Awake at midnight thinking about disabled superheroes

[sqbr]

While avoiding the usual negation/"irony" (blind but psychic, intellectually disabled with super strength, paraplegic with telekinesis etc) Here's what I've come up with:

• CFS plus phasing through solid objects
  
• Paraplegia plus super strength
  
• Autism plus size changing
  
• Blindness plus flight
  
• Amputated arm plus precognition
  
• Downs syndrome plus super speed
  
• Anxiety plus laser eyes
  
• Epilepsy plus the ability to control plants
  
• Deaf with healing (they like being Deaf thank you very much ;))
  

What with it being midnight I probably haven't been as clever as I'd like and regardless a bad writer could still make them fit into the usual awful tropes. Still, it's fun to think about each superhero's adventures.

(if you want to poke at the concept yourself here's a list of disabilities and a list of superpowers)

Comments

[pebblerocker]

I like this concept! They do spark ideas for adventures.

However it seems harder than it looks to pick a non-awful combination. Let's see, shapeshifting is a cool superpower, how about pairing it with... urgh. Plenty of unfortunate implications available!

[sqbr]

I know right? It was an interesting mental puzzle while I tried to sleep. Healing was an especially tricky one.

[chordatesrock]

Surely shapeshifting could be paired with something, I thought upon reading that comment. But.

IDD: unfortunate implications!
Autism: even more unfortunate implications!
Selective mutism: nope!
PCOS: better not pair it with lycanthropy. Just to be safe.

You could pair it with depression, though, or any kind of fatigue issue. Or MS of several possible presentations.

I mean, part of it would become less of an issue if you hit a lot of similar but not identical things. So the CND character can turn into a rabbit and the IDD TAB character can turn into a ferret and the autistic character with MCS can turn into a lemming and the deafblind TAB character can turn into a wolf and it no longer looks like the IDD character is ~*~closer to nature~*~ and ~*~pure~*~, or like the autistic character is inhuman (any more than the others, anyway).

You know what that means, right? MORE DISABLED SUPERHEROES! XD

[sqbr]

Hee, yes. And you're right, the more the better :)

[stephbg]

Right now I'm CFS with superstrength - all this lovely new muscle tone from hydro but I'm so hit with the fatigue stick I've no way to use it :-(

[sqbr]

Yeah it took me a while to think of a superpower that wouldn't reverse the symptoms of cfs or buy into cliche like precognition etc but also wouldn't be massively depressing. But I can see phasing through things being useful :)

[stephbg]

The ability to pass through solid matter would certainly reduce bruising from staggering into walls and furniture. And it would reduce spoon expenditure by allowing you to take the most direct route.

[sqbr]

I quite like the idea of simply driving THROUGH any stairs without ramps :)

here via Ysabetwordsmith

[murphysscribe]

Interesting ideas that nicely sidestep what you call "the usual negation/"irony"" and I usually think of scornfully as Magic Disabilities.

On the Anxiety/Laser Eyes- that sets up a potentially intriguing learning curve for control and use. How does the laser ability change or manifest during heightened anxiety states or panic attacks? How does control change during anxious states of the nervous system?

The superpower I've always really wanted is the ability to open up a pocket in spacetime to store items for easy anytime access. (Think of all the books I could put there!)

Re: here via Ysabetwordsmith

[sqbr]

Yes, if you have to concetrate to make the eyes work that could be difficult!

Pocket spaces sound very useful, especially if they'd travel with me. Though it would mean I'd never be forced to sort out all my junk due to lack of space, which might be bad :)

[whatistigerbalm]

As an anxiety sufferer, I think having a superpower of any kind would only make me a bigger disaster. But this is fantastic to think about!

[sqbr]

This made me think about superpowers that would help with my anxiety, I think stopping time could be good for when everything's moving too fast. Or invulnerability!