#where's that post about mobility aids in fantasy

[tired-reader-writer]

Progress on the WIP! I'm taking a break for the night.

[writers-potion]

Fight Scenes Involving Disabled Characters

This was inspired by a comment on one of my eariler posts by @rubyjewelqueen!

Level of Fighting Involved

Depending on the condition your character has, you'll want to adjust how physically strenuous the fight scenes are going to be. This can be done by:

Giving your disabled character a partner who'll take the worst of the fighting while the disabled character does what they can.

Giving them a partner/team they can call if they're in danger, which means they'll just have to hold on until backup comes.

Using the geographic location to limit the kind of attacks the opponent can launch.

Providing your disabled character with cool weapons (if you're writing sci-fi or fantasy, magical weapons are also an option)

Think about your character's capabilities:

Loss or Deformity of Limbs can be overcome by targeted physical training to make most of existing body parts, plus synthetic limbs if that's an option.

Muscular Dystrophy allows low-intensity exercises like walking and swimming. Your character might need breathing assistance as respiratory muscles weaken which means they won't be doing much sprinting. Braces/mobility aids needed.

Neuro Musculo Disability where there are no physical deformities but an inability to to perform controlled movements can plausibly be overcome with physical training and inventing new ways to grip and swing weapons meant for able people.

Conditions that affect one's energy and strength like CFS/POTS will be able to defend themselves quite well, but probably only for like 3-5 minutes before they need to recover for days. A rush of adrenaline and extreme anxiety will help them fight quite intensely, but you'll have to consider how much training they can get with their condition. Martial art skills that need hours of practice may be out of reach for them.

Weapons

The possibilities here are endless. Feel free to invent, or use everyday items as weapons. Just to list some common ones:

Canes, hiking poles, blades hidden in boots & at the end of walking sticks, hooked canes, T-bar cane, crutches

Self-defense items like pepper spray, stun guns, personal alarms

Daggers and light blades rather than swords, chakras they can throw around

Prosthetic can be used as weapons in dire circumstances. Your character may regret it afterwards.

handguns.

Adaptive Martial Arts

With more than 180 types and martial arts styles practiced worldwide, it’s nearly impossible to define a blanket answer to inclusion. But adaptive martial arts aim to help disabled people build physical strength.

Have a martial arts guru who is disabled themselves, and teach your hero how to fight.

Pick the martial arts that doesn't emphasize a particular skill your character doesn't have. For example, karate/kickboxing/ taekwondo emphasizes kicking which won't be possible for someone on a wheelchair. Might be better to avoid ones that involve lots of grappling. Jujitsu seems quite adaptable.

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[lurking-latinist]

I just saw this awesome post about including mobility aids in fantasy writing, and I do not want to create a tangent but I *do* want to share some things I learned about disability in ancient Greece when I was researching that paper I wrote on the Philoctetes, so I am making my own post.

Philoctetes is a mythical figure who was one of the Greek heroes going to the Trojan war. Before they got there, he suffered a wound in the foot which would not heal. The other Greek leaders were unwilling to have the noise of his screams and the stench of the infected wound in their camp, so they abandoned him on a deserted island with only his famous weapon, the Bow of Heracles. He survived there for ten years. Now the war is almost over, Troy has almost fallen, but the Greeks have heard a prophecy: they cannot win until they have the Bow of Heracles. So wily Odysseus and young Neoptolemus (the son of the recently dead Achilles) go to the island where Philoctetes is still living, still dealing with his injury. Philoctetes is eager to escape the island, but can he trust the community that abandoned him ten years ago? Can they ever make right what they did to him?

Now that’s the type of story that someone might very well point to who was arguing that disabled people have to be neglected and excluded in a “historically accurate” story. And it’s definitely not an example of casual inclusion. But what that person would be missing is that Philoctetes’ abandonment and isolation in this play was intended to be shocking to its Athenian audience. The audience is invited to identify with Philoctetes and to be horrified at how he does not receive the support from his community that real-world people with similar disabilities did receive, as we can tell from both textual and archaeological evidence.

Martha L. Rose’s book The Staff of Oedipus: Transforming Disability in Ancient Greece emphasizes this. Look, here’s what I wrote in my paper, why should I rewrite it:

Rose approaches her material “though the lens of disability studies, which approaches the phenomenon of disability by assuming that there is nothing inherently wrong with the disabled body and that the reaction of a society to the disabled body is neither predictable nor immutable” (1). In other words, it is necessary to see what attitudes and assumptions about disabilities are actually recorded, rather than projecting any of our own assumptions. ...

Also unlike today, Greek concepts of disability were not medicalized. “Permanent physical disability,” writes Rose, “was not the concern of doctors in antiquity beyond recognition of incurability” (11). This does not mean that disabled people had no resources or were simply left to perish, of course. Rather, they were often cared for within their households and their communities (28), which means that both Philoctetes’ abandonment and isolation form a shocking exception to the norm. The importance of community support suggests that Philoctetes’ joy at being reunited with humanity comes from practical as well as emotional needs. At the same time, the wide range of tasks and trades in the Greek economy meant that many disabled people were far from economically dependent (think of [the god] Hephaestus the lame smith), so that “[a] physically handicapped person earning a living would not have been a remarkable sight” (39). People unable to walk at all rode donkeys or were carried in litters, while those who walked with difficulty used a staff or a crutch (24-26).

So for writers: the ancient Greeks didn’t invent the wheelchair--but they had the wheel technology (I suspect the issue may have been with roads and pavements instead), so your Greek-inspired fantasy world totally can (which was the point of that earlier post). Or maybe your protagonist goes on their adventures with a faithful donkey sidekick that helps them get around. Maybe they are respected for their skill in a craft, making their home and workshop a lively meeting-place for customers. If you’re writing fantasy, you could be inspired by one of the myths of Hephaestus, in which he creates metal automatons--basically, magic robots--that not only support him as he walks, they also act as assistants in his workshop!

Anyway, the point of this post is basically just that I agree with the other post about including mobility aids in fantasy and I had some relevant knowledge in the back of my head. And also that you should read the Philoctetes. Look, here’s a recent free modern English verse translation: https://johnstoniatexts.x10host.com/sophocles/philocteteshtml.html

Oh, and if you would like to see my term paper or the relevant section from The Staff of Oedipus, message me, I will share them.

[salt-baby]

As someone who is currently working in the healthcare field and looking at attended medical school, can you please elaborate on the ableism and doctors post you made? I’d very much like to avoid inadvertently falling into that category.

Somehow this missed my radar, my bad!

It's a difficult question to answer, although it is the right question to be asking.

You can find my other elaborations here and here, which will likely be helpful.

But to address your specific question, when I think about the ableism of practitioners, in some cases it is just bias, but in many it's just your run of the mill ignorance.

It takes experience to work well with disabled people - both because of the heterogeneity of them, and because the disabled experience is so far removed from the able bodied one.

Some people like myself call themselves disabled as an identity they're proud of, some people call themselves disabled but are uncomfortable with their condition to various degrees, and a lot of people would find it offensive for you to call them disabled because they would call themselves chronically ill or not impaired at all.

In your medical practice, "disabled" is going to be a legal term with a set definition, used to distribute benefits. You'll be taught an impairment model of disability, and your first instinct will likely be to try and fix the problem your patient is experiencing.

In a case like mine, that's not a mindset the patient is going to appreciate, as backwards as it sounds. Yes, I'm in a doctor's office to get treated, but the reality is that expert doctors have already evaluated my conditions and done all they can to help me. There's no quick fix - the fantasy of curing a difficult case is impossible with me, but it doesn't stop some young doctors from trying. My disability isn't one illness, but ten, and often what disables me is the environment around me rather than my actual illness (this is called the social model of disability, and that's where you should start studying).

I'm in a doctor's office to find relief from specific symptoms, or for a new problem (secondary to my existing conditions) that has popped up. Some residents have reviewed my entire medical file, and asked about things that weren't followed up on, and there's only so many times I can say "there's nothing we can do about it". Many premeds, when I mention the medications I'm taking, think that there must be some kind of better medication setup for me. Except there isn't, all of my meds are essential, and at this stage of illness, all medications have nasty side effects. I will never get better and will likely live the rest of my life on immunosuppressants and I'm okay with that, but that's very difficult for able bodied people, esp medical practitioners, to accept.

And in many cases, medical practitioners have put their foot in their mouth by just being ignorant. One person working at a rehab hospital asked if I slept in my orthotics - the answer is no, obviously, orthotics are painful to wear (it's also bad form to ask a disabled person about their disability just because you're curious). Someone told me it'll be okay, they used to wear wrist braces too and they're fine now - in reality, their supervisor just told me to consult surgeons, I was recommended casts, and my wrists remain permanently displaced to this day. I lost most of my ability to write. Our issues were not the same.

On another occasion, a premed picked up my orthotics and moved them away from me without asking - those are expensive (2000$ USD) and irreplaceable, and I need them to walk, I'm vulnerable without them. But to others, they wouldn't be aware that those braces are that valuable. Many disabled people, myself included, view mobility aids as an extension of their own body. For all intents and purposes, my orthotics are my "knees". I often compare it to a phone - it'd be really weird to take someone's phone and move it away from them, or even to touch it unannounced in the first place.

The reality of what a disabled life actually looks like is obscure to the vast majority of able bodied people. Let me be clear, I live a happy and satisfying life, where I enjoy my work and my friends and my family. My existence is not a tragedy, and when it's treated like one, it devalues my hard-won happiness in life and what I have to contribute to the world. But at the same time, every hour of every day is impacted by my disability. I have to change how I cook because I struggle with lifting a pot or standing on my feet for too long, my closet has to be adapted for my orthotics and nerve pain, a number of medications have to be kept basically within ten feet of me at all times, and I have to be very careful anytime I eat something I didn't prepare myself.

You may prescribe a medication which you know can cause nausea, and not realize to your patient, that side effect looks like being sick everyday, skipping meals, wearing a mask so a smell doesn't set you off, and not enjoying eating anymore. You may write a script for the test which is medically the correct option, but your patient may be sensitive to the specifics of the procedure (ie, for religious reasons, it may be difficult to strip down to a gown for some of the more involved imaging procedures). Cystometry and other urological procedures especially. I find this is where doctors sometimes inadvertently do harm. The best option for your patient isn't always the best option medically - it's what fits their priorities and improves their quality of life.

Understand that the current culture in medicine, for doctors, is often very callous and frustrated towards their patients. Recently I heard someone express that their patient needed to just accept their disability already and start being compliant with treatment - they had been disabled for three months. It took me a year to feel even remotely settled with becoming disabled, and my disability isn't nearly as severe as that patient's. Do not follow in your colleagues' footsteps.

If you spend the time trying to understand your patients (which may look like reading disability theory papers, memoirs, watching documentaries, possibly even volunteering, talking to some of your seniors with more experience, etc) then you're already miles better than most of your coworkers. Take the time to consider it from your patients point of view, and even though it's not what's in your textbook, appreciate the value of the information your patient brings to the table (their experience, their concerns, their gut feelings), and you've already done what most disabled people are desperately searching for in a practitioner.

The reality of a minority identity, is that for adults who have become accustomed to something like being disabled, it matters a lot more where your heart is than what you actually say. I don't care if someone is politically correct - I care if they're trying. Even if they're not quite there, that effort will pretty much always be seen and appreciated. I'd far rather someone call me "handicapped" but never view me as lesser, rather than someone who falls over themselves to "accommodate my limitations" and never actually intends to accommodate anything. Be sincere, and you can make mistakes, we'll know what the intention was.

Best of luck, my friend.

[aemiron-main]

PINNED POST & INFO

Hey there! I’m Em/Aemiron (he/him), and I’m an artist and writer who loves fantasy, history, and analyzing Stranger Things! This pinned post is a temporary one until I can get my proper one finished. If the links don’t work on mobile, it’s because tumblr has decided to act up. This can be circumvented by pressing and holding on a link and opening it in your phone browser. I know this isn’t ideal but alas that’s tumblr for you, and hopefully things will be easier to navigate once i get all this info into a google doc instead.

This is my main/personal/Stranger Things blog- if you’re looking for just my art, that’s over at @aemiron-art​

Like i said, I’m working on a proper pinned post/directory/redoing my tags & working on some big google doc analysis writeups so I’ll make a different pinned post with those resources once that’s all finished, but for now, here’s just some of my random ST analyses/ST posts I’d like to highlight:

henry creel is innocent: edward creel vs henry creel, edward hyde vs henry jekyll, carl jung’s theory of the shadow and stranger things: the first shadow

og eightfifteengate post/where eightfifteengate started

og post about the creel murders occurring on the same day as will’s birthday and ties to birthdaygate

og edward creel post

og post about victor being found on the side of the road and how this ties into what i’ve been saying about hawkins lab being involved in the creel murders  og post of the grandfather clock behind will in the byers house in s1 og post about the fact that we’re getting a “henry in the sensory tank” scene in s5 (this is not the full sensory tank scene analysis)

og post about BTS proof regarding the henry in the sensory tank scene

yes, alice creel was 15 and the creels lived at the creel house for 2 years and here’s proof.

the og ‘if will is gay men who die by hate crimes, mike is gay men who die by suicide’ and hypervisible vs invisible gay men and ted wheeler’s ignorance post

virginia creel likely still had her eyes when she was laying on the table

even more highlighted posts beneath the cut

initial post about henry’s regenerative abilities and some henry-demogorgon parallels post analyzing henry’s regenerative abilities and the “tumors” that appear on the henrygorgon in the byers house in S1 and why henry has teeth on his forehead.  stair scene parallels between barb, billy, and mike  el kisses mike the same way that the fleshflayer flays people

the grids and specifically the plaid in ST as webs (later i will find my posts about spiders = predators and therefore web imagery is tied  to when people are being preyed upon but tumblr hates me and i cant find half my posts rn) og post about the creel tub being the same as heather’s void bathtub og post about “chester is not a dog” 

og post about s1 mike-henry parallels and the idea that the mike in the garage Wasn’t Mike one of the mike-henry parallel scenes during will’s vanishing

“mother is god in the eyes of a child,”/“i can see your sin as clearly as god can”/“if i only could, i’d make a deal with god,” and why alice creel was the angel in the creel house and why virginia killed her. og post about the st-tommy parallels henry is subtitled as “boy” during the electrocution scene

mike isn’t just realizing who he loves- he’s realizing what romantic love IS

mike thinks will had a crush on angela

some ST soundtrack realizations and how they tie to gay mike

more soundtrack and gay mike and rock me amadeus by falco vs play with me by extreme thoughts

some thoughts about why mike’s gayness isn’t presented the same way as will’s and will and mike representing hypervisible vs invisible gay men respectively

the 60 minutes namedrop in s4 and the aids-themed episode it’s referencing

el and gay mike and mileven breakup and the narrative

ramble about mike and internalized homophobia #1

if mike ever loved el romantically, why did he lie about love at first sight instead of using the actual moment he realized he had feelings for her?

mike calling el pretty does not indicate attraction

mike’s ‘not into girls’ facial expression

ramble about mike not being attracted to el #1

ramble about gay mike and wrapping up s5 and how gay mike recontextualizes mileven moments

why am i so sure about gay mike? do i think i have magic future-seeing powers for s5?

mike didn’t even try to hit the water at the quarry & mike-joyce parallels & the importance of seeing mike through a mike lens and how mike represents people who don’t look like they’re drowning & how mike is a character that’s meant to make people challenge their own biases about mental health and sexuality (part of this analysis is in the reblog that’s linked there but here’s also a link to the reposted section of it)

ramble about mike and the invisible struggle

og post about the pair of eyes on the skis behind mike during will’s vanishing

will and saruman parallels and will and henry’s connection working like a palantir

og post about “victor” holding henry the way brenner holds el during henry’s memories of the creel murders [panicked chittering]: an analysis of the “henry killing the rabbit” scene

the og post about henry wearing a straitjacket when he’s laying on the floor of the creel house post about henry being the mindflayer and parallels between henry and dnd mindflayers “everyone vandalizes the bathroom stall”: mike is taught that HE is the problem a rant about the wheelers

I’ve made an absolute TON more posts and analyses but like I said, I’m still in the process of organizing those & making a final pinned post with links to all of them. 

[your-fave-is-crippled]

welcome

hi this is a your fave is (blank) blog for the physically disabled and pd havers

submit a character specifying a pd (cluster a, b, c other), disabled, cripplepunk, mobility aid and/or if you have a flag preference

we mainly use flags created by us on .fantasy-forest but are open to using other flags if you have a preference.

if you just want an "x is disabled" post, try checking out @/your-fave-is-disabled!

we dont do real people just characters!

tagging system

[id: a banner with a blue to green gradient and water-filtering-light texture under a faintly transparent blue rectangular box. in the box is light blue text that reads "Blog is about disability, disabled characters and headcanons. may include occasional pd rep but otherwise do not derail. blocking where i see fir for my comfort, please remain respectful." on the top of the banner outside the blue box is more light blue text that reads "DNI if proship, terf, are a discourse blog and other basic dni stuff" in all caps. under the blue box at the bottom of the banner is more light blue text that reads "cripplepunk is for the physically disabled only" in all caps. on either side of the banner is an image of ryn from the show siren staring off to the side. :end id]

[zarvasace]

Here's a question about the disability au: You mentioned that when Four splits it messes with the injury? I'm mostly wondering the how of it

I think I've talked about this more in a few other places, but I don't remember where, and I don't think I'll ever get tired of talking about Four or this AU soooo here's a wall of text :) And a mini fic at the end because apparently I can't not write every day!!

CWs about life-altering injury and mobility issues. And disclaimer, I've had a mobility disability myself but not this specifically, and though I've done research, I might still get facts wrong.

In the disability AU, Four has paraparesis as a result of a spinal cord injury. My most recent drawing of him in his fancy wheelchair has been going around recently, if you've seen that.

Injury and Condition

After his first adventure with the Minish but before anything with the colors (there are two Four Swords games, but for simplicity and continuity I just squish em and say the manga happened), and while Minish-sized, Four got into an altercation with a rather mean stray cat. He was able to get help pretty quickly, but the initial injury and later jostling damaged some nerves beyond repair.

Though his world doesn't necessarily have the word for it, he has paraparesis, which is partial paralysis of everything waist down (paraplegia is total paralysis waist down, a more severe condition.) What this means for Four is that he can move his legs, sort of, and feeling in them is partially there. He can stand for short periods, especially with a way to help him balance. Paresis's main symptom is muscle weakness, with loss of sensation and control close contenders.

I think I've mentioned before that he doesn't experience much pain, but after a bit more research, I'm amending that to be yes, there is pain, which flares mostly when he exerts himself too far. Also after further research, I've decided that his right leg is the better one. It's a bit stronger.

Mobility Aids

After the injury and subsequent recovery time, Four researched and got to work. He was able to work with a few other craftspeople in his kingdom to design and make his own mobility aids. In this AU, his weaponcraft is not necessarily as masterful as other versions of him, but he's more experienced with a wider variety of trades, materials, and techniques—e.g. woodworking, sewing, weaving.

Of course his aids have gone through a variety of versions and changes. He tried a lot of options, and prefers to use a wheelchair most of the time. His is, of course, custom-built. I have a post about it and some illustrations. :) His wheelchair at the time of LU stuff is a rigid metal frame with wooden pieces, rattan panels, and removable cushions. It has springy spokes and adequate shock absorption. There's also some Minish magic involved, of course, to make the chair more comfortable to use and more stable in difficult terrain. Four is an adventurer, after all, he has to handle a lot of situations.

(regarding wheelchair combat: I realize it might be a little bit impractical, but (1) actual everyday wheelchairs are more maneuverable than the average unfamiliar person thinks, please go look up some YouTube videos, and (2) this is still fantasy. In the same way that we handwave potty breaks, we're handwaving the finer points of swordsmanship while in a wheelchair.)

When a chair isn't practical (e.g. in small buildings or cave systems or even the forge sometimes), Four uses one or two forearm crutches at a time. It gives him a bit more maneuverability, but he's slower with them. Using them for too long means he gets a lot of pain as the day goes on, and into the next day. He regularly carries around four of these crutches, sized to himself, in his magic bag.

Colors!

And now for the actual point of this essay! Everyone has their own interpretations of how Four works, with the whole splitting thing. With the way I prefer to write it, the divisions between the colors are both mental and physiological. By physiological, I mean that his body sort of splits physical traits between the four of him as well as mental. For example, if Four gets a burn scar on his elbow, it'll only appear on Red, not any of the others. There are probably complex psychological reasons for which trait gets assigned where. By making the split work this way, I can write physical differences between the colors, from appearance to disability.

As far as I've been able to research, paresis means that the spinal cord nerves are partially damaged. Four's split handles the injury by spreading it out, though unevenly.

Vio gets most of the disability, and the severity of their condition increases in him almost to the point of full paraplegia. He cannot stand or use crutches, and gets chair priority. The chair has a belt for him, because he can't shift and balance the way Four can. He's still the group's archer, though he has an altered shooting style and is practiced in crossbows due to his position.

Red gets it about as badly as Four has it. He has his own chair at home, but out and about, he's all right using crutches. He generally uses two, moving both forward at the same time and swinging through. In a fight, he might ditch one to use a sword or the fire rod. If Four splits with pain from walking too much, Red's the most likely to bear the brunt of it.

Green has less-severe paresis, and mostly uses one crutch on his right, which frees up his left hand to use a weapon, mostly his sword. He can stand without anything to help balance him for a while, and can sometimes take a few steps over even ground without support. He actually gets most of the scars that Four receives while combined.

Blue's paresis is very mild. He's ambulatory, and rarely uses crutches. If he needs to, he'll snag Green's spare. He experiences occasional muscle weakness, though more to the point of a knee giving out for a moment rather than not being able to put weight on the leg. He has both hands free in a fight to swing his hammer, and feels, if possible, even more protective of the others in this AU.

When they first split, they had to get back home (hooray for horses) and find their older variations of mobility aids. Nothing about the second adventure/manga really change, plot-wise. Due to being a reflection of Four, Shadow does have a bit of paresis as well, around Green's level. But, well... he can fly. He just does that, no harm done.

Conclusion

In the LU group, Four is, at first, one of the least forthcoming about his disability. Wind's missing a leg and makes lots of jokes, which catch on with Twilight and Time pretty quickly. Hyrule always had corny jokes in his arsenal. Their attitudes help Four to relax a bit and treat his own disability with a bit more acceptance.

---

"I'll get it," Four volunteered, pushing over to one of the shelves of the small store. He scanned the labeled bottles for the one Warriors had mentioned, finding it on one of the upper shelves.

"Oh, young man, it's up pretty far—" The shopkeeper cut off when he saw Four brace himself and stand up to grab the bottle.

Four glanced over. His first instinct was to flush red and pretend that nothing had happened, since people often assumed that he used a wheelchair because he was lazy or wanted attention. But then again... Wind had been coming up with some good jokes lately.

Looking down at his legs, Four gasped as if surprised. "It's a miracle!"

The shopkeeper's eyes were huge.

Four dropped back down into his chair and blinked, then slumped. "Aw, another false alarm."

[postapocalypticcottagecore]

Mobility Aids In Science Fiction

Inspired by this post-chain about wheelchairs etc in fantasy fiction, because ultra far-future SF stories have the same dilemma: How to reconcile the hugely advanced tech-base that logically should be able to cure anything but some of the more advanced cases of death with your desire not to creep actual disabled people out by describing a future where they don't exist anymore?

Here's a few simple ones:

The process for replacing severed limbs, failed organs etc with cloned tissue is very expensive so some people have to make do with a "good enough" artificial substitute at least temporarily.

It's an incredibly complex procedure requiring very specialist training, not a lot of local medical facilities are capable of offering it yet and the waiting list is considerable.

There are adverse side effects, like a cybernetic limb that's directly grafted in place causing some percentage of people to suffer from bodily dysphoria or phantom pain.

It requires a specific medication to which some people are allergic.

The process involves doing something that contravenes their religious beliefs, or which just makes them uncomfortable for personal reasons.

The mobility aid they've got works well enough to get by, the corrective procedure involves spending weeks in hospital and months to years of physical therapy so they just can't be doing with the hassle.

It's up for debate if they even have a disability in the first place due to their personal circumstances, ie someone who lost their legs but lives and works in space and doesn't spend much time experiencing gravity.

Feel free to add your own.

[duskaris]

This post has been circling around Twitter and I just want to share my thoughts on it in a longer form rant addressing each of their points with ideas for world building of how that could work in a high fantasy setting.

First off, their beginning statement is just wrong. There are lots of reasons to have a disabled person within a fantasy setting. To say otherwise is (1) ablest and (2) very poor world building. Then again, their definition of high fantasy seems to be limited to one where magic is easily accessible and basically limitless, so I'll give them the benefit of the doubt that they are just not creative rather than ablest.

In world building terms this boils down to a few different factors. First, can magic do the thing. Second, does the person have access to the magic. Third, do they want the magic to be used. Basically physical, economical, cultural. Every fantasy world will have limits on its magic or rules about how it works. For example, if you cut off a limb and use healing magic on the wound, does the limb grow back or just heal over? If its the latter, congrats you have a disabled fantasy character. See how easy that was? Time can also be a factor here, maybe magic can heal an injury that just happened but once the body heals on its own that's now the baseline for where magic can heal them to. The economic factor ties into this as well. Most the time in fantasy not everyone is able to do any type of magic. Sometimes its bloodlines, sometimes its taught, sometimes its random, but regardless there will likely be people rural enough that there is no healer nearby or if its rare enough then working class will simply be unable to afford it. The cultural aspect is if people can heal the injury and are available to do it, does the injured person want to be healed. Maybe they don't trust magic, antivaxx-esque, or come from a culture of warriors who believe in keeping their battle scars as sources of pride.

Broken bones are an injury that if properly treated will heal naturally. In my own world Blades of Treason this would be treated with minor healing potions to ease pain and accelerate the healing, but there will still be a period of healing. Basically injuries that will heal on their own may not need or be worth using the world's healing magic on. In the meantime, the person will still need some sort of mobility device, even if its not a permanent necessity.

Paralysis is a bit more complicated medically and how this comes into the effectiveness of magic will vary based on the source of the paralysis. Maybe if it was an acquired illness or injury that caused paralysis it can be healed, but a genetic cause cannot. Maybe like in point 1, if it can heal on its own magic will help, but if it will never heal on its own magic won't bypass that. There are also the economic and social aspects I already touched on above. And this is me just spit-balling here, there are so many reasons someone may still be disabled in a fantasy universe.

Controlling a flight spell and casting a fireball at your enemies may be difficult or even impossible depending on the magic system. If a spell requires concentration to be used than multitasking is just infeasible. I do really like the idea of a mage who can't walk using a flight spell to move themselves around in everyday scenarios while needing a wheelchair if too tired to spell cast or in combat situations to concentrate on other spells.

This is the only (partially) reasonable critique this person gives. Accessibility devices should probably look like they were made with the technology of the rest of the fantasy world. A dwarven tech based wheelchair can be possible in your setting and is sick as fuck. Historically, canes and crutches are relatively easy to craft from branches and wheels aren't exactly a new invention either. Having a cart pushed or carried by others or pulled by animals is also a very low tech solution. Mobility aids are not a modern invention and were certainly possible to make if they don't look quite the same as we are used to today. Animal with saddle attached is also an option, although it would require a specialized saddle (I believe Bran had something like this in Game of Thrones, but I've only seen clips of the show so don't come at me if I'm off). Still possible and setting appropriate though.

It is impossible to tell a story without conflict. The type of conflict can vary but there must be some level of stakes. They only way I can see the type of world they suggest working within a story is a more slice of life comedy style story where life or death stakes rarely, if ever, come into play. If you're going for a more serious story line, unlimited healing is a detriment rather than an asset. Magic does not have to be extremely rare or dangerous in order for disabled characters to exist. With a little bit of creativity (y'know, like what fantasy is based on) there are literally infinite ways you can explain having disabled characters while still having an extensive magic system. And all that I've written is about how non-magic disabilities interact with magic, I haven't even touched on how magic caused disabilities may interact with other magic.

[neon-sunsets]

how to write disabled characters in a not ableist way

(a very incomplete guide by one singular disabled person who cannot possibly cover the vastly diverse range of disabled experiences and opinions)

for some quick background: i am neurodivergent (autistic/adhd, ocd) and mentally ill. i have chronic pain (fibromyalgia and migraines), me/cfs, and i’m currently using a cane for good old fashioned Mystery Illness reasons. this post is mainly directed at people writing viktor from arcane since he’s really the only canonically disabled character from the. two whole fandoms i’m in (at least, the only one i routinely see being mishandled), but a lot of these points can apply to any character or fandom. so, without further ado:

disability is an inherently neutral state of existence. there are both good and bad things about being disabled, but ultimately it is a state of existence just like any other individual marginalized state of existence. most of the issues we face come from lack of access to resources, systemic and social ableism, and the intersection of disability both with class and with other marginalized identities. that’s not to say that we don’t struggle in and of ourselves, but it is to say that in a perfect society our disability would have a different impact on us. 

please don’t write magical fantasy cures. i understand where the desire comes from, believe me. but as a nondisabled person, it’s insensitive and ableist to remove this important aspect of a character’s identity. we get so little representation in general, and so taking this away from a character just stings. also, the idea that all disabled people need or want to be cured stems from deeply ingrained ableism that impacts us on a daily basis. 

this goes for all groups you aren’t part of, but do your research. even as a disabled writer, my insight only extends to my own disability and that of my disabled friends and family. so i do research! it’s not hard — there are plenty of disabled people on the internet who talk about their experiences, as well as countless factual articles about various disabilities. i would suggest finding multiple perspectives, and please seek out disabled voices!! this will make your fic more accurate — you have no idea how many times i’ve laughed at a fic where a character with back pain sits in a soft chair to supposedly help the pain, when that’s not what you should be doing at all! in this specific instance, hard chairs or lying down is generally a much less painful option. this information exists and you can find it!

don’t ignore the character’s disability. being disabled is only one aspect of a character or person’s identity, but it should not be ignored or erased. consider all of the ways that their disability impacts them and work them into the story in subtle everyday ways. 

similarly, don’t make it their only personality trait. this one seems pretty self explanatory, but there’s a balance between acknowledging that a character is disabled and making that all you talk about. 

don’t infantilize the character. disabled adults are adults. they should not be treated like children or less capable purely because they’re disabled. disabled adults do pretty much everything that abled adults do. don’t make other characters constantly have to take care of them. this is especially relevant for neurodivergent disabled characters, because neurodivergent people are more likely to be infantilized. 

don’t use AUs as an excuse to erase disability. be creative with your fantasy and sci-fi AUs. some good places to look for inspiration might be table-top rpg disability projects — i can think of @/dnd.disability on instagram off the top of my head, but a quick google search tells me there are definitely others. also, there are some things that are fairly consistent, regardless of universe: most mobility aids can be translated easily into different aesthetics, and potions or elixirs can substitute for medication. 

final note: this post is meant to educate, not accuse or “cancel” anyone. we’re always learning, and there’s no shame in not having known something. if you’ve done any of the negative portrayals that i’ve listed, that doesn’t make you a horrible person nor does it make you inherently ableist. it makes you a human being who lives in a society full of ingrained ableism. there’s always room to learn. 

disabled folks please comment additions!! if i’ve missed anything or misrepresented anything please let me know - this is only based on my own experience and other folks may have different insights!

[blindbeta]

Writing Blind Characters: Sensitivity Reading And Other Info - A Big Pinned Post

Hi! I wanted to make a pinned post with links to notable posts on my blog. I know my blog may be hard to scroll through because some posts are pretty long.

Introduction:

Call me Bee. I’m a blind/low vision person who uses they/them pronouns. I am over 18. My love for reading, writing, and editing drew me to create a blog like this, along with a desire to see more blind characters in accessible stories. This lead to me becoming a sensitivity reader for blind characters.

I like reading fantasy, romance, books with lgbt+ characters, and action stories. I also love literary stories. I will also read fanfiction, scripts, image descriptions, etc.

I provide sensitivity reading in exchange for donations. If you’re interested, here are my current rates. I charge rates to reflect the work that goes into sensitivity reading.

Before requesting a reading, check my availability.

I also answer questions for free!

Here is my main blog, my WordPress blog.

Here is my Instagram.

Tagging Information.

You can find a post I made here and input from followers.

Before You Ask:

These posts may be helpful for some of the more common questions, or may help you plan out your story so that you don’t have to fix it later on. Reading these posts may also help you develop richer, more detailed questions.

1. Things To Include or Avoid

Things I Want to See More of/Less of in Blind Characters

A post I wrote about myths that harm blind people (which you will want to avoid in your writing)

[Not by BlindBeta] - An article on misconceptions about blind people

A post about if blind people face who is talking, move their eyes, or try to make eye contact

A post on giving blind characters canes, guide animals, or other mobility aids, as well as how to choose one

Here is a thread that might help readers get an idea of what ableism is like. It includes a post why hiring blind actors is important, two responses that having ableist ideas including viewing blind people as burdens in employment, and a few responses from blind people, including myself. Here is the post.

Here is a post on ableist assumptions when asking questions and making jokes and how to avoid this. Here is the post.

A resource post for everyday ableism

A thread on Helen Keller, Anne Sullivan, and my addition, plus a video link to more information. This deals with erasure and distortion of history. Here is the link.

Writing Blind Characters Accepting Being Blind — When You Aren’t Blind Yourself. A post on why I don’t want to see this type of story, especially because this is also often a result of the trope about going blind through accidents / incidents / trauma. You can read it here.

An ask about characters who were already blind going through eye trauma and possibly losing their eyes - making the accidents / incidents / trauma narrative better

Trope Discussion- The Blind Prophet / Blind Seer - A post where I discuss this trope and problems I usually find with it, as well as how to avoid these problems if you want to use this trope.

Trope Discussion- Blind Characters Covering Their Eyes

Trope Discussion - Tokenism/Having Only One Blind Character

Trope Discussion - Blind Characters Feeling Faces

An ask that includes using a cane as a weapon.

A review of Blind by Rachel DeWoskin and why sensitivity readers are important

Common problems I come across when betaing.

A post on the spectrum of blindness

[Not by BlindBeta] A post by @askablindperson with practical advice on how to respectfully and efficiently help blind people. Helpful for real life situations and for writing characters. Read it here.

2. Accessibility

A relevant blog that be helpful is @accessibleaesthetics

Here is my long post about making your specific content accessible for blind people (a general overview with different types of content)

An ask about writing tags, including information about whether to include hashtags, lowercase letter, capital letters, emojis, and emotions.

And a post containing information about one way to add audio description to YouTube videos

And an ask with tips for making descriptions

An ask about where to put image descriptions

A helpful ask about adding ALT text to tumblr GIFs and pictures!

It also contains ideas about when to use ALT text or an image description.

An ask about adding image descriptions to many images (incorrect quotes, specifically at once), with demonstration by @mimzy-writing-online

An ask about sci-fi names and screen-readers, plus an excellent reblog with tips by @mightyoctopus.

A thorough master-post about different types of writing image descriptions on tumblr!

A list of symbols screenreaders will read.

An ask about much detail to include in image descriptions plus a helpful reblog post. Spoiler: include detail according to the focus of the post. Include most relevant details first.

[Not by BlindBeta] A helpful post on image descriptions titled ‘More Detail Isn’t Always Better’. Read here to learn more about how relevancy matters when deciding how much detail to include.

[Not by BlindBeta] Another post on making your art accessible

[Not by BlindBeta] Another excellent post about the importance of relevancy when considering what to include in image descriptions. This time, it details why more detail is sometimes better. It all depends on what is being described.

For writing multiple blind characters:

Here is my post on stories with only one blind character.

Here is a post wherein I guide a writer in creating multiple blind characters using an alternative universe I made up where most of the main characters in The Owl House show are reimagined as blind.

Here is a question about writing multiple blind characters in short stories. In this post, I challenge the idea that writing multiple blind characters is unrealistic.

Here is a post about O&M and a reblog from someone else emphasizing the importance of giving blind characters a community.

For comics, games, and drawing blind characters:

Read here about ideas for making games and visual novel games accessible through audio description and large print.

Read about image descriptions, alt-text, and audio transcripts for comics plus more relevant links.

A question about where to describe characters in image descriptions for comics

Read here about under what circumstances blind characters should be drawn with noticeably different eyes and alternative ways to explore blindness through art.

Read here for more tips for drawing blind characters.

3. Blind/Low Vision Person Reviews Blind Characters Series

Toph Beifong in The Blind Bandit episode of Avatar: The Last Airbender

Blind by Rachel DeWoskin

Garret in Quest For Camelot movie (1998)

4. Other Asks That May Be Helpful

Here is an ask about guide animals and creating your own fantasy guide animal

It contains information about guide dogs, guide horses, emotional support animals, links about choosing between a cane and guide dog, and some qualities a guide animal should have. Note that I am not a guide user myself. This is simply a starting place.

A post on echolocation.

An ask about writing in Braille.

[Not by BlindBeta] Here is an article from the above link about how Braille works.

[Not by BlindBeta] And another link taken from my post on writing in Braille with more information on tools used to write Braille.

[Not by BlindBeta] And here is a post on Braille literacy and why Braille is not obsolete now that there are audiobooks

My thoughts on giving blind characters powers.

This is specifically about sense-based powers and echolocation.

Some thoughts of blind characters going blind through accidents.

Another post that covers possible accident- / incident- related blindness and avoiding tokenism. It may not all be applicable to the asker’s story, but I tried to cover everything I could think of to help, just in case.

A more in-depth explanation of what I mean by “going blind through trauma”, aka more of the trauma- / accident- / incident-based blindness. Link here.

An ask about portraying eye conditions before they had names.

An ask about things to keep in mind when writing about blind spots or central vision loss.

An ask about naming assistive technology/ devices before they were invented.

An ask on writing disabled characters with ableist myths/legends. And a follow-up.

An ask on blind characters and clothes

An ask about assistive devices: telescopes.

An ask that touches on having clairvoyant blind characters. (Spoiler, this is a trope and avoiding tokenism is especially important here.)

An ask on going blind from light magic, temporary cure, and describing blind eyes as unfocused. Read here.

A post that discusses temporary cures and why the cure trope is a problem.

A post with a brief history of Braille and raised print. Plus a helpful reblog on characters knowing Braille vs print letters by @askablindperson

Tips for Roleplaying Blind Characters

An ask on blind characters in video games and D&D and my advice on both accessibility and a reminder that blind characters have strengths too. Read it here.

An ask on writing abled characters who are afraid of losing vision without being ableist

An ask about making houses accessible for blind characters

An ask about writing blind characters in fights and possibly losing sight after injuries

Read about Legal Blindness here with links to legally blind YouTubers.

A post with some ideas for options when writing or drawing blind characters who also use support canes. I don’t use a support cane myself and so these are ideas based on research with links included.

A post by @cripplecharacters for going up and down stairs while using canes. Read it here. I also wanted to include links to videos. Here is Lucy Edward’s video. Here is video by Can See Can’t See about finding stairs outside, in which she descends concrete stairs.

5. Posts About Toph From A:TLA

A collection of posts about writing Toph Beifong that might help writers.

My review of The Blind Bandit.

A post about a popular fanfic trope and myths about blind people’s eyes. Also my own personal issues with some ableism in the Avatar fandom. Read the post here.

A post on why avoiding tokenism is important even when you have a well-liked blind character.

6. Other Helpful Blogs

I wanted to provide some other sources. While I am happy to take questions, I am not the only blind person here. Community is important and in the interest of supporting that community and reiterating that to non-blind followers, I wanted to include other blind blogs/disability blogs. Feel free to send questions to any number of us. We may even reblog each other’s posts to add ideas and different experiences. This will offer richer, more nuanced knowledge for you to draw from. If you wish, you can send me a private message and I can also contact other blogs for you with your questions.

Here is a blog that takes questions for disabilities and similar topics in general: @cripplecharacters

Here is a blog by a blind writer who also takes questions about writing blind characters: @mimzy-writing-online

And here is another blog by a blind person who answers questions: @ps-im-blind

And another helpful blog on accessibility and blindness issues: @askablindperson

Also, while I am currently the only blog specific to sensitivity reading for blind characters, here is a blog that can help you find sensitivity readers for your characters who have multiple marginalized identities. Feel free to check out the other blind sensitivity readers by searching “Blind” in the search bar. I think it is good to have a few readers, if they are available to you.

Here is the blog: @sensitivityreaders

How Should You Contact Me?

Asks (anonymous or otherwise) are fine. I also respond to private asks.

Private Messages are fine as well.

More Information About Sensitivity Reading Services:

After you have read the linked posts, you can clear up any residual confusion and obtain needed clarification with me via message or ask.

Send me a message with your request. Please include:

1. The word or page count of your project

2. A bit about the project itself, such as if it’s a book or a script, what it’s about, etc

3. If the blind character is a main or supporting character and if you want a full or partial read

4. Any concerns you may have or specific sections you want me to pay special attention to.

5. Any deadlines you may have.

From there, we will work out rates, proof of donation, and the logistics of the reading itself, such as providing my suggestions.

Do I Have a Ko-Fi or Other Way to Give Personal Donations?

As of now, no I do not. However, instead you can:

- Send a nice ask

- Make a small donation to the links on my Rates page

- Share any of my posts

If there is anything I can do to make this blog more accessible for others, let me know. Feel free to send any questions you may have. Thank you for reading and sharing my posts!

-BlindBeta

[thirteenashmctrash]

i have a question for my fellow disabled readers and writers: when showing disability in fantasy, where exactly is the line for the "magical cure" trope? because i have run into a wall as a writer and some outside input would be helpful.

i have a character in my fantasy adventure story who is a witch with fae ancestry. she also has chronic pain, hypermobility, and some other health issues that effect her mobility and ability to interact with the story. her disability is based very heavily on my own so i am comfortable with my descriptions of her experience and how others are interacting with it, but I've run into an issue with how she manages and accommodates.

there are some realistic things that she can do to show this. she can take breaks as needed. use potions and herbalism like medication because that's what fits in the setting. being comfortable treating injuries and flare ups. asking for help when she needs it. have a service animal. but i think that it would be hollow if that was all she did.

she uses her magic in almost every aspect of her life. it is just how she navigates the world. it feels wrong for her to not use it to manage her symptoms. if i had magic, i would use it as a mobility aid. floating just off the ground instead of walking to remove joint pressure would have a similar effect as using a wheelchair and would make adventuring through the woods easier. nature magic could be used to craft joint braces out of plants. her service animal could be her familiar. if she has to take a break while the others are doing something important, she could use divination to see what she is missing. things along these lines. they would be so integrated into how she navigates the world and so normal to the people around her that from the outside it would effectively be similar to masking, not from an effort to hide her symptoms, but in that they are managed seamlessly to the extent that it would be a fairly invisible disability.

but i don't want her doing so to fall into harmful tropes. i despise representation that ends in a cure or that uses some magic bullshit to circumnavigate the effect of the disability on the character. disabled characters should be allowed to exist as they would without having to be "fixed" or pitied by other characters or worse by the fans of the story. i also don't really like representation where the disability is the center of the character or the story. sometimes having a disabled character to accommodate will change how something is executed but it shouldn't derail the story entirely. i don't think any of this is or should be a hot take, it's just true

this is why she is not my central character. she is a main character, but it is not from her perspective because her disability does not make her the most interesting. it is also not the main thing about her. her main thing is her magic and her knowledge of the world around her. the disability and her management of it is a character detail separate from the plot and her arc. i just want to show her and the people around her accommodating her needs in a way that is realistic to the world she lives in.

i know where my own line in the sand is drawn for bad representation, but i am only one disabled person. i don't know if my line is similar to the generally understood line.and i don't want to fall on the wrong side of that line. i am not asking anyone's permission to write this story or this character, and i don't just want a simple justification in any direction. my point in making this post is to ask if this is something to edit and attempt to put out in the world when it is done or if it is better left as a personal project. because writing it and seeing this on my pages is great for me, but if i am an outlier in that i want to know. if this depiction as described would be generally received as bad representation, i don't need to contribute to that. there is plenty to go around already.

i guess my main question is how does this come across from the outside?

for other disabled people does the magic come across as a way to erase the disability or circumnavigate its effects or is it a fair way to show symptom management? does the normalcy of it from the perspective of the other characters take away from the representation or make it better? what thoughts do you have about the magic as a mobility aid idea? more generally when you see disability representation in a fantasy story of any media what are things that you are looking to see and what are things you hate? what do you want to see more of, both generally in the stories and more specific ideas and dynamics?

for non disabled people does the magic make you think that the disability is gone or ineffectual? is this representation confusing in any way? does it make you think of the character as 'inspirational', 'strong', or even 'lazy' based on only what I've said? does the idea of magic as a mobility aid make you think about disability in any different way and if so how? what is your impression of something that humanizes disability in fiction?

[skippyv20]

*****Public Service Announcement*****

Hi Skippy & Friends-Pilgrim here with a PSA for those not up to speed to the games the Harkles play. This desparado from West L.A. who is a known, high functioning narc/grifter, (currently called Pin/Diva/Raptor) is doing reprehensible and worthless machinations to get their $cheeming, full of lie$ movie completed so they get their payout.

That is all this is about...$0 $HE GET$ the money from Netflix. Unless you have agreed to be an actor or an extra in their trashy film, do not give her one inch of credibility by applauding or posing for photos. If you do, as seen in those images today from sunny Du$$ledorff, $HE will take you all the way to her bank account. You have been U$ED!!! In her mind, you have had the honor of a lifetime being in her supreme presence. Who flies half way around the world for a 12 minute introduction, opening a scholastic event? She was NOT A KEYNOTE SPEAKER!!! She made this simple zoom call into a starring role filming production. You will not believe how this looks in the final cut of the film when the crescending music has her weeping at the podium as she saves the planet...whatever...only then will we see how they flip these actual events into their grandiose, fantasy script, crowning them as the true royals.

This gag-a-rama $nooze-fe$t is deplorable. Blocking off roads for their convoy for the film crew I presume; red carpet arrival in a quaint town square; a little room where JH spoke an opening sentence in German like JFK saying "Ich bin ein Berliner." They are U$ING the UK and Germany, the royal family, city officials, everyone at One Young World, the Invictus Games, the police and local curious public to capture footage for their cameras, just to finish their incredibly LATE Netflix assignment. Don't enable really really bad form.

Kudos to those 100 people who booed them in Manchester! They are the ones to listen to! Not the paid for pawns caught up in their glitzy Hollywood production. Please, remember she is a walking, talking whacko who will do anything to get what she wants. Make no mistake about her willingness to steal from you and then trash you. Do not drink her Kool-Aid or fall for her velvet voice filling your head with strange falsehoods. Harry is the lure to her poisonous web of deceit as she sucks his life force daily. How long can he last at this frenzied pace?

This is an urgent PSA. Steer clear of this mobil wrecking crew, led by a shape shifter, hiding under super baggy pants and layer upon layer of heavy makeup. Over and out from a soggy Cape.

Thank you so much Pilgrim! Great post!❤️

[redstonedust]

Hi, disabled person here. Are you out of your goddamn mind? It’s easy to tell you’re an abled person from your post critiquing how not everyone puts Scar in a wheelchair. Saying that someone disabled needs to be always visibly disabled is hurtful to people like me and other disabled people who don’t always have our disabilities on view. The amount of times I have to lift my goddamn shirt or someone has to take their prosthetic just to prove their disability is because of people like you. (1/4)

(2/4) handicap spaces, accommodation letters, ramps, closed captions and descriptive audio, braille, and more are all to help disabled people fit better into what is unfortunately an abled person’s world. Prosthetics, wheelchairs and yes, even braces all also count as those. Saying one should be seen as better as the others for a disabled person is saying that they ARE separate from abled people and to try and let them seem more abled is wrong.

(3/4) I have heard people say what characters count and don’t count as disabled characters. Professor X from X-Men counts because he’s in a wheelchair and cannot walk. Hiccup from How to Train Your Dragon does not count because he functions fine. And that is where the problem lies. You ask for disabled people to stay in a state that cannot work at all times for the world around them. You want to see them as broken.

(4/4) And you refuse to listen when disabled people themselves say how they want to be seen. Scar said he is fine with his character drawn in a wheelchair. He said he is fine if the are drawn with bracers. He has said they could be abled or helped with magic or a robot or hybrid or anything. He does not care either way and is indifferent. And you spat at his comment and in his face and decided you knew better. You, as an abled person who does not personally know Scar knows better. How sick.

I return with a 5th part because I know you won’t answer. Or have good fair that you will not answer. But what you have said is just disrespectful. you list yourself as using the pronouns they/them. If there is some ounce of reason in you, tell me, if a cis person came up to you and told you that they and them are incorrect to use for a known person, & only refer to you as he or she, would you be happy? If you said that was not the case, would you be upset if they ignored you? So why do the same

---

alright, um. this one i'm a little more confused by, because that is... not what i intended to say? i'm genuinely sorry if it read that way to you, i would be upset myself if i saw someone saying that one type of mobility aid is somehow more representative than another. that's ableism, flat out. but it's just. not what the scar post was about?

from the original post:

"if the answer is “because i cant visualize it working in a setting like minecraft” the man is canonically magic, u can work around it. at least go with the fantasy leg brace option if ur that worried about it."

my wording was a little lazy, but what this is intended to say is "if you feel like you can't draw or write a wheelchair into the setting, fantasy leg braces and magic are an option." at no point did i intend to say that either was a better option than the other.

as for your final ask... i don't really understand your pronouns section, wouldn't a better comparison be a cis person correcting others on my pronouns on my behalf? because scar is disabled, and i am nonbinary. an abled bodied person drawing him as disabled would be the same as a cis person calling me they/them, i guess? or like... calling a fictionalized version of me they/them, even if i've expressed neutrality on the subject.

...trying to parallel the disabled experience with the transgender one is hard because they're very different. i'm abandoning this metaphor before i confuse myself. i'm also a little sad that you'd think i wouldn't answer this, we don't know eachother, theres no reason to assume that i would ignore your concerns. i'm sorry if people usually do.

anyways um. sorry if this wasn't the kind of response you expected, and i hope you have a nice day. feel free to block me or the post via xkit tools if you're unhappy with it.

[thefolioarchives]

Reading of 2021, part IX

Or the post where I rant about how much I love T. Kingfisher, part I. Hope you're a big a fan as me!

49. The Twisted Ones by T. Kingfisher

I put down The Hollow Places and immediately downloaded The Twisted Ones. Sometimes you just feel an affinity for an author that's so strong the only thing that's going to "appease" the need for more is… well… more. The Twisted Ones wasn’t as funny as Hollow Places, but my god does it really matter? There are a lot of similarities here as well, which I enjoy. Instead of a benevolent cat, we have a pure-hearted dog that will sniff out God if he's set on the trail. The voice of reason this time around is Foxy, the black lady living in a hippie commune down the street (Foxy is also hilarious and savvy and would "topple governments on Mars" by now if the CIA had given her a chance). The comforting but ultimately distant male presence is performed by the main character's, Melissa's/Mouse's, dad. There's also an evil "stepmom" (in HP I'd argue that Kara's mom filled this role) in the character of Mouse's dead grandmother; a real beast of a woman no one really liked and who was filled with this inherent hatred of everyone and everything. This charming lady is the reason for the plot, who is now deceased and has left behind a real hoarder home, complete with terrifying doll room, that Mouse has been asked to clear out. Eventually, Mouse comes upon her step-grandfather's bedroom (basically the only room in the house not balls to the walls with junk) and also a manuscript! There are things in the woods that her step-grandfather was scared of, that her grandmother somehow warded off against, and Mouse is literally in the middle of nowhere with a mobile phone that's on the fritz because of the latest software update. This is my kind of jam!

I'm in love with the way Kingfisher plays with fairy tale tropes and implements them into her horror narrative and it makes sense considering the fairy tales of old were actually terrifying (I will never not think about how the mermaid from the little mermaid felt like she was walking on knives or how the stepsisters in Cinderella chopped off their toes to fit into the glass slipper). But there are also generous nods to the horror genre itself and I. AM. HERE. FOR. IT. I'm also a big fan of "horror in the woods" and think this might be my new favourite subgenre. Maybe this is what people call folk horror? It's also unputdownable and throughout the book I was filled with a desperate need to find out what happens next. There are twists and turns aplenty, some are more obvious than others, and I can't help but think that Kingfisher laid out some of these so obviously that unsuspecting readers would forget about other things that might hint at certain things… Either way my jaw dropped and then I started grinning. There's nothing like a book surprising you. I think it's also a narrative decision, in order to highlight some of the traits of the main character. Kingfisher writes about complicated people who have experienced grief and are left on rocky shores. But they're inherently good people who will help anyone who asks for it, which can often lead to sticky situations. Remember when Rihanna sang "all of my kindness is taken for weakness?" and I feel that applies here as well. This is sometimes the trouble with being "good". Things get ignored or downplayed and when you finally do get into serious trouble, it can be easy to dismiss it as "They deserved it". But in a world that focuses so often on the bad and the horrible, we should be celebrating these characters, cheering them on and rendering whatever aid we can, regardless of what trouble they find themselves in. If the intention is good, why must we argue with that?

50. Clockwork Boys by T. Kingfisher

I've sort of been saying that I'm dedicating October to horror literature only, but after discovering Kingfisher, I took the plunge into her fantasy series because I'm clearly obsessed with this author! A _true_ band of misfits are sent upon a "suicide mission" across a warring landscape to reach Anuket City in order to discover the secrets behind the two lost expeditions before them, but also to figure out how the enemy's Clockwork Boys work; 10 feet tall machines that double down as siege engines and killing machines. With the Clockwork Boys, the enemy is close to gaining the upper hand in the war and it's crucial that our heroes find anything that will help them repel their foes. There is also a mysterious plague ravaging the small folk, with people collapsing in the streets. These realities are seen through the eyes of Slate, the leader of expeditions, who smell rosemary if something's really important/magic/dangerous happening and is an expert in the world of fraudulence, and the recently de-knighted sir Cadigan, who was sentenced to life imprisonment after murdering a large member of the convent of the Sleeping God, whilst under demonic possession. We also have a sassy assassin and an ignorant young priest who refer to women as "the distaff sex". Again, I'm convinced that Kingfisher writes her books solely for my audience, because… This just has everything I've ever wanted from a fantasy novel, and then some! We have a bit of steampunk, we have a bit of plague narrative, we have some kind of religion I'm dying to know more about, we have an interesting Dowager Queen who's last desperate decision is to employ literal criminals to try to turn the tides of the war. There's a war, but we're not actually in the war if you know what I mean. There is also a bit of romance which I'm partial to because I really LOVE these characters. I just love it so much and I really can't deal with how much I enjoy it. I'm think I'm going to abandon my current reading list and read Kingfisher until I get bored/in need of a change and take it from there.

51. The Wonder Engine by T. Kingfisher

This is the second book in the Clocktaur War duology (but she still has other books set in this universe so calm yourself right down) and our heroes have made it to Anuket City. I've talked about it before in these posts but it bears repeating: I do love a good fictional city. The knowledge that we get about Anuket City is organic and it's not like we're given large infodumps on its history and people. Our heroes are not here for a history lesson, they're here to dismantle the patriarchy Clockwar Boys. And that is honestly fine with me. Things feel more natural this way. Now, I myself might have gone to the nearest tavern to have a chat with some of the locals to get a bit more of a lay of the land, but there is no time for that really, so drips is what you get. That isn't to say the drips aren't delicious, though. There are seedy underbellies, there is the insane and fabulous Artifice Quarter, there is the race of the badger-like Gnoles who are basically treated like vermin, amidst the sense that Anuket City is old and there are a lot of religions here. Not just The Dreaming God. On the page, this is a delicious fantasy heist-romp with added jealousies and romance, circling around themes of trust, friendship and loyalty.

[sleepsnumber1fan]

Hi! Hello!

You can call me Sleeps, I use Ze/Zhir/Zem pronouns.

My tumblr name is a lil joke with myself because Ive had issues with Chronic Fatigue my whole life and sleep between 14-17 hours on a good day.

Profile pic is a crochet tiger orb, pattern is by eniyee on youtube. I like making lots of crochet things and i post the pictures sometimes :)

I’m Queer, Polyamourous, and Genderfluid

I’m dating two very wonderful folk irl, a nonbinary he/they buddy bf, and a she/it puppygirl gf

I am disabled, a mobility aid user, with hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, Fibromyalgia, tourrettes, Migraines, cptsd, anxiety, and adhd and autism.

I self-diagnosed as autistic since 2018 and only decided to get an official dx in 2021 as i finally found a place that diagnoses adults on a payment plan. Feel free to ask me more about that process if you’re interested :)

I also had a PFO (hole in my heart) that i had surgery for in 2020.

I am interested in psychology (studying it at uni), Magical Boy!, Boyfriends (comic), flowers, acnh, solitaire, puzzles, stardew valley, our life:forever and always, arcane, psy-changeling series, guild hunter series, the owl house, Welcome to Demon school, fantasy manga, pokemon, legend of zelda, writing, drawing, crocheting and some other random hyperfixation of the month (this month: DnD! Specifically the campaign my partner/housemate is running for me! And even more specifically, the ships between my character and the npcs they made haha)

I am a big supporter of Self Advocacy, Self-dx and self-care! I am also a spoonie <3

I tag my posts with either long post, various triggers where relevant, and im going to try to tag my posts as well “sleeps says stuff” and “sleeps shows stuff”

If there is anything you would like me to tag just flick me a message :D

Though fair warning, I will sometimes reblog nsfw in a reblogging brainfog. I'll try to tag anything very explicit but if you don't wanna see anything even vaguely nsfw probs dont follow.

Anyway! If you have any questions feel free to pm me or send me an ask! Even if you just want to vent or infodump I am happy to chat :D