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Required Secondary Powers + Super Senses

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punkreader Since: Dec, 1969
#1: May 11th 2011 at 7:52:07 PM

Reading the Required Secondary Powers page got me to thinking about my MC's Super-Senses - especially those related to touch (sensing touch, pressure, pain, etc.) and hearing. Why? Because my heroine is blinded during the course of the work, and loses an arm. She has a very difficult time coping with both losses, and learning to live with each (for example, her first concern upon losing her arm isn't 'how am I going to fight/contribute' but 'how am I going to get dressed, eat, and get around'; when she's blinded, she must answer again the latter questions).

Having Sensory Integration Dysfunction myself, I can kind of extrapolate on the sensory overstimulation (and in fact write said Sensory Overload from my own problems with it when I was little and couldn't really cope very well). I'm also, as luck would have it (sort of, anyway) half-blind and lack depth perception. My MC loses one eye first, which I can write. But the total blindness, and the further heightening of what are already Super-Senses to compensate is...proving frustrating, given my own limitations.

Required secondary powers related to the Super-Senses of touch, hearing, and extra-sensory perception I find interesting, and I'd like to develop them past being simply Super-Senses. Here's what I've worked out for each (she's also a Half-Human Hybrid):

  • Touch: She uses her now-limited sense of touch to orient herself in her environment, and goes barefoot to aid in this. Lacking the modern cane, she either goes without an aid, or uses a tall walking stick when she doesn't immediately need to use her hand for other things. Her sensation of pressure, even slight as a breeze, is heightened, and helps her sense changes in the air in her very immediate surroundings (range of about 10 to 7 feet maximum), such as those caused by something moving. Too much stimulation, or lack of any, can send her spiraling into confusion. She dislikes not being on solid ground, or being in an entirely open space. She avoids crowds at this point, and has a general and intense dislike of being touched without warning - she will only accept this from her lover/caregiver, and even that has its boundaries. She was prior to her blinding, and remains afterwards, functionally illiterate.

  • Smell: Essentially The Nose Knows, but stronger. Once losing her sight entirely, she uses scent to identify people, places, and (if applicable) objects. Her sense of smell, already acute, is heightened further. Strong smells, like perfume, seaspray, and corpses in any stage of decay, bother her immensely, and give her strong headaches. She dislikes it when someone she knows changes their scent (for example, through the application of perfume).

  • Hearing: MC possesses Unusual Ears in the form of upright, mobile dog ears. She uses her greater hearing to distinguish people and orient herself the most out of the four. Reliant largely on hearing and her ability to pick out and quickly catalogue/guess sounds, any loud noise or blockage leaves her disoriented, disabled, and stuck in her current spot until it returns. As such, she tries to avoid places where such incidents occur (cities, castles, etc.). Due to her reliance on her hearing, and the fact that her hearing is already augmented, she has a hard time getting restful sleep (when she desires it) - she will not, however, block her ears in order to sleep, as that leaves her feeling vulnerable and unable to safely move.

  • ESP: There's...not really a trope I can find that fits the description I'm about to give. MC always has at least a certain amount of "youki" (which all half-breeds and Yōkai possess) within her body. This "youki" is essentially Life Energy, and is capable of individual or external manipulation. It is almost always channeled outwards within the world for use in Ki Attacks or some more individual measure. It runs along the same course as the lymph system, and may or may not be connected to it biologically. The MC (and others) use it most often to do the following: Sensing, Pure Energy, and Self Enhancement. When divested of other means of self-location, or in a situtation from which she cannot escape, the MC will focus her "youki" inwards, and then release as much of it as she can to act as "feelers" and a temporary body-wide extension of her sense of touch. It can, in extreme circumstances, become a kind of malleable Hard Light. However, she can only sustain this for a very short period of time, and doing so leaves her extremely weakened, if not outright unable to think or move. Using the energy (and her thus extended ESP) this way is a last resort only.

Thoughts on my adaptations, or criticism and questions?

Have you used any Required Secondary Powers? If so, how did you apply them or extend them?

edited 11th May '11 7:53:08 PM by punkreader

AdeptusAlpharius Alpha Legionnaire from Bosnia and Herzegovina Since: Dec, 2010
Alpha Legionnaire
#2: May 12th 2011 at 9:09:55 AM

Since it seems to be a fantasy setting you could always handwave it with magic. If you want to have it more "scientific" your character would require a larger brain if her senses are supposed to be on par with eg Wolverine.

I ♥ the VRS
storyyeller More like giant cherries from Appleloosa Since: Jan, 2001 Relationship Status: RelationshipOutOfBoundsException: 1
More like giant cherries
#3: May 13th 2011 at 1:37:25 PM

I don't think a large brain is required. There are plenty of Real Life cases of people with super senses, at least compared to average.

Blind Final Fantasy 6 Let's Play
AdeptusAlpharius Alpha Legionnaire from Bosnia and Herzegovina Since: Dec, 2010
Alpha Legionnaire
#4: May 13th 2011 at 2:12:56 PM

It depends on what your definition of "super senses" is. Yes, the other four senses of a blind person are enhanced, but far from being cartoonishly superhuman.

I ♥ the VRS
punkreader Since: Dec, 1969
#5: May 13th 2011 at 8:20:59 PM

[up] You're right, and that's true. However, that's assuming it's entirely Real Life based. While most of my things above are (because I've tried to otherwise make my historical and medical information accurate), I try not to write about things I don't understand well enough - like cranial and osteo-enlargement, as you're suggesting. I'll definitely take it into account, though, as the MC (and others who are full Yōkai) does have physiological differences (skeletal proportion, muscle strength, bone strength, faster metabolism, larger organs [lungs, heart to support increased circulation], and just better cellular regenerative abilities, to name a few). Brain enlargement is fatal, usually, or swelling (encephalitis} leaves an individual with a high risk of severe loss of function/brain damage. Somehow, I envision the enlargement you're thinking about looking a bit like a mild case of hydrocephalis. But that's probably just my medical nerd showing... tongue

Scientific? Hmmm...given my setting, perhaps not, at least not to quite that level.

I'll definitely consider it, though. grin

willyolio Since: Jan, 2001
#6: May 13th 2011 at 11:02:05 PM

larger brain isn't required per se. the grand majority of a brain's function between sensing and conscious awareness is filtering. the brain's job is actually mostly to filter out 95% of what we're sensing and decide what's worth paying attention to.

you might need to sacrifice attention span or long-term memory if your short-term senses and attention are that much more powerful, though.

punkreader Since: Dec, 1969
#7: May 14th 2011 at 7:31:27 AM

larger brain isn't required per se. the grand majority of a brain's function between sensing and conscious awareness is filtering. the brain's job is actually mostly to filter out 95% of what we're sensing and decide what's worth paying attention to.

you might need to sacrifice attention span or long-term memory if your short-term senses and attention are that much more powerful, though.

Right - that filtering, somewhat ironically, is something I can't do (ADHD, brain damage, and Sensory Integration Dysfunction make an interesting combination). I can (and do) read and ask questions, though, to find out how that filtering of stimuli is supposed to work. And then give my character with heightened senses a harder time doing that filtering.

True, I might. Hmmmm.... Her memory does eventually suffer (from becoming The Alcoholic - even her half-demon body eventually can't keep up with the damage the drinking causes), and she develops a palsy when tired due to nerve damage (eventual overtaxing of her enhanced central nervous and peripheral nervous systems), in addition to increased clumsiness and reduced reflexes. She survives what would kill many others (humans and sometimes full demons), but it eventually takes its toll.

AdeptusAlpharius Alpha Legionnaire from Bosnia and Herzegovina Since: Dec, 2010
Alpha Legionnaire
#8: May 14th 2011 at 7:42:02 AM

[up][up][up] That's why I also suggested that you could just handwave it by magic. Don't get me wrong, I'm far from being a biology expert but I was just thinking of the reason why a blind person's other senses are enhanced (the parts responsible for sight being taken over by other senses). That's why I assumed a larger brain combined with magic might do the trick.

As I said, my suggestion would be that if your character is a supernatural entity, magic should be enough for an explaination. Otherwise you might go for Bizarre Alien Biology.

edited 14th May '11 10:30:55 AM by AdeptusAlpharius

I ♥ the VRS
punkreader Since: Dec, 1969
#9: May 15th 2011 at 8:08:52 PM

That's why I also suggested that you could just handwave it by magic. Don't get me wrong, I'm far from being a biology expert but I was just thinking of the reason why a blind person's other senses are enhanced (the parts responsible for sight being taken over by other senses). That's why I assumed a larger brain combined with magic might do the trick.

As I said, my suggestion would be that if your character is a supernatural entity, magic should be enough for an explaination. Otherwise you might go for Bizarre Alien Biology.

True. smile Actually, that's what I'd done (in a chapter draft that was lost), and I thought it was interesting. Mm-hmm - guess I wasn't thinking of that; I'll go research that (other parts of brain controlling other senses taking over visual cortex), once I'm finished with this paper I'm writing (that's due tomorrow...) It could, you're right.

I agree. I've tried, and I liked it. grin I swear, I like playing with the world/setting just as much as I do the characters. [lol] I wonder what story category that places my fic in...idea

Ettina Since: Apr, 2009
#10: May 16th 2011 at 11:21:47 AM

Technically, deaf or blind people's other senses aren't actually sharper, but they pay more attention to them. With training, most people can do the exact same things (eg you can learn to echolocate with training). Also, the sharper senses thing applies most to those who are blind or deaf from childhood, especially from infancy.

To get a sense of how blind people perceive things, close your eyes and pay attention to everything you can sense. Listen to everything you hear and figure out what it is, notice everything you feel, etc.

If I'm asking for advice on a story idea, don't tell me it can't be done.
punkreader Since: Dec, 1969
#11: May 16th 2011 at 1:47:24 PM

Very helpful advice. smile I have done that on multiple occasions for exactly that reason - while also not using my right arm. I've found that I personally, due to issues with figuring out where my body is in space (i.e., the surrounding evironment), have to be careful about where I choose to do those experiments (I've injured myself a few times, once badly, doing so.)

However, I've recently started doing it, closing my eyes, and focusing on my other senses to see what all I feel and register, as frequently as possible, in a safe environment. I found that, for example, showering would be very difficult without the use of my dominant arm and my eyes - and I have to use a chair there, so I still didn't get to experience the full uncertainty/incapacity of it. I noticed that I paid the most attention to how things felt - the texture, surface, temperature, pressure, and so on. In a more quiet environment, I think my attention would have been divided by hearing and touch. (I am, however, more sensitive to touch than most, thanks to a neurosensory processessing disorder, so that might affect things some.) Even though I knew where I was, it felt like a completely different environment.

I figured it did - it would be harder for a recently disadvantaged adult to work with their senses in a way that sharpened them in any overtly noticable or expeditious capacity, compared to a child who's been blind or deaf since infancy.

I should do more of it - it's interesting, and provides one with a very different perspective. grin

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