The children with scars. I know this may be a triggering topic for people, so if you have any difficulty with the following subjects:
brief mention of Bullying. Also Religious Trauma, Physical and/or Psychological abuse, Self-harm, Trichotillomania, Dermatillomania, Neglect, Dissociation, or Unhealthy Coping mechanisms, please don't burden yourself....
Artur: starting off, he has Trichotillomania, resulting in his undercut and several scars from pulling out the skin around the hair in the process. His siblings often bullied him for this in middle school, so he tried to be secretive about it, keeping it from even Jenny. In highschool, Teddy finds out about it when Artur had a mental breakdown before a gig.
Teddy: scars from cooking burns, sharp objects, and falling. Since his parents started neglecting him at the end of Elementary school, he usually knows how to patch up wounds and call the doctor if need be. It hasn't gotten to the point where he's bled out too bad or needed to rush to the hospital, but it has gotten close. He often wears a long sweater to cover up the scars, only not wearing a sweater to the beach. He's usually the first one to notice things because he's usually looking at other people to see if they're judging him.
Nate: dude CANNOT deal with their dad's death. They will challenge random people to fight, make sacrifices they don't need to, take punches for people who can fight their own battles, and even risks nearly being killed sometimes. Due to this, they often have scars from fights and random shit they do "for fun". Also, "less" serious but they have scars from being attacked by Pickles and the other shenanigans they did in middle school. They do NOT know why everyone is making such a big deal out of it, so they care for people, what's the big deal?
Francis: Due to his parents pushing him and his constant anxiety, he often loses sleep and has eye bags. Often his biggest scars are from when he's too tired to watch where he's going and steps on something or bumps into someone who is not in the mood to be nice about it. He also picks at his skin, a lot, due to stress. It's become more of a habit during highschool, with him not wanting his closest friends to touch him as it makes him feel disgusting about himself. But Nate's need for physical touch is stronger than any hateful thoughts he has about himself.
Chad: Scars from Fat-Camp. He hates his parents constantly commenting about his weight like THAT'S the only thing that matters, not how healthy he is, or how good he's doing in school... no, his WEIGHT is the only thing that matters anymore. He could easily run a mile, and play any sport out there, but apparently that's not important to them. He also has unexplainable scars that NO ONE knows how he got them. and i mean no one, not even HIM, knows how that happened. (I imagine Chad to be a character who is the embodiment of random chaos.)
Dee-Dee: She really doesn't have many scars, but she does have some of bruises from accidently hitting herself while ✨stimming✨. She hits her hands on doorframes, trips while spinning, and hits her foot on the legs of a desk. She is AUDHD royalty and i think that needs to be a fact that people accept. (she's at least neurodivergent, come on!)
Jenny: She got in a car crash in 8th grade, thank god everyone survived. But she had to be in the hospital for weeks and ended up getting some nasty (figuratively, no one's scars are actually nasty) scars on her body from the pieces of glass that flew on her and her mom (she was sitting in the front seat at the time, since her mom wanted to lecture her about something). Now her sisters won't let her sit up front anymore. She also doesn't seem to care much about herself, acting more reckless and not watching where she's going, since her mother constantly makes her feel less than and unworthy. Expecting her to be perfect, but nothing's ever good enough.
Maya: She doesn't really have "scars" but she does constantly have scraped knees and bruises on her legs from tripping over random stuff when she tries to get herself out of dissociation too quickly. She often uses dissociation as a coping mechinism when people are arguing, since her parents always argue. She also locks herself in the closet when she gets home and gets lost in her mind until her parents call her for dinner (if they remember)
Randy: Self-Harm scars, he believes that he's the one to blame for his parent's divorce. He doesn't really see himself as someone worth loving or respecting. He mostly has burn scars from one of the lighters his father still doesn't know he has. He also has scars from being attacked by a dog (it was deserved, trust me) and scars from fighting random kids without realizing the consequences.
Gina: Self-Harm scars. She has BIG TIME religious trauma where she feels guilt for loving Dee-Dee, another female. But she also feels HORRIBLE for having those thoughts because Dee-Dee is literally one of the most precious things that have STAYED in her life. So it's a constant cycle where she battles her religious trauma and her guilt over thinking that way in the first place. It's a tough thing to get out of. Plus she has one big scar on her leg from when her and her older brothers were playing hockey and they didn't notice the piece of glass on the road, accidently tripping her and causing her to get a huge cut that needed stitches.
Marcus: Most of his bruises usually fade out, eventually. But he does have some scarring from when he was hit very hard during those times when his father would get REALLY pissed. He doesn't have many facial scars, but many on his arms because he would try to block the hits with his arms. Also he constantly has scabs and some small scarring on his fingers due to punching walls, or anything nearby when he's upset since he's REALLY bad at emotional regulation.
