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moryann-stolen-stories · 22 days

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Note to Self; I've already built much of this into place for the Scrappers in Moryann, but it's always good to have a guided checklist to hand when hammering out additional details.

How Do I Make My Fictional Gypsies Not Racist?

(Or, "You can't, sorry, but…")

You want to include some Gypsies in your fantasy setting. Or, you need someone for your main characters to meet, who is an outsider in the eyes of the locals, but who already lives here. Or you need a culture in conflict with your settled people, or who have just arrived out of nowhere. Or, you just like the idea of campfires in the forest and voices raised in song. And you’re about to step straight into a muckpile of cliches and, accidentally, write something racist.

(In this, I am mostly using Gypsy as an endonym of Romany people, who are a subset of the Romani people, alongside Roma, Sinti, Gitano, Romanisael, Kale, etc, but also in the theory of "Gypsying" as proposed by Lex and Percy H, where Romani people are treated with a particular mix of orientalism, criminalisation, racialisation, and othering, that creates "The Gypsy" out of both nomadic peoples as a whole and people with Romani heritage and racialised physical features, languages, and cultural markers)

Enough of my friends play TTRPGs or write fantasy stories that this question comes up a lot - They mention Dungeons and Dragons’ Curse Of Strahd, World Of Darkness’s Gypsies, World Of Darkness’s Ravnos, World of Darkness’s Silent Striders… And they roll their eyes and say “These are all terrible! But how can I do it, you know, without it being racist?”

And their eyes are big and sad and ever so hopeful that I will tell them the secret of how to take the Roma of the real world and place them in a fictional one, whilst both appealing to gorjer stereotypes of Gypsies and not adding to the weight of stereotyping that already crushes us. So, disappointingly, there is no secret.

Gypsies, like every other real-world culture, exist as we do today because of interactions with cultures and geography around us: The living waggon, probably the archetypal thing which gorjer writers want to include in their portrayals of nomads, is a relatively modern invention - Most likely French, and adopted from French Showmen by Romanies, who brought it to Britain. So already, that’s a tradition that only spans a small amount of the time that Gypsies have existed, and only a small number of the full breadth of Romani ways of living. But the reasons that the waggon is what it is are based on the real world - The wheels are tall and iron-rimmed, because although you expect to travel on cobbled, tarmac, or packed-earth roads and for comparatively short distances, it wasn’t rare to have to ford a river in Britain in the late nineteenth century, on country roads. They were drawn by a single horse, and the shape of that horse was determined by a mixture of local breeds - Welsh cobs, fell ponies, various draft breeds - as well as by the aesthetic tastes of the breeders. The stove inside is on the left, so that as you move down a British road, the chimney sticks up into the part where there will be the least overhanging branches, to reduce the chance of hitting it.

So taking a fictional setting that looks like (for example) thirteenth century China (with dragons), and placing a nineteenth century Romanichal family in it will inevitably result in some racist assumptions being made, as the answer to “Why does this culture do this?” becomes “They just do it because I want them to” rather than having a consistent internal logic.

Some stereotypes will always follow nomads - They appear in different forms in different cultures, but they always arise from the settled people's same fears: That the nomads don't share their values, and are fundamentally strangers. Common ones are that we have a secret language to fool outsiders with, that we steal children and disguise them as our own, that our sexual morals are shocking (This one has flipped in the last half century - From the Gypsy Lore Society's talk of the lascivious Romni seductress who will lie with a strange man for a night after a 'gypsy wedding', to today's frenzied talk of 'grabbing' and sexually-conservative early marriages to ensure virginity), that we are supernatural in some way, and that we are more like animals than humans. These are tropes where if you want to address them, you will have to address them as libels - there is no way to casually write a baby-stealing, magical succubus nomad without it backfiring onto real life Roma. (The kind of person who has the skills to write these tropes well, is not the kind of person who is reading this guide.)

It’s too easy to say a list of prescriptive “Do nots”, which might stop you from making the most common pitfalls, but which can end up with your nomads being slightly flat as you dance around the topics that you’re trying to avoid, rather than being a rich culture that feels real in your world.

So, here are some questions to ask, to create your nomadic people, so that they will have a distinctive culture of their own that may (or may not) look anything like real-world Romani people: These aren't the only questions, but they're good starting points to think about before you make anything concrete, and they will hopefully inspire you to ask MORE questions.

First - Why are they nomadic? Nobody moves just to feel the wind in their hair and see a new horizon every morning, no matter what the inspirational poster says. Are they transhumant herders who pay a small rent to graze their flock on the local lord’s land? Are they following migratory herds across common land, being moved on by the cycle of the seasons and the movement of their animals? Are they seasonal workers who follow man-made cycles of labour: Harvests, fairs, religious festivals? Are they refugees fleeing a recent conflict, who will pass through this area and never return? Are they on a regular pilgrimage? Do they travel within the same area predictably, or is their movement governed by something that is hard to predict? How do they see their own movements - Do they think of themselves as being pushed along by some external force, or as choosing to travel? Will they work for and with outsiders, either as employees or as partners, or do they aim to be fully self-sufficient? What other jobs do they do - Their whole society won’t all be involved in one industry, what do their children, elderly, disabled people do with their time, and is it “work”?

If they are totally isolationist - How do they produce the things which need a complex supply chain or large facilities to make? How do they view artefacts from outsiders which come into their possession - Things which have been made with technology that they can’t produce for themselves? (This doesn’t need to be anything about quality of goods, only about complexity - A violin can be made by one artisan working with hand tools, wood, gut and shellac, but an accordion needs presses to make reeds, metal lathes to make screws, complex organic chemistry to make celluloid lacquer, vulcanised rubber, and a thousand other components)

How do they feel about outsiders? How do they buy and sell to outsiders? If it’s seen as taboo, do they do it anyway? Do they speak the same language as the nearby settled people (With what kind of fluency, or bilingualism, or dialect)? Do they intermarry, and how is that viewed when it happens? What stories does this culture tell about why they are a separate people to the nearby settled people? Are those stories true? Do they have a notional “homeland” and do they intend to go there? If so, is it a real place?

What gorjers think of as classic "Gipsy music" is a product of our real-world situation. Guitar from Spain, accordions from the Soviet Union (Which needed modern machining and factories to produce and make accessible to people who weren't rich- and which were in turn encouraged by Soviet authorities preferring the standardised and modern accordion to the folk traditions of the indigenous peoples within the bloc), brass from Western classical traditions, via Balkan folk music, influences from klezmer and jazz and bhangra and polka and our own music traditions (And we influence them too). What are your people's musical influences? Do they make their own instruments or buy them from settled people? How many musical traditions do they have, and what are they all for (Weddings, funerals, storytelling, campfire songs, entertainment...)? Do they have professional musicians, and if so, how do those musicians earn money? Are instrument makers professionals, or do they use improvised and easy-to-make instruments like willow whistles, spoons, washtubs, etc? (Of course the answer can be "A bit of both")

If you're thinking about jobs - How do they work? Are they employed by settled people (How do they feel about them?) Are they self employed but providing services/goods to the settled people? Are they mostly avoidant of settled people other than to buy things that they can't produce themselves? Are they totally isolationist? Is their work mostly subsistence, or do they create a surplus to sell to outsiders? How do they interact with other workers nearby? Who works, and how- Are there 'family businesses', apprentices, children with part time work? Is it considered 'a job' or just part of their way of life? How do they educate their children, and is that considered 'work'? How old are children when they are considered adult, and what markers confer adulthood? What is considered a rite of passage?

When they travel, how do they do it? Do they share ownership of beasts of burden, or each individually have "their horse"? Do families stick together or try to spread out? How does a child begin to live apart from their family, or start their own family? Are their dwellings something that they take with them, or do they find places to stay or build temporary shelter with disposable material? Who shares a dwelling and why? What do they do for privacy, and what do they think privacy is for?

If you're thinking about food - Do they hunt? Herd? Forage? Buy or trade from settled people? Do they travel between places where they've sown crops or managed wildstock in previous years, so that when they arrive there is food already seeded in the landscape? How do they feel about buying food from settled people, and is that common? If it's frowned upon - How much do people do it anyway? How do they preserve food for winter? How much food do they carry with them, compared to how much they plan to buy or forage at their destinations? How is food shared- Communal stores, personal ownership?

Why are they a "separate people" to the settled people? What is their creation myth? Why do they believe that they are nomadic and the other people are settled, and is it correct? Do they look different? Are there legal restrictions on them settling? Are there legal restrictions on them intermixing? Are there cultural reasons why they are a separate people? Where did those reasons come from? How long have they been travelling? How long do they think they've been travelling? Where did they come from? Do they travel mostly within one area and return to the same sites predictably, or are they going to move on again soon and never come back?

And then within that - What about the members of their society who are "unusual" in some way: How does their society treat disabled people? (are they considered disabled, do they have that distinction and how is it applied?) How does their society treat LGBT+ people? What happens to someone who doesn't get married and has no children? What happens to someone who 'leaves'? What happens to young widows and widowers? What happens if someone just 'can't fit in'? What happens to someone who is adopted or married in? What happens to people who are mixed race, and in a fantasy setting to people who are mixed species? What is taboo to them and what will they find shocking if they leave? What is society's attitude to 'difference' of various kinds?

Basically, if you build your nomads from the ground-up, rather than starting from the idea of "I want Gypsies/Buryats/Berbers/Minceiri but with the numbers filed off and not offensive" you can end up with a rich, unique nomadic culture who make sense in your world and don't end up making a rod for the back of real-world cultures.

#Scrappers #Moryann #Stolen #Stolen Story #Resource #Writing Resource #Gypsy #Gypsies #Sterotyping #Sensitivity

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moryann-stolen-stories · 2 months

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Pirate Terms and Phrases

-> Pirate Lingo

-> A Pirate's Glossary

Batten Down The Hatches - tie everything down and put stuff away for a coming storm.

Brig - a prison on a ship.

Bring a Spring Upon 'er - turn the ship in a different direction

Broadside - the most vulnerable angle of a ship that runs the length of the boat.

Cutlass - a thick, heavy and rather short sword blade.

Dance with Jack Ketch - to hang; death at the hands of the law (Jack Ketch was a famed English executioner).

Davy Jones's Locker - a mythical place at the bottom of the ocean where drowned sailors are said to go.

Dead Men Tell No Tales - the reason given for leaving no survivors.

Flogging - severe beating of a person.

Gangplank - removable ramp between the pier and ship.

Give No Quarter - show no mercy.

Jack - flag flown at the front of the ship to show nationality.

Jolly Roger - black pirate flag with a white skull and crossbones.

Keelhaul - a punishment where someone is dragged under the ship. They are cut by the planks and barnacles on the bottom of the ship.

Landlubber - an inexperienced or clumsy person who doesn't have any sailing skills.

Letters of Marque - government-issued letters allowing privateers the right to piracy of another ship during wartime.

Man-O-War - a pirate ship that is decked out and prepared for battle.

Maroon - to leave someone stranded on a. deserted island with no supplies, typically a punishment for any crew members who disrespected the captain.

Mutiny - a situation in which the crew chooses a new captain, sometimes by forcibly removing the old one.

No Prey, No Pay - a common pirate law that meant crew members were not paid, but rather received a share of whatever loot was taken.

Old Salt - experienced pirate or sailor.

Pillage - to steal/rob a place using violence.

Powder Monkeys - men that performed the most dangerous work on the ship. They were treated harshly, rarely paid, and were expendable.

Privateer - government-appointed pirates.

Run A Shot Across the Bow - fire a warning shot at another boat's Captain.

Scurvy - a disease caused by Vitamin C Deficiency.

Sea Legs - when a sailor adjusts his balance from riding on a boat for a long time.

Strike Colors - lower a ship's flag to indicate surrender.

Weigh Anchor and Hoist the Mizzen - an order to the crew to pull up the anchor and get the ship sailing.

If you like what I do and want to support me, please consider buying me a coffee! I also offer editing services and other writing advice on my Ko-fi! Become a member to receive exclusive content, early access, and prioritized writing prompt requests.

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moryann-stolen-stories · 3 months

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This feels like something Reilly would do, not gonna lie...

Romanticize sarcastic men who pilot aircraft that come in at the final cavalry charge when you almost lost hope and say things like "Did you think I wasn't coming for you, sweetheart? ;)"

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moryann-stolen-stories · 3 months

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Saving for Stolen Reference, and Stella Specifically.

Yay, unsolicited advice time! Or, not really advice, more like miscellaneous tips and tricks, because if there's one thing eight years of martial arts has equipped me to write, it's fight scenes.

Fun things to add to a fight scene (hand to hand edition)

It's not uncommon for two people to kick at the same time and smack their shins together, or for one person to block a kick with their shin. This is called a shin lock and it HURTS like a BITCH. You can be limping for the rest of the fight if you do it hard enough.

If your character is mean and short, they can block kicks with the tip of their elbow, which hurts the other guy a lot more and them a lot less

Headbutts are a quick way to give yourself a concussion

If a character has had many concussions, they will be easier to knock out. This is called glass jaw.

Bad places to get hit that aren't the groin: solar plexus, liver, back of the head, side of the thigh (a lot of leg kicks aim for this because if it connects, your opponent will be limping)

Give your character a fighting style. It helps establish their personality and physicality. Are they a grappler? Do they prefer kicks or fighting up close? How well trained are they?

Your scalp bleeds a lot and this can get in your eyes, blinding you

If you get hit in the nose, your eyes water

Adrenaline's a hell of a drug. Most of the time, you're not going to know how badly you've been hurt until after the fact

Even with good technique, it's really easy to break toes and fingers

Blocking hurts, dodging doesn't

Just thought these might be useful! If you want a more comprehensive guide or a weapons edition, feel free to ask. If you want, write how your characters fight in the comments!

Have a bitchin day <3

#Writing #Writing Resource

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moryann-stolen-stories · 3 months

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Plains Storms, Moryann?

you ever heard a lightning fucking scream?

youre about to

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moryann-stolen-stories · 4 months

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Note to Self; Dara is a very large woman, and very beautiful. FANTASTICALLY useful list of words and descriptors to make use of when Editing Stolen.

Challenging Fatphobic Language in Writing: Some Alternative Vocabularies

So I’m currently working on a short story for an explicitly fat-positive anthology, and it’s making me realize just how little language I have readily at hand for describing large bodies in positive terms!

Putting aside for a moment the whole debate over HAES and fat positivity and everything else – and if you clown on this post, I’m simply going to block you, that’s not what we’re here for – sometimes you just want to write a story with a fat person in it and you need some adjectives/descriptive language that isn’t overtly gross and/or fetishistic.

Well, I’ve got you, fam. I have compiled this handy list of descriptive terms and phrases for describing big bodies with positive connotations.

Why am I doing this?

Because this:

And this:

And frankly, we all deserve better. So let’s go.

Positive (and Neutral) Adjectives for Fatness

Abundant

Ample

Big

Broad

Buxom

Considerable

Curvy

Full

Generous

Heavy

Large

Luscious

Plentiful

Plump

Replete

Robust

Round

Rubenesque

Soft

Solid

Stocky

Substantial

Thick

Voluptuous

Zaftig

Movement Verbs Evoking Fatness

Amble

Bounce

Lope

Mosey

Pad

Plod

Pound

Ramble

Scoot

Shuffle

Trundle

Some Points to Keep In Mind

A big part of challenging fatphobia in writing is inverting or subverting stereotypes. Here are a few lazy/played-out tropes and things to think about:

Fat = Greedy I think we can all agree at this point that there are better ways to show greed – such as excessive wealth, entitlement, selfishness, and so forth. There is really no need to use fatness or gluttony as a metaphor for these concepts. Just write your greedy character doing greedy things and resist the urge to make them also be fat. If you need a strong visual metaphor, go for opulence and wealth instead.

Fat = Gross A ton of media, especially horror, loves making fat people slovenly, smelly, covered in food stains, farting and belching, etc. etc. So if you want a more positive representation, just presenting the character as clean, well-dressed, tidy, etc. actually goes a very long way. Consider playing against type by making your fat character dapper or fastidious about other elements of their appearance, like their hair, or wearing very nice custom-fitted clothes (or even just “dressing up” a bit more than everyone else).

Fat = Out of Shape Yes, absolutely, many fat people are also out of shape couch potatoes. But so are a lot of skinny people. And fat people absolutely can be athletic – go google “fat athletes” for several lists of them if you don’t believe me! Sure, you probably won’t find a ton of fat long-distance runners, but you’ll definitely find plenty of hefty weight lifters, fighters, folks with physical jobs, etc. A lot of super muscular people are also carrying extra fat, and that is in fact way more common and natural than the super-defined, well-cut muscles you see on TV. Keep that in mind the next time you’re writing an army of strong hand-to-hand combatants – they’re likely to be physically big, not in a bulging muscle He-Man way but more of an “absolute unit” way. Keep in mind, too, that even regular folks packing extra pounds will often tend to be a lot stronger (on account of spending every day carrying extra weight!) You can be fat and graceful, fat and strong, fat and with endurance. Just something to keep in mind.

Fat = Pig Pigs have a reputation for being huge, dirty, smelly, garbage-eating slobby creatures, and “disgusting fat pig” and “porker” and their ilk have been insults against big people for a long time. Of course, in reality pigs are also super smart, highly social (and fucking terrifying) but that’s not usually waht gets invoked when people think of them! Really, avoiding animal language when talking about people is often a good idea (since animal comparisons can be dehumanizing), but if you are going to evoke an animal, go with something else. Like a seal (super cute, very graceful in its natural environment) or a bear (big and solid and intimidating) or a bull elk (thick and majestic).

Fat = Ugly Fat people can be beautiful. I mean, sure, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and inner beauty is a thing and all that – but that’s not what I’m talking about. I mean that fat bodies are great! They’re warm and soft and huggable. They’re big and solid and comforting. They can be strong and protective. They can be super-feminine and curvy. Cute as a button or powerful and demanding with their presence.

Obviously dismantling fatphobia is a whole big (ha, ha) topic all on its own, and there’s a ton more to think about. But this is at least something to get you started!

Context matters a whole lot in description – words can be positive or negative based on how they’re utilized! But these are at least some terms intended to be a bit less loaded with negative baggage than those often used in less flattering descriptions.

Have you read a book with a fat character who had a great or interesting description? Please reblog, I’d love to see how other authors have handled it!

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moryann-stolen-stories · 5 months

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When the unflappable character sees someone they care about in danger and the mask slips, it's great.

But when the unflappable character sees someone they care about in danger, and the mask DOESN'T slip.

Because they understand they need to be calm and unflappable now more than ever; if it protects them, it will certainly protect the person they care about. So their voice doesn't waver, their hands don't shake. They don't panic. From the outside looking in, they're as calm as could be. They handle it.

But after it's over-when the person they care about is safe, and the unflappable character is alone-they completely shatter. Gasping breaths, sobs, barely holding it together because someone they love almost DIED, and it was far, far too close for comfort.

(Optional: Character that they care about finds them in this state and comforts them.)

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moryann-stolen-stories · 6 months

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Christopher Kane Fall 2007

#Stella Korazon #Stolen Stories #Character Design #Character Clothing Design #Writeblr #Writeblr Community #Writing #Writing Community #Ari Speaks #Arista Speaks #Fashion #Fashion Design

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moryann-stolen-stories · 6 months

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Reblog to Archive

Hi detective

Multi-part question. Fo you ever see a trope (on tumblr, in media, etc) and think "oh I wanna include that in a story" or "I wanna do a twist on this" and then do you, most of the time, actually include it or just hoard it in your stash for an ambiguous later?

Hello Sleepy Darling! <3 Thank you for the ask, I hope your Saturday went/is going well ^_^

I have a whole discord channel called "Toss Things At The Wall And See What Sticks" for exactly these types of things lol...

If I see a prompt, or a joke, or a conversation that sparks an idea, it all goes into that channel and then I know it's there and I can dig around at a later date if I need a new idea or need a spark of inspiration.

I do use snippets I find, but if it's in my "Toss at the wall" channel it's usually going to be it's own thing. Sometimes though I'll stumble over something that just has imaculate vibes for a specific character or scene, so I'll save that just for them.

There's a piece of artwork I saw (I believe it's from a Webtoon called Unholy Blood, Credit to that Artist) that instantly made me think of Stella and Reilly and I wrote a scene where they're in a very similar position at the beginning of Book Two.

As they slid into another alleyway, Stella could still hear the guards, but for the moment they were out of sight and with a quick glance around their surroundings she cursed again and skid to a stop, her abrupt lack of movement bringing Reilly to a halt beside her. "Stella, what—" His confused expression shifted to startled when she grabbed the collar to his leather armor and dragged him back into one of the filthy alcoves. "Just stand there and shut up," she grumbled, still irritated about the vase, but to her surprise, Reilly did as she asked, leaning close and using his body, and the black leather armor he was wearing, to hide them both in the evening shadows. "We really should get you your own set of guild gear," Reilly muttered, but fell silent quickly when she slapped the palm of her hand to his chest. Standing together in the dark, Stella listened to the stomp of heavy guard boots against the damp cobblestones and carefully leant against Reilly, stretching onto her toes so she could peer over his shoulder, cautious that the golden blonde of her hair didn't give away their location. "Alright," Stella breathed a few minutes later when she could no longer hear the guards movements as they searched through nearby backstreets. Carefully she sank back onto her feet before turning her eyes up to Reilly's shadowed features, only to find the rest of her words evaporating against her tongue.

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moryann-stolen-stories · 6 months

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Reblog to Archive

(And tagging @sleepyowlwrites because it's more Stella <3)

Happy STS! I'm turning your question back on you cause I really wanna know. What's a line or scene from your works that you're proud of?

Hello hun! Thank you for the ask <3 I hope your weekend's going well!

I'm not gonna lie, I thought this would be an easy one to answer but I've been staring at my screen for ages trying to pick just one line/scene.

Do I share my most recent one? Or the first time I remember reaading back a line and falling in love with my own words? Or something in the middle of all that?

I've finally settled on a scene in book two of my 'Stolen Stories' series, where Stella runs across a creature I've designed called the Krilla-Setika. I really love this scene in part because it was quite fun to write Stella just falling back in base insticts, her fear overiding thought when she's usually very held together, but I also just really loved describing the creature I'd created.

It was great fun adding details for the reader, the longer Stella stared at it, and just upping the creep-factor as it advanced on her...

They retraced their steps back towards the window they'd used to enter the building, moving quickly but not quite falling into a run as Reilly pulled them both to a stop at every corner so he could carefully check the next hallway. It was the soft clicking sound of claws against stone made them both pause, but Stella could already tell it wasn't coming from the hallway Reilly was in the middle of checking, her free hand landing against his shoulder as she glanced behind them and froze. It looked like a weasel, with large bat shaped wings, but it was huge. Almost twice as large as the mountain lions that roamed the peaks to the north and as Stella stared at the creature that seemed to be dripping shadows of smoke, its clawed feet clung to the wall and it skittered up to hang from the ceiling, it's wings spreading wide as the finger-like hooks at the wing tips embedded into the walls, bracing the creature and keeping it in place as Stella backed away. "Don't run," Reilly hissed in her ear and she shivered, eyes transfixed by the creature before her, but the longer she stared the more she saw. Scales covered its body, but it was somehow still translucent. She could see the hall behind through it's smokey form, and she shook her head, her skin crawling with the desire to get as far away as fast as possible. "Stella, don't run," Reilly warned again, his hand still curled around hers, but the creature tipped it's head at Reilly's voice, and she took another step back at the movements of a hunter, a predator, and she wanted nothing more than to flee. "Walk, don't run..." Stella could hear Reilly, knew the man well enough to know that he had to have a reason for the recommendation, but as the mass of dripping shadows began advancing slowly, her control snapped and she turned on her heel, dashing for their exit with Reilly's hand still grasped in hers.

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moryann-stolen-stories · 6 months

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God, this is invaluable! <3

parting writing advice before this blog becomes inactive from someone who takes pictures of broken bones for a living and who has worked in an ER

a fracture of the bone is the exact same thing as a break, it’s just a more medical term the same way that sutures are the exact same thing as stitches and edema is the same thing as swelling, so an open fracture that breaks through the skin is the same thing as a closed hairline fracture you can barely see on an X-ray is the same thing as a stress fracture that is only really detectable with a physical exam, they’re only classified in more specific ways and they are treated based on severity

most superficial wounds aren’t going to be stitched up after 12-24 hours because they’ve been open long enough that closing them at that point would be asking for infection

an X-ray is a little bit of radiation, a CT is quite a bit more radiation, and an MRI is a magnet with no radiation whatsoever

no matter what grey’s anatomy or any other medical show might make you believe, doctors rarely do any actual imaging (taking X-rays, CTs, etc) and most of them would have no idea how

Concussions are not diagnosed with imaging. There is not a single X-ray or CT or anything else that can tell a doctor that their patient has a concussion. A concussion is diagnosed with an exam. Patients will usually have a headache and they will be dizzy, nauseous, light/sound sensitive, and sometimes they will have memory or vision problems. They will occasionally have something called nystagmus in their eyes. CTs are taken to rule out more serious conditions such as a fractured skull or bleeding/clotting in the brain.

O2 saturation is a vital that tells you how much oxygen is in your blood. Anything above 95% is okay. Anything from 90-94% is going to make a medical professional take a second look. Anything from 80-90% is low grade hypoxia and you’re getting a chest X-ray and possibly put on oxygen. You might be going to the hospital. Anything below 80% is most likely a hospital admission whether you like it or not because you’re about to get a whole shit ton of labs and a CT of your lungs at the very least if the X-ray hasn’t show a punctured lung or pneumonia to explain what’s up. I hope you find nasal cannulas comfortable. Doctors would be concerned about a blood clot, lung cancer, and other super concerning pathologies.

Kidney stones hurt like a bitch and can cripple most people to the point where they cannot walk. Imagine a foot long straw trying to pass a rock that is 2-3x it’s diameter.

Children regrow bones like lizards grow their tails. Kids can be healed from a fracture in 2-4 weeks that would take an adult 6-8 weeks to heal.

The femur is an incredible difficult bone to break. It’s usually a very high impact injury (car wreck, long distance fall, skiing accident, etc).

This is just advice but do not do not DO NOT ride in the passenger seat of a car with your legs propped up on the dash if you value keeping your leg bones intact where they are supposed to be. Just don’t do it, please. But if you want to write a particularly gruesome car wreck, that’s a good way to do it!

Animal bites are almost always preemptively treated with antibiotics.

I might add more if I can think of it but I’ll answer any questions if people have them

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moryann-stolen-stories · 6 months

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Reilly Mosswolf for picking pockets.

Stella Korazon. Not because she got caught, but because she came in with Reilly and the casino thinks that's enough of a black mark for her record.

Which oc is banned from casinos?

#Stolen #Stella Korazon #Reilly Mosswolf

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moryann-stolen-stories · 7 months

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Reblog to Archive...

Trick or Treat? 🦇

(Event Post)

After ringing a door bell the door slowly creaks open and out jumps A GHOST! 👻

Trick my friend, trick

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moryann-stolen-stories · 7 months

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Trick or Treat? 👻

(Event Post)

Trick for you!! >:)

(Thanks for the ask!)

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moryann-stolen-stories · 7 months

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Hi detective

Your blorbos have to go to the grocery store. How does it go?

I know it's taken me a while to respond, but honestly it's because this one made me crack up laughing every time I heard it and I just wanted to keep it in my inbox for a while longer :D

Lizzy Hail

Lizzy going to the grocery store would be an absolute disaster. Not only because it would be completely different to what she's used to in Arbaon, but also because she'd get distracted super fast.

Even if she had a list, the first time something on the list was out of stock, or had been moved shelves, she's start improvising, adding "replacement" things to the trolley, and walking out with twice what she needed.

Andric Roche

Andric's the kind of guy who knows where everything is in the store. He has a list, but it's written in order of where he needs to go in the store first, second, third, without having to backtrack on himself.

And if the thing he wants isn't in stock he won't buy something different, will just come back in a few days to try again.

Items being moved around the store irritates him and depending on how badly the items is needed, he may just not buy it on principle.

Stella Korazon

Stella's a thief, but she's learnt to be wary. She'd probably buy the basics, but then fill her pockets with expensive treats like chocolate, a bottle of wine, or someone's wallet.

She wouldn't go with a list, Stella has a great memory for "jobs" and that's what she'd consider this. The basic necessitiies purchased would merely be the smokecreen for the other things she's pocketing.

Reilly Mosswolf

An utter menace. He wouldn't buy a god damn thing. He'd just pick up whatever he needed, walk out of the store and if/when anyone tried to stop him he'd already have half a dozen escape routes arranged.

And he'd be cackling with laughter the entire time.

#Stolen #Stolen Stories #Writing #Writing Community #Writeblr #Writeblr Community #Ari Speaks #Arista Speaks #Indie Author #Self Published Author #Fantasy #Romantic Fantasy #Epic Fantasy #Romantasy #Original Characters #Original Writing #Stella Korazon #Reilly Mosswolf

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moryann-stolen-stories · 7 months

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Hi detective

Your ocs are now flowers in a bouquet. Tell me about it/them.

I'm going to do some fast googleing on the Victorian Language of Flowers to answer this ask, but since I'm not particularly confident in my googling powers, I'm going to put the meaning I've found under each one as well. So potential... hints? of spoilers? beneath the cut :D

From Fey Touched there's...

Lizzy Hail: Brugmansia aka Angel's Trumpet

Vivacity, vibrancy, health, danger. The flowers which grow on the brugmansia are part of the nightshade family, meaning that they have slightly toxic properties. Because of their size and unusual shape, the angel's trumpet represents vivacity and vibrancy.

Booker Reed: Queen of the Night

"Enjoy small moments because they do not last". The symbolic character of the epiphyllum is its short flowering time, therefore, people commonly used the blooming epiphyllum as a metaphor for how good things don't last. On the other hand, because of this rarity, it's also a sign of luckiness for those who see its bloom.

Andric Roche: Protea

The primary symbolic meanings of the protea flower are strength, courage, and resilience since the plant survives in extreme climate conditions. Proteas also symbolize diversity, due to the hundreds of variations in color and shape found within their genus.

Cara Evelyn: Pansy

"Thoughtfulness, remembrance, you occupy my thoughts". Pansy flowers are known to symbolize several things, including love, affection, free thinking, and happiness. The pansy's heart-shaped petals and bright, bold colors are often associated with love and affection, and the flower is often given as a gift to express these sentiments.

Mia Harris: Morning Glory

"Love in vain; affection". Morning glories have symbolized love that was never returned, but have also been seen as a sign of undying love.

Nameer Khatri: Violets

Violets signify wisdom, loyalty, hope, and faithfulness. Giving someone a violet let's them know that you'll always be there for them.

From The Stolen Stories there's...

Stella Korazon: Aster

In Victorian culture, the aster represents daintiness, patience, and charm. Aster meanings include love and wisdom. With a rich history in Greek mythology, it’s said that the aster was created by the tears of the Greek goddess, Astraea. One day, she was so upset by how few stars there were in the dark sky, that she began to cry. As she wept, her tears fell to the ground and turned into star-shaped aster flowers. Thus, the flower was named after her, with aster meaning star.

Reilly Mosswolf: Sunflowers

Sunflowers symbolise loyalty, adoration, a long life and lasting happiness, also good fortune and positive opportunities. Sunflowers symbolize unwavering faith and unconditional love.

Eryn Mosswolf: Purple Hyacinth

Purple hyacinths can symbolize multiple things, including sorrow and a desire for forgiveness. The fragrant purple blooms could be a way to let others know you're thinking about them after a death in the family.

Dara Brookor: Zinnia

While zinnia has many different meanings, it is usually associated with friendship, endurance, daily remembrance, goodness, and lasting affection. Zinnias are one tough bloom! Zinnias also symbolize a “joyous endurance.” They are happy to bloom in the steaming heat of summer and really any other trials it encounters, such as drought and bugs, yet they never fail to produce vibrant, beautiful blooms!

Tanar Orinan: Gladiolus

The gladiolus flower typically symbolizes honor and remembrance, but it has many other meanings too such as: Strength of character. Faithfulness, sincerity, and integrity.

Myris Orinan: Blue Daisy

Blue daises have a meaning of long-term loyalty and trust so you can send them to a friend, a long-term partner or a family member who you care very much for. These daisies are pretty rare to find but not impossible.

Nillion Kurez: Dahlia

Finding inner strength, graceful, dignity and commitment. Also embracing positive changes. Some colours of Dahlia display negative connotations including instability or dishonesty. Dahlia make good gifts for someone you admire or percieve as a strong person.

Indre Larieth: Rhododendron

Victorians sent the flower as a warning or with the meaning of ‘beware.’ It was commonly used to indicate that you were worried someone was making the wrong choice, especially when dealing with potential romantic partners.

Lauralai Morten: Cypress

Signifies death, mourning, and despair. In the language of flowers, cypress flowers may also stand for eternal love, memories of past love, or even unrequited love in vain.

Disclaimer: Answered August 10th. Scheduled for September 2nd

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