Hi! This is random but I saw your post about you being visually impaired and how it’s due to your albinism, and as someone who loves your Dally with albinism headcanon I was wondering whether he’d have the same visual impairments as you and how you think that might affect him as a character given his socioeconomic status and the time period?
oh, that’s a really good question!!
Yes, Dally would have the same visual impairment as I do—every person with albinism, no matter what type, has a visual impairment/is legally blind, which I think is probably the most overlooked part of albinism?
I do think it’d affect him as a character. Like I mentioned in my previous Dallas with albinism post, I have a great uncle who also has albinism, and he grew up in the 50s/60s, and he would tell me how horrible school used to be with a visual impairment because obviously back then you were seen as defective, and not a lot of people were willing to help…so I can see school being the number one place he used to get picked on, in a way. Kinda the catalyst for the bitterness he felt, and it did have a long term effect on him. And like I mentioned, driving is an issue, and Dally obviously wouldn’t be able to get a liscence with his vision being so bad, and I think that’s something he’s extraordinarily ashamed of, so I think he lies about it to people and tells them it “got suspended indefinitely for reckless driving” and nobody questioned him because it’s Dally of all people. I think the only person who really pieced it together was Darry, but he won’t bring it up. I also think it’s hella easy to identify him because of his white hair and unique appearance, which he doesn’t mind. He probably doesn’t like admitting he has albinism, and he’s never actually seen another PWA before because it was 1960s Tulsa, there weren’t many PWAs around anyway, especially not in buttfuck nowhere Oklahoma, so I definitely think he gets questioned/stared at a lot, which he genuinely hates a lot because he doesn’t like talking about it. But sometimes Johnny will be subtle and help him with little things, like reading menus at restraints (he’ll usually just say like “oh there’s steak here” because he knows that’s something Dally likes, and Dally can’t read the menu very well, so it’s really subtle and it just sounds like Johnny’s talking to himself instead of telling Dally what there is because he can’t see), and I think that at first when he ran away, he had a horrible time getting around trains and stuff, because he couldn’t see the billboards, or see when people were walking at him, cars, etc. but it’s song and dance to him now. But at first he would just cover his face because he didn’t wanna be remembered as the guy who almost got hit by a car and looks like he’s been bleached”. I think that’s why he wears the leather jacket all the time too—he gets sunburnt real easy and he gets embarrassed about needing to put sunscreen on in winter/fall, so he uses the jacket.
Whew, this turned into a helluva ramble lol—but I guess in short, yes! I think it’d affect him in more ways than one! thanks for asking, i love getting asks about albino dally haha
