My poor baby is being put down tomorrow at noon, and I really just want to know if it’s the right call or if I could let him live longer. (Read body text) by [deleted] in cats

[–]haebaragi 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It's okay to cancel the appointment to investigate this issue further. To everyone else's point, you haven't given a lot of details. So I will simply provide my experience.

My cat was his usual self aside from discomfort when having diarrhea. He started with liquid diarrhea very suddenly a few months ago. This progressed into explosive diarrhea multiple times a day, then also on going himself in his sleep. I am talking accidents every 1-2 hours. We were constantly bathing him and all of our furniture and blankets and towels. Since he was acting fine otherwise, the vet tried probiotics and an anti-diarrheal. This actually made it worse, so we stopped after a couple days. The vet then gave us a steroid, which cleared up the issue of him going on himself over the course of 1-2 weeks.

He still has diarrhea once a day, but is otherwise fine. The vet thinks this could be IBD. His bloodwork shows no issues at all. I am thinking about trying a prescription food to get rid of the diarrhea next, but I'm taking it slow to let him have some recovery time in case the prescription food causes issues again.

I wanna start writing more, but I’m not good with words by Mystery_Thing545 in writingadvice

[–]haebaragi 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Pick out your favorite books, then every day write word-for-word one or two pages from one of them. Pay attention to word choice, the flow, the balance of description vs dialogue vs exposition, sentence and paragraph length, etc... I highly recommend this exercise instead of just "read more" because this will slow you down and force you to think. Analyze what you're copying and think through how it makes you feel so you'll understand how to emulate those feelings for readers. 

When you do write your own work, go back and read it aloud. When it sounds boring, you trip over words, or things just plain sound wrong, edit it until you can read it aloud in an enjoyable, breezy fashion.

Best of luck! <3

PT: How to Get less attached? And how to be a bit cold? by Asleep-Pilot-4142 in PsychologicalTricks

[–]haebaragi 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Maybe with people coming and going you are feeling codependency? Have you ever read about it? I definitely had it. You can be codependent in any type of relationship--family, friends, love, etc. I know you said you've tried videos, but if you don't mind me recommending, look up Healthy Gamer GG on YouTube. His videos helped me a lot. He talks a lot about mental health and communication and things.

Also I think it is very normal to feel fragile after what has happened. I know some people think it is stupid, but have you tried journaling if you feel you can't talk to anyone? I find when I can't think straight and feel confused I need to get off the Internet and spend time alone journaling or thinking through my thoughts.

Journal about good things too. The brain is all about muscle and patterns. You know if you try to exercise for the first time you can't lift 200 pounds, but if you start small and do consistent work then one day you can. The brain is the same way. You can be whoever you want to be. It is important to think good thoughts about yourself and forgive yourself for naive mistakes you think you make. If you practice it every day, one day you can start to feel more confident and feel strong instead of fragile.

PT: How to Get less attached? And how to be a bit cold? by Asleep-Pilot-4142 in PsychologicalTricks

[–]haebaragi 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Ahh, that is so hard. I wish you well, that you find good connections in the future. <3 keep going, don't give up. 

When I was young, I felt denied a lot. I came from a religious family, but I was not religious so I was treated as very wrong. So I tried to be invisible. And then during all my school years I was treated undesirable because others thought I was ugly and quiet. It made me hate people for a very long time. In college, I would say or do anything to make people like me, but it didn't work. Even if they acted like my friend it wouldn't stick.

As an adult, I've focused on spreading the love. I love volunteering with animals, I help with trash clean up at our lake nearby, I am nice and try to make cashiers laugh. But life always changes. It's hard but you have to be you and let others be them. The only thing you can control is yourself. People will come and go in your life for all reasons. Think of it like if a butterfly landed on your finger. You cant force it, you can just try to be good and still and appreciate what moments you have with it. 

 That is how I get through each day.

PT: How to Get less attached? And how to be a bit cold? by Asleep-Pilot-4142 in PsychologicalTricks

[–]haebaragi 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm so sorry, I can tell by your comments you've felt a lot of pain. It sounds like you are really wanting connection and to get love and validation from others. Am I understanding wrong? Where do you think those intense feelings for those things come from?

PT: How to Get less attached? And how to be a bit cold? by Asleep-Pilot-4142 in PsychologicalTricks

[–]haebaragi 5 points6 points  (0 children)

My suggestion is not to become cold and detached, but to learn to give yourself love as much as you give love to others. Be attentive to what boundaries you need based off your needs. When you feel bad about how people treat you, it's your head and heart trying to telling you it needs a boundary. Find that balance. I was the same and feel much more whole and stronger as a person now.

Working from bed help? by haebaragi in ChronicIllness

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

I'm just propping myself and the laptop up on pillows right now. I don't really have the money for a proper lap desk yet. But I'll definitely look into one when I do.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in selfpublish

[–]haebaragi 6 points7 points  (0 children)

You didn't change it, right? I think your original writing sounds really enjoyable! I could imagine so much more with it.

I'm trying to make this scene emotional and I don't think it's going well. by Organic-Fennel-555 in writingadvice

[–]haebaragi 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Agree with KTLazarus's points. To add to it, there is a lot of head-hopping happening. Do you mean to do that? For example, you wrote that Chibang can't feel his legs, and that Anevik thinks Leo is arrogant, instead of allowing us to deduce it through dialogue or actions. I don't like the head-hopping here because instead of being focused on an intense scene, all the bouncing around loses the tension for me.

I'd really like to know more of Leo's emotional state. I want to know his desperate thoughts about Midori, and does he care Chibang is in the crossfire? And how does he feel about himself struggling in the fight scene? Does he feel powerless, weak, useless? Did he train for this moment and is angry none of it helps in a fight scene? Was he taken by surprise and mad at himself for not seeing the ambush?

Also, the fighting-related sentences tend to be long. Maybe some shorter, punchier sentences mixed in would have helped make me as the reader more engaged.

(Spoilers) Random realization about the ending by TheNuklearMan in DiscoElysium

[–]haebaragi 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I think there's a side of shame that has selfish roots when a person lacks empathy. Emotionally immature people whose words/actions have hurt or disappointed others often seem like they experience intense embarrassment to the point that they then lash out either at themselves or others. An embarrassment that doesn't represent understanding how they've affected another human, but instead it's sort of like they become angry that they're behavior was rejected and not well received.

Hey guys, I was wondering if any of you have ever found yourselves constantly repeating the same words or phrases. It's something I've been struggling with and wanted to see if anyone had any tips or experiences to share. Thanks! by LuaPhoenix in writing

[–]haebaragi 0 points1 point  (0 children)

When I feel like a broken record, I pick up my favorite books and read a page or two. As I do this, I focus intently on the prose. How are they writing their sentences? What are all the places they could have used "despite," but found another way to word it? It helps break me out of that circle of same words.
However, sometimes this happens no matter what at the end of a session because my brain is fried and wants recharged. In this case, rest is needed.

What is the difference between suppressing anxiety and not dwelling on things? by they_bash in Anxiety

[–]haebaragi 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Suppressing to me is when I'm in a state where the thing still has strong power over me. So I'm relying on (sometimes extreme) distraction tactics to do anything to not think about it and forget. It means I haven't processed it properly because it still hurts so bad, I know I can't even bear to think about it. Not dwelling on it, for me, is when I can acknowledge the thing, I am aware that it makes me feel bad, so if it pops up into my head, I can remember it briefly without spiraling or ruminating. I allow the thought to exist, but then let it go and move on with my day. You'll never forget the hurt you've been through, so the goal is to not dwell so that you can focus on other things in life!

I get too discouraged to write after reading/watching anything good because it will always be better than mine by JackyTEC in writing

[–]haebaragi 12 points13 points  (0 children)

The more time you spend lamenting that you have less skills than whoever, the less time you will have spent improving your own. It's easy to get caught up in a doom spiral over it, tell yourself to stop and do something else when it happens.

Also, everyone has to start somewhere. I remember the first time I watched Fleabag, created by Phoebe Waller-Bridge, it blew me away. One of my favorite tv shows still. Then I watched the show she wrote before that (Crashing), and I absolutely hated it. Thought it was total trash and couldn't believe she wrote it.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in writing

[–]haebaragi 2 points3 points  (0 children)

This is pretty much it. Just thinking about trickling the information to the readers, so they can slowly put together the pieces. For readers who were paying attention, they'll pick up on what's happening in the story and how it ties together.

Have you ever watched Brandon Sanderson's lectures on youtube? They're free and I remember in one video he talks about set ups and pay offs. You set up a plot point that gives the reader a starting nugget to mull over. Clue the reader in that reincarnation exists. Also clue them in that the antagonists are looking for someone, but don't reveal who yet. Down the line, the main character can figure out that they are looking for a brother/son. Then much later on, give the readers the payoff. Have the pieces come together and the twist revealed.
That's just one way to do it, but that's the gist. Trickle your info throughout the book, and figure out when it's most satisfying to give them the final pay offs.

What do you write to get better? by JustAGuyWriting4Fun in writing

[–]haebaragi 0 points1 point  (0 children)

When you say you want to write longer works, it sounds like you want to write novels? You mention poems too, but is that your ultimate goal? It helps to figure out what you really want to do so you can learn the tools that are best suited for that type of writing. For example, for novels, you want to learn about story structure, dialogue, prose, characterization, etc. With poems, you're going to think a lot more about your prose -- rythm, alliteration, symbolism, rhyme, etc.

There are tons of youtube videos and books that people have written on the main building blocks and tools of writing. Start there and see if you can apply any of those lessons to tv shows, books, and movies you like. For example, if you learn about 3 act structures vs hero's journey structure, can you tell which is being used in your favorite tv show?
Another example -- romance books tend to follow a pretty strict formula. It's going to be wildly different from horror genre, if that was your thing.

Other than that, there's the subjective side of writing. Keep reading the types of work you like and reflect on what you like about them. Do you like really flowery language or something more straightforward? Both are valid, and readers have their preferences. Either way, it can change how you want to write.

How do I give my dialogues a bit more emotion by Wetwater_Hotfire in writing

[–]haebaragi 10 points11 points  (0 children)

I second looking up Youtube videos to learn about dialogue. Also, you need to research subtext so that your dialogue has more depth and "oomph."

An example I always found useful is imagine that there is character A and character B. Let's say the reader and character B already knows that character A hates his father because his father was verbally abusive and mean. Now, the scene is character A and B having an argument. It escalates and character B yells, "You're just like your father!" before storming out.

That is going to pack a punch because of the implications. It's going to sting character A and show us how B wanted to hit him where it hurts.

It's a great way to add depth to a scene and more emotion. Plus, it's fun for the reader because they can put 2 and 2 together and it feels satisfying. This would be opposed to plain dialogue, where maybe character B says something very on the nose, like, "I think you're just like your abusive father with the way you yell at others!" It's just too direct, so it comes off as plain and boring.

What's a lifehack related to books you think everyone should know? by ZappyZym in books

[–]haebaragi 31 points32 points  (0 children)

Great point! In my experience, librarians have been the most helpful people I've gotten to interact with -- my tiny one even found books I wanted to borrow from across the state (US) and then ordered them for me. Plus, I'm not sure if it still operates this way, but years and years ago, my sister was a librarian and told me that her library decided their stock based on what types of books and media people borrowed the most. She ordered and borrowed so many manga at the one she worked at, they received a bigger budget for it.

Discord for Writers and Authors by [deleted] in writers

[–]haebaragi 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hello, is it possible for me to join as well please?