#also i don't have most of these disabilities/traits so if i get anything wrong do tell me

[cripplecharacters]

For reference, I'm autistic but I'm not physically disabled. I'm wondering if I'm playing into some bad stereotypes with one of my disabled characters. She's primarily a wheelchair user, but she can walk short distances with mobility aids. Basically, she's always visibly disabled.

I gave her quite a few of my own traits (and accidentally made her autistic in the process). One of these traits is I made her aroace. But now I'm thinking it's maybe not the best idea to have an autistic wheelchair user be explicitly uninterested in sex and romance when there's a lot of stereotypes about both groups being uninterested in / incapable of these things. Emphasis on the wheelchair user aspect since that part of her character isn't drawing on my own experiences in the slightest.

If it helps, she's not the only autistic character or the only visibly disabled character in the story. But she is the only wheelchair user, and the only character who's explicitly aspec.

Her being aromantic is pretty essential to her character and storyline, but her being asexual isn't really. I could probably change her sexuality without changing too much else about her. So I guess my main questions are:

1. If I keep her aroace is there anything else I can add to help avoid too many stereotypes regarding sex and romance for wheelchair users?

2. Would making her allosexual help with the situation or would I just be removing an important aspect of representation without doing anything to improve the negative stereotypes?

Thanks for the help

Hello!

While there are stereotypes about physically disabled people not having sex, it's usually more in the realm of "disabled people don't have sex" or "disabled people can't have sex" rather than being about asexuality or aromanticism specifically.

There are stereotypes about autistic people being aromantic or asexual but, as with most stereotypes, there will always be people that fit their description. Their existence is just as important as somebody who doesn't necessarily fit those stereotypes.

This is to say, if your character is aroace and disabled, good for them! That's completely fine, there's nothing wrong with that.

If you are still worried, you could always add more aspec characters or more wheelchair users, though I honestly wouldn't worry too much.

You could also consider having her talk a bit about her experiences being aroace, even if it's just a few throwaway lines here and there. That would help solidify it as being part of her individual identity rather than equating being disabled with being aspec.

In general, though, I don't see anything wrong with this character.

Cheers,

~ Mod Icarus

Hey! I strongly agree with Icarus on adding another wheelchair user that's not aroace. There's nothing wrong with having a disabled aroace character, but it's hard to ignore the fact that often autistic and physically disabled characters get to be the ones headcanoned as aroace because of the "physically disabled/autistic people don't have sex nor romance" stereotype.

Coming from someone disabled and on the aroace spectrum: disabled characters who are aroace are cool, but having disabled characters coincidentally always be the only asexual and/or sex repulsed ones is certainly frustrating. Just put in some variety and you will be good.

If you do want her to be asexual and not add any other character, it would be interesting to see her identities actually intersecting. Does she ever feel "like a stereotype" for being autistic and not being interested in dating? Same thing but for being a wheelchair user who doesn't want sex? Maybe gets annoyed when people assume that her asexuality is caused by her disability, or when interacting with people who just presume that she doesn't have sex/romantic relationships because she's autistic and uses a wheelchair, and not because she's aromantic and asexual? Basically anything to give her depth as a character who is all these things so it doesn't seem like she just got the "default orientation" that disabled characters often end up with in LGBT media.

mod Sasza

[wings-of-fire-confessions]

I think there is far too much fantribe hate on here. There are quite a few fantribes out there that have fun designs and lore and it's fun to make your own character for them. Having restrictions can make designing more fun because it forces you to think creatively. They also come with a community of people who also enjoy the tribe.

Making fantribes closed allows for the owner to manage them more easily and make some money for their creation. So many fantribes have tons of thought and effort behind them, and people want to support the creator. People don't buy the really expensive adopts because they think it's the only way to get a candy inspired dragon or whatever. They do it because they want to support the tribe/artist or because they really like the specific design. I've also seen tribes do adopts to give to charity or pay for the owners disability aids or their college or medical bills.

The tribes I like also have ways to get them for free, through raffles or events. One tribe that I really like has had this event where you draw other people's fantribe characters so that you can get MYOs (make your own, for those who don't know). It's super fun because the whole community gets involved and it's like a mini Artfight!

I really don't get people being like "you're making money off an existing IP!!!" or "that's copyright infringement!!" or whatever. Because like. Have you heard of fan works in general?? Making money off of fantribes is no different than profiting from canon tribe adopts, or WoF OC commissions, or WoF bases, or fanmerch, etc. etc. etc. All of that probably does violate copyright law or whatever but most of the time companies don't really care. They're not really losing profit because Greendragon64 bought a SparkleWing adopt for 300 DeviantArt points. (That example is made up) It seems odd to condemn fantribes for making money off of the WoF IP while endorsing fanmerch and the like which do the exact same thing. It feels like people really just aren't personal fans of fantribes (which is perfectly fine) so they grasp for a reason for them to be morally wrong or hurtful. But really, fantribes aren't hurting anyone. You don't want to pay for them? You think they're too expensive? You think a certain tribe is uncreative or too restrictive? Cool. Don't interact with them then. Make your own unique characters with whatever traits you want. You can literally draw anything! There's no need to hate on those who do like them, or make "knock off" or "off brand" fantribe characters out of spite.

.

[knightobreath]

Ok I gotta know

What’s your thoughts on that one anon (🐝)’s takes

context 1 and context 2

ohohohohhohohoohohohoh. ohohohoh. Well. Basically they're wrong about what headcanons ARE and how they work as a fan created thing. They also definitely need to examine why they feel the way they do about headcanoning characters as having marginalized identities. I wrote a whole essay on trans headcanons specifically under a similar ask and what I said can be easily applied to other aspects of headcanoning characters as minorities (i actually got a lot of the ideology for that essay from discussions of "blackwashing" in fandom)

some other things on what they said (warning: LONG)

My major issues with their thoughts on headcanons can be summed up with the essay i linked. im not going to be going into that stuff as deeply again because we would be here all day, so the rest is just specifics

"but i really hate it when people change pronouns of characters (IVE SEEN PEOPLE USE SHE/HER WHEN REFERING TO SILVER SPOON. LET THE MAN BE A MAN IF HE WANTS TO BE A MAN.)"

Silver Spoon, and other characters for that matter, are quite frankly not real and do not have actual desires or feelings that you can hurt. Also see my essay on trans headcanons.

"but what makes me the most furious is... people making characters autistic. nothing against autism, i understand that, but do you really need to make paper, fan, silver spoon, pen, etc. autistic just because they have specific interests or act... idk, just the way they act?! its just. it doesnt make sense to me."

Bee needs to examine why they feel the way they do about autistic headcanons. A majority of the times characters are being headcanoned as autistic, they're being headcanoned as that be actual neurodivergent people who seem themselves or their autistic friends in these characters or traits.

There are certainly some issues with certain aspects of autistic (or any other disability) headcanons, like infantilization, but Bee's issue seems to be the fact that there are a lot of characters being headcanoned. Which is just not a problem.

"hc's that dont affect story are fine, but ones that completely flip the story or ignore anything confirmed by the employees."

Headcanons are personal thoughts on the story and do not have any bearing on the story or how you interpret the characters. They are a fan creation like fanart or fanfiction.

"EX: "i headcanon that mic and knife are in a relationship!" that completely ignores the fact that some of the pride month art shows that knife is gay. Cakebrunch (official II storyboarder) confirmed that soap and mic are in a relationship."

Cakebrunch is not a writer and does not have any bearing on the written canon of the characters. Just because he works on the show does not mean his headcanons have any bearing on the canon.

"make as many autistic characters you want, yeah! its great to support autism! but you dont have to make every character autistic, okay? (directed towards people that hc lots of characters as autistic)"

Again, the people who are doing this are mostly autistic or otherwise neurodivergent. And they aren't "making" the characters autistic, they're depicting them as such. No harm in that.

Now for the ships ask.

This is less of my domain, as I'm not really a shipper and don't know much about romance and relationship dynamics but I will try.

Also like nothing against people who don't like shipping as a whole, I totally get it. I was in your boat before.

"i absolutely HATE osc ships. half of them are either "oh these characters dislike each other/disliked each other at one point" and the other half is "these two friends should date because theyre friends.""

and that leaves..... characters who haven't interacted?

honestly, if this was between real people that would be really disrespectful.

Except they're not, so it's completely fine. I have a feeling Bee was in an RPF heavy fandom before this one, this and the previous take about pronouns are common discourse points in those.

EX: Fantube. yeah, they tried to raise shimmer together and built bot, but platonic parents exist and CAN THEY JUST BE FRIENDS?! PLEASE?

Like headcanons, ships have no bearing on the canon and in canon they are just friends.

EX: Nickloon. ok, nickels trying to make up for being rude to balloon all throughout season two. but really? they dont have to date just because theyre friends, yknow. imagine someone saying "oh you and your best friend who you only platonicallly love- you should date!" to you. that'd honestly be rude.

They're not real so they can't experience this. Problem solved.

yeah, some ships are confirmed but thats different. EX: Knickle. offical II storyboarder Cakebrunch CONFIRMED theyre in a relationship. thats an official employee of the series saying that a ship is real. not some random person on TikTok saying that TennisGolf is canon because TB is GB's closest ally.

Again with citing Cakebrunch's fan stuff as canon. Interesting how they cited a storyboarder's fan works twice but failed to mention Balloon being arospec as said by a show creator in the nickloon section. While I have my thoughts on word-of-god confirmation, which I will not be getting into here, it is far more canon than any fanwork.

A lot of the rest of this is just confusion about why people ship things. This is different for each ship and each shipper, and if you're ever confused about where a ship came from you can just ask the shipper. There's usually a reason (and depending on who you ask, a whole essay) as to why a ship came about or how it would work. Sometimes though it is just for fun or comedy, and that's not really a bad thing. We're here to enjoy ourselves, after all.

One last thing though,

and dont get me started on those ships that throw certain characters in canon ships (looking at you, metallic salad/metallic salad + mephone shippers.) because like. why? certain characters have established relationships with others, and your just like "ohh well those two are in a relationship, but mic and knife are a cute ship so how about mic + knife + pickle? makes sense!" like. please.

I don't know much on dynamics and specifics (see: not much of a shipper) but from what I have seen of multiships and polyships, all the dynamics and how the characters would all work together is very much thought about.

Also knickle isn't canon and the people shipping knife x mic x pickle are also aware knickle isn't canon. Nobody is thinking of it like that.

Anyways, time for the conclusion.

Bee anon is fundamentally wrong about how fandom works. Headcanons and ships hold no baring on the canon or your interpretation of the canon. Fandom is a place where canon is transformed in fan works for the fan's enjoyment, it is not a place where canon is determined or changed. You can interpret a work however you please, you can even divorce it from fan works entirely if you wish. Bee also has some things they need to think about in regards to why they feel the way they do about queer and autistic headcanons.

Thanks for reading.

[swordsonnet]

there are so many crucial aspects of disability justice that are ignored in online spaces because they are seen as "cringy" or just don't fit the image of the acceptable disabled person who can function well in abled society with some simple accommodations and never does anything too weird. and it leads to selective, surface-level activism that hurts the vast majority of people it claims to advocate for.

sure, you reblog autism memes or posts about hitting ableists with your cane, but how do you react to people who need 24/7 care? who will never be able to work? who can't read complex texts, or read at all? who can't leave the house? who need things explained to them in simple language? who don't have any friends? who struggle with personal hygiene or household chores? who don't get jokes or sarcasm? who consume mainly or only media targeted at children? who act "weird" in public? who walk slowly? who have highly restricted interests? who write or speak in unconventional ways? who are incontinent?

for almost all of these things, i've seen posts with hundreds and thousands of notes, written and shared by people who claim to care about social justice, mocking others for those traits. no, they don't explicitly mention disability, and when you dare to bring up ableism to them, the common refrain is "well duh, i wasn't talking about disabled people!"

but that's the thing, isn't it? it's never about us. we are shown, time and time again, that we don't belong in the exclusive category of humanity, that people would rather not think about us, because we're just too complicated, too much work. well it's just tumblr posts, you might say. don't be so sensitive. but the thing about oppression is that it's never just something. the attitude expressed in these posts is indicative of a larger, much more dangerous problem, one that has infiltrated every corner of society.

beyond a certain degree of impairment, we are seen as less than human. we are forgotten, left aside, at best an afterthought. and that carelessness shows in the social welfare system, the medical system, the job market, every aspect of society we need to survive and that so often fail us.

and beyond that, it's just fucking tiring. it's tiring to be ashamed of things you can't control, because people keep treating them as personal failings. it's tiring to be reminded over and over that people weren't thinking about you, that they're never thinking about you, that you're selfish for even imagining that they might. it's tiring to know that once you stray too far from the norm, you will be denied your humanity, not just by bigoted politicians, but by the people claiming to be on your side.

i'm not saying that all of the things i listed above are unique to disability. but they are part of many disabled people's lived reality, and to deny that is to be ignorant to that reality. if you are willing to accept that oppression is insidious and can manifest in much more subtle ways than outright hatred, that microaggressions exist, that even the most well-meaning people can perpetuate bigoted ideas, then you need to accept that that also goes for ableism.

and neither am i saying that you're a bad person if you did ever make fun of those things. we all have our toxic beliefs to unlearn. but we need to actively choose to unlearn them, and we can't do that if we deny the many ways these beliefs manifest.

here's the thing: bigotry is easy. it wouldn't be this pervasive if it wasn't so seductive. it's easy to find a convenient target to let your anger out on; it's easy to convince yourself that your petty annoyances are actually righteous truths; it's easy to believe that you're infallible and it must be the others who are wrong.

but if you want to be an ally to disabled people, you need to examine the unconscious ableist beliefs you hold, those knee-jerk reactions to mock anything considered socially unacceptable, and actively work on dismantling them. you need to listen to disabled people's experiences (a wide range of them), work through the initial discomfort you may feel, and think about what you can do to improve disabled lives - even if it's just to change the way you're thinking.

(and this doesn't just apply to abled people - being marginalised yourself doesn't make you magically immune from holding bigoted beliefs, so being disabled doesn't mean you can't be ableist. i've seen way too many disabled people on here throwing other disabled people under the bus for being too "weird" or not having the same abilities as they do.)

if you want to support disabled people, you need to support all of us, not just the ones you find palatable.

[the-autistic-agoraphobe]

What the Queensland Government should and Shouldn't do to help Autistic People.

Trigger Warning: ABA therapy, ablism, electric shock, violence and sexual assault

Steven Miles (the Queensland Premier) announced on his Facebook page and Instagram page that there will be funding for early intervention for Autistic children. Unfortunately more than 6.5 Million dollars is going towards an organisation called AEIOU.

The problem with AEIOU is that they practice a therapy known as ABA therapy that is very harmful to Autistic people. ABA therapy is when a adult tells the Autistic child what to do and when the child does what the therapist wants the therapist rewards the child and when the child doesn't do what the therapist wants than sometimes the child get disciplined. This sounds familiar like dog training which is very dehumanising to Autistic people.

Many ABA therapist have a goal of making the child less Autistic and more like non Autistic people. They give them treats for looking at them in the eye and not stimming (repetitive body movements such as hand flapping which is common with Autistic people). Eye contact often is hard for Autistic folk and makes us feel uncomfortable and it is very exhausting to have to remember to give people eye contact. Eye contact doesn't come naturally to Autistic people. Most stims such as hand flapping is harmless and helps Autistic people to release stress or sometimes express emotions like excitement. If an Autistic person is taught not to stim than they will feel very overwhelmed and can trigger meltdowns. If Autistic people are forced to mask their Autistic traits than they will end up having lots of problems. Autistic people should be accepted by Non Autistic people.

Many Autistic adults who have had ABA therapy as a child have PTSD. It's not therapy if it causes PTSD. Autistic children have been shocked and placed in prone restraint because they didn't comply to commands. These poor children most have been terrified. Prone restraint is dangerous as people can die from it. Therapy is ment to help people and ABA therapy isn't helping people if it causes PTSD.

Not long ago a show on the ABC called Four Corners showed an Autistic teenage boy being restrained in ABA therapy because he didn't brush his teeth. How the therapist treated this poor boy was appalling. I believe that learning life skills such as teeth brushing is good but there are better ways to teach this boy how to brush his teeth. The boy also had an intellectual disability and was non speaking so he may not have understood what the therapist was asking him to do. I feel sorry for the boy because he hadn't done anything wrong and he would have been scared and confused.

ABA was founded my a Norwegian-American psychologist named Ivar Lovaas. Lovaas quoted "you see, you pretty much start from scratch when you work with an Autistic child. You have a person in a physical sense- they have hair, nose and a mouth but they are not people in the psychological sense." By quoting this Lovaas is referring to Autistic people as not being human which is very insulting to Autistic people. Autistic people are just as human as non Autistic people. Lovaas also worked in gay conversation therapy which caused much harm to gay men.

All children are young and impressionable. ABA therapy gives Autistic children the idea that they must do what they are told to do or they face negative consequences. This can be problematic as it can make Autistic children more prone to sexaul predators. Sexual predators can tell the child to do something and the child feels as though they have to comply to avoid punishment.

ABA therapist don't have much training and don't know much about Autism when they start working with Autistic children. They only get around forty hours of training and many ABA therapist only have high school as the highest level of education that they have received. I have heard stories of ABA therapist in training going to local zoos to observe training of animals to learn which techniques should be used in ABA. I find this very dehumanising. Autistic children arn't animals who need training they're people.

As you can see ABA therapy does more harm than good and it's best that the Queensland Government withdraws their money from AEIOU. I believe ABA therapy should be banned and AEIOU should change the way they run their business. Instead of providing ABA therapy AEIOU should change to being a child care service that specialises in Autistic children. All staff should be trained about Autism and learn to accept Autistic traits. There should also be cameras set up in the classrooms to ensure safety of the children. There should be at least one Autistic staff member at each centre to help non Autistic staff see an Autistic perspective on things. I believe that if Autistic children were allowed to be themselves they will have much more positive mental health outcomes.

If the Queensland Government wishes to help Autistic people. I do have a few ideas. I believe there needs to be more support for Autistic people with high support needs and their families. It is ridiculous to expect one person to care for an Autistic person with high support needs 24/7. Some HSN Autistic people need to have supervision 24/7 for their own safety. One person cannot spend 24/7 supervising another person because they need to sleep, eat, shower and do other things. I suggest that the government funds support workers to take shifts with the main carer to car for the HSN Autistic person. These support workers should be trained in Autism and learn about the person they're caring for. This way the main carer will have the time they need to do things they need to do.

Another thing that the Queensland Government can do to help Autistic people is change the law to allow Autistic people who are at risk of eloping to have disability parking permits for their own safety. Some Autistic People elope which means they run away. This can be dangerous when walking through a car park as the person can be hit by a car. In the UK Autistic people are allowed disability parking permits. Why not Queensland? If it's a matter of safety.

I have heard many people have been struggling to get access to Autism tests to receive a diagnosis. I feel like the Queensland government needs to help speed up the Autism testing and diagnosing process. Maybe the government can work on training more people on Autism testing so people don't have to wait so long for a diagnosis. An Autism diagnosis is more important than one may think. When I found out that I was Autistic I was relieved because I had a word to describe who I was and why I have always been different to many other people. Once a person gets a diagnosis they can get the support that they need to thrive.

Thank you for reading this article. I am sure if these changes get made they will benefit many Autistic people and their families.

[gamingavickreyauction]

Why is eugenics wrong, exactly?

The argument for eugenics is pretty simple: for most of the time humans were around, there was natural selection against things like disability and stupidity, but those selective forces largely don't exist now. As such, in the absence of other forces, humanity will tend to be more stupid and have more genetic diseases over time. Thus, some artificial selection should be used to avoid this.

Eugenicists have historically gotten this wrong—humanity has gotten more, not less intelligent—as a result of assuming traits are more genetically determined than they actually are. However, presumably there must be some fundamental limit to this: if humans become stupid enough, then no amount of dietary and educational improvement will be sufficient—just like no diet and education can get a monkey to learn calculus. So, this doesn't seem like a particularly robust argument against eugenics, to me.

Eugenicists have historically committed many atrocities. There is a large-to-democidal human cost to eugenic policies. However, the eugenicist can respond that, if one extrapolates genetic deterioration far enough, it would inevitably lead to the end of human civilization (some intelligence is necessary to keep society running), so any human cost is justifiable. The principle that anything is justifiable to save humanity might be controversial, but it is one reasonable people can hold.

Another thing is that when people say 'of course the human cost is bad, but it's unavoidable,' it's very often because they don't care much about the human cost in the first place. This can be seen in the history of eugenics from the violent practices used—excessive even for what they were aiming to achieve—and how the victims of eugenic policies have tended to be groups eugenicists are not sympathetic to—the poor, the disabled, and people of color. However, this is more an argument against trusting eugenicists than an argument against eugenic ideology itself.

Something that I think eugenicists can't so easily justify is that their policies seem to be unnecessary. The apparent risk is on a very long timescale, and within that timescale, we might have gene editing, transhumanism, or various other technologies which render the argument for eugenics void. So all the suffering was for nothing. We do not know if these technologies will arise, but there is no justification for not at least waiting in case they do. This argument seems watertight but also seems unsatisfactory in its conditionality—if it turns out to be impossible for humanity to progress much beyond where we are now, technologically, would it follow that eugenic policies are justified?

It seems to me that the most sweeping, most satisfactory argument against eugenics is one from anti-authoritarianism: eugenic policies are generally carried out by the state, but the powers involved in carrying out eugenic policy could all too easily be used in other, less justifiable ways. Giving the state that much power is a slippery slope. Furthermore, people disagree about which traits should be selected for and which should be selected against. The state cannot be trusted to make this judgment and should not have the power to.

This seems to be the only argument that can unconditionally rule out all forms of eugenics. But it might also be unsatisfactory because it implies eugenic policies are theoretically good; it's just that our institutions aren't good enough to implement them, or that if everyone could agree on what traits are desirable, eugenics would be fine. Then again, those issues are pretty fundamental.

This argument also seems doubtful (though not unsalvageable) when faced with the civilization risk that genetic deterioration theoretically presents: if it's worth doing anything to save humanity, then it's worth risking a despotic government too.

So is this last argument sufficient? Are there other important arguments against eugenics that I'm missing? where, exactly, does eugenic ideology go wrong?

I'm taking eugenics as a whole here because it is generally agreed that eugenics is universally bad. So I'm not asking about e.g. racial eugenics, as that has more obvious problems—it's the low-hanging fruit. So I suppose I'm assuming that it's not the case that different forms of eugenics are wrong for separate reasons.

Also, eugenic policy can mean things like financial incentives for or against reproduction, rather than direct physical violence such as forced sterilization or murder. However, when not having enough money means you get made homeless, financial incentives are still very violent, at least to some groups.

[courfeyracs-swordcane]

lots of questions for alonzo (although i'd be interested to know all of these for any of the ballad brothers characters):

🎮 Video Game Controller - what are three of your oc's favorite hobbies?

🖊 Ballpoint Pen - does your oc have any tattoos? do they want any (more) tattoos?

🩹 Adhesive Bandaid - does your oc have any physical and/or mental disabilities?

💯 Hundred Points Symbol - share three random facts about your oc that others may not know.

🌈 Rainbow - what is your oc's sexual orientation/gender identity? what pronouns do they use?

🐶 Dog Face - does your oc have any pets?

🍎 Red Apple - where was your oc born? do they still live in/around their place of birth or do they live somewhere else? how do they feel about their birthplace?

❤️ Red Heart - what are three of your oc's positive traits?

🤍 White Heart - what are three of your oc's neutral/questionable traits?

💔 Broken Heart - what are three of your oc's negative traits?

💛 Yellow Heart - how many languages does your oc speak? what language(s) are they learning, if any?

🖤 Black Heart - has your oc killed or seriously wounded anyone before? have they even broken someone's heart and/or broken someone's trust?

🎂 Birthday Cake - when is your oc's birthday? how old are they? what are their sun, moon, and rising signs (if known)? what about their tarot card, ruling planet, and ruling number (if known)? do they fit the typical traits of these sun, moon, and rising signs?

😊 Smiling Face With Smiling Eyes - what are your oc's career/general life desires? what do they want to get the most out of life?

🤓 Smiling Face With Glasses - is your oc chatty or quiet? are they at ease in social situations, or are they more shy?

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Family With Mother, Father, Son, And Daughter - how many people are in your oc's immediate family? how many people are in your oc's extended family? do they have aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, etc? who in their family are the closest with? are they close with their birth family, or do they have a found family?

YOU DON'T HAVE TO ANSWER ALL OF THESE!!

OKAY IT TOOK ME A WHILE (and I’m still working through the last set) bUT.

🎮 Video Game Controller - what are three of your oc's favorite hobbies?

Oh god. Well. I mean first and foremost this is definitely not a guy who wants anyone to think he has hobbies. He’s very particular about What Anyone is Allowed To Know About Him at Any Given Time (hint. It’s not very much.)

That being said. Things he does that aren’t his job.

1. Sneak out to go sit in the corner of the room his sister is squatting in and bicker.

2. Sneak out to go hang out in the doorway of his kind-of boyfriend’s horrifyingly poorly ventilated necromancy basement lab and try and convince them to go touch grass or smth (he will not go in)

3. I think he plays like fuckin handball or smth

🖊 Ballpoint Pen - does your oc have any tattoos? do they want any (more) tattoos?

He does not! Not comfortable with identifying marks like that and also not really capable of that kind of self expression? I think if he had anything he felt strongly enough about he might get one but he doesn’t really. have that. (or if Ari came up with something stupid and funny enough they could definitely talk him into getting a tattoo. For the bit.)

He’s got piercings tho!!! Several in his ears and one eyebrow!

🩹 Adhesive Bandaid - does your oc have any physical and/or mental disabilities?

There’s definitely SOMETHING wrong with him in the brain! Unsure exactly what it is yet but I’m thinking he’s probably just like. really REALLY good at masking?

I think he’s the least physically disabled one in the thing so far? Like. Kyrie definitely did not come out of All That unscathed. One of Punk’s eyes is fucked up (thanks Kyrie)(<— lore that exists as of literally right now). Ari lives in a fucked up basement that’s full of entirely unventilated toxic fumes and they literally do not fucking go outside ever, which has definitely Had An Effect on both their brain and their little twink body (negative).

Also I think when Alonzo dies that kind of sticks around afterwards? He came back right but he gets hella chest pains/can’t always breathe (comes and goes)

💯 Hundred Points Symbol - share three random facts about your oc that others may not know.

(THIS ONE I JUST DONT HAVE I THINK IM SORRY)(it really depends on the others at hand— this guy is a fully different person in different situations/around different people)(Kyrie doesn’t know much about the years she was gone besides that they were Bad. Ari doesn’t know anything about what/how much he’s invested in anything. Punk probably knows him the best (on account of the Proximity) and they don’t know hardly any facts about him at all)

🌈 Rainbow - what is your oc's sexual orientation/gender identity? what pronouns do they use?

Ok on the reference spreadsheet I have to keep all my lore straight he’s listed as ‘Gender: seriously??’ and ‘sexuality: ace’ but to get more specific he’s trans his pronouns are he/they and he’s biromantic asexual except he’s also on the aro spectrum because I can’t write characters who aren’t lmaoooo. And the repression.

🐶 Dog Face - does your oc have any pets?

Okay I think that would fix him but no he does not on account of the organization he works for owns pretty much everything he has including his apartment and the clothes on his back and adding anything he’d be genuinely upset about losing into that mix is would be out of the question

🍎 Red Apple - where was your oc born? do they still live in/around their place of birth or do they live somewhere else? how do they feel about their birthplace?

The whole thing takes place in an as-yet unnamed city(-state)!!! I’m still figuring out exactly how shit worked in Kyrie and his childhood but they were definitely both born there and I don’t think either of them has ever really been anywhere else. Kyrie might have gotten to travel occasionally when she was the organization’s golden girl but like. Didn’t get to be anywhere for any meaningful length of time.

As for how he feels, I think he’s very pragmatic about it? It’s the only place he’s ever been and a lot of it sucks but not all of it. It’s fine.

❤️ Red Heart - what are three one of your oc's positive traits?

1. He’s always been the one with the braincell! When he was younger, before Kyrie left, it manifested mostly as being a Very Bright Kid with a Lot Of Anxiety and now it’s more of a. ‘I am the only bitch in this goddamn story with an OUNCE of common sense can you guys not fucking THINK???’ <— guy who is drastically underestimating his capability for dumbassery but still.

🤍 White Heart - what are three one of your oc's neutral/questionable traits?

1. Very very good at talking! I wouldn’t necessarily call him charismatic but he’s very good at just like. casual small talk? He’s got that ‘I will make an exception because he seems very polite’ swag

💔 Broken Heart - what are three one of your oc's negative traits?

1. Repressed as hell in literally every way possible. Allergic to anything genuine and open and vulnerable. He’s constantly playing 3D chess against himself and everyone around him to make sure nothing gets too close. And he is doing all of this while thinking he came out pretty healthy and well adjusted.

🖤 Black Heart - has your oc killed or seriously wounded anyone before? have they even broken someone's heart and/or broken someone's trust?

He has definitely both killed and seriously wounded people! He does that on a regular basis that’s literally his job <3 and he’s very good at it <3

For the second half, I don’t think so? The only people who’s trust he’s breaking are people who are not really emotionally invested in him (organization higher-ups at large) or people who expected this from the beginning (Punk).

Kyrie was definitely pretty fucked up about him joining up w the organization (/just like. Generally how he turned out, esp with it being Really Obvious to anyone who knows either of them that He Grew Up Just Like The Sister He Remembered)(Kyrie at the time having been 18 and angry and trapped in a very small life and desperate to be anything worth taking notice of) but I don’t know if I’d call that a broken heart issue? It did give her lots of issues about letting anyone help her/get themselves involved in her Overthrow The Government efforts tho <3

🎂 Birthday Cake - when is your oc's birthday? how old are they? what are their sun, moon, and rising signs (if known)? what about their tarot card, ruling planet, and ruling number (if known)? do they fit the typical traits of these sun, moon, and rising signs?

Oh shit! Okay that’s one I’ll have to come back to when I have a little more worldbuilding in place I think since I’m gonna hazard a guess that they don’t have the same months or zodiacs BUT he’s 25 (Ari is also 25, Kyrie is 29, and Punk is like mid 30s)

😊 Smiling Face With Smiling Eyes - what are your oc's career/general life desires? what do they want to get the most out of life?

WELL. first of all this is not a guy with general life or career desires— his plan was basically to Be Like Kyrie and then he did that (got the same job at the organization) and now he’s technically a hostage there (he doesn’t really give a shit but it’s not a situation that especially allows for Goals)

🤓 Smiling Face With Glasses - is your oc chatty or quiet? are they at ease in social situations, or are they more shy?

I think he falls on the quieter end? Like he’s notably EXCELLENT at small talk but he definitely defaults more to sitting back and just watching.

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Family With Mother, Father, Son, And Daughter - how many people are in your oc's immediate family? how many people are in your oc's extended family? do they have aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, etc? who in their family are the closest with? are they close with their birth family, or do they have a found family?

Still working out What The Deal Is There Exactly, but it’s always been just him and Kyrie! and they get a little found family together but that’s like. The point of the story here

[punch-love]

for the violence ask… 8/9/10

8. common fandom opinion that everyone is wrong about

I think it's an easy answer to say Peter Parker but objectively, the majority of the fandom has a very fanon collective idea about who he is/what role he feels in a narrative that makes it feel like there are two distinct Peters that are running around in the tag. (Which is interesting, because Wade's character I think is pretty consistently written - the level of nuance differs, but the core of him is there, and I think it's because he's baseline a pretty easy character to understand while Peter is not since who he says he is/who he is contrats)

It's obviously mostly because comic canon + the three movie canons do not line up well the more recent they are, and the most recent converts are people who got into the TH movies, which are probably the least accurate/worst representation of Peter as a character. I think that writing him as a nice, sweetheart, infantile twink definitely fulfills a very classic yaoi fantasy and I understand why it exists, but at that point it's so disconnected from source it feels like a wade wilson/oc work that's been telephoned across the expanse of the fandom degrading Peter's core character further with every new iteration.

9. worst part of canon

I've said this once, I've said this a thousand times, but the ableism that exists within the comic universe to the degree that everyone that sees Wade and his scars reacts like it's the worst thing they've ever seen is not only unrealistic but also weird in canon context.

1) this is a world that has mutants, aliens, and meta-species and many canon characters have mutations or species traits that go outside the norm and they don't receive the same level of universal disgust

2) disability education! mutant rights are marvel's talking point for real world racism/ableism so why can mutants who are made of stone get humane treatment from fellow mutants but wade...does not? it's weird? it doesn't make any sense?

3) he literally does not look that bad (this is depending on author/artist. I saw someone say once that there are three Wades, horror Wade, action Wade, and romance Wade and depending on the comic plot line, his scars get worse to better respectively.) As someone who writes for this fandom I can confirm that there are many people who are attracted to Wade Wilson lol. It just does not. Make. Sense. To. Me. It's just ableism, plain and simple.

It just really bothers me. I really think comics are so based on conventional standards (I.E. every superhero is traditionally beautiful, body diversity doesn't exist, etc.) that when a character like Wade exists who is not conventional but still fits the body standards + the base of G.I. Joe it just doesn't make sense that he would receive the level of blatant ableism from every person he ever interacts with. I think he would get more! Is it what I'm saying.

10. worst part of fanon

I mean, where do we really start. (It's the babygirlification of Wade Wilson) it makes writing any level of nuance in their relationship very one-sided because you know the fans will literally agree with anything Wade does and contrast it with degrading and dehumanizing anything Peter does. Wade's actions are always justifiable because (vague hand wave in the direction of the babygirlification of serial killers) I think it bothers me so much because there are two people in this relationship and one of them is a canonical serial killer and one of them is a weird guy with a bad personality. I think they both suck, but if only one of them gets flack then it really makes the entire concept of them profoundly unfun.

[compassmili]

Thea: 🩹🍎💔😊

🩹 ADHESIVE BANDAGE — does your oc have any physical and/or mental disabilities?

She's fine for the most part? Nothing wrong with her physically, and she does have a lot of mental issues going on, but that can just be attributed to the fact they're Greek (Light hearted half joke. But anyways, he just masks all of his "disordered" behavior.)

🍎 RED APPLE — where was your oc born? do they still live in/around their place of birth or do they live somewhere else? how do they feel about their birthplace?

I know she was born in the Backstreets, I just don't know exactly which District... Definitely one of the more wealthy ones, though, which only makes her hatred of the upper class more extreme, since he was forced to do so much shit to survive while the Nest citizens would've never struggled a day in their lives... Dorothea did eventually get out of the Backstreets when she was around 12, being taken in and essentially adopted by a Nest citizen. Thea has mixed feelings on his hometown. He hates it because they hate everything this world is, but also does miss it at times because it's the only place bliss could sing and exist for herself, rather than for others.

💔 BROKEN HEART — what are three of your oc’s negative traits?

OH HE'S A MAJOR FUCKING LIAR AND MASSIVELY MANIPULATIVE. Also just incredibly pessimistic and bitter.

😊 SMILING FACE WITH SMILING EYES — what are your oc’s career/general life desires? what do they want to get the most out of life?

All hum cares about is securing a safe future for himself, no matter what that means or what it takes. Anything to survive. Anything to never go back to the Backstreets. Anything to never have to grovel in front of others and beg for anything ever again. It doesn't matter if she's unhappy, she'll always be unhappy. That's what Backstreets rats are born to be. But at least she'll stay alive.

[bubblegum-girlfriend]

thoughts no prayers

am I depressed?

I don't even know if that's the correct way to start this post, but tbh I don't think I can find another way to start my digging into my thoughts. if I haven’t been clear my mind is a complete mess, I guess someone could tell by the amount of posts asking myself if I'm crazy or just spiraling into my downfall.

I think the spiraling into my downfall might be the most accurate description of the amount of feelings I been experiencing during this pasts weeks since I began my pre-university journey and I haven't been this stress and at the same time uninterested in something in my life. it's the thought of having to get my driver's license in less than two weeks, then drive for like half hour just to go to my university and spent hours going around like a lost puppy dog because of course I don't know anyone that could magically transport me into my classes and also the thought of just everything new that's coming to my life makes my stomach boil in himself and my brain get completely shut down.

the thoughts of my, and i wouldn't even be surprise, deteriorated mental health constantly get through me. I cannot form a single coherent thought that doesn't involve the worst traits and moments of myself.

when it happens I mostly end up burring myself into my sheets with the thought of my own voice shouting me my worst and darkest desires of hurting myself. what's wrong with me? seriously I constantly ask this question in every life recap, but I think there's not other sentence that can describe this empty hole that slowly burns my chest while also letting my brain know that it's slowly losing the fight against all this emptiness and sickness my soul it's getting contaminated with.

I haven't been able to learn anything from my driving lessons.

could i have some type of learning disability? for a long time I guess I been thinking that. I'm not an idiot, or at least my academic records doesn't show any signs of me being mentally slow or something. but then I think, why I haven't been able to do a lot better? am I really that dumb?

I don't understand. I do my best and it's never enough, because it never seems that I'm giving enough. like being fr even I don't believe all the effort I so said I put into.

i spaced out. my brain fogged itself. continue later.

[idkimnotreal]

maybe a very unpopular opinion, i do find myself becoming more conservative as i age into my 20s (or grow, i don't know if i'm aging yet?).

i think nonbinary people have some traits of narcissism. it's about thinking you're more important than other people. like thinking you have any right to demand being called some other pronoun because you feel slightly different. i believe some transgender people are right to feel the way they feel, because i don't think i have a right to tell them anything about themselves more than them. but i also believe transgender identity should only be considered when there is disrupting (in any degree, but disrupting) gender dysphoria in the person's life.

like, there's a lot of discussion over whether people couldn't just be feminine/masculine men or women rather than trans people? and i think when there is gender dysphoria, that's not correct, you should transition if you have experienced that for a certain length of time without interruption (say, a few years). but i think nonbinary identity is a grey area because you could theoretically just be cis and dress differently and still be cis. it's a matter of semantics - language rather than things. it's like it doesn't matter.

i'm a very reserved and discreet person and i can't see myself demanding to be treated a certain way from people in any case. i'm autistic and i'm very, very reluctant to tell that to people in order to ask for anything. in brazil, we have special seats on the bus that certain groups of people can use, including autistic people (and pregnant women, seniors, disabled people). most people don't respect that and just use them anyway. i never do, and i could. i think, hey - maybe someone needs it more than i do. i do my very best to hold things until i'm about to burst and then i ask people for something using the "autism card". because i don't think i have a right to disrupt people's lives over my own suffering. to cause them to suffer, even if slightly, because i don't want to suffer. it's a tradeoff and i don't think mine is worth more than theirs.

that's what sounds odd to me about nonbinary people. it's the assumption that feeling that way is enough for you to be noteworthy. it's not. please understand that people don't hate you because they get your pronouns wrong because you look like a man or a woman. if you ask me to, i will use whatever you want (i feel like asking for pronouns first is more scripted interaction that i don't need, and gender expression has a purpose; if you're very androgynous i'll ask first because i have a reason). it's just that, most of the time, i don't think it would end there and most nb people would keep making demands to be treated right. it's a toxic vibe.

i'm very interested in some psychological/psychiactric disorders and cluster b disorders are some of them. maybe i'm wrong, but i intuitively see a lot of overlap between "that part" of the left and narcissism. it's all me, me, me. why do you want to be so special? i could never think of myself like that. you know, maybe i envy you. but i still couldn't.

(brazil has universal and free public healthcare that offers gender transition service. i'm in favour of the maintenance of this policy and i'd also like for it to be benefitted whenever the system receives larger funding. i'd bet more than half of brazilians wouldn't approve of the system even offering this service at all, if they knew about it, which most people don't as it doesn't concern them. but this fits in my view about transgender identity being about gender dysphoria. it's an actual issue people go through that affects and disrupts their lives and, when the only solution has been proven to be transitioning, then we should help those people transition. medicine is about alleviating suffering, mental or physical. but gender dysphoria is a condition, like autism is. i don't pretend that it isn't, and it makes me uncomfortable that some people today think that autism is an identity first instead of an identity through lived experience, like being gay; this is the same kind of thinking that prevails with nonbinary gender, that it's an issue of identity rather than a condition or a trait that results in a distinct identity because one stands out)

[maroonghoul]

Ranking of all the Christmas Horror Movies I’ve seen (as of 2023)

Updated for some new movies I watched this year:

36.Alien Raiders

35.Anna & the Apocalypse

34.Better Watch Out

33.Good Tidings

32.The Wolf of Snow Hollow

31.Jack Frost

30.I Trapped the Devil And this is why you never do surprise visits. Either that or call ahead and touch base long beforehand. It was a bit interesting that the ambiguity of whether it was actually anything supernatural went out sooner then I expected. Then again, if the devil can't keep lying to you, messing with your head would be his plan B. Of course, that means this had to be 90% atmosphere. How much you want to bet he could've easily left the whole time; this was just more fun?

29.Slay Belles

28.P2 Actually a bit similar to Better Watch Out, and while that one looks better visually, I rank this one higher because I believed this villain felt a little more like a real person. Lately, villains that are both masterminds and immature man-children disinterest me, because I can't reconcile those two traits in my head these days. I have a easier time if it's one or the other. Plus, maybe the grungier surrounding felt more appropriate because a too whimsical approach to this "Men are afraid that women will laugh at them. Women are afraid that men will kill them" just rubs the wrong way.

That being said, yeah this location loses some of it's scare factor when it becomes monotonous and hard to navigate. I would've appreciate just a little more variety in the locations used I guess. The use of music is nice at least. Also appreciated how bloody the kills are.

27.The Advent Calendar While the gimmick itself seems to be the only link, I liked the idea of tying "Be careful what you wished for" horror stories to Christmas. Blame George Bailey.

That being said, there's an argument that the conceit of the main character is rather ableist. I can roll with it this time since her previous job and passion, dancing, heavily depended on having working legs, so it's easier to buy. For once, I'd like more disabled characters whose job and hobbies DON'T require it and so can visibly cope. It's getting frustrating.

I did love how open ended they left it. Sometimes, there being a choice at all is more important for a story then what the characters actually chose. Kinda don't want a sequel because of it.

26.Cronos To be honest, this would've actually ranked much higher if it used more iconography. Hell, it becomes New Years halfway through. I get why it's invoked though. It's interesting to go back to the start of Del Toro's career, with one of the most unique vampire movies I've ever seen.

In most body horror set ups like this, Gris would become the main threat, instead of remaining the victim pretty much throughout. I don't think he even kills anyone for their blood.

Vampires are at their most interesting, as a concept and as characters, when they're always in control of their choices, good and bad. Otherwise, why not pick zombies or werewolves?

It's pretty amazing that right out the gate, Del Toro took arguably the most popular monster type of all time, and likened it to a gentle grandparent. Great tone setter for his whole filmography, in hindsight.

25.All the Creatures were Stirring

24.Sint

23.The Lodge

22.Black Christmas (2019)

21.Body

20.Red Snow Yet another Vampire Christmas movie. This time, with a reality check that most of them would be arseholes. Not necessarily wild beasts. That would almost be an improvement.

The movie also keeps you guessing over what side Luke would fall to in the end. Given the way the actor plays it like even he doesn't seem to know is a good touch. And his feedback on the book's characters; snipes at the tropes or his own insecurity? You tell me.

Poor Olivia thought she was getting her own version of Twilight, and instead got Blade by way of Fargo. That sentence is utter nonsense without the context. I would say I want to see a show or movie like that, but I could probably get that fix by just catching up on What We Do in The Shadows. Not that this is anything like that though.

Remember, vampires aren't evil because they're not human at all. They're evil because they kept the worst parts of being human.

19.Pooka Went in thinking tis would be an update of Christmas Evil, but it's more like a Xmas-themed Angel Heart. An obvious commentary on how soul draining working heavily in consumerism can be, masking how bad and traumatized people can do mental gymnastics to avoid the hard truth about their mistakes. Literally, the worst possible Christmas I've seen that didn't have a typical killer. Of course, that twist ending reminds me of...

18.Dead End

17.Black Friday (2021) Also works as a Thanksgiving movie. Anyone's whose worked in a place that affected by Black Friday or Christmas shopping in general FEELS this movie in their bones. Even before the zombies show up. This is why I stay indoors or at work during these days. Sure, the titular day means less and less every year, but let's continue the trend.

16.Silent Night (2012)

15.It's a Wonderful Knife Remake a holiday classic, but make George Bailey a lesbian and Mr. Potter a low rent Trump (Oh god, is that saying a lot!) that gets so fed up that he goes on a killing spree dressed in what would happen if Ghostface bleached his entire costume? Sure, why not. Give the killer Santas a break. And you get to kill him twice.

Although, that third act superpower makes absolutely no sense. I get that it's meant to secure a few plot points together, but...just no. Seriously, where did it even come from? Also, even though how the love interest remembers it is making my head spin. Not how she remembers, but if she remembers both timelines. What problems would come if she only remembers one? And Joel McHale is way too good playing a prick then as a loving dad, I'm sorry. Community has ruined me for him.

Like the subtext of it all though. The messaging, I mean. Y'know given the fiasco going on lately behind the scenes with Scream VII, maybe I'll just pretend this is the real Scream VII. We'll see.

14.Wind Chill

13.Christmas Bloody Christmas

12.Santa's Slay

11.The Children

10.Rare Exports

9.A Christmas Horror Story

8.Day of the Beast Was this meant as a parody of every catholic horror movie released the past 30 years before it? It skewered them good! Pleas tell me the antichrist was fake in this and what we had was one of the insane yet friendliest rampages committed to film! It even has a Peter Vincent clone that keeps getting worse and worse things happening to him! I'd just preferred it was more visibly blasphemous.

7.Deadly Games

6.Silent Night (2021) Surprised? Maybe it's here because I over thought how the significance of the holiday tied in with the apocalypse in this movie. I'm sure if you went back far enough in history, hundreds or thousands of years ago, anytime winter rolled around seemed apocalyptic to people. Of course, mostly to the lower classes. And now with a hypothetical scenario that can feel as bad as those times must have felt, rather then actually tough it out or try to learn from, the government and the upper class jump to take the cowards way out. A little Poe, isn't it?

Cue one of the more depressing then maybe hopeful endings to one of these movies. (Depends to how you react to the very last shot and believe about the plot point concerning the homeless and immigrants)

5.Christmas Evil

4.Krampus

3.Scrooged

2.Black Christmas (1974)

1.Gremlins

[anistarrose]

Hey Anon! I've actually been meaning to make a post of my own about this for Disability Pride Month, but I'm happy to post a fanart-centric version here! There's no universally accepted "perfect" way to write IDs, and no universally perfect level of detail to include, but here are some starting points:

Basic intro, slightly emphasizing fanart (OP's blog has tons of described fanart if you want to learn by example)

Another intro, for more general topics with fanart included (and misc. examples linked)

Guide for describing art in general, from the Cooper-Hewitt museum (some of these examples get slightly longer than I would advise for most simple fanart, and it's generally geared towards describing art created by someone else, but it's a good read nonetheless)

One thing I strongly suggest is to be consistent about what features you describe — for example, with respect to skin tone, hair texture, body type, etc, you generally want to do it either all the time or none of the type, so not to risk implying that any one type of the above is the "default" to be presumed when no info is given.

That said, there's also variability here in terms of what you're describing: if you're describing art of animated, comic, etc, characters that have consistent canon designs that you're adhering to, you might reasonably decide you need less overall detail about character design in your descriptions.

On the other hand, if you're describing characters from books, podcasts, or anything else that sparks a lot of different fan designs, then details like skin tone might be more important — likewise, if the character has a canon design but you're departing from it a lot, that could be worth specifying.

(You'll notice that when I describe The Adventure Zone, I try to always indicate skin tone/body type, but when I describe Gravity Falls/The Owl House, I rarely do unless it's a departure from canon. Different people will do this differently, though, and that doesn't mean anyone is objectively wrong.)

On that note, when I'm describing fanart, I run through a mental heuristic that's a little different depending on fandom (for reasons related to the above), but basically I try to address the following, in flexible but approximate order:

characters

source material

mood and, if applicable, prominent colors

(see: "Blind People Still Like to Know About Color")

character design traits like those mentioned above

if applicable, dialogue/other text

background (though sometimes I admittedly forget this one, and sometimes simple backgrounds can be rolled into mood/color)

In terms of formatting: stuff like italics, caps lock, and tumblr's small text can be difficult for screen readers, so it's best to avoid them. Don't add jokes or subjective judgements like "cute" or "ugly," but do indicate where the ID starts and ends, and do add occasional line breaks to keep the image from becoming a wall of text.

(The reason for that last part is that sometimes people with trouble interpreting images, and people who are low vision but don't necessarily use screen readers, will read IDs for help with some or all of an image, and walls of text aren't super accessible in that regard.)

I also very recently joined the People's Accessibility Discord server, which helps crowdsource IDs, including for fanart! If you're getting started, you could always ask for help in there.

Lastly, I just want to give two more links that aren't necessarily related to fanart, but are just all-around useful: this guide for describing screenshotted tags, and this document full of templates for describing common memes!

Your desire to make your art more accessible is super appreciated, Anon, and I want to assure you that artist describing your own work, you're already at a great starting point to write some wonderful descriptions! You know better than anyone else what the important details of your work are, what expressions and emotions the characters are conveying, and the mood it's setting — and for all those reasons, I love seeing more artist-described stuff!

sorry if you'd already been asked this/aren't the person I should go for for this, but any tips for writing image IDs for fanart? I want to make my work more accessible but I'm not fully sure what's helpful and what's unnessasary/overkill/actually makes the experience worse.

I am by no means an expert at this (and often, regrettably forget to add image IDs/alt to my own posts, though I am working to be more consistent.)

@anistarrose has a great list of resources on this here! I have found the links on that page to be a great starting point.

[meanautisticenbian]

Fuck it, I'm gonna dissect all the bullshit in that one Lilith post bit by bit

TW// Lilith hate, victim blaming, abuse, cult mention, ableism towards Autistic people, sexualization of minors (briefly mentioned)

I'll be putting my text in bold just in case it's hard to distinguish between the pictures and my commentary

Here's the post I'm referring to in case you're curious

Moving on and starting with this bit

People pay attention to Eda all the damn time, she's literally one of the main characters. Funny how you only mention tik tok and nothing else. Is that the only other social media you have? Because fans on different social media platforms act much differently; on IG and Reddit stuff like the sexualization of minors and fucking ODALIA AND ALADOR STANS are normalized, where everywhere else it's pretty much universally agreed that that stuff is bad. I don't know a lot about what toh Tik Tok is like just because I don't usually go on tik tok, but even if it is like this, it's not the same for the rest of the fandom. A lot of the fandom still hates Lilith and blames her for her abuse and not being able to leave

You say that like she's a bad person, she's really not. The curse she placed on Eda wasn't intended to be permanent and probably wasn't even supposed to take the effects that it did. She was most likely scammed. I mean look at how she reacts when Eda transforms for the first time. She also feels guilty enough about it to throw herself into an abusive situation and spend almost her whole life trying to make up for it. Lastly, yes she hurt Luz, but let's not forget that Belos threatened her life upon Eda's capture and Lilith was running out of time and had no other option. Obviously what she did was wrong but she's not the real monster here.

"I do like Lilith" this entire essay says otherwise.

Literally none of us ignore any of the bad shit she's done, stop lying about us.

Yes, Lilith did mock her for her curse, which was messed up, but we don't actually know for sure if the curse is basically canonically a disability in that world, so if that's the case then for now it's technically not ableism until we get confirmation otherwise.

"it was an accident and I forgive Lilith" no you fucking don't. First of all this entire essay is you talking about how evil you think she is and secondly, if it really was as bad as you view it, you wouldn't be that forgiving.

Ah yes the victim blaming, the one thing that almost everyone does to Lilith and barely anyone talks about.

There is literally not a single Lilith stan out there who blames Eda for getting cursed. You're just mad that your victim blaming towards Lilith got called out so you silence us by lying about how we do the same thing to Eda.

No one is making Eda out to be the villain either, the only example I can find of this is a few fanfics where she treats Lilith a lot more harshly than she should, and even then, scenes like that are written in a positive light as if you're supposed to be on Eda's side, so with that in mind, the writers of these fics are clearly not even Lilith stans. In terms of how actual stans treat Eda, the worst they do is make her slightly ignorant of Lilith's trauma, kinda like the fandom, minus the "slightly", until she grows as a character and learns to see the red flags. If that's the problem you're talking about, then breaking news: Eda's not perfect either. She has flaws too just like literally everyone else in the show and people are allowed to write about them

Tell me the truth: are people making playlists for Lilith that include a lot of sad and angry songs because she's not a happy person anyway so there wouldn't be a point in having any happy songs, or are they making "trauma" playlists? There's a difference

I'm sorry, are you trying to tell me that people recognizing Lilith's trauma is victim blaming Eda? That's not how it works sweetycakes

There is far more Eda angst out there than there is for Lilith, where are you finding so much Lilith angst? LILITH is the one who's traumas are being ignored while Eda's gets all the attention. You're acting like one of those white cis gays on twitter who see black people talking about the anti blackness they experience daily and accuse them of being homophobic because "there is so much homophobia in the world and they still manage to make it all about race".

No one is saying that Lilith has worse trauma, we're only saying that her's is also severe and that it definitely exists. Also funny how you're allowed to be mad at us for comparing Lilith and Eda's trauma (once again lying about us), then you go on to do the exact same thing and say that EDA'S trauma is worse. Even if, hypothetically speaking, Eda did have it worse, that doesn't mean Lilith doesn't have the right to be traumatized. Both of them have trauma, both should be recognized. Also, Lilith had far more going on in her life than just the guilt of her actions, she was was implied to have been psychologically and maybe physically abused, and was probably even tortured. Stop ignoring all the red flags and condemn the actual abuser (Belos) before you criticize anything the abused (Lilith) has done.

We're not making everything about Lilith, like shut up.

Please don't say that autistic people "have autism", it implies that it's something that can be removed from us. For example: you don't say "a person with blackness" when referring to black people or "a woman with homosexuality" when referring to Lesbians.

Oh yeah I'm also autistic so here are MY thoughts

Amity and Lilith are not antagonists anymore, hcing them as Autistic is not villainizing autism.

The autistic Lilith headcanon was made by autistic fans, allistics only latched onto it because they either wanted to be supportive or they saw that she actually had a lot of autistic traits

You're not the only autistic person alive, just because you're not like Lilith or Amity doesn't mean none of us are or they're not autistic. I mean, I know I am

You're not fun or funny

"not all Autistic people are like this" remember that line, dear readers

Actually, I prefer the autistic villain trope MUCH more than the grown ass autistic adult that acts like a five year old trope. At least we'd have less stereotypes associated with us.

Autism is not supposed to be portrayed in only fun and happy characters, that is literally the epitome of stereotyping and infantilizing. You literally just said that not all autistic people are the same, doesn't this count as being all the same? Does this mean I don't exist anymore? Am I just not autistic? Are you even aware that a flat affect or monotone voice is literally a very common autistic trait? You can't just say that we're stereotyping autistics and then just go on to stereotype us, like what the fuck are you even on? Is it only ok when you do it?

Amity is not edgy for fuck's sake

Literally no one is headcanoning Lilith or Amity as autistic because they're mean, we headcanon them as autistic because they actually show traits of it

Oh, our harmless headcanons are making you feel uncomfortable because they don't fit into the stereotypes you made up about us? Good to know our plan is working I guess

Last thing I wanna say regarding this post as a whole: why are you acting like liking Lilith and feeling sympathy for her is a bad thing? If you find this then don't say "I don't think that's a bad thing", answer HONESTLY

Well that's all I have for now, thank you for reading, I need to go to bed soon

[lunannex]

Character Design of Latinos 

by a Latina who is tired of y'all not doing your research.

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First of all, please keep in mind that I don't speak for anyone but myself. You should never stop at just one source of information, and I would honestly really advise you to listen to other Latinos —especially other Latinos of color— to hear their thoughts and perspectives as well. And second, please remember that Latino is not a race! I can't believe I even have to say this, but the term refers to anyone who is from Latin American or who has Latin American heritage or descent and should never be referenced as a race. Alright, now that that's out of the way, let's dive right into it!

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People don't seem to realize that Latinos can come in all shapes, colors and sizes. People like Sofia Vergara and Michael Peña shouldn't be your only source of reference when trying to figure out what you want your character to look like. As I mentioned here, Latinos are diverse not just in our cultures but also in our appearances and, contrary to popular belief, we're not a monolith of people that all look alike. Latin Americans, just like every other ethnic group, have an incredible amount of genetic diversity.

Don't believe me? Just look at all these people:

Now, what do they have in common? They're all Latinos. See how they all have different skin tones, facial structures, hair textures and body types? Yeah, they don't look the same to me.

A character's design can reflect their personality and give the audience a good idea of who they are as people. And just as whatever languages a Latino does or doesn't know shouldn't invalidate their identity, neither should their appearance.

The thing about character design when it comes to marginalized groups is that it goes hand-in-hand with all the stereotypes that are constantly perpetuated. 

Why are Afro-Latinos only portrayed as maids, nannies or drug dealers? Why are the Latinos that look like Michael Peña portrayed as violent or lazy? Why are they always the comedic relief, immigrants or people with a lower-class status? Why are the Latinas that look like Sofia Vergara and JLo portrayed as spicy and exotic mistresses? I mean, we obviously know why, but I'm just saying, if that's what you think all Latinos are like then you are in desperate need of a wake up call.

There's this huge misunderstanding of the Latino identity. The misconception that we all have the same tanned skin tone, the same facial structures, body types, hair textures, personalities, etc. when that's...really not the case. Society has taught a lot of people that if our appearances don't fit in with this unrealistic ideal they have of us, our identities are therefore invalidated. And this misconception causes Black, Indigenous and Mixed Latinos to be underrepresented or entirely dismissed in media and society in general more often than not. 

I want to add that while white Latinos' identities do get invalidated from time to time as well —I say this because one of my best friends is a white Latino but since he's, well, white, some people don't seem to believe him and just seem to think that he's joking—, it's not nearly to the same extent as the types of Latinos that I mentioned beforehand do. White Latinos still hold a lot of privilege in society despite this.

Also just an important note that you should keep in mind and take into consideration: just because a Latino is white doesn't mean that they don't or can't have features that are more frequently associated with their ethnicity.

It's alright to portray light-skinned Latinos. Like I said, we're very diverse. But you have to question your reason for making the character have that skin color. Remember, you are the creator. You're the one in control of all these decisions and if all of your characters are portrayed as light-skinned people then you really have to take a step back and reevaluate your decisions because that right there sounds a lot like colorism. 

When you say you want more Latino representation, you should be referring to all kinds of Latinos. You shouldn't just mean the ones that you and the rest of society consider acceptable. And no, it's not exactly your responsibility to create diverse characters, but if you're preaching about diversity and sitting on your high horse then I sure do hope that you're willing to actually do something about it. Performative activism is harmful and, at the end of the day, does absolutely nothing if you're not willing to put the work into it.

Additionally, don't be afraid of implementing aspects of their culture into their design. Let them be proud of their culture, let them engage in it. However! Please don't take this as an excuse to center their entire personality around their culture. You may think you're doing something when, really, you aren't. You're just feeding into all the harmful stereotypes and not making any actual effort to add real depth to your character (looking at all the people that make celebrating Día de los Muertos, eating tacos, and liking "Gasolina" and "Despacito" their character's only defining personality traits).

Personally, I would love to see more of the following:

• A thin-lipped and curly-haired Latina.

• A Latino with freckles. This one may seem strange but most of the time I just see Latinos with moles, not that there's anything wrong with that (I have a lot of them myself), but it'd be nice to see some variation.

• For a Latina to be considered beautiful without being fetishized and objectified.

• A Latino who doesn't fit the "sexy macho" stereotype to be considered desirable.

• More LGBTQ+ Latinos, especially ones who are POC.

• Black, Indigenous, Asian and Mixed Latinos.

• Disabled Latinos.

• Jewish Latinos.

• Muslim Latinos.

• Latinos with different body types.

• Soft-spoken Latinos.

• Successful Latinos who are well-off.

• Latinos who are allowed to be emotionally vulnerable.

• Latinos with complex storylines and realistic flaws.

• Latinos at the center of the story instead of just existing in the background for the sake of "diversity".

• Just more positive and diverse representation overall.

There's not enough positive portrayals out there of us, and it's exhausting having to sit back and watch as my people get portrayed so negatively. Am I saying that there's no good representation out there for us? No, there absolutely is good representation (ex. In The Heights, On My Block, One Day at a Time, Coco, Miles Morales, Luz Noceda from The Owl House, the Molina family from Julie and the Phantoms, etc.), but that doesn't take away from the fact that a lot of the representation that we have throughout all types of media is, for a lack of better word, bad.

And you can't just say, "Oh, but at least you have representation, can't you be at least a little grateful? Why are you complaining so much?" because you don't get to decide what people are and aren't allowed to be upset about. Despite the positive representation that exists out there, it tends to be overshadowed seeing as a lot of people still view us through this negative lense that they've consistently been told to believe is true when it's really not.

All types of Latinos deserve to be represented in a positive light. So make sure the character you're portraying feels like an actual person as opposed to an offensive one-dimensional caricature because sometimes having bad representation is worse than having no representation at all.

[stitch1830]

Heyy, how are you? Sorry if I'm annoying you I just want to give a little bit of my opinion about Toph as a mother.

I personally think that Lok did something very weird with their character and how they portrayed her as mother because it's difficult for me to believe that Toph would be the kind of mother to let her kids do whatever they want AND not pay enough attention to them. Like the whole issue with her parents is that they treated her like she was helpless, they didn't pay attention to her and they ignored what she wanted. So I personally don't see why Toph would do the same to her kids, like why would she kind of ignore them by not being very present and attentive.

I belive that Toph would be an amazing mother. With flaws of course, because no one is perfect.

I hope I made myself understandable, English is not my first language and it's difficult for me to express what I think even in my own language.

Btw I love your hcs and the way you think :E

Hi Anon, I’m doing well thank you for asking, and thanks for the ask! I hope all is well with you.

And not to worry! You’re not annoying me :)

First off, I love your thoughts and opinions on Toph as a mother when it comes to LOK. You are right, I too feel that her characterization is a bit off, and I’ve talked only briefly on my thoughts about this as well. I see what the writers were trying to do, but it doesn’t really come off right if we consider Toph’s background and her issues with her parents, as well as her overall characterization.

Like, Toph Beifong is one of the most observant people in the ATLA universe. She understands what people need, she can pick up on changes in mood and tell when people are lying, and she waits and listens on the other person to move to decide what her next move will be. Toph is one of those characters that other members of the Gaang open up to, and she picks up on things pretty fast for a kid.

So why would those traits/tendencies not carry over when she taking care of her kids?

Toph’s seismic sense would most likely alert her and she would know if something was upsetting Lin or Suyin, even if they didn’t say anything to her. And sure, she’s prideful, but that’s never stopped her from asking for someone’s help in the Gaang (one scene that comes to mind is when she asks Katara to correspond with her parents). She’d obviously prefer to handle things on her own, but there have been times where she does admit to fault. So it would make more sense to me if she notices the change in her kid’s mood, try and figure out what’s wrong on her own, and if that didn’t work, turn to others.

And you’re right, ‘abandoning’ her kids would not be a flaw in Toph’s parenting style. You said it—she was neglected and not seen as her true self with her parents, and that led to the strained relationship. I think it’s safe to say that she would want to do the opposite of what her parents did to raise her, and the main point in Lao and Poppy’s parenting failures was that they only saw Toph as their tiny disabled child. So, not understanding her kids wants and needs doesn’t seem right. She reads people and observes their tendencies to get to know them, and that’s how she determines how to handle a situation.

So, if Lin came stomping home one day frustrated about something, I don’t think Toph’s instinct would be “Eh she’ll figure it out, she needs freedom.” I feel like it would be more like “Okay, is Lin sad? Upset? Angry? What does she need next in order to feel better?” And maybe her execution is flawed, but I think at the very least, Toph would ask her kids what is wrong and try and determine what they need to feel better. Maybe it’s a moment to themselves, maybe it’s a conversation, maybe it’s just comfort. But she would need to ask, and then wait for a reaction to determine her next move.

I struggle to come up with an actual parenting flaw with her sometimes, only because I love her character and like the idea of her being this amazing single mom and having a family that breaks the entertainment stereotype of “If it isn’t a nuclear family, it’s gotta look broken.” I guess one that comes to mind would be that she waits and listens too much… if that makes sense. Like, if Lin or Suyin don’t react or respond in a way that engages them with Toph, maybe she wouldn’t push the conversation further. Parenting does take initiative on the parent’s end when it comes to conflict and problems, and I think for those situations, Toph would rely on her earthbending tendencies and wait for the problem to approach her, and then she’d face it head on. An example I can think of is that Lin would prefer if her mother came to her about stuff, especially praise, and maybe since that’s not something Lin would explicitly state or something that Toph can feel, that need would go unnoticed if that makes sense.

Those are my thoughts, hopefully they make sense! And I agree with you, sometimes it’s just so hard to convey feelings and opinions into writing. Lol and I’m sure my thoughts are flawed just because I love Toph’s character so much, but I think she would be an awesome parent, and it’s a shame we don’t get to see that. I do enjoy reading metas about why Toph was portrayed as a bad parent, it helps give me some perspective on character creation and what makes them dynamic. But in my purely self-indulgent ATLA world, Toph ROCKS (pun intended) and she’s a great parent we take for GRANITE (okay I’m done now lmao).

Thank you again for the ask, and the kind words! I’m glad someone out there also likes my HC’s and thoughts lol! Feel free to send in more asks; I especially love a good question/HC about Taang, Zutara, or Sukka lol (also I'm off work today, what else am I gonna do haha).

Hope you have a great day :)