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cripplecharacters · 3 days

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What is your opinion on the trope of a character faking disability for plot reasons? (One that often comes with "surprise they weren't actually disabled all this time" plottwist when it's done by not one of protagonists)

Hello! Please please please don’t write this. This sort of representation is overdone, and can have real harmful effects on disabled people. It can lead others to believe that disabled people who are just living their life are “faking” it. Trying to identify what disabled people are faking only ends up hurting people.

Thanks for the question, Mod Patch

#anonymous #mod patch #writing trope #disability rep #tropes #writing advice #writing help #writing disabled characters #faking disability trope

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spoonietimelordy · 1 month

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Hum I'm gonna give it to 911 writers for writing one of the best disabled characters on TV. Chris cp is not downplayed, but it's not his only personality trait, and not all of his storylines are about it either and I really like it. They're not infantalising him now that he is a teen, they're allowing him to grow into a messy teen and that's really cool.

Like not only is it logical for Chris to develop some early bpd traits with his abandonment trauma, but it's also bold of the writers to allow a disabled teen to have this messy relationship with his sexuality. Disabled characters are always desexualised, and they were like "nop, that kid is gonna date 5 different girls at once".

#charlie is rambling #911 abc #christopher diaz #disability rep

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thebibliosphere · 9 months

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Hunger Pangs: True Love Bites

In a world of dwindling hope, love has never mattered more...

Captain Nathan J. Northland had no idea what to expect when he returned home to Lorehaven injured from war, but it certainly wasn’t to find himself posted on an island full of vampires. An island whose local vampire dandy lord causes Nathan to feel strange things he’d never felt before. Particularly about fangs.

When Vlad Blutstein agreed to hire Nathan as Captain of the Eyrie Guard, he hadn’t been sure what to expect either, but it certainly hadn’t been to fall in love with a disabled werewolf. However Vlad has fallen and fallen hard, and that’s the problem.

Torn by their allegiances–to family, to duty, and the age-old enmity between vampires and werewolves–the pair find themselves in a difficult situation: to love where the heart wants or to follow where expectation demands.

The situation is complicated further when a mysterious and beguiling figure known only as Lady Ursula crashes into their lives, bringing with her dark omens of death, doom, and destruction in her wake.

And a desperate plea for help neither of them can ignore.

Hunger Pangs: True Love Bites by Joy Demorra is a queer, paranormal, gaslamp fantasy romance novel featuring enchanted forests, gothic castles, and just a smidge of industrial coal dust, and is the first book of the Hunger Pangs slow-burn polyamorous romance series. Join Vlad, Nathan, and Ursula as they navigate a magical world torn asunder war and politics as they work to restore balance to the world and find love along the way. Book one is available now in ebook, paperback, and audio.

Buy the (high heat) Flirting With Fangs Edition Here.

Buy the (medium heat) Fluff and Fangs Edition Here.

Why are there two versions, and what's the difference between them? Glad you asked! You can also check out individual content tags and heat ratings on my website at www.joydemorra.com

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a-confusion-of-doctors · 5 months

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she has weapons in her wheelchair and there are ramps in the TARDIS!!! joy unbounded

#doctor who spoilers #disability rep #doctor who #doctor who 60th anniversary #dw #shirley anne bingham #the star beast

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stardustandrockets · 9 months

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Do you have a favorite book with disability rep? Drop it below! (Title and author, please.)

July got away from me and I didn't get this disability rep post finished before the month ended.

The rep listed is by no means a comprehensive list, but what I could remember. I know there are a lot of other lists out there with several of these books on them, but some I hadn't seen and wanted to include.

• Photo 2: Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute by Talia Hibbert (OCD), Turtles All the Way Down by John Green (OCD), The Charm Offensive by Alison Cochrun (anxiety, depression, and OCD)

• Photo 3: Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson (anxiety), Icebreaker by A.L. Graziadei (anxiety and depression), Teacher of the Year by M.A. Wardell (anxiety and ADHD)

• Photo 4: Lost in the Never Woods by Aiden Thomas (anxiety and PTSD), The Infinite Noise by Lauren Shippen (anxiety and depression), Heartstopper (anxiety, depression, and anorexia)

• Photo 5: A Neon Darkness by Lauren Shippen (depression and PTSD), The Witch King by H.E. Edgmon (depression and PTSD), Summer Sons by Lee Mandelo (depression)

• Photo 6: Life Lessons with Uramichi Oniisan by Gaku Kaze (depression), Perfect World by Rie Aruga (spinal cord injury), Vicious by V.E. Schwab (chronic pain)

• Photo 7: A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab (blindness), The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater (partial deafness), The Whispering Dark by Kelly Andrew (deafness)

• Photo 8: I Hear the Sunspot by Yuki Fumino (deafness), A Quiet Kind of Thunder by Sara Barnard (deafness and select mutism), Everything You Never Said by Jordon Greene (mutism)

• Photo 9: Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas (dyslexia), Spoiler Alert by Olivia Dade (dyslexia), All the Feels by Olivia Dade (ADHD)

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khruschevshoe · 5 months

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Watching all of the new doctor who clips about the TARDIS being wheelchair accessible now and the way that RTD responded to Ruth and others who mentioned wanting to be able to travel with the doctor and the sheer JOY shown in the episode really lifted my disabled spirits. I was actually crying I was so excited and overjoyed!

But I couldn't help but feel bittersweet because that's what I felt two months ago with Izzy Hands and his disabled arc with his leg and his community accommodating and supporting him...only for that finale to come around and crush me.

Doctor Who has always been a source of optimism for me. A place to feel included and understood, with the writers as far back as 2005 taking efforts to be kind and optimistic no matter what. They took so many stumbles along the way (I've talked about the handling of Martha and Moffat's, well, sexism and such plenty), but at the end of the day, the show was about renewal and kindness and perseverance. It made its omnisexual character immortal. It made its lesbians travel through time. It gave us disabled rep and Torchwood's messy glory and enough grief to fill an ocean and yet it kept telling us that you are safe. You can live. You can run and see the world and I will not be cruel to you. I will teach you how to deal with your pain and recover and grow and someday, it will all turn out alright.

I guess what I'm saying is that I'm really looking forward to the new season of Doctor Who and that I'm glad fanfic for OFMD caught me and held my hand and said the world is not cruel. You can live. You can keep running and living and loving and this is not the end for you.

You will see the world and it will hurt you and everything has its time and everything ends but life regenerates. It comes back.

This is not the end. It is never the end.

Be gentle. Be kind. And those who love you will be gentle in return.

Izzy Hands, I will not let you go.

@fool-for-luv

#ofmd critical #ofmd season 2 #ofmd s2 #meta #doctor who #doctor who 60th anniversary #russell t davies #rtd you did it again #jack harkness #let me be optimistic #and let me be kind #izzy hands #fix it #fanfic #disability rep #accessibility

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softness-and-shattering · 4 months

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So I put on this netflix show, in their tradition of being extremely obvious with names its called Mech Cadets, and its an alien-mecha human-pilot fight-the-giant-bug-aliens story. My first complaint is that the alien mechas are called Robo's. Wow exciting /sarcasm. Anyway thats totally forgiven because 1 the story actually makes choices and puts the characters through consequences instead of like hinting at oh it something bad gonna happen psych we dont have the guts for that. Its a kid/teen show so its not super dark but it follows through and goes the places it needs to.

2, and maybe most importantly, I gotta talk about the disability rep. There's four teens chosen by the alien mechs to be their drift-compatible pilots (I think im using that correctly? Im not super informed on the genre but I know some), and we see straight away that one of the guys has a prosthetic leg from the thigh down, and uses it as an example to tell the main protagonist, hey none of us are perfect we dont have to be perfect we just need to be human. The next episode the mechas are given human-designed weapons to fight with, and the disabled kid gets these flippy sticks I cant quite work out. One of them gets a staff, the other gets this glove for punching, story moves on. Then a bug-alien-antagonist gets into the teens dorm and while fighting it, the alien dismembers the guys prosthetic. He immediately grabs his crutches and goes to town on it with his crutches, and balancing on them to kick with his one good foot*. Then they disconnect the rest of the prosthetic and use its sharp edge to kill the alien. And then he just moves around on his crutches with no comment and Ill cut myself off there so I dont spoil the whole thing.

Except, a couple episodes later, Im watching him in the mech fighting and moving around, and I realise that his giant fuck-off monster attacking weapons ARE A PAIR OF CRUTCHES. Theyre his fucking WEAPONS. Thats cool as fuck!

#is it mech and not mecha and im making a fool of myself? I just cant quite bear to call them Robos im sorry #Mech Cadets #Theres more nice stuff about the disability rep but I want to leave some surprises for y'all when you watch it #The animation is ok theres one character who's face sometimes looks a bit plastic and moves a bit janky imho but otherwise its alright #I also definitely want more about the robos as people because theyre intelligent but theyre also a bit treated like machines #and not sentient beings #but they clearly are sentient #theres definitely themes happening about how alive they are but its not properly dug into yet. if they get a second season I definitely wan #more on them #like why did they just show up to earth to partner with people and fight the bug aliens? where are they from? whats their motivation?#but in a I want more world building way not in a wow this is shit world building way #anyway #mine #disability rep #disability representation #its got some really fun vibes #*his one foot. he doesnt have a good foot and a bad foot he just has a foot. getting him mixed in my head with Kaz Brekker and his cane

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capricorn-0mnikorn · 1 year

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Heard this on the radio, this afternoon (2 May, 2023).

The story is semi-autobiographical, because the author also grew up with one leg, and it gives me hope, because it's not "Inspirational" like the kids' books about disability were when I was growing up.

The Moral? It is not your responsibility to be an educational resource. And, as a matter of fact, it's your responsibility to set boundaries, and not let people get away with rude questions.

I know it's cliche to say: "I wish I had a book like this when I was growing up," but, yeah, I do.

#disability rep #children's literature #picture book #growing up disabled #Psst: it's also for the parents who never learned their manners #limb difference #visible disability #etiquette

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ill-say-anything-i-hafta · 3 months

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People are starting to recognize that disabled characters should be played by actors who are actually disabled themselves. But I've noticed a new trend -- actors whose disabilities are less severe than the characters they play. What do we think about that?

I was watching Bodies on Netflix last night. There is a character who is a cop in 2053 and she has a disease that causes paralysis, but uses a sci fi device to walk. Her half-brother, a wheelchair user who has the same disease, calls her a sellout and says the work she does for the shady future government to earn the device isn't worth it. Two disabled characters talking to each other! An interesting scene! The sister is played by an abled actor, but I was curious about the brother character. I looked him up and learned that Edwin Thomas is disabled; he has CP. I also learned that his disability is invisible/he has played abled roles in the past.

And that reminds me of Matthew Duckett, who recently played Crutchie in the West End Newsies, a character who (you guessed it) uses a crutch. For what it's worth, I love him in the role and he has been widely praised for bringing authenticity. Duckett also played Claude Chatterly on the Netflix Lady Chatterly's lover, who is paralyzed and uses a wheelchair. Duckett has CP and does not use a mobility aid.

Here's one that's personal to me. I am visually impaired. One time I looked up my own condition and I learned about an actor who also has it -- his name is Ben Mehl -- who played a totally blind person on a show called You. (I have not seen this show and have nothing to say about his performance.) I read an interview with him and he talked about practicing doing things blindfolded, observing blind people outside their homes (!!!) and being taught by a trainer to use a white cane.

Living with vision loss can be hard; it really sucks sometimes. I feel a sense of solidarity with other disabled people as well as curiosity and (as you can see from this long-ass post) a sense that I have a vested interest in how disabled people are represented in media. But I DON'T know what it's like to be totally blind, and clearly Mehl doesn't either. Reading his interview reminded me so much of reading interviews with sighted/nondisabled actors who take on disabled roles.

I have heard it said that it's not anyone's business how an actor's disability affects them offstage, and I can sympathize with that perspective. But it shuts down the conversation. The studio is allowed to make a big deal about how authentic their casting is for promotional purposes, but no one can ask questions or talk about it?

Let's zoom out for a second: why do we care if disabled roles are played by actual disabled people? I would say for two reasons. 1. Authenticity. These actors can play the roles with greater sensitivity and accuracy, showing audiences what disabled bodies and disabled movement really look like and even potentially correcting mistakes that nondisabled scriptwriters and directors have made. And 2. Equity. People with disabilities should get to be on screen and on stage more often, they should have more opportunities.

But if the actor's disability is not the same as the character's, will the portrayal really be accurate?

And if someone with an invisible disability or lower level of impairment takes these roles, what roles will be available for actors with more severe impairment?

Note that I am not criticizing the choices or the performances of these particular disabled actors! (Except maybe Ben Mehl for creeping around outside people's apartments...) Instead, I'm questioning the motives of the people who hired them.

ALSO, is it just me or wouldn't it be cool to see people with different kinds of disabilities depicted in media? It seems to me like 90% of the disabled people on TV are paraplegics or quadriplegics. What about, like, everyone else? What if we cast more people with CP as ... people with CP? What if there was a person in a movie who couldn't recognize faces or drive, but could see a little, like most blind people can in real life. Sadly, I have never seen that in media (except for Butchie on The Wire, played by S. Robert Morgan, a VI actor, love that guy.)

Did anyone read this far? I would honestly be shocked. But let me know what you think.

#disability #disability in media #disability rep #edwin thomas #bodies #bodies netflix #matthew duckett #crutchie morris #newsies #uksies #ben mehl #you #visually impaired #s. robert morgan #the wire #lady chatterley's lover

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reachforthestars-101 · 7 months

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I love the fact that in lycoris recoil the villan stopped the fight to be considerate of the mc disability stopped for a drink

And continued right after disability rights

#lycoris recoil #lr #disability representation #disability rep #crunchyroll #anime #my post

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thebibliosphere · 2 months

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I've been meaning to do this update on Payhip for a while; I just haven't had the mental capacity to deal with anything admin, but! It is now possible to send copies of the Hunger Pangs ebooks and audiobooks as gifts!

(It was always possible before if you exploited the email function, but now it's like, official 👍)

ID: Two images side by side. They show a screenshot from Payhip's checkout page set against a rainbow glitter background. In the first image, the form prompts the viewer to fill in their own details. On the second image, the "give as a gift" box is checked, which shows additional options, such as entering the recipient's email and the ability to add a personalized message.

Sorry for the weird sizing. I'm using the same images for insta and couldn't be bothered to crop it for Tumblr. Because I'm professional like that.

Anyway. Valentines might be over, but it's never too late to give the gift of DRM-free vampires and werewolves kissing as they help an all-powerful magic wielder save the world from ecological disaster:

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poppletonink · 7 months

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Review: Crooked Kingdom

★★★★★ - 5 stars

"I would come for you. And if I couldn't walk, I'd crawl to you, and no matter how broken we were, we'd fight our way out together - knives drawn, pistols blazing. Because that's what we do. We never stop fighting."

On the front of Crooked Kingdom, there should be a warning that reads, "You will experience a withdrawal stage once finished reading and will feel like you are no longer whole". That is the effect of this enticing, page-turner of a book. It tells the story of Kaz Brekker and his crew following the Ice Court Heist that occurs within Six Of Crows, as they seek out revenge upon a swindling mercher, in hopes of gaining their well-earned reward. It's dramatic, dark and full to the brim with tales of crime, but it's simultaneously funny and astoundingly adorable.

There are three relationships that have you completely hooked and often screaming at words on paper and that is because... the romance within this story is nothing but wonderful. At times it is overt and between the lines but nevertheless remains an amazing aspect of the story. Overall, the love between the characters, both romantic and platonic, is immaculately written.

Through this book there is a beautiful discussion of disability (both physical and mental) and ableism within society. It's raw and honest about disability, and can be quite emotional to read, yet it is also extremely empowering and uplifting. It discusses dyslexia and the realities of being a cane user but it never takes away from the fantasy plot. In fact, it aids it, because it makes the characters wonderfully imperfect and more real.

Leigh Bardugo is an incredible writer - she will draw you into the world of the Grishaverse and take you down a path before tearing your heart to pieces. She creates characters who you come to love, characters who go through so much and yet stay standing and she will make you cry through what happens to them. It's a painful read, and yet a rewarding one because it is so well-written. A tale of love, crime, trauma and revenge: Crooked Kingdom is an outstanding addition to the ranks of the fantasy genre.

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bat-besties · 1 year

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The few disabled heroes in comics tend to have relatively low support needs, and honestly this misses out on a lot of representation. Having a hero who can carry out hero work but has a carer, either professional or family member, has so many good story opportunities.

The carer absolutely refuses to get involved in hero business and is morally opposed to vigilantism. But it is their duty to help the hero live a full life not defined by the carer’s own morality-

So they only assist in helping the hero’s needs, not their vigilantism.

Which could lead to situations like-

The hero asking them to input “surrender now!” and “drop your weapons!” as whole phrases on their AAC device for ease of use during combat. The carer does and also adds in “time’s up, punk” in case the hero feels like some punch.

The hero isn’t active for an hour every afternoon so they need another hero to watch their turf for them - they need to get home then for assisted nutrition

Carer knows about their hero career so is used to bruises, cuts and scars when they assist the hero with washing - and proudly watch the numbers of them go down week by week

The carer already having first aid knowledge so they patch up the hero

Hero gets a super long “for your eyes ONLY” letter from the Superhero Team and cannot understand it so the carer reads and verbally summarises it for them

All the heroes in the area get hit with a disabling gas….disabling, of course, if you’re not already disabled. Our hero is used to operating like this and saves the day.

They carry their pills in a compartment in their super suit, with a timer set by their carer to remind them to take them. They have just released an avalanche of pills in a villain’s face to distract them before. (Don’t worry, they have a spare compartment)

On some days the hero just can’t get out and has to rest. On those days, they release a brief statement that they are “assisting the sick and disabled”. The carer says it stopped being funny the tenth time. They disagree.

The hero straight up wears their own merch and refers to themself by their hero name in public and nobody suspects them. Their friends/family think it’s a joke, other people think they’re confused or “cute”.

Inevitably someone thinks they’ve worked out that carer is the local hero and kidnaps them, giving a long speech about how they’ve got them now and these are all the evil plans- the hero bursts in and saves the day.

The villain concludes the carer isn’t actually their nemesis but still doesn’t work out it’s the hero

The hero’s really guilty that the carer got dragged into this when they never wanted to be, so they offer to retire.

And carer’s like HE DIDN’T EVEN WORK OUT IT WAS YOU WHO FOILED HIS EVIL PLANS, KICK HIS ABLEIST ASS

And they do :)

Meanwhile if they live in assisted living everyone else there knows they’re the hero and thinks they’re keeping the secret from everyone else

Throughout the series the hero has a power crawl with their powers/heroing, but their support needs never majorly improve. And that’s alright! Because their aim isn’t to be independent, it’s to help as many people as possible - as well as accepting the help they need themself.

#disability in comics #or my imagined comic #disability rep #this is ideas i found fun rather than a story or Ideal Rep #i'd love for other disabled people to add on

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chrisbuckleydiaz · 1 year

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Chris is just such a huge milestone for disability rep and I might be sobbing about it for eternity.

This storyline could have played out so many different ways and it did GOOD.

He gets to go to the school party. He doesn't get bullied (!!!). He HAS A CRUSH. (Also, different note: gender-neutral!) When discussing said crush there's no "aw cute, disabled kid has a crush :3" or something. It's just "Uh. My child is being a teen?! No?! Welp?!"

But also. ALSO. That second scene. Expections when you're disabled/have a disabled child are different. Different milestones. Thank you for acknowledging that.

And the best part is I never doubted that they would do it justice. Because they keep giving.

#Christopher Diaz #9-1-1 #9-1-1 spoilers #Eddie Diaz #disability rep

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schizoaffectively · 8 months

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I watched the documentary "Crip Camp" about a week ago now, and I wanted to hold off on giving my opinion until I had some time to let it settle in in my brain. After watching it, I felt so happy and loved it! I can easily say that I love it just as much as when I finished it a week ago! I highly recommend it to anyone interested in disabled history in the US!

What I love most about it is that it shows the history of the disabled community and disability civil rights movement in a very real way, with the voices of some of the people who paved that path! It also doesn't sanitize the disabled experience like some other pieces of media do, such as touching upon romance and sex while being disabled.

It also taught me some history I didn't know about my own community! I knew a chunk of it, but other things I did not! They don't teach about disabled history much in school, or at least didn't where I was and when I was in school... if that has changed, let me know!

Anyways, can't recommend this documentary enough. Loved it with all my heart.

#rose blogging #cripplepunk #cripple punk #disability rep #physical disability #disability #actually disabled #crip camp

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flameraven · 1 year

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I feel like I should start a collection for these failed-representation books I'm reading. :/

My current read promised a "chronically ill" main character, which was one of the things that attracted me to it. Further, it's a main character who's forced into a physically grueling military type school. I was really curious to see how such a character would navigate that physically demanding environment. I have chronic illness issues myself and I have really struggled with physical exercise and increasing mobility issues, leading to a lot of frustration as I have to cut back on activities I used to enjoy.

Unfortunately, as far as the book is concerned, the character is basically unaffected by her disability. I'm only 30% of the way into this book, but despite being told that she is fragile and easily breaks bones, or has joints slip out of place, this has barely hindered the character.

She has only two incidents of injury even mentioned-- she slips and bangs her knee during initiation, and then has to wrap it as it immediately swells up. That one seemed fine as an initial problem. Then another student dislocates her shoulder and breaks her arm during their first round of combat practice. However, she gets rushed to the magical healer and basically insta-fixed, so she just has her arm in a sling and is "sore" for a few days but otherwise fine. She continues to do combat practice and sparring and while she mostly avoids serious fights by poisoning her opponents, even that much activity should strain someone with the kind of illness that was described for her.

It's really frustrating. I don't feel like the author talked to anyone who actually suffers from chronic pain or illness at all. It sounds vaguely like she was aiming for something like Ehlers-Danos syndrome or another connective tissue problem, and I just don't see any of the struggles that myself or other spoonies talk about. There's no mention of the grinding fatigue or constant pain that often comes with this kind of illness, and while she's hurt sometimes, she just "compartmentalizes" the pain and pushes through it (with no consequences or problems from it later.) The plot has her doing basically a full Ninja Warrior course to graduate, and all she gets is some skinned palms.

I am going to try to finish the book, but I don't have high hopes for it. UPDATE: because people keep telling me the author is disabled and aren't reading the comments: I know that now. You can read my followup comments here.

#book reviews #disability rep #invisible illness #chronic illness #i am gonna name and shame this book #fourth wing

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