I am begging Mental Health Culture to stop broadening the definition of "self-harm." If you want a term to convey the concept you're trying to express, may I suggest bringing back the term "bad habit"?
"Self-harm" is grounds for involuntary commitment. Do you want people to get involuntarily committed for spending too much time on the internet before bed or volunteering for too many projects? No? Then don't give coercive psychiatry ammunition by broadening the usage of their coercive terminology!
When I first started out in the Mad liberation advocacy movement, one of the arguments we made against involuntary commitment and coercive intervention for "self-harm" was that neurotypical people do things that are "bad for them" all the time, like playing football, smoking tobacco, or eating candy, and they still have the bodily autonomy right to make those "unhealthy" choices. The point was to highlight the double standard that some people were denied rights because of doing things that were allegedly "bad for them," while other people were allowed the dignity of risk and freedom to choose. Our point was "The neurodivergent/Mad person picking her skin should have the same right to bodily autonomy as the neurotypical person dancing ballet, even though both are doing things to their bodies that could be described as 'bad for them.'" The argument was that neither should be pathologized. Current discourse would pathologize both, as well as even more variations on human behavior. That's a big step backwards.
"But it's only self-harm if it has certain emotional motivations" -- let me stop you right there. Coercive psychiatry does not ask us what our emotional motivations are. It dictates to us what our emotional motivations are, and increases the coercion if we disagree with it (because disagreeing with their assessments of our emotional state is also A Symptom). Do you think the Parental Surveillance Industrial Complex is going to listen to their children before following through on moral panic articles about how parents should take away their children's hobbies because they're "self-harm"? Don't ascribe good faith to coercive psychiatry, because coercive psychiatry doesn't ascribe good faith to you.
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For the ask game: common fandom opinion that everyone is wrong about?
[ask meme]
8. common fandom opinion that everyone is wrong about
I...actually get frustrated with the infantilization and/or demonization of characters that could be read as autistic, because it happens so often and there's such a lack of self-awareness when people do it. If one person headcanons it, a bunch of other people pile on, and before you know it, your character is being treated like someone else entirely - and unfairly so.
Let's take the most obvious example and the reason I don't engage with fandom much:
I am so tired of what fandom at large has done to Emmet since 2010. He's been infantilized since day one, often being portrayed as needing Ingo to take care of him or otherwise be his brother's keeper. He's also been turned into a violent, 'unhinged' stereotype since day one. Neither of these things are new. They've been happening since the release of the games. Neither of them have any basis in his canon characterization - a competent railroad employee who's a goofball but simultaneously responsible and always puts safety first.
I was hoping people had moved past that the way they moved past Blankshipping (though some people still do this, too, EW), but it seems like they haven't. Emmet is still either a helpless child or a serial killer waiting to happen to so many of these people, and as someone who actually felt so validated and seen the first time she discovered Ingo and Emmet, it hurts so deeply.
In real life, I'm also infantilized. I turn 35 this year and have a Master’s degree and work a big grown-up adult archivist job and live outside my parents' house, but because I'm neurodivergent and short, I'm frequently assumed to be and am treated like a teenager way more often than you'd reasonably expect. It's incredibly frustrating to constantly be treated like an innocent child because you don't meet neurotypical benchmarks of adulthood the way they want you to or because of the way you carry yourself or enjoy things. But at the same time, people shy away from me because I'm "too intense" about the things I care about.
Sound familiar?
Fandom was, when I was a younger girl, a place where neurodivergent people (especially autistic and ADHD people) were safe from the real world not understanding, accommodating, and accepting us. We generally kept things on the down-low, since it was another thing we'd be bullied for if people knew, but for us, it was a safe space. Then people realized fandom could be commodified, and once capitalism got a hold on fandom and made it mainstream, all our bullies were suddenly in our little space again, and...well, you probably know the rest. (Yeah, they brought their ableism with them.)
I'm not saying old fandom didn't have its problems. It had a LOT of problems. But it was, altogether, a safer space for neurodivergent people to find community and themselves than it is now. Now it feels more about producing things and moving on to the next big thing to produce more "content" to keep engagement instead of an actual community of nerdy, passionate people getting excited about each other's fanworks and chatting about their favorite things together.
And that reflects in how people treat autistic and autistic-coded characters now. Emmet is one example of many - look at Papyrus, or Entrapta, or numerous others.
This trend really, really fucking hurts, and I cannot stand how willingly fandom spaces just go along with it without thinking critically about it.
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There is no neurotypical Link, Legend knows this, he also knows he is not neurotypical neither but compared to the other Links he feels like he has no right to say he is neurodivergent
He doesnt fit with neurotypical people but he feels he doesnt have enough problems to be neurodivergent bc he is gifted, he is not autistic or has adhd, he is just "too smart for his own good" (even if it's more complicated than just that) and struggle in silence
(Not sure if it is angst but it's my experience as gifted and today someone told me I was a faker cause "being smart is not a neurodivergence" and if I fall Legend falls with me)
all these links got imposter syndrome i just know it
to me, most of them are autistic or have ADHD or both, but I saw a really cool headcanon somewhere that Legend has synesthesia and I’m kinda obsessed with it (though I personally headcanon him as autistic as well). None of these dudes are neurotypical, the neurodivergence is passed down through the hero’s spirit /j
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so me and @lemonking00 decided to make a tier list...but it's what neurodivergency/mental illness the cast of Hazbin/Helluva have
Explanations/are they medicated?/extra details or thoughts below because this will be a long post if I don't
ADHD-
Millie: unmedicated, she just doesn't like it
Vox: medicated but OH BOY DOES HE FORGET, man will go 3 days without it before remembering then he's medicated for 4 days and they he's out of his ADHD medication! and it's ALWAYS when the pharmacy runs out and won't have it in for a few days
Bee: unmedicated she doesn't care she's just having fun
Clara: she's just here because LK said Odette was autistic and we wanted an ADHD/Autism sibling dynamic, I was going to skip them because we don't know much about either, she's properly medicated, Carmilla makes sure she takes her medication
Autism-
Vaggie: we're all in agreement on this right?
Alastor: I know he's a sociopath but we've been joking he's autistic for a bit lol
Lucifer: his special interest is clearly ducks, yes he's canonically depressed but the autism is winnning
Sir Pentious: ok so everyone I know agrees with his so, mans got that autistic rizz
Vortex: ...ngl we just wanted him to be the ASD to Bee's ADHD being the ADHD/autism couple dynamic
Millie's dad: as stated by LK "he just seems autistic" and then explained farmers give off autistic energy, LK's the autistic redneck friend so I'll trust him on that
Lute: ...I have no explanation she just seems autistic, and like a homophobic homosexual
Zestial: so initially we put him in the group therapist tier but the autism won so we moved him
Odette: explanation for why she's here above
AuDHD (written as AUDI relating to a series of inside jokes but long story short half our friend group is AuDHD and one of said friends used to have an AUDI)-
-Blitz special interest in horses, bad at emotions, he's not medicated, he should be on several medications, he's not on any of them
Charlie: ok hear me out, we all agree on the ADHD yes, but her dads got that tism ok, she would to. she is medicated, and Vaggie reminds her, but it's a gamble whether or not she'll take her medication even with a reminder
Cherri Bomb: ...bombs and just look at here that's my explanation for why she's here, no she's not medicated, there's other drugs, no it's not the same thing she doesn't care
Velvette: she's better about taking her medication than Vox is but she still forgets, always seems to run out around the same time as Vox...when they don't have the medication...being Valentino during that is great/j the two will lock the doors and make him deal with their unmedicated asses till the pharmacy has the medication again
Fizz: I don't think I need to explain why he's here, he's not medicated, he doesn't like the feeling and he likes himself better unmedicated, and Ozzie loves him either way so fuck getting his ADHD medication
Adam: simple explanation, ADHD and Autism is hereditary, so it had to come from somewhere and in the words of LK "it wasn't Eve, idk how but she's neurotypical", Adam doesn't believe people when they tell him he's AuDHD, so no he's not medicated
Emily: I'm not explaining myself, she is medicated and does take her ADHD medication on the daily, Sera will remind her and if she forgets after that Sera will just give her the medication
Depression- (depresso expresso because funny)
Stolas: literally cannon, and while also Autistic unlike Lucifer the Autism is not winning
Octavia: I would be too if my family was that much of a mess
Barbie Wire: just fucking, look, no I'm not explaining this
Sera: (just makes gesture like, look at this bitch)
Twamatised- (referencing a joke in Gravity Falls)
neither of these need explanations fucking look at the two that are here!
OCD-
Moxxie: we actually added this catagory for him, he's just got those vibes
Niffty: I swear I remeber reading something on an old ZP era sketch dump saying she had slight OCD, I might be misremembering, probably, but got those vibes
Group Therapist- (fun fact this was initially a Husk only category but a lot more characters belonged in it then we thought)
Husk: (points to episode 4) and yes depresso expresso as well but, I made this category for him so
Razzle & Dazzle, Fat Nuggets, Keekee, and the Egg Bois: all are here for similar reasons they're (basically) pets that bring joy and improve peoples mental states
Ozzie: I don't think I need to explain this one, since it's basically cannon
Rosie: ok so all the overlord are autistic (minus Vox), but they go to the category that takes priority and she's seen being a person you go to for advice so, this is just cannon
Carmilla: quote from LK "mom", that's why she's here, again all overlords are autistic (except Vox)
NDP- (narcissistic personality disorder)
Verosika: we actually added this category for her so
Striker: ok this one's debatable but he definitely has a personality disorder of some sort
Valentino (KYS) was added just for Val to tell him to die
BITCH was added for reasons obvious if you look at the characters, no headcannons here we just wanted to call out these characters for being bitches
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