I Grew Up Reading Lots Of Epics And Myths, Like I Loved Greek Mythology And Occult Stories About Things

I grew up reading lots of epics and myths, like I loved greek mythology and occult stories about things like demons, gods, monsters, etc.

But I especially loved hearing about various oracles and prophets, especially The Oracle of Delphi and how she was considered such a powerful staple of all these stories.

Like I read about how epilepsy was treated in history, with it occasionally being treated as a sign of prophecy or being touched by a god or something otherworldly, and a part of me latched onto that.

I loved all things fantasy as a kid and I still do, so this little coping mechanism at the back of my head saying that I am already connected to something magical.

Well. It helped in a way. It helped to think that maybe I wasn’t something bad for existing, maybe I was something that was just different in my own way, something that if the world were a little more otherworldly, would make me something like an Oracle or someone who could be the voice of the demons, or have a demon be my friend, or something cool because I have this.

It’s a harmful thing in fiction and a dangerous stereotype that epilepsy is at all supernatural, as it has gotten many people killed and is one of the largest factors as to why there is so much stigma regarding epilepsy.

Yet, I guess a small part of me was glad I could reclaim it, especially as a kid who was tired of having everyone treat me like a burden, or have so many kids ostracize me when I happened to have seizures in class.

There’s a small comfort in thinking that I’m magic, that The Sacred Disease made me a little…sacred.

If you do not have epilepsy this is not an encouragement or allowance to have this in your story or treat people like this/romanticize seizures. This is my personal take on my condition and the things related to it. I am not a voice for the community. Thanks.

Fantasy RPG Races as Dogs

Human:

Elf:

Dwarf:

Halfling:

Half Orc:

There are different genres of pop punk within pop punk

Yes! I meant to add more present tense, as it is something that still exists and still leads to a lot of harm, my use of past tense was more a musing about Greek Mythology in particular, as I was one of those kids obsessed with it growing up.

I’ll be honest I agree, while I have fun projecting onto characters with prophecy or even Denki from My Hero Academia for a more notable example, I’m not sure if I’d ever want anyone who doesn’t have epilepsy or hasn’t been close/consulted by someone with epilepsy to write a character with it.

I’m personally friends with many writers and someone who enjoys making stories, OCs, etc myself, and my friends have been very supportive in the past and made characters who have epilepsy just to spread awareness or show solidarity, but even then I’ve had moments where I’ve been uncomfortable with certain portrayals of it and had to pull a past friend aside for getting a bit too excited about what seizures he would decide to give a character for the best angst.

Especially in the 2022 case of Whumptober with the prompt regarding seizures. I love the appeal on principal, but it’s off putting because there’s not a lot of prevalent good examples in media, so usually (not all the time, it’s just something I’ve noticed) any character I’ve found written by someone without epilepsy is almost stereotypical to a comical level. It’s off putting sometimes in an age where lots of people are writing very realistic portrayals of Depression, PTSD, or even in rarer cases things like other conditions or physical disabilities, though those are also rare.

Thank you for replying !

I grew up reading lots of epics and myths, like I loved greek mythology and occult stories about things like demons, gods, monsters, etc.

But I especially loved hearing about various oracles and prophets, especially The Oracle of Delphi and how she was considered such a powerful staple of all these stories.

Like I read about how epilepsy was treated in history, with it occasionally being treated as a sign of prophecy or being touched by a god or something otherworldly, and a part of me latched onto that.

I loved all things fantasy as a kid and I still do, so this little coping mechanism at the back of my head saying that I am already connected to something magical.

Well. It helped in a way. It helped to think that maybe I wasn’t something bad for existing, maybe I was something that was just different in my own way, something that if the world were a little more otherworldly, would make me something like an Oracle or someone who could be the voice of the demons, or have a demon be my friend, or something cool because I have this.

It’s a harmful thing in fiction and a dangerous stereotype that epilepsy is at all supernatural, as it has gotten many people killed and is one of the largest factors as to why there is so much stigma regarding epilepsy.

Yet, I guess a small part of me was glad I could reclaim it, especially as a kid who was tired of having everyone treat me like a burden, or have so many kids ostracize me when I happened to have seizures in class.

There’s a small comfort in thinking that I’m magic, that The Sacred Disease made me a little…sacred.

If you do not have epilepsy this is not an encouragement or allowance to have this in your story or treat people like this/romanticize seizures. This is my personal take on my condition and the things related to it. I am not a voice for the community. Thanks.