deepfriedtrout

[deepfriedtrout]

my dream is to one day write a trauma team au

[deepfriedtrout]

this is it chat im perusing through omegaverse content to get some ideas to lay the groundwork for behavioral and societal happenings on a wip. aomeone help me /j

[deepfriedtrout]

me writing odysseus and eve parallels to urd reverse1999 and writing vertin as both telemachus and eve's child? more likely than you think!

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listening to every honeybee spg cover under the sun so i can find the perfect one to daydream my blorbos to it

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if i ever resume watchin 3.0 story i am gonna compile. an update lore list on both sentinel AND marsha finally

no doomed yuri this time. let's get a hurrah for everybody.

3.0 AINT EVEN OUT YET IM PUTTING THEM IN SITUATIONS ALREADY??????????????

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whenever i'm writing a canon vertin piece i always end up mentioning george the oak wtf is my obsession with that tree

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by far the funniest thing about reading fanfiction as a political professional is that I can always tell exactly who has and hasn't been to a fundraiser or gala based on how they write them

[deepfriedtrout]

Where to Start Your Research When Writing a Disabled Character

[large text: Where to Start Your Research When Writing a Disabled Character]

So you have decided that you want to make a disabled character! Awesome. But what's next? What information should you decide on at the early phrase of making the character?

This post will only talk about the disability part of the character creation process. Obviously, a disabled character needs a personality, interests, and backstory as every other one. But by including their disability early in the process, you can actually get it to have a deeper effect on the character - disability shouldn't be their whole life, but it should impact it. That's what disabilities do.

If you don't know what disability you would want to give them in the first place;

[large text: If you don't know what disability you would want to give them in the first place;]

Start broad. Is it sensory, mobility related, cognitive, developmental, autoimmune, neurodegenerative; maybe multiple of these, or maybe something else completely? Pick one and see what disabilities it encompasses; see if anything works for your character. Or...

If you have a specific symptom or aid in mind, see what could cause them. Don't assume or guess; not every wheelchair user is vaguely paralyzed below the waist with no other symptoms, not everyone with extensive scarring got it via physical trauma. Or...

Consider which disabilities are common in real life. Cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy, stroke, cataracts, diabetes, intellectual disability, neuropathy, multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, thyroid disorders, autism, dwarfism, arthritis, cancers, brain damage, just to name a few.

Decide what specific type of condition they will have. If you're thinking about them having albinism, will it be ocular, oculocutaneous, or one of the rare syndrome-types? If you want to give them spinal muscular atrophy, which of the many possible onsets will they have? If they have Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, which one out of the 13 different types do they have? Is their amputation below, or above the knee (it's a major difference)? Not all conditions will have subtypes, but it's worth looking into to not be surprised later. This will help you with further research.

If you're really struggling with figuring out what exact disability would make sense for your character, you can send an ask. Just make sure that you have tried the above and put actual specifics in your ask to give us something to work with. You can also check out our "disabled character ideas" tag.

Here are some ideas for a character using crutches.

Here are some ideas for a character with a facial difference (obligatory link: what is a facial difference?).

If you already know what disability your character is going to have;

[large text: If you already know what disability your character is going to have;]

Start by reading about the onset and cause of the condition. It could be acquired, congenital, progressive, potentially multiple of these. They could be caused by an illness, trauma, or something else entirely. Is your character a congenital amputee, or is it acquired? If acquired - how recently? Has it been a week, or 10 years? What caused them to become disabled - did they have meningitis, or was it an accident? Again, check what your options are - there are going to be more diverse than you expect.

Read about the symptoms. Do not assume or guess what they are. You will almost definitely discover something new. Example: a lot of people making a character with albinism don't realize that it has other symptoms than just lack of melanin, like nystagmus, visual impairment, and photophobia. Decide what your character experiences, to what degree, how frequently, and what do they do (or don't do) to deal with it.

Don't give your character only the most "acceptable" symptoms of their disability and ignore everything else. Example: many writers will omit the topic of incontinence in their para- and tetraplegic characters, even though it's extremely common. Don't shy away from aspects of disability that aren't romanticized.

Don't just... make them abled "because magic". If they're Deaf, don't give them some ability that will make them into an essentially hearing person. Don't give your blind character some "cheat" so that they can see, give them a cane. Don't give an amputee prosthetics that work better than meat limbs. To have a disabled character you need to have a character that's actually disabled. There's no way around it.

Think about complications your character could experience within the story. If your character wears their prosthetic a lot, they might start to experience skin breakdown or pain. Someone who uses a wheelchair a lot has a risk of pressure sores. Glowing and Flickering Fantasy Item might cause problems for someone photophobic or photosensitive. What do they do when that happens, or how do they prevent that from happening?

Look out for comorbidities. It's rare for disabled people to only have one medical condition and nothing else. Disabilities like to show up in pairs. Or dozens.

If relevant, consider mobility aids, assistive devices, and disability aids. Wheelchairs, canes, rollators, braces, AAC, walkers, nasal cannulas, crutches, white canes, feeding tubes, braillers, ostomy bags, insulin pumps, service dogs, trach tubes, hearing aids, orthoses, splints... the list is basically endless, and there's a lot of everyday things that might count as a disability aid as well - even just a hat could be one for someone whose disability requires them to stay out of the sun. Make sure that it's actually based on symptoms, not just your assumptions - most blind people don't wear sunglasses, not all people with SCI use a wheelchair, upper limb prosthetics aren't nearly as useful as you think. Decide which ones your character could have, how often they would use them, and if they switch between different aids.

Basically all of the above aids will have subtypes or variants. There is a lot of options. Does your character use an active manual wheelchair, a powerchair, or a generic hospital wheelchair? Are they using high-, or low-tech AAC? What would be available to them? Does it change over the course of their story, or their life in general?

If relevant, think about what treatment your character might receive. Do they need medication? Physical therapy? Occupational therapy? Orientation and mobility training? Speech therapy? Do they have access to it, and why or why not?

What is your character's support system? Do they have a carer; if yes, then what do they help your character with and what kind of relationship do they have? Is your character happy about it or not at all?

How did their life change after becoming disabled? If your character goes from being an extreme athlete to suddenly being a full-time wheelchair user, it will have an effect - are they going to stop doing sports at all, are they going to just do extreme wheelchair sports now, or are they going to try out wheelchair table tennis instead? Do they know and respect their new limitations? Did they have to get a different job or had to make their house accessible? Do they have support in this transition, or are they on their own - do they wish they had that support?

What about *other* characters? Your character isn't going to be the only disabled person in existence. Do they know other disabled people? Do they have a community? If your character manages their disability with something that's only available to them, what about all the other people with the same disability?

What is the society that your character lives in like? Is the architecture accessible? How do they treat disabled people? Are abled characters knowledgeable about disabilities? How many people speak the local sign language(s)? Are accessible bathrooms common, or does your character have to go home every few hours? Is there access to prosthetists and ocularists, or what do they do when their prosthetic leg or eye requires the routine check-up?

Know the tropes. If a burn survivor character is an evil mask-wearer, if a powerchair user is a constantly rude and ungrateful to everyone villain, if an amputee is a genius mechanic who fixes their own prosthetics, you have A Trope. Not all tropes are made equal; some are actively harmful to real people, while others are just annoying or boring by the nature of having been done to death. During the character creation process, research what tropes might apply and just try to trace your logic. Does your blind character see the future because it's a common superpower in their world, or are you doing the ancient "Blind Seer" trope?

Remember, that not all of the above questions will come up in your writing, but to know which ones won't you need to know the answers to them first. Even if you don't decide to explicitly name your character's condition, you will be aware of what they might function like. You will be able to add more depth to your character if you decide that they have T6 spina bifida, rather than if you made them into an ambiguous wheelchair user with ambiguous symptoms and ambiguous needs. Embrace research as part of your process and your characters will be better representation, sure, but they will also make more sense and seem more like actual people; same with the world that they are a part of.

This post exists to help you establish the basics of your character's disability so that you can do research on your own and answer some of the most common ("what are symptoms of x?") questions by yourself. If you have these things already established, it will also be easier for us to answer any possible questions you might have - e.g. "what would a character with complete high-level paraplegia do in a world where the modern kind of wheelchair has not been invented yet?" is more concise than just "how do I write a character with paralysis?" - I think it's more helpful for askers as well; a vague answer won't be of much help.

I hope that this post is helpful,

mod Sasza

[deepfriedtrout]

unique things you can give your characters to make them stand out that are not tattoos or scars:

multiple ear piercings (especially for male characters)

visible body piercings (nose piercing, etc.)

lots of jewelry (layered necklaces, rings on every finger, etc.)

or no jewelry at all (bonus: a character that doesn't wear any in a culture that is jewelry focused)

a signature color (ex. a character that always wears blue, or only wears gold rings)

extra descriptive hair or eye color (ex. curly, red hair down to the waist, amber eyes with flecks of green, cropped silver-blonde hair)

freckles (bonus: body freckles, not just face)

a nervous habit (ex. picking at their skin, biting their nails, checking a watch, fiddling with jewelry)

a limp or any other unusual gait (bonus: describe it! is it from a horseback riding accident, were they born that way, is it from aging, etc.?)

an accent or lisp (use cautiously and with respect)

unique teeth (tooth gaps, missing teeth, gold/silver teeth, crowded teeth, etc.)

a signature hairstyle (a braided coronet, a bun, etc.)

noticeable facial features: ruddy cheeks, a prominent nose, very thin/thick eyebrows, moles, birthmarks, etc.)

[deepfriedtrout]

major charcter points for sentinel before 3.0 story drops

being borne at the time of peace in the belle epoque period, likely that the tenebruns stepped further away from their duties to the church, hence why marianne was free to pursue fashion design. grandmother even promises to fund her atelier if she gets accepted into fancy art college, EnsAD

enlisted out of optimistic, naive patriotism and equal amounts of inherent desire to protect from her gargoyle bloodline; while in service commited the following crimes: unathorized use of arcane skills, incitement to disobedience of orders, and evasion of combat. ended as incredibly disillusioned as a result of witnessing (and perhaps even comitting.?) the horrors of war. court finds her guilty on insubordination and incitement to rebellion

went rogue after surviving execution (likely due to her gargoyle ability of turning body to stone), morphed to be the sentinel we see current. goal is to end the war.

caught the foundation's eye. likely due to notoriety as sniper. either negative (killed prominent figure) or foundation is interested on her abilities? this is how marsha was sent to meet her.

saves marsha's life from shooting a hidden tank aimed to kill her.

horse ride scene. "I'll come find you after the war ends. How does that sound?"

additional that falls unknown in her timeline:

her younger sister agnes' letters kept marriane grounded and kept her torn humanity intact, only to fall apart due to her dying to the war. how agnes dies is unknown.

unknown if agnes' death happens before, after or even in the middle of her court martial and execution.

afterwards agnes' death, marianne begins to hear her voice inside her head to play the same role as agnes did to her crumbling sanity from the way when she was alive.

interaction with charon at the tunnels. charon asks her to save herself.

genuinely why am i writing this down this is just a piece about the marsha and her on the ground. we know crockshit about marsha.

sentinel story below for reference:

The Ténébrun family inherited the ancient bloodline of gargoyles, and upheld the sacred duties as guardians of the churches for generations. Having grown up in the Belle Époque period, Marianne deviated her path and chose to pursue fashion design. She was highly supported by her grandmother and sister Agnes, and was even promised funding for her atelier if she got into ÉnsAD. But all of her dreams came to a halt at the spark of WW1; she put down the pencils and fabrics, and picked up the rifles as she marched onto the battlefield.

The instinctive guardianship drove Marianne to enlist, wishing to defend her nation and the dreams of her people. However, her naive fantasy was crushed by the horrors of war. Upon realizing that this war was pointless and was a conflict against personal interests, she went rogue, embracing the title of the "devil" among the fronts.

Agnes was an incredibly important person in Marianne's life. She was tolerant, kind, supportive, but most importantly a good listener to Marianne. Her letters essentially kept Marianne grounded and maintain her torn humanity amid the entire war, but this war was the very same one that ended Agnes' life.

Since her death, Marianne has been hearing Agnes' voice in her head—talking to her, comforting her, and supporting her. It became her only means left to maintain some semblance of her hanging sanity.

~~~

The wicked flames of war must end by someone's hand. She has resolved to become that very hand herself — even if this confession, vomited from the depths of her heart, is heard by no one.

3.0 AINT EVEN OUT YET IM PUTTING THEM IN SITUATIONS ALREADY??????????????

[deepfriedtrout]

will compile all of sentinel's lore later to stew on it and resume this wip maybe.

3.0 AINT EVEN OUT YET IM PUTTING THEM IN SITUATIONS ALREADY??????????????

[deepfriedtrout]

3.0 AINT EVEN OUT YET IM PUTTING THEM IN SITUATIONS ALREADY??????????????

[deepfriedtrout]

okay will i beat my writer's block hard enough to make a piece about the new ww1 lesbians so i can claim my badge of 'person insane enough to write about them first'

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going through a weird patch of not-quite-writer’s-block-but-it’s-writer’s-block. have a dozen ideas in my head right now, but when i try writing them down, it seems that i can’t write anything more than 500 something words before the ability to continue that plot eludes me. and i’m losing my mind over writing dialogue because. i can’t.??? somehow write people in their character voices.?????

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she would not fucking say that

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i need a crash course into the lovecraftian horror genre to set the mood for two lesbians unknowingly raising a sea horror baby

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got a fun idea while binging on random ass fics. let’s see if i’ll remember it tomorrow and will have enough brainspace to actually write it