#idk man just. disabled robots. with mobility aids

[bambiraptorx]

steps up to microphone: robots with mobility aids. thank you for your time

[masterbuilderintern]

Does Cyrus Borg get to keep his cool mobility aid? I always disliked that they got rid of the aid that was all terrain, self propelled, cool, for like, a hospital wheelchair. "oooo reliance on technology bad" My lego in fsm that's his legs.

first of all im losing my SHIT over "my lego in fsm" I might actually pass away

Second: I've debated it. I think it's really hypocritical to make him lose something like that when the main characters get magic mechs and vehicles and shit every two seasons or whatever. Really doesn't align with the "tech bad" message.

I also just don't like "tech bad." Tech having control over life and politics is bad, things like apps tracking your data, security cameras tracking your face, things like that. Anything that anyone of significant power could use to oppress or control others.

But tech for things LIKE MOBILITY AIDS can do some amazing shit. Trains are technology, hospital equipment is technology, the tools I use to draw are technology. Technology is not inherently evil. Anything used to TRACK you, or PROFILE you is never good, no matter who tries to tell you otherwise.

There is also the way it can be used to replace people. Why the FUCK are we making robots that draw instead of making robots that can do dangerous shit for us instead. Jobs that have high mortality rates but still need doing for whatever reason. THAT'S the kind of shit that should be replacing humans. Not this generative AI bullshit.

There's, and say it with me now, NUANCE TO THE SUBJECT.

The "tech bad" message also really sucks when the two focus characters of Rebooted are androids but maybe I'm just stupid idk

"Well the Overlord had control over the spider legs" just don't connect your mobility aid to the fucking internet? Idk man, I guess Cyrus is the kind of fucker to have ovens that can connect to YouTube or some shit if it's that much of a problem.

I think the only way going back to a normal wheelchair works is if Cyrus has a distrust of advanced tech after the Overlord thing. But he doesn't, he's the one who makes the vehicles in Possession.

There's also the debate over "technically disabled" characters. But I'm not disabled in the same way Cyrus is, so it's really not something I can comment on. I am hella open to discussion if anyone IS disabled in a similar way to him, though.

If I keep the advanced mobility aid, I will definitely not keep the spider theme. I know that for sure.

Keep in mind that Nostalgia's Rebooted is going to have a Y2K futurism aesthetic, also. Those transparent blobject computers and stuff are really cute.

P.I.X.A.L.'s silver hair and purple markings just kinda fit with it. And also. I just really like it.

[zed-36]

gonna ramble about my tezla headcanons/the lil design i have been doodling

regardless of the thoughts on tezla, part of my redesign ideas were 1) make it a bit less uh... out there, and easier to draw for my own sake 2) something that could at least feel more realistic and maybe relatable/better outward representation of chronic pain/disability. the last one being more important in my head for actual headcanon stuff.

i see the progression of tezla injury going from 'needing constant mobility aid' in the form of not just a cane, but also wheelchair- to 'easing out of some aid' but still, using a cane for the rest of his life and likely using the brace around his torso often (for our sci-fi needs its not just a brace, but also deals with his nerves/pain).

taking out the wacky robot suit and replacing it with a metal skeleton that can also be hidden underneath his top clothing layers isnt just a choice making it easier to draw, but also just something that idk. makes sense. and could lead to more headcanons. hiding his support would certainly be in character, tbh. the idea that gig is the only one aware hes being hindered by his injury? yea that makes sense. everyone looks at a greying man with a cane and probably doesnt think too much about it ya know lol.

its may come as a minor detail to many but exploring a character who actually deals with a chronic issue, mostly that revolving around pain or injury, is still kinda important tbh! theres specific struggles with it and i just like being able to express my own issues through it too.

[cugzarui]

holy fucking shit hephaestus has droids????

on another note tho kinda related to golden hephaestus droids: it is also very much possible to have a mobility aid that isn't a chair, or even have a disabled character move around without a mobility aid; as unbelievable as that may sound. it definitely depends on the kind of disability but using a stick is one option if you can still sorta use at least one of your legs. there's also those...idk what their called, that some old people use? anyway i would descend them as "small liftable railing, on which {character} supported themselves while moving in an awkward - though practiced gait, and used to hold small bags, pillows, and other items"

one thing that isn't a mobility aid in the work it's shown in, but very much could be, is in "harry potter and the methods of rationality" fanfic, where

<spoiler start!>

a character uses a spell to make their BONES act like FLYING BROOMS (they're stick-like enough) and uses this to levitate

</spoiler end!>

most importantly tho, many disabled folk can move very effectively even without any aids. crawling is a thing for one; but much more impressively, some people without legs will literally just use their arms as legs. allow me to provide you with a link:

obviously not everyone is gonna be like this, but just imagine this guy running around and swinging around in your story. "he was only half a man, yet instantly gave twice the impression of any man i've ever known"

like seriously. disabled people just stayed restricted to towers all day back in the past? in a fantasy novel that probably has dragons and robots and evil villains to overthrow? hell no i can't imagine that. even my grandma - as weak as she's become - still gets up to do stuff. you're telling me someone is just gonna sit tight, bored out of their mind, in some dusty old tower, just cuz their legs are not cooperating? somehow that just doesn't seem right to me.

Whgskl. Okay.

PSA to all you fantasy writers because I have just had a truly frustrating twenty minutes talking to someone about this: it’s okay to put mobility aids in your novel and have them just be ordinary.

Like. Super okay.

I don’t give a shit if it’s high fantasy, low fantasy or somewhere between the lovechild of Tolkein meets My Immortal. It’s okay to use mobility devices in your narrative. It’s okay to use the word “wheelchair”. You don’t have to remake the fucking wheel. It’s already been done for you.

And no, it doesn’t detract from the “realism” of your fictional universe in which you get to set the standard for realism. Please don’t try to use that as a reason for not using these things.

There is no reason to lock the disabled people in your narrative into towers because “that’s the way it was”, least of all in your novel about dragons and mermaids and other made up creatures. There is no historical realism here. You are in charge. You get to decide what that means.

Also:

“Depiction of Chinese philosopher Confucius in a wheelchair, dating to ca. 1680. The artist may have been thinking of methods of transport common in his own day.”

“The earliest records of wheeled furniture are an inscription found on a stone slate in China and a child’s bed depicted in a frieze on a Greek vase, both dating between the 6th and 5th century BCE.[2][3][4][5]The first records of wheeled seats being used for transporting disabled people date to three centuries later in China; the Chinese used early wheelbarrows to move people as well as heavy objects. A distinction between the two functions was not made for another several hundred years, around 525 CE, when images of wheeled chairs made specifically to carry people begin to occur in Chinese art.[5]”

“In 1655, Stephan Farffler, a 22 year old paraplegic watchmaker, built the world’s first self-propelling chair on a three-wheel chassis using a system of cranks and cogwheels.[6][3] However, the device had an appearance of a hand bike more than a wheelchair since the design included hand cranks mounted at the front wheel.[2]

The invalid carriage or Bath chair brought the technology into more common use from around 1760.[7]

In 1887, wheelchairs (“rolling chairs”) were introduced to Atlantic City so invalid tourists could rent them to enjoy the Boardwalk. Soon, many healthy tourists also rented the decorated “rolling chairs” and servants to push them as a show of decadence and treatment they could never experience at home.[8]

In 1933 Harry C. Jennings, Sr. and his disabled friend Herbert Everest, both mechanical engineers, invented the first lightweight, steel, folding, portable wheelchair.[9] Everest had previously broken his back in a mining accident. Everest and Jennings saw the business potential of the invention and went on to become the first mass-market manufacturers of wheelchairs. Their “X-brace” design is still in common use, albeit with updated materials and other improvements. The X-brace idea came to Harry from the men’s folding “camp chairs / stools”, rotated 90 degrees, that Harry and Herbert used in the outdoors and at the mines.[citation needed]

“But Joy, how do I describe this contraption in a fantasy setting that wont make it seem out of place?”

“It was a chair on wheels, which Prince FancyPants McElferson propelled forwards using his arms to direct the motion of the chair.”

“It was a chair on wheels, which Prince EvenFancierPants McElferson used to get about, pushed along by one of his companions or one of his many attending servants.”

“But it’s a high realm magical fantas—”

“It was a floating chair, the hum of magical energy keeping it off the ground casting a faint glow against the cobblestones as {CHARACTER} guided it round with expert ease, gliding back and forth.”

“But it’s a stempunk nov—”

“Unlike other wheelchairs he’d seen before, this one appeared to be self propelling, powered by the gasket of steam at the back, and directed by the use of a rudder like toggle in the front.”

Give. Disabled. Characters. In. Fantasy. Novels. Mobility. Aids.

If you can spend 60 pages telling me the history of your world in innate detail down to the formation of how magical rocks were formed, you can god damn write three lines in passing about a wheelchair.

Signed, your editor who doesn’t have time for this ableist fantasy realm shit.