Rules

On Trigger Happiness - A Recommendation List
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Here are some ground rules. Please, please, please read and follow them.

Please drop a recommendation in the comments, if you have one! We’re always looking for good stories for this list. Just make sure to include the link to the story and a short description of why you think the story is appropriate for the list. Feel free to suggest your own stories. But please, before you do so, make sure the story is actually appropriate for this list. Not all suggestions will be accepted. We are picky readers, and we want all recommendations to meet both the high quality standard and the trigger depiction standard. Please recommend stories from AFF. Non-romance fics are definitely accepted. There doesn't have to be a ship or pairing. Friendship fics are great :) Be patient, please. I am also busy writing my own stories and living life in general as is imrapunzel, so we would appreciate if you guys are aware of that. Furthermore, it's exceedingly difficult to find stories that meet the necessary requirements. AKA no "update soon" comments, please. Be respectful of others in the comments. Please. This list contains stories about very sensitive issues, and people are bound to have strong and differing opinions. Please keep that in mind. For authors: if you wish to have your story removed from this recommendation list, please PM imrapunzel and me (nyamnyamnyam), and we will take it down right away.

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wegotthatpower
#1
Hello. I have two fics to recommend.

Title: Crescendo
Authors: Emilieee
Link: https://www.asianfanfics.com/story/view/1332828/crescendo-angst-romance-schoollife-sliceoflife-exo-baekhyun-baekhyunxoc-hurtandcomfort-universe
Description: The OC who has suffered through physical/ual abuse from her stepfather meets Baekhyun for an upcoming concert and basically, it resolves around her healing.
I recommend this one because it has pretty accurate portrayals of the healing process and the victim's mentality. I think the author actually wrote it because she was sick of things being romanticized.

Title: Attayear
Authors: Korekrypta
Link: https://www.asianfanfics.com/story/view/1057344/attayear-action-angst-fantasy-romance-schoollife-scifi-baekhyun
Description: Time-travel fic where the OC, Park Jinsu, gets close to Baekhyun, who happens to be a rival of her family from a fued.
While this fic does not focus on the aspects necessarily, the author deals with portrayal OCD accurately. Also, the way she and the lead sort out their problems is a very healthy relationship.
wonhosxthighs
#2
This! This is wonderful and deserves way more attention! Thank you. ^^
heartlesssoul_88
#3
recommendation!:
Counting Broken Hymns by loviet
https://www.asianfanfics.com/story/view/1103193/counting-broken-hymns-angst-drama-romance-wonho-monstax-wonhoandoc

it's not an exo fic but i think this fic portrays what an ideal relationship should be, and what (destructive) effects a toxic relationship has on someone. along with that, it also shows the process of getting out of that relationship and how the character moves on. this story is very touching and realistic, so i think it deserves to be on this recommendation list!
blueblaze
#4
Chapter 1: Here's my recommendation
https://www.asianfanfics.com/story/view/390366/you-re-a-monster-abuse-bigbang-gdragon-kwonjiyong-top-you-rated

It's not an exo fic but I don't think that should be a problem cause this story is really touching.
It deals with abuse, depression, healing. How she got crushed, how she struggled, how she fought back, how she healed. What deepens it even more is that it's real.
Please try to read this
Xiuchen4Ever
#5
Chapter 1: Hi! I'm excited to hear about this sort of thing. I agree that fiction is fiction and people can write whatever they choose to, but it's true that there is a lot of mis-information and glorification of unhealthy relationships out there. Since ideas in fic tend to propagate and piggyback off of each other, I'm all in favor of shining a spotlight on some more-accurate examples so that readers at least know when they're reading a less-accurate depiction.

I'm subscribed to a few stories that I think meet the criteria:

I'm Sorry To Be Only Human by Neveragain__ is my absolute favorite fic ever, not because of the triggers, I just really enjoy the author's character portrayals. However, the main plot thread is a previously-abused hybrid learning to deal with a world full of hated humans, and while it loses points for the rejection of professional mental help, it gains far more for the slow-and-steady nature of the character's healing process, especially the focus on building healthy relationships, learning to communicate, taking care of oneself, coping strategies, etc.
https://www.asianfanfics.com/story/view/1272979/

Don't Tell Anyone by Kung-Fu-Girl has multiple characters with varying triggers, and I sometimes wonder if the author deliberately chose to include every trigger they could think of (thankfully spread over multiple characters). Triggers include self-harm, being molested by a teacher, being physically abused by a parent, and being ually abused by a partner, among others. Despite the trigger-smorgasbord, bad things are treated as bad, and the author depicts healthy relationships as well, specifically casting them in contrast. The triggers aren't dealt with perfectly (several characters are "stuck" in Bad Situations because of poor communication or in one character's case, an elaborately contrived reason), but on the whole, police are involved when appropriate, mental health professionals are consulted, and there are understanding and helpful adults.
https://www.asianfanfics.com/story/view/1259180/

And to add some shameless self-promotion, my own story (Re)Discovering Jongdae revolves around recovery from ual abuse and PTSD, building healthy relationships, and taking ownership of one's own uality again. I know it's not perfect (I worry that my supporting cast is too perfectly supportive, and I know I tend to get sidetracked and bogged down by irrelevant details sometimes), but I specifically wrote it to subvert several of my personal pet peeves in fic, one of which is when traumatized characters magically get better because they meet the right partner and 'learn to trust again.' I wanted to show that it's a process, that someone can't just decide to stop having issues because they'd like to date someone, but that the process can be romantic and sweet even if it's sometimes hard and frustrating and doesn't go according to plan.
https://www.asianfanfics.com/story/view/1316476/

Sorry for writing an entire essay in your comment section! I'm just really excited about your project and I hope it gets lots of attention and lots of other suggestions. It's partly selfish--I'm running out of fic to read myself, so I'd love a new list of recommendations that won't make me roll my eyes or grind my teeth!
Emilieee
#6
Chapter 1: https://www.asianfanfics.com/story/view/1091980

I totally forgot about this until today, but this story addresses eating disorders/depression extremely, extremely accurate and the process of healing was great too. And ngl, I bawled at the end. It basically follows Chen through his struggles of anorexia and it's tagged Xiuchen but it's more of a bromance fic :)
SkyeButterfly
#7
THIS THIS THIS
Seriously though, I hope this gets more attention :-) and I would love to read more stories with accurate portrayals of sensitive topics.
baepsaeeinislyf
#8
The important kind of rec list <3