#i mean yeah it’s annoying when disability is always used as a plot device
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also kind of a hot take? idk if it’s that hot really but as someone who’s physically disabled I don’t really mind if fic writers use characters’ canonical disabilities for whump purposes. I mean that’s just how disabilities work they make you feel bad sometimes and tbh I’d really like to see more fics where it plays a part, like where one character takes care of another during a flare or something
#i mean yeah it’s annoying when disability is always used as a plot device#but it does really annoy me when writers get too scared and just don’t write it#also like fanfic is silly and self indulgent anyway#idrc that much#anyway i just think sickfic with chronic conditions are underutilised that is all#especially with alfred#why is there no alhtred fic where uhtred looks after alfred’s stomach hmm
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So I guess I’m hyperfixating on Death Stranding at the moment
And since I’ve finally finished the story after playing it for like 100 hours over the course of seven months or so I guess I have Opinions(tm) about things I didn’t like in the game
They’re eating at my brain so I’m gonna put them all in a single post to get them out of my system once and for all so I can enjoy the rest in peace
Spoilers, obviously
Hi welcome back to ‘Johannes is obsessing over yet another video game with horror elements in it’! I guess!!
Our latest entry in that category was Until Dawn but since UD can be played in like 6/7 hours and I spent 100 hours of my life on DS, as you can guess we’re talking about a full-blown hyperfixation, the kind that physically hurts because I can’t focus on anything else even after having finished the storyline
But it was super gradual. Again, seven months. I barely made any progress from December to May because I was only doing side-deliveries at the beginning of Chapter 3 instead of... you know... advancing the plot. It became an honest-to-god special interest about two months ago, then 6 days ago while playing chapter 10 it reached hyperfixation levels and now I am in PAIN
I hate my brain
Anyhow
At first I wanted to list the good and the bad hings in it but there’s too many good things to list them all in full, excruciatingly long details, so
Very Quick And Very Incomplete List Of Good Things That I Love
It’s a post-apo game based on travel, logistics, and good will, and it straight up goes AGAINST the whole ‘survival of the fittest’ trope that SO MANY post-apo things try to push!! YES
I insist but it’s built on helping each other and keeping everyone alive, seriously that is my shit right there!
The online community is wholesome?? People leave stuff everywhere, you never see anyone but people put little helpful signs and send you likes, and in my game we almost managed to repair all the roads together
There’s so many new & strange allergies and disabilities and phobias in this post-apo world and? nobody is trying to ““fix”“ anyone?? Like Heartman with his padded floor and his little box that brings him back to life constantly. He’s just... living like that. Nobody’s going “hey maybe you should get another heart operation buddy”
The hero and his phobia of being touched. I. Loved. That. The quiet scenes when he was just talking with Fragile, sitting next to her. In any other context this would just be two people sitting next to each other and talking but it always feels so soft and intimate everytime he allows another human being to just. be next to him. I love it. I love them
Everyone crying constantly because of chiral allergy!!
I loved all the important characters bar one (Bridget/Amelie)!
Why is this walking simulator so enjoyable why am I enjoying the fact that holding L2 + R2 while walking feels like holding your backpack and that you have to relax at times just like you’d have to if you were actually holding a backpack
Seriously. Why
The atmosphere was so great, the music was fantastic and the visuals were on point. A E S T H E T I C
The ghosts!! The giant Beached Things!!! Chiral crystals look! like! creepy hands reaching for the SKY!!
THE RAIN DESTROYS THINGS AND KILLS PEOPLE BY ACCELERATING TIME THIS IS SO COOL SHUT UP
Everytime the game got surreal it was electrifying
THE SURREAL WAR SCENES ON CLIFF’S BEACH
Everyone is using emojis
There’s guys addicted to delivering packages in that game and they’re trying to steal our stuff and we’re like “haha they’re dumb” but we’re basically addicted to delivering packages as the player. So yeah that was pretty fun
Terrorists thinking humanity isn’t going extinct fast enough and wanting to just rip the bandaid and speed things up. Simple but effective concept
People ask for SUPER VITAL ITEMS right next to completely trivial stuff and I’m LIVING for it. “Please fetch my toy dinosaur”. I feel you dude
The most isolated characters are like "LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT THIS THING I LIKE" in your emails because they haven't had contact with other humans in years, it's super relatable
There’s a farm where people use the fact that Timefall rain accelerates time to grow food super quickly in one (1) Timefall and harvest everything just before it starts to die and I LOVE that detail of worldbuilding so much
YOU’RE FIGHTING BEACHED THINGS WITH YOUR OWN BODILY FLUIDS IT’S SO STUPID BUT ALSO SO COOL?? I love yeet-ing my own blood at eldritch entities
THE T W I S T S
All the fanservice (bar one detail that I’m gonna complain about later) is on dudes. This game reeeeeeally likes to show dudes naked or somewhat naked. Mostly the main character but this mocap also L O V E S Mads Mikkelsen and there’s a shit ton of homoerotic shots in there
I love Sam the antisocial papa wolf delivery man and if someone touches him or his baby again, I will cry
LOU. LOU LOU LOU PRECIOUS BABY I’D DIE FOR YOU. Wait I did
I love Fragile and how brave she is and how she keeps helping people even if most of them wrongly think she’s a terrorist and yes I will eat this cryptobiote thank you
I love soft science boi Heartman who keeps dying again and again and is a bit too much interested in bodily fluids
I love garbage man Higgs and how complex, funny and still somewhat tragic this memelord actually turned out to be in the end
Seriously I want to stop fixating on this character but you can’t give me YET ANOTHER character who wants to die but at the hands of someone else, that is unfair to do that right after my fixation on the new Doctor Who Master
So yeah Higgs is yet another character who makes me want to grab him by the lapels and shake him and yell WHY! ARE! YOU! LIKE! THIS! STOP! BEING! LIKE! THIS!!
Cliff broke all three of my feelings beautifully and in excruciatingly well-acted scenes that transcended the sometimes lackluster dialogue
John made me cry during That Scene
Mama your background was tragic and terrifying and you didn’t deserve any of this shit and I love you
Deadman was more funny than anything, really, but I still liked him even if he had no sense of personal space whatsoever and it clashed horribly with Sam’s phobias
The ending had some sad parts but was mostly positive, thank goodness
Now I’m gonna explain things I dislike and this looks long but it’s actually only 5 main things so I bolded them to avoid confusion
Things I really disliked (and could have been handled wayyyy better)
We all know it but Kojima isn’t a master of subtlety and some parts of the dialogue kept repeating the same informations again and again AND AGAIN and I was like “ok ok I get it”
The dialogue can be so bad at times seriously
Kojima is a bad writer there I said it
It was particularly annoying with Amelie/Bridget and the fact she’s a horrible person trying (and failing) to justify her actions wasn’t helping
Bridges protocols are incredibly intrusive. All of them. I know it’s framed as bad and Sam hates being spied on all the time and in the end he destroys the device that does that, but I wish someone else would openly criticise it in-game
I guess Deadman sort of did but still
Also I know the whole BB technology was Bridget’s idea, and since she’s the actual villain it’s framed as a twisted, evil thing during the ending, but I wish that had been framed like that much earlier ; a lot of Bridges employees just... seem to accept the idea that their employer is using premature babies and their dead mothers as useful, if disturbing, devices. They seem to justify it by “uh we stole that technology from terrorists” to try to cope with the idea but... yeah.
I mean, one of the points being made very early on is that Sam sees his BB as his child who must be protected at all costs instead of a detection device, but I really wish he wasn’t the only one to object to that thing
Again, the game DOES frame "using babies and their dead mothers as tools” as evil and twisted, I just wish it was given a lot more weight and way sooner
Now let’s talk about the Token Straight(tm) in this game
In any other kind of context it would be a joke! But Death Stranding literally has a Token Straight Guy!
I mean, there IS a few hetero couples among the Preppers. Not a lot, mind you. Like, there’s the Montaineer and his wife for instance. But they’re just there and it’s not what their side plot is about
No I’m talking about this piece of shit right there
This f█cking Junk Dealer guy complains the girl he loves is dead because of Bridges and emotionally blackmails us by sending us old holograms of her before her supposed death (somewhat disturbing holograms too because she looks... pretty young in them), then he sends us on what’s essentially a suicide mission in a BT infested zone, THEN when we give him proof she’s still alive and living in another bunker nearby, he won’t go there himself to check??
But SHE’s like “ok, bring me to him, then!”
He doesn’t deserve you, girl
I’ve already seen several people pointing out that carrying a woman as cargo on your back is... debatable at best and sexist at worst, but that part didn’t really bother me to be honest? She asked to be carried to him and it’s her choice. She was talking to us the entire way too, so that made things a lot less awkward. Also Sam has this phobia of being touched by other people so I bet carrying another human being on his back isn’t fun for him. It was also super stressful to do, to be honest.
And then there’s this EXTREMELY AWKWARD scene when they’re reunited and decide to get married, and thankfully Sam finds it just as awkward as we do because he’s standing super far away from the bunker in a “can’t they talk about this later - I’m right there” way. And I’m under the impression it was intended as cringy, in a “yeppp young people in love are Like That” sort of way, so I can accept that, to be honest. If you don’t take that scene seriously, it’s pretty fun in, again, a cringy sort of way
BUT
Then you receive more emails later and this piece of shit guy complains about her and he’s like “ugh WOMEN” or “marriage is the worst” and they end up divorced in record time and she goes back to her bunker
Which isn’t my problem with this subplot either, I promise I’m gonna explain myself eventually but this context is important. It’s okay to have characters who are pieces of shit like this guy who reeks of incel cologne. It’s alright. Not every character has to be a role-model. It’s good to have characters you can hate.
BUT THEN they get back together later to try to patch things up and you learn he was part of a gang who murdered her parents even though he protected her against the rest of the gang and that’s what I hated about that storyline. I guess if you squint it can be read as “this woman is making REALLY BAD life choices” but I read it as “he saved her so she owes him something, he can’t be entirely bad” and y i k e s this left such a bad taste in my mouth, good lord.
But yeah miss Chiral Artist you’re making really bad life choices please get away from this dude as soon as you can, thank you
Also don’t do this ‘sending Likes’ pose ever again, it was hilarious but also you made me use the word “cringy” several times in this paragraph even though I absolutely hate cringe culture, look what you made me do
Now I have to talk about a scene that was intentionally disturbing as hell but ONE (1) detail in it was disturbing for the wrong reasons
To be honest, I really don’t like the Metal Gear Solid games and one of the reasons is the rampant sexism in them so I... was kind of bracing myself for Death Stranding and expecting it to have at least SOME really bad fanservice with a woman at one point or another but to my surprise?? There was none? All the fanservice is on dudes??? Hello? I really liked that (well at some point Fragile takes a shower in our room but we see literally nothing except her shoulder and then Sam looks away)?? What a refreshing change
THAT BEING SAID
And if you played the game you know exactly what I’m about to talk about
Yep this is the part where Johannes complains about how the bomb flashback was shot
Ok so I guess I should also give some context in case someone is reading this but hasn’t played the game, but the deal with this scene is that our friend Fragile was betrayed by her colleague Higgs who used to be a porter but became a terrorist after meeting the “main“ villain of the game. First he secretly put a thermonuclear bomb in one of her deliveries so she’d nuke an entire city without even knowing it, and everyone after that thought she was a terrorist. And then he tried to do that shit A SECOND TIME, but she noticed and decided to toss the second nuke into a bottomless lake of tar. But he caught her just before she reached the lake and he decided to give her a sadistic choice, which was “teleport away and the bomb stays there and nukes the city, or carry it to the lake but only in your underwear under this rain that speeds up time and it will do enormous damage to your health and your body”
And of course being the hero she is, she decides to take the second option
And it’s an incredibly disturbing scene and it’s genuinely hard to watch
But it’s also the ONLY time a woman is in her underwear in this entire game and there’s A COUPLE of shots that were male-gaze-y at the beginning before she started to run and the really horrific part started.
So in a way I guess it could have been worse? way worse, even
But it still tarnishes an otherwise disturbing (and harrowing at times ; seriously I know I’m oversensitive but it was physically painful to watch) scene with unnecessary shots
We know Fragile had a young body before this happened, this isn’t the point of this scene, guys
Whoever decided to keep these shots (probably Kojima let’s face it), that is bad and you should feel bad
Idk how to do a visual transition for that next one because I do not want to screen that memo
So here’s a screenshot with a nice landscape instead
tw: acephobia
Now I have to talk about something I like the GENERAL IDEA of, but not how the IN-GAME MATERIAL ABOUT IT was written
Because I have to talk about that “asexual world” memo
First I have to say that I absolutely love the fact that a mainstream game openly says in-game “this future is full of asexual people" and?? it’s just that, it’s a part of this world. That’s just how things are. It’s normalised. I love it. For crying out loud this memo has the word demisexual in it. I can’t think of any other mainstream game that had this word in it so far.
It should have stopped there and let me enjoy that in peace but it didn’t
THE MEMO ITSELF WAS CLEARLY WRITTEN BY SOMEONE WHO DOESN’T KNOW HOW TO HANDLE THESE CONCEPTS and there’s some really bad stuff there. I’d say it’s accidental acephobia but it’s still there. I’m not the best person to talk about this because I’m bi, but it still rubbed me the wrong way
The words this memo uses near the beginning are “"sexless lifestyle” among young people” and yikes, my dude. “Lifestyle”, uh? Really?
And then it goes on about how these new labels were already more and more common “among young people before the Death Stranding” and it also rubs me the wrong way, in a “wow young people and their weird labels lol” sort of queerphobic way?
However I’ve seen a post pointing out that the line “One theory posits that the Stranding accelerated the proliferation of these sexualities” was maybe a way of saying ‘yo asexuals are causing the end of the world’ but... I don’t see it, tbh? In the context of the game, society is extremely divided and a lot of people live in complete isolation and social norms have heavily shifted and it’s kind of normal that there’s queer people visible everywhere now, aces included obviously, because nobody’s bothering to hide it anymore. It’s a post-apocalyptic world! People are just being themselves! A lot of characters also seem to be bi/pan! They’re just vibing ok
At least that’s how I read that part, I can understand if someone had a problem with that bit but I didn’t
BUT! THAT’S NOT ALL because the memo concludes (I’m paraphrasing) “the birth rate has dropped, which might be a problem, but harassment and assault have also dropped, which is good, so idk it’s 50/50″ and. like. I get the intention. But it’s clumsy as hell and very bad. Please don’t confuse abuse of power and attraction. They don’t go hand in hand. Don’t do that. Please. And you know that aces can have kids if they want to, right. Come on. It’s 2020 my dude. This shit is harmful
Also. Like. It’s the end of the world in this game. People don’t want kids. It... has nothing to do with aces. Reality itself is crashing down. People are reluctant to have kids because reality.exe might f█cking crash down at any given moment!
Or a Beached Thing could VoidOut their city!
Or someone might send them a nuke, not naming names!!
Anyway!!!
It’s really badly written and whoever wrote it should educate themselves and maybe get an ace to re-read their stuff next time??
Again I’m not the right person to talk about acephobia and I bet an actual ace would have plenty more to say about this
Thankfully it’s a memo written in-game by a random Bridges councellor and NOT by any important character that we actually know
"I must preempt myself by admitting that I do not have any empirical data" yeah so, f█ck off maybe
So I’m just gonna call that guy “another piece of shit character” but it still doesn’t excuse the fact that the memo was written by someone who thought it was a good idea to put it in the game
Just let me enjoy my super queer post-apo world in peace and don’t write shit like that in your game thank you and goodbye
Minor stuff I also disliked but it wasn’t as awful
I get that Sam is upset at the end because Lou is dying but the way he said goodbye to Fragile broke my heart. It was abrupt and you KNOW he’s upset and wants to have nothing to do with Bridges anymore and that’s very understandable but it isn’t her fault
Seriously I want them to be friends again
I’m gonna pretend they’re friends again after Lou is saved and that Sam is a freelance porter again and sometimes their paths cross and they just talk together in the middle of nowhere and share cryptobiotes
The pacing is weird, there’s this deluge of plot in the beginning and the end but not much in the middle?
The BT boss fights could have been these epic Shadow of the Colossus showdowns but no, they were relatively standard boss fights. Wasted opportunity
The running on the Beach scene sdfghjhgfdsdfghjhgf that was... dumb
A lot of preppers are interesting in one way or another but some are just boring. Also I wish the design of their bunkers was more varied
Amelie/Bridget’s motivations are all over the place, both creating Bridges AND the Demens is... a lot? I know she both WANTS and DOESN’T want the actual, final end of the world to happen but that is a lot to take in and it’s all very confusing
Who the hell cares about ‘rebuilding America’ I just want to build a network where people can help each other
The ‘likes’ are fun but don’t make much sense
In conclusion
Death Stranding Good
Some stuff Bad
Some stuff Very Bad (but it’s just one memo out of 100+ memos, thank god)
I’m still hyperfixating
Send help
#death stranding#long post#eye contact tw#acephobia tw#from a minor unamed character but still it's there
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She-Ra and the Princesses of Power S02E05 - White Out
White Out makes me think of snow and blizzards but Google is telling me that it's also the name for the liquid used to fix mistakes when people wrote with pen on paper. Y'know, prehistory. So. It could be something related to Frosta or it could be someone trying to tape over a mistake? Or maybe both. Or none of those at all. I don't know, so let's do this!
This explains why neither of these two appeared in the previous episode. Apparently they are in... a mountain? Or one of the planet's poles?
When the... "beast" attacked the Best Friends Squad back in the first episode of the first season, I really thought they'd be more prevalent that they'd been. I think the horse has done more damage through the show than the local wildlife.
It makes sense that they'd mostly ignore that threat considering the focus of the show has been firmly in the confrontation between The Horde and The Rebellion, but now that Catra and Entrapta seem to be alone in the snow... what a perfect opportunity for a winter horror episode plot.
Hey, I think I already watched this episode! They are going to find an iceberg with a glowing kid inside.
Well, that's a coat.
They burned down and sank to the bottom of the ocean, Bow. Haven't you learned anything about Seahawk?
Yeah, have to agree, Fire would have been a better fate.
The only man in the entire alliance with a boat.
It's always surprising when a cartoon character shows up with different clothes because it's so uncommon.
oh no my continuity theories
I'll forgive the wonky eyes this time because they are very appropriate.
SCORPIA IS ASKING CATRA OUT IN A DATE.
To think all that effort and cute bumbling is being wasted on Catra.
oooh, evil virus shard is back
I'm not sure why that's a surprise.
I was hoping she wouldn't mention that tiny tidbit of info but nope. And I doubt Catra is going to have any doubts about using it
But She-Ra didn't lose her powers, she lost them because they had to take out the sword from her hands before she continued her rampage. Is the monster of this winter horror movie actually going to be She-Ra? Because I want to watch that. Good characters turned evil are always fun.
Also Scorpia being the protagonist of her own romcom is also very good.
no
Every time Sea Hawks appears I fear it'll be the episode where he starts getting annoying but nope, still great.
Now I'm thinking that Catra is going to disable She-Ra with the murder-virus and immediately after they'll all get attacked by a snow monster. Because, y'know, Catra can't win.
...I can't take them seriously when most of them look like marshmallows.
Adora's biggest character development moment in this show will be when she realizes that chasing Catra is always a bad idea.
There goes my theory from last episode that Scorpia didn't want to kill Glimmer. Dead, like Glimmer.
She's already falling to her death, there's no reason to stress over some creepy monster eyes.
sending thoughts and prayers
First meeting in person! I expected more from everyone else but I guess they are busy.
You know the writers have done a good job with a character when you hear something like that and you go "yup, that's entrapta"
Welp, now she'll have the guts to murder Catra. Unless she drops the sword.
As awesome as I hoped.
Catra right now.
I was thinking that this episode seemed to be moving a bit fast since they were already fighting a third into the episode but the teams separating could be interesting. I wish one of the "bad guys" was falling with them though, that dynamic is always fun.
She says, seconds before Mad She-Ra turns and notices them there.
And Entrapta is loving it, of course.
This could have some interesting consequences, if it shows Catra that she can only win against She-Ra because Adora can't avoid going easy on her. Catra knows this deep down, she even takes advantage of it but that doesn't mean that it wouldn't hurt her pride to actually lose.
"puny cat"
On one hand I'm loving this. On the other, I'm worried because the biggest reason why Adora feels so overwhelmed is because according to Light Hope, Mara went crazy and did a bunch of bad stuff. What if Adora starts feeling guilty about what's happening here? But, the virus could also provide an alternate explanation for Mara's rampage (if she indeed went crazy instead of just acting against Light Hope's orders because of attachment~)
what... what did you think she was?
Catra, excelling at shoving down traumatic experiences and hiding them with a devil-may-care attitude since... I dunno, how old is she again?
that's not good
Noo, don't destroy the murder-virus.
I'm glad they are actually talking about this possibility because it was the first thing that came to my mind after the episode the virus appeared. It's such a Catra plan.
Of course, the fact that they are talking about it probably means it won't happen, unless they are setting up the season finale early?
Is Scorpia going to get jealous and set Adora free?
I was starting to get a bit eye-rolly at Sea Hawk's weird issues but the shanty brought him back to awesome. Really walking the knife's edge with him.
I love angry hulking out She-Ra but Drunk Adora is the best side effect of that virus.
oh my god
You can see Scorpia's soul leaving her body.
Adora, the dignified and elegant owner of the sword of protection.
She did need a break
I don't know, Scorpia doesn't seem to be in the closet about anything.
Oh no, she's turning into the worst type of drunk: the weepy drunk
The monsters have been in the background of every fight scene, that's the opposite of a twist!
An example of how well this show nails the characters's expressions.
And one more. I complain sometimes about the animation and the wonky eyes but these jokes show how the animators can do a lot with very little.
Sadly, childhood friends always win, the one trope to beat them all.
I didn't sign up for Scorpia feels.
I didn't see this coming at all. Of course the two joke characters would empathize with each other.
WHY WOULD YOU TELL THAT TO ENTRAPTA? You're just giving her more ideas.
Light Hope did mention how everything in Etheria was part of their system. Does that include the fauna?
This is weirdly heartwarming.
getting real
That was way cuter than I expected. Nothing like getting some validation from a drunk lady to reboot their self-esteem.
They are getting slightly better about this but they still like some drastic mood swings between scenes.
Adora should always be drunk.
Can't wait for the fourth season episode where Adora struggles with her addiction to the virus, the one thing that lets her forget about her worries in a world consumed by war.
And now it's back to heavy. Does she save Catra, risking her anger? Or keep the disk? I think she's is going to destroy the disk, it's the right thing to do for Catra even if she can't see it right now, and that's the type of character Scorpia seems to be.
Wow, I didn't expect this. Catra is seeing Scorpia for the first time.
Right there with you, Sea Hawk.
Look at Scorpia's face! Look at her! She's so happy!
I'm not sure if it's because I haven't watched She-Ra in so long but this is the first episode I remember feeling long. Not in a bad way, it's not like I couldn't wait for it to end, but it's the first time that made me think "huh, only X minutes in." Part of it is probably because the first third/half felt like it could have been an early season 1 episode, with a setup, some chatting and a fight. Then the turn happened and it switched to something more complex.
The conversation between Sea Hawk and Scorpia was cute and wholesome, and I'm glad they both found someone who could understand them, but I'm not 100% happy with Scorpia's resolution to she won't leave Catra. It was very... I'm not sure how to explain it without making it sound way more problematic than I actually think it is. It shifts the responsibility about Catra treating her like crap to Scorpia.
It did work out by the end when she actually stood up to Catra and did what she thought was best, so maybe I'm worrying about nothing.
I'm somewhat sad by the death of the virus as a plot device, I liked the idea of the plan Catra had for a Mad She-Ra rampaging through the rebellion but at least we got a brief glimpse of what could happen. Curiously enough we didn't get to see the fallout for Adora so I hope it doesn't get glossed over the next episode. Losing control like that was a big deal last season and it should still be considering all the new baggage Adora is dealing now.
It was a great episode, it went places I didn't expect it to go and the show keeps building up the characters in interesting ways. Only two episodes left! Until next time!
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“Ableism as Plot Device” in Netflix’s “Locke & Key”
So...as noted, I have a beef with Locke & Key, and the way certain characters were handled in the show (remember, this has nothing to do with the comic, which I haven’t seen...I have no idea if it’s fraught with the same problems).
I first watched the show as part of my Streamworthy TV venture (currently set up & being fleshed out on FB/IG/Twitter/Tumblr & Snapchat, with YouTube in progress...give me a follow, if you care to help someone AWESOME, that can’t work a traditional job...even part time). I myself am on the spectrum, and have mobility issues that require a chair often, due to EDS. So just putting it out there that people without these issues may not immediately have noticed the problems that I’ll be mentioning...but if you’ve seen the show, you’ll know what I’m talking about (you can also see my other, previous post on general crappiness, as well as LGBTQ issues, that are present in the show).
But this post will focus on ableism, and misrepresentation of neurodiversity and disability. (Please know that this is a PURPOSEFUL separation, as I don’t see my OWN Aspieness as a “disability,” but rather, an advantage. **I know that not all people may feel that way;** however, those of us that benefit from/appreciate the autistic aspects of ourselves ALSO have the right to not see autism as a “disability.” Autism is different for everyone, and thus it shouldn’t be forced into the box of “disability.” (Example: my hyperlexia from a young age served me VERY well with reading, writing papers, and test taking, for many, many years. But back to Locke & Key.)
The reason I brought up the above point was because, through the first season, L&K uses the “autism as disability only” angle, which many of us in the ASD community are used to seeing (and being annoyed by). And despite ZERO character development over the course of the series, I’ve seen “AUTISM AS PLOT DEVICE” employed THREE times, at LEAST. I was dragging through the show, annoyed at the portrayal and usage of the character, as well as a different character, who is wheelchair-using, and nonverbal. But suddenly the “realization of ableism” bolt hit me about the larger problems with the portrayals and usage of ASD here - and I got PISSED.
Maybe we have interests that may SEEM to others to “not be age appropriate” (...when, give me a break, how many NT adults/older teens love stories or movies from comics, or collect Funkos, or went hunting for Pokémon...? It’s NOT just us, y’all). Also, older kids CAN INDEED hang out with younger kids in a mentor-type way, without it being a situation of “welp, ASD = emotionally stunted, so character only hangs out with young child.” But those tropes aren’t enough.
We DON’T innocently extrapolate situations outside our head (in front of others!), ESPECIALLY if it breaks a safety rule we were told, i.e., “well, my mom said I’m not supposed to say if I’m home alone...but you’re a friend, so...no, she’s not here.” Before you tell me otherwise, keep this point in mind - if we have the ability to be home alone, SAFELY taking care of ourselves...then we wouldn’t slip like that. NOPE. If we DID, it wouldn’t BE safe for us to be home by ourselves.
As well, if we REALLY care about an item, we don’t let it go missing (the ASD character doesn’t, but someone else uses said character’s autism to blame for “needing to go looking for the toys he left behind, then got ‘upset’ about,” - also inferring a “meltdown” - every time she needs to go to someone’s else’s house). **If something is related to one of our SpIns (special interests), we DON’T MISPLACE THOSE ITEMS HAPHAZARDLY!!** I’ve been that way since I was a kid. Ugh!!! You also see someone destroy one of his treasured items, just to be cruel. This shows us how important the items are to the character...so he WOULDN’T be forgetting them.
So, we see a mother using tropes of her son’s autism, to manipulate herself into certain important areas/situations, more than once. That, and the fact that the character with ASD is able to let someone know they were home alone when a crime occurred (thus making the person that lives with them a suspect), because of their completely unrealistic, verbalized musing of “the ASD thought process”...mix it all in with the total lack of character development, and you come to the final conclusion:
“This character is only here as a plot device. They’ve been given zero character development, and have been shown JUST enough to ESTABLISH THAT THEY ARE NEURODIVERSE, and then are thereafter ONLY in ways that FURTHER THE PLOT...in ways that would only occur BECAUSE the character is neurodiverse.”
So yeah. This is lazy writing of the worst degree, and I’m more than a little annoyed. I’m sick and tired of “DISABILITY AS PROP OR PLOT DEVICE” (whether that disability is a assumed or not), as well as disabled or neurodiverse characters ONLY being shown as tropes. This does a disservice to not only the ASD community, but to society as a whole; people will expect us to act a certain way, and not be understanding of those that are “higher functioning” - for lack of a better term - than those that are portrayed on television. As well, it’s part of the reason why females with autism are still VASTLY under-diagnosed (as they can have VASTLY different presentation). Not only do people get used to seeing a particular suite of “symptoms,” which they equate to ALL people on the spectrum...but those shown in media are almost NEVER female.
I’m not sure if the comic is set up this way as well, and it’s just poorly executed on TV...but I’m peeved AF😡 There is also the poor acting/treatment of the wheelchair-using, institutionalized character, & how her being non-verbal is ALSO used to further the plot (yikes, my hands are shot...but I’ll get out what I can, here).
I’ve worked with MANY non-verbal children (it was actually my specialty, before physical & mental health issues of my own)...and I’ve also had my OWN bouts of being non-verbal, due to trauma/illness. On BOTH sides, I have always found a way to communicate. Even when my Dad was on a ventilator and life support (mostly for breathing/kidney function, due to sepsis...we sadly lost him a few weeks later), I was able to communicate with him...because, with my background, I saw that he was able to respond with the wiggling of a toe, or squeezing of a hand.
So the use of a non-verbal character that “can’t tell her important secrets,” as another necessary part of the plot, is just MORE lazy, insulting, ableist scriptwriting. The character is NOT catatonic, and is aware of what’s going on all around them; so, by what you see in all interactions with her, it makes you wonder what’s happening to her when she doesn’t have visitors. Is she just rolled into a back room, or off to the side, where no one gives her ANY adaptive equipment?
Any research would show that one with speech issues can build sentences with an eye-gaze machine, or even eye-gaze itself, with symbols. I’d like to think that in real life, a CENTER for those that are disabled, of all places(!!!), would have at least ONE of those machines, or some other means of communication, available.
This is another point that is sad for society at large to view, as it makes people think that they “shouldn’t bother with” people that are non-verbal, as there’s “no way” to let them be part of communication, besides the method used in the show (which I have used as well, but you would think this poor character would be getting SOME type help/services/etc!) It was just CRINGEWORTHY AF...I’m SO sick of shows/movies where someone needs to address someone thrown in the back of an institution alone, to rot (off the top of my head, I remember this from “Dark” on Netflix, as well as on “Orphan Black,” amongst others).
So...yea. I just wanted to post this, for if anyone asks for a link, or anyone stumbles across this, and themselves saw these issues, and got upset. Trust me - it wasn’t just you. This is a comic that was supposedly quite successful...the television adaptation of this could’ve been MUCH better. If there were tropes of other marginalized groups in the comic, you can be SURE that those would be righted for TV. But the ableist train keeping chugging right along, as more people than EVER claim to be “woke”🙄 YIKES.
#ableism#ableist#netflix original#netflix original series#netflix#locke and key#autism#asd#autism tropes#actually asd#ASD#aspie#aspie problems#disability#disabilities#disabled representation#dont watch it#neurodiversity#actually neurodiverse#so sick of this#nonverbal#wheelchair#powerchair#powerchair user#actuallyneurodivergent#actually disabled
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Spring 2018 Overview: Megalobox
Megalobox follows a boxer named Joe, a guy who lives in a dystopian future and participates in “Megaloboxing” with advanced mechanical gear. When he has a chance to enter the big boxing tournament, Megalovania, he goes for it at great risk to himself.
I watched this one through a fluke more than anything really. The anime community was talking about it a bunch and I was restless one night and I checked it out and rolled with it to the finish. Sports anime focusing on burly tough guys are very much Not My Thing and this series...did not change that at all. While it was a solid production with great aesthetics and a fantastic soundtrack, I couldn’t really connect with it and I doubt it will stay with me at all.
The thing is, this is an extremely by-the-numbers underdog-rises-to-the-top sports story. If you’ve seen Rocky, you’ve seen the basic arc of this story. (The anime is even loosely based on a classic manga, Ashita no Joe, and one of the names for that series is “Rocky Joe”). It is executed with such confidence and sincerity that I think anyone who holds any affection at alll for the genre might enjoy it despite it’s standard set up, and the early episodes certainly had some memorable aspects.
Actually, the first half of the show was definitely strongest and most interesting...it actually touched on social commentary and societal dynamics a bit. Joe, our main character, is an undocumented immigrant, which was a really good angle for the whole underdog deal. Unfortunately, the show didn’t really DO anything about this, it mostly seemed to be there as a plot device/obstacle (Joe entered the tournament with a fake ID and quite a few times the tension comes from someone threatening to expose him). We never even learn what country Joe comes from or really anything about his past. Which is part of the point, I guess, his whole deal is he’s supposed to be a “nameless stray”- even “Joe” was just something he chose himself to enter the tournament. But it made it hard for me to connect to him, even if I got the gist of his deal.
One of the most interesting plotlines in the show was the arc where Joe faces off with a former student of his trainer’s, who’s a disabled war veteran who is struggling with PTSD. It’s a pretty heavy arc- we get flashbacks to the guy contemplating suicide (like gun in his mouth) and the prosthetics he has, despite this being a futuristic setting, do make competing harder for him and it’s shown to be dangerous and that he has to do a lot to compensate. The arc also added depth to Joe’s trainer, who’d come off as pretty selfish before then, but this whole thing showed what made him tick, and the guilt he carried in regards to letting down his former student. It ended in a somewhat brutal but cathartic way too.
Honestly, this dude would have been a way more interesting main rival for Joe. But instead, his arc ended and focus shifted back to Joe’s “real” rival, Yuri, who just honestly...really boring. He didn’t have to be, but like Joe we knew literally nothing about his past and what motivated him to become a boxer. But while Joe’s motivations were easy to understand and sympathize with even without specific details- dude who comes from the margins of society, wants to be recognized and rise up, we all know that drill...Yuri’s really needed details for someone to feel for him. He’d joined up with this big company and was working for the “goal”, but felt repressed boxing for them or something, I guess? To understand that, you need to know why he joined in the first place, how he feels about the company’s goal, where he came from that makes him so desperate to break free and punch dudes....but we got none of that.
The vagueness surrounding Yuri kind of extends to the whole show too. The sci-fi trappings of boxers wearing this mechanical “gear” that enhances their boxing was never really implemented well, imo. I guess the gear enhances boxers strength and speed somehow, but it was always really vague, and it was hard to tell what Joe was risking by boxing without it. Like, how hard does gear allow you to punch? Could Joe easily die by not having it? Why is it considered such a big deal? The show doesn’t really integrate all that well.
So yeah, the show started out with some interesting sci-fi elements, a stylish dystopian setting, themes of wartime drama, class-ism and the potential to comment on immigration issues...but all that just kinda went out the window for the boring basic “these dudes super want to punch each other to ~feel free~” story. There were still some laudable elements- in a super dramatic moment, character gains a significant disability, yet is still shown to be able to live a full life and be involved in everything- but it was mostly very rote stuff by the end.
“Nev, you sure are talking about dudes a lot here, were there any female characters in this anime?” I’m glad you asked! There was one whole lady and she was Yukiko, the head of the corporation that runs the Megalovania boxing tournament and produces the “gear” many of the boxers use. Yep, just her. Okay, I guess technically there were two women if you count her assistant, but she wasn’t really a character- her job was to provide exposition and be shocked when Yukiko made an unexpected decision. However, her presence did mean the series technically passed the Bechdel test! So, uh, yay for that, I guess.
Yukiko isn’t bad as a character- she’s capable as a company head (and was in fact chosen over her brother), she has her own goals with her company, family drama and she’s conflicted and sympathetic. But like a lot of characters in this series, she wasn’t super interesting because so much about her was so vague. I guess her goal was to sell her gear to the military? But not as a “weapon”, somehow.
She was also not really all that into boxing and didn’t really understand why Yuri would want to throw away his life to punch some dude. Same here, but it’s kind of annoying we didn’t really get to know any women who had interest or knowledge about boxing as a sport. It gave the impression the show didn’t think a woman COULD be heavily interested and involved in boxing.
Which brings me to a thing that genuinely bothers me about the show. They had an opportunity to have more than one girl in the series, they had an opporunity to show off a girl who was into boxing, they had an opportunity to put a female character on Joe’s team...but instead they actively chose to erase her. See, Joe is aided by a gang of Classic Street Urchins, and one of them, Sachio, becomes his advisor and a trusted member of his team. The street urchins are based on a gang of kids from the original Joe anime, but they’re all boys here, while in the original anime one of them was a girl. Her name was Sachie.
Yep, Sachio’s based off a female character (as well as another kid in the gang). They had a female character from the original 60s manga they could have made a part of the team, but they changed her to a boy instead. In 2018. They could have kept Sachio a girl, and changed absolutely nothing- his role in the team is to be tech smart plucky street kid who yells motivational things and gets emotional, and GUESS WHAT GIRLS CAN DO THAT. i was actually thinking while watching the show “you know, this kid would really work as a girl” the whole time only to find out he originally WAS.
Sachie in the original series didn’t seem to have that important of a role, but neither did the other street urchins- when they decided to raise the profile of one of them and get them more involved in the plot for a reboot anime, YOU’D THINK THEY’D HAVE CHOSEN THE GIRL INSTEAD OF ERASING HER COMPLETELY, CONSIDERING THE SHOW ONLY HAS ONE REAL FEMALE CHARACTER OTHERWISE. But no. You threw away the solid gold opportunity to make an anime with cute scrappy band-aid sporting little girl in a newsboy cap, you COWARDS.
Which basically sums Megalobox up for me. It could have done something cool and different, but chose to be just average. At least the soundtrack and aesthetic is great. The animation wasn’t bad either (though it could have stood to be more dynamic, considering it was about punching). I dug the retro vibe. But yeah, I won’t be revisiting this. And I will never forgive the loss of a potential boxing-obsessed scrapper anime girl. Ever.
#megalobox#spring 2018 anime#anime#anime overview#ashita no joe#blood cw#attempted suicide cw#megalo box
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My Muted World
By Jordan Frederick
Copyright Inked Water Lilies 2021. Published 05/21/2021
****
I live in a muted world.
I mean that literally.
One of the questions people ask when I tell them of my partial deafness is: “Were you born with it?”
The answer: yes and no.
I was not born with something in my genetic makeup that made me half deaf. Rather, my birth was a complicated one. Think of it this way: anything that could go wrong, did go wrong. When I was born, I wasn’t breathing. I was rushed from one hospital to another in a STARS helicopter; once I arrived, I was hooked up to various machines––the only things keeping me alive.
My death was a very real possibility. There are no happy pictures following the first month of my birth. Not even when Santa Clause visited me in the hospital.
As a result of all these complications, I am now half deaf and will be for the rest of my life.
The interesting thing is, for the first eighteen to nineteen years of my life, I never really thought of my hearing loss as a disability. Of course, I was well aware that the vast majority of my fellow students didn’t need small devices to help them hear on a more normal level. How could I not, when young children asked what those things in my ears were?
Even still, it was not until recently that I’ve started to say that something might be difficult for me because I have a hearing disability. My hearing loss is something I’ve always lived with. Yes, it is frustrating, having to ask someone to repeat themselves five times. It is annoying when I go to the movie theater and, without the help of closed captioning, I only have a general idea of what the plot of the movie is. Thankfully, we live in a time that is more accessible for people––even in the movie theater. As a result, that particular problem has lessened.
I will admit that my loss of hearing causes frustration in my life. But it took me some time before I began to casually throw the word “disability” around. For me, it is a simple fact of life. The sky is blue, water is wet, I am half deaf. I have never truly viewed it as something that makes me less of a person or something that makes me extraordinary. But some people seem to disagree.
There have been some instances in my life that stand out––ones that told me that not everyone views me as “normal.” My memory is vague, but I do remember encountering a few girls in the girls’ washroom, sometime between grade two and grade five. I think one of them asked me a question, and when I answered, they looked at each other as if it was some amazing feat that I was able to understand enough to answer them at all.
And then there was the incident in high school, wherein a girl in my grade struck up a conversation with me in the hallway. She told me she was going to graduate early; I can remember being bewildered by that, and a bit jealous. The girl asked me something then––I can’t remember what––but I do remember her reaction. She said, “Yeah?” in a high-pitched voice that reminded me of the way people talk to babies. Or dogs. Suffice to say, I didn’t appreciate it then; I appreciate it even less now.
It’s moments like these that influenced my severe lack of self-esteem.
I understand why some people treated me that way. My hearing loss has certainly made a number of things difficult for me. There were times during my schooling when someone would talk to me, or tell me to do something. Confused and unable to understand, I would give them a wide, doe-eyed look. It must have been frustrating for them. Still, I didn’t appreciate it when people would physically move me to wherever I was supposed to be standing during drama class, or would feel the constant need to instruct me and tell me what to do. I am not stupid now and I was not stupid then. Some things are simply more difficult for me.
Make no mistake: I am not saying that I have a horrible life. Nor am I saying I have a harder life than others. As the saying goes, I am telling it like it is.
Despite these occurrences in my earlier life, not everyone is unkind about my hearing loss. I remember being surprised during my first year of college, when, no matter how many times I had to ask my roommates to repeat something, they never showed any outward frustration. I appreciated this; most people tend to lose patience after being asked to repeat something several times. They never did.
It is true that I have hearing aids. Even still, there are times when I still have difficulty. It can be hard enough in a calm room. A loud room, such as a party, is nearly impossible for me. This is why I learned the “nod and smile” technique. If I pretend I know what someone is saying, then they won’t have to repeat themselves, resulting in less frustration for both of us.
This doesn’t work all the time, of course––especially when the speaker is expecting a response to a question they asked. But it is a tactic I’ve used for some time and likely will continue to use.
There was yet another time during my first year of college wherein someone was kind about my disability. Our professor asked my class to arrange ourselves into pairs or groups so that we could discuss the topic on hand. The man next to me became my partner for this discussion. He started to say something about the topic and then cut himself off and asked, “Can you hear me?” It’s the way he said it that stuck with me. Not with any hint of annoyance or derision; not over the top. He asked in a simple, matter-of-fact voice. He was not trying to make me feel bad; he was making sure I could hear so that we could have our discussion. I have little doubt that if I’d answered “no,” he would have spoken louder, or done something else to make sure I could hear him properly.
It’s the little things like that that I’ve come to appreciate.
In truth, I have many things to be thankful for. I live in a time that is much more accessible for people like me. Twenty or thirty years ago, I would not have the accommodations I do now. In fact, thirty years ago I might have been rejected by institutions, simply for having a disability.
I have met plenty of kind people as a result of my partial deafness. I even formed friendships that, while temporary, were meaningful to me. Like my childhood friend who also had hearing loss. After meeting him in elementary school, suddenly I wasn’t the only kid who wore hearing aids. For once in my life, I didn’t feel like the odd one out. I had an ally. Someone who was like me.
Of course, I know I am not the only one who’s experienced hearing loss. I’m far from the only person my age group who uses hearing aids. But when I was a young kid in elementary school receiving different treatment than the other kids, it could feel like I was the only one in the world who was like me. And though that friendship didn’t last, that does not diminish that, for my time in elementary and some in middle school, I was not alone.
Being fifty percent deaf may not be many people’s ideal of living their life, but in truth, it is far from the worst thing that could have happened to me.
So, if I could change that, would I? If one day there was a magical, relatively inexpensive cure that could give me perfect hearing, or I was granted a chance to wish it for myself, would I wish myself more “normal”? Would I go through with it?
To be honest, if I were given such an opportunity, wishing away my deafness is unlikely to be the first thing that crosses my mind. It is a part of my overall identity and it is something I am used to. I have accepted the fact that I will always be part deaf. It is not a fact that devastates me.
Except in moments of frustration, I have given little serious thought to how my life would be if I had more normal hearing. I cannot pin down an exact moment wherein I wished my life, in this respect, was different.
True, my life is made more difficult at times, but I’ve learned to adapt. In a way, my deafness has taught me to speak up for myself. Because if I don’t, then all I’m doing is making my life harder than it needs to be. It’s also true that I’ve been yelled at when I didn’t deserve it; I’ve been talked down to (even by members of my own family), but even then, my self-esteem has improved over the years. It’s not perfect. I acknowledge that my lack of self-esteem is due, in part, to how I’ve been treated, but it’s better than it used to be. It’s a lifelong process, just like my deafness is something I will always live with.
I live in a muted world.
And you know what? I’m okay with that.
#writing#literary#literary journal#writers on tumblr#submit#publishing#writer#writers and poets#reading
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Below the cut is a panel discussion on the magical disability trope in fantasy and sci-fi. The discussion was taken from disabilityinkidlit.com. The panelists are Kayla Whaley, Natasha Razi, and Corinne Duyvis. While this is a general discussion, it is relevant to A Song of Ice and Fire.
The final category we’re working with is “magic co-opts a disability and redefines it.” [...] this is where the narrative explains that magic is the root cause [...] For example, in real life, we may think that autism is a natural human variation; the story will explain that, actually, autistic people act differently because they were affected by something magical as a child [...]
Natasha: Regardless of the cause, these tropes usually start by depicting a character as disabled, and then reveal the magic after the fact, often as a “shocking twist” moment.
Kayla: [...] they’re relying on assumptions that the (abled) audience is going to bring with them. Disability = magic. That’s one effect of these tropes being so widely used: audiences begin expecting it, so the author doesn’t even have to make it explicit.
Natasha: [...] it’s often about a character having ~mystical knowledge~ that they can usefully share with the protagonist.
Corinne: I feel like a lot of this might be writers seeing “strange” disability stuff and having their imaginations take over. Ohhh, interesting, how could I use this? Such a fascinating plot element! [...]
The “fascinating plot element” bit actually ties into one of the big things that annoys me about this trope. A lot of the time, it’s a huge plot device, and it’s kind of cheap. The magical person is disabled (and this goes particularly for “unreliable” neurodivergent people) because then you can make them completely overpowered. You’ll be able to use the ability when it’s convenient, but you don’t have to explain why the character doesn’t just wave their hands and fix it all. Because they’re disabled! They probably don’t even realize what’s going on, or have no clue how to access their abilities consciously. Gag. So it’s something that conveniently enables plot yet provides a convenient obstacle at the same time.
Natasha: I think that ties into the running issue of disabled characters being sidelined. Because these characters are often minor parts, their roles can be shrunk down to their disability and the related magic. Obviously this isn’t always the case, but I do think there’s a strong correlation between how minor the character is and how much they exist as a convenient plot device.
Corinne: Right. Who needs character arcs or development, right?
Kayla: For sure. Having a disabled character be ˜magical˜ often reads as a justification of their very existence. Because what else could a disabled character possibly bring to the table? So they become objects, plot devices, obstacles, mysteries, etc.
Corinne: Justification sounds about right. And that’s sadly not too far from what we see in real life: If you’re going to be disabled, you’d better have some kind of amazing talent or be super amazing and saintly to make up for all the trouble you are. It’s got to be “balanced out.”
Kayla: And that’s where these tropes extend their reach into real life in horrifying ways. Disabled people—in fiction and outside of it—aren’t allowed to simply be disabled.
Natasha: “You’re depressed? You must be really artistic, right? You’re autistic? I bet you’re super organized and smart. You use a wheelchair? What an inspiration to us all!”
Kayla: A family member once told me he thinks all people born with disabilities are also given “special gifts” to make up for it. Not exaggerating.
Corinne: Gross. I mean, I’m not surprised, but come on.
Kayla: But to tie it back to these specific tropes, that what they ultimately say. That exact same thing.
Corinne: And I think that’s why it’s often harmful. If that’s the only context you see yourself in—a plot device, thinly developed, only tolerated or involved because of your useful magic … ouch.
[...] So how can it be used without being gross? [...]
Kayla: I think it really all comes down to execution. What role does the character play in the narrative? Are they treated as a full character with an arc, development, etc.?
Natasha: Also, it’s a matter of how the disability is treated—is it just there as a gotcha? Does it receive the same respect that we hope a real-life disability would receive?
Corinne: I think one of the things that bothers me personally is that, even when everything else is handled respectfully, and even if you have a pseudoscientific explanation, the idea of disability being inherently connected to magic can imply that all these disabled people work the same? This isn’t entirely related, but I remember that the third episode of the TV series Haven frustrated me immensely. To quote Wikipedia: there’s “an upheaval at the local psychiatric hospital involving something that causes the mad to become sane and vice versa.” Like it’s a switch you can flick on and off. But often disability is much more nuanced. It differs in symptoms, cause, severity, presentation.
Kayla: Yep, and I think one of the easiest ways to avoid that particular trap is to have more than one disabled character. That way you can show variation and explore how the magic might affect different people (even with the same disability!) in different ways. And from a writing perspective, that’s likely going to lead to a richer story. [...]
Corinne: Right. I think the root of the disability matters in terms of representation and implications—if all your disability is caused by magic, what does that say about real-life disabled people? do they not exist? is disability only OK if it’s got a magical reason?—and that’s why we’re discussing these ways to avert it.
[...] whether you’re using the experiences of marginalized people to be ~symbolic~ and ~allegorical~ or just because its practical/neat/dramatic for your story, you’re still using those experiences to serve your story. The least you can do is acknowledge and respect the people you’re drawing from, instead of just taking the juicy parts for your story and your privileged characters.
Kayla: Which … just don’t. Please. Just don’t do that thing.
Corinne: [...] Can linking disability and magic instead just mean disabled people get to do/be something really cool in sci-fi for a change?
Kayla: My immediate reaction is: but why can’t disabled people get to do something/be someone cool in SFF without being magical? Why aren’t they allowed to exist in those worlds and have those adventures unconditionally? If kids read these books and come away feeling empowered, then AWESOME. I always want disabled kids to feel that. But we should have more. What these tropes offer isn’t enough; it’s just all we’re used to getting.
Natasha: Yeah. Like, if a disabled person feels empowered by reading about a magical disability, it certainly isn’t my place to tell them they’re wrong, but I do think it’s significant that that’s all we get in terms of empowerment. [...] I really want more stories where characters are magical and disabled and these things are clearly unrelated.
Corinne: I’ve often seen people talk about superpowers like, “well, of course this blind character has visions/superhearing/etc., it’s a world with superpowers, should they just not get to play?? You’re the ableist one for suggesting disabled people shouldn’t be superheroes!” But, like, the blind character could have flight, superstrength, teleportation … ? There are tons of options that are in no way tied to blindness. I absolutely want disabled people to be part of these adventures and magic and get to do cool things But the execution just matters?
Corinne: [...] It feels quite disrespectful and further adds to disability as inexplicable, scary, fascinating, other. [...]
Natasha: I think that brings me to one of my biggest problems with the depictions of magical disability, and disability in general—it’s often intensely othering, either by implying that disability is ~different~ and ~mystical~, or by implying that disability has no place in this story, but centaurs do! [...] Also, please do not reduce your disabled character to a plot device. Don’t just have them exist to provide mystical information or a convenient deus ex machina [...] Give the character an arc, make them an actual character.
Kayla: Yes! Give them agency, a personality, an actual role in the story.
Corinne: In addition, there’s a difference between saying “they have this power because,” and creative use of an ability, like Toph using her earthbending as an assistive tool.
If your character or those around them perceive negative effects of magic as a real-life disability, do what you can to make clear to the reader that it’s not the case. Drop hints, try not to lead on disabled readers about potential rep.
Natasha: Be thoughtful. Be purposeful. Don’t just do the obvious, because the obvious usually reflects a hoard of internalized biases.
Corinne: Try to aim for unusual power combinations, ones we haven’t already seen a hundred times before and that don’t conveniently cancel out the disability. Deaf character with superspeed! Autistic character with ice powers! Witchy wheelchair user!
Kayla: And recognize that, with as few portrayals as we get, every single one matters so very much. The choices you make as an author will have real-life consequences (positive and/or negative, depending) for your disabled readers [...] And understand that many of your disabled readers might come into your story wary. We’ve been hurt, erased, dehumanized, etc. time and time again.
Natasha: Also killed. Can’t forget killed.
Kayla: I think what this all comes down to is recognizing what has come before, the problems with what’s come before, and being intentional about not adding to that. It comes down to questioning your own assumptions and reasons for writing this particular story.
It comes down to treating your disabled characters with the humanity that they (we) deserve.
[source]
#asoiaf#disability#ableism#magical disability#magical disability trope#hodor#walder of winterfell#ableism tw#hold the door
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