Antoniachuu - Suma

Jae ❌️

part two

"So your answer to contain this great evil is just putting it in a box?" "It is a really big box, but yes."

enden como voce se sente sabendo que eu so comecei a gostar MUITO do luka depois das suas artes lindas maravilhosas

ok last doodle hhshha (actor AU ivlk)

FUCK YESSSSSSSS

Hello! I'm wondering if you have any advice for navigating character death without it feeling disrespectful or like representation being snatched away (I'm talking about important blind characters / protagonists dying towards or at the end of stories, not blind characters getting killed off right at the beginning)? One thing I thought of is having other blind characters in the same story who don't die, but are there any other things I should be aware of? Any pitfalls to avoid? Thank you so much!

Some Tips for Killing Off Blind Characters Without Being Ableist

It will depend on the actual story, the tone, and how the death is portrayed, but I have a few ideas I can provide. While I normally suggest avoiding death of blind characters, I understand that sometimes it works for the story. A lot of my concerns stem from how the death itself is portrayed and what messages the audience are expected to gain from it. I’ll attempt to explain more in the following advice.

Killing off blind characters becomes less of a concern when they are not the only blind character. Having more blind characters as you suggested would have been my first recommendation.

When it comes to losing representation, having other characters is helpful. Having a cast of mostly blind characters isn’t going to present as much of a problem compared to a cast with only one blind character who dies.

Avoiding death due to blindness would also help. This includes someone killing the blind character because of blindness, them killing themself because of blindness, the character having a fatal accident due to their blindness, or the character’s death being portrayed as tragic because the character was outside or doing something viewed as less safe for blind people. An example of this situation would be if Toph from Avatar: the Last Airbender was told fighting in the Earth Rumble was unsafe, did it anyway, and was killed in the ring. Blind people already have our daily activities viewed as unsafe, which can be infantilizing, and so having media portray the tragic death of a blind character who dared to go on a quest wouldn’t be fun to read.

My advice is to afford them agency in their death rather than focusing on torture, trauma, or passivity. It sounds like you’re already on the right course, but I wanted to include this here just in case.

Additionally, framing the character as their own person, rather than focusing on how their death makes sighted people feel, would be beneficial in giving them agency. Again, you are on the right course, according to your question, as this probably occurs more often with disabled characters who die as part of backstory or toward the beginning of the story.

Of course, I cannot give you the exact best formula for killing off blind characters, but hopefully this gives you some direction.

I also suggest having a few sensitivity readers. Aside from me, you can find more options here. @sensitivityreaders

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