#rebeljanetrex

[scripttorture]

(1)I have a character who is locked in a room for a little less than a month. For the first week she has another person with her but for the next three weeks she is all alone and doesn't know when she'll be released. She has been told she'll be killed but doesn't know why. She can hear music coming from outside the room every now and then but it is fairly dark. The room is empty save for a hole in the ground for waste and a very small window for minimal natural light.

(2) She is given the minimum amount of food for survival but she would still suffer from some symptoms of starvation. I am planning on her having hallucinations, memory problems, joint pain, headaches, weight loss, and lack of physical ability as symptoms of starvation and solitary confinement. Do you think this would be realistic for both symptoms from the situation and the time frame?

I really like your icon. :)

 I had to think about this one a fair bit and I think that’s becauseyou’ve chosen an unusual and interesting combination of symptoms. It’s very weightedtowards the physical symptoms and I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone combinememory problems and hallucinations. But then there’s no reason why theyshouldn’t turn up together.

 My initial instinct was to suggest a lotmore symptoms but on reflection I don’t think you’re that far off.

 I think you do need to includesome more symptoms though. Because I don’t think you’ve really got thepsychological symptoms of starvation showing up here. And if the physicalsymptoms are present to the extent that she’s less coordinated and less strongthen I’d expect some psychological effects as well. Themasterpost is here and I’d recommend reading the Minnesota StarvationExperiment source included for a broader idea of the effects.

 The lack of energy and concentration seem to show up first. I think themood swings, emotional blunting and anxiety are also likely. Unlike mosttortures the psychological effects of starvation can be pretty accuratelypredicted and they follow pretty much the same pattern for everyone. I imaginethat it’s probably tied to a lot of adaptions that help us survive. It seems tobe consistent across very different groups of people.

 I think that an additional physical symptom is also pretty likely: thedizziness and fainting spells. I say that because I’ve had them before after afew days of not eating properly, which suggests they can manifest quitequickly.

 There are a couple of types of memory problems that tend to show up intorture survivors. I’m not sure if there have been any studies on which (ifany) are the most common and multiple types can turn up at the same time (but do not necessarily have to).

 There’s a sort of general forgetfulness which might not have a bigimpact on your character while she’s locked up but would have a huge impact onher life later. If you wanted to use that I’d suggest something like having herforget if she’s had food yet that day, which would increase anxiety (ie ‘perhapsthey’ve stopped feeding me completely’).

 There’s also memory loss which isn’t often of the traumatic eventitself. Survivors don’t forget their names, or the people closest to them. Oldmemories are generally more ‘set’ and harder to lose. What survivors lose tendsto be newer memories. For instance if she saw the place she was taken to or theface of her captors she could forget what she saw. But she might also forgetmore mundane things like someone she’d met recently or what she did the weekbefore she was imprisoned.

 Along with memory loss there’s also a marked increase in false memoriesamong torture survivors. These do happen to everyone normally; our brainsnaturally edit out memories. But torture survivors are a lot more prone to itthan normal and it can create a lot of problems because we tend to assume ourmemories are completely accurate.

 There’s a pretty interesting study conducted on a group of militaryvolunteers (C A Morgan et al, International Journal of Law and Psychiatry 27,265-279) that showed ‘high stress situations’ (a mock capture and interrogation) led to a majority of people incorrectlyidentifying an interrogator, despite being in a room with them for more thanfour hours the day before. Torture survivors can give incorrect descriptions ofrooms they were held in for days, give inaccurate sequences of events,incorrectly identify suspects- And it’s important to stress that they’re notlying they absolutely believe they’re giving an accurate version of events;this is a known effect of torture on the human brain.

 Finally there are intrusive memories. These are- essentially beingreally vividly reminded of a traumatic event all the time by everyday things.They’re not flash backs and they’re not hallucinations. The impression I get isthat it’s more akin to getting a particular train of thought stuck in your headand being unable to change tracks. 

This has a massive emotional effect onvictims but it’s less likely to…damage a trial the way false memories or memoryloss can. It can have just as much impact on everyday life as the generalforgetfulness, making everyday tasks a lot more difficult. I’d suggest picking types of memory problems based on where you want the story to go and what would provide interesting narrative set backs.

 Themasterpost on solitary confinement is here and I think you’ll find Shalev’sSourcebook on Solitary Confinement (linked in the masterpost) useful. Shalevquotes several accounts of hallucinations in solitary confinement by survivors.

 Some solitary prisoners reported that they found hallucinationscomforting, that they were an escape from solitary and brought them relief.Others found hallucinations incredibly negative and frightening. And for somethey were a pretty neutral occurrence. Which means you’ve got a lot of scopefor choosing the emotional tone you want these scenes to have.

 For the character hallucinations whether positive, negative or neutralcan be quite disorientating.

 I’d advise against using anything too literal.

 People don’t tend to accurately re-live portions of their life inhallucinations. They shouldn’t be treated as flashbacks.

 One of the survivors in Shalev’s Sourcebook hallucinated faces and heldconversations with them. But they didn’t hallucinate full bodied people andwere aware they were hallucinating. In most of the solitary confinementaccounts of hallucinations I’ve read the victims were aware they werehallucinating. So I don’t think it would be accurate to have your characterhallucinate another person and ‘think they’re real’. (Something I see turn up a lot in fiction).

 Hallucinations don’t have to be ‘interesting’. Someone can hallucinate abeetle on the wall or a mouse on the table without it doing anything strange.

 Hallucinations also don’t have to be consistent or clearly defined.People can hallucinate flashes of colour or indistinct noises.

 Personally I tend to treat hallucinations like dream sequences and usethe same sort of disjointed logic when I construct them. I try to focus onemotions I want to evoke and particular images I want to include. I tend to usethem to try and show the character’s emotional state or prompt them intoaction.

 I know some people use them to highlight themes in a story which canwork well.

 I hope that helps. :)

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[zatoichi-in-space]

Inspired by the nice hopeful vid that got me over my finale worries. Here’s to you, RebelJanetRex.

[pileofsith]

Tumblr Pet Cats as Loth-Cats - Part I

I am making cartoony gift doodles of what people’s pet kitties would look like if they were a loth-cat from Star Wars Rebels.

Bruce Wayne is weird! He belongs to homosorcerer.

Pebbles is a very fluffy and laid-back kitty. She belongs to susanwinters.

Candy is a sassy little kitty who hates people and loves sleeping. She belongs to rebeljanetrex.

[findswoman]

A Brief Zeb Fic Rec List

Alphabetical by author’s handle. All links are to AO3 unless specified otherwise.

Saviour by @fuzzydemolitionsquad and @darkdranzer1988 (AO3: DarkDranzer). Part 1 of their series Garazeb, Son of Lasan. Right after the siege of Lasan, Kanan and Hera find Zeb unconscious and injured and rush him to treatment. We get some of Zeb's own flashbacks and introspection as well.

Coping by @fuzzydemolitionsquad and @darkdranzer1988 (AO3: DarkDranzer). Part 2 of their series Garazeb, Son of Lasan. Kanan, Hera, and a brave team of doctors and nurses help Zeb recover against all odds from near-fatal injuries sustained during the Siege of Lasan.

The Tractor, part 1 and part 2 by @fuzzydemolitionsquad (links are to Tumblr). Takes place during Zeb’s Honor Guard cadet days on Lasan. Zeb accompanies his older-but-smaller hilltrekker cousin Puggles Trodd, on a quest to repair Pa’s tractor. Adventures and shenanigans ensue.

A Ghost of Lasan by @lasatfat (AO3: TheAntleredPolarBear). Zeb finds something beautiful and precious amid the destruction of his homeworld that gives him strength to carry on.

Zeb’s Hearing by @lesbinewren (AO3: rebel_wren). As a Lasat, Zeb has sharper hearing than most other beings, and he can hear a lot more of what goes on around the Ghost than anyone suspects. But that makes him an especially valuable friend to his space!family members.

News by @okadiah. Zeb grieves for Kanan following the events of “Jedi Night,” treasuring his memories of his best friend and resolving to take care of those left behind.

The Beginning of Honor by Raissa_Baiard (link is to Jedi Council Forums). A young Zeb, as an Honor Guard cadet, learns important lessons about responsibility and personal honor when his younger brother goes missing on his watch.

Dead Air of Lasan by RebelJanetRex. One of the first Zeb stories I ever read on AO3! Amid the wreckage of the Siege of Lasan, Zeb grieves over the corpse of his betrothed and vows never to give up the fight.

[sephirajo]

Spoilers through season 4.  From RebelJanetRex on Youtube. CHECK THEIR STUFF OUT. :D

[lledra-fanstuffs]

I honestly love all of your Lasat OCs! Not many artists draw a lot of lasats and I'm so happy that you do! :D

Thank you very much! I'm happy they're enjoyed!

[lotldraws]

ink+ink wash illustrations for the 1000+ followers giveaway drawings winners!! @rebeljanetrex asked for their cool Hogwarts AU Sabine and @kristsune requested Fives in a floral shirt from their fanfiction!!! thanks for being responsive you guys were great to work with!!

and thanks to everybody who entered the giveaway, i appreciate your support of this sideblog!!

[secrettunnelyeah]

AAA RWBY!! I LOVE RWBY!!! It gives me much joy that you are watching it :D

WOOP i’m really liking it!! ♥ hopefully i get the chance to watch more tonight!

[sephirajo]

By the awesome RebelJanetRex  Spoilers for season 3 of RWBY.  And owwwwww, it hurts.

[secrettunnelyeah]

You amazing human being you :) You inspired me to make my own video for the clone wars after watching your amazing videos on youtube. Seriously. You are awesome :D

oh my gosh that’s so exciting!! Have fun and take lots of breaks seriously it will save your life

and let me know when it’s done so I can watch!! ♥♥♥