SILVER LINING #15
Hello, Cloudheads! And so, the mystery becomes clearer and deeper at the same time. (Is that even possible?) This chapter covers the introduction of Ledd's ace-in-the hole, Diego. But, who is this mysterious stranger? Why does he speak like that? Is his race somewhat related to Sachaphoyans? Will I ever learn my lesson and stop asking myself questions? Why the hell did I even start this post with questions? Did I leave the stove on?
...
After running to the kitchen, I can safely say that I didn't leave the stove on. Whew! What a relief :D Anyway, he's a somewhat known fictional character that's not an original creation by yours truly. I peppered in a lot of clues regarding his identity, and I don't know if anyone would be able to guess who he was. Heck, I didn't even know who he was! I had to research all of the references that I wrote.
Any guesses?
I'll tell you what — I'll reveal his identity if this post gets 500 upvotes, 100 comments and at least 10 resteems. Sounds fair?
I know that'll only take a few minutes to accomplish, so before that requirement is met, I want to move on to a different discussion first. Diego's identity is, truthfully, beside the point. I mentioned that he's a fully fictional character, so even though he's in front of the giants, nobody else but Ledd could really see him. This was another hard decision for me to make when I was writing this.
Have you ever seen children (or adults) talking to themselves? Some find it strange, while others find it scary. Who they're talking to is simply not there, or maybe is something unseen. This has been commonly attributed to brain damage, or sometimes the supernatural. Most of the time, these hallucination are uncontrollable. The people who see them don't even know that they're not "real." This is quite an interesting discussion. Is it not "real" because we don't see it or have any proof of its existence? Is it easy to just pass it off as a figment of one's imagination?
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This hits close to home because growing up, I've lived in many fictional worlds. I see them and feel them as if they were a part of my reality. Others looked at me and thought that there must've been something wrong with me. Just to set the facts straight, I know that those were fictional worlds, and people, and events. But, was it really something "not real" just because no other person can see it? It's not for me to answer, but it was real to me.
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I didn't have imaginary friends that forced me to do unspeakable acts, but the events that transpired in the fictional worlds I lived in helped me to grow as a person. Fictional characters in those world "grew" along with me. It wasn't easy when it came time to let them go, and I only try to honor their memory by chronicling the events of the past through my writing.
Now, for people who do have imaginary friend that force them to commit horrendous actions, that's something that needs to be medically taken care of. Our brains are fantastic, and when they're wired differently from the norm, the neurons fire in a different way. That doesn't mean that people who suffer through that are any less than us. They're special, in the best possible way. And, that's what Zepp is.
With regard to the whole scenario, I've been keeping people guessing as to what the true nature of this chapter is. Good try @dreemit, @ryivhnn, @meesterboom and @kiwideb :D But, what really happened is something that I didn't mean to overly expand in the story mainly because I feel like it's beside the point. It's fun thinking of what really happened without stating it sometimes, right?
Because of Zepp's condition, he suffers through mild brain seizures, which is very scary considering that no one would really have a clue when it's happening. He just stops and stares blankly at a distance. Sometimes he faints, and that's what I portrayed in the tail end of the story. I don't want to include pictures because I haven't talked to my cousin about sharing them, but MRIs have shown that it has been occuring for quite some time now. It costs money, that's why I wanted this initiative to help out with these kinds of expenses. I really wish that I had the power to magically cure him, but sadly, this is the best I could do. If we could spread the word about raising awareness for this, it would really help a lot to help give a voice to the voiceless.
Woo! That went deep real quickly. Chasm deep. Anyway, on to lighter fare. Do you have any guesses on who this mysterious Diego is? I don't want to reveal too much yet as it might blow the lid regarding the deeper mystery of the series. Tune in next week for more revelations!
Thanks for reading! Follow me, @jedau, if you want to live.
Leave this post a feedback, and I'll be sure to return the favor!
I know who Diego is XD
Ergh seizures, that don't sound like much fun :S And I sympathise with your cousin on the costs, we're doing private paedietrician and child psych atm because otherwise we're not going to get seen til early next year and it's pretty hard, and what we're doing is not nearly as intense as what they're doing (and I don't expect it to get as such because my son is "high functioning").
I love reading out your Silver Lining intros in an announcer voice to my sister, so much fun XD (then she laughs partly over my atrocious voice acting and mostly because it's genuinely funny XP).
:o
SSSHHHH! I just knew you would find out haha! I'll be revealing his identity soon, so if you could hold it in for a couple more chapters that'll be swell. He's one of my closely guarded secrets for this story, so I didn't want to give him away prematurely. I bet that you have the right guess, my friend!
High functioning or not, it's still a challenge, so my hat's off to you and your partner for soldiering on. It's hard because if it's undetected, the person suffering from it won't even know that they're going through it. There really has to be a better way to treat it or at least prevent it from happening.
Haha! That's the intention :D I think I already sent to you the Little Tortilla Boy Movie Trailer voice link in a reply before, right? I'm a prankster in real life, so I wanted the intros to be an homage to that haha!
Thanks for stopping by, my friend! And, I hope that you guessed who Diego is correctly :D
Guess we'll find out when you do the big reveal :D
Yeh he's a bit challenging. If he didn't create problems for himself and everyone else I would have been quite happy to go through without bothering with labels and just teaching him coping skills and whatnot but he needs that little bit more help than we know how to give him.
Yes I was doing the Tortilla Boy trailer voice as best I could XD
Woohoo! Now, it's being narrated just how it's intended :D
The challenges make life more colorful. Even though it's hard, when you guys look back (after you glide through them with flying colors, of course) I'm sure you're going to rest easy knowing everything was worth it :)
There's colourful and there's colourful and I think me and the child in question could have done without these colours but it's what we got so we'll work with it :) Though from having a coach good-naturedly teasing me one class and the child psych I was discussing my youngest with commenting that something I mentioned about myself was "interesting and we're going to come back to that" I'm starting to suspect that it's my fault the poor child is the way he is.
I'm sure we can make some interesting artwork with this palette in any case XD
That's the spirit! Children are impressionable, but don't blame yourself for it. They're pretty crafty and they'll find their way once they grow older. Trust the process :D
I think I know now! I will keep it schtum though for the sake of any others with a dimmer intellect than me! :O)
Wow, its a blummin good job I check on your profile and don't rely on my feed because I missed this post. Although I didn't really miss it because I caught it now! You get me? HA! I knew I could count on me. I should stop talking to myself though. Pah, at least I aint asking myself questions though am I? :OD
WHAT?! SERIOUSLY?! HAHA! Maybe I didn't keep Diego's identity as secret as I thought! When I think about it, I think your guess is probably right. SSSHHH for the moment though, let me have this feeling of being able to keep a secret from you, dude :D
My posts are like those tuna that you think you've already caught, but then you check again, and you realize that you still haven't reeled it in. Then when you grab your fishing rod, you realize that you don't have gloves on and the rod is using a metal spool as your line. Thinking that the metal is no match to your skin, you touch the line anyway as its tugging against the tuna that is my post. But, you get nicked a bit, so you search for the gloves. After six (six!!!) full minutes of struggling you finally positioned it enough to harpoon it and reel it in. And, with all your energy, you scream at the top of your lungs and raise your arms in triumph.
Yeah, dude, I get you ;) Thanks for catching the tuna :D
Lament!!
Oops, sorry wrong post ;0)
Strangely enough, Lament works for a lot of situations haha! I don't even feel that it's out of place here :D
Lol, I just couldn't resist! You are right though. More comments should just be lament!
In our quest for a universal language, we come up with lament haha!
Guy: Lament?
Girl: L-Lament...
Guy: Lament??
Girl: LAMent!
Soon we will banish all other words !! Lol!
Only then will we achieve peace in our time. Pax Lament(uh), I like it :D Then disagreements will start generations from now when someone accidentally say "laminate" oy vey...
meep
HAHA! Right back at you!
Oh of course, an absence seizure. It makes so much sense now, and I totally missed it at the time. I have to admit to being dimmer than @meesterboom (sob) cos I haven't picked Diego yet. But I'll go back and have another look tomorrow when I have more brain power. The last couple of days I've been really shattered. So much so, that last night I DID leave the stove on. On HIGH! I'm so thankful for smoke alarms.
Woah! :o I really didn't mean to foreshadow (aftershadow?) that event! I'm so glad no one got hurt because of that. Talk about self-fulfilling sheesh! Don't worry, my friend, next time I'll write that I won the lottery or something :D
I'm glad that the explanation tied everything together, but it's just sad when you look at the reality. All I could do to help is raise awareness and funding. I really wish I could do more.
Don't kick yourself about it, buddy! @meesterboom and @ryivhnn must've just read or watched or seen or listened to or inferred (see? I'm still trying to throw off the scent ;) ) who Diego is. I really tried my best to conceal his identity as it's an integral secret to the story. So, you trying to figure it out is already miles ahead of what I expected a normal reader would do :) Thank you for putting in the effort and leaving your thoughts! All will be revealed in time ;)
You after-shadowed. Maybe you picked up a bit of my feelings about it, from the ether! Yes, winning the lottery sounds much better. Then we could replace the benchtop I ruined when I pulled the pan off the stove in a panic. Ah well, that's life, and like you say, we were very lucky it was no worse.
I won't try any more to guess who Diego is then, I'll just let it unfold in the fullness of time.
Not downplaying the seriousness of absence seizures at all, but I know a couple of people who have them. And it's maybe a little bit of comfort that they don't suffer during them, and often don't know they've even occurred. Its more what might happen during the absence that is of concern.
Ha! Since we're on the same introvert wavelength, crossing streams seem unavoidable. I do agree that I picked it up from the ether!
Yeah.. It's definitely a strange condition. In a way, the people around the person are more affected by it. Considering that they could only watch as a person is seizing and couldn't do anything to prevent that. One day, I have high hopes that a solution for it would be invented.
Yes, I agree the people around are more affected. Especially with grand mal seizures. But even absence ones can be worrying.
Have the family looked into diet? The GAPS diet, which is low starch, can sometimes be effective for autism. And a ketogenic diet often helps with epilepsy. Though epilepsy isn't the only cause of seizures and I'm not sure if keto also helps with non-epileptic seizures.
I think they have, but I'm not sure. I'm definitely going to forward your suggestion to them. Thank you for that, my friend!
First time I've heard of the GAPS diet, definitely something interesting. The problem with feeding him is that he's very choosy when it comes to food. It's funny that you brought diet up because
SPOILER ALERT
That's the subject of the next SILVER LINING haha! Stop going through my notes!!! :D
I'd bet we'll be able to discuss it further this week. I've been meaning to get into a Ketogenic diet myself, since it's more viable for me than Paleo, but I haven't convinced myself yet to lay off the carbs haha!
Fussiness is a common trait among autistic kids, and the author covers it in her book. There's a bit about it here: http://www.gaps.me/fussy-eaters-and-failure-to-thrive.php
Here are some of my posts about GAPS:
• About the Gut & Psychology syndrome (GAPS) diet Part 1 – Can it help autism?
• GAPS diet Part 2: Foods we can’t have
• GAPS diet Part 3: Foods we CAN have
Curious to know why you think Keto would be more viable than Paleo. It is good for certain conditions, but its not right for everybody, and coming off carbs is not an easy or comfortable process.
Nice! Thanks for the additional links, my friend :) I will definitely add this for the SILVER LINING this week. Huh.. I wish I knew, or my parents knew, about this while I was growing up. These are very useful information! Heck, I might be inclined to switch to the GAPS diet myself :D
I think the food for Keto is more accessible for me than Paleo. Some of the ingredients in Paleo dishes are a bit expensive as opposed to Keto. I could be wrong though. Chia seeds, etc is quite rare here. The prepared Paleo meal services here have steep prices as well.
Before, I tried to adhere to the most basic sense of Paleo. Boiled chicken breast, and other ingredients available in the Paleolithic age, but I wasn't able to stick to it strictly because most restaurants don't have that option.
Did I leave the stove on? LOL that cracked me up.
Pretend friends, I had several of those, I bet you're shocked...NOT. I had a group for awhile, then it dwindled down to one called Kooky, not kidding, that was his name. And the rest of them had normal names like Michael and Jennifer, but Kooky remained with me the longest because he was FUNNY. Yeah, I can definitely relate to everything you said, as can my son. Luckily for him, I could relate, so he never thought he was too weird, lol.
I never stopped creating and living in fictional worlds (or having conversations with myself, though that I do where no one is around to see it) and my characters feel real to me, just as those imaginary friends did. And yes, I always knew they were from my imagination, and no they never told me to do anything bad lol.
Wow, I couldn't have guessed the seizure, but now that you say it, brilliant. I definitely have to re-read that chapter. I don't have a guess at Diego, but once I re-read maybe...or maybe not ;)
Awesome silver lining, my favorite one I think!
I'm more surprised that you're referring to Kooky as a "he." Your son is still young, he still has a lot of years to maybe think of himself as too weird haha! He's very lucky though that he has an awesome mom that can relate. Let's call it creative inheritance :D
We're fortunate that we weren't told by our imaginary friends to rob a bank or worse! I just hope that one day no one would ever have to suffer that kind of ordeal though. Mental illnesses should really be taken seriously.
I did pepper in clues, but I don't think anyone would be able to guess who he is ;) Is he someone we already saw? Is he friend or unlikely foe? Who knows! Do I even know?? I'm not sure anymore!! The only thing I'm sure of now is that I'm very grateful for your continued support, my friend :D "Much appreciated" doesn't even do it justice!
I think kooky was a boy because at the time, for the most part, I preferred boys to girls. I was a bit of a tomboy. Not over the top, I still played with barbies and dolls (and of course they had personalities much like characters in books lol), but if given a choice between playing with dolls or going to the pond to catch (and release) frogs or climb trees? Pond/frogs/trees every time, lol.
I accept creative inheritance, that is a very suitable phrase hee hee. Actually, I'm drawing a blank on the imaginary friend that lingered the longest with my son, but I know it was a she ;) (see chat for more on this subject, the comment was getting way too long lol)
Yes, mental illness is definitely not to be taken lightly. I honestly think it can be much worse than physical ailments.
Although I'm wide awake, my mind is in a hundred directions so I will not yet attempt to read and discern who Diego is..I want to be sharp for that! lol! "Do I even know?" LOL, you're really making me laugh today.
It's easy to support someone I want to come and chat at, hee hee. Not to mention who happens to be writing an awesome story that I would read and love even if I didn't know you and happened to come across it. Though knowing you and reading these silver linings definitely makes it that much better :)
Okay, definitely have to head to chat before I write a whole post in here.
Maybe imaginary friends are most commonly of the opposite gender because it provides a sort of balance? Definitely interesting if it is.
At least physical ailments are easier to discern because there are tangible signs to observe. Mental illness is quite puzzling even with the advancements in medicine. Diego's one of the best kept secrets of the book, so I wouldn't blame you if you're not able to guess him immediately. I'll be revealing his identity pretty soon anyway :D
I appreciate all the compliments and support, my friend! I completely feel undeserving, but I do fully appreciate everything. Don't worry about making posts within the comments, I think that has become a trademark the two of us share anyway :D
That's an interesting possibility about balance. You may be onto something there.
I have to admit now that I actually had the thought that he was imagining the conversation since in general people tend not to understand him. The way that I picture it is like Stewie from the Family Guy-which is to say that the words in his head do not come out the way he thinks them. The only reason I didn't come out and ask was in case it was not imaginary, it would have been a bit inconsistent with his character and something I would've approached you about in a more private forum. But I should have known that you would not make a character error like that! You have been completely consistent throughout.
You're right, it is a trademark between us, haha!
THIS
I was/am exactly the same way. It's comforting talking to someone who understands you, so if a person like that doesn't exist, it's easier to make someone up. I totally get your youngest, we're on the same boat.
You know what? Ledd has been compared to Stewie quite a few times now, maybe that's why you've been enjoying the story haha! I write stories knowing the ending, that's how I stay consistent all throughout. While there would be twists and turns in the middle, I know here I want the characters to end up :D