I have an idea for a blind character in a story I'm writing about wizards and stuff that I'm unsure about. I want to include some interesting magical accidents to demonstrate some things about the world and magic system and whatnot, and I thought of a character who went blind due to accidentally turning their eyes an unusual color that interfered with the mechanisms for sight. Mechanically speaking, I'm thinking it would be like turning the cornea mostly opaque, which would make it difficult to see? I'm not an expert but I think that's how eyes work. anyways they would probably have some residual light perception but it would all be tinted that color. magic is very difficult to undo in this world and this would be a structural change so I don't think it could be reversed.
would this be, like, exoticizing or othering or something? it wouldn't be framed as a tragedy, or even be all that traumatic, just like a neutral thing that happened, and I do have other blind characters whose blindness has more realistic causes. also the accident would have occurred before the story, so any trauma or adjustment would have already taken place and isn't the focus of the story
I think the main thing I'm nervous about is that the color thing is mostly because I think it would look cool, and I want to include more different visually interesting character design. but I don't want it to seem like there has to be something weird like that going on to justify having the blind character? which I don't think it should be because one of the main circle of characters is already blind due to a genetic condition but it's hard to be sure how things will come across. and maybe it could be tokenizing to base a character's disability on aesthetic factors? it feels like it might be but consciously I can't figure out why it would, as long as I did the usual work to make the representation accurate and the character well-rounded and the like.
does this general idea seem alright? if not, which part should I fix? should I stick to real conditions entirely, or magical conditions that are closer to real ones?
sorry this is so long I just wanted to be as clear as possible and I felt like it wasn't making sense. sorry if it still doesn't make sense, it can be difficult. thank you
Note: This posted without my answer included, so I edited it after.
I think I understand your question fine. You are right in that the main concerns can be reduced through showing diverse blind characters and portraying blindness well. It sounds like you’re on the right track with not leaning into trauma narratives, as well as portraying more realistic experiences with blindness.
I like the idea of exploring magical causes of blindness, as I think this could fall under magic-related injuries or certain magics causing underlying conditions to worsen. Maybe this character has a genetic predisposition that might lead to this result? Opaque corneas seems to lead to blurry or reduced vision, so the character would have some remaining sight, as most blind people do.
As for liking this idea for aesthetic reasons, my main concern with this is how the eyes would look to other characters. Not all people “look blind” and not all blindness is visible to others. Sometimes, in the case of cataracts or corneal opacity concerns, we do look blind. It so happens that your character probably falls under the corneal opacity category, which means the character’s eyes might look noticeably different.
In this case, it would help to show diverse presentations of blindness. Maybe a character has nystagmus. Maybe most of the characters’ blindness is not visible in their eyes. Maybe a character has cortical blindness instead of a condition relating to their eyes.
This is similar to the sunglasses issue I write about often.
As long as you can explain in text why this character happens to fit the stereotype rather than “just because”, you’re probably good. This forces you and your audience to confront the idea that all blind people happen to look a certain way.
The problem is not that some people look blind. It is that the sighted population often assumes that eyes must look the same for every blind person. That is simply not true.
The second point that concerns me is the possibility of focusing too much on a blind character’s eyes when they do look a certain way, such as cloudy or shaky. This can make the character feel othered. Be mindful of your descriptions of the character’s eyes and what you want to convey. This also might be something better explored by a sensitivity reader.
Having a blind character with cloudy eyes isn’t a bad thing. I’m not sure about how the color thing would work though.
My other point is that conditions analogous to what you’re describing are treatable in the real world. Corneal opacification is a common cause of blindness, with or without a cataract, or so the Internet tells me. It looks like it can be treated with eyes drops and, if needed, a corneal transplant. Someone please correct me if I got this wrong.
Maybe your world doesn’t have such treatments yet. Maybe they are still developing or are risky either with the involvement of magic making these conditions harder to treat. Maybe these options are too expensive or your character is not a good candidate for them.
I always love a blind character who isn’t healed, so magic not being able to heal blindness is something I can get behind as a means of subverting the cure trope. Although this is because not all blindness can be cured in real life.
Using this incident to explore magic and world-building sounds good I would like to see that used with blindness, too. For example, how is magic used in the development or utilization of blindness aids? Do your characters have access to mobility aids, community, blindness techniques, and ways to interact with the world? In what way do they use magic to improve their lives? In what ways does it hinder them?
Setting the issues with the trauma narrative and stereotypes aside, my main concern with portraying blind characters has little to do with what caused their blindness, though you wouldn’t know with how often I discuss them. Instead, I care more about how they are portrayed afterward. Most of us blind folks still benefit from the same skills or techniques. Most of us could benefit from a mobility device or from learning how to use landmarks to learn our way around.
Do your characters use mobility aids? Do they have different preferences when it comes to reading? Have they debated whether they liked puff paint or creating texture with regular paint? Have they dealt with eye strain or fatigue? What items do they keep on them that might relate to blindness?
When it comes to living as a blind person, a lot of us can benefit from the same stuff. We have similar experiences. Your characters should reflect that.
Sorry that most of my answers were vague or “it depends”. Sometimes it is more about the how the portrayal of an idea turns out, rather than a right or wrong answer.
I hope this helps.
