#it's a little ableist so it's good to identify and explain that

[arecaceae175]

Autistic LU chain headcannons!

Including some gender and sexuality bc for me those are very tied to my autism. Most of this is rooted in their personalities, but some of this just appeared in my mind and didn't go away XD. Infodump incoming!!! :D

Time

Time uses they/them pronouns bc they literally have no idea what gender is

Has a lot of verbal shutdown episodes. They're able to communicate with sign language most of the time

Almost completely nonverbal as a child (Mask era)

When they do speak it's very monotone

More shutdowns than meltdowns

Time does really prolonged eye contact (to the point of awkward for allistics) bc it's all or nothing for them

Favorite stims: humming, playing ocarina, tapping their chest/collarbone

Lots of verbal stims, so nonverbal episodes and shutdowns can be hard to recover from since they can't do their favorite stims

If given the opportunity, they will only drink milk. No other sustenance.

Must be reminded to eat, can't interpret their bodies' internal cues very well

Very confrontational - will absolutely throw hands at ableists

So incredibly loyal. Once they think you're family, they will never, ever, ever let you go or let anything happen to you

Special interests: cows, masks (as a child, not as prominent anymore), and Time has memorized every single "dad joke" they've ever heard and LOVE telling jokes to break tension or cheer the others up

Asexual, biromantic, sex-positive

Warriors

Highest masking because of his time as a soldier

Hard for allistics to identify as autistic bc he's so good at masking

He has a lot of anxiety surrounding unmasking and showing his autistic traits, so he simply does not

That obviously doesn't work, so during the war he was constantly stressed and had meltdowns or shutdowns very frequently

Zelda and Impa tried to help, but there was so much going on that they couldn't do much

Mask and Wind helped a LOT during the war. Warriors wanted to make sure they were taken care of and could show their autistic traits, so he became a lot more comfortable with his own and created a more accepting environment

SO good at people reading, because he just memorized everything and watched everyone's every move

That gets quite overwhelming and causes shutdowns a lot

Doesn't have verbal shutdown episodes super often, but when he did in the war Proxi would copy his voice and speak for him. He's able to communicate with sign

Scarf is comfort item

The most ritualistic of the whole chain. Wars has very specific routines for most things that he does, and breaking routine is the biggest reason he has meltdowns

His meltdowns are very internalized, and he just likes to be left alone

He is now very confrontational about ableism

Also very very very loyal

He also has a lot of black and white thinking, and a strong sense of justice

Favorite stims: swaying while standing, shifting weight from foot to foot, spinning

When he's really happy he'll bring his arms up and like shake them back and forth in front of himself? Like his hands are flapping/shaking back and forth, but in fists, and his elbows are bent to his hands are almost in front of his face (I can see it in my mind but I'm having trouble explaining it)

Special interests: battle strategizing (could tell you very specific facts about any battle from any point in time that he's studied), loves to sew

Asexual, aromantic, sex-neutral

Wind

He has never once sat still in his entire life

Has never finished anything in a timely manner, ever

Always asks a lot of clarification questions, and he gets confused when allistic people get offended by his questions

Also has ADHD

Little to no voice volume control

That becomes an issue with the Links that are more sound sensitive, so it's something they're all trying to work on finding a compromise for

Favorite stims: rocking, chewing

He has a chewy stim toy that he wears around his neck. Grandma made it for him so he would stop putting things in his mouth

Loves the sensory aspects of being underwater

Always walking on his toes. As a child he was always toe walking, but his Grandma didn't know to correct that, so now Wind physically can't stand flat footed for long periods of time

He has a lot of trouble with routine. The autistic part of him wants the routine, but the ADHD wants spontaneity and usually wins

Has a lot of trouble keeping his things tidy and with personal hygiene (Wars helps with hygiene bc he is excellent at it due to his routines)

He doesn't really have shutdowns, just meltdowns

They involve a lot of loud screaming and self-injurious behavior

Biggest sensory issues: FOOD (bc he wasn't introduced to a lot of different foods and textures on Outset Island), under-stimulation

Special interests: sailing, pirates, also characters from a storybook his Grandma used to read to him and Ayrll every single night (at Wind's insistence)

Hyperverbal

Most likely to infodump

Asexual, aromantic, sex-repulsed

Wild

No gender. What's gender. Genderfluid, changes pronouns based on mood, and usually sticks with one set for long periods of time

Lost the ability to mask when they lost their memories

So they're the easiest for allistics to identify as autistic

Most people in their world don't care, but they have experienced some ableism since they can't mask

Entirely nonverbal. They use the sheikah slate as an AAC device

Cloak is comfort item

Favorite stims: hand flapping and bouncing on their toes

They walk almost exclusively on their toes and always have the dinosaur hands

Even mix of meltdowns and shutdowns

SO so so bad at understanding body language, sarcasm, etc.

They have a lot of trouble existing in a group. Like they'll wander off or do something dangerous and then not really understand why what they did was wrong (BUT they still love the chain of course)

Biggest sensory issues: crowds, lots of voices talking at once

LOVE deep pressure

Special interest: cooking, horses, cataloguing plants in the sheikah slate

Pre-calamity one of their special interests was sheikah tech, so they secretly LOVED going around with Flora researching sheikah tech

Asexual, panromantic, sex-repulsed

(Despite these being my autistic wild headcannons, I use almost none of these in Authenticity lol. Wild's autistic traits in that fic are primarily based on my own)

Legend

Gender?? Who's she?? Genderfluid, similar to Wild, but pronouns change more frequently

Not very good at accommodating themself

They often push themself WAY past their limits and then have long burnout periods

But they've gotta save the world, so it's fine, right? (Answer is no. It is very bad)

Must be reminded to sleep, and they have a lot of issues with sleeping

They often come across as rude to allistics, but that is generally not their intention, they're just bad at (allistic) communication

When they intend to be rude you'll KNOW

They have a really hard time communicating feelings and emotions, which frustrates them a lot and is hard for people trying to help them

This is especially an issue for the chain bc most of the time none of them can "read between the lines" and figure out what Legend is trying to say

Has never once gotten rid of anything because what if they need it? And also it is a part of their stuff and it has it's very specific place, so if it was gone then that place would be empty and then what would they do??????

Everything has a Place and they HATE when people touch or move their stuff

Biggest sensory issues: clothing, textures

Pants are a battle. People have given up.

Pants make Legend's legs THROB and feel like thousands of tiny knives are stabbing their skin. So they simply do not wear pants

Favorite stims: twirling their rings and other jewelry, rubbing good textures, humming (Marin's song)

Harmful stims: hitting things or themself (usually hitting their thighs)

Special interests: magical items, jewelry (jewelry with magical properties are the COOLEST SHIT)

Pansexual, polyamorous

Hyrule

There is no gender here. Gender makes no sense. They/them

They also have ADHD

Love asking questions because they want to understand every single detail of all these new exciting eras

Absolutely can't tell what tone they speak in

Really bad at paying attention to their surroundings

Attention span is practically nonexistent

They often wander off without even meaning to and don't realize until they're completely lost

Sometimes need to be reminded to do self care tasks

Have frequent verbal shutdown episodes that last for a long time. They can communicate with sign, and they also sometimes stick close to Wild and use Wild's AAC slate function

Favorite stim: running their hands through their hair (their hair is almost always dirty bc of this), shaking/twisting their hands

Harmful stim: skin picking

The skin picking is an ISSUE because it sometimes causes blood, and the blood curse is a thing

Biggest sensory issues: crowds and voices and also bright lights

Tendency to freeze and shut down when overwhelmed (this was an issue a lot during their adventures, but not so much now that the chain has their back)

Special interests: biology/anatomy, and there's a series of books they once found in an abandoned town that they LOVE. Books are hard to come by in their era so those are their absolute most prized possession

Asexual, aromantic, sex-repulsed

Sky

Bi-gender, he/she

Comfort items: sailcloth, Loftwing plush toy from Zelda, Master Sword

He carries around the loftwing plush absolutely everywhere he goes. She has a special protected pocket in his bag for when it isn't safe to carry her in his hands. Her name is Brenda (because my favorite stuffed animal friend is named Brenda and I'm in charge XD)

Favorite stims: jumping/bouncing in place, flapping his arms like a loftwing, humming, moving his fingers in the motions of playing his harp

Harmful stims: pulling her hair, hitting his ears when overstimulated

Eye contact???? Absolutely not. She will look everywhere except the person speaking to her

His biggest sensory sensitivity is sound

There was never much going on in Skyloft (other than things he was used to) and it's pretty small, so he got VERY easily overwhelmed on the Surface when he first started his adventure. Fi often had to guide her to a safe spot where he could get through a meltdown or shutdown

She still gets really easily overwhelmed and usually is nonverbal for the first bit of time after a portal shift while he adjusts to his surroundings

He's not great at communicating at all during his verbal shutdown episodes

When she gets overwhelmed she freezes and shuts down. He's more likely to have a meltdown once he's in a safe place

Since he gets overwhelmed so easily, Sky needs a LOT of sleep. More so than the other Links. Sky is banned from taking middle watch

She loves doing tasks that require intricate detail, like woodcarving and embroidery

Special interests: loftwings of course

As a child Sky related much more to her loftwing than he did any people, so his relationship with his loftwing is one of the most important things in her life

Bisexual, polyamorous

Got SO confused when people say he isn't supposed to have more than one partner

Like why??? He likes them both??? The more the merrier???? Makes no sense, does not comprehend

Twilight

Very good at routines. He loves routines. They're so great

Also, similarly, patterns. Twilight can pick out patterns in anything

He gets really irritated when something breaks pattern or is slightly uneven

He loves being on a farm and doing morning routines of feeding the animals

He's always always always related more to animals than people

Animals make sense, people don't

He's still not very good at allistic "social standards," so he's among the easiest for allistics to identify as autistic

Hyper-empathetic

But he doesn’t always know how to help. Wolfie is great for this

He has trouble with the sensory changes that come with shifting to/from his wolf form. Wolves and Hylians have very different sensory experiences, so adjusting between the two takes him a while. Once he's adjusted it's fine, it's just the adjusting itself that's hard

Has verbal shutdown episodes after meltdowns. They don't last super long, and he can usually talk again after a good night's sleep. He can communicate with sign during the episodes

Wolf pelt is comfort item

Favorite stims: touching good textures, rocking, humming

Harmful stims: biting his knuckles

Absolute favorite stim is rubbing his soft wolf pelt on his face, specifically over his mouth and on his upper lip

Special interests: goats, wolves. He knows every. Single. Fact.

Second most likely to infodump

Asexual, biromantic, sex-positive

Four

Too much gender to pick just one. They/them

Comfort item: a little wooden action figure toy thing their grandpa made for them. Four's had it their whole life and never ever goes anywhere without it. It's usually in a special pocket on the inside of their tunic

Most black and white thinker of the group

Four can't grasp or comprehend any nuance or sarcasm or anything in the abstract

They ask SO MANY questions, bc that is their way of understanding the world

They don't really understand most of Time's dad jokes, but they like it when the others laugh

Must be reminded to eat and drink water

Does not like touching other people or being touched by other people

Has more meltdowns than shutdowns

Their little body can't contain all the big feelings and the feelings have to come out somehow

Like Legend they also have a lot of trouble communicating feelings and needs

Biggest sensory issue: sensory symmetry. Everything must be even!!! Also big feelings ^

Favorite stims: they really like the smell of metal, bouncing on toes, spinning, love stim toys

Four never really stops stimming, but they've learned to do it discreetly (bc masking)

They love tinkering, and they love stim toys, so they've made themself a LOT of stim toys. They also love making stim toys for the rest of the chain. (They made a perfectly silent and very discreet one for Wars bc he has the most trouble unmasking)

Harmful stims: head banging

Special interest: tools. Four wants collect every tool in existence, and wants to know exactly what it does. Especially blacksmithing tools, bc Four also really likes blacksmithing

Demisexual, biromantic

Disclaimer: every autistic person has a different way of experiencing the world. I am only one person, so my experience is largely limited to myself. I tried to have links be very diverse in their experiences :)

Feel free to add some of your own autistic or otherwise neurodivergent headcannons!!!!!

#ace's lu analysis #autistic chain #lu headcanons #linked universe #linkeduniverse #im having so many thoughts #autism #autistic characters #lu wild #lu time #lu warriors #lu sky #lu twilight #lu wind #lu legend #lu hyrule #lu four #the lu boyos #i have spent HOURS on this XDXD #it has been so much fun #shoutout to Brenda #my Brenda is a whale shark #I got her at the Georgia Aquarium #i'm working on getting more comfortable taking Brenda into public with me because I always feel better when I do #but I'm worried people will be mean about it

[stray-syst3m]

Developed a nasty habit recently of scrolling through fake claiming subreddits (y'all know the ones) and I've noticed quite a bit of bullshit. So here's a list of things that apparently mean you're faking, but are actually just regular activities you might do and correlate or relate to your experience as a system or autistic. I'm also going to give my argument against them in the bullet points. (These are mostly about traumagenic systems but I also mention autism)

1- using dancing as stimming. My reasoning this is wrong is that stims are "repetitive body movements or repetitive movements of objects" and people stim for different reasons. Even neurotypical folk stim. Reasons folk may stim include, but are not limited to sensory reinforcement or stimulation, to regulate sensory input by increasing or decreasing sensory overload, etc. Dancing is a good example of this. It is a repetitive body movement often used to reinforce sensory input or, in my personal situation, increase sensory input when I feel like I need more stimulation. Let me guess, it only counts as stimming when it's violently flapping your arms and fitting into an ableist stereotype, huh?

2- "strange" names. Why should I even argue here? This is just transphobia rewrapped as "calling out fakers." My name is Richie. That is not a strange name, is it? Would I be fake claimed for being an alter? (Probably but not for this.) If my name were Arson, if course I would. However, I chose my name. Many alters/ headmates do. We are individuals and we are allowed to change things about ourselves as we please and this does not suddenly make us fake systems.

3- using neopronouns or multiple pronouns. Same as above. I'm not re-explaining that part. Also plays into ableism. This is why I'd be fakeclaimed. I use he/wolf pronouns (and some others). I'm a man and I highly identify with wolves due to my innerworld self. We are autistic as well and many of us have cat neopronouns due to our special interest in felines and warrior cats. Our brain is wired differently than neurotypical folks in multiple ways and the way we connect to gender and the world is perceived by us in a way different to others, hence us being transgender. Due to our high interest in cats and the fact it ties into most aspects of our life, we ended up identifying with them on a gender level as well.

4- having animal alters. This is a noted thing in DID systems. Do your research before fakeclaiming, jeez. Or just don't fakeclaim.

5- Being alterhuman in any way. Alterhumanity is a thing. Some people are alterhuman. Some people are also systems. There is going to be overlap.

6- Having any fictives from "recent" media. The definition on recent is loose to them. Is Bambi recent? We have a Bambi fictive. Is he too recent for you? Or maybe our fictives from warrior cats are too recent. Fictives exist sometimes, especially in autistic and ADHD systems.

7- having factives. At all. Even though factives are a noted thing in psychology? My therapist has brought up factives (not by that term) without me bringing them up.

8- having littles. Or not having littles. This is confusing to me. I see them mock littles for being too adult but also for being childish! How do you want them to act, then? And when a system doesn't have any littles, somehow this means they are lying about having trauma in childhood.

9- Experiencing a headspace in any capacity. Yes, even just daydreaming one. This is a therapy technique actually taught to systems to help us communicate internally. It's a thing many of us build on our own, in order to communicate. This is normal. It is a noted thing in DID research.

10- you have a singletsona. DID is a covert disorder. It is a common thing to have a single being the whole system masks as. This is normal and cited in research on DID.

11- you don't have a singletsona. Some people want to exist as themselves. This is also normal in DID, especially in those who are aware of their system and are working on communication and healing.

12- you have any online presence. Disabled people exist. Get over it.

13- you talk openly about being a system. Ever. Apparently being open about this part of our life is bad.

14- you haven't been diagnosed. This one pisses me off a lot. Was my mom's cancer not cancer before she was diagnosed with it?

#richie barks #endogenic safe #discourse #fake disorder cringe #tw for previous #tw fakeclaiming #fakeclaiming mention #fakeclaiming cw #fakeclaiming #negative #fuck reddit #fuck fdc #anti fdc #fdc

[hamletteprinceofdenmark]

girllll you are NOT mansplaining an ableist character from a 100 year old novel 💀💀💀

You’re right nonny. I’m not. Good job on picking that up!

Firstly, I’m not “mansplaining” anything. Mansplaining is a word, in my opinion, that has become far too overused and the definition - which actually identified something really specific and important to call out! - has become far too muddied. Mansplaining is specifically when a man is speaking with someone else who is not a man and due to unexamined privilege and lack of self awareness, explains something to the other party in a way that is condescending or patronising without taking into account that the other party might be just as, if not more, educated on the subject than he is.

Stating your opinion, or presenting an argument clearly and explicitly, is not mansplaining. Especially not in an open forum like Tumblr. I will however admit to being pedantic, someone who likes to explain things, and - when the mood strikes - someone who can be condescending and a little snarky.

Secondly, and this is a nuanced take nonny so take care, Seward is not ableist by the standards of his time. I’m not about to argue that Victorian Asylum’s were good places. They weren’t. They were awful institutions that inflicted countless harms on people for years. But in a time and place where it was accepted and encouraged to starve, beat, waterboard, isolate, and otherwise torture patients in order to “heal” them, the fact the Seward’s standard practise is to carry out what we would recognise today as akin to a modern therapy session, i.e. asking questions, actively listening to the patient, considering them an equal, and basing treatment off the information gained in said session, his code of conduct is nigh revolutionary in it’s level of compassion and understanding.

In fact, ironically, contemporary audiences may have been put off by Seward for the exact opposite reason, because his actions and how he treats his patients would be considered too kindly and coddling, almost to the point of folly. There are times further on in the novel where Seward’s insistence on treating Renfield fairly and equally puts himself and his friends in real danger.

This is not to say that Seward is all primroses and rainbows. Again, as the book goes on we are going to see him struggle back and forth between the views on the mentally ill held by the English society he lives in (views that today, yes we would consider ableist) and what he has been taught by his mentor Van Helsing, a foreign and forward-thinking, open minded doctor with a key interest in the strange and the occult. Seward is not a perfect man. He’s not meant to be. None of the protagonists are.

This book deals explicitly with themes centred around the British Empire, and specifically the fear that the British Empire was under threat from dangerous and insidious foreign forces. Some of the primary avenues this larger theme is explored by is queerness, xenophobia, class, gender, and mental health. We’re going to get into some messy and heavy territory, and Seward and the rest of the Crew of Light are going to be doing a lot worse than carrying out a less than stellar therapy session (which I repeat, Seward acknowledged, regretted, and aimed to resolve in the future, hardly the acts of a careless doctor).

If you’re going to stumble at the first hurdle of understanding that this book was written in the 19th Century and therefore has some problematic and outdated ideas in it, I’m not sure Classical Literature is for you. This isn’t the latest bestseller being pushed at you by a marketing team, this is an old book, and judging it or reading it without taking that context into consideration is going to be, quite frankly, a difficult and miserable task.

There’s so much to get angry about in the world nonny, please don’t let your cause be cancelling long dead authors for writing characters that would actually have been considered progressive by contemporary audiences.

I’m an academic. I’m an Adult with a Degree. I have actually studied this book in particular twice in different units and under different teachers. I’ve also studied Victorian Gothic Literature as a genre in depth. This is the way I approach the novel, with that background. All of the metas that I’ve written so far for Dracula Daily have been in response to various confused or misled people I’ve seen in the tags. It’s actually been a really joy for me to be able to share this knowledge and find people who are equally excited to share and to learn.

And despite it all nonny, you’re welcome here too. That title isn’t just talk, all travellers are welcome here. But it’s my blog. It’s my house. You play by my rules.

You’re free to do whatever you want. Block me for all I care. Engage with Dracula however you like, it’s no skin off my nose. But next time you come into my house, check your attitude at the door.

We’re here to learn and analysis the text, not to cast blind and ignorant judgement.

I hope to see you around, but if not, happy travels! I wish you well.

#Dracula daily #Dracula #Jack seward #ask qwerty #hey nonny nonny #I’m not going to tag this as hate actually nonny #I’m going to give you the benefit of the doubt #my Dracula daily

[thatlittleegyptologist]

hey, (recent) animal heads anon here. somehow the "ask" button i clicked for your blog wasn't the one which said "check my faq" (it was just the envelope icon) & i forgot you had one, so i apologize. i know how annoying it is to have to repeat shit on your faq LOL. i wanted to pop in and drop this link which i found that explains the animal-head thing too and see what you think - i feel like it gave me a good understanding of this topic too & how nuanced it is. thanks :0]

ngl black on dark green was a challenge to read

The article is ok??? It certainly covers some things well, but I think relies too heavily on relating it to Christian imagery when really those should be kept separate because functionally they are very different (also the whole imposing Christian ideas of religion on an Ancient one has caused huge problems in identifying things in the past). It also makes some assumptions that are sort of right and then not at the same time; like Amun's name meaning secret because he is the invisible life giving wind. We think his name might mean 'hidden one', but because it's pre Old Kingdom grammar there are just some things that are lost to us. It's not to do with the wind, though, more to do with him having a secret name (which is sometimes crossed with Ra's story of the same and it all gets mixed up).

It calls Akhenaten a heretic. Ooof, don't do that sort of historical distortion, kids. He's not a Heretic, it's far more complicated than that. Calling him that just makes it sound 'cool', when in reality it was simply a natural progression from his father and grandfather also trending towards the Aten and away from Amun. High Priests of Amun didn't like that because they'd become very powerful, so as soon as he was gone they destroyed everything and got even more powerful. Was Akhenaten a good king, though? Nah

Stuff on animal worship is...misunderstanding the point a little. They don't literally worship cats/dogs/crocodiles/Ibises etc, that's a misnomer. They ritually farmed and sacrificed these animals to the god that looked like them. The Egyptians didn't think that the god's essence existed in these animals and therefore they couldn't eat them, they believed that the gods lived on the same Earth as them but in a separate plane of existence. That means that the dogs that hung around the Necropolis (who were often eating poorly buried dead) were Anubis protecting the dead, but it wouldn't stop them eating one. I've never seen anything in the Egyptian record about not eating certain animals because they're sacred; only not eating pork. The Egyptians didn't eat that much meat anyway because it was expensive.

Misconstrues 'Amun being the breath of life for creatures on earth' as 'gods love the animals', which I can see how that happened if you don't understand the cultural context for a text you're citing. Same with the Negative confessions citation immediately beneath it, and also the Stele of Huy. It's sort of right, but them wildly extrapolating intense meaning when there's just simple explanation.

Oh a mid grey font on dark green background. Cinema sins *ding*

'It’s worth remembering, though, that Ancient Egyptians were not animal loving hippies.' girl what

It talks about how the Egyptians would hunt and eat animals, and then how they'd also sacrifice them so they're not all 'animal and nature loving'. Then in the same breath it talks about 'but humans could be killed in warfare' and 'the boundary between human and animal life wasn't rigid' my 'brother' in what is clearly a very gay Old Kingdom tomb, what the fuck are you on about?

Somehow they're bringing this back to...gods could be anything they wanted to be, and I'm losing my mind. Get to the point, article, get to the point.

I take that back because their point is 'many people are having visions of gods right now and not all of these gods can be real and many are hallucinations and people who have medical conditions' that's frankly ableist and weird, but that's not how the Egyptians saw it. If I was marking this as an essay I would be so mad right now.

Doesn't know the giant serpent (which doesn't have a human head fyi) in the Shipwrecked Sailor is the Sun god Ra, despite trying to convince me the Egyptians saw their gods in many forms. Cinema sins *ding*

Finally gets to the point where the Egyptians viewed their gods as having both human and animal forms. Then starts talking about them as if they're mysterious *ding*

Final rating: Started off strong...went somewhere in the middle. 4/10

[antiradqueer]

there wasn't nearly as much but here's part two: same trigger warnings as last time.

“me and the bestie having a lil ephebephilia moment :D they dont knwo about the para community and also. we're both teenagers but. still felt lovely” (if you are a teenager attracted to other teenagers you do not have a paraphile. that is normal. Yknow I really hope someone uses these quotes to make like a lengthy post about the genuine harm of radqueers.)

“is there a term for people who are like transsurname like want to change their last name”  (you can just want to change it. if I have to make the point of "this is normal stuff they have convinced you is weird" one more time I'm gonna cry)

“tfw when you fit into like 1/2 of your friends "DNI" list and u just have to pretend not to cus u don't wanna lose them”  (either realize that if good people think something you're doing is bad it's probably actually bad or stop being friends with them.)

“Tbh i think that some people kinda are 'grooming kids into being transabled' BUT the people doing that are ableist antis who say things like "everyone should hate having any disability and want to be cured you cant identify with it or like any aspect of any disablity"”  (this is so wrong and I am too tired to explain why)

“Buh It's really hard to be dating somebody that's anti-radqueer I'm incredibly closeted and my bf started sending me flags and stuff being like "look how cringe" and the whole time I was so paranoid he was gonna send me one of my own flags. Agh, now that I know what blog he was scrolling thru to find "cringe flags", I know for sure he might have seen some of mine” (you should break up with him for his sake)

“KISS LITTLE DEAD KIDS ‼️ ‼️ ‼️ ‼️” (please don't)

thanks anon

#grooming tw #tw grooming #grooming ment tw #grooming mention #ableism tw #tw ableism

[delta-queerdrant]

NAGPRA in space (Emanations, s1 e9)

"Emanations" is a pretty good "what if" episode of science fiction about a subject that is guaranteed to make everyone a little squirrelly: death! Let's do this!

I, like Harry Kim, am a materialist, so I'm relieved that, on the whole, this wasn't really an episode about what happens after death. It's about how people construct and respond to death, which is a super interesting topic for sociological SF.

There really was a lot of cultural nuance in this episode! The first example is a scene that, in my inexpert white girl estimation, serves as the only good Indigenous cultural representation in the first two seasons of Voyager. Chakotay, our Indigenous archaeologist, instructs the rest of the away team not to mess with the bodies they find on the asteroid. NAGPRA in space, y'all!

The only thing that's a bit fucked is that Starfleet does not seem to have any protocols in place around the treatment of human(oid) remains. Regardless of the context, I think we can all agree that we don't mess with remains or other culturally sensitive objects or sites without permission? Still, it was excellent to see Chakotay's character articulating a way of approaching knowledge-gathering that is less exploitative than what we've seen thus far in the series.

I am a materialist but I am also a teeny bit of a theology nerd, so I also really liked Ptera's plotline, even if it was predictable and overdetermined. The character was well acted, and her distress is complex. I adored the scene where she explains that she isn't expecting a spiritual afterlife but a physical resurrection - this is the sort of distinction that many folks from Christian backgrounds often don't grok, because the Christian tradition has developed two separate confusing and confused afterlives - the pearly gate, harps and angels heaven afterlife, and the "resurrection of the dead" afterlife that appears in canonical religious texts and creeds.

I have always preferred the idea of the resurrection of the dead afterlife - because, again, materialist, but also it's bold and bananas! What an absolutely ridiculous thing to believe in! I was confirmed Lutheran and am still fond of the idea of religious faith as something that empowers you to make subversive metaphysical claims about the universe (though the problem is identifying what is worth subverting, and in practice religious radicals often seize on moral panics instead of moral imperatives, as will be seen below). I really like the specificity of Ptera's faith and her unwillingness to be placated with vague agnosticism. Maybe that's something religious folks and atheists have in common.

Harry is a brave little toaster in this episode, though I wasn't quite as taken with his plotline. The low budget means we don't get to see the impact his presence has on the wider society, which has been shaken by the revelation that "death" is a two-way portal. I also had mixed feelings about the character of Hatil, who is choosing death because of a physical disability. It's a strong plotline and a moving study of ableism, but on a meta-level I don't love that SFF is always eager to assign genocidally ableist practices to "othered" cultures instead of exploring the way they function in Western/Western-coded society. This trope makes ableism feel at once inevitable ("lesser" cultures will always be ableist! they don't know better! they're only being pragmatic!) and foreign (it's something those people do, not us!) In truth there have always been a wide range of cultural practices around disability and difference, and many "traditional" cultures are more accepting of disability and difference than the United States, with its documented history of eugenics, abuse, and general lack of value for disabled lives.

The end, is, well. They had to do something, because materialism makes Americans anxious. It could've been worse! I hard disagree with Janeway's final line: "What we don't know about death is far, far greater than what we do know." Death is a human construct; there's nothing to know but plenty to talk about.

3 out of 5 cenotaphs (great word, cenotaph).

#star trek voyager #star trek #harry kim #archaeologist Chakotay #science fiction theology corner

[cypric-rat-hyperfixation]

Here have some fresh wrat content for your troubles. some little guy

Thank y'all for your support with the fuckin alcohol company getting my art taken down over the word "champagne"

#they're from a board game called Psychopoly #it's a little ableist so it's good to identify and explain that #like instead of jail from regular monopoly. it's the asylum!!!! 🤪🤪🤪 #rats #fancy rat #ratblr #also I'm gonna make my professor my mom when I graduate #I do not take criticism and she does not have a choice when I graduate to grad status she's graduating to mom status #new mom<3

[errorpeachy]

hi～! may i request for the Main Four with blind s/o please? thank you and i like your writings btw～

You sure can! I did a little research to help better understand how blind people live their lives, so I hope this is accurate enough. Be sure to take care of yourself and get any homework you have done! ~🍑💞

✎ Main Four with a Blind S/O ✎

Gon

-This sweetie pie

-He’s like your service dog LMAO

-Constantly reads stuff out loud for you and helps you pick out what clothes you want to wear, holds you by the hand and leads you around crowds, he’s so helpful

-Other than helping you, he treats you just like anyone else! He doesn’t see the need to treat you differently and baby you just cause you can’t see

-You appreciate it because it’s annoying when people do that

-He tried to learn how to read braille by himself but he had an information overload💔

-You taught him braille and he made a note that says “I love you!” with 3D paint

-Sweet babie boy

Killua

-Omg

-First of all, he’s so careful when helping you, he doesn’t want to accidentally give you the wrong info

-If he sees anyone trying to take advantage/make fun of your blindness, he demolishes them- he broke someone’s arm once

-Fuck ableism, me n my homies hate ableism

-Anyways, he reassures you (shyly lmao) that you aren’t any less of a person just because you’re blind

-Uses his money to buy you any of the expensive medical equipment you need, the guy has like so much saved up money

-Teases you sometimes, but if you get upset he immediately shuts up

-he loves you, blind or not :’)

Kurapika

-He is so precautious

-Always makes sure you’re leaving with whatever things you need, if you use one of those collapsing sticks to make sure nothings in your way when you walk, he has three in case you lose one

-He answers your FaceTime calls no matter what because he helps you identify different things

-“This is a 20 right?” “No my love, that’s a 100.” “OH, thanks so much!”

-If you ever say something along the lines of “I wish I could see your eyes, Pika, I bet they’re beautiful” he will tear up

-Helps describe things for you if you ever mention wishing to know what they look like

-I love him he’s so sweet

Leorio

-coochie man

-LMAO but seriously he loves you so much

-Probably does a lot of in depth research on blindness and how people live with it

-Threatens ableist people so much (and he’ll do it again bop bop)

-Goes shopping with you to help you pick out good colors

-When he’s studying he’ll describe different muscles and what the diagrams look like

-If you ever ask what HE looks like, he does his best to explain it but in all honesty he sucks at explaining things LMAO

-He loves you so much, and he will never treat you differently just because you’re blind. He knows better than that, he did research about ableism

-period king

#killua headcanons #killua hunter x hunter #killua x reader #gon x reader #gon freecss #Gon freecss x reader #killua zoldyck #killua zoldyck x reader #gon headcanons #gon hunter x hunter #Kurapika hunter x hunter #Kurapika hxh #Kurapika x reader #Kurapika kurta #leorio x reader #leorio paladiknight #leorio hxh #leorio hunter x hunter #leorio headcanons

[that-tall-queer-bassist]

My personal Pros and Cons of my ADHD

Pros

-noticing all the little details and appreciating them in the fullest

-Emotional Dysregulation, because when I get a new plant, or find that one oddly shaped metal marble I lost a while ago, I am so excited it’s pathetic, but I love that feeling of pure joy.

-hyperfixation of the week/day/hour (i know some people describe it differently, let me be pls) . I usually switch between art mediums, and/or a few video games/social media sites. for example, I’ve been on tumblr for 3 hours as i write this, after not touching it for, i think a month?

-nuerodivergent friends. They’re just better.

-the ability to completely drown myself in information to ignore reality. Is it healthy? no. But i simply cannot handle another existiential crissi rn, so i will instead play minecraft while listening to alt rock playlists on youtube because getting spotify sounds like a lot of work.

-my ability to retain absolutely useless information, from either my, or my other nuerodivergent friends hyperfixations/special interests. I can explain to you in terrible formatting if it’s out loud, the evolution, history, training, anatomy and roles of the horse in our world, and how ao3 works, and what makes or breaks a fanfiction.

-Object Impermanence. When i literally hide myself a treat or surprise and forget about it, then get so excited when i do find/discover it again. I hide google questions, and/or song lyrics in my tabs :) its so fun. Also, hiding away stressors. Again, healthy? no, but i don’t feel like having anxiety all day, so whatever.

-Emotional Dysregulation, again. I can switch from sad or angry to happy and excited/content in a few seconds. It’s also great for getting my siblings out of their funk. ex., my sister is mad at me. I make a silly voice repeating what she said or cross my eyes at her. she laughs, then we can talk and have constructive conversation about why she shouldn’t get that upset about me “cutting off her reading time” when we share a room and I want to sleep, and know that she will be very tired tomorrow if she doesn’t also go to sleep. (We have this conversation almost every single night, i’m not even joking)

Cons

-Emotional Dysregulation. When i get upset, I’m Upset. Like, big time, ruining friendships and familial ties if i let it get out of hand, Upset. Yeah.

-Time Blindness. Constantly late, or early, or under or over estimating the amount of time it takes to do a thing, not eating til 4 because you forgot but you also should just wait til dinner, but now its 9 and I still haven’t eaten-

-Executive Dysfunction. I can’t do the things needed to function. Don’t have the mental energy to explain this one, so google it i guess? There’s a whole checklist of things you need to be able to do to function, and i can do like, three on a good day.

-Sleeping Trouble. People with adhd have trouble falling asleep, staying asleep, and waking up. So, sleeping trouble. So I’m constantly tired.

-Internal Clock is SLIGHTLY OFF. Nuerotypicals have that normal sleep schedule. Adhd ers have it shifted forward by, i think, 2, 3 hours. So we go to sleep later, and wake up later, and that’s the only way to get a healthy amount of sleep. My entire family also eats dinner super late, which might be because we’re weird, but I suspect the inner clock thing cuz we all got adhd.

-Object Impermanance. I hid my math homework one time. I failed that class. 

-Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria. Never trying, or starting cuz I’m so terrified to get a bad reaction. Constantly masking around certain people to appeal to the few of my Nuerotypical friends. Or, y’know, majority of my extended family. They’re ableist. and homophobic. And transphobic. And racist. and sexist. The list goes on, but, yeah. Never coming out to them! :D

-Masking. It’s exhausting and I can only handle so much of it.

-Not Masking around nuerotypicals. The shoot down after finally revealing my true thoughts, urges, feelings, stims, etc. just sucks. Super disheartening. 

-Squirrel or shiny jokes when they’re made by people without adhd. Yes, I do get distracted by squirrels, and shiny things, and dice. Stop pointing it out, and/or putting me into yet another box of your labeling. 

-saying that I’m lazy, worthless, or a disaster when really it’s not helping. I already have that internal monologue, you adding to it and giving it some truth/extra ammunition is not. helping.

-Emotional Dysregulation. Again, because mood swings. like, I’m trying to be rightfully angry with you. Stop making me laugh with you’re silly faces or pointing out of a weird face someone made in a picture you took. 

-the stigma about the hyperactive subtype. I’m inattentive. I have No Energy. Ever. Sometimes i have restlessness, but there is still no energy. Stop portraying me as bouncing off the walls, especially with caffeine. Caffeine just catches my body speed up to my brain speed, settling me down a bit, at least mentally. 

-people not getting when i say I’m overstimulated, or need some time alone to process or re-energize, and following me, or continuing to do the overstimulating thing. I will literally. lose. my. mind.

-when people shut me down after I share something that is really important to me, or make fun of me for liking something an “abnormal” amount. Flashbacks to overnight camp, when whenever I said anything about horses, they said I had to do five squats, and when i got really excited about discussing the differences in riding styles/types with another person who really liked horses, but rode english, they said that it was obnoxious, when i was just.. excited to finally find someone to talk to and who felt the same way after, basically, years and years of no one getting it or wanting to listen or talking with me about the thing. To this day I don’t discuss horses with anyone, cuz it hurts so much remembering that, and the fear of it happening again is still there. 

-seeing other people be ashamed about their adhd and hesitant to mention until i talk, like, super openly about having it, in like, the first 5 minutes of knowing each other. It just.. hurts.

-I’m super empathetic, not in a way that’s helpful though. Like, wincing, or limping myself because I saw you drop something on your foot, and am imagining it so vividly that it feels like it happened to me. Reading a fic about abuse or depression, and it hitting too hard and hurting me almost physically, and on a personal level because I simply cannot handle it. Feeling someone else’s pain so vividly that i can’t comfort or help them in any way, because I am so preoccupied with  feeling their pain. 

-never being able to finish things without starting something else. All the WIPs in my google docs, istg, i will be driven insane by it. 

(y’know, this was kinda fun. As a rant, but also as a way for me to identify things about myself and my adhd that i like. Like, I know its so much shorter, but I have a hard time with positive self affirmation, so it was kinda nice. I might do it again, but just the pros part cuz the cons are kinda depressing ngl.)

(OH, Y’all should reblog with your own personal pros added on! You can add cons if you’d like to :) I’m just interested in seeing how your experiences/feeling differ from mine :) )

#adhd #adhd life #executive dysfunction #positive affimation #but it's only the begining ig #i might delete positive affirmations #idk #pros and cons #pros and cons of my adhd #nuerodivergent #nuerodivergent friends are the best #i will elaborate at some point #I've been on tumblr too long

[komaeda-core]

a basic guide to kin, ‘linkers, and more

TW // UNCENSORED MENTIONS OF S//CIDE, M//RDER, AND D//EATH.

Before we start, just a preface. this is NOT A DISCOURSE POST. I don’t care if you think someone else’s personal belief is stupid. If someone believing they were a fictional character in a past life just makes you THAT angry, maybe you should idk. talk to an anger management counselor? 

I DO NOT CONDONE THE PEOPLE THAT STEAL DID TERMS AND CALL THEM KIN TERMS. IF ANY TERM I USE IN THIS POST IS A DID TERM, PLEASE LET ME KNOW SO I CAN CORRECT MY ERROR AND USE THE CORRECT TERMS!

I am personally fiction-kin. This means that i believe that I was a fictional character in a past life. That’s it! That’s really all there is to it. There are infinite possibilities for people to believe in, as we genuinely have no clue what happens before or after death. Its like any other belief someone may have, it’s just been designated as cringe and stupid. 

TERMS TO KNOW:

ID: Stands for identity! This is fairly synonymous with Kintype, as its your identity, just like kintypes. 

Kin: People who are kin come in two forms: Spiritual, and Psychological. Spiritual kin believe in reincarnation, and that they were one of their kintypes in a past life. Psychological kins however, believe that they really are that character. This type of kin encapsulates everything that is NOT a spiritual belief, whatever that may be, they fall under this category.

Kin-Shift: a kinshift is simply defined as when you feel much more connected to that particular kintype than usual! Psychological shifts are the most common, in which you begin to think and act a little bit more like the kintype you are shifted as at the moment. Phantom shifts are when you feel as if you are missing a body part/limb that one of your kintypes has. These are called astral limbs! Not to be confused with phantom limbs, which is a term used for amputees. PHANTOM LIMBS CAN BE SCIENTIFICALLY EXPLAINED, ASTRAL LIMBS CANNOT. This is kind of a no-brainer, but anyone who claims to be able to “physically shift” is duping you. The physical strain that would put on the body would quite literally kill you.

Kintype: Someones kintype is the character, animal, or mythological creature they are kin with! This is the correct terminology in the sentence “My kintype is Nagito Komaeda!” or “One of my kintypes is a cat.” 

Permashift: Similar to ID, this is a kintype that you tend to be in shift as for more than just a couple hours. This could be for days, weeks, or even months. 

Co-Shift: A co-shift is basically what it sounds like, it is when you experience more than one kinshift at once. Not much more to it! DO NOT CONFUSE THIS TERM WITH THE DID TERM CO-CON. THE TERM IS NOT INTENDED TO MIMIC, MOCK, OR STEAL THIS TERM.

Otherkin: People are under the otherkin umbrella are people who are kin with animals, mythological creatures, or anything else. Some distinctions that can be found under this are; Plantkin, Godkin, Lionkin, Catkin, etc. Fictionkin do not fall under this category! They are distinct different sub-genre of kin.

Kin mem/memory: A kin memory is a phenomena in which people who are spiritually kin will experience memories from one of their past lives. This can come thru a distinct feeling of deja vu, a flashback type moment, or a vivid dream that seems to coherent and fits into your canon too well to be just an ordinary dream. Psychological kins may experience kin mems as well, however i am not as versed in that so i am not the person to ask on that matter.

Kinsider: When you are determining whether a character, creature, being, or etc. is a kintype or not.

Synpath: A synpath is what most “new wave kinnies” mistake for being genuinely kin.This is a character that you sympathize with on a heavy level, and feel like you identify WITH them. You heavily relate to this character, and can see yourself in them. THIS IS NOT KIN. Having a synpath is perfectly fine. ITS FINE NOT TO BE KIN.

Linktypes: A ‘link is the voluntary way to be kin. People who ‘link identify as the entity they’re ‘linking with for fun, coping, or any other reason. ‘linkers can experience mems, shifts, and everything else. The major distinction is that ‘links are voluntary for whatever reason, while being kin IS NOT.

Fictionhearted/Hearttypes/Kithtypes/Fictionkith: Being fictionhearted is very often confused with being fictionkin to the untrained eye, however there are some fundamental differences. The two communities developed separately, and therefore have separate core ideas that categorize you as one or the other. Otherhearted means that you have a strong connection to the species specified, in the way that you feel as if they are your friends or family WITHOUT identifying spiritually or psychologically as these species. Hearttypes are characters/species that you identify WITH, but not AS. For example, someone that has Mikan Tsumiki as a hearttype would identify WITH her. When looking at her, there would be a distinct feeling of, “this is me,” or “this is what I’m supposed to be.” Fictionkith is just another word for the same thing! (Please correct me if I’m wrong, there aren’t many sources about the topic. If any fictionkith/fictionhearted people want to talk about their experience in the replies, please go for it! I’d love to hear more.)

Fictionflicker: Flickers are basically what the name implies, kintypes that aren’t permanent. Your kintype may be a flicker if, once you start to distance yourself from the source, it starts to “fade away.” Fictionflicker has a nearly identical dichotomy to being kin, but they eventually fade away. Kin mems, kin-shifts, and everything else occurs for them too! 

Factkin: Despite what people may tell you, people who are factkin are crossing a line that should not be crossed. It is identity theft to identify as a real living person, and disrespectful to identify as people who have passed. If you are factkin, I recommend looking into identity theft, talking to a therapist, and re-evaluating your beliefs. People who are factkin are genuinely harmful.

WHAT NOT TO DO:

DO NOT SAY “SWITCHING” OR “FRONTING” WHEN REFERRING TO A KINSHIFT. THIS IS ACTIVELY STEALING DID TERMS, AND RE-PURPOSING TERMS FROM A REAL MENTAL DISORDER AND MAKING THEM A PART OF YOUR BELIEF. 

“KINNING” IS NOT THE CORRECT TERMINOLOGY. THIS WAS CREATED BY PEOPLE WHO ARE ANTI-KIN TO DEMEAN THE MEANING OF BEING KIN, AND THE IDENTITY THAT COMES WITH IT.

WHILE “KINNIE” IS AN INSULT, IT IS NOT AND NEVER WILL BE A SLUR. STOP TREATING IT LIKE IT IS ONE. DON’T SAY IT IF THE RECEIVING PARTY ISN’T COMFORTABLE WITH IT, BUT ITS LIKE EVERY OTHER PLAY INSULT. STOP IT.

STOP TELLING FICTIVES OR PEOPLE THAT HAVE GENUINE DELUSIONS THAT THEY ARE JUST KIN, OR ARE LESS VALID THAN YOU. THAT IS GENUINELY ABLEIST JUST FUCKING STOP.

IF YOU GENUINELY BELIEVE YOU CAN EVENTUALLY BE, OR ARE PHYSICALLY THE CHARACTER/ANIMAL, PLEASE SEEK MEDICAL HELP. THESE MAY BE SYMPTOMS OF CLINICAL LYCANTHROPY. ALTER-HUMAN/KIN COMMUNITIES CANNOT HELP YOU WITH THESE SYMPTOMS.

BEING KIN IS NOT ALWAYS SUNSHINE AND RAINBOWS/TALKING ABOUT THE DOWNSIDES, AND DEBUNKING COMMON MISCONCEPTIONS:

Despite what new wave kins want you to believe, being kin isn’t always fun. For people that are genuinely kin, people will insult them, they’ll get horrendous kin mems, and no one will believe what they’re saying just because they’re kin. People spread misinformation constantly, saying that we believe we’re “trans-species,” and making us out to be like the “trans-racial” or “trans-disabled communities. This notion has been so popularized by anti-kin that it’s even made its way onto the official Wiktionary page, in which it states that kin believe they’re “trans-species.” This is not true, and was originally popularized here on tumblr by anti-kin/satire blogs trying to make us all look like transphobic idiots. However, some people genuinely do identify as trans-species, and should be treated as valid. They are not intending to mock transgender people, this is just how they identify. People who are kin do not believe that they are, or can be, the character/animal they identify as. People who do SHOULD NOT be classified as kin, as that is usually delusions. CALLING PEOPLE WITH DELUSIONS KIN IS ABLEIST, AND BUILDS MORE OF A STIGMA AROUND PEOPLE WITH DELUSIONS. Insults can include calling us annoying or stupid, “kinnies,” comparing us to people with genuine delusions (which is more spreading disinformation and insulting to people with delusions,) saying that we’re lying or invalid because they don’t personally hold the belief, etc. Anti-kin like to generalize as well, and lump in harmless kin that just want to have fun with factkin, people who steal DID terms, and people who harass others over kin drama. Kin just want to be let be, and be allowed to have fun in peace. STOP DERAILING POSITIVITY POSTS JUST BECAUSE YOU THINK ITS STUPID, OR YOU DON’T BELIEVE IN IT. THE POST ISN’T WELCOMING DISCOURSE, AND YOU’RE JUST BEING AN ASSHOLE. On to kin mems, these can be awful and extremely hard to deal with. People who are kin from Danganronpa could get mems of their own executions or murders, people who are otherkin could get kin mems of being hunted or poached, and people who are kin from DDLC could get kin mems of their suicides. Whether you think they’re fake or not, these people are genuinely feeling like they are reliving their own death. Please, just stop making fun of peoples kin mems when they’re doing nothing wrong.

Some pages I used as refrence, which are just general good resources: Toko.Mango on Instagram, the otherkin fandom wiki, miviele.kins on Instagram, and some personal experience as well as experiences from fictionkin friends.

PLEASE feel free to add on to this post! This is just a starter guide, intended to give a base to start from when finding out about kin communities!

Edit: Some corrections have been made to the ID section, to “trans-species,” and the psychological kin section. If you have any other corrections for me to make, let me know!

Edit: this post was really uneducated pretend i said stuff that made sense <3<3

#tw death #death tw #suicide tw #tw suicide #murder tw #tw murder #murder #suicide #death #kin #kintype #fictionkin #otherkin #fictionkith #kithtype #synpath #link #linker #info post #informational post #fiction flicker #other kin #other kith #other flicker #coping link #coping linker #otherhearted #permashift #kinshift #danganronpa

[mallowstep]

okay i guess i just.

and this is all optional, like i'm not saying you have to, need to, or even that you should do any of what i'm saying.

but i see a lot of people who want to develop the clans. and again, this might be the last time i couch this, but understand it applies to the whole post, but again, you're allowed to have fun and not do this. i encourage you to. make cats whatever you want. just read a fic where cats have money and drawstring bags. it was great! have fun, kiddos and adults and awkward ages when you're not quite either!

but okay, maybe you're here for worldbuilding and development and i think learning to identify good and bad things and why they're good and bad is a useful skill.

like okay, i see a lot of people say that brightheart was a bad mentor to jaypaw, and i will argue that she's a bad mentor for him.

by which i mean, of Course because she's assigned to him, she knows it's the disabilities, so she's primed to think about what she had to do, what she had to learn, and that was how to function with half her sight. and i don't like. i think brightheart didn't match his personality, either.

(i, personally, suggest sandstorm as the Ideal mentor for jaypaw. just, personally speaking.)

anyway, this example is a little detatched, but the reason Why i think people blame brightheart is because well. she's Responsible, she's the adult, and she's not handling it well. and in universe, no one ever takes it up the chain. no one ever says "this is a bad mentor for this cat", at least not that i can recall.

fuck, darkstripe is fernpaw's mentor, and i think it takes darkstripe poisoning sorrelkit for firestar to say "hm maybe this is bad actually"

but if you want to fix warriors, if you want to improve it, i think it is worth learning to take a step back and analyze things from above the world of cats.

and that's like. maybe the cats Would blame brightheart. i can see that. but you should understand the difference between cats and narrative.

it's something the erins are Terrible at, so you know, i don't like. i know i've gotten very Preachy but again, you don't have to take my thoughts on this unless you want to, and also i don't like. i'm not Judging anyone or blaming them for this because it makes sense! the things i see people do that i think are bad decisions, i know why they think that! or at least i assume i know why.

or okay, for a more worldbuilding example, the elders' names in tpb. you know a lot of people hate that, they say, why are cats okay with this?, and this is bad and ableist and the thing is, you know, that's all a valid criticism. but the solution doesn't have to be, and maybe shouldn't even be, getting rid of it.

i usually lean more towards "this is a mark of respect for surviving something incredibly likely to kill you" but you can have it as A Bad Thing. that's, like, you can have cats be OK with this as how the world works until it's them being renamed, and you are allowed to have them be fine with it and support it.

and it's not something warriors as a series is going to teach you to do because warriors doesn't know how to do this. warriors can't self criticize, it either supports through arbitrary examples or retcons it to hell and back.

(lilywhisker in tsr as a defense of cinderpaw becoming a medicine cat, leafstar as a retcon to bsp)

so warriors is not going to teach you how to write a society with problems, you know? it's not. the series is bad at it. it doesn't know how to do that. and i don't know, i'm not sure where to start learning.

percy jackson does this? and the kane chronicles. and it's more common in more "mature" books i think. game of thrones, the books, had those vibes to me? there's some good historical fiction by ken follett that covers the problems in society, i believe pillars of the earth is the first book? followed by i think world without end.

and got, and the ken follett books, are very adult so i can't in good faith recommend them to everyone, but if you're 18+ and okay with dark themes, i suggest looking at them, but otherwise, i'm not really sure where to direct you.

but anyawy ig like. if you're at the point of recognizing warriors has bad worldbuilding, but you don't have exposure to good worldbuilding, or just self-critical worldbuilding, you might not have the tools to explain how and why it's bad and fix it.

and i'm not like. to be extra clear, i'm not saying that you're wrong to say "brightheart was a bad mentor to jaypaw and it is her fault" or "the elders' name change thing should just be removed from the books entirely" you're, you can have that, and you can do that in the spirit of my self critical worldbuilding theme here, but i think i just.

i think i just get frustrated when people use the same logic as the cats to explain why things are bad, i suppose.

#mine #txt #23rd #July #2021 #July 23rd 2021 #writing #worldbuilding #essay #talk

[edencantstopfallininlove]

Consolation (Lee Scoresby X Autistic!Reader)

Content Warnings: very mild bad language, anxiety references, sensory overload, implied/referenced ableist harassment in your past, hurt/comfort, acceptance, HUGGING, WAFFs galore, Lee generally being precious

A/N: This is a really self-indulgent little thing that I thought about at 1AM once and just had to put down somewhere. After roughly 8 nights of work, it's finally done in time for the HDM season finale! Both you and your dæmon (which was visualised as a disk-winged bat, but it’s ambiguous enough to be any terrestrial animal) are gender-neutral and referred to with they/them pronouns.

Without further ado, here it is under the cut! Enjoy!

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A sunset’s glow always looked stunning from the comfort of the balloon. The ceaseless breeze in your face finally died down as the balloon began to make her descent towards the ground below. While you weren't 100% sure what was happening, you sussed that your partner, Lee, had arranged to meet his potential contractors in the next town due west. It was an area that had a reputation for not being the safest of places to live, and for good reason; thievery ran amok. 

And it was pure bad timing that meant that the only place you two could think to land the balloon was just on the fringe of the town's market district.

Before Lee set off to (hopefully) get something sorted as to the pay and terms, he left you in charge of keeping the balloon and her contents safe. He reminded you of where the valuables where and to keep as low a profile as possible.

“Stay here, alright?” He said as he disembarked onto the faded cobblestone below. He took one last glance at your weapons store. “And if you get into trouble, you know what to do.”

You nodded in affirmation. You hoped that your little visit wouldn't end in a fight, but conceded that it was better to be over-prepared than caught out.

“Good luck, Lee!” you called as he strode away, Hester following close behind. “Don't do anything stupid!” Terrible advice knowing him, you thought. Your dæmon, [D/N], waved goodbye to them as best they could.

But as soon as the two left your field of vision, something sounded off. Well, everything, really. At first your ears were drawn unwillingly to a conversation that tried to be hushed, and failed. After that, it was as if you could hear an uncensored compendium of life in this place. Drunks with their speech slurred. The hubbub of vendors trying to get their wares sold. Raised voices fighting over nothing. Every word you picked up was physically painful for you, and you couldn't even process them all. Still the mental pressure continued to build.

Then, to add insult to injury, you heard from within your basket fence a grating tick that lasted all but a second from an instrument you didn't care to identify; the only thing that mattered in the moment was that it broke your last atom of resilience and forced you downwards with a wail, hands clasped futilely around your ears. Your dæmon trembled as you fell, drawing back a cloth wall and agitatedly scouring the area for someone or something to ease your anguish. You couldn't tell how much time passed before you heard someone humming...

As Lee was trying not to brood his way back to the balloon after an unsuccessful confrontation, he expected to either find the balloon and her guardian exactly as he left them, or to hear you running up to him to tell him that something had gone horribly wrong. What he didn't expect to come back to was hearing you screaming and crying from within the basket. Lee's blood ran freezing. Fearing the worst, his eyes immediately darted to the one wall of the balloon not covered by cloth. It must've been how your assailant got in. He dashed towards the basket, one hand hovering over the holster where his pistol resided...

Only to find that there was no need to use it.

No sign of a fight, none of the cuts and bruises that he feared, but there was still the matter of you curling in on yourself, quivering and whimpering like an abandoned kitten. The sight of you reduced to such a mess capsized his already sinking heart.

“You've got to be kidding me…” he muttered, wasting no time in intervening. Your dæmon looked a little lost before they spotted him climbing through the opening (he didn't think it fair to ask you or your dæmon to lower the ramp) and gently approaching you. They protested with quiet “No!”s as Lee tentatively placed a hand on your shoulder, only for you to jerk your entire body away.

“Do NOT touch me!” you practically hissed, recoiling once again as Hester landed aboard and narrowly missed your legs. Lee leaned down so that he was at eye level with you.

“[Y/N], listen,” he said, trying to stay cool-headed for your sake, "It's Lee. Look at me and take deep breaths!"

You responded by turning away and continuing to sob. Lee cursed under his breath; you'd had panic attacks before but you'd never been this bad and, so far, you weren't responding well to his attempts to calm you down…

“You're better off giving them some space,” said your dæmon, giving Lee their species' equivalent of a glare. Their voice was more hushed than usual, with a pained quality to it. “This isn't a panic attack, if that's what you think. What you're seeing is a meltdown caused by a sensory overload. It will pass in a short while, so [Y/N] would rather you didn't speak to them until they've calmed down.”

Eventually, your ragged breathing steadied and the tears slowed down enough for you to make out your partner stood opposite you. The moment your eyes locked with his, Lee took a step backwards, perhaps concerned that it would set you off again. All you could do was shake your head when you realised the state you had gotten yourself into.

“I'm so sorry about this,” you began. “[D/N] probably said what was happening to me, but I feel I need to explain exactly what caused it. There's something neither of us have told you.” As you spoke, you grabbed the balloon's ledge and used it to help yourself, slowly but surely, back upright. Not necessarily onto your feet, though, since your legs were shaking too much for you to stand. “This might sound silly but, sometimes, I can hear conversations from far away. I can't filter them out and it all just gets louder and louder… It makes me feel sick. So, all the rabble from further into town was becoming too much for me. Then I heard an instrument on the balloon going off or something, and that was…” You took a deep breath in and out. “That was what caused me to get like this.”

“Look, [Y/N],” said Lee, deciding to give you and your dæmon a little more space, “You've clearly been through a lot since we left. But if you want to tell me something, just tell me. I swear on my life, and on Hester's life, that we won't judge you for it.” He spoke to you softly, a sign that he understood the nature of your ordeal. That little change reassured you that telling him was for the best, even if it was in distressing circumstances.

“Alright. I didn't really want you to find out like this, but…” You swallowed hard. No going back now. 

“I'm on the autism spectrum.”

There was a long silence. Lee stayed put and didn't turn away in disgust, instead kneeling down to face you again. It was a good start, but still your gaze refused to meet with his. Instead, you stared at the roof of the balloon as you continued.

“You probably have loads of questions. I don't know if I can answer them all, or if [D/N] can help me, but I-”

“Why didn't you mention it before?” It was Hester who spoke that time. Your dæmon looked at you with face that said, ‘Aye, there's the rub.’

“I just thought it would be better to mask it and hope for the best than for you to know and think less of me because of it. Like I was a lesser being. I was made to feel that way countless times growing up, so I didn't want to tell you in case you became just another person who left me to my own devices because of something I can't help.” Before you knew it, the waterworks had turned on once again. You couldn't help but feel a crushing guilt over the way you spoke to Lee when he tried to help.

“I'm sorry for shouting at you. I know I need to do better. And I hope you don't hate me for not saying anything until now.”

You could've sworn you heard Lee's breath hitch at your words. Glimpsing at his face, you noticed his brows knitted in a frown and his lips quivering. Oh God, no. You've said something wrong, he's turned against you, you've scared him away and it's all-

“Hate you?” he said at last, disturbing you from your spiralling thoughts. His voice faltered on that first word, to your shock. “[Y/N], no! How could I hate you? You're not at fault here; something just happened that was hard for you to cope with.”

“That doesn't make how I spoke to you okay!” you replied with a shake of your head.

“I know. But you're acknowledging that, which is more than can be said for some people... To tell you the truth, I probably would've done the same had that been me. But it's fine, we'll move on from this. Still, if there's anything for me to hate right now, it's the way people have been treating you all this time. Who the hell would think it's okay to make someone feel worthless just because of how their mind works?”

“Wait - you mean you don't see me as less, Lee?”

“Of course I don't. And let me tell you why. You're handy with a weapon, we know that, but you have such a strength that goes beyond combat. It helps you to see the good in every person, every situation that comes our way. And not everyone has the strength to love as fiercely as you do. Your resilience and compassion are things I've always admired about you, in all honesty.” 

“He's right, you know,” added Hester, joining your dæmon in front of you. “Lee wishes he was as trusting of others as you. I'm just a tiny bit concerned that it's bordering on jealousy!”

You sniggered at her attempt at lightening the mood. Sensing that you were feeling a little more comfortable now, Lee shuffled over to sit at your left-hand side and, as you looked at the bridge of his nose, you could just about see a wetness threatening to escape his eyes. 

“I'm honoured to share my adventures with you. You're an amazing person, with or without autism. And I love you. I know I'm not always the best at expressing it, but it's true.”

Letting out a sigh of relief, you noticed Lee had placed a hand next to yours as Hester silently egged him on. He smiled faintly.

“You want me to hold you now? If you'd rather I didn't, you can say no.”

“Please do. Honestly, I could use a hug.”

And with that, he leaned in and enveloped his arms around your waist, holding you as if you were made of glass. You returned in earnest, crying into his shoulder - only this time, they were tears of happiness over the fact that this man, the love of your life, accepted and cherished you exactly as you were. Your last traces of doubt disintegrated. In that moment, Lee's touch felt like home. Out of the corner of your eye, you could spot Hester and your dæmon nuzzling each other; if your heart hadn't melted already, such a sight would've softened it completely.

“If you're ever worried about something like this happening again,” said Lee, “Please tell me, okay? And I'll do my best to help you. Like, from now on, if I have to leave you with the balloon, I'll make sure we land somewhere we know will be quiet. That alright with you?”

You decided to answer his question with a nod and a swift peck to his cheek.

“Lee. Thank you for this.”

His eyes narrowed. “Anytime.”

A small part of you was tempted to tackle Lee to the floor and pepper his form with kisses. But given the circumstances of where you two were, that wasn't an option. For now, you were more than perfectly content with the feeling of deep, heartfelt unity between your lips and his.

“You don't know what any of it means to me,” you sighed with a grin, breaking the kiss before tightening your grip around his midriff. “I love you so much…”

“I love you too, [Y/N]. I'm a lucky man.” With a grunt of effort, Lee stood back up (leaving you to wobble forward before catching yourself) and began to inspect the metalwork and various dials. “Now, are we ready to get out of this joint?”

“We're leaving already? But what about the contractors?”

“Yeah, turns out they're jerks, the whole bunch of them. I didn't want them around you before, and I certainly don't after all that, I swear to God. Pay would've been terrible anyways…”

“There's always next time, I guess,” you said to no one in particular.

All that was left now was to start the fire and take to the skies once more, heading for a place where you all hoped you'd be safer. Floating away from the quietening streets, you turned your gaze to the radiant stars above and allowed your thoughts to wander.

You felt, for the first time in your life, safe.

#HDM #His Dark Materials #Lee Scoresby X Reader #Writeblr #I Write Stuff Sometimes #hoo boy #this is the single most self indulgent thing I've ever written #not putting a ship tag for everyone else's sake

[lucianalight]

@philosopherking1887 I wish I didn’t see this article that you linked in @lokiloveforever​  ‘s post, and remained blissfully unaware of all other awful things that TW has said about our beloved characters and the franchise we loved. At the same time I’m happy because it basically confirms everything we were saying this whole time. So thank you for it. While I was reading it, I had to remind myself that using my phone to break my laptop’s screen won’t do anything good. Instead I’m going to list all the reason’s that TW’s own words refute some of TR fans points and how it proves that Ragnarok isn’t part of MCU. Fair warning: this might resembles a rant because I’m really angry right now.

- “Ragnarok characterizations are like comics more than any other movie.”

Hate to break it to you but,

Cool art but he didn’t like how everyone talked? Well, you know who he reminds me of?

He removed one of the things that made Thor franchise unique and interesting, simply because he didn’t like it. And came up with this nonsense that Thor learned it from Tony, wait no, from RDJ, as an excuse.

“Yeah, Thor spent two years on Earth hanging out with Robert Downey, Jr.” Waititi explained. “So he’s got some sass. He knows a little bit more about irony and sarcasm now. He’s got a little bit of Earth humor.” [X]

Like two years of being on Earth in comparison with more than a thousand years on Asgard can change someone’s speech patterns.

Again with the rich kid comments.

“Thor and Loki are just two rich kids from outer space and we shouldn’t really give a sh*t about what their problems are.” [X]

This also shows he didn’t even watch or understood the previous movies. The whole point of the first Thor movie, was that this rich kid that we apparently shouldn’t give a shit about his problems, had fallen from grace and felt guilt for his wrong actions and tried to be a better person. But apparently the TR version, who thinks he’s a hero and always right and has the audacity to judge and use every character for his own goals feels guilt and is annoyed at his behavior. Yeah, okay.

The picture is taken from this post.

And don’t get me start on Bruce/Hulk. This bipolar, angry green beast who a lot of children have found empathetic, and who some of us boring, whining nerds can identify with has never felt guilt about his actions. It’s not like he tried to commit suicide because of his guilt and self-loathing. It’s not like Hulk has enough heart and intelligence to be upset about hurting innocent people in AoU after he was snapped out of Wanda’s mind control. But apparently killing slaves for sport and not feeling guilty about it give the character more dimensions. Right.

But, hey, as far as TW is concerned, people like Bruce and Loki who are suicidal and have mental illness are just whiny and need to get over themselves.

“Taika Waititi (…) is swift to launch into a description of Loki, the unbeloved son of Asgard, as, “someone who tries so hard to embody this idea of the tortured artist, this tortured, gothy orphan.” He’s discussing the character’s emotional arc in the film, one that sees him put away his childish fixations and step up to save his city from obliteration; to put into perspective his petty family squabbles and realise a home is still a home.” [X]

Anyone still thinks TW is not talking like an ableist?

And don’t forget that being pretty, talking and looking beautiful, not being able to fight like a warrior, and being a nerd are character flaws and make people boring.

“[With Valkyrie] I wanted to make sure we weren’t making a female character that was boring and pretty. What I wanted was someone who was going to play the opposite and be even more of the ‘guy’ character than the guys.” 

I wonder why I am reminded of the bullies I encountered in my life!? (I don’t)

- “TW loved those characters. Otherwise he wouldn’t use them in his film.”

Yeah, no. Not true. Because of all the above reasons about Thor and Hulk and all the reasons I listed in this post about Loki.

Oh, Look! he just confirmed this recent post of mine:

And yours too @magicmastered.  Btw, I completely support your idea to call Ragnarok universe “RCU”.

Also TR lacking emotions was a deliberate choice by the director. Like Korg’s line when Asgard was destroyed was intentionally put there to undermine the scene’s entire impact. 

Can someone please explain to me, a non-privileged person who’s always struggled with economical problems, that why being privileged and rich is considered a bad thing?

Again this is another proof that TW didn’t see and understood the previous movies. Asgard had a warrior culture and looked down on magic users(Loki). Magic that Thor explained was science that humans still don’t understand. Asgard has no parties? Yeah, like it’s totally true:

TW was so allergic to emotions that he changed Odin’s death scene because the audience reacted to it with too strong emotions! Imagine that!

Yeah, yeah, I know, we need to smile more!

The article ends with this paragraph.

“It's important to remember that Taika Waititi didn't make Thor: Ragnarok in isolation. He was chosen to direct this film by Marvel Studios off the back of black comedies, and they supported him in all his creative decisions. That may well indicate that Waititi's distaste with the Thor franchise is shared by Marvel, that they consider the last two to number among their weakest, and that they too wanted to toss the old aside in favor of a straightforward superhero comedy.”

And I agree. TW is not the only person I blame for TR. CH and Marvel Studios are all to blame for making a mockery of the franchise and characters we loved.

#anti thor ragnarok #anti taika waititi #anti rcu #anti tr thor #anti tr characterizations really #luciana hulks out #anti mcu #no more marvel #no marvel this time

[suhmayzooka]

cursed child broadway, December 28, 2019

my sister (S) and i were fortunate enough to get tickets for the third row, right by the aisle, making us right in the center.  I was a bit worried about the seats being so close to the stage, but it was absolutely amazing to be so close to the action. it was immersive, and i felt like i was part of the action.

S is my polar opposite.  she’s not a potterhead, for starters, and likes to call me (and everyone else in the theater, especially those in cosplay) a loser.  she’s heavily involved with her school’s theater -- acting and stage crew -- and i call her a theater nerd.  she’s an aspiring actress, and almost gave my mom a heart attack when she announced her plan to study acting in college (they compromised, and now S intends to major in psychology in addition to acting).  i didn’t know she was interested in cursed child since she eschews all ‘nerdy’ things, but she said that she ‘wanted to see how bad it was.’

she’s been the only extrovert in our family since she was born. she’s a hatstall between gryffindor and slytherin (although she identifies with the lion).  if you’re reading this, i’m assuming you like cursed child and perhaps are involved with the fandom.  ever read the tea time series on ao3? S is lily luna.  she’s the embodiment of how everyone writes lily luna.  she cursed out our dad a few days ago.  she made me spend the equivalent of two hours of work on fucking soda and popcorn because she didn’t listen to me when i told her to pack a clif bar.  this is what i put up with.

she actually enjoyed the show!  i was shocked.  she loved the effects.

after part one, she turned to me and went, “please just tell me one thing: do albus or scorpius die?”

i was surprised by her question.

she explained: “because at this point all i care about is their romance, and if they don’t get together or if they die i’m leaving the theater.”

this is coming from someone who ranted to me about how she doesn’t understand why people ship non-canon pairings since ‘not every friendship has to be romance.’ and here she was genuinely invested in scorbus? my heart…

i’m a good big sister, so i told her really vague statements like “our heroes will find themselves in danger several times during this act...” “one person’s pain is used to inflict pain on the other” and similar things.  eventually, she became convinced that scorpius would be revealed to be voldemort’s son and harry would accidentally kill him. not sure how she came up with that.

i guess everyone caught the plague? the coughing would Not stop.  S started making fun of them. and it’s like...everyone was a-okay during wand dance.  there were no coughs in the opening choreography for part two.  no, everyone had to succumb to coughing fits during the quiet, emotional moments.

“i always wanted a best mate to get up to mayhem with--”

COUGHCOUGHPHLEGMCOUGHHACKHACKHACKPHLEGMPHELGMCOUGHCOUGH

“--you’re my best friend--”

COUGHCOUGHPHLEGMCOUGHHACKHACKHACKPHLEGMPHELGMCOUGHCOUGH

for every. emotional. scene. maybe they were choked up on their tears.

at the last minute we decided to do stage door.  as in, we had already left the theater, saw the line outside, and were like, “sure.” unfortunately we had left our playbills in the theater since my hands were occupied holding her soda and popcorn since apparently she’s incapable of doing so…

i’m using google and my shitty facial recognition to remember who was who.  we (she) spoke to zell steele morrow (young harry), karen janes woditsch (mcgonagall), nadia brown (rose), james snyder (harry), and nicholas podany (albus).  unfortunately, we had to catch our train and left just as jonno roberts (draco) came out :( i think he was S’s favorite.

anyway here are my (our) thoughts:

1. Characters

~nicholas podany is a really good albus! he’s very mischievous, and you can see the wheels in his head turning as he comes up with his (increasingly more ridiculous) plans.  whenever he comes up with an idea he looks at scorpius like :O and it gets funnier as the play goes on.

~bubba weiler is a lot of fun. he’s very physical actor, and he really hams it up.  his scorpius is meant to be seen rather than read.  most of the comic relief is written for scorpius, and there seemed to be roars of laughter after every other line.  he shook his hips at “MALFOOYYYY THE UNAANXIOUSSS” and (exaggeratedly) pretended to march in place for “MY GEEKNESS IS A-QUIVERING!!” he purred at rose.  he flailed his entire body around when he was crucio-d :( one thing i noticed was how he carried himself.  scorpius spent a lot of time sitting hunched over, rocking slightly back and forth (most noticeable when he was introduced, but he hunched over and rocked on the staircase several times as well). when he stands he’s rubbing his thumbs or the hems of his robes.  his leg was bouncing nonstop in the library scene.  anyway what i’m trying to say is scorpius malfoy is neurodivergent. ableists don’t interact.

~for some reason S says that both scorpius and albus are unlikeable, but they’re cute together.  she was very proud when scorpius yelled at albus for being “the most terrible friend.”

~the chemistry between scorbus is There. it’s clear podany and weiler are close friends irl; they’re extremely comfortable together and play off each other really well.  

~matt mueller is great as ron. he works well with what he’s been given...not his fault thorne/tiffany decided to make ron a caricature with very little resemblance to canon ron...but that’s a rant for another day :] he’s delightful on stage.  he’s funny and charming.

~i’ll admit i wasn’t really feeling jenny jules as hermione, at least in part one.  she’s really playful, especially in the scene in her office where she offers harry a “to~fee~!” she was really great in the dark timeline, however.

~my romione heart

~the man himself, james snyder as harry potter!  was um, very shouty? very angry all the time.  he’s under a lot of stress.  his son disappeared in time.  i’ll let it slide.

~jonno roberts was literally draco malfoy.  his sneer, his swagger, everything was absolutely as i imagined draco 20 years in the future would be.  he’s so protective of scorpius...when the adults travel back to 1981 to find their sons, he picks scorpius up as they hug? and then instead of breaking apart, he sort of...put one arm around scorpius’s neck? like a backwards neck travel pillow thing. scorpius held his arm as draco looked around behind him for any danger.  it was really cute.

~diane davis was a really protective ginny.  all the fiery ginny from the books that was absent from the films made its way into her.  

2. Scenes

~one criticism i have is the fact that everyone speaks really quickly.  it’s a five hour play and i get that they’re trying to contain all the dialogue within that time but like...it’s a dialogue-heavy show.  i knew what was going on since i’m familiar with the script and the story, but there were parts when S and other members of the audience were confused. this was especially noticeable during the trolley witch scene.  literally nothing could be heard over the music and the sound effects, and several people around us were audibly confused and asking each other what was happening.  i mean, it doesn’t make a lot more sense with the dialogue, but at least let us hear what the characters are saying!

~podany, snyder, and (at times) weiler were the worst offenders.  weiler’s good at physical comedy, punctuating his iconic lines with clownlike movements for laughs since no one would know what he’s saying otherwise.  e.g. “we stand over the baby and scream” was almost inaudible, so we just heard “HEEELLLPPP HEEEEELLLP!” it was effective since the whole theater laughed, i guess. take this with a grain of salt; we were only a few feet away from the stage, so maybe our audio wasn’t the best.  

~roberts was crystal clear at all times

~S fell in love with scorbus during the staircase ballet.  if you’ve seen that one clip from this cast you know why.  the YEARNING.

~the LIBRARY scene! i reblogged audio of this a few months ago. oh my god, it’s perfect.  it hits the emotional highs and lows.  when albus said, “i wasn’t a loser before i met you,” there was a collective gasp and we all “OOOOOOOOOOH”-ed.  everyone was invested in this. weiler’s performance is really emotional, he’s holding back tears, i’m holding back tears. podany’s gets so soft when he talks about how kind he is.  i actually clenched my heart. “friends?” “always.” audience: “OOOOOOOOOH!”

~i can confirm that myrtle’s “girls...AND BOYS” is directed straight at albus.  his eyes widen, and he sheepishly shrugs his shoulders and is very excited to change the topic.

~scorpius’s imaginary friend was named hector.  idk if he improvises it every time, or if he decided to change it to hector from flurry, but his delivery was great.  sweetly: “oh, i had one of those too!” scathing hiss: “HECTOR.”

~the biggest jumpscare of the play was when scorpius emerged from the lake at the end of part one.  it was all dark, and then he shoots out of the water, gasping. i jumped.

~voldemort walked down the aisle right next to us.  S was terrified that he’s jump or touch her, so she curled up next to me.

~i was interested in how the penultimate scene would play out, since i heard that weiler and podany really play up their relationship, but scorpius had spent every scene with rose purring at her.  she came and imitated a scorpion when she said “scorpion king,” curving her hand and making a hissing noise, which elicited a few “oohs” from the audience.  then the Hug...the “new version of us” line is said as they hug, and they just. stood there for a few moments, hugging.  when albus goes “you better ask rose” scorpius looks up at him and blinks, goes, “.........uh oh yeah, rose….” and goes off stage.  right before he exits he looks at albus, and albus keeps watching him after he leaves. uhh anyway scorbus is canon and so is pollyrose

~“dad...i don’t want to be a wizard anymore.” (dead silence) “i want to go into pigeon racing” *breaks into the biggest shit-eating grin and cracks up*.  the last shot is harry holding albus as he silently weeps.  Ookay.

~due to several instances of childhood trauma, my sister’s biggest fear is birds (especially chickens, ostriches, and...pigeons).  she didn’t know why people laughed at harry’s confession that he was afraid of pigeons, because to her that’s a valid fear.  we saw a pigeon in the train station and she almost cried.

3. Stage door

~S did most of the talking.  she told everyone “so sorry we don’t have our playbill! you did such a great job!” and then struck up mini conversations.  i stood nodding like “good job!” looking like this :]

~first up was (i believe) zell steele morrow! he’s so cute and was really upbeat.  S finally found someone shorter than her…

~karen janes woditsch asked what houses we’re in.  S was like “gryffindor!” and she smiled, i told her “ravenclaw” and she was like, “well...i love all my students equally….”

~i didn’t recognize james snyder since he was dressed like he was in the arctic.  neither did S.

~nadia brown was so sweet!  you could tell she really loved seeing fans.  there was a group behind us in line who apparently were here for their third viewing, and they conversed like they were old friends.

~nicholas podany came out wearing a t shirt. in december.  i was cold because i forgot to wear gloves and he came out in a t shirt.  the group behind us asked if he was cold and he said that he was hot from running around the stage.  S told him that he did great, she asked how long he was performing (ten months since february) and her response was “oh, that makes sense, you were good!” he went on about how he loves performing, how each night is different based on the crowd and how we were such a great crowd, and i could feel S like. sinking into the sidewalk. i just nodded at him and went “good job.”

~he’s my height, maybe slightly shorter (i’m 5’6/167 cm) and very pale.  i think S has a crush on him since she wants to go back to “apologize for being so awkward.” growing up she had a crush on daniel radcliffe, too, so i guess she has a thing for potters.

~the group behind us went on about how much they loved harry potter, had been fans their whole lives, etc. podany’s apparently a huge potterhead, but not the biggest in the cast: they all came together to see who was the biggest potterhead, and the answer is the actor who plays cedric (forgot his name and the internet isn’t helping, sorry!) -- his tv (?) remote is in the shape of a wand! the rest of them are nerdy enough to fact-check the director lmao

~we didn’t get to actually speak with jonno roberts, but we saw him interacting with other fans.  he seems like a cool guy.

#ccsquad #cursed child #i see cc

[fightmeyeats]

"She comes to work and she does her job!”: Casual Ableism in the Work Place

Today, while sitting in a shaded outdoor common space on my college campus, comparing sets of blood test results from the last year to see if there was anything I wanted to bring up with my doctor, I overheard a snippet of conversation between two middle aged women. What stood out to me was the woman who said, clearly in praise, “I know she’s suffered extremely, but she comes to work and she does her job!”

This is a kind of violence.

Now, maybe you’re reading this thinking What?? Sounds like the lady is a badass, good for her! Or maybe you’re thinking Why are you complaining? I would be appreciative that my coworker was doing her job despite hardship! Everybody has problems, I have problems, but I don’t bring them to work with me!

So before I break this down, let me tell you a little bit about two of my coworkers with disabilities: for context, there are other people at my place of employment with disabilities but I am most familiar with “A” and “B”’s specific circumstances, so they’re who I’m going to talk about here. Both coworkers I am discussing here are white, straight, cis women. I am not going to give any specifics that might make them identifiable, but I will say that “A” is in a skinny young adult with an autoimmune disorder; and “B” is middle aged, plus-sized, and has multiple disabilities. “B” is required to be provided with a chair so that she can sit periodically and has restrictions on how much weight she can lift; “A” has not requested or received any accommodations, although she does miss work periodically when she has bad flair ups. My manager has told me multiple times that she hates seeing “B” sit down because she thinks it “looks bad,” and both she and other managers have frequently harassed “B,” telling her that they need to see her doing more, threatening to stop allowing her use the chair (despite the fact they are required by company policy, and I believe law, to provide this accommodation), and writing her up for sitting down, claiming she is using her chair “too much.” All this is despite the fact that she was moved, against her wishes and to her disadvantage, by said managers from a position that allowed her to accomplish tasks while sitting (and to use a mobility aid while performing tasks while standing), to a position which makes it so that sitting in accordance with her doctor’s directions makes it more difficult for her to accomplish her assigned tasks; she also has less ability to use a mobility aid. “B” frequently expresses concern that she will be fired, and frequently goes longer than she is supposed to without sitting or lifts significantly more than she is supposed to (impacting her health), because she is afraid of being written up, or having a customer complain she was not helpful enough. My other coworker, “A” frequently works while visibly suffering from flair-ups and explains at length to myself and other managers that she is trying to get her health stabilized so that she does not inconvenience anybody, and because she wants to be a good employee. My manager praises “A,” except when “A” does have to miss a period of work because of her condition, and then, despite the fact that “A” always brings in documentation showing she was not only having a flair up, but was receiving treatment, my manager writes “A” up because her absences are “too much at this point,” and “beyond what we can reasonably excuse.” This is only the smallest possible example of the harm done by praising someone for “coming to work and doing her job.”

This mentality focuses on a valuing of human life based off of how productive and convenient a person is, and it’s something I see prevalent in classroom and employment settings (both as the affirmation, as well as the inverse “I know X is going through a lot, but they’re attitude is terrible, they’re just not doing a good job!”). Essentially, the value assigned to a person as an employee (or as a student) is based on how much they are able to do despite disability (or other barriers), and is framed through a lens of personal convenience (ie “I’m not ableist, I just don’t want to get stuck doing all the work because they can’t”). At its core, I believe the idea that this mentality stems from ableism, neoliberalism, and capitalism.

Disabled people, especially disabled women, are under constant surveillance; there’s a great article by Sharon Dale Stone called “The Myth of Bodily Perfection,” where she discusses the idea of bodily perfection and points out that morality is generally tied to ability, and that people (especially women) are likely to conceal disability if they can. This is because of capitalist ideas of productivity, as well as neoliberalism; anyone who is not appropriately productive, who can’t come to work and do their job, must just be lazy, must not be trying hard enough. “Model” disabled figures, such as the woman I overheard be discussed on campus, are used to prove this; if she can do her job, why can’t someone else? What is overlooked is not only that people have different needs and abilities and not everyone can come in every single day and meet/exceed expectations (or that the additional burden of trying to do this may not be desirable, and shouldn’t be enforced), but it overlooks the actual lived experiences of this “ideal” figure: what is it costing her to fill this role? Why is she put in a position where she has to? Furthermore, why are you blaming those who cannot do it? While it may be inconvenient for you to “pick up the slack,” rather than blaming your disabled coworker, maybe ask why your employer is setting you both up to fail--why is your coworker being asked to work beyond their ability, and why are you? Why is the workplace not setup to accommodate for disability?

This also ties into another of Stone’s points: that we imagine individuals are “totally able or totally disabled, with no in-between,” and that disability cannot be concealed (418); essentially, in the hegemonic imagination if someone is disabled they should not only experience the same amount of disability at all times, but should be completely (and visibly) disabled. The employed disabled figure is something of a paradox: while neoliberal Model Minority figures exist, those with visible disabilities must either be able to achieve this status, or be viewed as unemployable; this comes out in sentiments along the lines of “Well, if they were able to do x,y,z task last week, they can do it today!” and “All I’m saying is if they can’t do the job, they shouldn’t work here!” With invisible disabilities, it largely comes out as a complete refusal to believe the person in question is disabled; this doesn’t always mean a specific belief that the person is lying, but rather a refusal to engage with, on a meaningful level, the idea that a person who “looks” healthy and normal has real limitations that impact their ability to do things, and is not just “being lazy” when they can’t do something.

So what’s the solution to this? Ultimately, what I want is good allyship. Think critically before you speak. Ask yourself why is it so important to you that your coworkers, who are “suffering extremely” are also meeting your standards of productivity. Look for ways to make your workplace or classroom more accessible. And above all else, try to find ways to build solidarity; instead of praising the woman who is working despite suffering, ask what you and others can do to alleviate the suffering.  

#disability studies #ableism #ableism in the work place #capitalism #neoliberalism #disability #essay #long post #popular

[cllynchauthor]

That post you made was a mess, just fyi. 1) I went through the thread you linked, and I found the authors reasonable and respectable. The playwriter's worked with people with disabilities for 10 years, and it's clear he cares about the issue. 2) The fact Lawrence is a puppy isn't automatically pejorative. That's how art works. I haven't seen the play, but it's probably a metaphor for the teen's lack of agency or something like that. Also writing something a certain way doesn't mean you -

“- approve of it. Have you even seen the play? 3) Please stop pretending anyone represents the autistic community and that you guys speak with one voice. It’s seriously dehumanizing to think a large and diverse group of people shares the same views. In that view there is an autistic man who loved the play - I guess his voice doesn’t count because he disagrees with you?”

--

I love this anon message because it contains pretty much every argument that people are using against the autistic folk protesting this play. 

Like, I’ve been watching #puppetgate unfold since day one, read the reviews, read the responses from @allinarowplay. You think I haven’t heard these points before?

I’ve read them so many times now in tweets and reviews that your message just looks like one of those ransom notes that are made from cut and pasted words out of the newspaper.

But since Tumblr is new to #puppetgate, SURE, let’s address them! 

First of all, my #puppetgate summary was a truthful, if flippant, tl;dr of the past two weeks’ worth of Twitter drama. 

I apologize if my brief humorous take on a complex and nuanced debate didn’t meet the standards of a random stranger on the internet. 

Let’s discuss it in more serious detail.

1) You can care about an issue and still handle it really poorly. No one doubts this playwright’s intentions. But, as you say, he was a CARER for 10 years. That doesn’t mean he understands how it feels to be autistic and in fact, ableism is built right into ABA and other therapies used by carers. 

So yeah, he cares. And he still made an ableist play.

Also, the thread you mention was BELOW the video I linked to wherein the puppet designer says, and I quote:

“Laurence is non-verbal, and the power that puppets have is that they explore movement and with a turn of their head or a small movement they give life and character that you wouldn’t achieve with a human actor.”

Which is why I snidely summarized their position as 

“ This puppet is going to be SO MUCH more like an autistic child than a human could ever be!”

https://twitter.com/allinarowplay/status/1092410318960148481

Also, there is a brief shot of their script in that video at 2:19 and if you pause it and look at it you can see that the parents are joking about how their kid is like a puppy.

“Shits wherever he wants” is clearly visible.

This is the stuff the positive reviews consider funny, honest, and brave.

According to reviews, the child is present in the background throughout most of the play. Which means they talk like this IN FRONT OF HIM and this is never brought up as an issue/problem. 

In fact, non-autistic reviewers don’t even seem bothered by it, probably because they share the common misperception that non-verbal high needs autistic people don’t understand what is going on around them. So…. yeah. I don’t care how well meaning the playwright was. 

The playwright consulted the National Autistic Society and they told him they couldn’t support the play “due to its portrayal of autism, particularly the use of a puppet to depict the autistic character alone.”

But he didn’t change his mind about the puppet.

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/critics-say-new-play-that-uses-a-puppet-to-portray-an-autistic-boy-dehumanises-those-with-the-condition/ar-BBTk5kC

So again - sure, maybe he cares. But he also wasn’t willing to change his vision despite the warnings of the Autism organization that he was hoping would endorse his play. 

2) Of course a puppet isn’t inherently pejorative. For one thing, the autistic community is very positive about Julia, the autistic muppet on Sesame Street.

The outrage involves a lot more nuance than that. First of all, it’s the choice to make the puppet grey and ugly. This was obviously an artistic decision. The first version of the puppet has black hair too and no eyes, just dark sockets like a skull. 

Not exactly Julia.  

And even with that, I was on the fence and willing to wait for the reviews to come out before I made a judgement. 

Like you, I thought perhaps it would be made clear in the play that his puppet-ness and greyness represented lack of agency. And maybe the designer was thinking that way. 

But if that is the case, it does not come across. 

In fact, the reviewers who enjoyed the play repeatedly dismiss the controversy by saying that the play “isn’t really about Laurence.” 

https://www.timeout.com/london/theatre/all-in-a-row-review

“The production is also about the situation, rather than about Laurence himself.“

https://www.thereviewshub.com/all-in-a-row-southwark-playhouse-london/

“sadly the grey-faced puppet adds nothing to the production that a living actor – adult or child – could not have provided.”

I’ve read a LOT of reviews of this play by now. 

Reviews from mothers of autistic children who feel a kinship with the stressed, unhappy, dysfunctional parents. 

Reviews from people without a connection to autism who feel like they learned something. 

Reviews from autistic people and disabled allies who cringe at the ableism. 

None of them - NONE of them - allude to any kind of symbolism or thematic point running through the play which justifies or explains the puppet or its weird appearance.

And the reasons for the puppet given by the playwright, director, and playhouse make very little sense. 

In that promotional video I linked to they say that the puppet can communicate better than an actor could. I disagree. So does a non-verbal autistic mime who commented in the thread below. 

They also say that it allows them to avoid being offensive or stereotypical, which makes little sense because they still had a grown man grunting and flapping on stage, just with a puppet sprouting from his waist. 

They repeatedly argued that they couldn’t use an autistic child, as if acting wasn’t even a thing. They repeatedly argued that a human actor couldn’t do the sounds and movements, even though a human puppeteer was doing just that.

My favourite one was the review (linked above) that argued that “Laurence isn’t a character a person could play (neurotypical or not) as his autism is so particular and at times violent.”

...Has this guy never seen Titus Andronicus? 

A person can play ANYTHING.

On Broadway I have seen human actors play cats, lions, baboons, and witches. 

On multiple occasions a fine-boned actress has been used to play Peter Pan. I’m pretty sure you could cast a small actor to play a pre-teen boy. Then the play wouldn’t have attracted so much negative attention.

As for “writing something a certain way doesn’t mean you approve of it.”

True. 

My fans can tell you that my main character spouts a fair amount of ableism. They’ll also tell you that this flaw is addressed openly and resolved as part of her character arc. 

They’ll ALSO also tell you that the “villains” of my story embrace ableist ideals. So yes, I wrote ableist stuff. But you can tell by the waythese things are framed how the writer wants you to feel about them.

No, I haven’t seen the play because I don’t live in the same country as it and it would take 12 hours to fly there. But I read what people write about it and I draw my own conclusions.

And the fact that ableist jokes are punchlines does not endear me to the playwright or the puppet. 

You say you haven’t read the play, and from the sounds of it you haven’t read many reviews either. 

If you think it’s wrong for me to criticize it after watching all of this unfold over days and days, and reading a dozen reviews by people who loved it and people who hated it, then how is it right for you to defend it?

3) Aw, look at that straw man lying on its side! You did a good job there.

Nowhere in my puppetgate summary do I claim that 100% of autistic people feel the same way.

I was summarizing what has been going down on Twitter over the past two weeks. I know because I was there. Don’t believe me? Actually spendsome time on the puppetgate hashtag and the actuallyautistic hashtag and see what people are saying.

And of course less than 100% of #actuallyautistic people feel the same, but I want to point out that at the time of this writing, my #puppetgate summary post has nearly 11K notes, all of them expressing disgust at the idea of this play.

Autistic people are disgusted. Autism allies are disgusted. Even people with no connection to autism can often see why this is effed up.

Yours was the only message I have received trying to defend the idea of a play featuring a messed up family arguing, discussing bukkake, calling their child a “puppy” using language which results in the play being rated as 16 plus... all in front of their eleven year old…

But what really bothers me is that somehow people come out of there identifying with the parents and thinking that it is “brave” and “honest.” 

They blame autism for what it has done to this family.

THE DAD SHAT ON HIS WIFE’S PILLOW AND BLAMED IT ON HIS OWN SON.

And the really sad thing is that your lonely messages in my inbox didn’t contain a single unique thought. I’ve been seeing those tired excuses and straw man arguments all over twitter for weeks.

They don’t stand up.

I’ve performed in theatre. I was willing to withhold judgement until more details about the play emerged. 

I was hoping they would say something brilliant and profound about what life is like for an eleven year old child with autism who is being sent away because his messed up family can’t stand it any more.

But facts are facts… they didn’t.

All they are doing is telling audience after audience that it is funny to insult your autistic child in his very presence and that autism wrecks marriages.

You can understand why a LOT of autistic people would be a bit sensitive about that kind of message.

It doesn’t have to be everyone. 

#puppetgate #actuallyautistic