So, the characters with navigational impairments fest...

[terajk]

ETA Jan. 31: Now open for prompts! (Though hopefully posting fills/linking to fanworks should still start on February 7.)  Also, a more official-sounding FAQ, and some resources about navigational impairments.

I decided that I am going to have a celebration of characters with navigational impairments on my birthday! As such a thing is incredibly esoteric, it's a good idea to start planning now so anyone who wants to participate is comfortable enough to do so. Some thoughts so far:

Original and fannish work is welcome; it'll be open for prompts, but party guests don't have to use them. All types of work, from graphics to podfic to FSTs to filk to meta (I'm very ambivalent about something I'm reading right now!) are welcome, too. ETA: Also, recs! Favorite bits of canon!

Also, I'm collecting some resources about navigational impairments, which is a challenge. Navigation is a really complex process with a lot of skills involved (and lots of things that can go wrong); according to the stuff I'm reading, it's not very well-studied, either. Navigational disabilities are found in a bunch of different conditions like Alzheimer's disease, nonverbal learning disability, (one of my diagnoses), traumatic brain injury, etc. or by themselves, like in developmental topographic disorientation which was named within the last few years.

(The phrase "visual-spatial skills" is a pet peeve of mine. Visual skills and spatial skills are two incredibly broad and separate skillsets. It's possible to have no vision at all and a good sense of space; it's also possible to use vision for things most people use a sense of direction for. *waves*)

It's also good to reach out to people who might want to play! So I spent the day coming up with a pithy name and making promotional graphics:





<img alt="Hatsuharu Sohma reading a map. TEXT: Heroes arrive last; celebrating easily lost people" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-bv6j8dzk7Zs/TyIUlRdKyTI/AAAAAAAAAik/mvIT7n3fp0Q/s400/hatsuharu-text.jpg" _fcksavedurl="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-bv6j8dzk7Zs/TyIUlRdKyTI/AAAAAAAAAik/mvIT7n3fp0Q/s400/hatsuharu-text.jpg" />



<img alt="Hatsuharu Sohma wearing goggles. TEXT: Heroes arrive last; celebrating easily lost people" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-QmG3MHYJxjQ/TyIUlbottdI/AAAAAAAAAh0/P2M8Jqs124k/s400/hatsuharu2.jpg" _fcksavedurl="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-QmG3MHYJxjQ/TyIUlbottdI/AAAAAAAAAh0/P2M8Jqs124k/s400/hatsuharu2.jpg" />



<img alt="Ryoga Hibiki, looking fierce and glowing blue. TEXT: Heroes arrive last; celebrating easily lost people." src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-c5DxV318mos/TyJLB9fXWJI/AAAAAAAAAtY/UEpDtwG2mXQ/s400/ryoga.jpg" _fcksavedurl="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-c5DxV318mos/TyJLB9fXWJI/AAAAAAAAAtY/UEpDtwG2mXQ/s400/ryoga.jpg" />



<img alt="Roanoa Zoro, sword-hilt in his mouth. TEXT: Heroes arrive last; celebrating easily lost people" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-gBAQ1qOqw70/TyIUl0lbUQI/AAAAAAAAAiE/EX6IaOmimGc/s400/zoro.jpg" _fcksavedurl="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-gBAQ1qOqw70/TyIUl0lbUQI/AAAAAAAAAiE/EX6IaOmimGc/s400/zoro.jpg" /></textrea><br /><br /><img alt="Kenpachi and Yachiru walking at night. TEXT: (Anti-)heroes arrive last; celebrating easily lost people." src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-vqqsOzR_f1Q/TyIVscFSWBI/AAAAAAAAAiQ/K5xISn8_5xI/s400/kenpachi1.jpeg" _fcksavedurl="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-vqqsOzR_f1Q/TyIVscFSWBI/AAAAAAAAAiQ/K5xISn8_5xI/s400/kenpachi1.jpeg" /><br /><br /><textarea><img alt="Kenpachi and Yachiru walking at night. TEXT: (Anti-)heroes arrive last; celebrating easily lost people." src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-vqqsOzR_f1Q/TyIVscFSWBI/AAAAAAAAAiQ/K5xISn8_5xI/s400/kenpachi1.jpeg" _fcksavedurl="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-vqqsOzR_f1Q/TyIVscFSWBI/AAAAAAAAAiQ/K5xISn8_5xI/s400/kenpachi1.jpeg" />

Since I'm me, let's end with some ladies! (Sadly, all the easily lost characters I know are cis in their canons, and none are non-binary folks. Maybe we can correct that?):



<img alt="Yachiru, jumping down from a height and smiling. TEXT: (Anti-)heroes arrive last; celebrating easily lost people." src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-Fq3UdColf5Q/TyLCcH3NisI/AAAAAAAAAtw/msq04SklTNc/s400/yachiru.jpg" _fcksavedurl="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-Fq3UdColf5Q/TyLCcH3NisI/AAAAAAAAAtw/msq04SklTNc/s400/yachiru.jpg" />



<img alt="The Gorgon Sisters: Tira, Ciera and Marie. TEXT: Heroes arrive last; a celebration of easily lost people" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-swN6M89HD60/TyI9Bi8avdI/AAAAAAAAAi8/r6ONy4sz8Jw/s400/Gorgon-2-000.jpg" _fcksavedurl="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-swN6M89HD60/TyI9Bi8avdI/AAAAAAAAAi8/r6ONy4sz8Jw/s400/Gorgon-2-000.jpg" />

Any questions? ideas? Complaints? (Especially if you'd like to play but aren't sure how to participate.) How can I help you have fun at this party? ETA: Signal-boosting welcome!

Comments

[rydra_wong]

Permission to signal-boost?

[littlebutfierce]

The name is AMAZE. Also OMG how did I forget about Haru?!?

[rebelsheart]

So several thoughts come to mind for examples beyond what's in your images, but I'm not sure if they fit.

Bugs Bunny (should've turned left at Albuquerque)
The Doctor (really, how many stories result from the TARDIS not being when it is supposed to be?)
Miss Frizzle (arguable: in the books it wasn't clear if she was directing the bus to some of the strange places it wound up. In the cartoon, she definitely was.)
Jack Sparrow (hopeless without his magic compass. Moreso with it when he doesn't know what he wants.)
Hagrid (Right then, this way...)

[codeman38]

On the comment about "visual-spatial skills"... can I just give a big YES to that? Because that is a peeve of mine as well.

I've joked, half-seriously, that my memory is photographic but not holographic. That is, I can remember scenes and places in great detail...but only in two dimensions. Throw a third dimension into the mix, and I'm out of luck. I've been known not to recognize a place I'm extremely familiar with, when approaching it from the direction opposite that which I usually take.

My mental maps? I've described them as being like the 'maps' in the game Myst-- a bunch of still images with links between them.

But I can remember exactly where on a page it was that I read something. Or what the pattern of the carpeting looked like in a room. Or how a particular movie scene was framed.

[aella_irene]

Felix Harrowgate, from The Doctrine of Labyrinths. The wizard who could get lost in a paper bag.

[nenena]

Here via rydra_wong

omg omg I am so in love with this idea yes yes yes!!! And as someone with spacial/directional skills considerably less developed than that of the average jellyfish, I identify way too easily with the "gets lost all the time" character trope - hello story of my life - so this sounds like the perfect fest idea in my book.

(Also I share you pet peeve with the phrase "visual-spatial skills" because it's been my experience that far too many people can be really good with one side of that hyphen and terrible at the other side, myself included.)

Since signal-boosting is okay I will be doing so soon. I have a lot of Soul Eater fans on my flist and we can always use a good excuse to make more Marie fanworks anyway. ;)

[kaz]

This sounds awesome! :)

[jeshyr]

BTW I wanted to say that HEROES ARRIVE LAST is the best fest title EVAR \o/

Good on you :)

[inkstone]

I have another one for you! Hotaru from Samurai Deeper Kyo. It just doesn't get remarked upon as much since I think his ADHD is the more obvious trait people notice.

[dancing_moon]

I just remembered that Sanosuke Sagara, from Kenshin, gets lost in the woods when they're all travelling to Kyoto. He usually doesn't get lost in his hometown, as far as I can recall, but people are a bit "bwuh? Why did you think it was a good idea to cut through the woods instead of taking the road like everyone else??".

Happy Birthday!

[jeshyr]

This teensy snippet is Not Fic, on account of I don't write fic therefore this must not be fic you see.

"Are we there yet?"

"I'm not sure ... it doesn't look familiar but, well you know" ... A short pause ... "Does it really matter if we're there?"

"Well, actually, I guess it doesn't. It's quiet and sunny though, and there are blue seats over there ... y'you want to have lunch here instead?"

"Definitely."

[In my head they sit down and have a picnic at this point, though I still have no idea who "they" are or whither they're "there"!]

[umadoshi]

This is a really neat idea. ^_^ I'm a very erratic writer, but I'll see if I can come up with anything! (It helps that Haru is one of my Favorite Characters Ever.)

Also, you seem neat and are friends with several people I know, so I've added you to my reading list. I hope you don't mind!

[netbug009]

Where would we post prompts? I've heard it's doable in Ao3 comms, but I'm really new over there and can't figure out how to put in/accept fic requests.

Also, totally plugging this for One Piece. As soon as I saw the idea I thought of Zoro. XD