S.O

//were i yell about my fictional children//

[the-soulless-ones]

NANO 22 Log: Day 22

I've got to make this update quick, because I've got to get ready for work. Today I wrote, which is significate enough by itself since the last time I did so was on the eighteenth. The scene I'm writing is cucking along, and I'm happy about that. I hope to be able to finish it sometime this week since I'm now officially on thanksgiving break. There are more papers to write but for now I just want to focus on surviving retail hell and finishing this one scene.

[the-soulless-ones]

NANO 22 Log: Days 7-10

Okay, so this week has been an entire wash.

I took the seventh off, sorta on purpose sorta on accident. I just remember opening the document to try and write, looking at it and just knowing that it wasn't gonna happen that night.

I actually did write on the eighth, but it was so little that it actually sent me into a depressive/anxious spiral involving me sitting in my bathroom calling myself stupid over and over again. Very classic panic attack material. I remember very vividly thinking before that, there's no point in me being in this challenge if the most I can write in a day is a paragraph or less.

I've been worried from the get go that me challenging myself to participate in NANO this year would lead to these kinds of freak outs for me, and I was right. I haven't do a very good job of protecting myself from that lately, and I honestly don't know what to do to prevent that situation in the future...idk, I talked it over with my folks that night (who don't know I'm doing NANO and still don't) and they offered me the usual reassurances. I'm not sure it really did anything to help me resolve these fears of mine---which are deep seated and recurring, but the upset passed anyways.

On the ninth I didn't get any writing done at all. I knew that I wouldn't, since I've just been hired for a new job and had to go in to do training for it in the afternoon. The stress I was feeling over that, which I know contributed to the previous days break down, kept me from even attempting to do anything writing wise in the afternoon before going in to work. My biggest fear with this new job is that it will eat up all my free time, and that between it and school I will never have any energy or time to write ever again. Even just writing that out, I realize how overly dramatic that sounds, but that's been where I've been at in my head lately.

Today I just focused on getting caught up in school, and on equalizing after all the stress I've been experiencing. So again, no writing. I hope that I can try again maybe tomorrow afternoon or Saturday. I just want to get back to a place where I'm enjoying myself.

[the-writers-labyrinth-deactivat]

Hey, you. Yeah, you, right there.

Doesn’t matter if you’ve barely written anything today, or yesterday, or the past few weeks or however long. Doesn’t matter if you’re not sure of where you want your WIP to go, or if you’re distracted by other ideas. Heck, it doesn’t matter if you think your writing is absolutely terrible.

You got this.

[the-soulless-ones]

Nano 22 Log: Day 6

Today did not go the way I wanted it to. I still wrote, and I'm trying hard to frame that as a win, even if it wasn't for as long as I wanted to and didn't produce nearly as much.

The thing I'm really struggling with in regards to this challenge is forcing myself to sit down write or at the very least open the document every day. Normally, when it comes to writing, I let my mood and other factors dictate what I do a lot more, and I'm trying to stop that because I realize I let a lot of stupid arbitrary stuff get in the way of taking advantage of free time in my schedule. Like for me, I have to be in the right head space/mood to be able to write, and the tiniest things can upset that---Idk I'm rambling. I just need to let it go. I can't let perfection get in the way of the good.

[sealed-fate]

seeing the mexican gothic portraits is so cool !!! but it makes me wish some of her other books ( tbo, gojas, cdt, & vwtn) had followings as well bc it’d be nice to have official content for them too 😩😩😩

[the-soulless-ones]

NANO 22 Log: Days 4 & 5

Yesterday is this first day of Nano that I skipped. I sorta did it on intentionally, because I kinda knew at the start of the day that I wanted to take the day off so I could finally recover from my cold, and even after pushing myself to at least open the document once that day, I felt very strongly that it just wasn't going to happen. So I spent the day cleaning my space instead. It really helped too because yesterday evening was the day I finally felt like I was getting better after being sick all week and today was even better so.

The other thing I realized yesterday is that I need to take a step back from working on these 10 chapters I want to finish by the end of the year, because I'm too close to them right now and it's ruining my perspective on them and that's keeping me from making progress there. I need to zoom out and focus on another part of the book, which is what I did today---and it worked! I finally feel like I got something that's and actual scene. I'm gonna come back tomorrow and do more work on it! (

I gotta say though, I do feel a little foolish having claimed that these chapters specifically would be what I worked on for Nano because apparently that's not gonna be the case---but what can you do? That's the process right?

[the-soulless-ones]

NANO 22 Log: Day 3

I'm still sick, and I was feeling really bad this morning so I decided to skip my 9:45 class and stay home. The nice thing about this was, I didn't have much else to do this morning/afternoon, so I was able to spend time writing from about 10:00am to now. The word count was still low, like my other days, and I'm trying not to take that to badly. I know the fact that I had a mild fever this mourning and that I'm worrying about other life stuff I have going on right now is partially to blame, and I hope that once I'm feeling better and some of this other stuff has calmed down that my creative work will improve as well. More than anything, I'm focusing on that face that I enjoyed myself, and that I added something to my project today---which is better than expected.

[the-soulless-ones]

NANO 22 Log: Days 1 and 2

Well, I have no idea what my word count has been for either of these days (other than it was low) but I know I haven't missed a day writing wise since this last weekend (Oct 29--now) and that makes me feel good.

I can't think about anything else besides that, (hence why no word count) because otherwise I get depressed. Right now my goal really just is, open the document everyday, put something down, repeat. I'm also forcing myself to eat something before sitting down to write because I know that makes a difference in how it goes, and to always set my thirty minute timer for the start of every session.

I'm just gonna leave it at this for now. There's more I want to say but, I'm sick, and tired, and I swear there is a couple havening sex or making out or something in the library where I'm at rn and that's definitely not helping.

[the-soulless-ones]

NANO 22 Log: Day 0

I don't want to use the official NANOWRIMO cite to track my progress this Nov, so instead I'm gonna be doing it here, on my long time abandoned writing blog that nobody ever followed lol.

My goal for this Nov is to finish chapters 90-100 of my novel, most of which are already mostly written. I don't know how many words it will take, but hopefully it won't 50,000 because there is already a lot of them. I am not trying to meet the official goal for the challenge by any means, I'm just trying to meet my own personal writing goal by the end of the year.

To accomplish this goal, I'm gonna try using a new writing schedule suggested by the cite, where I write for 30-40min every weekday and for 6hr (LMAO) on sat and sun. I already no that it is unlikely that I will be able to pull this off, what with school and everything but I want to try anyways. Mostly because I've lost so much writing time since this semester started because of personal drama, and being in a theater class/play this semester. I want to try and make up for lost time here in Nov---and probably in December too if I'm being honest.

I want it to be low key though. I don't like to track my writing progress normally since it only makes me stress that I'm not doing as well as other writers, and I don't want me taking on this challenge to make me feel shitty because it is a lose arbitrary goal I set for myself. I'm hoping that by recording my progress here, I can keep myself grounded and worry free and also motivated. I've only ever tried to do NANO once before and that was in high school and was a total failure so I want that to keep that from happening again.

I wrote 400ish words today on my project. I wanted to start a day early because reentering a wring project after being away for so long is always hard for me, and I didn't want my first day of NANO to be more stressful because I've been away from the project for so long.

Anyway, I've written about this enough. No more worries, only good vibes from here on out! Whatever happens happens, and I'll be making progress regardless so that will be good for me no matter what.

[scriptballerina]

How can ballet skills be used in everyday life? My character had been in Ballet since he was 5 and now he's 19 in case that helps.

Hi There!

Your character will definitely be agile, flexible, resistant to physical strain and pain, and have great spatial memory and coordination. Since dancers are able to pick up a combination in a few seconds he may also be a fast learner, in addition he will probably be good at working with people and in teams, be very patient, meticulous and focused when need be, and able to notice little details about the way people move or about music (he will also be able to lift his female friends for extra shenanigans).

There’s also a characteristic… consciousness of physicality to a ballet dancer. When they move or do mundane things they emanate this sense of being perfectly in the moment, present to themselves, their posture and gestures always give them out, emanating some kind of precision and refinement, there is a certain intrinsic elegance about them. It’s just so deeply embodied in the way they live and everything they do that they can’t shake it off even if it has been years since the last time they danced.

Fun fact: ballet dancers have also a tendency to turn out their feet even when walking (fondly referred to a duck-walk) or standing, of panche-ing while bending and of picking things up without bending the knees. We are all liable of these and most of the times we don’t even notice until someone points it out. It’s quite funny to watch.

This is all I can think about at the moment, hope this helps!

Script Ballerina

[scriptballerina]

What's the difference between French, Italian, and Russian ballet? I'm writing a musical lol

Hi there!

To put it very simply:

Russian Ballet: developed by Agrippina Vaganova as we know it today but originally characteristic of Imperial Russia, its school of reference is the Vaganova Academy. The Vaganova method of Russian ballet is characterized by clean lines, incredibly soft and expressive arms and port de bras, extreme flexibility in the arms, legs and back, and endurance. It is focused on a gradual technical procession: you move to the more advanced steps only after a meticulous learning of the basic ones. The goal is to create clean lines and movements without being stiff but gentle and harmonious

Italian Ballet: developed by Enrico Cecchetti, its school of reference is Teatro alla Scala in Milan. Cecchetti’s dancers are virtuose and athletic. The goal is for them to learn by internalizing rather than imitating the movements, so barre and exercises are different every day of the week and rigidly scheduled. Cecchetti’s method focuses on balance, elevation, elasticity, musicality, fast footwork, and clean lines

French Ballet: Defined by Rudolf Nureyev in the 1980s, French ballet is not really standardized but the Paris Opera Ballet is usually considered the school of reference. French ballet is romantic and lyric, fluid, clean, elegant and characterized by Nureyev’s attention to musicality and precision by dancers. Due to this technique’s focus on speed and quantity of steps, the music is usually played more slowly

Try a quick google search for more details and maybe watch Balanchine’s Jewels for a comparison between French (Emeralds, Act I) and Russian (Diamonds, Act III) ballet.

Hope this helps and good luck with your musical!

Script Ballerina

[scriptlgbt]

I have a story where one of the main characters is a trans woman & another one is nonbinary (amab). Neither one has a set name yet, so I wanted to get some advice. Do most trans people choose a name that sounds similar to their deadname? Or do they tend to choose something wildly different? Additionally, with my nonbinary character, is it better to choose a “unisex” name (or nickname) or would it be okay for them to keep the “masculine name” they were assigned at birth?

I would say most folks don’t choose things that sound similar to their deadnames. There are reasons someone might, and I know some folks have chosen intermediary names to get their family used to the idea of calling them a slightly different name before picking a name they actually prefer. (Like Alison becomes Alan, becomes Mark or some other name that doesn’t necessarily sound similar at all.)

When I was picking names, I went with something that was sentimental to me the first time. I’m still keeping Jasper as a first name. It’s sentimental because of a memory of a place. I then picked Ignatius because if I get to pick my own name, I don’t have to worry about the same things that parents do when they pick a name for their child. A kindergartener might have to worry about getting teachers mispronouncing and people making fun of them. I don’t. I might as well get wild with it. When I tell people I go by nat, I’ve got questions in the past about whether it is “short for Natalie or Nathan” and since Ignatius isn’t a common usage name today, people generally don’t find it as easy to gender. And nat is a neutral name for the most part. And the name of the person behind the blog Practical Androgyny, which made a huge difference in the life of Questioning Me. 

 Some people just pick things they like the sound of. Or planet names, things in nature, favourite fictional characters, abstract concepts, whatever. There’s not really a specific theme to what someone picks, and it’s usually in line with that person’s personality in some way. I think you can find lots of other name origin stories by searching “trans how I picked my name” on YouTube or whatever. Everybody has a slightly different story.

As for nonbinary names: some people keep their names (whether they are coded neutrally or not) and some people don’t. I kept my deadname for maybe like, the first 3 or 4 years I was out (maybe more). Then went by Jasper for a few years, and I think I’ve gone by nat since 2015ish. Maybe 2016? Or 2014? (I could do some checking for actual dates but I am fine with not remembering specifics right now.) I had different reasons for changing my name, but a lot of it came because I had a year where I essentially had to cut contact with my whole family and it seemed as good a time as any. My deadname was a longer feminine name that was shortened to an androgynous name. Part of my trying to push away from the androgynous name was that growing up I had always been called, “the girl [name]” to distinguish from others with the same name. That wasn’t fun.

tl;dr It would be okay for your nonbinary character to keep their deadname, but I think having a neutral nickname that they go by might also be a good thing, or else another name that is neutral.

- mod nat

[scriptlgbt]

Writing Trans Characters: Corrections of Common Mistakes

These are just a few quick, basic things that should be taken into account that I notice a lot of writers get wrong.

Not every trans person is “pre” or “post” HRT or surgeries. It can be pretty stigmatizing to think of trans people’s lives as part of those two categories, especially when those things have not always been part of their plan or they do not want them at all.

“About 14 percent of trans women and 72 percent of trans men said they don’t ever want full genital construction surgery.” So for the record, your trans man character who doesn’t want bottom surgery is part of the majority of trans men.

There are loads of different kinds of surgeries (even if we’re just talking about genitalia, even if we’re just talking about one type of genitalia).

“Transition” is a really vague term. It includes all sorts of things for all sorts of people, and it has no start and end date usually. It can literally be just coming out and that’s it.

“Transgendered” is not the preferred term because it is not a verb, it is an identity (an adjective).

A great guide for phrasing things in a good way is the GLAAD media guide for writing about trans people. There’s some stuff in there that’s less of a consensus within the trans communities, but it’s very minimal, and what is there is not harmful.

Do not misgender your own characters when narrating things.

“Transwomen” and  "transmen" are not the preferred wording. There is a space between them, because as mentioned earlier, trans is an adjective. These are still women and men.

“ftm” and “mtf” are also not preferred by everyone, because it implies we were ever our assigned-at-birth gender, and also centres around transition (which is not what defines being trans, and is also undefinable in itself)

There usually isn’t a reason to feature or talk about surgeries or your trans character’s body in general within the plot. This doesn’t mean “avoid it at all costs” - just ask yourself if it actually is necessary. Most people asking questions related to surgeries and the like do not actually need to include that information.

It’s a common misconception that all trans men have vaginas and all trans women have penises, are perisex etc. The people who have penises cannot be summed up by saying “trans women and cis men” because not only does that exclude a whole lot of nonbinary people, (or how everybody generally is born with a phallus, but I digress) but intersex genitalia is extremely varied, and countless trans people do undergo surgeries. Most post-op genitalia looks indistinguishable from the kind that cis people have.

Gender dysphoria =/= body hatred. Here’s a link where I explain what gender dysphoria feels like for me.

Trans people are not “born in the wrong body” (some folks may use this phrasing for themselves, but for the most part, with some exception, it is to explain things to cis people who have no familiarity or patience to understand).

We did not “used to be a [GAAB*]” and we are not “biologically [GAAB]” - we are who we say we are, even when we are closeted, even when our shape was different. Some folks who experience gender fluidity are different here and it’s not uniform - but it is still inappropriate for cis people to use these phrases.

he/him =/= “male pronouns” etc. Don’t gender pronouns! Not everyone who uses these pronouns is “male”.

The terms “female body” or “male body” are not helpful in explaining what a certain body is like. They have no uniform way of being, especially taking hormones, surgeries, and intersex persons into account. And if you identify as female, your body is female. It is your body.

See also:

I am transgender and I was not “born in the wrong body.” (Medium)

TRANSGENDER IS AN ADJECTIVE. NOT A NOUN. OR A VERB! (Feministing)

* GAAB = Gender Assigned At Birth

[scriptlgbt]

Hey! A character of mine is transgender and... do you have any tips for writing dysphoria? I’ve maybe experienced it once and it wasn’t even that bad. I’ve never had to live with it? I just kind of don’t know how to write it so if you have any tips I would be forever grateful!

Here is a post with a personal narrative about dysphoria, but it’s good to keep in mind that it’s different for everybody. 

Since it’s so open ended, I would just write away and then have someone who does experience dysphoria to a similar degree as your character look it over. But there’s not a lot to worry about.

The biggest concern I can think of would be to either paint it as universal or the same as hating your body. It can be easily translated to the latter, but it has its subtle differences, and different reasons, triggers and roots entirely.

I’d also say that a lot of dysphoria that trans people have is kept private because when it is shared, people tend to assume that it means that it’s up for some kind of analysis or discussion. TERFs and other jerks also like to look at the things we feel, and assume that they know all of it based on the portion we’ve selectively shared. People look at them and think we are perpetuating stereotypes or internalized bad stuff. Even when it is, it’s just common sense that living in a society that pushes that on us is going to get to us on a deep level. (Whether that causes us gender dysphoria or affirmation or a gradient of those feelings.)

I would also avoid the “born in the wrong body” trope because it separates us from our bodies and makes it seem like we do not deserve autonomy and choice over them, or that there is something inherently wrong with our bodies.

- mod nat

[scriptmedic]

Injury Profiles: Evisceration

Hey everyone! Welcome to a new series I’m calling Mangled Mondays.

The point of Mangled Mondays will be to give an injury profile every Monday. Not only is the alliteration fun, I know that I personally wish that I could personify Monday so that I could mangle it and then go back to bed.

(And yes, I know we’re starting this on a Friday, but that’s happening because… reasons.)

So without further ado I give you Mangled Mondays: Evisceration…

Lethality Index

4

What Is It?

Evisceration, also known as disembowelment, is any form of injury that ends with your character’s insides on the outside, with their guts hanging out. Their bowels are literally in their lap.

The abdomen is essentially a madhouse of overpacking. The intestine, or small bowel, is approximately 25 feet of tightly bunched material that is held in place by a thick membrane called the peritoneum, which lines the abdominal cavity and is folded over those densely packed organs. When the peritoneum is ruptured, the guts come out.

The interesting thing about this injury is that the intestines themselves don’t even need to rupture for this to be an absolutely devastating and likely-to-be-deadly injury. Even if the bowels are miraculously intact, the odds of getting an infection are extremely high, and your character’s life is on the line.

Meanwhile, they have a problem: they have guts in their hands and they can’t get them back in!

If this injury is the result of some kind of fight, the character will be left vulnerable to additional injury, though an attack that leaves its victim extruding sausage into the open is likely to make the attacker think the job has been done. Either way, this character is instantly out of the fight, even if they retain strength; the horror of the injury is enough to disable them as a fighter.

In reality, in the majority of cases in which any part of the abdominal contents is welcomed to the outside world, what comes out is not actually an organ, but the omentum, a great protective apron of tough, fibrous tissue and fat that protects the underlying organs. However, characters with these injuries are still in deep trouble: 8 in 10 wounds with an evisceration will include another internal injury that requires surgical repair.

Lethality

While some forms of evisceration are inherently lethal, including those with massive hemorrhage or where the entire abdominal contents are extruded and mangled or destroyed, it’s far more common for the protrusions through the abdominal wall to be fairly small, no more than a few inches.

In the former case, exsanguination (heavy blood loss) is the primary concern. In the latter, the real worry is infection.

Abdominal trauma in general is extremely prone to infection, because the gut is colonized with billions of bacteria. These are usually either neutral or beneficial to the body when they stay where they belong, but when they cross into the bloodstream, these bacteria can cause sepsis and death within days.

Clinical Signs:

Elvis has left the building.

Erm, the bowels have left the abdomen. Or at least, something has left the abdomen; most often it’s the omentum.

Protruding tissue may look gray or may be obvious loops of bowel; these look like raw sausage without the fennel.

Symptoms:

Pain

How Does It Happen?

In order for matter to exit the abdominal cavity, it needs…

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Keep reading

[scriptmedic]

Injury Profiles: Concussion

Keep reading

[scriptmedic]

Anesthesia, Analgesia, and Paralysis: What’s the Difference?

Whuddup, peeps and other candies! Today Aunt Scripty wants to talk about a really important aspect of pharmacology, especially important for surgeries (both back-alley and OR) and emergency medicine types.

Today we’re going to differentiate anesthesia, analgesia, and paralysis. We’re going to talk about drugs that affect each of these.

I swear to you, dear keyboard-smashers, by the end of this article you will know more than a lot of junior doctors know, or at least manage to remember in the heat of trying to fix a critically ill patient, and you will understand why I want to slap so very many of my medical directors.

So let’s start with some definitions, some what-does-this-do:

Keep reading