"You're So Much Better Strange" is a new OC project that I decided to start working on when I started having new ideas about the kinds of characters that I would like to write. I've had so much fun working with my other project -- I Like You, Too -- that I couldn't wait to start expanding my horizons and let myself open up a little further in creating the kinds of characters I would like to see in the world.

This project is a little newer, and still in the early stages of development -- most of my work so far has been in building up the characters still. I have found that I prefer the winding, non-linear approach to storytelling, though, so it's likely that there won't be too heavy a plot in this series going forward. The sort of slice-of-life short story format works well for me, I think; but we'll see where the creativity takes us with this one!

Lenore

33 | She/Her

Lenore works as a janitor at a local college campus. Despite its mediocre pay and tendency to go underappreciated as a career, she actually likes her job a lot! The mechanical routine of cleaning is a nice daily ritual, and the fact that it lets her stay moving all day rather than confining her to a single desk is a real boon. Since she was born without a sense of smell, she doesn't have any hesitancy around the "grosser" aspects of the work, and she's well-appreciated by her supervisors for her hard work, enough that they're willing to overlook some of her social issues. Highlight of her job is when she's able to work with the larger cleaning equipment, like the carpet cleaner and floor waxer.

Outside of work, Lenore is a hobby artist -- works with sculpture in particular. Rather than buying clay, she makes most of her own with recycled paper. Her work is often strange and disorganized (like her!) and is frequently inspired by her dreams and extrasensory perceptions, making her an avid dream journaler. She does not sell or share her work on social media, but will often give some of her sculptures away as gifts. Most of them are displayed haphazardly around the apartment she shares with Quinn. While her sculptures are not made for any particular purpose, they are often occupied by spirits and extradimensional beings who would like an anchor in our reality. Lenore allows this, and when they are ready to move on, she destroys the sculpture to allow them to leave (the material is typically repurposed for more clay).

While Lenore would definitely be considered to fit the diagnostic criteria for Schizophrenia, she does not always identify with this as a label for her experiences. While she sometimes does not hesitate to call herself schizophrenic -- either internally or to other people -- she is just as likely to reject it outright (or forget to consider it at all). Overall, the use of the terminology is not high on her list of priorities, since she does not involve herself in the psychiatric system (is not diagnosed and does not take any medications; does not have a therapist) and has no plans to do so in the future. As far as it concerns her, she has been like this all her life, so she figures out how to live with it like she always has, and how she does so isn't particularly anyone's business. While she's not prone to reading theory or being involved in group movements, she would identify closely as a psych abolitionist / proponent of Mad Pride.

Believes in ESP, spirits, aliens, and extradimensional beings; considers herself "highly sensitive", although not particularly "spiritual". While these beliefs do occasionally dip into more overwhelming or paranoid wavelengths, they are for the most part a neutral or positive aspect of her life. She hears voices almost constantly, but generally considers them to be helpful presences (albeit, occasionally annoying) and often relies on them and her "ESP" to help her navigate through the world. Is not especially reserved about these beliefs and will often talk about them openly, unless she gets a Bad Vibe from the conversation.

While she can sometimes mitigate or minimize some of her more notably unusual beliefs or behaviors, Lenore is never particularly adept at masking to pass as neurotypical. She talks to herself almost constantly, often out loud, and tends to be frank about the things she believes in. Cannot reliably read social cues or body language, but is typically aware on some level that people tend to be uncomfortable around her, but does not know how to "fix" this. At this point, she is largely resigned to the idea and ignores it as best as she can while keeping to herself as best as she's able (sometimes has a harder time controlling the impulse to Begin talking to someone, but will leave if asked or if she's able to pick up on obvious disinterest/discomfort). Primarily finds this frustration aimed at other people, not Inwards towards herself; the way that she is is what makes her herself -- why would it be fair to try to change that just because other people chose to be uncomfortable with it?

Quinn

26 | She/Her

Quinn is a college student getting her bachelor's degree in Disability Studies. Not entirely decided on what her longer-term goals are outside of her education; entertaining the idea of remaining to work in academia or going to law school after getting her degree, or keeping her options open and doing something else entirely. She tries not to worry about it too much and focus her energy on enjoying the highs of academia and muddling through the epic lows of being a disabled student on a college campus.

When she's not studying, Quinn spends a lot of her time painting and sketching. She does mostly portrait work, and tries to make a personal point of working with other disabled people as models primarily -- most of which she meets on access-a-ride trips or OT appointment waiting rooms. Prefers to work on smaller pages and canvases to limit the strain on her shoulders, and tends to prefer doing pen and ink sketches and working with acrylic paints. Once the paintings are finished, they'll frequently be gifted back to whoever modeled for them, or posted on social media if they're amenable to that. Occasionally sells or submits work to galleries, but often considers it a hassle, so she's not super interested in art as a career.

Quinn has the connective tissue disorder Osteogenesis Imperfecta, which leans towards the more severe end of Type 4 for her. She was born with pretty severe scoliosis and dwarfism, nad has spent a lot of her life in and out of hospital stays caused both by frequent injuries and complications from the condition. She's been a full-time wheelchair user since she was a child, and relies on a lot of supportive care from aides and nurses in her day-to-day life.

Her physical health has largely stabilized as an adult, however. She has to be careful about air quality and flu season since she can have some trouble breathing, and even minor illnesses can wind up developing into pneumonia. Her joints cause her daily chronic pain, which is typically manageable, albeit exhausting. She struggles a lot with anemia and low blood pressure, and has to make sure she's keeping track of electrolytes and hydration to minimize those associated symptoms -- like nausea, headaches, and dizziness. She's gotten less prone to fractures as she's gotten older, but still has to carefully monitor her surroundings and be uncompromisingly firm with people sometimes, as anyone unexpectedly moving, jostling, or pushing her or her wheelchair can be dangerous.

She is outspoken and social and enjoys meeting new people -- makes new friends fast and acquaintances faster, often going out of her way to strike up conversation whenever she can. Quinn doesn't struggle much in social settings -- she's good at reading people and adept at getting a conversation started and keeping it going. She's curious and patient, and makes an effort to look out for people and include those who are more prone to being lest behind. She's an avid participant in local disability support and advocacy groups and does what she can to get the ball rolling. Is especially good at organizing -- she has a lot of social energy and the confidence to maintain it, making her good at stressing the importance of access for all and pestering the wheels of bureaucracy into turning a little faster.

Ghost

29 | She/Her

Ghost works in a finance office of a local college; mostly handles a lot of expenses and data entry. Kind of hates her job, generally speaking, but considers it mostly better than any alternatives. They don't require her to adhere to a strict dress cose, and she has frequent spare time during the day she can sneakily spend on reading and writing, so it could be worse. Still actively resents when someone forces her to make a phone call and finds it frustrating that her coworkers' desks are fairly close to her own. Still, at least it means she has health insurance.

She is an avid poet and can almost always be found with a notebook somewhere on her person so that she always has somewhere to write something down if she needs to. While she occasionally attends local poetry workshops and readings, she tends to be a silent participator -- preferring to work in the corner by herself than get involved in conversation. If she does feel like sharing her work in order to get feedback, she usually has to ask someone else to read for her due to an intense fear of public speaking. The majority of her work is not shared at all, however -- Ghost would prefer to gain an audience only posthumously.

Ghost is almost painfully shy and socially anxious, although her tendency towards blunt speech and flat affectation leads people to read her as more "stand-offish" than she actually is. She struggles immensely with maintaining a conversation, and worse with initiating one on her own, and often finds the effort of speaking at all somewhat exhausting. Often finds herself restricted to speaking with terse, stilted sentences, which she finds frustrating -- especially since she is able to speak more eloquently when given time to process and prepare her sentences, which takes her longer than most people are primed to wait. While Ghost doesn't really use the label "selectively mute", it wouldn't exactly be Inaccurate.

While not professionally diagnosed, Ghost is aware that she is autistic, and often finds it frustrating to live with. While she does often get frustrated with other people's perceptions and biases, she does tend to consider her difficulty in social settings "her fault" and often is left wishing she was "normal", since she lacks the ability to navigate the issue on her own. Ghost does not necessarily Enjoy spending most of her time alone, but is prone to self-isolating because her intense frustration in social settings makes it preferable to avoid them than try and fail to navigate them. Often only feels genuinely comfortable speaking to her family, and her friend Lenore; most other social encounters can only be Endured.

Ghost often puts in a lot of concentrated effort to mask, but is not necessarily "good" at doing so. While she is often able to minimize her stimming behaviors into subtle or "Acceptable" movements, and is able to somewhat disguise the sheer amount of effort it takes her to do things, she can never quite "fit in", even when she's trying. Her tendency towards a a flat affect does cover the amount of anxiety she feels, but also makes her use of facial expressions come off as strangely exaggerated, and the fact that people can't read her anxiety means they often interpret her as uninterested. While Ghost's manager does suspect that she's on the spectrum and tries to be accommodating, most of her coworkers just consider her antisocial. Ghost finds it largely disheartening, but is afraid that self-identifying as autistic publicly would only make their discomfort worse, and considers it Good Enough that no one is outright mean to her, nor does anyone consider her Outright Rude.

Hedy

34 | She/Her

Hedy is currently pursuing her second PhD in Physics -- her first was in Mathematics. She'd gotten her first doctorate with the intension of moving on to working in academia as a professor, but when she failed to wind up with any job opportunities, she decided to double back and spend more time as a student to hopefully wind up with better prospects the second time around. She hopes this without having much faith in it.

Hedy is a dedicated mathematicians and physicist. In a lot of ways, math and numbers are all she thinks about, and she's contented in that. Doesn't necessarily have "hobbies" so much as she just continues to do math recreationally even in her downtime. She is quite fond of puzzles, however (jigsaw and crosswords primarily, although she does occasionally dabble in sudoku). Has a genuine love and appreciation for numbers and equations and does not understand it at all when other people tell her they hate doing math.

While some people think that Quinn's assertiveness is "rude", everyone knows that Hedy is Rude outright. She's blunt and terse and prone to having little to no patience for anyone or anyhting. Often tries to uphold a vague idea of propriety, so tries to avoid outright insulting people, but doesn't always succeed. Abhors small talk and will actively shut down conversations she doesn't want to be in, which is most of them. She doesn't get along with people in general, and considers it a somewhat Net Positive if people dislike her, because it means she won't have to talk to them

That said, Hedy does love teaching and is extremely good at explaining mathematical concepts and processes in ways that makes them easy to understand. She's rude and short with people, but it doesn't come from a place of perceived superiority or anything in that vein. If someone approaches her in need of help, she'll drop almost everything in order to make time to give as much of her attention to the problem as it needs. She doesn't care if people like her but she does want everyone to be able to do and enjoy mathematics.

Hedy has mild Cerebral Palsy. It went largely unaddressed in her early childhood, and then she spend a lot of time playing catch-up in physical and occupational therapy in her late teens / early young adulthood. Prone to spasticity primarily in her legs, which was exacerbated after years of walking with an unusual gait to try to compensate for it. Usually wears braces to help keep her legs straightened out, and uses forearm crutches to help with the strain and balance. Deals with a moderate level of chronic pain triggered mainly by the spasticity and its associated muscle cramping. Her arms and speech are largely unaffected by the CP, although the strain of overusing her crutches can cause issues if she's not careful about stretching.