#I know this is just purely dependant on how disabled you are but like. making polls is fun

[reclaiming-antiradinclus-memes]

I'm not sure this is the right place to ask, but i get met with pure hostility in other transid blogs asking stuff like this, and this one seems friendly, so here I go.

I've heard plenty of bad stuff about transids, especially transrace and transabled, saying they're harmful and cause stigma, and also arguments about how ysing the trans label is harmful. I can kind of see both sides of the argument, so, are most transids not....well....insensitive, in a sense? Because alot seem to be. /nbr /genq

I’m first going to address the accusations that transids are harmful because they use the trans-prefix, and that’s the fact that transgender people don’t own the trans- prefix. It just means to move across, to move beyond, or to change. And that is what transids are doing. If bigots use them to make transgender people look bad, that’s not our fault and we shouldn’t stop being ourselves. There are alternatives terms for people who, for one reason or another, don’t associate with the trans prefix. Altage is a common alternative for transage for those who don’t identify with “transitioning” ages, and diaracial is frequently used as an alternative to transrace as not to take language from adoptees. But most of us prefer the trans- prefix. And us using it doesn’t take away from transgender people.

As for transids being insensitive, it really depends what you consider insensitive. There are some people who believe that someone identifying as transfeminine is deeply insensitive to “real” women and their struggles with misogyny. But that doesn’t make a transgender identity insensitive. I’m not trace/diaracial, and I am white, so I don’t know if I’m the best person to discuss trace/diaracial and insensitivity, but I recently answered a different ask with some trace/diaracial resources.

As for transabled, BIID is a real disorder that causes a desire to be physically disabled, usually either by losing a limb or having said limb paralyzed. These desires are no more insensitive to those who have come by the conditions they desire naturally than transmasculine individuals’ desires to remove their breasts are insensitive to cisgender women who have had breast cancer. As for neurodivergent transabled identities, I can only speak for myself as a cisautistic person. I think it is far more insensitive to imply that autism is only ever suffering, that it can never be desirable, and that people should never try to emulate it.

I will confess to there being some transabled identities that do personally strike me as insensitive and that I feel uncomfortable around. One of those is transdepression. I have been struggling with suicidiality on and off for almost two and a half years now and it’s gotten to the point where I wonder if I will ever get better. Seeing others aspire to clinical depression makes me wonder if they truly understand how terrible this can feel sometimes. My feelings don’t make me a bad person, just like your feelings of discomfort don’t make you one. The important thing is to stay open minded. I always try to seek out perspectives from those I don’t understand, and I encourage you to do the same. If other people react with hostility, then you should block them. Ask respectful questions and hopefully you will get respectful answers.

If anyone else would like to add on anything, feel free.

[sunnibits]

just out of curiosity bc some people I know with glasses can just go a few hours or a day without them and be chill but I need them on all the time or I’ll go crazy

[i-cant-sing]

Yandere Dabi accidentally made reader blind

*sighs* it's time for another fic idea:

Imagine Dabi terrorising the city and doing evil shenanigans, the usual stuff, and while he's welding his fire quirk, you- an innocent civilian gets hurt in the process. Now look, a lot of other civilians got hurt too, but what made you stand out was the fact that you locked eyes with him, saw his face right before your retinas were burned by the blast of fire aimed at a hero past you.

You were taken to the hospital, where you got the news that you'd be blind for the rest of your life now and Dabi had begun stalking you from the moment you woke up from surgery, only because he thought you'd spill his identity to the police or whatever. But you didn't, probably because you forgot his face, but "probably" isn't good enough for him. He needs to be sure you won't rat him out to the authorities, so he continues to stalk you and eventually develops yandere tendencies for you.

Of course, as he falls in love, he also begins to feel guilty as he sees you struggling with your daily chores because of your new disability. I mean, you worked at a school, volunteered at orphanages and nursing homes, fed strays, the perfect daughter, friend, employee.

You are the nicest human ever and Dabi made you blind😭

He sees that you can't continue working at the school, and he sees its harder to volunteer when you haven't learned how to deal with life without the ability to see. And his chest hurts when he sees you break down at nights, in your apartment alone because you don't know how you'll be able to take care of your aging parents as their only child, when you can't even walk in traffic without help.

That's when Dabi decides to step in. Sure, you may have seen his face, but you haven't heard his voice, right?

He makes the first meeting seem like a chance encounter, bumping into you and catching you before you fell. Faking concern when you apologise for being blind, he takes you to a nearby cafe and offers to buy you a coffee for the one he made you spill.

And eventually, he asks you out and now you're two dating. You think he's the sweetest guy, always helping you but never patronising. And sure, deep down Dabi's heart jumps whenever he catches you in a danger, but he knows he shouldn't be coddling you. How else will you navigate?

Then again, the deeper Dabi falls in love with you and the more yandere he becomes, the more he wants you to become dependent on him for everything. But he has to be smart; he doesn't want to drive you away just because he wants to wrap you up in bubble wrap.

He helps you use you walking stick, gets you Braille, and with your permission, he babyproofs the house a bit (mainly because he saw the bruises on your leg from the sharp corners you bumped into).

And since you two are not living together just yet, he worries what would happen to you if he's not there. So he stays a while longer, hiding in the background just until you fall asleep, making sure you have your mobile (with his number on speed dial) near you.

But Dabi can't always be there to watch you. He's still pursuing his successful career as a villain, so without your knowledge, he installs cameras in your house, purely out of concern and not because he's a creep. Yes, even the ones in your bathroom are just in case you slipped and hit your head.

After some time, you two do end up moving in together. He of course modifies his house so that its more safe for you, like rounding off sharp edges, installing devices that let you know when youre near stairs, etc. And Dabi just absolutely adores spending time with you. Be it cooking, he's right there with you as you tell him all the steps to your favourite recipes and taste test food (he blows on your hot food), dance slowly in the kitchen while the pizza bakes in the oven, straddle you and tickle you until youre near tears, or cuddling on the couch as you enjoy each others silence. You're so nice, so kind to him. He won't ever say it outloud but you being blind is a huge positive for him because he doesn't get insecure with the way he looks. Plus, he can smile as much as he wants without feeling like its tarnishing his "villain image" (he has absolutely melted when you said you adored the way he laughed. Stfu bitch, hes never laughing again😭💖🫶) And you're great at matching his vibe too. He can see the way he's rubbed off on you, how you joke about your disability, the two of you surprising people with your dark sense of humor.

He can be intimate with you, because you feel perfect against his charred skin. When you touched his staples and his burned skin, his breath hitching when you pulled your hand away, your brows frowning. Did you find him ugly now that you knew he didnt have smooth, pristine skin?

When you didn't say anything for a few seconds, he asked if you'd like to know what happened to him.

You shrugged. "Only if you want to tell me. I just want to know if it hurts when I touch your skin." Hes so glad you can't see because my man had tears falling down his face. Why are you so concerned for his well being??? Why are you so sweet? Why Why Why Why-

Not to mention the way your parents absolutely ADORE him???? Like, the first time he met them, they immediately welcomed him into their homes and into their hearts. Dabi is like so overwhelmed because he's never felt so accepted and loved. Your parents never once looked at him differently because of his scars, and Dabi knows he looks like a criminal for sure, but your parents???? They don't care. Hell, they've already begun telling him all your embarrassing childhood stories and are inviting him to family gatherings and have already decided what clothes he's gonna wear for the family Christmas picture. And Dabi has realised that both you and your parents are way too naive and trusting and so so so so precious, he's adopting all of yall😭😭😭 (like fr, your parents just saved themselves from being killed and/or thrown into a nursing home).

Anyways, years pass by, Dabi had left the crime life the day you got hurt in his house and he wasnt around to help you. Now he works from his home office and you work at the school for visually impaired. Your relationship has reached it peak and Dabi pops the marriage question and you say yes. But before you guys can get married, someone (maybe an ex, or a cousin or friend) reveals to you who he really is and how he's the reason you're blind, and Dabi is eavesdropping because he needs the prefect opportunity to both kill the guy who spilled his secret and catch you before you run off.

"I know."

"You know?"

"I know. Always have. And I'd appreciate it if you don't bring it up ever again. Also, you're not invited to the wedding." You said before having the guy leave the room.

"You can come out now, Dabi." You called him inside.

"How did you know I was here?" He asked standing in front of you.

"I'm smart like that." You chuckled.

"Y/n- you knew?" He asked quietly, wanting to confirm what he'd just heard. You nodded. "How? Why didn't you say anything?"

You sighed. "You're not the only one keeping secrets, Dabi." You sat down, patting the seat next to you for him. "I have a quirk like you do. I have a heightened sense of smell. So, I pretty much recognised you from the moment you bumped into me."

"Huh? How could you recognise me? We never met before that." You shook your head. "We didn't meet before, but I noticed you the day of my accident." Dabi's mind couldn't stop at how you chose to refer his attack as an "accident", which is exactly what it was. You were never his target. Honestly, you're the best human being, an actual angel-

"I only noticed you because you smelled like charred barbecue."

.

.

.

"WHAT?!"

"Hey, no yelling!" You scolded. "That day, I was walking home when I was suddenly hit with this intense smell of grilled barbecue and I was superrrr hungry that day, so I was like I gotta get me some of that and then I looked up and I saw you."

Dabi listened to your explanation, and he honestly wouldn't have believed you if he hadn't spent so much time with you to know how your brain works. "If you knew who I was, then you knew you lost your eyes because of me. So, why did you..." He couldn't complete his question, afraid of you admitting to leading him on just so that you could take revenge and hurt him by pretending to be in love.

You cupped cheek. "It wasn't your fault. You weren't aiming for me. Besides, you and I both know that I would've been dead that same day if you wanted me to."

"Still... I am a bad person-"

"No, Dabi. You're not." You cut him off, not wanting him to taint himsslf with such foul thoughts. "No one is born good or bad. People just do good things or bad things, as circumstances force them to. The world isn't so black and white, Dabi. Everyone's got a grey area."

A tear fell down his cheek, and Dabi pulled you in for a deep kiss. "God- You're just- perfect." He whispered against your lips. You smiled and pecked him once more before settling on the couch, your head on chest.

"So... I smell like charred barbecue?" Dabi asked, playing with your hair. You hummed. "And it doesn't bother you?"

"Nope!"

"Why not?"

"I love charred barbecue. They're the best pieces!"

Ah, if you keep saying things like that, Dabi will need to buy you bigger diamonds.

Fuck it, he thought pulling out his phone.

He's already ordering one online.

Now imagine someone hurts Dabi's baby, and she dies. That'd suck, huh?

[cripplecharacters]

hi! i have a side character with down syndrome. it's not the main point [she's a caregiver and help MC in her first days] but i still want to respect ppl with DS and my SC. what should i avoid, and how to characterise properly? [it's in an ancient world, and no dx. she was sbondand as a baby bc of her disability, but grew in a good place and have a good life]. thank you!

Hi!

In this post you can find some links on what people with DS enjoy seeing when it comes to representation and some basic information stuff! You can also take a look at this post for advice on intellectually disabled characters in general, a lot of the points I'll mention below will be very similar to these. There's also this, which might be potentially helpful to you when it comes to characterization!

The main thing to avoid is the infantilization - which you already seem to be avoiding, considering the SC is a caregiver, which is probably the exact opposite of infantilization. I will also say that I have never seen an intellectually disabled character in that role, it's nice to see something new!

I would stray away from any angel/can do no wrong/"pure soul" association. Obviously it doesn't mean she has to be mean and rude, but people with DS can be frustrated, can fuck stuff up, can dislike people just as everyone else. They can drink, smoke, have sex, do drugs, whatever. They're not little kids.

Make sure that the character has a hobby, friends, etc.! A lot of intellectually disabled characters tend to be written as extremely flat; there's often just nothing there. It depends on your setting of course, but show her participating in various activities - does she like foraging for mushrooms? Is she really bad at sculpting but trying to get better at it? Does she drag her friends to go birdwatching when the season starts? Does she despise cooking? Try to make her into a three-dimensional character with her own likes and dislikes (which might seem obvious, but it's missing in so many characters with ID/DS! it's weird).

I will also add that if it works for your story, I would love to see a character with DS who has a romantic interest, or is at least considered in that way. The public perception is that people with Down syndrome don't ever get in romantic relationships, which isn't true! So showing her having a partner, or wanting one, or having one in the past would be very nice to see. Also, ID people can be in interabled relationships! So while her partner could also have DS (or another condition that causes ID, I know quite a lot of people with DS who have an autistic partner), they could also have a different disability, or be abled.

Thank you for your question! I hope this helps :-)

mod Sasza

[theresstillgrowinghere]

Oh I am fucking angry.

Dr. Edwin Leap (yes, I will call you out by name because you published your bullshit online for the whole world to see), thank you for almost comedically illustrating why so many patients are afraid of doctors.

You do not ever get to think of your patients as other. They are your same flesh and blood; I don’t care how much you want to think of yourself as separate from those of us unwell. (I can tell how much disdain you hold for us just from this short article. We are failures, not good enough, not strong and morally pure like you are, hm?)

Healthcare can never, never, allow itself to other its patients. And yet, you publish an entire article calling sick people Homo infirmus and Homo fragilis? Your tone doesn’t come across very humorous, but even if it’s just supposed to be a silly little joke, explain to me why the fuck you think that would be okay.

Why the fuck would it be okay to say another person is not only not your same species but instead defined as other primarily by their illness?

And designated as such by you, a medical professional with direct influence on the lives and wellbeings of the very people you are dehumanizing?

Do you not see how terrifying that is? Do you not see why people would be afraid of you after just having read this piece?

And then you go on, boiling my blood:

“Homo fragilis, at least as a diagnostic category, begins earlier and earlier in life and often results not only in a tribe of people dependent on medications but also, ‘relying on the kindness of strangers.’ No, maybe better put, ‘demanding the kindness of strangers.’ These individuals require food, shelter, medication, affirmation, and often money from others because they cannot function in the wild. I’m not being mean; the causes are legion, from poor family structure to mental health challenges to social media.”

I cannot believe how many infuriating things you’ve said just in this paragraph alone, but I want to focus on the part that immediately washed me with deep shame. Unrightfully so. You have no right to make me feel ashamed, and yet, when you said “demanding” better captures my state of existence, it turned my stomach inside out.

Yes, I am disabled. I absolutely rely very heavily on other people. Yes, I require food, shelter, medication, affirmation, money. And so do you, christ. You aren’t better than us just because we need support from our communities. Getting support from those around us isn’t a crime, isn’t a wrongdoing, isn’t a moral failure.

You know what it is? Human.

Whether or not Margaret Mead actually said that a healed femur in recovered ancient remains was the earliest sign of civilization (we’re going to save the charged nature of this term for another time and for now just use it as a placeholder for consistent, steady, lasting community), there is a reason why people latch onto this story. There is a reason why it warms people’s hearts:

So many of us want to care* for people. So many of us want to have people care for us. So many people feel closer to others, to ourselves, to our own humanity when offering others care.

(*I am including all the vastly different ways we can show others care, love, support, respect, protection, encouragement, etc.)

And perhaps the most upsetting part is how close you are to understanding the problem while getting the most key pieces so, so wrong. You’re right, our current healthcare system cannot handle the amount of support patients need right now. But please, I beg you, could you consider for just one second that it is not the fault of the patients? Could you please not strip me of my humanity just because I need help to survive?

Fix the system. You’re right, there is a massive problem. But it’s not us. Next time you’re considering your “long-dormant zoology degree,” think twice and reflect a bit before publishing bullshit like this. Think about what it means to take care of those around you. Think about your own humanity.

[blakeswritingimagines]

Daemon with a blind S/o

The thought of having a spouse with such an affliction would be a source of great sorrow to him as he values beauty above all else in a partner. He has learned that even this is not as important as the pure Valyrian blood which flows through the veins of one whom he would consider his other half. However he would be filled with a certain measure of melancholy knowing that when he looked upon his beloved, you would not be able to fully behold his own striking visage.

He is kind and patient with you even if you have a disability. He would be supportive and find ways to help you get through the challenges you face. He would also be there for you if you needed emotional support.

Like many a man in this situation he would like to be honest and say that if you were to go blind not just born that way then he would still love you and stick with you to the end... But he would still get a side chick.

He would be protective and very patient. It would not matter what you look like, or what disabilities you have. All that would matter is that you are a kind and loyal individual. He would do his best to make sure you never felt isolated or alone.

If he cares deeply enough about you he would take on the responsibility to be your eyes when you need him and assist you with all your daily tasks. He would be able to help you achieve independence while being by your side at every step.

He would want you to be strong and independent. Despite not being able to see you could still lead an amazing life. He would want you to be confident and not let your disability hold you back. Also he would want you to be understanding and be able to see him for who he is, not just a prince, but a person with his own flaws and insecurities just like everyone does.

A blind lover could be difficult for him to adjust too. On the one hand he would be very impressed that you could love him despite not being able to see him for what he is. However, it would mean that you couldn't experience him in a physical sense. Not truly experience, anyway. You couldn't see his hair fall over his face, his expression when you kiss, the color of his eyes or even see him naked. It would make him feel like something has been lost between you both. He would have to try harder to express his love and affection in other ways.

Well a lover being blind would be quite a challenge. The only upside to that is you would be much less likely to be jealous, since you will never be able to see how much more beautiful you are than anyone else. Otherwise it would be very difficult, but he would do his best to accommodate you and see to your needs and desires.

I would say that yes he absolutely would, he would do his best to use your blindness to his advantage at every opportunity. He would play little tricks on you and try to trick you into believing things that aren't true or are in fact the complete opposite of the truth. Why? Because to him in life one must play every advantage they can, and he would have a massive advantage over you being blind.

He would also try and use your blindness to make you dependent on him, in that you can't really do much of anything without him and you would have to rely on him for things. And that's just for starters, he could think of a lot more things to do.

A couple of other things that I could imagine him trying, maybe not right away, but if he had been with you for a while. Maybe he would give you a blindfold one day and tell you that he was planning a great surprise, and that he wanted you to wear the blindfold until he told you to remove it. But in reality you would have been wearing the blindfold for the whole day and he hadn't planned anything at all except for the blindfold.

He can think of many more ways to use your blindness to his advantage, for example he would give you objects and tell you that it's something completely different than what it is. He would try to manipulate your emotions and get you into a vulnerable state where you're more easily influenced by him. He would try to find your "blindspots" in your personality and weaknesses so that he could take advantage of you at a moments notice. The possibilities are endless really.

He would protect you from everything. Youd'd be a team, and together nothing could break you and with no secrets in the way of your hearts. His eyes would allow him to see for you, in the same way your other senses would allow you to understand the world for him. Nothing would be impossible and he would show you the beauty of this world, if it was the last thing he did for you.

He would have a great deal of patience and time for you. He would never judge you for being blind and he would care for you as he would any other lover. He would learn to live with your blindness and do all that is in his power to make it not a burden for you.

He would be patient with you when you struggled with simple tasks, he would ensure that your home and environment are tailored to your disability and he would do whatever he is financially or practically able to help you with your impairment.

He would try to find hobbies and activities that both of you could enjoy. He would be understanding of your struggles and do all that he could to ease the burden of life being blind.

It is not uncommon for those lacking vision to travel with guardians such as himself. The blind may lack the ability to see, but can offer great insight and guidance to those that do see. He often sees the world in new ways through your perspective.

He would be patient and understanding of any changes in your emotions, needs, and behavior. If you wanted to maintain your independence, he would do everything he could to facilitate that. He would want you to know that you are beautiful and that he cares for your well-being more than anything. If you felt insecure or anxious about your blindness, he would do his best to reassure you of your worth and strength.

He would also be mindful of how you communicate and he would do his best to provide you with the things that you can make the most use of given your disability. He might prefer you to feel comfortable talking with him and asking him questions about the world, or telling him how you see things, perhaps even through your sense of touch.

He'd certainly prefer that your relationship be mutually respectful. Being in a relationship with someone who has a disability can be hard, so he'd like to believe you would support and understand each other and strive to avoid any resentment or frustration. He would also be open to learning about your experiences, asking questions and perhaps even doing some research on his own to better understand how you see the world.

As your lover, he would do his best to be your eyes in the world. If you wanted to know about a particular object or the way someone was behaving, he would be happy to be your guide as you explored and learned more about the world around you. He would also be mindful of your limitations and never force you to do anything that you were uncomfortable with. If you needed a break or to rest your eyes for a while, he would never force you to keep going.

He would want you to feel welcome and comfortable. He would also try to learn any skills that would make it easier for you to live independently, like cooking or household duties. Of course, it's important that you're comfortable telling him when you need help

He might prefer to focus on your other senses, particularly your sense of touch, since you rely on it to experience the world in a more intimate way. He might prefer to give your gifts and gestures that are more tangible and physical rather than visual. He likes the idea of being your eyes to see a world you cannot see for yourself. He would prefer to help you to do as much as you can to experience life and enjoy it.

[your-tutor-abacus]

The Color of the Sunspot's Milk

We don't drink milk on the Sunspot.

It's not really a thing for us.

We did not evolve from mammals, so we do not produce milk ourselves, typically. Actually, our life can't really be divided up into the same categories as Terran life, anyway, and the Evolutionary Engines that are used to create people now produce such a diversity of biological development that we can't use sweeping statements like that meaningfully. But, we strongly suspect based on evidence at hand that the Ktletaccete did not originally have anything like mammary glands.

And, on the Sunspot specifically, we do not consume anything produced by animals. It just never even occurred to the Founding Crew to set up the ship and our culture that way. The ecological balance of the Garden requires that we let the fauna live as naturally as possible without interference from people. So, we do not milk animals.

But it turns out that we drink something that is kinda of vaguely like milk. It often serves a similar culinary utility, particularly in baking.

We know this because we have been talking to our Earth custodians of the Terran Tunnel Apparatus, and they have tried a product they call Ryze that is an approximation of what we use on the Sunspot, and we've been trading notes.

So, in the search for accommodation, the ancestors of the Sunspot Ktletaccete developed a mixture of pureed fungus and algae that could provide a very young child or a disabled or elderly person with nutrients that might not otherwise be readily available to them. And we have been calling this something that our translators have decided to call "formula". We understand that this echoes the term many of you use for a fortified milk that you feed your infants, and that's acceptable.

But our formula comes in many varieties, customized for each person's needs and even each use they might have for it.

Fungal and algae farming has always been abundant and easy for us, so it is the least expensive food to create. It may not have been central to the diet of ancient Ktletaccete, but it has become pivotal to survival in space aboard our Exodus Ships. And now we use it in nearly everything.

We also eat a variety of nuts, fruits, grains, tubers, leaves, stalks, and other vegetable matter (or their Sunspot equivalents to what these words mean to you). And some of those things provide proteins and lipids that compliment what is provided by our various formulas, so depending on how we combine it we can create foods that sometimes resemble your breads, quiches, meat loafs, stews, etc.

But, also, Artisan crafted beverages is a huge thing here, which I understand some of your cultures might relate to. And our formula is central to that.

So, what are the main differences between our formula and milk? And what are the differences between our formula and something like Ryze?

Well, obvious, our formula is made entirely differently from milk, and does not share it's color. It's not white or even white-ish, typically.

Though some varieties of it can come close to white so that Artisans can add vibrant colors to it more easily without it turning brown, but the processing tends to remove a lot of nutrients from it, so it's not terribly popular outside of that visual utility.

It's also usually somewhat low on lipids, though those are definitely added for many baking purposes.

It's more of a suspension than an emulsion most of the time, as a result. But again, that varies on it's purpose.

And because of that, and the fact that it's made from fungus and algae, makes it very similar to things like Ryze, which is apparently currently available for something you call "a lot of money" by purchasing it over your Network (or Internet, as you say).

There are other drinks like Ryze, but it so happens that the girlfriend of our counterparts purchased Ryse specifically, so that is the one that they are trying. In particular, they are trying Ryze Matcha, as opposed to Ryse Coffee, since we don't have anything remotely like a coffee bean on the Sunspot, but we do have a green stimulant kind of vaguely like Matcha that can be added to our formula.

We can't really truly compare the sensations of drinking our various forumlas to drinking Ryze, because there is an enormous physical gulf between the Earth and the Sunspot, and we cannot transport either liquid nor taste buds and nervous systems across that distance. And translating words, even with in the same language, between two individuals' personal experiences is inherently inaccurate to begin with.

But we can make some conjectures.

As far as flavor is concerned, we can infer some things. Humans are omnivors with a variety of sensitivities to flavors, and apparently our counterparts are something called a supertaster. They are more highly sensitive to flavor than their typical peers.

They report that Ryze Matcha tastes "green". Not just that it is green in color and therefore the flavor it has can be described as green, but that it reminds them of other green things that they have eaten. There is a bit of a spinach flavor, they report, but its very faint. There is also a faint green tea flavor. We don't know what either of these things really mean, but we know that spinach is a leafy vegetable and that green tea is also made from leaves. But then, they also say that these flavors are not like either of these things, either. They're similar but different.

More specifically, they report that Ryze Matcha does not taste like most mushrooms they've eaten. In fact, it bears a closer resemblance to the flavors they get when they drink from an old jug of water that maybe has some green stuff growing on the inside of it.

"Why would you do that?" I asked them.

And they replied with, "Carelessness."

Anyway, this seems relatively in keeping with our experiences with formula. Usually, it tastes kind of like some other vegetable matter, but different. But, whether those ways are similar to how humans experience Ryse and vegetables on Earth, we really don't know.

What we do know for sure is color. That's something that can be measured quite precisely via the wavelengths of light.

Of course, we may perceive that color differently than you, but thanks to technological measuring devices and mathematics, we can use the same names for the same wavelengths of light. So, when I say that something is green on the Sunspot, you will be able to trust that if you somehow visited your neurology will interpret that thing as what you know of as green, adjusting for the difference in our ambient lighting, of course.

And, yes, some formulas we use are nearly as green as Ryze Matcha, and they are gorgeous.

But most formula ends up in a wide spectrum of color between what you call khaki and a deep vibrant purple, thanks to the dominant colors of most fungi and algae found on the Sunspot.

Our sun produces more ultraviolet light than yours does and there is less shielding between it and the surface of the Garden, so most of our plant life has developed its own shielding, which comes in varieties of purple. Mostly, it's the algae that carries the purple coloring. Most of our fungus isn't green, either, but even when it is, the purples of the algae shift the colors to brown when mixed with it.

But green mosses, ferns, and algae are found in the darkest, deepest parts of our forests, where the sun never reaches the ground directly, and we find that color to be captivating, so our ancestors bred a small variety of green food algae strains specifically for culinary variety.

And the flavor of that stuff is definitely what we could call green.

[copperbadge]

Hi Sam, how did you come to the conclusion you should be tested for neurodivergence? I've been reading a lot of Temple Grandin (Visual Thinking is fantastic) and see so much of myself in her books. But, I, too, am, let's just say well into adulthood, and I don't know if my life would change that much with a diagnosis. The only thing I can think of doing with a diagnosis is telling my siblings and childhood bullies that they picked on someone who had a reason for being "weird." But it doesn't change anything. Beyond the medication, did you find any solace? Thank you for sharing your journey.

I was just thinking I should do a post about this....

I don't recall the specifics and have never been able to find the post again, but sometime prior to 2019 I made a joke about having a short attention span, and someone said something like "Oh, did you finally get a diagnosis?" and I said haha no, I don't have ADHD, and a bunch of readers went, "Uh, you very clearly do." Some of them added that they thought I knew and was just being discreet about it. (As if I have ever been discreet about anything in my life.)

So I figured, okay, probably there's some level of neurodivergence there, given that my mother and siblings all have various diagnoses, and my father was clearly autistic. (Knowing what we know now about how ADHD can mask as other mental illnesses, there's a strong chance this comes from my maternal grandmother, who was the person in the family I was most like when she was alive.) I tried a couple of times to get evaluated and always had either slow or nonexistent responses from the clinics I reached out to, so I stopped trying. I had a ton of coping mechanisms in place and was in a good spot in my life, so I thought honestly, what would it change?

But by the end of 2021, while I was still in a pretty good financial place, and my career was doing well, I could tell that if things kept up as they were I was going to tank my job purely through being unable to get through a day doing productive work the way I used to.

I thought, well, if this is ADHD and it's getting worse because the whole fucking world is on fire, I have two options: I can assume I have it and just do the reading and figure shit out on my own, or I can get evaluated, get professional advice, and possibly get medicated. That seemed like the best return on investment, so that's what I worked on. My goal was primarily medication, because I didn't see myself being able to change much else about my situation on my own. And, truthfully, medication has been the biggest change -- I actually have an essay about that queued for the anniversary of my starting Adderall. But while it hasn't been a massive life-altering world-shattering change, all of this was worth it purely for the medication.

Uh, momentary sidebar in my memoir: there are downsides to having a diagnosed disability -- discrimination, legal barriers to certain things like holding government jobs or adopting, etc. Those have to be weighed when you're considering evaluation. If you think you may have autism, there's not necessarily an advantage to having a formal diagnosis unless you need accommodations; if you think you may have ADHD, the huge advantage is access to medication, which doesn't exist for autism as far as I'm aware. So your particular flavor of neurodivergence might dictate whether you get a diagnosis, or whether you just start operating on the assumption you have it. Both are valid, I think, it really depends on what's going on in your life and what you want to change.

Anyway, I have been doing other research, reading journal articles and pop psychology and talking to people, and that's been good, but even if I had none of that, the medication has been so helpful in getting me back on an even keel and then making life even better.

This sounds kind of weird to say but I'm not generally someone who needs a lot of solace. There is some relief in knowing that at least some of my fuckups in life weren't something I could have prevented by simply having more strength of character or working harder, and that's nice, but it's something I could have had without a formal diagnosis -- just like you could simply tell your siblings and bullies you have a diagnosis. (Being real, I doubt they'd care; bullies gonna bully whether you had a reason to be weird or not, and none of that would have been your fault regardless of your neurology. But it's all very situational, as I'm sure you know.) I wasn't badly bullied as a kid and there's nobody really to...tell, in the sense you're thinking of. But I didn't get into it for emotional solace; I got into it to fix a life that was, albeit extremely slowly, starting to fall apart. So if you're someone, as most people are, who derives emotional satisfaction or catharsis from having the diagnosis, I think it probably would be pretty helpful. But even if you aren't, like me, if you can get medication or accomodations, I think it's worth it.

[aventurineswife]

Hello!! I saw your requests were open and was wondering if I could requests how the brothers would react to and treat an MC with chronic illnesses that cause them to need mobility aids like a cane, rollator and wheelchair to get around depending on how they feel (I mostly have to use a rollator and it's a pretty pink) but it also causes them to have dizzy spells really easily so they may have to randomly sit while out and about, leaves them with very little energy most days but they push through cause that's life but there's some days where the chronic fatigue and chronic pain keeps them bed ridden (and thus unable to attend RAD). I've been struggling for a year myself and I just really am turning to my boys for comfort. Even if you can't get to this or don't feel you can write for this I really appreciate just reading it! I'm excited to read more from you truly! Hope you have a good day!

“Rest Easy, Love, We've Got You”

Tags: Obey Me Brothers x Reader [Lucifer. x Reader, Mammon x Reader, Leviathan x Reader, Satan x Reader, Asmodeus x Reader, Beelzebub x Reader, Belphegor x Reader], Chronic Illness Representation, Disability Awareness, Mobility Aids, Fluff & Comfort, Slice of Life, Caregiving Dynamics, Emotional Support, Empathy.

Warnings: Contains themes of chronic illness, fatigue, and pain, Depictions of caring/supportive relationships, Mentions of mobility aids, Focus on emotional comfort and well-being.

A/N: First of all, thank you so much for your request! I really hope this piece brings you some comfort and makes you feel supported. I know that living with chronic illness can be really tough, but please remember that you’re strong, and you deserve all the care, love, and support in the world. I’m sending you so much warmth, and I truly hope you get well soon and take care of yourself! 🫂💖✨ Thank you again for sharing your request, and I’m wishing you nothing but health and happiness! 💖

Lucifer was never one to show his emotions easily, but seeing you struggle with something so beyond your control weighed heavily on him. His stoic demeanor often concealed the concern that lurked beneath.

When he first noticed you using a rollator, he didn't flinch. But the moment he saw the one you picked out, he couldn’t help but offer a small smile—a rare sight for the others, as if approving your choice.

"Let me know if you need assistance, MC." he'd offer, his voice calm and gentle. "You shouldn't feel the need to push yourself too hard." His eyes softened when you mentioned feeling dizzy or fatigued, a far cry from his usual commanding tone. He'd always make sure to walk beside you when you were out, offering his arm for support or using his influence to make sure no one bumped into you.

If you had to miss RAD for the day, he'd send you a tray of your favorite food, made with care. He'd also stop by with paperwork, though the way he would look at you was soft with understanding, as if telling you that his pride in you never wavered, even if you couldn't be there today.

"I don’t mind handling things here. Rest as you need."

Mammon, while initially unsure how to react to your condition, soon became your most fervent protector. He had a big heart, even if it was wrapped up in layers of greed and bravado. When you first mentioned you had a mobility aid, he was quick to say, "Oi, if anyone tries to mess with ya, you tell 'em I’ll handle it!"

He wasn’t always the most graceful about it, but his intentions were always pure. If he saw you sitting down because you were too dizzy, he'd immediately rush to your side, wrapping an arm around you to steady you.

"Ya don’t need to push yerself, ya know? Ye’re gonna hurt yourself!" he’d say, not fully understanding what it meant to push through chronic pain, but he’d do everything in his power to help.

He would try to pamper you on days you had to stay in bed, coming in with snacks, blankets, and random trinkets that he thought might cheer you up. "Ya deserve all the best stuff, so don’t feel bad about it!" he’d grumble, sitting by your side, even if he wasn’t the most delicate at times.

Leviathan was the type to do a lot of thinking and worrying in silence, so it took him some time to come to terms with how to best support you. His first instinct was to ask you if you needed help, but his anxiety often made him second-guess himself. He was nervous about saying the wrong thing, so he focused on actions rather than words.

One day, you were struggling to get from one place to another, and before you could even say a word, Levi appeared with your rollator, offering it to you with a shy but earnest smile. "I-I saw you needed this... I thought maybe this would make it easier...?" he’d say, voice awkward but full of sincerity. "Y-you don’t need to go anywhere by yourself! I can help... I can even carry your stuff if you want!"

His heart would ache every time you mentioned a day when the fatigue hit you hardest, and when you stayed in bed, he’d be there with games, movies, and all the comfort items he could think of. He'd worry about you endlessly, but it came from a place of deep care.

"Please, MC, take it easy... You don't have to do everything." he’d say, hoping you knew you could rely on him for anything you needed.

Satan was one of the few who could immediately grasp the depth of what you were going through. With his intelligence and empathy, he had no trouble understanding chronic pain and illness, as he had dealt with his own inner turmoil for years. When you talked about your mobility aids and dizziness, he listened intently and asked all the right questions to understand how he could be of help.

"Your well-being comes first." he’d remind you, offering his support without hesitation. If you were feeling fatigued, he wouldn’t insist on anything. Instead, he’d suggest the most calming ways to spend the day together, whether it was reading or simply relaxing by your side.

If you had to miss RAD, he'd make sure to bring something comforting—be it a book, tea, or a quiet space to rest. He was always gentle in his approach, never pushing you to do anything you weren’t comfortable with.

"I don’t mind handling things in your stead. Take care of yourself, MC." he’d say softly, his gaze full of respect.

Asmodeus was quick to fall into a protective role when it came to you. He absolutely adored your pink rollator, often calling it "fabulously cute" and making sure it was always in the best condition. He had a tendency to fuss over you, but it came from a place of deep love and care.

"Sweetie, you must be more careful! I can’t have you looking so tired all the time, can I?" He would go overboard on pampering you with lavish gifts, massages, and all the luxury his power could provide. His eyes would soften every time you told him how much energy it took just to get through the day, and his heart would ache for you on the days you were bedridden.

"You deserve nothing but the best, darling." he'd say, fluffing your pillows and pampering you with as much comfort as possible. He’d always remind you that he was there to help with anything—whether you needed someone to talk to, someone to hang out with, or just someone to make you smile.

Beelzebub’s approach was simple: he just wanted you to feel as comfortable as possible. He was incredibly perceptive when it came to your needs, and if he noticed you were struggling, he'd make sure to do whatever it took to help. He was quiet, but there was a deep tenderness to his actions.

If you needed to sit down because of dizziness, Beel would sit beside you without a word, making sure you had a safe space. He'd always keep an eye on your health, ensuring you had everything you needed, whether it was food, comfort, or just some time to rest.

He was also the type to sneak in with snacks or meals when you were bedridden, always making sure you were well-fed and comfortable. If you couldn’t attend RAD, he wouldn’t push you, simply reassuring you that he’d handle things and give you all the space you needed.

"Don’t worry about anything. Just rest." he’d say quietly, always the gentle giant, putting your needs above his own.

Belphegor, ever the laid-back one, wasn’t always the first to jump into action, but he was incredibly in tune with your emotions. He knew what it was like to struggle with energy, and while he’d never outwardly admit it, he had a quiet, empathetic understanding of your chronic fatigue.

On days when you couldn’t get out of bed, he’d quietly slip in, laying beside you, offering his warmth and presence as a comfort. If you needed a cane or rollator, he’d be there to grab it without question, lazily moving about the house to ensure you weren’t uncomfortable.

"Don’t worry. Take a nap," he’d whisper with a sleepy grin. "I’ll make sure the others don’t bother you."

Belphegor might not have been as vocal about his concern as some of the others, but his gentle actions showed his love and dedication. He’d take care of everything else while you rested, making sure you had one less thing to worry about.

[mitsubinyuri]

MILGRAM Guilty/Innocent verdicts, according to my father

MILGRAM, but instead of forming my own opinions I scroll randomly through the YouTube comments of each video, take the first theory I see, explain it poorly to my father and have HIM judge them guilty/innocent based off of that.

aka.

A 50 year old Taiwanese man’s opinions on MILGRAM characters. (He, as a doctor, had a LOT to say about Shidou)

[note that this was posted between It’s Not My Fault and Triage.]

vvvv

ME: State your name and occupation, please.

DAD: Dad, Physician.

----

Haruka (no. 01) (no idea how to sum up the common consensus on him, but yknow what I’m thinking of) - INNOCENT

“I dunno... I think this guy needs treatment. I don’t know, there’s actually no causal link between having a learning disability, being neglected, and like, killing small creatures.” 

“They say killing animals in your youth is a risk factor for predicting if someone’s gonna grow up to be, an actual, y’know.” 

“I mean, so, forgivable? I mean, only in the sense that y’know, this may be part of him that’s sort of intrinsically broken and he really just needs treatment.”

----

Yuno (no. 02) (abortion “theory”) - INNOCENT

“Well, I mean, I don’t really have any- to me this is not an issue... I don’t think there’s any particular moral wrong here, I mean y’know, she does what she does, she was in a position that she found herself pregnant and she didn’t want to be pregnant so she had a perfectly legal and safe medical procedure to take care of it.”

I brought up the fact it might not have been legal.

“Well, I mean, either way, I don’t see that it’s an issue. I don’t have any issue with it.”

----

Fuuta (no. 03) (doxxing/cyberbullying theory) - GUILTY

“Yeah, well, I don’t really think there’s anything particularly excusable about this one.”

----

Muu (no. 04) (bully -> bullied “theory”, I brought up the lesbian theory to him and presented it as an additional option as well) - GUILTY

“I dunno. I mean, honestly, I don’t really have much sympathy in this case. If you’re gonna dish it out you better be ready to take it.”

“Look, if you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen, alright?! Y’know, I mean, seriously!”

“This is like, at best it’s just pure hypocrisy, okay, well turnabout. You didn’t think about it until you were the object.”

My sister makes an Ace Attorney reference referring to the word ‘turnabout’. He texts her an Ace Attorney meme. 

----

Shidou (no. 05) (organ harvester theory) - GUILTY

laughing

“This is not how any of this works, okay? You cannot just whip organs out of one person and bung (?) ‘em into someone else and it’s gonna be like ‘Wow, that’s awesome’!”

“Yeah, see, that to me is too far out there. I can’t even say because that’s now how it functions.”

I ask him if hypothetically you could, what the verdict would be.

“Even if you had a whole... You could some how make it work... it’s still not- no.”

“Besides, you can’t even perform surgeries at 29 unless you went through med school very quickly.”

----

Mahiru (no. 06) (toxic relationship + suicide theory) - GUILTY

“She sounds... extremely emotionally immature. I don’t think she was ready for a relationship.”

“Now, why didn’t the guy just dump her and walk away?”

I explain the ‘breakup ritual’ line, and bring up the ‘both sides toxic’ theory.

“Well, I mean, is there any evidence at all to support that sort of thing?”

I explain the vagueness of the video.

“Yeah, I dunno, I mean absent to any further data I’m not inclined to be merciful here.”

----

Kazui (no. 07) (cheating + suicide theory) - INNOCENT

“I mean, sad to say, it’s not an uncommon phenomenon. It’s a thing that happens, y’know,”

sigh

“So I don’t really, I mean, depending on how he broke it to her, I suppose, and if he actually DID have an affair or had just contemplated one.”

“Or even then, I sort of feel like jumping off a balcony over it is a little bit of an overreaction.”

“A lot depends on the specific details about how this came out, assuming that’s the correct story. I mean, the situation is sad, but at least the way it’s presented I don’t feel like I can hold him at fault for her deciding to throw herself to her death.”

“Well, I mean, and I think legally you couldn’t really say anything about it. I mean, he’s responsible in part but it’s not like he pushed her or anything like that.”

----

Amane (no. 08) (cult theory) - INNOCENT

“I mean, the thing is. This is one of those classic cases- assuming she’s been completely brainwashed by this cult, that’s one of those cases where deprogramming has to be the first step.”

“It’s related to not guilty by reason of insanity, this is someone who’s worldview has been warped to the extent that they’ve presumably sworn their unthinking allegiance to whoever their leader is.”

“Obviously she’s directly responsible, though I don’t know how a twelve year old can beat someone to death.”

“You would need therapy and deprogramming, before you try to bring it to trial.”

“It also depends on if the therapy turns out successful or not.”

I mention she’s twelve.

laughing.

“Alright, so like, automatically guilty then.”

----

Mikoto (no. 09) (DID “theory”) - INNOCENT

“I mean... really? Does this alter even have a name?”

“I mean, legally you can’t render judgement here.” 

“I mean, assuming the alter was the one murdering people?”

“Yeah, I mean, I dunno, if he truly is suffering from this disorder, it’s like the other ones, we can’t hold him responsible.”

----

Kotoko (no. 10) (vigilante “theory”) - GUILTY

“So, basically... did she intend to kill him? Or did she try to beat him up and get carried away?”

I explain that she did intend to kill.

“Y’know, the fact of the matter is, as great as it sounds, I don’t really condone vigilantism. She knows exactly what she’s doing, right?”

I say yes.

“Okay, well, in that case, then I would think that she should be prepared to face the consequences.”

“Yeah, so this also sounds like someone who feels that they are above society’s rules. Not something I feel completely comfortable with, even if now they appear to be doing things on the right side.”

----

notes: 

also said, at the end: “Just because someone cannot be held morally responsible for their actions also does not mean we should have them out roaming the streets.”

bold (no italics) is things that I said. Italics is things he did. 

[creganofhousestark]

(Screenshots because I’m one hundred percent sure i will be blocked for stating facts that go against the op’s headcanons if i were to reblog my opinions under their post and then will proceed to rant away about the eViL aRyA sTaNs whose crime is, well, reading the books, you know?)

So, i had the misfortune of coming across this one post by @agentrouka-blog when i was going through the main tags and, god! The amount of bs i have to wade through in the name of fandom experience is concerning at this point.

Whenever did Sansa cover for Arya? When she was declaring her as a traitor to a bloodthirsty Cersei Lannister that it was her sister with the traitor’s blood and not her after her father’s imprisonment? Or when she threw Arya under the bus at Trident?

“She blames Sansa for things she never did” dude there was never one moment where Arya blamed Sansa for things she never did. Hell, Arya didn’t blame Sansa enough. Guess it’s time to reread AGoT lol. Sansa “it’s your butcher boy’s fault for dying because he attacked the prince” is blameless y’all *mic drop*

“Violently attacks her because that’s her opportunity to blow off steam after a traumatic 4 days” yes because your sister is basically accusing of treason when the reason behind her actions was purely defense. Apparently you must be level headed in the face of your your sister refusing to be honest in a moment when the outcome (which is Mycah living or dying) depends on her word. If Sansa’s really as smart and intelligent as stansas claim then Joffrey’s actions at the Trident should’ve opened her eyes. Ned was the Hand of the King, the King’s BFF. She was under no pressure to maintain diplomacy. Hell, Ned was right by her side, reassuring her and encouraging her to speak her truth. What would’ve happened if she were honest? The betrothal would’ve been called off? Ned would’ve lost his spot at worst? Big loss, the North would have minded it’s own business as usual….and Sansa’s southern dreams would have shattered. In that moment Sansa chose her dreams and fantasies over her sister and remain blind to the kind of a monster Joffrey was.

Moreover, being focused and worried about herself and her desires is not necessarily a flaw, Sansa’s just more human. She’s got five heroes to compete against, which is why she may appear more flawed than Arya. But honestly it’s all subjective. Arya’s character is simply rich and has a hell lot more depth, that’s all.

Mostly Ned’s favouritism BRO NED CHOSE TO GIVE UP THE HONOUR HE VALUED hell he chose a traitor’s death for her and, goddammit there’s not one moment where he favoured one over the other. Do not talk about the damned flowers scene in Sansa I, Ned would’ve grinned and thanked Sansa for the same bleeding flowers. Sansa was just pissed that Ned didn’t reprimand his child for behaving like a typical 9 year old child. Which, nobility or no, is quite common in that society. Hell, we have textual evidence of Catelyn playing with LF and Lysa making mud pies at 12. It’s almost as if Sansa can’t stand anything short of Sansa 2.0 from her sister.

Arya’s miles better. Just ask GRRM. He wrote the books.

Anyways, thanks agentrouka for reminding me how brilliant of a writer George Martin is. The man picked stereotypical heroes and gave their stories not-so-stereotypical twists as their arcs progressed. An exiled powerless princess who earned it all and more through her blood sweat and tears, a non conformist noblewoman who’s gone through an extraordinary number of trials, a powerful noble dwarf unwanted by his own blood, a disabled boy with unparalleled magical potential and a bastard from two powerful, magical families who was practically thrown aside.

[spc-rambles]

I adore the steelworks gang, like more than I've seen other people express online.

First of all...

My little icon Lexi.

They have been known and initially regarded for their silly voices and jolly nature but I don't often see people looking into why they do it. Like their voices make them more wild than Marion who's generally loved by some fans but they also do it in spite of themselves. They and Theo did an entire upbeat song about how much they are failures to railway engineering with lyrics like:

"We're experiments gone bad

in other words whoever designed us must be mad."

These are not the words of someone with self esteem in how funny they are! They even showed them actually depressed when saying 'We can't do anything.' for the final time in the special.

And anyone who knew how long it took for more in-your-face LGBT+ representation in 2018 She-Ra will know that if this special just came out three or four years later, we might've had proper gender-fluid Lexi representation.

As for Theo...

He is still a pure little bean and I feel the ambiguity of his design makes it all the more reason for him to feel bad about his design. I don't know what about his design warranted gigantic cogs on his sides but we don't know what went on in whatever workshop he was built at. For all we know he could've had the Henry treatment, having been dumped on the doorstep on the first desperate railway executive needed an engine, as a last ditch effort for a dying manufacturer.

As for him being on the spectrum, I can still see it in his behaviour. Lexi was truly not gender fluid but once you've met one autistic person, you've met one autistic person.

And some characteristics are visible in him.

His unintentional bluntness. "Are you being scrapped?"

His tics and stutters.

His shakes in excitement, if you were to count it as stimming.

And who's to say he's not limited to physical disabilities? He and Lexi, depending on how successful you can view it having designs as unique as them on British rails, are the perfect ones to have given the body language they were adamant on giving all the engines back then.

Him being so gentle and anxious is generally adorable, so yeah, not so much to say about his actual personality.

Speaking of not much to say, not much to say on Merlin either, at least nothing that people haven't said already. We all know how awesome he is.

Beresford is MY MAN!

Beresford just wants a friend guys. He said in his own song that he was always ignored by engines who just want to get a job done. No time to chat with him. Loneliness can drive him mad. It is kinda sad that his appearance in Royal Engine was not only a sign of the further appearances these characters could've had but how it was also kinda a rehash of the scene we got in his last appearance, so maybe an episode of his own where he learnt to make friends properly would've been fun.

Ah well, at least he got some friends in another life.

And what can I say about Hurricane?

Keeping it real, working with steel.

Since 1902

He is such a chill guy, that while his companion might've had a lot of hard labour in mind for Thomas, he seems so genuine in wanting to take Thomas in while still acknowledging his terrible position. He could've done with standing up to Frankie though. But whatever, that's meant to be a part of his character, and he was voiced by the chad Jim Howick no less.

It's so funny when people say he sounded like a member of the royal family when he's played kings before.

And then there's Frankie.

Oh my god I adore her so much. Her manipulation being legitimately intimidating at the best times, especially when she's actually chasing Thomas down in the dead of night, her musical style bribing him into working for her, her VA's performance capturing all of her personality through line delivery perfectly.

Everything about her class, her demeanour, most of her lines makes me so curious about her whole life.

How is she running this steelworks better than the human manager of the works if there even is one? How are the human workmen so ok with her doing this? How did the other engines before Thomas get into doing her work? How did they get out? How did Hurricane stay with her for this long, let alone not encourage some potential friends of his to work with her? Was she indirectly responsible for Hurricane surviving as long as he did to still be a tank engine after she was built? Why didn't the railways surrounding this fictional steelworks not agree with this most likely non-existent human manager not just agree to get a lot of their engines to transport steel from their works? What did Frankie do? What are you hiding from us!?

The whole mystery surrounding her and her apparently feeling put-down and apparently not evil at heart according to her character profile and her role in the book 'Delivery at the Docks' makes her potential crimes such a goldmine for story potential that I really want to delve into very soon.

And yeah, that's what I have to say on them in canon. All beautiful characters that I feel need more recognition on a regular basis.

[cripplecharacters]

Hi. I have OCD (and various other mental illnesses) and have a character who has OCD. However, this character lives in a setting with aliens who are basically psychic with extra steps (they communicate via electromagnetic fields and can identify and interact with humans brain's electrical impulses.) What I'm wondering is should I make it so these aliens can like, easily distinguish some types of neurodiversity. i.e. they can easily recognize OCD character because his thought/brain patterns are more "repetitive?"

Personally I'm very torn on this. On one hand it feels validating because like a sort of "proof" that the difference is there and to ignore it is foolish. But at the same time it feels reductive to be, even indirectly, identified primarily by disability.

Possibly relevant, I don't think all neurodiversity should be easily identifiable by this species. Like I don't think autism could be identified (too much variation) but maybe something like DID could (parts of the brain field are somewhat "segregated")

Thank you for your ask! I think if the aliens have had contact with humans (or similar alien species) before, they might have some knowledge on what conditions are associated with certain thought patterns. If the aliens haven’t specifically spoken to humans on the matter they might make their own classifications which would probably look a lot different than ours (especially with how wide symptoms vary in one condition and how many symptoms overlap in so many conditions).

Your character doesn’t have to be only identified by their OCD, that may be what stands out at first to the aliens but if your character is well rounded they can be identified by their other traits. For example, when you first meet someone you might think of them as ‘the person with the interesting fashion sense,’ but as time goes on and you learn more about them you associate them with more traits.

Have a nice day!

Mod Rot

Hi!

I think that it's an interesting idea! I feel that it would make sense for an alien psychic creature to recognize that there are some "thinking patterns" that some humans sometimes have. As an example, I can see how they would pick up that certain people have a very specific Pure O pattern just from psychic-ing various people.

Depending on if/how the topic of mental health/neurodiversity exists in the alien society, they might not even necessarily consider it as such. If they don't recognize the pattern as a disorder, they might just think of it as a type of thinking that humans just have, like how they can perceive that some humans have brown hair while others are redheads (while readers would probably pick up on what is implied if they know anything about OCD). The alien aspect gives you a lot of possibilities!

As someone with OCD, I don't see it as "reducing" at all. It's true that his thoughts happen in a different manner than most peoples', but there's still content in them, right? His OCD is just affecting them, which is just how that works. The only exception here is that his OCD process itself is a part of the story - unless you decided to put his entire character's focus on how Weird and Exotic that is, you should be perfectly fine. I think it's an interesting part of worldbuilding to add!

If you are really worried about him being "identifiable" by his OCD, you can always make it so that different OCD types are seen as distinct (or, from an alien's perspective, perhaps even unrelated). For example, someone who's thought process is occupied with visual intrusive thoughts, versus one who is mainly having a specific compulsion-obsession pattern over and over, etc. - this will show OCD as the wide range that it is, and definitely not as "a label" that someone could just be instantly identified with. You can also make sure to show that every person's thought patterns are different to some degree (even if they're as neurotypical as it's humanly possible), and perhaps those with OCD's patterns are just hyperspecific enough to be recognized as more different; a "genre" of thought patterns of sorts. Because at the end of the day, they will also be people who don't have OCD who might share a few of these "OCD patterns" (and who don't fully get read as having it, maybe as adjacent at best), as well as two people who do have it and whose brain patterns don't match at any point, who still do get read as having OCD despite all that. It's a spectrum, afterall, so the brain patterns would be too!

I think that if you have OCD yourself, you can do basically anything you want with this. As I said, you have an interesting concept that you can tackle from a bunch of different angles, and I would love to see a take on it by an author with OCD! :-)

mod Sasza

[idyllic-affections]

HI can you do me a favor and help me figure out baizhu?? i love his character but i have never played genshin impact and watching through walkthroughs? yeah no thanks (i mean cmon 48 hour walkthrough JUST for inazuma??

like, his personality and lore? i mean, i'm doing my own research about him rn by reading through the wiki and ill also watch cutscenes later but i just need some insight!! u can 100% just use this to rant about him, i am desperate 💔 how does one write for him!! how do you write for him!? help 😭😭i love him sm i wanna write him AT LEAST a bit accurate to character

if you don't mind of course! feel free to ignore this! take it easy aph, have a great day!!💞💞

aph's baizhu analysis.

hi kaiser hello <333 that is SOOO valid tbh inazuma specifically is a headache for multiple reasons... i think i'm going to watch someone else play the fontaine archon quest (...i did this with baizhu's story quest too LMAO) because i have no genshin motivation, but there are a couple people who are wanting to hear my thoughts about lyney lynette & freminet. THAT'S NOT THE POINT THOUGH I WOULD BE SO DELIGHTED TO HELP YOU FIGURE OUT BAIZHU i love him so much he is so dear to me... as a professional baizhu liker i would be glad to help you out. if you need me to, i can explain anything in more detail! just let me know <33

first and foremost, baizhu is generally a very gentle, benevolent, and patient character. he's got sass to him, but generally is very kindly about everything he does. also my guy is so stubborn. god. he is so stubborn.

^ additionally, he is well-trusted by children because of his soft demeanor. they generally aren't scared of check-ups performed by him.

regarding his stubborness, baizhu tests his own medication on himself. he will also poison himself to gain a better understanding of what poison he's working with. he's stubborn with things like his own health and the way he tests medications.

now, this may be more of a headcanon, but... about baizhu's supposed cowardice. yeah. i don't think that's true. do you know the distinction between being harmless and being peaceful? one who is harmless can cause no damage. one who is peaceful can cause damage, but chooses not to. i believe baizhu is peaceful, not harmless. to me, his supposed cowardice is... not genuine. i don't see it, but this opinion may vary depending on who you ask i think.

he is a good-hearted person canonically...

...however.

bro also, canonically, has shady business practices. i personally write these business practices in a very particular way; that being, baizhu overcharges people who he knows can afford to be overcharged. he overcharges the wealthy.

^ similarly, baizhu may sometimes charge nothing at all. he does this when he knows someone can't afford what they need. he generally does his best to make healthcare accessible. he's so real for that.

this is a little headcanon-y, but baizhu cannot stand people claiming to heal illness through piety and faith. he fucking hates that.

^ that headcanon is based off of the fact that he has legal dealings with yanfei about people selling fake medication and whatnot.

i don't know if you know baizhu's entire backstory yet, but the general idea is that changsheng is something akin to an adeptus and has been making contracts with people to keep herself alive for (presumably) a few centuries.

her power enables her hosts to use what baizhu refers to as a "secret art" to heal folks ailed by anything from injuries to poisonings... but of course, there is a drawback. the user of this art transfers whatever their patient is suffering from onto their own body. this is why baizhu is disabled and chronically ill; he has taken on probably every condition known to man fr but we love him for being so kind.

changsheng can only make contracts with pure of heart people. people who aren't genuinely, truly good literally are not viable for her contract. she will die without a host (presumably because her power is slowly draining and she can no longer sustain herself without the support of another being's life force).

^ going off of that, this is part of the reason why baizhu seeks immortality (and do be sure to remember that his pursuit is not a secret. literally all of liyue knows AJSKSHAKFHF... but do also keep in mind that changsheng's contract is a secret so he doesn't tell people about that part). he doesn't want her to die, but he also doesn't want another person to take up her contract and continue the cycle. i also like to think that he doesn't want to leave qiqi alone but that's just me being insane over dad!baizhu he's so fatherly in my brain please hear me out on this one /lh

to stop qiqi from fulfilling orders, if i recall correctly, someone would have to hug her and tell her they love her the most. baizhu does this, but the effect is greatly diminished when he says it. the only reason baizhu sounds insincere when he tells qiqi "i love you the most" is because he believes every life has equal value. he loves her, but not the most, because he is enamored with life in general. this detail about his character is often the topic of angst in fic, but it's important to remember that baizhu is not incapable of love because of it. he is just... not someone who would put ultimate value on one life, because again, he believes all life has equal value.

yes, he does use qiqi for his own ends and research about immortality HOWEVER. however. he is not neglectful or abusive in any way towards her. he treats her well.

because she is a character closely related to baizhu, here's a little detail for the silly snake: changsheng canonically has no filter. she says whatever the fuck comes into her little brain. she's silly. i adore her. she is not bad though! her intentions are generally good.

baizhu doesn't like taking things from people for free. he has difficulty accepting gifts... which often come from the general population of liyue.

generally, what i find to be helpful when learning to write a new (playable) character is reading their voicelines and lore. reading voicelines can help you figure out any particular speech patterns or diction that characters are inclined towards using!

i promise i am not trying to advertise my fics LMAO but if you need a reference, and you want to see how i write him personally, please let me know! i have a few pieces in which i feel like i wrote him well.

i love when people ask me to help with characterization ausskgkgng so if there's anything else i can do please don't hesitate to say so <3

[esther-dot]

i know you didn't answer the previous ask talking about fanfic in particular but sansa shipping fic is a sight to behold due to how much options it offers and given how fanfic is an expression of shipping, i NEED to share my two cents of how vastly different sansa fanfic can be.

depending on her love interest, it tells vastly different stories.

LF? (hopefully) a dark, twisted romance, probably kinky with daddy issues. (hopefully) features dark!sansa.

the hound? probably very soft, beauty & the beast style, a lady & her knight type of story.

tyrells? pure romantic fluff, sansa as a great lady, some good rep, either sapphic or with willas' disability. usually it's an arranged marriage but sansa doesn't start the story outright hating highgarden (usually considering it a refuge after escaping KL). instead, her romantic dreams of knights and summer come true and her new family takes her in with loving arms.

oberyn? also a lot of fluff but make it poly and lots of good food and fun. / doran's kids: less poly but with the same love put into the worldbuilding of dorne.

lannisters? really brings out sansa as a political player. if it's tywin, it's probably kinky (and by kinky, i mean possession and breeding) and cersei dies. if it's jamie, it's not that kinky but cersei still dies. it's always an arranged marriage sansa is forced into but eventually she falls for the lannister in question and fixes his issues (and his family) while leaning into her political side and ousting cersei from her position at court. really, you need a fic where cersei dies? sansa x lannister.

theon is in a prime shipping position after they escaped winterfell together on the show (and that hug. i don't even like theon and i loved that hug in s8. sansa got all the best hugs on the show) and jeyne fills all the childhood friends to lovers tropes plus some sapphic rep. no arranged marriages here, just people finding each other again after years of separation and suffering.

jon is kind of all of the above, depending on interpretation and what kind of vibes are wanted with the advantage of being stark-based and lots and lots of ghost being a good boy who sticks to sansa's shadow. she at least ends up as the ruling lady of winterfell in a prospering north. rickon lives, arya comes and goes as she pleases, brienne is in her queen's guard.

all of these don't even consider the potential of au's that deviate from the books more than a butterfly effect and a few (or many) slightly (or heavily, looking at you tywin) adjusted characters. (btw, in modern au's sansa also offers the potential trope of TWO crazy ex-boyfriends who abused her to some extent and who can cause further conflict.)

depending on what kind of tropes you love, there's a sansa ship for you out there because there's just so much possibility in her character and depending on where you diverge from her story (and which house you favour, tbh), all of them are kind of possible if you squint and that's where she's very different from characters whose paths are already set in stone. unless we go into au's that deviate before the books start, jon is always going to be at the wall. dany is always going to start out in essos and doesn't interact with other romantic leads until she's the conqueror (or saviour). robb is always going to be the heir of winterfell and has to return to winterfell even if he survives. sansa meanwhile crosses paths with most of the major factions during her time in KL and is in search for a home & family and can embody both the daughter that's going to leave her father's home and make a home elsewhere AND the eldest surviving child that can find her home AT home with whomever she chooses (sometimes reconquering wf for rickon with the help of her adopted family)

having her face so many suitors obviously puts the idea in the reader's head that sansa is worth pursuing and that there are possibilities to deviate from the story (which makes a lot of these matches possible, the easy in with the lannisters and the tyrells is always an arranged marriage (oberyn shipping kind of involves a lot more voluntarily getting kidnapped before the match is made)) but the potential each match brings is really up to the writer.

as someone who tries not to judge what other people like in fanfic, i have to admit that sansa is a gift that keeps on giving.

(and if you want to know how i know, it's because i'm the embodiment of the guy that finds a "dead dove don't eat" bag in the fridge and opens it anyway. i'm just really happy i haven't seen any sansa x qyburn yet.)

(About this ask)

That was a really fun read! It’s a great point about Sansa’s story in particular placing her in vicinity of many of these important characters in a way others don’t (like Jon or Dany), so I can def see why, when looking to write a romance with a certain character, she’s the go to heroine of the story.

I also think a big factor is that Sansa is someone a lot of girls can identify with and you can manifest her personality, interests, struggles into different scenarios pretty easily, so generally, I understand why of all the characters in ASOIAF, if someone wants to write a romance, it would center on her.

If you have stumbled across some hidden gems feel free to send me fic recs!

[shirogane-oushirou]

edit: i decided this would drive me nuts, but i still want to keep it in case there's something worth salvaging in the future. ignore all of this ^_^

for some reason i'm interested the idea of poke!ren beginning our friendship with that like... unintentional infantilization a lot of people do with disabled people when they're trying not to be actively ableist? not because i enjoy that LMAO ABSOLUTELY NOT -- and my pokesona is prideful as hell and would DESPISE it -- but i think it would make sense.

[cw casual ableism, infantilism of disabled ppl. also, disclaimer: i'm basing some of this loosely on my own health issues so it may not 100% apply to all disabled people. just want to keep that straight LMAO.]

most many doctors are SUPREMELY ableist, but doc!ren went into his field SPECIFICALLY to help disabled people and so focused on how best to treat each individual person according to their personalities and disabilities. sure, poke!ren's also technically both a clinical doc and researcher, but if doc!ren is like 80% clinical 20% research, poke!ren is like 10% clinical 90% research.

so poke!ren... doesn't have that knowledge. he does mostly field work and some lab work, with the rare "what do you think about this specific medical case?" appointment. he's the kind of person who hates the more vocal brands of ableism, but is consistently overbearing with his treatment of disabled people in a way that's inadvertently exhausting to deal with because "what happens if i tell him this is also ableist? will he have a fit? will he get angry or upset? will he decide disabled people are too picky if i'm not the Perfect Disabled Little Meow Meow?" so you just end up suffering through it.

therefore, he goes full "paper skin, glass bones," with me, very, "oh i can get that for you! no don't stand up, i can do that. can i cook something for you? no no no, i mean, i know you COULD, but wouldn't it be /easier/ for me to make it for you? you might hurt yourself!". 🙄

we have an evening outing in another city. it gets dark, we're not at the point where we're comfortable staying at his place together, he offers to maybe help me find a hotel, and i say "nope i've got this!" and fly away home on a Fucking Lugia.

and then he has to sit with that and realize some things.

like the fact that he has no idea who the fuck i am beyond surface level. after all, i've been carrying a legendary bird around in my back pocket and he didn't know until now, months after we first met.

like the fact that i can take care of SOME things by myself with the right "tools" or pkmn. i SOMETIMES need help, but i don't ALWAYS need help, and if i DO need help i have the option to tell him myself.

like the fact that he simply saw me as Disabled. as though i didn't have a life before or outside of Disability. i was simply the pitiable, lonely, disabled vn nerd he talks about games with.

and then he has to relearn Me from square one, and it makes our relationship so much stronger. we're able to work on our perfect balance together and build the trust that HE won't take things over for ME when I'M capable of something, and that I will let HIM know when i need HIM to do something I can't do. he has to trust that i'll let him be more doting on the days when i'm having flare-ups, but simultaneously has to respect when there are things i still want to do myself even on those worst days.

.........idk. this is a lot of words to say "god i want to be taken care of, but in a way where the other person sees me as an adult with a personality and decision-making ability and a life that's deeply AFFECTED by disability in many ways but isn't JUST disability." yk?

tbch, after writing it all out, this maaaay end up as canon..... OR it might remain a theoretical offshoot depending on how comfy i am when the Mental Movies (tm) of us finding that trust come together. poke!ren's supposed to be like. PURE escapism, so something like this honestly might hit too close to home to feel good fdhfghfg. like at least he'd end up learning that balance, which is nice... but everything leading up to it? 😬 Maybe A Bit Too Painful....

(damn. verbose king over here, wrote all of this TWICE just to say "i might throw it out" lKNMADKJFNKJDNF)