#it wasn’t talking about ‘disabled people’ vs ‘people with disabilities’ it was talking about not saying ‘the disabled’

[plaidos]

Hello. So, the leap at the beginning of my anon was based on the assumption that most trans men don’t live in progressive countries. Since most people in general don’t live in progressive countries. Sure, in the past it was easier to go stealth because 1. there wasn’t a big phenomenon of gnc women, so that wasn’t an immediate assumption. Butch lesbians went “stealth” as men all the time, too. Which they couldn’t today. 2. obviously, documents and stuff. That’s why I said most, and I still think it’s a pretty correct assumption.

I think you use male privilege a little liberally. It’s a specific thing that manifests in specific ways. If a trans man passes as a cis woman, he is actively targeted by misogyny in every single way a cis woman is, which is to say, a traumatic amount. The patriarchy isn’t affording trans men male privilege by treating them like cis, probably gnc women. What I was also trying to say at the end of the anon, was that trans men who don’t pass would be treated as cis women and have the same privilege that cis women have practically over trans women, but I can see how that doesn’t work if the person in question is openly trans (I was mostly thinking of mostly closeted people since that’s the experience I have). I still don’t think the patriarchy would afford male privilege to a perceived woman just because they’re trans. I think male privilege comes from being perceived as being cis men, only, because I mean, that’s how it’s been since its conception and that’s obviously how the world’s structured. I think that’s where a lot of the frustration comes from, though the response is obviously not right. I think you can say trans women are treated worse, and say it’s because transmisogyny is a more insidious kind of discrimination than whatever combination of misogyny and transphobia trans men experience, without saying it’s male privilege.

Rereading this anon I come across as sort of arrogant, but I promise I didn’t mean it! Just trying to discuss.

i mean, no, you are totally wrong in your belief that "male privilege comes from being perceived as cis men" -- you just get lower returns on male privilege if you are trans. the same is true for men of color, disabled men, poor men, gay men. any men outside of the ordinary will get a lower return of male privilege. would you say that men of color, disabled men, poor men, gay men do not have privilege above women of color, disabled women, poor women, gay women? why are we comparing trans men's male privilege to cis men's? nobody is saying trans men are treated equal to cis men. we're saying they're afforded male privilege that trans women obviously are not.

...but even all the traumatic experiences of facing all the misogyny a cis woman would does not compare to the experiences trans women have. you accept & agree this -- but i'm trying to tell you that a demographic gap between the privilege trans men face vs trans women is inherently male privilege, even if those men are not universally recognised as men. disabled men, men of color, gay men, intersex men -- these are other examples of men who are considered not "full men" and yet they still obviously have a male privilege above women of their demographic.

plus, you're still approaching this from mainly the position that trans man predominately don't pass. this isn't true, and besides, in trans & queer spaces, trans men are still more likely to have their voices & experiences listened to than trans women, regardless of how much they pass.

some of the things you're stating here have a rather wicked & deceitful implication of "trans women who aren't out the closet still benefit from male privilege" but i can tell you, as somebody who was maligned for her gender long long before she came out, that isn't true.

it doesn't matter if trans men aren't afforded the patriarchy as much as cis men (of course they aren't? that's how intersectionalism works.) we aren't talking about cis men -- we're talking about trans people. and no matter how you slice it, no matter which way you flip the issue over in your head or redefine it, trans men are certainly afforded many more benefits of the patriarchy than trans women, period. no ifs, ands or buts. period. trans men have better employment rates, housing security, they're less likely to be homeless & less likely to be targeted by violent hatecrime than the women of their demographic. what the fuck do you call that if not male privilege?

[runerapier]

With FS 2 finally out I wanted to share some of my thoughts, I think it would be fun to talk about the possible mental state Angeal is in around this time in his life and subsequently how it reflects Sephiroth, as well as the meaning behind Angeal's dream sequence.

Since a lot of the details of Angeal’s backstory are hidden in external material, I’m going to use it as a point of reference. Crisis Core has a lot of content they were not able to include at the time of it’s release, so it will be fun to see if they follow up on these things they wrote about but couldn’t include in game.

We already see from the get go that Angeal is serving as a contrast to Sephiroth’s outlook, demeanor, and manners. Angeal’s energy and passion he has for teamwork, his comrades, and genuine care he has for doing his job all directly contrast Sephiroth’s whatever attitude. Even small acts of chivalry are made to highlight this, showing Angeal going the extra mile to help Alissa across the bridge vs Sephiroth’s refusal to engage with anyone socially. Sephiroth was brought up to function independently, made to be a one man army, no use for friends, families, or allies. Especially with the recent loss of friends, he is going to be distant.

This is extremely important for contrast with Angeal, who has likely recently left home and is missing his family, not to mention he is someone he deeply values his connection to others. There is no set age for when Angeal left home, but it is likely within the last 2~ years. His sword in game is listed as type 90, this is comparable to Zack’s sword in CC which is type 99, the type number likely reflects the year the sword was created or the year of when that model was created. Assuming that it's updated every year, leans towards the fact they've been in SOLDIER since at least that year. Meaning Angeal likely left home at 14~, which is closer to around the age Zack and Cloud left home for SOLDIER anyways.

Angeal is someone very sentimental, he is very defensive of his home and his family. CC showed us he was quite nostalgic about Banora on several occasions. This is another contrast to Sephiroth, who doesn't have a hometown or a family. According to the CC ultimania, Genesis was one of the motivators for Angeal to leave and find a better way of living. The new chapter confirmed Angeal left home because he wanted to help pull his family out of poverty. In CC, Angeal's father was said to fall sick from overwork to pay off debt from the buster sword; however, the ultimania mentions an important detail: his father has always been weak and sickly. It’s partly due to his father being chronically ill/disabled that they aren’t able to make a lot of money. The buster sword isn’t the sole cause of his death but rather an extension of working in a system that likely exploits disabled people. Genesis might have been the push Angeal needed to leave far away from home rather than staying and trying to take care of his sick father.

Which gets us to Angeal’s dream, there is debate on how much of it is real because Sephiroth’s wasn’t real. In my personal opinion, the dream being real is a very important contrast to Sephiroth. We know that whatever Alissa is, she is preying on the desires of them. Especially in the case of her being Jenova, who uses memories of her victims to her advantage. Angeal doesn’t need to make up a scenario of his family loving him or being proud of him, because it’s already a reality, Sephiroth doesn’t have this luxury. Angeal's father pushed himself to the brink just so he could support his son in his endeavor, there is no doubt his family loved and supported him. So, what is Angeal's actual desire then? In CC it is never really specified when Angeal's father died, but in Gillian’s profile in the ultimania, it mentions his father died shortly after Angeal left for SOLDIER, even the dream is hinting towards something bad happening on the horizon. Angeal's dad is probably already dead and it is mirroring Sephiroth wanting to see his mother. Possibly reinforced by the fact he is already refusing to use the buster, while it's not confirmed if he didn’t use it all because of his cheapness, I think his father's death added significant value to the sword, making it irreplaceable. They are two kids who just want to be with their parents again, one's desire being entirely fictional and the other's being in the past. It is another contrast between them with their dreams: Sephiroth's being all he lacks, and Angeal's is all he had, but left behind. Both unattainable but in a different sense.

This dream is likely some of the last stability Angeal had before leaving home, along with possibly being one of the last times he saw his father alive which is probably why he is yearning for it. I think if the dream itself symbolized only wanting stability Angeal wouldn’t mention leaving for SOLDIER, I don’t think he wanted to leave home to provide for his family if given the choice. Instead "Jenova" is preying on something that is tangible. However, there is still a possibility it is exaggerated a bit with Angeal having the money for donations and plenty of food. I don't think this is true either, the dream implies Angeal was already working at this age to support his family, so it’s not entirely out of the question he uses what little he has to give back or that he helped with saving for Gillian's birthday party. In contrast nothing in Sephiroth's dream was real besides the fact he lives in the Shinra building, we know Angeal has loving parents, we know he is a hard worker, we know he left for soldier, and we know he loves his village and his family, more was real than just the setting. Also, I think there's a point that this is a special occasion, they could've opted to save up for her birthday. It really didn’t feel too wild to me that one day in particular they had extra food, especially considering they live in a farm village. When and the exact reason why Angeal stole when he was younger is honestly not clarified at all. He could have been afraid of asking for extra food, it could have been during droughts, or even when his father was too sick to work. It is very common for poor families in remote villages to grow their own crops, we even see people in Gongaga growing their own supply, so these things are not really out of the question. I think if any of these details were fake Angeal would be confused or surprised by having these things like how Sephiroth did to make it clear to us as the viewer, but that didn’t happen. The dream closes with remarking his desire to provide for his family so they live happy and healthy… and we know that didn’t happen, which is the point. I think it's also worth mentioning there are some small discrepancies in the localization. He isn't just giving out expensive equipment to multiple people individually, instead, it's a donation that is meant to be shared by everyone. Angeal is building community with farmers who might also be struggling, and I feel like this is an important detail that's missing.

(small disclaimer: I'm not fluent, I only know basics, but I did my best to break down the sentences to make sure these were accurate)

I think it’s clear Angeal isn’t yearning to be rich (or someone else that’s not even relevant in the current narrative… especially when their focus currently is to compare and contrast him with Sephiroth). If Angeal wanted to be rich or famous why isn't he chatting up the PR guy to hope it gets him more attention to the point of promotion? Instead Angeal cares about doing his job and making sure it’s done right, he even gets angry at Bachman and tells him his priority is the rescue mission. Angeal cares deeply about protecting and caring for the people around him, especially those important to him. The dream is only reinforcing this. They even made his gameplay reflect his narrative by being the one to provoke and tank damage for his team, which shows how he views his role as a leader. I want to preface this with there being nothing wrong if the dream ends up being exaggerated, I think regardless it is a good insight on Angeal's character. He loves his family and friends, he wants to support them and make them happy. It shows how they were a positive influence on his life and how they affected his motivations. I think narratively speaking though, Angeal having something that is at very least somewhat more real is another important contrast with Sephiroth, especially when a point of contention between them is how they grew up in different worlds. I think the turmoil of Angeal’s father being most likely dead is going to carry a lot of weight for this story and is meant to parallel Sephiroth's desires for wanting family, it possibly being how they find common ground. While Angeal did grow up in a loving household, he is going through a lot right now with his father's passing. The focus on the Buster sword is incredibly important since it is going to represent why Angeal fights. To protect and to care for what he couldn’t back home, for what his father wanted for him. A dream of a better future and to not lose sight of his morals.

In my personal opinion, it makes a lot of sense that Genesis might not be joining for this section of the story. It's shining a light on some of two most iconic swords in gaming history, and how Angeal’s outlook related to his struggles is going to shape Sephiroth. Angeal’s character and his trauma shape the foundation of the Buster sword and future wielders, and it shaping the Masamune too will be an extension of that. He is the heart of SOLDIER, and I am excited to see this story continue to reinforce that.

[piniatafullofblood]

disclaimer: these are just my raw feelings and immediate reaction because I’m feeling really hurt and sad about this and I can’t talk to anyone irl about it. this is a vent post, not me genuinely trying to psychoanalyze this ending in good faith.

mha 430 leak spoilers and the uncut unfiltered feelings of a physically disabled teenager about it

oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god okay.

so I’m fifteen, right. I’ve been caring about this show for 1/3rd of my life. I’ve been caring about these characters sometimes more than I care about irl people for. 1/3rd of my life.

and I’m physically disabled. I’ve been physically disabled my entire life, it wasn’t like an accident or anything. (minorly, but it’s obvious when you look at me and I was raised in military/christian spaces during childhood so it ended up affecting me a lot.) and I’ve always seen quirklessness as an allegory for disability. that’s always been what it meant to me.

and from the beginning I was ready for it to be about conformism, right? like if you only conform and work hard enough and bend over backwards to meet the expectations of society you can succeed. that’s what I’ve known that this show was about ever since the training montage in episode one. I had made myself content with the fact that the narrative is sort of pro system, pro police, pro stfu and cope. and the first time I watched it, I recognized the ‘greatest hero’ vs ‘number one hero’ line in episode one. I knew that that would probably be how it ended. but I really, really, wasn’t prepared for this.

he.. failed.

his stint with a quirk, in the limelight, was for a year and a half while he was in highschool. he never got to be a hero. he’ll spend the rest of his life thinking about ‘that time when I got so fucking close’. people will stop remembering him for the sports festival and by the time he’s a teacher he’ll have to show them old clips from it to explain why he’s teaching at a hero school.

and he did it all perfectly. he did it all perfectly. as soon as he was given a chance he trained hard and fought harder, and put in all the work to become a great hero. he analyzed and trained and thought and worked and he did everything right.

and then in the end he wasn’t able to keep it.

I was ready for the ending to be about conformism. I wasn’t ready for ‘you will never be fucking good enough, and if you weren’t born with an advantage, you won’t suceeed.’

although, maybe I should’ve been, with the ‘all men are not created equal’ talk in the beginning. I wasn’t ready for him to fail. out of all the anime’s I’ve watched, Izuku midoriya was the protagonist that deserved to win the most. he deserved to be happy. he did everything right. this is all he ever wanted out of his life.

and now he becomes a teacher, and has to watch from the sidelines as Bakugo succeeds without him. which is never what anyone wanted, much less Bakugo. we’re back at the beginning, back where we started. Katsuki succeeding and being great and Izuku watching from the sidelines and cheering him on. and maybe it’s much less contentious now, and maybe they will both know that Izuku is more of a hero, but that doesn’t fucking matter. from someone who had the consolation prize of moral dignity their entire life- it really, really, doesn’t change anything. it doesn’t matter. that doesn’t change the reality that he’ll spend his days watching all their fights on TV and he hasn’t seen the rest of the class for eight fucking years. I know that there are alternative ways to see the ending. I know this is probably not the intention horikoshi had with this ending. but this is how it impacted me and I’m not gonna stop saying it. once a fucking cripple always a fucking cripple, or whatever.

I always knew it would probably have an unsatisfying ending. that it might hurt me. that the cultural differences would probably only lead to my over sensitive ass being hurt and sad. but I wasn’t ready. he deserved better. izuku deserved better.

[fantastic-nonsense]

What are five of your favourite Grishaverse quotes? Send this ask to 5 of your favourite grishaverse blogs!

Thank you so much for sending this, and sorry it took me such a long time to get to it 😭

Choosing was super hard because there are so many insanely good quotes in the books and I love several of them for very different reasons, but I'll try and give it a go anyways. So: five of my favorite Six of Crows quotes (because I still haven't read the SaB trilogy), in no particular order:

Kaz and Inej, on getting back up after a fall:

Get it together, Brekker, he scolded himself harshly. It didn’t help. He was going to faint again, and this would all be over. Inej had once offered to teach him how to fall. “The trick is not getting knocked down,” he’d told her with a laugh. “No, Kaz,” she’d said, “the trick is in getting back up.” More Suli platitudes, but somehow even the memory of her voice helped. He was better than this. He had to be. Not just for Jordie, but for his crew. He’d brought these people here. He’d brought Inej here. It was his job to bring them out again. The trick is in getting back up. He kept her voice in his head, repeating those words, again and again, as he stripped off his boots, his clothes, and finally his gloves. -Ch. 22, Six of Crows

Matthias asking for mercy for monsters/the "we are all someone's monster" observation:

“Nina,” he said, hand still pressed over the smooth skin on his chest where a bullet wound should be. “Nina, please.” “You know they would not offer you mercy, Matthias.” “I know. I know. But let them live in shame instead.” She hesitated. “Nina, you taught me to be something better. They could be taught, too.” Nina shifted her gaze to his. Her eyes were ferocious, the deep green of forests; the pupils, dark wells. The air around her seemed to shimmer with power, as if she was alight with some secret flame. “They fear you as I once feared you,” he said. “As you once feared me. We are all someone’s monster, Nina.” -Ch. 41, Six of Crows

Wylan and Kaz's entire conversation about disability and vulnerability while cracking Van Eck's safe:

He thumbed quickly through the ledger and said, “When people see a cripple walking down the street, leaning on his cane, what do they feel?” Wylan looked away. People always did when Kaz talked about his limp, as if he didn’t know what he was or how the world saw him. “They feel pity. Now, what do they think when they see me coming?” Wylan’s mouth quirked up at the corner. “They think they’d better cross the street.” Kaz tossed the ledger back in the safe. “You’re not weak because you can’t read. You’re weak because you’re afraid of people seeing your weakness. You’re letting shame decide who you are. Help me with the painting.” They lifted the portrait back into place over the gaping hole in the safe. Martin Van Eck glared down at them. “Think on it, Wylan,” Kaz said as he straightened the frame. “It’s shame that lines my pockets, shame that keeps the Barrel teeming with fools ready to put on a mask just so they can have what they want with no one the wiser for it. We can endure all kinds of pain. It’s shame that eats men whole.” -Ch. 18, Crooked Kingdom

Inej vs. Dunyasha on the Church of Barter rooftop, refusing to be cowed on her own turf:

“The blood you spill is the blood of kings,” seethed Dunyasha. “You are not fit for such a gift.” Inej almost felt sorry for her. Dunyasha really believed she was the Lantsov heir, and maybe she was. But wasn’t that what every girl dreamed? That she’d wake and find herself a princess? Or blessed with magical powers and a grand destiny? Maybe there were people who lived those lives. Maybe this girl was one of them. But what about the rest of us? What about the nobodies and the nothings, the invisible girls? We learn to hold our heads as if we wear crowns. We learn to wring magic from the ordinary. That was how you survived when you weren’t chosen, when there was no royal blood in your veins. When the world owed you nothing, you demanded something of it anyway. Inej raised a brow and slowly wiped the blood of kings on her trousers. -Ch. 35, Crooked Kingdom

And Inej at the harbor...hopeful, in love, and ready to take on the world with her boy and her ship:

Had she really thought the world didn’t change? She was a fool. The world was made of miracles, unexpected earthquakes, storms that came from nowhere and might reshape a continent. The boy beside her. The future before her. Anything was possible. -Ch. 44, Crooked Kingdom

[thekingofthenameless]

New Merlin lore!!!

First off, I’m retconning his schizophrenia for several reasons:

I somehow keep forgetting about it. (It doesn’t really seem like a permanent trait, I guess? Not sure how to explain it, but it doesn’t cement itself in my head like Charlie’s autism.)

I haven’t really written anything about him with it yet? Besides hearing voices, and I was never sure how accurate that is, because I didn’t want to just do it for whump/angst/plot purposes.

I also don’t want to mix up magical and mundane too much, and incorporating real magic occurrences vs. hallucinations might be harder than I thought.

I was on the fence about it for a few days, and I felt bad about doing it because my brain said I’m a coward; retconning mental illness is bad; things like that. I also felt like people would mock me and/or get mad at me, so I didn’t tell anyone at first.

I kind of thought it might be better if I gave him a different disability, but I wasn’t sure what to do at first.

But then I remembered a thought I’ve had before, even back when I was writing Emerald Embers! It was kind of a crack idea, so it stayed in my head and I never yapped about it. 😌

This was way before @aroace-edward-elric’s hyperfixation on Fullmetal Alchemist (2003), and seeing an oc with a prosthetic arm and leg.

I think @fate-is-a-lie showing me her new Earthspark oc (who has a prosthetic arm) a few days ago made me remember it! It also could have been FMA 03 worming its way into my subconscious again. Both of you, how dare you /silly.

Merlin now has a prosthetic right leg!! (I originally imagined it as his left, but I chose that one to differentiate from Ed and the oc lol. @aroace-edward-elric pointed out that Hiccup also lost his left leg.)

His amputation is above the knee, and nearly a full limb loss like these photos.

He also still has anxiety, C-PTSD, and misophonia.

I already have some funny scenarios I’ve thought about: him, of course, going to sleep without the leg so he gets a break. He forgets to put it on when he wakes up sometimes… resulting in him falling on the floor if he can’t regain his balance fast enough. Charlie gets worried even though he reassures his baby that he’s fine.

Also him somehow breaking it, and nonchalantly being like: “Oh, I broke my leg. Again.”

Everyone freaks out until he says: “The prosthetic one...”

And if I ever write the Merlin crossover thing, somehow people end up talking about how most Merlins are rather skinny? TKN Merlin, who either starts leaning against a wall or conjures his crutches (which he uses to give his leg a break besides sleeping), answers: “I’d still win the thigh gap competition, I fear.”

Looks of confusion from people who don’t know

Makes sure he’s secure in his position before snapping his fingers, unhooking his leg with his magic

It falls to the floor with a thump. Everyone who doesn’t know starts freaking out as he laughs.

He’s a dad, and he makes dad jokes. Charlie’s enjoyment of them sometimes varies.

I got inspired by this TikTok ⬇️ lol:

He’d also do that.

“How’d you even lose it??” someone asks when he reveals it.

“Reason I have yet to figure out!” finger guns

Sometimes if he tries to kick a particularly strong door in, the leg kind of breaks. “Shit. Maybe I should’ve used the real one.”

“What?!”

He’ll have other comedic moments like these, but it’s equivalent to “he’s disabled, and it’s funny sometimes” instead of “being disabled = funny”.

It’s so easy to give him a prosthetic without needing new art beside a leg design, actually! Even with how much his design has changed, you wouldn’t know since his legs are always covered. Besides that, I can say he wears wide fitting pants to hide the leg since his outfit as a whole is flowy and loose lol.

Since he has bigger thighs from being fat, it wouldn’t match like the above shown second image.

I’m also getting a prosthetic for him designed already!! The first two are some of the references I sent Specter7art (on Reddit), and the third is a suggestion he had for Merlin’s foot! It’s going to be made of iron and mostly gray. :D I’ll post it here, with a link to this post, when it’s done!

Artist credits, in order of each image: Soberana Art (on Artstation), yaasidraws_17 (on Reddit), @biposi, @thenegoteator, @cat-gh0ul, @honeyxmonkey, Soberana Art (on Artstation), @hawkes-art, @honeyxmonkey, @azurewildflight, @gaylightisminetocommand , @azurewildflight, @theeio, @honeyxmonkey, @croxovergoddess, and @isa-ah

Original posts (if applicable): Forest, Meme Redraw, Current Merlin, Cuddles, Chibi Drawing, Sploot, Meadow, Embrace, Outfit Design, and Doodle

TKN Taglist: @gaylightisminetocommand, @taag-the-withering, @mxxnlightwriting, @lets-zofifi-stuff, @aroace-edward-elric

[mysterycharacterflowers]

Round 2; A bouquet of white clover, chamomile and pine Vs A bouquet of asphodel, sage, yellow chrysanthemum, green carnation, plum blossom, stinging nettle, anemone and acanthus

If you know who they are, or you are pretty sure of it, please don't tell until this poll has ended!

First, let's talk about the bouquet of white clover, chamomile and pine

Meaning and why they were chosen: White Clover: "Think of me" - I originally chose this plant for its relation to luck, but its meaning in flower language also fits well. He harbors unrequited love for another character and leave a strong impact on the narrative that persists even after their death. Chamomile: "Patience in adversity" - Even in the harshest trials, his optimism never falters. Pine: "Humility" - One of his shortcomings is his low self-esteem. Description: He cares very deeply about the people around him, and is willing to do anything in his power to make something good out of the terrible situation his group is in. He stays polite and sincere even when met with distrust and hatred, and his faith in a good ending is never diminished.

Check their post here

Now, let's talk about the A bouquet of asphodel, sage, yellow chrysanthemum, green carnation, plum blossom, stinging nettle, anemone and acanthus

Meaning and why they were chosen: Asphodel- meaning: my regrets follow you to the grave. Reason- his death drove his best friend to grief-induced mania. He is haunted by the regrets and sins of someone else- sins he wasn’t even aware of. Sage- meaning: health. Reason- He works in the medical field- in a sense. Yellow Chrysanthemum- meaning: slighted love. Reason- He had a complex, deep relationship with his best friend, one that heavily blurred the line between romantic and platonic. After this character died, and was subsequently brought back, their relationship has been fractured, with this character trying desperately to fix their relationship, while his best friend avoids and spurns him. Green Carnation- meaning: love between two men. Reason- He is a gay man, and the story is founded on his blurry romantic-platonic relationship with his best friend, and a man who is head over heels in love with this character. Plum Blossom- meaning: beauty and longevity. Reason- There is an entire cult dedicated to placing this character in an immortal coma, so that his beauty can forever remain. Stinging Nettle- meaning: Life and Death. Reason- This character has struggled with his health throughout his entire life. He quite literally died due to his health issues, and was revived . Anemone- meaning: Forsaken/sickness. Reason- Forsaken, because he was forsaken- abandoned by the only person he really trusted in his time of need. Sickness, as this character struggled his entire life with chronic pain and a compromised immune system. Acanthus- meaning: immortality and rebirth Reason- The major theme of this character is that he died, and was then brought back. This event is directly described as a rebirth. There is also a cult dedicated to making this character immortal. Description: This character is canonically trans and disabled. He is being consistently gaslight and manipulated by everyone around him. He died, and was then brought back to life, but his previous death caused a severe rift between him and his best friend that never truly healed, and if anything, only got worse. He was the messiah of a cult, he is canonically a major hottie. He works in the medical field in the loosest of terms. He's afraid of centipedes, was taken prisoner by a platoon of waterfowl, and once projected his own emotional state onto an immortal wild animal. He encourages children to unionize and commit war crimes.This character really is just such a gut-wrenching portrayal of loneliness and what it feels like to be screaming for help and support only to be ignored. He’s having to learn to grieve someone who is still alive, just- gone. He’s sooo silly in the face of the horrors but also so goddamn sad. All he wants is to be loved and understood. The most fucked up thing is that none of it is his fault. He’s caught up in a 4-d chess match he didn’t even know was happening

Check their post here

[egberts]

Losing my mind over how many people are continuing to miss the point of the shower post. It is a rich people thing in locations where water is expensive and showers are hard to come by… it is a rich people thing when you don’t have the money to get help for disabling conditions that affect regular hygiene… Even if it wasn’t a rich people thing it is literally fine to shower every other day or whenever available to you or whatever the hell, and it’s always going to be extremely shitty to get all snooty about pristine shower habits. Sorry for putting this in your askbox I’m just. Oh my god.

no you're literally right. this is it 100% this this this. this is the point i was making and instead everyone turned it into a normal shower vs not showering debate like unless you make over 400k a year I wasn't talking to you

[fadecrow]

This is just a vent if you come in here yelling at me I’m just gonna block you because I’m not gonna tolerate that shit here if you don’t like what I’m saying, just block me, close the page, hide the post, whatever. Constructive criticism is welcome, but you’re not allowed to be harsh. I can’t deal with that shit.

But I wanted to have a textual acknowledgement for memory reasons that in my experience, people like to talk big shit about oppression dynamics and the way they intersect until the point where they intersect in a way that makes them uncomfortable with the implications attached to how they’ve been treating people.

Like as an example, people like to talk about how oppression dynamics can compound the way people experience things. What they don’t like to talk about, and I’m sorry if I word this wrong but I don’t know how to say it in The Correct Way, is how they can make things a little bit fucky when you’re trying to figure out if oppression is even happening. Kind of like how some disabilities conflict but instead of being just disabilities it’s everything. You have a dynamic that is supposed to be oppressed vs oppressor yaaay punching up, BUT because of the way that it is people just get hurt.

For example, sex positivity and open sexuality is very important in order to kill shame, but there are also people who are sex repulsed and don’t wanna hear about fucking. This just kind of ends up with shame being thrown around on both sides of the argument and no one coming to a conclusion about how to accommodate both important things.

Or someone might have a symptom of a disorder that is very uncomfortable for one person to be around for one historical reason or another, but in all honesty, the symptom isn’t actually causing tangible harm. It just reminds someone else of the tangible harm they’ve already been through, and so they decide to take it out on the person who has the symptom. (Like certain disabilities that make you curse in public, etc.) When the person with the symptom tries to defend themselves because the one who is uncomfortable suddenly attacks them, the one who is uncomfortable leverages the idea that you’re not allowed to tell someone whether or not you’re hurting them, completely glossing over the fact that they aren’t in any danger to begin with. And then the person with the symptom in trying to express that they are allowed to exist in public without causing themselves unnecessary stress is now the bad guy. Nobody calls the person who was uncomfortable out and tells them maybe they should take a step back.

And I’m not even going to get into people who say silence is violence and that shows up for people with CPTSD or moral scrupulosity OCD, which might be exacerbated by the idea that if you don’t think and say and do things exactly the right way you are A Problem and Evil.

I have personally been told because I didn’t word things in exactly the right way and the person didn’t like how I existed in their twisted up perception of me I deserve to have my mental health tanked every day. They literally said they hope that my symptoms get worse right to my digital face, no anon. And I wasn’t telling them anything mean in regards to them or their family or political party or anything, I was trying to express something that upset me in my own life where I didn’t know how to deal with it in a space where others were also sharing similar situations. Trying to defend myself at all in that space just got more and more people yelling at me and I had to leave that site. (And no, I’m not going to name the site or exactly what the argument was about because I’m not going to go through all that shit a second time. It took hours for me to come back from it mentally, and I had people threaten to find me. I’m done forever talking about that specific difficulty in detail I’m just not going to do it ever again or seek any help for it.)

It’s really fucked up if people don’t exist the right way it’s acceptable to destroy them by dogpiling them.

I don’t know what this is called like social violence or something? Is it a form of gaslighting or a double bind or am I confused? Any way you slice it, it’s unacceptable in my opinion and I don’t understand why it’s so widely accepted in places that are supposed to be progressive.

It makes many spaces too hostile for me to learn in, and half of the time I just kinda have to absorb information from passive things that come across my feed instead of actually trying to seek out my flaws and learn actively because if I say things incorrectly, I only get attacked. Nobody will say anything in my defense and there is no compassion to be found anywhere anymore the way there was when I was a kid. I don’t want them to treat me like a child, but I want them to hold me to the same amount of value they did before if that makes any sense. It feels like now that people think my mind is sturdier, it means I am also trash that deserves to be chewed up.

[queer-starwars-bracket]

Queer Star Wars Characters (Round 1): Well Known Characters Match 12

Orka | Identity: mlm | Media: Star Wars Resistance

Ork and his romantic partner Flix ran the Office of Acquisitions on the Colossus, bringing them into frequent contact with the shenanigans of Kazuda Xiono when he purchases parts for his employer. They are part of the wider ensemble cast of the show, forming the loose found family you often get in cartoons set in small towns. Compared to his partner, Orka is the more brash and aggressive of the pair. 

In Resistance’s short run, there was no Orka-centric episode. However in Flix’s backstory episode, Flix’s family is shown to be supportive of their relationship, even if they aren’t supportive of Flix leaving the family business and fuel refinery.

If you don’t count Kallus and Zeb, Flix and Orka are the first queer characters in a Star Wars TV show. In fact, if it wasn’t for outside clarification, they have the same level of textual support, which played a large part in the decision to include Kallus and Zeb.

Vi Moradi | Identity: aro/ace | Media: Galaxy’s Edge

Vi Moradi is the first and so far only character who originated in Star Wars publishing to appear in the Disney parks. A Resistance spy, she was created for the novel Phasma. Leia Organa tasked her with uncovering the backstories of prominent First Order members. Her interrogation by the First Order stormtrooper trainer Cardinal serves as the frame narrative for the novel. It ends with Cardinal realizing that the values he thought he was serving with the First Order was false and the cruelty of Phasma is its true face. He helps his former captive escape, being injured on the way.

While Deliah S. Dawson was writing Vi Moradi, the imagineers decided to use her as a character in Galaxy’s Edge. Thus she came back for the novel Galaxy’s Edge Blackspire where she and Cardinal are forced to work together to create a Resistance base on Batuu, cut off from any wider support. The novel is a rare accurate depiction of the PTSD and disability that comes from torture. It also established VI as the first aro/ace character in Star Wars. 

Vi is both a very skilled spy and organizer, good at bringing out the strength of people around her. She is a walk-around character in the park, acting out the same storyline about Kylo Ren arriving on Batuu every day, improvising based on guest interaction. Getting to talk to her was my favorite moments of my visits to Galaxy’s Edge. 

[tabby-shieldmaiden]

I’ve decided that I would like to try and write Shonen with Women. Like that one popular tumblr post talking about it. There’s a handful of close-enough cases. But there’s not tons and tons such that you can have something for everyone. I would like to try and write something like that.

And I have decided on a list of things which I should try to engage with, so that I can get somewhere within the vicinity of ‘Shonen with Women’.

The first thing is, obviously, Shonen animanga. I want to try and engage with some of the ones which have like. Female leads. Notably big casts of women. At least 60/40 ratios. I’ve watched Soul Eater and JoJo part 6, and I may rewatch or reread them. I’ve watched Chainsaw Man, and I think I really should read it. I should look at some of the other big names too. I think I’ll get to TTGL and Demon Slayer both for social reasons (friends who like it and who I can talk to about), and because they are short in comparison to some shonen. But some of the longer stuff does interest me. In particular, I have an interest in Naruto, both because to some people, it does seem to symbolise some platonic ideal of ‘Shonen animanga’, and because it is notoriously known for poorly handling its female characters. I think it would be interesting to try and play around with it, therefore.

The second thing is just. Miscellaneous other works which fall under ‘boy-targeted action-adventure story with sff elements’. Which is what most people mean when they talk about capital S Shonen. Like, ‘shonen’ is a demographic, but capital S Shonen is a genre. Most of these works which aren’t animanga are Western works, in particular North American works. This is partially for social reasons, because I have friends who I can talk to about superhero cartoons and miscellaneous other ‘boy’ targeted media. But it is also because I think it will be interesting to compare and contrast and see in what ways things differ, and what ways they stay the same.

The third thing on my list are magical girl media. This is for interest reasons and social reasons. Also, it’ll be interesting to compare and contrast. The escapist heroism fantasy for boys vs the escapist heroism fantasy for girls. What ways are they the same? What ways are they different?

The fourth is like, fringe cases. Things people hold up as ‘Shonen with Women’ already which aren’t quite neatly magical girl. RWBY (which I have previously watched) and Worm (which I have not read) fall under here. But if there’s any more things which are like this, I will keep a lookout. RWBY wasn’t really for me, but I do want to rewatch it all at least once so that I can stew on it and what it does a little more. 

It’ll also be good for me to look at some other SFF works too, since so much of this sort of media has very obvious fantasy and science fiction elements to them. I still won’t read Lord of the Rings though, simply because too many people said that I had to read Lord of the Rings. I couldn’t even sit through the movies. My Mom was watching The Two Towers in cinemas and I think she had to leave midway because I decided it was time for me to be born*. If I ever had a natural disposition, it may just be disinterest in the goings-on of Middle Earth.

The sixth thing is like. I would like to know more about leftism. Economics, certainly, but also. Feminism and queer rights, postcolonialism, disability theory, and all sorts of other readings. This is for personal reasons, to become a better activist. But also, I feel like I will have to be prepared to think about what I see. I need tools to be able to look at the media and dissect it, and see what wasn’t working there, and how I can take things and put them in my own work and make them more informed. If I were to write Shonen with Women, I will have to put some work into it to really make it stand out. I think a part of that will be grappling with all the uncheck assumptions that tend to be put into this sort of escapist media, and seeing if we can escape to better places.

Especially since so many works in my chosen genre are written by white or Japanese men, and I do want to write more obviously Southeast Asian fiction (in the sense of writing informed by the region’s history and culture). I think I will read postcolonial writings and feminist writings and Southeast Asian history and mix it with thoughts on all these other stories. I’ll start small. Learn about my country first. Then the direct neighbours. Learn about the whole region. Then on to South Asia and China and other Pacific Islanders and any other peoples who have had shared histories with the region. And I will keep learning more and more and keep jumping down rabbit holes. This is for my own curiosity, to understand where I am, and how to move forward. And hopefully, because these things are on my mind, they will mix with my animanga and action cartoon thoughts, and it will blossom into something worth writing about.

And of course, I will need to go get more life experiences. Learn more things about the world. Engage with non-fiction. Do things which aren’t fiction related. This is also an important part of being a good writer period. It’s not all about media consumption. It’s learning facts about science and going out with family and friends and learning new things, and having all those experiences fuel my writing.

So yeah. I guess that’s it. My list of things I will try and engage with in order to try and write Shonen with Women. My current WIP isn’t quite it. My next WIP idea may be closer. I don’t have a third long-form one yet. But who knows. Maybe after engaging with all these things, I will find something that I can say, while also saying it by writing women battle each other in dramatic, magical and/or scifi-ish fights. 

*Either that, or it was before or after the movie. They were not very clear telling the story.

[playlamb]

It’s so hard for it to fully grasp that you are supposed to tell people the truth of who you are. Like your nature is supposed to be exposed and you are supposed to be seen in your truth. which is just result of you saying things you actually believe and just general embodying your pleasure and joy. I have never done that. I was too disabled to experience the world without some kind of mental protection, it would literally hurt me to go outside in the sun because colors and sunlight felt too bright, I had no filter for reality, I would take it in in its rawest form or something, it wasn’t possible to endure like that. To this day I can’t actually be out in the sun if I’m not dissociating. That’s crazy & fascinating—my eyes stop hurting if I dissociate, the more I ground the more my eyes kind of burn from the bright light.

It’s fascinating.. you think a disability like lamb’s (entails not having empathy) ends at being aversive to normativity (which is modalities rooted in typical experience of empathy; ‘normal people’ who experience empathy live thru the lens of that empathy-experience). But its experience as a child points to possibility that it was not just aversive to normative expression but all of reality.

Which, and this may sound little crazy but years ago when was trying to understand itself, it had come to conclusion that reality operates on a set of rules that ‘normal people’ seem instinctively tapped into, and it concluded that the thing tying everything together was empathy. This is just way it was conceptualizing something else it was identifying.

People think empathy is only social-relational but lamb sees it as not just that ; it defines empathy as more the experience of relating to a thing perceived as outside of one’s self,. And at some point began to identify something it isn’t sure it should call empathy anymore but that’s only word it had, and. so. That is where ‘empathy seems to be the glue that holds reality together and normal people are instinctively tapped into that and operate through it’ comes in. That sounds kind of too spiritual but it is rooted in truth about how people who are not disabled in way lamb is just do things without needing to pull it thru lens of logic, think autistic mindsets vs not autistic,. but anyways what was i talking about, ou who cares

end of post.

well now you get this post its a little weird hope it makes you like me little more instead of think I’m stupid for being psychotic and disabled. sorry I’m not mad at u just remembering how my ex made me feel about myself.

[imliteraryharland]

My personalised, individualistic outlook on Identity vs experience. Which shapes us more as humans?

But is it too late? Was this merely a life lesson of being yourself no matter what, or a punishment for my contradicting identity?

...

At some point in our lifetime, we've all attached ourselves onto a label to validate, describe us and identify us to others; wether that's being queer, alternative, religious, ethnicity/culture you are apart off, or disability. However I think we are more shaped and unique not by labels and characteristics but by our unique individual personal experiences we possess as solitary yet desperate human beings.

It's hard to fit yourself into a community when your identity contradicts itself so much, even if that makes us the authentic, down to earth human being we are. Being autistic, queer, mixed race and muslim, I felt like I never fit in anywhere and I've wallowed in self hate since the age of 5 because of it. Ive experienced unpleasant and traumatic things due to aspects of identity and other things not because of my identity. I always wondered what my life would be like if I was only one of these things - would I hate myself more? Would I cling onto only one part of my identity more and potentially be happy? I really don't know. I can only look at my peers and assume, but yet again we are so complex as humans that we experience drastically different things that can also effect out outlook on life.

Personality/experience

Apart of me feels like our personality is something that is hard-wired within us when we are born and wether we flourish or drown because of it in society depends on the environment we are born into. Of course, naturally being 'alternative' or not fitting into societal norms, you are not going to relate to mainstream media/society however, supporting others, if they are happy and not harming anyone, even If we don't understand, can have a massive effect on someones self image.

From a very young age, I enjoyed my own company due to my love for my interests and I was made to believe by my teachers around me that this was a negative thing and I should change myself. They fit me into a label of being 'shy' and 'quiet', which ostracised me from my peers greatly. I loved talking to people; I just wasn’t good at it and I was never given the appropriate opportunity to do so. If you talked to me about Octonauts, Top Gear or My Little Pony, I would never stop talking. My parents on the other hand, fully embraced my personality and supported me at home, however spending most of my time in school, my teachers had more of an effect on me, which has caused irreversible damage to my self esteem and confidence, even at the age of 17. I don’t know why I was singled out so much. I always thought maybe it was because I was brown or autistic. The most probable reason however was because of Me. As a person. As a human being. Being myself was bad. Hey, I didn’t even fit into the stereotypical criteria for autism spectrum disorder. The thing which was supposed to give me a strength like being really good at maths and science, or musically gifted. But I just felt emotions to a very high degree. I was also taught this was negative. That I should go to therapy for it. But after reevaluation, I could utilise this in my writing instead. Make a positive out of a negative, perhaps?

This repetitive childhood experience messed up my brain chemistry significantly.

We even see these rigid rules/expectations implemented in daily life not just socially- That some people’s writing, art, or music is bad, when it’s not supposed to be objective at all but 100% interpretive, that a poem isn’t a poem unless it rhymes, you have to colour in the lines and many more. It’s a poison that seeps everywhere. Every corner I turn, every page I flip, every movie I watch, every stroke of a pen, every glance, every breath, every motion, every dream - these rules and judgements take over our natural free spirit.

Identity

As I grew older, hating my personality and the way I was perceived, I realised I didn't fit in, in any community. I was too white for the brown kids, and too brown for the white kids, too autistic for the normal kids and too normal for the autistic kids. I also had my racist experiences invalidated by other people of colour, because I wasn't "that dark" and I had the slightest European features. I was disconnected through my culture because of this. By the age of 13, I had lost most of my muslim friends, due to my sexuality. Through this however, I learnt to love myself through the way I was created and to seek validation in myself and that there is nothing wrong with me, but society and ruthless expectations that we shouldn't abide by, in order to be somewhat 'accepted'.

This identity crisis made me loose all hope In humanity. Even though I was so unique, I was made out to be some monster. Reminded that I was a freak everywhere I went. I started to connect to myself through my hobbies and interests which gave me a sense of hope and happiness. I realised shouldn't have relied so much on labels and the opinions of others. Why should I want to be accepted by a soulless society and judgemental people? There are other people out there who feel like me, and even through this mutual feeling, I can connect with them. This feeling I can not describe, its so complex yet so simple - I fit in nowhere, but at what cost? I am finally free from the shackles others have imposed on me, but I've lost years of happiness and self discovery because of this.

Yes, I've finally learnt to start loving myself and that acceptance comes from within, but Is it too late? Was this merely a life lesson of being yourself no matter what, or a punishment for my contradicting identity?

Apart of me feels unlovable to an extent. That I wasn't made to be loved by others, but only myself. Which can be the strongest form of love. But how do I not become self absorbed?

In conclusion, We react and cope differently to adverse, tough and complicated events/trauma due to our different personalities and previous experiences, which what makes us so interesting, which can further alter our characteristics and view on life for example, our political views, making us even more shapable as humans. Due to my fragile, solitary personality, I became more sensitive due to bullying, and other life events. I could have also been more stronger, resilient and confident. I didn't choose the effects of these experiences. Responding in the former even though we are told to respond in the latter, made me, me, and I could fully embrace myself and allow my complex feelings to take over me instead, allowing me to rebel against societal norms, question authority, be myself and finally connect with other people with a story like me.

By Harland

[interstellarstorms]

Honestly I want to fucking sue my workplace right now for doing this to me

Backstory: I have been working at Target since March 2019. The last time I had at least a week off work was in December 2019, to attend a residential treatment facility out of state for my mental illness (long story short, they ended up kicking me out for being too mentally ill and I came back to work in January 2020 while finishing outpatient treatment back home). In the last year or so, I’ve been making so much progress at work that they sometimes forget about my needs and disabilities. This is one of those occasions but also like, kind of a worker’s rights issue.

I have worked a week of basically all Drive Up (delivering orders to cars in the parking lot). It has been absolutely freezing, I’m talking mostly subzero temperatures. I’ve spent a large portion of my workday outside. Target has these (probably barely sufficient) reflective jackets they loan out but my store only has like 3 smalls and 3 extra larges and anyway I prefer to use my own coat with a reflective vest because sensory issues and the smell. Until two days ago, I did not own a coat that was warm enough because my mom donated the one I used last year. Target also no longer provides us with hats like they used to, although I was okay on that front. For our hands, we were basically denied the ability to wear anything but fingerless and really thin touchscreen gloves because we have to be able to type in codes on our devices while outside. My hands always are in extreme pain by the time I get back inside, to the point where I probably need to hold them in front of a heater after every venture out, but every time I’m back in, I’m told I’m not going fast enough and I need to deliver more orders ASAP.

We have a single heater, a desktop unit, for the whole department, which can have up to like 10 people at a time. HR “provided hot chocolate to thank Drive Up” by putting a Keurig with some cocoa cups in the break room where other non-Drive Up employees took them all.

Our managers have given us so so so many talks the last few days about how we need to “do better” and be faster. They don’t take the cold into account. Some of them don’t even help us take orders out when we’re swamped. They also tend to make some people designated “runners” (who go outside and deliver, vs. grabbing the orders and prepping them) and that’s my job generally speaking, and while they claim to be trying to divide this job equally, they’re not doing a good job. I spend much more time outside than most. Some people spend so little time outside they don’t even bother to come prepared to go outside at all. And management generally lets them.

What does this mean, you ask?

Exactly. What. You. Think.

After MONTHS of having to delay my much-needed mental health break (God knows I wasn’t getting time off before or during the holidays, my week off is almost here. And I’m sick. Thanks to good old Target. Who made me waste my long-saved PTO. My vacation time. On illness. That they 100% caused in their negligence.

I’ve also missed a couple 15 minute (non-enforced) breaks and taken my (enforced) 30 minute break late if that counts for anything (yes I know it does but I don’t feel like it does).

If you read the whole thing lmk ily ❤️

[terriblelizbians]

hyperfocus on language and using the “correct” phrasing/words is not great and can often be harmful to activist causes yeah yeah but like. i don’t love when that swings to the other direction of like, mocking people for being uncomfortable with certain terms

[dovesndecay]

Like, not to be an anarcho-communist on main 

but i’m so tired of hearing liberals talk about how “can’t we just have one day to breathe” literally every single time anyone criticizes B*den or H*rris. Y’all wanted “one day” during the entirety of the election process, then election day, and the days following, and now inauguration, and probably for the next four years 

because it’s so much easier for y’all to ask for more time to enjoy yourselves vs actually acknowledging that Tr*mp was a symptom of a system working exactly as it was designed to and that B*den isn’t going to fix everything for you if you ask him to, pretty please with a cherry on top, and then doing shit beyond pushing people to vote as if that’s the be all end all of activism 

so, no. you can’t have “one day.” you’ve had too many days. and we’ve lost too many people. 

ETA: 

I’m fucking tired of y’all reblogging this post and completely missing the part where I wasn’t talking about mental health days but that when I PERSONALLY talk about issues with the Biden administration, I have consistently been yelled at to let other people rest. 

And like I’ve said NUMEROUS TIMES in the notes that no one reads: this has happened to me a lot. 

if you want to rest, fine. but this post was me venting about people telling me to stop talking because it makes them uncomfortable to think about things. And to all the folks who have speculated on my level of privilege: I’m a disabled QPOC, so kindly fuck off. 

that whole chorus method in one of the reblogs? It’s a great metaphor. But it only works if you let the people holding the note actually hold the note and stop telling them that they need to let you rest and stop making that racket.

ETA: this post is now un-rebloggable. ✌🏼 Have a great day.

[muontron]

My apologies that it took some time, but here’s my elaborated answer (P.S. let me apologize if some of my statements get misunderstood, I typed this up in one go and I can clarify if need be. This is a subject that makes me very emotionally driven and so things may not be as articulate as usual.):

Whenever Allistics (Non Autistic People) and Neurotypicals discuss autistic accessibility and autism awareness, there is almost ALWAYS a focus on low support needs autistic people and rarely EVER any for medium-to-high support autistic people. This comes at the expense of high support autistic people, as you may have observed by recent rhetoric as pushback to RFK’s sentiments: “not ALL autistic people are unemployed!” “Some autistic people pay taxes!” “Autistic people CAN speak!” Many can’t, but they’re not important to talk about because our value of human life is placed on their value towards capitalism.

(Oftentimes, for advocacy and accessibility, the common denominator is medium to high support autistic people, because including low support autistic people is “good enough.”)

Even on the smaller scale of things, there is such a high social stigma surrounding medium and high support autistic people. “Why didn’t they teach them how to talk?” “Why do they act like that?”, even down to simply not understanding autistic behavioral patterns and habits, and treating high/medium support autistic people as taboo subjects to talk about. “You know xyz’s child? Yeah, theyre…uh… autistic.”

As if saying the word “autistic” will make them contract it as if it’s a fucking plague.

Low and High support needs children are often forced to assimilate, and rarely are given the accessibility they need to thrive because it’s usually, simply, too much effort. In America, Special education programs are oftentimes incredibly harmful towards disabled children, ESPECIALLY Autistic kids. And nevermind how degrading other students talk about them and use their existence as a joke.

“Are you SPED?” “You’re SO [R Slur]!” “You act autistic.”

And this may seem like an over-exaggeration, but this type of language is UNBELIEVABLY common. People also actively AVOID students in the Special-education Programme because of the social stigma around it, which again, all ties down to ableism against disabled people and in this case, autistic people /children. And this ableism has been TAUGHT to people for years upon years thinly layered on top of eugenicist ideologies.

This isn’t only a Neurotypical thing. Many neurodivergent folks and EVEN low support needs autistic people themselves spew this utter garbage and attitude towards medium-low support autistic individuals. “I’m not like THOSE autistics.” “I don’t want to be rude, but those people are really annoying.” “Well, there isn’t really any way to help them at all…”

There’s always a sense of “otherment” when it comes to autism—for all types of support needs, but I would be LYING if I said that there wasn’t an even bigger discrepancy between high/medium support needs vs low support needs vs allistic/some neurodivergent vs neurotypical. Autism is ISOLATING, and so many of these people are simply just being shyed away because they’re too much of a “public disturbance” to “bring along”, to make places more accessible. Because again, everyone always goes for the lowest possible efforts for accessibility, which includes low support autistics for autistic accessibility.

I am so. Tired. Of seeing this happen. I am a medium to low support needs autistic person (undiagnosed) but I have many family members with high support needs autism and time and time and time again I’ve seen this behavior towards them. “I feel so sorry for their parents. It must be a shame having such a….troublesome child. They’re not even trying to learn how to speak.”

You’re not a true advocate for autism accessibility UNLESS you include high and medium support needs autistic people into your conversations. Unless you actively TRY and work to unlearn ableism that you may potentially have regarding mid/high support autistic people (because god knows how much there is: it’s practically unavoidable,). And definitely not if you shame and belittle autistic people for things beyond their control. And use it as a way to silence them.

(And this applies to EVERYONE, allistics, neurotypicals and neurodivergents, and autistic people themselves)

I’m no saint, I had to unlearn so much internalized ableism that I feel ashamed to even admit it, but it’s important for discussions like these.

I feel like barely ANYBODY is even trying to take any steps forward. It’s just empty promises and meaningless sentences about caring about low and medium support needs people.

Thank you for asking, @elise-flaren , and again I apologize for the ABSOLUTE mess you’d have to read, but I do appreciate your willingness to hear my concerns on this.

You all need to treat higher support needs autistic people with more respect. Nearly ALL of you

I can elaborate but it will be long and winded and I’m not sure if anybody wants to hear that right now