don’t mind me I’m just busy having Feelings over the scene in the Moon Knight tv series where Marc meets the avatars/gods for the first time.
words can’t describe how distressed I got when Harrow showed up and started speaking, dripping poison into the words “he is unwell” with a tint of false concern, just the right amount condescension, and a spoonful of pity
thinking about how from that moment Marc (and the whole system) was disregarded as unreliable despite the fact that the situation had nothing to do with their DID. thinking about how the avatars and their gods stopped listening to him.
thinking about how the moment someone is neurodivergent, or disabled, or different in any way that isn’t palatable, that’s “scary”, they stop being worth listening to
not a person, just something to disregard, lock away, or pity.
And how Harrow got away with it, how he was able to frame himself as the caring “good guy” for revealing this incredibly personal piece of information to a group of people who had no business knowing it, effectively silencing someone who desperately needed to speak. For his own gain.
Heyyyy it’s me. Wanted to write about this following my post about Writing Deaf Characters.
Please note - this post is intended for people writing about disabled characters, not a nuanced, in-depth discussion of disability and the idea of cures. I’m happy to discuss that too, if anyone wants, but I’m not going to make a big long post about it because my thoughts and feelings are too complex to be summarized in that way. Anyway -
Conceptions of Disability
There are many, many ways of looking at disability. I’m going to highlight two here that are extremely common today in America. They each have upsides, and they each have downsides.
The medical model of disability treats disability as an individual medical problem to be solved. In this framework, disability is a bodily impairment that should be solved through medical means and medical interventions.
The upsides of the medical model include the fact that it acknowledges that disability or its consequences can be uncomfortable, inconvenient, and undesirable in themselves. Someone who experiences chronic pain saying they wish that they weren’t in pain is not ableist, nor is it self-hating, in the view of the medical model. This mode also prompts progress in seeking ways to medically alleviate symptoms.
The downsides of the medical model are that it does not acknowledge inaccessibility or ableism, nor does it allow for joy and identification with disability. The problems associated with disability are located firmly within the disabled individual - the problem is not with the world, but with the disabled person themselves. Disability is always something to be fixed or cured, and choosing to identify with one’s disability or feel proud of it is bizarre at best.
The social model of disability views disability as a social condition, wherein disabled people are impaired by ableism and an inaccessible world. In this framework, disabled bodyminds do not need to change, rather, it is the world and neurotypical, able-bodied people who must adjust.
The upsides of the social model of disability range from encouraging disabled pride to centering the massive harm that ableism and inaccessibility do to disabled people. It recognizes and promotes human diversity, and asks that the world adapt to the people in it, rather than adapting people to the world.
The major downside of the social model of disability is that in many cases, it ignores very real impairments that do affect people’s lives and treats bodily difference as irrelevant. Even if every set of stairs had a ramp beside it, a person in a wheelchair still cannot walk, though they will have the same access to places that people who are able to walk do. This difference matters to many disabled people, and acknowledgement or mourning of that does not mean that the disabled people in question are not liberated, or are experiencing self-directed ableism.
There are many other models of looking at disability! I may do a write up about that later if people are interested. If you want to do your own research, I would advise understanding the charity model, as it can be easy to slip into and is not a good thing. More positive models to explore are Discrit. Alison Kafer’s political relational model, and the general concepts guiding disability justice.
In Whump
Adding this because I’m in the whump community, and it feels very relevant, so -
It is super tempting to inflict serious injuries on an OC for pain and suffering, and then have them recover very quickly with little to no lasting repercussions. Whump is imaginary, and people should do what they want in their writing, however, I would urge people to think about what messages they’re sending with these fast, flawless recoveries.
For instance: What fears do your whumpees have around acquiring disabilities? How does your whumper feel about their target acquiring disabilities? What are your caregiver’s goal’s in helping your whumpee, and what do they believe that “recovery” means?
What About the Idea of Cure?
The idea of cure is deeply complicated, deeply political, and ultimately, deeply personal. Everyone’s perspective on cure is different. For some people, being cured of their disability is a positive thing. For others, it constitutes an erasure of their identity and community.
For some, cures are not possible in their lifetime, or maybe ever. This can be a painful idea or a reassuring one.
Some communities more than others have a majority opinion about the idea of being cured. Most people know that Autistic people reject the idea of being cured, or even the idea that there is something to “cure.” Deaf communities tend to feel similarly. On the other hand, people with cancer, Alzheimer’s, cystic fibrosis, or degenerative muscular diseases may welcome the idea of being cured and the progress being made to cure them.
Some ideas of “cure” center on aborting fetuses that present with the disability in question. This is massively controversial, deeply painful for some, and personal to all. Some communities have public stances condemning the practice of aborting affected fetuses. Notably, this includes the Down Syndrome community and Dwarf community.
What Does This Mean For You And Your Writing?
As I have hopefully made clear, I am not in the business of telling people what to write. Many disabled people feel that it is not appropriate to ever write stories in which disabled characters are cured. My feelings are more complicated than that, but I won’t say that those people are wrong. I also won’t say that they’re right.
The following are some ways to think about disability and cure that might help deepen your characters. I am not commanding anyone to do anything; you can write whatever you want. Hopefully you find this interesting and very hopefully you find it helpful.
If you are writing a story in which a disabled person is not cured: Think about what that really means for them in terms of impact on identity, ability, and their life more broadly. How does their community react to the decision to avoid, or the lack of, medical solutions?
If you are writing a story in which a disabled person is cured: Think about your motivations for writing this particular story. How does this cure take place, and how does the character feel about it? What impact does the loss of their disability have on their life? How would a real-life person with that disability feel, reading your story?
Lastly, if you are writing about a diagnosis and the idea of cure comes up, please do some research into how that community feels about cures/medical intervention. Individuals in your writing may have different feelings about cure than their real life community, but it is worth thinking about why that would be.
If you are writing about a diagnosis and the idea of aborting affected fetuses comes up, please do some research into how that community feels about it. Please also understand that whatever your intentions, what you are writing about is a form of eugenics.
I promise you that real life opinions exist about all of these things and all of these diagnoses, and I promise you that these opinions are valuable and worth reading. Please think about what you are saying about those communities when you write.
Thank you so much for reading! If there’s something else you’re wondering about, or would like to see, please hit me up! If you want to talk about something in this post, please also hit me up! I am not infallible, nor is everything I’ve written an objective fact. I’m doing my best, and always happy to get feedback. Happy writing!
"Thanks for this," mutters Rhian. Blue shrugs uncomfortably.
"I promised I'd try. And it is their past, after all. If they want to see it then I guess it can't hurt. I'll call you if we need anything."
Rhian looks reluctant to leave but does so after a reassuring smile at Morgan, shutting the door to the workroom quietly behind her. Blue turns to Morgan, who's standing behind one of the computer chairs, hands behind their back.
"Sit down. Are you sure you want to watch this?"
"Yes, sir."
"Okay. There's information documented in writing too, if you want to read it later, but for now we'll stick with this video. It's the first of the lot, taken from security footage from a house in Bangor. If it gets too much, press the space-bar here, or tell me. Are you ready to start?" Morgan looks terrified, but nods determinedly. Blue sits down beside them and pulls the mouse towards him, watching them warily out of the corner of his eye. "Okay. Here we go."
The video's in grainy black and white, showing a hallway of a modest house similar to the rebels' own. Shoes and toys are scattered around, and there's a few colouring books and some scattered pencils with large grips on a shelf. This is clearly a family home.
A child giggles in the background, and a woman responds in what Blue thinks is Welsh. Someone's added English subtitles to the security footage, and he follows along.
"Ah, come on, put that down, little one. No, hey– hey!" A young child comes charging into view, tackled by a laughing young woman, who grabs the notebook out of their hands.
Beside Blue, Morgan reaches out towards the screen before dropping their hand and whispering brokenly, "Mam."
The little child on-screen is very likely Morgan, then, especially given that this recording is in their file. According to the documentation they're eight, but they look younger.
"Lovely drawings, baby, but did you have to colour in the letters as well? What's my professor going to say?"
"He'll say that it's so colourful he just has to give you extra marks!"
"Well, it is very nice and colourful. Maybe we can put it on the wall after my professor's had a look."
Morgan beams.
There's a jangle of keys and both look up as a man booms, "I'm home!"
"Tad!" yells Morgan, running off-screen (next to Blue, present Morgan mouths the word along with their younger counterpart). The man lets out an "oof".
"Hey there little monster. How was your day?"
"I did all my exercises. And mam says we can put my colouring on the wall!"
The two of them have walked into the camera frame now, the young, bearded man's arm around Morgan. He kisses Morgan's mum quickly.
"How was work?" Morgan's mum asks. Their dad makes a face.
"Boring. Packing parcels never gets interesting. You two seem to have had a better day."
"Lili forgot to tell you her biggest achievement today." Their mum hands her notebook to their dad, who takes it with his free hand and examines it.
"You been colouring in your mam's coursework again?" Morgan nods. "Little monster. I– wait. That's your handwriting. You wrote your name?"
"Yep!" replies Morgan proudly, and their dad beams, ruffling their hair.
"Well done! This calls for celebratory pancakes. You want to go and choose the mould? I need to talk to your mam."
Morgan nods and runs off, and Blue can hear clattering, presumably from the kitchen. Morgan's dad's smile falls slightly.
"What's wrong? Did you speak to your colleague?"
He runs a hand through his hair. "Yeah. I didn't say it was because of Lili, obviously, but I asked what I could about hiding her powers and keeping her out of the government's hands. His advice was to homeschool for as long as possible and speak to a rebel-aligned specialist about controlling her powers. Which we're already doing."
Morgan's mum sighs. "Great. I don't want to go into hiding but if it's the only way to keep Lili safe…"
Their dad places his hands on her shoulders. "Hey. We've got time until the standardised exams. She doesn't need to go near any officials for a few years yet. Also, I got the radio parts."
"Excellent."
"Let's see what mould Lili's chosen. 50p says it's the owl one."
"Only 50p?"
"Well, we do have a new Sword in the Stone one."
Blue almost doesn't want to watch any more. Tears are streaming down Morgan's cheeks already, and Blue can guess what comes later in the video. Morgan's parents were worried about the government taking them away for special education, similar to what he had, and that did happen, he supposes.
He doesn't want to watch this happen. The kidnapping. The electric shocks. He's had enough of his own, he doesn't want to see it happen to another child who's not a so-called 'normal' person who the government will leave to live their life. With Morgan's disability and powers, and their parents' resistance, it's no wonder that the government wanted them out of society.
That doesn't mean that Blue wants to watch.
But… he needs to. The rebels need any information they can glean from Morgan's records, and that includes these videos. Also, Morgan's watching, and he made a promise. He steels himself and turns his attention back to the screen.
"True." They start walking off-screen. "Hey, little one, what did you choose? Ah, I owe your tad 50p."
Just then, there's a series of heavy raps on the door.
"Ministry of Defence! Open up!"
"Lili, you need to run, just like we practiced."
"But I don't want to leave you!"
"You have to, baby. We'll come for you, I promise. I love you so, so much." There's a sound Blue recognises from his early childhood as a sloppy wet kiss on a forehead. "Now go!"
"They didn't– come," whispers Morgan, hunching into themself, as the younger version of themself dashes across the screen, pancake mould in hand. "They didn't, I– it–" They cut themself off with a sob.
Blue reaches across and pauses the video. "You don't have to watch this. I can stop it if you like?" Morgan shakes their head. "Okay."
Morgan's parents enter the hallway, and their mum unlocks a safe behind a children's painting. She tosses a gun and ammunition to their dad, loading another for herself and clicking off the safety.
"If we don't get out of this…"
"We will," he interrupts. "We have to. For Lili."
"Still. I love you."
The door bursts open and Morgan's parents start firing at the agents in the doorway. A couple of agents fall, there's a burst of gunfire, and then–
"Mam!" screams present-day Morgan, rocking back in their seat, hands flying up to cover their mouth. Blue rests a hand on their shoulder to hopefully ground them and they grab it, squeezing tight. The grip turns into a vice when their dad crumples to the ground too, their voice by this point barely a pained whisper, tears streaming down their cheeks, pooling on their lap.
"Tad…"
Despite the pain, Blue doesn't try to get Morgan to let go as they continue to watch. It's more of a frightened kid than a dangerous weapon next to him now, and he can't bring himself to force them into the position of having no comfort whatsoever.
Several agents dressed in full combat gear enter the hallway, fanning out and disappearing in various directions at their leader's orders. There's no subtitles for them – they're all speaking English.
The hallway empties except for the leader, who rifles through the pockets of Morgan's parents, pulling out electronic parts from their dad's. The floor and walls are spattered with blood, and there's probably more bodies out of shot.
Suddenly, the sharp, terrified scream of a child rings out, and a few seconds later an agent comes into view carrying a squirming Morgan in their arms.
They fall still and silent and their eyes widen at the bodies and the blood. "Mam? Tad? Let me go, let me go, mam, mam, tad!"
The agent cuffs Morgan around the head and they fall limp, dazed. "Your parents are dead. Shut the fuck up or I'll give you something worth screaming about."
The agents leave the house and there's a few seconds of a silent, bloody hallway before the video ends.
Blue looks down at Morgan, unsure what to say. They're curled up, sobs racking their body, eyes screwed shut, hands clamped over their ears, still clutching him tightly with one of them, and he has no idea what to do.
hi fellow neurotypicals. i think its very ironic how some of u guys will stigmatize disorders such as aspd, bpd, and psychosis. the way i’ve heard ppl (incorrectly) go on and on abt how ppl with those conditions are automatically abusers and will never take anybody else into consideration like. huh. sure sounds like a dick move to never think of others and their thoughts and experiences.
