#However it is both very funny and also emotionally compromising dammit

[kickingtheladder]

Edwin's voice when he says "If you need to talk about your FAther????" and Charles's "OH GOD NO" response, Of COURSE this is the episode which ends with them both going "You know can talk to me about anything", staring intently into each other's eyes, AND THEN NOT TALKING ABOUT ANYTHING, I am emotionally devastated and also wildly entertained

[brightlotusmoon]

Cerebral palsy makeup application:

Revlon Teal eyeliner, NYX Sliver eyeliner smudged, It Cosmetics Confidence Compact Cream Foundation over Too Faced Born This Way Liquid Concealer, It Cosmetics Superhero Mascara, Too Faced Long Wear Liquid Lipstick in Bend Snap over It Cosmetics Buff Nude Lipliner.

Spastic Hemiplegia workaround: take a muscle relaxer, if not prescription then OTC or online bought like Magnesium with MSM, Passionflower, Kava, Kratom, Mucuna. After it kicks it, use fingers to apply moisturizer, let it absorb for a minute. Use fingers to apply foundation and/or concealer, blend with makeup brush or sponge. Keep elbow straight. Very slowly apply eyeliner to upper lid, mistakes can always be smudged. Same with mascara, if you feel confident gently press mascara to lower lashes. Very slowly swipe lipstick and rub lips together. Keep brushes and sponges nearby. Make funny faces to make sure makeup looks okay, plus, Face Yoga tones muscles. When taking selfies, consider lighting and angles. Depending on how your cerebral palsy affects your hands, you will need to modify this also applies to arthritis and fibromyalgia and other conditions that affect muscles, joints, fine motor control, physical focus, etc. My mother graduated from FIT with degrees in fashion illustration and design, plus anatomy and makeup artistry before becoming a painter and figure drawing master instructor whose clients include celebrities. I wasn’t interested in fashion or makeup until I was in college and let Mom teach me, learning how to see the skin as a canvas. Because of my disabilities my mother helped me modify and compensate. My Facebook groups for cerebral palsy are always looking for makeup tips and no two of us are alike. Remember: modify, individualize, compensate, compromise. You’re crippled so do it you’re way and make the most of you.

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And now for Related Random Rambling!

This makes me think of my fictionial characters, both Original and in Fanfiction.

My top major fandom, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, involves humanoid turtle mutants with human minds and humanoid anatomy who grew up isolated and seperate from human society until age 15. They began as an homage to gritty Marvel superhero stories and are directly tied to the origin of Daredevil. They also seem to pay some homage to the X-Men, with themes of isolation, forced hiding, being feared and hated. They never did meet Daredevil despite being covered in the mutagen goo that caused Matt Murdock’s blindness. Splinter was based on Stick and The Foot was based on The Hand. Anyway. I am getting off track. Stop that, neurodivergent compulsive writerbrain, get back here. I promise this ties into beauty and self confidence.

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In the original Mirage comics, the Turtles identified as asexual boys, according to Eastman and Laird. But the youngest, Mikey, in every version, is so completely fascinated by human cultures that he doesn’t care what scraps of humanity he gets. GI Joe and Barbie dolls. Tiaras, body glitter, skirts, eyeshadow, whatever. And later versions changed things around and then the fandom did its own thing. However, Mikey and Donnie as the two youngers and the curious insightful minds, are always confident in their masculinity that they are confident in femininity. The fact that they grew up with no obvious gender roles should be meaningful.

Mikey loves gender play. In the 2003 series, Don and Mike did dress up as an elderly man and woman couple to trick some criminals and Mike joked happily about it.

Raphael: You can lose the dress now, Mikey. Michelangelo: Why? Does this dress make me look fat? C'mon, tell me the truth! I can handle it! Donatello: I’m just glad Mikey stopped referring to me as his husband. Mikey: …. Mikey: *shrug, smirk* Me, watching again after recently coming out as a nonbinary neurogender mid femme demigirl: LOL. I shall interpret that however I wish.

The Nick 2012 Mikey, with obvious neoteny in his round face, freckles, huge baby blue eyes, youthful immature behavior, and desire to stay cheerful, playful, wild, carefree, optimistic, and Zen despite the horrors of the world, is underestimated as too naive. But he invented his own kata for the kusarigama when it didn’t exist, he is a masterful master of the very difficult nunchaku, he is athletic and acrobatic with unnatural speed and flexibility, when he truly concentrates he is a force of nature, he can create chemistry without thinking, he is a confusingly good sociologist and psychologist, he is a powerful empath and natural raw psychic, he can assess his environment using all his senses, hinting at synesthesia. If he really wanted, he could become a master ninja. But he is sensitive and loving and compassionate until he is betrayed. His greatest fear is being betrayed, rejected, ignored, abandoned, turned away in anger, left completely alone in the stifling darkness with the monsters in his mind and in the world. His powerful deadly talents need to be backed up with feelings of love, acceptance, understanding, light, positivity. Not cultish positivity but basic positivity that allows for negativity that he can use to push himself forward to keep fighting.

When I wear my makeup, my silver or gold eyeshadow and my illuminating concealer and my shimmery red lipstick, I feel that power, that force. I feel positivity flow through me and I take my negativity and use it as a shield and sword, I use negative energy emotionally to push myself like my fictional characters. The cosmetics I wear are like war paint. Because I am a Fae warrior dammit.