Do You Want To Write A Good Disabled Character?

Do you want to write a good disabled character?

I've been seeing the topic of disabled characters being thrown around for a while now, especially when it comes to good or bad writing. Usually, the topic is what you shouldn't do. There are a lot of great posts explaining this, and I don't want to repeat what has already been said dozen of times. Instead, today, I would like to give you exemples of what I, as a disabled person, consider to be great writing, and give you further analysis on why do these characters work !

Toph from ATLA

Toph is a blind little girl who feels like she struggles to find her place in the world as her parents prevent her from doing anything but very simple activities as they fear she might get hurt

First of all, Toph is strong. Like, really strong. She's a champion who has won multiple prizes, she loves fighting, and she even became aang's mentor. She's not a cliché of a poor little girl who can't do anything on her own, and we love that.

The relationship with her parents is rather realistic and a good source of conflict for her character. Depending on the disability, family can get either overwhelmingly protective or deny you're struggling completely. Toph is in the first case, and her trying to prove to others and herself that she can do things on her own is excellent for character growth.

Her disability does define her. We have to stop demonizing the fact that yes, some people are disabled. Toph is blind, it's part of her character and she wouldn't be the same without that trait. While characters that aren't defined by their disabilities are a GREAT representation, sometimes it's really nice to see a character whose disability is an inherent part of themselves, especially when they don't care/are proud of it like Toph. Toph has no problem making jokes about it, even mocking people who forget it.

Her bending doesn't magically cure her disability. Too often in fiction, some characters are met with a cure that gets rid of all of their problems. That is not the case for Toph. Her bending does help her quite a lot, but she can't read, draw, she's completely lost when she's flying ... Everything isn't just solved by flipping a switch.

Edward from FMA/FMAB

Edward is an amputee whose goal is to find a solution to help his little brother recover his lost body and recover his own lost arm and leg that he lost after an accident.

While Edward's goal is directly linked with his disability, it doesn't define him completely. Edward mostly feels guilty towards his brother for his mistake, and seems to think more about his safety rather than recovering his own limbs. It's interesting to state since too often, disabled characters tend to have for only goal to "fix themselves"

Slowly throughout the manga/anime, his goals get more and more different, diverging completely from what he used to have in mind. This drives him even further away than him just trying to find a cure.

When you think of Edward, the first word you have in mind probably isn't disabled, despite it being shown in the first episode of both series. This character has a full personality, background, job, ideology and thoughts. He's not just "the disabled one"

Yet, with that in mind, Edward's disability is still a very important part of his life. His automails may malfunction. He needs them to be repaired rather often. The process to get them onto your body is extremely painful and you can see everything around it is very time consuming.

Eda from the Owl House

While Eda's curse isn't exactly like any other real disability (if you can find a way for my chronic pains to turn me into a harpy sign me up), her writing does have many, many similarities to chronic illnesses.

Eda is a women in her mid forties who slowly learns how to live as a criminal witch with two children to take care of and a curse that slowly grows more powerful with time

Eda's curse is something she deeply hates and desperately tries to get rid of, but it isn't something about her that's constantly shoved in our face. It does have consequences, but getting rid of this curse clearly isn't Eda's main goal during the series.

However, with that in mind, the curse does take a huge part of her life. She has to take a medication for it, with huge consequences if she forgets it, she slowly grows weaker until she's completely unable to perform something she used to be so good at (that thing being magic), the presence of the curse has a huge impact on her mental health ...

Another important thing is that this curse doesn't affect just her, but the ones she loves as well. Being unable to talk about her problem makes it difficult for her to form bonds with others, one of the main instances of that being with Raine, her ex-partner. The fact that she hides her pain and distress makes it even worse for everyone and she feels like she can't really ask for help.

Another really important thing that links her to real-life disabilities is that her mother is desperate to find a cure, even going to find quacks who pretend that they can help. At this point, eda doesn't think she can be cured, or at least not by any regular means, and feels distressed to see her mother repeatedly saying that she found a cure. This is something that happens a lot with disabled people and can be a great source of interpersonal conflicts.

Finally, Eda accepting her curse and taking it as a part of herself is a really healthy way to portray acceptation. She's not cured. She doesn't gain the magic she lost back. However, she does gain confidence and happiness with it

More Posts from Jcryptid and Others

1 year ago
Yay! I Finally Get To Post This!

Yay! I finally get to post this!

This is a thing I did for a friend of mine @lavendertoonz, for a secret santa OC drawing exchange between us and a bunch of our friends. Their OC is Isabelle, I don't know much about her but she is very pretty, her creator is an amazing human being and I had a lot of fun making this.

Words cannot express how much fun it was seeing what everyone came up with and the joy radiating from our receivers, very much hope to do this again next year and would absolutely reccomend doing it with your art friends if you can.

So anyways, Merry Christmas! Hope you liked Lav <3


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11 months ago

So this is going to sound Crazy, but part of why i've been so inactive lately has been because I was lucky enough to have been selected alongside 6 of my friends in Animation to get shipped out to Winton, Australia to spend a 2 weeks making an animated short for their Vision Splendid film festival.

Together, we got to work with locals, film students, Student composers, festival hosts and first nations elders to create a collection of Animated Haikus celebrating this wonderful town, but get to know ourselves and this country in a way we never even would have considered before.

And as if that wasn't enough to make us jump up and down, flapping out hands in joy... guys... We won the Kolperi Award! A first for animation in the entire 11 year history of the festival!

So thank you thank you thank you for everyone who made it possible for me and my friends to experience Winton. It's something i'll be treasuring for the rest of my days.

Voiced by my friend Kiwi and Music by my friends in the Conservatorium (Love, Lisa and Georgia)


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2 years ago

First: once you know something’s name you have power over it. This is an old, old rule. Be careful giving out your name, because if it can be given it can be taken, and you along with it.

Second: the fae love beautiful things, and they will steal what they love. Sometimes it is to keep the object of their affection pristine and unaging, unravaged by time; sometimes it is just for the sake of having it. (They don’t love in the same way we do.)

Third: a changeling is a replica created to hide a theft. Sometimes it is a fae creature fully alive and wearing a stolen face. Sometimes it is simply a bundle of branches wrapped in magic, meant to die a wasting death and leave mourners who never suspect the truth.

Last: our city was beautiful. It was known far and wide, and because of that had names spoken in many different tongues. But it was not so hard to gather them all, in the end.

Keep reading

3 years ago
I Have No Words Other Than The Simple Fact That I Have Exhausted The Current Amount Of Tma Au Fics That

I have no words other than the simple fact that i have exhausted the current amount of tma au fics that aren't just fluff right now and... well, isn't that how the saying goes? if you can't find the fic you wanna read yourself, you may as well just write it yourself.

Simple premise is au where monsters aren't really as we see them in TMA, and can be controlled by the use of crafted sigils, either as a means of warding them off, binding them to an object (usually a book so their powers can be used once the monster's consciousnesss dies) or to destroy them entirely.

Jon is a special case by way of his rather permanent transformation at the hands of Elias, who'd crafted a very special sigil of his own to bind Jon to his command as part of a much bigger plan. Trapped with Jon, although not bound or created by Elias in the same manner, is Gerard Keay and Michael Shelly, with the latter being very miffed to say the least at being unable to kill any of the institute staff, (including most pertinantly, Gertrude Robinson the one responsible for the sigils binding them there for her uses under threat of death).

For a long time things seem absolutely hopless when Gertrude's last plan to stop Elias fails and she dies as a result, Michael and Gerry still bound to the institute and being used as unwitting labor by Elias in the aftermath with Jon staying as far away from the institute as he can until the time comes when Elias will inevitably use the sigil to force him back to the institute again.

Needless to say meeting and saving Martin blackwood from his own monsters was not something any of them could have forseen.


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3 years ago

This is unironically the best thing I’ve seen all pride month

Happy Pride And Happy Birthday, Red @comicaurora! Erin Had Some Extra Capes In His Backpack…

happy pride and happy birthday, red @comicaurora! erin had some extra capes in his backpack…


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1 year ago

Storytelling Techniques

A good storytelling method is essential for writing good fiction. There are many storytelling techniques that can be used to create engaging and memorable stories. Here are some common techniques you can use in your stories:

Use sensory details: Including sensory details in your story can help your audience imagine the scene and get emotionally invested in the story. For example, you can describe the colors, sounds, and smells of a place or event.

Build tension and suspense: Tension and suspense are important for keeping your audience engaged and invested in your story. You can create tension by introducing a conflict or challenge that the characters must overcome.

Foreshadowing: Foreshadowing is a technique used to hint at future events in the story. This can create anticipation and keep your audience engaged.

Use pacing effectively: Pacing refers to the speed at which the story unfolds. Make sure to vary the pacing to keep your audience engaged. For example, you can slow down the pacing during emotional or reflective moments, and speed it up during action scenes.

Show, don't tell: Instead of simply telling your audience what is happening in the story, show them through vivid descriptions and actions. This can help your audience feel more immersed in the story.

Use metaphor and simile: Metaphors and similes can help create vivid descriptions and comparisons in your story. They can also help to convey complex ideas in a more accessible way.

Flashbacks and flash-forwards: Flashbacks and flash-forwards can help provide context for the story and create tension. Make sure to use them sparingly and at appropriate moments in the story.

Use humor: Humor can be a powerful tool for engaging your audience and making your story more memorable. Just make sure that the humor is appropriate for the tone and subject matter of your story.

Suspenseful chapter endings: Ending chapters on a suspenseful note can help keep your audience engaged and eager to read on.

By using these techniques and others, you can create a compelling and memorable story that will engage and entertain your audience.

If you want to read more posts about writing, please click here and give me a follow!

Storytelling Techniques
2 years ago

Oh my god yes!! i loved this fic!!

“I’m Sorry, You Were Found Alone.” 
“I’m Sorry, You Were Found Alone.” 

“I’m sorry, you were found alone.” 

please read @feathered-serpents‘s post-canon fic Out There, Somewhere I cannot stop thinking about it


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3 years ago

I just found out you, too, love Mothman. May I request a tinh mothman doodle, if you have the time, energy, and will? If not, that is totally fine!

I Just Found Out You, Too, Love Mothman. May I Request A Tinh Mothman Doodle, If You Have The Time, Energy,

what a distinguished gentleman! Look at how he is sitting!


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jcryptid - Welcome to the Dragon Wagon
Welcome to the Dragon Wagon

Sometimes i draw shit, sometimes i write shit, sometimes both at the same time.♠ Aro/Ace, (They/Them), Chaotic Good Disaster, definitely a human person

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