Writing Neurodivergent/The Psychological Issues of Characters

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  • #149791
    Anonymous
      • Rank: Chosen One
      • Total Posts: 8156

      @godlyfantasy12 Personally, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with you wanting to know the reason behind things about yourself, and I don’t think it’s wrong to explain that to others so they’ll understand.

      What I will say, tho, is that it’s important to not let those things define who you are, if that makes sense. Like, okay, you’re not defined by your OCD. It’s good that you know you have it, so the things that come with it aren’t so frustrating because you know why they’re there, but your OCD doesn’t change who you are inside, and OCD is not who you are.

      Only GOD defines who we are…nothing and nobody else can ever define us.

       

      I just kinda thought of that when I saw your post and thought I’d share 💖💖 I’m always here for you girl!!!

      #149795
      GodlyFantasy12
      @godlyfantasy12
        • Rank: Chosen One
        • Total Posts: 6645

        @freedomwriter66 thank you so much!!! That makes me feel so much better 😊

        #IfMarcelDiesIRiot
        #ProtectMarcel
        #ProtectSeb

        #149886
        GodlyFantasy12
        @godlyfantasy12
          • Rank: Chosen One
          • Total Posts: 6645

          @whalekeeper this is really helping me think of my characters, thanks so much for the advice!!

          #IfMarcelDiesIRiot
          #ProtectMarcel
          #ProtectSeb

          #149887
          Whaley
          @whalekeeper
            • Rank: Chosen One
            • Total Posts: 2588

            AaAagH KP ate my post… Writing it again… If you see two posts, I apologize

             


            @godlyfantasy12

            I can’t remember you ever playing the victim on here 😊❤

            And sometimes the way your brain works is a legitimate excuse. There’s no harm in being honest, as long as you are fixing the things you can fix.

            Just remember on the flip side, there’s more to look at than these things. We can be unique in other ways.

             

            It’s okay, okay? ❤

             

            @everyone

            Pushing off of what Freedom said – and looping back to writing fictional charries – we should never let these mental quirks define our charries.

            All too often, you see characters whose only traits are “I’m depressed,” or “I’m traumatized,” and we only get a few moments of normal life from them, if we’re lucky.

            People are more than that. Their quirks don’t equal their personality. They aren’t going to be anxious All The Time – they should sometimes be joyful, selfish,  funny, messy, bossy. Human beings are complicated. Isn’t that beautiful? 😍

            Autism, ADHD, PTSD – they do not equal personality. They may affect a charrie in a certain way, but underneath that condition, they aren’t just a hollow shell. And that condition shouldn’t stop them from living like a relatively normal person.

            Something helpful is this: while creating a charrie’s personality bio, don’t include their mental quirk. A mental quirk isn’t valid character development, like, 78.4% of the time.

            Instead, focus on their goodness, their flaws (a quirk does not count as a flaw, it is a complication), and their core – the part that makes them human.

            That’s all I got… I’m intrigued by this topic, mostly because I see a lot of that romance we mentioned earlier all over the place.

            But, yep 😋

            KaPeefers 'til we're old and gray...

            #149895
            Keilah H.
            @keilah-h
              • Rank: Chosen One
              • Total Posts: 3875

              @godlyfantasy12

              BRUHHHH THIS IS MY PLACE

              LOL.

              I have autism. And although he’s not my charrie, so does the character on my profile pic, or so I think because he and I have disturbingly similar personalities. (That’s why I chose him to represent me here, lol)

              And I hate calling it a “disorder” too!! If anything, I like my crazy brain. I don’t know why God made me this way, but He did. Even if I could change it, I wouldn’t want to. It comes with obsessions and the oddest phobias, but I can’t understand life any other way, to be honest.

              Where'd I get ya this time? The liver? The kidney? I'm runnin' outta places to put holes in ya.

              #149950
              Anonymous
                • Rank: Knight in Shining Armor
                • Total Posts: 692

                Idk if this counts as a physiological disorder but apparently my mom said I have an undiagnosed intellectual disability. I used to have a hard time in school and I’m behind on new things compared to the average person. Driving is one of those things that is hard for me and I’m behind on. Also, most of my characters have some kind of disability or disorder. Autism, ADD, ADHD, physical disabilities, ect.

                #149951
                Anonymous
                  • Rank: Knight in Shining Armor
                  • Total Posts: 692

                  Cool thing someone told me recently that I never thought about before: everyone has a (what we would call) disability. I’ve found that our culture just says weaknesses if it’s undiagnosed.

                  #150061
                  Whaley
                  @whalekeeper
                    • Rank: Chosen One
                    • Total Posts: 2588

                    @godlyfantasy12

                    Oh, I didn’t see your post at first. Sure!! 😛

                    KaPeefers 'til we're old and gray...

                    #150085
                    Lydibug
                    @lydibug
                      • Rank: Loyal Sidekick
                      • Total Posts: 100

                      Hi, this is an interesting subject 😊

                      • This reply was modified 10 months ago by Lydibug.

                      Happy unbirthday every one!
                      "EVERYTHING IS AWESOME..."

                      #150087
                      Whaley
                      @whalekeeper
                        • Rank: Chosen One
                        • Total Posts: 2588

                        Ooooooohhhhhh… Stimming. THAT’s what I do.

                        I was familiar with the term, but I hadn’t really researched it XD No wonder I go through all my senses so repetitively.

                        KaPeefers 'til we're old and gray...

                        #150088
                        LoopyLin
                        @loopylin
                          • Rank: Chosen One
                          • Total Posts: 2018

                          Fun/cute thing add to your writing: Two neurodivergent characters picking up on/ copying each other’s stims.

                          I like to do this stim that’s kinda like a lip trill (not sure how else to explain it) and I’ve been doing it often enough that a lot of my friends or family members have picked on it and they’ll do it back to me and it makes me really happy. Also, sometimes I’ll bounce up and down on my toes when I’m excited and sometimes my friend will go stand next to me and start bouncing too.

                          So, anyway, I thought that would be a cute thing to write characters doing.

                          Space Princess ✨🪐 intp artist

                          #150089
                          Whaley
                          @whalekeeper
                            • Rank: Chosen One
                            • Total Posts: 2588

                            @loopylin

                            Aawww that’s so cute girlie ❤😍❤ It’s amazing how people imitate each other to connect on a different level. I’ve seen so many examples of this, and it’s really heartwarming how some people do it without even realizing.

                            And I never thought to try that 😂 Good idea!

                            @everyonelol

                            My most common stim (the one my family teases me for) is kinda weird, but… bear with me here… I smell everything.

                            😅😭 Oh my goodness it’s so embarrassing sometimes. A super common thing I do is touch something, then press the tips of my fingers against the sensitive bits of my face – nose, mouth, whatever. I want to know the smell, the feel, the temperature. And I literally do it all the time. I’m doing it as I’m writing this post, completely subconsciously, until I realize 😂

                            I also love putting my whole face into something and breathing in the scent. Blankets, especially. When I was a baby, my mum knitted me a tiny pink blanket. I smelled that thing to death. One corner is all frayed and tattered from years of sticking it in my mouth and face – and I still do it. I literally named my blanket Corner.

                            Often I cover it up by covering my mouth and nose with a clenched fist, and staring off into the distance, like I’m thinking about something abstract and philosophical… But no, I’m just comfort-breathing 😝

                            It’s gotten to the point where I can tell who’s been in a room last, who’s going to get sick soon… Usually just through smell. If I focus.

                            Maybe it has something to do with how your senses are more concentrated in that section of the face? Like, if you were an animal, the muzzle area?

                            My parents sometimes compare me to an animal, usually a cat or a dog, when I’m being quietly stimulated ❤

                            KaPeefers 'til we're old and gray...

                            #150106
                            GodlyFantasy12
                            @godlyfantasy12
                              • Rank: Chosen One
                              • Total Posts: 6645

                              @whalekeeper that’s so cool how you can pick up on things because of it!! I might use that if ya don’t mind lol, cuz that’s super cool. Like a literal superpower lol.

                               

                              also It’s not weird because my grandpa, me and my brother like to smell our foods and other things as well, and I also have habits or whatever it is where I like to touch things a certain way, like smooth surfaces, etc. like right now thinking about it made me want to touch my phone to my face….and now that I’m thinking about it the thought doesn’t want to go away….

                               

                              so I’m just gonna do it.

                               

                              XD

                               

                              ANYWAY it’s not that weird lol

                              #IfMarcelDiesIRiot
                              #ProtectMarcel
                              #ProtectSeb

                              #150108
                              Whaley
                              @whalekeeper
                                • Rank: Chosen One
                                • Total Posts: 2588

                                @godlyfantasy12

                                😂😂😂 I’m a SuPeRhErO nOw

                                Yeah it’s not too weird. I mean we all identify people by their smells – like if you walk into your friend’s house, it’s bound to smell familiar.

                                It’s just with me… It’s ALL thE TiMe. I got back from vacation, and I could tell my grandma had been checking up on our dog, because you could smell her in the kitchen. (Not in a bad way 😂) That’s pretty normal, like, my family noticed it too – but I’m constantly monitoring those kind of things, with absolutely everything.

                                And with the sick thing… If someone’s been burning through a lot of body energy, they give off this faint sharp smell, but only occasionally. I remember telling my mum about it, and she said, “makes sense, your siblings haven’t been eating to much recently.”

                                Aaaand it gets annoying. Like if I touch something super smelly multiple times, EVERY TIME I have to smell my fingers. I have to literally clutch my hands into fists to stop.

                                It would be funny if a charrie did that… 😂😖

                                KaPeefers 'til we're old and gray...

                                #150109
                                Whaley
                                @whalekeeper
                                  • Rank: Chosen One
                                  • Total Posts: 2588

                                  @godlyfantasy12

                                  Or better yet, imagine me during spring cleaning 😶

                                  KaPeefers 'til we're old and gray...

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