VCTea, definitely a Whump Blog

A character staring at their own missing person's poster

After surviving a traumatic event, the first time that character looks into the mirror and sees the new version of themselves

When two characters' relationship suddenly blew up, and later one reaches for the others hands and finds their friend pulling away

A character revealed to be nonhuman/living weapon finds their friends now flinch from them

Surviving character of a team looking back on old photos

A character surviving a natural disaster/war attack, only to be left surveying the rubble of their home

Newly amputated character experiencing phantom limp syndrome for the first time

A character who survives a threat in the frigid cold experiencing their first winter after the trauma

Vice versa, a character who was forced to survive in the desert experiences their first summer since the incident

The moment the extreme stress starts to cause skill degradation in something matters to the character. i.e. a singing voices cracking unexpectedly, a violinist's fingers slow down and grow stiff, an artist who begins to despise their art (finding their art style degrading)

But also, and this is really important to keep in mind regarding bigotry that still causes in many ways larger problems, that the structural problems are not actually fixed.

If you go to any computer lab or public library, the mice will be on the right side of the computer. Sometimes they can be moved. Sometimes they can't. Many computer mice are curved to only fit in right hands.

It is impossible to find lefthanded scissors without going to a specialty store, because most scissor makers don't even make them. And it's not just a matter of grip; the slicing side of the blades is obscured if you use righty scissors in your left hand, so your cut is off.

All those signing pads with the little chained styluses? Almost always on the right side, often not even long enough to stretch to the left. Makes signing for lefties extremely difficult.

I caused actual muscular problems in college having to twist around in order to write at right-handed desks in college when there weren't enough lefty desks--and there never were. Some classrooms didn't even have a single one.

I could go on.

I started doing this at 27 or 28 when I was sitting at my desk job all day swapping between writing and using the mouse. It was around hunting season, the annual reminder that I focus a target with my left eye using my right handed rifle on my left shoulder because that's what I learned to shoot on, that I was like damn I shoot like a fiend with a gun I am technically using the wrong way I wonder what else I can do that with.

Turns out one was using a mouse, it wasn't a right bent one just a cheap standard thing that was flat on both sides because fuck office workers I guess. Anyway it took a few months but holy shit, I was slow at first but my job wasn't incredibly demanding and I had the time to teach myself while I was working. Sure as shit I had most of the movements down in a few weeks and my right hand was happily jotting notes off the the side while I did it.

Fast forward to 30 year old me teaching myself to sand, retape and in general do most parts of my job with both my right AND left hand. I chose to do it mostly during the learning period where they were teaching me anyway but I'll admit I did get a kick out it. Every time the trainers left me on my own they would come back to me practicing left handed and go, "oh I thought you were right handed" and I get to smile like the devil's own and go "nah I use both."

Nowadays I've gotten to the point where I can now comfortably eat, sand, buff and work large scale projects, use a mouse and shave my undercut all left handed. Of course I still use my right hand for things when I'm feeling lazy or in specifically the case of writing, because I abhor how poor my penmanship looks.

All this to say that if my father, who taught me to hunt in the first place, hadn't seen me shoot right handed then listened when I told him my left eye saw the target better, I would still be suffering through life only using the one hand and wondering why everything was just a bit *off*. Obviously left handed everything would have been better but at that point I was 12 and fairly cemented in using my right hand for everything that wasn't new.

remember everyone...

thursday watch: the conditions for thursday are here, but a thursday incident has not yet been confirmed

1. The FBI's Famous Cases & Criminals archive (fbi.gov/history/famous-cases) has detailed breakdowns of real fraud cases, Ponzi schemes, and confidence operations. The language they use is clinical and precise, which is perfect for getting the procedural details right.

2. The FTC Consumer Sentinel Network publishes annual reports on the most common fraud tactics in the US. Great for understanding how modern scams actually work and what makes people fall for them.

3. The Smithsonian's American Art Museum has a free digital collection of forgery case studies. If your character forges documents or art, this is gold.

4. Court Listener (courtlistener.com) is a free legal database where you can read actual court transcripts from fraud trials. Want to know how a real con artist talks under oath? This is where you find out.

5. The Internet Archive's collection of old newspaper crime sections. Search for "confidence man" or "swindle" in papers from the 1920s through 1960s and you'll find incredible real stories that would feel too dramatic for fiction.

Bonus: The Psychology of Fraud section on the Association for Psychological Science website has accessible articles about why people trust, how deception works cognitively, and what makes someone a convincing liar. Essential reading if you want your con artist characters to feel psychologically real.

human captured by fae:

hands and feet tied with rough, thorny vines that dig into your wrists at every movement. gasping with pain every time someone drags you along by them. bonus points for a thorny collar

hunger gnawing at your stomach… you could eat their food and give up any chance of escape, or slowly starve hoping someone will come to get you

dragged around and forced to dance until exhausted

forced to complete impossible (and humiliating) tasks for a chance at escape, nearly succeeding only to be denied your reward on a technicality

elaborate punishments for breaking esoteric rules or not holding up your end of a bargain

being kept in an intricate bird cage barely big enough to hold you, dangled in front of royalty for what feels like ages. they don’t seem to register your discomfort and treat you as an interesting piece of decoration

fae captured by humans:

on the flip side, being kept in an animal cage or tank, treated like a “rare specimen”

you know how butterfly wings are usually folded in on themselves, but after they’re killed and pinned they’re stretched out to show off the pretty colors? that, but you’re still alive, and it’s unbearably painful to have them constantly stretched out, with wires holding them in place

or having your wings straight-up ripped off and put up on display

obviously your restraints are made of iron or silver. just being around the stuff drains you, making you feel heavy and exhausted, and you can feel it slowly poisoning you

you need constant exposure to sunlight in order to stay healthy and happy, and start to wither and wilt after being kept in a dark cell for even a couple days

a good time;

Has exactly the tropes you like and the characterization you want to read;

Gratification: yes you did finish a thing and yes you did do good;

just a very fun time all around.

Cons of re-reading your own fic: