#but my left has this sensory thing where I need to put on an eyepatch sometimes

[watchmewhirl]

Question: Is there any sort of upkeep you need to do to keep your open socket from getting infected? Since you mentioned crust and tears, do you need to clean it out once in a while and if so how careful do you need to be? The same question for you prosthetic; How do you go about keeping it clean?

writing characters with one eye

i can pretty much guarantee that ↑that↑ is not a heading you see everyday.

now i will not be giving advice on writing cyclopses, (though it may be sort of the same thing) i still hope this will be helpful for some people out there that are looking to provide a more diverse cast to their wip!

i have never ever ever read a book, watch a show movie etc etc that involves a character with one eye. (aside from those badass characters who wear eye patches bc they lost sight in one eye in some badass way)

for context: i am one of many people who was born with microphtalmia, an eye disease that results in one or both eyes develope smaller than normal at birth. i myself was born with a smaller left eye, which resulted in my left eye being removed exactly twenty days after birth.

microphthalmia (along with many other eye diseases) typically leads to being half or fully blind. i lucked out and only lost my left eye which i am so so thankful for.

i would really really love to see more representation for my community in literature, especially so people would come to see that being half blind isn’t as unusual and weird as people make it out to be.

without further ado, i present to you, a list of information, facts, and first hand experiences from yours truly!

i’ve had prosthetic eyes made to fit my eye socket for about fifteen years (i’m 16 lol) (the first 6ish months after the surgery i never had a prosthetic)

in my life i’ve had four different prosthetic eyes made because just like other people, my eye socket grew alongside the rest of me, meaning the prosthetic needed to be made bigger

i’ve had my current prosthetic for four years now, the past ones lasted about 2-3 years at a time. this one will probably last me through the rest of my life unless i need/want a new one

as opposed to most media/assumptions, my prosthetic (along with most prosthetics) is PLASTIC (people always think it’s glass) and only half a circle!!

i’ve had three surgeries related to my eye

i do not have depth perception which makes doing certain things very difficult (estimating distance, how close/far i am from something etc)

driving is not affected too much, i just have to turn my head more than other people. i believe being blind in the right eye might be more difficult, but i couldn’t say

doing my make up is kinda easy, except for eyeliner is a pain in the ASS since most people close their eye to do it on their upper lid, but clearly i can’t close my right eye whilst doing it lol

my family as well as my friends and even myself often forget i have a prosthetic, which sometimes results in awkward/funny situations

i hate walking with people on my right bc i can’t tell where they are unless i’m constantly looking down at my/their feet

i sucked at basketball bc i had such a disadvantage (no depth perception, i could only see half the court, i was constantly turning my head) but professional swimming is much easier for me since it’s not a contact sport and doesn’t really require for me to be paying attention to a million things at once

i rarely have to take my prosthetic out, and if i do, it’s either to clean it, (we do get eye crusties on our prosthetics just like other people do when they have pink eye or sever allergies) it’s bothering me/really dry, or i want to take it out to show/scare people lol

a lot of people don’t realize when i first meet them that it’s fake bc my recent prosthetic is amazing accurate to my real eye. others notice and assume i have a lazy eye since it doesn’t move

for some reason people think i can’t cry out of my left (prosthetic) eye??? i still have a tear duct??? i actually think more tears come out of my left tear duct than my right lol

i am extremely self conscious about it, but i know there are other one-eyed beauties out there who aren’t which is amazing!! i try to live vicariously through them lol

i make sooo many jokes about my eye lol, and i’m usually ok w other people making jokes as long as they aren’t like overly rude/offensive, then i’ll feel a lil bad about my self

people never really made fun of it, but kids in middle school likes to wave things in front of my left eye/on my left side that i couldn’t see which got really annoying after a while

getting custom designed prosthetics are available, but they’re really expensive (so are normal lol) they costs thousands of dollars, just like other prosthetics do

i run into things that are on my left side ALL THE TIME it’s actually kinda funny lolol

i try to hide my left eye/turn more to my left side in photos bc my eyes aren’t always looking in the same direction, which really gets to me

i wear glasses for both protection and bc my right eye is -1.75 lmao but i did used to wear non-prescription glasses purely for safety

i do have contacts to wear during the summer, swim meets etc, for when i don’t want/can’t wear my glasses but need to see. bc of this, i have a second pair of glasses that have no prescription

if doctors/scientists managed to figure out a way to fix microphthalmia (a birth defect), or do a sort of eye transplant, i would not be able to have that done to me because all parts of my left eye have been removed from my body

microphthalmia is NOT the only disease that results in the haver losing sight in one or both eyes!! there are many others, but it is not my place to share any experiences for something i have not experienced!!!

for once i just want to see a clumsy character who has one eye that WASNT a result of some tragic event.

so please please please consider including a character with one working eye in your wip. it would mean the world to myself and all the other members of the community (there’s a lot of us, trust me) plus, i wouldn’t mind starting an acting debut playing a half-blind female protagonist, that would be so dope.

that’s about all i can think of for now! please send an ask or reply to this post if you have any questions, i’m willing to answer any!!! and if you happen to be a member of the one eye club, please add to this post!! that would mean the world to me:)

[troddensodden]

Physical Features OC Ask Game !! 👁 What is your OC’s eye color? Do they have any eye-related habits, like winking or rubbing their eyes? Do other people tend to notice their eyes? 💇 What is your OC’s hairstyle? How do they maintain their hair? Do they wash it and/or cut it regularly? Have they ever dyed their hair? 👖 What type of clothing does your OC generally wear? Why? Do they have any “signature” accessories?

since its the only ask i have so far, im gonna answer each of these for all three of my current ocs :D hope thats okay!

cedric: fallout 4 || alistair: fallout 4 || emil: fallout new vegas

eyes—

-cedric: blue-green eyes! however he actually only has one, in a sense, because a bomb once blew up close enough to his face that it burned the skin, and damaged his left eye enough that he went blind in it. he tried to take care of the injury, but the commonwealth doesnt exactly have many medicine or skincare products. it ended up getting a pretty gnarly infection, which only made it worse after scarring. so now, he wears an eyepatch over it! he regularly wears a gas mask out in the wasteland, mostly for radiation protection but partially because he is somewhat insecure about his eye, and the look of the skin around it. when he isnt wearing one though, people do definitely notice his eyes for that reason, more than anything else. he doesnt have any particular habits, other than consistently wearing an eye covering.

-alistair: his eyes arent anything particularly special, really. just a plain dark brown, dark enough to look black from a distance. he doesnt have any specific habits, per se, as he is a synth and thats not necessarily in his program. however, if hes close enough with someone, he will make a fair amount of (bad) jokes or comments and accentuate them with a wink or an eyebrow raise. also, when hes frustrated he sometimes will rub his eyes with his palms, or do long drawn out blinks and eyerolls. his eyes arent all that notable though, so people dont take much notice of them often, outside of their expressiveness.

-emil: a sort of grey, green, hazel, blue, combination? really, they dont seem to have much of a set eye-color. its hard to determine. so on the occasion that someone asks, theyll give a different answer every time, sometimes answering with a color that is definitely not even close to the actual color. furthermore, theyre quite the mischievous and flirtatious type in some cases, so winking is something they do quite often, and are able to do with either eye. other times, theyll look someone up and down when facing them, but with an absent expression that makes it hard to tell whether theyre checking the person out or sizing them up. their eyes dont get noticed often because again, they arent anything particularly special, but when in a relationship, they do find that partners seem to take a particular interest toward the confusing matter of their eyes, specifically the color.

——

hair—

c: pre-war, he kept his hair relatively well-managed, a tidy crop with maybe a bit more length than the "average" mens cut. post-war, however, he frankly sees getting his hair done as too much effort, only occasionally stopping for a trim and otherwise letting it grow out, and tying it up if it gets in the way. his boyfriends quite fancy this, liking to play with it when they spend time together. maccready, on occasion, will even braid it if hes stressed or in a bad mood, as a way of calming himself down. (when he does this, cedric tries to keep the braid in as long as possible.) washing hair isnt necessarily easy, in a world where even just clean water itself is in short supply, let alone soap. however, he does try his best to clean it when he can, because he doesnt like the feeling of dirty hair. he also has never dyed his hair, because hes always been content with his natural brown color, even if its a bit "plain."

a: he keeps his hair close to a stubble, consistently. his hair doesnt grow very rapidly, but still, he will likely be seen getting his hair cut every couple weeks to keep it from growing out. he likes looking put together, and will rarely ever be caught genuinely dirty. any chance he gets to clean himself, he will, and any time he needs a haircut, you can bet he'll be on his way to the nearest place that offers it. he refuses to dye his hair, saying that it creates a look of unprofessionalism, (and hair dye doesnt go well over black usually.) nobody really understands why hes so insistent on looking put-together and professional all the time, but they accept it, even if he sometimes takes more time to get ready in the mornings than anyone else.

e: shaved on one side, long on the other. its also naturally got a bit of curl, which adds volume so it doesnt get too flat and stringy when it goes unwashed. they dont wash their hair as obsessively as alistair, though they will do a quick clean if they get the time. they dont particularly like the idea of using irradiated water to clean off, but its that or use purified water which is in relatively short supply. however, foraging is a bit of a strong point for them, so they will use natural supplies for cleaning off if possible, from plants and such. keeping hair maintained is hard in a relatively desolate area like the mojave, but whenever they find scissors and some free time theyll do a trim. scissors arent exactly a match for a nice set of clippers, but you learn to make do. they have dyed their hair with some temporary colors before, but never anything permanent—they actually quite like their natural gingery-blond color.

——

clothes—

c: whatever will protect him while also being comfortable enough that he can tolerate him with his sensory issues. however, in situations where he needs to looks somewhat "official," he will wear his minutemen-issued jacket over a decent shirt and pants set. however, he will rarely ever be seen without some sort of mask, unless the situation happens to be one where a gasmask or something similar would be improper. even then, the eyepatch stays on. so id say the eyepatch is somewhat a "staple" of his wardrobe, though its less of a fashion choice and more of what he deems a necessity.

a: if possible, he would regularly wear a button-down and pants that match. however, in an irradiated post-war wasteland, with hostiles around every corner, thats not a particularly feasible option; thus, he wears whatever is available that is in good condition but also effective. effectiveness is his priority, of course, but it does frustrate him if his clothing doesnt at least look decent. people see him as a bit of a pansy for it, but when he was in the institute, he was used to wearing a uniform that was focused on looking clean rather than being highly functional. so after escaping, that stuck with him a bit. he does, however, have an accessory he refuses to be without, and thats his and noras wedding ring. even after forming new relationships and finding a new purpose in the world, its impossible to move on from someone who was his whole world, what feels like only a few months ago.

e: emil most definitely prioritizes function over fashion. appearance is important, sure, but they recognize that it definitely is not the most important, when youre traveling across a hot desert full of giant scorpions and gang members. however, one thing that they always have, whether theyre wearing it or just has it in their pack, is this one puffy jacket, with a fur-lined hood. they found it in the dresser of a destroyed house they were scavenging through, and it somehow was in near-mint condition. the reason it was so special to them, though, is because it had a note in the pocket, from a girl to her older sibling. the girl being emils sister, who moved away with their father after their parents got divorced. the letter was addressed from her to them, but was never sent. and sure, while they knew that this almost definitely confirmed she had died, they were just happy enough having something from her. so they never go without the jacket, even though its warm (and a bit heavy.) impractical, but sentimental.

[hetaliangemini15]

Army 'Men' [One-shot ]

Pain.

Thats all his mind could register. The pain. His sensory functions weren't working to potential. Then again with the pain traversing throughout his body, how could they? He could tell he was on a gurney on the way to the med bay even with one eye practally useless and the other closed tightly due to the pain. Feeling an IV being stuck in his left hand, he tried to relax. How could it have ended up like this? Stupidity, that's how. Not accounting for everything going wrong first off, second it would be uncanny to mention the one who did the most damage. The shockwaves of pain emanating from the right side of his upper body, but mostly surrounding his right arm to shoulder and the right half of his face.

Feeling the pain lessen he sighed in relief, only vaguely hearing the clacking of boots on tile. He felt hands moving over himself attempting to take care of his less urgent wounds, hushed whispers going between the medical staff above him. Two sets of footsteps stayed by his head on his left side.

"Sir how are you feeli-"

"What is the extent of the damage." He commanded a response from either of his second in command, whilst flinchining as a nurse tightly wrapped some bandages around the right side of his torso. The duo off to the side looked to each other then at him, the one with an unlit cigarette in his mouth spoke up.

"Your right arm has bone deep gashes and will probably need to be amputated. Your face isn't in as bad of a shape, but your eye melted into the skin and will need to be replaced. The nurses just said that they were going to put you under to do this." He felt more fluid enter his bloodstream through the IV in his hand. It burned, but not as much as the injuries covering his right side, or the feeling emanating from his lower abdomen and pelvis. The blackness soon took over.

~

He lay in his bed, right arm missing and an eyepatch covering the empty socket on the right side. Being informed that their skin grafter had fallen ill wasn't the best news, but it was something that could be dealt with later on. Being classified as medically unfit, which meant he would have to wait until he was in better condition in order for him to be reinstated as Red Leader, twas annoying, but was all in good sense. Now if only this abdominal pain would go away he'd be one hundred times happier. Rolling over onto his left side he felt the pains decrease in intensity but not in amount. It actually seemed to decrease the amount of time between them.

Sitting up slowly, he swung his legs over the side of the bed. Warmth helps with cramps, right? It was worth a try, and he knew how to change his own bandages anyway. Standing he walked over to the door connecting his room and the conjoining bathroom. Turning on the water in order to fill the tub, he stripped carefully, the view in the mirror showing his stump for an arm clearly though under the bandages. Grabbing the pair of scissors from off the counter, the bloodied cloth was removed and placed in a trash bin. Now with nothing covering himself, the full damage could be examined, the extreme scaring from the middle of his right hip all the way up to just under his hairline, the empty socket where his right eye would normally be.

Seeing himself without said eye gave him a slight feeling of deja vu, as if he had lost that exact same eye years ago. But that was absurd, he only lost his eye a while ago.

Not wanting to dwell on the point, he took steps toward the filled tub, stepping in before sitting down. The pain jolting from the area surrounding his pelvis had lessened greatly as he sat in the warm water, sighing in relief. This was definitely much better. Closing his eyelids he leaned his head back, left arm resting on the side of the tub wall enjoying the relief of the pain dispersing. He sat there for over an hour, his fingers and toes beginning to prune, before feeling a little jab hit him. Brushing it off as a cramp from being in the water too long or the beginnings of a stomach ache, he went back to resting.

Though it wasn't as much of a rest as it had been before, the cramps became gradually worse, almost tripling in intensity. Shifting to sit up more, he almost doubled over in pain at another even harsher cramp. Moments later he felt something nudge his entrance. Reaching his left hand down, he stuck one finger in searching for the obstruction. Hitting something hard, round, large, and covered in something thick but string-like, his eyes widened in both surprise and fear. How the hell did the medical staff not notice this?! Realising what he has to do, he lifts both legs over either side of the tub wall, and at the next now known contraction pushes.

Feeling the head start crowning, he now understood why it was called the ring of fire. He felt his rim being pulled tight the further the baby made it out and it honestly burned, how women do this regularly he'll never know. By now the head was almost out, but that didn't matter. He quickly ran out of steam, the head sliding back in.

"No no no! Why did you do that?" Groaning he went back to his attempt at shoving the not so small baby out of his body. Feeling another contraction rear it's ugly head he pushed harshly, feeling the pain grow as the head made it past the halfway point. Taking a few calming breaths as he waited for the next contraction, he was wondering why he hadn't noticed he was carrying. He didn't suffer from massive weight gain or cravings, didn't have any morning sickness or issues sleeping. This was definitely a surprise. And whether he was ready for this or not, he wasn't going to do anything but love this kid. Ignoring his own thoughts for a moment, he pushed feeling the head being shoved out of his hole. Sighing at the minimal relief given his left arm moved down, his fingers grazing the thick hair covering the smooth and round surface of his infant's head. He smiled, feeling joy at the thoughts of being this close to being a parent.

Suddenly a thought crossed his mind. Was the baby even okay? Counting back the months and days, he was one hundred percent positive that he had gotten pregnant months before the incident. Said incident leaving him horribly scared and missing an eye as well as his entire right arm. Thinking again, he told himself that it wouldn't matter if the baby was disfigured in some way. It's his child and he will take care of him or her no matter how difficult and aggravating it would be.

Pushing once more, the feeling of being stretched became more and more evident. The shoulders seemed to be coming out at the same time, almost doubling the width of what he was tasked with pushing out. His only hopes were that he wouldn't tear.

With a final few pushes, he felt the little body leave him along with the pain and discomfort. Sighing he scooped up his baby boy from the water, holding him up to his chest with one hand. Now was for the fun part, which means he needed to find a way to call someone -most likely either of his second in command- to come and help him out of the tub and back to his bed,  and here's the kicker, do this without disturbing the now suckling  infant glued to his chest. Doesn't seem to difficult to you? How about a reminder that this man is one armed, holding the small babe to his chest with the one arm, and the call button was stuck on the wall four feet up and three feet away.

Not so easy now is it?

That's what I thought.

Pulling both tired legs back into the tub, he felt the placenta leave his tired body, left foot almost kicking a bar of soap off the side of the tub. Now that wasn't such a bad idea. Using both calloused and wet feet, he picked up the bar of soap carefully so as to not drop it into the lukewarm water, and threw it with all the strength in his legs. And thankfully it hit it's mark, turning on an intercom mic within his bathroom. Frequency was heard before a gruff voice came over the system.

"Red Leader is everything alright?"

"Send second in commands Paul and Pat to my quarters as soon as possible."

"Yes sir, they will be contacted and sent there when possible. Will there be anything else that you need?"

"That is all, soldier." The faint click was the last thing he heard from the system before looking down to the still suckling boy. With light brown hair and a pale complexion, it was uncanny who the 'mother' was. It's tragic that the poor kid will never meet his father but oh well, just wasn't meant to be. The sound of knocking and the door knob turning brought his thoughts back to his situation.

"Sir? You requested our assistance?" Pat's voice rang out through the door, the sound of muffled speech could be heard through the door as well. The infant, who had just let go of his nipple, began to whimper softly at the ever present chill in the air. Shushing him quickly by pulling him closer to his chest, sighing he spoke to the two on the other side of the door.

"Come in here and help me please. I will also need to have a word with the medical staff who worked on me right after the incident. It is quite obvious they failed to preform a full test evaluation." He smiled at the boy in his arms hearing the door open.

"Sir did you fall while in the shower again?" Paul mumbled something under his breath seconds before looking at his esteemed leader. Both men were looking down upon their one armed, naked leader who was holding a newborn still attached to its placenta. The half-glare couldn't be missed, and if either of the two said a word about this to another person, they were sure to be sent to hell. Red Leader sighed loosing the glare as well as some of his pride.

"Could you help me out. I can't get up..." Receiving snickers from one of the two, he felt two sets of palms lifting him from the chilled water and setting him on the floor, steadying him before getting to work on drying him off. The tallest held the scissors in his hand, cutting the umbilical cord on the infant before handing his leader a towel to wrap the boy in. Wrapping up the little boy, he handed his son over to one of his soldiers. While the one helped him get re-dressed and fix his bandages, the other weighed and measured the boy. Numbers were written on a piece of paper nearby before Tord was handed his son back.

"He's perfectly healthy at twenty-one inches long and eight pounds." Pat helped him back over to his bed, his partner chewing on the end of his unlit cigarette.

"So..... What are you naming him? Or are we taking him to a foster home." At the mention of a foster home he stiffened, shaking his head.

"His name is Aksel and he is going to stay right here with me where he belongs." Smiling back at the chubby little cheeks he lifted up his son who finally opened his large bright brown eyes.

Such a shame he'll never meet his dad.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

2013 words

This took too damn long to write but it was worth it. I really like how it came out.

Finished at 12:13 am

The baby is named after my kik friend [who goes by Aksel] [the real reason is because while looking for Norwegian names I found Aksel on there and made a huge fuss.] means "My father is peace" [this is a lie XD ]

Cookie clicker stole me......... *has 4 different versions going at once..... *

If it wasn't clear who the father is it's Edd..... [only guy with Brown eyes of the main four]

So um yeah...... I'm gonna go sleep now......... Thank god I have no school on Columbus day .

~Mari