I understand the fandom’s tendency to portray Nines as a very cool and subdued man, but you know something that occurred to me? He literally has no canon personality. We see him in game for like thirty seconds and he does nothing but stand there silently. He could be cool and subdued once he deviates, but it would be equally valid to write him as a sarcastic brat, or a shy mess who hides behind his partner when meeting new people, or the ultimate subby simp, or fuck it, an actual clown man who goes off the rails and takes absolutely nothing in life seriously. Like technically nothing is out of character for him lol
If it's any consolation, I plan to hit all of the above for Nines. (Especially the ultimate subby simp part.)
I like him emotional and whimpering because that's his "broken down" state in contrast to fanon. Ultimately, you're right. He's free real estate. He could be anything.
Today my therapist introduced me to a concept surrounding disability that she called "hLep".
Which is when you - in this case, you are a disabled person - ask someone for help ("I can't drink almond milk so can you get me some whole milk?", or "Please call Donna and ask her to pick up the car for me."), and they say yes, and then they do something that is not what you asked for but is what they think you should have asked for ("I know you said you wanted whole, but I got you skim milk because it's better for you!", "I didn't want to ruin Donna's day by asking her that, so I spent your money on an expensive towing service!") And then if you get annoyed at them for ignoring what you actually asked for - and often it has already happened repeatedly - they get angry because they "were just helping you! You should be grateful!!"
And my therapist pointed out that this is not "help", it's "hLep".
Sure, it looks like help; it kind of sounds like help too; and if it was adjusted just a little bit, it could be help. But it's not help. It's hLep.
At its best, it is patronizing and makes a person feel unvalued and un-listened-to. Always, it reinforces the false idea that disabled people can't be trusted with our own care. And at its worst, it results in disabled people losing our freedom and control over our lives, and also being unable to actually access what we need to survive.
So please, when a disabled person asks you for help on something, don't be a hLeper, be a helper! In other words: they know better than you what they need, and the best way you can honor the trust they've put in you is to believe that!
Also, I want to be very clear that the "getting angry at a disabled person's attempts to point out harmful behavior" part of this makes the whole thing WAY worse. Like it'd be one thing if my roommate bought me some passive-aggressive skim milk, but then they heard what I had to say, and they apologized and did better in the future - our relationship could bounce back from that. But it is very much another thing to have a crying shouting match with someone who is furious at you for saying something they did was ableist. Like, Christ, Jessica, remind me to never ask for your support ever again! You make me feel like if I asked you to call 911, you'd order a pizza because you know I'll feel better once I eat something!!
Edit: crediting my therapist by name with her permission - this term was coined by Nahime Aguirre Mtanous!
Edit again: I made an optional follow-up to this post after seeing the responses. Might help somebody. CW for me frankly talking about how dangerous hLep really is.
Ghosts gather near the place where something bad is going to happen,
Danny with his ghost sense tends to notice before anyone else and tends to react outwardly before the danger even happens, gaining a reputation of seeing the future,
Ghosts also tell Danny things, causing Danny to know more about situations and the people around him, it comes of as suspicious.
~
Danny pulling away a snack from his coworker: "Careful your allergic to these ingredients!"
Coworker: "How the hell...I've never mentioned that to anyone."
~
Danny on a phone call with his friends while doing his nightly walks in Gotham: "Yeah so apparently the second Robin who is now Red Hood has very personal beef with the clown here cuz he got killed by him after being sold out by his bio mom, which really sucks for the poor guy."
Oracle who has been keeping an Eye on Danny cuz he's very suspicious from an outsiders pov: "Hey B, I think we have a problem."
~
Danny notices that the ghost in Gotham tends to gather where something bad is going to happen, the more they are the worse the situation will be: *glowing smoke leaves from his mouth* "Yikes! Very bad vibes here, nope!"
Gothamites who at this point recognize him and know the drill and quickly pack up their things to leave:
Can you imagine a little fangirl trying to give Bakugou a friendship bracelet at an event, but he doesn’t see her as he’s trying to dodge the crowds on the red carpet. Holding your hand to keep you tight by his side as he uses his broad shoulders to protect you as he pulls you past all the flashing camera lights and interviewers trying to call him over.
But you see her, holding out a little beaded bracelet over the barrier as her face is painted to match Dynamight’s eye mask. Little explosions in her pigtails as you squeeze Bakugou’s hand, stopping him from walking away as you point her out to him.
She’s the only reason he drops your hand, taking a few broad strides towards her as he bends down at the crowd barricade to talk to her, asking her name and listening as she tells him that he’s her favourite Pro-Hero. Holding out the bracelet as she gives it to him, and practically glows when he slips it over his wrist. And she surprises you when she holds another Dynamight themed bracelet out to you, holding out your hand so she can put it on you making sure that you and Bakugou now have matching bead bracelets.
Happy Valentine's Day from the goobers!!!!! They are desperate to let you know they love u <3
A silly (and very rushed) little redraw of Steel Wool's official valentine's day card from a few years ago! I thought it was so cute I have been waiting for the season to try my hand at it!
[ID: A screenshot of an ask by user adamofingolstadt that reads “The ‘K’ in ‘Martin K Blackwood’ stands for Kettle” with a heart at the end of the message. \End ID]
AAAAAAAAOH NOOOOO!!! @adamofingolstadt WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS TO HIM?!?!?!?!?? NOW HE'S KETTLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
[ID: An animated gif of Martin Blackwood from the Magnus Archives from the waste up. He’s drawn in a chibi style and only colored in blue. The animation is of his head transforming into a kettle. His expression through the process is of agony. \End ID]