#Survivor stories

[thrivingwhilemultiple]

Silent Rebellion

I deliberately swam upstream, seeking the current just to go against it…

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[kingsbridgelibraryteens]

Reluctant Reader Wednesday: Occulted by Amy Rose, Ryan Estrada, & Jeongmin Lee 

Amy Rose didn’t know much about the outside world. When she was little, her parents brought the whole family into a unique community that was supposed to be welcoming, but was really hiding secrets. One by one, her family members left the compound, until just Amy and her mother were left. By the time she first heard the world “cult,” she had already been living in this place for years. Their leader said that the world was going to end soon, and everybody believed it.

But sometimes Amy wondered if their leader was hiding the truth, and Amy’s thirst for knowledge and love of books will be the most important tools that will help her to escape from this place. 

This graphic memoir is a powerful story about cults, secrets, deception, family problems, and a child who was smart enough and brave enough to take back control of her own life. Give this book to teens or even adults who love survivor stories!

[blackfemmecharacterdependency]

You Made It

This is for me and @sleepyfangirl18 and nobody else, though y'all welcome to tag along, if y'all ain't got nothing else to be doing. Yes, I did cut into my hiatus for this. Lmao.

Picture this. It is 20 years after the Freddy VS Jason showdown. I say that, because its almost been that long and I don't wanna try to remember society from 10 years ago or whatever. I’m bout the same age as the characters and actors so I’m okay with writing via our timeline. Off topic.  Back on...

Kia Waterson rolls into her 20 year class reunion at Springwood High School, wheelchair bound, but looking divine, because she IS Kelly Rowland, after all, and she’s alone, and nervous, but curious, because she hasn’t been here in a very long time. 

She sees the memorial whenever she first arrives. There is one at the front of the school, shadowed in lies, of course. The town went back to hiding Freddy. She didn’t blame them. Nothing like that needed to happen again. The town didn’t even name drop Jason, either. Why tempt fate? 

The Crystal Lake Copycat Killer was unfortunately blamed on an “obsessed” cop who wanted to build a name for himself in the town. That made her sick. Deputy Stubbs was the only adult that had been willing to try to help them out, and he’d died a hero. She did know that there were several survivors who were united in efforts to clear his name, including her former best friend, Lori and Charlie Linderman... who... she hadn’t spoken to in a long time.

It wasn’t that she didn’t want to speak to him. She spent several years in a coma in Crystal Lake, woke up and spent a while with amnesia, as well as muscular atrophy and irreversible back injuries from her attack. She had scars across her back that reminded her of branches, which was a little funny to her, considering that the injuries had come from impact with a tree. She had one scar across her front, from a machete slash. Hearing about her injuries with her amnesia, she did not know how one would survive such an attack... or why a high school teenager would be subjected to one.

Luckily for her, Crystal Lake had some state of the art resources, due to a long running series of unfortunate attacks... Jason attacks... they tried to have specialists on hand for such incidents, and while it had been many years, they, much like Springwood, always wanted to remain prepared for a possible return. She spent years recovering, and getting accustomed to living in Crystal Lake as a disabled young lady. 

It was actually nice. Aside from what she knew from reports had happened to her, and the pain of trying to recover her body while her mind was still not returned, the place was actually beautiful and the people were nice enough. There were even support groups for survivors, though she unfortunately was way younger than the last remaining ones and the ones that were still around always watched her with bated breath, like she was a sign that he wasn’t gone, like they had dared to hope. She was a sign that he could still return. 

To some of the others, she had been one of the ones who “brought him back.”

She got visits from her family. She fortunately remembered them, though she couldn’t remember anything surrounding the events that happened in 2003 yet. She was surprised to see Will show up with Lori. They had all been warned that she didn’t remember the events, so she didn’t know about that. She was even more surprised to see Linderman. “Now wait..." she had said, with a chuckle, “How do we know each other?” 

She knew of the kid. He was a nerd. They weren’t friends. He wanted to bone Lori. That was all that she knew about him. Now, he was visiting, with her best friend and her family? He gave her a sad smile squatted to be eye to eye with her, “You saved my life,” he said, and touched her hand. She felt something shoot through her body. An electricity. It was like... waking up out of a coma, but she was already awake. She had flashes, images of him, bleeding out, dying, and then images of herself, face to face with... it was blank. She was face to face with someone... but when she turned around, Jason was there and she felt the impact of his blade in that moment and she screamed.

“Jesus, Linderman, what did you do?” Lori asked. The man fell backwards and scrambled to his feet as they tried to calm her down. She was frantically panicking about Jason. Jason was going to kill her friends. Oh no, Linderman. She was supposed to come back for him! 

That was the only time she had seen him in person since she woke up, and she spent another couple of years trying to reconcile with her returned memories. It was just... a lot. But, social media had made big moves. It wasn’t like that when she was in high school. Now, there were many options and several functions of them. She received friend requests and follow requests from people from Springwood. Charlie Linderman had been one of them. 

She waited a long time to accept. She wasn’t sure how to feel about him or about speaking to him. Would it cause her to have another episode? Would it make her guilty or sad? She lived her life a little bit longer. The 10 year anniversary rolled around and she declined going. She hadn’t even graduated from Springwood, and whenever she worked towards her GED, she found that the survivors didn’t have to graduate. They would merely be given their diplomas. She didn’t want the handout, but knew it was at her parents’ house if she ever needed it. 

They didn’t want her to come back into town. They were worried it would be too overwhelming. Lori wanted her to at least visit, and thought the reunion could be a perfect time to do so. But, she wasn’t with it, and Lori respected that. “Let me know when they make a Real Housewives of Springwood and maybe I’ll come through,” she joked. 

Linderman sent her a message. Despite not being one of her friends, she knew that their history was something that linked them forever. “Hey. Are you coming to the reunion?” He’d asked. 

“No.” There was truly no need for her to go into detail, not with him. 

“We’ll miss you... Sorry if I’m being pushy. I’ll leave you alone.”  

She stared at the message for a while before going to find the very old request and finally accepting it. It was the only one that she let sit there. Others that she didn’t want to accept, she deleted. But, it had been even longer since she saw Linderman than it had been between the last time she’d seen him when she had her meltdown. She felt like opening the doorway was in order. 

“Thank you for accepting that.” he messaged. She replied with one of those emoticon things, but she put the smiling blushing one instead of the smiling one. Oh well. A smile is a smile... 

But, Linderman stared at the response everyday, wondering if she meant to send it, but being too nervous to bring it up. She’d just accepted a friendship that he extended years ago. She might not even consider him someone worth having any dealings outside of the computer. But. He had thought about her every day for all of these years.

Did she remember the soft, sweet parts? Or only seeing him presumably die and then being killed before waking up a stranger to her own body? Did she remember dancing with him in the cornfield? Did she remember the way that she was able to make him smile, a miracle, all things considered with how they started their night out? Had her insides tingled when she pressed her body against his, like his had? They didn’t get a chance to get that far into things. There was never enough time with what was happening then.

Sitting in the van, smoking pot and trying to explain what they had just seen when they first saw Jason - still to this day Charlie’s number one fear. He had nightmares about him. About seeing HIM butcher his classmates. About seeing him swat Kia. About taking a stand against a monster, to protect a princess, and falling by his hand. 

But, that was where his dreams detoured from the real life nightmare. In his dreams, they were okay. In his dreams, it really was just a scratch and he didn’t watch her walk away while he bled to death. Well.. he didn’t bleed to death here either. Fortunately, he had been found by patrol. They were able to get him to a facility. They were surprised to see that there was literally a seemingly supernatural fight happening, but scoured the woods for others. They found Kia, too. She was in much worse shape, though Charlie wouldn’t learn that for days. 

When he woke up in the facility, they already were filling him in on disclaimers, NDAs, classified incidents, etc. They were trying to get him to agree to all sorts of things before even being allowed to contact his parents, but he was soon reminded of something far more important. “Where’s Kia?” He asked. They looked confused. “Black girl, beautiful, built like a goddess... red.. red streaks in her hair?” Now, they knew and he didn’t like the expressions they wore. They didn’t have good news. he didn’t want to hear their news. “I want to see her.” If she was dead, he had to see her face, to touch her hand, to verify, for himself, with his own eyes that she was gone.

He was too weak. They rolled him to another room, on a stretcher and let him view her through the window. He tried to get up, but couldn’t. They assisted him into a wheelchair and pushed him into the room. “She’s alive,” he said, and let tears of relief fall as he reached for her hand.

“Barely. She didn’t lose as much blood as you did, but she suffered far more damage from blunt force trauma...” Her back was shattered. Organs were in distress, head trauma, lacerations...

“She’s gonna make it. She’s the strongest person I’ve ever met,” he said and squeezed her hand. He thought he felt her squeeze his back, but over the years convinced himself it was likely wishful thinking.

And then he just... yearned for her every day. He saw her each day he was in the facility, recovering. After he had signed all of the paperwork and been released, he visited her in the coma for a year before his parents finally convinced him to try to move on with his life and go to college. 

He always sent cards and flowers for special events, hoping that someday she would know, hoping that even in her state, she might be aware. He was the second person that her parents called, after Lori, whenever she woke up. At the time, he was beginning to work on his master’s degree, and they did warn that she had amnesia. It didn’t seem helpful for him to rush to Crystal Lake to see her. Besides, he was at the University of Pennsylvania. Jersey was only a couple of hours away if he ever had an inkling...

He often had an inkling. He would drive to Crystal Lake during his free time, then chicken out of actually going to see her. It wasn’t until Lori told him that she and Will were making their way with the Watersons to visit that he mustered up the courage to actually see her. Aaaaaaaaannnd... That did not go very well. He didn’t want to scar her. 

It also put some things into perspective. He had been dreaming about the Kia that he remembered. He had been dreaming about her kissing him before potentially never seeing him again. He had been dreaming about a girl he was willing to die for, a girl who cried for him and helped him move out of danger’s way. A girl who placed him safely, to be rescued, and went back to battle monsters. This woman in front of him was a different person, and she didn’t know him. 

He thought about letting go. Obviously, he was no good for her. He needed to focus on school and focus on moving on. She most likely would. And, for the most part, Charlie Linderman did move on. He dated, a little bit. It never became serious enough to get fully emersed in. In fact, a lot of things holding him back from truly bonding, that he thought were because of the trauma of being hunted and nearly killed by a masked murderer, he eventually wondered if they weren’t because he still wanted the girl that he fell for while being chased through a corn field. 

The girl who pulled him away from his crush to dance and didn’t say something awful to get back at him for standing up to her earlier in the night. A girl who... he saw a little differently, now that she was smiling at him and not tearing him down. Who... underneath all that makeup was somebody willing to die for her friends.

“How the fuck do you get over somebody like that?” He’d asked Lori, on the phone. 

“I don’t know. I never got over Will.”

“That was different. He was actually your boyfriend. The two of you were in love. Am I trauma bonded to her? If so, why am I over you? Why am I not this connected to Will? We were all there...”

“I think you can be trauma bonded to somebody and in love with them and I think... Kia was always somebody to love. That’s why she was my best friend and why it hurt me to see her fall. She’s this way because she distracted him to let me and Will get away. It takes a special type of person to do something like that.. and you’re smart. You know that she’s special.”

“She doesn’t want me. If I’m so smart, why don’t I let go?”

“I didn’t want you either,” Lori reminded him.

“That was different.”

“Yeah, but maybe that’s just how you are. Maybe you like people who are unavailable...”

“I liked her before she was unavailable!” 

“Linderman... That was years ago. We were kids. Today, maybe you need a therapist. I found a very good one through the Crystal Lake and Springwood accords that the... situation brought about.”

“Yeah. Yeah, I’ll.. look into that.”

.

They were casual online, sometimes flirting in comments, usually being cordial in passing. She loved most of his posts about his accomplishments. Most of her posts were her trying new looks and really gaining interest as a “disabled model,” although she was not getting paid, so she could hardly consider herself a model. He loved all of her posts. Every one of them. Even those as simple as, “Found a new shoe brand I love.” 

They didn’t message each other a lot, as she realized when she once again got the message “Hey. Are you coming to the reunion?” and realized that she had the same one 10 years before and the interactions had been minimal between that one and this one. 

Last time her answer was no. This time, “Maybe.”

He sent her back the blushing smile emoji and her heart spiked. She knew then that the answer was yes, but she didn’t want to say, just in case. It was a little bit of a journey to get from New Jersey to Ohio, and sometimes, she just didn’t have the energy after a trip to do anything for a couple of days. Maybe if she planned ahead and went to her parents some days before the event, she could make it there with a good mood and rested. 

.

By the time that she made it there, she felt more nervous than anything else. Time had passed and feelings that she thought were gone had resurfaced, fears that she had repressed had been recovered, and insecurities that she thought were dead and gone had been dug up. 

Lori and Will would be there in a little bit. Apparently, there was some type of issue with the babysitter cancelling and them trying to find one at the last minute, only for Kia to suggest that they, “Bring them babies to my mama to get loved on.” They were not babies. They were full grown kids, but Kia’s family was from the South, and she still had an accent lingering, despite having been in Ohio since she was 10 and Jersey since she was 18. 

Her mother agreed to keep the kids, always happy to see Lori’s considering that not only did Kia not have any, but didn’t seem the least bit interested in ever doing so. Kia never wanted kids. There was something that never sat right with her about her body belonging to some other person for months, being repurposed and out of control, to bring forth life in a most painful way and possibly lose her perfectly formed body? She didn’t like it before the attack. Now, she sort of didn’t hate the idea, but she also hadn’t made much time for the possibility.

Something about rediscovering the knowledge of Freddy made kids seem like a horror show for her. Plus, she had Lori’s kids to love on and they considered her their Glamorous Aunt. 

So, she rolled into the building alone and realized that she didn’t even remember most of the people on her friends list that might be here tonight. But. If ever there was someone that she did remember, it was him. He was looking at her from the moment she arrived, contemplating whether he would approach her or give her space. She seemed to be rolling his way, so he met her, trying to hide his excitement, though hers seemed to grow the closer that she came to him. “You made it!” He cheered. 

She smiled, “I told your ass that I was coming back for you...” 

A feeling that she couldn’t read washed over him and crouched to be closer to her face, “You came back here for me?” But she only responded by reaching for his shirt and pulling his face closer so that she could kiss him properly this time. Without the potential of death, or the self consciousness of people knowing, or the anxiety of uncertainty. Nobody knew what the next chapter would be, but one thing that both of them were sure of this time - nobody would be left behind.

[misspjsuperior]

My contributions to The Bear debacle which along with a new sketchbook entry and a few homemade memes includes some personal experience:

Now most of these fellas out there upset about women hypothetically choosing The Bear are obviously city slickers because I have been seeing time and again the argument to the effect of “well you say that because you’ve never even been around a bear which WILL |< ILL you every time!” Well, y’all, I’m from the Smoky Mountain foothills of East Tennessee, where black bears roam wild. I grew up in Bean Station, to be specific, so you can confirm my rural roots status. I’ve been around the bears, wild ones, multiple times. Once by myself at home, a big black bear was digging through the fire pit in mom’s front yard and it ran off as soon as I opened the door. Growing up and exploring the area where we lived, my cousin and I saw bear tracks around those parts. They were there. And at around pubescence I started sneaking out at night just to roam the woods at night, no flashlight, but with my dog Shadow, where we were among only the wild creatures of the Southern Appalachian wilderness, including bears and also mountain lions whose tracks we had also seen, whose intense cries we’d heard ring across the waters there. I did this frequently. And never was I bothered by these animal predators. But I did experience severe SA from old men as a child, long before my dark woods wandering, right under the roofs of both my parents’ houses. Of course I’d choose the bear. I already have in the utmost literal sense. We are safer with the bears. I’m living proof.

[justiceforsurvivors94]

Masudi na Yusufu, Abayisilamu Ntazibagirwa

Uyu munsi abayisilamu bizihiza umunsi mukuru wa Eid al-Fitr natekereje ku basilamu babiri bangiriye neza mu bihe bikomeye, hashize imyaka 30. Byari  ibihe bigoye cyane, nyuma y’ibyumweru bike jenoside yakorewe abatutsi irangiye. Nta mwenda, nta nkweto, nta babyeyi, nta n’aho kuba hafatika. Inzu nakuriyemo abakoze jenoside bari barayisenye n’ inka z’iwacu baraziriye. Twari tutarashobora no…

[hopeafterharm]

[haveacupofjohanny]

The Journey of an Independent Daughter: A Story of Survival and Growth

Read my latest piece, 'The Journey of an Independent Daughter: A Story of Survival and Growth,' I peel back the layers of what we often mistake for independence, revealing the hidden survival mechanism.

Mi Hija Es Muy Independiente: My Daughter is so Independent A story goes around my family often when someone talks about my childhood. They would say, “You were so quiet, so self-sufficient that your mom would have to go find you sometimes.” When hearing this story, I would equate that to my aggressive sense of independence and how mature I was from a young age. But then, when I started talking…

[im4uworld]

Chronic Pain. A Silent Stalker. Descent.

Decades of chronic pain, disability, and hope. One man's journey through meds, work, and survival. A tale of resilience and companionship! 💪🌟 #ChronicPain #Resilience #SurvivorStory

im4uworld. We give you tools to change the world. Subscribe for free.

[spoonful116]

Calling on Tumblr writers,

Is anyone familiar with the process of finding a literary agent? I've written a memoir of my experience of brain tumor removal, neurological injuries, being in a coma, and being in hospitals and healthcare facilities for 499 days afterward.

Link to my story

[thrivingwhilemultiple]

Poetic Space Cadet

An existence steeped in dissociation from a young age can yield some powerfully surreal results. But metaphor wasn't always a salvation…

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[kingsbridgelibraryteens]

Middle School Monday: Four Eyes by Rex Ogle & Dave Valeza 

Rex is having lots of problems adjusting to the 6th grade. He’s short, he’s the target of bullies, his closest friendship is falling apart, and he’s having trouble keeping up in class. His home life isn’t much better, and it doesn’t help that he’s also dealing with family problems and financial insecurity. 

When the answer to one of his problems is discovered (he’s having trouble keeping up in class because his vision is blurry), the solution should be simple, right? WRONG. His mom and stepdad can only afford the cheapest (and ugliest) pair of glasses in the store. If they want to buy glasses that will fix his vision and ALSO look cool, they’ll have to ask his father to pay for them … but that will make the tension between his parents even worse than it was before. 

Give this autobiographical graphic novel to older kids and younger teens who love realistic fiction, school stories, and survivor stories!

[wellhealthhub]

How long can you have breast cancer without knowing?

Curious about the timeline of undetected breast cancer? Dive into the intricacies of silent breast cancer development, its potential duration, and the crucial significance of early identification. Breast cancer stands as a prominent health concern, demanding timely recognition for effective treatment. Yet, the question remains: how long can breast cancer remain concealed, evading discovery? This…

[colfy-wolfy]

If I wrote a fic about the aftermath of Surv and Monk's family losing two pups at the same moment, would you guys read it?

it'll be filled with a bunch of my headcanons about them and I promise I'll make it interesting story-wise.

happy ending? depends on how generous i am. it'll probably only be a few chaps long. simply for fun!!

[chadfallout76podcast]

FALLOUT 4:

"DEATH SHROUD" SERIES UPDATE!

Check out the AMAZING artwork tumblr artist @rad-roche did for our second installment in the Death Shroud! series. This story is titled, "The Cat's Paw", and will see an even BIGGER cast of voice actors returning to reprise their roles this May to benefit Wes Johnson's VoiceAPalooza charity drive for the Alzheimer's Association.

Please note that the voice cast list may change as more people confirm, so this is likely NOT the final art.

[hopeafterharm]

Day 4 Sucking the life energy out of me...

Nearly two years have passed since the call that upended my world. The district attorney's office, on the heels of issuing search warrants, reached out to me. "We've known about you for a while," they casually mentioned, leaving me to wonder about the extent and duration of their investigation. The details, however, remain shrouded in secrecy to preserve the case's integrity, inadvertently entangling me in a time-consuming ordeal that feels like daylight robbery of my life's hours.

The wheels of justice are turning at a painstakingly slow pace, and it's becoming increasingly likely that my abuser will escape with a mere slap on the wrist. This protracted process could drag on for another year, or even longer, before the criminal case is resolved. The exhaustion is palpable; every morning, I wake up to mourn the loss of the days of past and the days ahead, days held hostage until a resolution is reached.

Driven by the lackluster response from the justice system, which seems to fall short on delivering due accountability, I've initiated a civil lawsuit. Although this might offer a semblance of justice, it's another potentially lengthy battle, one that could span years. This isn't a certainty, merely the worst-case scenario, but the thought alone is daunting.

The roller coaster of emotions has been relentless since the day I was asked to step into the light. Shock was my initial companion, lingering for months, until the gravity of the situation truly sank in, about eight months in. That's when the full weight of it all started to compress my spirit, reshaping my life and the way I've been living it.

I have a history of surviving abuse and flourishing despite it, but this particular chapter has shattered any semblance of control I had over the compartmentalized trauma I'd been carrying. The floodgates opened, and I found myself plummeting, scrutinizing every harrowing facet of my upbringing. I've been peeling back the layers of my vulnerability, recognizing how I was manipulated and mistreated not just by one, but by many. The realization that I wasn't as savvy or empowered as I believed has been sobering; it was just a facade concealing the deeply scarred child within who never knew their worth and let themselves be preyed upon.

I'm weary from the endless vigilance, the constant battle, which dims my inner light, the relentless need to remain guarded. It's a relentless siege that's dimming a once-vibrant light within me. Yet, I hold onto the hope that the light will blaze again one day. But the anger and sadness simmers at the thought of how long that rejuvenation might take. I long for the days when happiness and zest for life were my constants, when inner peace was my steadfast companion. I'm tired of the decades-long war. I yearn for the simple pleasure of enjoying life without the shadows of past battles.

To anyone else out there feeling the weight of similar battles, know that you're not alone. There's strength in our shared struggles, and there's hope in our collective resilience. If you're seeking support, organizations such as RAINN can be a starting point for finding help and understanding.

[axolotlclown]

We need to remember that Shubble stated that Wilbur would manipulate and gaslight friends and family. With this, we must be patient with streamers that were close to Wilbur. This was likely surprising and shocking for them. They may need time to come to terms with what has happened.

I have been vocal about how important it is for men to be critical about abusive behaviors. However, Wilbur had many close friends—some would even consider him family—and now they may feel they hardly knew him at all.

There is a deep stress felt by viewers. It is difficult to think we have given any amount of time or money to an abuser. Could you imagine a close friend right now? The pain and betrayal must sear. They need time to understand what has happened and come to terms with it. Many of them may not be live in the coming days (weeks even).

That being said, as time passes, criticism may be necessary. Complacency is not an option. Men that are willing to ignore abuse to protect an abuser are just as pathetic as the abusers themselves.

Let's give this situation time to breathe. I ask that we give patience and courtesy to those close to Wilbur at this time. But please do not forget that this happened. There may be a few streamers hoping to lay low and then drop a collab in a few months. Do not let them. This is too important.