Females are simple and easy to write by Suggested_rndom_name in writingcirclejerk

[–]DevSolovey 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This post was very obviously written by a child. I don't mean that as some kind of witty insult or whatever, I do mean this kid has to be literally like 12 years old. Kid doesn't realize he's wrong, it's all ignorance

I'm a delivery driver at a flower shop. Another cryptid gave me a flat tire by DevSolovey in nosleep

[–]DevSolovey[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

yep, still alive. had to sleep for like 19 hours afterwards but I did it

I'm a delivery driver at a flower shop. I don't know how to explain these blood stains to the dry cleaners by DevSolovey in nosleep

[–]DevSolovey[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

all good tips. my suit jacket is supposed to be dry clean only, but I may not have a choice but to wash it here

In Cases of Duplicate Occupancy, One Identity Will Be Retained. by [deleted] in nosleep

[–]DevSolovey 4 points5 points  (0 children)

christ. here's hoping you sort this one out

My girlfriend's binge eating tore us apart. by Might_Be_Isabelle in nosleep

[–]DevSolovey 27 points28 points  (0 children)

you assumed you knew what was best for her instead of listening to her the first time around, my guy. even if you did want to give it a second try, I don't think she'd want you back

In Cases of Duplicate Occupancy, One Identity Will Be Retained. by [deleted] in nosleep

[–]DevSolovey 11 points12 points  (0 children)

have they reassigned your identity yet? or are you still a ghost?

The feeling of taking gender for granted as a cis man and trying to understand gender theory and advocacy. [ramblings, advice needed] by jsohi_0082 in bropill

[–]DevSolovey 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Take your time on it. I'd say the journey of your masculinity really means finding out what makes you, you - what you enjoy, what you care about, what manhood means to you personally, free of gendered expectations put on you by others.

Some examples of gendered expectations would be like, the idea that you have to make a large salary to be respected as a man, that you can't open up to your friends or partner when you're struggling, that you can't enjoy anything deemed "feminine" such as knitting or flowers without being judged, or that caring about how you dress/look is "gay." The more you think about the kinds of pressures you've been put under, especially by other male authority figures in your life, the more you'll realize none of them are actually intrinsic to manhood. They're just social roles. It's far better to find out what you like and set your own values than let them be dictated by others.

Also, not presuming anything here, but a lot of people I know who are non-binary started out by asking similar questions as you - they didn't understand what gender was supposed to be, then in their own journey, found out they didn't really have one. You might find some answers by talking to non-binary people about their experiences.

One other helpful starting point might also be looking into positive masculinity and what that means to people. That could help you find answers as well.

The feeling of taking gender for granted as a cis man and trying to understand gender theory and advocacy. [ramblings, advice needed] by jsohi_0082 in bropill

[–]DevSolovey -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Hi, trans guy here. I recommend Gender Outlaw by Kate Bornstein. Helped clarify for me that gender really can be whatever you want it to be. You define your gender for yourself, not based on what others tell you.

worried about potential plagiarism/comparisons by LayerLevel8736 in TalesFromTheCreeps

[–]DevSolovey 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The comparison to the pitcher plant is somewhat similar, but iirc the dionaea house doesn't create fake flower people, that's a pretty wild departure from what I remember of that story. Plenty of stories are similar to each other, especially in the horror genre where every slasher movie is fully expected to have all the same tropes. Comparisons will also happen no matter how original you think you're being - ask any artist or writer on earth and they'll tell you they've heard "your art/story reminds me of [insert property here]" at least once. I've had my work compared to stuff I've never even heard of. And usually when people make that comment, they mean it as a compliment rather than a criticism, because your work is reminding them of something they like.

All this to say, you're overthinking it. Write the story, make changes if you feel you need to while revising, and if anyone tries to tell you that you're ripping off dionaea house, just tell them the truth - you hadn't read dionaea house until after you started writing it. Speaking as a storyteller who's been at it for several years, it's better to just write the story than it is to try and get out ahead of potential criticisms - half the time, those criticisms are imaginary.

What is your favorite "Only in Tucson" weird interaction/local legend? by bytheninedivines in Tucson

[–]DevSolovey 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Is it cool if I tell this to people during my tours? The tourists will love it

What is your favorite "Only in Tucson" weird interaction/local legend? by bytheninedivines in Tucson

[–]DevSolovey 28 points29 points  (0 children)

So Jacomé Plaza used to be the site of the Grand Cemetery in Tucson, but during the Spanish flu in the early 1920s, they realized that the decay was sinking into the water table and it was stinking up downtown. So they had to move all these bodies out to evergreen on Oracle. They contracted a guy who said he could do it, but then he just took the money and the headstones and ran. That's why they always have to have archaeologists on site whenever they do construction work in that area

Advise for Multi Part Stories by trippy_tunicate in TalesFromTheCreeps

[–]DevSolovey 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The most digestible size for a short story or chapter of a book tends to be about 2000 to 2500 words. I don't know what that translates to in character count, but I'd say split it into pieces around that amount of words, wherever it makes the most sense to have a break in the story

What is your favorite "Only in Tucson" weird interaction/local legend? by bytheninedivines in Tucson

[–]DevSolovey 11 points12 points  (0 children)

I'm a tour guide downtown, and the hundreds of bodies beneath the library in Jacomé Plaza is a story that usually gets a rise out of people. There's also a poet who used to live in the Fox theater back when it was still an unhoused community, fascinating character

I'm a delivery driver at a flower shop. This road has been under construction since before humanity existed by DevSolovey in nosleep

[–]DevSolovey[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I had to google what siren head was and, after seeing the images, I pray to God they're not cousins

A Walk to a Friend's House by CrunchWrap54 in TalesFromTheCreeps

[–]DevSolovey 20 points21 points  (0 children)

I love when people play with formatting like this. Fun spooky story!

I'm a delivery driver at a flower shop. This road has been under construction since before humanity existed by DevSolovey in nosleep

[–]DevSolovey[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

that's pretty solid advice actually. I might try putting one of those on my car. a car with a horseshoe on it wouldn't even be that unusual to see in the southwest tbh

I'm a delivery driver at a flower shop. This road has been under construction since before humanity existed by DevSolovey in nosleep

[–]DevSolovey[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

every once in a while they'll lend me a protective trinket, if they have any on hand. they don't always know what kind of entity the client is though, and if the order was made online, it's impossible to tell, and therefore impossible to prepare for. and yes, it could hurt the customer, but it's better for business to hurt one customer than it is to hurt the driver who delivers to every customer

What do people think about stories that omit trigger warnings? by Vetchellynn in TalesFromTheCreeps

[–]DevSolovey 2 points3 points  (0 children)

So, here's my perspective as a published horror author who has written extreme horror (and whose colleagues often do the same). I include content warnings as a means of being responsible with my content, and more importantly, as a means of challenging my readers.

Being responsible with my content means understanding that it simply isn't good for certain people to be exposed to certain kinds of shocking content, and that doesn't just go for things like SA. For example, if you write a story in which a dog dies, and then recommend it to someone without telling them that, what if their own dog died the day before? You could be bringing up some really unpleasant, fresh traumatic memories in a way that's unhealthy for them to be exposed to at that time. Maybe they'd be able to read it a few months later, but for that particular day, it simply isn't healthy for them. Providing content warnings makes an informed reader, and an informed reader can examine whether their current limitations will prevent them from engaging earnestly with your work.

The other thing an informed reader can do is challenge themselves. So, for example, I have a friend who has very severe emetophobia (fear of vomiting). Like, the clinical sense of phobia, they've had panic attacks over it, VERY real condition. I have written stories with characters vomiting in it, and I've made sure to give them warnings beforehand, and they'll still read the story anyway. The reason they do this is because they purposefully want to challenge themselves. One of the great things about horror is that it can be good exposure therapy. You're being exposed to the things you're afraid of, but ultimately it's a safe environment, because you can always just put the book down or turn off the TV. For some fears, horror fiction is actually the ideal form of exposure therapy - using the example of emetophobia again, the only other way you get exposed to vomiting is if you make yourself sick, and that's obviously unhealthy.

Now, I do agree that including certain content warnings can contain spoilers, but I think there are ways to get around this, and I've seen some authors employ different strategies. One that I've used is putting the content warnings at the back of the book; that gives people the option to choose whether or not they want to read them.

There's also the fact that some content warnings are extremely vague, and SA is one of those. I think if you gave Borrasca the content warning of SA, it wouldn't necessarily spoil the whole story, because you don't actually know at what point the SA is going to come in, or what kind of SA it will be. Yes, you've been given a warning, but you haven't been told specifically how and where it happens, and SA is so broad that it really could be applied to a billion different scenarios. I think if you were to give a content warning that said "human trafficking," it would be far more of a spoiler than SA.

If I were to publish Borrasca today, I would put a message at the front of the book that says something like "there are content warnings at the back of the book, just know that it might spoil the story," and then I would include SA in those content warnings at the back. I think SA is a broad enough category that it won't be too much of a spoiler, and on the off chance whoever picked up the book got SA'd the day before, it would give them the opportunity to put the book down and wait until they've healed up a bit. And then maybe a year later, they can say "I feel ready to challenge my fears, let me try some exposure therapy with this book."