#tw: discussions of symptoms of a mental illness.

[mad-hunts]

barton being awkward at first or even completely throughout a whole interaction whenever he's trying to comfort people is so in character for him TBH and let me tell y'all why because i think it's important to his character:

he can fake a lot of things. barton can fake being nice to people, he can fake being innocent, and he can even fake having a much stronger sense of morality around people if he wants to — but whenever it comes to empathizing with someone on an emotional level... barton finds himself often struggling with faking it because of the nature of it. and this is due to it being different than whenever he's trying to feign something easily comprehensible like innocence. but empathy is something that's usually viewed as innate in us as humans and has to do with love, which doesn't depend on logic. it's something that comes from within, so it doesn't have clear parameters as to how you should do it, so whenever barton tries to fake it in the event that he's trying to make someone feel better; he'll stumble. and so although barton can cognitively empathize with someone, his efforts to actually put himself in other people's shoes fall flat, as he just can't physically imagine himself being in someone else's position probably more than half the time.

so if your muse were to ever come to him seeming upset, barton would likely not know what to do / how to comfort them, at least for a bit before referencing back on how he's seen other people do it. because i hate to say it (i don't, in reality, but y'all know what i mean LOL) but barton does actively mimic behaviors that he sees people do whenever he feels the absence of a certain emotion. he especially does this whenever he's trying to appear charming to other people, but like i said, he'll also try to use what he's seen his peers do as a guide as for what he should do in regards to empathy. and sometimes he may even seem a bit flustered before he's able to do this because he knows that it is expected of him to be able to empathize with people and can identify it in other people BUT knowing how to approach faking it has always been sort of hard for him even as an adult.

but yeahhh, that's just my own two cents about how barton sometimes break character that he is quote unquote ' normal, ' though he does try to mask this around people who aren't really familiar with him as simply being social awkwardness. however, it is part of a larger thing with him as despite the fact that he can blend in with the population REALLY well and also is pretty good at manipulating others, i suppose you could say that barton is still not an expert at ' constructing empathy ' because whenever someone is visibly hurt in front of him... he is more liable to act like he isn't sure what to do, than to put on an act immediately since he is likely to feel nothing first before anything else. and i realize that that is a rather unsettling thought, but i think that he is a lot more suspectible to doing this with people he doesn't know well / who he isn't particularly close to, as he's got a lot more practice with being falsely empathetic towards friends and/or sometimes even family members.

[still-ssstar]

Kaiser, narcissistic wound and NPD

Tw: narcissistic personality disorder is mentioned, there is a lot of discussion on the topic of diagnosis. English is not my native language.

!Please take everything described below as my personal reasoning! If you need background information for yourself, then contact a specialist.

Note: This is a small addition to my post, where I discussed exactly what kind of psychological problems Kaiser might have.

In the original post, I mentioned that I consider a narcissistic wound to be more appropriate for Kaiser's background and current character, but did not explain what the difference is between narcissistic wound and narcissistic personality disorder*. So let's fix it. (*Next, I will use the abbreviation NPD.)

In fact, when it comes to psychiatry, everything becomes very complicated, because the correct diagnosis requires a lot of information, especially about the internal processes taking place in the human psyche. And as such, there is no difference in the internal dynamics between NPD and narcissistic wound, BUT.

1. NPD is a personality disorder, whereas narcissistic wound is a trauma of the psyche. The main difference is that NPD is not treatable, that is, a person with NPD can only learn to live with his disorder, but not get rid of it completely. Whereas narcissistic wound can be treated with therapy. (That's why I try to be very careful about the diagnosis of any mental illness, because it's really complex and without experience working directly with people, it can be very difficult to understand all the subtleties of the inner workings of the disease. Not to mention the fact that some mental illnesses are so similar in symptoms and external manifestations that they can be confused even with long experience. In addition, the diagnosis is often not limited to just one disease and it is very easy to get confused in this tangle. As far as I know, this is one of the reasons why there is no clear division into personality disorders in ICD-11* anymore, since they often mix. But this is a very complicated topic, so let's skip the details. In general: it is good to analyze and take information into account, and it is not good to hang labels using psychiatry as an excuse.)

*ICD-11 - International Classification of Diseases.

2. Narcissistic wound , in fact, is a transitional state between the "norm" and pathology, which is NPD. Despite the fact that narcissistic wound has the same internal mechanics as NPD (tossing between self-praise and self-flagellation; in the relationship between "I love you" and "I hate you"), narcissistic wound at the same time leaves a person with at least a relatively healthy psyche. What I'm talking about: having an NPD, a person is hardly aware of what he is doing. Personality disorders are therefore called personality disorders, personality disorder affects a person to such an extent that he does not realize his problem without outside intervention. His psyche is simply not capable of this, as it does not function normally and cannot function normally. Any personality disorder is very serious.

On the other hand, a narcissistic wound still leaves a person at least a little room for reflection, if his intellect allows it. It is easier for people with such a trauma to control themselves than for people with NPD, because their trauma does not hit their psyche so hard and fatally. In Kaiser's case, this is noticeable, because even without proper therapeutic help, he can relatively control himself, only sometimes breaking down to the state of "I'm a complete nothing." NPD makes self-esteem much more unstable, painfully unstable in the sense that almost anything can affect self-esteem in such a situation, no matter how insignificant it may be. Kaiser's self-esteem, while not being healthy, still has some stability and fluctuates only when he encounters something really more serious (a loss against Isagi). Plus, Kaiser is able to eventually accept other people's abilities (Noa, Isagi, Rin), which indicates that everything is not as bad as it could be and he is not alien to critical analysis and at least partially objective perception of reality and himself. (If a person has NPD, this is possible only after therapy and with a very high level of awareness.)

3. I did not find accurate information about this, but based on my knowledge, I can assume that if Kaiser had an NPD, he would hardly be able to "leave" Ness. Despite the fact that narcissists are not interested in the feelings of other people, they cannot give up love and attention so easily (after all, a black hole needs to be fed). A low-functioning narcissist can even commit a crime if the flow of incoming attention is cut off, but Kaiser does not seem to be so paranoid about this, which indicates the absence of pathology in the psyche.

A little off topic: Any personality disorder is very serious and people with such a disease can inflict injuries on others completely unconsciously, because this is how their psyche functions. But I insist that we should not demonize people with mental illness. They all need professional help and a lack of stigma around mental illness. This also doesn't mean that you need to tolerate bad treatment from these people. Anyone who hurts you has no right to do so, so in such situations it is important to understand that the problem is not with you and it is better to stop communicating if possible if it traumatizes you. Not everyone can be saved and you don't have to do it at the cost of your own health, it's not your area of responsibility. It is possible to be in a relationship with people who have any kind of mental illness, but it requires effort from both sides and an understanding that such relationships have their own specifics. You will save a lot of nerve cells if you don't try to reshape another person or yourself.

P. S. Thank you for the kind words under the post with Kaiser's analysis. I'm glad that this post found those who were interested in this information. Take care of yourself and your health, and do not encroach on someone else's. Best regards, your Shine.

[insoukokuhell-434]

Chuuya Takes Care of Dazai Fics

Includes:

Emotional Hurt/Comfort (long term & immediate)

Physical Hurt/Comfort

The format I’m using is:

Title - writer (ao3 link) Fic length Time period (teen/mafia skk, 22! Skk, all ages) Additional tags (Tags in bold added by me for extra info) TW

Some fics have parts of the summary/ comments added for additional info

Emotional Hurt/Comfort

Long Term (multiple instances)

hey look, the sky's falling apart - saffroncassis    

24.8k TEEN SKK (16/17) AU - Canon Divergence Protective Nakahara Chuuya, Angst, Fluff, Humor, Developing Relationship Found Family (the Akutagawa siblings, Oda's kids, Kyouka, Oda, Ango) TW- Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse and discussions of both these, also cw food for the whole fic

Summary - "At age 16, Chuuya defects from the Port Mafia and drags his partner with him not so much kicking and screaming as silently begrudging, and the rest follow suit in time."

Mostly Chuuya helping Dazai, but Dazai supports him too <33

[Really realistic depiction of the relationship between a depressed person and their supportive partner!]

For the Record - zombiemarker

19.1k TEEN SKK  AU- Spies & Secret Agents + Physical Hurt/Comfort Nightmares, Childhood Trauma, they get all dressed up and go to a gala, Implied Sexual Content, Fluff & Angst, Literal sleeping together, Getting together, First kiss, Developing Relationship TW - Blood and Violence, Childhood Trauma

From tags: "Chuuya's a government experiment, Dazai's been with Mori for years, they've both got trauma now"

Mostly Chuuya helping Dazai, but Dazai supports him too <33

A mouth to empty into - series by osamuchuu

Not listing all 4 fics cause this post is already so long, but they’re all amazing pls go read them!

The series depicts depression + CSA trauma so well!

This is my favourite -

Love is not a victory march - osamuchuu

8.7k 22 SKK Soukoku taking care of each other, Angst, Fluff and Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Mental Illness, Depression, Drug Addiction, Blood and Injury, Healing, Recovery, Soukoku Tenderness, Light Angst TW -  Dazai-Typical Suicide References and Attempts, Addiction, Drug Use

believe me darling, the stars were made for falling -communist_sasuke

14.6k ALL AGES Worried Chuuya, Love Confessions, Dazai is a Mess, Angst, Self-Harm , Fluff & Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Canon timeline, First Kiss, TW - Dazai-Typical Suicide Mentions , Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Suicide Attempt

Trust Fall - insi 

3.5k ALL AGES (Dark Era, Post-Dark Era, 22 SKK) Emotional Constipation, Mental Health Issues, Dazai has issues TW - Implied/Referenced Suicide & Self-Harm, Suicidal ideation

From tags: Chuuya has met Dazai on the rooftop many times throughout knowing each other.

Immediate

Emotional H/C

Even the Darkness We're Watching Is So Beautiful - NastyaEx

4k 22 SKK (post-109) bsd 109, Fluff, Dazai Needs a Hug, Dazai is a Mess, exhausted dazai, dazai cries but only a little bit, Cuddling & Snuggling, Sharing a Bed, Soft skk, Dazai centered, yosano is a bit here and she's great

I'll Make A Home In Your Gut Because its Somewhere Warm to Sleep - arahabakii

8.9k 22 SKK Fluff, Angst, Mutual Pining, Feelings Realization, First Kiss, Making Out, Getting Together, Domestic Fluff, Touch-Starved Dazai, Dazai needs a hug, Chuuya needs a hug TW - Dazai-Typical Suicide References

stay- neon_toad

4.6k 22 SKK (pm!skk flashbacks) Suffering Dazai, Dazai Needs a Hug , Dazai is Bad at Feelings, Oblivious Dazai Fluff and Angst, Happy Ending, Hugs, birthday, Birthday Presents, soft skk TW - Dazai-Typical Suicide References

where are you? - doeinstinct

2.8k 22 SKK Depression, Disordered Eating, physical symptoms of depression, Mentions of past self harm, m because they shower together, canon adjacent, meal replacements, Love Confessions, They're In Love Your Honor

Run Away With Me - Anonymous

5.3k Dark Era Grief/Mourning, Dissociation, Suicidal Thoughts, Soft Soukoku, Dazai Needs a Hug , Dazai Has Feelings, Pining, Cuddling & Snuggling, Sharing a Bed, Chuuya Needs a Hug, Kissing, Dazai asks Chuuya to run away with him

stay the night - Shinkirou

3.6k 22 SKK Gen or Pre-Slash, Developing Relationship, Character Study, Sharing a Bed, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Dazai's depression

Physical Hurt/Comfort

Fool for loyalty, or some other word - osamuchuu

1.7k Dark Era Aftermath of Torture, Blood and Injury Light Angst, chuuya deals with so much tbh, what a champ, Fluff and Angst, Pre-Relationship, Established Relationship, chuuya being Dazai's nurse because he absolutely was Dazai's angry nurse

under wraps - Coffeebiscuits

5k Post-Dark era + Emotional hurt comfort Love confessions, deep talks, Light angst, Fluff and angst, kissing, crushes, sharing a bed, Suicide, Self-Harm, Tending to Wounds TW - Dazai-Typical Suicide Mentions, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm 

From tags: “basically chuuya has to patch dazai upand they talk about some things they need to discuss”

Chuuya also gets some emotional comfort

EXHAUSTION

So if you go too far I'll be there - Kimisu

2.5k 22 SKK - Pre-Fyodor | Cannibalism Arc  No Plot/Plotless, Literal Sleeping Together, Some Fluff, Canon Timeline

From Summary: Based on a HC that Dazai spends days before every major arc planning and arranging the pieces in order for everything to 'work'. He also pushes his body limits a bit too far when doing that sometimes.

SICK FIC

Nothing More Important Than You - StormDew2

3k MAFIA SKK (15) Sickfic, Soft soukoku, Vulnerability

Please like/reblog if this helped u find a fic, I'd be delighted to know asjsj <3

“Dazai takes care of Chuuya” recs here

Fic rec masterlist here

[sillystringpony]

Reflections on Rosemary:

experimenting with a psuedo-pop-art style (ben day dots yay!) for some angsty chalmskinn fanart, and a discussion about Rosemary Chalmers.

[TW: discussion of eating disorders]

I made this piece because I feel like I haven't really seen a lot of chalmskinn content that takes Shauna into account, which I guess makes sense since she isn't given all that many interactions with her dad. Anyway, I've always seen her delinquency as stemming from her mother's death: in my eyes, she's not a bad person, she's just a girl who misses her mother. I started wondering how that would play into the chalmskinn ship; I feel like she'd be fine with her dad's various flings and one-night-stands, but would recoil at any sign of her father moving on emotionally from Rosemary. I definitely want to explore how that might impact the dynamic between Seymour and Shauna a bit more in the future, especially since I've always been a huge fan of the new step-parent trying to connect with a hung up step-child trope (I really love Quibble Pants/Clear Sky because of this... if there are any bronies reading).

Her Father's Temper and Her Mother's Eyes, 2024.

no need to grip the pancake so hard girl it aint going anywhere

If I'm remembering correctly, Rosemary's character was first introduced in season 16 when the superintendent mentions his wife is very sick. There's then no real mention of her until season 23, in Bart Stops to Smell the Roosevelts, when she's pretty much confirmed dead, and Gary reflects on how he misses her (which was way more upsetting than it should be, fuck you, you funny yellow people). She's finally explicitly confirmed as dead in season 30.

Autism is as autism does, so I fixated in on these little tidbits and tried to fill in the gaps with my own headcanons. Around the time I was doing so, I was going through a really hard period with my own anorexia - I was experiencing a lot of potentially fatal symptoms and beneath the anorexic delusion, I was genuinely scared for myself. Because of that, I sort of subconsciously projected myself onto Rosemary; it's never explained how exactly she died, only that she was 'very sick'. Rather than take the more conventional route of headcanoning her as having fallen victim to a fundamentally physical illness, I decided to go the route of having her lose the struggle to anorexia nervosa.

At first, obviously, it was just a simple projection of my own issues and illness at the time. You know: I'm scared I'm going to die from this illness... I'm going to cope with these fears by exploring the lives of a person's loved ones after an eating-disorder-related death. It did kind of start to make sense to me, though: Gary Chalmers is a very traditionally masculine man, and I feel like the struggle of losing someone to a mental illness is something that would play with his character with more depth than simply losing her to physical illness. This, in part, came from seeing my own father (who admittedly reminds me of Gary) react so poorly to my own eating disorder: there is something very emotionally impactful about witnessing men who only have the capacity to understand mental illness as a non-physical, unmanifested ailment fight to understand why their loved one is fading away because of something that cannot be cured with surgery, or medicine, or physical therapy. Also, inpatient treatment isn't exactly cheap; so I feel like Chalmers' working an extra job to earn money for what was implied to be Rosemary's treatment checks out under my headcanon.

I haven't really thought much about the specific timeline of things, but a few months ago, I was writing a chalmskinn oneshot where the boys get drunk and wind up on Mount Springfield in the middle of the night (sadly unfinished): there's a moment where the two discuss the death of Rosemary that I think pretty much sums the details of my headcanon up:

“Doy,” sang Seymour: admittedly in slightly bad taste. "You know, you never said what it was. Oh- Hic… Let me guess. Was it, ya' know... The big C?” “No, no… Heart failure.” “What-? Wait, wait, wait… All those years ago, you said she was sick.” “She was sick, you… You… Stupid,” grumbled Gary. He collapsed backwards and next to Seymour with a resigned sigh. “She had anorexia.” “...Oh.” “Mmm… I- I paid for every single treatment I could, Seymour. Behavioural therapy, so, so many inpatient stays in the psychiatric ward, but no matter what she went through, she just kept getting worse. It was so scary- I, she- The woman I married was, she was disappearing right in front of me; a little more every day. I tried to get her to eat; I- I tried to stop her from throwing it up… God, it got physical, once: she was a small, small woman, but that day… She fought like a, a wild dog- Scraping, and kicking- Fuck, even biting, just to get herself free enough from me to vomit.” “Goodness. I- I had no idea.” “Pssht… Nobody did. She- she hid it so well, but behind closed doors,” Chalmers had to stop speaking for a moment. He swayed from side to side in silence; as if the rocking would stop the tears threatening to spill from his eyes. “She was dying… Sometimes I wish it was cancer. Well- No, not cancer, just- Something physical, something that could have been cured with treatment, or a pill, or surgery, or what-fucking-ever. But nooo, it had to be a disorder that me- Stupid fucking me- That I couldn’t understand. That I couldn’t help her with… Besides paying for her treatment.”

I'm currently just over two months into recovery for anorexia, and I'm doing so much better (not to be TMI, but I definitely will not miss the gastrointestinal bleeding and incontinence, haha). Anyway, I just wanted to half-dedicate a post to talking about Rosemary; I was really socially isolated when my symptoms were at my worst, and it was headcanons and projections like this that helped me feel a bit less alone, and at the end of the day, really got me through the struggle of fighting a disorder on my lonesome. I'd love to hear your guys' thoughts on this, or if you personally have any similar headcanons for other fictional characters.

[schizopositivity]

I've noticed that a lot of us who have schizophrenia, tend to focus on our illness in the present, or how it used to be in the past. And while that is completely valid and useful, I rarely see realistic, fact based discussions on how schizophrenia will affect us later in life. We aren't necessarily doomed, but we do have unique risks and difficulties that we should all be aware of. And know what we can do now to improve our chances at better incomes for our mental health in old age. This is a nice summed up article that answers common questions we may have about how schizophrenia may change as we age. I highly recommend people with schizophrenia read it as a jumping off point for further research if you are interested. [TW: death]

[chronicbeans]

Candle Cove Headcanons (2)

This set focuses more on the fictional "fandom" (read: the people who either remember watching the show or have heard about it from their parents who have) would react to what they assume to be the show's attempts at representation.

TW: Poor Representation of Mental Health and Chronic Health Conditions (particularly skin conditions), Mentions of Period Specific Stigmas/Discrimination and Abusive Behaviors

• The show has had people debating a lot of aspects about it, and the topic of representation, more particularly in the mental health department, is a big one. While doing so, many people like to mention how the show was created in the 70's, not necessarily to defend the poor representations of certain topics and groups of people, but instead to try to explain why it might be that way.

• One major topic is Pirate Percy, who is stuck in the odd limbo of "This Man Seems Like He Might Have Something Like Schizophrenia, But The Show Never States It, And It Could Technically Be Magic Bullcrap". However, people do tend to agree that, regardless of whether or not it is magic, his symptoms are very in line with the condition. So, he is still similar enough, where people still see him as being the show's "representation" of it.

The problem then begins where Percy is, unfortunately, a victim of the Schizophrenia to Violent Criminal Pipeline that the media likes to latch onto, mainly with the final episode where a paranoid Percy attacks Janice, and it is implied that he did so to his last crew. Many are not so surprised by this, because the 70's was not the best at representation or awareness of mental illness due to the stigma around it being much stronger back then, even if it is still around today. Others have pointed out that, if Percy was supposed to have a mental health condition and it wasn't magic, he is most likely in a very tricky spot as the world of Candle Cove seems to take much inspiration from the late 1700s to early 1800s. Back then, the main mental health treatments were to either deal with it on your own, asylums, or some sort of religious intervention. This was further proven by a few episodes where Horace would say that Percy should go to an asylum, seemingly implying that asylums are an existing thing in their time. So, not only was he a victim of the Schizophrenia to Violent Criminal Pipeline, he is also in the situation of "If the Creators Wanted to Show Accurate Treatment Within the Setting They put Themselves Into, it Would be Horrible. If They Wanted to Try to Show More Believable but Accepting Reactions and Treatment of it, Nobody In-Universe Would Actually Fit Because Nobody in that Era Understood It". Basically a damned if they do damned if they don't scenario they put themselves in because they wanted to make the show as accurate as they could.

Some of the younger fans who only know the show from listening to their parents describe it have made drawings and jokes about the scenario. They could range from a lighthearted "Get Well Soon, Percy!" card, to a more grim Percy in an asylum rambling to the doctors about the Laughingstock. There's even a joke theory that the entirety of Candle Cove was all in Percy's head, based on the numerous theories about Janice imagining the events of Candle Cove. In short, they shitpost about it all the time.

• Another, albeit more quiet topic of discussion is the mentions of chronic skin conditions in the show. Granted, with a character called The Skintaker in the show, some feel it was simply going to happen either way. The Skintaker has a very creepy, obsessive way of viewing skin in general, but his treatment of individuals with visible skin conditions, or conditions that impact the appearance of skin, like vitiligo or albinism, is extra creepy and obsessive. While some see it as the creators simply trying to make the villain seem very creepy, others see it as being way too uncomfortable. Especially because other characters in the show don't actually point out the fact that him targeting specific groups of people is a habit of his, or that it is a extremely unsettling obsession of his to go after these people specifically. They simply treat it like he's going after anyone and everyone with no acknowledgement of his fixation on people with visible medical differences in their skin.

Some others also point out that he's the only one to technically talk about skin conditions positively. While he does say some actually good words of encouragement in certain scenes, it is immediately flushed out by the fact that he's talking about them this way because he's obsessing over their skin, and the fact that he's the villain of the show doesn't help that situation either. The Skintaker also having a fondness for things he seems as "weird" makes the situation even more convoluted, since some can see the fascination being due to him liking skin, and the condition the person has could be seen by him as an extra "weird" factor into it.

Many agree that this whole situation could've been avoided if the creators of the show added a few scenes where other characters point out how odd his behavior regarding it is, but also can see how the actual characters would not mention it to him. He's already so weird about skin in general, the characters In-Universe might not even think of it as something worth talking to him about, or even see it as surprising or shocking. They just wish there was something to show that, while his behavior is bad, visible conditions are still something you shouldn't be something to be ashamed about having if you do.

• The final thing a lot of people find bad is the treatment of Horace. While yes, he is the villain's sidekick, he also makes it pretty clear that the Skintaker does not treat him well. Quite the opposite. That, and many think he is only working for him because he is desperate for positive attention from someone, and the Skintaker takes advantage of that. Yet, nobody in the show shows him any sympathy, or points out that the Skintaker is very abusive towards him, which is something Horace himself is either unaware of or ignores because of the fact the Skintaker still treats him positively on some occasions. The show even plays it off for laughs at some times. They completely ignore the fact he has shown redeemable traits, possibly seeing the fact he's hurting the protagonists and deeming him unworthy of sympathy or help in his situation. That, and they also ignore the fact that a lot of his harmful behaviors come from the Skintaker telling him to do it, and not because he actually wants to.

A lot of people in the fandom, for obvious reasons, find this extremely distasteful. They also believe it's another case of the 70's just not being that aware of how to properly represent these situations. That, and because it is technically supposed to be a children's show, they might not have intended for the treatment of Horace to be viewed in such a light. The creators might've just intended for it to all be treated as silly slapstick comedy, combined with a some motivation for Horace to stick around in spite of it, without realizing the fact it could be seen in a much darker light by an older audience. Well, an older audience that never could see the show, but was most likely still being thought about due to the adult comedy still being present.

A lot of people have joined a "movement" called Horace Deserves Better, where they "advocate" for better treatment of him in the fandom. The thing is, the fandom is so small that basically everybody is in that supposed movement and believes he deserves better in the show, and so there's really no need for it.

• The only representation that most people agree on being pretty okay are the unnamed guests on the Laughingstock. Sometimes there'd be a guest on the ship, most often being of a different culture, and some even speaking different languages. Most remember a Polish girl, a Korean chef, and a German man. However, there are many more that people cannot remember entirely, but remember aspects of their visits. A few people remember Percy advising Janice to try foreign foods before making picky judgements on them, but never necessarily for ing her to eat them if she's too uncomfortable with them.

The only real worry about the representation of the guests is not even necessarily any sort of misrepresentation, but actually mistranslations. The German guest most people remember couldn't speak English, and the Laughingstock crew couldn't speak German, with the episode being about language barriers. However, the episode did have English translations onscreen for his speech, which read like someone calmly trying to ask for for help finding his way home. However, one viewer, who's native tongue is German, remembers the actual German he was speaking to be much more disturbing. He remembers the man begging for help, and that someone was following him and was going to hurt him. The Skintaker was in the background of most scenes in that episode, which implies that the Skintaker was the person the man was talking about.

[stupidlittlespirit]

do u have any reigen and dimple hcs? I never rlly see anything abt them n its so sad💔💔

Hey anon, sorry this is so late! I've been out..... Socialising *shudder*

I know you probably mean Ekurei, but I got another ask about them so I'm gonna use this one as an excuse to talk about them both separately and then the ship in the other.

Everything below the cut! Reminder that these are just my own opinions. You can disagree, but do it on your own post.

TW: personality disorder discussion, bad parents, mental illness, suicide mention, vague kink mention.

Reigen:

Hold on tight. I feel so strongly about this little fucker.

♡ - I absolutely believe he has some form of personality disorder (and not just because I have one too hehe). Cluster B, most definitely: Possibly HPD or quiet BPD. He displays a lot of symptoms (need for attention/fame/recognition, belief he's 'meant for something', strong displays of emotion/regulation issues, depressive tendency, fear of abandonment, unstable relationships). I think it would explain a lot, personally.

♡ - Reigen has likely always struggled with himself as a person.  I think he would find it easier to pretend to be something/someone else, to project a false personality and use it to his advantage, than to reveal or examine how he truly feels. He never wants to be known too deeply by others.  Likely from experience in childhood/with parents/friends etc, he's found that opening up and allowing intimacy of the self offers too much of a chance that he might be betrayed. People are often cruel and they take advantage of those who expose themselves as vulnerable, and there's only so much of that that a person can take.  His parents probably showed no interest in his feelings for the most part and any time he expressed his concern about them, he’d be met with their rejection:  “Reigen, we don’t talk about things like that”, or “Not now, honey”, or “There are some things that you should keep to yourself.”  Never a word of guidance or helpful advice from them. Just frustration and ignorance, which results in him developing the uncanny ability to bury things so deeply that one might forget that they’re not normal to ignore. 

♡ - As above, Reigen has a terrible relationship with his parents thanks to an unstable childhood. I know it's canon that he has a sister who is also disapproving of his career, just like his mom and dad, and I can totally see some Golden Child vs Black Sheep tension going on there. He resents a lot of the attention maybe she got whereas he was always The Disappointment, even into adulthood, despite being quite successful eventually. I think he avoids contact with them as much as possible, and his parents only ever reach out to chastise him or finger-wag over something ('why aren't you married yet?' 'why are you still in this shitty job?' 'why can't you just be normal?' etc) .

♡ - Reigen absolutely falls apart in the relationship department. He's bi, but totally a virgin: Not for lack of trying necessarily, I think he desperately wants intimate connection but doesn't know how to go about it. He has a tendency to be genuinely quite insufferable because of the personality he projects. If he had the confidence/ability to be vulnerable and was more comfortable just being him then he'd probably have a lot more luck. He wants to show his true self but is so worried people will reject him (hi BPD!) that he's too afraid to do it, and too embarrassed about his fear to express that he needs advice. Reigen is always the guider, never the guided.

♡ - REIGEN IS GINGER. ALL OVER. NO ARGUMENTS. REDHEAD LOVER NATION RISE UP.

♡ - He totally has a fucked up perverted side. I don't think he's genuinely immoral with it (committing actual serious crimes), that would go against his beliefs, but he's definitely inclined to get a little 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓴𝔂 with it. Again, with the inability to be himself and general dysfunction around sexuality (especially as an adult virgin) I imagine he's very secretive about it. He's not one to talk freely about sex and is quite teenage boy-esque in his shyness about it. Guy also totally jerks off like crazy.

♡ - Back in his (younger) youth, Reigen would have been a habitual thrill seeker. A lack of self-preservation from a lifetime of not caring much if he lived or died: ambient suicidal idealisation. Probably still is, though less so nowadays what with the responsibility of Mob and with gaining a more stable life and sense of self through his business and friendships. At first, I think it would have been difficult for him to understand that drive, to pin down exactly what it was that he felt was missing in himself. It probably took more than a few attempts to figure it out and eventually, he’d come to realise that he enjoyed the risk of it all. The thrill of being in danger, the risk to his life, and even the potential of being caught, and then that would encourage feelings that had to have left him ashamed and frightened of himself.  Reigen wouldn't have known anyone else who felt the same way and wouldn't have put himself out there to find others, either.   He would have needed something to hit that spot and as he’d grown from an awkward teen to a difficult adult, he’d come to the uncomfortable realisation that living a regular life wasn't going to offer what he needed. Over time, he’d been forced to submit to that need, lest he become pent up. Bloody knuckles and bar fights (he loses, every time), risking employment by jumping from job to job (it is also NOT 'normal' to quit a stable job - even if you hate it - and risk it all on a fresh venture to be self-employed), and though drugs and alcohol can be too expensive to sustain, that wouldn't have stopped him from dabbling in such things in order to cope with the confusion for a bit.  Eventually leaving his teenage years, maybe around twenty one-ish, rather than picking up something on the legal side of risky like skydiving or solo caving, Reigen starts sneaking into places he isn't supposed to be. Going against the law in small ways oftentimes comes with the territory of thrill seeking (for him) and he’d never cared much for it anyway, so he’d battle his moral concerns for chasing the high of being the bad person he’d always been told (and convinced himself) he was. Be it a private function or a board meeting, Reigen learns to case out a joint, talk his way inside and get free room to roam in someone else's shoes for as long as he can.  I think it would have given him freedom from his shitty reality and if he broke the law in the process, that was a win-win for him. The achievement tasted even better if he pissed off authority figures, too.  He'd used his blagging talents to get free food if his cash flow was limited too, and no one would ever stop him. If you walk around like you own the place, rarely do people argue with you. The moment Reigen realised it was an easy game, he was in.  He probably matured out of it for the most part, but retained the skills (see: The infiltration of Claw) and used them to his advantage. I know a lot of people think he's just kind of falling upwards in terms of luck. I just like to get a little deep and dark with it lmao

♡ - Fast-paced by nature, constantly moving/talking/thinking, can't stop can't stop or else he'll have to listen to his brain, he'll have to think about all the bad stuff that lurks in the darkest corners. Obnoxious to hide the perceived inadequacy. 

♡ - He is totally a soft-hearted little shit deep down. You just have to peeeeeel away those complex layers and get your hands dirty to see that. He doesn't believe he's a good person, but he is.

whew okay, that's not all of my feelings but that's enough!

Moving on to Ekubo:

♡ - He and Yoshioka are bffs. He develops a bond with the guy (totally in the 'bad guys turned good club': I firmly like to believe that Yoshi is ex-yakuza) and they have a mutual agreement for Ekubo to use his body sometimes. Everything is consensual and Ekubo respects Yoshioka's autonomy.

♡ - Ekubo is, like Reigen, deep down a softie. He's very honest and loyal, and he has no problem being straightforward about stuff. He'll tell it like it is, without sugar coating the issues, and make sure you understand why he thinks that. I don't think he's the type to just leave it at that though: he'd give solutions and advice to fix the issue.

♡ - He loooooves to be a meanie to Reigen. They're both competitive by nature and butt heads a lot, but would go to the ends of the Earth for the guy.

♡ - Office pet. Office mascot. Loves it. Will never admit it.

♡ - When Mob eventually moves on from Spirits and Such, Ekubo starts spending most of his time with Reigen. Mob wants independence and the freedom to be more grown-up, and he'd specifically instruct him to keep watch of his mentor and make sure he's doing okay. Not to say Ekubo wouldn't ever hang out with Mob, but when you're off to college and stuff and exploring the world through that maturing lens, the boy probably won't want to be supervised constantly.

♡ - Ekubo will never admit that he's supporting Reigen and Reigen would never allow him too, but they both like each other's company. Yoshioka also joins them sometimes.

♡ - Ekubo has a lot of respect for Serizawa. He appreciates his psychic ability, and also his resilience in life. He helps Seri with his homework too hehe.

♡ - I like to imagine that Ekubo has been dead a while. He doesn't remember much of his original life, but he wasn't the best person in it. Not evil, just.... Lost in a similar way to Reigen. He has, however, got significantly more lived experience than all of the others in the office combined. He might have died a long time ago, but possessing people isn't new to him and he'd have to have lived through others at times. He's learnt a lot about people and life and death and all the shit in between, and it makes him an invaluable asset in the form of counsel for the others.

♡ - Longs for genuine interpersonal connection. In a human vessel, verrrrry touch starved.

♡ - Yoshioka has a silver tooth and you can pry that idea from my cold, dead hands.

♡ - Worship kink.

[infinite-orangepeel]

a whumpy af steve harrington excerpt from ch. 1 of my soft dom eddie fic

aka this boy has a lot of unresolved trauma & eddie munson is going to help him heal

(the rest of the chapter that contains the actual smut will be linked below, i’m scared of tumblr shadow banning me again for posting the full thing in here)

TW: panic attacks, discussions of mental illness, suicidal ideation, vomiting/nausea (as symptom of panic attacks), disordered eating habits, ptsd, heavy themes, lots of emotions

★○★○★○★○★○★○★○★○★○★○★

It comes down to this. Steve Harrington doesn’t trust himself. Not anymore. Not since everything went to shit in The Upside Down and Max ended up on life support.

Honestly, he didn’t feel all that abnormal about it for the first few months. It was easier to ignore the magnitude of his problems when his friends were clearly struggling right alongside him. There was something about strength in numbers or a sense of community–being convinced he wasn’t the only one totally fucked up in the aftermath of the final battle.

Regardless, it kept him afloat for a while.

Robin often called in the middle of the night to vent about her own flashbacks and the nightmares they prompted. The two grew accustomed to seeking comfort on opposite ends of the telephone line, twisting the cords around their fingers and whispering “ me too, I have that one too,” as to not wake the monsters underneath their beds. Sometimes, it got so bad that the sun would rise and they’d still be trying to snap each other out of it. Yawning through the agony of another sleepless night and fixing themselves cups of black coffee to alleviate the ensuing exhaustion.

Lucas had shown up on his doorstep enough times that Steve finally had another key made. He was tired of coming home from work and seeing the boy sulking there out in the cold–grief written plainly all over his face. Steve handed him the key on a carabiner clip–so Lucas could comfortably carry it around on his belt loop–and assured him he was welcome day or night. Steve’s parents had moved out of town after the infamous Hawkins’ “earthquake,” so Steve was solely in charge of approving any and all guests at the Harrington household. Lucas, of course, was at the top of his list–he was family, they all were. As long as the boy agreed to let himself in, warm-up on the couch, and grab a snack from the pantry–he could come over any hour he needed. No more rotting outside with tears forming icicles on his cheeks. Steve wouldn’t have that.

El refused to leave her bedroom–holed up beneath a fort of blankets and wouldn’t speak to anyone for days on end–until Hopper called up the gang and they elected ‘Babysitter Steve’ to go handle it. He was the most qualified in their eyes, what with his protective older brother attitude, gentle approach, and dorky jokes. Sure enough, El didn’t banish him right off the bat–not like she had with some of the others–namely, Mike Wheeler. She let him get close without protest and when he hugged her, she fell apart against his chest–guilt pouring out of her at the fact that she hadn’t been able to save Max from Vecna. He brushed the knots out of her hair with cautious fingers and listened. She just needed someone to listen. That was all it took. By the end of the night, she was sandwiched in between him and Hopper on the well worn couch, openly laughing at the plot of Pretty in Pink.

Nancy wore a poker face for the most part, but she wasn’t completely immune to the lasting effects of trauma. She held it together in public, like the first lady at a brutal press conference–politely smiling and waving for the crowd. She’d made it her personal goal to distract the kids from what was really going on–with Max–back at the hospital. This manifested itself in her implementation of weekly game nights, arcade afternoons, and community service outings. Naturally, Steve attended more than a handful of these events–lending a helping hand to rangle the younger teens. It was only once the kids had been dropped off at their respective addresses that Nancy would let her artificial smile fall and tell Steve what was really on her mind. The loss, the fear, the worry. He’d hold her hand– platonically of course, it wasn’t like that anymore –across the center console of his BMW and nod along to the tune of her suffering. It was one he knew well, played on repeat.

Thus, Steve managed his own anxiety by keeping that of the others at bay. His role became narrowly defined as the one who would help you regulate your breathing through the course of a vicious panic attack, the one who was considered reliable in a world that had become anything but. It gave him a sense of purpose and a reason to keep moving forward. He couldn’t simply hide away in his oversized bedroom when he knew his friends were busy laying catatonic in theirs. So, day after day, he pulled himself up by his bootstraps, usually forgot to eat, chugged excessive amounts of caffeine, and set out to mend all of the broken wings but his very own two.

Eventually, there was healing. The ball started rolling around the time Max woke up. After four months of breathing tubes, IV’s, heavy medications, and machines keeping her alive–she opened her eyes one day and slowly began to inhabit her body again. Within a few weeks of round-the-clock physical therapy, solid foods, and monitored pain management–she was discharged from the ICU and returned home. Cane in hand, coke bottle glasses on the bridge of her nose, and slight gaps in memory–she wasn’t the same, but she was as close to it as she could be and that was all that mattered. She was breathing on her own accord–beautiful, steady inhales and exhales–that alone was a miracle in and of itself.

After Max settled back into her normal life, everyone else seemed to follow suit. Once the high school was fixed up by the hands of a devoted construction crew and summer came to a close, the kids started in on their sophomore year. Fall semester provided a new routine that included basketball practices, D&D campaigns (Will Byers quickly ascended to President of Hellfire Club in Eddie’s place), and tests to study for. On top of all that, somehow Steve was going to have to teach each of the little twerps how to drive, which absolutely terrified him. However, there was no way he was going to let anyone else instruct his kids on how to be safe behind the wheel. Yeah, no fucking way.

The Party finally had the opportunity to just be kids–for the first time in almost four years–and Steve was happy for them. Really, he was. Now, they could ride their bikes around the neighborhood–just for the heck of it, not because they were pedaling away from otherworldly monsters. They could waste time down by the lake and not have to search the murky waters for the dead body of their missing friend. They could be innocent and stupid and naive and not have to worry so much about the life altering consequences.

And, as happy as he was for them, Steve just couldn’t help but selfishly miss the era in which Lucas spent most nights on his couch–talking about nothing until the wee hours of the morning. The era in which El asked him to drive her to Family Video each Saturday–ready to pick out the next chick flick that would make Hopper groan. His schedule and his house suddenly felt a lot emptier without a bunch of rugrats calling upon their favorite babysitter. The silence often felt like it could swallow him whole. He hated it.

As for Nance and Robin, they had their own paths to explore–ones that unfortunately, didn’t directly involve Steve. That was okay, but it also wasn’t.

Nancy was reapplying to Emerson–early decision–and like everything else she did, she was hellbent on her college essays being absolutely perfect. She made the local library her second home as she wrote and edited and then edited some more. Steve knew there was not a chance in the world that Nancy Wheeler wasn’t going to be accepted to the school of her dreams and become an incredible journalist. She was destined for greatness. Always had been.

Robin landed herself a girlfriend and was so lovesick it hurt. Vickie quickly became the center of her universe. She had this insane gravitational pull on Steve’s best friend and he’d never seen anything like it. Robin looked like a whole new person, shining from the inside out. They did their best to include him in their plans on a regular basis, but Steve really didn’t want to burden them with his presence. Not that the girls ever made him feel that way. He was just a bit too aware of the fact that no couple looks forward to having a constant third-wheel, so he backed off when he could and lied about being busier than he was–acting like there was a laundry list of activities for him to attend to.

Truthfully, he spent most weekends alone in front of the T.V. or picking up extra shifts at the video store. Unsure of how he suddenly became the only one stuck in the past, haunted by creatures that no longer walked the Earth. It didn’t make sense. Why couldn’t he move on like everyone else? Max had been kissed by death and yet, she made it to school every day and somehow, still found the energy to ask Lucas to the Sadie Hawkins dance. Steve, on the other hand, had exited The Upside Down with minor injuries–practically, unscathed–but for some reason, he dry heaved into the toilet every morning and questioned his entire existence. Spitting up bile and wondering how long it would take before his heart jumped ship, too. He imagined it would only be a matter of time, before the center of his own being decided it was unwilling to marinate in the sad toxic wasteland any longer. Abandoning him and begging to be flushed down, along with the rest.

It’s definitely less than ideal to have some idiot ring your doorbell, when you’re right in the middle of balling your eyes out–facedown on the living room floor–and wondering why God or the universe or whatever the fuck just had to plop you down on this cursed planet in the first place.

It’s actually super embarrassing and kind of the stuff of his nightmares, but that’s exactly the position Steve Harrington finds himself in on a random Tuesday evening.

There’s nothing special about it. Just another day trying not to break apart at the seams, wasting the hours by choking on his unforgiving past. Nothing left to do, but wallow in self-hatred and stare at the popcorn ceiling.

In theory, he could just play dead and ignore the irritating chime of the bell, but on the off chance that it’s one of his friends or the pizza delivery guy has arrived early–he begrudgingly gets up and makes his way to the front door. Dizzy from standing up too fast on an empty stomach, he reaches out for the wall to steady his gait. Unable to find the motivation to clean up his appearance before wrapping his trembling fingers around the cold doorknob. Whoever it is, is just going to have to deal with the mess–just like Steve does every single day.

There’s no nice way to say it. Steve looks like shit. There’s dark circles ringing his sunken eyes that make him look like the kin of the local raccoons. The same ones that devour his uneaten groceries from the garbage cans each week. It’s a charitable donation–philanthropic even. He goes on a depression fueled hunger strike and his furry nocturnal neighbors get a feast fit for a king.

Due to his inability to nourish himself anymore, his cheeks have hallowed out, his muscles have shrunken down, and his once tan skin appears jaundiced–sickly yellow. There’s acrid bile drying on his cracked lips from the most recent upheaval of his guts. This time it was spurred on by the grotesque image of Vecna’s corpse-like face. It keeps popping up in his mind without warning, like one of those jack in the box clown toys–raking the sharp nails of nausea across the lining of his stomach.

He doesn’t immediately register who the person on the other side of the door is, which is laughable, because it wasn’t all that long ago that Steve carried the guy’s limp body out of an alternate dimension and gave him mouth to mouth. They’re not exactly strangers.

Thirty seconds go by before his brain starts back up and processes the identity of the man standing before him. As if the secretary of his memory had disappeared from the front desk and took a while searching the filing cabinets to fill in the blanks:

Mr. Harrington? Sorry about the delay. We’ve located the files. That’s Eddie Munson you’re looking at. We’re sure of it.

“What are you doing here? I thought you were-” Steve starts, roughly wiping at his bloodshot eyes to make sure he’s not hallucinating. Anything is possible when you’ve lived through what he has.

“-in hiding?” Eddie says nonchalantly, leaning against the porch–he’s taller than Steve remembers, “I was. Spent a lot of time bored as shit in a rather crappy hotel room, but Hopper gave me the all clear yesterday and I just moved back into my Uncle’s place. Sorry if I stink, it’s because I’ve been carting boxes around all day–you’ll have to get over it.”

[rweoutofthewoods]

Hi Mere! So I just done rereading pathological people pleaser (never fails to make me cry) and i myself is writing book for 2years and theres a lot of discussion ab mental health, people who suffers from mental illnesses. and i kind of stuck on how to write it or perceive it??? and your fics just make me feel like im the one whos suffering and its just written so beautifully. so do you have any advice on how to write it ig? it would help my writers block so much, thats all i wanted to ask hope its not too much trouble

Sending you all the chocolates🍫

Hello!!

So firstly I’m gonna TW just to be safe that I am going to (briefly and non graphically) mention mental illnesses including BPD and EDs.

For me, I have two fics that the main plot centers around mental illness which is ppp and all of my cages were mental. I’m pretty open about BPD in my own little effort to help conversations around it, so most ppl probably know at this point that some of ppp comes from experience and just knowing what it’s like to feel that. And with aomcwm i do not talk about this often or at all really, because i think it’s more likely to be triggering than helpful, but i also have an ED and have lived with a severe disorder for many many years, so that fic comes from first hand experiences as well. I think that’s part of the trick, which may be entirely unhelpful, but when it comes to some of those things you can only truly hit the nail on the head of those experiences if you know exactly what your character is going through. Know how to write it in a way that is completely realistic. But I also think for me, I just refuse to shy away from it. I’m not going to water down these disorders to make them more romantic or palatable because they are not in real life. And I’m not afraid to write ugly uncomfortable things.

Also research helps, and I don’t mean like health articles that pop up on Google, I mean stories from real people who have experienced it. When writing ppp, I didn’t want James to become me bc there’s many different ways for a person to experience one disorder. So I spent a lot of time on BPD subreddits reading what it was like for other people, and finding out things I may not have experienced myself. Aside from that, watching TikToks, readings books, whatever, just as long as you find real stories from real people. Also if you have any friends or know people who are willing to talk about their mental illness, as long as they’re okay with it.

So I think what it boils down to is refusing to shy away from those topics, learning other people’s stories, and using anything applicable in your own experience (carefully, as to not turn your characters into yourself). I’m going to be 1000% honest, when it comes to like ppp and BPD, for example, you can do all the research and learn all the symptoms, but there’s like… this feeling bpd gives you in your chest that is just the worst thing in the world. like it physically hurts, your insides are trying to cannibalize themselves and there’s just this horrible dark pit there you would do drastic impulsive things not to feel, that if I didn’t know what it felt like, I never would have been able to write it. BUT don’t let that discourage you from writing things you haven’t experienced too, because I know I for one, would be happy to help someone if they said they wanted help writing a character with BPD. And I’m sure there’s other people with other disorders who would feel the same.

I feel like this might not be the most helpful answer, so I’m sorry about that. But I hope it gives you even the tiniest bit of inspiration. Much love and tysm!! 🩷

[dulcisregnumdorm]

Candyfolk lore

TW for discussions of illness symptoms

What are Candyfolk?

Candyfolk are beings ( that can be human, beastmen, merfolk, fae, cy-bugs. etc) who have had their DNA altered due to eating candy that grew in the glace duchy. Most of the time humans mainly refer to themselves as candyfolk while other species will use their previous name to identify but it is not always the case, just preference.

Where did they come from?

In terms of how many different species settled in the Glace Duchy, the Cy-beings (or when they had not evolved from cy-bugs) settled on the continent a long time ago as a weak colony that was kicked out from the greater hive in the Green Wasteland. They settled in the center of the continent near the volcanoes and mountainous regions.

The Humans were dropped off on the continent as punishment for starting a coup against the king in a foreign nation(this could have been around the medieval period in our timeline for reference). They settled more so on the coastline but eventually intermingled with the cy-beings.

As for the beastmen, their presence in the Glace duchy is quite new. Due to what the records say as a dip in the quality of life in the Savanna slums many beastmen were given the opportunity to change citizenship with the Glace Duchy and start anew. This worked out well for the Candyfolk beastmen,Glace Duchy government and the Kingscholar family.

It is unknown when the candy-merfolk showed up on the strawberry milk coasts of the glace duchy. Some argue that they may have been the first ones to settle before the cy-bugs arrived.

What is this Disease?

Even in the modern age both scientists and mages alike are unsure of how candy mutation even exists. According to many studies mutation occurs when any living organism eats an organic piece of candy that naturally grew out of the candy soil of the duchy. Depending on the type of candy consumed, symptoms can vary.

What are the Stages?

Let us use the story of the red velvet baroness’ mutation as an example. When she first ate a piece of red velvet cake there were no visible signs, just the mention of a slight increase in adrenaline and dopamine.

Later it was said that in the next five hours the young baroness began to feel very fatigued, she started to show physical symptoms of said fatigue however she also started to show the signs of a fever and was soon rushed to a local hospital in the duchy. 

As the doctors realized that the baroness was mutating there was nothing they could do to reverse the painful process. All that could be done is bide time hoping that the baroness's pain of her cells heating up and cooking each other would eventually end.

Thankfully for the baroness it did, and she successfully mutated, the odds of a successful pastry-based mutation are usually low in numbers but other things like age, diet and family illnesses can have a profound influence as well. The only thing now the baroness needed to do was receive therapy due to the mental trauma she experienced during the transformation.

[fairythingflies]

this was long overdue. plain text below

Hello. If you’re reading this, I am coming out to discuss a part of my life that I’ve hidden for a very long time–mostly out of fear and shame. I’m still afraid–but I will not be ashamed any longer. It’s so typical to say, “I didn’t want to make this statement,” but it’s gotten to the point where my loved ones are telling me that I have to do something. That silence will only cause further harm. 

Over the past four and a half years, I’ve endured an endless nightmare of abuse, stalking, and the resulting psychological trauma from a previous romantic partner. To many of you, this is probably a blindside–but the people close to me have witnessed the effects the whole time.

I’m not going to name the person who abused me today, because the last thing they need is harassment–no matter how vile you find their actions. I didn’t want to do this, but it’s gotten to a point where it feels necessary, for several reasons: 

The very real emotional harm of repressing my story for several years 

The harm that the stalking and harassment have caused me and others 

To, hopefully, show other survivors of sexual abuse, gaslighting, and stalking that they are not alone, they are not monsters, they are not crazy. 

This is my story. TW emotional and sexual abuse, gaslighting, stalking. 

In 2019, when I was 18 years old, I entered my first serious romantic relationship–and it was an extremely traumatic and abusive one. I’m not going to pretend I was a saint–I said and did a lot of stupid, hurtful things, on account of being a very inexperienced teenager, but I can also acknowledge now that I was abused. 

This person isolated me by trying to convince me my family was abusive and dangerous; additionally, whenever I tried to bring over my friends, they’d make me feel guilty, talking about how being around people I cared about was physically painful for them. 

And they assaulted me. Multiple times. They’d force themself on me when I was visibly distressed, and I once had to go to a doctor because of injuries they’d caused me. I don’t want to provide further details here, and I hope you don’t expect them. I have spent years replaying some of the most painful memories of my life in my head, and that already hurts enough. 

While dating this person, my mind suffered: I fell into psychosis, I had severe OCD attacks, I developed disordered eating… I was overall severely unwell. This caused me to lash out in ways I acknowledge were unfair and harmful, but this person continued to exacerbate my symptoms regardless, much of it through ableist acts that targeted these symptoms. 

As mentioned, I struggle with OCD, and this person would say things that triggered it, even after I told them they were triggers–for example, I’d be worried about bad things happening to them, such as illness, and they’d repeatedly say they’d be “lucky” to reach age 65 without dying. They’d hear about my religious obsessions (which during the abuse became full-on delusions due to mental duress), and play music they wrote about their own religious delusions. They claimed to be “worried” for me after the worst of the episode ended, so there’s no way they didn’t know what I was going through. They also scrutinized my very real fear responses, accusing me of being “happy” when strange men harassed us for being a visibly queer couple. 

In 2020, at age 19, I recognized that this relationship was doing more harm than good. I was out of town for a family event and able to talk to my family without them around, which helped me come to that revelation. I told my partner I wanted to talk about our relationship when I came home. They immediately publicly accused me of abusing them. This is where it all began: I tried to leave, and they retaliated. 

They’d gaslit me into thinking I was a terrible person for months, and this public explosion made me completely break down. I became hysterical–I replayed traumatic memories over and over, looking for any sign I misbehaved, and even when I came up with none, I remained dominated by fear–that it was somehow true, that I was abusive, that everyone would believe it, true or not. 

Worse, I believe people took screenshots of me venting to others in this incredibly vulnerable state and somehow sent them to my ex. At this time, I was in a strange city, spiralling out of control–I wasn’t eating, I wasn’t sleeping, and I was completely detached from reality. I simultaneously believed everything and knew it was wrong. Until you’ve been in this kind of situation, I feel like it’s impossible to understand. 

I’ll own that I broke down and said some terrible things, ranging from spiteful to nonsensical. I am deeply sorry for it. I have spent years bettering myself on so many fronts to ensure I never have that kind of harmful episode again, but this outburst happened because of months of gaslighting and abuse, because the second I implied to this person that I wanted to end our relationship, they retaliated by dealing a massive blow to my already fragile mental state and trying to ruin my life. 

And they haven’t stopped. 

I am 23 years old now. There is nothing I want more than to leave this trauma behind, but recovery hasn’t been easy because the person who inflicted this pain has not left me alone. Since 2020 and as recently as this year, they’ve followed me and come after my career and relationships, usually by spreading misinformation about me in the form of “warnings” that I am “dangerous”–albeit with minimal success. I can think of exactly two times they lost me gigs–though the fact it’s happened at all is part of what moved me to come forward.

This is in no small part because of the simple fact that their allegations range from exaggerations to outright lies. I’d say about 80% of it is false, 15% is technically true but out of context or a product of serious mental duress, and 5% is actually true. 

Some of the lies are comical, with how easily disproven they are. There’s one where my ex randomly declared I live in a gated community… but I don’t. My house has a gate because we used to own dogs. There’s also the implication I was stalking them–it seems more like the other way around, with the way that they hunt down people who associate with me. I also remember once hearing I’d harmed an ex-girlfriend of mine with osteoarthritis… despite never dating anyone with osteoarthritis. Still, people who don’t know me might believe these things, as ridiculous as they are. 

Some of the lies may be based on genuine misunderstandings. For example, against my wishes, a relative called the police on my behalf when someone harassed me with a burner account that referenced my legal name. I will apologize for not trying harder to de-escalate the situation–I knew police were more than capable of making the situation worse–but I was not the instigator (as well as barely coherent at that point due to the stress).

Some of the lies, though, are downright disgusting. I resent, for example, the implication that I have lied about my ethnicity. I identify as white, but my grandmother is mixed Metis and I inherited her status long before I knew what that meant–though again, I identify and move through the world as a white person. It came up a few times in our relationship because I figured my grandmother would be able to help my ex-partner with accessing their own Indigenous status, if memory serves. But I digress. 

Additionally, the idea that I ever did anything without the explicit consent of this person is reprehensible–every single time we were intimate, I received either a verbal affirmative or some nonverbal gesture of consent such as leaning in for a kiss. Every. Single. Time. 

I won’t pretend it’s impossible I hurt them, but not in the way they are claiming. I apologize for any pain caused, and I mean that, but the scenes they describe simply did not happen. They tried to convince me they did, that I did terrible things, but I’ve forced myself to relive my time with them enough that I know I’m not the person they say I am. 

And for that 20% of things that are even a little bit true, I’ve been working on accountability and educating myself on everything I can–my emotional regulation issues and the thoughtless, harmful statements they brought about, for example, and handling my OCD better so my intrusive thoughts don’t hurt others as much as they hurt me. 

And yes, I read about consent. That’s how I realized that what my ex did to me was assault. It’s another part of why I’m coming forward–it’s a special kind of pain, coming to terms with the fact you were raped while a bunch of strangers think your rapist is the victim. 

I’ve written out several versions of this statement, some almost forty pages long. They contain the paper trail of sexual abuse counsellors I’ve seen, medical records from when my ex’s actions sent me to the clinic, and even years-old journal entries and conversations with friends where I discuss being assaulted in terrible, triggering detail. I still keep these things as reminders that what I experienced was real, because my worst fear is not being believed. 

I can’t reiterate this enough: I physically cannot get rid of graphic records of my assault because I’m scared of not being believed. I have spent years retraumatizing myself because of what my rapist has put me through. 

I’ve also spoken to other people who escaped abuse and were villainized by ex-partners, and I’m harrowed by how much of my own story I see in theirs. You really begin to question your reality, and you keep going back to these dark places and painful memories–and you analyze them, and recount them over and over, always recounting and documenting, so you remember them and believe yourself. 

I know “gaslighting” has become a meaningless buzzword to many, but it’s gaslighting that caused me to obsessively document and remember my abuse. No survivor should have to endure this. I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy.

People watched me fall apart in real time. They might not have known the details, but they knew something very, very bad happened to me. I apologize to everyone who saw me in this state–I imagine it was upsetting. I’ve spent the last few years working very hard to recover and become a positive presence in the lives of others, and I really hope I’ve accomplished that. 

Allegedly my ex is receiving therapy for what I “did” to them. That’s great. I wasn’t perfect–and even though I didn’t actually do a vast majority of what they accuse me of, I see no reason why my ex shouldn’t get help if they’re hurting. 

Again, they consented to everything we did, either verbally or by initiating physical intimacy (i.e. kissing). I can’t say it’s impossible they were hurt, though, because people can be harmed by consensual interactions. I would know–I’ve been that person who was seriously hurt even though nobody actually did anything wrong. Trauma’s complicated like that, and sometimes there’s no perpetrator in the traditional sense. 

My abuser is a person with a lot of pain–and was long before they met me. If therapy keeps them from hurting another person how they hurt me, then that’s an inherently good thing. I used to hope they’d never touch anyone again, but maybe therapy means they won’t hurt the next person they pursue.

That said–they still assaulted me, and they are still, to my knowledge, stalking me and spreading false information. 

Honestly, I’m tired of them having such a major role in my life–and the idea of taking that power from them is part of what’s given me the courage to do this. 

On the off-chance they read these words, I’m going to be succinct: I know what you put me through. Don’t waste your time objecting or trying to tell me it was my fault. This is my story, not yours, and you’re the one person whose belief I don’t need. You raped me. You are a rapist. People saw what your abuse did to me. A body of evidence like this doesn’t come out of nowhere. I didn’t spontaneously develop PTSD. You did this. 

And even now, I’m sparing you–I could say who you are, contact people you work with. I could do what you tried to do to me, but it’d actually be true: I could share my medical records, diary entries, and testimonials from those who saw what this did to me. 

But I’m not. I’m giving you the chance to just leave me alone and be left alone. 

So, where does this leave us? I suppose it leaves me out in the open as a survivor of sexual assault, stalking, gaslighting, and so on. 

That is unbelievably terrifying. I keep telling myself that it’s worth it to be open, that maybe it’ll make other survivors feel less alone, but I’m afraid. 

I’m afraid people will make assumptions, victim-blame me, or somehow side with my rapist. I’m afraid this will change how friends, family, and acquaintances see me. I’m afraid of how my abuser could retaliate. I’m afraid that my community, the art scene that was so invaluable to my recovery, might not want anything to do with me anymore. 

Also, I’ve already gotten serious backlash as a survivor. 

So-called leftist/inclusive spaces have sided with my rapist. They’ve said they can’t work with me because of what they’ve “heard,” and when I tell them about the abuse/stalking and offer to show them evidence, including that paper trail of therapists and medical documents, they respond that they “lack the resources” to look at them and shut me down. 

I tell people I’m a rape victim, and they say they don’t have the “resources” to listen. They side with the person I’m telling them is a rapist.

What happened to “believe victims?” Is that only on a first-come, first-serve basis? 

I’ve also had to end personal relationships because of the victim-blaming I’ve endured. Former friends have said I “did this to myself.” People who I’d confided in, people who’d believed me, who’d seen evidence of my assault, said this. 

So, no, I really don’t want to come out as a survivor. 

This has been an unending nightmare for, more or less, my entire adult life. I am hoping that opening up will allow me to start recovery in earnest. 

My therapists over the years all agree I have PTSD–my doctor says it might even be C-PTSD. Regardless, I’m affected by this disorder every day: the nightmares, the emotional dysregulation, the constant sense I’m being watched, the lasting intrusive thoughts from my headspace in 2019, and so much more–it hurts beyond words. I’ll never know the person I would’ve been if I hadn’t been assaulted, and I mourn that every day. This trauma has cost me so much, especially in my personal life–not because anyone involved ever believed my ex, nobody who knows me ever has, but because my trauma has given me lasting trust issues, paranoia, and all these other symptoms that hinder relationships. 

I quite literally owe my life to those who have stayed with me and loved me throughout the years, and the treatment I have received. Especially those who have endured harassment from my abuser, because yes, that’s happened. 

I hope that by publicly addressing this, I can be supported by all of you, too. It’s been physically painful sharing this story–it literally took me months to write this–so I really hope it wasn’t for nothing. I hope the community I’ve found solace in can have my back when it really matters.

I don’t like asking for much from people, but I can’t make myself feel safe and believed alone. If you could share this story, that’d truly mean the world–and if you see my ex’s so-called “warning,” please report it. If you hear people sharing my abuser’s allegations, chime in with the truth. Quash rumours. I don’t know how many people my abuser’s reached, or how loud they’ve been shouting these past few years, but I hope we can be louder. 

If you have questions, I can try to answer them–whether you have concerns that I can debunk, or have experienced something similar and want to hear from someone who understands. 

It’s frightening to share this now, but I hope that in the future, this can be a story of a survivor being supported by their community, and escaping the spectres of their abuse. 

I hope I can make and share my art without being afraid again. I hope I can be known as a survivor. I hope I can be believed. 

All I ever wanted was to be believed. Thank you.   

[sweetmage]

TW Chronic illness, mental illness, disability stigma, venting (putting it below the cut) Also sorry for sad posting on this fun fandom account so often. I do not have close people I can discuss these things with so sometimes it just helps to yell into the void 😅 Block #Jun Rants to not see it!

I am having a very bad flare up of my chronic illness. Worst in a while!! It affects my emotions very badly. Constant weeping and feeling sick and nervous and very sad on top of that physical illness symptoms and pains like aches, fever, heart flutters, dizziness, headaches, etc. 😭 I developed PMDD about 2 years ago. I went to the ER because I thought I was having a heart attack because I was so weak and dizzy and scared and my heart was beating very fast. It was a panic attack brought on by physical symptoms caused by what I later learned to be PMDD.

I like to be open an honest about my disabilities (such as my vision, being neurotypical, and so on) but I have struggled with this one due to how often it gets downplayed due to misogyny and misinformation. It is not "a bad case of PMS", it is a serious and often times debilitating mental health and physical health condition that can completely wreck your brain and body once every 2-3 weeks or so and leaves little time to recover in between. It's exhausting. I feel sad because I think I have lost a bit of myself due to it. I have always struggled with mental health, but since my body decided I needed a new condition I have become a lot more moody and nervous and depressive. I mourn the fact that I am not as fun anymore (and struggle to have fun myself) because often I am self-conscious or sad. I try to project a happy image and push myself to be more outgoing, but it's very difficult and my real emotions slip through a lot. I feel guilty about it, i don't enjoy being a downer and I miss feeling semi-normal and not constantly feeling sick or shaking from fear of everything (intrusive thoughts, fear of judgement, overthinking everything I do or say, etc.). I try to interact with people more but I feel scared a lot. I have a handful of close people in my life but they have their own problems and I don't think I can come to them. I try to make friends online but I feel embarrassed when I say anything to people no matter what it is, even if they aren't actually judging me. I tried to get medication for my depression last month but the psychiatrist was horrible and cruel to me and was very judgmental. I'm not sure what else to do or if there is anything at all I can do. I regret mentioning having this condition to a male psychiatrist... Even today I am feeling very sick in my head and stomach and shaking a lot, but I tried to go outside and have a decent day because I don't want to give up even though everything is hard and has been hard and keeps getting harder. I don't know, at least rambling into the void kinda helps a little. That's all I can really do.

[sweetlikehoneystingslikeabee]

Two-Face Background

Like with Killer Croc, I got an ask and realized clarifications on my personal take on Mr. Harvey Dent would be a good idea. With comic books, there are lots of ways to interpret a character, particularly those with mental illness like many of the Rogues Gallery. That being said, I discuss DID (dissociative identity disorder, previously called multiple personality disorder) because it comes up often with Harvey Dent. I do not have DID, so I'm absolutely open to criticism and learning from mistakes if I make them.

TW: Mentions of domestic violence and child abuse

- From the time he was young, Harvey Dent knew what violence looked like. His father made sure of that when he abused the boy and his mother. Too many times cops came to their home to give his father a warning or a quick rough up.

- That changed when he was around 11. His father was arrested for almost blinding a man and when he was, the arresting officers saw how bad the bruises and wounds really were.

- He got to see his father's trial and that's when it really hit: bad people can be put away so the innocent can be protected. His father was put away and served divorce papers in prison. A hyperfixation was born.

- It was rough at first, but he and his mother flourished. He got addicted to any law shows, movies, books he could get his hands on. Even the bad ones he would watch just to critique them.

- This man has seen "My Cousin Vinny" so many times, he can quote it back and forth. It is one of his favorites even now.

- through a lot of hard work and dedication, he got scholarships for school and became a prosecutor. Then, the DA for Gotham.

- After investigating the local mafia and hitting them hard, mob boss Sal Maroni threw acid over the left side of his face and body during his trial. That was the start of Two-Face.

- Duality. Good and evil. A coin flip. Anger and revenge and a life as someone upholding the law to someone twisting it to hurt those who hurt him. A criminal life. Lots of fights with Batman and lockups in Arkham.

- A diagnosis of DID has been evaluated, crossed out, re-evaluated, crossed out, so on and so forth many times for poor Harvey. While it's determined there is "Harvey" and "Harv" as well as other signs (switching, depersonalization, childhood trauma), other symptoms typical for criteria just aren't there. He doesn't experience amnesia, derealization, or identity confusion. From his own description, both personalities are aware at all times. A truly unique condition.

- Harv hates the narrative of Harvey being "the good one" and him being "the bad one." Harvey is an active participant in their criminal career, the only difference is Harvey feels all the guilt about it. Harvey agrees to some degree.

- There are even times the two are switching and only those with a keen eye can recognize it. They are mostly harmonized besides the occasional fight and Harvey Wanting to be good.

- When Harv is talking, his shoulders curl in slightly, body tense. He favors the burnt side of their body, down to the way he uses their face. Staccato, growling way of speaking, a strong lateral lisp from the whistling in his exposed teeth. When Harvey is talking, his back is straight and he favors the unburned side of his body. The lisp is still there, but less prevalent. His voice tends to be much softer.

- Harvey is logic, impulse control, guilt and compassion. Harv is rage, spontaneity, passion and doing what needs to be done, even if it's difficult.

- what all the professionals at Arkham CAN agree on is that the man has components of OCD- concerning his coin especially. He and Edward Nygma glare at each other when they're forced into group activities at Arkham focused on the OCD patients/inmates.

- On a different note, Harvey Dent has always been a bisexual man. Before the incident he harbored a little crush on his friend and companion Bruce Wayne. Still does to some degree. Post-incident he's even been in polyamorous relationships with both men and women.

- Over time has started liking he/they pronouns. Either is fine, actually.

- He still sends his mother flowers for her birthday. Her favorite- the morning glory.

[sleepy-moron]

I’m posting about Mike’s mental health again because people are still saying things aren’t that deep and it kinda drives me crazy.

Warning for discussions of mental illness and the cliff scene (so tw for su*cide mentions)

Not every single person with trauma will react in the same way to said trauma! The people saying Mike isn’t depressed would also probably think I’m completely mentally healthy because not everyone acts the same way. It took several years for me to realize I was having depressive episodes because I didn’t feel sad all that often. Some people with depression just become emotionally numb and pull away from other people instead. It’s really tiring to struggle with mental illness in a way that is not noticeable to everyone else. I actually really struggle to open up to other people and getting constantly told that you can’t actually have a problem because you’re “too functional” gets old fast.

I’m sure a lot of the people who have talked about the cliff scene and why it paints a really scary picture of Mike’s mindset have experienced that kind of passive desire to stop existing, because most people won’t pick up on that sort of thing unless they know from personal experience what it’s like. @aemiron-main has a really good metaphor about this, people look for signs of struggling they can recognize so the people not struggling in a visible way aren’t given the support they need because they’re clearly doing “fine”. A lot of Mike’s s4 behavior: being disorganized, struggling academically, strong hatred towards school, general emotional detachment, short temper, “acting out” and poor self esteem are pretty textbook symptoms of depression, yet most people probably wouldn’t make that connection because they believe depression should be “more obvious” than that.

Sure you could dismiss the cliff thing as being a spur of the moment decision because Mike is going through a lot emotionally, but for someone to be like “okay guess I’m going to jump off this cliff so Dustin doesn’t get his teeth cut out” when upset kinda suggests this is something that has been on the person’s mind. Even if Mike is 12, the fact he feels like dying is probably his best option is the kind of thing that gets people put on suicide watches in real life, especially when they’re that young. Mike is so used to having his feelings invalidated whenever he tries to open up by s4 that it’s unlikely he stopped having similar thoughts. He physically tries to shield Will during the shootout and feels like he isn’t needed by the people he cares about, which suggests he still doesn’t value his own life as much as he should. The books aren’t canon but Lucas literally says Mike locked himself in his basement with video games for weeks after the Byers left.

Mike is an uncomfortably relatable depiction of “invisible” depression and the passive desire to just die already, and as someone who struggled with both in my early teens I think it’s important for people to know what that looks like because it could literally save someone’s life.

[caffeinatedopossum]

You know what time it is! It's physco analyzing owl house characters time >:) tw for discussions of mental illness, trauma, etc. And spoiler warning for s3!

Part 1: Hunter (he's my favorite ok)

Something I love about the owl house is its various depictions of ptsd- pretty much all of the characters have gone through multiple traumatic events but were all affected individually and differently, just like how real people would. It's also pretty obvious that the level of trauma is dependent on how much support the characters had from other people in their lives.

The most obvious example would be Hunter, who has had no support until meeting the hexsquad- he's seen in the show displaying blatant symptoms of c-ptsd from years of abuse and neglect. He's been not only subjected to grueling training and manipulation but also extreme isolation which, speaking from personal experience, is very damaging.

He's also a cult survivor which I think the show has handled very well- everything from the paranoia and panic attacks about running away to the subconscious self-righteousness that the emperor's coven instilled in him (evidenced in things like "I was in the *emperor's coven*. I can handle a little pain 😌". He learned a lot of untrue things about the world while in the coven and is seen having to work to consciously deconstruct those ideas and learn the truth, just like a real cult survivor would.

It's also clear he was gaslighted by the way he talks to others in thanks to them, by ending a lot of things he says with "It's not in my head" or "you believe me right?". I think Hunter would very likely have DID and I see a lot of traits in him (such as the golden guard persona he seems to have), though I sadly don't think that will ever be canon. I would love to see more good rep for DID as part of a system myself though.

He also has a lot of autistic traits though I go back and forth a lot on wether or not I think he's actually autistic. He clearly has trouble making friends and understanding social cues but thats a natural effect of being isolated for a long time so it's unclear if that's from the c-ptsd or possibly autism. He's very passionate about his interests and loves to learn and talk about them but his interests are also pretty widespread and diverse. It's still not gonna stop me from projecting my autism onto him though >:)

Tune in for part 2 where I actually talk about characters other than hunter lol

[maisonaime]

TW: discussion of trauma, mentions of a school shooting, me expressing my opinion loudly and unapologetically per usual

*sighs loudly*

*steps up on my (nonexistent) soapbox*

The way some of y’all talk about and invoke trauma so casually while arguing with strangers online is horrific. None of us is exempt from experiencing trauma in our life, so when you invoke trauma in an argument (other than to mention a warning/tag that should be added) what you’re actually doing is revealing yourself as a huge ass.

“Well how could you like [insert character here] they did [insert awful thing] to [insert another character here], you’re so ignorant to trauma”

No, you are. Would those words ever leave your mouth talking to someone in person? Then why do you feel so emboldened to say them online? Have you ever stopped to consider that someone else may see your words and feel deeply wounded or invalidated by what you said?

“Well [character]’s trauma isn’t that important compared to [other character]’s trauma”

Apples to oranges, trauma is not comparative and it is certainly not a competition.

“Well [character a] is awful because they treated [character b] this way, it doesn’t matter that they were traumatized.

Yeah absolutely that was awful and that character’s trauma does not serve as an excuse for their actions, no one’s trauma gives them license to treat others cruelly… that doesn’t stop it from happening frequently in stories and in real life. While I think it can toe a dangerous line of allowing people to excuse their actions as symptomatic of mental illness, I think it’s equally dangerous to label someone as entirely bad because that also gives them license to act according to that label.

Trauma is not a singular thing and the way people respond to trauma is entirely individual. Many many times peoples responses to trauma are not what they want them to be and it causes deep shame (speaking from personal experience), which certainly doesn’t help in the healing process. When people act from a place of pain they will sometimes pass that pain onto others, it is an awful and unavoidable consequence of being a person. Having that shame reinforced when you get online to go to a space of comfort and catharsis is unthinkable.

Part of my therapy modality (Acceptance & Committment or ACT therapy) is learning how to stop defining feelings/thoughts/actions/myself as good or bad because all those things are infinitely more multi-dimensional. Characters, people, actions are infinitely more complicated than one moment, one action, one season of their life.

When you label someone/something as bad and refuse to see the complexities of what formed and informed it, then you put a stopper on what it can become. When you do so in a public forum that others can see, and when you do it in a targeted, critical way, you’re probably unintentionally causing hurt. More than anything you’re demonstrating a commitment to misunderstanding people who have experienced trauma or struggled with mental health in a way that couldn’t be neatly tied up with a bow and packed away, as society loves to do with the traumatized and mentally ill. Especially when their symptoms are not considered socially acceptable.

And before anyone tries to come for me: if I can find a way to feel compassion for the person who shot up my university last year — despite the amount of pain and trauma they caused in a community that I love and hold dearly; despite the anguish and immense fear my friends, my family, my peers & I felt — then you can find a way to give some of these characters you hate so much a second glance before dismissing them so quickly.

TLDR: there’s no purpose in being an anti, go forth with kindness, and remember that when you’re talking about fictional characters on this app they will never read what you say about them, but real people are the ones reading and perceiving your words. When we can hold space for the multitude of experiences and traumas we have all had, we can heal from them. You’re never obligated to read a work that you don’t agree with, but you also don’t have to comment on it.