Very much inspired by this !!
—
Phantasm crashed into the side of a building, the rest of his team- the TeenTitans- stayed back. They were otherwise occupied, with the rest of the H.I.V.E. five attacking them.
They'd gotten a new member, one with a similar, nearly identical power set of their own new member.
Phantom.
Phantasm and Phantom, two mirror look alikes, they went absolutely feral whenever one was in sight. It was driving Robin mad, Beast Boy had joked about cloning but after they started to actually consider that option.
"Well, well, well." Phantom mocks, glowing green to Phantasm's red.
"Shut. The fuck. Up." Phantasm charges again, throwing the other into windows with a growl.
They kept bickering, hitting and injuring each other, until—
"Stop being so annoying!" Phantasm shouts, baring his fangs. Phantom, in return, stuck his tongue out.
"You're just jealous I got the Villain role!!"
At this point, their respective teams had called a draw and watched them fighting.
"You're a lousy villain!"
"I'm having the time of my life beating the shit out of you actually."
"I'm calling jazz."
At that, Phantom starts glaring. "I thought we agreed on not bringing this up to our sister?"
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How to write a cane user character
(Written by a cane user)
A few months ago, I wrote a small guide on good disabled characters and why they were good that gathered quite the attention, and I thought that doing another more specific guide this time would be interesting for writers or just people that are curious ! This guide will include general informations, some things to do, some things to avoid and some ideas that might revolve cane users's lives.
Things to know about cane users
Cane users are pretty diverse, and putting us in little boxes usually isn't the best idea if you want to make a character that has substance and isn't just "the disabled one". Here some infos about cane users that might be helpful knowledge !
Canes don't have ages. Most cane users in media are portrayed to be old, but truly, anyone can have the need to wield a cane ! I've been using mine ever since I was 17.
Can users can have a large variety of problems for their canes. Some canes are used to avoid pain from effort. Some canes are used for balance purposes. Some canes are to make walking less exhausting (works the same as walking sticks !) And sometimes, it's multiple problems at once.
Not everyone needs their cane 24/7. Some always need it, some can make small efforts without it but overall often need it, and some people, like me, can spend quite a lot of time without it. I almost never use my cane in my house, and mostly take it outside !
People with canes can run. We're not necessarily slow, I'm even faster than a lot of my friends.
Not using a cane can come with consequences, but not always. Some people might be able to walk without a cane but then suffer horrible consequences, but for others, canes are just a commodity for specific occasions.
Canes don't have to be looked down upon. Look at some characters with canes that look cool as hell ! Arsène Lupin, Roguefort Cookie, Brook ... Their canes serve their style !
We can be pretty healthy. Some people can have canes just because they were born with a bent leg and that's it. Our cane doesn't define our health status.
Canes aren't a curse. Think of them as something positive. It's a tool to make our lives better. You don't see someone sitting on a chair and think "awh, it's sad that they need a chair". It's more something like "hey it's cool that this chair is here so they can sit down"
Things to do
Make them use their cane. And when I mean use, I mean that canes are just funky long sticks usually made out of metal. Have fun with it ! Let them use it as a weapon ! Trust me, one hit in the knees with a cane and you're DOWN. Use it to reach stuff that's too high for everyone ! Have fun. Be creative.
Let them decorate their cane. It's an extension of their body ! You usually put on clothes that you like, don't you ? It's the same for a cane. If they like cutesy stuff, let them paint in it pastel colors ! If they like a more flashy style, add some stickers on it ! If they're a fancy person, give them a beautiful crafted cane with jewels on it !
You can make them a little shy or uneasy about their cane. Some people don't feel worthy of confident enough to wield one. It's not rare to see people think they're "not disabled enough to do so"
But on the other hand, you can do the complete opposite !! Make them proud of that cane ! Make them act like they're feeling pretty and more confident with it ! One thing i like to think about with my own cane is that I look like a cool gentleman. That boosted my confidence immensely.
Things to avoid
Don't make it their whole world. And by that, I do not mean that their cane shouldn't be a defining trait of their personality. Think of Toph from ATLA. She is blind, and you usually can't think of her character without describing her as blind. However, that isn't her entire personality trait. Make cane users have a goal in life, friends who enjoy them for who they are and not just pity them, have fun ... Don't just make them the disabled one.
Don't try to make the character's life just a plain disaster unless it's the focus of your story and you really know what you're talking about. Having a character who's always in pain, who feels bad about relying on their cane and/or who's angry at the entire world for being disabled is a REALLY tricky subject to use if you don't want them to be either a mass of unhappiness and angst for no good reason or some inspirational porn of the character who inside is deeply tortured but outside keeps up a facade because they shouldn't cry to avoid making others uneasy.
Do not, and I repeat, do NOT try to heal them, especially in a magical way. Bad idea. A lot of disabled people's goal isn't to be healed. It's to live a normal life. Making it so the ultimate goal for them is to be healed makes it as if they were worthless as long as they were disabled. Making their situation better physically or mentally is one thing. Curing them completely is really bad. "But some disabled folks want to be cured !" True, true. But if you are able bodied, I'm not sure if you can have the right mind to understand all of the complex details about this situation that leads to someone's life choices and the end result may look like you think the only thing that can make disabled people happy is being freed from their condition. I think it's best to just avoid it altogether. If you need a more nuanced idea, try to give them a solution that still has a few downs ! For exemple, a prosthetic that feels like a real arm, acts like a real arm and basically replaces it perfectly is a full cure. But a prosthetic that takes time to adjust to, needs repairs sometimes and doesn't look 100% like an arm can be a better narrative choice
Smaller thing, but don't make the handle uneasy to wield if you draw the character design. You can decorate most of the cane, but if you have chunky spiky decorations on the place you're supposed to clench your hand over, you're gonna hurt yourself. I've seen quite a lot of jewel handles or sculpted metal handles and usually their not good. If it's detailed metal, your hand will end up cramped in little parts and it can hurt. If it's a jewel, it's so easy for it to slip out of your hand it's unpractical.
List of tropes/ideas of scenes/details about canes to help you write new situations !
If you walk with a cane during winter, you can't put your hand in your jacket to get warm and there's a high chance your hand will get freezing. So after a long walk, you get an excuse for another character to hold their hand and warm them up.
If the handle is metallic, you get the opposite problem during summer. You can burn yourself so easy ! Easy accident if you want someone to help and get closer to the disabled person without it necessarily involving their disability.
Canes are SUPER useful when you're walking upon heights. They make things really easy, just like hiking poles on mountains ! I live on volcanoes and whenever we clim on a harsh slope, I'm always the first to get up there. Good moment for your character to get a boost of confidence if they get all the way up somewhere before their friends !
The first time using your cane feels magical. If you have chronic pains, it makes you feel like your pain disapear. If you can't walk right, it feels like everything is suddenly alright. The moment where a character chooses to wield a cane can be huge for character development. It's a moment of fear because of the impact a cane has on their appearance, but also a moment of confidence and relief.
Canes fall. All the time. And after a while, it becomes fucking comical. Trust me, putting a cane against the wall, seeing it fall and doing it three times again in a row while it doesn't want to stay up makes you embarrassed but also makes you want to laugh because of how stupid it looks.
When you get a cane, you stop being invisible. When you walk outside, generally speaking, people don't look at you. They don't care about you. But when you get a cane, people start to stare at you for no other reasons that you have a cane. Half of them are just curious, especially if you're young. The other half has a very specific look. The "oh, you poor thing" look. Which is, trust me, particularly awful to get, especially when you're just existing and doing nothing special. How does your character react to this ? How do they feel about it ?
I believe that is all I had in mind. I may add some more details in the future if I get other ideas, but this should already be a good start. I would be thrilled to answer questions if you have some, either in my askbox or through DMs.
I will tag this post with characters holding canes that aren't necessarily considered cane users but that some people may be interested in writing as such. Feel free to tell me if you'd like to see tags being added !
Edit : I'm highly encouraging everyone to look at the tag section under this post where a lot of other can users are sharing their experiences !!
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Disabled bathroom psa:
When I and other wheelchair users are talking about how abled people should not be using disabled toilets I can almost garente that they are not talking about your standard slightly larger stall in a bathroom with only two stalls. Im talking about separate bathrooms designed entirely for disabled people. Handicap bathrooms are different from handicap stalls. They are a separate room with its own toilet sink and mirror all positioned with the equipment designed for those with mobility issues and mobility aids such as walkers, gait trainers, wheelchairs, and crutches. A handicap stall is a stall ment to be wide enough to alow a wheelchair to fit (most don't though especially if you are fat or in a power chair.) With one or two grab bars placed. I don't care about people using the handicap stall if others are taken, they need the extra room (bags don't count, I mean things like strollers, todlers, fat, and autistic people not your shopping) those who need the grab bars like people with mobility issues, back problems, and invisible disabilities. I also don't care if you use it because all the others are in use. I care when people use it to make stupid videos on their phone, hang out, smoke, or just cause they like it when there are a dozen other stalls available. I swear most of you never think of anything besides making sure that you are never the one in the wrong.🙄
If I'm not talking about you, IM NOT TALKING ABOUT YOU.
I am talking about those who use those bathrooms as a fashion changing stall. The ones who smoke and film tik toks talking about the crazy disabled person knocking on the door. I am talking about the people who, after telling then I am going to pee myself decide that acting like I don't exist or that they can't here me will make me go away and guess what? Make me pee all over myself.
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Oh my word, you guys.
Clark Kent's glasses. What is they aren't fake.
As in. He doesn't need a prescription. But what if the glasses are prescription? Have you ever tried looking through prescription glasses that aren't yours? How wonky it is? I'd find it pretty irritating to go around all day in some that were even slightly off.
But I'm thinking about it and . . . this guy is physical perfection, basically. But he's always pretending to be an ordinary, even somewhat klutzy, human. That must be hard to maintain all the time. Having to constantly make sure you aren't TOO perfect? Always trying to find a balance of acting slightly off-kilter, even klutzy, so people would never suspect?
Maybe giving himself bad vision is a simple way to naturally handicap himself. Make him just a little more cautious and unsteady. He's still have to be careful, of course - but Clark is always super (ha) aware of his own strength. Maybe the glasses help make it a little easier, take a little of the pressure off, because they naturally give him a minor, normal weakness he doesn't have to fake?
It's a little thing, wearing wrong-prescription glasses when he could just wear non-prescription frames (and hope nobody every looked through them and questioned why he was faking). But maybe that little bit of distortion of his vision, making himself feel just slightly off-balance but in a way that he can shed when he needs to save the day . . . maybe it helps him feel a little more human.
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