#PennedPossibilities 90 — Do any of your characters have disabilities? Can you relate to them on some level?

During a fight as a bodyguard, a throw against a bookshelf shattered the bone in my MC's left leg. 61 pieces. After they revived her from blood loss, they replaced it with something completely artificial. That didn't prevent nerve damage. She was told she'd never be able to more than walk. Parts of her foot are numb; she could cut herself an not know it. It took months of arduous physical therapy for her to walk, then be able to fight again. She wears an orthotic and has to think when she moves lest she trip herself up. When another character played the victim card on her because of another disability, she played this one back. I relate to her condition as I've endured physical therapy for various inherited structural instabilities (how's that for a euphemism?)

My MC is somewhat #autistic. The brother of my main antagonist was severely autistic, but he protected his sister fiercely. While much of the world considers being autistic a disability—and some consider it a reason to defenestrate all common sense when it comes to vaccination—I consider it a blessing myself. I mask well. The trait grants me a superpower that allows me to observe people carefully and inconspicuously, letting me correctly deduce their future behavior so that I can rehearse my interactions. That rehearsal skill has made me the author I am today. (If I do this, they'll say this, then the other person will do that...) The trait also helps me concentrate to the point that I block out everything. They don't call me a space cadet fer nothin'! Startle me while I'm concentrating and books and pencils may go flying. My shriek may break an eardrum.

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