#also honestly not rly a fan of the pairing of this storyline with the evil man gets and deserves disability as punishment beat at the end

[kitchensunflowers]

"i want my legacy to be speaking up for people who are suffering. for voices who nobody wants to hear."

...so this line in the most recent ep of lone star really bothered me.

content note: brief mentions and occassionally brief discussions of euthanasia, ableism, suicide, and eugenics in my discussion of this line, below the cut

first, i want to make it clear that my frustrations here are not with this character's desires, or with anything pertaining to the real life topic of dnr requests or dnr violations.

my issue is that this episode took on a complex topic that needs handling with nuance and care, and used it in a subplot to create a storyline whose ultimate message, as represented by the above line - which, given the context of the terminally ill character wanting not to be resuscitated, and talking about the difficulty of her illness immediately prior to saying this line - could easily be read as "sometimes, disabled lives aren't worth living anymore. and you know what, people don't think about that enough"

bc that's how it came across to me (a chronically ill/disabled viewer). in particular, with the above line punctuating that scene, the dnr subplot was turned not into a storyline about respecting people's agency and body autonomy, in particular disabled people's, but instead, it became a story that pontificated about how no one ever considers that some people's lives, because they are chronically ill or disabled, aren't worth living.

and that message, to me - especially as a one off line by a guest character in a one off subplot, and especially as relates to the idea that this is something abled people don't believe and need to think about more - feels ignorant and even dangerous.

it feels harmful, when there is actively legislation going into effect that has doctors suggest 'assisted dying' before offering or as an equal option to things like pain management, therapy, community resources and support.

(not dead yet's blog lists multiple different cases from the past year alone, and in their toolkit explains from disabled advocate's perspective why this is a complex issue)

it feels harmful as we enter year three of a pandemic whose spread has been aided by the philosophy, both colloquially and as represented by government policy, of 'well, only people who are already sick will die, and you know, they're already sick'.

(see the head of the US's CDC recently saying that it was "encouraging news" - actually her words - that, around the time of her statement, most of the people dying from COVID already had other comorbidities. rolling stone has a p good article on this cdc incident)

it feels harmful because actually, plenty of people already feel that many chronically ill and disabled people would be better off dead- something we've actually seen represented on screen this season when the nurses made their comments while tk was in a coma -

and actually, major media is actually more likely to represent disabled and chronically ill people when they are part of storylines where they are either completely cured, or they die - and where their deaths can be seen as better for them, better the people around them, and even quite a romantic thing to do. (me before you anyone?)

eugenic practices and philosophies are alive and well, ableism is still rampant in this world, and actually, the story - the reality - that is actually underrepresented in major media? it's the one where disabled people do want to live, do have lives worth living.

again, this is not to comment on this character's choice or anyone's w/r/t dnr requests. this is not to say that a dnr is the exact same thing as assisted suicide, or to comment on real world issues in general.

what i am directing my comments at is at the writing team, at the storytellers who decide to tell stories with complex real-world histories, interconnectivities, and applications, and then not giving those storylines the care, nuance, and importantly, specificity that such storylines deserve. its at the failure to consider what generalisations a lack of that specificity and nuance could lead to. To forget the potential implications of leaving in a line just because it sounds powerful and pretty.

so, as i said earlier in a different post, @ 911-verse writers room, producers, etc, if you're out there, next time you attempt to write about disability justice, please get a disability justice advocate in the room to guide you through it.

(or you know what, just consult with activists for any storylines about mis- and underrepresented communities in general. hollywood, it is possible make sensitivity reading a practice for movies and tv shows, too.)

#long post #my meta #911 lone star #911 lone star spoilers #911 ls meta #euthanasia / #eugenics / #ableism #these are just rambles #tbd #dnr b #also honestly not rly a fan of the pairing of this storyline with the evil man gets and deserves disability as punishment beat at the end #of the episode #but my thoughts are more nebulous on that one #and its a different issue for a different day #suicide mention /

[viremialite]

you may be wondering, what’re the syol pals like when they invade other worlds to take over and/or deal with those every-thousand-year-prophecy rpgs?? well buddy i got answers:

hadris  //  always playing final boss, though sometimes he pretends to just be a mindless abomination and other times he’s a hammy evil overlord. has a whole bunch of cool forms and likes to make different Final Forms for every place he conquers. when it’s over it varies how he responds. if he gets sealed away he’s powerful enough to just pretend he got sealed away and sneak out the back door and come back 1,000 years from now, just puts that on in calendar. sometimes he’ll let it look like they killed him for real if he doesn’t feel that world is ready to be conquered yet or they resist so strongly and boldly that he feels they deserve the win, but most of the time he just rematerializes in his more humanish form like nothing happened and is like “haha wow you guys are pretty good! let’s be ‘friendos,’ as the kids say”

orange  //  he and aedi aren’t always sent out on things bc they’re delicate normal human beings, but sometimes he’s sent out to do scouting, help set things up, bring someone coffee before a fight, the likes. sometimes also takes on a role of being hadris’ loyal assistant who gets murdered by him (don’t worry it’s all staged, hadris treats his citrus friend well) to show just how evil he is, and other times he’ll pose as someone who’s a traitor and helps the “heroes” out only to die like a chapter later in a tragic cutscene

aedi  //  mostly the same as orange, but she’ll also often serve a role as being someone people talk to via phone or other means to relay information for the “heroes” to eavesdrop on or someone to give out news when the hadrissquad hijacks Every TV

flann  //  often ends up posing as someone who’s sweet and helpful but then betrays the “heroes” soon enough and goes into boss mode... other times she’ll just appear in feralian form like it’s a tragic curse hadris placed on her and her soul can only be freed via murder... she will always make u sad one way or another

lausac  //  the exact same cocky asshole he always is

mariellu  //  a pretty straightforward boss, usually established to be high in hadris’ ranks. doesn’t need to rp much bc she’s a pretty straightforward loyal warrior bee

lefleuris  //  even smugger and more disconcerting than usual! plays up his blatant suspicious behavior a lot, so he ends up being the second final boss a lot, “murdered” by hadris at some point later, and sometimes hadris even helps him be the Real Final Boss. can’t just be a traitorous bishonen in an rpg and not get to be the Real Final Boss at least once, yknow

valence  //  like mariellu, pretty straightforward loyal warrior grandma. can’t rly get into faking her personality but fortunately she already fits in just fine

loligo  //  usually playing team rocket with lausac with her typical brash personality bc honestly she just likes getting to punch things. sometimes venith will convince her into adopting some gimmick or another or doing some kind of dynamic with her, though... sometimes they’ll both be the local Tough Chicks who’ll beat the shit out of you, sometimes they’ll both play mysterious femme fatales, sometimes they’re bad cop bad cop (theres no good cop, theyre the bad guys), sometimes they’ll amp up their tomboy and girly girl routine... as long as she gets to fight someone she’ll leave happy

elemon  //  typically serves as one of hadris’ most powerful minions, serving as either the big mid-game boss that makes you feel really accomplished or the penultimate boss or something like that.

merah  //  can sometimes be seen in aedi’s role, other times he’s paired up to be a quirky miniboss squad with septicemia, sometimes he openly helps the “heroes” have a chance against hadris, sometimes he’s an eerily nice boss you don’t expect to be a boss until he slime punches u... a boy of many talents!

venith  //  really likes to exaggerate her personality and ham it up... usually 1) likes to act like a haughty anime noble with the “ohohoho” laugh and everything and acts like everyone is beneath her, 2) plays the part of the mysterious and beautiful stranger who only fights one on one, personally, and will probably kiss you 3) full-on femme fatale who spends months on a planet breaking hearts before the invasion even begins just to have a reputation, or 4) a mix of all of the above. no matter what she does though she has a hard time Not flirting with cute girls who can defeat her in battle. fight her and live and you become worthy of her true gaying....

septicemia  //  often paired up with merah and/or lausac (and/or loligo) to be the quirky miniboss squad... doesn’t change too much personality-wise and just has fun being herself and inconveniencing heroes!!

chiro  //  plays the role of chiro shiroiro

amelano  //  also often serves as the penultimate boss, less likely to be mid-game than elemon despite elemon technically being stronger than him, but amelano is the white-haired angel-demon edgy anime prettyboy and hadris loves embracin those tropes. likely to randomly appear before the “heroes” several times to say something ominous and/or declare that they aren’t strong enough yet

they really just like to have a fun time with it all in all... some worlds they make the storyline darker than others but as time goes on their plots and attitudes are increasingly lighthearted in a way. i mean yeah there’s often the threat of your world being destroyed (but yknow not really) but you have fun with it... somehow......

they’re also big fans of kidnapping a “hero” or two and sometimes they’ll let them check out behind the scenes at how it’s all pretty much just a show, often offering them a “role” in some way... like “hey wanna betray your friends for a while?? it’ll be fun” or “hey wanna get a cool brainwashed evil form?? u can keep the costume afterward”

all in all it’s a good time for everyone, get your planet invaded by hadris today! and let him conquer it once story mode is over bc it’s good for your economy

#donut musings #syol #hadris torant #aedi levon #flann fennella #orange #lausac pardes #mariellu #lefleuris de floraize #valence polix #loligo anuwau #elemon ohod #merah muda #venith tobette #septicemia #chiro shiroiro #amelano vilifonz