#and that is without acknowledging the people that make him to be a bigot those deserve the death penalty straight up

[the-acid-pear]

Said this on my liveblog but I gotta say this here too, the way Berdly's crush on Susie is handled is, so fucking good. So much so it upsets me how the fandom treats it, because from Berdly's pov it's so damn genuine... So much so he's SHY about it gamer teen experiences crush for the first time and is crushed and humbled by it. Like there's something so funny and cute about Susie accidentally making these two nerds go thru a whole character arc by virtue of being hot and THE WHOLE TIME she doesn't fully realize that's what's going on. I just honestly love it and I love Berdly so much ....

[sakuralovespossums]

JJK Teachers x Autistic Student Reader (Platonic)

Satoru Gojo 🩵

It’s obvious that jujutsu society still lives by old fashioned and bigoted ideals (ie. hating women and non-sorcerers) so it wouldn’t surprise me if they were also ableist.

As a result, it can be pretty challenging being a neurodivergent sorcerer student without options for accommodations or counseling, as if being a sorcerer student itself wasn’t hard enough.

Still, you tried your best to mask your autism and keep up with your peers the best you could.

This didn’t go unnoticed by Gojo though (the guy sees through everything, c’mon)

He would quickly take notice of your behavior and habits (stimming, disassociation, difficulty grasping social queues)

He suspects that you may be on the spectrum and looks into your student files to confirm. Once he’s proven right, he decides to do some research on it himself so that he can better understand and help you.

One day after class, Gojo calls you to stay for a minute so you guys can talk.

“Hey y/n! Mind if we chat for a bit? It’ll only be a minute!”

You feel nervous as you walk towards him, hoping you didn’t do anything wrong.

“Listen, I know we’re not exactly in the same boat, but I know what it’s like to mask around others all the time.” He says while pulling his eye mask.

He tells you he gets feeling different from everyone and having to put on a persona to make them like you.

“Just know that you don’t have to wear it around me. I’m your teacher and I wanna get to know the real y/n. Course, it’s up to you though. I’m not pushing.”

He then tells you that he’ll make the accommodations you need to help make your classroom experience less stressful.

And if any of those old geazers complain about it, they’ll have to take it to him.

You don’t even realize you’re crying until he hands you a napkin with your favorite character printed on it.

It’s a gift he got for you from his recent mission.

You happily accept it and wipe your tears away before embracing him in a tight hug. He returns the hug with one arm as he looks down at you with a genuine smile.

He’s glad he could reach out to you and make you feel safe around him.

Since then, Gojo takes more note of your autism and accommodates to it however he can.

You’d think he wouldn’t care with how……insensitive he can be, but he does acknowledge the impact mental health can have on people. He couldn’t be there for Suguru, but he’ll try to be there for you.

He asks you what kind of foods you like/don’t like before he leaves for his missions, so that he knows what kind of snacks to bring back for you.

Makes sure you understand the instructions and materials in class. He’ll check on you privately, just in case you don’t want him asking you in front of the other students.

Will still make you the butt of some of his jokes (but it’s never to make fun of your autism).

He just finds your difficulty with grasping his sarcastic humor too good an opportunity to not poke fun at.

Can still come off as insensitive sometimes (it’s Gojo) but is trying his best. Just let him know when he’s said/done something to upset you and he’ll stop.

Sometimes when it’s just you two, he’ll listen to you explain your current special interests.

Imagine him listening to you talk about your favorite show on the phone while fighting a special grade curse.

“Mmhmm, yeah? Hold on a sec y/n.” He finishes killing off the giant curse in front of him. “Sorry about that, you were saying?”

He knows what it’s like to be easily overstimulated since his six eyes enhance all his senses. He also gets migraines a lot because of it, just like you.

If you have/had a Digimon hyper fixation, you’re his #1 student now. He will test you on your Digimon knowledge. You’ll both get lost in back-and-forth conversations about the lore, show, and games. If he deems you a worthy fan, he’ll even let you play his old Digimon games.

The highest form of honor you could receive from him.

When you and your class are out in town and enter a crowded area, if you feel extremely overwhelmed, Gojo will teleport you out of there to a place with less people.

Either that or he’ll grab you and turn on his infinity, giving you space from the bumping crowd of bodies around you.

If you’re going through a burnout and need to be away from people for a bit, he’ll understand and probably leave a candy outside your door.

He knows you need extra help and accommodations with your disability, but he never treats you differently from his other students and knows you’re tough enough to handle whatever’s thrown at you.

You are a sorcerer, after all.

He wants to guide the next generation of stronger sorcerers where no one gets left behind, including those like you.

“Gojo-sensei, why are you staring at that corner?”

“Just trying to figure out why you’re always staring at it during class. What makes it more interesting than me?”

“Sensei!!”

:))

Nanami Kento 🥖

He also quickly notices your autism and makes sure you feel comfortable unmasking around him.

He does NOT tolerate discrimination/unfair treatment of any kind towards people based on their disabilities.

I imagine one of his coworkers at his old accounting job was on the spectrum and understood how challenging it could be for them. So he would try to help them however he could.

Because of this, he has more personal experience under his belt to better understand how to work with you.

He thinks it’s shit how a lot of society and the education system (both in and out of jujutsu society) are so unaccommodating to people with physical/mental health needs.

If you have a hyper fixation with bread and/or cooking, he’ll gladly listen to you talk about it however long you want while donning his usual stoic expression.

Don’t worry, he’s not bored or annoyed. As a fellow culinary lover himself, he’s genuinely interested in listening to you talk and will engage in the conversation.

The way you enthusiastically talk about your interests reminds him a bit of Haibara.

He admires your attention to detail and strong sense of empathy towards people, animals, and inanimate objects.

His low voice is very calming to you.

If you follow a specific schedule and/or organized, he’ll admire that too since he also hates falling behind schedule.

If you are spacing out during an important briefing about a mission, he’ll say your name to get your attention or gently pat your shoulder.

“L/n-san…”

“Oh, sorry!”

“That’s alright. Do you want me to repeat what I just said?”

If you’re in a dissociative episode, he’ll calmly ask you what’s bothering you and help you work through it however he can.

If you’re going through a burnout and need to be alone for a while, he’ll understand and give you as much space as you need.

He might knock on your door to give you a small packaged pastry. He hopes it helps.

He understands you may have some internalized ableism, so he makes sure to speak positively of your autism to help you build your confidence.

“L/n-san, why do you have a coat with you when it’s March?”

“Oh, well it was pretty cold this morning. And…well…it’s not anymore but…..”

“I see. That’s a rather smart decision on your part.”

“Really?”

“It means you’re always well prepared for anything. That’s an important skill to have as a sorcerer.”

“Thanks, Nanami-sensei.”

“………………….so can I try on your gogg—”

“No”

[totallyjustabunchofhocuspocus]

Hello! First I want to say I really like your fae story! The world building in it is insane and I'm so glad Buddie is finally together. Second, you don't have to answer but why have you been posting stuff with tommy? I don't understand why any Buddie shipper would like him, he's such a pos in the begins episodes...why write him with Buck? You don't have to answer, but there are lots of Buddie shippers switching sides and I don't see why.

Hiiiii.

So, first off thank you! I'm so glad you're enjoying Come Away, and I hope the ending coming up satisfies :) Second, ngl, I did consider not answering that question cause I really don't like wading into fandom drama...but that was a super respectful ask and I DO quite like the character so...fuck it, we ball.

This is probably gonna be long and rambly but the TL;DR is I think the fact that Tommy Kinard IS introduced as a piece of shit makes for really interesting nuance to the character and also I'm a multishipper...just cause bacon and pineapple is my favorite pizza flavor doesn't mean I DON'T like pepperoni or have decided never to eat it again (also, I have less than 10k words of BuckTommy on AO3 and, like, almost 300k of Buddie, so I don't think I've switched sides, lol)

As for why I can like Tommy and specifically Tommy and Buck together despite the aforementioned POS'ness, sure I'll cop to part of it being I am just so damn excited for bi!Buck, I'd have been happy with just about anyone awakening that in him. But also because Tommy, to me, is a fucking interesting character and DOES make a lot of sense as someone that Hen and Chim could forgive and be friends with, and that could be good for Buck.

First off there are some things I think we have to acknowledge about Tommy that are factual or can be inferred as factual from the show. 1. For his timeline to make ANY sense, he can generously be in his late thirties to early forties. For it to make sense without him being some kind of prodigy in a couple areas, he has to be in his mid-to-late forties. 2. He was at LEAST partially raised by someone who reminds him uncomfortably of Gerrard, a CARTOONISHLY boorish, evil, bigot. 3. He was closeted for a very long time.

All of those factors together make for someone who honestly, it would have been nearly IMPOSSIBLE for them NOT to be a piece of shit, and a textbook example of how patriarchal systems, toxic masculinity, and white supremacy are also harmful to the people who benefit from them.

Let me preface this by saying I don't think the harm Tommy suffered was anywhere near as great as what Hen and Chim (or any person of color) go through. And, of course, Hen and Chim don't owe him shit. Forgiving him or not is entirely up to them and the right choice whatever they choose.

My point is, Tommy almost certainly grew up in an environment where his worst flaws and character traits were just...normal. I think a lot of people don't understand how much LARGER the world has gotten with the modern day internet, how much easier it is to be exposed to things outside your own bubble. I'm either right around Tommy's age or a little younger, depending on the estimate you use and guys...I just don't have words for how INSULAR my worldview was growing up compared to now. How much everyone around you, even in larger cities, tended to be Just Like You. You had to live in true sprawling metropolises to be exposed to the kind of diversity that we take for granted now. It is a terrible thing, but when everyone around you, everyone you look up to, everyone you love and care about, and who is supposed to love and care about you thinks the same thing, you don't tend to question it. You don't even notice it. My own loving, wonderful, give-you-the-shirt-off-her-back grandmother, who was educated af in a time women really weren't as a rule, and spent her life as a teacher was racist as FUCK. And the really insidious kind...the "I don't hate them, but why can't they just stay on their side of town?" kind, the passive-aggressive comments that only sting the people they're aimed at so no one thinks to defend the victim kind. It's the weirdest cognitive dissonance to know someone as kind, loving, and moral and ALSO realize that the kindness, love, and morality only included certain people. If my parents had not moved around so much, exposing me to different environments (or if they'd been a little less lenient with my internet access when it started exploding) I honestly can't say whether or not I would have ended up just like my grandma. I like to think I wouldn't have, but that's the point...it's a frog in slowly boiling water situation. I think we can all safely say a parent like Gerrard was not creating an environment in which it was safe or even possible to question the hate.

And from that homelife Tommy had to have gone straight into the military during the heights of DADT, wherein hiding your true self from everyone around you was the acceptable compromise to just straight up having your life ruined (if not completely ended).

Now. Does any of this EXCUSE Tommy being a pretty racist, sexist piece of shit in the begins episodes? No. But it is an EXPLANATION and a true-to-life example of how those systems that everyone has to operate in are harmful no matter what. At the time, given what was almost certainly his background, Tommy would almost certainly have to have been INCREDIBLY self-aware and self-actualized (and honestly, really, REALLY fucking brave) not to have been molded into...precisely what he is. A pretty racist, pretty sexist piece of shit who is throwing anyone and everyone he has to under the bus (consciously or not) to divert attention from his own deviation from the "norm".

Okay, HocusPocus, you might say, so this still begs the question why the hell you think Tommy deserves to even breathe the same air as your favorite blorbo.

And let me again preface by saying I acknowledge the show leaves a lot to inference here. As 911 is wont to do, extremely important character moments are handled "off-screen."

That being said, we do get to see Tommy acknowledging he was wrong about Hen and Chim and getting to a place of mutual respect, if not friendship (personally, I think the going away party when Tommy leaves the 118 shows they've made it to friendship...I don't care how much you respect someone, cake, balloons, and a surprise party are strictly friend things). When Chim calls Tommy to take them out to the cruise ship like...Tommy's risking his life AND his career there, if not outright jail time. Just on Chim and Hen's say-so. Again...that's FRIEND level actions, not just "I respect you as a colleague". We see, either right there on screen or through deleted scenes, that everyone around Buck trusts Tommy with him. When have we ever seen the 118 be shy about expressing their displeasure over one of Buck's LI's? If Hen and Chim still harbored resentment towards Tommy, and didn't truly believe he'd changed and was good enough for Buck, do we REALLY think that wouldn't have been expressed?

Are there valid criticisms of the character? Sure. I think a lot of it can be explained by the rushed nature of season 7 with such a large ensemble cast, but yeah, Tommy's not super developed and a LOT of the issues between him, Hen , and Chim are left to inference. That's fair.

But I think the show MEANS us to make those inferences, that Hen and Chim's actions and interactions with him show that Tommy has done the work to change, and they accept that he's changed and it also says a lot about them that they can forgive him and be friends with him (which, again, he is NOT owed and they would have been perfectly valid in denying him).

So, yeah. I like him. I think he's interesting and while Buddie remains my OTP, I am very interested to see where Tevan goes this coming season.

Also, Lou is fucking pretty ;)

[osmanthus-wine-addiction]

Warning: angst, major character death but it's mellow?

Zhongli x Reader

Your beloved was an endearing menace, not an actual menace. Sometimes he allowed misunderstandings to manifest between the two of you, but they never lasted long. They certainly never undermined the close bond you shared with him. He's always been a little slow with emotions, or perhaps he was just reserved. You knew he felt deeply and cared about others' perception of him, but he was always mature enough to make his peace with the fact that he couldn't control how others saw him. Such a long life would result in that sort of wisdom. He saw the futility of it, or maybe he just acknowledged the limited meaning of such stubborn sentiments.

You're the opposite of that. Young and full of passion, you're quick to defend those you believe in, especially for the one person whose words you've never doubted. If there ever came a day you couldn't trust him, the very bedrock of Liyue itself would be shaking.

You can't help but roll your eyes at the youngest generation of Liyueans who likened their past archon to an apathetic ruler, ruling from high up on his jade throne beyond the clouds. Anybody who was acquainted enough with your beloved would've known that he regularly mingled in the streets of Liyue among his own people.

These days, they aren't as respectful towards your beloved as they used to be. For the most part, you still enjoyed hearing the local storytellers recount stories and events from Liyue's past, accounts impossible without mentioning Rex Lapis. He's often twisted into a character you barely recognize if not for his name. It terrifies you to hear what evils they occasionally claim he's capable of, what past atrocities he's speculated to have had a hand in. These are people who have never spent a single day of their lives in his presence. What do they know?

It's impossible be loved by everyone, even in a nation he's poured his heart into for over a thousand years. There will always be skeptics, bigots, and people who are actually what they claim he was. Your beloved always exuded a sense of indiscriminate acceptance. His patience, an enduring trait that demonstrated to you that your hot-headedness would always simmer away given enough time. Whenever he held you close and murmured for you to let whatever troubled you go, you always listened.

You were finally beginning to believe that nothing could ever shake you or erode your faith. He's always told you, never rush. Every journey will eventually come to an end. For some reason, you thought the journey you were taking with him would be an exception. He had walked beside you all those years. All his promises to you had come to fruition one by one.

He never did promise you forever. You couldn't fault your beloved God of Contracts for that.

[a-cloud-for-dreams]

Character bingo: Amrit Doobay

Oof okay upon further inspection I have some additional thoughts:

Canonically, I hate him. He’s sexist, homophobic, just really creepy overall (specifically re: undressing Amala without her consent like you don’t own her!! Stay MILES away from my girl). It does send a message that Remy made the the only dark skinned LI in this book super toxic/gross, but I don’t have time to get into that whole mess in this not nuanced post. My main opinion on Amrit can be boiled down to he’s an interesting morally gray LI, but Remy crossed the line with him, making him feel uncomfortable to romance (at least in comparison to other red flag LIs)

I despite this guy, but I will admit that there are interesting parts to his character. For instance, and this is a general Doobay trait, but his loyalty towards the people he truly loves is something I really like about his character and wish could have been explored more

That line about not having the right to be weak actually tells us a lot about him. It shows that his definition of strength is about asserting dominance, and that he doesn’t tolerate those who show weakness because he wasn’t allowed to. Obviously, he was raised with a lot of pressure I blame everything on Raj because he’s doing twice the work with half of the help leading the Dozen. To me, it makes sense why he put all of his eggs into one basket and does everything he could to drag Amala back to her home country. The way he talks about his childhood so nonchalantly shows how he was forced to suppress his trauma too which is uhhh not a great coping mechanism. I mean he even acknowledges that Amala and Kiran are lucky to be able to depend on each other without the threat of being stabbed in the back, so it makes sense that his character is lonely

I’m not defending him because again, I think he’s a pathetic, arrogant, and bigoted loser but like with other parts of this book he could have been more well liked if he was written better. You know how in S1 he was shown to be respectful but cold (I don’t know how to explain what his fake persona was like)? That’s who he should have stayed as instead of becoming a bratty creep whose actions are forgiven by the plot

[preet-01]

P — Driver/Wag for @witchywitchy19

Lewis hadn't really thought about Formula One for a very long time. He had done RC Car racing as a child and watched Senna race, but the realities of the sport had caught up with them long before Lewis could get too far into his obsession with it.

So, he turned his energy towards other things he liked, leading to a modeling career. But regardless of his career path, he'd ended up in a Formula One paddock.

Lewis had been able to avoid it for years on years, but a chance meeting with one F1 driver had changed the trajectory of his life.

Daniel had come into Lewis' life like the bulls Daniel raced for. Fast and without a care about the ramifications that their relationship could bring. All Daniel knew was that he wanted Lewis and wanted to make him happy.

“There’s going to be consequences, Danny,” Lewis says as they coordinated their outfits for their first ever paddock entrance. “F1 isn’t exactly… the most welcoming sport,” he said carefully, not to disparage the one thing that Daniel had dedicated his entire life to.

“Screw the consequences,” Daniel said. His willingness to tackle things head on had been a huge part of Lewis falling for him, but Lewis needed Daniel to acknowledge that their relationship could bring career-damaging consequences. He couldn’t bare to have Daniel hate him in the future if that happened.

“Daniel, our relationship could impact your career. Teams, sponsors, and fans may pull back their support or offers,” Lewis stated dropping the clothes on the bed — their bed because they’d moved in together months ago.

“Then those aren’t people I want to work with or have supporting me,” Daniel replied, moving to rest his hands on Lewis’ hips and pull him close. “I want to build a life with you, Lew. You’re it for me. And if people can’t come to terms with that then I don’t want them in my life. Our life,”

The thoughts of coordinated outfits and motorsport bigots took a back seat as the couple fell onto the bed. Clothes were strewn everywhere with the two of them pulling off their clothes and shoving potential race weekend outfits away. But neither of them cared one bit.

Nor did they care on the following Thursday when Lewis Hamilton made his first official F1 appearance hand in hand with beloved F1 driver, Daniel Ricciardo. Lewis’ Versace ensemble coordinated perfectly with the Gucci and Enchante outfit Daniel wore. And while people could just call them a pair of best friends, the kiss that Daniel gave Lewis before heading off to the media pen left nothing about their relationship to conjecture.

[kitkatt0430]

Raina has always wanted more and it's a flaw. She knows it. Pretty flower dresses and control over her own life even at the expense of others control over their own. She doesn't regret any of it, but staring at her face in the mirror, covered in spines, and faced with Jiaying and Gordon's kindness and the reality that the powers of clairvoyance she always envied are more curse than gift - for the moment - and... she knows that right now, if her nightmares are to be avoided - her death is to be avoided - then she has to be willing to change. To unbend, just a little.

To concede control, just a little.

The people of Afterlife are not happy with Jiaying. She's too stingy about who gets powers, especially now that it's become so much easier to bestow them using the home grown crystals instead of the Diviners. While they all agree that Jiaying is right to screen candidates, she seems to favor those whose circumstances will make them intensely loyal to her. Gordon, Lincoln... and several others are more loyal to Jiaying than to the community. And they will follow Jiaying thoughtlessly into the destruction of their safe haven in Afterlife.

Still, Gordon is the key to stopping Jiaying. Or at least minimizing the damage she will commit. And when the crucial conversation happens, Raina has already seen what happens when she asks for power in Jiaying's place. So the conversation goes differently.

"It needs to be you," Raina tells Gordon. "If you meet with SHIELD's representative, there will be peace between our people and theirs. But Jiaying cannot differentiate between HYDRA and normal humans who aren't HYDRA anymore. And it's even worse with SHIELD. She'll tell herself she's doing the right thing and she'll knock over the dominoes that will lead to our people's destruction.

"She's not well and I know you've seen the hints of it for all she hides it impressively. But she needs help. Or she'll self destruct and take us all with her. This is the first step to saving her, to saving all of us. But you have to be willing to make it without her support. Or our people's blood will be on our all hands. Yours, mine, hers."

And Gordon doesn't take it well. Raina didn't expect him to.

But he can't unhear what he's heard and when Jiaying tells him her plan for SHIELD and the war she intends to kick off in the name of 'protecting' their people... he hates to realize that Raina may very well be right.

He talks to the elders. He tells them what's going on. And they order him to meet SHIELD, not Jiaying. He doesn't want to do this, to do what feels like betrayal to the woman who reached out to him in the dark and showed him he was still beautiful - that what he'd become was a gift. But his people have to come first.

He tells the others what the elders have decided and when Jiaying objects, he puts her in one of the rooms that only he can enter. But there isn't really any time for objections because SHIELD arrives.

Gordon and Gonzales are each expecting someone else, but they work it out, a preliminary truce. Gorden refuses to allow Inhumans to go on the Index. Their people police their own. But he also acknowledges that there have been instances where things have gone wrong and he's willing to work with SHIELD in times where one of their people goes rogue in a way they can't handle. But he needs SHIELD to acknowledge that the Inhuman community has been around for centuries and self regulated without SHIELD's notice until now. SHIELD is so busy being afraid of what ifs that they're allowing bigotry towards another race blind them to the harm they're committing to.

And Gonzales objects to being told his behavior has been bigoted, but... he hears himself. What he says here and now to Gordon, thinks about the things he's said about Agent Skye... and he can't really say Gordon's wrong either. They do have an undercurrent of prejudice at SHIELD towards powered people. And what if this is the lingering legacy of HYDRA's infiltration? He can't say for sure it isn't.

He agrees that, for now at least, it pushing for adding all Inhumans to the Index isn't the right move. And agrees that leaving a line of communication between Inhumans and SHIELD is a good start. SHIELD likes to catalogue and research and understand everything out of fear of what if scenarios but some things have to be taken on faith. Instead he asks for help reviewing their Index protocols. If the Inhumans will help with powered individuals who are struggling with their powers but not necessarily bad people. And keep SHIELD at least aware of where places like Afterlife are located so that, if at least nothing else, SHIELD can remain aware of where their main gathering places are to steer clear of them - and steer others clear of them too. It's an increasingly interconnected world with satellite imaging and GPS. Afterlife and places like it aren't going to stay hidden and safe for much longer as technology evolves. SHIELD can offer ways of keeping Inhuman communities like Afterlife hidden from everyone else that remote locations aren't enough for anymore.

Neither party leaves totally satisfied or with 100% of what they wanted. Gordon has to concede that with both HYDRA and SHIELD capable of tracking his powers, it's only a matter of time until other interested parties do the same. Or find other methods of tracking Inhumans and there certainly are plenty of organizations and governments that would love to control them. Gonzales has to reassess his own prejudices and recognize that maybe there's more to removing HYDRA's influence in SHIELD than just removing the bad agents.

It wasn't just SHIELD's secrets that let HYDRA do what it wanted, but the attitudes SHIELD cultivated of always being right and being better than everyone else. Maybe part of making things right and making their operations more transparent means allying with the leadership of the Inhuman community and accepting their self governance. Compromising where they can so that when the times comes to stand firm where they can't, they'll have allies willing to stand firm with them.

It's not a great start. But it is a start. And it changes everything.

Raina has never liked leaving the decisions to others, to standing back and letting her destiny lay in someone else's hands. She still means to take a position of power for herself one day, using her powers to carve out a place for herself amongst her fellow Inhumans. But she also knows she's too new to the community to achieve greatness herself. But... well, Gordon will remember who counseled him that Jiaying was unwell and whose predictions led to him averting disaster.

So, eventually, she'll have that control she craves. If she's willing to let others have it first. But then... Raina has always been pragmatic when necessary.

And as her dreams shift from destruction from Jiaying's threat to the one hidden on the other side of the Obelisk... Raina knows she's about to cement her position as right hand to Gordon the way he was once right hand to Jiaying. Not a bad place to be if she wants to lead in her own right one day.

[artist-issues]

I mostly agree with your points about representation, that we should be able to appreciate characters that we don’t personally relate to, and I would NEVER decry something for lack of representation, nor applaud something purely on the basis of representation. However, I certainly do think that there is a place for people saying that they want to see their life experience reflected in the media. As an autistic, Australian and young Christian woman, I rarely see any media that reflects even one of those identities in a realistic way, and when I do I get super excited, because it’s nice to occasionally hear an Aussie accent, see people acknowledge that women can be autistic too, and know that some people see Christians as real people, not just bigoted, religious fanatics. So I definitely think that while representation in and of itself is no mark of a work’s quality, I would not go so far as to say it doesn’t matter.

@mymanyfandomramblings I appreciate your thoughts and I agree with the spirit of them (don’t want to rush into discourse without establishing that.)

But I don’t think that representation is a mark of a work’s quality—OR that it matters. After all, the word “matters” is so important when we talk about this. What does representation (of life experience, specifically) matter for?

I’m worried that what we mean when we say “representation matters” is just “representation matters for the end goal of: communicating the most meaningful parts of my identity to others.”

Please don’t take this flippantly: what I’m about to say has more hope of being understood graciously between Christians than anywhere else. From one Christian to another, take it as me just trying (maybe rudely) to change the aim of the spotlights in your brain (like others have done for me:)

Why does it matter that you’re Australian? Why does it matter that you’re a female? Why does it even matter that you’re autistic? Are those the most important, fundamental things about you? So important that it’s more than just “nice” to represent them to others—it’s necessary?

Why does it feel so nice to have those things acknowledged by others? It’s not bad that it feels nice…but why does it feel so nice? So important?

The most meaningful part of your identity (which is what we talk like representation matters for) isn’t your identity at all. It’s Christ’s.

If what we believe is that “in the image of God He created them,” and as Christian, that “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus,” then why do we get enough sense of identity and recognition out of any other traits to feel so strongly about them? To demand that, in the most public of stages and every corner of media, those traits be reflected?

If all we believe is that everything aside from our image-bearing of God is just secondary, then why are we campaigning so hard for people to recognize those secondary traits?

It’s like baking the world’s greatest cake and inviting everyone to try it, but becoming outraged if they decide to eat that cake with a spoon instead of a fork. Why in the world would you care if someone eats the cake with a spoon or a fork, if the main thing is, eat the world’s greatest cake?

What’s the main thing? What’s the most important part of our identities? What does representation matter for? Is just to make certain parts of us (but not all) that we assign value to feel nice and recognized? Why do we need people to recognize those certain parts? Why do we consider those certain parts so important to our “identities” at all? And maybe, why are we so obsessed with people seeing and thinking of us the way we want them to see and think of us?

The most important part of your identity is in Christ. Who you are is wrapped up in Him. When you keep that in the spotlight, then it’s very easy to say that representing everything off in the shadows, like skin color or nationality or even experiences, doesn’t matter.

[deviantartdramahub]

So, DADramaNow, you're not just attacking Club purely out of ableism? Lol okay, lemme show you in more depth detail why we know that isn't true.

3 notes

Here they're making fun of Club bc he doesn't always understand sarcasm or humor. One of the most well known things about autism is that it makes you struggle to understand tones or social cues. That of course will be an especial problem on the internet, unless you use tone tags. This makes it clear they're making fun of one of his struggles he has due to autism. They're making fun of something pretty much all autistic people struggle with at least a few times in their life. In fact, it might happen to you even if you don't have autism, it's a simple, small, innocent mistake. The fact that they're making fun of Club for this is just malicious.

3 notes

You do know not all autistic people are "high-functioning", right?? It's called a spectrum for a reason. NO autistic person deserves to be made fun of for their ability, no matter how high or low it is. Even if Eduard's just a fictional character, it's messed up that you say this and not take into consideration he's not able to.

 1 note <- Here they say "psycho" is an ableist term...

0 notes <- But here you had no trouble calling Tri a "psychopath"??

Not only is it hypocrisy, but also looking pretty damn ableist.

2 notes

Here's them downplaying ableism just bc there's more than one oppressed group. Seriously?? Trust me, as a bi person AND an autistic person, I want both groups to be accepted. But trying to silence and downplay disabled people won't help with SHIT.

1 note

Maybe you should consider the fact he focuses on autism and incontinence is bc those are the things he has experience with?? He himself has autism and has an incontinent step-brother. Even then, he still attempted to include others bc he does truly want to be inclusive, I remember a post he made where he asked people what other disabilities they wanted to see included. I requested for him to introduce a dyslexic character, bc my sister has dyslexia. And guess what? HE DID. Because he truly does care. He just mainly does autistic and incontinent characters bc that's WHAT HE HAS EXPERIENCE WITH! YOU are the ableists for thinking autistic and incontinent people shouldn't be represented!

2 notes

Don't be so judge-mental on the poor kid just because he has incontinence and mind your own damn business, jfc...

5 notes

Club is NOTHING like that sicko you're talking about, they sound disgusting and I know Club would NEVER do something like that. (Unless those things you said are lies and Nightflight's just another innocent victim of yours, but idk. -_-

But anyways, saying all autistic people are automatically bad bc of that person is completely stupid.

 3 notes

Here they seem to be talking about disabled children like they're burdens.

3 notes

Another example of the 5th link.

 5 notes

They literally use "mister autistic" as an insult against him. They also full on say the r-slur without censoring it whatsoever.

Anyways, I'm sure, in fact 100% sure, there's more in depth proof their hatred of Club is purely ableism, but once again, DADramaNow does a shit job at running their group, and this is what Club's tag links to:

Not Found

So looking for proof was difficult, though I think I've gathered up enough, at least for now.

Anyways, pedophilia is a harmful stereotype pf autistic people, and DADramaNow is projecting this stereotype onto Club, bc they're very fucked up and bigoted people. There's no denying it now,Mod S and co.

Their unfortunate dismissal of disability hits even harder knowing many of them in their group identify as having autism. They don’t come off as it and don’t treat others with it kindly, which makes me lose incentive to acknowledge they may have it. It’s as if everything to them is a matter of identity.

[sarahthevampyrslayer]

Is this a feminist rant? IDK lol.

I saw this video and it made me think about how easy it is to subtly get directed towards a specific ideology.

Originally, I had like a whole break down of just this video and how, even if the OP wasn't intentionally aiming to do this, it subtly tries to downplay the danger that men actually cause women to suffer through. And I don't think it was her intention. I think she was just sharing her thoughts and opinions. But I also notice that most of the comments she replies back to are just men complimenting her appearance or praising her "realness" (these comments are heavy with "you're not like those other girls" type energy).

And it wasn't even her video that got me thinking about this, it was her comment section. All men. Only men. Praising her and using her video to validate their own opinions that are much deeper than "men and women are actually kind of nervous around each other." The men in the comments are using this to validate their belief that actual women aren't having dangerous experiences with men.. no no.. it's just these chronically online teenager perpetuating a harmful stereotype against men.

This is why I think it's important to not just think critically about the messages you're receiving from people in online spaces but who else is also listening and how they're perceiving it. One man, in her comments, even goes as far as blaming internet discourse for why he doesn't talk to women because he thinks we all hate men and he's afraid of rejection. With another man agreeing with him. And this is what women mean when we've been saying that "women fear being killed, men fear being rejected."

The men in her comments keep insisting that people aren't actually evil, terrible, scummy, mean, bigoted etc. "in real life" and they're just that way on the internet. "The internet's not real" sort of mindset. They do this because it absolves them of having to take reasonability for the way they treat people and act in online spaces. One person did bring up that it seems like people are just braver online and just hide it better in person. And I agree with him.

We aren't going to solve this violence against women issue by ignoring that the violence is happening or pretending like the internet doesn't affect people when they log off. And we're definitely not going to solve this problem if we keep prioritizing praise from men over safety for women.

And you can't even talk about this within these little pockets of discussion already happening because the men, and the women who prioritize male attention, will call you "chronically online" and they will pile on you and basically harass you out of the conversation. They'll claim that you're in an echo chamber, while they are literally creating an echo chamber of their own.

It's a refusal to acknowledge that their online behaviors and actions have real life consequences. And that they want to be able to express their negative thoughts and opinions, specifically about women, without having to deal with the consequences that come with that. Like women not wanting to be around you. Or women not trusting you.

The video itself is giving "it's not that deep" vibes and it's also a part of the bigger "anti-intellectual" conversation that's being had right now among people online and offline. As if we shouldn't take what we see online as an accurate representation of how people act and behave offline. And this just isn't the healthy mindset people think it is. The internet is real. The people who harass others online are real people. The people being harassed online are real people. The men making these podcast encouraging other men to abuse and mistreat women are real people. And the men commenting on these videos hyping up this crap are real people.

Just because people present themselves a certain way offline, and a different way online, doesn't mean their online personality isn't real. It's still a part of who they are.

[autumngracy]

Not music, but this reminds me of when I watched The Avengers in theater, and then much later for free on TV, and realized they completely changed one of the scenes.

In the theater release, when Tony is flying out on his suicide mission to grab the bomb and yeet it through the portal into space before it hits New York, his last transmission is him saying goodbye to JARVIS, and JARVIS saying something along the lines of it having been an honor to work him.

(I think he may have tried to call other people first, like Pepper, but no one was picking up because, well ... big alien fight. Folks are busy. Understandable.)

When I watched the movie again on TV, however, I realized they had completely scrubbed the dialogue with JARVIS and had replaced it with Tony calling Rhodey. Which just ... why? Why would they do that?

To me it actually made it fall flat as a scene because honestly it feels way more realistic, heartwrenching and relatable to find that, when you reach out in your final, desperate moments, because you just want one last time to hear the voice of someone you love ... no one picks up. It's not because god hates you or you're fated to die alone or some tragic melodrama like that; it's just happenstance, and it sucks. And shit like that happens all the time. The fact that it happened to the "Billionaire Philanthropist Playboy" made it hit even harder.

And then they just completely edited it out and I still have no idea why, and I don't think I've ever even seen any one besides myself mention this change.

And that's disconcerting, because, like ... the idea that studios can just retroactively change their productions AFTER having sent them to theaters, without acknowledging said change, is very bad.

It means if the studio did something controversial that they thought would go over well but actually flopped, they can just straight up pretend they never did it and claim people are remembering wrong.

"I don't know what you're talking about us making a horrible bigoted joke in X movie, watch the blu ray release and you'll find we never did that actually!"

You see where I'm going with this? The idea these people can use theater audiences as guinea pigs (when test audiences are already a thing??), and then retroactively change the movie's content based on popular opinion, editing it out of all subsequent releases and pretending it never happened, means they're making sure they can't be held accountable for their own choices. Which is doubly crazy when you realize it necessitates gaslighting your entire audience.

I'm fine with things like remastered anniversary editions having some changes (like them fixing the Jabba the Hut getting his tail walked on thing), so long as it's acknowledged that a change was made and they don't try to like, erase all previous versions of a film.

But like, making a change between the theater release and the hard copy release? And pretending it's the same thing that was shown in theaters? That's fucked up. I don't like that they're legally allowed to do that without some kind of disclosure or something.

They could absolutely do the same thing as op was taking about too, where they change the music for legal reasons to something completely different.

I think their ability to do this is destroying the artistic integrity of the industry, to be honest.

You know how Marvel filmed like multiple versions of events in the Endgame movies so that the people involved in the production wouldn't know which thing was 'real' and therefore couldn't spoil it? (Which is fucked up for different reasons, also). Imagine if they finished the post production on those scenes and changed which ones were "canon" based on audience reaction (and I don't mean test audiences, because again, there's a reason those are a thing!)

Imagine you go to watch a movie and then when its hard copies are officially released it just. Has a completely different ending than what you saw in theater, and no one at the studio is acknowledgjng it. (And I don't mean like with Clue where they showed mutiple different endings on purpose, for fun). Would that be fucked up or what?

you know how you can go and watch a movie you watched a bunch as a kid and the version of a song in it is different? like they actually changed it since you were a kid? that isn't normal. we didn't do that until like, the last ten years. it's fucked up.

[turnsoutnoonewasexaggerating]

Monsters

Been thinking a lot about how it feels to be asexual in honour of asexual awareness week. 99% of the time I feel very positively about it, but I think it's important to acknowledge we're allowed to be sad sometimes too. So have a short story about monsters.

Disclaimer: The religious imagery used in this is a reflection of the way some people of some religions use their religion as a way to validate their hatred, but I wanna be clear that the majority of the religious people I know of varying religions don't hold bigoted views.

There is a woman alone in a flat.

Or well, not a woman. That word’s too loaded. She doesn’t mind it on herself, doesn’t like it when other people use it. Feels like freedom and friendship and a bone deep understanding written into her genetics when she says it, feels like a box saying smaller than, lesser than, shut up when other people do- but that’s a different story.

There is a person alone in a flat.

Or well, not alone. There’s no other people there, technically. But she’s having the kind of thoughts that linger on the walls, the shadows thickening, something like a predator’s stillness. Won’t be clear whether she’s the prey or not for a while yet.

(She is.)

It’s nighttime, because of course it is. Or maybe not, you can choose, whatever you think is scarier. The overheard lights aren’t on, at least, she’d say ‘they’re homophobic’, the ones who get it, laugh, the angels who don’t, don’t.

She turns on the TV. There’s a monster on the news. There’s been more and more of them as she’s grown up. People say she’s lucky to have grown up in such times. He’s an ugly thing, clawed mass of shadows, teeth stained with blood, roving bloodshot eyes, smelling of fire and brimstone. One of the devil’s creations for sure. But he’s dressed himself in a three-piece suit, and he makes sure not to leak his shadows onto anything, and the rest of the presenters seem to accept him. They, the angels, might still wrinkle their noses, just for a second, when the stench of him first enters the room, but they’re doing their best. It’s impressive, really, how accepting they are of him.

How accepting the angels are of all monsters, they stress, over and over again, and particularly during the hottest month of the year, when the devil and all his hellish creations are the closest to the surface (at least on this hemisphere, don’t worry about anyone else), and the monsters on earth are at their most tempted to go back to him, they’ll be very consistent with their messaging. After all, society couldn’t function without monsters now. Where would they be without this darling news presenter, or that one monster that acts in that show, or the one who’s running for office? The ones who’ve proved themselves worth having? (Where would they be, without this entire consumer base to market to, everything covered in monster branding so the monsters will buy it, yes, the first ones to tap the market were those selling legal poison but everyone’s capitalised on it nowadays and no-one looks too closely at the generation of monsters born holding the drink-)

Well, when they say all monsters, they mean all monsters who try their very best to be angels, even though, of course, they never can be- and don’t forget, they’ll never let you, the boundaries may have been moved but they still exist, there’s still a gap between the holy and the Other- all those good monsters, those grateful monsters, will be accepted. The angels let them out of Hell after all. Of course, the devil was an angel himself, but it’s a bad idea to point that out. Having spent so long fortifying the gates, the angels finally let them crack open and so that’s the same thing as acceptance and don’t argue the point.

All the monsters who contain themselves into three-piece suits and say thank you and patiently spend tireless hours explaining the very basics on monsterhood to the few angels interested enough to listen, they’re alright. They must never get angry of course, a sure sign that the devil is drawing them back, and any monster who does a bad thing is a representative for all monsters.

(No, the devil is not a representative of all angels. Shh it’s not the same thing, don���t argue the point.)

Monsters must always be welcoming to any angel who wants to come into their spaces. There are no monster-only spaces; the monsters may congregate, of course, to find a mate, in their pathetic attempt to mimic the angels’ mating rituals, but any angels who want in should always be allowed; why, have the monsters got something to hide? No? Then why can’t the angels be there? And of course, if an angel is mistaken for a monster in the dark under flashing lights, the angel has all the rights to be offended. How dare you assume for a moment that one of us could be one of you?

The good monsters have to denounce the bad ones of course, as well. The ones who won’t wear the suits, the ones who don’t have hearts, the ones who shapeshift. The ones whose names are too long, or too complicated for the angels to understand. The ones who don’t want to get married or have children or say that the system they’re trying to assimilate to is broken. The good monsters denounce them all. It’s the final price of acceptance, and the one on the news is doing a great job of earning his keep.

The person in the flat looks at her clawed hands. He’s not talking about her species of monster right now. He’s talking about her friends, he’s saying they’re going too far too much too scary. She struggles to understand him, and all the while the thick shadows on her walls whisper you’re next.

She gets a call from one of her angel friends. She turns off the TV before she answers, plunging the room back into darkness. She hates talking on the phone, but she loves her friend, so she picks it up. They talk for a while. It’s innocuous, just called for a chat. There’s a natural lull in the conversation, she stretches out on her couch, phone on speaker and resting on the warm matted fur where a different person might have a heart.

“You know,” her friend says, into the silence, “I met another monster like you the other day.” She’s an unusual breed for a monster- not many of them made it out of hell. This is an interesting titbit. She goes to make a rumble of interest, remembers her friend won’t understand what means; she doesn’t speak monster.

Says, “Go on.” Instead.

“Yeah, they’ve just started at my work. I don’t know how you do it, to be honest.”

“What do you mean?”

“You know, be a monster. Like I totally get that you’re happy and everything, but could never be me. I think I’d rather die than be a monster.” Her friend laughs. Maybe she doesn’t have a heart, but she certainly feels hollow. But she also knows how to play the game, she’s an old hat now, even though she’s still young by anyone’s standards.

So she doesn’t say that’s really hurt my feelings because she knows what she’ll get is it was just a joke/ I didn’t mean it like that/ you took it the wrong way and they’d hang up the call and her friend would go grumbling to another angel about how monsters are so sensitive these days/ she can’t take a joke/ she jumped down my throat and her friend would never listen again. She knows how to dance around the angels’ egos, pander to them. She’s been taught to say thank you when she’s given an inch, and contort herself to fit into it.

“It’s not for everyone lol.” She replies, and they both chuckle and they call it a night. And once they’ve hung up she lies there in the dark, and the dark gets closer.

Earth’s better than hell, she’s not stupid. Monsters don’t get tortured (often) on earth, they have (most) rights on earth, her ancestors fought for the life she now gets to lead.

But when it’s really dark, and she’s alone, and for once none of the angels can see her, she wonders whether her ancestors won the wrong battle. And in the stillness like this, with the gnashing jaws of the shadows just grazing her skin, she wonders whether they ever won at all. Or whether the angels let them, opened those gates they’d spent so long protecting, for a different reason than acceptance. A reason that tasted a lot more like exploitation.

She wonders if, in hell, she would have been allowed to dance.

[breithenua]

I still think Tobirama was bigoted. Sorrynotsorry. You can't tell me that him looking at Sasuke and basically saying "Oh an Uchiha eh? Of course you'd associate with scum like Orochimaru" wasn't bigotry. Him automatically associating his standing next to Orochimaru as making sense because he's an Uchiha? Pretty fucking bigoted.

Him deciding that all Uchiha were more susceptible to going off the deep end when they lost someone they loved, based on a few cases when he had counterpoints in Uchiha he actually worked with? Pretty bigoted.

Him making them the ninja military police force may seem well-intentioned, but making the anbu that basically had the same job but higher on the totem pole with no Uchiha in it, kinda makes it bigoted too.

Look, I'm not saying he's fucking Danzo and wanting to wipe them the fuck out or segregating them from the rest of the village. I'm not saying he's not well-intentioned towards them for the most part. But not every case of bigotry is "oh those damn [x group], the world would be better without them in it.". There's levels to this shit. Je's kinda like your grandpa that tries his best to be nice and respectful towards your non-white s.o. but as soon as something goes missing from the house during a house party the first person he suspects of being a thief is said s.o. He's trying his best, but old habits die hard.

And I'm not saying Tobirama was ultimately a bad person either. He did a lot of good for the village and created a lot of systems that still exist in the Boruto era. But he wasn't without his imperfections. He was bigoted towards the Uchiha. He tried his best to be fair and ignore the bias and leftover PTSD from decades in which he fought against the Uchiha during the Warring States period, but that doesn't mean he succeeded. The sooner y'all realize that whether someone is bigoted or not isn't a question of extremes, the better you're gonna be towards marginalized groups, and the better you'll be as people. And the sooner you realize that just because someone is what you consider a good person, that doesn't mean they can't be display toxic behaviours, the sooner you can be well-adjusted adults in the world.

We all have our flaws, and if you don't acknowledge not just other's flaws in a reasonable way, but your own as well, then you can't do anything to improve upon them. Be open-minded about hearing your heros' flaws, and your own.

[inndelibles]

While I fully agree that we should be able to critique media we like and it's not fair to attack others for doing so, I'm genuinely baffled by the first two points. I don't say that as a slight or attack, I just really don't understand, because this is how I see it.

On Terry: I took a look at his step 4 just because it's been a while since I've seen it and I don't see how it's sexualized at all. Nothing about his design draws attention to any particular body part and he's not in lewd clothes or a suggestive pose. Calling it sexualized just seems inaccurate. What is accurate is saying that he doesn't look super duper masculine.

Yes he has narrower shoulders and wider hips, but that's just... how some people look? I feel like it just implies he didn't have surgery to make his body appear more masculine, which lots of trans men also choose to do. And that shouldn't make their transness any less valid. Yes, some trans men might be self-conscious about it, but others might not be, and even for those who are, they may not have access to resources to give them the look that they want. Should we just not acknowledge that those people exist? Should we just never portray trans men that don't look completely like cis men? That feels pretty dangerous to me. I actually think it's awesome that Terry's design is the way that it is; it represents a real group of trans people that exist, and shows that (general you) your identity as a trans man is valid even if you don't want to/can't use resources to make yourself look like a cis man.

Not to mention plenty of cis men look like that too. Narrow shoulders and wide hips are not exclusive to women, nor are wide shoulders and narrower hips exclusive to men. In the same way that gender is a spectrum, the way that our bodies present biological sex (which is also not as black and white as XX vs XY) is a spectrum. Terry's body type in step 4 could easily be that of a cis man, just a cis man whose body doesn't look super traditionally masculine.

On Baxter's Parents: I assume Baxter is the LI being referenced here. Not only is the white supremacy (which yes, I do agree is there) actively portrayed as a bad thing, but Baxter's character wouldn't make much sense without it. The reason he is the way that he is comes from the fact that he is a queer man from a bigoted family, and he realized he didn't want to be like them after becoming friends with other queer and poc kids in the neighborhood and seeing how awesome they are – basically seeing how wrong and horrible his family is. He actively decides to be better than them by not following in their footsteps and choosing to accept people the way they are. Remember the whole "they would hate me if I wasn't their biological son" thing? He's fully aware that he is a person his parents would hate because of his queerness and willingness to interact with those who are """below""" him, and they only reason they don't hate him is that "oh he's our offspring, there must be reasons he is the way he is. We'll extend grace to him because deep down he's really like us and just doesn't know what he's doing."

Without the explicit bigotry of his parents, Baxter is just... a guy that cut off all contact with his family because they were strict, I guess? And his whole issue with not believing he's worthy of relationships because "he has nothing to offer" is no longer because of his family's wealth and seeing middle and lower class families as "lesser," so what would be the cause of it? I don't know if I'm making sense but his story feels way less impactful and doesn't even make sense in some ways unless it's made clear that his family is awful and bigoted, especially now having the context of the characters of OLNF.

Now, I will say that I understand not loving the white supremacy in a game that's meant to be comforting and accepting, but it's presence in this game is so small, and again, it's condemned, not portrayed as neutral or even positively. Not to mention it's in a dlc, so people who just play the free version wouldn't encounter it at all.

Anyways this went on for way longer than I meant it to. I hope I'm not coming across as aggressive, because that's not my intention. I do agree that acknowledging criticism is very important. I guess I just wanted to give my perspective because I don't see how these points specifically are actually things that should be criticized.

Ya know, as someone who has been in this fandom for nearly 2-3 years, I have seen so many people jump at other people for being critical of OL when there are very obvious fuck ups that the game devs should have taken time to correct instead of letting it stay and fester.

For example:

Terry's step 4 design in general and how grossly sexualized it is when he's a trans man

The inclusion of white supremacy through one of the LI's parents

Cliff never having a set enthicity and therefore letting people decide what race Cove should be so they dont have to worry about confronting their feelings on dating a mixed man

I can go on and on about this, but you can enjoy a game and criticize aspects of it that wasn’t handled well. You should, at the very least, be neutral on when people criticize those aspects because each criticism is an improvement that the devs can take forward to their next games

[sweetdreamsofmisery]

Look at that. I got through two more days of feeling absolute shit. Nothing caused it, nothing that I can't figure at least. And yet I still managed. I'm still alive. Today might not be the best, it might seem the worst, but I've handled it before so I can handle it again. I'm definitely not as... upset? That word doesn't seem fitting but it's the only one I can use to describe how I felt. An awkward mix of nothing is right but not wrong either. Everything felt as if it changed overnight specifically to disturb me. But nothing actually changed. How can I describe that feeling in one word? I simply can't. But today is different. Everything feels as it is where it should be. But yet I still feel unbalanced. Why? Maybe because I have so many plans in the next two weeks? Maybe because I feel rushed by myself? Maybe I just feel like this for no reason. I don't know. But I'll try my best to recognize and acknowledge how I feel.

I'm adopting a dog in a few days. His name is Rody. Well truly its Rudy but I like Rody better, and it feels more appropriate to separate his life before his time in the shelter for his time with me and mine. I'm worried how my current dog will take to him. I know logically that even if their initial meeting is less than favorable that they will get along in time, but I'm still so worried. Rody is such a sweet dog, and I want so badly to have him in my family, but if they truly can't get along I will always put my current dog first. And I would have to return him to the shelter. The shelter where I have been visiting him near daily for the last 2 weeks. I hate the thought of it. Even just thinking about it is painful. But not nearly the hardest thing I would ever have to do. I'm hopeful that it will go well but still worried.

Hopefully, sometime this week, I'll be receiving my hearing aids. It may be delayed until next week, but I hope not. They cost quite a bit of money, but nothing that I can't handle. While I'm excited at the prospect of hearing, I'm also worried how people will react to them. After all I'm not even old enough to need them. I know, logically, anyone can need them at any age, but I still feel anxiety over the idea of using such aids at my age. I know they will help me, and I know I need them, but I can't help but feel that I'm being dramatic over my hearing loss. Maybe it's not really that bad? Maybe I was lying without thinking to the specialist and could actually hear everything just fine. I don't think that I did. I tried to answer and figure out what they were saying to the best of my ability, but what if I did it subconsciously? In the end it doesn't matter. Because even with all those doubts I still know that they helped me understand better. I still know that I need them, and that I'm not just being dramatic. But I can't help but think that way.

My sibling will be leaving the country soon. I'll be taking them to the airport, which is over 2 hours away considering how deep in the mountains we live, on the first of the month. Less than 6 days now. I've never lived by myself before. And while I know that they will come back, I still worry that they will decide to stay there. That something will happen and they couldn't come back. I can't figure if I'm more worried to be alone by myself for a month, or if I'm more worried that they will get hurt and I won't be able to help them.

I have a family reunion to go to just a few days after they leave. Family reunion for people that I've never met. Never even heard their names before. I know that it will be okay, and I can always leave if I truly don't want to be there but I want to know them. Or at least, I think I do. I'd love to meet family and make connections that I've missed most of my life, but not with people that I don't like. I hope that they aren't bigots, but I won't be able to know without meeting them. I think that, out of everything I might worry about the reunion, I'm worried that people will try to hug me, to touch me. I hate it so much. I hardly ever like people touching me. And even my grandmother that has known me my whole life ignores my distaste for touch and often hugs me or leans on me or pats me on the arm and grabs my hands and pinches my cheek and kisses me. I hate it so much. I can't even handle it when someone I've known forever does it. How can I possible handle it when strangers, who think they have a right to touch me simply because we are family, hug me. I hope that no one will, but I know better. I can't prevent it.

I'd like to think after writing about all the updates in my life that are happening soon that I feel better. But I can't really tell if I do. I think I feel the same. A weird sense of anxiety amongst otherwise numbness. But it will be okay. I just need to get through today. If I get through today I can get through tomorrow. And then I can keep going. I'll keep going until the universe itself decides I can't.

[ladyluscinia]

There's a thing I've been thinking about re: the Izzy Hands related harassment that I might as well post today since everyone is talking about it.

So every week or so there's usually someone posting in the Izzy tag along the lines of "Well I don't really agree with the Izzy stans, but I think they are pretty harmless and people shouldn't harass them." I guess I see where these posts are coming from (it usually seems to be a not particularly active poster responding to a bunch of vague drama or something), and I'm not going to complain about people if they genuinely are just trying to express "hey don't harass people over fictional little guys", but I would like to acknowledge that these posts... kinda miss the point in a way that undermines their ostensible purpose? And if you are thinking about writing one, you may want to ignore that urge?

Like, two main considerations here - one broader to the fandom and one more directly to the post author in question.

First and foremost, the "Izzy stans" who see these posts almost exclusively roll their eyes and maybe write a vague about them. This is because near universally the authors do not like Izzy or agree with positive posts about him (<- not an issue), and therefore they aren't actually familiar with or reading up on the stance they are defending and misrepresent it (<- kind of a problem). They try and appease the group they are familiar with - antis - and in effect write a post that excludes probably the exact person they saw getting harassed from the group of People Whose Opinions Don't Deserve Harassment. Without even realizing it!

Take a very common appeasement for the antis: "We all can agree that Izzy is homophobic." Actually, no, we can't. That's actually a pretty big point of contention. But by just casually dropping those generalizations into your "other people's Izzy opinions aren't evil" post, you A) reiterate the belief at the center of the harassment that certain anti opinions on Izzy are objectively true and anyone not evil / bigoted sees that, and B) implicitly exclude the vast majority of "Izzy stans" from "not evil". After all, if fans shouldn't be harassed because we can agree that he's homophobic even when viewing him sympathetically, then what about those of us who argue he isn't? It's not a very good anti-harassment post if the anti-harassment part is conditional on agreeing the harassers are right.

So, understandably, most Izzy fans in the Izzy Hands tag will read a post with these sorts of disclaimers / appeasements and be vaguely irritated at best. Which brings me to my second point...

Izzy fans ignore posts like this. Izzy antis do not.

The main reaction I have seen people get for making these posts is getting yelled at by antis. Your appeasement is not good enough to avoid this. The fact that you agree more with them about Izzy is not good enough, because if you actually had the Approved Izzy Beliefs™ you wouldn't be sympathizing with the Bad Izzy Beliefs™ in the first place. There's no winning here.

Best case scenario you get ignored by everyone and a few Izzy fans roll their eyes at you.

Worst case scenario you get harassed until you performatively backtrack your "Izzy clearly has subconscious racial biases about Ed" that got you the eye rolls and clarify "well no he's obviously racist and only an idiot wouldn't see it, but I just mean maybe we shouldn't harass the idiots??? In hindsight though they are kinda evil."

Unless this is the effect you are looking for, maybe just... don't? For your own sake, mostly.