Parent!Phan Verse:

Take a Picture and Frame It

Tags: parent!phan, light angst, fluff

Warnings: existentialism

Word Count: 1.1k

Summary: Dan’s never been one to believe that ‘everything happens for a reason’, but he can’t help but think that Amelia was put into their lives by more than an off-chance.

Perfect

Tags: family, domestic, Parent!Phan, fluff

Warnings: none that I know of :)

Word Count: 1.4k

Summary: Phil didn’t know that he could love two people at once. But then, Amelia was born.

Oneshots:

you won’t be alone

warnings: homophobia

word count: 2k

summary: in which dan comes out to his parents in 2010 and things don’t go as planned.

Interrupted By Fireworks

Tags: fluff, cuddles

Warnings: slight bit of swearing

Word Count: 1.1k

Summary: Dan and Phil watch some fireworks while in America on the Fourth of July.

Let’s Dance

Tags: fluff, drunk, dancing

Warnings: mentions of alcohol

Word Count: 782

Summary: Dan and Phil slow dance in their lounge because their tipsy and in love.

The Only Thing I Know

Tags: songfic, 2009, first kiss, light angst

Warnings: small amounts of swearing

Word Count: 1.6k

Summary: Dan’s young and (possibly) in love but Phil is scared of moving too fast.

Based off “fallingforyou” by The 1975

Early Morning Introspection

Tags: reality, introspection, cuddles, established relationship, slight angst

Warnings: none

Word Count: 1.2k

Summary: It’s 3 A.M. and Dan’s mind is being consumed with thoughts of what could’ve been, which leads to a very important realization.

Come Undone

Tags: making out, 2009!phan, first kiss

Warnings: none that i can think of

Word Count: 1.2k

Summary: Dan and Phil’s first night together

Car Rides And The Unknown

Tags: fluff, cuddles, tour fic, thinking (is that a tag idk)

Warnings: mentions of depression

Word Count: 695

Summary: Dan finds roads at night scary but safe, mainly because of the person seated next to him.

To This Love (There Will Never Be An End)

Tags: fluff, teeny bit of angst, manchester, cuddles

Warnings: mentions of homophobia

Word Count: 1.9k

Summary: Dan and Phil go back to Manchester to reminisce on the early days.

title from colour me by juke ross

Not A Good Day

Tags: angst, depresssion, cuddles, comfort, fluffy ending

Warnings: depression, crying

Word Count: 751

Excerpt:

“Today isn’t a good day,” he said this morning as the sunlight poured into their bedroom. Phil rolled over and placed a kiss on Dan’s forehead.

“That’s okay,” he replied simply. That was always his answer. Because it was okay to have bad days.

Cuddles Are The Best Medicine

Tags: sick fic, domestic, fluff, cuddles, comfort

Warnings: none, it’s just pure fluff :)

Word Count: 1109

Summary: based on this prompt: “daniel has got the sniffles (the fLU) and philly just wants to cuddle”

I’m Not Okay

Tags: angst, depression, drabble

Warnings: depression

Word Count: 446

Summary: Dan finally admits to Phil what he’s been holding back for his entire life.

Based on a few prompts from this list.

Live On

Tags: angst, illness, cancer, drabble

Warnings: cancer, main character death, just very sad in general

Word Count: 821

Summary: Phil’s dying from cancer and there’s nothing anyone can do.

Inspired by this one line prompt, “Your life was my life’s best part.” From this prompt list.

Pillow Forts and Love

Tags: drabble, making out, fluff, domestic

Warnings: pre-smut

Word Count: 674

Summary: A quick lil drabble including dnp making out in a pillow fort

Don’t Let Go

Tags: Angst, suicide, established relationship

Warnings: suicide, major character death, overdosing, depression

Word Count: 1364

Summary: Dan’s falling apart inside, and he doesn’t think he can go on.

Disclaimer: In no way is this me glorifying suicide or depression. There is always an alternative to taking your own life. If talking about suicide is a trigger for you, I do not suggest you read this.

Do It For Me

Tags: Angst, eating disorders, au

Warnings: Eating disorders

Word Count: 1537

Summary: Based on this prompt: “TW//ed - - - - - dnp are in a recovery center for eating disorders. (you can choose which ones they have.) phil’s farther in recovery than dan, and dan’s having a hard time eating. phil cheers him on (can be friendship or relationship wise) and helps dan eat (: x”

Disclaimer: I do not have experience nor know anybody with an eating disorder, so I apologize if there is a lack of accuracy.

Teach Me

Tags: Fluff, domestic, piano, cuddling, established relationship

Warnings: none, just pure fluff

Word Count: 1067

Summary: Phil wants Dan to teach him piano, or maybe he just wants attention.

We Won’t Answer

Tags: Fluff, coming out

Warnings: none

Word Count: 1226

Summary: Based off this prompt: “Matching T-shirts (im with stupid, his Peter Pan, that’s my best friend, he’s my Superman/she’s my world, etc) maybe a head canon for coming out, like, someone suggests on in one of those “viewers pick my outfits” videos and they wear it and one of them makes a comment like “we are the hottest couple of the year” and that’s all they say about it, not answering any tweets or saying anything about it”

Everything You Are

Tags: Angst, break-up, Ed Sheeran songfic

Warnings: cheating, mentions of sex

Word count: 885

Summary: A songfic based on Ed Sheeran’s “Everything You Are”

Perfect

Tags: family, domestic, Parent!Phan, fluff

Warnings: none that I know of :)

Word Count: 1482

Summary: Phil didn’t know that he could love two people at once. But then, Amelia was born.

Reunion

Tags: angst, family, fluff, domestic

Warnings: mentions of homophobia, pre-smut, crying

Word Count: 2728

Summary: It’s Phil’s last day in Florida and he can’t wait to be home and hold his bear for the first time in two weeks.

Letters Never Sent

Tags: angst

Warnings: suicide, cheating, main character death

Word Count: 769

Summary: A collection of letters Phil has written to Dan that he will never get.

Just a Dream

Tags: angst, fluff, comfort

Warnings: cheating, fighting

Word Count: 1092

Summary: Dan has a bad dream and Phil comforts him

Kiss Me Like the First Time

Tags: angst, fluff, first kiss, 2022

Warnings: swearing, fighting

Word Count: 3050

Summary: “Remember our first kiss?” I asked, smiling up at Phil.

He chuckled softly. “How could I forget? That was the best kiss I had ever had. Although, I hadn’t kissed many people before that.”

I laughed and looked down at my hands. Somehow, they had found their way to Phil’s hands, and I was absentmindedly playing with his fingers. “Kiss me like that,” I said suddenly.

“What?” Phil said, startled.

“Kiss me like the first time.”