falling slowly

As there are many problems to post videos and photos on Instagram or Facebook, I’m posting them through my blog. I’m Chilean and this is happening right now in my country.

As you probably know, Chile is in a “state of emergency” where police and military forces came out to the streets to repress our sense of freedom to speak out our minds and our annoyance. This is not only in regards of the raise of subway fares, this is because the precarious health service, chilean education system, retirement pensions, housing, intentioned drought, raise on electricity and gas, military force stealing and unfair privilege to the politicians.

IS IN REGARDS OF THE DIGNITY OF A COUNTRY.

Chileans have grown tired of the lies of the government. Too many peaceful demonstrations and they didn’t listen. Now is the time, CHILE HAS AWAKENED, and there’s no turning back.

As of now, not much 😔

You can help by spreading information, letting the world know that the so called "violent rioters" are just a montage of the chilean government. They're trying to justify the torturing, raping, kidnapping and killing of our people!!!

Let the world know that this isn't about a metro fare rise, but about our dignity.

If you're a mental health professional, speak spanish and want to offer your services for free for the people struggling with their mental health because of the terrible situation, you can do so:

If you're living in or visiting Santiago de Chile, you can also help by sending pictures, videos and information

You can also organize groups, talk to chilean people living in your country and go near your local chilean embassy to show your support. It helps us see that we're not alone 🇨🇱💕

So often I see ppl criticize the romance in books and it comes off as them hating romance and I’m like no no no no no, a well done romance is an exquisite piece of writing. It’s not romance in general that sucks, it’s bad romance that sucks. Insta love with no chemistry. Relationships with no conflict. Badly written heroes. Those romances suck.

Here’s the thing… certain emotions are easy to evoke and others are very hard to master and write. 

Anger. Hate. Rage. Fear. <– negative emotions are the easiest to write because they rely on primal instinct programmed into the human brain by thousands of years of evolution. Within cultures there are certain things that will always evoke rage (and this is why not all books translate well to other cultures). Certain fears are universal. 

Every bestseller every written has a Universal Fear driving at least the opening act of the book if not the whole book itself. Most bestsellers use “I fear I am worthless.” or “I fear death.” as their driving focus. Everything from PRIDE AND PREJUDICE to HARRY POTTER has used this and it’s why it sells so well. 

It’s also why Romance isn’t taken seriously at times. 

Romance promises as a happy romantic ending. Which means the two most common universal fears are utterly erased by the genre requirements alone. No one is going to die. The characters are going to be loved and feel worthwhile by the end of the book. 

Since readers are programmed by society to instinctively fear those things some people have trouble relating to a romance story where they must latch onto something other than fear to get through a book.

Joy. Humor. Laughter. Happiness.  <— positive emotions are really hard to write because they are complex emotions. There is nothing that makes people universally happy. I know, it’s shocking. Not kittens. Not puppies. Not a mother’s love. That thing you love, adore, and can’t live without? Yeah, someone hates it.

This is why writing satire or humor is so difficult. It’s why happy books are dismissed as fluffy or silly. They have a much narrower audience. The author has to reach into the reader’s head and manipulate their emotions so that they can feel soaring triumph. There isn’t a shortcut to writing happiness.

LOVE. <– Such a complex thing. Little understood. Hard to define. Ever roving about. Love, especially sexual and romantic love, are so individual that there will never be a One Size Fits All.  

When an author sets out to write a romance they have to convince the reader not only to abandon fear but they have to write humans who are complex, convincing, and through storytelling explain the psychology of these individuals so the reader goes, “Yes, yes! I see it! I see why these two are perfect together and could never be with anyone else!” 

It’s at once something many people have an innate talent for (hello, shippers!) and that many people don’t understand. Understanding love requires a very unselfish, un-egocentric view of the world. You have to think like someone else. And then, as the author, you have to create a way for a reader to easily step into the mind of someone else and understand this attraction without using shortcuts like “I saw her and got a boner. It’s love!” Because that isn’t. 

It’s easy to write bad romance. It’s easy to use shortcuts and script the book like a film. But where films can rely on music and facial expressions to convey the complexity of emotion a writer only has words. There is no soundtrack for Chapter 7. There is no set of words in the English language that properly express the depth of feeling, the longing and desire, of seeing someone you treasure turn and smile at someone else and knowing from the depths of your soul that you would give up everything just to keep them smiling. 

Writing a good romance means balancing internal and external conflict, knowing a person’s weaknesses and strengths, and pairing them with someone(s) who fill in their gaps, boost their strengths, and make them happy at the same time. And then, after all of that, you have to find readers who will understand and appreciate the characters you’ve written. You have to make the reader fall in love too. 

Done well Romance is the most complex literary form. 

Last year I had an internship at a fancy office during the day, and a food service job at night. One of the ladies at the office told me she needed a part-time job for some extra cash, and I let her know about an opening in my food service job, described what would be expected, all of that. 

Guys. She quit after one (1) shift, called me the next day, and ranted, “You never told me it was going to be that hard, is that what you do every night?! I’m not 20 anymore, I’m 50, I can’t believe they only pay you $9.50/hr to do all that work!” [For the record, I had coworkers who were 65+]

She was shocked when I explained that yeah, most food service jobs require you to stock heavy boxes, work the register, and learn to cook/prep food, then clean up before you go home. It never occurred to her that people who “just flip burgers” actually have demanding jobs. 

I kinda laughed and said “Tanya, I worked retail before this. This entire job is a break, to me. I get to sit down all day. Just let me enjoy that.”

like I can see a predator watching how y'all justify minor / adult ships and feeling validated. they don’t just enact violence outside of the internet. they are real people who consume media just like you and me. those of you who ship children with adults share a space with actual predators

it’s also wild to me that y'all don’t think a pedophile could ever be an artist or writer. I guarantee you they are content creators you enjoy on social media. you’re giving them a space to safely express their interests and you validate their inclination to hurt real children when you promote “hebephilia” as healthy. every time you say “the technical definition of pedophilia is 13 years old and younger”, some adult freak feels better about being attracted to a 14 year old. saved by the bell huh!

you’re harboring actual predators, making them feel great about themselves, giving them a platform in fandom & the ability to harass minors into silence with that platform. it isn’t just desensitizing kids, it’s also desensitizing predators

this is an article about Alvaro Pascual-Leone’s neurology study at Harvard Medical. it’s actually almost a decade old at this point. in this study, he had a group play a simple piano exercise for one week, and he had another group only imagine playing the piano exercise for one week. in group one - the piano-practicing group - a new network of neurons blossomed in the brain to accompany the repetitive motion practiced on the piano. in the group that only imagined playing, the same thing happened. 

the brain can and does form new neural connections when you only imagine something, even if you take no action. it doesn’t mean that everyone who’s ever had a bad thought is now a criminal, but this is a legitimate study that suggests that a concentrated, sustained effort – like a hobby, or writing, or shipping – results in real, measurable structural changes in your brain. you shouldn’t even need a study like this to prove “you resemble what you surround yourself with,” but here it is.

as a survivor of CSA, i am 100% not okay with anyone engaging with this topic in their leisure time*, and i think that “shipping” is the lamest excuse i’ve ever fucking heard to engage in real, damaging behavior. an abuse survivor who ships “because they’re traumatized” doesn’t get a pass, nor should they consume or create this content. i hate it when this gets brought up because it’s victim-blaming, using severely mentally ill people you don’t even care about as props, and describes a tragic method by which a victim grows into a perpetrator.

nobody’s fucking shippy feels or orgasm is above scrutiny and condemnation, nor are these things above the well-being of other people.

-

Real pedophiles use nsfw art of minors to groom children in real life. They use the art and fanfic and shit you write to say “Hey look this character that is your age is doing this, so it’s okay!” They legit do this. I’ve had real life actual victims tell me they do this.

my dude

my guy

my pal