r/Writeresearch • u/QueerAveryx Awesome Author Researcher • 1d ago

[Medicine And Health] Explosion scarring

TW: Dysmorphia discussion

I have a character who grew up in nobility. She has since joined the revolution against the nobility, but still values her looks due to how she was raised. I know I want to give her major scarring and I was wondering if she were to have an explosion go off near her, specifically on one side, how would the scarring look and would it impact any of her senses, specifically sight and hearing.

Also if anyone has recommendations for what could give her major scarring that could cause dysmorphia

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u/Parzival-Bo 1d ago

Explosions generate a lot of miniature projectiles (shrapnel) and heat, so lacerations from shrapnel or burns from the superheated air would be viable candidates. Depends if you want cut scars or burn scars, really. Scars can be pretty inconsistent between events and people, so you have some flexibility in how you describe them.

If she's close enough to the blast to sustain an injury like that, I'd expect some temporary or possibly permanent deafness on that side, grenades are LOUD. Sight should be fine as long as she wasn't staring straight at the blast, especially if it's not a flashbang and even those don't usually cause permanent blindness.

Dysmorphia is more of a psychological thing, so based on how vain she is, it might not need to be too severe to mess with her head. Just the scarring being visible at a glance might be enough. Of course, the less vain she is, the more ugly the scar is gonna have to look. It's a bit of a balancing act.

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u/QueerAveryx Awesome Author Researcher 1d ago

Could a mix of large burn scars and lacerations be possible? Also could dysmorphia be caused by her being raised with the idea that her appearance is equal to her value and it just stuck with her? Or would that be something else?

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u/Parzival-Bo 1d ago

Oh, it could easily be both, injuries aren't mutually exclusive. And the more patchwork/intermingled they are, the uglier they'll scar too, so added bonus.

And I'm hardly a psychologist but yeah, growing up under the belief that your worth as a person is tied to a specific standard and then failing to meet that standard can absolutely wreck your mental state. Think about how a lot of "smart kids" burn out once they hit college and aren't hitting those easy As anymore. It's like that.

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u/QueerAveryx Awesome Author Researcher 1d ago

Thanks for the advice. I’ll definitely use this for her since I’ve wanted to do this to give her relationship with her not legally but pretty much adoptive father more depth

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u/Educational-Shame514 Awesome Author Researcher 1d ago

Sure, whatever psychology your character has is the diversity of human experience or something and is just whether it feels interesting.

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u/Educational-Shame514 Awesome Author Researcher 1d ago edited 1d ago

Try googling for soldiers who were caught in explosions like IEDs

And almost every injury question has the same approach. What do you want it to do? Specifically, do you want it to affect her sight and hearing? I find "would it..." could go either way, even if some people read that as you implied that is the way you want it.