The Changeling

The Changeling is a 5'2" Mexican dogthing in its late-twenties/early-thirties and is something of a notorious agoraphobe. Its many years spent entirely indoors has made it pretty Weird but also pretty skilled with crochet, so you win some you lose some.

Straddles the line between "Therian" and "Furry" -- more likely to call itself a furry, though. Wolfdog; Plains Wolf and German Shepherd, to be specific. It doesn't really have a "gender"; it identifies primarily as "wolfdog", but would consider itself a girl-dog if pushed. Its use of It/Its pronouns has generally less to do with gender, and significantly more to do with being identified as non-human. Encyclopedic knowledge of wolves kicking around in its brain. Will bark/growl at people, especially when overstimulated/exhausted. Will bite if it feels it's warranted (or just for fun).

Its oldest special interest is in Saints. This is not a religious interest. Changeling would identify as agnostic if anything, but its mother is Catholic and so they spent a lot of time in the church when Changeling was a child -- Changeling became obsessed with Saints the way modern kids are big into mascot horror these days. Particular fondness for stigmatics and martyrs -- particularly Saint Rita de Cascia, Saint Joan of Arc, Saint Francis, and Saint Bartholomew -- but has a borderline encyclopedic knowledge of most saints and mystics by this point, including a variety of gruesome facts about saints' deaths and behaviors. Finds art of the saints particularly fascinating because it identifies strongly with the very common depiction of saints with placid facial expressions suffering from graphic and mortal wounds. Collects rosaries, medallions, and saint cards and illustrations and displays them all dedicatedly in its room.

It's also still a big fan of Yu-Gi-Oh; of the Yu-Gi-Oh 5D's show in particular. It does have a pretty solid deck built up, but it doesn't actually play the game very often. Instead, it's more likely to be playing video games -- survival horror in particular. Big fan of the Resident Evil and Silent Hill games; it has to be careful sometimes about flashing screens and strobe effects, but has had some success modding games to be a little easier on the photosensitivity.

Changeling sounds a lot like ADA Casey Novak, and has a flat affect and a relatively monotone voice, with a slightly nasal pitch. Usually sounds at least a little pissed off, even when its enjoying itself (most common speech tags would be "scoffed", "sneered", or "growled"). Usually looks pissed off too, even when it doesn't mean to (although, to be fair, it does often mean to). The ear-headbands are a comfort item, wears them all day, every day; usually wears a tail clipped onto its belt loop, but that one has some more wiggle room. Desperately wishes the ears were real -- experiences tangible dysphoria about this.

Pretty hypersensitive to all sensory input. Never goes anywhere without sunglasses on since it's pretty photophobic, and tends to get overstimulated if there are too many moving elements in its field of vision. Largely touch averse -- only makes occasional exception for Augustus, and more occasionally, its mother. Can't stand wearing full length pants or long-sleeves, not even during Winter, because it hates the sensation of the fabric brushing against its skin. Pretty severely agoraphobic -- can only tolerate being out in public for a couple of hours at a time, maximum; partly due to sensory sensitivities, but largely due to agoraphobia in and of itself. Prone to meltdowns when it gets overstimulated, but can almost always recognize when its building up to a meltdown with enough warning that it can leave to calm itself down before going fully over the edge into one.

Is extremely hypervigilant and very aware of how it is perceived by others while out in public, but cannot suitably mask or adjust its mannerisms to something 'less strange'. Constantly feels like it's being stared at and judged, but no matter what it tries, has never been able to mask its Autistic traits, and so by now has largely given up on the notion of even trying. For example, it is deeply aware that its ears are eye-catching and that people find them 'strange' and may stare or make comments about them, but since the ears are a comfort item Changeling finds necessary to function, it has to just resign itself to wearing them and facing the consequences. Mostly, this manifests as a low-level, directionless Anger -- if you always feel like a cornered animal, you're always going to feel the instinct to bite. This makes them very blunt with a low frustration-threshold; every interaction is one Changeling wanted over five minutes ago. Changeling dropped out of high school early in its Junior year due to the amount of bullying it was subjected to. Its mom homeschooled it until achieved its GED.

In addition to being Autistic, the Changeling also has Epilepsy. Its seizures started when it was a child, and worsened significantly throughout its teenage years, but a combination of finally getting on a good AED and age means that its seizures have become more manageable over time. At present, it has seizures only sporadically and not very often -- usually focal aware seizures, though occasionally generalized absence, or focal myoclonic seizures. Very rarely, particularly if it is dealing with a lot of unexpected stress in its life, it may still have generalized onset tonic clonic seizures. Overall, has seizures less than once a month on average. While the epilepsy was majorly disruptive when it was a child, and the Changeling found it Intensely frustrating and frightening, its emotions surrounding the seizures have grown more mild as the condition has eased up. Mostly considers them mildly annoying, particularly when its postictal states last longer than the seizures themselves do, and takes pains to never forget its medications. Occasionally perserverates on how similarly some of Augustus' tics present to some of its myoclonic jerks, but can usually differentiate without getting too worked up about it.

Doesn't actually visibly stim much. Most notably engages in Posturing / Deep pressure stimming behaviors. Almost always has its arms crossed over its chest; holds itself extremely stiffly because it likes the sensation of that muscle tension; holds hands in 'strange' positions, usually by folding its fingers over themselves; and usually sits with its legs contorted underneath itself. Genuinely enjoys working out for much of the same reasons; does have to be careful to temper exercise in order to avoid pushing itself too far. Has a ten pound weighted blanket from when it was a kid, and recently saved up to get a twenty pound one to match its adult weight; tends to use both simultaneously. Will brush its fingers over the fur on its ears and/or twine its hair through its fingers as an idle texture seeking, and when it is wearing a tail, will twine the shape of it through its fingers as well to self-soothe.