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Representation - Blog Posts
Please like the video, we need more things like this.
Current Mood: Crying While Watching Blue’s Clues Pride Song
OMG these two huge burly bearded men kissing is giving me the definition of ⚡️representation✨
Are you certain there is nothing you wish to give me?
Where to Start Your Research When Writing a Disabled Character
[large text: Where to Start Your Research When Writing a Disabled Character]
So you have decided that you want to make a disabled character! Awesome. But what's next? What information should you decide on at the early phrase of making the character?
This post will only talk about the disability part of the character creation process. Obviously, a disabled character needs a personality, interests, and backstory as every other one. But by including their disability early in the process, you can actually get it to have a deeper effect on the character - disability shouldn't be their whole life, but it should impact it. That's what disabilities do.
If you don't know what disability you would want to give them in the first place;
[large text: If you don't know what disability you would want to give them in the first place;]
Start broad. Is it sensory, mobility related, cognitive, developmental, autoimmune, neurodegenerative; maybe multiple of these, or maybe something else completely? Pick one and see what disabilities it encompasses; see if anything works for your character. Or...
If you have a specific symptom or aid in mind, see what could cause them. Don't assume or guess; not every wheelchair user is vaguely paralyzed below the waist with no other symptoms, not everyone with extensive scarring got it via physical trauma. Or...
Consider which disabilities are common in real life. Cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy, stroke, cataracts, diabetes, intellectual disability, neuropathy, multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, thyroid disorders, autism, dwarfism, arthritis, cancers, brain damage, just to name a few.
Decide what specific type of condition they will have. If you're thinking about them having albinism, will it be ocular, oculocutaneous, or one of the rare syndrome-types? If you want to give them spinal muscular atrophy, which of the many possible onsets will they have? If they have Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, which one out of the 13 different types do they have? Is their amputation below, or above the knee (it's a major difference)? Not all conditions will have subtypes, but it's worth looking into to not be surprised later. This will help you with further research.
If you're really struggling with figuring out what exact disability would make sense for your character, you can send an ask. Just make sure that you have tried the above and put actual specifics in your ask to give us something to work with. You can also check out our "disabled character ideas" tag.
Here are some ideas for a character using crutches.
Here are some ideas for a character with a facial difference (obligatory link: what is a facial difference?).
If you already know what disability your character is going to have;
[large text: If you already know what disability your character is going to have;]
Start by reading about the onset and cause of the condition. It could be acquired, congenital, progressive, potentially multiple of these. They could be caused by an illness, trauma, or something else entirely. Is your character a congenital amputee, or is it acquired? If acquired - how recently? Has it been a week, or 10 years? What caused them to become disabled - did they have meningitis, or was it an accident? Again, check what your options are - there are going to be more diverse than you expect.
Read about the symptoms. Do not assume or guess what they are. You will almost definitely discover something new. Example: a lot of people making a character with albinism don't realize that it has other symptoms than just lack of melanin, like nystagmus, visual impairment, and photophobia. Decide what your character experiences, to what degree, how frequently, and what do they do (or don't do) to deal with it.
Don't give your character only the most "acceptable" symptoms of their disability and ignore everything else. Example: many writers will omit the topic of incontinence in their para- and tetraplegic characters, even though it's extremely common. Don't shy away from aspects of disability that aren't romanticized.
Don't just... make them abled "because magic". If they're Deaf, don't give them some ability that will make them into an essentially hearing person. Don't give your blind character some "cheat" so that they can see, give them a cane. Don't give an amputee prosthetics that work better than meat limbs. To have a disabled character you need to have a character that's actually disabled. There's no way around it.
Think about complications your character could experience within the story. If your character wears their prosthetic a lot, they might start to experience skin breakdown or pain. Someone who uses a wheelchair a lot has a risk of pressure sores. Glowing and Flickering Fantasy Item might cause problems for someone photophobic or photosensitive. What do they do when that happens, or how do they prevent that from happening?
Look out for comorbidities. It's rare for disabled people to only have one medical condition and nothing else. Disabilities like to show up in pairs. Or dozens.
If relevant, consider mobility aids, assistive devices, and disability aids. Wheelchairs, canes, rollators, braces, AAC, walkers, nasal cannulas, crutches, white canes, feeding tubes, braillers, ostomy bags, insulin pumps, service dogs, trach tubes, hearing aids, orthoses, splints... the list is basically endless, and there's a lot of everyday things that might count as a disability aid as well - even just a hat could be one for someone whose disability requires them to stay out of the sun. Make sure that it's actually based on symptoms, not just your assumptions - most blind people don't wear sunglasses, not all people with SCI use a wheelchair, upper limb prosthetics aren't nearly as useful as you think. Decide which ones your character could have, how often they would use them, and if they switch between different aids.
Basically all of the above aids will have subtypes or variants. There is a lot of options. Does your character use an active manual wheelchair, a powerchair, or a generic hospital wheelchair? Are they using high-, or low-tech AAC? What would be available to them? Does it change over the course of their story, or their life in general?
If relevant, think about what treatment your character might receive. Do they need medication? Physical therapy? Occupational therapy? Orientation and mobility training? Speech therapy? Do they have access to it, and why or why not?
What is your character's support system? Do they have a carer; if yes, then what do they help your character with and what kind of relationship do they have? Is your character happy about it or not at all?
How did their life change after becoming disabled? If your character goes from being an extreme athlete to suddenly being a full-time wheelchair user, it will have an effect - are they going to stop doing sports at all, are they going to just do extreme wheelchair sports now, or are they going to try out wheelchair table tennis instead? Do they know and respect their new limitations? Did they have to get a different job or had to make their house accessible? Do they have support in this transition, or are they on their own - do they wish they had that support?
What about *other* characters? Your character isn't going to be the only disabled person in existence. Do they know other disabled people? Do they have a community? If your character manages their disability with something that's only available to them, what about all the other people with the same disability?
What is the society that your character lives in like? Is the architecture accessible? How do they treat disabled people? Are abled characters knowledgeable about disabilities? How many people speak the local sign language(s)? Are accessible bathrooms common, or does your character have to go home every few hours? Is there access to prosthetists and ocularists, or what do they do when their prosthetic leg or eye requires the routine check-up?
Know the tropes. If a burn survivor character is an evil mask-wearer, if a powerchair user is a constantly rude and ungrateful to everyone villain, if an amputee is a genius mechanic who fixes their own prosthetics, you have A Trope. Not all tropes are made equal; some are actively harmful to real people, while others are just annoying or boring by the nature of having been done to death. During the character creation process, research what tropes might apply and just try to trace your logic. Does your blind character see the future because it's a common superpower in their world, or are you doing the ancient "Blind Seer" trope?
Remember, that not all of the above questions will come up in your writing, but to know which ones won't you need to know the answers to them first. Even if you don't decide to explicitly name your character's condition, you will be aware of what they might function like. You will be able to add more depth to your character if you decide that they have T6 spina bifida, rather than if you made them into an ambiguous wheelchair user with ambiguous symptoms and ambiguous needs. Embrace research as part of your process and your characters will be better representation, sure, but they will also make more sense and seem more like actual people; same with the world that they are a part of.
This post exists to help you establish the basics of your character's disability so that you can do research on your own and answer some of the most common ("what are symptoms of x?") questions by yourself. If you have these things already established, it will also be easier for us to answer any possible questions you might have - e.g. "what would a character with complete high-level paraplegia do in a world where the modern kind of wheelchair has not been invented yet?" is much more concise than just "how do I write a character with paralysis?" - I think it's more helpful for askers as well; a vague answer won't be much help, I think.
I hope that this post is helpful!
Mod Sasza
I totally agree! Also it would be nice to get disabled Lis and MCs.
Like or Reblog if you would play a Lovestruck game with an MC or LI with a body shape like mine
I love it when people try to claim representation in fiction is being taken “too far” to the point where it’s no believable. They’re like:
“What’s next, a mixed-race immigrant on the autism spectrum?” Hi, my name is Rachel, also known as Rachna, and I’m a mixed-race immigrant on the autism spectrum.
“What’s next, a transgender Latino man with chronic pain?” What, you mean my former colleague, Marco?
“What’s next, a Black Jewish lesbian?” Bitch, I know I three Black Jewish lesbians, WHAT’S YOUR FUCKING POINT?
Yes we need more chaste twee baby gay romances like heartstopper and yes we also need more shows where men fuck raw to express their love for one another like Élite and yes we need more toxic gays having hate sex like Interview with the Vampire and yes we need more incidental gay characters like the dads in cartoons like Owl House.
It's not a competition! It's a hoard and I'm like a gay little Smaug.
"Why are there so many female archers in fiction?"
Please forgive the clickbait-y title! This is a super complex and interesting topic that I barely scratch the surface of here, but I hopefully will be able to do more justice to things like this in the future!
Also, it's not the point of the video, but I had fun with the outfits in this- do you have any faves?
As always, please consider supporting me on Patreon if you can, or watching on youtube if not!
I spent my entire childhood believing I was ugly/misshapen because I had fat on the inside of my legs - there was no gap between my thighs like most other girls I knew. I would sit in cars wedged between 3 - 4 other girls from my soccer team, staring down at my legs and horrified by how chubby...
I’ve been cooking this one for a while, but with the most recent “The Bad Batch” episode, I feel this is timely.
Before I go into it, I want to get it out there that there is NOTHING WRONG with HC-ing an autistic character or an autistically-coded character as Aro/Ace, and there is NOTHING WRONG with being an Aro/Ace Autistic/Autistic person. My issue is with a PATTERN and not any specific HCs that I’ve come across. I also need to say that my Autistic experience is not the same as anyone else’s, I cannot and do not speak for all Autistic people. We exist on a spectrum here. I will also be using Autistic and Autistic person interchangeably here because I have no personal preference, though others might.
That being said, I notice that A LOT, if not MOST Autistically-coded characters are popularly headcanoned as Aro/Ace in their respective fandoms. Sometimes there’s canon evidence and sometimes there’s not. Some of them I agree with and others...make me wonder if they’re just being thought of that way because of the pervasive stereotype that Autistics are incapable of romantic or sexual feelings.
In my own experience, I’ve had a handful of encounters where people are really shocked that I’m in a committed romantic relationship and that I am very comfortable with my sexuality and sexuality in general. It goes hand in hand with the typical “you don’t LOOK Autistic” response from people. It’s all part of a wider stereotype that infantilizes neurodivergents, separating them from commonly recognized markers of adulthood (and by extension, personhood) like a developed sex drive, desire to be romantically close with others, and independence. None of these things actually define what an adult person is, by the way.
In those encounters, I usually feel infantilized and talked down to. It’s an unpleasant reality of my life that I can usually escape from in my fandoms, but echoes of it resonate in previously safe spaces with this pattern. I have to wonder if everybody is actually thinking their HCs through or if they’re just slapping “Aro/Ace” onto the character because they subconsciously don’t think of Autistic people as capable of romantic or sexual feelings, especially with characters that actually have canon romantic/sexual feelings ON SCREEN or CONFIRMED by the creators. (I thought about providing examples of Autistic/Autistically-coded characters that get Aro/Ace headcanoned often here, in spite of canon evidence to the contrary, but headcanons are supposed to be fun and I don’t want to start an argument about these characters here, especially if that headcanon is important to someone).
In summary, the Autistic community is an incredibly diverse one with people of all walks of life. Please don’t shunt us into just one way of being because of stereotypes, even if we’re just fictional characters.
Also, please watch Overly Sarcastic’s Trope Talk on Robots for a nice little lesson on coding and how it affects the Neurodivergent and Aro/Ace communities. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZGRdxP_8Js&t=1s
I started drawing Human!Donnie and pretty soon I was just sketching Human!Rise boys in some of my favorite moments.
Aka my beautiful boys being themselves.
┏┓ ┃┃╱╲ In this ┃╱╱╲╲ house ╱╱╭╮╲╲ we love ▔▏┗┛▕▔ & appreciate ╱▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔╲ all asexual and aromantic people of all romantic and sexual orientations ╱╱┏┳┓╭╮┏┳┓ ╲╲ ▔▏┗┻┛┃┃┗┻┛▕▔
Representation Matters ✊🏾
the adhd kids missing the deadline but saving the day anyway is so personal to me actually
People are sleeping on interior chinatown😭
It somehow mocks but is also a tribute to TV and movie tropes, its about minority representation in media and its infinite nuance, its about self confidence and personal growth. Evolution of buddy cop films, evolution of chinese kung fu films, law and order, jackie chan, the side character’s story, the fourth wall, the narrative.
Its amazing, sweet, intentionally cheesy done well.
Plsplspls, i need to talk to someone about it💀✋🏻
Definitly, I do only quick draw this time ! And is a represatation of a Discord vocal discussion
-The Green Pony (SkySoundLunar) take the administration role of the Orange Pony (Gollde) -The two as administrator- -The White Pony (SarAlien) Sing whith the speaker - The Grey Pony (Grey… It’s a FUCKING GOOD NAME) is not rally happy to see what is doing Sky -Another Administrator- -The Red Pony (Me, Adilord) Itsn’t listen the racket ambiant with this blocked ear and is deconected
from a (half) south asian american who's dark skinned, i think one of the best examples of south asian representation in video games as of recent is frye from splatoon 3.
i think they did so many things great with her. even though she's not really desi considering human culture has been extinct for over 1000 years in the splatoon universe, they did a great portrayal of her as a south asian. the inclusion of her dark skin really adds to that, because as someone who's half south indian, with dark skin, colorism and racism against dark skinned ppl in south asia is a really big issue, and is rooted in the caste system. and even though i doubt the inclusion of her dark skin was meant to break that stigma and stereotyping, it really adds to her regardless!
some other great examples of south asian influence in frye that makes her great rep:
- her singing in splatoon 3 is based on indian vocal music, especially carnatic (south indian) music. there's also traditional indian instruments such as sitar/veena, dholak, and nadaswaram used in songs where she performs. her dancing performance is also reminiscent of indian dances like bharatanatyam, odissi, and kuchipudi.
- her fighting style in her boss battle is based off of snake charming, using a pungi flute to control her moray eels to fight the player, in a manner similar to snake charming
- her outfit is based off of western-south asian or indo-western fashion and clothing, wearing a dupatta over what looks like a choli, and her pants resemble patiala pants. her headpiece also resembles mango chutney or another south asian condiment
- the locker decoration received from story mode that depicts her, sunken scroll 11, is based off of traditional indian art, especially from south india. the pose she strikes and the surrounding motifs are reminiscent of south indian and sri lankan sculpture and art depicting hindu figures; an example of a work of art similar to this depiction of frye is the bronze statue Shiva Natarāja, depicting the god shiva as nataraja, the cosmic lord of dance.
- and although i don't know for sure if her big forehead is based in south asian traditional beauty traditions, i still think it adds to her greatly as south asian representation. video game characters from any underrepresented culture are often depicted under western beauty standards, and frye's appearance that defies both western beauty standards AND colorist standards of south asian beauty truly makes her a great example of south asian rep in video games.
special thanks to twitter user rosierajin, who also compiled a list of examples of south asian influence in frye's character
anyways, that's my conclusion about why frye is an amazing example of south asian rep, hope you enjoy :3
im lit so freaking happy
I'm still in awe that not even a decade ago (2014, a year before same-sex marriage was legalized in the US), queer representation in children's animation was at the point where The Legend of Korra ended with Korra and Asami holding hands in the very last seconds and the creator having to come onto tumblr to plead with us all to understand that these two characters are canonically queer, the crew just couldn't show anything more (and were heavily implied to face restrictions) and now, in April 2023, The Owl House ended with multiple episodes highlighting how the main character is openly bi, her love interest is a lesbian with whom multiple on-screen kisses were shared, her mother proudly wears a rainbow pin and has read multiple books on sexuality and gender, her mentor is openly bi, the mentor's love interest is nonbinary and uses they/them pronouns, the mentor's adopted son has a genderqueer 'dad', the mentor's sister is confirmed to be aro/ace, the main character's best friend has two dads who share an on-screen kiss, the main character's pseudo-sister blushes around a nonbinary teenager who also uses they/them pronouns, minor characters blush and react to others in ways that suggest that they are also queer, there are different flags everywhere, and the child-god of the cosmos who comes to visit them all from time to time uses he/they pronouns. That's on top of the Afro-Latina representation, the neurodivergence and disability representation, and so much more. Let's see how far we've come, indeed!
They need to make movies or shows with people who have a stutter. I know there are some, but they are like the least common movies and shows in the history of the world. I don't mean it has to be the main character. Lik it can be the side characters or like a character we see in like 3 scenes, but just some representation would be great. I've been struggling with a stutter since I've been able to talk, and I get made fun of it constantly, and I also affect my daily life. If there was just some representation to show how hard it is to live with a stutter, it would be fantastic. I would also prefer if it was someone with an actual stutter because I really don't want someone who doesn't have a stutter to like try and mock or mimic people who do have one because it's kind of disrespectful and not accurate. Just an idea.
Aye y'all, so you know how flowers have all these meanings and shit, but what about mushrooms? Do they got fancy meanings like, this one means cycle of life, this one is mourning of the kid lost in the woods of the fairies on the mountain, etc.?
Sick of drawing flowers, I want mushies with my bones