#m-dsm

[acertainmoshke]

Happy Summerfest and please welcome my Secret Writing Project…

{insert drumroll here}

The Magical Diagnostic and Statistical Manual!

Because yes, I am the kind of nerd who owns a real DSM and reads it for fun. So, when I suddenly started writing entries for magical disorders, someone (ahem, @daughterofheartshaven) suggested I make them into a story in themselves.

Which is how this project started, a story about navigating college while disabled told through textbook DSM entries and course documents. The players include:

Hawk Garten, autistic and mitte (changeling/magical allegorical autism), who owns the book and is in his third year of a degree his parents want him to get but has no actual friends

Lark Garten, Hawk’s sister, adhd and a werewolf, trying to live her best goth girl life as she starts college but feeling stifled by her family’s concern

Lena Biskup, Hawk’s classmate who borrows his book when she can’t afford her own, a mermaid (yes, that’s diagnosable) who is here to learn and have fun in college but is surprised when she doesn’t make friends as easily as back home

Eliot Dixon, ostracized enough by myths about vampires before you even get to the genderfluid thing, mostly keeps to herself doing quiet artistic hobbies except for group projects when she’s forced to interact with Hawk and Lena

This is a story about friendship and accommodation and independence and being the subject of classroom discussions while everyone tries not to glance at you. It’s separated into four units across the semester and I’m very nearly done with the first one already. So far I have written:

M-DSM table of contents

MagiMed 321 syllabus

3 completely annotated diagnostic criteria entries

2 filled-in accommodation request forms

A shopping list

A graded essay

A graded reading questions worksheet

A thank you note

2 days’ worth of class notes

I’m going to be talking about this all month and finding depth to the characters and story while I do. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

[acertainmoshke]

Lark for the Boarding Pass!

Thank you!

Dream destination: she likes busy cities with lots of things to do and people to meet, and I think she'd enjoy the energy of New York

Nightmare destination: she would hate a hallmark Christmas movie-style little town, both because she'd be bored and she's in that phase of rolling her eyes at anything light and sappy

[acertainmoshke]

Character Roundup: M-DSM

Hawk Garten

Age: 20 Gender: man (cis) Disabilities: autism, mitte (formerly referred to as changeling) Major: pre-med (magical clinician track) Personality: kind but shy, high-strung, generally uninterested in most people Motivation: make an actual friend, find a new major without disappointing his parents

Lark Garten

Age: 18 Gender: woman (cis) Disabilities: adhd, lycanthropy (emotionally-linked), dyslexia Major: undeclared Personality: loud, opinionated, short-tempered, charming but struggles to keep friends, feels stifled at home Motivation: make college friends, find roommates so she can move out

Lena Biskup

Age: 20 Gender: woman (cis) Disabilities: entailed (requires wheelchair on land) Major: pre-med (surgeon track) Personality: friendly, easygoing, impulsive, goofy, immature Motivation: pass classes, fit in at school

Eliot Dixon

Age: 21 Gender: genderfluid (he/she depending on the day) Disabilities: chronic vampirism Personality: artistic, shy but chatty once comfortable, currently burned out and irritable Motivation: make it through the semester without being hospitalized or flunking out

[acertainmoshke]

Hi 👋 for the boarding pass ask game, let’s go with Lark!

Hi, and thank you! I did answer this one, but I'll give her second for each.

Second most ideal location: I think she would be entranced by the idea of Las Vegas, in that way of being a sheltered 18-year-old. It's full of pretty glittery lights that famously hide a world of darkness and some nebulous amount of danger, and she would find that fascinating

Second worst location: she doesn't like the beach. She has sensory issues with the feeling of being wet, and overheats easily, and would just generally be bored but embarrassed that everyone else is having so much fun

[acertainmoshke]

WIP Intro: The Magical Diagnostic and Statistical Manual

Genre: found-document urban fantasy Status: first drafting Elevator pitch: a college fantasy story about disability and friendship told through textbooks entries, classwork, and notes.

Characters

Hawk Garten, he/him: an autistic “changeling” (now a medical diagnosis) stuck living at home in the third year of a major he doesn’t like, just hoping to make one friend in person. Dresses in vintage clothes and leans into the formal to cover his awkwardness

Lark Garten, she/her: an adhd and dyslexic werewolf finally starting college and disappointed to find she still feels stifled by her parents and overprotecting brother. Uses her goth fashion like armor to protect her from even more rejection, but being prickly doesn't earn her friends

Lena Biskup, she/her: a mer (technically a diagnosis but more of a subculture) who had never lived on land until going to college, and uses a wheelchair when not in the water. Excited to make friends but finds it more difficult than she expected, until she borrows Hawk's textbook in a class they share

Eliot Dixon, she/he: a student who was on track to be impressive until he was exposed to an infection and now has chronic vampirism, which makes functioning at school difficult and functioning socially impossible

Demographics that may interest you: All of the main characters are disabled, Hawk and Lark are Jewish, Lena is Black, Eliot is Southeast Asian-American, and Eliot is also genderfluid. (sexualities not specified as they're not relevant to this story)

Plot summary:

Hawk is going to be a doctor because it's what his parents want, and he's never let them down yet. He's prepared for another frustrating semester, now with added stress as he tries to keep an eye on the sister who needs him but never listens. He doesn't hesitate or think much of it when a girl in his class asks to share his annotated M-DSM for the year since she can't afford her own copy.

But over the course of working together, studying together, and getting to know each other, Hawk and Lena become friends. The future is looking up. Until an Incident spirals out of control and leaves all of their futures at school in jeopardy, unless they do something fast.

[acertainmoshke]

Playlist for Hawk or Lark?

Ooh, thanks! I think I'll do both:

Hawk (the closet emo apparently):

Brittle by Icon for Hire

Space Oddity by David Bowie

Are We Waiting by Green Day

Lark (much less surprising):

Paper Planes by M.I.A.

Murphy's Law by Honey Revenge

Bad Reputation by Joan Jett