i have this female character who’s blind and is also able to manipulate sound. in the world i’m creating people are able to harness an ability based off of their family’s gemstone. arisone’s (our character) ability doesn’t negate her blindness. she isn’t helpless or soft. in fact she’s the complete opposite. she’s sarcastic, manipulative and is ruthless in a fight. arisone’s family also share the same ability and despite not being blind they use echolocation. something arisone is against because she prefers other methods.
my idea is that arisone uses and often relies on her cane. a cane that was specifically designed for her. what i mean is that arisone’s cane is able to reform. she would normally wear her cane like a bracelet of some sorts so, when it wouldn’t in use she would still have easy access to it. i also like the idea of arisone forming it into a nunchuck type of weapon like she would be able to “break” it into two pieces and use them both as a weapon. another idea i have is that her cane can also maybe even help her see vibrations sorts of like echolocation but 10x better. also, her cane is very durable and is able to shatter/break bones.
what do you think of this? do you have any suggestions? i don’t want arisone to come off like a supercrip but i also want her to be dangerous. i also would like to mention that my world is similar to the grisha verse and the red queen series. so, this type of behavior would be considered normal in my world.
First I’m sorry this took forever to answer. I love the personality your character has. The ability to manipulate sound could be interesting as well and it doesn’t sound like it be super hearing that erases the character’s blindness. I would avoid super hearing if you weren’t already.
I also love that everyone uses echolocation BUT the blind character. For those of you who want my thoughts on echolocation and why I dislike blind characters using it, read this post and this post.
Canes - Reforming Cane As a Bracelet
I think this seems cool. A lot of people can struggle with where to put canes when not in use. Usually you can fold it and put it on a shelf at home, in a bag, or beside you on a chair. Having it form into a bracelet would be similar to that.
Avoid Canes As Weapons
I am not fond of canes as weapons for a few reasons. Canes are not durable enough for that and the idea of our aids possibility being weapons can put us in danger either from police when dealing with them or having attacks on us dismissed because we supposedly had a weapon. Someone could probably use a cane in a pinch to put distance between themselves and a dangerous date or something, but it would never be used as a weapon routinely. Never with intent. A cane is not a weapon. Portraying it as such can put people in danger. Does it sound cool? Sure. But it can have real consequences and so I prefer people avoid it. Especially when they have never used a cane and don’t know what they’re doing.
See this post by another blind blogger.
When picking out a cane for her, these might be helpful.
This article, which goes over types of canes and materials.
And this one about choosing the right cane for your needs.
You also mentioned you wanted her cane to help her feel vibrations. Look up WeWalk cane, which does something similar. Also look up Sunnu Band which can help she isn’t using her cane.
If you want new inventions for your world or new magic, have a blind character be credited as the inventor, as most inventors of technology for the blind are on the blind spectrum themselves. Even if this character is never introduced or part of the story. It is important that blind people be credited for their work instead of non-blind characters.
And as far as avoiding the supercrip goes, let her blindness affect her. Show her weakness and vulnerability, both related to her blindness and unrelated. She can be the best in some areas, average in others, and still bad in other areas. I understand wanting to avoid having her come across as too powerful, but it is also cool to see blind characters being good at things because we are also so often seen as bad at things before we are allowed to try.
-BlindBeta
