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calidris replied to the topic Character Castle 2.0 in the forum Fantasy Writers 3 years, 9 months ago
@irishcelticredflowercrown that’s a really interesting question!
I dunno if that counts as asexual?Personally, if it’s because of trauma…I’d be inclined to say no? I think it depends on what the reasoning is. If they’re not interested because they’re afraid, I’d say that’s (first of all terribly sad), but it’s also (in theory) reversible if they heal. But then there’s some characters who might’ve been put off of it by trauma, but might not be interested even if they completely healed.
Which…
First of all, that is A LOT of trauma and I’m honestly impressed
Second of all, Mayra’s story in particular really, really fascinates me because I actually do have some knowledge about this! This might be really, really hard, but I think you might want to consider listening to or reading stories of abuse victims, because I think this is pretty common among people who’ve been abused (especially in childhood). Idk if you can stomach it, because I know I sure couldn’t, but if it’s something you think you could handle it might be really insightful!
Idk how much you know already, but people can get locked into a fight or flight response because of physical and/or emotional trauma. One thing that a lot of people don’t know is that trauma sometimes isn’t so much one horrific event as it is a collection of experiences. There’s people who might think they’re doing fine because they were never abused, but continued bad experiences can absolutely wear at your body, and people can and will end up with trauma responses just from that continuous wearing. And it’s so hard to heal if you can’t escape from the situation. Obviously, your characters are in a continuous string of horrific, traumatic events, so imagine how much more that would affect them!
Then, if your characters are neurodivergent or disabled, that could also add another layer onto the circumstantial trauma, since people might not bother to listen to them or try and understand things from their perspective. If they’re neurodivergent, there’s a good chance they perceived the events differently than a neurotypcal person would. I think you once mentioned Mayra having a type of aphasia? I don’t know much about it, so I don’t know if that would effect things. But, say if she were autistic, she might have been manipulated or used repeatedly because she had trouble reading the social cues that would’ve tipped most people off to untrustworthy behavior. Idk if you have any other disabled or neurodivergent characters, but it’s definitely interesting to keep in mind!
Also, Idk why but this idea of Lorcan potentially being asexual is EXTREMELY intriguing! It really suits him? I know you said it’s due to trauma, but the idea of him just not being interested to begin with and STILL flirting with every girl in sight just because he can is honestly pretty hilarious XD It’s an interesting concept, so I wouldn’t discount him just not having that interest to begin with!










