u/Embarrassed-Crab-763

https://preview.redd.it/qk5tdo2zrr1h1.jpg?width=3264&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3e8299db301bff5a2fd477a8c30be81efc633996

Ignore how shitty the photo of the bag is lol. But anyways I’m slowl working on an itabag for my OC Chris and I was wondering if you guys had any advice/ideas for what to include? The majority of the items would have to be custom ordered since yk. He’s not a media character or anything. I currently have one keychain [ 5-7 cm I think? I’m probably misremembering though ] and a 10cm plush coming in a few months !

His story is a horror story so any recommendations for spooky items/fillers/etc to add would be appreciated !
an image of the character is attached below for reference :3

https://preview.redd.it/h1e0uk62tr1h1.png?width=2048&format=png&auto=webp&s=c578ffdbc8e7d17c766da76e4257fdc78bfa725a

Hi! I know that this is a chronic illness subreddit and not an art subreddit, but I still thought that I'd ask here to hear from other chronically ill people, specifically people with chronic fatigue like I have.

I've [18nby] been suffering from chronic fatigue for over a year now. Last April, I got sick with flu b and nearly died. Ever since, I've been dealing with severe chronic fatigue. We still don't know what the exact cause is [ recently it was discovered that I'm slightly anemic but that wouldn't explain the illness thing so I'm not sure if it's the sole cause ]

I want to begin to take things like art commissions in order to gain some sort of financial independence, regardless of how small it is. However, due to my aforementioned symptoms, I don't know exactly how I'd manage it, and I don't wanna accidentally scam people out of their money by taking a commission and just. Never finishing it.

So that's why I'm asking here, do any of you have tips for taking commissions while struggling with this? I would really appreciate it.

Content warnings for: pregnancy/tokophobia , parasites/illness, cults, abuse, misogyny, and brief mentions of transphobia and child murder/infanticide

Post marked as NSFW for these trigger warnings and not because this is sexual in nature [ I am an asexual uterus haver and just find the ideas in this very disturbing/interesting because this subgenre of horror that has used these themes has always been like. Fascinating to me ] .

Also, I will be using gender-neutral language throughout this [ e.g 'person with a uterus' , 'birthing parent', etc ] as not everybody with a uterus is a woman [ which is also literally true in the story that this is for lol ] Thank you!

So, what is it that I'm talking about? Basically, it's a parasite that attaches itself to the uterus of its host and passes down to the next when the current one gives birth to a suitable replacement. It makes the host near immortal and gives them godlike realitybending ability as long as it's with them, which caused a cult to form around it and revere it as a god. Not the hosts mind you, but the parasite itself.

This parasite obviously also causes a lot of other physical symptoms, as it leeches resources off of its host, making them quite physically weak and usually anemic and causing other symptoms similar to pregnancy [ eg. morning sickness, random cravings, cramps, etc ] , just without any visual signifiers. It can also mutate its host, but this is usually temporary.

How the realitybending specifically works is that it's based on the belief/perception of the host. E.g , if the host genuinely believes that there's a lake in the middle of town, there will be one. They can't influence the minds of other people beyond making them think that the new/altered things are completely normal, however.

So for example, even if the host genuinely believes that the government is out to get them, the government wouldn't be after them as that would involve directly influencing/changing people's actions. The realitybending also only works in a specific area, the small rural Maine town of Pierwul and its immediate surrounding area.

The parasite tends to make its hosts look as "attractive" as possible within its power [ perfect skin and hair, hourglass figure, etc ] as it's basically attempting to pass itself down as quickly as possible. However, the parasite has nearly no control over the mind of the host, which is where the cult comes in.

They basically brainwash the host and make them believe that having children is necessary for society and being a good person, pressuring them heavily and even straight up abusing them. They also typically fit them into the role of a woman and a mother, since the cult's beliefs derive somewhat from Abrahamic religions [ mainly Christianity and Catholicism ] and they tend to stamp out any rebellion from that mold, especially if the host ends up being not cisgender.

After the host gives birth, it's unclear what happens to them. Whether they simply die/are killed or just become regular cult members afterwards is unknown [ although the current host has never met his parents which isn't a good sign at all ] and the offspring are thereby groomed to eventually repeat the cycle and give birth to the next host, in the hopes of one day birthing a "pure" version of their god.

This doesn't mean that the children resulting from this are treated well. Children born without uteruses, who are inviable hosts where the parasite doesn't pass down, tend to straight up be killed soon after birth. They're seen as a waste of space. Even for the new hosts that do survive, they are frequently abused and brainwashed just like their birthing parents were.

They're never given independence or an education beyond maybe middle school if they're lucky, and they tend to struggle to regulate their emotions well due to the frequent emotional and physical neglect and abuse that they face on account of technically being unable to die and always being guaranteed to grow up just fine.

[ For example, the current host managed to escape the cult, but suffers from very persistent mental illness as a result of the abuse that he was subjected to and the resulting trauma. This causes the town of Pierwul to be quite unstable due to his influence. ]

I don't know how exactly to end this other than it generally being a Fucked situation. Any critiques to improve the concept are appreciated since I'm aiming for a commentary on misogyny/how people with wombs are seen as "birthing machines" and not yk. Actual People + the visceral body horror of pregnancy in of itself since that's always been something that terrified me lol

Have a nice day!

Whether it be a building, cliff, or bridge, what injuries/disabilities afterwards would you expect? Story is set in a semi realistic setting, if that matters

Hi all! I'm planning on making a small [ digital ] zine that's a fake travel brochure for a fictional town that has some cult and cosmic horror-y stuff going on. I say digital because I don't have a printer nor the money to pay for it to actually be printed, so it'll probably live on the Internet indefinitely. Either way, it'll be a fun little project to hopefully keep my chronic fatigue having self busy. But regardless, do you have any advice for making my first zine? Any tips would be appreciated!