#affected disabled person

[eggings]

happy disability pride month to anyone who has a disability from a condition that “usually isn’t a disability”. happy disability pride month to people with disabilities that aren’t often understood by able-bodied people. happy disability pride month to people who don’t have any official diagnosis yet. happy disability to people whose “labs look completely fine”. wishing you peace this july.

#first sentence is phrased a little weird but i’m mainly referring to adhd #and the amount that it is not taken seriously even when it majorly affects someone’s life #anyways sorry if i phrased anything bad these are all based on personal experiences #actually adhd #actually autistic #adhd #autism #ocd #pots #heds #fibromyalgia #disability pride month #chronic pain #sleep disorders

[uncanny-tranny]

Being in pain and anguish can make you a deeply unpleasant person when it starts to grate on you to the core of your soul how unwell you are, and it really can make interacting with others so much harder.

It is hard to be around other people when you're in pain, and the sounds around you quite literally hurt, and you feel the crushing weight of reality settling deep on your chest and throat, and it feels like the world is against you. It's hard to be "pleasant" when everything feels stacked against you.

I hope to be with all of you in a metaphorical way. It's hard to be disabled and to act "normal." It's important to recognize that we can become so entrenched in the horrors of disability and pain that we lash out because when we recognize the cause, we can start finding ways to notice what might help.

Disability can feel like you're turned into a shell of who you thought you "should" be. Give yourself the space to grieve if you need to. I know it's hard. Take it a day at a time.

#disability #since i made this with the thought of disability in mind + the ways that it affects every little part of your life #it feels so hard to be in pain and then to snap at somebody because your disability gives you a shorter fuse... #...and you KNOW that this isn't their fault and you tell them that but it's still rough... #...and it feels like you're just not worthy of being loved after that because they were innocent... #...but that impulse to self-persecute is a slow and cruel killer #i think this is something so many disabled people especially are ashamed to talk about when it applies to them #because it's uncomfortable and scary and you don't want to be or be seen as a Bad Person #but you aren't bad. you're unwell and that isn't Bad and it doesnt MAKE you bad

[psychoticallytrans]

There are three main models of disability that are in common use. The moral model, the medical model, and the social model.

You may not have heard of the moral model before, but if you are disabled, you have felt the impact of it. The moral model is disability as a failure of character. It sources the problem of disability in the character of the disabled person. It's the people who insist that if you just tried harder, were better, had a better attitude, that you would no longer be disabled. It is a model that is used by ableists in order to conceptualize of disability as a failing of the individual. An extreme example of this mindset are the Christian Scientists, who believe that all illnesses and disabilities should be healed by the grace of their god and that if you are not healed, something is wrong with you. It is the the most cruel of the models, and the least successful at assisting disabled people.

The medical model is the model used by the medical establishment and by those who put their stock in medical authority. It sources the problem of disability in the body. It measures disability against a theoretical average person, and seeks to make disabled people match that average person more closely. This model works very well for disabled people with disabilities that can be measured, have a potential treatment plan, and want their disability gone. It does not work very well for people who do not match all three criteria. If they match the first and second but not the third, then strict adherents of the medical model often fall back on the moral model, stating that they are stupid, lazy, or selfish for not being interested in being cured. This also often happens if treatment fails to improve the condition of the disabled person.

The social model is a newer model, largely designed by disability activists and scholars and often defined in opposition to the medical model. It sources the problem of disability in the interaction between the disabled person and their physical and social environment. It argues that the solution of disability is to change the environment so that impairments are no longer an issue. This model works very well for disabled people who consider their disability not to be an issue when fully accommodated. It does not work well for people who consider their disability an inherent impairment and/or desire a cure. Strict adherents of the social model often fall back on the moral model when considering these people, stating that they are short-sighted or that they worship the medical model. These are the people who state things such as that depression would not exist in a world without capitalism.

When a disabled person fails to behave as expected by the model a person has of disability, the moral model is almost always the fallback position, because many people cannot conceive of why someone would disagree with them other than a lack of good character. This is a problem, because the moral model proposes no solution but to ignore or abuse the disabled person until they behave as expected.

Another notable interaction is that adherents of the medical model can often be persuaded to support the more traditional parts of the social model, such as providing large text resources to people with impaired vision, so long as there is empirical research backing it. However, they rarely support more radical arguments that challenge how we define disability and how society should be structured or restructured.

All three models have major failure points. The moral model fails every disabled person it is applied to. The medical and social models both fail different disabled people when adhered to strictly. The best approach at the moment seems to be hybridizing the social and medical models, so that they cover each other's weak points and fit the needs of the widest spectrum of disabled people. The main barrier to this is that they are often defined in opposition to each other.

#I personally adhere to a hybridized model of the medical and social models that I informally call the independence model #If an individual is disabled or not is their personal call #as is what they do about it. #it does need to be acknowledged who is considered disabled by our society and how that will affect someone #even if they do not consider themselves disabled #Medical care and accommodations should be available to whoever wants it #but should never be forced or pressed on anyone #Public spaces and events should be accessible to as wide a variety of people as possible #The main failure point of the independence model is that it does not call for a single clear solution #and basing a model around personal choice makes it difficult to make policy proposals

[hotwaterandmilk]

I'm still not well so this isn't going to be articulate, but I wanted to say something anyway.

In the wake of Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies (amongst other titles) being purged from streaming I've seen countless posts saying "This is terrible, we need to stop this practice -- they might purge a good show next!" and yeah, for sure a lot of titles being impacted by streaming purges/lack of physical media/a decline in archiving right now aren't going to be remembered for changing the world.

However, I think it is vital that we fight to preserve these titles for their own sake not just because "What if next time it's something we actually like?!" There is value is preserving things widely regarded as "bad" not just because I have firm beliefs about the absurdity of taste, but because who gives a shit if something is deemed "good?" Actual human people put their time and energy into realising these artistic visions. Even if the results are arguably not "good" or "popular", should the efforts of these artists be lost to the sands of time? No, no they fucking shouldn't.

I share a lot of art on this blog from titles very few people consider culturally important or valuabe. However, I don't look at the things I collect & share like that. Even some of the most objectively absurd titles I own are still pieces of art that were developed, published, and consumed by humans in the real world. Whether they've turned out to be broadly memorable or not is irrelevant because they existed and that in itself makes them worthy of preservation so that others can choose to familiarise themselves with them long after the original creative team is gone.

So yes, we should all be trying to preserve the media that's important to us and not let corporations try to stamp out every trace of a financial (though not necessarily artistic) misstep. However, it shouldn't take the threat of something we, personally, like being taken away to stir us into giving a shit.

Even the demise of less admired works should concern us and make us start to burn copies of Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies because it might not mean anything to you or I right now, but to some kid in 20 years it could be a seminal experience that leads them to follow their dreams. Or it could become a cult classic that people reflect on at watch parties years in the future. Or it could continue to be a footnote in the history of television that nobody really cares about.

Ultimately I don't think it matters what level of value we arbitrarily assign to media now or in the future, we should be trying to preserve as much of it as possible so that generations from now people can enjoy the option of engaging with these titles should they so wish.

#personal #idk i just feel strongly that even trash should be allowed to exist #and all of us be able to access it if we so choose #some of the most meaningful film experiences of my life have involved B movies and other “low” culture properties #i'm not well enough to even start rambling about high and low culture and the rich #but as an audience we should be able to select what we want to consume #and we should be able to access it regardless of local laws or cultural norms #that's why the efforts of archivists and media preservationists from the lost media wiki to the louvre are so important #“but this spongebob ad had no impact on society who cares if it is accessible or not?” #you can't determine the value of something based solely on your own experience with it #so yeah spongebob ads and episodes of wheel of fortune should continue to exist #and so should the trashiest shoujo manga in the world #god and i haven't even touched on how disproportionately things like this affect work by artists of colour #queer artists and disabled artists #it's super fucking shit and i refuse to let streaming take away these media choices #ok back to my covid sick bed

[obstinatecondolement]

It feels like every day I read attempts to debunk the social model of disability that fundamentally misunderstand what the social model of disability is and who the people who developed that model were, including what the nature of their disabilities was, and I want to scream.

But I don't, because yelling at people on the internet is basically pointless. Instead I check to see that I'm not mutuals with whoever reblogged said misunderstanding and vague about it.

#'but [x impairment] would still exist and have [y implications] even if the world were completely accessible!' #okay well yeah but equating impairment and disability is explicitly the opposite of the social model of disability #the union of the *physically impaired* against segregation who developed this model #*were* by and large privileged in ways many other disabled people are not‚ yes #mike oliver who wrote the fucking book on the social model of disability #(social work with disabled people‚ published in 1983) #was a white man with a phd who pioneered an academic field‚ for one #and there *are* criticisms about the limitations to a purely social model of disability to be made #but like... our pal mike oliver was also a wheelchair user who broke his neck in a swimming accident as a teenager #which caused paralysis that affected his upper and lower body #not a clueless 'physically abled' autistic who didn't understand how physical limitations work #he lived the first 17 years of his life as a physically abled person #so I think he was aware of the difference between what his body could do before and after his accident #and like 'disability is socially constructed' #is not saying that differences between people and what they are able to do or do easily do not exist?? #my eyesight is so bad that if I could not access corrective lenses I would be functionally blind #and even with glasses my myopia and astigmatism cause a lot of tangible effects on my body #e.g. migraines‚ eyestrain‚ so many floaters that even looking through pristine glasses is like the lenses are scratched to hell #but my eyesight is not considered a disability #because the accommodations that enable me to participate in society fully in this area are so standard as to be invisible #can I magically see without corrective lenses? no #does wearing glasses not being considered a disability mean that I do not get migraines and eyestrain? no #so the arguments the thing I am vaguing are trying to debunk are not what is being argued! #well seems like I screamed about it after all #oh well

[softartemisart]

ive been thinking n tbh one if the reasons I think being submissive n obedient us so appealing to me is bc i have a hard time making decisions and also brain fog.

#art speaks #personal #its funny how my relationship w kink is so affected by disability n i didn't notice #but it's #so comforting when people make decisions for me when it's hard to think clearly #so having someone telling me exactly what to do is great. step by step instructions with my pleasure and theirs in mind

[autisticasgore]

dear abled people - it is absolutely none of your business with what other disabled people's health circumstances are. interrogating us to try and find out whether or not you think we're "valid" enough to call ourselves disabled or whether or not we "deserve" accommodations is inappropriate and disrespectful. we don't need to divulge our personal health to you, a complete stranger, just so you can police other disabled people for brownie points.

hiding behind disabled people as a shield to project your ableist and narrow-minded views of what you think "real disabled people should look like" is gross. the same goes for other disabled people as well. if someone does not reveal every single detail about their personal health to you, it is absolutely none of your business, and it doesn't mean they're "faking it" or that they aren't "actually disabled". for some of us, our health is very personal and private, and you shouldn't need to know all the personal details about our lives just so you can give us basic respect. just because we don't have all of our health conditions listed on a little carrd or on our twitter bio, it doesn't mean we are faking it.

#pixie.txt #disability #neurodivergence #neurodivergency #actually disabled #disabilities #invisible disability #disability advocacy #this has been bothering me #ever since that one person implied i was just pretending to be disabled and that i wasn't “actually” disabled #who by the way knew absolutely NOTHING about my personal life #even though they think they do #it's baffling how some people think they're entitled to all of the details of our lives #like i'm not looking for an apology or anything. just do better man #fyi i am physically abled and this goes for literally the whole spectrum of disability in general #you also don't need to tell someone that you have mental health conditions for brownie points! #if you don't feel comfortable then that's okay! #in fact privacy as a disabled person SHOULD be encouraged. #i'm not going to invite people to judge how i live as a neurologically disabled person #if you have a condition that affects your everyday entire life that you don't feel comfortable disclosing publicly #you are still disabled and no one can take that from you. #you know your body best. #just because YOU can't see it doesn't mean we aren't affected by it every day. #okay i think that's all the tags

[fictionadventurer]

The Heir of Redclyffe is teaching me that what Little Women really needed was for the March sisters to have a clever, witty, sharp-tongued, disabled brother who was BFFs with Laurie.

#charles edmonstone my beloved #he's so much fun #and his friendship with guy is one of the best parts of the book #i'm shocked to see a victorian book where the disabled person is neither a monster nor a saint #the disability affects his life and the household but it's far from the only thing about him #he's a great character in his own right #he even has a plot-relevant illness #but the plot relevance isn't 'oh no he's near death let's have drama' #but 'he's having a flareup and can't write letters so someone loses a vital correspondant at an unfortunate moment' #(charles does later lampshade the lost opportunity for a dramatic deathbed reconciliation scene) #but anyway despite my continued comparisons of this book and little women #they are different books #aside from the laurie thing and the general family atmosphere and the moralizing mother figure there's quite a lot different #for one thing the male characters are much more interesting than most of the female ones #the girls are fine but certainly not the main draw of the story #i do like the religious aspect of this one more though #at first it was giving me anxiety cuz they agonize over teeny little sins #but once we moved from childish concerns to more adult ones the faith aspect became much deeper #still clunky and eye-rolling at times but also surprisingly natural in some places #and i'm still holding my breath for whatever made jo cry over this book #66% through the book; it's gotta be coming relatively soon #books #the heir of redclyffe #little women #charlotte mary yonge #louisa may alcott

[zukkaoru]

As someone who is disabled, I agree with the other anon, the way you write disability into the characters is very nice. It's done so casually, there isn't any judgemnet behind it, it isn't being done for the point of a pity plot, it's just... an extra detail. That feels very nice and refreshing. Thank you so much.

ahh thank you!! i do try to be careful with my depictions of disabilities and make a conscious effort to portray them as realistically disabling while also not going overboard into infantilization/savior plot/etc. so i'm very glad to hear that you think i'm doing it well <3

#especially since i don't have a lot of the disabilities i write about i try my best to combine research with personal experience/knowledge #so it's not strictly regurgitation of a 'how to write characters with [x]' blog post while also still (hopefully) being realistic #and the thing is that the same disability can affect different people in different ways #so i know that my depictions aren't going to be universal and that's really okay because there really isn't one universal depiction #for any disability #anyways yes thank you i do worry sometimes that i'm either doing not enough or too much in portraying disabilities in my writing #but i do sincerely try my best to give good depictions of the disabilities i give characters in fics #asks #anon asks

[xmcu-fietro]

anyone know any tips for hacking into that sweet adhd hyperfocused state of mind when you’re depressed and apathetic about life 🙃

#like actually. does anyone know how I can feel that fun hyperfixation buzz in my brain when my dopamine is this low #because this isn’t very fun #and it’s really affecting me #turns out it’s bad to not care about your own well-being. who knew!! /s #tw: suicidal thoughts #not trying to be TMI or get too dark or anything but honestly I just don’t really want to be here? and I’ve felt this way before so I’ll be #fine but it still sucks. I just don’t understand what the point of me being here is #and I know this level of apathy isn’t logical because there are objectively good things about my life but it all feels so pointless #I just feel so defeated that I’ve had years of meds and therapy and I STILL struggle this much #I don’t get what my purpose is beyond ‘getting better’/coping w disability and I don’t get why I’m here #not sure why I’m sharing this much on tumblr. I’m definitely going to feel awkward/embarrassed about this later #actually adhd #adhd #hyperfocus #hyperfixation #fietro’s personal posts

[dilf-phoenix-rights]

Abled neurotypical people love to pull out the “not everything needs to be tailored to you!!” when disabled people are literally just asking that you don’t talk down to people who can’t prioritize the super “easy” lifestyle choices you promote.

#like im not saying you as an abled person have to make videos on how curly haired disabled people can more easily style their hair #(tho that would be cool) #im saying ‘hey maybe don’t imply that people who say they don’t have the time/energy to do this are lazy and/or stupid.’ #…that’s literally it!! #even if someone is completely abled… if they don’t want to spend a lot of time on their hair that doesn’t make them ‘bad at prioritizing’ #when hair styling is obviously very cosmetic #it has personal importance to a lot of people but if some ppl decide they don’t want to do all that #what right does that give you to say they ‘dont have their priorities straight’?? It’s not like a moral failing #or even something that is physically bad for them #I swear you will ask abled people to just not needlessly shame people when they are explaining something #and they’ll be like ‘oh so it’s *my* responsibility to think about how my words affect other people??’ #like… yes. yes it is.

[secondwhisper]

"Transmasculine people who claim to be adversely affected by sexism are bioessentialists cloaked in progressive language, discrimination on the basis of ""biological sex"" isn't real!"

Oh right, sorry. I forgot that sexism in medical research means that endometriosis, ME/CFS, migraines, post-concussive syndrome, Raynaud's phenomenon, and so many other conditions are only understudied in women. Of course endometriosis For Men™, ME/CFS For Men™, migraines For Men™, post-concussive syndrome For Men™, Raynaud's phenomenon For Men™, etc., are all well-funded fields of research and totally understood. Medical research cares only about the gender of an individual patient, not the association of a condition with people of a certain gender. Patriarchal devaluation of women's health, women's illnesses being treated as fundamentally hysteric, and (peri)cissexist reductions of any individual to the reproductive system(s) they were born with clearly only affect people whose gender is woman, nobody else.

Wilfully ignorant motherfuckers.

#HOW can you rightfully argue that sexism is systemic #and ALSO claim that it only affects people according to their self-identified rather than socially-assigned gender. #i do not know how to explain to you that structural oppression has both personal and impersonal modalities #my own post wow #sorry for the heavy sarcasm this is just so fucking deeply frustrating #anyone who is sufficiently proximal to woman-ness gets caught up in this is it truly not difficult to understand #was my [conditions] being brushed aside medical sexism when i ID'ed as a girl but now that i ID as nonbinary the same dismissal is not #the same dismissal is not related to the fact that doctors still see me as basically-a-woman #a personal in a ''female body'' #with Women's Health problems #obviously this is still fucking sexism! #and also obviously trans women experience a shitton of medical sexism! #they are not immune to ME/CFS or migraines or whatever just bc doctors see them as ''male bodied''!!! #they are gonna face the same ''i think this is all in your head'' sexist hysteric-woman bullshit! #but like. claiming that transmascs who arent women cant possibly face sexism just means you will not look at how sexism actually functions #fuck. cis men with migraines are still fucked by the sexist lack of research into a condition that so disproportionally disables women #this is not new. nothing I'm saying is new.

[hoesamo]

Unexpectedly relatable, Jacob 🫠🫠🫠🫠

#Love this guy #ramblings #housamo #perhaps I’m reading too much into this but as A Fellow Disabled Person (albeit a doff disability) the way how Jacob loves someone… #especially an individual he cannot reach (but wants to) is VERY relatable as a disabled person who’s in a relationship #both of us are disabled but when getting together there is that feeling of wanting to reach a person who you feel you might not connect with #yes ​it’s kind of a common insecurity many people regardless of ability face but these feelings very much are magnified #when raised in ableist society. You absolutely are acutely aware of what you can and can’t do and how thay may affect your romantic pursuits #so I REALLY love seeing Jacob’s perspective on how he loves and how he wishes to return that love to the MC

[engagemythrusters]

Okay. Watching The Bad Batch for the first time and I’ve only gotten 2/3rds of the way thru the first season thus far, but I feel I now understand the characters well enough to start making conjectures.

So here’s what I’ve got so far:

Due to the inherent Muchness of heightened senses, I wouldn’t doubt a sensory processing disorder for Hunter. It’s clear that he’s gotten a handle on it (aka learned to adapt to, compensate for, and understand it) by the time TBB appears in The Clone Wars, but I bet it was hard to deal with when he was younger.

Wrecker appears to have a developmental/learning/intellectual disability of some sort, compounded by a TBI. He struggles with bigger words and is impulsive, along with other notable markers. This could have stemmed from the accident that left the facial scar and blinded his eye, but it seems that, based on how the other three original bad batch clones act around him, that this has always been a thing. A TBI likely added to this, because he seriously just keeps getting smacked in the head, the poor guy. He’s just a walking headache.

That being said, he likely gets lots of migraines. Seriously, that much head-smacking can’t result in a fun, happy time up in his head, pain-wise. I suspect the other four get them, too. Hunter has to process a lot of information from all senses, and Crosshair from his sight. That’s a lot to deal with, and I know I get headaches from a lot less. Tech… he’s staring at screens all day. Blue-light headaches much? And Echo… he’s literally got so much going on up there, technology wise, that it’s undoubtedly the cause of many a migraine. He’s one bad interface connection from a seizure, practically.

Crosshair has some attachment issues, I think. Like I believe all the clones would, had they not been programmed otherwise. They never got held by a caring individual, for gods sake. Maybe later generations had older brothers to hold them every so often, but that’s not enough. They never got one-on-one care. And, since his programming never kicked in correctly, Crosshair has all of that just shoved into his twig body. So, RAD, due to his obviously avoidant nature.

Tech is autistic and I don’t think that’s debatable, really. Like that textbook autism (which leads to a discussion about his savant nature being paired with a highly autistic-coded character and the harmful impact that could create for us autistic people in real life. The same harm of Wrecker’s disability vs how he’s treated as an ‘it’ in the show (said explicitly by Cid) and how Crosshair, with evident attachment issues, is demonised as the villain. BUT THATS ITS OWN ESSAY TO WRITE.)

Omega has ADHD and that one’s not heavily coded like the rest, but I think it fits!

None of them have true favourite siblings, but each are easier to go to for different things. Hunter, for leadership and emotional advice. Crosshair, for silent understanding (pre-chip activation). Wrecker, for emotional understanding and grounding. Tech, for intellectual advice and rationality. Echo, for interpersonal advice. Omega, for intrapersonal advice and a fresh, new perspective on everything.

I truly believe, in my heart of hearts, that Hunter would have the highest, shrillest scream. It doesn’t make sense, but it just seems right (to me personally).

Tech and Echo spend a lot of time on Echo’s implants and prostheses. Echo clearly isn’t using them for their original intent—some not even used at all—so they have to be updated, modified, or taken out. (As evidenced by the—I’m assuming what is a—neural interface he now wears and the lack of other implants he used to have in TCW.)

Echo has chronic pain, due to phantom limbs. That, and it must take a lot out of him for those prostheses. They're melded to him in a way that seems... not user-friendly. Techno Union wasn't doing it because they wanted him to live a fulfilling life. They did it because they needed him. They wouldn't care about his pain. It's unlikely that he doesn't feel constant pain. I'm guessing his everyday average pain level it's equivalent to what normal people (i.e.: people who aren't me or other chronic pain-havers) would consider a 4 out of 10.

I have a feeling that most of them know the basics of swimming, but likely aren’t good at it—Wrecker especially. And, with all that armour, it probably wouldn’t matter if they could swim or not. That shit will absolutely sink them. Omega, once taught, would LOVE IT, though.

Crosshair would let a tooka adopt him. As in, he would let the cat follow him around. Whether or not he’d do anything for or about the tooka… I don’t know. But he’d allow it. (Wrecker would dote on the thing if it followed him. Lula and said tooka would be his best buds. He may like explosions, but he’s a sweet guy at heart!)

Echo and Crosshair have absolutely held staring contests. Asserting dominance. (Somehow, despite not having been involved in the first place, Wrecker has won at least two of them.)

Hunter has a taste for meilooruns. Tech does not.

All of them snore. Echo’s even has an electronic buzzing to it. Tech is absolutely the loudest. Omega has wished to smother them all in their sleep.

#and they’re all Māori xoxo I’m not taking the fucking whitewashing #anyway that and also I really need to do a LONG WINDED ANALYSIS on the affects of handling disability in this show #it’s got a few good things #but mostly bad #(side note: please do not feel the need to agree with all these things! these are personal. if yku reblog you can say which— #—are the ones you do agree with and ignore the rest!) #(and another side note: maybe things like the swimming one will be proved wrong—that’s okay! this is based on the data I currently have #which isn’t much bc we currently only have one full season and two eps of the next as of this point) #(so overall: take with a small grain of salt! these are my headcanons based on current information!) #star wars: the bad batch #the bad batch #tbb #tbb omega #tbb crosshair #tbb wrecker #tbb hunter #tbb echo #tbb tech #god I have to tag a bunch of shit don’t I cause I don’t know What Is The Right Tags To Use #the bad batch omega #the bad batch hunter #the bad batch wrecker #the bad batch tech #the bad batch crosshair #the bad batch echo #clone trooper hunter #clone trooper crosshair #clone trooper wrecker #clone trooper tech #arc trooper echo

[funky-lil-ghost]

i’m not exactly the person to complain about this but man it would be nice if accessibility standards were totally normalized. like yeah i can see and hear just fine but what if i prefer to read a video transcript because of adhd or not wanting to turn up the volume on my phone for whatever reason. i scroll past videos i would’ve liked to watch sooooo often cause there’s no transcript.

also IDs r so nice when u have low signal and the images won’t load

obviously it’s more important to normalize accessibility standards because they’re absolutely necessary for making things accessible to the people they’re designed for. they’re just also rad as hell & i wish everyone appreciated them as much as I do cause maybe then people would start noticing how inaccessible a lot of stuff currently is

#talking times with milo #also when i say im not the person to complain about this i mean im not directly affected because of visual impairment or being deaf/HoH #i know adhd and autism also count as disabilities and they do impact this whole thing. they just dont (in my case) completely exclude #me from accessing content that’s not accessible #same concept applies to physical accessibility stuff too im just thinking about how many videos ive scrolled past without watching recently #also i appreciate that one guy in my notes (hi there) who adds descriptions to things a lot #i often dont have the energy so it’s nice to know that it might still get written

[dragons-homebrew-hoard]

One of my friends and players just brought something up to me that I think is a discussion that should be had and that is:

Should white people make ocs that are poc in ttrpgs

She sent me two ticktocks here and here where two poc talk about how it makes them uncomfortable when white people play as poc in ttrpgs and she was freaking out because her oc from the last 3-4 years in our campaign is mix raced. My friend is also mix raced but white passing and she was afraid she was offending people.

So, I just wanna give my perspective from observing this same discussion in other writing communities - because it is essentially the same discussion of whether or not white people can write poc in novels, video game, movies, etc because it all comes down to aesthetic appropriation.

Now, if any poc would like to add their own thoughts and experiences with this please do, your voices are much more important than mine - a white person - so I'm going to put my thoughts under a cut. I'm basically going to talk about my own observations within the fantasy genre as a whole when it comes to ethnicity and race and the patterns I've seen and how that translates into the ttrpg medium. Cheers :D

So, the main problem I've seen brought up when white people try to be inclusive by adding poc in their stories is that their inclusion stops at aesthetics. A poc is still written with the mindset of a white person. Changing the ethnicity of a character changes nothing about them and - many times - their ethnicity isn't even clear. They are south Asian but of which country? Which region? South Asians are an incredibly diverse ethnic group just like Afrians or Central/South Americans. If you can swap the ethnicity of a character without changing anything about them, then you aren't actually making good representation, you are doing the bare minimum of preventing an all white cast. It's 2023, we should hold ourselves and each other to higher standards.

Now, when it comes to fantasy stories, there is a bit of a problem. The worlds within fantasy settings become so much smaller because humans often share the setting with nonhumans such as elves, dwarves, gnomes, etc. This means humans are often turned into a european monolith - or something very close to it - while other real world ethnicities are shoved onto fantasy lineages (often times still flavors of european).

I dont think I need to point out why this is a problem. Humans continue using the aesthetics of nonwhite ethnicities but completely divorced of their culture and context. This is the definition of appropriation. I can think of dozens of fantasy stories from various mediums where there would be no change if a poc was white because their ethnicity has no impact on their characterization - as seen with various video game characters who's skin becomes lighter and lighter through every installment or has dark skinned concept art and a light skinned final product.

You want your fantasy setting to be a mixing pot of cultures and ethnicities? Ok, look at the US and how all of these different cultures remain intact even after generations. Yes, there is a level of assimilation but even fourth gen Mexican immigrants are still influenced their culture. Mix raced people have their own unique struggles and cultural experiences. Every country in the world has their own unique mixing pot of cultures and ethnicities. No country is a monolith as that would require committing cultural and/or ethnic genocide to everyone who does not fit the predestined mold.

A setting can have a mixing pot of cultures without racism or prejudice. You can have a human civilization that isn't a monolith. Don't be afraid to research different cultures to represent them with respect. Not only will it make your setting feel more immersive, it will give you a deeper understanding and respect for people irl.

It's always boggled my mind when people say irl race doesn't matter in fantasy then immediately turn around with fantasy racism like... seriously? The beauty of humanity is how diverse our cultures are and yet you'd rather dismiss this beauty over using the violence of prejudice and racism as cheap conflict in your story.

If you actually want to be inclusive in your fantasy stories, do research. Talk to poc of the ethnicity you are trying to represent.

If you are a player wanting to make an oc that is a different ethnicity than you - consider why? Does the character's physical appearance actually matter to their story? Are you willing to put in the work to represent this character's culture and respect the irl culture and people you are drawing from? Is this even your story to tell? If your answer to any of these questions is no, then maybe you should rethink some things.

I don't have the answer on whether or not white people should be allowed to make their oc a person of color but I think this question is indicative of a much larger problem within the fantasy genre of aesthetic appropriation and surface level representation of poc. I don't have any answers - other than put more effort into representing different ethnicities and cultures which its whole own can of worms- but its a conversation that should be had.

I would love to hear other people's thoughts and feel free to correct me or add your own experiences with this. I want to learn so I can write better representation in my stories and understand different perspectives better. Cheers :D

#dragon speaks #appropriation #dnd #pathfinder #ttrpg #we live in a society #i think about this often in my own writing #if a characters ethnicity doesn't impact their character at all then you are doing something wrong #either in the world building or characterization of your character #just like gender and disability/ability #you could be dismissive and think it doesnt affect your character #but it DOES #dismissing these elements as unimportant means you'll be using your own personal experience as the base line #which means your own experience biases will be all over your characters and world building #and the audience will be able to tell #long post #all of use have blind spots #being able to recognize this and work to over come these blind spots is important #and helps us grow as creatives and people #idk #when my friend asked me about this it just brought up a lot of what i was already struggling with in my own writing #and my own thoughts on ethnicity and race in the fantasy genre #and how ive been struggling with this idea in my own writing #making a setting feel immersive and alive means investing into the details #even if you are writing a story about a civilization of sentient bees #you need to keep in mind your own cultural biases #in everything #learning more about other peoples experiences and cultures and beliefes will make u a more rounded person in general #idk where im going im just rambling