audhdnight - Tumblr blog

[audhdnight]

#yes yes yes thank you #i really needed this addition #the first lot were cool and all #and would be such interesting ideas to explore #but having them all based purely on the fact that they're not adapted got the environment on land made me sad #as someone whose disabilities basically boil down to "brain not wired for modern society" #the first batch was relatable #but only seeing that when it crossed my dash felt like something was missing #and suddenly i was questioning if those mermaids actually counted as disabled in mermaid society #because it was just singling out the ways mermaids may not be adapted to life on land #and so it felt kind of othering #because with it all basically being stuff that would be fine while they're underwater that doesn't translate to life on land #my brain turned it around into a metaphor saying that disabled people are like another species #being forced to live in a world they're not adapted for #sorry for the tag rant op #i know you weren't trying to do that #but my brain went dumb places and made me feel bad #seeing your reblog with the additional disabilities made it better

(Tags from @thatwoodenguineapig)

Yes!! This is part of why I wanted to include more than the original post! When I originally made it, I had just read a book about shifter mermaids, so that’s where my mind went automatically. But I dislike the rhetoric that’s basically like “disabled people are only disabled because the world isn’t built for them” because yes that makes things more difficult, but I’m still disabled even with accommodations. So I wanted to also include mermaids that are just disabled period, whether on land or in water. (And I’m sorry the original post made you sad 🩶)

Petition to add more disabled magical creatures in fantasy

Like picture a mermaid. When they have to be on land their tail turns to legs, but because their body is used to lower gravity their joints tire easily and are chronically in pain.

Also depending on how deep in the ocean they live, it’s likely they have circulation problems because their body is used to the water pressure holding everything where it needs to be and now their blood is always fucking pooling in their legs and they have to wear compression socks everywhere.

Wheelchair user mermaids. Partially/fully blind mermaids because who needs to see when there’s no light at the bottom of the ocean?

Mermaids with sensory issues who have to wear headphones all the time because sound is so much louder up here on land and they are constantly overstimulated. And also the sun is simply Too Bright™.

Mermaids who have POTS because in the water postural changes make no difference and their bodies don’t know how to stabilize with so much gravity.

I’m really fixated on the mermaids rn but PLEASE feel more than welcome to add more!!!! I wanna hear about disabled dragons

[audhdnight]

This post kind of blew up yesterday and it reminding me - I also want to talk about disabled fantasy creatures that are still disabled in their natural environments. Everything I talked about above is still super cool! But those disabilities would pretty much go away if the mermaid went back into the ocean.

I want to see mermaid with limb differences. Imagine how cool it would be to see a mermaid with a prosthetic tail/fins? A motorized swimming aid?

Mermaids with specialized “outer gills” because their bodies struggle to take in enough oxygen from the water without help.

Deep-sea mermaids born without heat sensing abilities, so even though none of them actually have eyes, these mermaids still struggle to hunt or navigate around other creatures the way their fellows can.

Mermaids that can’t control their swim bladders, so they have a system of weights that they use to control how high/low they are in the water.

Mermaids born without scales??? How they’d be so susceptible to injury from basically everything.

Mermaids that have survived attacks by orcas and giant squid, but have nerve damage from it so they have chronic pain.

Mermaids that can’t eat the same things their fellows can, because their bodies don’t produce the anti-toxin that mermaids need in order to be able to digest the poisonous jellyfish/etc they mostly live off of.

Petition to add more disabled magical creatures in fantasy

Like picture a mermaid. When they have to be on land their tail turns to legs, but because their body is used to lower gravity their joints tire easily and are chronically in pain.

Also depending on how deep in the ocean they live, it’s likely they have circulation problems because their body is used to the water pressure holding everything where it needs to be and now their blood is always fucking pooling in their legs and they have to wear compression socks everywhere.

Wheelchair user mermaids. Partially/fully blind mermaids because who needs to see when there’s no light at the bottom of the ocean?

Mermaids with sensory issues who have to wear headphones all the time because sound is so much louder up here on land and they are constantly overstimulated. And also the sun is simply Too Bright™.

Mermaids who have POTS because in the water postural changes make no difference and their bodies don’t know how to stabilize with so much gravity.

I’m really fixated on the mermaids rn but PLEASE feel more than welcome to add more!!!! I wanna hear about disabled dragons

[audhdnight]

[audhdnight]

“If you have time to watch Netflix you have time for a side hustle” my side hustle is relaxing so that my body and brain can heal from by this nose-to-the-grindstone bullshit. I refuse to feel guilty for being a human with the need to relax sometimes. my side hustle is no.

[audhdnight]

Okay so I’ve been reading The Pocket Change Collective, a series of short books about a lot of really important topics, and I am ABSOLUTELY loving them. I have decided that this Collective is my Bible. As such, here are some of my favorite “verses”. (Maybe you can even use them to respond to Christians that put Bible verses in your comments; I’ve already done this once with very amusing results.)

Adam 2:19 “…for the drama.”

Adam 3:15 “You are loved, and you are welcome here.”

Adam 4:46, 51-53 “The truth is that queer people are never alone because we are part of something greater than ourselves… This sense of loneliness, of being unique in our closeted misery, is nothing but a strategic lie. We feel this sense of isolation because we live outside society’s norms. There are systems in place to keep us apart. Because a united fleet of queer youth without shame has the potential to change everything.

Alok 1:5-7 “This false choice of boy or girl, man or woman, male or female is not natural — it is political. The real crisis is not that gender non-conforming people exist, it’s that we have been taught to believe in only two genders in the first place.”

Alok 1:8 “Gender diversity is an integral part of our existence. It always has been, and it always will be.”

Alok 1:16 “The issue is not that we are failing to be men or women. It’s that the criteria used to evaluate us to begin with is the problem.”

P.S. These quotes/“verses” are from The New Queer Conscience (by Adam Eli) and Beyond the Gender Binary (by Alok Vaid-Menon). Please go read these books!!

[audhdnight]

reblog if you're aspec and FUCKING VALID!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[audhdnight]

this is a way better model... you'll still get transphobic & intersexist drs of course but i prefer this to male / female or even having separate questions for gender & sex.

[we can't see the full form, but i'd suggest having a "something else" option and dominant hormone question too.]

[audhdnight]

probably shitty worldbuilding idea: fantasy world that keeps going

[audhdnight]

"All autistics have low empathy" - This statement is wrong.

"Autistics having low empathy is a MYTH, we actually have HIGH empathy!" - This statement is ALSO wrong.

Autistics can have low empathy, they can have high empathy, they can have learned empathy. The myth would be that all autistics only experience one end of the empathy spectrum.

In spreading around misinformation that autistics actually have high empathy, you are disregarding the autistics who do have low empathy. And vice versa.

[audhdnight]

[audhdnight]

It baffles me that the white conservative christian community I grew up in is so performatively against “swear words” and not, like, actual slurs? (I say performatively because everyone swears when it’s just them and like one other person around, but they all like to pretend they don’t in front of groups.)

I really do not understand why “swear words” are seen as vulgar? Why can I say “screw you” but if I say “fuck you” my mom will have an aneurism, even though they mean the same thing? Why is “poop” and “crap” okay but “shit” is just too far? If they’re understood to be virtually the same, I don’t get why we have to act like some are inherently worse than others, or somehow dirty.

But when it comes to, again, actual slurs, which have a long history of abuse and which carry very disgusting and harmful connotations, then people will say they’re “just words”.

You know what really fucking Annoys Me about internet censorship is stuff like swear words being heavily censored because that's entirely an American cultural hangup being forced on the rest of us. I don't know a single country where swearing is as taboo as it is in America. In fact most languages have swear words that would have the same effect on an American as giving a Victorian chimney sweep a pepsi max cherry.

[audhdnight]

So I just saw a post by a random personal blog that said “don’t follow me if we never even had a conversation before” and?????? Not to be rude but literally what the fuck??????????

I’ve had people (non-pornbots) try to strike conversation out of nowhere in my DMs recently, and now I’m wondering if they were doing that because they wanted to follow me and thought they needed to interact first. I feel compelled to say, just in case, that it’s totally okay to follow this blog (or my side blog, for that matter) even if we’ve never talked before.

Also, I’m legit confused. Is this how follow culture works right now? It was worded like it’s common sense but is that really a thing?

[audhdnight]

Adults: Following rules is good, not following rules is bad

Little me: Okay :] *follows a rule*

Adults: Oh my god look at this loser. He doesn't know that this rule is Secretly Okay To Not Follow. Dumbass. Let's all laugh at him

[audhdnight]

If you liked HP as a kid and are grieving the nostalgia, I offer you the Septimus Heap series. It has the coziness, the magic, the cool creatures and friendships and whatnot - without the racism and antisemitism and transphobia and all the other shit JKR had written and done. Also, in my opinion, much better writing. Oh and a hell of a lot fewer plot holes and things getting randomly picked up and dropped again with no rhyme or reason. Basically, this series is better in every way and will probably fill that part of you that misses Harry and his world.

[audhdnight]

Knowledge is empowering

[audhdnight]

⚠️PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT⚠️

The Queer Liberation Library is, as the name suggests, a digital library centered around queer literature. They offer library cards to anyone in any place, all you need in order to sign up is an email address. Then you can access their catalog online or through apps like Libby.

When I signed up I received an email that said there’s sometimes a waitlist, but I should have my card within a week or else someone would get back to me within that timeframe to explain if I had to wait longer. I ended up getting my card after only a couple of days.

Their website is very accessible and easy to use. My favorite features are the button at the bottom of the screen which lets you switch between light and dark mode, and the Quick Exit banner along the top of the page that doesn’t go away regardless of where you navigate on the site.

This is such an incredible resource and I can’t believe I didn’t know about it until very recently. I want every queer person to know about it! They have accounts on most of the major social media sites (such as tiktok, Instagram, even here on tumblr at @queerliblib). There’s also a place on their website where you can suggest books they should add to their catalog.

After you get your card, I’d suggest the first book you read to be Beyond the Gender Binary by Alok Vaid-Menon. It is a short but powerful little book that I think is an incredibly concise analysis of societal gender-based discrimination, and a great place to start a lot of really important discussions. I listened to the audiobook this morning (it was only an hour long, which is a win for my trash attention span) and I couldn’t believe how good it was for so little page time.

I will absolutely be reading the rest of the Pocket Change Collective (the series which Beyond the Gender Binary is part of) and I can’t wait to see what I’ll learn from them.

[audhdnight]

You!! You get it!!

Petition to add more disabled magical creatures in fantasy

Like picture a mermaid. When they have to be on land their tail turns to legs, but because their body is used to lower gravity their joints tire easily and are chronically in pain.

Also depending on how deep in the ocean they live, it’s likely they have circulation problems because their body is used to the water pressure holding everything where it needs to be and now their blood is always fucking pooling in their legs and they have to wear compression socks everywhere.

Wheelchair user mermaids. Partially/fully blind mermaids because who needs to see when there’s no light at the bottom of the ocean?

Mermaids with sensory issues who have to wear headphones all the time because sound is so much louder up here on land and they are constantly overstimulated. And also the sun is simply Too Bright™.

Mermaids who have POTS because in the water postural changes make no difference and their bodies don’t know how to stabilize with so much gravity.

I’m really fixated on the mermaids rn but PLEASE feel more than welcome to add more!!!! I wanna hear about disabled dragons