#disabled rep (chronic pain)

[youngchronicpain]

Don't mind me I'm just crying because I'm reading a fantasy novel with a main character that is an ambulatory wheelchair user (who also uses a prosthetic leg) with chronic pain. This is the first time I've read something like this outside of my own stories.

"In truth, Kissen's leg still ached, it always ached, but it was better than when they arrived. The wheelchair was a blessing. She wasn't used to it and kept wanting to jump up. But it was a relief to be able to rest her hips."

- Hannah Kaner, Godkiller

[raekiez]

why did it take make so long to realize the reason they made snakes nipples always hard in mgs4 was because he's wearing a compression shirt for chronic pain

[royalarchivist]

Phil: I know from my sister, she has chronic pain. But I don't see it as that severe, if that makes sense? Like, my sister has fibromyalgia, right, so I know all about chronic pain and like, how it can like, vary and how bad it can be, how it's like completely like, dishabilitating, you can't fckin' move some days, and if you go outside and do anything sort of just like, "normal" you can be out of commission for like, weeks.

Phil: So I don't really consider it as that bad, I'm trying to equate it more towards like, "Oh, I really hurt myself, and now it hurts a bit, and it's going to get better," kind of, you know. That's why I didn't want to make that kind of direct comparison. But... yeah, I can see why you would think it would be just like that though, yeah. But it's not that severe– in my head, anyways, I don't consider it as severe as actual chronic pain.

–

Phil explains why he doesn't consider q!Phil having chronic pain, despite the damage the Ender King did to his wings.

[skys-archive]

If Max isn't in a wheelchair or some form of mobility aid in st 5 I might commit a violent crime.

We need the representation. We need to see flashbacks of her struggling to learn how to move around again and we need the present of her continuing to struggle but knowing what she's doing now.

We need disabled Max Mayfield

[fancyfade]

Thinking about the representation of characters with chronic pain and... part of why I don't believe that any writer besides the batgirls writers was ACTUALLY trying to represent invisible disabilities with babs is because being an invisibly disabled person with chronic pain does not mean that you do everything an able bodied person does, but with one line that things hurt or you have to be careful.

Like now I use a wheelchair, but I used to do karate when I was still getting fibro. There was a bit where we all had to run for conditioning, and I had to sit out . Not "oh no this will feel in my knees". If I ran I would be able to do nothing else bc how much pain there would be. I still could do kata and stuff and sparring (probably unwisely) with a bunch of braces on every joint (ankles, knees, wrists, elbows), because that was low impact and hurt less. And I was completely wiped out after practices and lessons.

But my point is - being an active person with chronic pain does not mean looking like an able bodied person. Obviously it changes based on severity, and each person's individual experience, but I'm like... really babs has chronic pain and potential risk of reinjury and she's keeping up with the other batfam members on the rooftops in fear state? She's frantically lifting rubble and not immediately collapsing the instant she hears the people she was trying to rescue are safe? She pretty much just does everything an able bodied person does, but since the author said she had a back brace were supposed to pretend its reprentation and not CYA for ableism?

Like. Should note - I don't want babs to be a part time wheelchair user with chronic pain. I'm fine not being represented in this way, because she originally had another disability that was erased. But it's baffling to me when people act like dc actually intended her to be representation for people with invisible disabilities. I mention batgirls being an exveption bc that was what inspired this post - I was so surprised to see babs mention not getting up because her back hurt that I was like "wait literally no other writer of this era has done that amd acted like her disability might affect what she does'

[boabel]

is it bad that i think house is the most accurate autistic representation ive gotten

[qbdatabase]

Hiii, do you know of any books with chronically physically disabled main characters? And books with housebound disabled characters?

For the previous ask, I would prefer if the disabled characters were also bi but it's fine if there aren't any books like that. I'm fine with queer in general too

--

I'm not sure what you personally would consider *chronically* disabled (arthritis? amputee? deaf? HIV+?) but the QBDatabase actually has 411 books with disabled Main Characters or Love Interests! To try to narrow it down, I filtered for either chronic pain or chronic illness + bisexual (or pan / queer)

Full Disclosure by Garrett, Camryn: HIV+ black bisexual female

Sick Kids in Love by Moskowitz, Hannah: female MC with arthritis x bisexual male LI with Gaucher disease

Architects of Memory by Osborne, Karen: terminally ill bisexual female MC

Two Rogues Make a Right by Sebasian Cat: chronically ill demisexual male x bisexual male

Sorrowland by Solomon, Rivers: black albino bisexual intersex MC who is partially blind and has chronic pain

The Queer Principles of Kit Webb by Sebastian, Cat: mga disabled male with chronic pain who uses a cane x gay male

City of Shattered Light by Winn, Claire: chronically ill bisexual female MC

Tripping Arcadia by Mayquist, Kit: chronically ill bisexual male prominent SC

Fight + Flight by Machias, Jules: pansexual female MC with hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome

The Unbroken by Clark, C. L.: bisexual female MC who uses a cane and has chronic pain in her legs

Cruel Seduction by Robert, Katee: polyamorous bisexual male MC with chronic pain from a knee injury (FFMM bi4bi poly-pairing)

Eight Kinky Nights by West, Xan: FF pairing, pansexual x greysexual, one has arthritis but I don't know which one

The Friendship Study by Barrett, Ruby: bisexual male MC with chronic pain who uses a cane

If there's any other type of disability you're looking for, you can filter by 20 physical disabilities while also filtering for mga (bi, pan, omni, etc) identities!

[aster-is-confused]

if i had a nickel for every time the dragon prince had a plotline of "character becomes physically disabled as a sacrifice to save someone, but then gets 'fixed' by magic in less than an episode," i'd have two nickels, which isn't a lot but it's weird that it happened twice

[sonofapunk]

Really in need of some physical disability rep in film and books, especially casual rep. Can anyone recommend?

[kinthulou]

Disability in TTRPG: Nerf Your Rests

So I love to think about how to represent disability in my ttrpg, yeah? As a disabled person, this is super important to me. And I may have just figured out how to nerf long rests (via D&D 5e mechanics) in a way that's entirely representative of my actual lived experience with chronic pain and fatigue. Folk are welcome to use this in their own games, as a way of explaining their own disability to others, or to adapt to other systems or to their own experiences. But for now, I present to you: the Chronic Pain & Fatigue Long Rest. Per standard long rest rules, taking a long rest replenishes the following: 1. Hit Points 2. Hit Dice 3. Spell Slots Choose two. If you choose to replenish Hit Points, you may only do so by rolling whatever Hit Dice remain from your day's pool. You will always replenish Hit Points first, and replenish Hit Dice second. If you have one or more levels of exhaustion, you may either: 1. Choose one from the replenishment list and remove a level of exhaustion. or 2. Choose two from the replenishment list as usual, and keep the level of exhaustion. Optional, but related rule: You have resistance to healing magic and items, and only regain half the HP you would otherwise be granted by the spell or item. You may be thinking, "Why would I use these rules? They seem complicated and risky?" Well, yes, but also they can provide an approach to gameplay that's all about clever resource management, and also a lot of people actually live like this every day and maybe we'd like to be able to engage with said clever resource management in a way that's fun for once. Maybe we need a safe and controlled way to practice asking for the accommodations we need, or to gently teach our friends how crucial those accommodations actually are. And maybe some of us just really like our characters to be disabled like we are, so we can still explore the fantasy of going forth and exploring dungeons and fighting dragons and completing adventures in a way that feels genuine to ourselves? Idk, man (gender neutral). Do with it what you will. But I'mma be out here nerfing some long rests.

(As always, please work with your game master on any nerfs. They need to know you want to do this, and need a chance to warn you if the game they have planned might not jive with these mechanics, or to help you change things to fit what you both want out of the game.) (Also, if you're not playing a caster, replace Spell Slots with some other resource replenished on a long rest. Or something else! Get creative with it!)

[aletterinthenameofsanity]

This Rotten Work Playlists: Rachel Edition!

As @evelynhug0 so kindly requested, I'm going to release each of the main character playlists (and one for the main ship, Rachel and Daiyu) once a week leading up to the release of the book!

First up is Rachel Barsky, my beloved lesbian ex-Chosen One with anger management issues and lots of heart. After killing the evil Headmaster of her magical high school, she's doing her best to settle into normalcy at Normie community college by living with her two best friends, Zell and Stebbie, cooking a lot of Kosher BBQ, and attending history and theater classes. (She's a self-admitted drama queen, what can she say?) There's just one problem: her annoyingly attractive rival, Daiyu, shows up on the first day of classes, and Rachel's instinct to shoot lightning first and ask questions later is going to get everyone into a whole heap of trouble.

Here's a sample of her character description:

"Yep, that's me: a face full of freckles and close-set brown eyes full of ghosts. A head of frizzy blonde curls only able to be tamed when pulled into fishtail braids and a nose that’s a bit too big and pinched and a mouth that’s too loud for anyone save Zell and Stebbie. A chunk of the top of my left ear missing thanks to a fire blast from Daiyu in the Tournament. Medium height, medium build, only muscles coming from a lifetime of running and years of reluctant dueling training I got after school. A girl who was born during one hurricane and who lost her parents in another.

I make sense in this household of misfits and dreamers, kids who are a little too strange to fit in right."

@snazzy-hats-and-adhd @blufox3542 @neshatriumphs @khruschevshoe @weedpoop @thesirhandsome-tepalehuia @sillylittlecheeto @nefertittti @henrythepug @meet-me-behindthemall12 @aboutblankpages-blog-blog @artemisiaarm @profiterole-reads @marchionessdebrannas @harrietmjones @thearcaneuniversity @little-bloodied-angel @artemisbones @jacksope-lives @fleuranna @shehungthemoon @spacecatrainshell @celestedeluna @orpheustwelve @gerardway-jpeg @madhare0512 @fool-for-luv @nealmcclure @elposting @mikereads @corvidspectre @thanatosdetesreves @sapphicsigh @ameliapondmd @possumsmushroom @estel-eruantien @augment-techs

[that-disabled-princess]

I want to see more fic and art where Baz has chronic pain. He had a canon disability for a period of time, and I'd love to see that represented more! Even if Simon healed Baz's leg with his magic, Baz could still have chronic pain.

For example: I injured my hand two years ago. Needed two stitches because of how deep the cut was, and I still have a scar. It's more prominent some days, and on days when the injury really pains me, you can see faint outlines of where the stitches went in.

The injury fully healed two weeks after I sliced my hand open. It still flares up and causes me pain from time to time, even two years later.

There are certain things I can't do anymore because of this injury. Clapping takes a toll on my hand? I have to find a different way to clap. Oh, this means I can't high five anymore either? Gotta high five with the other hand. Shaking hands is pushing it? Too bad because that's your dominant hand. I can't put too much pressure on my palm? Guess I'm going to fail every high school gym class push up test. Extreme temperatures hurt? There goes enjoying letting hot water run over my hands in the shower.

Even if Simon did heal Baz's leg, Baz could still experience chronic pain. His leg could hurt if he ran/walked too much in a day, it could flare up if he sat in one position for too long, he could even need a cane on days when he's truly exhausted.

And what if Simon didn't heal Baz's leg? What then? Simon lost his magic less than 24 hours later. What if he didn't heal Baz's leg before he lost his magic? How would Baz's life be different? Because it would be different in so many ways.

What about the time Baz came back to school in eighth year with a canon disability? When he couldn't play football, had a limp? When stress and exhaustion and overworking himself caused his leg to flare up?

I would love to see disabled Baz explored a lot more in fanfic and fanart.

[wren-kitchens]

sometimes you just gotta go insane over unpacking okay

[brynwrites]

This is the sexiest quote for the sweetest hurt/comfort scene in the world.

Through Justin, I wanted to show the wide range of emotions that come with chronic pain, including the feeling of having someone who respects and adores you for all that you are there to help you through it. Justin takes care of Clementine in so many ways, and it's lovely when he finally gives Clem the space to take care of him in return.

Sell Your Blood is a cute, smutty, and heart-felt slowburn M/M vampire romance and the second book in the Guides for Dating Vampires series.

[engagemythrusters]

It would be nice if Star Wars actually treated their "good" disabled characters as actual disabled characters.

We see a lot of "bad" disabled characters have viewable disabling disabilities (ex: the latest The Bad Batch episode featured a cane-user with a prosthetic arm. This man was a hoarder of resources, and quite greedy and self-serving. Disability=hoarding resources is a TERRIBLE thing for Star Wars to highlight, but there they just went. That's a whole post I can make on its own, but I digress.)

But there are so few times that Star Wars truly acknowledges its disabled characters' disability in a positive light. It is always swept under the rug and forgotten about. This is what we have for our disabled "good" characters:

Anakin's hand only ever has problems twice--both of which aren't even true issues. His hand just gets caught by magnets. That's it. Sure, one time a little spark went through it durring the Zillo Beast arc, but despite all other mechanical appliances dying and short-circuting, Anakin's mechanical prosthetic does NOT. They didn't want to show Anakin without the use of his hand. Oh and he's turned into the "bad" character when his disability becomes actually acknowledged. Facisit disabled person... how charming (sarcasm).

Luke's prosthetic hand also does not cause him any true issues--again, minor inconveniences.

Echo's prosthetics are not acknowledged, ever. They act as if Echo has two hands, and he's constantly seen holding stuff as if he has two hands. Sorry, but he can't balance a giant ass box on a scomp like that. He would have to compensate--move his arm so that it balances differently.

Tech does not need to be more than autistic-coded. It's not a requirement to label everything. However, he has only had issues with his autism once. That's a good first step! But it's just a first step. Not to mention, he's a whitewashed savant. This is the most blatant, frustrating autism stereotype. I've already made a post about this.

Kanan and Chirrut's blindness is perhaps the most visibly disabling disability in any of the shows; however, said blindness is magically compensated for by the Force. They both still struggles with many things, which is a good change of pace, but ultimatley, it's not the representation it's meant to be. And, for Kanan, it is CURED at the end, before he DIES. Chirrut ALSO dies. I think that speaks for itself.

Yes, they are still disabled. That is not in question. But it's repackaged in a 'non-disabling' sense. Because why show disability when everything can be magically fixed? Why show disabled characters having realistic issues with their disability when it could be disabled characters made palatable for an abled audience?

Yes, a good number of disabled people would like to be, for lack of a truly appropriate term, ""fixed"" (a whole different topic, though--and a huge one at that). I don't doubt many amputees would probably like the a prosthetic like Anakin's. And yes, it would be nice to be so easily and readily accepted as disabled people like they are in Star Wars.

However.

The continued treatment of disabled people as if they aren't disabled is a massive problem in today's, real-life world. Because we don't have that luxury of being treated as nicely. So as great as it is to dream of a life where we're accepted as normal, IT IS IMPORTANT TO VIEW THEIR DISABILITY AS NORMAL IN THE FIRST PLACE.

It is necessary to see openly disabled people being clearly disabled, while still being viewed as equal, "normal" people. When disability is only shown openly as disabling when it is for the greedy or the facists... that is ableist writing.

All I want is for a main character to be openly disabled, in a disabling way, rather than just magically fixed and unacknowledged. Disability representation can only go so far when it is just "hey, here's a disabled character." We need them to be acknowledged as disabled, too.

[cryptidclaw]

Should I join the Scottish fold Fireheart party 🤔