This week: Overstimulation and Conflict Struggles Edited by: Dawn Embers  
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Fantasy Newsletter by Dawn
A little ramble about getting overwhelmed or sensory overload that can make it difficult to handle a particular situation. Sometimes we need to get away and other times that might not be possible. What causes this issue in fantasy and how do the characters handle things? I have a few thoughts and the rest is up to other writers. |
Sensory overload, or just getting overwhelmed in the moment, is a real problematic situation that can happen at the most inconvenient of times. This can be hard in real life so imagine what it's like when facing monsters or magical confrontations. That isn't exactly the time to shut down or break away to hide somewhere until one can catch their breath. Conflict and drama in fantasy are essential for the stories but what about those characters who can't handle things so easily? How do they survive their fantastical or science fiction based world? Let's consider what we might need to think about with characters and problems that hit a soft spot.
Definitions
Overwhelmed - Completely overcome or overpowered by thought or feeling. Or this could be overcome by numbers or an amount.
Sensory Overload - When one or more of the body's five senses become overwhelmed.
Having the sensory overload happen can be overwhelming and both situations can make for a difficult time when facing a speculative fiction style conflict in a story. If you aren't sure on the sensory overload, I can give an example from my personal struggles. That comes in the form of sound. I am not a fan of loud noises and when there are multiple sources, it can be too much. Like when in a restaurant with tvs on that have sound, music playing overhead, service people walked around talking, other people at tables talking, plus the people I am having dinner with talking. It is just too much.
For a character, it can be any of the senses where they might get overwhelmed or have a sensory overload. What happens if someone is sensitive to the way things smell but they have to face monsters that smell horrible and it's so intense it gets noticed miles away? That will make it very difficult for that character to fight if they can't combat the experience, let alone fight back. Do they have a way to block the odor onslaught? Will they have to rely on others to win that day?
When someone gets overwhelmed there are a few reactions we might expect to experience or see for a variety of causes. One is going to be the standard, fight or flight situation. The fight can be helpful in a story though at times, fleeing away (flight) might help them survive longer to prepare for an even bigger battle. However, if one gets stuck between the two, well then we get some problems. Freezing in place won't be useful in a fight and it also doesn't help the character get away. When it comes to sensory overload, this could maybe be referred to as shutting down.
If you never had and the battles or conflicts always go without hitch, take this as a hint that maybe you should look to make things more difficult and having some conflict scenes with problems other than just losing a fight. I would suggest checking out sensory overload instead of just being overwhelmed for some character detail options. It is always good to show more representations as different struggles because real life issues can even be found in science fiction and fantasy. Have a character struggle due to things like fidgeting, shutting down, or other reactions to a system overload might take your story and character to a whole different level.
Cause as much as we like to see the characters succeed, we also want to see a little struggle. What happens when your character is overwhelmed? Put it in a story and find out.
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Does one of your characters become overwhelmed and how do they survive the struggle?
Last month, I discussed the use of hormones and some options one might use to make things from our health systems to work in fantasy or science fiction. Here are some comments sent for the topic:
Comment by Brigitte  :
Good idea with the magically sex shifting. And even with my Biology background, I never thought of the hormonal aspect for other races, whether Fantasy or SciFi. Thank you.
Comment by BIG BAD WOLF is Merry  :
Well, it all depends.
Comment by No Sox with Sandals  :
In my current wip I have a nonhuman species that starts out male and only matures into a female after a certain level of success and respect.
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Fantasy: July 09, 2025 Issue [#13226]
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