Cosette Bellamy’s Vitiligo
( Art by @booksrbetterthanpeople )
Hey guys, so I realized that it's been three years since 2021, though the day of the fanfic is in three days, the year that my OC was introduced in the fanfic, Envy, where they had a different name and design at the time. This not only led to me becoming friends with Artzy but also later created the science kids as a whole. And I’m pretty grateful for that since it led to me meeting a bunch of people I’m glad to call my friends and I'm enjoying the show more than just shipping since that can take you so far sometimes. So I want to thank them for letting me include my OC in their fanfic and just being a good friend.
Now, you’re wondering why I’m making this post or not, which is fine I guess but it is not stopping me from telling you why. It’s because I realized I made some mistakes regarding my OC when it came to their vitiligo since it's a disability that many people have and are affected by; we should acknowledge that and treat it as such. Especially for someone like me, who doesn’t have it, so I recommend following people who have vitiligo or did enough research on the topic for more information, @vitiligo-is-not-a-trend , @cripplecharacters , and the website, Vitiligo Society, has a lot of information on the topic than I do, so please go follow or see their website or account, I recommend some people on Instagram as well. After doing more research into it, I’m going to try to fix that, while informing you and myself by making this post, being respectful about it, and hoping many people see this. Well, let’s begin and I hope you enjoy this post.
The beginning of her vitiligo
First, I want to say that Cosette is the only one in her family with vitiligo. Her parents don't have it and her older siblings don't have it. Though it is hereditary from their dad’s, Valentin, side of the family, a few of their ancestors, mostly the women in their family, have it but didn't show up for years until well after Cosette was born.
It started to develop when Cosette was around 3 years old. The family was getting ready for the yearly family portrait and their mom, Amarachi, was checking on them and their siblings to see if they were all ready.
Cosette was the last one and when Amarachi did the outfit and face check she noticed that Cosette had a little white spot under their right knee. She scolded Cosette for getting messy on the day of the family portrait and told her to find something to cover them up, not even letting Cosette speak about what happened.
Cosette just did what she was told, not wanting to face Amarachi’s berates and make her more mad at them. So she put on a different dress and anything else to cover her legs and things went well enough.
A month after the family portrait and Amarachi left for her military duties again, Cosette noticed a few more white patches spreading on its body, mostly on their arms and legs a bit. When she told her dad about it, he didn’t know what was going on, so they had to hope for the best and that the spots would go away due to his busy schedule as a chef. So in the meantime, he had Cosette cover up the patches they had, which were on their legs.
So he decides to research what type of condition Cosette might have, that’s how he discovered that they might have vitiligo but to make sure, he planned a day when he could take them to the doctor or dermatologist.
So when Valentin took Cosette to the hospital; they got introduced to a Dermatologist named, Dr. Aganad, who confirmed to them that Cosette did have vitiligo after taking tests.
She told them that it is not a disease or/and not contagious at all, just an autoimmune disorder that is going to affect Cosette’s life a lot and it should be taken seriously and as such. Like she was going to need sunscreen and recommended getting sunscreen lotion since the lack of melanin and a lot of sun exposure would give her sunburns if she didn’t. And that vitiligo was going to make her stressed in a lot of moments in their lives.
While Valentin and Dr.Aganad talk about how he can help as a parent, like being there for Cosette and not treating it lesser because of it, all that Cosette can think about is that it is a good thing that nothing is wrong with them and that she looks kinda cool, and hope that her mom and siblings would think the same way. Especially, with Dr.Aganad telling her that they should embrace their vitiligo in a way that makes them happy.
The Toughest Period of Her Life
At first, Jordyn made fun of them and Yvette didn’t really care enough to stop, Valentin told him not to do that, vitiligo shouldn't be something to make fun of at all, and take it seriously. Jordyn apologized for what he did for once to Cosette, a mix of genuine and that their dad is making him do it.
Cosette appreciated that Jordyn apologized to them and their dad stood up for them, but what Jordyn said still hurt and stung her a lot, even when she tried to get it out of her head, it still hurt.
After a few days, after their 4th birthday, Cosette went back to kindergarten, covering their body because their dad told them to. But went behind his back when they got to Maternelle. Cosette thought everyone was going to think that she looked so cool and everything…
But that was shattered when they stepped into the classroom and everyone had bad reactions to them. The kids either snickered to themselves or each other, stared in confusion or/disgust, or had blank stares that scared Cosette a lot.
Even the teacher looked sideways while trying to welcome it back, hoping Cosette wouldn’t notice at all. But they did and what hurt them was when one of the kids said “Are you becoming white or something?” The rest of the kids laughed while the teacher tried to calm them down. No one noticed the tears that were coming out from Cosette, who tried so hard not to cry in front of everyone, trying to put a brave smile on their face.
So, they just went along with the jokes and tried to push them off as best as they could but it still hurt her a lot. And during afternoon recess, Cosette was just doing some chalk art, then suddenly some girl poured chocolate milk on them and said “Hey I found the cure for your disease!” And ran away with a cheeky smile on her face.
When she tried telling the teacher what happened the teacher just told her “not to take it seriously and it's just a joke, you should try thinking of it as a joke.” Cosette was in disbelief at what the teacher said but shut their mouth because they didn't know what to do or say.
After the school day ended, Cosette came home alone and was alone at the time and when they got into their room, she just sobbed and kept sobbing until she eventually went to sleep because of it.
And while their siblings didn’t make fun of their vitiligo and their dad was trying to help them feel better about it (though he wasn’t doing the best job of it, he was trying), it didn’t change the fact people picked on them for it and that most teachers they had didn’t even try to help it or stop bullying.
She was hoping that her mom would at least accept her and not think so low of her vitiligo. But it was proven wrong when Amarachi looked at it with so much disgust in her eyes and not much without a word, it left Cosette feeling worse about herself and her vitiligo.
It didn’t get that much better when they had to start primary school, where it got harder to not get stares and comments about them since vitiligo started to show on their face and their hair, eyelashes, and eyebrows as well, even if they were small at the time.
The primary school did have a bit less cruelty than kindergarten, but the other kids still picked on them and judged them for having vitiligo especially when it came to their hair.
They would make comparisons to zebras when it came to her hair and even say they could be considered one of the 101 Dalmatians, and many more harsh and rude names.
One day during picture day, they were up next to get her photo taken. Cosette wanted the picture to be good, so she had their favorite outfit and put their hair up in a way that would distract from white hairs on their hair, eyelashes, and eyebrows. That got ruined when they got brown paint dumped all over them, and then a kid, who set up the prank, said “Hope that helps cover up your vitiligo!” Cosette ran off crying and trying to wipe away their tears, trying to pass it off as a joke but couldn't and hated it.
Well, they had a teacher who let them take the picture again, even if the photographer thought the prank photo looked better than the retake photo. That is a secret that Cosette took to the grave for the rest of her life, no one will ever know that secret unless they say otherwise.
It led to the decision because after they got their first makeup kit when they were 8 years old, the thing they always wanted…. Cosette's first chance she got when it came to going to primary school, was to cover vitiligo on their face and put on a hoodie to cover their hair and everything else they could.
She has to camouflage themselves to avoid judgment, especially whenever they moves somewhere because their mom is a military nurse. It just makes things easier but it never felt right to them to do so, it felt very uncomfortable to hide a lot of themself.
While their vitiligo continues to change and grow with them over time, and pretty quickly too, Cosette couldn’t help but feel something was wrong every time they covered it. It was a mix of emotions on how they felt about their vitiligo. Cosette was ashamed of having it because of others making it feel that way and their feelings about it, crying when looking at the mirror before it, wanting to tell others off because of it, and thinking they’re right about it in some way.
Cosette tries to make jokes about her vitiligo to make them feel a bit better but it doesn't. Cosette felt miserable every time they tried to make a joke about it, so they wouldn’t and did not want to feel miserable because of it.
The beginning of acceptance
But, they still love watching makeup videos and tutorials, it brought her a lot of comfort and when she was alone and at home, she would do makeup art or even simple makeup and find an appreciation and love for it again.
She takes pictures of them just in case they want to do it again someday, and it helps with her self-esteem and how she feels about her vitiligo. And over time, she can be more creative and comfortable with her makeup and how it goes with her outfits, and make her vitiligo pop out more.
Afterwards, she saw celebrities with vitiligo like Michael Jackson, Winnie Harlow, and Tamar Braxton, reading about their struggles and how it affected them. Making Cosette more comfortable, accepting, and loving of their vitiligo a lot more.
So, when Cosette was around 12 or 13 years old, she started wearing her makeup the way they loves, which makes their vitiligo pop out a lot more. No longer covering its vitiligo anymore.
She even takes their past photos and posts some of them on their social media accounts, most of it being private and no one in their family knows about. And that something tends to keep to itself in its graves.
Cosette has some days where she hates her vitiligo, others where she is not loving but not hating their vitiligo, and others where they're completely neutral. But, most days, it is happy that they have vitiligo, that her disability is what makes her, her.
Her vitiligo has been dormant for 1 year now, and it is not much of a shock for her. It happened before when she was a 9-year-old, her vitiligo wasn’t active for two years then suddenly came back during the summer, where she lived in Croydon, London.
Nowadays Cosette learns how to deal with people when they’re making fun of their vitiligo, which is ignoring them or making fun of them back. But even then, Cosette knows people like them aren’t worth it because at the end of the day, she knows that she matters and that’s all it matters.
This isn’t the best post, I think there are some parts I could do a lot better in. But, I made this for two things, one, to give my oc some love and lore to them, and two, to get more people knowledgeable of what some people with vitiligo might go through especially if they have had it ever since they were young. Though, it’s not perfect and I would rather have you guys go look at, watch, or read about people, who have vitiligo, who might go through. I hope you enjoy your day, and happy Juneteenth to Cosette, me, and many other black creators and people especially Texans, of which I am one. Bye!
