Zi-lins - HI

if no one else's going to fill the boifang tag with analysis out of pure brainrot then i will

PTSD (Leojun) Fanfic - Nightmare [hurt and comfort]

Jun wakes up in the middle of the night from a vivid nightmare about the war. Struggling and lost, Jun goes over to Leona to find help and comfort.

[ WARNING! This fanfic contains these themes and situations that may be uncomfortable or triggering to some: ]

- Traumatic episode / possible panic attack

- Depiction of war (during flashback)

- Graphic description of injuries/gore (during flashback)

(i wrote this a long while ago, i finally tweaked it and now im posting)

(google docs file for easier reading)

Google Docs

leojun fic - nightmare

The sounds of an explosion. Vivid, and closer than she could ever imagine. A huge blast launched the soldier far away from her position, deb

( FLASHBACK )

The sounds of an explosion. Vivid, and closer than she could ever imagine. A huge blast launched the soldier far away from her position, debris shooting from everywhere in the process. The place was severed with a burning heat, making it almost unbearable to stand there. The soldier's ears were ringing, loudly, and her vision felt heavily limited and blurry. Weakened, helpless on the ground, she felt her body ache with pain. A burning sensation ran through the cuts of her uniform. She weakly raises her hand, as she feels an unpleasant, sticky substance running down her face. She touches it, but her face stings, and her fingers retreat. Through her blurry eyesight, she sees her fingertips dirty with blood. The dull realization, and the pain kicking in right as she does it comes all in impact. She hears a distant radio noise after the ringing, someone calling for her. She feels her instincts call back, and she drags herself through the tall grass to her gun, launched right in front of her. The pain on that side of her face was insistent, awfully uncomfortable. One of her eyes could barely see. It was just a dark, red blur.

She reaches for her gun, and picks it up with the bit of strength she got. She embraces it tightly, like no one could take it away from her. A helicopter sound is heard in the distance, approaching closer, with voices coming from it. Her strength fails and she stumbles to the ground, still holding the gun, feeling the pain and her overloaded senses exhausting her. It wasn't over. It can't be over… It can't be… right…?

( End of flashback )

Jun wakes up in her bed in a yelp, her body and head jerking up out of fear, as she starts heavily panting. Her fingers would not stop twitching, and it felt like the heat from the dream was still in that room. Her body trembled and shivered, and felt like she could not control herself. Suddenly, a red dog comes out from the dark, and jumps in front of her bed. Jun is startled, and she almost kicks her feet at it until she recognizes it. Red, her dog, looked at her with a worried expression, barking. Jun stared at him and held herself, and her breathing calmed down a little, along with her racing heart. Red slowly approached her as it felt safe, and she embraced him tightly while he whined.

"I'm sorry boy… I didn't mean to scare you…" Jun whispered with a raspy voice, guilty for waking him up. She looked at her surroundings, still having the graphic scenes of her dream present in her head. Also, the stinging sensation on her eye scar, strong and vivid.

Jun didn't cry, but she sniffed and wiped out her glassy eye. She looked at Red again, who was now giving her caring dog kisses on her face.

"Thank you, Red, I-I'm ok now…" She rubbed her hands on his face softly. Red whined again, but backed away. Jun turned around to sit down, feeling like her energy was depleted, and she looked to the window. The night was dark and the sky was filled with little sparks of shimmering stars. She couldn't tell the time exactly, but expected to be very late due the silence of the city around her.

She stood up, or at least tried. Her legs trembled, and she immediately tripped on the floor, falling to the ground. Red came by her side to assist her, and Jun slowly got up, aching. Despite being only a dream, it felt like she had just lived through that awful moment in her life again. She could sense all her past scars, the blurry vision, her scrambled senses…

Jun walked slowly towards the light switch. She debated. Then decided that the lack of lightning felt more comfortable, and she was afraid that the light in her room would trigger another uncomfortable sensation in her. She walked towards her shower, to try to shake the bad sensations away, and she took a quick, cold bath.

She walked towards the mirror to check on her eye scar through the dark. The aching was going away, slowly, but it was still there. Despite having healed physically, it still hurt emotionally. Thinking about it, it just made the stinging come back stronger.

Jun sighed. Everything felt painful, everything felt exhausting. Yet, everything looked ok.

No, it wasn't okay. No matter how hard she tries to move on, those flashbacks always come back to haunt her. Even in her comfortable room, even in the comfort of friendly citizens, she felt restless, but at the same time, tired. The depths of her mind fighting to keep herself functional. And yet, sometimes it felt like it was losing battle.

She walked towards her bed again, but she pondered it. She didn't feel tired. Actually, she was afraid to sleep. Afraid of sleeping and having bad memories come to her through nightmares. Jun whimpered. God's sake, she just wanted to rest.

Red sniffed Jun and looked at her, expecting her to do something. Despite loving the presence of the caring old dog, he wasn't a human, and Jun felt like she had to share her pain with someone that could listen and comprehend her.

Her missing eye ached more. And she really wanted an actual person to comfort her, so she at least could have a peaceful night.

Jun felt guilty as one name came to mind: Leona. But in the middle of the night, would Leona even come to help? She feels guilty for thinking about bothering her. But out of everyone, her presence is always comforting and soothing. Even if she can't understand what Jun went through, she was always there to help and care for her.

Jun looked at the bed one more time, thinking if it was actually a good idea. But she tried to shake away that doubt. She looked at Red and lowered down to give him some pets.

"I'm gonna have some time out for a bit. You stay here, okay?"

Red cried, but he didn't stop her. He sat down and stood there, staring at her. "Take care of the place for me, alright? I'll be back." She said, before heading out.

...

At the front of Leona's apartment door, Jun started thinking again. Once again, she felt bad for bothering her in the middle of the night, even if Leona probably said she wouldn't mind it. Also, she didn't even know if she would wake up to open the door. Jun was feeling unsure every second. But she was afraid to back away. So she decided to knock and wait, and leave if she gets no answers.

She knocked rhythmically on the door, not too loud to scare her or even wake Bao up. Then Jun stood around and waited. A few seconds passed, and she didn't get any answers. She was about to give up and head out, until she heard some noise from inside the house. Then, sounds of footsteps coming closer, and then keys rattling.

The door is unlocked and then opened. Jun couldn't help but freeze in place, staring at Leona appearing through the door. Her hair was messy, and she wore an oversized shirt that Jun assumes to be pajamas. Leona rubbed one of her eyes, tired.

"...Hello?" She softly said, before noticing who was the person in front of her. As she realized, her eyes grew surprised. "Jun…?"

"Hi…" Jun waved her hand shyly. She looks to the ground. "...Uhm, sorry for bothering your night…"

"It's ok." Leona replied quietly, and invited her in, without questioning anything. "Come in."

Leona went inside and Jun followed her, and she looked around the cozy, yet cluttered living room. Leona went back to close the door. Jun didn't know what to do next, so she just sat down at Leona's old sofa, thoughtful.

Leona approaches her, with the tired face of someone who abruptly just woke up. But she didn't look uncomfortable. Instead, her eyes were concerned for Jun. She sits down next to her, and they stay a little bit in silence.

Jun starts muttering "I… uhm… didn't expect you to answer, in the middle of the night. Sorry…"

"That's alright. I got used to noise at night because of little Bao." She manages to smirk. "Mother instincts, perhaps?"

Jun let out a quiet shuckle, then they were met with silence again. Leona decided to break that silence.

"Is everything ok?" Leona asks softly. Her worried tired eyes could not leave Jun's. Jun crossed her arms, like she was trying to embrace herself.

"I… uhm…" Jun stuttered for a little, feeling it all come back, very slowly. "...I had a nightmare. A pretty bad one. I… was afraid to go back to sleep after that…"

Leona nodded. "I see… is there anything I can help you with?"

"I…I'm not sure…" Jun's voice came out weak, and she felt herself shrink. For some reason, she felt distant, and fragile next to Leona.

The pain came back again, and her hands trembled. She held her eyepatch while trying to hold herself from completely breaking apart, jaws clenching tightly. She felt herself lose her mind to the depths of her past memories… For a moment, she was injured and alone again on the battlefield.

"...Jun? Jun!" Leona called for her, noticing her sudden change in behavior. She held her shoulder, but Jun was tense. Leona noticed she was going through another traumatic episode.

Then Leona raised her hands to her face, softly speaking to her, with a noticeable urge on her voice "Jun, please… Look at me!". Jun's eye was fixated and looking through Leona, looking at something far distant in her mind. Then, her anxious eye locked with Leona's, noticing her worry, and Jun's muscles relaxed. When Jun had calmed down, Leona rushed to embrace her. Jun still felt lost, very confused and nervous, but she still hugged her back.

"Jun…" Leona whispered, her expression clouded with worry and sadness after watching the struggles of the pink haired girl. Jun didn't know how to react to it. But the itchy, stinging sensation on her eye wouldn't leave. Her hands stopped trembling, but Jun held her eyepatch, once again. She felt that thing bothers her to hell.

Jun pulled away, startling Leona. Jun grabbed the eyepatch, and ripped it away from her head, throwing far away from her. She lays her hand softly on her damaged eye (which was no more of an eye, just an empty skin covered by a huge scar), just wanting that non-physical pain to go away.

She looked up to see Leona's shocked expression. Then she realized that Leona has probably never seen Jun without her eye patch. She felt embarrassed for acting like this in front of her, and almost felt like apologizing again, but she couldn't say anything at all.

Leona also remained still, wordless for a little bit. Then she raised her hand to caress Jun's cheeks. Then the other hand reached to Jun's available hand, holding it. Jun couldn't help but to tear up.

"Shhh… You're going to be ok…" Leona comforted her through quiet, velvety words "...I don't want to see you feel hurt anymore… I'm here for you… okay?"

Jun lowered her head to lay on Leona's chest, not getting rid of her soft hand caressing her skin. She finally breaks and starts quietly sobbing, holding Leona tightly for her warmth and comfort. Leona raised her other hand to caress Jun's fluffy hair.

"Nothing can hurt you now. I won't let anything else hurt you." Leona's voice was quiet, but strong. Even through only words, Jun felt comfort in her care. Next to her, like this, her pain and anguish started fading away, leaving just a tender feeling.

Jun held Leona's hand that was touching her face, in the comfort of her delicate touch. Then, she moved her head until Leona's hand was over Jun's scar, allowing her to touch it.

"Does it hurt?" Leona asked, sympathetic.

"Sometimes… sometimes it does." Jun replied, with a muffled voice.

Jun lifted her head up, with her hand still over Leona's hand. She looked at Jun's scar, carefully. A deep cut that healed through time. But even if it was healed, something else broken inside of Jun kept hurting her.

"If so…"

Leona stared at her face, brushing her finger softly against her skin, and then she moved forward. Jun is taken by surprise when Leona approaches her face next to hers, giving her a delicate kiss on the scar. Jun's body shivered and she flinched, but slowly she allowed herself to relax with Leona's tender touch.

Leona backed away, with a calm smile, then asked. "Does this helps?"

Jun looked to the side, embarrassed. "Yeah…"

She fell back into Leona's arms shyly, feeling at ease and also exhausted from the energy outburst. She couldn't help but feel like a child who hurt themselves and ran to their mother for comfort.

"Do you want to stay over?" Leona asked, calmly. "You can sleep next to me, I wouldn't mind."

But Jun only let out a soft groan. She started feeling tired again, and didn't want to leave Leona's comfortable embrace. She called for the pink haired girl again, but instead of replying, Jun just rested her body on top of Leona, surprising her and making her lay on the sofa as she wrapped her arms around Leona's waist. She let out a quiet chuckle, and she ran her fingers through Jun's hair, as her head rested on Leona's chest.

"Good night, Jun." Leona quietly whispered, as they both cuddled on the small sofa, Jun falling asleep comfortably and soundly like she hadn't in a long time. At this moment, she felt peace.

💖

PART ½ —> PART 2/2

US AGAINST THE WORLD by Gavin Aung Than

This is the third appearance of the Ballet Boy and his father. You can read PART 1 and PART 2.

Song

The Shape of Water by Arashi.C.

Day 2 - Creation

Imagine creating another stick figure that came to life and tried to destroy your computer. Couldn’t be me. Point and laugh everyone

Edit: I JUST REALIZED THE FUCKING COMIC LINE CUT OFF FOR ONE OF THE PANELS AND IT LOOKS LIKE THERE’S JUST TWO CURSORS FLOATING

😔😔😔

Hii, i admire you a lot, every chapter of ECM encourages me a lot, i hope yo are well and im sorry for the bad english in my cuestion😭

Your best writing tips? Everything is valid, whether writing in general o writing fanfics, whatever you think for sure is good, thanks for writing 🙏💗😔

thank-you so much!! I'm glad my writing can do that for you!!

Oh man, I have soooo many things to say, but I'll give you some simplified ones to start with! Buckle up buttercup, this is a long'un!

General Writing Tips:

I know it sounds dumb! But just write. Write a little, write a lot, just try not to get bogged down with it being 'good' or 'bad' or anywhere in between. I'm a firm believer in writing being like a muscle: the more you do it, the easier (and the better) it becomes. And also, crucially, this shouldn't be a time where you do things like... a) hunting for the perfect word b) doing research c) cross reference with a past chapter This is a writing only time! Make yourself place holders (I write XK for words I can't think of, as it's 2 letter that will never appear together so I can CTRL+F it easily! I make comments in the draft specifying what to check or research. I highlight parts I know need LOTS of work) so you can quickly move past what's blocking you and continue writing.

Find a writing habit and environment that works for you. Typing? Hand-writing? Coloured pages? White pages? Dictating? Working in a public place? A private space? (When I start out a story, I often handwrite. And I'll turn back to it if I'm stuck, too. I also write a lot in public, as I find the pressure of other people around me stops me wasting time on my phone... or Tumblr lol).

Get yourself a writing friend! I have a friend I see almost weekly and it's my most productive time of the week (For example, today I wrote 5600 words! Crazy!). Online works too (if you use the pomodoro, you can compare word counts, make a competition of it). If you're doing it IRL, DO NOT expect to get anything done the first time. Or the second time.... but the more you do it, the easier it is for you both to fall straight into writing. (This is the exact same advice I giving to my students about 'study dates' 😉 )

If you find it hard to 'break the seal', then try a warm up. Set yourself a 5-10 minute timer and write based on an activity. E.g. tell a story from the POV of an object in your room! Write a detailed description of your foot! Write a 5 sentence story! Find a picture and write a scene inspired by it! Or get yourself a prompt list and use that. These are all things I would do for students back when I ran a creative writing club at school.

Use the pomodoro system when writing (it's great for studying too!). That's 20 minutes of nothing but writing - no searching up stuff! No looking at your phone! Just writing. Then take a 5 minute break. Then another 20 minutes of writing. Rinse and Repeat! You'd be amazed at how much you can get done!

THIS ONE IS SO IMPORTANT: 👏 The first thing you write is the worst thing you write! That's not just okay! It's expected!! 👏 This is something I tell ALL my students and equally myself. The editing process is SO crucial and honestly, the best thing you can do to improve is - and you'll hate me for saying this! - rewrite your entire first draft. This is why I say, 'don't worry about the first thing you've written'. Because it won't be the end product. (This is why I so often hand-write. Because typing it up then becomes the rewrite.) The re-write is when you should be thinking carefully about your phrasing, and when you can go and do that research. (I will note, I actually don't do this much anymore, but I've also been writing obsessively for 19 years... so do with that what you will (´▽`ʃ♡ƪ)

Read your work out loud. What reads fine in your head might come out as nonsense out loud. This is especially true for dialogue! The better it flows out your fabulous mouth, the better it reads. I've done this so much I've mostly internalised it, but I always always do my final edit as a read through out loud. All 140+K of ECM has come out my gob at least once.

Actual writing tips:

When it comes to sentence structure and phrasing, one of the best things I ever did for myself was read the book Sin and Syntax by Constance Hale. I don't expect every writer to do so, but I do think it's worth reading (I'd like to specify, I generally HATE reading non-fiction but I found it a valuable read).

Here are a few things to keep in mind when actually writing:

Bad repetition: it's a classic, but overuse of certain words sticks out like a sore thumb. Even now I'll do it and won't notice until the final read through (out loud! See my previous tip haha). That is NOT to say that you should just right click 'synonyms'! It's better to edit the sentence itself, think about whether that word is even necessary before choosing to select another word).

Nuance in language is soooo important. This is why I generally discourage just the right-click 'synonym' option. Certainly in the nonsensical English language, there are subtleties in word choice that are critical to preventing your work for turning into nonsense (something I wish my students would understand!). Think of the different meanings conveyed through choices like house / bungalow / condo / flat / apartment / mansion / Mcmansion. All have differing connotations and can't be used interchangeably. Same with floor vs ground. Make sure you understand the connotations (associated meanings) of the word you're choosing before you use it.

Following on from this, Choose specific nouns and dynamic verbs, rather than relying on your adjectives/adverbs to do all the work. Not ' one storey house': bungalow. Not 'walk tiredly': stumble / trudge. Of course, you don't have to do this all the time and I'm not saying adverbs/adjectives are evil! But I think a lot of writers become overly reliant upon them.

Avoid redundant language. Consider the words that are doing the heavy lifting in your sentences. Is there anything in the sentence that doesn't need to be there because you've already implied it? e.g. Sara trudged tiredly into her bedroom and fell onto her bed. In this example, 'trudged' already implies exhaustion. And one would assume her bed is in her bedroom. Likewise 'fall' isn't the most exciting of verbs. So I'd change it to something like this -> Sara trudged through the doorway to collapse onto her bed. (Note here I'm also thinking of the implied meaning of 'onto' rather than 'into', which would suggest her bed is still made up).

Keep in mind who your narrator is and adjust your writing accordingly. Consider their personality, their background and the influence of their culture on the ways in which they'd think / write things. For example, as Peter is a character prone to ramble, I'll sometimes have him do the same in his narration. And because he's a silly little guy, I'll also have his train of thoughts turn in silly ways. His science background means I'll occasionally throw in a science reference too (though it's not my strongest knowledge base these days! So it requires more research lol). In contrast, Jason's love of literature make him more likely to use 'fancy' words like 'eschew', literary references and more elaborate metaphors. But at the same time, his Crime Alley upbringing means I have him use a lot of contractions. And because I see him as a character who is both a dramatic bastard and a highly efficient guy, I will use a lot of one word, or very short sentences. (If you're using multiple narrators, it might pay to write these ideas down!)

Anyways, I could go on, but it's also 20 to 11PM here and I've already written 5600 words today 🥲 My phalanges are tired!

I at least hope you can find something helpful or encouraging from all of this!

I felt like it was about time I gave Mario and Luigi an emotional support animal a new friend. So I figured why not bring a Yoshi into the mix? Now read my ramble explaining the Yoshi’s ENTIRE backstory! :’D 

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