lemonsnapper

[lemonsnapper]

I am so excited to share The Buddies Project (Disability Buddies and Pride Buddies) with the world!

The Buddies project consists of two individual sister projects, Disability Buddies and Lion Pride Buddies.

As you can see on the logo above, I make these cute animal character designs to represent medical conditions (Disability Buddies) or LGBT identities (Pride Buddies). Along with a desire to make education and representation more accessible to people with chronic conditions and LGBTQIA+ individuals, these characters are at the heart of the project.

The logo includes Ellie, the Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome Buddy, and Gabe, the Gay Pride Buddy. The belong images include examples of a character from each project: Freya the Functional Neurological Disorder (FND) Buddy and Toby the Transgender Buddy.

This project is still in early stages, but I’m uploading character designs to different social media platforms (check the bottom of the post) and we have a Discord server where you can help me design characters for your medical condition or identity that will be made into plushies and pin buttons, as well as provide visuals for our educational pamphlets and other material. Here is a pin button I have made already!

The Buddies Project already has partnerships with a local clinic and Pride organization, as well as a reservation for an information booth at my next local Pride Festival, but I hope to make this a global effort once I get farther along in the project and have money to make merchandise (plushies, pins, stickers, etc.) and more educational material (infographics, printed pamphlets, posters, informational booths, etc.)

⭐️ Please come along for the ride! Reblogs appreciated! ⭐️

Website

Discord Server

Disability Buddies Tumblr

Lion Pride Buddies Tumblr

[lemonsnapper]

realistically at what point do you step back and think that maybe you're the problem.

at what point do you realize that you're NOT being mature about it?

when there's dozens of people who are upset by something you've done, i think you need to start wondering whether you're in the right.

having the mindset that everybody hates you when you havent once considered the other party's feelings is the most infuriating thing on the planet

[lemonsnapper]

at work last night, a woman approached me (totally out of the blue), and asked me "are you ok in the head? cause you're moving real fucking weird." (for context, she's referring to the fact that i tend to shake and my head will bob a little, especially when ive been overexerting myself)

what convinces you to approach somebody and say that?? like hello? i wasn't doing anything, i was standing there behind my register, getting ready to leave. yeah i know im "moving real fucking weird", i can't make it stop. i wasn't even aware it was that noticeable until you said something.

take this as your friendly reminder that if you can see somebody's symptoms and you just don't understand it, maybe you should mind your business! i don't care how "weird" you think those symptoms are. you have zero idea what a stranger is going through and saying something like that is such an insanely ableist thing to do. its rude, unnecessary, and also a little frightening!

(also, im alright! i ended up laughing about it with a coworker a few minutes later, but it was still gross for it to have happened at all.)

[lemonsnapper]

to anyone who's nervous about using or getting a mobility aid:

it's okay. disabilities are so difficult to manage, and the judgement from others doesn't help that at all. it makes things so confusing, and it can feel heartbreaking when you find something that can help you but realize others may not support it.

yet at the end of the day, you know your body best. nothing anyone thinks can change the pain, instability, weakness, etc. you're experiencing. your struggles are real. i believe you, and so do many people just like you, even strangers. we want you to do what's best for you.

i was really scared to start using a cane and a rollator at first, and some days the insecurity and fear gets to me. but for the most part, nowadays, i don't even bat my eyes when i go to grab either one.

past me was so afraid, and had to have a lot of courage to do this. but i'm so grateful past me did that. mentally, it feels more uncomfortable to go without my aids now. i still haven't jumped the hurdle on the wheelchair yet, but, that's ok. i'll get there.

all to say... today, you may be afraid. but tomorrow, maybe you can have courage - action, in spite of fear. and in some length of time, maybe you'll look back and be glad you made the choice you did.

because the choice is yours.

[lemonsnapper]

Wheelchair user ! Tighnari Au

⚠️ Spoilers for the Sumeru archon quests. TW for canon major character injury, spinal cord injury ⚠️

It’s so unlikely that Tighnari would have walked away from and fully recovered from a lightning strike as depicted in the archon quest. So for the purposes of this Au, vision holder plot armor has been removed.

• Immediately following the strike, he’s blinded, deafened, and loses consciousness. It isn’t until he comes to that he realizes he was thrown several meters away by a shockwave.

• Everything hurts, but particularly his head, his right ear, and his back. He stays on the ground regaining his bearings until Dehya helps him to his feet. It’s then that he realizes he can’t feel his legs.

• Dehya mentioned that she has seen lightning strike victims, and so has Tighnari. They both know that his immediate symptoms are temporary, and that he just needs to rest for a few hours. This is why he insists he is fine, even as his legs get so weak that he needs to sit as they talk.

• Except even after those hours of rest and most of the symptoms are gone, his head, ear, and back still hurt, and he still wobbles like a newborn deer when he stands. It only takes him a moment of trying to walk it off to realize that his tail is limp.

• That is when he realizes that something is very, very wrong and that he needs to see the bimarstan. Tighnari makes the decision to leave Hypasia where she is, knowing his back might be broken, and that trying to lift her might hurt both of them. He takes Karkata with him too, in case he can’t continue. He’ll send someone to check on her as soon as he gets to the city.

• He makes it to the bimarstan in the middle of the night, collapsed over Karkata and exhausted. Someone is sent for Hypasia and he is rushed to a bed for treatment.

• The next few hours are hazy and he falls asleep at some point. When he wakes up again, several days have passed. His burns and head are wrapped in bandages. A hand flies to his tail to make sure that it is, in fact, still there.

• A doctor tells him that he has a concussion, a blown earn drum, and nerve damage. They couldn’t determine the extent of it with him asleep and with the concussion, so they have to wait until that heals to know the true extent of the damage.

• It’s nearly a month before his concussion is gone. In that time, Cyno, Collei, and traveler have come to visit him. He hasn’t been able to stand at all, otherwise he would have returned home to heal.

• The neurological eval determines that he has no reflexes or sensation at and below his pelvis. Without imaging, they can’t tell what exactly caused the complete spinal cord injury between the lightning strike and his arrival at the bimarstan. Tighnari doesn’t remember what happened either. Either way, the damage is already done.

• Understandably, he is devastated by the news. He already knew that was the case, but it never sunk in until it was confirmed by a doctor. At the same time, he insists that he won’t let it limit him from his research or working with the forest rangers. He can’t.

• The next day, an evaluator comes to fit him for a wheelchair. Tighnari stubbornly advocates for it to be made for an active life in the rain forest, despite the evaluator insisting that he wouldn’t be able to return to his job. In the end, he gets the modifications he asked for, and it will be ready for him to use in a week.

• One of the biggest fights he has with the medical staff is to keep his tail. They all want to amputate it, since it’s ‘useless’ now and a huge risk for injury, but he fights hard. He will not let them take it.

• While he waits for the wheelchair, the doctors teach him how to care for himself long-term: how to get dressed, how to clean himself, how to self-cath and do a bowel program. And, at his request, they also come up with methods for him to do the above without injuring his tail.

• As soon as the wheelchair is ready, he starts learning how to transfer, push himself, do wheelies, all the important tasks for self independence. He isn’t allowed to go home until he can prove he can get around on his own, so he practices and practices all day long.

• He gets discharged several days later and finally, finally gets to go home. Cyno is there to escort him, which is great even though he wants to push himself the whole way. It takes time to build up strength for that, and he was confined to a bed for the greater part of two months.

• While he was gone, Gandharva ville was made as wheelchair accessible as possible. All the ramps and roads have been leveled and cleared of obstacles. Initially, they’re too tiring for him to push up, but with practice he can eventually get up them just fine.

• Some things need to be lowered in his home, but once that is done, his life returns to normal. Collei did a great job of keeping things in order while he was gone, and despite the other rangers’ initial worry, he is still a strong, capable leader and completely independent.

• If he can help it, though, he never wants to go to Sumeru city again. That place is completely inaccessible.

[lemonsnapper]

my shower stool got delivered yesterday yippee

now im just waiting on the forearm crutches, which should be delivered tomorrow :)

[lemonsnapper]

always being cold has made it very easy for people to give me gifts

blankets... hoodies... fuzzy socks... yes, yes that'll do

[lemonsnapper]

the amount of money ive spent on disability aids in my lifetime is crazy because why did two items cost me 100 dollars...

[lemonsnapper]

bitches are jealous of the geriatric body and swag that i have as young adult.

[lemonsnapper]

got a kneebrace yippee

[lemonsnapper]

if you see this, one day you will get answers I promise

[lemonsnapper]

sometimes im like "i wish my hip would just pop already" and sometimes im like "if my hip pops i will not make it to the end of my shift. lol"

and both times it will pop anyway

[lemonsnapper]

new pains :(

[lemonsnapper]

Have you tried yoga? Have you tried aleve? Have you tried physical therapy? Have you tried a chiropractor? Have you tried a new mattress? Have you tired drinking water? Have you tried taking things out of your bookbag? Have you tried losing weight? Have you tried stretching? Have you tried-SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT THE FUCK UPPPP

[lemonsnapper]

notes for my impostor syndrome:

• no, it's not painful to walk for abled-bodied people

• no, healthy people don't usually use every chance they get to lean against walls or sit down

• no, ableds don't dream about shower stool

• no, ableds don't celebrate days when they're not in pain. because usually they're not in pain

• no, ableds don't want to stop walking mid-way, lay down on the ground, curl up and cry and whine from pain

• no, ableds aren't exhausted by their own bodies 24/7

[lemonsnapper]

Wheelchair user ! Tighnari Au

⚠️ Spoilers for the Sumeru archon quests. TW for canon major character injury, spinal cord injury ⚠️

It’s so unlikely that Tighnari would have walked away from and fully recovered from a lightning strike as depicted in the archon quest. So for the purposes of this Au, vision holder plot armor has been removed.

• Immediately following the strike, he’s blinded, deafened, and loses consciousness. It isn’t until he comes to that he realizes he was thrown several meters away by a shockwave.

• Everything hurts, but particularly his head, his right ear, and his back. He stays on the ground regaining his bearings until Dehya helps him to his feet. It’s then that he realizes he can’t feel his legs.

• Dehya mentioned that she has seen lightning strike victims, and so has Tighnari. They both know that his immediate symptoms are temporary, and that he just needs to rest for a few hours. This is why he insists he is fine, even as his legs get so weak that he needs to sit as they talk.

• Except even after those hours of rest and most of the symptoms are gone, his head, ear, and back still hurt, and he still wobbles like a newborn deer when he stands. It only takes him a moment of trying to walk it off to realize that his tail is limp.

• That is when he realizes that something is very, very wrong and that he needs to see the bimarstan. Tighnari makes the decision to leave Hypasia where she is, knowing his back might be broken, and that trying to lift her might hurt both of them. He takes Karkata with him too, in case he can’t continue. He’ll send someone to check on her as soon as he gets to the city.

• He makes it to the bimarstan in the middle of the night, collapsed over Karkata and exhausted. Someone is sent for Hypasia and he is rushed to a bed for treatment.

• The next few hours are hazy and he falls asleep at some point. When he wakes up again, several days have passed. His burns and head are wrapped in bandages. A hand flies to his tail to make sure that it is, in fact, still there.

• A doctor tells him that he has a concussion, a blown earn drum, and nerve damage. They couldn’t determine the extent of it with him asleep and with the concussion, so they have to wait until that heals to know the true extent of the damage.

• It’s nearly a month before his concussion is gone. In that time, Cyno, Collei, and traveler have come to visit him. He hasn’t been able to stand at all, otherwise he would have returned home to heal.

• The neurological eval determines that he has no reflexes or sensation at and below his pelvis. Without imaging, they can’t tell what exactly caused the complete spinal cord injury between the lightning strike and his arrival at the bimarstan. Tighnari doesn’t remember what happened either. Either way, the damage is already done.

• Understandably, he is devastated by the news. He already knew that was the case, but it never sunk in until it was confirmed by a doctor. At the same time, he insists that he won’t let it limit him from his research or working with the forest rangers. He can’t.

• The next day, an evaluator comes to fit him for a wheelchair. Tighnari stubbornly advocates for it to be made for an active life in the rain forest, despite the evaluator insisting that he wouldn’t be able to return to his job. In the end, he gets the modifications he asked for, and it will be ready for him to use in a week.

• One of the biggest fights he has with the medical staff is to keep his tail. They all want to amputate it, since it’s ‘useless’ now and a huge risk for injury, but he fights hard. He will not let them take it.

• While he waits for the wheelchair, the doctors teach him how to care for himself long-term: how to get dressed, how to clean himself, how to self-cath and do a bowel program. And, at his request, they also come up with methods for him to do the above without injuring his tail.

• As soon as the wheelchair is ready, he starts learning how to transfer, push himself, do wheelies, all the important tasks for self independence. He isn’t allowed to go home until he can prove he can get around on his own, so he practices and practices all day long.

• He gets discharged several days later and finally, finally gets to go home. Cyno is there to escort him, which is great even though he wants to push himself the whole way. It takes time to build up strength for that, and he was confined to a bed for the greater part of two months.

• While he was gone, Gandharva ville was made as wheelchair accessible as possible. All the ramps and roads have been leveled and cleared of obstacles. Initially, they’re too tiring for him to push up, but with practice he can eventually get up them just fine.

• Some things need to be lowered in his home, but once that is done, his life returns to normal. Collei did a great job of keeping things in order while he was gone, and despite the other rangers’ initial worry, he is still a strong, capable leader and completely independent.

• If he can help it, though, he never wants to go to Sumeru city again. That place is completely inaccessible.

[lemonsnapper]

as a kid i thought timmy turner and jimmy neutron were just parallel universe versions of each other. i always thought they were like. the same person

and then they had a crossover movie