#I didn't include Luke because Luke is always presented as completely mentally and physically healthy. it's why Jace hates him | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

zorilleerrant · 11 months

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the Batfamily and (canon) disability: I have headcanons about it, but I was thinking about how a lot more is shown in canon than people think about, since so many conversations are about representation in fandom works. but also because they're either in the background or integrated into the story, so it's hard to just pick them out and point at them most of the time. so I'm trying to think of things that are shown regularly (not just things that should have consequences/have been retconned)

Alfred - seen walking with a cane sometimes. also complains about a variety of age related disabilities, like arthritis. history of war presented in a narratively typical way to indicate trauma.

Lucius - trauma from being kidnapped and tortured in the current timeline (but I worry they'll ignore that later). age related disability, like finding it hard to move quickly, easy muscle strain. trauma over his various kids' disappearances.

Jim - heart problems. alcohol addiction and health problems from long term alcohol abuse, like hand tremors. age related disabilities. trauma from deaths and injuries/illnesses of various family members. explicit depression at various points, although usually shown as situational rather than chronic. glasses sometimes.

Bruce - trauma about his parents' death. trauma about the deaths of his friends and family that happened in canon. back problems due to spinal damage. chronic pain. talks about being tired in a way that can be read as chronic fatigue, depression, or physical issues from long term sleep deprivation (not sure what's intended most of the time). flexibility issues where he often can't move/stand the way he wants. nightmares. paranoia. difficulties with interpersonal communication. in Batman Beyond continuity, regularly shown with a cane or wheelchair (and I think a walker but I may be misremembering).

Kate - trauma about her mom's death and sister's disappearance. flashbacks (narrative) to leaving the military structured like flashbacks (PTSD) almost always.

Dick - trauma about his parents' death. suicidal impulses. self-esteem issues generally brought up as a joke, but often enough they accrue narrative weight. anxiety over responsibility, feeling obligated to do things for his family. chronic pain at old injury sites.

Babs - wheelchair for a while, some implications that she still uses the wheelchair on low mobility days, but at least nods to her needing mobility aids (albeit scifi ones). fluctuating mobility and pain levels. reduced strength and flexibility in her legs. trauma about her assault (altho, oddly, not usually about all the deaths and injuries to her family members/other Bats). imposter syndrome when dealing with other tech geniuses, and guilt/rumination over results of her programming and tech design. glasses sometimes.

Jason - hallucinations, usually induced by outside factors, but if something could make him hallucinate, he will. frequent alcohol abuse and possible alcohol addiction. suicidal ideation as seen through discussions of his death and resurrection, related issues with guilt and feeling responsible easy to read as depression. trauma about his death. trauma about his mom's death. trauma from child abuse and complicated mental health issues related to his dad. trauma from having to fend for himself for several years as a child, although not typically trauma from other facets of being homeless. anger issues and violent outbursts. visible scarring such that strangers react to it.

Tim - trauma over his parents' death. self-esteem issues and anxiety over not finishing school properly, work, his Bat identity, his sexuality - generally facets of adulthood he's unsure about. possible sociopath, in that he always makes rationally-based rather than emotional decisions towards strangers, and doesn't seem to feel guilt over doing violence to them (but possibly that's for story reasons).

Steph - child abuse trauma. food insecurity from childhood poverty, as seen from being overly attentive towards food. anxiety about not being a real member of the Batfamily, or not being good enough for them. anger issues.

Cass - difficulty with speech and verbal communication. child abuse trauma. suicidal tendencies and trauma from her death. social anxiety and difficulty forming friendships. high susceptibility to toxins and mild altering situations. self-esteem issues about her lack of (traditional) education and unfamiliarity with literature. inability to ignore people's body language, which leads to anxiety, and ends up reading (along with the social awkwardness) as trust issues towards her loved ones. (general trust issues mentioned but not really shown.) trouble with social cuing and social expectations.

Duke - trauma over his parents' attack. insecurity/anxiety over his place as a superhero/his powers.

Damian - child abuse trauma. social anxiety and difficulty forming friendships. possibly hallucinations, because he has very in depth conversations with people that aren't there, more than just talking to himself and imagining, narratively speaking. possible sociopath: has no problem testing his hypotheses on strangers or torturing them, but is very emotional towards his family. is still depicted as very small despite being fifteen, which may have something to do with his spinal surgery, although that doesn't come up a lot so maybe not. issues with attachment and accepting affection.

most of people's disabilities center around trauma and alienation, but that makes sense, since this was a story created to discuss the impacts of those very things. there's also a scale of how much pain and the breakdown of the body over time figures, based on how realistic of a take on the story you have someone setting down, which differs a lot by author. the child abuse/childhood trauma angle also varies by author, depending on how dark of a tone they want to take. but there are a lot of disabilities that come up regularly in the text, just not usually physical ones. (even though there are some obvious physical symptoms some of them should have.)

#I didn't include Alice Jace Terry Maps etc. because this was already really long so I wanted to stick to central Batfam #I didn't include Helena because. her backstory is so hard to decide on in the best case. let alone her personality traits and stuff #I didn't include Luke because Luke is always presented as completely mentally and physically healthy. it's why Jace hates him #like I'm pretty sure Luke is just completely not traumatized in any way. also he canonically sleeps right. like damn #anyway feel free to add onto this with examples or other characters or discussion of what I've said #if you want to know my reasoning behind a character maybe send an ask so I can talk more about that specific one

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