Hi chums. I'm posting on a semi-throwaway for reasons even I'm uncertain of. Maybe I'm just embarrassed that I wrote something so gooey.

Anyway - I initially planned to write a story/play for Rare Disease Day with particular focus on a condition called locked-in syndrome that my aunt has had since she was 6 years old. Not very many people have heard about it, and back in February I thought I might start writing it. Nothing I did really worked and no one seemed particularly interested in learning about the condition.

Then it sorta dawned on me that maybe not many able-bodied/NT people pay Rare Disease Day much attention because they don't have someone dear to them, or someone they've known all their lives or grown up with, develop a, or with a, rare disease. Maybe they have an acquaintance, or a distant relative but due to the fact that these conditions are rare, it's less likely that someone that they know the ins and outs of will have any of the diseases or conditions that you'd categorize as rare.

So I had an idea - okay, fine. I love the ever loving shit out of the Addams Family - and I know plenty of people who grew up with them - older people who grew up on reruns of the 1964 TV show, or people just a bit older than me who grew up with the 1990s films. Or the cartoons! People love Morticia and Gomez, and probably know more about these fictional characters than they do about some distant acquaintance who might have a rare disease. The two were even named TV's healthiest married couple by a public vote. I thought - as bad as this sounds - okay, I absolutely love the Addams Family, especially the TV show from the 60s and the musical (but tbh I love everything Addams, they're just the best of an amazing bunch of media) - I want to write something to write about the realities of having a loved-one with locked-in syndrome - I don't mind combining the two to write a fic. So here it is.

In terms of the way I've structured this - yeah, I can't write prose so well so I just write everything in the form of a script. I'm hoping that doesn't put people off.

And also - I gave Gomez GBS (Guillian-Barré) rather than the infection in her childhood that left my aunt with locked-in syndrome. I didn't want to copy her story outright. I gave him GBS also because I'm a sucker for happy endings and as dramatic a disease (and as rare a disease as GBS is) it's curable, but with a grueling recovery process - so that I can write about taking care of someone in various iterations of locked-in syndrome. From total (which I wasn't alive when my aunt was this way so I had to talk to my other aunts and uncles about what it was like), to classic locked-in syndrome (where my aunt is now and has been most of her life), to the beginnings of the recovery process (which I did have to do proper research on).

And in terms of my writing - other than talking about a topic that's near and dear to me, there's one thing I really want critique on - so please, if you're gonna give critique, please give it on this: I love the Addams Family and am also obsessed with characterization. I want to know from readers if I have managed to get the characterization right on these characters, based off the 1964 series. They are the people I'm picturing in my mind, I'm seeing Carolyn Jones's Morticia, John Astin's Gomez, Lisa Loring/Ken Weatherwax's Pugsley, Jackie Coogan, Ted Cassidy and Blossom Rock as Fester, Lurch and Grandmama - (with the year changed to modern day, but the same characters and they act basically as they would in the 64 series). If you wanna critique me, critique me on if I managed to get these characterizations right - especially Morticia and Gomez.

This is gonna be in the form of vignettes, short kinda scenes that chart which day Gomez is at in his recovery. I have written this like a goddamn play because nothing is straighforward for me, is it?

Anyway - enjoy...? If you like real dramatic sickness fics, or gooey lovey dovey talk between the definition of couple goals Morticia and Gomez, or you like sad shit, or wholesome shit, you'll probably like this. Also, I did try to keep this in the Addams spirit, humour wise, but Lord, I ain't funny.

Cheers! Hope whoever's reading likes this!