#every queer/neurodivergent person knows this position

[shiningstarr15]

Regarding therapy tape 10-7144

[multiplicity-positivity]

Here’s some positivity for neurogenic systems!

“Neurogenic” is a broad label that refers to those whose plurality formed due to neurodivergence or mental illness. These systems have always been and will always be integral members of the plural community! Regardless of the specifics of how your system formed, if the neurogenic label resonates with your system, this one’s for you!

💖 Shoutout to systems who formed as a way to cope with depression, anxiety, a personality disorder, or the symptoms of some other mental illness!

🐾 Shoutout to systems with autism, ADHD, or other neurodivergences who became or have always been plural due to their neurodiversity!

🌻 Shoutout to systems with schizophrenia or who regularly experience psychosis whose hallucinations caused or are integral to their plurality!

🌀 Shoutout to systems who are questioning if they’re neurogenic!

💫 Shoutout to mixed origin systems who have neurogenic headmates!

🌱 Shoutout to neurogenic systems with members who are queer, trans, otherkin, nonhuman, POSIC+, or who have other identities or labels not considered “normal” by society!

🎈 Shoutout to systems who use the label “neurogenic” without knowing precisely how their system formed, just that it originated in their mind!

🌈 Shoutout to systems who are proud of their neurogenic origins, who talk about their experiences and advocate for neurogenic visibility!

✨ Shoutout to systems with dissociative disorders like DID or OSDD who consider themselves both traumagenic and neurogenic!

💜 Shoutout to closeted neurogenic systems, or neurogenic systems who use the quiogenic label - you don’t owe anyone any information on your system’s origins!

🌺 Shoutout to neurotraumagenic systems, and those whose personal trauma history and mental illness/neurodiversity have played equal roles in their system’s formation!

For all neurogenic systems, no matter what exactly was the catalyst that caused your system to form, you are a welcome and important part of our spaces just the way you are! Know that your system is real, your plurality is valid, and you make the plural community a brighter, more beautiful place by being here!

We hope that every neurogenic system and headmate out there can have a wonderful day today! You’re doing a great job and we are so very proud of you. Please do your best to take care of yourself and your system, and know that you are so loved and appreciated by those around you!

[scientia-rex]

Medicine is a numbers game. I use probability all the time. If you don't understand probability, you'll look at someone with chest pain and have no fucking clue how likely it is that you're looking at a heart attack. You may not even know what the other top contenders are. GERD is common. Anxiety. An angry rib muscle. Lots of options. Most of the time, most chest pain won't be a heart attack, but sometime it'll be something worse--an aortic dissection that's rupturing will kill you even faster than most heart attacks.

I see so many patients who come in with a symptom that the Internet, whether Google or influencers, has told them is associated with this one thing. It's often the thyroid. And yeah! A fucked-up thyroid can cause all kinds of symptoms. But here's the deal: if I check your thyroid and it looks normal, it's probably not your thyroid that's causing the symptoms. It could be something else we understand. It is very often something we don't understand. But the fact that I can tell you modern medicine doesn't understand some process doesn't mean your naturopath or chiropractor or Certified Hormone Expert Influencer does understand it because they have this different way of looking at the body. Look, long, long before I wanted to be a doctor, I wanted to be an herbalist. I'm queer, I'm a woman(ish), I am neurodivergent, I am not The Man. I'm not beholden to the system; the system doesn't care for me and wishes I would sit down and shut up, most days. And I have a background in research science and statistics. I used to have a rubber stamp that said "Denied" and one that said "Approved" and I'd hit piles of paper for research applications at an R-1 university, in triplicate, with my stamps, because I understood research well enough to get a Human Subjects Division job evaluating it. If a naturopathic approach to thyroid worked well, I would be doing it. I'm a utilitarian. I don't give a rat's ass about the theoretical underpinnings of modern medical practice, I want things to work. Ideally I would like to know why they work, too, but hey, we can't always have it all.

So the dozens of patients I get every month who are looking elsewhere for answers, looking to people who don't actually know any better but are good at pretending they do, who pay money for elaborate supplement regimens or unvalidated genetic tests or (my personal least favorite) "memory-improving games," I have to be calm and professional and diplomatic about what I say. I can't say, "That's quack shit." I can't say, "Your favorite influencer is a liar and an idiot." Not just because I'd get lower patient satisfaction scores, but because patients wouldn't believe me, and they would reactively like me less and the other guy more. (You're calling me stupid? You're saying I wasted money? If I believe you're just a shill for Big Pharma, that hurts less.)

It takes years, even decades, to understand how to put together the probability maps. Chest pain in a patient under 40? Highly unlikely to be a myocardial infarction, but not totally impossible, especially if they've been doing cocaine. In a patient over 60? Much more likely. Is the pain crushing? Is it sub-sternal? How long has it been going on? Is it constant, or intermittent? Does the patient smoke? What other health conditions does the patient have? These are all deeply important questions, and I remember feeling overwhelmed by things like this all the time in medical school. It's taken so long to build my knowledge, and my background in research is only tangentially valuable most of the time.

Please don't believe authority just because it looks good. Don't trust people because you want to trust them. Learn about the scientific process, learn how the sausage gets made, and then you'll be in an infinitely better position to know whether this is a "wow! science!!!" or a "wow! science bullshit!" moment.

[srfiv]

for a highschool setting, au if you will, what upbringing do you think the 141 would have? im really curious to know what you think of personally :)c

oooooh!! to be completely honest, i didn't have any concrete ideas i could put into words before seeing this ask so this is gonna be two things: completely unresearched and based solely off of vibes

i have to emphasise i am clueless about UK demographics. i am still researching (snail pace) but i didnt want to make you wait :(

i'm big on soap growing up lower middle class catholic with siblings. to me, he's a classic middle child - he may have naturally felt a bit neglected and jealous of his younger sibling as a kid, but he gets over it once he hit hits teens.

his parents are warm and welcoming people, but there is a little awkwardness when it comes to queer topics as well as johnny's neurodivergence. they're fully supportive of his endeavors in sports and entertain his interest in engineering. although awkwardly at first, johnny was encouraged to be upfront about his emotions and opinions (which fired back terribly during his teens, but led to more open conversations later). his parents do remind him to mind his manners often though.

his relationship with his siblings can be a bit tumultuous, especially with the youngest, but ultimately he would give his life for them. there's a lot of roughousing involved, but also caring touches, hugs, pats on the back, doing eachothers hair, helping with makeup and so on. johnny grew up with lots of affectionate physical touch from both his parents and siblings.

johnny has always struggled with the catholicism bit though. his parents aren't strict about faith by any means, but there are unspoken expectations that he sometimes has trouble with. he learned early that his grandparents should see him as nothing but masculine and ready for marriage, lest all hell broke loose.

ghost gets the unfortunate working class dysfunctional household in every universe. i am so sorry my boy. he always gets the irresponsible and ungovernable dad and the tortured madonna mum.

his dad doesn't really know what to do with a kid or how to tend to its needs and doesn't have enough emotional capacity to learn. as a person, i think deep down he is really scared to care. he thinks it makes him vulnerable - his own dad (simons grandfather) was a mean patriarch, controlling, while his mum was emotionally absent. he got out and rebeled as fast as possible, but that left him with knowing nothing but fear, anger and tricks.

he "lets" the mum do the housework and take care of the kids after her shift. simon grows up seeing his mum work herself to the bone taking care of them, including his dad. unlike his brother, tommy, simon finds himself taking his mothers side and offering to help her. he grows more and more disgusted with his father as time goes on. tommy just tries to shut it out and escape it for the most part, but there are exceptions when he won't.

the mum tries her best to provide food, clean clothes and a smile for her children, but there's a backdrop of grief to it all. they used to hug and comfort eachother, but that stopped when simon hit puberty and closed himself off physically. simon sees her suffering and it angers him, but he splits that anger in half and aims it at his dad and himself.

the trauma bond simon and tommy have makes tommy irreplaceable in simons life. unlike simon, tommy has insane charisma and a desperate need to self-sabotage, and this combo more often than not brings him amongst the worst groups in the neighbourhood. simon makes his disapproval known often and tries to be a positive force in tommys life, which doesn't always work out.

at home, whenever the opportunity arises, tommy tries to take the abuse instead of simon, who will (as a teen) openly fight his dad. tommy doesn't mind sitting down and taking it in an effort to make it end faster.

i personally can't help but see price as an only child in an upper middle class family. albeit very disciplined, he's used to getting his way and tends to hold grudges when someone opposes him, and he has a talent for finding loopholes in rule systems.

his dad and mum divorced in his preteens due to his mum having cheated. although it was an amicable divorce (at least to outsiders' eyes), it did leave an impression on young john and a doubt in his mind about love and marriage.

his parents decided to keep the cause of their divorce from him, and he visited his mum often up until his highschool years, when his mum let it slip. since then, his visits have been kept to a minimum, and he's grown bitter about her as she's tried to reach out multiple times. his mum feels extremely guilty for what she's done. she truly loves her son and john knows, but he can't help himself.

his dad would be a very stern and almost dictatorial person to him if it wasn't for the way he openly shows his love for his current wife. this also leaves a bitter aftertaste in his mouth, as he has never considered his dads second wife his "mum". they are good friends though, and they live together. his dad and her take interest in johns school life and get involved with the school itself often, which john doesn't mind much, because it gets him a foot in the door with the teachers.

he was raised manners first, so it doesn't show, but he has a healthy disrespect for authority. he often prefers to corner his superiors with malicious compliance rather than rebel outright. he's not selfish however - he has a strong moral code of his own, which contradicts itself at times, but he is very stubborn about it - and just like his father, he's very loyal to people who have gained his respect, but quick to "dispose" of people who have lost it. it is difficult to gain his respect, and very easy to lose it.

gaz would come from a lower middle class catholic family as well as johnny, but unlike him, he doesn't feel as though he has many obligations towards god. after a stern talking to from his mum however, he keeps his opinions to himself.

his dad is exmilitary and kyle has witnessed the PTSD from a young age, along with his mum comforting his dad as well as she could. his dad would sometimes do self sabotaging things he'd regret, and once kyle became older, he took care of him in those moments along with his mum. the therapy helps, sometimes.

kyle has some trouble coming to terms with the love his dad still expresses for the military though, despite the aftermath. kyle knows his dad would really like it if kyle joined the military as well. his brain is swimming with stories of his dads military buddies and the "grand ol time" they had, and with the nights he spent up at the kitchen table hugging his dad back from a damn near suicide attempt.

most of the time though, his dad is a warm and friendly fellow who has many friends in the community and often likes to include his children in the activities. kyle grew up very popular among his peers.

his mum is very goal oriented and faithful, but rather emotionally stunted. she cares for her children and her husband very deeply, but she doesn't show it well in her daily life. she resorts to showing love through favours and food whenever she can. she loves to sit with them when they're having a difficult time and listen.

i think he has a younger sister, who he has a classic love hate sibling relationship with. she often annoys him about the boys in his class and introducing them to her maybe, and kyle tells her that she'd just get bullied. in reality, he's fiercely overprotective. not only towards her, but his entire family.

[ninjakittenarmy]

Tired of the counter to neurodivergent and/or ace characters being infantilized as being ignorant of sex as “no, I bet they’re real freaks! Huge perverts into crazy shit!”

Or, hear me out, they have a fairly typical relationship to their sexuality that isn’t heavily infantilized or extremely fetishistic.

Like yeah, maybe the ace character is into some esoteric stuff, that’s fine lots of people are, but you know, maybe they understand sex perfectly well and aren’t interested. Maybe they’re apathetic about it. Maybe they’re sex repulsed. It’s totally valid for ace characters not to be but it feels like people are only ok with ace people if you can go “well they don’t ACTUALLY dislike sex, they just fuck differently!” If someone ACTUALLY dislikes sex, people get uncomfortable. Like somehow someone else saying they don’t like sex and would rather not be involved in sexual matters means you specifically are being attacked.

And maybe the autistic character has some niche sexual preferences, but they also may NOT. There’s not really any reason for that to be the default assumption. Again, nothing inherently wrong for an individual autistic character to have kinks. It’s fine. Not inherently good or bad. But seeing EVERY autistic character over the age of 18 (and hopefully just them) immediately characterized as an extremely sexual person with hardcore fetishes feels like fetishization. Like we’re one step away from people trying to pick up autistic people under the assumption they’re up for that sort of thing. I’ve seen some promote that already.

What’s worse is that people will brand characters as “bad representation” if they’re actually averse to sex. Not even just ace or neurodivergent people. Just in general. If someone is, they’re too “puritan”. And WITH ace and autistic people, that’s basically saying “how DARE you say that some of them don’t want to be exactly like us!? That’s bigoted!” And then try to make these hc’s about them being kinky PROGRESSIVE rather than just morally neutral, and push people who don’t want to hear about them out of fandom spaces, even if a character is canonically not comfortable with it and doesn’t want to “outgrow” it.

We already have so few characters who aren’t into sex where it’s not portrayed as sinister or tragic. Even villains who are still evil but NOT BECAUSE THEY DON’T FUCK are a breath of fresh air. You’re telling me we can’t even have the few we get? Allo queer people were universally still in that exact same position just a decade ago and still are a lot of the time. Where’s our fucking solidarity?

[lemmeaskthedevil]

I'm so sorry but all this shit about men know it's not them because they're not fascists but if you keep hearing men are bad you start to believe it. (Particularly white men.)

When women, people of color, queer people, disabled people, neurodivergent or mentally ill people hear that they arent worthy of being treated like full people because they are inferior, do they succumb to every generalized statement made from hatred, fear, and bigotry?

(not saying that people from these communities don't EVER become radicalized but it's less commonplace for sure.)

You find or make a community that aligns with your beliefs. Even if you have to be the one to start it, you do it. You seek out men who aren't about alt-right shit or preying on how you feel guilty. You look up how to deal with the guilt you feel from society centering you at every conversation and the privileges that come with it. Because yeah it isn't your fault, but everyone else deserves to be mad and express it.

Being sensitive to someone's feelings is important yes and I'm not saying don't support your loved ones who are struggling with this, but it doesn't make anything better to go,

"hey I know your rights were taken away and you have the possibility of dying if you were to get ectopic pregnancy" or

"hey I know harassment is about to be on the rise for you and your family because of the way its more acceptable to be obscenely racist" or

" hey there's a chance some of your family members or friends might be kicked out of the country" or

"hey I know it was already incredibly easy for you to get harassment because youre trans and it will get so much worse"

" but can you reassure me that I'm not evil just because I'm a man?"

And yes it sucks to feel like everyone hates you and I can sympathize with that but the fact is if you aren't a white man, so many people do hate you and will not care if you die and that is what we're fighting against.

Personally, I'd advise people to look up how to be a great ally in this time and in general and if you see that you're doing some of these things, you can feel a little lighter. You need reassurance and positive affirmation, just like everyone else, that is totally understandable and I don't think anyone is evil for wanting that but again, there's this balance missing because part of this reinforces the structures that got us here.

[bootstrapparadoxed]

WIP intro: Offspring of (Un)happy Days

Genres: horror, sci-fi, M/M romance, dark academia

Age category: adult

Setting: modern-ish day, Kraków, Poland

Comps: C.E. McGill "Our Hideous Progeny", M. Nemerever "These Violent Delights", D. Tartt "Secret History", H. Ennes "Leech"

Status: 50k into first draft

Themes: academic fraud and ethics, co-dependent relationships, PTSD and cPTSD, fear of death, loneliness, disability/neurodivergency, trans/queer experience in Eastern Europe

Pitch: When two researchers discover a horrifying truth about consciousness and death, their obsessive devotion to each other pushes them to do the unthinkable.

First line: "In our labs, we are small gods, clumsy architects of nature."

blurb and excerpt under the read more. moodboard by @brantleywrites on twitter

Blurb:

Kristian is a PhD student at the end of his rope. His scholarship is running out, his supervisor won’t let him defend, and he’s stuck at a third-rate institute with no support. As a last resort, he applies for an assistant position in a newly funded project – and ends up being the only candidate.

A connection quickly develops between him and his new boss, Leith. The two bond over their shared interests, and shared trauma. Soon, the platonic affection transforms into hungry romance. Somewhere deep down, Kristian knows that their love is more of a sick coping mechanism, but is unable to stop himself.

The tension rises when they accidentally discover a gruesome truth about brains, consciousness, and death. Any other scientist would announce this to the world and step away. Kristian and Leith conduct their experiments in secret, pushing the boundaries of ethics to advance the research. And their unquestioning devotion to each other is about to lead them into much darker places.

Excerpt (from chapter 4):

In order to fully assess the effects of a treatment (drug, pollutant, living condition, induced mutation, etc.), a scientist often needs a sample of tissue that has been washed of all unnecessary materials. A clear cut of brain, liver or intestine is best viewed when it has been infused with a fixative before being placed under a microscope. One way to achieve this is transcardial perfusion. I have performed it many times, preparing tissue samples for pathology comparisons. The protocol runs as follows: the animal is anesthetized but kept alive, after which the body is restrained, chest cavity opened, and a major blood vessel is connected to a supply of fixative. The animal’s still beating heart then does the job for you, carrying it to every point, through every capillary, until finally there is no blood left and the heart ceases to beat.

I had never gotten used to it. I am not a squeamish person and the sight of blood, urine, feces, pus, or any other biological substances does not disturb me. Many biology students deal quite well with formaldehyde preserved specimens but falter at freshly sacrificed animals. One young man had described to me the acute drop in blood pressure he felt the first time a dead rat had been placed in front of him. It wasn’t the sight (fluids, viscera, the undigested contents of the rat’s stomach) but the realization of such recent death. The tiny body still warm, motionless. Perhaps the human mind begins searching at once for the causes, and fears the proximity of whatever had killed another animal (and may be searching for its next victim). Regardless, the ability to deal with this horror is what often sorts students into specialties. Luckily, there are plenty of areas in biology that don’t require you come in contact with living vertebrates at all.

What I always wondered is whether it was possible to do transcardial perfusion on a human. Could one take a person, still living, put them under and replace their blood with some sort of protective substance? Perhaps a solution that would allow them to be frozen, preserved in a box like a packet of fish sticks, waiting for a better time. Keep them on the verge between life and death for decades to then defrost them and pump four liters of blood back into their body. Would the brain survive such a process? Would the mind? Could someone do this to me at the shortest notice and keep me asleep until S. would retire (or die) and someone else would be placed on his cases, so that I could graduate at last?

[rivetgoth]

Tbh I think one aspect of goth club environments that I find a bit frustrating, though generally keep to myself/my close circles who know I'm not coming at this from some massively judgmental angle but more passive observation and ultimately minor grievance, is that I think there's two pretty distinct camps in most of them where Camp 1 is "people who love goth [or otherwise dark alternative] music who want to hear it played loudly and dance while socializing with other individuals who love this music as much as them," and Camp 2 is "people who are weirdos and freaks [affectionate] who wanted to find a place where they could express themselves comfortably and safely and meet other weirdos and freaks." And these aren't completely separate spheres, but the two circles of this Venn diagram are not nearly as overlapping as you would think.

I consider myself first and foremost Camp 1 as the one and only reason I became goth and began participating in this community was the love of the music, the music has kept me alive and shaped me into the person I am today, the reason I go out to these events is for the music, and every close friend I've made in this scene has been through the love of the music, but I don't have any negative feelings towards Camp 2 and I relate to them in many ways as well. I think goth clubs are fantastic accepting spaces for queer people, kinky and sex posi people, autistic and other neurodivergent people, and people who otherwise just do not fit into the norm, whether it be due to something outside of their control or just having Weird Person Interests that have gotten them kinda stigmatized by wider society. I totally found solace in the goth scene due to being a lot of those things myself. But I still connect first and foremost with the people who love the music. That is THE THING that has kept me going. While when it comes to the exclusively Camp 2 people, a loooot of them kind of come out to these spaces specifically to be amongst other likeminded individuals and feel accepted for their weirdness, and the music is practically, just, like, incidental lol. Ironically they don't necessarily realize how much of the reason that these spaces ARE historically safe for them is due to what the music itself, the musicians making it, and the fans of the music have stood for.

The thing is I don't really think anything needs to be "done about this" or whatever, I hesitate to call it a problem at all, firstly I think that the dark alternative scene SHOULD be a safe space for individuals who exist outside of the norm and I don't think they should need to pass some sort of knowledge test in order to gain entry to these spaces, second of all I think many of them over time do come to love the music, even just by being around it enough to develop positive association, and third I think that supporting these spaces with physical bodies, generating financial revenue, etc is the best way of keeping them alive so ultimately it doesn't really matter how much or how little they know if they're showing up and materially supporting the scene. But I do think it's like... person to person, a little sad, I guess, that the dark alternative scene is so muddled with just the general broad category of humans that is "people who are weird and don't fit the norm" that it's kinda difficult to find people who are there because they love the music and a lot of the people who I get excited to connect with because they're openly trans or something reveal quite quickly they don't really listen to any of the bands I'm there to hear, they just heard from a friend who heard from a friend that you can meet other cool queer people and be GNC safely there. And that's great! It really is. But I do wish that the people who were going to these spaces without knowing much about the music would spend some time exploring it. I think they'd probably find a lot to love about it honestly.

[isakvaltersnake]

im sorry, this is probably kind of a stupid question but as far as medical dramas go, how in depth and detailed is brilliant minds (for someone with health anxieties basically)?

ok that’s actually a really good question.

I think it likely depends on the nature of your individual health anxieties but I'll give you a bit more detail and if there's anything you'd like me to expand on, let me know.

so it is largely hospital based, I'd say probably 80/20 hospital setting vs outside. it is also focused on three specialties: neurology, neurosurgery, and psychiatry. there's a bit of discussion on other disciplines (LTC, general surgery, cardiology) but mostly just in passing.

It's similar to other medical procedurals in that there is a "patient of the week" type structure where there is a non typical neuro case or two that the main characters have to work their way through, as well as the typical narrative ups and downs you'd expect with that. you don't see a ton of individual psych cases (yet) but there is an underlying thread of flashbacks that weave their way into every episode wherein the main character is revisiting memories from his childhood. this includes insight into his relationship his parents (both doctors), and the progression of his father's psychiatric illness.

I would say the differentiator between brilliant minds and other medical procedurals I've watched is that the main character's mandate is genuine care, empathy, and understanding for his patients, and any point of view presented in contrast to this is explicitly called out. he is expressly anti for profit health care, anti medical insurance complex, and anti big pharma. the cases themselves are also not sensationalized in a way you may see on some other medical dramas, they are largely pretty simple and focus totally on the person at the center. having said that you do see scenes of medical discussion, assessment, testing, and treatment - just with an underlying attitude of "how do we help this person" instead of "look at this crazy person/condition/situation"

some more positives: half the main cast are women, there is strong black, queer, and neurodivergent representation, and also big found family energy cooking.

[gay-disabled-characters-showdown]

LGBTQ+ Disabled Characters Showdown Round 1, Wave 2, Poll 16

A character being totally canon LGBTQ+ and disabled was not required to be in this competition. Please check qualifications and propaganda before asking why a character is included.

Check out the other polls in this wave and prior here.

Wayne Terrisborn-Mistborn

Qualifications:

He's canonically disabled in that he has PTSD and kleptomania, which are quite evident in the text and confirmed by word-of-god anyway. He's also very neurodivergent coded in other ways--headcanons for autism, ADHD, and BPD would all have lots of supporting evidence. He isn't canonically queer in a cut-and-dry sense, but saying he's queer wouldn't just be fanon either (though it generally is that); basically, he's canonically gnc and likes to crossdress sometimes, and for various reasons the way he thinks and talks about that is more 'I decide to be a woman sometimes' than 'I decide to dress as a woman sometimes'. Also, in fanon he's bi/pan, on the canon basis that he loves his ambiguously gendered girlfriend however she's presenting at the moment. Long story short--I wouldn't submit someone as queer if it were simply fanon, regardless of the rules, but I think what he's got going on is quantifiably queer enough that it doesn't matter if there's concrete confirmation of it or not.

Propaganda:

In addition to the above, I would like to note that he's chaos incarnate.

Amaya-The Dragon Prince

Qualifications:

1- Deaf, uses sign language 2- Sapphic, married to a female elf

Deaf and not straight (I don't know if they've mentioned her suxuality in canon, but she's dating a woman)

She is in an explicit relationship with Janai (also female, very very gay) and is deaf.

Amaya is a general of the Katolis army. She is deaf since birth and communicates in sign language. She's the best warrior in the human lands and she is a raging lesbian.

She's Deaf and a lesbian Canonically deaf and engaged to a woman

Propaganda:

Amaya is so cool. This is the only time I have ever seen a memorable Deaf/HOH person on a children's tv show. Her disability is dealt with really well. She isn't pitied for it. On the contrary, she's a fricking general! Did I mention she's cool? In terms of queer stuff, she's married to a literal queen (actually I haven't seen the show in a while, so its at the very least a queen-adjacent figure), and they're so cute together and every time I see them it makes me stim. Also she's just a really great character in general (no pun intended). Like, she will hunt you down and kill you if you so much as give her nephew a papercut. She's such a badass like genuinely.

She's a knight and a cool aunt and I love her!

Amaya and her partner, Janai, are the classic enemies-to-lovers couple. Amaya, although deaf, does not let her disability stop her from being the best soldier of her kingdom and has rightfully taken the position of general. She's so badass, but also kind and loving. She's just amazing.

As I said before, she is a raging badass lesbian who is engaged to the queen of Sunfire Elves, who is also the best warrior in this elven nation. Her fiancee is learning sign language for her. They are so in love it physically hurts!!!!

I'm bad at the propaganda thing but I'll give it a try She uses ASL and has an interpreter she's close to. She's also a General of her home kingdom... up until she gets captured by an enemy princess and falls in love. Now that princess is a queen, and as of the last episode they're engaged to be married. Also they share a bed and multiple kisses onscreen.

Is a badass fighter, determined, fiercely protects those she loves

Anything Else?:

I LOVE HER SO MUCH

The qualifications and propaganda paragraphs correspond, @yurayuramiharin is the fourth submitter, the anything else section is the first submitter.

[authoralexharvey]

INTERVIEW WITH A WRITEBLR — @broodparasitism

Who You Are:

Lottie || She/her

I’m Lottie, and I’m currently doing a master’s in creative writing. I mostly write things in between historical, literary and horror about postwar Britain, and other than writing I’m a bit of a music nerd!

What You Write:

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

Historical Fiction, Horror, Paranormal, Psychological. Adult.

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

Literary, if only for its room to be experimental and weird.

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

Romance - I’m just not a romantic type of person!

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

I don’t think too much about it, but I think other young queer/neurodivergent women would be the biggest readers of my work, particularly if they’re also British. But I hope that anyone from any demographic would be able to get something out of my work! It’s for anyone who wants to read it.

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

Motherhood is something that always creeps up in my work. Hedonism and moral masochism as contrasts is also very important to me! Feminism and class tensions tend to have a big presence in my work as well. It’s harder to say with tropes but if the central themes are there the tropes don’t matter too much to me. I couldn’t get into why they’re important to me without getting much too personal for writeblr, however.

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

Something entirely fluffy and comforting or something entirely cynical and hopeless, albeit the first is more annoying. I need some degree of light and darkness or the story feels too uncomplicated to me. For something very specific, I’m not keen on premises where every type of fantasy folklore is incorporated: there’s often too much that isn’t fleshed out enough. I also hate stories that use weight loss as shorthand for positive character development, because that’s plain old fatphobia. And stories without women. There’s no excuse for that.

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

I’m working on a manuscript for my MA so I prefer to keep vague on it, but it’s a small town horror about four people in the early 80s coming to terms with a recent death of someone they all had a wildly different relationship with and the way the town becomes increasingly haunted. I’m quite attached to it now. I began working on this at the end of August 2022!

Why do you write? What keeps you writing?

It simply brings me joy to do it. I want the stories in my head to exist on paper, because that’s such a rewarding feeling!

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

On and off since I was very young. I can’t remember what drew me to it: it was just something I knew I wanted to do for as long as I can remember (cliche, I know). I say that I began seriously writing in November 2013, when I started what would become my first completed draft of a manuscript.

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?

I get my inspiration from my local area, and from researching history - and very often, music with connection to that. I think that the starting point of inspiration for my current project was the band Xiu Xiu, but what nonfiction I’ve read since then has fleshed it out into an actual narrative.

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

A short story called ‘Minutes’ that helped me get into my MA in the first place. I just struck gold with the plot, and it’s naturally one of my most “polished” pieces of writing. I would ideally like to do something else with it!

Have you published anything? Do you want to?

Not yet, but absolutely in the future.

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

The publishing process doesn’t appeal to me at all - I’m not yet familiar with it. I am afraid of having to water down my work for “marketability”, however.

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

It’s quite hard to say. I like the feeling of when an idea comes to you just as you’re typing. That’s always a godsend. The part least appealing…it can be quite intimidating when things are workshopped, definitely.

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 don’t have much of a process. I have to be able to write almost anywhere and at any time of day in order to get things done.

Your Thoughts on Writeblr:

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

My currently blog is under a year old. I was peripherally involved from about 2018 to 2021, after which it became my primary tumblr community.

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

Some of my favourite are @queenslayerbee, @aninkwellofnectar , @ryns-ramblings, @dallonwrites! Tumblr either suggested I follow them or I found their blogs via discord.

What is your favorite part about writeblr?

I like a lot of the tag games - especially find the word.

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

In the nicest possible way, a lot of the writing advice is really, really bad. I am begging writeblr to realise not everyone needs to post writing advice and that is okay!

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

I could be doing more, but I have reservations about sharing my own work and I’m not qualified to be giving advice so all I can do now is help promote others.

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

Posts that ask a question to the community as a whole about their creative processes, tag games and excerpts also.

What kind of posts do you most like to make?

I don’t know! There’s not a lot of writeblr posts I can make. I do like making silly little jokey posts about what I’m writing that only make sense of me, I suppose.

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

I am on storygraph as @/fortunavhs, Instagram as @/absinthiumwriting and discord as malcontent#7884!

[edwinspaynes]

Okay sooo this is a weird ask but I was curious. I love both TID and TLH and was wondering... why do you like TLH so much more? I really enjoy both just in different ways and I'm interested in what might have tipped the scale for you.

I mean, I don't want people to get it in their heads that I don't love TID, because I do. TID always will have a special place in my heart, even if I prefer TLH. My love for TLH is a positive thing about TLH, not a flaw in TID.

That being said, here's why TLH hits different:

Matthew, Alastair, Thomas, Cordelia, Grace, and Christopher.

But for real, the characters. In TID, I absolutely love Tessa and Will, but while I like all the side characters, I don't feel the all-consuming 'I'd take a bullet for you' feeling for any of them. In TLH, I would take a bullet for 6 full characters and like/am interested in almost everyone else. So like, I have a much more widespread stake, and I find them more interesting.

The character dynamics. I don't just mean the ships, though Thomastair & Jordelia & Gracetopher are imo complete perfection. I mean the entire group's dynamic. All of them are neurodivergent. All of them have unique ways of relating with everyone around them, and the relationships they build are a fascinating web. Like, if you throw Lucie in a room with Thomas or Grace, she becomes immediately interesting even if I don't really like her much; Anna's dynamics with Matthew and Cordelia are enchanting even if she frustrates me sometimes. All the characters have their place and they all have such an intricate and enticing web connecting them together.

The miscommunication. I know this is why everyone gets mad at TLH, but... you have to ask why. Why are these miscommunications happening, psychologically? What makes these characters tick at the frequencies required to make them miscommunicate like this? In my opinion, every TLH character is to some degree sympathetic in their miscommunications; they all have valid reasons for lying and concealing the truth. What's driving them?

I also really like the emphasis on human trauma. Alastair and Cordelia grew up in an abusive home; Grace's mom was also horribly abusive to her. All three characters cope with that. Alastair deals with an abusive partner who groomed him. Matthew deals with PTSD and addiction, and he needs to confront that (and does so). James has to cope with some really horrible sexual trauma and does so in a very realistic way. Thomas deals with grief in an underrepresented way (taking the form of action). There's a lot.

I think by this point you're getting that I just really love the TLH cast. It's character-driven. TID's more plotty and the characters (to me) feel a bit less fleshed out, even if they're wonderful.

Belial is an extremely cool villain. I love how erratic and inhuman he is. Mortmain is boring AF despite his rich backstory. He just has all the personality of overcooked pasta.

I'm a much bigger fan of light academia than dark academia. Give me spring sunshine! Flowers! Spinny dresses! Picnics! Sledding parties! Balls! Gorgeous outfits!

I'll also admit it's just nice to see the weird, cringe, neurodivergent queer friend group save the world for once.

I just genuinely think Cassie grew as a writer in the past several years, and the prose of TLH is better than that of TID. I do think that TID is a better-plotted and better-paced series, but I don't think the writing style is as good. This is a hats-off to Cassie.

The end of TID is distressing and grim, and reminds me that like, good things don't last. By contrast, I really like the end of TLH, it's the exact kind of ending I like: open-ended and hopeful.

[skyepixels]

So, What Do We Do Now Guys?

I'll admit, I'm a bit lost at the moment. I'm seeing people decide what they want to do that they feel is best for the fandom and its creator, and I am inclined to agree with all sides here. Some are deciding to put the topic down and not post for a while until things cool off. Some are deciding to continue with their creations to help move forward past this and create a sense of normalcy back into the fandom. Others are angry and are validly expressing their anger about the situation. Some people are still discovering it all as we speak!

As I said in my previous post, it is also personal to me. Welcome Home has become a starting point for my ability to engage with a fandom, something I have personally denied myself for years on this platform out of the awareness and understanding of how fandoms (and the internet as a whole!) work. Yes, I missed out on the Onceler fandom, the Undertale fandom, the Supernatural fandom, the FNAF fandom, all of it. I know and speak of the old ways! Mwahaha!

In all seriousness though, I don't often engage with fandoms because, in my mind, I develop deep relationships with the concepts and ideas of my chosen media, and sharing my love for something with the world is terrifying. This fandom I have chosen to engage with has become one of the most intense and complex fanbases I've seen thus far, so I cannot even imagine what @partycoffin is going through.

But guys... Home is on Fire. And the fire is spreading. It's passion, its love, it's intimacy, it's anger, it's betrayal, it's every emotion you can ever imagine in a rainbow-fueled escapade, and it's burning fast.

I do not want to see this beautiful creation die, and as long as Clown wishes to keep going, I want to work to make things better, under their wishes and guidance.

Because to me, Welcome Home represents a chance to create something inclusive and beautiful for both new and old generations of internet users. I see it as the first concept to genuinely depict authentic LGBTQ+ and neurodivergent characters in an animated, horror-themed space, allowing people to find safe spaces with these characters to express their identities and creativity with the world. What I hope for from this fandom is that we can help create safe spaces for @partycoffin and everyone who wants to protect and enjoy their work. Give them and us a Home that is filled with a positive, loving community that supports one another. Give them the anonymity and safety they need to feel at home within themselves to do as they see fit. Most of all, it's important to remember that Welcome Home means something to them, to its creator, and the power to move and change this fandom is in their puppet-shaped hands.

Everything in my previous post still stands, and there is no one right answer to this. That will come in time. But my suggestion right now? Choose what you think is best for yourself because that is what you can control.

And for me? I want to create and love people's art expressing my relationship with it because fandoms, to me, are about finding meaning in people's work that helps shape and influence who you are. My small, unpolished art is my expression of wanting home when I never felt like I had one, to find a place to belong and feel safe to express my neurodivergent, queer self, and to not feel alone. While I may not post much from here on after, I want to continue moving forward and see this through.

(I will gladly take this post down if any of this is out of line. I just wish to help people in any way I can. ^_^)

[freckliedan]

https://www.tumblr.com/freckliedan/769058798077902848/im-sorry-but-if-youve-only-been-a-phannie-since?source=share

i agree with you a lot (saying this as a REALLY new phannie, ive only been here a few months). hugs.

i feel like just simply wondering if someone could be trans shouldnt necessarily be seen as 'creepy speculation', and i notice that in general (with other youtubers/celebs etc not just phan) that when fans question if they're outside of what is considered to be the 'norm' in any way (such as queer, trans, neurodivergent etc) people call them creepy, parasocial, etc. but the same is not done if fans automatically assume them to be cis, straight or neurotypical. i feel like ppl upset with dangender may possibly be seeing it incorrectly, thinking that people are saying 'because dan said/did this, that means he MUST be this' but i haven't seen a singular person who posts dangender act like that, and i follow a LOT of ppl. the vast majority of what i see isn't even speculation, it's just positivity and ppl being happy about things he said/did, and being happy that he's happy.

being trans myself, i actually feel really happy that ppl find comfort/happiness in the idea of dan being of the cisn't variety and see it as a positive and beautiful thing. in media and real life it feels like transphobia is really loud, but little things like seeing people celebrate it here is what keeps me going. i'm not personally someone who believes in the idea per se (to me dan is just dan whatever he is haha), but i like seeing people be positive about it.

of course, not everyone will fuck with stuff like dangender and they dont have to, but like you said blocking/blacklisting words is always the best way to go about that. because otherwise it can come across as demonising something that someone only does to find comfort in. my time on the internet has made me learn that it's not always a personal attack against you if they're doing something you either dont like or find uncomfy. in fact a lot of the time it's not. i say this very gently to ppl against it, a random internet user who posts dangender is not doing it to hurt you or dan.

(linked post, with a lot of great additions in the tags)

anon! i'm really late to replying to this but thank you for chipping in! i sat on a handful of asks because i didn't want to accidentally create a strong discourse or answer asks while emotionally disregulated. and then bc i forgor.

but i'm still answering bc i especially love hearing from people with different phandom experiences & opinions from me 💛 AND because i know that so many people find joy and comfort in these kinda celebrations of whatever it is dan's doing.

i think you're really hitting the nail on the head w the creepy speculation thing—i've seen this reaction be especially strongest when it comes to speculation abt transness (esp transfemininity) and autism. it's a double standard! and it's coming from unexamined prejudice.

i think learning things aren't a personal attack is probably the most important possible piece here. over the years i've seen so many people behave poorly on phannie tumblr bc their feelings of validity in their personal identity were tied to their opinion of dan or phil's identity.

this was happening about sexuality labels before dnp came out, too—people used to get nasty about defending their bisexuality or gayness. and that pretty much always came from a lack of space between self identity and percieved identity of dnp.

i have a lot of compassion and understanding for people in that boat wrt dangender, you know? especially people younger than me. i used to run several queer support groups for young people, and every time someone was being hurtful with their views on gender it came from personal struggle.

i can't like, ignore it or let it slide, though. i love my kids from those groups to this day, but they didn't just hurt each other with some of their views. they really hurt me too. it makes it easy to spot when people are coming from the same perspective on here wrt dangender, even if it might be less overt and intentional shittiness.

i don't want to play dolls online with people who are in that kind of mindset! and that's why we love the block and mute functions of online.

& i also love finding & sharing joy on here about gender bc yeah! it fucking sucks most places. but we're home here 💛

[antispopausandstuff]

hey i got a notif for a post of urs bc my gif was on it. normally i would ignore it. however. im in my 20s now but once upon a time i too was a depressed 13 yo running a tumblr blog, very similar to yours, dedicated to being really mad about a story that disappointed me. so i speak out of sincere sympathy and not a desire to be mean when i say: please do literally anything else with your time. read a book. practice a hobby. it is simply not that serious

for anyone who might be at least somewhat like what the person is talking about:

as of right now, you might be young and prone to change. things are difficult to process, awkward, scary, and you might not even know who or what you are just yet. but take your time and be kind to yourself.

by all means necessary, let your anger out. vent. complain. be sad. be angry. just don't let it hurt you or anyone else, okay? and, if you're like me, and don't necessarily feel comfortable being emotional, that's okay too.

try to find something to do, to distract you. play with a fidget, engage in activities, offline or online, try to connect with your peers. make something of your own.

whatever you're feeling is valid, and you deserve love and support. regardless of your age, living situation, mental health, etc., if any of you ever need anything from me, my messages are open. note, i might not be quick to responding all the time, but i will always respond.

i'm here for you 🫶🏾

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now onto you.

i find it funny that you think you have the right to project your past onto me when i'm nowhere near in your previous position. not anymore, at least.

i'm not buying your condescending politeness, and you suck at actually guiding people ( if that's what you think you're doing, which i doubt ) to become healthier, happier people.

to be honest, i'm almost laughing that you thought this was genuinely okay to send, even more so anonymously, if you're not just being a dickhead who thought was doing something for a 'child'.

i'm not a child. at least, not in the way you think. i'm 18 now, legally an adult in most if not all places, and my development from being 13 years old to now is huge, especially since i'm now taking medication, getting into therapy, and have done a lot to accommodate my neurodivergencies, and have been all the better for it.

you have a serious problem if you think every single account that criticizes something is either a child or is taking things too seriously, when i'm 99.9% certain you've seen the show you made a GIF about as a revolutionary piece of queer media for children.

to think so low of someone you have never met is, frankly, cruel, demeaning, ridiculous, and shameful. according to this, you're a full grown adult, and yet, you think being like this will actually help anyone? will actually teach children to be more kinder to themselves? to help teens or young adults to not be so consumed by negativity?

i am not the person you think you're talking to, and even if i was, you yourself have a lot more growing up to do if you think you can talk to me like that.

the audacity of you.

[wishiwasfiction]

Intro Post

Collective Name: Wish/Catastrophe

Collective Pronouns: they/them

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coining blog: @catastrophe-coins

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Before You Follow/BYF

we are pro endo/non-traumagenic, pro contradicting identities/labels, pro mspec lesbians, pro xenos/neos, anti harrasment, anti discrimination, pro self dx, pro choice, paraphile safe, anti contact

we reclaim some slurs (cripple, tranny, fag, dyke, sociopath, psychopath/psycho, insane/crazy/mad, probably more we forgot)

the only things we’ll reliably trigger tag for are ramcoa/tbmc, flashing/strobe lights, and unreality

this is a personal blog, so it’s gonna be full of whatever we like. witchcraft, writing, fandoms, queer/trans, neurodivergent, psychology/mental illness, etcetera. 

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shipcourse unaligned

tulpa discourse unaligned

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general tags

#wish liveblogs Gos2 - watching Good Omens season 2

#wishes system funnies - system memes we’ve made (includes system bingos)

#wishes validation - validation and positivity posts written by us!

#wishes actual thoughts - longs posts about opinions and stuff, that we put actual serious time and effort into

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this might get updated every so often, who knows

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alter tags below the cut

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#coopt deku fictive shitposts - any of the deku fictives that doesn’t want a specific tag

#-secret small - tag for anonymous littles/middles

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#deku fictive shitposts - deku from our Redroom AU

#-Files (org/file/it) - for the entire Filing System

#-Quest (they/he/it/neos)