#I spent the longest on them

[plumbbobtoggle]

The last group of the new townies - the Silvercino household!

[c0rvidski]

live laugh leyendecker

[giantkillerjack]

Today my therapist introduced me to a concept surrounding disability that she called "hLep".

Which is when you - in this case, you are a disabled person - ask someone for help ("I can't drink almond milk so can you get me some whole milk?", or "Please call Donna and ask her to pick up the car for me."), and they say yes, and then they do something that is not what you asked for but is what they think you should have asked for ("I know you said you wanted whole, but I got you skim milk because it's better for you!", "I didn't want to ruin Donna's day by asking her that, so I spent your money on an expensive towing service!") And then if you get annoyed at them for ignoring what you actually asked for - and often it has already happened repeatedly - they get angry because they "were just helping you! You should be grateful!!"

And my therapist pointed out that this is not "help", it's "hLep".

Sure, it looks like help; it kind of sounds like help too; and if it was adjusted just a little bit, it could be help. But it's not help. It's hLep.

At its best, it is patronizing and makes a person feel unvalued and un-listened-to. Always, it reinforces the false idea that disabled people can't be trusted with our own care. And at its worst, it results in disabled people losing our freedom and control over our lives, and also being unable to actually access what we need to survive.

So please, when a disabled person asks you for help on something, don't be a hLeper, be a helper! In other words: they know better than you what they need, and the best way you can honor the trust they've put in you is to believe that!

Also, I want to be very clear that the "getting angry at a disabled person's attempts to point out harmful behavior" part of this makes the whole thing WAY worse. Like it'd be one thing if my roommate bought me some passive-aggressive skim milk, but then they heard what I had to say, and they apologized and did better in the future - our relationship could bounce back from that. But it is very much another thing to have a crying shouting match with someone who is furious at you for saying something they did was ableist. Like, Christ, Jessica, remind me to never ask for your support ever again! You make me feel like if I asked you to call 911, you'd order a pizza because you know I'll feel better once I eat something!!

Edit: crediting my therapist by name with her permission - this term was coined by Nahime Aguirre Mtanous!

Edit again: I made an optional follow-up to this post after seeing the responses. Might help somebody. CW for me frankly talking about how dangerous hLep really is.

[meowthefluffy]

Something something do you love the color of the sky

(based on this post) @zzoupz @writing-is-a-martial-art

[taxlthomas]

weesnaw

[knightforflowers]

i won’t give up on this world (i won’t give up on you)

finished my relisten of Ethersea last week, I don’t think I will ever get over this season ;;

(close ups under the cut)

[br-disaster]

it's still NMJ's birthday in my timezone, so have some happy Nie Bros !

[send-me-a-kae-via-subspace]

i hear they have pyromaniacal talents.........

[echofive-draws]

woo 6 characters! i love these guys <3

[tyrramint]

Happy Lockwood & Co. Big Bang!!! :D I had the absolute pleasure of collaborating with @The_Dreamer_Half_Alive (on Ao3 :) on her fic for the @lockwoodandcobigbang2023 event; set post TEG, it’s truly so lovely and heartwarming, and I had so much fun doing a piece for it! We very much hope you enjoy :)

Link to the fic!!!! (the horror of the night melt away) under the warm glow of survival of the day

(Closeups below the cut :D) (because I ended up making it too wide to be easily seen in full lol) (plus ~artistic commentary~)

(SPOILERS FOR FIC CONTENT)

Okay, so I tried to put a bunch of little easter eggs from the fic and just in general in here, so if you’re interested:

Alright, to start off, I was generally very inspired by them getting a record player; I thought it was very sweet, and I loved the idea of them finally getting to relax and hang out in the library (the lack of chairs, I know; I couldn’t figure out how to put them in without blocking people lol) and locklyle dancing, with the record player on in the background, so that’s what I took as the basis of the scene!!

We had discussed that the characters were kind of a combo of both show and book versions, so I tried to add a smattering and hints of both when doing their designs!

The record is, of course, an Ella Fitzgerald record as mentioned in the fic (the record drawn is her Souvenir Album)

Holly is wearing her engagement ring, and wearing shades of pink and cream because that’s what she wears at her wedding (although shifted in hue to better match the color scheme of the piece lol)

Everyone (minus Flo) of course has their white strands of hair (which is *always* one of my favorite details to draw)

Lucy and George bake in the fic, but I think I had just read the Christmas mini story when I was doing my thumbnail for this, so Kipps ended up being the one bringing in baked goods; however, the baking mitts are orange and monogrammed with George's initials because I couldn't let that slip by, could I?

I wasn't quite sure what to put Flo in, because in the books she never takes off her boots or puffer jacket, but I wanted to throw in some sign that she was living at 35 Portland Row and becoming closer to all of them, (and her close relationship with George,) so I let her keep the boots, but traded the puffer jacket in for one of George's plaid shirts :)

The chess game also made it in because of the Christmas short story, lol

Lucy's blue star jacket!! When I read the fic, I was planning from the start to have her wearing the jacket, so of course it made it in :) I wasn't really sure what style it should be, though, so I ended up with kind of an odd mishmash of designs, but I think it turned out working alright!

The sapphire necklace, because, of course

I adore that Lockwood wears his pink socks throughout the entire show (well, most of the time they're the pink ones ;) so I wanted to include them (and then gave Lucy blue ones to match :)

The chipped blue mugs that Lockwood brings to Lucy for her tea after she wakes up from nightmares are on the bookshelf, and I couldn't find a way to directly include the Earl Grey tea they have, but I made the tea bag tags grey in honor of it

The green glow is the ghost lamp outside because if I can find a way to incorporate cool glows in my art, I will (and also on a more narrative-driven note, symbolizing the past danger they've been through and how some of it is definitely still present, but they have each other to heal with and finally be able to have some simple fun with, and are now curled up in the safety and comfort of 35 Portland Row :)

And finally, a big theme of the fic is them healing and building a happy life together, so I just wanted them to all be happy for once, and hence I put in my best efforts to draw them as such :)

[gobstoppr]

[OC] 🌟PROFESSIONAL STIMMERS 🌟

[chiquilines]

Redraw of a comic i made a year ago for the villain!fuyumi AU!!

[kevindavidday]

posessed by kevjean thoughts again i tried so hard to repress them but...nora...i'm afraid she has done it again

[be-kind-recklessly]

My secret santa gift for @idontwannadoablog! They asked for campers having fun in the snow, so here's Whispering Rock Psychic Winter Camp! Closeups and dialogue under the read more

Chloe: This frozen water is a curious earth phenomenon. And it's very suitable for making a scale model of the rocket ship I will need to build…

Bobby: Ha ha! This is the greatest snowman we've ever made! Benny: It's so realistic! Maloof: Please, let me out! I'm cold!

Franke: You're not making a snow angel, it's a snow Kitty!

Raz: What are you doing, Lili? Lili: All this snow is not good for the plants. Luckily it melts away real quick when I SET IT ON FIRE! Dogen: I set someone on fire once…

Milla: Don't worry darling, we'll get that beast away from you! Mikhail: No! This is fight between me and bear.

Nils: Winter, the worst season of all. The ladies wear so many layers of clothing, there's nothing to see! Elka: Hmph!

Crystal: Wow, the water in here must be really cold… I wonder how long you'd last if you fell in… Clem: Not very long, probably.

Elton: The fish say they don't like this weather. Because of the ice they can't see what's happening at the surface. Milka: …

Chops: Whoah! J.T.: Watch out partner! Phoebe: Aw man, I almost got him!

Vernon: All this snow reminds me of a story my uncle used to tell me… It was about a boy who climbed up a mountain because he wanted to go skiing. But when he was at the top he realized he forgot his skis. So he went down again. And then he grabbed his skis. And then he climbed up again. And then…

[daintyduck99]

Think their smile is ugly and try to hide it. The other is having none of it for Reggie & anyone please and thank you

The new boy in Luke's class is odd.

Not bad odd, like the boys who grab the girls on the playground and won't let go, or the kids who eat glue, or the ones who hate music circle. Odd like—opposites.

Like, he lights up during science and show and tell and music circle and lunch and lots of other times, but then he mumbles if he gets called on. He even covers his mouth like he doesn't really want to talk!

But why would he get all bright just to stop and turn dim as soon as someone sees?

Luke's mom thinks he might just be shy, or lonely, but she doesn't really get it. Luke doesn't have enough words to make her understand. Opposite isn't quite right.

He's already doing one thing she suggested, though: trying to make friends.

Many other kids have already given up, off-put by just whatever's up with Reggie, but that’s really not fair. He's super nice.

He does fair trades at lunch, and gives great pushes at the swings. Science makes more sense when he talks about it.

It's just hard to understand him sometimes. And also—he almost never, ever smiles.

It looks wrong when he does, small and kind of scrunched and not showing teeth.

And Mom would probably tell Luke that it's rude to point that out, but he's had enough.

“Why do you only ever smile like that?”

The scrunched smile becomes a frown before being hidden behind Reggie’s pizza.

“Like what?”

“Like—without teeth, but also like—”

Luke huffs. He hates not being able to put something into words. He settles for a shrug and finishes with, “I dunno. Fake?”

Reggie shakes his head, eyes wide and watery. He's still hiding behind his lunch.

“I can't tell you. You won't—I can't tell!”

“Why though?” Luke probes loudly, ignoring a dirty look from the girl at the other end of their table. “I won't what?”

Reggie refuses to say anything else until recess, though, when Luke's ignoring Reggie's attempts at ignoring him prompts Reggie to drag Luke under the slide.

He looks around to make sure they're alone. Even so, he covers his mouth.

“Promise that you'll still be my friend?”

It's Luke's turn to frown. “Duh! What—”

“You have to promise!” Reggie insists, and it looks like he's about to cry again.

Luke squeezes him tight, the way Luke's parents do for him. “Reggie. I promise.”

Reggie lets out a weird breath, and oh yeah, Luke's trapped his arm, but he looks less close to tears as Luke releases him.

“I have an awful smile. My parents can't get me braces, so the kids at my old school always made fun of me. But I keep forgetting not to smile so I have to cover my mouth or just try not to open it and I know I sound stupid but it's all I can do!”

Luke blinks at the rush of information.

“Sooo. Your teeth are just a little crooked?”

Reggie flails. “Worse than a little! It's bad!”

“They don't look bad to me.”

Reggie falters, and Luke freezes. During the flailing, Reggie had moved a lot.

And Luke had seen, had spoken carelessly, just like his mom always warns.

Slowly, Reggie lowers his hands. They twist together in his lap as he bites his lip.

“Do you—really? You mean it?”

Maybe Luke's mom is wrong sometimes.

“Yeah! They're a part of you. I like them.”

For the first time, seared into Luke's memory, he's gifted with the beautiful, real smile he will someday write a song about.

[autumngracy]

Not me creeping up to the wordcount of the fourth longest book ever written