#majetteduncan

[scripttorture]

Not sure if this should go to you or scriptmedic, but I'll try you, since injury is purposely inflicted. One of my characters was abused as a young boy. Something she did to him rendered him mute, or at least causing him extreme pain when trying to speak. What are some options I have? I don't want to deal with brain damage, because that would have more problems than just not making sounds. I don't want something that makes it hard to breathe. Of my options, what would be any other effects?

I’m unawareof anything that would physically prevent your character from speaking in theway you’d like.

 It seemslike you’re asking for something that damages the vocal cords and well notorture I’m aware of does. The only thing I can think of that might cause thatsort of damage is if the abuser had tried to murder him by slitting his throat.

 Thatwould obviously be very risky for your character but the neck is made of somepretty touch muscles, it’s possible for her not to reach any major arteries orveins while still damaging the vocal chords. Your character could survive withmedical attention.

 Theproblem is I have no idea how muchdamage it would take for doctors to be unable to surgically repair his vocalchords. And the more damage the more likely it is that she’d hit somethingimportant and life threatening. The vocal chords are also pretty far back in the neck, so I think it would be unlikely she’dreach them without hitting something significant.

 And ofcourse this might well limit his ability to breathe.

 If that’sthe option you’d prefer I think you really need to ask ScriptMedic about howsurvivable this sort of injury would be and how easy it is to repair damage tothe vocal chords.

 Mysuggestion is a bit more roundabout.

 Don’tmake him mute. Make him Deaf.

 Damage tothe inner ear is pretty common when someone’s being hit around the head a lot.It’s also something the abuser might try to hide from doctors etc as, takenwith other factors; it can be a warning sign of abuse. Which would delaytreatment.

 You wouldhave to look up implants and hearing aids, I’m unsure if this sort of damagecan be easily fixed now. It would still be reasonable for him not to haveimplants or hearing aids even if his hearing can be corrected. They don’t workfor everyone.

 The worstresult I’ve heard of was someone who ended up hearing a horrible high pitchedscreeching sound 24/7 because their implant malfunctioned.

 If helost his hearing young that combined with some of the effects of abuse (socialisolation, depression, anxiety-) could make him hesitant and uncomfortabletrying to communicate verbally. It wouldn’t physically prevent him from communicating verbally but it can act as alanguage barrier. It’s highly likely he’d have learnt a sign language, differingdepending on where your story is set- I know some BSL and I’m willing to talk alittle about that in a private chat if you like.

 You’dhave to research Deaf culture and the Deaf community in the area your story isset. But I think this could produce the effect you’re going for, a characterwho finds it very difficult to communicate with most of the people around him.Because most hearing people don’t bother to learn any sign languages and thatcan be incredibly isolating for Deaf people.

 I hopethat helps. :)

Disclaimer

[transcriptroopers]

In my story, characters with supernatural abilities, are abducted, imprisoned, and trained to be weapons to be an army to storm the government and take over. (Not actually the plan, but that's the lie they're told.) They're told that if they cooperate, things will go better for them during training and after. If not, they're mistreated and run ragged. They're told "It doesn't have to be this way". Those who cooperate hold power over those who don't. Is this a realistic tactic? (Word limit sucks)

Well, I think you might want to consider consulting @scriptshrink if you haven’t already, although her caseload is already pretty hefty so I’ll see what I can do.

I’d like to point out the similarity of this scenario to the Jewish Order Police established in the ghettos in WWII. In short, Jewish people who were also imprisoned in the ghettos but who were given special privileges and power over the rest provided they followed orders and served as extensions of the Germans within the ghetto. The link I provided up there is only one small article, so I recommend reading more into it; it’s a very long and complicated history, but it’s still worth a read.A lot of this psychological consideration is dependent on the personalities of the imprisoned. Some might immediately cooperate, some might cooperate after a reasonable amount of threatening, and some might never cooperate and would rather die. But it’s worth remembering that these tactics are only as useful as long as those in power remain in power. At the first sign of weakness, should the imprisoned have any strength or resources to do so, most of the imprisoned would probably revolt. Militaries are best built on positive foundations, where soldiers have morale and belief in a cause and trust in their superiors. So the people doing this likely either have no idea how to keep an army satisfied, or they’re completely banking on the fact that they cannot be thrown from power, which of course as anyone in power will tell you is a very foolish belief.Either way, personally I would recommend that even if the forces are poorly treated, they would work much better if they were motivated to perform rather than scared to not perform. So while the tactic you’ve described is theoretically a valid tactic, I wouldn’t necessarily say it’s a good one. -Spc. Kingsley

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