#as I use it to explore disorders and disabilities

[solacebean]

I’ve been seeing your pretty character designs for the null au, and I’m curious what the au’s about?

It’s basically my own Links Meet AU, except it started out as a Not-Links Meet AU (Not-Links, NL, Null, see the thought process?)

Basically the idea behind it (which I’ll admit needs some… refining) was that a bunch of the Links’ friends and loved ones get ported onto their own adventure together, and then the Links in a separate party decide to go on an adventure as well to try and get them back as well as beat the crap out of whoever or whatever took them away in the first place. There’s a bit more complicated stuff, especially towards the end of the story where I had created my own entire original Link and game story, but that’s essentially of the gist of the AU!

If you were curious about specific stuff I’d be happy to answer that too but it could get a little long and probably needlessly complicated,, like I said, it could do with some refining and probably some reworking in general lol

[unboundprompts]

Hello!!! I hope you don't mind doing this one,

Can you help me write a traumatized person who's having trouble talking because of past trauma? (They can still interact with people, but only with signs and movements, not voice) and also a little anxious

Tell me if you need more details =)

How to Write a Mute / Non-Speaking Character

-> healthline.com

-> verywellhealth.com

-> descriptionary.wordpress.com

Types of Mutism:

selective mutism: having the ability to speak but feeling unable to.

organic mutism: mutism caused by brain injury, such as with drug use or after a stroke.

cerebellar mutism: mutism caused by the removal of a brain tumor from a part of the skull surrounding the cerebellum, which controls coordination and balance.

aphasia: when people find it difficult to speak because of stroke, brain tumor, or head injury.

What Causes Selective Mutism in Adults?

having another anxiety condition, like separation anxiety or social anxiety

experiencing physical, emotional, or sexual abuse

having a family history of selective mutism or social anxiety

having fewer opportunities for social contact

having an extremely shy personality

having a speech or language disorder, learning disability, or sensory processing disorder

parent-child enmeshment, or lack of clear boundaries in the relationship

traumatic experiences

Traumatic Mutism vs Trauma-Induced Selective Mutism

if you have traumatic mutism, you may be unable to talk in all situations following a trauma.

with trauma-induced selective mutism, you may find it impossible to talk only in certain situations-- for example, in front of the person who hurt you or in a setting that resembles the circumstances of your trauma.

Different Ways Individuals with Mutism May Choose to Communicate:

Nonverbal Communication: they may rely on facial expressions, gestures, eye contact, and body language to convey their thoughts, emotions, and intentions.

Writing or Typing: they may use a pen and paper, digital devices, or communication apps to write messages, notes, or responses.

Sign Language: they can convey meaning, emotions, and engage in complex conversations through hand signs, facial expressions, and body movements.

Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) Devices: these devices provide individuals with a range of tools and technologies to support their communication needs. They can include speech-generating devices, picture boards, apps, or software that allows users to select words, phrases, or symbols to generate spoken or written output.

Communication Boards and Visual Aids: Communication boards or charts with pictures, symbols, or words can assist individuals in conveying their messages.

Assistive Technology: various assistive technologies, such as speech-to-text apps, text-to-speech programs, or eye-tracking devices that aid individuals with communication.

Tips on Writing a Mute / Non-Speaking Character:

Explore the vast array of nonverbal cues such as facial expressions, body language, gestures, and eye contact. Use descriptions to convey their intentions and reactions.

Utilize internal dialogue. Offer readers a window into their internal thought process, and turn their internal dialogue into a narrative that reveals their inner struggles, triumphs, and complexities so that reader can connect with the character.

Establish a communication system that is unique to your character (Sign language, written notes, telepathy in a fantasy setting, etc.). Having a communication system allows your character to interact with other characters and contribute to the narrative.

Surround them with Understanding Characters that can aid in communcation and fostering meaningful relationships.

Establish the Barriers/Conflicts They'll Experience. Don't forget to be realistic.

Your character is not defined by their inability to speak. Make sure you do not write stereotypes and cliches. Being mute is only one aspect of their identity rather than their defining trait.

Do your research! Seek out firsthand accounts, experiences, and perspectives. Check out online forums and resources to gain insights into their unique challenges, adaptations, and strengths.

If you like what I do and want to support me, please consider buying me a coffee! I also offer editing services and other writing advice on my Ko-fi! Become a member to receive exclusive content, early access, and prioritized writing prompt requests.

[lancedoncrimsonwings]

Since I've seen an uptick in people trying to gatekeep whump again...

You don't need to have experienced any of the things you want to write to be given "permission" to write it.

Yes, many of us with cPTSD/PTSD/Any and All Traumas/Disabilities/etc etc etc write whump and find it cathartic, me included.

THESE ARE NOT A REQUIREMENT TO WRITE AND ENJOY WHUMP. OF ANY TROPE.

The only person who's work you can gatekeep is your own. YOU CANNOT CONTROL WHAT ANY OTHER PERSON CHOOSES TO WRITE OR READ.

YOU DO NOT GET TO CONTROL OTHER PEOPLE, FULL STOP.

But hey, if you want to explore controlling what others do, then I have a Whump trope or two you may enjoy writing to process that.

At the end of the day, fiction is fiction. Stories have existed since the dawn of time and trying to control what others write is impossible.

Those stories still exist even if merely in our minds or written but never posted.

These stories will exist with or without your gatekeeping.

Do I agree if you are writing a specific trope you have never experienced, such as one that relates to physical disability or a mental health diagnosis, then you should research that to ensure you're not writing it in a harmfully stereotypical manner? (Looking at you, Dissociative Identity Disorder and "Split")

Yeh, that would be awesome, I personally think you should, but my own thoughts on the matter do not have any baring on anyone but myself. Researching tropes and being mindful of how we write them is not a requirement either way regardless of my own thoughts. This is fiction, the rules are what we make of it.

Stop trying to tell people they cannot write things you personally don't want them to.

[exaltior-a]

Personally the amount of people who are either "Jake is a stupid himbo" or "Jake is actively malicious" blow my mind. No, Jake isn't stupid, and he's not evil. He's a sixteen year old who is implied to have a mental disability and/or brain damage (it's not exactly clear, Caliborn claims they have the same developmental disorder and Dirk iirc worries that Jake hit his head too much, I guess you can take either with a grain of salt but I digress), and has not had meaningful real life interactions with other human beings in years. He is in the wrong for his actions, but it feels. Purposefully ignorant to claim he's just stupid or just evil for them.

He's socially stunted. He wants to emulate heroes in movies but lacks self esteem and experience. If the alpha kids had enough time to be more fleshed out (and let's be real, if Hussie cared about Jake) this might have been explored more thoroughly. He'd never had the opportunity to learn how to cope with a relationship, how to communicate his needs, or understand that he can't control how other people perceive him like he can through a computer screen.

He doesn't know healthy boundaries because he's never had to use them, and this goes both ways (allowing his friends to sexualise him and treat him like an object, as well as constantly complaining about his relationship with Dirk to Jane) Like yeah he does run away instead of communicating with Dirk and yeah he does dump all his problems on Jane. I love Jane, but one of her problems is her bottling up her feelings and people pleasing until everything blows up. She should have told him off much sooner, and while he was being a dick, it was partly because she allowed him to feel like it was okay to do, since she never told him it wasn't after the first few times or when she was starting to get aggravated.

His problems with Dirk are a little more complicated because we're never actually shown their relationship or how it broke down, but from what we can gather, Jake felt overwhelmed by Dirk's intensity and decided to ignore him rather than tell him try and avoid confrontation but leading to Dirk being frustrated and breaking up with him. Dirk claims he feels like he bullied Jake into a relationship, and though I personally think that's him making it seem worse than it was, it does mean that Dirk probably was trying to go too fast. I've best heard it is Jake being an introvert pretending to be an extrovert.

This is not to say I don't think people can't dislike or even hate Jake, but it's like. Idk. Misinterpreting a character and disliking that version of them is a little redundant to me.

[covid-safer-hotties]

“You may now become who you thought was disposable”: COVID-19 Politics and Ableism - Published July 4, 2024

Unpaywalled link available in the link to our archive! A taste below!

“You may now become who you thought was disposable”: COVID-19 Politics and Ableism Andrea Kitta Journal of American Folklore, Volume 137, Number 545, Summer 2024, pp. 321-330 (Article) Published by American Folklore Society For additional information about this article muse.jhu.edu/article/931461[37.228.238.33] Project MUSE (2024-07-09 12:59 GMT) American Folklore Society

This essay critically examines the intersection of COVID-19, Long COVID, ableism, and health care disparities in the United States, emphasizing the transformative impact of COVID-19 as a mass disabling event with a disproportionate impact on marginalized communities. I also bring an autoethnographic lens to my experi- ence of COVID-19 and Long COVID, underscoring the importance of recognizing the diverse and often untellable experiences of individuals with disabilities and challenging the prevailing ableist perspectives embedded in society. I raise ethical considerations of storytelling in the context of Long COVID and urge researchers to embrace empathy and a more inclusive approach that challenges traditional notions of objectivity and distancing within academic research. I call for a collaborative approach between disability studies and folklore studies, encouraging scholars to interrogate and explore the traditions shaped by experiences of disability.

On December 13, 2020, disability advocate Imani Barbarin created a TikTok where she stated in the caption: “COVID is a mass disabling event. Things will never be the same. Never. You may now become who you thought was disposable” (Barbarin 2020). Barbarin was not overstating what is happening in the United States. In addition to the overwhelming number of US-based COVID-19 deaths (1.07 million as of November 1, 2022, according to the New York Times COVID-19 Tracker [New York Times 2023]), there is also an alarming number of cases of post-acute sequelae SARS-CoV-2 infection (PASC) or, as it’s more commonly known, Long COVID. Long COVID happens in anywhere from 5 percent to 50 percent of COVID-19 infections (although most medical experts agree the rate of Long COVID is somewhere around 20–30 percent of all infections). Long COVID affects women at a 22 percent higher rate than men (Sylvester et al. 2022:1391), and one study of Long COVID listed over 200 symptoms (Davis et al. 2021). The most common symptoms are fatigue, shortness of breath, cough, chest pain, brain fog, sleep disturbances, depression, joint pain, and dysautonomia (a dysfunction of the autonomic nervous system that typically presents as the inability to control temperature, breathing issues, and other things the body normally controls automatically).

Current estimates of those affected by Long COVID in the United States are between twenty and forty million. COVID-19 has also been shown to reactivate other viruses (Gold et al. 2021; Chen et al. 2022; Su et al. 2022), and one current theory is that Long COVID is the result of the COVID-19 virus continually being reactivated in the body (Klein et al. 2022). The latest research out of Yale University shows that COVID-19 cases entail cellular changes to the B and T cells, lower levels of cortisol, and that the virus can reactivate other viruses (Su et al. 2022:891–2). A recent study with more than 154,068 participants showed that “in the post-acute phase of COVID-19, there was increased risk of an array of incident neurologic sequelae including ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke, cognition and memory disorders, peripheral nervous system disorders, episodic disorders (for example, migraine and seizures), extrapyramidal and movement disorders, men tal health disorders, musculoskeletal disorders, sensory disorders, Guillain–Barré syndrome, and encephalitis or encephalopathy” (Xu, Xie, and Al-Aly 2022:2406).

Both COVID-19 and Long COVID exposed inequities in the US health care system, with Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) populations dying from COVID-19 at much higher rates than White people at the beginning of the pandemic. Compared to White people, Alaskan Indian or Alaskan Natives died at 2.1 times the rate, Black people at 1.7 times the rate, Hispanic or Latinx people at 1.8 the rate, and Asian Americans at 0.8 times the rate (CDC 2023). According to the Washington Post’s analysis of CDC’s statistics, the rate of White people dying from COVID-19 became equal to the rate of other groups beginning in October 2021, then (except for the Omicron wave) increased, primarily due to White people being unvaccinated. Strangely enough, the equalizing trend wasn’t because death rates dropped for BIPOC people, but rather was due to the rise of the White death rate. Tasleem Padamsee, Assistant Professor at The Ohio State University who researched vaccine use and who is a member of the Ohio Department of Health’s work group on health equity, stated: “Usually, when we say a health disparity is disappearing, what we mean is that . . . the worse-off group is getting better. . . . We don’t usually mean that the group that had a systematic advantage got worse” (quoted in Johnson and Keating 2022).

Additionally, at the time of this writing in Spring 2023, the pandemic has been declared as “over” despite the fact that around 400 people are still dying per day in the United States and that those dying tend to be people with disabilities and the elderly (New York Times 2023). It’s difficult to imagine a situation where 400 deaths a day are deemed acceptable, yet here we are. Many people are desperate to “get back to normal” and seem to care more about going maskless or dining indoors than they do about those who are dying of COVID-19. Those who are unvaccinated and unmasked also seem to not understand (or not care) that the longer they continue on that path, the longer the pandemic will take to dissipate. Simply put, the majority of people do not seem to care about people with disabilities, including those who are immunocompromised, and their increased health risks due to the pandemic.

People with disabilities are an unrecognized health disparity population, and they died at much higher rates during COVID-19 (Krahn, Walker, and Correa-de-Araujo 2015). The National Council on Disability found that 181,000 people with disabilities in long-term care facilities died from COVID-19 in the first year of the pandemic, making up one-third of COVID-19 deaths at that time (National Council of Disabilities 2021). The report is worth quoting at length.

In addition to disproportionate fatalities, key findings of the report include:

People with disabilities faced a high risk of being triaged out of COVID-19 treatment when hospital beds, supplies, and personnel were scarce; were denied the use of their personal ventilator devices after admission to a hospital; and at times, were denied the assistance of critical support persons during hospital stays. Informal and formal Crisis Standards of Care (CSC), pronouncements that guided the provision of scarce health care resources in surge situations, targeted people with certain disabilities for denial of care (National Council of Disabilities 2021).

Students with disabilities were denied necessary educational services and supports during the pandemic and have experienced disruption and regression in their behavioral and educational goals (National Council of Disabilities 2021).

The growing shortage of direct care workers in existence prior to the pandemic became worse during the pandemic. Many such workers, who are women of color earning less than a living wage and lacking health benefits, left their positions for fear of contracting and spreading the virus, leaving people with disabilities and their caregivers without aid and some at risk of losing their independence or being institutionalized (National Council of Disabilities 2021).

Deaf, Hard of Hearing, Deaf-Blind, and Blind persons faced a profound communication gulf as masks became commonplace, making lip-reading impossible and sign language harder (National Council of Disabilities 2021).

[whumpinggrounds]

Writing Seizures

 Latest installment in Disability Writing Guides! As always, feel free to add something, or come into my ask box with a question, comment, or request. 

This post is intended as a writing resource, not medical advice or a comprehensive exploration of seizures or seizure disorders.

Vocab

A seizure is a brief change in normal brain activity. Sometimes this is visible and sometimes not. They can last variable lengths of time and occur with varying frequency depending on the cause. They can be caused by epilepsy, trauma, illness, drug use, or any number of other factors.

Epilepsy is a general term for brain disorder characterized by frequent seizures. A person can have seizures without having epilepsy. Epilepsy is not a distinct diagnosis; there are many different types.

Epilepsy is diagnosed after a patient either has two seizures, or one seizure and an EEG that shows the potential for future seizures.

Again: If a person seizes more than once, they are medically defined as epileptic. A person can be diagnosed as epileptic after only having one seizure if their EEG shows potential for more.

Rescue meds are medications given to stop a seizure currently in progress.

Antiseizure drugs or ASDs, also known as anticonvulsants or antiepileptics, are drugs taken daily to prevent seizures from occurring. These are different from rescue meds.

Status epilepticus is a seizure that lasts longer than five minutes or having a seizure and then seizing again within five minutes without regaining full consciousness. Status epilepticus is extremely dangerous and can cause brain injury or death. Someone experiencing status epilepticus needs immediate medical attention. 

Generally speaking, serious intervention would begin before the seizure reached its fifth minute. If someone is seizing past four minutes with no sign of stopping, the people timing the seizure should not wait until five minutes to call 911, administer rescue meds, etc.

A seizure cluster is when a person experiences two or more seizures within a 24 hour period.

A nonepileptic event is an event that may look like a seizure but is produced by a different condition. Examples include ticcing due to Tourette’s or a heart arrhythmia causing a person to pass out suddenly.

Tonic refers to the muscles in the body becoming stiff.

Atonic means the muscles in the body relaxing.

Clonic refers to periods of shaking or jerking in parts of the body.

Myoclonic also refers to short jerking in parts of the body, but is generally more localized/occurring in a smaller area of the body.

Types of Seizures

I’m not going to go through every type of seizure, but I will go over some basics. This is massively simplified, and intended as a general writing resource, not technical or medical knowledge. Feel free to correct if I’m saying something wrong, or add detail.

Seizures are first divided into two overarching groups. Generalized seizures mean that excessive or unusual electric signals are being discharged across the entire brain. Focal or partial seizures mean that excessive or unusual electric signals are being discharged in one specific part of the brain.

Tonic-clonic seizures are the kind most commonly portrayed in media. They involve a total loss of consciousness and involuntary muscle contractions and shaking or jerking in parts of the body. This type of seizure may begin as a focal seizure or a myoclonic seizure (more on this later), but a tonic-clonic seizure is always generalized. Also - this type of seizure was formerly known as grand mal, but this is an outdated term and no longer used.

Myoclonic seizures are partial seizures, characterized by the sudden, involuntary twitching of a muscle or group of muscles. People retain consciousness during these seizures, but do not have control over their body or movements.

Atonic seizures, also called drop seizures or akinetic seizures, cause the sudden loss of muscle strength. They’re called drop seizures as they often (but not always!) cause a person to drop to the ground. A person experiencing an atonic seizure generally remains conscious.

Focal, partial, or absence seizures are seizures that do not involve the whole brain. They can involve repetitive movement like muscle jerking, but more often are characterized by being “frozen,” feeling “out of it,” or “staring into space.” It may be difficult for observers to tell that someone is seizing. This type of seizure was formerly known as petit mal, but this an outdated term and is no longer used.

Focal onset aware seizures, formerly known as “simple partial seizures,” occur when someone has a partial seizure and retains consciousness and awareness. Someone can look unaware and still be aware when experiencing this type of seizure. This type of seizure may involve feeling “frozen” or repeated small muscle movements.

Focal onset impaired awareness seizures, formerly known as “complex partial seizures,” occur when someone has a partial seizure and loses consciousness or awareness. This is type of seizure may involve feeling “out of it,” “staring into space,” or a loss of memory.

In describing a seizure (in modern-day America), the convention followed is seizure type, awareness level, and sometimes, where a seizure begins if it is a partial seizure. Thus, you get diagnoses like “Focal onset impaired awareness seizures arising from the temporal lobe,” “Focal onset atonic aware seizures arising in the frontal lobe,” or “General onset tonic-clonic seizures.”

These diagnoses are very wordy, and are sometimes shortened. Drop seizures or absence seizures are typically used as more casual terms. Also, as seizures generally begin in one of the four lobes of the brain, epilepsy is sometimes described by which lobe the seizures arise in (temporal lobe epilepsy, occipital lobe epilepsy, etc.)

Process of a Seizure

An aura is a feeling, sensation, or “warning” experienced by a person who is about to seize. Auras tend to present the same way over and over. Someone may not have auras, or recognize an aura as being a prelude to a seizure. Sometimes, an aura occurs and a seizure does not follow. Basically, there are no real rules with auras, but they are pretty common, and are generally not observable except to the person experiencing them.

Fun fact: people who have migraines also tend to have auras! It is believed that Lewis Carrol wrote Alice in Wonderland while experiencing a pre-migraine aura.

The ictal period refers to the experience of an actual seizure, when electrical activity in the brain is at its most intense. What a seizure itself looks or feels like depends on the type of seizures a person experiences, and y’all should conduct research into that for your characters.

Some people need rescue meds administered every time they seize. Others are only supposed to be given if they seize for a certain amount of time (longer than two minutes, for instance). Meds can be administered as nasal sprays, rectally, or tucked under the tongue or into the cheek. Rescue medications are only injected in hospital settings.

Remember that regardless of how often a character seizes or how long they’ve had epilepsy, seizing for more than five minutes, or multiple times within five minutes without regaining consciousness, is a medical emergency. Rescue meds should be administered and whatever medical intervention is appropriate for your setting should be immediately undertaken.

The post-ictal stage occurs after a seizure ends and lasts anywhere from five to thirty minutes. This is the period when a person is still experiencing after affects from their seizure, like confusion, drowsiness, hypertension, headaches, or nausea. Not everyone experiences post-ictal symptoms, and a person may continue to feel exhausted, irritated, or “out of it” more than thirty minutes after they seize.

Seizure Etiquette

Seizures can be surprising and very noticeable. A person that is seizing still deserves privacy. In your story, they should be given privacy, and good friends/teammates/co-characters could steer other people away or block them from being a public spectacle while they seize.

Do not have anyone put anything in a seizing character’s mouth. Ever. This is not necessary and can be dangerous, as a person can choke, or the person attempting to put something in their mouth could get accidentally bitten.

Do not restrain a person that is seizing. The character seizing or the character attempting to restrain them could get hurt, and the restraints are not going to be helpful whatsoever. Characters can move chairs or place cushions to keep a seizing character from hitting them; do not attempt to stop the seizing character’s body from moving how it will.

If necessary, the person seizing can be placed on their side, otherwise, do not attempt to move them.

If a non-epileptic character seizes, it is an emergency. Epilepsy can arise spontaneously at any age, but seizing with no prior history of seizures is a big deal, and the causes for a seizure need to be checked out to understand what caused it.

If your characters have access to medical knowledge and medical treatment, it would be realistic to have them time the seizure so that they know if a character needs rescue meds or has entered status epilepticus.

Rescue meds can be very, very expensive. A character will likely not receive rescue medication every time they seize, especially if their condition is largely stable.

It can be scary and emotional to watch someone seize. Feelings of fear and helplessness are common, especially if what’s needed is for characters to stand and wait to see if the seizing individual needs further help. It’s okay for your characters to feel that and react to that.

Things to Know

Epilepsy mostly presents in childhood and in people older than 60, but can arise at any age. Repeated seizures caused by an underlying condition (brain injury, tumors, strokes) are still considered epileptic seizures, and the person that has them, epileptic.

Repeating it once more: If your character seizes more than once, they are medically defined as epileptic.

The vast majority of seizures do not cause brain damage, or any other kind of damage. They can be frightening, distracting, inconvenient, upsetting, confusing - any number of things. But the vast majority do not cause physical harm, besides the bruises or scrapes that may come from muscle contraction or losing awareness.

Some seizures do cause brain damage. If you’re writing this scenario, please do some research into the type of seizure that would cause brain damage and what kind of brain damage that would be. Do not, for instance, have your character experience a tonic-clonic seizure and then come back in a wheelchair with no further explanation.

Sometimes, the muscle contractions of a seizure can cause spit or foam to collect around someone’s mouth. Sometimes, people bite their tongue, and this foam or spit can appear bloody. No internal injuries occur as a result of a seizure. Any bloody foam or spit is a result of a bitten tongue or cheek, and nothing more.

People who are seizing sometimes lose bowel or bladder control. This is not something they have any control over, but can still be embarrassing and is sometimes a reality of living with seizures.

In the United States, driving laws vary from state to state, but generally a person needs to be seizure free for a period of months (usually 3-6) before they are allowed to drive. The restrictions on driving commercially are much stricter.

Someone diagnosed in childhood may grow out of their epilepsy. Some estimates put the number of kids that will outgrow their epilepsy above 50%. If someone is seizure free for 2-5 years, they may begin to lessen their ASD dose, and may continue until they are no longer medicated at all.

Someone diagnosed in old age will not typically have a spontaneous remission of seizures.

Epilepsy can have a genetic basis or it can arise spontaneously. The fact that it can be passed from parent to child has been the basis of discrimination for a very long time. Be aware of this.

For much of human history, having epilepsy has been hugely stigmatized, and people with epilepsy have been routinely persecuted, particularly in the Western world under the banner of eugenics. As recently as the 1970s, many states were still forcibly sterilizing epileptic people. In writing a character with epilepsy, be aware that the diagnosis carries a heavy weight of stigma and painful history.

Though epilepsy and people who have epilepsy have long been stigmatized and persecuted, it has also long been regarded as a mystical illness, closely tied to spirituality and religion. In many places, people who have seizures are considered to be in religious ecstasy, having visions, or are chosen by higher powers. Consider the setting in which your story takes place and if this kind of thinking would realistically occur. Keep in mind that this view of epilepsy and seizures is not necessarily a positive thing.

Accessibility and Treatment

If you are writing a character who only seizes once (and the setting allows for it), proper treatment would consist of visiting whatever medical establishment exists in your universe, and monitoring or testing to determine the cause of a seizure and if another is likely to occur.

Even though your character is not going to seize again and does not have epilepsy, consider how the single seizure may affect your character. What did it mean to them to (perhaps publicly) lose control of their body or brain?

If your character does have epilepsy, their life will change or has always  looked different because of that epilepsy. For example, someone with epilepsy may not be allowed to drive, or may have never learned to drive. It is not safe for someone who has uncontrolled epilepsy to live alone. How would these considerations affect your character’s life and independence?

Think about how having seizures would apply to your character and your setting. Do they feel safe swimming? Spending significant time alone? Are there places that they avoid because it’s too dangerous to seize there?

In real life, people who experience tonic-clonic or atonic seizures often take precautions to ensure their safety should they have a seizure. People who have atonic seizures wear padded helmets to protect their heads. People who experience an aura may get themselves to a safe location, or adjust their surroundings so that they won’t hurt themselves while they seize. What precautions might your characters take to protect themselves?

Seizure triggers. Photosensitivity is a very common one, with flashing lights being especially dangerous for epileptic people. Some seizures have clear, specific triggers, while others seem to arise out of nowhere. Though it may be difficult to tell what exactly triggered a seizure, the modern Western medical establishment believes that all seizures have triggers, though the triggers may not be known. Triggers tend to be environmental cues that the central nervous system over-responds to, like the aforementioned flashing lights. A friend of mine has epilepsy that is triggered by anything coming directly at their face, like balls being thrown towards them. Once, a seizure was triggered by a butterfly flying directly at them.

Seizures can also be triggered by sounds, smells, or sensation, not just sight!

What might your character’s seizure triggers be? Your character may or may not know themselves, but if the triggers are known, how does your character avoid them, or plan their life around them? My friend’s seizure trigger meant that they couldn’t play ball sports, even casually, which kind of sucked. But having a seizure sucked more, so.

In terms of accessible spaces: The more open space, the better, and the softer the surfaces, the better. For instance, people who have seizures may prefer using an accessible bathroom stall, as they are larger, and the person seizing is less likely to become trapped or hurt themselves if they seize unexpectedly in the bathroom. What kinds of spaces does your character seek out, particularly if they are aware they might seize soon?

A properly medicated epileptic character may still have seizures. Medications are intended to control, shorten, and decrease total number of seizures. Sometimes they entirely eliminate seizures, but a person may still seize and that does not mean the medication isn’t working. A character who still seizes frequently and for long stretches of time likely is not properly medicated. Medications should be taken around the same time(s) every day for maximum efficacy.

Life changes, particularly puberty, can make medication less effective.

Proper medication is life-changing for people with epilepsy, and would likely be life-changing for your epileptic character as well. What does the process of getting medicated look like? How does your character feel upon being properly medicated? What in their life changes, and what stays the same?

Are there any drawbacks to being medicated? Side effects? Cost of medication?

If epilepsy is drug resistant, there are a few other options. I’m only going to discuss two, one because it has a long, fraught, and misunderstood history, and the other because it’s Trendy.

Brain surgery is an option for people/character with epilepsy. This is not the scary ice pick lobotomy of the 20th century. Brain surgery is a necessary tool to help epileptic people that are struggling with frequent, severe seizures that do not respond to medication, or when the side effects of medication are intolerable. Surgery can mean removing part of the brain (resecting), killing specific nerve cells where seizures start (lesioning), disconnecting the hemispheres of the brain (corpus callosotomy), or the implantation of a pacemaker-type device that uses electrical signals to block or disrupt seizures.

If your character is getting brain surgery for epilepsy in a contemporary, futuristic, or fantasy setting, please do your own research and ensure that the type of surgery they’re receiving fits their type of epilepsy and their need. Please frame the surgery accurately and avoid falling back on scary tropes about people coming back with different personalities, no personality, or dying in these procedures.

The last treatment option I’m going to discuss here is the ketogenic or keto diet. You may not be aware, but the diet was originally developed to treat children with epilepsy, and there is limited evidence showing that it does decrease or eliminate seizures in children. This diet is extremely high in fat and as low as possible in carbs. The majority of people who believe they are following a keto diet and are in ketosis (body and brain fueled by fat instead of sugar) are wrong. It is extremely difficult to follow a strict keto diet and is absolutely a major life change.

The diet would typically only be recommended for children between 2 and 12 whose epilepsy is resistant to medication.

Why or how the keto diet works to control epilepsy is not well understood. The fact that the brain is fueled by fat products known as ketones, rather than glucose, is thought to be related. If anyone knows more, feel free to contribute that knowledge.

Rethink

If your character gets brain surgery for their epilepsy, and that surgery is framed as negative, think about why that is. I absolutely understand the long, problematic, real-life history behind lobotomies, and I am not telling you not to explore that. Please do think hard about what beliefs you may have, and what messages you may be sending, about people who get brain surgery.

Characters with epilepsy that gives them visions or confers some kind of power. Yes, there are historical associations between epilepsy and religiosity, but remember the real world people who have epilepsy and how this framing may strike them. This is a common trope, so do a little introspection on what about this narrative is compelling to you and what messages you’re consuming and endorsing.

Seizures that occur to add intensity, drama, fear, or risk to the story. What are your characters afraid of? Why are they afraid of it? As always - what messages are you sending about seizures or the people who experience them? How would it feel to read your portrayal as a person who regularly seizes?

A character who seizes but does not have epilepsy. Related to the above - why is a seizure important to your story, but epilepsy is not a part of it?

A character who seizes twice but is not described as/does not identify with epilepsy. For one, this is medically inaccurate, which you should just be aware of. Secondly - what about this diagnosis is undesirable or unnecessary for your story? Why?

Write what you’re going to write, but understand why you’re writing it, and how it might be perceived. In particular, when writing about a complex, widely misunderstood, and stigmatized condition like epilepsy, understand what stigma you may be contributing to, what inaccuracies you may be presenting, and what complexities you may be ignoring, especially by having a character seize without being epileptic.

Resources

A lot of this is written based on my relationships with epileptic people and personal research. I don’t like to recommend media that I haven’t personally read/watched, just because then I don’t know what I’m recommending, but if anyone else has recommendations, please feel free to add them!

How Evan Broke His Head and Other Secrets by Garth Stein is contemporary novel about a Seattle man with epilepsy who is suddenly thrust into parenting a 14-year-old son he didn’t know existed. I read it a while ago and remember it being pretty good, but nothing special (no offense, Garth Stein). Worth noting that while the author is not himself epileptic, his sister does have epilepsy and he likely has better than typical knowledge of the condition.

The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman is a creative nonfiction book about a Hmong family, their epileptic child, and the medical saga they embark on as the American medical establishment attempts to treat their child. It is written about a real-life immigrant family and their daughter and was extensively researched over eight years, focusing on cultural differences, and xenophobia, racism, and misunderstanding in medicine.

This Podcast Will Kill You, which is free on Spotify, includes an hour and forty minute long episode diving into (some) of the etiology and history of epilepsy.

Maintenance Phase is a podcast that is also free on Spotify and has an episode about the keto diet. The main focus of the episode is the keto diet as it is used for weight loss, but it does include some fascinating backstory on the (invented) narrative that the keto diet is a secret that is being kept from the general public.

Please hit me up with questions, comments, corrections, or requests. Happy writing!

[hemipenal-system]

this thread is fucking long and the cut is in an awkward place just bear with it please

so werewolves are a stock horror villain (and the posts directly below this one are about that! go look at them) and don’t get me wrong i love werewolf horrorsmut but i want to see more of:

werewolves who just aren’t scary in any way. like sure the shift may be scary. they may look kinda scary. but they’re just people like everyone else even if they are more ruled by instinct than the average human. i think stuff like that is a nice way to explore what it means to be a person and how humanity can be a fluid category, especially when the werewolves in question are transgender/disabled/personality disorder coded.

like i want some wholesome shit about werewolves who can’t even pass as ambiguously human. they’re just very overtly werewolves: massive sharp, snarling bundles of taut muscles and sinew, 8, 9 feet tall, who are very capable of snapping and killing everything around them

but don’t. because they’re treated well and loved even though they’re not like everyone else. and it doesn’t matter that they aren’t, because they are like everyone else even if they’re not. i know that sounds a bit confusing on the face but i mean stuff like:

- “oh yeah no worries, Sharon from accounting’s a wolf too! no no we love her! remember when we went to topgolf for that company outing? they couldn’t find any clubs in her size so she outdrove us all with clubs a foot too short it was hysterical!”

- “all right you should be scheduled for this week! next two weeks are the same? no right of course not because you need moon days. yeah that’s totally fine i will get that in to HR and you should be all good!”

- “is- no it’s fine- is it ok if i stay shifted in here? the pain is less bad when i’m shifted. no i have no idea why lol. you’re sure? the shedding is ok and everything? aww sweetie i love you too!”

- “i mean, hip dysplasia is normal in wolves your age, and you had fairly active teenage years, so it happens. it’s not anything to worry about though, i’ll get you in contact with a fantastic physical therapist! no she specializes in wolf patients. she’s great at what she does, i promise. i’ll get you a month of painkillers but over-the-counter should work alright too. take these, go to therapy, and if it’s still doing that in a month come back and we can try something else.”

- “hey, baby, look at me. i know people are staring at you. you don’t need to care about them. you have just as much right to be here as they do. just ignore them.”

- “no i’m absolutely not mad at you! you can’t control that happening! no it was a full moon what the fuck were you supposed to do? look, i can replace the couch you mauled and the TV and vases you broke but i can’t replace you getting hurt because you tried to stave off the shift. we’ll go shopping for new ones together, ok? and we’ll get some cheap shit you can break for next month and a couple steaks for you to fuck up. i promise i’m not mad- hey get off me you big lug stop fucking licking me your mouth tastes like couch cushions…”

- “it’s actually so real to be worried about hurting your human partner in bed. you won’t hurt her, dude, i’ve known her for years you should be more scared of her than she is of you. they make, like, these rings. it’s like a silicone spacer- no it goes on your dick, idiot. it’s so you don’t like fuck into her cervix or whatever. supposedly those help? idk if they come in wolf sizes though.”

show me the negative stuff, too. show me:

- werewolves who muzzle themselves in cities even though it’s only a first quarter moon because they’re scared they’ll snap and hurt someone even though that fear makes them so careful around everyone they never would

- wolves who have moon trackers on their phone because they need to know when they’re going to get forced into a shift so they can get away from everyone because they don’t want to get violent but they can’t control it and the last time they were around someone she ended up in the hospital. she’s really understanding about it and they’re friends now but it doesn’t make it feel any less horrible

- wolves who get asked every single fucking time they get nice dinner, “so do you want your steak cooked, or what?” by waiters who think they’re funny but really aren’t

- werewolves who walk on eggshells in public because they know if they make any minor mistake or show any aggression whatsoever the pundits on the news will talk about “a werewolf snarled at my kid today. i mean i try to be trusting but you never know with those people. they have those fangs for a reason is all i’m saying.”

- werewolves who are scared to shift in public for the same reason as above, because they know how they’ll be perceived if they show people they’re a wolf

- werewolves who can’t find wolf doctors in their area so they keep going back to human doctors who don’t know how the fuck to treat their unique health conditions and when they complain about this they get a flippant “have you tried a veterinarian?”

- werewolves in therapy because their last relationship was with a human who sucked and it was really bad and that trauma has manifested as resource guarding and reactivity issues and it’s causing problems at work

i love this stuff. i want more. i also cannot write conclusion paragraphs to save my life so this is the end now. thanks for reading all this if you’re reading this.

😊

[oddlittlestories]

I love Monk. I’m not really recommending it because, well, it IS about police and it DOES have some fairly ableist content. But I love it.

Monk is an interesting character. He’s introduced as having an “anxiety disorder” that occurred from the traumatic event of his wife being murdered. Over the course of the show, it becomes pretty clear that he was neurodivergent his whole life, but had a serious spike in support needs after his wife’s death. He has one nurse, but he should pretty clearly have two—even if one is a part-time respite nurse. Many of his “boundary violations” obviously come from seeking needed support at inappropriate times. This man should not really be left alone, at least not at the start of the show. He can’t cope. But also getting a new nurse / assistant / I forget the specific word is very very difficult for him.

He’s billed, I believe, as having OCD. But if you just look at his behavior, there are several labels that could fit. Autism would probably be one of them.

A lot of the humor in the show revolves around his disability, which could and may to some feel like the show makes his disability the butt of the joke. With some notable exceptions (fuck you medication episode) I don’t really think this is the case.

Let’s look at the pilot. Sharona, his nurse, goes on a date and leaves him alone on “chicken pot pie night.” She tells him, you’ll be fine! Even my son could cook a chicken pot pie. He cannot cook a chicken pot pie. He is counting out individual peas. To me, this is funny because of how obvious it is that he needs more support.

He literally calls her son for help. This is hilarious because it obviously wasn’t her intention, but her son is actually walking Monk through how to make a chicken pot pie. The literalism - that Benjy really CAN help him cook a chicken pot pie - is funny to me.

I’m also very interested in how the show interacts with both work and the police. Monk is not capable of working full-time, and although he desperately wants to go back at first, eventually he accepts that as a consultant, he can have the flexibility he needs to still find murderers.

The police officers he works with often feel threatened and embarrassed by him, but at the same time need his talents. Jealousy comes up often. And since the main officers are at least duly sympathetic, this gets explored as awful instead of brushed off as campy villainy from antagonists.

I also really like the way gaze is used in the show. Monk comes onto a crime scene and others watch as he makes a bunch of pronouncements, struggles with one anxiety or another, gets support from his nurse, and then explains his pronouncements. I like that it seems like folks are disturbed by his need for support, but that the show frames the support as a positive thing and the anxiety itself as a struggle.

Monk is also a person. He loved his wife. He plays the clarinet. He doesn’t have much time to pursue hobbies or interests outside of managing his disability and doing the work which he loves and seems compelled to do in equal measure. But he IS a person.

Anyways I’m not necessarily saying go out and watch it. It has many flaws and it is ableist at times, and it doesn’t bother to fully unpack how the people in Monk’s life respond to him, nor always to explore his agency and individuality. He is a fussy and fastidious detective, which is a common archetype, but they don’t always go as far beyond that as they should.

Like I said, it’s not House. But I’m gonna probably rewatch all of it now that it’s on Netflix.

[skywritingrambles]

I have decided I am in fact desperate enough to write it myself sssoooo who's interested in brainstorming/editing/beta reading etc with me?

I started rewatching Naruto recently and my brain is filled with character study (thank you so much @meowticta for giving me the name of that tag/trope) of Kakashi exploring mental and physical disability and his relationships with people. I was thinking ANBU time.

I also want to do an iruka x kakashi thing but not like a main plot, I want it to be mostly about kakashi and while he finds ways to get closer to people he finds iruka being close in a different way. Or maybe kkiru being a totally separate fanfic so I can fully focus on the character study aspect.

I don't have a lot of ideas for specific plot but I know what I want to explore.

Obviously he's traumatized and in this time would be severely depressed, probably suffering from ptsd type symptoms, I'd like to include psychosis because I personally experience psychosis and its important to me that it's represented well.

I also see a lot of parallels to physical disability in him. His chakra depletion is a very fantasy equivalent of a chronic fatigue disorder, burning energy very very quickly and then need to recover for a long time. That's something a lot of physically disabled people relate to including me.

I think I want it to be 7-13 longer chapters with a cohesive story. Anyway if anyone is interested please feel free to reply or message me! Or if you don't want to continuously help but you have an idea you're more than welcome to just give that.

I'd also love to talk to partially blind people on how to write that. I know he's not technically blind but he can't use one eye like 90% of the time so I want to talk to people who are partially blind on how that can feel.

[hiiragi7]

Endogenic Plurality, Disability, & Ableism

Note: For simplicity's sake, this post will be focused on endogenic plurals without a CDD, and uses endogenic interchangeably with "endogenic without a CDD" to be less wordy. Disability and disorder are also used somewhat interchangeably here.

I've been thinking more on the "do endogenic plurals experience ableism for being plural" debate, and something which I really would like to explore more in discussion is how plurality's proximity to disability impacts the ways in which endogenic plurals are treated.

While I see some fair points in each argument, statements such as "if you don't have a disorder, you do not face ableism" and "endogenic plurals only face misdirected ableism" are vastly oversimplifying the actual issues here to the point that they are actually misleading at best and harmfully incorrect at worst.

I have been reading Cripping Intersex lately and it has changed a lot of the ways in which I view disability politics. One thing that this book has made very clear: Saying "I do not have a disorder" does not prevent you from being subjected to discrimination based on an ableist system, and in fact rejecting the disability framework entirely not only does nothing to dismantle that ableism but even reinforces it.

This is not to say that endogenic plurals are "actually disabled/disordered", but rather that plurality as a whole has a proximity to disability in such a way that it is almost inherently subjected to ableism. There is absolutely a socially and medically enforced view of self which excludes any sort of overt plurality, especially in a Western colonialist context. Whether your plurality is actually disordered or not, that does not matter when you are working within a systemic framework which seeks to eliminate anything not defined as normal or acceptable. It doesn't even matter if your plurality is non-pathological; if it is not socially accepted as "normal", it is treated as disordered and to be fixed.

This sort of ableism is not only related to ableism more common to DID, but ableism as a whole. It is related to disability as a socially prescribed status through discrimination rather than black-and-white categories or objective truths regarding disorder and non-disorder. It is related to how saneism defines what is and is not normal and acceptable, rather than what psychology or the medical field defines as "actually" pathological and disordered (though it is important to acknowledge that these two systems heavily interact, as well, and that oppression impacts how the medical system defines pathology).

I reject that ableism towards endogenic plurals is simply "misdirected". To call it "misdirected ableism" is so often used to say that endogenic plurals are not the intended target, but I argue that they absolutely are included as intentional targets because plurality as a whole is a target, explicitly named or not. The determining factor for ableism is not whether someone is "really" disordered or not, but that they are treated as such due to societal standards regarding acceptable and unacceptable ways of being. When "unacceptable" is equated to "disordered" through a saneist lens, you are treated as such - and, you are, therefore, vulnerable to ableism.

I heavily agree with those who have so far spoken about how what people call pluralphobia is so often just ableism (though I also view it as often intersecting with anti-spiritual/religious views and racism), however I feel that we need to take this conversation even further to examine exactly how ableism works and who it affects. This post is also not meant to say "endos are oppressed for being plural", but rather that endos are oppressed through the same ableist systems that affect all plurals/people with CDDs and to expand on that to open conversation about it.

On a final note, I'd like to reflect on how rejection of disability has gone for various movements in the past and how that relates to the modern plural community and its approach to "plural acceptance".

As someone who was diagnosed with autism in the 2000s and saw a lot of push from autistics back then to de-medicalize autism to avoid further forced "normalizing treatment" like ABA, I can say that rejecting the framework of disability and ableism did not help us to dismantle systemic medical violence against autistic people and even isolated many severely disabled autistics who rely on medical interventions and support.

As an intersex person, I can say that the intersex community rejecting the framework of disability and ableism did not help us to end "normalizing treatments" against intersex people and even isolated many intersex people who do identify themselves as being disordered due to their intersex condition.

And as a person with DID, I have learned about how the empowered multiples movement had attempted to reject the framework of disorder and ableism to avoid medicalization and forced fusion, and how that did not help systems who did need medical intervention nor did it do anything to dismantle medical violence or stigma against multiples.

Any sort of wider "Plural Acceptance Movement" that comes into existence will fail if it is not also simultaneously and inherently a disability movement, and this is not just due to the existence of CDD systems. Seperation from disability does not exempt you from ableism or ableist frameworks and systemic oppression. CDD or not, we all as a community are impacted by ableism and cannot find any widespread acceptance while ignoring that. Plural acceptance is disability acceptance.

[authoralexharvey]

INTERVIEW WITH A WRITEBLR — @albatris

Who You Are:

Logan || It/its

Hello! I'm a queer horror novelist and friend to cats from South Australia! I spend my time making art of all sorts, especially relating to my experiences of queerness and psychosis.

What You Write:

What genres do you write in? What age ranges do you write for?

Comedy, fantasy, horror, and sci-fi. Young adult and adult.

What genre would you write in for the rest of your life, if you could? What about that genre appeals to you?

Horror! There's such rich ground to explore in stories of horror and psychosis when you're not an ableist prick about it! There are unique and valuable stories to be told in the overlap here and I'm having a wonderful time weaving my own experiences of schizotypal personality disorder into my horror writing. It's the closest I've come to being able to share my inner world with others :)

What genre/s will you not write unless you HAVE to? What about that genre turns you off?

Historial fiction! I don't have anything against the genre, but it's just not my cup of tea. I'd never feel like I'm nailing the time period due to the sheer amount of nuance and detail that I'd need to have on hand… major props to historical fiction writers, you are stronger and more organised writers than I

Who is your target audience? Do you think anyone outside of that would get anything out of your works?

My target audience ranged from YA to adult, depending on the work in question. I want to speak to primarily people who are feeling disconnected and alone… I guess you could say my target audience is just myself of the past? I'm writing the stuff I needed to read, the stuff that would have made me feel seen and loved and understood. Anyone else is welcome along for the ride though ^.^ I hope others who don't see themselves in my work would catch a glimpse of a different way of understanding the world and be able to empathise and understand, and maybe have a lot of fun with it, too!

What kind of themes do you tend to focus on? What kinds of tropes? What about them appeals to you?

I love all that cheesy goodness about the power of friendship and the human capacity for kindness and connection! My stories, however otherwise horrifying or heavy, tend to come back to these at their core. My works all focus heavily on mental illness, neurodivergence and disability. I also have a soft spot for bendy realities, body horror, paranoia and hiveminds.

What themes or tropes can you not stand? What about them turn you off?

I cannot stand "the whole thing was just a delusion all along! none of it was ever real!" or "ooh they thought it was psychosis but it turns out it was ~magic~! see, our protagonist isn't CRAZY like those actually crazy people!" style plot twists. They're lazy and ableist! In general, I have zero tolerance for anything that demonises psychosis or uses psychosis only as an edgy plot twist.

What are you currently working on? How long have you been working on it?

I have two main projects, "All the Doors are Open", a YA fantasy/horror about the collapse of reality, and "A Rental Car Takes a Left Down Rake Street and Disappears" a paranormal horror about a vampire hivemind. I've been working on some variation of ATDAO for eight years, and Rental Car is a baby by comparison, and was only created last year.

Why do you write? What keeps you writing?

I write for fun! As much as I love to connect with others and allow them a glimpse into my understanding of the world, I primarily write because I just like to have a good time hahaha. It's something I love to dabble in and explore, something I love to wander through, something I keep coming back to over and over. I just feel a pull to it :D

How long have you been writing? What do you think first drew you to it?

I've been writing since I was around six years old! Growing up as a kid with undiagnosed psychosis and delusions, I had a lot of funky weird ideas about reality. I quickly found my reality didn't match with those around me and often turned to fiction writing as a means to express myself in a way others found more "palatable". It's a way for me to open the door to communication!

Where do you get your inspiration from? Is that how you got your inspiration for your current project? If not, where did the inspiration come from?

All kinds of places! Songs, dreams, daydreams, personal experience, conversations… I have a very chaotic brain, I take in a lot of odd information and it all lays the foundation for odd ideas to grow!

What work of yours are you most proud of? Why?

I'm most proud of Rental Car at the moment! It was my first foray into proper full-on horror and my first time writing a specifically schizotypal protagonist like myself, and people have responded with enthusiasm to both! It's become a passion project I really adore and I'm proud of myself for taking the plunge and starting it :D

Have you published anything? Do you want to?

I'd love to publish in the future!

What part of the publishing process most appeals to you? What part least appeals to you?

I'm not sure what appeals to me the most, but marketing appeald to me least hahaha. I'm not really a big presence on social media and I hate promoting myself. I just want to be a hermit. I'm not cut out for marketing myself :P

What part of the writing process most appeals to you? What part is least appealing?

I love editing! I love revision! I love wandering through this little garden I've written and pruning and polishing it. It's my favourite part of the process :D I don't have a least favourite part, at least not off the top of my head.

Do you have a writing process? Do you have an ideal setup? Do you write in pure chaos? Talk about your process a bit.

I have no setup! No schedule! I write when I feel like it and stop the moment I'm not having fun anymore. This has increased my productivity and enjoyment tenfold, as well as improve the quality of my work!

Your Thoughts on Writeblr:

How long have you been a writeblr? What inspired you to join the community?

Around 8 years! I don't remember what initially inspired me to join.

Shout out some of your favorite writeblrs. How did you find them and what made you want to follow them?

@tracle0, a friend and pal, who has some of my favourite worldbuilding of all time and such incredible characters! I've been following them for a long time now and love hearing their thoughts :D

What is your favorite part about writeblr?

I love the creativity and enthusiasm! People have such wonderful brains and I love being able to hear people talk about their work with such passion and adoration!

What do you think writeblr could improve on? How do you think we can go about doing so?

I think… remembering that writeblr itself is not a hivemind! I see a lot of folks lamenting that they feel ignored by "the community" or that the community is dying, and I think a lot of people see writeblr as a huge monolith. It's not! People gotta focus more on finding a few good friends and a handful of works to be genuinely invested in, rather than trying to interact with the whole of the (ginormous!) community, and expecting the whole community to interact with them. Writeblr is a description of a type of blog, and it's incredibly diverse and complicated and broad! You won't vibe with everyone and it's not so much like an official club you join but a shared experience.

How do you contribute to the writeblr community? Do you think you could be doing more?

Man, I'm just vibing. I'm invested in a collection of works I try to keep up with, and I try to keep up with the little circle of writeblrs I'm involved with! Reblogging and getting excited. I'm also often that person who gets bored and goes "heyyyy I'm bored, does anyone have an oc I can draw"… I love doing art for people! Could I be doing more? Probably! But also, I'm not meant to be everything to everyone.

What kinds of posts do you most like to interact with?

I don't have a preference!

What kind of posts do you most like to make?

Rambles, excerpts and art!

Finally, anywhere else online we may be able to find you?

I'm just here, babey! And albatris on NaNoWriMo, too. And I guess if you like you can hit me up for my discord, I help run a small writing server!

[pokegyns]

some thoughts:

i think radical feminism is antithetical to transgender ideology. i think we should still treat trans people as people and not be disgusting towards them, but trans ideology is still inherently misogynistic and patriarchal. so i don’t understand “trans inclusive radical feminism”… what are we including? people who believe sex based oppression isn’t real? people who believe in “trans misogyny”? people who “identify” with gender roles that have oppressed women for centuries? people who medicalise gender nonconformity? people who believe homosexuality is bigoted?

these ideologies don’t belong in radical feminism simply because they are anti feminist. so therefore radical feminism is inherently trans exclusionary and i refuse to believe that’s a bad thing.

obviously detrans women and women experiencing sex or gender dysphoria who aren’t trans aren’t included as trans ideologists i’m talking about.

there is so much misinformation and stigma surrounding transness on radblr, and just lack of information. it can be confusing being on the outside looking in! as a detrans woman who's often assumed to be firmly against transition, instead of how i'm highly critical of it and want safety measures within the community to be put in place to prevent detransitions and unhealthy transitions and misplaced identification... i think it's very easy to forget that dysphoria is a mental disorder and trans rights are a mix of gnc rights and disability activism / mental health advocacy. and as most of us know, radblr has a HUGE problem with rampant ableist ignorance.

the trans community is split in two, with some sharing both sides.

there's the dysphoric side, where there needs to be discussions on how to manage a complex disorder and not shame people for trying out different healing treatments. i want to erase the stigma of people with disorders, dysphoria included, choosing treatments that at times carry risks. this can be pain medication with potential addiction, or transition treatments or psych meds that potentially come with side effects and just might not help you in the end. i also hate how neurodivergent/mh communities can turn toxic fast, but i still am glad people can share their experiences with others and find people's stories in battling a disorder and finding a way to mental stability. this includes dysphoric people for me. as a physically and mentally disabled woman, my dysphoric trans activism is also my disability activism. and my detrans side gives me a complex perspective, because for me, it turned out to be the wrong treatment. some people are anti-psych because meds fucked them up instead of helping them. i am psych critical, because meds saved my life.

i am all for them exploring their treatment options, physical transition included, as long as they're educated on the risks and prepared for potential reverse dysphoria. the tra community handles that in a SUPER inappropriate, unhealthy, and honestly dangerous way and they're shooting themselves in the foot bc they don't push for better healthcare, leading to more detransitioners, leading to more trans stigma.

now on the other side, the term trans (and nonbinary, since not all nonbinary ppl identify as trans) for some can simply be a label to find likeminded gnc people, enjoy a punk-adjacent subculture focused on breaking gender roles and pissing off the patriarchy, and simply enjoying crossdressing and using terms that makes them happy.

dysphoric people still exist, and dysphoria is debilitating. it's a complex issue. for some, dysphoria is more neurodivergent, and it just is stubbornly staying and so they look for more intensive treatments. for others, it's more like a mental illness, and the condition can be treatable and may come from gender roles. and even if a specific person had a root cause for their dysphoria that relates to the patriarchy, i still wouldn't judge them for transitioning if it seems like it's just not going away no matter how hard they try. just like how i'm wary of people going on hardcore, addictive pain meds, or try treatments that come with risks for their physical health, but i know it helps many people and i don't want the option off the table. they are suffering. i care deeply. i fucking hate reverse dysphoria, but i hate ableism even more. i hate the stigma of disorders and the shaming of mentally ill & neurodivergent people, people with mental disorders, including dysphoria as is listed in the DSM.

i know the trans community is confusing. frustrating. often immature. people who are mentally suffering are often not in the right mind to do realistic, down-to-earth activism, but god knows they try and like in neurodivergent activism spaces it can get unhinged in a unique kinda way. we can call out their sexism, their homophobia, their misogyny, without resorting to ableism and transphobia - aka, what imo is a mix of ableism and gncphobia.

dysphoric people deserve healthcare reform. tras keep fucking things up for homosexuals and female/afab people and just make fools of themselves. radfems, esp non-detrans bio women, are often out of touch when it comes to trans issues.

it's easy to resort to extremist views on these things. it can be easier to embrace black-and-white thinking. but it's not the way, trust me! there are grey areas. we need reform, not the destruction of transness being a concept at all, whether it be the gnc subculture or the dysphoric side of it. there are a fuckton of trans issues to tackle. it's okay to be frustrated, to feel hurt, to be worried, to think maybe transness shouldn't be recognized as anything and those people should just be poked out of it somehow. but you can't just force someone's brain to be neurotypical, or cis/non-trans, or take away labels that feel meaningful to some folks even if you find them silly. it's counterproductive. the trans community has a lot of flaws, but it's a puzzle that can be figured out! please hear out trans radfem & nuancefem voices on this as well <3

-mod pikachu ⚡

[limpinglizards]

what if i wrote an essay about a will wood song. would you still love me. okay too late i did it anyway

“I / Me / Myself” as Martyrgender Anthem: TLDR; Cis guy orders in perfect Transgender, shocks nonbinary baristas⁉️🤯💥 (1.3k words)

Will Wood's The Normal Album is thematically concerned with deviance, mental illness, and the failures of science and society. It explores the gap between claimed identity and actual behavior; the question of whether outside influence corrupts us, or our worst natures drive us from within; and the relationship between biology and societal artifice—often pitting the social and medical models of disability against each other. Its songs weave between these themes, each having its own "home" subject but frequently flitting off to visit a neighboring idea for a few lines. The album doesn't come to any concrete conclusions through said exploration—Will has stated that he usually writes as a means of self-expression rather than to push a political point[1]—instead acting as an exercise in drawing attention to those uncertainties which we take for granted. (As an aside, I've always felt that "Memento Mori" has the least in common with the larger themes of the album, but it does fit with that exercise, being about the profound, universal uncertainty of death.)

As a track on the album, the issue of selfhood within society is what "I / Me / Myself" is about, too.

It's a biting send-up of both the ways we make ourselves palatable and the ways we transgress, viewed with regards to gender ("Outliars and Hyppocrates" takes a similar focus, but through the lens of mental illness instead). However, inspired by a few factors, I'm personally beginning to read "I / Me / Myself" in an additional way: as an expression of a desire for the innocence conferred by victimhood—a wish for the ontological inability to cause harm. These factors are namely: online discourse over the perpetuation of transmisogyny; Will Wood being a cisgender man, as he (understandably) had to specify around the time the song first got popular; and the alternate lyrics on the 2018 demo version of the track. This urge to martyr oneself falls in line with Will's ambivalence over moral goodness, as seen in "Laplace's Angel" (and both "Half-Decade Hangover" and "Against the Kitchen Floor" off ���In case I make it”), and with his more self-referential songs about his struggles with fame (which at their worst are cloyingly self-important, to a degree that would put Morrissey to shame—see the unreleased track usually titled a variant of "Monkey's Paw" or "Public Statement").

The chorus of "I / Me / Myself" repeats the singer's wish to "be a girl." But what does it mean to be a girl, from the viewpoint of the song? It opens with its protagonist having made themself, through the strain of weight loss, fit beneath their "skin"—a mere surface layer, part of their (self-)deception. Here, the implication of disordered eating goes hand in hand with the cultivation of femininity; an implication made explicit in the bridge of the 2018 version, which reaffirms the protagonist's dysmorphic desire to be small and underweight. They make themself "brittle" in order to become "pretty," associating feminine attractiveness with weakness. The first chorus asks if they have made themself "pretty enough to lie to," as in, to be flattered—but also manipulated, gaslit. Even the parody of the stock phrase "a little girl in a big world" makes it clear the desire is to be an ingenue, naive and vulnerable. The final chorus doubles down on the links between victimhood, girlhood, and martyrdom, asking, "Am I pretty enough to fucking die?" Meanwhile, in the 2018 version, they wish they were a girl specifically so the listener would want to "kick [their] fucking teeth in." "Would you please objectify me? I'm just a hunk [of] . . . burning self-loathing," they plead. To be a girl in this way is to be both desirable and deserving of violence.

This fantasy of victimization is obviously a self-destructive one. Its appeal, aside from the allure of self-harm for self-hate's sake, lies in the fact that if one remains forever a victim, one never takes on the role of perpetrator. Innocence means freedom from culpability; the protagonist already avoids responsibility for their sense of self—seeking external validation, allowing others to establish and restrict their identity ("let me be the void you fill with taxidermy fingerprints," offers the 2020 album version)—so why would they want responsibility for their moral or interpersonal failings? Which, taking this character to be drawn from Will's persona, could be numerous indeed (although he maintains plausible deniability about the events of his life for privacy, he is open about his imperfections). This reading places "I / Me / Myself" in the neighborhood of "...well, better than the alternative," a song about an adult who has gone "wrong" and longs for the lost innocence of childhood. This yearning is articulated through projection onto a daughter character in the first verse, after which the lyrics drop the gendered allusions, but not before mentioning "lab rat girls and pretty white rabbits." These dehumanized figures mirror the protagonist of "I / Me / Myself," who hopes that, like a martyr (or daughter, or laboratory sacrifice), their suffering will assure their goodness and value.

Although I find an analysis of the lyrics to support this reading well enough, I'd like to return to the outside influences on my interpretation. With regards to the relevance of transmisogyny, the online queer spaces I occupy have pointed out a specific rhetorical practice of AFAB trans people, namely that of positioning ourselves as inherently more vulnerable and easily victimized because of our upbringings as "girls"—implying, intentionally or not, the inverse: that trans women are more prone to or capable of violence. This position of essentialized innocence is argued from in order to get away with misbehavior, especially towards said women. Given that humanity's universal capacity for harm connects to the wider themes of The Normal Album (as put in "Laplace's Angel," "if you were in my shoes, you'd walk the same damn miles I do"), this gendered dispute over it seemed pertinent to the narrative of "I / Me / Myself." I also feel encouraged to read the song as using girlhood as a formulation for a specific kind of idealized victimhood, rather than the more straight-forward trans reading, because of the songwriter's gender. Art is not autobiography, but the personal quality of Will Wood's work leads me to factor in his authorial intent more (although I don't delegitimize readings that discard his input). He made his intentions with this song clear after its initial reception, especially due to the vitriol it received by those who read its message as transphobic. Speaking of vitriol, the newly released 2018 lyrics reemphasize the violence and spite at the heart of the song, winding it tighter around that narrative of self-destruction; I wouldn't be able to factor them into the overall analysis if they hadn't just come out! Altogether, I feel that these elements help paint a clearer picture of how I came away from the material with this observation.

My point is that "I / Me / Myself" is in part about the cultivation of a very specific "myself." A self that—whether loved or hated, spat on or embraced—can do no harm. A claimed identity that absolves any actual behavior to the contrary. This individuation is motivated by a social species' need for approval, its expression found in a uniquely human, "superego"tistic drive towards moral purity. In the song's commentary on conformity and deviation, it acknowledges these drives as influenced by environmental actors, but reserves an empathetic frustration for those who lean into that influence. I use the phrase "martyrgender" fairly glibly in the title, fully aware that the gendered performance of vulnerability is often weaponized against the transfeminized and degendered (including women of color); I'm also aware of the dubious images of butch Joan of Arc and ex-Catholic transmasculinity that term might conjure. I see this tune as, in Will's typical irreverent way, an attempt to satirize, and perhaps even reclaim, that performativity.

[1] https://genius.com/29047424

[ask-a-rare-person]

My xeno gender + Neo pronoun manifesto

Ok so, a lot of people(understandably) don’t really get neos/xenos. It’s super complicated, different for everyone, and there’s not a lot of us around anyways. It feels like most people’s (including mine) first exposure to the community is usually phramed in a “woah look at how wirrd this is!” Type setting that doesn’t explore why we do what we do. Also this is an ask based blog, questions are extremely welcome!

I first should define what xeno genders and Neo pronouns even are.

Xeno genders: genders that fall outside of how we traditionally think of gender. It’s a way of thinking that rejects femininity and masculinity in its traditional forms, and is often neglected all together.

Neo pronouns: pronouns that are not she, he, or they. It pronouns are kinda on the cusp simply because they are not typically affirm in to most people and are therefore unconventional in their own right.

I got involved in xenogenders after i accepted myself as trans. It took me a long time, and a lot of that was due to my very self-distructive veiw of lables.

See, the last time I’d had to do lable searching was when I was 12 years old and trying to figure out if I was lesbain, bi, pan, etc.

I had an extremely restrictive veiw of sexuality labels, and I agonized if I was really attracted to boys or not. Same with nonbinary people. I, being 12 and stupid, thoight that bi and pan were extremely districtive lables and that if I was attracted to NBs I couldn’t be bi. Not to mention, I thought that nonbinary even had a “look” in the first place.

Somehow, i concluded I was bi. And I still use that label to this day. Even though I’m attracted to NBs. lol. But it wasn’t easy to get to that point. I had daily meltdowns where I destroyed my room and would then do the humiliating work of picking everything up while sniffling. It wasn’t healthy.

But I was 16 at the point I was finally ready to question my gender. I felt myself slipping into old habits almsot immediately. But I thankfully had the self awarness at this point to stop and think clearly about what I was doing.

With someone who has enough negitive momentum surrounding lable searching like I do, I can’t exactly expect all of this to go painlessly. But I also don’t have to activly make it worse for myself. I realzied that I believed I needed to find my “lable soulmate” and that I should not allow myself to rest until I find the one true lable.

So instead I decided to passivly watch my gender as neutirally as I possibly could. Without trying to name it anything, just watching.

I learned that I felt very masculine at that point, but alos that I noticed fluidity in both my gender and gender presentation. But what suprized(and scared) me was how it was fluid. It coincided with the barometric pressure. I didn’t want to believe it. I knew what it would mean for me if it was true. I knew I’d be lonly, misunderstood, and might never find a word to describe how I feel. So I kept watching my gender “move.” Sometiems I wouldn’t even notice the pressure would change, just that my gender did. And my dad(has seasonal depression) would casually comment on the shift. Fuck.

I should probably mention now that I have quite a few conditions that are affected by the pressure too. And my others are of course impacted by my other disorders acting up so…I’m no stranger to feeling majorly off kilter when it rains or something. It also made sense how I never noticed my fluidity, I was always caught up with my symptoms. And dysphoria, I mean, it just felt like a miscellaneous symptom that could be from anything.

I’d been admiring xenogenders from afar for a couple years at that point…and I decided to take a look. I mean, my gender is already weird , right? It might as well be weird in a good way. On my terms. In any case, I felt so disconnected from the trans community at large due to my disabilities and odd gender and felt much more at home with the xeno gender ppl I saw online. That’s typical for me. I never really got along with normal people, and I’m ok with taht. Mostly.

I flourished. For the first time, lable searching wasn’t toruture. I was crying. I was throwing things. I wasn’t hating myself. For the first time I felt JOY doing this. It became a fun pass time looking at different flags, noticing the Latin roots tin lable names(I love Latin), it was like window shopping but I could have everything I wanted. There is no limit. No consept of “soul labels,” in fact its commen hoard even hundreds of genders.

I felt true freedom in my identity for the first time. I got to have whatever happened to speak to me in that moment and it hardly even felt like the choise. Or at least enough of a choice to trigger my terrible decision paralysis. It was truly amazing to experience. No lable had all the power in my identity, in fact power wasn’t even the point. Just words that feel good. Flags too, they were the biggest deciding factor. Suddenly it felt like my dyslexia was accommodated in a conversation I had never realized it wasn’t.

Suddenly I veiwed genders not as attempting to articulate consepts in ways I’d never otherwise articulate them, and were put into MY language. Metaphor. Colors. Tastes. Feelings. Memories. Ideals. All the abstract goings ons in my mind no longer needed to be translated. They could simply just “be.”

Metaphor is probably my favorite aspect of xenogenders. It’s how I best express myself. Ever sense I was 3 I had to explain medically impossible symptoms to docters who had no idea what I was talking about. So i used metaphor. Over and over and over. And now, I can’t imagine not using metaphor. About anything. I struggle not to use them. And now I had a place to use them.

The genders I chose to hoard can be found here but they mostly boil down to:

Sun + light themed

Fairy + pagen + nature themed

The endless combinations of boy, girl, and nonbinary that may incidentally fit me due to my fluidity

For reason #1, this is segnifigant because both my birth first and middle name are light/sun related and I always strongly identified with them before I stopped repressing my dysphoria.

Also, the sun is often used as a symbol of divine masculine. I really like that because it is masculinity without the consepts of physical bodies or my current gender identity getting in the way. It’s just…masculine. In complete, beautiful isolation.

I would also like to say that, after coming out as transgender to my fellow spirtual cirlce, a commen response is that we are all beings of light. And, to be honest, when someoen asks my gender I wish I could just say “I am a being of light.”

For reason #2, it is of course related to my faith as well. Turns out, when you tell a bunch of tree hugging hippies that your gender changes based on one of the Earth cycles, they will treat you as if you were graced with a rare gift. I have also been told that it brings me closer to the faries and nature. I mean thsi genuinely when i say that the spiritual ppl in my neck of the woods are more accepting than the LGBTQ community. No discorce, no need to justify anything, etc. just love, man.

And, well, I think reaosn #3 is pretty self explanatory. My fluidity is much less of a light swtich between “boy” and “girl” but more like a constantly changing gender blob that lazily makes its way across multiple gender territories at a time to various extremes.

Now on to the Neo pronouns!

So I use one set of Neo pronouns, jusr fae/faer. I won’t reiterate my connection to fae, but I do have another reason I connect with fae/faer.

It was actually the reason I started using them in the first place. See, when I was in fourth grade, I discovered the wonderful world of gay ships. As in, male x male. Me, convinced I was just a girl, had no idea why I was drawn to them. But I was completely obsessed. It turns out that attraction hits the same as hyperfixation. So I jsut assumed it was hyperfixaiton, not a budding attraction to men that was inherently queer. As well as a strong connection to the effeminate, shy, characters that were always swept off their feet by strong masculine ones.

My intrest in twinks and effeminate men was always sort of curious to me. Because I had no…intentions? I was drawn to them but not because I wanted to kiss them or date them or anything like that. When I was finally exploring my gender I realized that I wanted to BE them. I saw my pre hrt self in those fem guys and I was floored by how sought after they were by the other male love interest. Their gender nonconformity was not seen as weird but as an inherent plus. And their awkwardness was seen as cute, not weird either. Yes, I was the wierd kid. Moving on.

So, anyways. I found that I was drawn to fae/faer because I felt that it honored my gender’s inharent connection to being a queer man without necessarily needing my current gender to line up with it. Because, at the end of the day, gay romance shaped my gender development in a huge way. And that influence on my life won’t vanish the second I stop being a boy.

Before I go, I want to dispel a commen misconception. People often assume that we demand others use our Neopronouns. And I want to come out and say we don’t. Because you know what? Most of us are mentally disabled. And if there is anyone who understands just who difficult learning a new skill is, it’s us. We don’t expect others to use them at all. And any small effort is seen as a miricle to us. So please, if you feel like being extra nice, go for it! But you don’t have to. 99% of us will have at least one set of conventional pronouns you can use instead.

Hope this cleared some things up! And as I said questions are incouraged!

[dungeonofthedragon]

It's disability pride month! Let's check out some ttrpg content from disabled creators, shall we?

This Game Takes Place in Dracula's Castle by Jack Blair

Jack has created several very cool block tower games, but this one is my favourite. I don't know if it's the clever premise, the art, or just the fact it's about vampires that got me, but this duet game of tensions between Dracula and Jonathan Harker is simply fantastic.

Homebrew Disability Systems for 5E by harpoon_gun

D&D 5E is still one of the most popular games out there, and this homebrew system is invaluable when creating disabled characters. Using these comprehensive guidelines you can create characters with impaired vision, movement or hearing; chronic fatigue, chronic pain, limb differences, or even a panic disorder. Also included are a variety of assistive aids for your characters.

GRIM by EfanGamez

An FPS inspired game where skills are divided into Combat Skills and Roleplaying skills. There's some really intriguing worldbuilding here too! On the planet GRIM, the only structure is an ancient obelisk. Countless explorers have set out to explore the area, but none have returned. Now it's your turn!

Eureka by Agency of Narrative Intrigue and Mystery

Supernatural urban investigations! This game recently had a successful Kickstarter, and I'm looking forward to seeing more of it in the future. You can play a Normal Person, or a monster who is stronger in combat but has some monstery weaknesses (which may or may not involve needing to eat people.) I'm all about playing monsters any chance I can get, and this one might have gorgons in the full release, so I'm sold.

Blades in the Dark: Mobility Equipment by Aurelia

Aurelia sells a lot of cool accessibility related content (including accessibility cantrips for Pathfinder and D&D), but I have a weakness for Blades in the Dark and so this is the one I'm linking too. The idea of a Hound with a clockwork animal companion is just too cool! Our group's Hound has a ghost cat. Maybe they would be friends.

Feel free to reblog with additional content!

[shlubbyart]

May I see the disabled rep lore?

Absolutely!

I'll keep this to disability rep in Suit-Nami specifically, but if you want my thoughts on canon Splatoon characters and disabled representation I'd be happy to delve into my headcanons in a separate post.

This is gonna be a long one so check under the cut if you wanna read my ramblings:

As someone who is disabled/neurodivergent myself, having disabled representation is pretty important to me. It probably shouldn't come as a surprise that Suit-Nami has become a way for me to represent myself, as well as simply exploring the kinds of disabilities I could imagine existing in the Splatooniverse.

I'll start off by going into more detail about Tide's physical disability that I referenced in my previous post.

#1. Developmental Deformities in Inklings/Octolings

In short: Tide has a misshapen ear due to a hiccup in his ability to shapeshift.

I always thought it would be interesting to explore the idea of the squid to kid transformation not always working as intended, and for that to be used in the context of disability.

Here's a little graph to show what I mean:

For Tide, his left ear (or fin, however you want to define it) isn't able to fully morph in his human form, so he's left with a blueish translucent fin/ear malformation.

Being an idol, as well as previous experiences with ableist discrimination, Tide opts to cover his ear by hiding it between his two hair tentacles. He's quite sensitive to having his hair being lifted or his ear being touched without permission, so doing either of those things is a big no-no.

Tide could be partially deaf in his left ear as a result, but that would really depend if you think he'd be partially deaf in squid form too. I think either interpretation is interesting.

#2. Crash and Hereditary Mutations

Similar to exploring the hiccups of shapeshifting, I also found the concept of Inklings/Octolings having disorders that affect their abilities to change colour as something that would be worth diving into. It technically has already been explored in canon too! Yoko from Ink Theory/Gold Bazookas is implied to have some sort of mutation that makes her tentacles split into different colours.

On that note, have you ever noticed that the ends of Crash's tentacles are always red? It isn't just to look cool (even though it does look very cool), Crash can't actually physically change the ends of his tentacles to any colour outside of a red to dark pink pigment.

The reason? Well I'll have to briefly explain how adaptive camoflage in real life squids actually works:

In simple terms, squids and other animals have these special skin molecules called chromophores. They are able to control the pigments of these chromophores through special multicellular organs in their bodies. Think of it as like having a second nervous system for changing the colour of your skin.

So what if the chromophores or multicellular organs were to not function in the way that they should? Like for instance, chromophores not having enough pigments to shift to certain colours. What are the implications of inkfish being unable to change colour in the context of things like Turf War?

Crash's red ends serve as a sort of base-level exploration into the idea of inkfish having some kind of hereditary complication that effects their abilities to change colour. The reason why I chose hereditary specifically is because he has another mutation that is also genetic: his heterochromia.

I think instances of discolouration in the Splatooniverse could be easily explained through how heterochromia and vitiligo occur in the body. I know for certain there are other Splatoon fans who have OCs with vitiligo or other instances of unique colouration, so maybe it would be comforting for them to know that there is theoretically a grounded explanation as to why it would exist. Not that I think representation has to necessarily be grounded in reality to justify existing.

#3. Tide and the Autism Spectrum

While Tide's lucky ear has been a pretty recent addition, what hasn't been a recent addition is the fact that he is also canonically autistic. Just as a handful of examples, he...

Sometimes misunderstands or doesn't pick up on certain social cues (namely sarcasm and flirting)

Is very passionate and knowledgeable about cats (ie: a very common special interest for people on the spectrum; including me)

Did not start speaking until he was in his preschool years (a common sign of autism in young children; also including me :P)

Has a unique speech pattern and uses a lot of uncommon phrases and words.

Stamps his feet or plays with his hair when he is in a good mood (ie: stimming)

Tide being autistic is 100% a self-indulgent decision on my part, even if I don't completely relate to his experiences. I do play up some of his quirks for jokes, but he is nonetheless an earnest representation of the fun and frustrations that come from being on the spectrum.

#4. Tide and far-sightedness

I'll keep this one short. Tide wears glasses when reading, which while it may be pretty innocuous, is still technically a disability.

I also wanted to share Tide wearing his glasses because he looks like a dork (affectionate) when he has them on.

I'd love to keep exploring disability representation in Splatoon, be it through my fan characters or through headcanons. I think with such a weird and wacky world that Splatoon exists in, it serves as a great canvas for portraying disability in a positive light, and even in ways not fully applicable to humans. If nothing else it is a ton of fun to write about. :P

Sidenote, but despite my position as a disabled person, I don't consider myself an expert in disability. So if I got anything wrong or said something misleading or offensive please let me know!

Thank you for reading ☆