#this post is also not about invisible disabilities because i have a very visible disability.

[sneakygreenbean]

personal observations made by a new cane user:

you do not need to be in constant pain to own a cane.

folding canes have a clasp or band to keep them folded. losing the band is a pain in the ass.

you will get dirty looks

it does not matter what age you are. you will get dirty looks.

you have to hold it in the opposite hand as the disabled leg. this is fortunate, as I am right handed, so i hold it in my left hand to support my right leg.

people will try to steal your cane from you.

when standing still, I hold it in my right hand unless i need to do something right handedly. this does not work as well as i thought it would.

being visibly physically disabled is difficult. having a mobility aid will help with pain and movement, but some people don't get them because visible disability is treated with disgust.

if someone meets you for the first time, and you don't have your cane, then they will like you more, but they will not believe you are actually disabled.

if someone meets you for the first time, and you have your cane, they will not treat you the same.

the majority of other cane and mobility aid users I have met are homeless. I live close to a big city.

People do not want to see you being disabled.

you will not hear of the benefits of using a cane from anyone who does not use a cane.

no one will prepare you for the world of being visibly physically disabled. however bad you think we have it is usually not from the disability at all. I can deal with pain and I can deal with an indisposed left hand.

the hardest part of being disabled is the fact that no one will care until you make them care.

the disabled seats on trains are a suggestion

the disabled seats on buses are a suggestion.

you will have a different experience with using a cane than I have had.

your hand will become tired. you are using it as a leg.

your cane is legally a part of your body. this will not stop some people.

you are not your disability. but it will affect you.

i love you

theres always an invisible someone who has it worse. that person will not be affected or offended by your use of a cane. take the damn ibuprofen. put the folded cane in your bag. ask your friends for help. gd knows they need help sometimes too.

you will have to learn that things will be impossible to you. you may not run as fast anymore. you may not become a skater, like you always wanted to be. you may be left behind when everyone else runs ahead.

you deserve better.

your cane handle gets dirty. wash it.

some days pain is worse. some days you will feel it the moment you wake up.

no one deserves pain. the human condition is not to suffer. we deserve better. we deserve to be loved and not tolerated. we deserve to be seen better than from the corners of eyes. we deserve to be heard better than an afterthought at a meeting.

be quick to care for yourself. I love you.

#disability #if you clown on this i will kill you with my teeth. #personal #disabled #cane user #mobility aid #physical disability #this is about physical disability do not derail. i understand that mental disability is treated badly as well. this post isnt about that. #this post is also not about invisible disabilities because i have a very visible disability. #please be patient with me. i am young and new to the use of canes. most of these revelations are shockingly new.

[luna-rainbow]

idk if you've seen that post, it's from years ago at this point, where someone is surprised to hear that Bucky has a disability. i think it's in an ask with a response like HE'S MISSING AN ARM. remembering that left me thinking,,, what are your thoughts on Bucky's own comprehension of his disability? like, i'm sure he experiences chronic pain, and he's aware of his disability *especially once he has a metal arm that can be detatched as we see in tfatws* but i also feel like he might feel guilty taking the title of disabled because he has the serum and is "super" plus he doesn't feel like he deserves the support/help that can and should be given to disabled people when they need it. ALSO he hasn't had all that much time to process as a human rather than a controlled weapon that he is missing an arm. his prosthetic has been welded into him,, with probably less sensation,, but it functions like an arm,, idk i just feel like it probably hits him out of the blue, too 🥲

Oooh thanks for the interesting ask nonnie! And yes I do remember that hilarious post.

Here's my usual disclaimer that this is just throwing out ideas and that canon lends itself to many different interpretations.

I think the first thing to consider is Bucky's relationship with disability as a concept. He was good friends with Steve, a chronically ill person, but sometimes people have a different bias when it comes to invisible illness versus visible body difference. I have seen people, including disabled people, who are more accepting of one type than the other. He had grown up during a time when disability was considered a "defect" and there was talk of eliminating them from the gene pool, so there might be some inherent fear of being seen as "disabled". At the same time, he had also fought through one of the bloodiest wars of human history but also post the antibiotic era, which means a lot of major injuries became survivable compared to WW1. He likely saw many people around him become physically marked in one way or another. I have a feeling that that experience would have reconciled him with the fact that the value of life is greater than physical wholeness. So overall, I think Bucky probably had a fairly accepting view on disability and illness back when he was able-bodied, and while he needs time to process the loss, that acceptance is probably somewhat protective against self-hatred.

The second thing is the curious subject of Bucky's bionic arm. I have met (lower limb) amputees who reject the "disabled" label, because to them once they put on a prosthesis they could walk and run and work and exercise. I think worrying about being "deserving" might be a small part of it, there's a bigger part of worrying about social perceptions of disability -- they didn't want the "handicap" label to be used to hold them back. I suspect you are right, in that Bucky probably sees himself as very capable, even super-humanly so, with the (very high-tech) prosthesis. He most likely feels that being a soldier is a big part of his identity and sense of worth. I suspect also...going back to what Bucky's relationship with the word "disability" means, his interpretation of that (given he came from the 1940s) might mean something that has a profound impact on function, and he may feel that he doesn't fit that mark.

The third thing is Bucky's relationship with body image, which has varied from movie to movie. The Winter Soldier had no qualms flaunting that arm, but then the Winter Soldier had no mind of its own, and its handlers knew the metal arm was intimidating. In both Civil War and TFATWS, we see Bucky wear gloves and long sleeves to hide his arm, which he removes when he starts a mission. It could be that he doesn't want to scare people or draw attention to it day to day, or it could be that he associates the arm with the soldier part of himself and he doesn't want to see it when he's trying to return to a normal life. Interestingly, in Wakanda, Bucky had been quite content to walk around without any sort of prosthesis at all. This might suggest that he's less bothered by the missing arm than he is by the need to wear a weaponised prosthesis.

But you know, people are fickle creatures, and I am sure when he's hit by PTSD or a bout of anxiety or depression, his views on body image and his physical limitations would take a very nasty turn and he would have to work through all the stages of grief again.

#asks #bucky barnes #bucky barnes meta

[idyllic-affections]

the contract's cycle.

summary. changsheng's contract is a cycle.

trigger & content warnings. angst angst and more angst on the side, mentions of death & chronic illness.

tropes, pairings, fic length, & other notes. angst, hurt/slight comfort. baizhu & reader. 0.7k words. they/them pronouns for reader. this post is an expansion of invisible disability? it's rather visible to me. this post contains spoilers for baizhu's story quest.

author's thoughts. i did baizhu's story quest (i am telling lies. i did not do it, i watched someone else do it on youtube. genshin burnout is REAL i swear). got fic inspo. wrote fic. this is a little messy but please spare me i wrote this on a whim at 10:30 at night HSKSHJFGFGD

baizhu, who does not want anyone else to fall victim to changsheng's contract, yet also does not want her to die as a consequence of having no host.

it takes time, but despite this, he eventually realizes that what he has with junior herbalist [name] is the virtually the same as an apprenticeship—it is the same as what he had with his master before him, and what his master had with his own master before him, and so on. baizhu only refused to label his relationship with [name] as such for fear of them becoming the next in line, should he fail to attain immortality.

he does not intend to fail, but he cannot deny that he may not be able to succeed, either.

he suddenly finds himself scared, because if he's become so close with them without even consciously realizing it... that means that something drew him in, that he is endeared with them like a parent would be to a child because they are undoubtedly very much like him—a selfless, gentle soul void of ill intent. that fact simply scares him. they're so young, too young. maybe they'll change as they get older. maybe they'll become less selfless and kind. maybe he should encourage them to be more selfish? perhaps that might change something?

(he is only fooling himself.)

[name] is a viable host for changsheng; she herself has confirmed it, albeit a little reluctantly, upon baizhu's request. "it is a matter of my host's natural temperament," she reminded, "and that does not change as someone gets older. you know this, baizhu."

baizhu is now terrified. his fear has increased tenfold, because they are already chronically ill. he was not necessarily so weak before taking on changsheng's contact; his current state is a consequence of transferring countless ailments onto his own body. if he is fated for an early death... archons, their death would be even earlier. his heart drops at the thought.

briefly, he wonders if his predecessors ever felt like this—did they, too, fear the deaths of their apprentices, or is it different in his case because of how young his is? is it different because, even though he hesitates to say it aloud, he thinks of them as his own child? or were all his predecessors the same way?

he doesn't realize it, but gradually, the liyuean doctor begins withdrawing from them.

[name] notices that baizhu seems to be engaging less with them, that he's less involved with them overall, and they worry about if they've somehow disappointed him. they become more fidgety and distressed during their work hours, always trying to understand what it is that they did wrong, and trying to amend it without even knowing what they did.

changsheng eventually exposes hers' and baizhu's shared secret because maybe she's seen a teacher and their student fall out and maybe she doesn't want to see it again. who knows? but baizhu sure as hell won't tell them, so she takes it upon herself to do so, and the doctor is helpless to stop her because she... is stubborn.

[name], though very worried, expresses little surprise once changsheng finishes her explanation. all they do is peer up with gentle sincerity directed mostly at baizhu. "changsheng isn't normal—no offense, changsheng, don't get mad—so... i somewhat figured that something like this was going on. it's not exactly uncommon in liyue. this is the nation of contracts, after all, but... why didn't you tell me sooner? are you worried that i would be her next contractee? is— is that why you're ignoring me lately?"

(changsheng forces baizhu to apologize to them for that. he didn't offer much resistance and was quick to console and reassure them.)

baizhu is now even more set on his quest than before, because he will not let another person fall victim to the contract's cycle, "fate" be damned. he will not let [name] fall victim to the contract's cycle.

([name] knows that deep down inside, if something ever happened to baizhu... they would take on changsheng's contract, because like all those before them, they do not want to see her die, and changsheng has, albeit begrudgingly, accepted that they are just like all their predecessors.

if there is a life in front of them that deserves to be saved, why shouldn't they do everything within their power to save it?)

please consider reblogging, it helps me out quite a lot!

#aphelion brainrots 🌸 #: [ the junior herbalist! 🌸 ] #favoniuslibrary #astronetwrk #platonic genshin x reader #platonic genshin impact #platonic genshin impact x reader #genshin x reader #baizhu x reader #platonic baizhu x reader #genshin impact x reader

[fancyfade]

Hi! You always talk a lot about DC’s Ableism with handling Babs, but I never understood why (other than getting her out of the wheelchair for the New 52). Is there maybe any threads/posts/articles you can link that break the ableism with Barbara’s character down even pre-2011? I would really love to understand the problem!

Are you asking why it is ableist? or why I talk about it? Or why DC chose to be ableist?

I'm going to try to be as informative as possible. There will be some italics, but i'm passionate (about the topic), not mad at you.

First just to recap what happens with Babs:

TKJ (the killing joke): Babs is shot and paralyzed to make male characters sad in TKJ.

Suicide Squad + Oracle: Year One: John Ostrander and Kim Yale make an effort to make Barbara's story focus on her, and on how she feels. This addresses how she feels being used as a tool and her recovery, and how she can't talk to her dad about it.

Much of New Earth (1986-2011): Babs acts as Oracle, an indefensible information broker of the superhero world, runs her own team, and is prominently physically disabled (a full-time wheelchair user). The writers sometimes flirt with magicuring her (removing her disability) but it never sticks. There is still ableist writing, there is no denying that. But she is a very important character

New 52: Barbara Gordon is 'magicured' - her disability is removed, and some of this involved retconning previous details (from her spine being severed completely and severely damaged, to something they could fix with a chip). Many disabled people talk about how damaging this is. I'm going to be pretty clear: from my perspective (as a disabled lesbian) changing babs from someone who has ha permanent disability to an able bodied person is similar to changing a gay character to a straight character. (link)

Sometime in Rebirth: DC starts trying to say ~uwu well she's still disabled, she just has an invisible disability, it's not ableist~. Two things must be acknowledged: Yes, invisible disabilities are still disabilities. this is not saying that they are not, my disability was invisible for a long time, and I sitll have some invisible disabilities. but also two: that does not make this writing not ableist, DC does not genuinely want to represent invisibly disabled people, they want to be perceived as not-ableist while being able to use Batgirl Babs in stories.

Ok so to answer the first possible answer of your question:

Why is it ableist?

Changing a character with a disability that is permanent to an able bodied person is ableist. Disabled people deserve to see themselves in stories too, and I'd argue abled people need to see disabled people in stories, because abled people need to understand that a disabled life is not worth than death (I have had people straight up tell me 'oh I'd never be able to do that (exist as a wheelchair user)' to my face. in public).

To answer another question that has been debated somewhat recently: why is it still ableist even when Babs is disabled, just not the way she initially was? I have lots of reblogged links on that:

Babs being invisibly disabled (instead of visibly disabled and a full-time wheelchair user) both erases her previous disability and erases other invisibly disabled characters (link)

The treatment of Babs, in her Rebirth era, is still ableist (link)

Babs, as written as part-time Batgirl part time Oracle, still is written without consideration of her disability (link)

abled people care more about the apperance of able-bodiedness than they do whether someone is disabled (+how that harms disabled people at the bottom w/ my own experiences) (link)

replacing one disability with another and hoping no one notices is still ableist (link)

So for the other option of your question:

why do I talk about it?

I talk about a lot of things in comics, and this is a very important one. Barbara Gordon as Oracle is important to me, because she is a character with an acquired disability (I also have an acquiered disability, not the same one). who still is active in what is important to her and says that her life is better now and that she can do more. That is so important for disabled people (and abled people too) to hear. That your life is not over when you have a disability.

Thirdly, why did DC do it?

Well, the sad answer is really... ableism. I'd argue that a disabled person having a better QOL as a disabled person than they did as an able bodied person, or being able to do more than they could when they were able bodied, is straight up threatening to abled people (link)

More people no doubt know the interior workings of DC at the time, but Didio is not shy about not liking legacy heroes and wanting everything to be back in 'the good old days'. getting rid of batgirls that came after Babs does that (and it gets rid of the uncomfortable fact that she is disabled).

I hope this answers your questions and provides you with reading, and if you have any more feel free to ask

#ableism #dc comics #barbara gordon #ableist tropes #magicuring #disabled characters #oracle #anon #ask

[godlesshasideas]

Writing about Disabilities: Chronic Pain

When writing about anything you are not personally familiar with, research is your best friend. Don't use this post as a catch all and think it's all you need to write characters with chronic pain. This is far from all the information about it, but it's a starting point.

Here's some basic information that I have found and I've also included some of my own experience since I have chronic pain.

Information regarding Chronic Pain

First thing's first, what is chronic pain? According to John Hopkins Medicine, the difference between chronic pain and regular pain is that chronic pain is long-lasting (anywhere from months to years). Chronic pain doesn't stay the same level (0-10) for everyone; also, majority of people with chronic pain don't realize that the normal amount of pain is 0. It can be continuous or it could switch from 0 to 10 to 6 to 3 to 9 to 7 and so on so forth...

There are various types of pain as well: muscle, joint, headaches/migraines, and nerve. You can have one or you can have all of them. Personally, I have all four. The first three for me are chronic and the nerve pain is from a recent surgery. They all have different causes and I know some of them. For example, my migraines are genetic and very common in my family. The joint and muscle pain probably caused multiple things but I know for sure it's caused by the scoliosis I've had for over a decade. My entire body was developing unevenly. So my joints are weakened and different muscle groups developed unevenly (especially my back and core).

Here's some clinical resources for the different kinds of pain that just cover the basics:

Muscle related: Myalgia | John Hopkins, Muscle Pain | Cleveland Clinic

Joint related: Arthralgia | John Hopkins, Joint Pain | Mayo Clinic, Joint Pain | Cleveland Clinic

Migraine related: Migraines | Mayo Clinic, Migraines | NIH.gov

Nerve related: Neuralgia | Health Direct

Something worth doing in your research is to find blogs, vlogs, or influencers that have personal experience with chronic pain. Don't overstep and reach out to them about research for the character you're writing. If they are open to questions, feel free to just remember to be respectful. Otherwise, read or listen to their experiences and research more until you think you have a grasp of it. If you are unsure of something, you have a search engine at your finger times, use it! Remember to cross analyze information though because just because it says it one place online doesn't mean it's true in all cases.

Things to Consider about the character you're writing:

How long have they had chronic pain? Just because it's chronic, doesn't mean they've had it all their life. If they've had it for a while, they might be good at hiding their pain or masking. They also may be more aware of their body and their limits (ex. they know they can't walk more than x miles before being in pain). They probably have already figured out some treatments that help them manage the pain like pain killers or hot/cold therapy. If they only recently developed it, they're pain may be more visible (ex. they can't sit still because of pin and needles). They'll probably more vocal in their complaints of it as well.

What is causing their pain? Don't give your chronic pain just to give them something. Do they have an autoimmune illness or some form of invisible illness? Do they have something kidney stones? Do they have an illness that has flare-ups? If you're writing fantasy, did someone curse them with never ending pain? You don't have to flat out state it to the reader if you don't want to. You're allowed to make it unknown but as the author, make sure there is a reason you are writing a character like this. Make sure it has a role in the story you're telling. If you are writing chronic pain that's connected to a specific illness, remember to also research that illness. Chronic pain is usually a symptom not a diagnosis. If you look my own medical chart, it says I have a history of chronic pain and it's lists the kinds of pain. The only thing that is a diagnosis of pain is migraines (but those can also be a symptom it depends on the person).

**Once again, always do more research. Do not use this post as all you need. Anytime you write something or create a character that has something you aren't familiar with, you need to take the time to learn about it. Research Research Research!

#godless has writing prompts #writing advice #writers on tumblr #writeblr #writing #disability representation #writing disabilities #chronic pain #writing research #writing resources

[sir-klauz]

I'm seeing a lot of people posting about how they're glad Genshin has Finally made a 5 star disabled character and are finally representing the disabled community, and whilst yes, they have made another disabled character, it's not the first one, nor the first 5 star! But Baizhu has been long awaited for by many players, including myself!

Huge Reminder that Collei is disabled with chronic illness, and I'm pretty sure Layla has been discussed to have Narcolepsy. Also, many people totally forget Xiao is a disabled 5 star character with chronic pain inflicted by his karmic debt and mental health struggles partly relating to that, and rarely anyone talks about it! I know we are all excited, but, this is another problem.

Less "obvious" (even though if you have got chronic pain, it's the most obvious thing in your life) disabilities get forgotten about, in real life too, hence the ongoing promotion of invisible disabilities or less obvious but just as difficult to deal with ones, needing to be acknowledged.

He is NOT the first 5 star which was made playable!

Xiao was, but for Baizhu, they're more obvious about his health and his power ups that he is in the medical field and has disabilities, also woth the presence of glasses too which is another visible disability

As health a big part of his job and powers too, it's easier to notice, but that's another part of how the people within the community with less obvious physical disabilities get forgotten or missed.

Xiao was the first released disabled character that was 5 stars! A favourite of mine to play since he dropped as he resonates with me gender wise, and with that, I too have serious chronic pain! He has chronic pain induced by his karmic debt, and barely anyone talks about that because it's not been focused on as a part of his character as much as people have with Baizhu.

But yeah, with the drop of Collei as well who also has a chronic illness, and Layla suspected to potentially have narcolepsy and some NPCs in Sumeru having stories being told about their conditions has been great especially as games rarely make main characters that are disabled and as someone who is disabled with mobility aids and chronic pain, it is exciting as this has been my favourite game for 2 years plus now.

So far Xiao has been a saviour for me as well as Genshin as I've played it most days i cannot do absolutely anything and remain bed ridden from my disability and I've wanted Baizhu dropped since he was introduced as well and I'm glad they're making multiple characters with disabilities as it's very real truth MANY gamers have disabilities, and we deserve rep.

#baizhu #genshin impact #baizhu genshin impact #baizhu gi #xiao genshin impact #xiao gi #layla genshin impact #collei gi #collei genshin #genshin disabled character #disabled character #disability representation #disabled characters #disability #disabled gamer #chronic pain is a disability #chronic pain #gaming #genshin

[thedisablednaturalist]

so sorry ppl that cant read are sending you messages about those posts but i get it completely. rheumatologists and osteos and NP's want to hear more abt my decade old severe anxiety and depression and adhd and ~more~ diagnoses than chronic debilitating pain and just slap vitamin D pills on it and throw up their hands because "test results are weird idk what to tell u even tho i said it was this two weeks ago". abled friends and coworkers can have conversations about their mental health struggles but its looked at self pityingly if i bring up how my life is irreparably damaged by my physical disability because disabled people have to be strong and resilient to earn a place in their field and if you cant cut it just get on those snazzy disability benefits and let it get worse. i think a lot of abled ND people just cant accept that they do not experience the worst of life's struggles and that solidarity doesnt make us the same

I try to be understanding and answer peoples questions politely when I have the spoons and if they are genuinely confused bc I used to be ignorant as well about a lot of aspects of physical disability but it gets so tiring. Nowadays there are a ton of resources from physically disabled people talking about their experiences its actually quite easy to educate yourself on our struggles. Like sorry I get a little frustrated and rude when I'm constantly bombarded by ableism and rude ass people.

Also yeah that's exactly what I've been trying to say. Doctors can usually relate to people having mental health struggles and even some aspects of neurodivergencey. But they cannot understand someone looking completely fine and not being able to detect anything but complaining of horrible pain and constant tiredness outside of the lense of mental health. And if your mental health is managed or only suffering because you are in constant pain, they say you're faking, or OBVIOUSLY you just need to lose weight, or drink more water, or exercise more than any able bodied person does. People take one look at me and think the solution is obvious and I'm just too stupid or lazy to figure it out.

And me saying this isn't saying that mental illness is super easy to deal with. Its fucking awful as well and many doctors say this shit to neurodivergents as well. And this is especially true for poc and people with psychosis or bipolar disorder or schizophrenia.

I went to my first therapist in my sophomore year of highschool and got medicated that same year. I started investigating my health issues in college freshman year and have JUST gotten actual results from treatment. SIX fucking years later. SIX fucking years of CONSTANT PAIN. And I have great insurance and a great dad who just wants me to feel better (my mom is a different story). My parents are sort of upper middle class and I live in a very privileged area. Of course that means I can't afford to move out even with an ok salary, but at least there are plenty of doctors around to choose from and plenty of appointments available. I can't imagine how long it takes someone without those advantages. And even still I had to fight to be listened to, I had to listen to so much bs from doctors and had to go from doctor to doctor begging for someone to listen.

Like they really don't get how unbelievably hard it is to get care for physical disabilities, visible and invisible. If you're visibly disabled you get treated like a child and a monster and you're isolated from society. If you're invisibly disabled you get laughed at by doctors and ignored. If it's hard for you guys imagine that difficulty increased by 100%.

I try to be really visible when I'm working in a position I know has my back. I really try to educate young people and children on what my disability looks like and I hope disabled kids and kids who eventually become disabled can see me and know that their lives are valuable and they are valuable. And it is possible to find joy in your life and reasons to keep living. And employers shouldn't be able to throw away our resumes and pay us less just cause we may need a little extra help. I know what everyone thinks when they see me in my wheelchair and using my walking sticks and when I tell them I need to take a break as I'm running out of spoons. I know their first thought is what the hell am I doing here if I'm in so much pain? When people see me by myself in my wheelchair they think I must have gotten lost and separated from my abled handler. I love my job, I love what I do, and I want to be able to keep doing it. But I can't work as long as an abled person, I can't do it without accommodations. Hell abled people shouldn't be working as long as they do either. I wish to live a life where I'm free to do the work I love without killing myself and still be able to live a comfortable life. Every disabled person, working or not, deserves to live a comfortable life.

#chronic disability #chronic pain #physical disability #cripplepunk #spoonie #disability #working while disabled #sorry this is all kinda jumbled and longn #as you all know i write long posts #wrenfea.ask

[theharlotofferelden]

Noticed that one of my favorite Youtubers/streamers, CallMeKevin, did a video on Hogwarts Legacy. Went to check out one of the videos specifically to leave a comment. Not even 5 seconds into the video he admits that the video is sponsored by Warner Bros. Meaning he not only got a free copy from them, they're also paying him to specifically advertise the game.

Go down to leave a comment and he has comments turned off. This is probably the first time I've ever seen him turn off comments. From what others have said elsewhere, this is mainly due to fans of the game leaving transphobic and hateful comments on the video.

Need more information and end up finding that he wrote an entire post on reddit explaining the situation. It's long so I'm putting it under the cut:

Hey everyone,

I wanted to address the recent Harry Potter video that I posted on the channel. I've seen the feedback and first of all I'm very sorry for any hurt I've caused any and all of you. I make videos to try and give you a little entertainment and in no way want to be putting out something that causes pain or harm in any way.

Aside from apologizing for any hurt I've caused you I wanted to explain a little bit from my side why I posted the video in the first place. Just to explain how I feel a lot of us were on different pages.

I'm not sure how this whole thing was covered in other countries but as someone who does not use social media this boycott was pretty much invisible. I'm surprised that I've not heard any discussion within my recent streams or on my comment section given the scale of it but as an "offline" person who does not use social media it just wasn't a visible campaign.

I had heard in the past about Rowling making hateful comments on Twitter but aside from everyone being in mutual agreement that she seemed like a shitty person that's as far as my knowledge on this whole situation goes. I had also heard of there being a boycott of some kind on the game but honestly assumed this was not a big thing, every other day I hear of someone/something being a problem and I just don't engage with that news.

When it comes to boycotts in a general sense I would disagree that buying something is endorsing the view of everyone involved. I also had heard early in development that Rowling (much like the recent special) was not involved in this whatsoever so I didn't see the issue at all on a surface level.

I also wanted to address the comment section. First of all, to clarify I fully support you giving any feedback and opinions regarding all this.

Second of all, there are a lot of different "bubbles" in my community. There was a lot of people commenting coming from a similar place as me and I'd guess a lot have likely never even heard about this whole situation. My audience has a lot of people who are very casual internet users.

Lastly, this video brought in a lot of people from outside my audience and there is hate that comes with that. Whenever a video reaches an outside audience it brings more hate than I'd normally recieve. It could be as simple as they hate my humour, or they hate my voice but that's just how it is when your video is pushed to people that it normally is not pushed to. Unfortunately this hate was amplified by the situation, especially given people will click just because of the controversy around the game and I will be disabling comments to just shut that hate down. I've already seen people saying that a lot of comments were being made by bots or trolls with the same copy pastes. To be 100% clear, I do not support anyone attacking you for who you are as a person and I'd wager neither does 99% of this community who from my experience have been the most kind and supportive group of people.

From everything I've read after posting, I get why someone wouldn't want to give her financial support. I also get why someone would buy the game and not feel that it is supporting or endorsing Rowling directly and I can also see how people can be unaware of the situation entirely never even hearing the words Harry Potter and Boycott side by side.

Needless to say I won't be posting any more of the game, I don't want to be putting more hate and hurt out into the world when god knows there's enough of that already. I got nothing but love for all of you and just want to provide some mildly entertaining videos and a nice community for everyone to have a good time and escape for while. I'm sorry for any hurt I've caused you, I have felt terrible knowing I've hurt a group that have been nothing but nice to me.

Kevin

This is honestly a lot to take in and I really do not know how I feel about it.

What I will say is that it's unfortunate this mistake was made as I can see that someone like him, who usually spends most of his time streaming, wouldn't particularly be engaged to the boycott or the news in general. Considering he has a number of videos where he plays the old Harry Potter games (a lot of ppl were specifically introduced to him via those videos) I'm sure he just thought this would be in line with what he thought his audience would be interested in.

My only question is whether that sponsorship came with a contract. He didn't take down the one video of playing the game on Youtube, so I'm assuming there were certain parameters he needed to abide by. Usually sponsorships like this require that you post a certain number of videos and keep them up for a certain amount of time (usually several months). I have no idea how this works with regards to streaming.....I guess we'll find out if he ends up streaming the game again on Twitch.

Again, I really do not know how to feel about all of this so I'm going to refrain from commenting further. I'm just here to share the info.

#callmekevin

[dissociacrip]

i would not go as far as to say i'm visibly disabled or that i have a visible difference but the way my body (probably mostly my face) looks and the way i speak (the way i physically talk is kinda "weird" due to hypotonia & the co-occuring coordination impairments) very much seems to get a reaction that approaches "what the fuck is that thing" out of people often enough that it's like, no doubt having influence on how people see me and treat me. there's visibly something "off" about me i guess even if i don't think i'm visibly disabled per-se (while not using my cane). like i can't get into other people's heads but i look at how i speak vs. how other people speak, how i look vs. how other people look, the fact i've been a social reject since forever, and also like...getting called slurs.

i feel i'm in this weird gray area because the way i speak, the words i use, the way i move my body (more subtle than the rest), and the way my face looks (which is more of a "i have androgynous physical features that have gotten me routinely mistaken as someone who was camab or is transfem since the 3rd grade" thing rather than a disability thing afaik) are all these subtle things that tip people off that i have something "wrong" with me whether they take that in a charitable or uncharitable way. i would argue the fact that i'm (neuro)developmentally disabled certainly isn't an "invisible" thing to me even if hypotonia, which is what's affecting how i speak and how i move, isn't necessarily a developmental condition (although it caused me or contributed to developmental delays that are more related to my body than my mind.)

not looking for validation with this post (though if anyone has any thoughts on this subject i won't turn any away), i'm just musing abt my existence/embodiment, i guess.

#j #body log

[lfenvs3000f23]

Blog Post 10:

"Describe your personal ethic as you develop as a nature interpreter. What beliefs do you bring? What responsibilities do you have? What approaches are most suitable for you as an individual?"

My personal ethic as a nature interpreter is to be as intersectional, inclusive and accessible as possible, but also realistic. Call me an eco-nihilist if you will, but as a queer, leftist woman who grew up in a religious, right-winged environment- while also facing financial and non-visible disabilities- I feel I have a good understanding of the flaws of today’s society and can look at it through a critical lens. I also am white and have had the ability to attend university, so I must acknowledge that privilege or “invisible assets” as we spoke about in the earlier units. Therefore, I have a responsibility to use my privilege and knowledge for good, through advocating for those who haven’t been as fortunate in the lottery of life, in terms of social/physical privilege. Obviously societal norms, ethics and attitudes are important because they impact the way we as humans, interact with the world and nature around us. I am an existentialist in a philosophical nature, therefore I believe as humans, we create our own meaning and purpose and we have a moral responsibility to use our free will to do good. Or whatever drives us intuitively. I initially got into this field through my love for animals and ultimately wanting to protect those who cannot protect themselves (e.g., the earth and its critters). I’ve since never regretted a day of this decision. I often ponder what it would be like if I had pursued another field like medicine or engineering, but I think environmental science and research would always be in the back of my mind. I feel a very strong pull and calling to nature, and sitting in a cubicle all day 365 days a year sounds torturous. I strongly believe we have a responsibility (or rather, obligation) to protect the world around us as we know it. I actually completely agree with the indigenous values around honouring nature and I think as a society we could benefit largely from incorporating indigenous knowledge and practices. 

Do I have minimal faith in how much longer mankind can continue in the ways we are, and not pay for it? Do I feel personally that the world is screwed? Do I believe that big corporations and industries are completely and entirely at fault for the destruction of the planet? Do I hate that the blame and guilt is placed on the individual for it? The answers to all of those questions would be yes. But not in the way you would think. 

I’ve kind of made peace with my feelings on these things - they used to bother me and make me so upset in my teens. I was actually on a strict vegan diet for 6 years because I felt I had such a personal responsibility to lower my carbon footprint. I ended up becoming pretty weak and anemic by the end of it. I applaud vegans and have so much respect for them; I sometimes contemplate going back to it sometimes, but it’s not realistic to be 100% perfect all the time.  Climate anxiety is a real thing and I’ve made peace with it. Some might call it being complacent or ignorant, but in today’s society sometimes you just need to protect your mental peace and sanity. Sometimes the most helpful thing you can do is just accept that you can’t change the world all by yourself and that’s okay. I will vote to protect the climate, fight social injustices, drink almond milk, use reusable bags/straws/etc., take public transit, and do anything I physically can for these causes, but I will no longer spend waking hours ruminating on it, and feeling guilty. If I’m dedicating my life to a career meant to help the environment and protecting it for future generations - that’s enough for me. Not to say that we shouldn’t (Or I wouldn’t fight for it), because I would. I just feel that a lot of today’s environmental activism is very performative, has toxic positivity and not realistic a lot of the time (e.g., virtue signalling on instagram). Overall, in a capitalist society, environmentalism is the last priority and it’s extremely hard to have these two things coincide. Not to say that it’s impossible, but there are so many issues at play, a large one being socioeconomic status. It's expensive and not accessible to be "eco-friendly" a lot of the times, and this isn't the consumer's fault! This isn’t an environmental ethics or philosophy course so I won’t delve into it further, but social and environmental justice is very important to me. I just think it’s more of a multi-faceted and extremely complex problem than people think. And this should be widely communicated! I don’t want our youths of today to feel like the burden is on them, because it’s not. 

This is why, going back to what I said at the beginning, an accessible and inclusive approach to nature interpretation is my main goal. Whether its explaining scientific concepts as simply and concisely as possible, incorporating the different learning styles, or using accessible learning for disabilities. Everyone has a right to an equal opportunity to pursue nature and environmental education!! Everyone should feel welcome and like they belong, because they do! The world needs future researchers, consultants, environmental interpreters, engineers, etc.,. I’m not sure if I will pursue nature interpretation as a career, as it isn’t in my current plans at the moment, but this course has definitely shown me its importance in guiding the people of today and also of the future. 

[idyllic-affections]

HELLO!! YOUR BAIZHU WITH CHRONICALLY ILL READER IS THE BEST THING THAT'S EVERY HAPPENED!!! I've never seen a blog that does only platonic things, and as an aroace person, IT MAKES ME SO HAPPY! I wasn't too sure if you requests were open or not, but I was wondering if you could make either some headcanons or a fic where the reader (from that series) has a flare up or gets sick and Baizhu takes care of them? I'm unfortunately sick right now (just in time for when my final school assignments are due, slay 😍) but found family and hurt/comfort are literally the best thing ever, and, if put together, I'm pretty sure will cure me /j. If you requests aren't open, then please disregard this message!

Anyway, I gotta go sleep before the fever messes up my brain (if it hasn't already); so good bye, and thank you again!!

a slip of the tongue.

summary. how does baizhu care for his junior herbalist when they fall ill?

trigger & content warnings. flu-like sickness, lighthearted mentions of death.

tropes, pairings, fic length, & other notes. hurt/comfort-ish. baizhu & reader. 1.1k words. they/them pronouns for reader. this post is an expansion of invisible disability? it's rather visible to me & contains vaguely implied spoilers for baizhu's story quest.

author's thoughts. hello lovely!!! thank youu <3 i am slowly collecting people that like this series like how i collect shiny rocks. its great to get a request related to it. i hold this series very dearly, so please (and this goes for everyone reading this!) never be shy to send thoughts about it or requests related to it. anyway, i love catering to aroace folk, you all are so special to me. im on the aro spectrum myself, so i get it. i know from experience that it can be super frustrating looking for fanfic content that's non-romantic. please remember to take care of yourself! i totally understand the feeling of needing to finish final assignments while being sick. me and you are in the exact same boat LMAO... my requests are always open btw! ive no intention of ever closing them. in the end, i went with our poor reader being sick rather than having flare ups, since i already briefly touched on that idea in employee benefits.

how does baizhu care for his junior herbalist when they're sick and out of commission?

baizhu is most often the first to know when they're sick or otherwise unwell. he's so impossibly attentive to their bodily condition, simply because their health is partially his responsibility. he's their teacher. what kind of mentor would neglect to take care of their apprentice? a bad one, that's what kind.

(he also feels somewhat indebted to them—even though they're chronically ill, they're always doing anything they can to help him recover after his "secret art" treatments. even though he's the doctor, they've helped care for him on more than one occasion. he has to return the favor whenever he can. just because he's older doesn't mean he gets to freely take advantage of their kindness.)

if he's not the first to know, he's the second, because the only instance where he wouldn't know first is if they woke up ill at home.

he'll always end up being the second to know, at the very least. someone will inform him of their condition, whether that be a parent or a sibling or another family member. sometimes a friend of theirs may tell him, such as xingqiu, chongyun, hu tao, or xiangling.

in hu tao's case... she may be distrustful of him, but she does tell him when they aren't well. [name] is a childhood friend of hers. she cares about their health and, surprisingly, doesn't want to put them in the ground just yet!

even though she dreads the path they've chosen to walk down... she still cares for them, very much so.

(junior herbalist!reader's lore drop is finally here?!?!?)

regardless of how baizhu finds out, they'll end up being cared for at the pharmacy.

though he could prescribe them medication and let them be taken care of at home...

he often wants to care for them himself.

gui has asked why in the past, and baizhu really has never had a good answer for him.

he's really not sure why he wants to be the one to monitor them. perhaps it's because it gives him a sense of calmness and reassures him that they're recovering well.

after all, if their condition were to rapidly decline for any reason... he could fix it.

(to some others, his concern might seem overprotective. unnecessary. however, something as simple as the flu has been known to take lives. he worries that, because of their chronic illness, they may be more susceptible to a severe case than others are.)

he has the means to save them if something like that were to happen, and undoubtedly, the life of his sweet and kind apprentice is one that deserves to be saved and protected.

perhaps it's also because it seems to put qiqi at ease; baizhu's noticed that she gets fidgety in [name]'s absence during work hours, but when they're ill and being cared for at the pharmacy, she functions very well and often even remembers to check on them herself.

sometimes when they have a fever, qiqi may sit by their side for minutes at a time and just press her little cold hands on their forehead to cool them off. she also ensures that they stay hydrated.

both baizhu and gui find this behavior very endearing. qiqi cares deeply for her big sibling (despite the fact that she's technically older...). her bond with them is something very special and sweet to bear witness to.

bubu pharmacy's work environment is familial and tightly knit by nature, so it isn't too hard to imagine that something would feel wrong if one of the four herbalists were gone for whatever reason. even those who don't work there are affected by the absence of one or more of the pharmacists.

overall, baizhu takes very good care of them when they fall ill.

he monitors them closely, hand-crafts their medicine depending on what they need, makes sure that their fluid intake is maintained...

he dotes on them tbh.

"Ugh..." they groaned, blearily blinking up at their mentor. Baizhu's hand against the feverish skin of their forehead was cold; they couldn't help but lean into the gentle touch. "Bàba?"

He didn't point it out. He hardly even acknowledged their words, as if he were somehow used to it. He only smiled, hand stroking tenderly over their disheveled hair, taming the defiant strands no doubt caused by restless sleep. "So sorry to wake you, dear."

Even Changsheng was quiet—she only hummed thoughtfully from her place around Baizhu's neck. Normally, she'd find something to tease them about (usually because they started it!), but now... she seemed to know that it just wasn't right to tease them in their hazy state of mind.

Gui was quiet, too. He was surprised. He had never heard them address their mentor such an... informal way, let alone with familial terms. He did once briefly think that the dynamic they had with Baizhu was awfully family-like, but...

It was still unexpected.

"Come, now. It's time to take your medicine again, and then you can go back to sleep, okay?"

Gui watched, still silent, as they hummed in absentminded acknowledgement, rubbing their eyes ever so slightly. It didn't seem to help them come to at all; their gaze was still distant and unfocused and they didn't even realize how they addressed the doctor. If they did... they'd probably apologize, embarrassed, but they showed no such emotion. Baizhu gently guided them into a sitting position, rubbing small circles on their back.

Gui handed the cup filled about halfway with herbal medication off to the doctor. Baizhu gingerly guided it to their lips, knowing very well that the guidance was needed; they looked half-asleep sitting up. Archons know they were in no condition to successfully do it themselves. They took the medicine without so much as a whine about its bitterness—they only grimaced slightly after swallowing. Gui supposed that they never really were one to complain about it, even when fully coherent. 'I think it would set a bad example for others if I complained,' they once told him. 'Plus, it's not like Dr. Baizhu gets some kind of sadistic pleasure from giving medication to me, so there's no reason to complain. It's herbal. There's nothing to be done about the taste... I know he doesn't like taking it either. Hehe. It's kind of funny, actually, like we're hiding some kind of company secret. Herbalists who don't like the taste of herbal medicine.'

It was only after he left the room with the doctor that he pointed it out:

"They called you bàba."

"Hm?" Baizhu hummed, turning to Gui. "Oh. Yes... [Name] has done it quite a few times, actually, whether that be because of fever delirium or a slip of the tongue. I don't mind it. It only means that they feel safe enough to be vulnerable here. Qiqi has done it a few times, as well. Those two are only children, so... it is to be expected."

Gui then smiled, nodding. "It's cute."

Baizhu couldn't help but agree, his lips tilting upwards into a little smile himself. "It is."

please consider reblogging, it helps me out quite a lot!

#aphelion's headcanons 🌸 #: [ the junior herbalist! 🌸 ] #favoniuslibrary #astronetwrk #platonic genshin impact x reader #platonic genshin #platonic genshin impact #platonic genshin x reader #platonic baizhu x reader #baizhu x reader #genshin impsct x reader

[bushs-world]

So, I have refrained from posting anything regarding the Johnny Depp vs. Amber Heard trial until now but I have seen so much toxicity floating around on the internet, I really want to put forth my pov. Just to be clear, I am not taking a side or pointing out who is right or wrong, merely rambling about the toxic internet behaviour surrounding this case.

First of all, it upsets me to see a case involving domestic violence and abuse being treated like a reality TV show, with people making memes or jokes about such a sensitive topic.

Two, this idea floating around the internet where people judge who is the victim based on how they act during the trial is so stupid. I have seen a plethora of comments which go like 'look at Amber! that's not how a domestic violence victim would behave' or 'Johnny on the stand is how a victim behaves' etcetera. And not only is this idea stupid, but also ableist. Nobody can judge who is a victim based on how they act. Two victims can have two totally different way they react. That doesn't make one more authentic than the other. All this idea does is reinforce the false stereotype of how a victim should behave, and shunning or mocking those that don't fit in the mold of an 'ideal victim'. I remember reading an article from a disabled person about how he has to suffer judgement and harassment over people refusing to believe his disability, coz it wasn't a physical one and hence invisible. Judging someone or disregarding their abuse because they don't act like a victim is plain wrong. Pick sides based on evidence, not whether or not they act like victims.

Three, but the amount of self proclaimed body language experts on the internet thinking they can pick out when a person is lying based on their body language and offering their opinion. This situation reminds me so much of Elizabeth Holmes' situation. She fooled people and sold faulty, non working blood testing devices, yet nobody could realise her treachery. So many TV interviews yet nobody doubted about anything. Once however she was exposed, a whole bunch of internet body language experts came forward how her manipulation was visible in her body language, and how the signs of her lying and trying to control her impression were crystal clear. And I am sorry but you are wrong. She was able to fool people for so long, there's no way anybody could sense she was wrong. And why didn't you notice this earlier when she was cheating everyone. That way so many people wouldn't have been cheated.

Four, the idea that Amber deserves the vitroil and villification. If she is lying, then what she needs is punishment, she needs to face consequences if she is in the wrong. But the entire internet pretending like they are on some moral crusade. No.. You are just enjoying the witch hunt and partaking in the fun. You don't like her anymore. No issues. Withdraw support. Protest against her. But thinking sending hate via the internet is some sort of activism, it isn't

Lastly, this one will definitely get me a lot of hate but to all the people spewing toxicity and hatred in the name of supporting male abuse victims, I honestly don't think it is about supporting male victims. It is quite common for fringe hate groups to use male victims as fodder to shoot down feminism and women rights, yet these people will also be the first one to hate and mock other men when they fail to uphold the masculine ideals. Once this trial is over, will there be support groups for male victims? Will they have shelters and social groups that will help them get justice or rehabilitate them? Will they be offered a chance at healing? No. People will think they served justice by punishing Amber, believing themselves to be moral crusaders, without actually bringing any positive impact or uplifting male abuse victims. Because it isn't about helping such men. In fact, these very same people will be the first to mock or belittle a male victim by calling him a pussy, a loser, not man enough whatever. This entire notion of performative men's right is less about helping or uplifting men, and more about using these men as fodder to attack the idea of gender equality, hiding their misogyny under a mask of performative support

#johnny deep vs amber heard trial #tw: domestic violence #my ramblings #Johnny Depp v Amber Heard

[brightlotusmoon]

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=pfbid02kWc4ju3mKaSfjnMab79MmwXUS4Ym5M4dXSue25bVH4iNSxJvkrWmg36xrpcGyruNl&id=100064856373594&sfnsn=mo 

-

“Disability pride" has been defined as accepting and honoring each person's uniqueness and seeing it as a natural and beautiful part of human diversity.

It’s important to note that having a disability doesn’t necessarily have to teach you anything.

I lived most of my life having no idea that I was disabled. Even though looking back I very clearly was. The lack of accommodations made life extremely difficult.

Once I accepted and realized that I was disabled, it opened my eyes to realizations that I had never had before.

Autism is considered a disability. Some feel that it’s because of how society treats us and the lack of accommodations. Others feel that autistic traits themselves and co-occuring conditions can be disabling.

I also have Ehlers-Danlos syndrome. This is an invisible condition that you can’t always see. And it affects autistic people disproportionately. But trust me, the pain and dislocations are very real.

It’s important to remember that not all disabilities are visible and we should never judge someone based solely on what we see.

That’s why speaking about our differences is not only important but crucial for society to understand that we belong here just as much as anyone else.

What would you add to this post?

Image ID:[ Gray background with multi-colored red, gray, and black squares. The message at the top reads, in honor of disability pride month, Things being disabled has taught me. How to make myself a priority. It’s ok to accept help. It’s necessary to feel sad and angry sometimes. Being “normal” is completely overrated. How to advocate for myself because no one else is going to. To set boundaries like my life depends on it. Because it does.

I will constantly be underestimated. To never judge a book by its cover. That I’m not an inspiration, I’m just a person.]

#the chronic couple

[kimyoonmiauthor]

Creating your own Marginalization from Scratch

I drafted a version of this on Nanowrimo in 2005-ish. This is an updated version after I’ve taken all those college and university classes on systems. (Racism, etc)

The idea of this post is to look at how hate overlaps and is created in a more philosophical general sense rather than the stern academic sense so you can invent a prejudice and a discrimination for your worldbuilding from scratch.

The thing that I keep saying over and over is that: Hate is not creative. Love is. This is because you can easily boil down and hate a group for what they don’t represent, but in order to love, you need to know the individual. It is easy to create a list of how hate manifests because it’s always shorter than love.

That said, I still have some disclaimers about this list.

Disclaimers: 

- This is not saying that the experience of how the prejudice feels is the same between groups or the experiences are the same between individuals.

- The actions to restore rights between the groups might have to be different to address different needs.

- The examples will try its best to encompass a number of groups, but since there are so many groups hated upon, it might miss some groups.

- This is in no way trying to promote hate. If anything, it’s showing how systems are built and thrive from next to nothing, to a powerhouse.

- This list does not encourage “flipping” prejudices between existing privileged and marginalized groups. That sort of thing is a whole other post, and very, very tricky to pull off correctly. For example, flipping the power dynamics between White and Blacks. Done badly: Victoria Foyt. Done well: Marjorie Blackman.

Stage I

Visible or Hidden or Mixed

The first step is to decide if you can *see* it. Because the impact of the prejudice will be different. It’s the difference between immediate versus secondary. Between being able to swallow and hide it or being pointed at and known. It can also be mixed, where one could express they are--fill in the prejudice. Or its expressed on their body, but hidden under clothes.

It also could be expressed physically through privileged markings on the body.

Hidden: LGBTQ-A (Though it can be expressed), sometimes disability, adoption status, mental health (sometimes), poverty (though it can be expressed), etc. Sometimes slavery... but this is more made invisible.

Visible: Sometimes disability, homelessness (though they try to make it invisible), race, gender (sometimes, though this is performed), sometimes ethnicity, etc.

Mixed: Intersex, sometimes disability, etc.

Stage II: The reason the prejudice started.

Usually a lot of these are stupid and really, they were looking for an excuse beforehand. Real life is mind-numbing.

Women: Men saw they were assaulted, and wanted land ownership because land ownership was prestige.

Disability: Because they couldn’t work the land and couldn’t prove the health of their paternal line.

Adoption and hating on adoptees: Because they are a visible reminder of how society has failed so people don’t want to hear about  and paint a pretty picture instead.

LGBTQIA: Because then cishet male prestige and all about their insecurties.

And so on.

Bonus: If you make it financial reasoning near the end, this usually is very convincing.

Stage III: Creation of the System

I’m probably missing a few here, but this should give you a general idea and also how to combat it. (Also loosely why I have those 10 philosophies of Systemic hate)

What about Me?

The most popular. And no one is immune from it, no one, which is why it’s so disturbing. You can see people justify this in real time, especially around personal gains and money.

This is also often the most heart breaking of the ways a system is created.

For example, Irish workers and Chinese workers striked on the railroad. The Irish workers sold out the Chinese workers, getting a better deal for themselves because they were starving.

Divide and Conquer

This is where the elite find differences between the people in the movement and leverage it to make sure they attack each other so nothing gets accomplished or the movement slows down.

The best historical example of this was that whites did a rebellion with blacks. the white plantation owners promised the whites indentured servitude if they would cut out the blacks. Poor whites are often the ones attacking poor blacks in history ever since. It works so well that the rich white elite have gotten poor whites to attack welfare, which is made of majority white people, on the false premise that poor blacks are in the system. (And that’s a head trip).

Attack the Weakest and move to the stronger group

Attack trans people, test the waters, and then attack gay people happened recently. This also goes with sideways hate, where the group, attacks people they perceive are weaker.

The best example, of course are Terfs.

Instill Fear within the group so the group eats itself.

Martin Luther King Jr. got shot. What people don’t know was that he was working hard on coalitions between Asians, Blacks, Whites and Latine.

But after he got shot, people were scared to unite again to ask for the end of poverty and racial justice.

Erase the Past and Make People Forget

People can’t remember how the system started, why and even the elite no longer remember why. If no one is educated about it, it becomes a huge monster, unable to be attacked, indefensible, and no one can see the kitten it actually is. If no one knows its origin story, no one can mock it, laugh at it, or try to defeat it. In fact, it was ALWAYS that way and EVERYONE did it, so the elite can’t help doing it.

When prejudices have a time, a date, a (stupid) reason and weren��t forever, they lose power.

Ban textbooks that ever say anything about slavery and tell foster care that telling black children about slavery will give them trauma is the largest example.

Make sure the Elite cannot see it.

Push it away from sight, like homelessness. Make a new tale about how it came to exist.

Minimize terms the marginalized use for themselves

Black Lives Matter... But White Lives Matter. In fact, do whataboutism every time. They never can get the vocabulary right. Why is it “Defund the Police” that sounds wrong. You can’t use that word--it’s insulting to... and so on, until they have no words at all.

Minimize what it really is

Death Camp-->Concentration camp

Concentration camp-->Internment camp

Jail cell-->Holding center

Re-education programs--> Gay Hate Religious centers.

Re-education programs-->Concentration Camp

If it’s “not that bad” then people can ignore it. For example, the move from Global Warming to Climate Change was made by a Republican after a PR test session to make it sound less threatening. (He was also in the pocket of big business) and then started to argue that it was “more accurate”)

Framing and controlling the narrative

This is a true story, but Asians were once framed as violent like Blacks and brown Latinx. But Asian women were not shaken by this. White men wanted Asian women after raping them in several wars because white women were having their women’s movement (while excluding black women and other women of color). So what they did was frame Asian men as weak, controlling, emotional, and it worked. And then Asian men South and East Asian weren’t allowed in TV and film to have any white women or have a love interest.

Bonus points for justifying it. Well, you know, Adoptees even as adults just don’t understand and are children who can’t comprehend the gift they’ve been given.

Asians were weak to start with, and people should share their technology freely. (About tea and the Opium Wars).

Stage IV: The System Manifested

Nature v. Nurture Argument Wherein you argue it's nurture or nature to make the argument that whatever the person is experiencing/experienced is wrong.

One of my profs liked to say, “No, it’s NATURAL, that women like pink. But often it’s not nature, it’s culture.”

Groups Observed Examples: LGBTQIA community, Adoption community, Mental Health community, Foster care community, body image. (Previously the left handed people of the 1950's and earlier.) race (sometimes), Also, some disabilities.

Polarization Wherein the person outside of the experience argues that the group is either all evil or all good. (i.e. hate or philia)

Groups Observed Examples: Fetishizing of women in PoC groups is philia. Noble Savage is a philia. "Blacks are all criminals" is hate.

Sweeping generalizations about the group rather than examining the individuals. All _X_ are X. All groups I know of go through this. They have to fight for the right to individuality and range within their community. Often when doing so, people on the outside argue that they are "impossible" to deal with and that the individualism within the group is proof of the reason they can polarize them. Also assumption that one person's opinion is all of the group's opinion. Also often used as a reason to use a "divide and conquer" approach to civil rights.

Economic interest A lot of prejudice starts with pure economic interest. Groups Observed Examples:  Gay people and lesbian people are told in some states that they can be fired for their sexual orientation and no other reason. PoCs have also suffered greatly due to economic interest (GB is NOT exempt. I have sources for that). Socio-economic classes also fall into this. And so on. Some religious groups as well, such as Jews, recently Muslims, etc.

Invasion of personal boundaries because of X without permission. "Where are you really from?" "What do you have?" "Well are you on welfare?" Or asking personal questions in general to prove a political point, etc. (It's no longer about the person in front of you.) Groups Observed Examples: People with disabilities, Adoption and Foster Care, PoCs, LGBTQIA (from what I heard)

Projection/Transference "You should be grateful."/ "Get over it." Wherein the Majority power group tells the minority power group that whatever they benefitted from them is their problem. OR feel like the position of the minority power group is such that they can project their hate and desires onto them. (For example: "When I touched her butt, she was asking for it wearing that short skirt.") Groups Observed Examples: All groups I've run into complain about this issue.

Assumption that the only thing they talk about 24-7 is their affiliation with Minority Power group OR only Majority power group. Women talk only about feminism, or only talk about men. LGB talk only about sexual orientation and the heteronormative group, etc. Groups Observed Examples: All. I have yet to run into a group that hasn't had this problem on television or media.

Limitation on jobs, types, and ability to get a job.

Best way to suppress a population is to make them permanently poor.

The best example of this is redlining. This limited the ability for black homeowners to live in affluent neighborhoods, which then limited their school districts to get money, which also meant their children had a tougher time getting education, and then made it harder to get a job, but then the amount of time to get a job doubles or triples, and then those children can’t buy their own home.

That’s economic crippling.

But you can also say that a population is only good for... say like women were said to be only good as homemakers, secretary, nurses and teachers. No other jobs were fitting for women. This means jobs with higher earning power, say doctor, lawyer, etc are out of reach for women.

Fetishization

Women, Asians as examples. The idea that whatever the elite does to you is good, and therefore, you have to accept it. You want to be catcalled. You want to be told you’re only good at math and nothing else. You want to see only June Cleaver types on television.

Infantilization Classic examples are "Women can't rescue themselves." "White people need to rescue the native population from themselves." "Adopted people are forever children." And drawings of actually putting people in baby clothes in order to demean their group. (And if you doubt that happened... uhhh... it really is disturbing). This can simply be done by tone and lecturing someone on what it means to be a part of their group because the dominant group thinks they know better and thus, the lecturing in a slow voice is like schooling a misbehaving child. Groups: Women, PoCs, Adopted People (though I've heard of Relinquishing parents getting this crap too), People with Disabilities (Physical or mental), LGBTQIA, and senior citizens. (Good to put into media as a way to suppress and demoralize a population.)

Savior Complex/"You should be grateful." The majority group feels obligated to "save" the minority group from mostly themselves, so then the minority group has to be grateful by working harder for the majority group. Groups Observed Examples:  LGBTQIA, Adoption, PoC, Women

Minority power groups are compared to or are "food" *trigger warning* "fruity" for homosexual, particularly gay. (Notice the gender relations overlap) Women, in general being compared to food. "Her skin was like honey." "Her skin was like cream." (Constrast point, men are usually cutlery.) PoCs on food comparisons. N.K. Jemisin pointed this out, but the majority of the skin comparisons for African descent tends to be slave items. "Almond" eyes for Asian. (And really excuse this) *strong trigger warning* (Not way to censor it...: sorry.) coconut, Twinkie, etc for half or passing. Mental Health: "nutty" When did other humans become digestable? There is so much psychology to unpack in this one. (Freud's oral phase, anyone?)

Minority groups compared to animals. I think this one is obvious. This is more likely to come up in writing and not so much in every day life anymore, but it does come up. I'll leave you to think of them on your own. Groups Observed Examples: biracial... (I've heard one for black and white). From here, you get basic behaviors to ignore there is a problem... but I think we know them all. It's a basic "No See Monkey, No Hear Monkey and I didn't speak it Monkey. It was Monkey's grandfather who gave that privilege. So Monkey doesn't have to do anything to challenge that privilege. Besides Monkey's best friend is X and *they* never told me about the embarrassing prejudice they got even though I never asked more than one person or about their experience, so it doesn't exist." Yes, I know they are really apes...

#worldbuilding #writing advice #marginalization #how prejudice manifests #creation of human systems #human hate

[steviewashere]

Ranting, Sorry.

I'm reading this book called A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara. It's an excellent read, I recommend it so far. Very human and very personal and very intimate—just great all around.

It centers around this character named Jude and his relationships with several friends in his circle. How he perceives being a disabled adult, while also becoming very successful in the field of law, the ins and outs of sexual trauma. It's deep, it explores it all.

The thing I'm choosing to focus on right now, however, is him and his thought on being a disabled person. For reference, he was in an accident—it scarred his back, his body developed chronic pain, and he's reliant on walking aides for his mobility. One of his largest fears in the book is that his friends, his colleagues, the acquaintances that wade in and out of his life, they will see him as less of Jude and being a person; but rather define him wholly by his disability. That they'll use it to mock him, to force him to be less than and degenerate under their feet, that it'll come back to bite him in the ass. He worries that he's perceived as just the way he walks or talks or moves. That he is less human and more the thing that separates him—does this all make sense?

Anyway. I am someone who has chronic migraines and chronic pain. His fears are my fears, even if mine are lesser and more invisible. (Solely because there is nothing visible on me to highlight me as disabled, but it's still there. Just because you can't see it, doesn't mean it's not there.) And I have people in my family who are disabled, who I've been advocating for since I was younger.

But this makes me more aware of how people interact with or talk about disabled people online.

Here's an example:

Some twenty minutes ago, give or take, I was scrolling on TikTok. (Which, in itself is a hellscape and has rotted my brain like the spread of mold.) But somebody on there is posting clips from Michael J. Fox's documentary, Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie (which you can watch on Apple TV+).

And in these clips, Michael J. Fox talks very openly, while also recalling solemnly, the diagnosis for Parkinson's Disease. His complete and utter shock. The way it was described to him as being degenerative, incurable, etc. Even the slight horror in the realization that he's young at the time of this diagnosis, that it will affect his acting career, things along these lines.

Which, to take a quick sideline here, Parkinson's is a pretty devastating disease. It's a disease in the brain that causes the breaking down of a person's nervous system. Which affects how a person may move—things like tremors, stiffness, loss of balance as some of the first signs. And again, it's incurable. It's something that just unfolds as a person ages. It doesn't go away. There's no way to extinguish it, does that make sense? The best way to soothe the symptoms is by taking medications, but these medicines do not eradicate the disease.

Okay, now that I've explained a little bit.

I was just baffled, completely and utterly baffled by what people were saying in the comments of these clips. Things like "It's so hard to watch," and "It's been hard to see him go through this for decades," and the list goes on. But those being the two that truly, honestly, angered me to my core.

This is what A Little Life was talking about. When a person opens up about their disability, they are hoping for support, for enthusiastic and positive questions: How can I help? Is there anything that I can do that would better support you? And especially comments like, This does not change how I view you. And you are the same person to me.

Because that's what it should be! You shouldn't see a disabled person and want to look away because it's hard on you to see. How absolutely diabolical to hear. Take off the skin of being uncomfortable for a moment, a second. I want you—if you've made a comment like any of the negative ones that I've seen or you've witnessed these comments with your own eyes—to imagine what it's like for the disabled person in some ways.

The person may be used to their disability, but that doesn't mean that all insecurities are immediately out of the question. Maybe they're hidden, maybe they're skin deep, maybe they're so far inside of them that it takes the absolute most to pull offense from them.

But disabled people, myself included, want to be viewed as just a person. Like anybody else. That's it. Watering disabled people down to just their disability, or how their disability makes you uncomfortable—that's an awful thing to do, it's an ableist way of seeing the world.

Have more respect and dignity. And keep the uncomfortable to yourself. We deserve the same space and existence as you do. No matter celebrity status, career level, gender, sexuality, or otherwise.

Making comments on how difficult it is to see a disabled person experience their disability, that is a horrid thing to do. And I hope every single person realizes that.

#rant post #disabled people are people #stop treating us like something other or like garbage