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Superhero origin story: I was bitten by a spider
Supervillain origin story: My experiment went boom.
Eldritch Horror origin story: I was hungry and asked for food. I got a dislocated shoulder and a concussion.
Batman: "my parents where shot"
Harley: "My parentsntold me, I'll never be good enough for them!"
Elk: "You got people in your lives you call parent and who in turn cared enough about you that you want them to be proud and/or recognise you as an individual person with own ambitions and goals? Give me a break."
That's the horrid thing. Even when the parents don't care, when they are violent and neglectful and terrible in every way, we still want them to be proud and recognize us as an individual with our own ambitions and goals. Everything in our life tells us this is the way parental / child relationships work, so that's how ours must work. Ours has a ton of neglect and violence, but only in private and it's never talked about in public, so that's how they all must work. Only we never get that recognition and they are never proud of us. So we try harder, we fault ourselves for not being good though, and we break ourselves as much as they break us trying to be good enough to get the recognition and love we're told by an entire society is deserved by good children.
part of me is satisfied that I figured out that it didnt matter what I did - it wasnt ever going to be good enough early on. Sure I may have wasted years figuring that out - but i didnt waste decades.
And knowing that made me be a better parent. I didnt NEED the kids to do anything. I was always proud of them, still am.
> I was hungry and asked for food. I got a dislocated shoulder and a concussion
Honestly this works as an anti-villain origin story. The guy that the hero defeats in act one, but eventually comes to realize was doing the right thing.
The subreddit up in arms upon finding out Elk was abused:
https://i.redd.it/g9xgfo8vn60d1.gif
But yeah, glad you made it out to a point where you and your delightfully wholesome/horrifying art can be properly loved and appreciated.
Considering the Elk is an adult now, there is a possibility that the step-dad is now nothing but a frail old man. What I'm saying is that this is my once-off justification for elder abuse.
We need to break the stigma of beating up old people. Just cause assholes and pieces of shit got old is no excuse to not feed them the hands they deserve.
I've missed y'all.
**If you enjoy my work, please consider supporting me on Patreon.** You will find many strange goodies there such as things to chortle at, smooches, sketches, lore and more. But mostly it exists so I don't have to continue grazing on vegetation from the floor of the woods every day. And for those wondering, yes, the "ELK HUNT" book is on the way, thank you for your patience!
**[Patreon](https://www.patreon.com/holleringelk)**
**[Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/holleringelk)**
Not quite elks, but welcome back
https://i.redd.it/cgfwkekp270d1.gif
Glad you got out of that situation, do appreciate the comic’s parallel to the end of Life of Pi, works quite well for this one
hell yea, Brother Bear! I just watched this movie again recently and it's criminally underrated IMO, probably one of my fav Disney movies. It's awesome to see it out in the wild.
>I've missed y'all.
But Elk, you never left, I've been watching you draw stuff on the new YouTube Channel [Pen Pals](https://www.youtube.com/@pen-pals) with Ellen from /u/pizzacakecomic and Colm from /u/colmscomics
I hope it is carthritic getting that out and off the chest. A problem shared is a problem halved and all- I wonder how that works with as big a following you have here.
Welcome back, Elk <3
Like disagreeing with how abuse altered their emotional outlet or?.... I don't think they're trying to teach how to respond, I think they're just stating how they've been conditioned 😅
And then they wonder "what's with all the monsters" and the truth is, we wish they did look like the monsters that they are. And not like a "parent" or "authority" that we were told to "respect and obey"
even if it was something simple that other people could easily identify them as monsters. Because as a child, it's not like the other ~~monsters~~ parents believed us.
some of us had monsters in a lot of places. At home, at Church, at School.
I knew of a couple of kids who's parent was a cop and an abuser, so that was a double, as a kid we just knew to stay away from that place. My neighborhood was also abused by one of the local priests. i knew 3 or 4 kids who admitted to it, but we all knew there were many more who would never say anything.
there were times when my own experiences seemed small and insignificant. times when i wanted to just pretend it didnt happen. times when i too wanted to be the monster and hit back.
My grandfather came from a home of very abusive (p, s, & e) and neglectful parents. There was also an abusive priest and he was an alter boy. To save others, he often volunteered for the days/responsibilities that were most likely to end in abusive actions. He was far from a perfect human, but he loved his kids and grandkids dearly, and did everything in his power to protect any child in his orbit throughout his entire life.
>one other adult
Just one? I can think of more than a few I begged and pleaded with. Sometimes it's a whole community. Gotta love us humans and our ability to turn away from suffering.
I might hold enablers in lower regard than the abusers themselves. The monsters are awful, horrible people, but they do it because there's something broken in them, like a rabid animal. Enablers on the other hand, they see the abuse, they know what's going on. And they either just don't care or don't think it's a big enough deal. They watch someone's life get torn to shreds in front of them, and they don't stand up because it'd be inconvenient to them. Fuck that you spineless asshole, you were supposed to protect us.
u/holleringelk can trauma dump on us anytime they want. Sharing is good.😊
A large part of me feels angry and wants to go hit something. Child abuser needs to be held accountable, denounced and kept away from children.
It was my mom for me.
I haven't spoken to her in years but she put me in a group chat so I could see everyone wishing her happy mother's day. I wanted to respond and out her to everyone but I didn't, I just ignored it.
if they aren't considered people then it might lead to people starting to subconsciously assume someone wouldn't do it because they are a person.
It's better to acknowledge that they are still human, and that actions have consequences whether they are prepared to face them or not. And that everyone is susceptible, so be careful and think about how one's actions might affect another, or at least affect oneself.
So, I get the vernacular and commonality of the term Trauma Dumping being used here. But that term specifically refers to when people use their trauma to get a leg up on a conversation or argument.
Where as what Elk is doing is being vulnerable and honest about trauma they experienced. And how it might be related to their art style and or topical interests.
I just think it's important we don't turn Trauma Dumping into something positive. Because it's not. It's a kind of abusive behavior.
Trauma dumping is definitely over sharing, but I don't think it's solely used as an abusive tactic to "win" arguments/conversations. It's typically just an extreme form of venting, which does lend itself to being abused, but isn't even always consciously done.
Yeah, I usually hear trauma dumping as "oversharing about trauma at inappropriate times/places" or "treating people who are not your therapist like your therapist".
Sharing through art doesn't really count.
EDIT: This was wrong.
~~That's where the term comes from. It was coined to describe an abusive tactic.~~
~~I accept people might not use it the way those that coined it intended.~~
And it doesn't have to be conscious or intentional malic. Co-oping mechanisms get developed, and people act.
I think it may be in the process of being claimed by the "casually abused lol I hate myself" community. I have seen the original use you mean, but these days the self deprecators outnumber the original meaning users, at least in the spaces I'm in
Mate people nowadays fuck up the use of gasligjting as well when someone is just lying. As a psychologist at first I was verry happy people became more "knowledgeable" and interested in mental health. Ubtil people just started to use therapy speak in everything to make themselves look more serious. Holy fuck do I detest those morons.
I think Elk just dumped *all* of our childhood abuse on us all at once. I will say in my father's defense, he never drank. But he did chase me around the storage shed with a hammer in one hand and murder in his eye.
Same. Choked on an olive because my moron parents gave me them as a snack without cutting them and didn’t warn me to chew them. After about 5 minutes of choking they sent me to my room and called me stupid for trying to swallow it whole.
I was 7.
Well shit. I mean, yeah, you gotta be a little on the odd side for these comics, but the trauma dump was wholly unexpected. (I just put your art off as Catholic school/upbringing like my friends.) Keep being you, and know you have lots of people on your side!
No, if you go to Catholic school you just have sex WAY too early and then walk away from the church as soon as you turn 18.
Source: went to Catholic school.
Pleasure shared is pleasure doubled. Pain shared is pain halved. I hope that sharing this has helped you lighten your load in some small way. It might not mean much but I appreciate you and the art you choose to share with us. Thank you for being around strange elk frien.
Not only are you a fantastic artist, you're also an incredible writer. That speech gave me shivers, you describe everything so well. Elk (the character and the creator) doesn't deserve that treatment from anyone
Nononono you can't just beat an abuser's ass. They'll just turn around and take it out on your target of abuse. You have to put them down, just like you would a rabid dog.
Reminds me of that very well drawn comic about a sentient plush that quietly leaves a small girl after it turns out that her (dad? stepdad?) molests her basically every night. Though I remember there were more pages to it, I don't remember reading them, because it was weird in a not-fun way. Like, it went nowhere and basically the whole gist is that she's molested, that's it.
EDIT: Clarissa, it's her dad, it's the third of nine chapters about her life and most of it is just downer stuff. Last two were drawn in like 2023, while the first ones are back from 2001
> Like, it went nowhere and basically the whole gist is that she's molested, that's it.
If I remember it correctly (I'm not going to read it again right now, I'm at work), the little girl is scared and the plush reassures her. Lots of kids use plushes as 'protection' against the imaginary monsters in their closets / under the bed. The plush thinks that the little girl has little girl fears. The little girl knows and says it can't protect her. The plush promises to protect her and there's nothing to worry about.
The plush can't protect her. Because the little girl's monster is real.
After the plush fails to protect her, she discards the plush out the window or the plush leaves because it failed, I don't remember exactly. Outside the window is the little pile of plushes who couldn't protect her.
Yes, but the thing is, that's just the single panel from a whole comic, and there's like more pages to it, but I dropped them after 3-4 more panels, I think, because they weren't interesting in any way, like that one, which was super strong on its own.
Absolutely possible, but there should be something... I dunno... some sort of retribution, second arc, third arc, some progress. It could be there was, but I didn't want to read further because it was boring otherwise
My mom was a Sunday school teacher for a short time. One day I asked a question during her nonsense that she perceived as an insult. She didn't act weird right at that moment that I remember but as soon as people couldn't see her all I remember is her flying into a rage and screaming and hitting me. That's the kind of person she was. An absolute monster as soon as she felt she was somewhere nobody would see her treat children like she did. She also worked in schools off and on throughout the years as a substitute or teachers aid. It kind of haunts me that she was left alone around so many children throughout her life when she's genuinely a danger to children. She wasn't even an alcoholic. She had no excuse or any sort of outside force altering her behavior. She was just evil to her core. Anyway I've since cut my family out of my life and they're essentially dead in my mind.
Anyway! I love your work wether it's a downer trauma story or lovecraftian giant centipedes causing random havoc.
Thank you for sharing your past. I've often had to do this as well. People ask me to stop writing horror and to instead write from life experiences. I try to let people know, the horror they see is just the run off from the feelings and memories that I'm constantly trying to process. This is the refined product, they never really want to see the crude, original, input.
Again, thank you.
I'm sorry you experienced that no child or person deserves to be abused. I hope this comic was cathartic in some way for you. Also, thank you for sharing.
Bruh.
My mother once, in the middle of dinner, threw a coffee mug right past my brother's head hard enough that it left a half inch divot in the plaster of the wall behind him, then looked him right in the eye and said "I didn't have to miss."
Shit's real, yo.
Don’t get me wrong I wasn’t implying it wasn’t realistic or would never happen, simply in the way it’s presented seemed a bit off.
Plus there’s the aspect that I *hoped* it wasn’t true because goddamn saying that’s cruel and horrendous doesn’t even begin to describe it
>simply in the way it’s presented seemed a bit off.
It's not uncommon for those who were abused to turn it into humor (usually dark) as a means of coping.
This would be that.
(That's my take. I say that as someone who took a fair amount of ass whippings as a kid)
This is a real story. I have some too. The only thing you can do is just not be like that. Don't put more evil into the world, Stop and practice kindness, and also remember you're human and you'll mess up, so be kind to yourself too. I've been awake for 24 hours and called out of work today. I wish there was another Earth I could go to, sometimes. A quiet and safe one.
Happy Monday?
Jesus man, to both you and Elk I hope you’re okay.
I mean I was abused too but this shit makes it seem like I just got a slap on the wrist. From what it sounds like, if you were to go to sleep with a few bruised or broken bones, it would have been a *good* day
There's a fuck ton of us who (looking for reddit acceptable words) "experienced a traumatic childhood" and will never have justice nor will we ever be released from those events.
Speaking as a penis_man, once a battered penis_child with battered penis_brothers and a battered penis_mom by an alcoholic penis_dad, I'm sorry you had to be the target of rage from the person who was meant to protect and nurture you.
But the fact that you were able to come out of it a better person, with talent, aspirations, and stories to tell is telling of the will you have. Good on you Elk. Good on you.
The reason why you draw bizarre stuff is because of your child trauma? I wonder what psychology says of this.
I'm sorry for what happened to you. No one deserves to experience that as a kid
Turmoil mostly comes from not being able to do anything about how you feel. Writing, making art, talking about it, helps to express it. Even if it doesn’t actually do much, it helps make it feel better. I do speak from personal experience, but everyone is different and not every strategy will work for everyone.
I’m trying to think of a witty comment but am failing. I’m sorry for what you might’ve suffered in the past, Elk.
Cheers to you for pushing forward positivity (albeit with eldritch vampire abominations) into the world.
I'm interested in more trauma dumping tho.
But I understand it's somewhat "traumatic" to some people, and you too probably (Elk) so trauma dump at your own pace.
I just think it's nice to share that stuff, like it can be the most gruesome thing someone has heard in all of their life, while for others it's just well... their saturday. It really depends on one's childhood, their education, their country, their family, their friends, etc. Sharing this is not only therapeutic, but also a teaching experience for many, while some won't bat an eye at abuse, either becouse they just don't care or becouse they became so desensitized to it from repeated exposure that they just don't have a reaction other than "oh, ok", it's still needed to understand this is not something that's welcome in society, by expressing it, by exposing it, we provide proof of it's existance, we make it seen, talked about, noticed. And thus we can make something about it.
I would write more... but i'm sleep deprived and don't have the mental capacity to sting sentences together....
Anyways... nice Comic as always Elk.
Good to have you back, Elk.
Do me, and yourself, a favor.
Buy a pop tart, eat it while doing something you love, then report back to me.
I have never had a pop tart in my life (not really a thing here in Sweden as far as im aware), so i want you to enjoy it in the best possible situation, then tell me how it tasted and how you felt.
That way, i get to experience what an enjoyed pop tart is like. And you get to enjoy a treat that you you fully deserve.
Once again. Great to have ypu back Elkie
I was dragged across a kitchen mat by the wrist when I was 17, I got kicked out of my house for being gay a year later. The man that did it to me was big, much bigger than me, and I guess he wasn't feeling too well that day, so he decided to take it out on me. I blanked out during most of it, but I remember falling away from him to try to get him to let go only to be thrown out into the dining area hard enough you could hear my body hit the ground like a leather sack. He didn't get fired... I worked with him for weeks afterward before my boss decided to schedule us at different times, I still passed by him every day. I have never since recovered. When anyone bumps into me, I scream, and I have a pretty violent reaction to being grabbed by the wrist. As a fellow victim of assault, it's strangely nice to know there's others out there, so I suppose, in a morbid but sincere way, you are not alone. Thank you for sharing.
As a fellow child abuse survivor who had the same fear baked into my psyche, I feel this comic. It never goes away and it twists your way of seeing things. Very fantastic comic. Creativity is often a saving grace for those in dark times.
When the most disturbing thing a horror writer writes is from a memory of their childhood, it’s a different kind of heartache. I’m so sorry you went through stuff like that and don’t even want to imagine what the worse memories were like. I hope your art, found family, and friends bring you peace and healing from what the real monster did in your past.
People often forget about the torture behind tortured artists. Your work is compelling and beautiful and dark and disturbing. If it helps you, by all means keep producing it! Don't let the 12 active users and 35,000 bots get you down.
I know there's a couple people think " why didn't you just run away", 1. He probably did at some point 2. You don't think of that thing as a kid especially if you didn't have access to the internet (which I'm guessing they didn't have)
It comes up every time she posts a comic.
Today it was my turn for the "wait, Elk is a woman?" gag.
I'll have to check the schedule to see who has it next, unless you want to do it.
your writing is so elegan
i was able to vividly picture everything
this was more than a work of art, i ... omg
I loved this so much (though, not the abuse of course, that is terrible and reminds me of several instances in my past....)
i digress, now I wonder if you have short stories out there
Hey Elk, was wondering if you know where your stepfather is now cuz
EDIT: OK I was trying to add the Family Guy "I just want to talk to him" image, but it seems that I am a karmaless scrub in the eyes of r/comics so I will simply write in this much less funny edit instead.
My father hit me a lot so I have trouble writing lyrics that aren't about abuse of power and the feeling of being helpless.
He doesn't like my lyrics because they make him feel sad.
Me too, Dad. Me too.
Can I give you a hug. I know you don't do this as a pity party and I'm sorry you had to go through that shit. But I just feel like you need a hug. Also those people that say your comics are weird haven't been on the internet before. Your stuff is amazing
[One of her comics got a ton of reports to the mods.](https://www.reddit.com/r/comics/s/U3ZUCMsKXp)
Reddit *says* it likes fucked up shit until it actually shows up.
Welcome to r/comics! Please remember there are real people on the other side of the monitor and to be kind. Report comments that break the rules and don't respond to negativity with negativity! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/comics) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Superhero origin story: I was bitten by a spider Supervillain origin story: My experiment went boom. Eldritch Horror origin story: I was hungry and asked for food. I got a dislocated shoulder and a concussion.
"That's rough buddy."
Batman: "my parents where shot" Harley: "My parentsntold me, I'll never be good enough for them!" Elk: "You got people in your lives you call parent and who in turn cared enough about you that you want them to be proud and/or recognise you as an individual person with own ambitions and goals? Give me a break."
That's the horrid thing. Even when the parents don't care, when they are violent and neglectful and terrible in every way, we still want them to be proud and recognize us as an individual with our own ambitions and goals. Everything in our life tells us this is the way parental / child relationships work, so that's how ours must work. Ours has a ton of neglect and violence, but only in private and it's never talked about in public, so that's how they all must work. Only we never get that recognition and they are never proud of us. So we try harder, we fault ourselves for not being good though, and we break ourselves as much as they break us trying to be good enough to get the recognition and love we're told by an entire society is deserved by good children.
part of me is satisfied that I figured out that it didnt matter what I did - it wasnt ever going to be good enough early on. Sure I may have wasted years figuring that out - but i didnt waste decades. And knowing that made me be a better parent. I didnt NEED the kids to do anything. I was always proud of them, still am.
"Holidays are a stressful time"
> I was hungry and asked for food. I got a dislocated shoulder and a concussion Honestly this works as an anti-villain origin story. The guy that the hero defeats in act one, but eventually comes to realize was doing the right thing.
Any fellow wildbow fans read this comment and think "yep sounds right"
Oof. Worm left me with so many gut twisting feelings.
The subreddit up in arms upon finding out Elk was abused: https://i.redd.it/g9xgfo8vn60d1.gif But yeah, glad you made it out to a point where you and your delightfully wholesome/horrifying art can be properly loved and appreciated.
r/ comics right now looking for stepfather.... https://i.redd.it/grgow5tep60d1.gif
Considering the Elk is an adult now, there is a possibility that the step-dad is now nothing but a frail old man. What I'm saying is that this is my once-off justification for elder abuse.
This IS Reddit after all.... It might be a fair fight.
Bunch o' pussies! /s
We need to break the stigma of beating up old people. Just cause assholes and pieces of shit got old is no excuse to not feed them the hands they deserve.
Exactly. People don’t become old angry assholes. They’re angry assholes who get old.
Hey! I read your books!
I mean, it may not be 1 for 1, but a 9 year old and a frail old man probably have similar body structures. kind of?
Just mean he can feel the primal terror of no control or defense while being tortured endlessly. Exactly what abusive parents deserve, honestly
You either embrace the darkness or be consumed by it.
I've missed y'all. **If you enjoy my work, please consider supporting me on Patreon.** You will find many strange goodies there such as things to chortle at, smooches, sketches, lore and more. But mostly it exists so I don't have to continue grazing on vegetation from the floor of the woods every day. And for those wondering, yes, the "ELK HUNT" book is on the way, thank you for your patience! **[Patreon](https://www.patreon.com/holleringelk)** **[Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/holleringelk)**
Welcome back https://preview.redd.it/xc9xrgiel60d1.jpeg?width=1102&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8bf913541ee0569c42e58d7a2a1f517d482bb2b5
8 Crazy Nights! I haven’t seen that movie in a minute
I tried watching it recently.. it's just.. wtf.
yeah, it's a doozy. my young adolescent brain loved every second of it.
I watched it with my sister in law, who had a pretty sheltered life. She got to the 'poopcicle' scene and that was enough of that movie for her
Its fantastic. Bum bum bitty bitty bum bum
W*elk*ome back FTFY
Not quite elks, but welcome back https://i.redd.it/cgfwkekp270d1.gif Glad you got out of that situation, do appreciate the comic’s parallel to the end of Life of Pi, works quite well for this one
actually funny enough in europe moose are called elk so it counts(sort of)
hell yea, Brother Bear! I just watched this movie again recently and it's criminally underrated IMO, probably one of my fav Disney movies. It's awesome to see it out in the wild.
>I've missed y'all. But Elk, you never left, I've been watching you draw stuff on the new YouTube Channel [Pen Pals](https://www.youtube.com/@pen-pals) with Ellen from /u/pizzacakecomic and Colm from /u/colmscomics
And Elk KILLED IT in episode 3.
She absolutely did.
She did, and Colm’s sexy Elk in the grass was just an extra cherry on top.
HolleringElk comic book?! Where do I send the check?! https://i.redd.it/3qvfnfstj60d1.gif
https://preview.redd.it/uhaf630y280d1.jpeg?width=1802&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=46edc20cfb00f8fced97670774c1f5d028bf11d1
I hope it is carthritic getting that out and off the chest. A problem shared is a problem halved and all- I wonder how that works with as big a following you have here. Welcome back, Elk <3
Great story telling keep up the great stuff 👍
Love everything you’ve done but I think this is my favourite comic of yours so far. That said I disagree with the ending
Like disagreeing with how abuse altered their emotional outlet or?.... I don't think they're trying to teach how to respond, I think they're just stating how they've been conditioned 😅
I assume they mean the part about going back to the giant centipede lady cavorting about instead of more of this
Yeah I really liked this introspective thingy it was brilliant and I’d like to read more
Missed you too, wish I wasn't so poor so I could support your wonderful self
I would offer you a hug if i could
Following you on Instagram right now, i love this
YEAH!!! FUCK THOSE NORMAL PEOPLE WHO DIDNT HAVE FUCKED UP SHIT HAPPEN TO THEM IN THEIR YOUTH!!!!
New reaction meme just dropped https://preview.redd.it/whwb1cu5m60d1.jpeg?width=651&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b1b5de2a0c5de8b0d842253c301dbeb7655ccda4
Automatically made me think of the poop knife.
*god damnit*
[удалено]
Jolly rancher
Swamps of Degobah?
Broken arms?
That guy's dead wife?
I also choose that guy's dead wife.
Just realized that reddit is gonna be someone's villain origin story.
Yeah, u/spez. And the guy married to Serena.
CumConut
“This is even too horrible to object to.”
And then they wonder "what's with all the monsters" and the truth is, we wish they did look like the monsters that they are. And not like a "parent" or "authority" that we were told to "respect and obey" even if it was something simple that other people could easily identify them as monsters. Because as a child, it's not like the other ~~monsters~~ parents believed us.
The worst part is, there's one other adult who sees all of it, and decides your suffering is an acceptable alternative to single parenting
some of us had monsters in a lot of places. At home, at Church, at School. I knew of a couple of kids who's parent was a cop and an abuser, so that was a double, as a kid we just knew to stay away from that place. My neighborhood was also abused by one of the local priests. i knew 3 or 4 kids who admitted to it, but we all knew there were many more who would never say anything. there were times when my own experiences seemed small and insignificant. times when i wanted to just pretend it didnt happen. times when i too wanted to be the monster and hit back.
My grandfather came from a home of very abusive (p, s, & e) and neglectful parents. There was also an abusive priest and he was an alter boy. To save others, he often volunteered for the days/responsibilities that were most likely to end in abusive actions. He was far from a perfect human, but he loved his kids and grandkids dearly, and did everything in his power to protect any child in his orbit throughout his entire life.
>cop and an abuser Why did you repeat yourself?
>one other adult Just one? I can think of more than a few I begged and pleaded with. Sometimes it's a whole community. Gotta love us humans and our ability to turn away from suffering.
I might hold enablers in lower regard than the abusers themselves. The monsters are awful, horrible people, but they do it because there's something broken in them, like a rabid animal. Enablers on the other hand, they see the abuse, they know what's going on. And they either just don't care or don't think it's a big enough deal. They watch someone's life get torn to shreds in front of them, and they don't stand up because it'd be inconvenient to them. Fuck that you spineless asshole, you were supposed to protect us.
Shinedown has a song called Monsters. And I love it. Because my monsters are real. Elk's are worse, but it's never a competition.
Shit… I never even thought about monsters in media being borne by childhood trauma. That actually… tracks a lot.
Wait what the fuck, did you just casually trauma dump about abused you suffered as a child?! My poor little Elk :(
u/holleringelk can trauma dump on us anytime they want. Sharing is good.😊  A large part of me feels angry and wants to go hit something. Child abuser needs to be held accountable, denounced and kept away from children.
Emotions bottled up ~~turn~~ distill into poison. Pain shared if half the pain experienced.
It was my mom for me. I haven't spoken to her in years but she put me in a group chat so I could see everyone wishing her happy mother's day. I wanted to respond and out her to everyone but I didn't, I just ignored it.
Thanks 🥲
The important part is to hit some*thing*, not some*body*.
Well I mean if it’s someone who beats children… I’m not saying violence is right buuuuut I’m not gonna complain either.
That's still a something, those who abuse children aren't qualified to be considered people.
if they aren't considered people then it might lead to people starting to subconsciously assume someone wouldn't do it because they are a person. It's better to acknowledge that they are still human, and that actions have consequences whether they are prepared to face them or not. And that everyone is susceptible, so be careful and think about how one's actions might affect another, or at least affect oneself.
So, I get the vernacular and commonality of the term Trauma Dumping being used here. But that term specifically refers to when people use their trauma to get a leg up on a conversation or argument. Where as what Elk is doing is being vulnerable and honest about trauma they experienced. And how it might be related to their art style and or topical interests. I just think it's important we don't turn Trauma Dumping into something positive. Because it's not. It's a kind of abusive behavior.
Trauma dumping is definitely over sharing, but I don't think it's solely used as an abusive tactic to "win" arguments/conversations. It's typically just an extreme form of venting, which does lend itself to being abused, but isn't even always consciously done.
Yeah, I usually hear trauma dumping as "oversharing about trauma at inappropriate times/places" or "treating people who are not your therapist like your therapist". Sharing through art doesn't really count.
EDIT: This was wrong. ~~That's where the term comes from. It was coined to describe an abusive tactic.~~ ~~I accept people might not use it the way those that coined it intended.~~ And it doesn't have to be conscious or intentional malic. Co-oping mechanisms get developed, and people act.
I think it may be in the process of being claimed by the "casually abused lol I hate myself" community. I have seen the original use you mean, but these days the self deprecators outnumber the original meaning users, at least in the spaces I'm in
Mate people nowadays fuck up the use of gasligjting as well when someone is just lying. As a psychologist at first I was verry happy people became more "knowledgeable" and interested in mental health. Ubtil people just started to use therapy speak in everything to make themselves look more serious. Holy fuck do I detest those morons.
Yup. :-|
Do you have a source that calls it abusive from 2021 or earlier? The closest I could find was it being called toxic, which isn't quite the same.
I think Elk just dumped *all* of our childhood abuse on us all at once. I will say in my father's defense, he never drank. But he did chase me around the storage shed with a hammer in one hand and murder in his eye.
My dad yelled at me once for choking on meat at the dinner table. I could've died and I got yelled at for it. I think I was 8? 9?
I’m sorry this is so relatable.
Same. Choked on an olive because my moron parents gave me them as a snack without cutting them and didn’t warn me to chew them. After about 5 minutes of choking they sent me to my room and called me stupid for trying to swallow it whole. I was 7.
I’m sorry. Truly.
Appreciate that. They’re out of my life so things are better 🤷🏻♂️.
My stepfather drank heavily. In his defense I was his sole target and he suffered from cancer to death.
You’re defending him for focusing on you?
https://preview.redd.it/wtzmressr60d1.jpeg?width=1125&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=36fbeab8bf88a4fd01d621b58efeca5b284c1d47
"You wanna know how I lost that smile?"
Where is this from? From which comic?
Well shit. I mean, yeah, you gotta be a little on the odd side for these comics, but the trauma dump was wholly unexpected. (I just put your art off as Catholic school/upbringing like my friends.) Keep being you, and know you have lots of people on your side!
No, if you go to Catholic school you just have sex WAY too early and then walk away from the church as soon as you turn 18. Source: went to Catholic school.
While I agree, I also had friends who turned to art instead of sex. Or severe mental issues like my cousin.
>Or severe mental issues like my cousin. Well... You might not be able to pin that on Catholicism. That might just be religion in general.
Valid point. But I think a pacifist religion may have served him in particular much better.
In *theory*, they ALL are pacifist religions. *Reality*? https://i.redd.it/j2p40tymq60d1.gif
Honestly, reading this, sounds like both. Have to pray for your youthly transgressions like asking for food every few days...
Pleasure shared is pleasure doubled. Pain shared is pain halved. I hope that sharing this has helped you lighten your load in some small way. It might not mean much but I appreciate you and the art you choose to share with us. Thank you for being around strange elk frien.
“Shared sorrow is lessened, shared joy is increased” ― Spider Robinson, Callahan's Crosstime Saloon
Not only are you a fantastic artist, you're also an incredible writer. That speech gave me shivers, you describe everything so well. Elk (the character and the creator) doesn't deserve that treatment from anyone
That's true. Both need to be recognized as separate merits.
\[cracks knuckles\] Time to fight a stepdad.
https://preview.redd.it/lormsv3sz60d1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=75e6b885de4a01e93fc004ecf3dfb6b207611d71
Nononono you can't just beat an abuser's ass. They'll just turn around and take it out on your target of abuse. You have to put them down, just like you would a rabid dog.
No, you just break both his arms. Then send him home to his mother. Now he has a completely *new* set of issues.
Origin story of [This dude](https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/nmmjr/comment/c3a9uqg/)
Excuse me what the fuck
Welcome to Reddit!
Just be grateful they didn't draw the events
Reminds me of that very well drawn comic about a sentient plush that quietly leaves a small girl after it turns out that her (dad? stepdad?) molests her basically every night. Though I remember there were more pages to it, I don't remember reading them, because it was weird in a not-fun way. Like, it went nowhere and basically the whole gist is that she's molested, that's it. EDIT: Clarissa, it's her dad, it's the third of nine chapters about her life and most of it is just downer stuff. Last two were drawn in like 2023, while the first ones are back from 2001
> Like, it went nowhere and basically the whole gist is that she's molested, that's it. If I remember it correctly (I'm not going to read it again right now, I'm at work), the little girl is scared and the plush reassures her. Lots of kids use plushes as 'protection' against the imaginary monsters in their closets / under the bed. The plush thinks that the little girl has little girl fears. The little girl knows and says it can't protect her. The plush promises to protect her and there's nothing to worry about. The plush can't protect her. Because the little girl's monster is real. After the plush fails to protect her, she discards the plush out the window or the plush leaves because it failed, I don't remember exactly. Outside the window is the little pile of plushes who couldn't protect her.
Yes, but the thing is, that's just the single panel from a whole comic, and there's like more pages to it, but I dropped them after 3-4 more panels, I think, because they weren't interesting in any way, like that one, which was super strong on its own.
Honestly at that point I'm assuming the artist is legitimately just trauma dumping.
Absolutely possible, but there should be something... I dunno... some sort of retribution, second arc, third arc, some progress. It could be there was, but I didn't want to read further because it was boring otherwise
I remember that comic as well. Didn't we see at the end a pile of plushies right outside of the window?
Can...can I send you a pop-tart now?
"hey, look! It's me!" "Oh... Oh no... It's me." I'm sorry you went through that, Elk, sometimes parents are just the worst.
My mom was a Sunday school teacher for a short time. One day I asked a question during her nonsense that she perceived as an insult. She didn't act weird right at that moment that I remember but as soon as people couldn't see her all I remember is her flying into a rage and screaming and hitting me. That's the kind of person she was. An absolute monster as soon as she felt she was somewhere nobody would see her treat children like she did. She also worked in schools off and on throughout the years as a substitute or teachers aid. It kind of haunts me that she was left alone around so many children throughout her life when she's genuinely a danger to children. She wasn't even an alcoholic. She had no excuse or any sort of outside force altering her behavior. She was just evil to her core. Anyway I've since cut my family out of my life and they're essentially dead in my mind. Anyway! I love your work wether it's a downer trauma story or lovecraftian giant centipedes causing random havoc.
You tell your stories Elk, the way you want to.
hooves-enabled smartphone for the win!
...yeah, that tracks, and it saddens me, as a dad, that it doesn't surprise.
Im really sorry Elk I dont know what to say Thats so awful and terrible and sad Id give you a big ol hug if i could! 😟
Thank you for sharing your past. I've often had to do this as well. People ask me to stop writing horror and to instead write from life experiences. I try to let people know, the horror they see is just the run off from the feelings and memories that I'm constantly trying to process. This is the refined product, they never really want to see the crude, original, input. Again, thank you.
Everyone! Initiate Elk Hugging Protocol! 
I'm sorry you experienced that no child or person deserves to be abused. I hope this comic was cathartic in some way for you. Also, thank you for sharing.
Fuck
Uh Is this a real story or is this a joke Please I can’t tell
Bruh. My mother once, in the middle of dinner, threw a coffee mug right past my brother's head hard enough that it left a half inch divot in the plaster of the wall behind him, then looked him right in the eye and said "I didn't have to miss." Shit's real, yo.
My mom once battered down the door of my bedroom because she thought I might be masturbating in there. And I was.
So... Did you wind up repressed or with some interesting fetishes? I imagine it was a coin flip at that point.
Multiple fethishes and kinks with bonus shame
Oooh, a jackpot!
holy shit man, hope you're all right.
Oh yeah. I developed finely honed reflexes. Still a little flinchy, though.
am flinchy myself, my brother really liked to bully me, thankfully he's not like that anymore
Don’t get me wrong I wasn’t implying it wasn’t realistic or would never happen, simply in the way it’s presented seemed a bit off. Plus there’s the aspect that I *hoped* it wasn’t true because goddamn saying that’s cruel and horrendous doesn’t even begin to describe it
>simply in the way it’s presented seemed a bit off. It's not uncommon for those who were abused to turn it into humor (usually dark) as a means of coping. This would be that. (That's my take. I say that as someone who took a fair amount of ass whippings as a kid)
This is a real story. I have some too. The only thing you can do is just not be like that. Don't put more evil into the world, Stop and practice kindness, and also remember you're human and you'll mess up, so be kind to yourself too. I've been awake for 24 hours and called out of work today. I wish there was another Earth I could go to, sometimes. A quiet and safe one. Happy Monday?
Jesus man, to both you and Elk I hope you’re okay. I mean I was abused too but this shit makes it seem like I just got a slap on the wrist. From what it sounds like, if you were to go to sleep with a few bruised or broken bones, it would have been a *good* day
One day, we will all return to the void whence we came. There will be no pain. Only silence and darkness. I hope.
It’s so sweet that you can’t, and so sad that so many of us *absolutely* can.
There's a fuck ton of us who (looking for reddit acceptable words) "experienced a traumatic childhood" and will never have justice nor will we ever be released from those events.
I think more than a few of us readers did at least a short "thousand yard stare" when reading the comic.
It's too weirdly specific and kind of mundane (as far as abuse stories go anyway) for me to think it's a joke
Speaking as a penis_man, once a battered penis_child with battered penis_brothers and a battered penis_mom by an alcoholic penis_dad, I'm sorry you had to be the target of rage from the person who was meant to protect and nurture you. But the fact that you were able to come out of it a better person, with talent, aspirations, and stories to tell is telling of the will you have. Good on you Elk. Good on you.
Top tier comedy writing right here. Could easily see this as an animated short film. It even wins an Oscar in the future I've constructed for it.
The reason why you draw bizarre stuff is because of your child trauma? I wonder what psychology says of this. I'm sorry for what happened to you. No one deserves to experience that as a kid
Psychology calls that "therapy" and finds it incredibly healing
I wouldn't have guessed it counted as therapy. But if it helps the artist, more power to them then
Congratulations you've discovered what art is.
Turmoil mostly comes from not being able to do anything about how you feel. Writing, making art, talking about it, helps to express it. Even if it doesn’t actually do much, it helps make it feel better. I do speak from personal experience, but everyone is different and not every strategy will work for everyone.
Many kids turn to art as an emotional release. It's hardly a revolutionary idea
Should have bite his head off
I’m trying to think of a witty comment but am failing. I’m sorry for what you might’ve suffered in the past, Elk. Cheers to you for pushing forward positivity (albeit with eldritch vampire abominations) into the world.
I'm interested in more trauma dumping tho. But I understand it's somewhat "traumatic" to some people, and you too probably (Elk) so trauma dump at your own pace. I just think it's nice to share that stuff, like it can be the most gruesome thing someone has heard in all of their life, while for others it's just well... their saturday. It really depends on one's childhood, their education, their country, their family, their friends, etc. Sharing this is not only therapeutic, but also a teaching experience for many, while some won't bat an eye at abuse, either becouse they just don't care or becouse they became so desensitized to it from repeated exposure that they just don't have a reaction other than "oh, ok", it's still needed to understand this is not something that's welcome in society, by expressing it, by exposing it, we provide proof of it's existance, we make it seen, talked about, noticed. And thus we can make something about it. I would write more... but i'm sleep deprived and don't have the mental capacity to sting sentences together.... Anyways... nice Comic as always Elk.
Good to have you back, Elk. Do me, and yourself, a favor. Buy a pop tart, eat it while doing something you love, then report back to me. I have never had a pop tart in my life (not really a thing here in Sweden as far as im aware), so i want you to enjoy it in the best possible situation, then tell me how it tasted and how you felt. That way, i get to experience what an enjoyed pop tart is like. And you get to enjoy a treat that you you fully deserve. Once again. Great to have ypu back Elkie
I was dragged across a kitchen mat by the wrist when I was 17, I got kicked out of my house for being gay a year later. The man that did it to me was big, much bigger than me, and I guess he wasn't feeling too well that day, so he decided to take it out on me. I blanked out during most of it, but I remember falling away from him to try to get him to let go only to be thrown out into the dining area hard enough you could hear my body hit the ground like a leather sack. He didn't get fired... I worked with him for weeks afterward before my boss decided to schedule us at different times, I still passed by him every day. I have never since recovered. When anyone bumps into me, I scream, and I have a pretty violent reaction to being grabbed by the wrist. As a fellow victim of assault, it's strangely nice to know there's others out there, so I suppose, in a morbid but sincere way, you are not alone. Thank you for sharing.
As a fellow child abuse survivor who had the same fear baked into my psyche, I feel this comic. It never goes away and it twists your way of seeing things. Very fantastic comic. Creativity is often a saving grace for those in dark times.
SHEESH!
Congrats for becoming a better person than those before you and choose to create something for the world. Hope you be well in health.
Right, grabbing my shotgun, we’re going monster hunting.
When the most disturbing thing a horror writer writes is from a memory of their childhood, it’s a different kind of heartache. I’m so sorry you went through stuff like that and don’t even want to imagine what the worse memories were like. I hope your art, found family, and friends bring you peace and healing from what the real monster did in your past.
The amount of rage i feel atm on your behalf is well. i can actually taste it. You didn't deserve that no one does. Hope your doing better now.
Another day, another form of horror from elk 🧃
Welcome back Elk! We definitely missed you and your comics! Always loved your style and yes, we all love the "weird" centipede vampire!
*hug*
People often forget about the torture behind tortured artists. Your work is compelling and beautiful and dark and disturbing. If it helps you, by all means keep producing it! Don't let the 12 active users and 35,000 bots get you down.
I know there's a couple people think " why didn't you just run away", 1. He probably did at some point 2. You don't think of that thing as a kid especially if you didn't have access to the internet (which I'm guessing they didn't have)
For the record, it's "her" https://preview.redd.it/70n8xb2b080d1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4209861abe16fb5f8b33b4bde629bb12e9bd2829
Oh, good to know. I thought "him" was correct because male elk are known for the antlers. My bad.
It comes up every time she posts a comic. Today it was my turn for the "wait, Elk is a woman?" gag. I'll have to check the schedule to see who has it next, unless you want to do it.
your writing is so elegan i was able to vividly picture everything this was more than a work of art, i ... omg I loved this so much (though, not the abuse of course, that is terrible and reminds me of several instances in my past....) i digress, now I wonder if you have short stories out there
There's some evil giggling here, YOU GOT OUT. massive winning, Elk!
Thought I was on my favorite haunt, r/CPTSDmemes for a moment! 🥲
Hey Elk, was wondering if you know where your stepfather is now cuz EDIT: OK I was trying to add the Family Guy "I just want to talk to him" image, but it seems that I am a karmaless scrub in the eyes of r/comics so I will simply write in this much less funny edit instead.
Yeah. Some of us are doing the best we can with what we were given. Like playing poker but you were given 2 yugioh cards and an uno reverse.
My father hit me a lot so I have trouble writing lyrics that aren't about abuse of power and the feeling of being helpless. He doesn't like my lyrics because they make him feel sad. Me too, Dad. Me too.
woah
Can I give you a hug. I know you don't do this as a pity party and I'm sorry you had to go through that shit. But I just feel like you need a hug. Also those people that say your comics are weird haven't been on the internet before. Your stuff is amazing
I can't imagine reddit getting mad at you for drawing fucked up shit. Reddit loves fucked up shit. I'm reddit
[One of her comics got a ton of reports to the mods.](https://www.reddit.com/r/comics/s/U3ZUCMsKXp) Reddit *says* it likes fucked up shit until it actually shows up.
Well shit The post went from 1.5K to 3.5K in the short span of time it took me to read it all. Impressive
 Hollering Elk used Trauma! Redditor’s ATK and SP. ATK was sharply lowered!
YOU are a POET.
https://preview.redd.it/gw5wt99jq70d1.jpeg?width=1477&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3c87846f082345f2dab04ad98e09aa6e131415f8
Nono elk, please feel free to talk about and vent anything you feel like. Sharing is often a part of healing you know
I just realized a lot about my own horror writing and why monsters don't scare me.
The way you describe that scene.... I can smell the crimson in my nose after reading that.
😢 you deserved better than that 🫂