#addiction representation

[alloverthegaf]

on episode 5 of Squid Game 2 and watching Gi-hun come to the realisation of the microcosm he's fighting in real time - the pitfalls and propaganda of capitalism, the "you can build your dream if you just work harder", the desperation to succeed overcoming their desire for everyone to survive. Everyone recognises the faults, the danger, the gamble of what they're participating in - the lotto over the bread - they know some will not fare as well as others. What's more they know in order for them to win, they know more people have to die. But they still willingly participate, not because they're evil, or blind, or lack empathy - but because they think they have no other choice. They allow themselves to become complicit and justify it by saying it's for their own survival.

[laniidae-passerine]

can’t believe that Armand experienced a series of micro-aggressions from Daniel and it made him fall in love again. like maybe all my aunties were right maybe interracial relationships are a mistake

[kestalsblog]

Tips for Writing Characters in Recovery from Addiction

I've encountered several portrayals of characters in recovery from addiction, both in fanfiction and published writing, that are clearly somewhat under-researched or leaning into stereotypes. Additionally, writing advice posts on the subject often feel detached and cite statistics rather than express humanity.

As a result, I decided to put together what I believe to be some characteristics and shared experiences of people in recovery that aren't just about withdrawal and might be less familiar to the general public. Perhaps they can be useful to writers aiming to write thoughtful and accurate portrayals of characters in similar situations.

Please note, of course, that both addiction and recovery are very unique, personalized experiences, so no one list will ever apply 100% to a single person—fictional or real.

Dreams of relapse. I personally experience these dreams at least 4-5 times a month, and they're unlike any other other dreams I have because they're so vivid and lifelike that I wake from them completely convinced for a moment that I did, in fact, relapse. These dreams do NOT mean you want to relapse. In fact, they are often a sign of extreme fear of relapse. The possibility of it is so nightmarish that your mind can only translate it into a literal night terror.

Adding to the previous point, the fear of relapse is seriously underestimated. Some people assume recovered addicts are always thinking about relapsing in a tempting way, but lots of these thoughts stem from the absolute, paralyzing terror of the past repeating itself—not an alluring urge to return to it.

Paranoia that everyone is looking at you thinking "they know the truth about my past. They know I was an addict." These beliefs are, of course, unfounded.

Constantly categorizing everything as "before addiction," "during addiction," and "after addiction." Even something as simple as looking at photographs can elicit thoughts like, "I was so happy in this picture. I had no idea what was coming for me in six months."

Counting recovery days nonstop to the point that it can even become debilitating. Your sense of time is forever altered because you're always trying to "catch up" on all the time you "wasted."

If people know, they will constantly make snide or condescending remarks, no matter how far along in recovery you are. "An addict is always an addict." "Well, I can see you're doing better than you used to be!" "I would never do something like that."

People will relentlessly assume you are less intelligent and talk to you like you're a child, especially if you're in the early stages of recovery.

Everyone knows addicts lose friends and/or family, and sometimes for good reasons, but the sheer number of people who leave for no apparent reason when you're actively trying to get better is surprising. The stigma surrounding addiction is so intensely negative that most people don't even want to be tangentially associated with it.

Addicts and recovered addicts are fetishized in unexpected ways— sometimes because of the obviously sickly appearance, the assumption that they will do anything to feed their addiction, the false belief that they are "fun" or "exciting," or maybe even that they just seem pathetic. Random people in public will approach you and straight-up ask for the most disrespectful sexual acts you can imagine. (After my addiction became common knowledge, people I thought were good people suddenly started trying like mad to sleep with me and then ditched me entirely. That's probably one of the most painful learning moments I had).

Physical symptoms can appear months, even years, after recovery starts. I know some who have noticed their hands suddenly becoming shakier, their hair thinner, and unusual chest pains.

You often become so angry and guilty with your past self that it prevents you from seeing how extraordinary your progress really is.

You start to realize how far you've come and how liberated you are in the smallest of moments. One of the greatest accomplishments of mine was realizing one morning when I woke up that the last thought I'd had before going to bed had not been about my addiction. Throughout my entire years of addiction, it was literally always the first thing on my mind when I woke up, even if it was just getting up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night. It was the last thing I thought of every single night before I fell asleep.

Speaking of sleep, a full night's sleep! Full meals! Not feeling sick 100% of the time. At first, it's almost like growing into a new body.

Your memory is not the same as before, whether you remember too much or there are big dark patches in your mind.

The appreciation. As difficult and painful as it is, a world in recovery is also so often a world of supreme beauty. You pay attention to life's details in ways you never could have imagined before. Things assume a gentle sincerity and sensitivity they never had previously.

Relapse does not always even happen. Some people quit and never look back. I decided to change my life in every way in February 2021 and spent all of that March relapsing. By April 1, I was ready and never went back once.

Addicts are always deemed selfish and narcissistic, even recovered addicts. Sometimes, ironically, recovery leads to increased empathy. It can take reaching a low point to understand another person's low point.

Recovery can be quiet. It's not always over-the-top constant relapses, breakdowns, etc. Sometimes it's just very private and silent attempts to make your life better.

Finally, a point I would like to emphasize is that addiction is a lonely, isolating experience, but often recovery is too. Yes, you can have rehab (if you're lucky to get into a good one), and, yes ,you might have a group or loved ones who help you (I hope). But every reason behind addiction and what you're actually addicted to is so individualized that no one will ever wholly share your experience. Finding a community can be challenging.

But, despite it all, recovery is a unique, beautiful, enlightening experience. If I were given the choice to go back and make it so I'd never had any of it happen, I would choose that option in a heartbeat. Still, I know in the depths of my soul, I'd be trading away some of the most raw, vulnerable, and profound lessons of my life in favor of blissful ignorance.

Above all else, I hope if you write a character in recovery, you try to portray them as you would anyone else—a nuanced and interesting human being 🫶

[sassypotatoe1]

Hey can we talk about the non-traditional ways digital devices can be disability aids? Like yes screen readers AACs digital health monitors all incredibly important, and I've heard far too many stories of how teachers and those in positions of authority over disabled people have confiscated, refused access to or damaged these devices, most famously that one person on reddit whose teacher cut the line for their insulin pump thinking it was earphone wires, but I also want to talk about the less traditional uses of digital devices like cellphones in aiding disability and how 'phone-free' areas like schools or exams or some crazy businesses and company offices, is terribly discriminatory.

Before fights break out in the comments people who use traditional digital devices and aids are allowed to still share their experiences, it is in fact encouraged, because while I do want to focus the discussion on how people use regular ol smartphones etc. to aid in managing their disabilities and why denying them access to said phones or shaming, harassing or assaulting them for using a phone in "inappropriate settings" to manage their disability, people who use things like AACs, smart watches and other monitors and digital insulin pumps etc. Are also affected by hard bans on the use of digital devices in certain settings because, as with the above example, insulin pumps can be mistaken for earphone cables and smart watches used for disabilities like pots can also be banned because they "make it easy to cheat on tests" etc.

So sound off in the notes. How do you use digital devices in a non-traditional way to help you manage your disability? And in what ways have being denied access to these devices impacted your health and well-being? The reason I want to have this discussion is because I want people reading the notes and reblogs to learn ways that they can use these devices to manage their own disabilities and conditions, work against internalized shame surrounding being dependent on devices and create conversation that will empower disabled and chronically ill people to advocate for the allowance of digital devices such as cellphones into spaces where they're explicitly banned because they are being used as disability aids. I mean allow devices because they're being used as aids not devices banned because they're used as aids.

[yellowsubiesdance]

i think i’ve learned a lot when it comes to not applying my own values to the media i consume

for my script analysis class yesterday, we discussed two gentleman from verona, and nearly every classmate of mine was up in arms about how sexist the story is.

and i'm not saying it's not, or that it's not infuriating to read. but i'm also not putting my energy into getting upset about something written 500 or so years ago. and i'm not about to put my own beliefs onto these characters that are not me. i'm going to let their choices speak for themselves, and interpret it in the context of the story.

all that said, this now brings me to the point of alastor in episode 5, and how viscerally people are responding to it. those of you up in arms about the choices he’s making, and the violent threat he gave husk, you’re missing the entire point of his character, of this place they’re in, of the story being told. he’s an overlord, and he became an overlord by killing much bigger overlords and broadcasting their deaths over the radio.

HE IS NOT A GOOD PERSON.

if you started this show with the belief that every character working the hotel is a good person, you’re in the wrong place. watch the good place if you’re looking for a good wholesome story about getting dead sinners into heaven, because that’s not what this show is about.

you’re more than welcome to hate him after seeing the way he exerted power over a being whose soul he owns, but you’re doing the media you’re watching a disservice by writing it off so quickly. if you don’t like to be uncomfortable watching media, watch something else. this is an uncomfortable show, it handles uncomfortable topics, and it’s going to be an uncomfortable ride, and if you’re not up for something like that, then you should take a break from it and pick up something else. you don’t have to get online and defend your own ideals while you watch a show that goes against your ideals.

[nathaniacolver]

"but isn't arcane based off of leagu-" SHH. listen closely. i'm speaking from experience.

i am a league of legends survivor ('12-'15) and an arcane enthusiast (current). trust me on this.

(this is the meme to show all your friends who only know one or the other)

(except maybe not the ones who ACTIVELY play league........yeah........uh, maybe just leave them be until they snap out of it)

[mihai-florescu]

When it doesnt annoy me, i think men's tendency to powerscale any and everything in the world is endearing. Sure honey, tralalero tralala solos bombardiro crocodillo. I personally think la vaca saturno saturnita could defeat them both (power to the herbivores!) but im glad youre having fun

[scholar-of-yemdresh]

As this year comes to a close here's hoping for more (I.e. any) Morally grey aroace protagonists in (adult) fiction. Because as much I love Ymir by Rich Larson, I can't just keep reading one book over and over again. I'm starving for Dirtbag Aces in media.

[quetzai8]

I’m curious, AroAce people, what are your thoughts on Chappell Roan’s music? Personally, I’m a big fan and I love her stage personality and music, but as an AroAce, I’ve never actually felt anything she describes in her songs. Most of what she describes of relationships and flings sounds entirely uninteresting to me, but I want to know what other AroAces think.

[sunny-daze-days]

Asexuality, just like gender, is a spectrum. It's like other sexualities in that way. Asexuality, like nonbinary, is an umbrella term and there are a lot of labels that fit under it.

For me, I don't use any of the specific labels and just label myself Ace because that's what feels like fits.

For me, what not feeling sexual attraction is like, it is like looking at a very pretty landscape painting. I can admit that the painting is pretty and I like looking at it but that's the extent of it.

That being said, being a sensory seeking, sex positive Ace, I don't mind the act or feeling of sex. I might even seek it out for the sensation, but it isn't a necessity for me like it is for others.

It's an odd place to be in and I don't see much good Ace representation in media and what little there is, isn't the kind I experienced so it took me a long time to realize lol. I know my experience isn't the standard. Asexuals, like everyone else, aren't a monolith, and I think the solution is to have more diverse asexual representation in the future.

[brucewaynehater101]

How often does someone try to admit Brucie Wayne into rehab, have an intervention, or try to get him into AA?

[chronicsymptomsyndrome]

I just came across this post which explains that disabled people are welcome in the community regardless of the source of their disability. Specifically, people who “did it to themselves” via complications from addiciton, injuries from high-risk behavior, or any number of other reasons (although someone in the notes correctly points out that addiction is already a disability on its own.) Its not currently reblogable but I really wanted the sentiment to reach as many people as possible

So just to be clear, people who “did it to themselves” still deserve accommodation and acceptance and community. In fact I would even go so far as to say nobody ever really “did it to themselves” because no healthy person with options would ever willingly or knowingly disable themselves, and also because factors leading up to pretty much any disability can actually be traced back for generations.

[fr3sh-c0rn]

Criminal minds where everything is the same except Morgan has hair

[thedisabilitybookarchive]

'The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue'- Lee, Mackenzi

Disability Rep: Addiction (MC), Seizure Disorder/Possible Epilepsy (LI)

Genre: Historical Fiction, Romance

Age: Young Adult

Setting: England, Europe

Additional Rep: Bisexual Male MC x Gay Biracial Male LI, Asexual-Aromantic Female SC

For more information on summaries, content warnings and additional tropes, see here:

[titsthedamnseason]

everyone lied to me about the bergman brothers these books are kind of bad

[melanatedmedia2]

🌟🎉 Happy National Anime Day! 🎉🌟 Today, we’re diving into the vibrant world of anime that celebrates diversity, creativity, and culture! Join us as we showcase some of the most iconic series, highlight stunning animations, and share our favorite moments that make anime a beloved art form for millions around the globe. Whether you’re an anime newbie or a seasoned otaku, there’s something here for everyone! Let’s connect through our shared love for stories that transcend boundaries.

Don’t forget to tag your fellow anime lovers and let us know your all-time favorites in the comments! 📺❤️