Rise Up, Oh Heart, For There is Another Battle to Win

nicroburst asked: So I saw your story about Soul eater and got a laugh out of it, I was curious what you've watched since that fateful day?

Actually I’ve been pretty busy with college, so I mostly have a few that I rewatch a bunch (although this summer I’m planning to go hard and put myself through all of Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood in one fell swoop, pray for me). Let’s see…

I love FMA 03 a lot, I’m currently subjecting my roommate to the pain, it’s fun. I’d probably say it’s my favorite anime (to repeat, I have not seen Brotherhood yet, and am working on it).

I love Soul Eater, of course, I know it pretty well by now.

I’ve seen most of Death Note although it didn’t really do it for me (might’ve been the company, tbh, should probably give it another try).

I’ve seen some of Attack on Titan, which I LOVED because I am a sick twist, but then it was taken off the platform I was streaming it from and also I find subs very hard to watch (yay ADHD), so I haven’t seen most of it.

I like Kaze no Stigma, which is ridiculous and magicky and on Hulu. Fire magic, demons, dubious deals with nebulous all-powerful spirits, fucked up family dynamics, the works. It’s absurd, I think it’s great.

My roommate loves Hetalia and I’m enough of a history nerd to get a huge kick out of it.

I meant to watch Fairy Tale but I got crazy busy around episode four and keep forgetting to go back, so I don’t think that counts.

I watched Black Butler on the recommendation of the same guy who showed us Soul Eater, and really loved the first season and never got around to the second.

My roommate and I watch Ouran when we’re tired/stressed, so we watch Ouran a LOT at school, and we also watch a few other…um…I’m going to admit that we call them ‘garbage animes’ which basically means that we really love them but would also never actually recommend them to another human being, ever. These are things like Seven Deadly Sins on Netflix, and having now been told that piece of information, I naturally expect you to take it to your grave. (Okay, IMO it’s great fun, but it has a lot of what you might call…common anime problems re: women, etc, so YMMV and all that.)

Obviously Avatar: The Last Airbender, but that’s Western animation, so.

As long as we’re on the subject, though, obligatory plug for my favorite non-anime animated thing, though: X-Men Evolution. It’s great, I love it, I am such an X-Men nerd it’s sad.

Um…yeah, I’m sure I’ve forgotten some stuff. But that’s what I can think of right now.

Moran watches anime. Who’d'a thunk.

Aaaanyway, I’d say “tell no one”, but I’m on mobile and I didn’t think it through and am too lazy to retype this whole thing when I get wifi back on my laptop, so. Whatever. I have no shame anyway, come the fuck at me.

amireal2u:

Marvel: ANYONE CAN BE BAD! IT’S UNPREDICTABLE! YOUR HEROES CAN FAIL YOU! PEOPLE MEANT TO PROTECT CAN BE VILLAINS!

Women who has spent 30 minutes explaining to the cops that her mini skirt has nothing to do with her sexual consent: Really?

Black Mother whose unarmed child was shot in the back: I had no idea.

Woman taking the bus while wearing a burka who has just extracted herself out of a conversation about how it’s okay now, she can wear whatever she wants to fall into a ‘conversation’ about how all terrorists are immigrants: I’m shocked. Shocked.

Black Man driving a BMW who has just been pulled over for the 4th time in 3 months: To find gambling going on in this establishment.

White dudes: I KNOW! It’s totally made me rethink my world view! *whistles loudly as he walks alone at night and takes the shortcut through the dark alley so he can get home faster to read his new comic*.

(via dubiousculturalartifact)

itsstuckyinmyhead:

itsstuckyinmyhead:

itsstuckyinmyhead:

I don’t have time for people who talk shit about steve rogers

I also don’t have time for people who victim blame bucky barnes 

and i really really really don’t have time for people who hate sharon carter

(Source: starwarsisgay, via starwarsisgay)

Writing PTSD (and other mental disorders) Accurately

writeworld:

Anonymous asked: “What would be the best way to write a character who develops PTSD? She was abducted for a couple of weeks, and I thought it’d make the story more realistic. She’s a pretty strong character, but I’m also stuck with how her colleagues, especially one who’s particularly close to her, could help her.

This is a very good question. Writing a character with a psychological disorder can be confusing and difficult at first, it is definitely not impossible.  

A tip you often hear is, “Write what you know.“ That’s great, but sometimes you want to write something that you don’t know. Rather than producing a very inaccurate/unrealistic depiction of a serious mental disorder, it’s best to learn everything you possibly can about it. That said, I’m glad you asked!

I want to give you something to chew on:

Fiction is the means by which we can escape reality by immersing ourselves in it.  

You are taking on the task of creating a character who develops a very human disorder, because you want it to be true-to-life, to be realistic. Great! Realism is a worthy aspiration. I’d be worried if a character who was abducted for two weeks showed absolutely no signs of damage from the experience.

The first thing I would encourage every writer to do—no matter what kind of character you are creating—is research. Always, always, research. We have an article pertaining to writing mental disorders. Hopefully that can answer some parts of the question, so once you’ve read that, proceed (or ignore us and proceed anyway)!

In this article, we will try to examine writing PTSD specifically, starting with how to research psychological disorders. Yes, that was plural. It is possible for a person to have more than one psychological disorder after experiencing a trauma. That is why it is important to brush up on a variety of disorders related to PTSD. You want to pinpoint the character’s symptoms so you can best depict her experience with the disorder.

• Find someone qualified. Do you know anyone (family/friend/acquaintance) who is a qualified social worker/therapist/counselor/psychologist? If you do, reach out to them. They not only possess experience in working with people who have psychological disorders, they can fact-check the realism of your story.
• Find someone who lived/lives it. If you know someone who is willing to talk about his or her PTSD, that person would be a terrific resource for you. Be very careful, however, of the way that you approach the treatment of a person’s mental disorder, especially in a dialogue face-to-face. Prepare specific questions, vet these questions through another person who knows your resource personally to be sure that they don’t cross a line, and remember that, while you strive to write something fictional, your resource actually lived/lives their trauma. Behave yourself and be respectful.
• Google! Search terms like “Post Traumatic Stress Disorder,” “Mental disorders,” and “Survivors of assault”. It’s important to learn about the disorder itself, and the people who actually experience(d) it. There are support groups online. We don’t want to say infiltrate them, but there are good resources and first-hand accounts of experiences with it that may benefit your writing.  
• Read up. Books covering a wide range of mental disorders can be found in most any book store–the most famous being the DMS-IV-TR. Self-help books are also a valuable place to look, although PTSD is best when treated with help from a trained professional. See also: Every TV show that brings in counselors after a traumatic event occurs. Not everything you see how TV is accurate, but that part is at least worth watching.

Researching the disorders in question will allow you to consider your character more realistically, which leads to more realistic writing.

Secondly, you need to research your character. That must sound odd, because unless this is a fan fiction piece and you can look up a backstory or biography, your character is original, a.k.a. created by you. Trust me, you’ve got plenty to do.

Questions to ask yourself on this front:

• What was the character like before the abduction? Was she very outgoing and gregarious? Shy and reserved? Understanding your character is key in terms of understanding how she will react to trauma.
  Let’s take a look at the meaning of psychological trauma, as explained by Dr. Kathleen Young:

  Psychological trauma is the result of extraordinarily stressful events that shatter your sense of security and result in you feeling helpless, alone and vulnerable in a dangerous world. (x)

  This is important because experiencing trauma in any case causes a change in the victim. It can impede the emotional development in adolescents, and snap an adult into a depressed, sometimes child-like state. You want to show that change in the character. Perhaps, your character is facing the hardships of piecing herself back together in the aftermath of the abduction – being “strong” as she was, the experience will undoubtedly be a blow to her perception of herself.
• What’s the character like after the abduction? How do you show these changes? In many cases, the effects are obvious (anxiety, nightmares, etc.) There will be more subtle differences as well. For example:
  

  Eva Mendez Kor, a Holocaust survivor (check out the documentary, Forgiving Dr. Mengele.) She experienced PTSD after her experiences in Dr. Mengele’s despicable twin research endeavors. Friends and family notice long-term effects from the trauma she sustained at Aushwitz. These include: a heightened sense of resourcefulness and never leaving her plate with food left on it.

  So, maybe your character is more alert of her surroundings, more jumpy, very sensitive to what are called “triggers” or, things that can set off the disorder such as; yelling, being touched, hearing about abductions, hearing a phrase or term used by her abductors, etc.

Now for that close friend of your character’s. Support is very important to the recovery from a disorder like PTSD. I would encourage you to go through the same research process that I outlined for researching the disorder to find resources on what a loved one can do to help a friend coping with PTSD. 

A couple of suggestions:

• Can this person be a confidant? Maybe he/she is the first person your character really opens up to about the abduction – that’s a great way to show that there is trust in the relationship.
• Is this person silently observant? Maybe this person takes special note of the changes in her character after the abduction and they have some kind of “unspoken trust” about it, where the moment she begins to falter, the friend is at her side.
• Or, of course, whatever you think of as an alternative.

Once you are equipped with all of your shiny new knowledge about your character and PTSD, the next feasible step is to write! Implement what you learn into your story.

A few links for you on PTSD:

• Support for/Symptoms of PTSD Women and Trauma
• Women and Trauma
• Checklist/Survey for Trauma (for children, but the symptoms are largely the same)
• Symptoms of PTSD
• What Causes PTSD? 
• National Center for PTSD - Effect on Family and Friends

Thank you for your question! If you want to know anything else about writing, feel free to send us a message via our ask box!

-H

(via littlestartopaz)

Guys!!!!

I have 200 followers???  How???  I just…y’all are so sweet???

New followers can collect their party hats on the left (top hats and beanies also available), their sticker sheet on the right, and their all-access pass to my inbox at the door.

Now, listen, sweeties, I’ve been considering doing a thing, and this is a good excuse to do it, so I’m going to post some of my writing as…the online equivalent of champagne, I guess?

All right guys

Um, PSA?  If you’re going to message me–and trust me, I want you to message me–please introduce yourself or at least…like…tell me something about who you are/why you’re in my messages.  I’ve received two messages today from completely random blogs who weren’t even following me and apparently had nothing on their blogs, and I…look, guys, I’m sorry that I just kind of blocked you out of hand, but in my experience people who just send ‘hi’ are a bit sketchy.

So.  Introduce yourself, because I’m a bit paranoid and jittery.  It’s a win-win.  Yes?

lupinatic:

halfdesiqueen:

what i love about both remus and lily is that they both seem to do this thing where it’s like “oh you’re an asshole? then you may right now immediately go fuck yourself” like when snape called lily a mudblood she was instantly like “ok you deserve whatever you get also your underpants are gross #evansout” and then when remus finds out that peter is alive he’s instantly just down to calmly fucking murder him “shall we kill him together?” like dad please

Remus and Lily will stick by you through hell and high water, even if they know you’re in the wrong and kick themselves for enabling you. But if you prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that you don’t deserve it and you never did, then you are well and truly invited to a game of Hide and Go Fuck Yourself.

(Source: bengaliprincess)

scribefindegil:

one of my Favorite Things is when you have a line in a song that’s obviously a metaphor but when you put it in the right fandom context it’s actually completely literal

(via cthulhu-with-a-fez)

I’m taking that creative writing class and I just.  Okay.  Guys.  Explain me a thing.  WHY have I read two stories in this past semester about rape?  I mean, I guess the one was more about abuse followed by murder (see my rant here), but still, Christ.  Honestly I’m going to meet with the teacher about the most recent one, which I’m supposed to critique for Thursday, and just be like, “I fucking cannot do this.  I am not objective enough to say shit about this girl’s writing.  This is pages upon pages of a girl who witnessed the rape of someone she considered a friend and did nothing, and I have spent way too much time on the wrong side of that equation to be objective here.“  I just.  Do not understand why rape is the thing.  Like, guys, it’s not like it’s edgy and cool, okay, I promise, people have been hideous to each other since fucking Ur was nothing but a twinkle in the eye of some random ape.  They’re not treating it as a very deep trauma and dealing with the fallout and handling it with as much care and compassion as possible, it’s not even fucking productive, it’s just annoying, Christ, fucking STOP.

Also, I honestly don’t care if it makes me a cultural heathen, I don’t like weird abstract writing that’s intended to ‘push the boundaries of what we think of as prose.’  Like, no.  It’s not a failing on my part if I want to read fantasy novels with, oh, I don’t know, plot and characters and literally anything other than obsessive navel gazing.  The next time I have to read the literary equivalent of that very famous piece of modern art that’s literally just a piece of plywood painted uniformly blue, I am going to scream.