Disability Representation - Blog Posts

hear me out. combine Angel au with Tim Twins au.

...and the reason the bats never meet angel in person is cause he has some mobility issues.

like maybe he uses a wheelchair and/or needs braces or a cane or smth. or maybe it's like some disease that makes him unable to do strenuous activities, like pots.

idk man, it's 1 am, i brain barf first, research later.

but then they(bats + Jackson) get themselves in trouble and watch whichever-evil-bitch-is-responsable get intimidated by some kid that can't even stand properly.

like, it's joker vs Some Guy, and joker is NOT Winning. (prob not gonna go as far as joker tho)

and then Jackson is all 'this is Angel ^-^'

angel: hi. ...bye

jackson: isn't he neat? the skrungly.

and half the batfam is like 'wait they're the same age??? and probably twins??? Angel isn't some weird father figure???'

the other half of batfam: no wait, it makes sense now. i can see the whole "raised eachother" thing better having seen that. the voice changer was prob just fucking with us.

... haven't read the fic in a while so uhh mc'scuse me for inaccuracies.

Here’s to the people with disabilities that aren’t talked about often. People who don’t see tumblr posts about their disability or cute buttons about their disability or infographics about their disability or even the slightest scrap of representation. People who have several disabilities or a disability with a name that they can’t pronounce. I see you. We exist.

Napstablook is autistic. He literally dissociates when you lay down on the carpet with him. He hyper-fixates on music. Hell, I wouldn’t be surprised if Mettaton has some form of neurodivergence. He doesn’t like to hang out with people because he doesn’t understand them

NAPSTA BLOOK IS AUTISTIC AND I WILL GO TO MY GRAVE WITH THIS

disabled people!!!

what are some illnesses/disabilities that youve never seen representation for and would love to see?

let me know in replies reblogs asks messages whatever suits you :3

Bucky is a disabled amputee and that should still be true in AU’s and fics in general

I don’t care if it “““DoEsN’t FiT wELL””” with your Stucky Coffee Shop AU, unless a fic is exclusively pre or during the war then he should be an amputee and if a fic is exclusively pre-war then Steve should be disabled because that’s what he was pre-serum. The reason why this is so important to me is because it’s important to have representation for disabled characters and we can’t just erase that.

The only time when neither one of them were disabled was during the few years between Steve getting the serum and Bucky falling off the train.

Also, fun fact, the type of amputation that Bucky has is either a shoulder disarticulation or (more likely considering how far the metal arm goes into his shoulder) a forequarter amputation.

And now, here are some suggestions for how to explain why his left arm and shoulder are missing: Cancer, him still being a war vet who lost it in action, an accident involving heavy machinery and bad safety precautions, a very large and extremely infected wound in his shoulder or the “very revolutionary” idea of just not saying how he lost his arm but still referencing every once in awhile that it’s missing and how he’s affected by it.

Digital Detox Helping With Chronic Illness

I did what I like to call a "digital detox" by limiting 90% of the apps I could use on my phone, especially social media. I do this because I find so much negativity in the community. Trust me when I say I know being chronically is hard. But there is no reason any of us need a 24/7 reminder of it.

I also find it difficult when I'm stuck at home for a good majority of my days, with no work, it's hard to keep myseld entertained all day. I end up relying on my phone and I get incredibly sad in the process.

As some of you may know if you watch my YouTube, I was off social media for 7 months. I found it beneficial. While I'm ready to be back on social media, I needed a break

So I only used my phone to film my journey, listened, to music, and text two people. My time spent on my phone was half of what it usually was (really just using the camera app.)

Would you be interested in me uploading to my YouTube channel my journey of a digital detox while living with a chronic illness? Should I do this more often? Would you consider doing this?

UPDATE!

I had to reupload my video due to accidentally adding copy right music (´°̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥ω°̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥｀)

Signs you're getting better that are NOT symptomatic | Chronic Illness Addition

You're adapting: Instead of pushing yourself past your limits, you learn ways to make your life with chronic illness just a little easier. It could be sitting while you beush your teeth, or opting for a bath instead of s shower.

You stop telling yourseld you "aren't disabled enough:" Maybe you're an ambulatory wheel chair user or you don't always need a cane to walk around. Stop telling yourself that just because your chronic Illness differs from day to day, means you aren't disabled enough. Go buy that cane or walker and use it when you need to. You don't need anyone's permission. You don't need to prove anything to anyone

You've learned to ask for help: I know we all want to be independent and not rely on other people for help. But even able body people need help from time to time. Our body function differently, and it's okay to need extra help than the average person. You're not a burden.

You priorities your mental health: Mental health is extremely important especially when dealing with chronic illness. You may be grieving your old body or experiencing jealousy. This is all normal. Ways that have healped my mental health tremendously are making a gratitude list to remind me what I'm grateful for, creating a schedule, and minimizing the time on my phone.

Please feel free to add to the list

Psst… HEY

If you are also queer, disabled, and/or have chronic pain, and wanna see art and other content about it, then feel free to follow my youtube ;))

I've been making shorts, and hopefully filming a full video when I have the energy!

One of my videos (´ . .̫ . `)

ROUGH DRAFTS

Rough drafts of art I hope to make into stickers and prints. The insparation is beams of light, chronic pain, love, and hope. I want a contrasting primary colors of midnight blue, blinding white, bright red, and shining yellow

Top drawing: representation of my heart palpitations

Bottom left: migraines so bad you feel like an egg being cracked open

Bottom right: my girlfriend is a beam of light in the life of chronic pain and illness

POTS Life Hacks For Diffucult Mornings

We all know how important it is to stay hydrated, especially when chronically ill.

If you're anything like me, you wake up feeling awful. Keep a giant glass of water right next to where you sleep. Before getting out of bed, drink water for about 1 to 2 minutes. Bonus points if you use electrolyte drops.

Breakfast- a breakfast I love is oatmeal and salted butter toast. It gives me protien and some salt to start off my day

Having an extremely difficult morning? Don't be afraid to ask for help if it is available to you! There are days where my girlfriend makes me breakfast. You are NOT weak for asking for help. In fact, I think you're pretty brave.

TO ALL FELLOW CHRONICALLY ILL AND DISABLED PEOPLE

What would you like to see in artwork to help represent you? People with mobility aids? People that look like you? Give many any of your thoughts and ideas in the comments, my inbox, or my DMS

Why you should watch KAOS (2024) on Neftlix:

- Jeff Goldblum as Zeus

- A disabled actors play a disabled characters (Mat Fraser & another secret one [because spoilers])

- A trans actor plays a trans character (I won't say which one since it's kind of a spoiler)

- Set in modern times, uses characters from old myths but isn't a simple retelling; it's a whole new story

- All your favs are there (Prometheus, Daedalus, Persephone, Dionysus, Cassandra, Medusa, Charon, Ariadne, the Fates, the Furies, just to name a few)

- Speaking of Persephone, she and Hades are actually in love (the version of the myth which I know much of you love)

- Gaslight, gatekeep, girlboss Hera (as in, she literally does all those things)

- The gods' actors' ages actually make sense, they didn't cast solely young people or make young people look older; you've got Zeus (72), Hera (63), Hades (61), Persephone (56), Poseidon (56), Dionysus (27), you get the idea

- Killer soundtrack

- Actual realistic queer characters/representation in a natural, unforced way

- Enjoyable story and comedic but also has depth (I binge-watched it in a day)

- Not a huge commitment (8 episodes of about 50 minutes each)

- Have you ever thought "What would the Ancient Greek gods be doing in modern times?" This show answers that question!

- It wasn't renewed for a second season due to viewership, so if the views explode, maybe they'll renew it and I can find out what happens next (I know it's not likely, but I can dream; besides, if just one person watches and enjoys it, then this post will have been worth it)

I love the Young Justice Barbara Gordon

[Plain text: I love the Young Justice Barbara Gordon.]

(Keep in mind that I am not paraplegic, just a nerd)

I was never the biggest fan of the original Killing Joke storyline (and I will fight people on this,) but I think Young Justice managed to turn it into a plot that wasn't actually bad. In fact, they did a lot of things really well.

The original storyline, The Killing Joke, gave Barbara Gordon waist-down paralysis after the Joker shot her. The problem with that is that he shot her in the stomach at an extremely close range, the muzzle of the gun literally pressed to the middle of her stomach. At that close a range, depending on the gun and bullet, he probably shattered half of her spinal cord, if not more. The thing about shatter injuries to the spinal cord is that they cause more complications in upper-body mobility than other spinal injuries. If a significant portion of her spinal cord was shattered, Barbara wouldn't be as good as she is at fighting. The damage would cause problems in the rest of her body. And then, of course, everyone is grieving for her and so sad that she'll never walk again and have to retire and I'm pretty sure Batman does something drastic? And that's... really not a plot non-disabled writers should go for.

However, in Young Justice, it's completely different. Barbara saw Cassandra Cain, who was unidentifiable but very small so obviously a young child, going after Joker with a sword, so she chose to get between the child and her target to prevent Cass from doing something that could never be taken back. She took the slash, which hit her lower back, just above her tailbone, so that it didn't go to Joker's neck. And the other characters handled it well. Nightwing was a bit panicked, of course, but that's because Barabara had a severe injury that was life-threatening. Batman, knowing that Nightwing had called for a medical evacuation and that he was handling first aid, took the sword from a terrified Cassandra ever so gently, and put a comforting hand on her shoulder. Cassandra was horrified, of course, but it was because she'd just hurt someone who wasn't her target severely, not because Barbara was now disabled. And then Barbara tells her that she didn't do it to save Joker, she did it to save Cass. And Cass is horrified and probably hates herself in the moment, sure, but that memory later becomes something that strengthens her. Cass gets kidnapped in that episode and remembering that during her captivity helps her. It's a memory of the woman who would later become her older sister and one of her best friends. She knows that Barbara, the woman who has done so much for her, will help her. She won't rest until Cassandra is safe, even if it means coming after her herself.

I also really like how the plot handled this. Number one, we don't know off the bat why Barb is paralyzed, it doesn't come up until it's relevant, she's just paralyzed. And when it does come up, it's not a tragedy, it's Barbara risking her life to save the soul of a child who didn't understand the moral consequences of what she was about to do. She chose to do that and she would do it again. That's a really interesting way of subverting the exhausted "disabled by an accident" trope, because yes, it was an accident on Cass's part, but Barbara knew she was probably going to get badly hurt. It's similar to a character running into a burning building to save someone else. They accept the potential consequences because they couldn't live with themselves if they didn't help. She took the risk, she knew what could happen, which is so much better than her having no choice and being shot. It's far less tired an idea and a very interesting spin that I quite like.

Going back to the injury, let's get in-depth about that. I mentioned how a shatter would impact her upper body, too. But the way she was injured in Young Justice, which was probably severing the connection between two very low vertebrae or possibly cutting a vertebra itself if Cass put enough force behind it, makes sense. It wouldn't have as much a major impact on her upper body, so it makes sense that she can throw the person who snuck up on her like it's easy. Barbara can be an excellent hand-to-hand fighter and it's not unexplainable. We don't see her exercising in her chair, likely because she has the wrong chair for both exercising and her disability (she has a hospital-type wheelchair instead of a lightweight chair, which is, I think, just poor research,) but she clearly still does because she's still extremely good.

Also, I like how there's no cure plot. The show might still be ongoing so I don't know if that'll last, but for now, she hasn't been cured and shows no desire to be. The comics would occasionally have her paralysis cured and thank the gods they didn't go with that, even with a character (we won't get into the absolute disaster of Violet Harper here) who could, in theory, heal her, and I love that. For some reason writers are afraid of keeping their disabled characters disabled, so I'm surprised and glad they didn't take the easy out.

Finally, I love that Oracle is still able to do field work with special equipment. Does she go onto the actual field herself? No, not really. But she uses small drones and other things to help out, such as the tiny drone that gave Cass a lock pick or her hacking into systems to protect her allies from security measures. Babs doesn't need to stop being a superhero because she's disabled but also doesn't suddenly use a mech or something, she just finds ways to work with her new circumstances to keep doing what she wants to do, just in a different way. She's still a massive threat to her enemies, just in a different way, utilizing talents she already had (Barbara is extremely intelligent and very creative) to continue to help people.

TL;DR, I really, really like how Young Justice handled Barbara Gordon. If we must have more characters disabled in accidents, this is a very good way to do that.