seen from Netherlands
seen from United Kingdom
seen from United States
seen from Cyprus
seen from United States
seen from China
seen from Malaysia
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from Netherlands
seen from United States
seen from United Arab Emirates
seen from Malaysia
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from Russia
seen from Cyprus
seen from China
seen from Cyprus
seen from Türkiye
feeling called out today
credit: _ADWills
If you had to turn your Blorbo into one of these, which would you choose?
A zombie
A vampire
A werewolf
A mermaid
Every poll on this blog is about fictional characters only. This request was sent to us and we made a poll in response to it. Send any Blorbo-related question you want to our inbox and we’ll make a poll on which people can vote with their own Blorbos in minds
You know what I love in television/film?
The moment when the hero comes home after a long day and the villain is in their house just doing something normal like making tea/watching tv, etc.
Bonus points if the villain is playing with the hero’s baby/young kid(s). Not hurting them in any way but there’s that underlying threat of “if you keep trying to stop me I will hurt your family, i’m already in your house after all”
It’s just *chef’s kiss*
Honestly, I love it when a character loses everything. I love it when everything is torn from their hands, no matter how hard they grip it close to their chest. I love it when they sacrifice all they have in the pursuit of something else. I love it when it’s an insidious loss, where not even they have realized they lost it all until they wake up one day and wonder where it all went wrong.
I love it when a character loses everything.
give me stories where the villain is doing terrible things because it's the only way anyone will listen, like they've tried petitions and protests and polite letters and nobody cared, nobody looked, nobody changed a single thing, and so they start breaking windows and burning buildings and holding the world hostage because attention is the only currency that matters, because you can't fix a problem nobody sees, and the hero spends years chasing them, hating them, calling them terrorist and monster and psychopath, and the villain lets them, encourages them, because every headline about the villain is a headline about the cause, every battle with the hero is a conversation the world finally has to have.
and the villain knows they're making themselves the villain, knows they're sacrificing their own humanity so that the real issue can wear their face instead, and they die with the hero's hands around their throat or a blade through their chest or a bullet they could have dodged but didn't, and only then, only then, does the hero find the documents, the evidence, the proof that the villain was right, that the system was rotten, that people were dying in silence while the world looked away, and the hero realizes with sickening clarity that every crime they stopped was a distraction from a bigger crime, that every person they saved from the villain was still doomed by the thing the villain was trying to expose, that the villain wasn't stealing the money, they were redistributing it; wasn't destroying the lab, they were freeing the prisoners; wasn't threatening the city, they were forcing the city to look at the poison in its own water, and the hero was the weapon used to silence the only person telling the truth.
now imagine this. hero standing in the aftermath with the villain's blood on their hands and the truth in their ears, watching the world finally wake up, finally march, finally change, all because the villain made themselves the sacrifice, made themselves the monster, made themselves the story that eclipsed the real story just long enough for the real story to become undeniable, and the hero has to give interviews and accept medals and smile for cameras while knowing that the person who actually saved everything is the one they killed, the one they called evil, the one whose last words were probably something the hero mocked, something the hero used as proof of their insanity...
and now those words are graffiti on every wall, are chanted at every rally, are the name of the movement that changes the world, and the hero can't say anything, can't confess, can't tell the truth without destroying the very thing the villain died for, because the movement needs a hero, needs a clear narrative, needs the villain to stay the villain so that the cause can stay pure, and the hero understands finally that the villain knew this too, that they planned for this, that they chose to die misunderstood so that the truth could live clean and unburdened by their complicated methods, their necessary violence, their stained hands, and the hero lives the rest of their life as the face of a revolution they didn't start, wearing a halo the villain forged in their own blood, and every time someone thanks them they hear the villain's voice saying you're welcome or i'm sorry or make it worth it or just a simple please. and they smile and nod and go home and stare at the mirror and wonder if becoming the villain's opposite was just another way of becoming their continuation, if the hero the world needed and the villain the world deserved were always the same person wearing different masks, and the only difference is that one of them got to choose when to take theirs off and-
anyway.
i geniuenly cannot understand the hate behind fanfic writers or the idea that they aren't "real writers". they are writers sure they're not some modern day shakespeare but that does not discredit the fact that these people clearly put thought and effort into their original work, even if it's based on a fandom or some sort of media.
just because their work is not "real literature" or some "literary masterpiece" does not mean it's not valid. because not every piece of writing or every author has to written a ground shattering new york's best seller to be considered a "writer".
i call this propaganda bullshit made up by jealous and tone deaf people. because fanfic writers clearly have the skill, to write characters, build worlds, create emotions and they do it for their passion no paycheck nothing, just pure love for the fandom and writing.
like maybe you're the one who's cringe for thinking every other thing is "lame" or "cringe" because why do you feel the need to be hating on everything. like let's not bring that hate into 2025 and let people express their interests and passions in form they want, let's not police creativity.
X
The Mask Trope, and Disfiguremisia in Media
[large text: The Mask Trope, and Disfiguremisia in Media]
If you followed this blog for more than like a week, you're probably familiar with “the mask trope” or at least with me complaining about it over and over in perpetuity. But why is it bad and why can't this dude shut up about it?
Let's start with who this trope applies to: characters with facial differences. There is some overlap with blind characters as well; think of the blindfold that is forced on a blind character for no reason. Here is a great explanation of it in this context by blindbeta. It's an excellent post in general, even if your character isn't blind or low vision you should read at least the last few paragraphs.
Here's the good old tired link to what a facial difference is, but to put it simply:
If you have a character, who is a burn survivor or has scars, who wears a mask, this is exactly this trope.
The concept applies to other facial differences as well, but scars and burns are 99% of the representation and “representation” we get, so I'll be using these somewhat interchangeably here.
The mask can be exactly what you think, but it refers to any facial covering that doesn't have a medical purpose. So for example, a CPAP mask doesn't count for this trope, but a Magic Porcelain Mask absolutely does. Bandages do as well. If it covers the part of the face that is “different”, it can be a mask in the context used here.
Eye patches are on thin ice because while they do serve a medical purpose in real life, in 99.9% of media they are used for the same purpose as a mask. It's purely aesthetic.
With that out of the way, let's get into why this trope sucks and find its roots. Because every trope is just a symptom of something, really.
Roughly in order of the least to most important reasons...
Why It Sucks
[large text: Why It Sucks]
It's overdone. As in—boring. You made your character visibly different, and now they're no longer that. What is the point? Just don't give them the damn scar if you're going to hide it.
Zero connection with reality. No one does this. I don't even know how to elaborate on this. This doesn't represent anyone because no one does this.
Disability erasure. For the majority of characters with facial differences, their scars or burns somehow don't disable them physically, so the only thing left is the visible part… aaand the mask takes care of it too. Again, what's the point? If you want to make your disabled character abled, then just have them be abled. What is the point of "curing" them other than to make it completely pointless?
Making your readers with facial differences feel straight up bad. I'm gonna be honest: this hurts to see when it's all you get, over and over. Imagine there's this thing that everyone bullied you about, everyone still stares at, that is with you 24/7. Imagine you wanted to see something where people like you aren't treated like a freakshow. Somewhat unrealistic, but imagine that. That kind of world would only exist in fiction, right? So let's look into fiction- oh, none of the positive (or at least not "child-murderer evil") characters look like me. I mean they do, but they don't. They're forced to hide the one thing that connects us. I don't want to hide myself. I don't want to be told over and over that this is what people like me should do. That this is what other people expect so much that it's basically the default way a person with a facial difference can exist. I don't want this.
Perpetuating disfiguremisia.
"Quick" Disfiguremisia Talk
[large text: "Quick" Disfiguremisia Talk]
It's quick when compared to my average facial difference discussion post, bear with me please.
Disfiguremisia; portmanteau of disfigure from “disfigurement” and -misia, Greek for hatred.
Also known as discrimination of those mythical horrifically deformed people.
It shows up in fiction all the time; in-universe and in-narrative. Mask trope is one of the most common* representations of it, and it's also a trope that is gaining traction more and more, both in visual art and writing. This is a trope I particularly hate, because it's a blatant symptom of disfiguremisia. It's not hidden and it doesn't try to be. It's a painful remainder that I do not want nor need.
*most common is easily “evil disfigured villain”, just look at any horror media. But that's for another post, if ever.
When you put your character in a mask, it sends a clear message: in your story, facial differences aren't welcome. The world is hostile. Other characters are hostile. The author is, quite possibly, hostile. Maybe consciously, but almost always not, they just don't think that disfiguremisia means anything because it's the default setting. No one wants to see you because your face makes you gross and unsightly. If you have a burn; good luck, but we think you're too ugly to have a face. Have a scar? Too bad, now you don't. Get hidden.
Everything here is a decision that was made by the author. You are the one who makes the world. You are the person who decides if being disabled is acceptable or not there. The story doesn't have a mind of its own, you chose to make it disfiguremisic. It doesn't have to be.
Questions to Ask Yourself
[large text: Questions to Ask Yourself]
Since I started talking about facial differences on this blog, I have noticed a very specific trend in how facial differences are treated when compared to other disabilities. A lot of writers and artists are interested in worldbuilding where accessibility is considered, where disabled people are accepted, where neurodivergence is seen as an important part of the human experience, not something “other”. This is amazing, genuinely.
Yet, absolutely no one seems to be interested in a world that is anything but cruel to facial differences. There's no escapist fantasies for us. You see this over and over, at some point it feels like the same story with different names attached.
The only way a character with a facial difference can exist is to hide it. Otherwise, they are shamed by society. Seen as something gross. I noticed that it really doesn't matter who the character is, facial difference is this great equalizer. Both ancient deities and talking forest cats get treated as the same brand of disgusting thing as long as they're scarred, as long as they had something explode in their face, as long as they've been cursed. They can be accomplished, they can be a badass, they can be the leader of the world, they can kill a dragon, but they cannot, under any circumstances, be allowed to peacefully exist with a facial difference. They have to hide it in the literal sense, or be made to feel that they should. Constantly ashamed, embarrassed that they dare to have a face.
Question one to ask yourself: why is disfiguremisia a part of your story?
I'm part of a few minority groups. I'm an immigrant, I'm disabled, I'm bisexual, whatever. I get enough shit in real life for this so I like to take a break once in a while. I love stories where homophobia isn't a thing. Where xenophobia doesn't come up. But my whole life, I can't seem to find stories that don't spew out disfiguremisia in one way or the other at the first possible opportunity.
Why is disfiguremisia a default part of your worldbuilding? Why can't it be left out? Why in societies with scarred saviors and warriors is there such intense disgust for them? Why can't anyone even just question why this is the state of the world?
Why is disfiguremisia normal in your story?
Please re-read the question above if you actively make a point to have a story without other kinds of ableism or discrimination in general.
Question two: do you know enough about disfiguremisia to write about it?
Ask yourself, really. Do you? Writers sometimes ask if or how to portray ableism when they themselves aren't disabled, but no one bothers to wonder if maybe they aren't knowledgeable enough to make half their story about their POV character experiencing disfiguremisia. How much do you know, and from where? Have you read Mikaela Moody or any other advocates’ work around disfiguremisia? Do you understand the way it intersects; with being a trans woman, with being Black? What is your education on this topic?
For USAmericans, as a starter: do you know what "Ugly Laws" are, and when they ended?
Question three: what does your story associate with facial difference—and why?
If I had to guess; “shame”, “embarrassment”, “violence”, "disgust", “intimidation”, “trauma”, “guilt”, “evil”, “curse”, “discomfort”, “fear”, or similar would show up, because it's always the same shit.
Why doesn't it associate it with positive concepts? Why not “hope” or “love” or “pride” or “community”? Why not “soft” or “delicate”? Dare I say, “beauty” or “innocence”? Why not “blessing”? “Acceptance”?
Why not “normal”?
Question four: why did you make the character the way they are?
Have you considered that there are other things than “horrifically burned for some moral failing” or “most traumatic scenario put to paper”? Why is it always “a tough character with a history of violence” and never “a Disfigured princess”? Why not “a loving parent” or “a fashionable girl”, instead of “the most unkind person you've ever met” and “total badass who doesn’t care about anything—other than how scary their facial difference is to these poor ableds”? Don’t endlessly associate us with brutality and suffering. We aren’t violent, or manipulative, or physically strong, or brash, or bloodthirsty by default. We can have hobbies that aren't "murder", "fighting", or even "war"! "Being annoying on Tumblr", for example.
But seriously—why is it always assassin/war veteran/mercenary/someone who does violence for fun?
When is the last time you've seen a scarred character who was into baking, romance novels, dinosaurs, or cheerleading? A character, thouroughly, completely, no-strings-attached, genuinely unrelated to violence, be it physical or verbal?
Question five: why is your character just… fine with all this?
Can’t they make a community with other people with facial differences and do something about this? Demand the right to exist as disabled and not have to hide their literal face? Why are they cool with being dehumanized and treated with such hatred? Especially if they fall into the "not so soft and kind" category that I just talked about, it seems obvious to me that they would be incredibly and loudly pissed off about being discriminated against over and over... Why can't your character, who is a subject of disfiguremisia, realize that maybe it's disfiguremisia that's the problem, and try to fix it?
Question six: why is your character wearing a mask?
Usually, there's no reason. Most of the time the author hasn't considered that there even should be one, the character just wears a mask because that's what people with facial differences do in their mind. Most writers aren't interested in this kind of research or even considering it as a thing they should do. The community is unimportant to them, it's not like we are real people who read books. They think they understand, because to them it's not complex, it's not nuanced. It's ugly = bad. Why would you need a reason?
For cases where the reason is stated, I promise, I have heard of every single one. To quote, "to spare others from looking at them". I have read, "content warning: he has burn scars under the mask, he absolutely hates taking it off!" (emphasis not mine). Because "he hates the way his skin looks", because "they care for their appearance a lot" (facial differences make you ugly, remember? remember?). My favorite: "only has scars and the mask when he's a villain, not as a hero", just to subtly drive the point home. This isn't the extreme end of the spectrum. Now, imagine being a reader with a facial difference. This is your "representation", sitting next to Freddy Krueger and Voldemort. How do you feel?
F.A.Q. [frequently asked questions]
[large text: F.A.Q. [frequently asked questions]]
As in, answers and “answers” to common arguments or concerns.
“Actually they want to hide their facial difference”—your character doesn’t have free will. You made them. You want them to hide it. Again; why.
“They are hiding it to be more inconspicuous!”—I get that there are elves in their world, but there’s no universe where wearing a mask with eye cutouts on the street is less noticeable than having a scar. Facial differences aren’t open wounds sprinkling with blood, in case that's not clear. Also, despite what you clearly think, unless your setting has like twelve people total, there will be multiple people with facial differences in it.
“It’s for other people's comfort”—why are other characters disfiguremisic to this extent? Are they forcing all minorities to stay hidden and out of sight too? That’s a horrible society to exist in. What's your plan on how to address that?
“They are wearing it for Actual Practical Reason”—cool! I hope that this means you have other characters with facial differences that don’t wear it for any reason.
"It's the character's artistic expression"—very intriguing considering how common "mask-wearing as art" seems to be in the real world. I sure hope that there are abled characters with the same kind of expression then.
“They’re ashamed of their face”—and they never have any character development that would make that go away? That's just bad writing. Why are they ashamed in the first place? Why is shame the default stance to have about your own face in your story? I get that you think we should be ashamed and do these ridiculous things, but in real life we just live with it.
"Now that you say that it is kinda messed up but I'm too far into the story please help"—here you go.
“[some variation of My Character is evil so it's fine/a killer so it fits/just too disgusting to show their disability]”—this is the one of these cases where I’m fine with disability erasure, actually. Please don’t make them have a facial difference. This is the type of harm that real life activists spend years and decades undoing. Disfiguremisia from horror movies released in the 70s is still relevant. It still affects people today.
"But [in-universe explanation why disfiguremisia is cool and fine actually]"—this changes nothing.
Closing Remarks
[large text: Closing Remarks]
I hope that this post explains my thoughts on facial difference representation better. It's a complicated topic, I get it. I'm also aware that this post might come off as harsh but disfiguremisia shouldn't be treated lightly, it's not a prop for your whump-angst-whatever to play around with. It's real world discrimination with a big chunk of its origins coming out of popular media. It's the reason why people can't find employment, it's the reason why people get asked to leave public spaces.
With the asks that have been sent regarding facial differences, I realized that I probably haven't explained what the actual problems are well enough. It's not about some technical definition, or about weird in-universe explanations. It's about categorizing us as some apparently fundamentally different entity that can't possibly be kind and happy, about disfiguremisia so ingrained into our culture that it's apparently impossible to make a world without it; discrimination so deep that it can't be excised, only worked around. But you can get rid of it. You can just not have it there in the first place. Disfiguremisia isn't a fundamental part of how the world works; getting rid of it won't cause it to collapse. Don't portray discrimination as an integral, unquestionable part of the world that has to stay no matter what; whether it's ableism, transphobia, or Islamophobia or anything else. A world without discrimination can exist. If you can't imagine a world without disfiguremisia, that's quite bad.
Remember, your readers aren't going to look at Character with a Scar #14673 and think "now I'm going to research how real life people with facial differences live". They won't, there's no inclination for them to do so. If you don't give them a reason, they won't magically start thinking critically about facial differences and disfiguremisia. People like their biases and they like to think that they understand.
And, even if you're explaining it over and over ;-) (winky face) there will still be people who are going to be actively resistant to giving a shit. To try and get the ones who are capable of caring about us, you, as the author, need to first understand disfiguremisia, study Face Equality, think of me as a human being with human emotions who doesn't want to see people like me treated like garbage in every piece of media I look at. There's a place and time for that media, and if you don't actually understand disfiguremisia, you will only perpetuate it—not "subvert" it, certainly not "comment" on it.
mod Sasza
