#trauma is real with this one

[hanakihan]

in addition to Edmond Dantes and his Count version we really need heavily traumatized Dantes who legit crawled out of Fear and Hunger dungeons and not Château d’If

‘Who the fuck are you?’

‘I’m you but I saw shit beyond human’s comprehension’

Like idek it would’ve been amazing to have dantes and count and then there’s legitimately traumatized and gone beyond humanity dantes who lived and survived through horrors of fear and hunger dungeons and isn’t loud or edgelord and just a really eerily quiet and barely moving just staring at people with eyes full of trauma and unimaginable horrors

[chloesimaginationthings]

Yall ever think about how Nightmare bb is canon in FNAF

[squeezebox0]

After:

Before:

It's been a while since I posted anything but I couldn't let THAT DRAWING go by any longer and not do anything about it. Honestly, I'm surprised at how confident I was when I posted it, so I redrew it.

[blueskittlesart]

in the nicest and most non-confrontational way possible. i feel like some of you think that anything that isn't directly openly spelled out for you within a story is "missed potential" or "unexplored." like. sometimes there are implied narratives. sometimes the point is that you as the reader are supposed to think and draw your own conclusions and participate in the story. the writers not directly spelling every little detail out for you doesn't mean that the story is poorly written or missed its own plot details somehow. PLEASE.

[untitledgoosegay]

re last reblog I do see fanfic culture pushing/replicating a certain model of "what trauma looks like," "how trauma works"

this is a problem across all areas of society obviously, but transformative works are, well, transformative. they're about crafting and modifying narratives where the fan-creator sees a flaw or a lack -- often for the better! don't get me wrong, I've done my fair share of "I take a hammer and I fix the canon," it's the main thing that gets my creative gears spinning -- but what happens when that "flaw" is simply a narrative not conforming to popular expectations?

some people just don't get PTSD from events that sound obviously traumatic. they're not masking, and they're not coping; they just straight-up didn't get the permanently-locked stress-response that defines PTSD. they walk away from a horrible experience going "well, that sucked, but it's over now." some people do get PTSD from events most people wouldn't find traumatic. we don't really know why some people get PTSD and others don't. but fandom has an idea of events that must be traumatizing, of a "correct" way to portray trauma. you see the problems with this lack of understanding in e.g. fans pressuring the devs of Baldur's Gate 3 to add dialogue where the player character badgers Halsin about his own feelings on his abuse -- because he must be traumatized, and his trauma must fit a certain mold and presentation of sexual trauma, under the mistaken impression that anything outside that narrow window is somehow "wrong" and disrespectful or even harmful to survivors.

take, for another example, the very common trope of a traumatized character who hates touch or sex "learning" to like touch or sex as a part of their healing process. certainly that can be healing for some people; other people will never like, or want, touch or sex, because of trauma or because they just don't. the assumption that someone who doesn't want sex or doesn't like to be touched must be traumatized, must be suffering from this perceived lack, is seriously harmful -- to asexual people, to people with sensory issues around touch, and to people for whom healing from trauma means freedom to refuse sex or touch.

and there's a secondary trope, one that's slightly more thoughtful but ultimately repeats the problem -- that once someone has learned that their boundaries will be respected, they'll feel it's safe to soften those boundaries. once they feel safe refusing touch or sex, they'll feel comfortable allowing it on their own terms. but many people don't, and many people won't! many people will simply never want to be touched, and never want sex, and they are not suffering or broken or lacking because of it. the idea that proving you'll respect someone's boundaries entitles you to test those boundaries -- the paradox is obvious, and yet this is something i've seen hurt (re-traumatize) people i care for.

people are imperfect victims. people don't heal in the ways you expect. many people have positive memories of their abuse, of their abusers. many people hurt others in the course of their trauma, in ways that can't easily be unpacked in a 5k oneshot. very few narratives of trauma and recovery actually fit the ones put forward by popular children's media and romance novels -- which are the ones I most see replicated in fandom spaces, because they provide the clearest narrative and easiest catharsis, and so they're easy and soothing to reach for.

that's not necessarily a bad thing! i am not immune to goopy romance tropes. i am not immune to teary catharsis. not every fic has to grapple with ugly realities. but there's a problem when these narratives become predominant, when people think they're accurate and realistic depictions of trauma, when the truth of trauma is unpleasant and uncomfortable, and doesn't fit any single narrative, let alone one of comforting catharsis

[dismas-n-dismay]

I'm not fucking joking when I tell you I saw this panel and literally started sobbing and crying over seeing my babygirl buying chocolate with just fucking quarters. This is the people's jason todd for real, thank you Juni Ba

[secretly-a-catamount]

tim drake would rather die than kill innocent people and tim drake killed hundreds of supervillain henchpeople with long-range detonation explosives that one time are two separate headcanons that, contrary to what the fandom discourse would have you believe, can actually coexist at the same time.

there’s even a psychologist term for it.

it’s called compartmentalization!

[wombywoo]

ID 🪪

[ghostboidanny]

Danny's first morning in the Wayne manor after adoption

Alfred: So, Master Danny, what would you like to eat for breakfast? We have toast.

Danny: *war flashbacks*

Danny, going full eldritch abomination: I̴f̷ ̶I̵'̷m̷ ̴f̴o̵r̵c̷e̸d̵ ̷t̴o̵ ̷e̸a̴t̷ ̵t̶o̸a̸s̴t̸ ̴O̵n̷e̷ ̵m̵o̸r̸e̵ ̶t̷i̵m̴e̴ ̷I̸'̸m̴ ̴g̷o̴i̵n̸g̵ ̵t̶o̵ ̶u̸s̷e̶ ̵m̶y̷ ̸p̴o̷s̶i̴t̴i̴o̷n̴ ̸a̴s̶ ̴G̶h̸o̸s̶t̸ ̴K̸i̷n̴g̵ ̷t̴o̸ ̷w̵a̷g̴e̷ ̶w̸a̷r̶ ̷o̷n̵ ̸E̷a̴r̴t̴h̴ ̸a̴n̸d̶ ̶d̵e̶s̶t̴r̷o̷y̴ ̴e̷v̶e̶r̴y̷ ̷t̵o̸a̷s̴t̸e̷r̷ ̷i̴n̷ ̴e̴x̵i̷s̵t̷e̶n̴c̷e̴ ̸

Batfam: ...

Alfred: ... We also have cereal

Danny, back to normal: Ohhh, you got any fruit loops?

[daughter-of-lethe]

🎨: castleinthesky

It feels so real, this Nessian piece is my absolute favourite...

I love to picture them like this, their happy ending 🧡

[turtleblogatlast]

[ cw: nightmares / trauma / ]

Post-invasion, Mikey sneaks into Leo’s room and when asked by Leo what the problem was, Mikey just smiles and says since he’s awake and knew Leo would be too, he didn’t want either of them alone. Leo laughs and lets Mikey stick around, both of them clumped together on Leo’s bed, watching grainy compilations of old Lou Jitsu commercials on Leo’s phone.

Technically, Mikey didn’t lie. He just didn’t explain everything that led him to Leo’s room. He didn’t explain the nightmare of his arms burning up too bright, too fast, destroyed before Raph and Donnie have a chance to help. He didn’t explain how he woke up with a wail caught in his throat, phantom pain in his arms and chest alike chasing away any semblance of exhaustion. He didn’t explain how his mind made sure he knew, vividly, that if one thing went wrong with his portal, then he would have never seen Leo again.

He didn’t explain, and he didn’t have to. Leo knows his brothers better than he knows himself, and Mikey has always been easy to read. So it’s no trouble to let Mikey know that he’s still with them, that Leo is here and alive with everyone else. And when Mikey finally regains his exhaustion and falls asleep leaning against Leo, Leo simply maneuvers him into a more comfortable position and stays by his side.

He doesn’t move, doesn’t go to sleep - not that he could, anyway. He just mindlessly scrolls on his phone, the soft snores of his little brother filling the room. He stays in place, awake, because he wants to be sure that when Mikey wakes up again it’s to the immediate sight that Leo is alive and well and home.

And, if Leo’s bring honest, that’s a reminder not just for Mikey’s sake.

[mekk-u]

there's nothing to forgive

[cloysterbell]

Pete, I need you to stay here.

[ssaraexposs]

Kamaboko Squad in the Infinity castle

[attractive-nuisance-esq]

love how Jonathan dead said “if Mina doesn’t survive me I want all of my worldly possessions to go to these other four dudes in my vampire-hunting boy band whom I met a week ago.”

that, my friends, is shared trauma at its finest.

[erial-c]

the pure fear i felt at seeing this oh my god . the quietest jumpscare ever