#ableism mention

[sin-esthezia]

the thing that gets me the most about ableism against pd’s is that ppl will be like “these disorders make you an ASSHOLE!!!!” and then turn around and pretend that other disorders can’t and don’t make you act shitty.

depression and anxiety can make you irritable and snappy. they can cause you to refuse to listen to people and to be distant and withdrawn. they can cause you to seem angry, bitchy, rude, uncaring, etc.

ptsd causes an array of difficulties in forming meaningful relationships. it pretty much shakes up your entire worldview and sense of self a lot of the time. ptsd can cause you to get angry often. it can cause you to yell and scream. it can cause you to withdraw from others, run away, or cut them out. it can cause general changes in demeanor and more cynical worldviews. it can make you seem grouchy, negative, explosive, impolite, difficult, needy, controlling, etc.

and yet when people with personality disorders have symptoms of that nature, suddenly we are irredeemable monsters. when it’s npd, bpd, hpd, or aspd instead of ptsd or depression and anxiety, people suddenly and magically lose the ability to be understanding.

mental illness is an explanation, not an excuse. i firmly believe that. hurting others is never justified simply because you have any disorder.

but if you can be patient with people who have depression, anxiety, ptsd, ocd, or any other more well understood mental illness, you can be patient with us.

#ableism #ableism mention #ableism tw #cluster b #cluster b positivity #npd #bpd #hpd #aspd #npd positivity #bpd positivity #hpd positivity #aspd positivity #narcissistic abuse #narcissistic abuse awareness #actually cluster b #actually bpd #actually npd #actually borderline #actually narcissistic

[talkingattumble]

Hi guys! Here’s some advice from a cane user on how to spot a fake cane user/disability faker!

YOU CANT

You can not spot a “fake disabled” cane user. You can not know if someone’s “really disabled”, much less by just looking at them. Here are some common misconceptions.

“Cane users always need their canes. If they walk without it or put it away when it’s inconvenient, they’re faking”: WRONG! Many cane users are what we call “ambulatory” cane users. This means they don’t always need their canes to walk. I’m an ambulatory cane user, and I experience really horrible leg pain on the daily. However, I don’t always use my cane, and when I don’t need to walk or stand a lot in a certain place I don’t use it. And when I do use it, I may lift it off the ground or carry it in places that are sandy, gravelly, or otherwise hinder my cane.

“Cane users walk abnormally without their canes, someone who walks normally without their cane is faking”: WRONG! Many ambulatory cane users can walk in a way that seems “normal”. This doesn’t mean they’re not in pain, or not “really disabled”. This just means that their condition doesn’t cause a noticeable difference in walking, and likely manifests in a different way.

“Cane users always need their cane, someone who doesn’t use their cane at home is faking”: WRONG! Cane users may not use their canes at home, because at home they may be able to do things like sit down wherever and whenever, regain more spoons, and use other mobility aids. Additionally, some ambulatory cane users only need or use their canes when they are doing something physically taxing, like going on a hike or standing in a long line.

“My cane user friend told me this person looks like they’re faking, so it must be true”: WRONG! Being a cane user doesn’t immediately make you an expert on all different conditions and experiences. Your friend does not know the random cane user walking down the street, they are going off looks and stereotypes. Disabled people are not immune to being ableist.

“They enjoy their cane too much/they’re too happy/they decorate their cane, so they can’t actually be in enough pain to need a cane” WRONG! We’re people like everyone else, and we experience positive emotions too, even if we go through a lot of pain. To me, customizing my cane is like getting a tattoo or putting streaks in my hair, it’s a way of self expression. And we deserve to be able to talk openly about our full experience, which include the parts we’re neutral or happy about.

“They’re one of those cringey teenagers who name themselves arson and like dsmp, so they’re probably faking” WRONG! Do I even have to explain why saying someone isn’t disabled because of their name and interests is messed up and also stupid? Or did you already know that and just wanted to make fun of a disabled teenager?

“They’re too young to be using a cane, so they must be faking” WRONG! there are lots of disabilities or injuries that can cause young people to need a mobility aid. For example, I use a cane for my fibromyalgia.

“They only use it in private places, and never in places where people recognize them, so they must be faking” WRONG! In a world where anyone can just randomly take out their phone, take a picture of a cane user, and post them online to be made fun of, it can be stressful to use a cane in public areas. Also, they may not want people to ask questions, or they may feel embarrassed about it.

“I saw them switch hands, so they must be faking” WRONG! There are different reasons a cane used might do this, but I’m going to use my experience as an example. My fibromyalgia is not consistent. Sometimes one leg hurts more then the other. But as I said, fibromyalgia is inconsistent, and sometimes my other leg will start to hurt more or need more support, which is when I switch hands. And when both my legs hurt equally, I may switch my hand if it’s getting too sore.

“They told me they feel like they’re faking when they use their cane, doesn’t that mean they don’t really need it?” WRONG! Imposter syndrome is strong in a lot of disabled people, especially when for a lot of our lives we were told by doctors that we were fine and just being dramatic. Anxiety is also comorbid with a lot of physically disabilities, which only strengthens this. To add to this, something that I’ve felt and seen other disabled people talk about it, when their disability aid lessens the pain, they start thinking “well I’m not in that much pain so I don’t really need it” even though the reason they’re not in that much pain is because of the aid. I know it seems dumb, but imposter syndrome can be that strong and affects disabled people a lot.

“They don’t have a diagnosis, so they must be faking” WRONG! First of all, diagnoses are expensive. On their own they’re often already expensive, but counting the tons of tests you have to take to confirm the diagnosis? Absolutely ludicrous. Some may also choose not to get a diagnosis, so that they don’t have to deal with the prejudice and setbacks of being diagnosed. Also, some people use a cane for injuries, and for stress or fatigue related pains.

These are only a few of the things I commonly hear from fakeclaimers, and I wanted to just put out a reminder that fakeclaiming hurts the disabled community much, much more than it does ableists. Next time you see someone with a cane switch hands, or someone with a wheelchair stand up, or someone with crutches put them down, before you immediately call them out to a friend, take a picture, or write a post: does your fakeclaim rely on stereotypes? Are your reasons things that apply to ambulatory aid users?

If so, just stop. Be mindful. Please.

#fuck fakeclaimers #fakeclaiming cw #anti fakeclaiming #disability #cane user #mobility aid #ableism mention #fibromyalgia #mobility aid user

[prokopetz]

I think a lot of the skepticism and derision toward the idea of "gifted kid burnout" stems from the fact that a lot of folks have no idea what the gifted track in most high schools actually looks like; they've got this mental image, possibly informed by popular media depictions, of "gifted kids" as a privileged group of students who get to go on extra field trips, monopolise the teachers' attention in class, and constantly be told how special they are, but who are otherwise treated identically to all the other kids.

In practice, the gifted track in most high schools – most North American high schools, at any rate – has the same problem as any other educational program: the need to adhere to published metrics. These programs exist for the benefit of students only insofar as those benefits can empirically be measured, which leads to several common outcomes:

Students on the gifted track being afforded fewer choices regarding elective classes – often to the extent of having no choices at all – in order to stream the highest-performing students into the subjects that are most valuable in terms of boosting institutional metrics.

Students on the gifted tracking receiving restricted access to educational resources such as tutoring because it's perceived as a waste of funding. In many cases, gifted students are not only denied access to tutoring, but expected to serve as volunteer tutors and teaching assistants themselves, effectively becoming a source of unpaid educational labour for the schools they attend.

Students on the gifted track being assigned considerably more homework, often literally doubling their workload in an environment where homework loads are already routinely high enough that kids have difficulty finding time to eat and sleep, simply because you get more measurable academic performance data that way.

The upshot is that the gifted track is often less about fun perks and constant praise, and more about receiving less freedom, fewer resources, and heavier workloads than one's peers, getting strong-armed into providing unpaid labour to the school on top of it, and constantly being told one should be grateful for it – and that's without touching on the fact that the unspoken secondary purpose of many gifted programs is to serve as a quarantine for all the neurodivergent kids the school couldn't find an excuse to institutionalise or expel.

Like, shit, there's a reason kids on the gifted track exhibit elevated rates of alcoholism and substance abuse compared to general student populations. That doesn't arise in a vacuum!

(To be clear, I'm not saying that people graduating from high school and immediately having an existential crisis upon realising they're not special after all isn't a thing that happens, but in my experience that's more usually something that happens to the kids who were on the football team, and reframing it as a nerd culture thing is really weird.)

#life #school #education #ableism mention #alcohol mention #drugs mention #swearing

[sonicaspeed123]

You don't get to misgender people yes even if you think they're cringe (get over it), yes even if you don't understand it (get Over It), yes even if you think they're a terrible person (irrelevent), yes even if they have done objectively horrible harmful things (still irrelevent,) and yes, even if you think they "can't really know for sure" because of their disability (that's fucking ableist, shut your goddamn mouth.)

#youtube tried to push me ANOTHER fucking chr/is-chan video and I'm seeing red #i could literally talk for hours about the decades- plural- DECADES-long ABUSE campaign but its not really my fucking business. #i WILL bitch about the notion that disabled people somehow don't know themselves well enough to be trans. go to fucking hell #ableism mention

[yardsards]

tired of everyone on here reducing icepick joe down to haha funny stabby man

like i DO like the jokes and memes, don't get me wrong, but like

there's SO MUCH to his character and he really does tie into goncharov's main themes

like. we're told early on the he was put into a mental institution as a young man due to his breakdown and inconsolable grief at losing his older brother giorno (who was his only living family and basically a father figure to him!)

wherein he was mistreated and was HEAVILY IMPLIED to be scheduled for a lobotomy before he escaped. (in fact, some interpretations say he actually received and survived the lobotomy, citing his manner of speaking and his lack of impulse control. but that's a whole separate discussion because i can honestly see both sides)

and then he turns to a life of crime because that's basically the only option he had left, after being deprived of so many opportunities in his youth (and the fear of being caught and involuntarily institutionalized again)

and him eventually leaning into the role of "violent madman" that the world thrust onto him for showing signs of mental illness in a way that was nonviolent, but was loud and inconvenient and impossible for those around him to simply push away.

and him taking his rage out at the same world that not only killed his brother but forced him to undergo years of psychiatric abuse and basically dehumanization

(like seriously, how do SO MANY people miss the connection between him using an icepick as a weapon and the concept of an ICEPICK lobotomy)

which. yknow. ties heavily into the film's theme of people being pushed to society's margins and forced into a life of crime, instead of given the help they desperately needed

and then like.

his fucking death scene. he tries to put a stop to the cycle of senseless violence, taking the fall for andrey, telling michailov that *he* was the one who killed luciana

him kneeling down and allowing michailov to bash him through the skull with his very own icepick. it's more lobotomy symbolism; dying from the very thing he spent his whole life running from. further driving home the film's themes of repeating cycles and futility

and then, to drive it all home, that sacrifice didn't even end up stopping the cycle of violence! because andrey viewed joe as basically an older brother (mirroring joe and giorno) and tried to get revenge on michailov for killing joe.

like. come on.

#eliot posts #goncharov #ice pick joe #valery michailov #andrey daddano #goncharov meta #psychiatric abuse mention #unreality #death mention #violence mention #ableism mention #involuntary institutionalization tw #lobotomy

[akindplace]

This is a reminder for you to take the medication prescribed to you if you’re feeling sick, instead of trying to push through without it. Don’t wait until your pain gets too high and intolerable. You don’t need to prove to anyone you’re sick enough to get help, to go to the doctor, to get proper medication. Most people don’t live in pain daily, and it’s okay to need something to soothe that. You’re not weaker for needing it. You’re not a burden or an annoyance when you ask for help. You don’t need to break down before you get help, to wait until it gets “bad enough” to have any relief.

You deserve take care of your body, and it’s not morally wrong to need assistance, you don’t need to do it all on your own and it doesn’t mean you failed. I’m sorry someone made you feel like it was a bad thing to take medication, as if you had no control over yourself, as if you were being dramatic. You don’t have to prove your pain to them, but you need to validate what you feel and seek proper care. Please take care. You’re not meant to live in constant pain.

#disability #chronic illness #ableism mention #self-care #self-worth #on being human #perfectionism #validation #reminder #original writing

[jojo-heritage-posts]

Not a submission but sympathy, when my class read curious incident my teacher made us write about how hard it would be to love an autistic person bc they don’t have emotions even tho my accommodation had my documented autism diagnosis

GOD.

#nothing to say actually. just hats off soldier for getting through that #reverse over here. definitely autistic but no diagnosis #not heritage post #asks #ableism mention

[disabledopossum]

Image description:

Text reads:

"Ableism looks like calling people ‘inspiring’ for navigating asystem that is designed for exclusion, while doing nothing to hold the system accountable."

- Carson Tueller

#Ableism #disability rights #disabilities #abelism #disability #ableism tw #ableism cw #ableism in media #ableism discussion #ableism mention #disability justice #chronically ill

[eriophorumcallitrix]

ok so i wanna talk about my biggest gripe with the latest reason for disliking tubbo. this ended up accidentally being a more in-depth character explanation from my/tubbos pov. and boy do I mean the compulsive overexplanation really popped off on this one

(disclaimer: you’re obviously allowed to dislike any character you want, I’m not your mom and I’m just voicing my own view + experiences lol)

one of the biggest criticisms for him im seeing as of the moment is that he’s being annoying. and I completely agree. I think he’s being inflammatory at really awful times. but what I don’t agree with is the lack of discussion about why he’s acting this way. chalking his callousness up to simple neglect or lack of care is a disservice to his character.

my interpretation of tubbos current mental state and how he got here is like this:

tension has been high strung for weeks now due to the egg island workers showing up and harassing people. they’ve killed empanada, and there really does not seem to be shit they can do about it. the federation doesn’t give a shit, the workers are OP as all hell, and tubbo has tried everything in his power to keep sunny and her siblings safe. not even his busted set of armor kept him from getting three-tapped. like tubbo said: “why try if there’s no chance of winning?”

so already, he’s depressed and frustrated with himself for not being able to do a damn thing to keep the people he loves safe.

then we get into his relationships with the people around him. in tubbos eyes, pac and fit are forming a close relationship that he feels is going to leave him behind. pac, fit and Ramon have each other now. they’re family now in a way that tubbo doesn’t seem to be a part of now. I can’t remember if he said this exactly, but it was along the lines of: well now there’s not going to be any space for me [if they’re that close.] his closest friends are moving on without him, and there’s nothing he can do about that either.

now we have a depressed barely-adult guy whose self esteem has TANKED because he feels like there’s no use for him anymore. his friends are moving on without him and the only thing he’s good for is how useful he can be to others.

except for sunny.

it barely took a week for them to get attached to each other, and now it’s them against the world. sunny is all he needs, and tubbo is all she needs. they mean everything to each other, and would burn it all down if it made the other smile. and right now? it’s looking like it’ll be just them against the world until further notice.

but sunny has her friends. she has her siblings! she loves them to death and they love her to death too. she has her accountant bad, her bodyguard fit and driver pac! (if I remember correctly xd) and they’ve got her. sunny can trust them, and has them to stick around for.

tubbo does not have this. don’t get him wrong, he’s incredibly grateful that she’s got people on her side that love her other than him! but this doesn’t come without unspoken jealousy and resentment. not resentment towards sunny, obviously, but definitely some jealousy of her relationships with the others. and possible resentment towards the others for not sparing the same kindness towards him.

this is where I tie back to my original point. the difference between sunny and her pa is mostly communication and trust of others. sunny is willing to communicate and trust others, and tubbo is not.

to start with why tubbo isn’t communicating with others right now: i believe he’s reached the point of emotional shutdown. he has tried his damndest to do what he can to resolve the situation and nothing has worked. this is already something I believe is stressing him out really badly, thus taking up a significant portion of his emotional threshold.

and now he can’t even seek solace or help in his friends because he cannot let himself trust them.

he has tried to give out cries for help in ways that aren’t necessarily straightforward. and he’s also said some seriously worrying things lately under the guise of being jokes. i don’t blame the others for not getting that, but I still can’t help but wonder why nobody’s really thought to look any deeper into it? like don’t get me wrong, tubbo says some completely inane shit sometimes. but has the frequency of these “jokes” and his inflammatory behavior not tipped anyone off at all?

regardless, tubbo feels like he’s tried. he’s not that good at communicating, and even when he is, he may not come off as treating the situation with proper sensitivity. it’s already a struggle to communicate, not even mentioning trying to ask for help. this is a whole other layer to wondering why he even tries doing things “right.”

he already thinks people only keep him around for what he can provide, so thats the only thing he thinks he’s got going for him and he’s barely hanging onto it too.

so as a result of not knowing how to cope with the situations around him and pretty much being extended past his emotional capability, he acts out. he doesn’t want fit and pac together because they’re gonna leave him behind. so he tries to ruin it. it doesn’t work, and they are continuing to move on without him. so he constantly comments on how annoying it is, and in a way, tries to get them to push him away themselves. he just wants a resolution to this hurt he’s feeling, and he wants them to just get “the move away” over already. but obviously that’s not gonna happen.

so he makes insensitive jokes, says stupid shit and does stupid shit too. he lies and blames others. he wants his friends to push him away already and give him a good reason to finally run away with sunny and completely isolate. this is beyond his capabilities, and all he needs at this point is a solid reason for him to finally hit the ground running.

but each day he comes back to spawn, doing everything he can to not completely lose it for sunny. he’s trying his best to keep it together for her, and he can’t let himself be weak. admitting his feelings in the place he’s currently in would end up coming out as a breakdown. and he cannot let the people around him see that. it would be a fatal error to open up when he cannot trust the feds nor the egg island workers not to take advantage of his weakness. and he needs to be there for sunny, to at the very least protect her if nothing else.

so essentially: tubbo is past his emotional threshold and is barely keeping it together. the facade is slipping and the harshness/what people perceive as annoying is continuously slipping out from the cracks.

(with this next bit, this is just me recognizing autistic patterns of behavior in myself + some others in tubbo’s character. i dont actually know if he’s autistic this is just me drawing parallels from my experience. and how I have seen these behaviors be treated within the qsmp fandom. don’t say I’m armchair diagnosing him or whatever for the love of god please)

so tubbo cannot cope with the situations around him, which is resulting in his mask slipping. he’s fully aware that he’s being insensitive and kind of an ass, but he is quite literally past his capability of keeping up with social niceties at this point. and i do think the unnecessary jokes in bad taste are purposefully to get people to either notice something is wrong or to get them to push him away so he doesn’t keep hurting their feelings.

and people getting onto him about communication I think simply do not get how utterly difficult it is to communicate when you have reached the point where you’re struggling to mask. not to mention the danger he could put himself in by being vulnerable to others on top of that. so ultimately, brushing off his fears and character traits as a simple “he could do this but doesn’t want to/is just stubborn and annoying for no reason/for a reason that isn’t good enough for me” is kind of ridiculous. it also reminds me of some things I’ve been told in relation to my struggles with autism, but that’s just me. not that i think people are actually being ableist but i do think some of y’all’s arguments are slipping a little too close to ableist rhetoric.

once again you’re allowed to dislike whoever you want and think they’re annoying, but i would encourage you to think a little more in depth as to why you think they’re annoying.

(and I’m not saying some people don’t like autistic traits that aren’t cute n quirky but… it’s getting a little too close for comfort >_>)

#1.5k words fml #qsmp tubbo #qsmp discourse #discourse #flying a little close to the sun with this one methinks #ableism mention #3 am word vomit about one of my faves. who could’ve seen this coming

[ndcultureis]

ND culture is people calling you a liar for saying you’re neurodivergent, just because your neurodiversity doesn’t fall into the norm. I’ve even had people within the ND community tell me this. And it sucks.

.

#neurodivergent culture #actually neurodivergent #mod emri #ableism mention #tw ableism

[star-trek-fandom-confessions]

#222

"I like the theory/headcanon that Tendi has Borderline Personality Disorder and that Rutherford and T'Lyn are both a favorite person for her. Often, ableism is why Hollywood portrays people with BPD as villains so a nice good guy character like Tendi having BPD would be positive representation for once."

#i think that's a beautiful headcanon! #p.s. i tried posting this once and tumblr glitched weirdly #if post you see another post identical to this please let me know #confession 222 #star-trek-fandom-confessions #star trek #lower decks #d'vana tendi #sam rutherford #t'lyn #bpd #borderline personality disorder #ableism mention

[prokopetz]

If you think about it, certain elements of Star Trek canon are the diametric opposite of that ableist “prosthetics eat your soul” stuff that tends to crop up in cyberpunk fiction, and I mean that in the most literal possible way.

Like, take Geordi’s VISOR. This is an objectively unhinged piece of technology. Every time he puts it on, he’s getting a firehose blast of full-spectrum input that would literally melt his sensory cortex if not for the fact that he also has special implants juicing up his processing power, effectively existing in a permanent state of controlled sensory overload. He’s constantly one missed calibration session away from burning his own brain out every time he looks at something. Under ordinary circumstances, anyone who did that to themselves would be viewed as insane by most Federation citizens, and depending on which version of Star Trek canon you subscribe to, it might actually be illegal – but because Geordi’s doing it to compensate for being blind, for him it’s okay. And this is far from the only example.

Basically, Federation culture is cool with transhuman body augmentation if and only if you’re doing it to compensate for a disability, and that has a lot of Implications.

#media #television #star trek #geordi la forge #tropes #ableism mention

[just-late-roman-republic-things]

Thinking about how Agrippa and Octavian both:

Were the youngest kids in families that already had male heirs (Agrippa's brother Lucius; Octavian's stepbrother Philippus)

Were physically disabled as children (Octavian was chronically ill; Agrippa had a limp)

Grew up in a culture that mistreated and often abandoned disabled kids outright

Were considered outsiders to the Roman political establishment (hence why Octavian exaggerated the story that Caesar had adopted him)

Refused to go by their birth families' names as adults

#agrippa's disability is in Pliny's Natural History (LCL 352:535-536) #octavian's posthumous adoption was *technically* real but he exaggerated its meaning for propaganda reasons #octavian #jlrrt speaks #ableism mention #marcus agrippa

[queerbauten]

Look, I know N95 and equivalent masks are the most protective against all strains of COVID (which is part of why I use them—the other part being that I can afford them), but

As a disabled essential worker, I would much rather see someone in a surgical or cloth mask than someone not try at all.

These masks aren't as protective as N95 and equivalent masks, but I'd rather people were to at least try stopping the spread of at least some variants, especially if surgical or cloth masks are all they can afford.

I've seen a lot of panic on social media about the reduced effectiveness of certain masks, and I'm concerned that could lead to otherwise well-meaning people giving up entirely.

Please don't give up.

#COVID-19 #if your analysis of the pandemic and its related safety measures doesn't account for class #shut up forever #classism #ableism mention #just in case

[leaslichoma]

I've been fascinated with the Aztec god Xolotl recently.

Xolotl (pronunced Sho-lo-t followed by an L like sound that doesn't exist in the English language) was a Mesoamerican god associated with many things, including fire, lightning, disease, deformity, twins, the Mesoamerican ball game, death, dogs, the planet Venus as the evening star, twilight, shapeshifting, and monsters. Xolotl was the twin and sometimes companion of his more famous brother Quetzalcoatl. Xolotl was thought to guide the dead in their journey through the underworld, and to guide the sun through the underworld each night. Xolotl is usually depicted as either a dog anthro, a man with a dog head, or a dwarf skeletal jester. Xolotl is usually depicted missing eyes. Xolotl seems to have been feared by the Aztecs and especially hated by the Spanish, but I have a more favorable view.

Some of the most prominent myths about Xolotl involve the story of the fifth sun, or how the current world was made from the previous, destroyed one.

The first myth involves the recreation of humanity. The tales differ as to whether Quetzalcoatl was responsible, Xolotl was responsible, or if it was a collaborative effort. The humans of the fourth world were destroyed, and humanity had to be brought back. To this end Xolotl and/or Quetzalcoatl traveled to the Aztec underworld, Mictlan and met with its king, Mictlantecutli. The god(s) asked to gather the bones of the previous humans so they could be created anew. Mictlantecutli. Mictlantecutli gives them tests but later decides against letting them gather the bones. Xolotl and/or Quetzalcoatl fall into pit, breaking the bones in the process which is why people have different heights. The bones are later resurrected. The versions of this tale differ as to which god went to Mictlan and whether they did tests for Mictlantecutli or simply stole the bones.

In the second myth, the gods are sacrificing themselves in a fire to create a fifth sun for humanity because the previous one went out. They choose Nanahuatzin, a poor and humble god with syphilis and some relation to Xolotl to become the moon; and Tecciztecatl to become the sun because he is wealthy and strong. However, Tecciztecatl is unable to throw himself in the fire when the time comes, so Nanahuatzin becomes the sun instead. Tecciztecatl is sacrificed after and becomes the moon (and also the man on the moon), but has a rabbit thrown at his face which is one explanation for the rabbit people sometimes see.

Later, Xolotl is the last to be sacrificed to the new sun. In some versions this is because he was the executioner for the previous gods. However, in some tales he refuses to sacrifice himself. Xolotl begs and cries until his eyes literally fall out but this does nothing. Xolotl transforms to escape Ehecatl who has been executing other gods to make the sun move. Xolotl at first transforms into a corn plant with two stalks, then an Agave americana, and finally an Axolotl amphibian. But he was still caught in the end.

What I find most interesting about Xolotl is his relation to disability. Since deformities are among Xolotl's best known domains, he could be considered a god of disabilities as well. Xolotl is also a god of monsters, and it's worth mentioning that the Nahua word "Xolo" which his name is derived from and means monster, is used for both mythological monsters and those with physical abnormalities, much like the Latin word "Monstrum". (I think in literature analysis the themes of monsters as outcasts could be explored more) In many, perhaps even most historical (and unfortunately even modern) societies the attitude towards those with disabilities has been very negative. In the Aztec world twins were considered unnatural, and sometimes one of them would be murdered shortly after birth. Wikipedia mentions an speculation by Eduard Seler that resonates with me: that Xolotl represents the murdered twin who dwells in the underworld while Quetzalcoatl is the living one who is cherished in the world of light.

Another connection with Xolotl and disability is that he was sometimes depicted as a jester with dwarfism. It's relevant the jesters around the world were often disabled. European court jesters were known for having the freedom to criticize and mock royalty, and were sometimes selected from the intellectually disabled because they could not be held responsible for what they said. Additionally, the Spanish during the colonization of the Aztecs sent some Aztec jesters to Spain, who were described as humpbacks.

This is what I find most interesting about Xolotl, that he is a reflection or shadow of society. Historically Xolotl was often considered a sinister god, but when society is itself sinister who is to be believed? My view of Xolotl is more favorable. The god of the disabled is feared because the disabled are hated. Xolotl is the outcast, who is hated and feared yet has done no wrong. Xolotl is the murdered twin, who looks upon the world of light and life, from a place of darkness, the world he was not given, never had the right to enjoy. He is the god who is looked upon with disgust due to his role in hardship, yet is the only one who stays with you through that hardship the entire time. Xolotl is the disabled child, who is called a child of shame and hidden away in some institution to be forgotten by their more privileged relatives. Xolotl is viewed with contempt, but his domains are just as necessary to the universe's function as any of the more handsome gods. The janitor, who is viewed with contempt and disgust yet whose works are vital for society.

The "evil twin" Xolotl, misunderstood twin and hound of Quetzalcoatl who lives in the world's shadow, watching the world of life and guarding the light of the sun through the underworld.

#LONG POST #xolotl #aztecs #aztec mythology #aztec religion #aztec gods #mexica mythology #mesoamerica #ableism cw #cw ableism #ableism tw #ableism mention #infanticide mention #filicide mention #mesoamerican mythology #infodump #infodumping

[ghostonly]

I see a lot of discourse about what is or isn't allowed to be called body horror. It's a topic that is very close to home for a lot of people, namely, in the disabled community. Abled people will often tag things relating to disability as body horror, and that's understandably very upsetting when it relates to something that is someone's normal.

But on the other hand, I have also seen a lot of people, perhaps overzealous disability allies, or perhaps even overly sensitive disabled people, who more or less call for the complete removal of the term.

The term body horror exists for a reason

Not only is it useful in discussing the contents of something, but it serves as a pretty common and necessary trigger warning.

The question of what is or isn't allowed to be called body horror really comes down to

A) Extremity

And

B) Context

The term and trigger tag exist to shield people from content that is psychologically disturbing or triggering to them. You cannot simply divide the Okay uses and Not Okay uses by saying "if it's a medical condition, you can't call it body horror"

Extreme medical conditions involving missing body parts, prosthetics, visible transplants, extreme scarring, and so on can be triggering to a lot of people - and not just abled people who are bothered by disability in general.

These things can also be triggering to other disabled people, especially those who associate certain medical conditions, situations, treatments, etc with their own medical abuse.

Now, the most important fucking part of whether something can be called body horror or not is CONTEXT

If someone is talking about a video game, such as the new Legend of Zelda game, and giving warning to other people about an opening scene focused on nonconsensual grafting of a new arm while Link is completely unconscious, the use of the term body horror can absolutely apply. It is related to the body, and the situation is horrifying. Someone who is sensitive to body horror needs to be warned about the topic.

A photo of someone who only has one arm is not body horror.

You do not tag someone's fucking selfie as body horror, so help me god. If there is a visible prosthesis or it's a closeup of where their stump had been scarred closed, it's appropriate to tag those as Prosthesis, Prosthetic, Scarring, Scars, or Medical. If people are sensitive to these specific things, they can blacklist them.

Are we getting it?

Say it with me:

Body horror is a topic or genre.

Body horror is not a real life person.

A real life person comes with useable descriptors, and none of them include "body horror"

Fantasy genres and topics and situations, including medical subjects, can be called body horror. The term "body horror" is used to describe the topic or genre, not the character in the fantasy setting. If someone violently loses a limb in a game or TV show, them being an amputee is not body horror. It's the violent loss of the limb that's body horror. Please, go ahead and ask anyone who violently lost a limb if the situation that led to amputation was flowery and comfortable for them. I really, really doubt it.

In fact, I would hazard a guess that someone who lost a leg to a car accident may actually be very triggered by witnessing that happening on TV. Just a guess.

And on the topic of ableism, some of you abled people have no fucking idea the kind of shit disabled people go through on a regular basis and your ignorance is genuinely embarrassing to read, so please spare us all and keep your mouth shut about whether you think someone's medical trigger is acceptable to you or not.

#absolutely do not go anywhere near the notes on that linked post #they're crawling with people just being sickeningly ableist #ableism mention #body horror mention #loz #legend of Zelda #Zelda #disability #disabled #actually disabled #chronically ill #chronic illness #medical abuse mention