#drawing characters with dwarfism

[iguanadonis]

anatomy studies for Robert, my WW2 mechanic character with achondroplasia. not many drawing refs for illustrating characters w dwarfism, so i figured i'd share mine.

and here he is in motion !

my webcomic Rivets is out this fall🌞⛓️

[saszor]

Hihi! I came from a couple of reblogs on both your tutorial on how to draw cleft lips and people with Down Syndrome, and both made me extremely happy, as someone who wants to focus their art on including as many disabilities and physical differences as possible. I was wondering if it would be alright to request a tutorial on how to draw the anatomy of people with Dwarfism? I have troubles nailing the proportions down, but i want to be able to draw them for fanarts for a fandom I'm in. Thank you for the great work, dude. Have a nice day/night and remember to eat a meal and drink some water!

Hi, I'm glad you enjoy them!

I could technically make one but there is literally no one "look" for people with dwarfism as there's hundreds of different kinds. The thing below focuses on facial features because that's more of my thing, but the same applies to body types - a person with achondroplasia and someone with Morquio syndrome will have different proportions despite technically having the same ("disproportionate") kind of dwarfism

You can check out Gary Parker's photography as it features a lot of people with dwarfism and is one of the better pose resources that I have found before. Especially the "Varieties of Dwarfism" gallery is really useful because it has exactly what I mentioned earlier; all these people have dwarfism and they look very different. So to actually nail proportions and features of disabled characters you need to know what kind of proportions you're looking for first (if a canon character has just Vague Dwarfism - research achondroplasia. it's the most common and has the most resources, reference poses, etc.), otherwise it's just gonna be difficult

[a-little-revolution]

hi elliot!! \'3'/ do you know of any LP models who do pose/stock work or sites that host LP pose refs for drawing? its really hard to find ones that arent a. fantasy dwarfs and/or b. limited in scope. ArtStation actually has a pretty big one (dwarf photo reference pack vol 2 for anyone interested) which is great, but it seems to only feature a single cis male model with one kind of dwarfism so. limited.

Hello!! ^^ Models with dwarfism certainly exist, though in my search I didn't find folks who specifically post for drawing references. Here's some models to check out! :

When I think fashion and modelling for little people I immediately think of Sinead Burke on the cover of Vogue - she's a fashion designer for little people and if you look her up there's plenty of clothing references!

Fatima Timbo has done modelling for Glamour - she's also huge on instagram!

Rosanna Rann has a template for LP fashion that can be helpful when tackling anatomy:

I will be sure to make a post soon dedicated to LP anatomy and references for artists/creators!!

[cripplecharacters]

Navigation: Helpful Posts

[large text: Navigation: Helpful Posts]

Complication of posts from CrippleCharacters, as well as other blogs providing advice on writing disabled characters!

This post covers the general topics - for posts on specific disabilities, please see part two.

Last update: 23/10/2024

Character Making Basics and Ideas

[large text: Character Making Basics and Ideas]

- How to Start Doing Research When Writing a Disabled Character - Disabilities that are Common but Have no Representation - Facial Differences that Would Be Cool to Actually See Represented - How to Do Historical Research - Our "Disabled Character Ideas" Tag - Our "Character Inspo" Tag

How to Describe XYZ?

[large text: How to Describe XYZ?]

- Blindness Tropes: the "Blank Look" - Describing Characters with Facial Differences as Pretty - Difference between Fetishization and Being Seen as Beautiful - First Description: when to mention the Facial Difference - How Often Should You Mention Mobility Aids? - Dialogue and Speech Disorders - Sign Language in Dialogue - Words for Residual Limbs (stumps) - Describing a Limp - Words to Use instead of "Walk" for Wheelchair Users - How to not Describe Facial Differences as "Scary"

How to Draw XYZ?

[large text: How to Draw XYZ?]

- Tips for Drawing Characters with Facial Differences - Annoying Tropes in Art Re:Facial Differences - Drawing Blind Characters - Drawing Amputees - How to Draw (and not draw) Characters with Vitiligo - Drawing Cane Users - Decorating Wheelchairs - Drawing Characters with Down Syndrome - Drawing Characters with Cleft Lip - Drawing Burn Survivors

General

[large text: General]

- What's Off-Limits for Non-disabled Writers? - Writing a Newly Disabled Character - Writing a Visibly Different Character - The Accident - Including Disabled Communities - Disabled Characters in Historical Fiction - Coming up with Fictional Disabilities - Tokenism Discussion - Disability and Superpowers - Curing and "Fixing" Disabled Characters - Is It Realistic to Have Multiple Disabled Characters? - "Jaws Effect": how media affect the real world - Worldbuilding with Accessibility in Mind - How to Let Readers Figure Out the Character's Disability - Does the Disability Need to Have a "Purpose"? - Including Ableism in the Story - Casual Representation vs Fetishization (with albinism as an example) - Including Body Horror without doing an Ableism

General Tropes

[large text: General Tropes]

- "Super-Crip": Magic and Disability - Abled Characters Pretending to be Disabled - I Did a Trope but It's Too Late - What You Should Do - made with the mask trope in mind, but could be applied more widely - Magical Cure - made with blindness in mind - Including Healing Magic without Disability Erasure - Why is the Cure Trope Bad? - How to Do a Scary Disability Reveal without being Ableist? - Disabled Character Recovering, but without Disability Erasure - Killing off a Disabled Character without Doing an Ableism - Writing a Disabled Villain without Doing an Ableism - What is Fetishization of Disability, and what Isn't - Not All Sign Language Users are Mute and American

Mobility Aids

[large text: Mobility Aids]

- General Overview - Overview, but with More Options - not writing advice, educational - More Detailed Look at Crutches and Canes - Magic Mobility Aids - Tips on Writing Wheelchair Users - Writing a New Cane User - "But Mobility Aids Wouldn't Exist in my Fantasy World" - Basic Information on Service Animals - Should My Non-Modern Wheelchair User use XYZ instead of a Wheelchair? - Accessible Wizarding for Wheelchair Users - Fidgeting with Wheelchairs - Pet Peeves for Cane User Characters - Wheelchair user trying to navigate Inaccessibility

Other

[large text: Other]

- Writing Characters with Tourette's Syndrome - Introduction to Writing Characters with Speech Disorders - Writing Little People (characters with dwarfism) - Dwarfism and Fantasy Stories - Stereotypes around Characters with Dwarfism - Writing and Drawing Burn Survivors: basics and resources - Caring for a Burn Scar: the everyday things - On Chemical Burns - Writing Characters with ASPD - Writing a Character with Russel-Silver Syndrome - Complex Dissociative Disorders Terminology: A Basic Primer - What to Consider when Writing about Pollution-induced Disability - Portraying Psychosis + Review of Jinx from Arcane - Difference between "Nonverbal" and "Nonspeaking"

Making Your Content Accessible to Disabled Readers

[large text: Making Your Content Accessible to Disabled Readers]

- Why add alt text? - Image Descriptions Tutorial - Writing Image Descriptions for People Who Can't Write Them - "But how do blind people even use alt text" - How to Tag Your Posts (Tumblr) - ScreenReaders and Color Text (Tumblr) - FanFiction Accessibility

Recommended Blogs/Sources

[large text: Recommended Blogs/Sources]

- @blindbeta - @cy-cyborg - @a-little-revolution - @mimzy-writing-online - @writingdrugs - @vitiligo-is-not-a-trend - Fantastic website for any historical needs

[kevin-weezhlewig-dot]

CENTAURWORLD HERD AS HUMANS!! (Horse is above cut, everyone else is below.)

all of the characters I've seen (and correct me if im wrong on this) kimiko glenn voice are japanese, so I thought it wouldn't be too far fetched to interpret horse as japanese

I don't know why but Wammawink was definitely the hardest to catch the "essence" of, she still doesn't feel entirely like wammawink but i love this one regardless

since you can't really get rid of her portal tummy since it's important to her character, I thought it would be funny to just give her a GIANT backpack

I had original "concept art" for these designs, zulius is the only one who didn't change at ALL all the others changed in some way

I had a different original drawing for this one which was SO. UGLY. and it almost got posted, but eventually i just couldn't stand it and i redrew it.

this one took me the longest because i could NOT figure out what shoes to give him and I could NOT figure out how to draw his head in the new artstyle i was testing.

P.S. This is my first time drawing someone with dwarfism so constructive criticism and tips are appreciated!! I apologize if I did anything wrong, and make sure to tell me if I did.

[papermonkeyism]

Just some doodly nonsense while thinking with pencils again.

Not specific character stuff or anything, but more just pondering the people in Arcanth's setting, because genes are a thing.

Like, what would a dwarf with dwarfism look like.

Googled the most common form of dwarfism and found an answer: basically a hominid corgi.

Dwarves already have disproportionately short legs (though not arms) compared to humans, so cutting the limb length even further doesn't leave much to work with.

Well, at least one version, considering there's, like, 200 different types of dwarfism, but still.

Anyway, dwarves are fun to draw. They are very shape.

[stra-tek]

Lots and lots of random spoilerific things about Star Trek comics

Gold Key's old run was written by people who had never actually seen the show. Later they involved fans like Doug Drexler to make things a bit more authentic

This however made them, IMHO, amazing

Blond scotty. Wearing green.

Voodoo planet, with papier mache versions of Earth landmarks which, when blasted with a death ray, cause the real ones to collapse

Spock learns voodoo to combat this threat

The Enterprise completely razes a planet of hostile plant spore things. Like full on extermination of all life

There's a locked room on deck 7 full of evil Vulcan spirits. A yeoman blunders in and all hell breaks loose

Kirk doesn't know what a god damn black hole is

Spock is kidnapped by aliens, has their entire knowledge downloaded into his brain which makes him into a bobblehead for awhile

The Enterprise is briefly taken from Kirk and given to Captain Zarlo, who is a total bellend

Spock forgets to have pointed ears sometimes

The old UK newspaper comic strips were even worse. The first few issues feature "Captain Kurt" and he wears a red shirt. Bailey is also a lead character, giving away which one episode they had knowledge of

Depictions of the Enterprise in their very first strip will shock and horrify you, but after that the art becomes amazing and maintains a very high standard

Marvel did a series following The Motion Picture, and it was a vast improvement, although they technically had rights to the movie and not the series, which led to a little weirdness. Tons of references still were snuck in, though

There's a series of Book and Records, which you can listen to on YouTube and are goofy fun. The Enterprise desperately needs a meal in the art, though.

They draw Romulans as green wizards

They didn't have the rights to Nichelle Nichols or George Takei's likenesses, so get ready for White Uhura and Black Sulu!

They didn't have the rights to The Animated Series either, so M'Ress is a human with weird face paint and Arex is substituted for just some guy

There's an unlicensed Chinese adaptation of The Motion Picture's novelisation (made with zero prior knowledge of Star Trek), which features an all-star cast like O.J. Simpson as Decker and James Brolin as Kirk. It's called The Star Trek, which is a better name than The Motion Picture, IMHO.

DC comics' first run is considered some of the best Trek ever. They're made with love and a deep knowledge of the source material

You know how Star Trek III takes place right after II? WRONG. It was several months later and the crew (with Saavik taking over from Spock) had tons of adventures in the interim. It just seemed like it was right after😂

Before Worf and long long before Ash Tyler, Kirk had a Klingon on his crew

He was a cowardly Klingon named Konom who fled the Empire

He fell in love with a human woman named Bryce

They adopted an albino Klingon/human child with dwarfism which they named Bernie

Kirk has an unhinged, insubordinate crewman on board named Bearclaw and they hate each other

Tension escalates and eventually there's a stabbing

Sulu/M'Ress happens and I don't think people knew what furrys were in the 80's

You know how Spock comes back at the end of III but isn't his old self until the end of Star Trek IV? WRONG AGAIN. He came back just fine, and lost his marbles following an incident months later that just happened to line everything up to make it all seem like it was right after.

After STIII, Kirk becomes captain of the U.S.S. Excelsior NX-2000 and Spock becomes captain of the U.S.S. Surak. We get a few issues exclusively focusing on Spock's ship and his band of merry weirdos.

The U.S.S. Surak keeps changing design, starting off as a sort of Oberth-class ship, then randomly becoming an Excelsior-class ship and finally ending as the warp sled shuttlecraft from The Motion Picture

The Surak's crew include a giant chicken man, a Vulcan hating racist lady and a balding man with a bicycle

They all die horribly and a massive reset button is pressed so everyone is exactly where they were at the end of Star Trek III

In order to make that work they had to bs that the Klingon Bird of Prey was hidden in Excelsior's shuttlebay all this time despite it being way, way too big for that

There's a full on mirror universe invasion

Kirk becomes a celebrity from saving the galaxy all the time

Mr. Arex comes back and becomes chief of security but doesn't really do much

HORTA CREWMEMBER. It's as amazing as it sounds

The first Next Generation comic miniseries was made with knowledge of the first 2 or 3 TNG episodes and nothing else

Everyone is hench as fuck. Picard has washboard abs and bulging muscles

Data is emotional and Troi feels the emotions she senses a la "Encounter at Farpoint"

Wesley is drawn as if he's 10

The B-shift con and ops team are a husband and wife who wear caped superhero versions of Starfleet uniforms with bare legs.

They argue. A lot.

The crew meet an alien Santa Claus and Q loses his powers years before "Deja Q"

The whole Q Continuum visits the Enterprise and they're all John De Lancie but in Starfleet uniforms of every colour under the sun.

After that initial miniseries, the Next Gen crew lose a lot of their muscle mass and start resembling their on screen counterparts a lot better

Picard had a brother who fell down a hole and died as a child. Q offers to rewrite history so he doesn't die. Claude Picard grew up to be Space Superhitler and turns Starfleet and the Federation fascist.

Before all this Q turned Jean-Luc into a goat for the lolz

Marvel's The Early Voyages was very literally Strange New Worlds before Strange New Worlds.

They have a pyrokinetic security officer named Nano and he's awesome

Marvel lost the Trek license quite suddenly, and so the series ends on a cliffhanger where Admiral April is up to something iffy.

Marvel did a Starfleet Academy series featuring Nog and its utterly fantastic

A female Andorian cadet tries to make Nog feel at ease by greeting him in the nude, but Nog fails to take it as an innocent gesture and she immediately sends him flying across the room

Romulan agents with split personalities in Starfleet Academy!

They visit Talos IV and get help from Captain Pike, who's still alive

IDW comics did a prequel to the 2009 reboot where Picard is an ambassador, Data is captain of the Enterprise-E and Nero has hair. It was co-written by the movie writers and was considered sort of vaguely semi canon ish for a time

They originally wanted the Romulan supernova to destroy a lot more, including Earth and have Nero kill the TNG crew. It was the Star Trek Online devs that got them to scale things back because they'd have no universe left to set their game in.

Nero's ship looks like it does because after Romulus was destroyed he took it to a secret Romulan base and had it equipped with reverse-engineered Borg technology

You thought DC struggled to keep ship designs correct? IDW's comics keep using traced fan art from Google Images, and fan art (sometimes with unique ship designs) has shown up on multiple occasions as the Kelvinverse U.S.S. Enterprise

In one IDW TOS comic, the bridge is totally covered with TNG LCARS graphics.

In another, an Orion ship is a gigantic Stargate sticking out of the middle part of Battlestar Galactica.

Wanna see Kelvinverse versions of TOS episodes? That was their first comics run, picking up after the 2009 reboot movie. They start off very faithful and as the series goes on things diverge more and more

To the extent some stories have very different backstories and outcomes

We visit 2 Kelvin mirror universes and a genderswapped universe too. No, Kirk doesn't do what you're thinking.

Q visits the Kelvin Universe and brings the crew forward in time to their version of Deep Space Nine

Nero's time in Klingon prison (from the Star Trek 2009 deleted scenes) and escape is fleshed out

Nero meets V'ger.

Nero mind melds with V'ger.

V'ger turns away due to the sheer force of Nero's hatred.

I wish I was making that up.

Klingons get their hands on Narada's technology and go to war

We get a Khan backstory where the Eugenics Wars are a full on nuclear conflict and "Khan" is the title that little Noon Sing adopts when he takes power

After being revived in the 23rd century, Admiral Marcus has Khan surgically altered to look like Benedict Cumberbatch as part of his John Harrison cover identity

They did a series of shorts called Waypoint, and in the first one Geordi is captain of a future Enterprise and his crew is made up of holographic versions of Data and it's a really sweet concept (this was several years before before ST: Picard brought Data back twice)

There's a prequel series centred around Number One where nobody manages to say her name before being interrupted. If you put the bits together it seems her name was Eureka Robbins. Of course, this is long before novels and SNW made her Una Chin-Riley.

[punkitt-is-here]

Hey uh you seem cool and I’m sure you mean well but. You might want to watch this video bc some stuff w/ the shrudler is. Uhh. Not great.

https://www.tumblr.com/a-little-revolution/718626820182982656

I do genuinely completely understand where you're coming from with this, but I'll say a couple things; the Schrudler is not meant to represent the dwarf/little person population, he's not meant to be someone with dwarfism at all. If I were to draw the Susan Taxpayer characters as IRL people, he would not be a little person, he would just be a particularly short man. Secondly, he's not the only character with those proportions in the Susan Taxpayer universe, so he's not meant to represent all folks with those proportions anyway. I understand that the link between physical features and morality is very annoying and a consistent problem in media, so please understand that he wasn't designed with this in mind nor are all the very-short-folks in the game "evil", he just happens to be a short man who is also a dick. The ability of Susan to pick him up and throw him is not a reference to any sort of dwarf-throwing sport (which is very bizarre and unjust, having just heard about it) but is instead a throwback to Mad Scienstein, or Arewo Shitain-hakase in Wario Land 4, who is an archeologist whom you pick up and throw to solve puzzles. In Wario Land 4, he takes on this role to show that Wario is kind of a dick to others to get what he wants, and he's shaped this way likely so that the player has to be precise considering he's a 1x1 block and not a 2x2 one like other throwables in-game.

The Schrudler's in-game design is that way so that he works better proportionally for this reference and so that he also more resembles the items the players pick up in-game (roughly 32x32px for the most part).

I understand your concern that this might seem to be an issue with the character, but I'm going to stick with him and his design intentions with consideration of what I've previously stated in mind. I hope this helps quell some of those feelings, and if not, I do apologize!!

[fantasy-anatomy-analyst]

hello, would you have any suggestions about dwarven body proportions? I wanna design a dwarf character with gigantism and I’d like some help in how that would be like?

sorry for the delay! I'm trying to empty my inbox now.

dwarf proportions are not a universally defined thing, so it very much depends on how you choose to draw them! here are a few varieties of dwarf for reference:

(image description: three examples of fantasy dwarf designs. the first image shows a labeled comparison between a neanderthal and a homo sapien, with half their skeletons exposed and the differences between them all pointed out. a handwritten note at the bottom says "my dwarves are based on neanderthals". the second image is the same as the first, but now I've drawn a very simple sketch of a dwarf between the human and neanderthal to show the similarities.

the second image shows two screenshots of art from other sources. at the top, Ryoko Kui's depictions of a fat human, a dwarf, and an orc show their skeletal differences to display how their anatomy and proportions work. at the bottom, official art of dwarves from the 3.5 edition of Dungeons and Dragons shows both a woman and a man of the dwarf race from the game. this one also has a handwritten note that says "DnD 3.5 e has the best designs for player races, fight me." end description.)

all these designs have their own differences. the DnD dwarves here have very long arms relative to their bodies, and very squat squarish head shapes. Ryoko Kui's dwarves are very broad and stout but most of their shortness comes from the length of their legs. My dwarves are basically just neanderthals but a little more short and chunky.

Despite this, there are some clear details that most dwarf designs take their cues from. fantasy dwarves are short and stout, having broader and more muscular bodies than standard humans. They tend to look a bit square compared to other humanoids.

gigantism is not something I'm super well educated on. frankly, neither is dwarfism, a very real condition that should not be conflated with fantasy dwarves and which has its own unique effects on the human body. but I assume if you're asking, you've already done some of your own research on the matter.

essentially, gigantism (and a similar condition, acromegaly,) is a condition where the body overproduces growth hormones. From what Ive been able to find in my quick searches on the matter, it doesn't affect the body proportions too much? mostly just makes everything bigger, but since it affects the entire body it probably won't make your dwarf with gigantism look too different from other dwarves. just bigger.

that said, it can also come with things like chronic pain, joint problems, and other health concerns, especially depending on whether or not your fantasy world has healthcare capable of treating the root cause of gigantism, which is typically a growth or other problem in the pituitary gland.

hopefully that gives you a good jumping-off point to figure out their design! anyone who has more experience and knowledge on gigantism is welcome to add their thoughts!

[angelmelon]

How Leasebound suffers under the ablebodied gaze

Hiiiii I’m on my bullshit again 😘❤️

today we are going to talk about how Leasebound’s disability rep is kind of mid

we all know how I feel about the special ed teacher panel

and BONUS: this is Sunny’s insert. Sunny has never worked with disabled kids. RUSTY has never worked with disabled kids, and neither are disabled to my knowledge. I am disabled AND have worked with disabled kids. I still think that panel is complete bullshit, with the lack of knowledge on the topic showing through in the implication that there is ever an instance outside of imminent harm to yourself or others that you need to restrain a disabled child even if my old post may have admittedly overreacted. There is not. There is never an instance outside of imminent harm to yourself or others. If your special education facility has told you that restraint is an option at all when a kid hugs you too long, get a new fucking job 😭 the next alternative to a “let me go” or a collapse or drop move you weren’t taught somehow is never to “hm. If I don’t go to self defense training my only other option is to restrain them”

anyway to the guys I wanna talk about here

now let’s list off disabled characters

Shanzay (it’s not spelled Shanzey in any language Rusty should probably correct that)

Rocky

Uhhhhhhh

Ginger is most definitely disabled given the knee injury but that was most definitely added to give her a stereotypical middle aged “man” backstory of wanting to play professional football and then getting injured and it doesn’t even really come up on panel. Plus the trans women in the comic are. Well. We all know 😭😭

and I am of the personal opinion that Brick has some form of dwarfism or potentially Down syndrome due to how Rusty draws them (height, proportions, and facial features) but this was not done intentionally by Rusty and seems to have mostly been an attempt to make them look “clownish” which is a whole other set of issues. Like I thought Parniya was supposed to teach your grown adult fanbase not to make fun of people for their height or weight but your commentors say otherwise when it comes to Brick sooooo

anyway the only ones I can definitively say are disabled are Shanzay and Rocky

so so far the only 2 characters who are definitively disabled both got it from some big showey traumatic event, not looking good so far seeing as that’s a pretty common stereotype…

Shanzay has partial blindness, seemingly caused by blunt force trauma

Now I can’t believe I have to say this but…

regardless of how you are drawing this REALLY does not communicate a blunt force eye injury

fun fact: I’m not going to show a picture because HOLY SHIT the pictures are horrible but a healed blunt force eye injury (one that WOULD cause permanent full blindness in the eye) usually includes

partially or fully detached retina

reddish sclera for obvious reasons, it gets better overtime but it rarely fully goes away

usually rather than a perfectly vertical scar with stitches there is a bruise or a scar that isn’t. Yk. Perfectly vertical over the whole eye. Often a scar would be something like a deeper one over the eyelid, or uneven tiny scar bits around the eye. While we don’t see what Chris does to Shanzay exactly, if he hit her with what he had at the moment (his fist), she more than likely got a hugeass bruise with no permanent scar outside the eye, maybe a tear in the eyelid itself if we give Chris the disbenefit of the doubt that his single fist is that strong, or that he got multiple hits in. I mean he sells drugs or whatever so maybe??? I’m gonna be for real I doubt this guy’s mary sue ass strength he looks under half my dad’s weight

Bonus that shit is probably HORRIFIC if the injury wasn’t super bad then because it doesn’t seem like she was taken to the doctors

Better ways to stylize this sort of injury on Shez:

partially detached retina, rough healing

Retina removed surgically due to extreme injury or infection after injury, probably healed better due to medical intervention. Would likely wear an eye cap or glass eye cover to protect the eye

Traumatic cataract (what I think Rusty was going for??). Despite all the models you’ve probably seen or whatever the fuck a traumatic cataract is rarely completely perfect over the eye, and often the original eye color is slightly visible underneath. I specifically made this one partial, giving an easily stylizable but accurate look.

“why is this a problem?? Other media does this all the time”

yeah and I kinda hate it 😭😭 it’s one thing if all your characters have dot eyes, like just put an x there BOOM eye disability communicated. Also, Shez is never shown to have the same or similar disability needs to most people who are partially blind or blind in one eye. The large majority of people with full blindness in one eye cannot drive very easily, first of all. One, in most countries you need to pass a medical test. Also, if Shez’s injury is in fact a traumatic cataract, driving is either an incredibly difficult/stressful task, or just straight up unsafe, seeing as the areas of an eye a cataract falls over only allow for very limited vision.

Like bestie you CANNOT be looking back at Jaden like that regardless of potentially training yourself to drive?? Which even then you’re apparently driving at 3am or so??? It’s DARK AS HELL at 3am fuck off there’s no way

now I’m not partially blind or blind myself so people can absolutely correct me on this (blind people, not people with a totally super real blind cousin or something, I’m not centering ablebodied people here)

Shez seemingly has no trauma from her injury specifically. Only her mother is affected by it. Honestly that’s a lot of the Chris plot line; Shez only wants to save the people around her and that’s apparently good cause “power fantasy” like??? I thought this was supposed to be a comic about realistic women experiences or whatever the fuck.

Oh yeah and why is this panel kind of implying that Shez got her injury on the job when she got it from Chris 😭😭 I guess the rest fits but “this is a rough job” with the weird closeup of her eye 😭😭 bitch what does that MEAN Chris did not injure you at Yonique

okay next one

I have BEEF with this woman ‼️‼️‼️

Whoever decided they weren’t gonna at least teach Rocky sign language is a fucking idiot. Why is she communicating with the same *nod* *nod* she did when her muteness was new at 22 years old. Someone teach Rocky sign language!! ”you can’t expect rusty to learn accurate sign language just for Rocky” then I can’t expect her to respectfully write a mute character without falling into dumbass stereotypes

I do understand why Rocky wouldn’t have an AAC device… I mean, this is 5 (now 6 with Parniya!!) people living in one tiny living space in a city that has a huge classism problem, it’d be very difficult to get their hands on something like that. But. A text to speech tablet?? Like just an iPad?? Maybe??? There’s also AAC-like apps for both Samsung and Android. Rusty invents shit that doesn’t exist all the time!! (Like a plain white simultaneously loose and tight around the boobs turtleneck with plain black text that says yaoi. Looking at Kai) she could just invent an AAC app for Rocky to use that functions exactly like the expensive ones but free and on a standard off brand tablet!! PLEASE it’s giving Teardrop bfb but worse than that because Teardrop was 1. Originally written by children on YouTube 2. Eventually DID get means of autonomy and communication and most people understand and respect her. Rocky only gets nods. How is she getting a job with nods??? Interviews are unfortunately way more complicated than yes or no questions.

now my final issue, applying to both Rocky and Shanzay, which I briefly hinted to earlier

Their disabilities are BOTH from big life altering injuries or PTSD. Which can happen!! That’s fine, but it’s also the most stereotypical form of these disabilities. It’s the one in media most palatable to ablebodied people. Like the little disabled representation coming in the form of wheelchair users who cannot walk at all (often paralysis) or supergeniuses if it’s caused by anything else, or people who so tragically lost an arm, or an eye, or their hearing, or sight in a war, or a fight, or whatever, a mute person who does not communicate in any of the numerous ways that mute people do because the ablebodied writer does not believe they can. Like, you know that dialects of sign language have formed for mute or deaf kids from observation, right?? Even if Meriam didn’t teach her fucking kid to sign or get her in a learning environment where she could learn to, Rocky most definitely knows more than nod and shake, ESPECIALLY as a mute adult.

all the disabled characters are written in the most palatable way they can be to an ablebodied audience, by an ablebodied writer.

Easy fix: GET SENSITIVITY READERS OR DO PROPER RESEARCH BEFORE WRITING SOMETHING YOUVE NEVER TOUCHED JESUS FUCKING CHRIST

[berrypass-de-murdler]

2 - 68 The Chess Commune Killing

I'm not gonna lie, things have been pretty bad recently, and this episode kind of served as a coping mechanism.

I forgot to post him yesterday, but I got a new character out

God this drawing makes me upset it looks exactly like the cringe bird OCs I spammed when I was younger

Cardinal Cinereous is six inches tall, making him by far the smallest character. He poses as Father Mango's pet bird, but is actually a fully sentient mastermind of his own, easily able to steal money for the church without being noticed. While he usually has his feral disguise, he's actually an anthro bird with dwarfism.

DON'T READ THE EPISODES WITHOUT READING THE BOOKS!!

The train took him to a commune, similar to the one on the mainland. With one crucial difference - instead of killing people over religion, this one kills people over… you guessed it, chess. And this makes Irratino excited. There are few things Logico loves more than chess, so it must be fate he was brought here.

The leader is dead of course - Irratino can tell just by looking at him that he was Russian. The inevitable Grandmaster Rose is nearby, playing a match against Taupe. Meanwhile, Brother Brownstone is deep in prayer to the board, and Aureolin is just… lurking.

IRRATINO: Aureolin, what are you doing here? AUREOLIN: Why is that any of your business? IRRATINO: It’s not, I just… happen to see you at a lot of chess-related places recently.

Auree loudly rolls her eyes. She kneels down to pray with Brownstone.

BROWNSTONE: The greatest piece in the game is the queen.  AUREOLIN: How can you tell? BROWNSTONE: The Chessbook told me. The Chessbook knows all.

And the other two…

ROSE: Why won’t you make a move? Are you afraid of my genius? TAUPE: [shuffles]

It explains its next move in morse code, and Rose has to do it for it. One move later, the person with arms won. Taupe is quite sad.

Irratino isn’t paying attention to any of this, because he needs to solve this murder as soon as possible to get to Logico. He notices something curious - the journals of all the cult’s members were confiscated. And it’s a horrible thing to do for sure, but he has to look. For clues. Not for any other reason.

He checks Brownstone’s first. Complete mumbo-jumbo about the chess gods, as one would expect. Grandmaster Rose…

“I played such a good match, no one would have ever guessed! Here’s how it went.”

It’s a bunch of numbers and letters, and Irratino doesn’t understand in the slightest. More useless info. Taupe… has a journal, but it’s just an empty smashed book. So only Aureolin’s could provide an answer.

“My favourite chess piece is the tricky knight. I find it honourable, someone who is so underwhelming as a presence but then bam - destroying everyone else in their own way… 

I can’t believe I went straight from champion to this, I don’t have anywhere else to go, and they promised they had a burrow for me… I pray to god they can’t take my kids, or do anything to my kids. I don’t want to do this. I don’t want to be here anymore…”

Irratino has a flashback of the murder. He envisions the innocent rabbit going insane, strangling the cult leader… and when he snaps out of it, she’s staring right at him.

AUREOLIN: He was going to kick us out! So I had to kill him… IRRATINO: Why was he going to kick you out? AUREOLIN: Because I was going to kill him. I’m so sick of this! I’m so SICK OF BEING EXPLOITED! IRRATINO: A…A- AUREOLIN: OHH, ARE YOU GOING TO BRING UP MY ‘PERFECT RECORD’ THAT LOGICO WANTED ME SO BADLY TO KEEP? LOGICO ISN’T HERE ANYMORE! Maybe when you’re treated like SHIT by EVERY PERSON YOU MEET, YOU DON’T GET A PERFECT RECORD!

She slips and falls to the ground. Her breath is shaking, and tears are falling. Irratino gently kneels in front of her and reaches out his hands. Auree collapses into him, sobbing. 

AUREOLIN: …you’re going to get him out, right? IRRATINO: It doesn’t matter what I have to do, I will.

Taupe and Rose are suddenly standing over them. They want a hug too!

Irratino is more determined than ever to find his baby and bring him back, not just for him, but for everyone.

The end!

I'm not projecting I'm not projecting I'm not-

heeeEEEEEYYY a squishy eminence!!

The power of Goat Lord compels you!

See you next time murdlers!

[a-little-revolution]

A-Little-Revolution's Dwarfism FAQ

Hello there lovelies! I've finally written up and FAQ to make my blog more accessible! Feel free to send me asks related to these posts, but do take a look at my prior responses!

Dwarfism 101

Dwarfism 101: Some Misconceptions

Dwarfism 101: Common Misconceptions Pt 2!

Cass Huff's "The M Word is a Slur" (with video description and transcription)

Accessibility

Car adaptations and pedal extenders

Making public spaces accessible for LP

Advice for healthcare professionals

Medical

Dwarfism and it's causes: medical resources

A brief on my leg surgeries

Representation

Rating Little characters in animation

Rating Little characters in film

My stance on fantasy "dwarves"

My stance on Snow White and adaptations

Writing/Drawing Characters with Dwarfism

What to avoid when writing characters with Achondroplasia

Common stereotypes for LP

Including dwarfism in fantasy

Drawing little people

Ways I'd love to see LP portrayed in media

Dwarfism hand reference

Resources

Little People of Ontario

Little People of America

Mini Documentary: The Stigmatization of Dwarfism in Art by Perspective!

Documentary: Being a Little Person in America: We're Still Treated as Less Than Human by Cara Reedy

[cripplecharacters]

Mods

[large text: Mods]

Sasza

[Large Text: Sasza]

Hi! My name is Sasza and I use he/him pronouns. I am a disabled artist who loves to write and draw characters like me! I am autistic, (mildly) intellectually disabled and have several physical conditions including-but-not-limited-to dyspraxia, severe hyperkyphosis, cranial nerve diseases (causing double vision, chronic pain and a facial difference among other things), and hypermobile joints. Sometimes I use a cane. I'm very passionate about accessibility and disability representation in all kinds of media - books, comics, video games, and any other kind of art that's out there!

Bert

[Large Text: Bert]

Hello! I'm Bert (previously Mason), and I use he/they pronouns. I am a writer who loves to write plays and fiction with characters like me and my friends. I am autistic and have ADHD, I have psychotic PTSD and a DID system. Physical health-wise I have migraines, fibromyalgia, and a lateral lisp. I love talking about representation and ways we can make a kinder and more inclusive space everywhere we go.

Sparrow

[large text: Sparrow]

Hi, I’m sparrow, they/he for me. I’m a disabled artist who makes a lot of disabled characters like myself and probably like a quarter of the world. I have autism and ADHD, among other brain things, as well as chronic pain in both my jaw and my knee and ankle. I also have POTS and some sort of sleep disorder. I am a sometimes cane user as well. I really enjoy research and thoughtful art that makes people feel seen. Aside from that, I am a huge fan of historical fiction and really enjoy fantasy as well.

Rot

[Large text: Rot]

My name is Rot, I use all pronouns including neo pronouns as well as any rot and insect themed nounself pronouns. I’m an artist who loves putting disability in my stories. I’m mostly undiagnosed due to medical neglect and have chronic fatigue, hypersomnia & chronic pain that ranges from mild to debilitating. My known disabilities are pots, ganglion cysts, nerve damage, tics, autism (level unknown), asthma, GERD, anxiety and psychosis. I have a metal implant, use a cane and am mostly verbal and use aac infrequently. I have experience with temporary palsy, needing carers (family members who stepped up, not hired carers) and being in a wheelchair, though I currently don't have any of those.

Virus

[Large Text: Virus]

Hello! I go by Virus and I use She/Her but anyone can use any pronouns for me, have fun with it. I'm a writer—mostly fanfiction—who has been in fandom very long and used to be a classical musician. I have Hypermobile Ehler Danlos Syndrome along with it's fun co-morbidities (MCAS, POTS, Gastroparesis, Fibromyalgia, and Von Willebrandes). I also have Pan-Hypopituitarism which is the following: Adrenal Insufficiency, Hypothyroidism, Diabetes Insipidus, Precocious Puberty, Growth Hormone Deficiency, Hyperprolactinemia/galactorrhea, as well as High Estrogen and Testosterone issues. I have Pituitary Dwarfism/Proportional Dwarfism, Myoclonic Epilepsy, and a Speech Disorder. I used to have a Port-a-cath, Picc-Lines, and a feeding tube, amongst many other things. Phew, now that that's over. I love every art form with a favour towards music, writing and the fiber arts. I love seeing representation no matter how big or small especially in medias that rep is often glossed over!

Rock

[Large Text: Rock]

Hi! I am Rock; any pronouns are okay. I am a writer, mainly of sci-fi and fantasy, and I love adding all sorts of disabled characters. I am hard of hearing (mild-moderate bilateral hearing loss) and have profound auditory processing disorder. I have scoliosis, POTS, and lower-body muscle weakness so I am a full-time mobility aid user. I am also intersex; I have several hormone deficiencies among other conditions as a result of my intersex variation. I am excited to join the mod team!

Aaron

[Large Text: Aaron]

Hey, I'm Aaron, he/him. I'm a writer of fantasy, science fiction, dystopia, utopia, and historical, and I like writing incorporating casts of disabled characters into all of them and reworking magic, technology, and science to accommodate them. I have a TBI, a lot wrong with my speech, cognitive issues, slight developmental disability, myofascial pain syndrome, medium support needs autistic but fully verbal, OCD, multiple types of anxiety, PTSD, depression, severe ADHD, dyslexia, dysgraphia, articulatory initiation anomia, medically significant migraines, a chronic headache, chronic pain, and chronic fatigue. I'm also visibly disabled (one of those people who looks autistic) and transmasc. And I can't wait to see what amazing things you guys come u with.

Zohar

[Large Text: Zohar]

Hello everyone! I'm a new mod, and you can call me Zohar. I'm a writer of fantasy and sci-fi for the most part, and definitely prioritize disability, LGBT, and Indigenous representation in my work. I am Blind with a form of Albinism/strabismus/ptosis, along with some hearing loss. I am intersex/transgender with mixed gonadal dysgenesis (XO/XY Turner Syndrome) that goes hand in hand with GHD/pituitary dwarfism and affects my skeletal and hormonal health. I also have POTS and complex DID caused by RAMCOA and am comfortable answering asks about that. He or She pronouns is fine with me. I can't wait to help out here!

Icarus

[Large Text: Icarus]

Hello all! My name is Icarus (He/Him). I'm a new mod here and a writer of original work (Primarily contemporary short fiction and cosmic horror) with some fanfiction on the side. I have been diagnosed with ADHD, autism, PTSD, Tourette's Syndrome along with several other mental and physical health conditions. I also had epilepsy, asthma, and a heart condition as a child but have since grown out of them. I am currently seeking a diagnosis for something causing a few different symptoms including chronic pain, mobility issues, sensitivity in my joints/bones, progressive vision loss (Currently to the point where I have very little to no peripheral vision), and dizziness/fainting episodes. I am a full time cane user at the advice of my physio. I am also a gay trans man and in full-time university studies.

Jess

[Large text: Jess]

Hey y'all! I'm Jess, and I use she/her. I'm 35, and I work full time behind the scenes in the grocery industry (in an office, designing shelf layouts!). I enjoy writing and reading slice-of-life stories mostly. I especially like exploring how certain magical elements can be parallels for disability. I also do art, including some 3D illusion chalk art. As for my disabilities: I have multiple sclerosis, and a few issues that have come from that, including severe permanent damage from optic neuritis. I was briefly 100% blind in my left eye, but a small amount of vision returned. The residual vision causes some hard-to-describe double vision, so I wear a completely opaque occlusive contact lens on my bad eye to help me see more clearly. I also had a period of time when I suffered from paroxysmal kinesigenic dyskinesia, a rare movement disorder. I also have a body-focused repetitive behavior disorder (dermatillomania) and visible scars from that. I'm looking forward to being helpful!

[sodapunked]

Interesting LORE [1???]

(I had to revise this because the original was unfinished and was posted on accident.)

If you're someone who has either seen my content floating around in the internet once or twice or have been following me for some time, you've probably already noticed the strange and unique square/rectangular heads all of my characters seem to have and probably assume that it's a stylistic choice of sorts... and to answer that question:

No, it isn't a stylistic choice.

Allow me, sodapunked to explain and walk you through in the most understandably coherent way as I possibly can, so brace yourself for what is probably the most longest lore-related post I've ever done. I will be listing out sections here to make it a bit.. more organized.

VFOXES

Every character you see in my webtoon, and the socials I mainly use are an original species that I've created when I was a little kid, first originating from a story I made at that time (that I'm planning to rewrite in the future). So you're probably wondering, what in the world is a VFox, well, let me break it down.

Vfoxes are bipedal, colorful animals that are part of the canine family. They are just as if not, equally as smart as humans, what's also an interesting thing about them is that they can be bred with just about any animal (as long as the animal in question is the same size as the vfox), this has lead to the existence of hybrids such as VBears (half Vfox, half Bear), what Vfoxes CAN'T BREED WITH are humans, siblings, and children (which is bad, if you know, you know).

The average height for a VFox is around 5 feet tall, anything taller than 5 feet is rare. Vfoxes born with dwarfism are around 3 ½ feet tall as you can see in this drawing I made here.

VROBOTS

Vrobots are just the robotic and metallic counterparts of Vfoxes, simply just Vfoxes but they're robots instead. Vrobots, like Vfoxes can feel emotional, mental and physical pain, and can think for themselves. They CAN'T give birth, let alone reproduce like Vfoxes can, instead, they build and assemble their children. While Vfoxes have blood, Vrobots have Oil (which is the robotic equivalent to blood).

When it comes to things such as dwarfism, the chances of a Vrobot being born with it are uncommon. It's pretty rare for Vrobots to be born with albinism. Just like Vfoxes, the average Vrobot height is 5 feet tall, however it isn't uncommon to see Vrobots taller than that, some can be around 8 to 10 feet tall.

Vrobots can also extend their limbs as much as they want, but when they aren't extending their limbs, they go back to their normal length.

Vrobots have something called a core, which is basically works as a heart for Vrobots, the max amount of cores a Vrobot can have is 5, if the core is cracked, it weakens the Vrobot, but it can be repaired, however if it breaks in pieces, it's an instant death. Cores are usually either in the forehead or on the chest, sometimes in the back or any other part in the body.

MIRACLE STARS & MOONS

Miracle Stars are basically souls for Vfoxes (and only for Vfoxes), they are sparkly blue, baseball sized Stars with a smooth marble texture, any Vfox who has a Miracle can be resurrected and go to Star City, if not then they stay dead.

Miracle moons are the same as Miracle Stars, but except Miracle moons are souls for Vrobots (and only FOR Vrobots), instead of a blue star, they're sparkly mint-aquamarine, baseball sized Cresent moons with a smooth marble texture, unless a Vrobot has a Miracle moon, they cannot be resurrected and go to Star City.

It's pretty easy to make Miracle Stars and moons, and it isn't expensive either, as moondust and Stardust can easily be found and purchased in Star City markets.

For Miracle Stars, you need a star shaped cookie tray, Stardust and water (the water is used to create the sparkly look you see in both Miracle Stars and moons) all you need to do is to fill the cookie tray with Stardust and a cup of water for each Star in the tray, next you put the tray into the oven and set it for the exact amount of time needed to bake a single cake, and now you have Miracle Stars.

For Miracle moons, it's the exact same, but except you need a Cresent moon shaped cookie tray and moondust.

The end, for now.

I'm going to have to end it here, for now as I'm pretty busy with some stuff, including some irl stuff, when the time comes, I'll give out some more lore, see you later

INSTAGRAM / WEBTOON

[thatweirddolldude]

Amanda is in fact my fav Invincible character and I will die on the hill that she's just a woman with a fictionalized version of Dwarfism.

If I draw Amanda like the adult she is and let her exist as an adult woman without it being a joke- I don't give a FUCK if you view little people as children.

To tell ANYONE that they look like a child while they are an adult is cruel. Amanda deserves to be treated like an adult and if I'm the only one who will then so be it.

I don't care if you are ableist and see Amanda as a child. It wont change the fact I see a woman with Dwarfism.

Adult women with Dwarfism should get to curse, drink, fuck, and suck just like average sized people and they shouldn't be made out to be a joke if they do. Real little women struggle with being viewed as women every day of their lives.

Disabled people have fought for people to see us as adult. So! Fuck you if you say Amanda has the body of a child when she has the life and mind of an adult woman. That is her body, attached to her head. That is her brain, that has gone through puberty and had many years of education.

[deathsmallcaps]

GUYS. My Win a Commission project is finished!!!!! I still have four months of posting left to do but I wrote, edited, drew and explained EVERYTHING!!!!!

SEVEN YEARS. I started in August 2017 (I was sixteen!) and in August 2024 I motherfucking finished!

The next time I start a long project, it better fucking be a fetus or some shit because I don’t feel like doing something like this everfucking again.

I AM FREE

(If you’re interested in winning my next couple, look under the readmore for some hints. The majority are just reference drawings for the story, not the actual illustrations)

The two main characters for West of the Sun, East of the Moon, a modern retelling of East of the Sun, West of the Moon set in Alaska. Trans Sapphic love story

The main character Chantha Rasphone, for my gay ‘sequel’ to Childe Rowland. If you like Labyrinth, chances are you’ll like this. It’s the longest story I have ever written, at over 40 printer pages without the explanation, pictures or glass art. It’s even longer with those things.

Gii, the Tatterhood from my Yamana retelling. She has dwarfism and slays a leopard seal with a spear.

Billi, an intersex man and star of the Acacia Tree, my adaptation of The Juniper Tree set in modern Australia. (The picture here is based on Alan Scott’s 1970s picture ‘Face of an Aboriginal* Man, Alice Springs Area’, as shown below)

*Respectful term is the full ‘Aboriginal Australian person’, but I am just quoting the title.

These are not in release order! Next contest starts on September 10th!