A tall ship tutorial for those who made logical career decisions in their late teens / early twenties in the hopes that it makes writing fanfiction about your favorite goobers a little easier.
OK I have no immediate need for any of this information but that doesnt change the fact that this is an absolutely delightful read and I have tears in my eyes.
Inpsychologyandneuroscience,executive dysfunction, or executive function deficit, is a disruption to the efficacy of the executive functions, which is a group of cognitive processes that regulate, control, and manage other cognitive processes. Executive dysfunction can refer to both neurocognitive deficits and behavioural symptoms. It is implicated in numerous psychopathologiesandmental disorders, as well as short-term and long-term changes in non-clinical executive control.
Executive function (EF) is a broad term that refers to the cognitive processes that help us regulate, control and manage our thoughts and actions. It includes planning, working memory, attention, problem solving, verbal reasoning, inhibition, cognitive flexibility, initiation of actions and monitoring of actions.
Most people on the autism spectrum have some degree of impaired executive function. Because executive function is such a complex concept, it can be hard to understand how it impacts our lives in practical ways.
For me, it’s not so much an unwillingness to do things or being lazy or putting it off. It’s that I can’t make myself focus on them. Sometimes other things take precedence in the hierarchy of my mind. Sometimes I feel like I’m waiting for this ephemeral thing that I can’t name. I will sometimes feel stuck in place, unable to move or think. In those instances, it’s like being mute but with my body. It’s a very hard thing to pinpoint. Sometimes, the thought forms in my head, and then it’s gone before I can act on it.
For me, it leads sometimes to chores not getting done, or to forgetting to go to events if I don’t set myself a reminder, or even doing things like reading or charging my computer or doing laundry.
Kings are not exempt from being as evil as their queens. Kings have all of the power in their kingdom and some yield it with cruelty. There are categories of the Evil King.
The Cruel
The Mad
The Cruel
The Incompetent
The Cruel
This king loves to exercise his power over others. He is savage and will torture his people to get all he can from them. He is mostly likely vain and savage and will do anything for power.
Henry VIII: You knew he would be on this list. Henry began his reign as a charismatic and lovable monarch. When his desire and obsession for a son grew, Henry grew more crueler and sadistic. He cast off four wives, killing two of them and abandoning two more. His third and fifth wives are the only ones who experienced a natural separation in death from Henry. While stuffing his face and getting the mediaeval equivalent of catfished, he put thousands to death including the eighty year old Margaret Pole, his mother’s cousin. He was unendingly cruel to his wives and children
Tiberius: The heir of the first Emperor of Rome. He took power after his mother murdered Augustus. He secured his power by killing his popular nephew and two of his grand-nephews while imprisoning his last nephew and grand-nieces. He is rumoured to have built a palace with a pool of young boys to nibble at his genitals whilst he bathed. He was reputedly murdered by his heir, his final grand-nephew Caligula.
Nero: The Roman Emperor who they called the Anti-Christ. Nero kicked his own pregnant wife to death and has his own mother killed. He was fond of sacrificing Christians to lions and making them human candles.
Leopold II, King of the Belgians: You might know this fucker from every show/movie/book made about Queen Victoria. In these adaptations he is presented to be grasping and evil but the truth is far worse. Claiming the Congo as his, he sent in soldiers to force the natives to resource rubber for him making him a wealthy man on the backs of thousands of dead natives.
Genghis Khan, Khan of All Khans: Though he has an awesome back story, the crimes of this Mongolian conqueror are unforgivable. He sacked thousands of towns and cities, burning and destroying as he went. He also allowed his men to rape millions of women some even before their families. He himself has thousands of descendants through these heinous acts.
The Mad
This king is off his rocker. He has lost his marbles and he runs a nation holding thousands of innocent lives. Gods save us.
George III: Mad King George began his reign as a well-liked king but grew worse as he went on. George suffered two periods of illness, one thought to be Alzheimer’s. He was one of the longest reigning British monarchs. Some believe that his madness led to was the cause of his mental instability. He spent his last few years under the Regency of his son.
Henry VI: The son of Henry V. He came to the throne as a baby. In 1453, he became catatonic, unable to speak or do anything. This led to a civil war that lost him the crown in 1461. Henry was reinstated in 1470 but was overthrown within months.
Caligula: The Mad Roman Emperor. Caligula, “Little Boots” was made emperor after the demise of Tiberius. Though popular because of his tragic back story and his hero father, Caligula was as mad as a box of frogs. He tried to make his horse a consul, made the navy build a bridge across a bay so he could ride across it, went to war with the sea and raped his sisters. He was murdered by his bodyguards after a few years in power.
Charles VI of France: Came to the throne at the age of 21 and came to be called “the Beloved”. However, he grew mad and killed four of his knights and attacked his brother. He attacked his wife so much that she employed a mistress so the king could have sex with somebody rather than her. His madness sparked the Hundred Years War.
The Incompetent
This king is useless. He is not fit for the job and he sucks at it so badly, he’s considered a loser.
John I of England: England’s worst king, or so people think. The son of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine, John sh p uld have been a good king. However, he usurped his hero-brother Richard the Lionheart and had his nephew killed. He mistreated his nobles so much, by forcing himself on their wives and taxing them, that they revolted leading to the Magna Carta.
Richard II: This king came to the throne at a young age. He began as a pretty ok, king bravely riding out to meet the peasants who revolted against him. He rebelled against his impressive uncle, John of Gaunt leading to five lords taking him aside, (i.e kidnapping him and holding him prisoner) and having a chat with him. Richard got revenge on these lords later and so incited a coup led by Gaunt’s son, Henry Bolingbroke. He was left starve to death in a cell.
Edward II: the son of Edward I. He came to the throne to relevant peace but then decided to fuck up the applecart. He lost Scotland, the country his father fought bloody wars, at Bannockburn to Robert de Bruce. He lavished titles and honours to his rumoured lover Piers Gaveston and leant on his counsel whilst sidelining his more competent queen. He picked fights with his nobles making them rebel more than once. When Gaveston was murdered, Edward found a new buddy in Hugh Despenser. Edward was such a shitty king that the county supported his wife’s foreign invasion and her regency over their twelve year old son.
George IV: The Prince of Whales, as he was so dubbed. He was more interested in mistresses and extravagance than ruling. He married Catholic to his father’s despair and was bailed out by Parliament frequently due to the massive debts he incurred. George married Princess Caroline and slept with her twice to produce an heir which miraculously he did.
I’m low-key tired of all this “diversity makes writing good” bs like… yeah it’s great to include! But it doesn’t automatically make your story good? Idk I personally don’t want to read about an ace person that has the personality of a sack of potatoes just bc they’re ace
Respectfully, I don’t think anybody is saying diversity automaticallymakes a story good (or at least, that’s not my understanding of it.) People are just saying a story withoutany diversity isn’t good writing, which IMO is true?
There’s also a tendency for people to find any reason not to include diversity, by saying things like "but a story can be good without it!” and okay, sure. There are things I enjoy/have enjoyed even if they’re not diverse, but said lack of diversity is definitelya major flaw of those things, and it feels like we should be trying to do better than that?
i get what you’re saying, tho! bad writing is bad writing, diversity or not. but lack of diversity isbad writing in itself, which i think is the point of the general “diversity makes writing good” discourse, and not asking people to engage with flat characters or flat stories ✨
From what I’ve seen, there’s less of an issue of people saying “having a diverse cast automatically makes x thing good” and more an issue of people relying on the diversity of their cast as the primary selling point, which can give the impression that the story doesn’t have much else to offer.
I will admit that when someone pitches their WIP as having “x representation” before any information about the plot or characters, it can put me off a bit. And if they don’t mention the plot or characters much beyond that, I’m likely to pass on it because I haven’t been told enough about the story to get interested.
And, well… if something gives off the feeling of using marginalized people as a marketing gimmick (which is certainly not alwaysthe case but does sometimes happen) then I’m definitely not going to be interested.
Diverse casts are definitely something to embrace, but I can understand the frustration when having one seems to be the onlyfocus. If allI know about your characters is that they’re x marginalized group, the pitch probably needs some work.
This is just what I’ve seen, and I don’t want to invalidate anyone else’s opinion because admittedly I don’t always have time to read through my dash as thoroughly as I’d like. Just my observation.
@roselinproductions Reblogging this version because you explained my point way better than I did lol
Your plot should never take a back seat to diversity, but that doesn’t mean you get to kick diversity out of the car.
your character should be morethan a tragic backstory. more than i lost my parents at a young age so now i rebel against the world. more than i have all these wicked skills without proper background or training.
sass is great, and so is silence — but when aren’t they using their biting wit? when do they speak up? do they use their ass-kicking skills for good? for evil? have they lost people along the way — actually, it’s inevitable, so what happened after the funeral? did your character attend? did they seek revenge, or search for answers at the bottom of a bottle?
don’t toss around tragedies if you’re not going to apply them to your characterization. alcoholics aren’t just loud and physically abusive; ptsd doesn’t mean you’ve boarded up the windows and refuse to leave your house. you won’t always continue to hate your parents after they’ve died. you will doubt your life decisions. being rich doesn’t make you sexy. being smart doesn’t make you socially awkward [ alternatively, it doesn’t make you the most attractive person in the room. ] even if you’re wicked smart, you’ll still get some things wrong.
do your research. if you put your character through traumatic events, not everyone walks away unscathed. but being haunted by the ghosts of your past doesn’t make you attractive either. it’s a nitty gritty, dirty fucking business. you get mad, your world loses color, you feel alone, and sometimes you ask yourself why you’re the one who lived.
treat your character like their own person. just because you wouldn’t say something to someone doesn’t mean they’ll keep their trap shut. it doesn’t mean they’ll want a big wedding or fast cars or apple pie made the way your mother taught you. maybe you’re pro-life and your character is pro-choice. maybe it’s vice versa. just because your character is a dick doesn’t mean it should be a reflection on yourself. but if they’re going to be a dick, and you want it to be believable, give them a reason to be a dick. a reason to hate the world, only slightly less than they hate the people living in it. maybe more. maybe it’s maybelline.
being smart and young and witty and attractive doesn’t mean your character will be respected. it doesn’t mean your character deserves to be respected. older, more experienced characters may trust your character less because they’re so damn young, no matter what you do or say to try to prove them wrong.
Are you really…. not supposed to…. describe what your characters are wearing….
I think there’s a great deal of misinformation on this topic.
I believe it’s fine to describe what your characters are wearing. However, like all things, it should serve some kind of purpose.
For instance, describing winter clothes helps impart to the reader a sense of how cold it is. Describing summer clothes helps explain how warm it is.
Describing an outfit before a social event gives a window onto the character’s sense of fashion, or explains their reverence (or lack) for the event; for example a character can wear a black suit to a funeral, or watch from a distance while wearing a t-shirt and jeans. These impart a different attitude.
An outfit may be described purely to give a little more interest to a character; to give the reader a bit more insight into who they are, through the way they present themselves. It may have no greater significance to the wider story but this is still a reason to do it.
So the “purpose” doesn’t need to be super-vital to the story. It canbe just because “describing this to the reader helps them appreciate the character or scene”, but that’s still a purpose.
I like that last comment because I think it can apply to a lot of things in storytelling! Anything that shows some element of your character has a purpose to the story even if it doesn’t exactly advance the plot.
There are so many tests/checkers for identifying passive voice in your writing and it has become a rule to change every instance of its occurrence.
Why?
Yes, I get that it isn’t as exciting and makes your plot/characters seem passive rather than active. Maybe it doesn’t make for great prose.
But it does have its place.
I think that one/two/five passive voice sentences in a book are fine. Will you really get burned at the stake if you have the sentence “Her heart had been broken” in your manuscript?
Maybe I’m just missing something.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying every second sentence should be passive voice. I’m just saying that you don’t have to change every single passive sentence in your work.
2. Real writers write every day
Listen, I’ve been writing for thirteen years. I’m always working on a project and I take my writing very seriously. I AM a writer. But I don’t think there’s ever been a period in my life where I wrote every single day.
Yes, if you schedule time to write every day and you manage to stick to it, you’re amazing. And you’ll probably be published quicker.
But that doesn’t mean that other writers aren’t serious about their writing or aren’t “real” writers.
Sometimes, life gets in the way. Sometimes, your creative muscles are really tired and all your words come out crappy. It’s normal.
It depends on your energy cycle/other responsibilities/goals. If you are working on your WIP and making progress, you’re a writer.
Don’t be so hard on yourself. Jeez.
3. Only include what is relevant to the plot
I confess: I am an overwriter. My current WIP is looking to be 150k words, so I’m gonna have to do a LOT of cutting in the editing phase. So yeah, maybe I should take this advice.
But objectively, I don’t believe in the strict application of this rule.
If JK Rowling/J.R.R Tolkien only included what would move the plot forward, we wouldn’t have the amazing fleshed-out worlds of HP and LotR. The extra, interesting stuff is what makes those stories so amazing.
So, I think a much better way to think about this is: Only include what is relevant to your CHARACTERS’ LIVES.
If there is something awesome that your characters do/see that people don’t get to experience in the real world, tell the reader about it. If there’s some fantastical element about your world that the character would definitely notice, describe how the character experiences it. Live through your characters in the world you’ve created.
4. Every chapter should end on a cliffhanger
There’s this idea that each chapter should follow a formula: End with a tense reveal/cliffhanger > the next chapter opens with the character’s reaction to said reveal > the middle of the chapter is the mini resolution > the chapter ends with another tense reveal.
This is a great way to structure a chapter. But it gets tedious and overdone if every single chapter follows the same basic steps.
Ending EVERY chapter on a tense cliffhanger will drain your readers emotionally and numb them to the tense points in the rest of the novel. So, give your readers time to breathe and enjoy the less intense parts of your story too.
Have a few chapters that don’t end in absolute suspense.
5. Real writers don’t see writing as a business
“Real” writers are in it for the art. They live apart from the world of mortals and only care about fairy tales and castles in the sky. They are too pure and dainty and creative to concern themselves with something as mundane as money.
You are going to die of hunger.
If you agree with these pieces of advice, good for you. I just don’t.
Reblog if you agree. Comment with the writing advice you can’t endorse. Follow me for similar content.
“I’m such a shit writer, I can’t get anything to sound good!”
I guarantee if you’ve written more than a few sentences, there’s one in there that you like. There’s something that made you glow with pride, or at least made you think for a moment, “hey, a few more of these and I’ll be set!”
So here’s what you gotta do.
Compile them.
Make a separate document and name it “Lines I Like”, “Good Shit I Wrote”, or anything that proclaims that it’s the best of your work. Not “okay stuff I guess”. This is for tooting your own horn, not negging yourself straight back into misery.
Then go through any and all WIPs or past projects and paste them into it. Save it to your desktop and maintain it. Add to it every time you create a turn of phrase that sounds right, any time you write a good pun or a striking paragraph. Top it up with fresh material.
Open it up when you’re feeling down on yourself as a writer. Anything that makes you doubt your abilities, open it and reread those lines. It’s an instant mood boost.
Be your own inspiration, because if you’ve written a good thing once, you can absolutely do it again.
Great advice! I do something similar, I have a document with my favorite line from every chapter in it, and it works like a charm! ❤
Religions have many different aspects that should at least be given thought if not careful consideration. Use these to guide your creative process when developing new religions and deities.
Key Aspects
Deity/Pantheon: Your religion does not need to necessarily have a deity, and it can even have an entire pantheon. I would venture that while a trained priest might perhaps specialize in one deity, a religion can have many.
Dogma: What are the principles and teachings of your religion? What does the deity implore of their worshippers? What is and isn’t allowed? What are the ethics of the religion? Why must we follow these principles?
Symbols: As important as the religion’s dogma are its symbols. How is your religion recognized on flags, tabards, armor, weapons, artwork, and holy symbols? Does your religion have a holy color or color scheme that they could use for their priestly robes?
Temples: Where are the religion’s places of worship? They could be secluded and secret or in/near cities. What do they look like? Are they merely household shrines or grand cathedrals? Do they have any distinguishing features?
Religious Practices
Rites and Rituals: What sorts of special ceremonies do the clerics of your religion practice? Are there any special material components that have meaning for the religion, deity, and ceremony? How long do ceremonies take and what is supposed to come from them? Rituals always serve a purpose, even if that purpose is merely affirming your faith. Rituals are useful as story elements as well as for players to perform.
Affirming Faith: telling your god you’re there and in prayer. It can be as simple as a daily prayer or weekly ceremony or more in-depth like a monthly or yearly ritual.
Proving Devotion: proving your faith to your god, usually meant for those who might be in doubt or who have wavered.
Initiation: rituals for new members to the religion.
Induction: rituals for new clergy members or clergy moving up in hierarchy.
Satiation: your deity demands sacrifice of something valuable to you or to it.
Boon/Blessing: the ritual seeks something of your deity, perhaps a bountiful harvest or victory in battle.
Magic: a ritual might be held to cast certain spells or perhaps to increase the power or scope of a spell. These can also be used in creation of magic items.
Healing: rituals for performing healing magic.
Funerals: ceremonies for the dead.
Marriage: ceremonies for binding individuals together spiritually
Holy Days: Often rituals can coincide with special days or times of the year. Holy days can be predicted and often signify important seasonal or historic events. Harvest, springtime, solstice, and equinox holy days are common, as are those commemorating the deaths of martyrs or important dates in the religion’s history.
Myths/Legends: Are there any stories or parables that your religion teaches? What stories of the gods do they tell? Do they have any specific myths relating to things like the creation of the world, the creation of elements, the invention of everyday things, or perhaps the invention of morality?
Prayers/Sayings: To help you roleplay priests of this religion, you can come up with some common greetings, farewells, and blessings that might be associated with the religion. “Pelor shines upon you” and whatnot.
People
Titles/Hierarchy: What are the ranks of the clergy and do they have any special titles? Are there any notable NPCs in the religion’s hierarchy? For instance, those that worship Mammon, the archdevil of greed are often called Covetors.
Clergy: Do the clergy perform any services for the rest of the population? Usually this involves healing or holding ceremonies, but they could have a broader scope in a theocracy or a narrower scope if secluded or unpopular. What do the clergy look like and wear? Do they favor certain classes other than clerics?
Worshippers: What sort of people are drawn to the religion? Are there certain races, classes, or kingdoms that worship them? What convinces them to follow the religion’s dogma? Is it out of fear, necessity, protection, comfort, or prosperity?
Relations: Does this religion have allies or enemies? These could either be allied or rival churches, deities, or religions. Furthermore, certain kingdoms or people could ally with or oppose the religion. Think of how each faction and religion in your world sees this religion.
Culture
Art: How does your religion express itself? Define your religion’s art, architecture, fashion, and songs and how they compare to other religions and cultures.
Relics: What sorts of holy relics belong to your religion? These can be body parts or objects belonging to important martyrs or high priests or heroes that champion the religion. These might be kept in temples or may have been lost to time. Perhaps some are magic items being used by chosen (or unscrupulous) adventurers.
Okay, I was wondering when I was going to end up writing this.
Okay abled bodied parents of disabled children/children with disabilities, listen up:
We’ve got some problems between you and the disabled community.
Let’s start with the fact that you’re dominating the discussion on disability and this is wrong. Unlike us, you don’t personally have to live with the decisions to advocate for “on our behalf”. Nor do you have to live with the language choices you promote.
I’m not saying that you shouldn’t have a seat at the table, but we need to be leading the discussion and it is very clear we aren’t. Part of the problem is you either infantize us or claim that we must not be disabled if we can perform some arbitrary list of tasks your kid can’t do (some they might be able to do if you actually accommodated their needs in a way that was actually respectful).
Let’s talk about those language choices. I get you want to see your child “first”, but that isn’t actually how the world works. Society can (and does) use people first to deny your child accommodations, especially when they’re adults. Again, you don’t have to live with this language structure, we do. Let’s try not being allergic to the word “disabled”. That would solve a lot of problems right there. Also, the euphemisms are even worse than people first. Your kid will resent you for calling them special needs, differently abled, or anything of that sort.
Also, none of this actually addresses any of the actual societal issues that we face. You know, the things you benefit from via abled bodied privilege like having a society built for your needs, normalizing apdative tools and tech to make them less costly, dealing with the entire SSI/SSDI/Medicare/Medicaid system when it comes to disability, especially for adults 21+, prevelant forced poverty due to said systems and/or extreme unemployment and underemployment. The sub minimum wage is another issue that we could really use help addressing.
The final point is that with you dominating the conversation, you’re creating a false narrative that certain disabilities are only in childhood and stop at 18/21/what other magical made up number we all know doesn’t exist. Autism doesn’t stop at 18, neither does ADHD, any learning disability, cerebral palsy, etc. But due to this false narrative, getting services and medical care as a disabled adult is more difficult as there are doctors who literally believe we don’t exist. And guess what- your kid has to grow up and deal with that and you don’t have to directly live with it.
Abled bodied parents and others are free to reblog this but those who leave rude responses or try to make it about themselves will be ignored since they’re proving my exact point.
Literally everyone will ask if you broke your leg(s). Everyone. Even people you don’t know. Theyll ask a lot and think you’re extremely fragile.
bruises show up within the first day of rolling around, and they can really suck
people will try to grab your chair if they think you’re struggling and it can be hard not to snap at them for it
static electricity is a huge issue. You will probably either continuously shock your leg when you’re rolling around or do what I did today and zap someone so hard as you pass that both of you nearly keel over
people will call you out as a faker if you do anything even remotely fun ever on your wheelchair. Wheelies? Obviously your legs are fine lol not like you have to go down fucking curbs /s
puddles are the worst and if there’s a curb with a puddle all around and you have some ability to walk its a better idea to just stand up and navigate the chair than to fall backwards into said puddle
weird looks from people are inevitable, especially from people who don’t like you
bus drivers will often push your chair and give you advise you don’t want to hear, even if you tell them nicely you can push yourself. Its really hard not to get mad at them for it
no wheelies in school. Though if you do it in the elevator when no one else is with you you can’t really get caught.
speaking of wheelies, always be ready to throw at least one arm behind you in case you fall. They say tuck your chin in but its easier and more reliable to throw your hands back and keep your neck up so you don’t hit the floor. Sore arms are way easier to put up with than head injuries
don’t even bother to try and roll back up curbs. You will either be there for an hour or fall backwards. I managed to do both.
90% of classrooms that aren’t special ed are not very wheelchair accessible.
people will automatically assume you’re faking something if you’re not considered dumb enough in their standards to fit in with disabled students (aka high class ableism at its finest)
people are going to give you weird looks if you don’t suddenly start sitting with the other disabled kids
standard backpacks usually dangle way too much to keep on you easily, so try to pack light
built in storage on wheelchairs cannot sufficiently carry books
don’t try to hold an umbrella. Period. Especially not with your teeth. It doesn’t work.
don’t try to give the bus driver your ticket while you’re stuck on the ramp. And speaking of, its easy to start falling down the bus ramp so be careful, and when in doubt throw on the breaks
and finally if you’re like me pray to god you don’t go nonverbal when someone is trying to push you and you don’t want them to because it is hard to get them to stop if you can’t speak
able-bodied people can and should 1000% reblog this, some of these things I’ve seen on tips about using a wheelchair but a lot of these weren’t things I’ve seen
Seriously, never, ever touch someone’s mobility aid without their permission.
A very helpful guide, both for first-time wheelchair users and those around them!
Greetings, Exalted One. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Luke Skywalker, Jedi Knight and friend to Captain Solo.
I know that you are powerful, mighty Jabba, and that your anger with Solo must be equally powerful. I seek an audience with Your Greatness to bargain for Solo’s life.
With your wisdom, I’m sure that we can work out an arrangement which will be mutually beneficial and enable us to avoid any unpleasant confrontation.
As a token of my goodwill, I present to you a gift: these two droids. Both are hardworking and will serve you well.
Polite greeting (Greetings, Exalted One)
Self-Introduction (I am Luke Skywalker)
Establish Credentials (Jedi Knight)
Explain how you learned of this opportunity (Friend to Captain Solo)
Establish Purpose (I seek an audience with Your Greatness to bargain for Solo’s life.)
Show what you can bring to the organization ( I present to you a gift: these two droids. Both are hardworking and will serve you well.)
I’m going to start with an important and underappreciated point: the effects of torture are hard to research.
For a mixture of reasons, including shame and fear of reprisals, many people are uncomfortable admitting that they were tortured. Fewer still have the opportunity or are willing to participate in research. Sample sizes in studies are often ridiculously small, so small that it can be difficult to reach any conclusions.
On top of that, picking a control group can be difficult. If the majority of torture victims are depressed does comparing them to a health or depressed population make more sense? If the majority of torture victims suffered serious head injuries should they be compared to people with mild brain damage?
The research is hard. We’re only just beginning to get a clear picture of the short and long term effects of torture, on individuals and communities. Sometimes clear evidence just isn’t there.
Sometimes, for some techniques, it is. So long as you don’t call it ‘torture’. Information on sleep deprivation, sensory deprivation, starvation, dehydration and extreme temperatures are all available.
What this means is that treatment is often a hit and miss affair. Studies trying to find better ways to treat torture victims often can’t find enough volunteers to get meaningful results.
All of that said, here is a non-exhaustive list of some of the things a character who has survived torture and physically healed might experience.
Much of the research on treating torture survivors focuses on PTSD which appears to be a more common response for torture than for other traumatising events.
It’s worth mentioning that although clear evidence on torturersis even more difficult to come by there’s a growing body of evidence suggesting that torturers are often traumatised by carrying out torture.
Anecdotal evidence suggests torturers develop many of the same psychological symptoms as their victims, including PTSD, depression, addiction, social isolation and long term personality changes.
[Sources, ‘Mental health interventions and priorities for research for adult survivors of torture and systematic violence: a review of the literature’ Torture Journal vol 26 iss 1 2016 W M Weiss et al
‘Why Torture Doesn’t Work: The Neuroscience of Interrogation’ Harvard University Press S O’Mara
‘Dysfunctional Pain Modulation in Torture Survivors: The Mediating Effect of PTSD’ The Journal of Pain vo 18 2017 R Defrin et al
‘Testimonial Therapy: Impact on social participation and emotional wellbeing among Indian survivors of torture and organized violence’ Torture Journal vol 25 iss 2 2015 M M Jorgensen et al]
‘National Style’ is a phrase Rejali coined to try and describe some of the patterns he saw in torture worldwide while he was researching his book.
It’s not so much a theory as an observation: particular countries and cultures seem to consistently favour particular torture techniques.
This doesn’t mean that torturers from these countries don’t use other techniques. It’s a general observation of the most common techniques and that which techniques are the most common varies between countries.
National Styles can change and unique tortures can still occur. What I’m hoping to do with this Masterpost is give an overview of the most common techniques in different countries.
This isn’t just for those of you setting your stories in a particular place. A lot of the sci-fi and fantasy asks I get are understandably vague about where exactly the story takes place. I’m hoping that a resource on National Styles will help you think about the cultures you’ve based your world on. Something set in the far future does not have to adhere to a particular National Style but it could serve as a useful starting point for thinking about the sorts of torture techniques that might exist in your world.
Just because I’ve excluded a country does not mean that the country is torture free. I don’t have adequate information on all countries to describe a National Style.
This is focused on the 1950s through to the present. I’m doing a separate post for World War 2 on the basis that when I tried to include it in the same post this was far too long. If I can find good sources in English for a variety of places in earlier time periods I’ll do some follow up posts on historical periods. Please keep in mind that there’s a trend towards non-scarring or ‘clean’ tortures currently, so most of these styles concentrate on techniques that rarely leave marks.
General Tortures that are common Worldwide
I’ve listed some of these in National Styles as well when I’ve felt it’s a particularly prominent feature of that country’s National Styles
-Beating
-Starvation
-Sleep deprivation
American Modern
American torture is incredibly similar to French. There isn’t any clear evidence about why exactly that is but one of the main theories is that Americans learnt at least some of these techniques during the Vietnam War. Previously, Vietnam was a French colony and there is considerable evidence that the French used these torture techniques there. Which doesn’t mean that is where the Americans got these techniques, just that it’s a possibility.
Electricity- Generally using Tasers or stun guns that are officially issued though in the past magnetos were also used. Police departments in particular experimented with many different uses of electricity in the early 1900s with many different accounts existing from that period.
Waterboarding- Waterboarding is a form of near-drowning torture that was first recorded as a torture used by the Dutch in the 1620s. It usually involves covering the mouth and nose with a cloth and restraining the victim so they are lying down with their feet above their head. Water is poured over the face and this stops the victim from breathing. Americans have been using this torture for decades.
Standing Stress Positions,with restraints- The favourite American stress position is ‘Standing cuffs’. A victim’s hands are cuffed and raised above their head until they’re standing on their toes. This also serves to deprive the victim of sleep. In some places victims were made to wear adult diapers as this was seen as especially humiliating.
Solitary Confinement- Rejali doesn’t include this as a feature of American torture and barely discusses solitary confinement at all. I’m including it on the basis that it is: so normalised in American prisons and military facilities, is used for punishment, causes intense pain, causes systematic mental and physical health problems and is allowed to continue for time periods that are frankly ludicrous.
French Modern
Electricity- French electrical torture strongly favoured use of magnetos for many years. With the technological shift away from magnetos it now seems to favour Tasers and stun guns like most modern countries.
Waterboarding- France’s history of waterboarding may be longer than America’s. There are records of waterboarding in French colonies and records of French Nazi sympathisers using waterboarding extensively during the Vichy government.
Crouching Stress Positions- Most of the stress positions I’m aware of that are particularly ‘French’ were strongly associated with the military and the French Foreign Legion. I am unsure whether they are still commonly in use today but they were 40 years ago and I’ve chosen to include them.
English Modern
The UK has very rarely used electrical torture and instead has relied on a variety of stress positions. This is unusual as most countries have regularly used electrical torture at some point even if it is no longer a feature of their National Style. It’s worth keeping in mind as a feature, should you ever have characters who experience or witness torture from different groups.
English torture has also been more varied in some respects. Torture in different colonies during the colonial period could vary dramatically, possibly a feature of the decentralisation of administration throughout the empire. Practices in Kenya were different to practices in Aden, Cyprus and Ireland. I’ve tried to focus on the overall similarities rather than list cases that only occurred in one particular place.
Positional torture without restraints- Accounts of English torture in Ireland usually contain a description of ‘Walling’. The victims were made to stand close to a wall, leaning forward. Their finger tips touched the wall but they were prevented from putting their weight against it. England has a long history of stress positions, especially in the military and a great many different positions have been used. English use of stress positions in the modern age seems to avoid restraints and instead rely on guards beating prisoners who don’t hold the stress position. Other standing stress positions apart from Walling have been used and the only common feature seems to be the lack of restraints.
Beating
Sleep deprivation- Methods of sleep deprivation were not consistent. Stress positions and sleep deprivation were often combined, but sleep deprivation was also inflicted by continually waking prisoners, use of noise and light or near-constant interrogation as in 'sweating’ or 'relay interrogation’ practices.
Exhaustion exercises- These are the practice of forcing someone to exercise until they collapse. Running, cleaning and aerobic exercises such as crouching then jumping repeatedly have all been used. Obstacle courses and forced crawling have also been used. While worthy of a place here I feel it should be noted that exhaustion exercises seem to be particularly associated with the English military and I’ve never seen an account involving the police. The exact form varies widely in English torture.
Temperature torture- This is usually done through exposure and seems to be slightly less common then the previous three methods but I felt it was worth including. Freezing showers and standing in extremely hot or cold rooms seem to be the 'usual’ methods.
English 'Five Techniques’
These were used in Ireland during the 'Troubles’ and I felt they were worth inclusion. They’re a seperate category because I haven’t found any evidence of them regularly being used in conjunction by the English or British elsewhere.
Standing stress positions
Hooding
Starvation and dehydration
Sleep deprivation
White Noise- This seems to have been uniquely used in Ireland. I’ve found no evidence of regular use elsewhere.
Russian Modern
I’m a little unsure of just how current my sources on Russia are. The following techniques were representative after the Cold War but may not all be currently in use.
Electricity- Russia like many countries that use electrical torture originally relied on magnetos but has since switched to more modern methods. I can’t find evidence for a preferred electrical source in Russia at the moment. The use of electricity is relatively recent, Soviet torture avoided electricity.
Dry choking- This was originally done using old fashioned gas masks. Manipulation of the air vent can be used to produce near-suffocation. Plastic bags are much more common now.
Beating
Suspension- Suspension by the wrists with the feet off the ground is a scarring torture that ruins hands and dislocates the shoulders. It causes permanent nerve damage on an average sized individual in around 15 minutes and acts more quickly when the victim is larger and heavier. Such practices are generally rare but this is still a common torture in Russian institutions. I am unclear on whether any sort of precautions are taken to avoid permanent damage to the victims or not.
Israeli Modern
Israel, like Britain, is notable for avoiding electrical torture. This is a relatively recent development with electrical torture and water based choking tortures being employed before the 1990s and not afterwards.
Positional torture using furniture- Use of child-sized furniture to deliberately cause discomfort in prisoners is, so far as I know, unique to Israel. An example would be making a victim sit in a child’s chair during a prolonged 'interrogation’. The size of the furniture makes it impossible for the victim to sit comfortably and has a similar effect to restraint torture, producing a prolonged discomfort but allowing enough movement to avoid the risk of kidney failure associated with stress positions. In some variants victims are shackled to child-sized chairs and this does seem to function as a stress position causing the tell-tale swelling in hands and feet.
Stress positions- Forced standing, including standing cuffs and forced squatting appear to be common.
Exhaustion exercises- I’ve seen reference to three specific forms of forced exercise which appear to have been in regular use since the 1980s. The first is making victims stand up and sit down repeatedly until they collapse from exhaustion. The second is the 'Bear Dance’, making victims run while holding a heavy object (sometimes a full bucket) in each hand. This exhaustion exercise is usually combined with a 'gauntlet’ of guards who hit or trip the victims as they run. The third was a sort of 'deep sit up’ performed on chairs while prisoners were handcuffed.
Hooding
Temperature torture- The Israeli style tends to use extremely hot or cold rooms rather than exposure to the elements.
Iran
Iran went through a period of using electrical torture but so far as I can tell after the 1990s it was no longer common. Electricity was used from at least the 1970s through to the 1990s.
I have not included punishments that are torture in the list but these include flogging, blinding and amputation.
Falaka- Beating the soles of the feet. This technique is common throughout the Middle East and North Africa. It has also been used historically in China. Different impliments cause different degrees of damage.
Beating
Stress Positions- My sources are unclear on what positions are favoured.
Turkish Modern
This basic combination of falaka and electricity is common throughout the Middle East and Northern Africa, though different countries add different techniques to this basic mixture. Israel and Iran stand out as distinct in the region.
Falaka
Stress positions- I don’t have any clear indication of which stress positions are common in Turkey currently
Electricity- As previously Turkey once used magnetos but has since switched to more modern implements such as Tasers and stun guns.
Indian and Pakistani Modern
I’ve chosen to put India and Pakistan in the same section due to the overwhelming similarities in their National Styles. This may be in part due to continued conflict between the two countries resulting in a constant exchange of torture techniques. As with the similarities between French and American Styles, there’s no proof this is the case, but it’s a possibility.
Stress positions, murgha- The victim is made to bend forward, putting their head between their knees. They are sometimes made to hold their ears. This is extremely painful and in some cases can cause bleeding from the mouth, nose and anus.
Pepper-In India and Pakistan this means insertion of irritants and spices into the nostrils, anus or vagina.
Electricity-The instruments used to generate electricity in Indian torture have varied widely since the 1950s. Magnetos, live wires, the mains and more conventional Tasers and stun guns have all been used in different regions. Pakistan has generally favoured electrical prods.
Ghotna-This is distinct to India and Pakistan. A large pestel, like a huge stone rolling pin used to grind spices, is rolled over the victim’s thighs. Sometimes police officers stand on the ghotna.
Falaka-Slightly more common in Pakistan but also used throughout India, falaka is the practice of beating the soles of the feet.
Choking-More common in India than Pakistan, dry choking is near strangulation or near suffocation.
Chinese Modern
I’ve had some difficulty with this one. What I’m reading suggests that Chinese torture is either not consistent across the country (which would be understandable in such a large and varied country) or that Chinese torture is changing.The result is that this is a bit vague, may be edited later and some of these practices may not be current or used everywhere in China.
Restraint tortures- I’ve seen several accounts of political prisoners being kept in retraints long term (ie for days, weeks or in some cases months). The favoured device is a combination hand and leg cuff, with a chain connecting the hands, another connecting the feet and a longer chain linking them together. This keeps the victim hunched over in an extremely uncomfortable position but allows enough movement that they do not die of kidney failure (a difference from stress positions which allows the torture to continue for much longer)
Positional torture using furniture- These include devices such as 'tiger chairs’ which are essentially restraint devices victims are strapped into and left in for prolonged periods (over 24 hours). I am unclear on whether these could have the same effect as a stress position and suspect it depends strongly on the piece of furniture and how the victim is restrained. Chairs which strap down the victim’s arms, legs and chest seem to be the most common but boards which restrain victims so they’re laying downhave also been used.
Sleep deprivation
Restriction of circulation- I’ve mentioned the old Chinese practice of 'finger-milking’ on the blog before. I’m unsure if the current practice is finger-milking but it shares similarities. Currently the victim’s hands or feet are restrained and the cuffs are deliberately made too tight, cutting off circulation and causing painful swelling in the hands or feet. In finger-milking this is accompanied with attacks to the swollen hands or feet. This is not always the case today.
Japanese Modern
Beating-One thing that I’ve seen particular reference to in Japanese cases that I haven’t seen elsewhere is hair pulling. There also appears to be higher use of furniture to beat suspects then in other countries.
Crushing hands with flat objects- Placing a stuff, hard, flat object like a rulerover the back of the hand and applying pressure. This produces intense pain but rarely leaves any lasting marks.
South Africa
This is predominantly focused on the post-Apartheid period. During Apartheid scarring torture was much more common and in addition to the techniques I’ve listed falaka, whipping, and pumping (forcing liquid into the stomach until it flows out of most orifices causing intense internal pain) were all used. Targeted sexual violence was and remains extremely common.
Electricity- Prods and stun guns seem to be the implements of choice.
Dry Choking- This was previously done using gas masks but now seems to be done with some sort of hooding. Plastic bags now seem to be the most common method.
Stress Positions- Predominantly forced standing.
Nigeria
Unusually for a modern state most torture in Nigeria is scarring. This may be because there is more or less complete impunity for torturers and torture is often justified by people in positions of power, citing the unrest in the north. Targeted sexual violence against women, queer people and people perceived as either is common.
Scarring beating- Using batons, gun butts, machetes, sticks, rods or cables.
Shooting extremities- Such as the leg, feet and hands.
Extraction of nails and teeth with pliers
Suspension by the feet- Another scarring torture.
Electricity-Amnesty describes this as using ‘battery powered objects’.
Near-strangulation- Using a rope around the neck.
Being forced to sit of lie on sharp objects- Broken glass appears to be a favourite.
Stress positions using implements- The ‘Parrot’s perch’ and a position called ‘Tabay’ are both used. The parrot’s perch has the victim’s hands tied together and their feet tied together. Their limbs are bent and a stick is inserted under the knees and over the elbows. They’re then lifted by the stick, exposing the buttocks and leaving them dangling upside down. In ‘Tabay’ the victim’s elbows are tied together and the arms are raised using a stick.
Sources:
Torture and Democracy by D Reajli, Princeton, 2009
thinking again about TvTropes and how it’s genuinely such an amazing resource for learning the mechanics of storytelling, honestly more so than a lot of formally taught literature classes
reasons for this:
basically TvTropes breaks down stories mechanically, using a perspective that’s not…ABOUT mechanics. Another way I like to put it, is that it’s an inductive, instead of deductive, approach to analyzing storytelling.
like in a literature or writing class you’re learning the elements that are part of the basic functioning of a story, so, character, plot, setting, et cetera. You’re learning the things that make a story a story, and why.Like, you learn what setting is, what defines it, and work from there to what makes it effective, and the range of ways it can be effective.
here’s the thing, though: everyone has some intuitive understanding of how stories work. if we didn’t, we couldn’t…understand stories.
TvTropes’s approach is bottom-up instead of top-down: instead of trying to exhaustively explore the broad, general elements of story, it identifies very small, specific elements, and explores the absolute shit out of how they fit, what they do, where they go, how they work.
Every TvTropes article is basically, “Here is a piece of a story that is part of many different stories. You have probably seen it before, but if not, here is a list of stories that use it, where it is, and what it’s doing in those stories. Here are some things it does. Here is why it is functionally different than other, similar story pieces. Here is some background on its origins and how audiences respond to it.”
all of this is BRILLIANT for a lot of reasons. one of the major ones is that the site has long lists of media that utilizes any given trope, ranging from classic literature to cartoons to video games to advertisements. the Iliad and Adventure Time ARE different things, but they are MADE OF the same stuff. And being able to study dozens of examples of a trope in action teaches you to see the common thread in what the trope doesand why its specific characteristics let it do that
I love TvTropes because a great, renowned work of literature and a shitty, derivative YA novel will appear on the same list, because they’re Made Of The Same Stuff. And breaking down that mental barrier between them is good on its own for developing a mechanical understanding of storytelling.
But also? I think one of the biggest blessings of TvTropes’s commitment to cataloguing examples of tropes regardless of their “merit” or literary value or whatever…is that we get to see the full range of effectiveness or ineffectiveness of storytelling tools. Like, this is how you see what makes one book good and another book crappy. Tropes are Tools, and when you observe how a master craftsman uses a tool vs. a novice, you can break down not only what the tool is most effective for but how it is best used.
In fact? There are trope pages devoted to what happens when storytelling tools just unilaterally fail. e.g. Narm is when creators intend something to be frightening, but audiences find it hilarious instead.
On that note, TvTropes is also great in that its analysis of stories is very grounded in authors, audiences, and culture; it’s not solely focused on in-story elements. A lot of the trope pages are categories for audience responses to tropes, or for real-world occurrences that affected the storytelling, or just the human failings that creep into storytelling and affect it, like Early Installment Weirdness. There are categories for censorship-driven storytelling decisions. There are “lineages” of tropes that show how storytelling has changed over time, and how audience responses change as culture changes. Tropes like Draco in Leather Pants or Narm are catalogued because the audience reaction to a story is as much a part of that story—the story of that story?—as the “canon.”
like, storytelling is inextricable from context. it’s inextricable from how big the writers’ budget was, and how accepting of homophobia the audience was, and what was acceptable to be shown on film at the time. Tropes beget other tropes, one trope is exchanged for another, they are all linked. A Dead Horse Trope becomes an Undead Horse Trope, and sometimes it was a Dead Unicorn Trope all along. What was this work responding to? And all works are responding to something, whether they know it or not
An incomplete list of really useful or interesting reads from TvTropes.
please note that yes many of these are concepts that exist elsewhere and a few are even taught in fiction writing classes but TvTropes just does an amazing job at displaying the range of things that can be done with them
legitimately so much of the terminology I use to talk about storytelling, and even think about it in my own head, i learned about from TvTropes
can break into any safe by turning into fog or some bullshit
could probably hypnotize security guards as needed
therefore I am in dire need of a heist film where a group of vampires band together to steal back their old stuff from museums
Oceans 1100 AD
Very interested in the hardest part of this beign the vampires trying to trick someone into granting them permission to enter the premises earlier in the day
I feel like this has several simple solutions!
they enter the museum while it’s open to the public (and the Welcome sign is on display). they turn into bats and hide in the rafters until the museum closes. the only hiccup is when the overhead announcement comes on and politely requests all visitors leave for closing. the vampire are forced to flee, but come back the next day with tiny bat-sized earplugs.
downside: this requires going out in daylight, leading most of the team members to show up in long black victorian formalwear, complete with lacy parasols, which they insist on carrying with them throughout the entire heist (much to the frustration of the team leader, who just wore sunscreen and a raincoat).
depending on how invitations work, it is possible any random human can invite them in. one of the vampires gets their Ultimate Frisbee buddy Oakley to tag along and invite them in after closing.
downside: the gang spends the rest of the heist gently mocking the idea of a vampire playing association ultimate frisbee (“so what, you turn into a bat and catch it with your fangs? do they make you crawl up the wall when it gets stuck on a roof? if you turn into a cat to get it down from a tree, do you end up stuck in the tree?”) this ends in a Climactic Twist Ending when Oakley reveals they don’t play ultimate frisbee, just dog park frisbee. In the sense that they met when the vampire transformed into a wolf to gatecrashed a game at the local dog park.
(Bonus points if Oakley is a werewolf. extra bonus points if this is revealed in a post-credits epilogue where, on the next full moon, the entire gang transforms into creatures of the night and joins Oakley at the park for a frisbee game of Bats vs Wolves)
Final option: to gain legitimate entry, an invitation is needed from a museum employee. this presents two possibilities:
the vampires pretend to be incredibly rich eccentric patrons who want a private nighttime tour of the museum. (this is convincing due to the fact they are rich and incredibly eccentric.) the vampires get inside, planning to hypnotize the Curator supervising their tour.
downside: they immediately discover the Curator has been left immune to hypnosis by years of post-grad exposure to droning history lecturers. the vampires leave their least competent member to distract her while they carry out the heist–in the ensuing 90 minutes, the vampire and the curator accidentally Fall In Love after bonding over their shared fury about british archeological theft.
(In the sequel they get married and spend their honeymoon robbing the British Museum in order to return sacred objects to the cultures from which they were stolen. this is made more complicatedcomical by the fact vampires are unable to interact with holy objects. also, they are lesbians.)
alternatively: the gang simply bribes a security guard into letting them in after closing. the security guard then tags along, offering helpful advice for disabling alarms and transporting antiques. it turns out Security Officer Greer only applied for the job bc they too were planning an Elaborate Acrobatic Burglary, but then their partners quit to join Cirque du Soleil and “I can’t exactly perform a Double Cartwheel Birdie Flying Trapeze Boomerang Special without a partner.”
downside: the gang becomes too attached to ask Greer to leave. They carry out the heist as intended, but this time pretending to be circus performers to explain their vampire powers. Turning into a cloud of smoke to bypass locks? Magicians never explain a trick. Spider walking across ceilings to bypass alarms? Contortionist. When it comes time to fly from roof to roof, they decide turning into bats would give away their secret, so instead they help Greer, in a sparkling moment of triumph, execute the perfect Double Cartwheel Birdie Flying Trapeze Boomerang Special!
Greer and the gang escape (by tightrope walking) into the night with all the plunder they can carry. Tearfully, the gang begins to say goodbye (bc they can’t keep up the pretense of being circus performers forever) when Greer casually asks how a bunch of vampire ended up working in a circus.
(Greer assumed from the beginning they were vampires, because of “how you dress, how you talk, and mostly because none of you showed up on camera back in the CCTV control room. Why did you think it took me so long to let yall in?”)
I cannot for the lives of me decide which synopsis I like best
(all ideas shared on this blog are public domain, feel free to go nuts. you can find more story ideas like this on my ko-fi)
It never fails to tickle me how Studios could have billions of dollars to work with, yet a random tumblr user still comes up with a story that’s still infinitely more interesting than any story that’s come out in the past 8 years.
