#and such labels are arbitrary. in the end it’s not what you are but what you do that matters

[distortedwhite]

what if i do it anyway. he's a himbo and i love him <333

[doberbutts]

I can't understand the idea that someone outside of an oppressed group cannot be victims of violence towards that oppressed group. That anon you deleted, the one who got mad and went "so cis people can experience transphobia!?!" Have you not read the news lately? What? What is happening to Imane Khalif right now? When you are past some arbitrary "acceptable range" of looks, behavior, etc., you become a target. As a cis woman who grew up in a conservative area, having "boyish interests" was enough for me to be subject to slurs and abuse. And it stuck around past that, because I have a small chest and broad shoulders, a long face. Whatever. Systems of oppression effect everyone under them because they all rely on "passing". You are required to reach a bar and to look and perform in certain ways and that bar is ever changing.

Well, that's why when someone was in my replies being upset that I asked how Khelif could be considered TME when transmisogyny was actively happening to her, one of the things I responded to said person was:

I don't understand how discussion the widespread effect of a systemic form of oppression and how it affects other things or is used as a weapon in other things, at all damages or erases the conversation that said systemic form of oppression is a problem. If anything, it's spreading further awareness.

I understand if the concern is that not enough people are caring about the trans women to whom transmisogyny happens on a regular basis, and are instead only ever caring about non trans fems and their relationship with being on the receiving end of transmisogyny. That is a problem, and it's one that does need to be talked about more often.

However I don't think any other form of oppression is specifically locked to only the people who identify as that oppressed demographic. Men experience misogyny. White people experience racism. Abled people experience ableism. "You throw like a girl" "you're not my daughter if you marry that black man" "what are you, deaf?" these are all things that are experienced by the "wrong" demographic, because in truth? The demographic doesn't matter.

These are systems we're talking about- the system of misogyny is what leads boys who fail to be masculine enough to be compared to girls as a way to state they are inferior, because the point is that with the system of misogyny, girls are inherently inferior to boys. Therefore, calling a boy a girl is calling him weaker, lesser, and not good enough.

The system of racism is what leads white parents to disown their children if their children date outside of their race. The point is that under the system of racism, interracial dating is seen as an aberration, and these racist parents then reject their own children for daring to love someone who is not white.

The system of ableism is what leads people to make comparisons to disability when bringing up someone's shortcomings. Disabled people are largely seen as failures in abled society, so by pointing to disability whenever faced with what is perceived as inadequacy, the system of ableism operates to continue to associate being disabled with worthlessness, and being abled with having worth.

Hell, it was not that long ago that "gay" and "retarded" were used as synonyms for "bad" and "stupid". Some people still use these words that way. It was a fucking Rick and Morty joke a few years ago, this isn't ancient history.

So when I'm told that I don't experience a system of oppression based solely on my labeled demographic and not on my actual lived experience, my immediate first thought is "that's not how systems of oppression work, literally everyone experiences these things in different ways, because that's what is meant when we call something systemic, it means the entire fucking system is built around this as a crux of logic"

Which is very weird to me then when someone tells me that by saying Khelif is/was experiencing transmisogyny, I'm erasing trans women. How? I genuinely don't understand how that's possible when I'm saying that the explicit hatred and fear of the trans woman boogeyman is what led us here in the first place. I am saying "this comes directly from people pushing transmisogynistic rulings for years and was always going to be the end result when they finally excluded all the actual trans women". I'm saying "it was bad logic when applied to trans women and it's bad logic even now, being applied to a [self-identified] perisex cisgender 'biological' woman and we should have put our foot down about it years ago when trans women and intersex women were actually competing".

Transmisogyny is a system of oppression. The system is functioning normally even when it fires at targets it's "not supposed to". That's what happens under systemic oppression. That's a feature, not a bug.

[sweetandsavageautistic]

(CW: Cringe, Autism Parents stuff, drunk mention, infantilization)

So I don't have a degree in Graphic Design, but I do have a sense of general aesthetic. I figured that it's April. Let's rate, and potentially verbally tear apart and drag through the mud, some autism shirts and graphic designs, and I'll probably do a part 2, these scores are only semi-arbitrary: First up is this:

Already off the top, I am confusion because it seems to read "I wear puzzle cousin autism awareness". Sounds like whoever made this was drunk.

Puzzle pieces, ew.

The red, yellow, green, and blue look like the shades you'd see in elementary school, so that seems pretty infantilizing.

Autism Awareness, I am very much aware of my existence.

Final Score: 0 out of 10. Designer, go home; you're drunk.

Next we have this:

This one already has a slight advantage over the first because it's at least coherent in terms of the message.

Elementary school colors, but make it extra tacky.

Puzzle pieces; don't try to bullshit me by putting the autism awareness banner over it, I can see the other indents that make them puzzle pieces.

Once again, I am well aware of my own existence.

At least it's a smaller design.

Final Score: 0.5 out of 10, and that's being generous.

Next one's not a shirt, but it still counts:

No blue so thank God for that.

This is up to personal preference, but to me, the person-first language is giving "I need to be reminded that someone is a person."

Puzzle pieces. Ew. Don't BS me, I can see them.

Walk down Autism Lane. (it's right below the word LOVE) Sorry, but we don't allow ableists on Autism Lane; you need to be a premium member and to be a premium member, you need to not be a dick.

The pumpkin disturbs me for some reason, and not in the Halloween way; I mean, it just straight-up disturbs me.

Final Score: 0.5 out of 10. Bury it in a shallow grave.

Just found this one:

It's easy on the eyes at least.

No tacky elementary school colors.

No puzzle pieces.

The bunny's cute, but this also seems very infantilizing.

Person first language is a no for me.

Why are all of the is lowercase, but the others are uppercase?

Final Score: 5 out of 10. Not great, but not terrible.

Here we have simple:

Elementary school colors, but credit where credit's due; it's not terrible on the eyes.

Why is blessed on there three times?

One big-ass puzzle piece.

"Autism blesses" Yes, because being bullied by my peers, being indirectly told who I am is wrong, having the worst time making friends, always feeling like I'm never truly part of a friend group, being confused when some adults got mad at me, not having anyone to play with at 4 years old is an absolute fucking blessing. /s And that's the tip of the iceberg.

"Fun", "Sweet", "Cute".....it's the infantilization for me.

Final Score: 3 out of 10. No further elaboration.

Then there's this monstrosity:

I call this color Patronizing Paraprofessional Blue, aka the tackiest shade of blue ever.

It looks like something one of those older white suburban millennial moms would wear. Like something a Karen would wear to one of those autism walks or one of those social skills teachers who talk in that slowed-down patronizing kindergarten teacher tone with that fake-ass smile, no matter how old you are. You know the one I'm talking about, right? Yeah, they'd wear this.

Puzzle piece. Light It Up Blue. Ew.

We all know what organization this supports.

Final Score: -10 out of 10. Burn it.

Let's get in a good one to counter that abomination of a shirt and end part one on a higher note:

Nice simple design with a black background.

No tacky elementary school colors.

Identity-first language.

Really counters the....what the fuck would it be called? The UwU autism parent thing? ("I am his voice, he is my heart," "See the able, not the label," etc,.) It counters that.

The light sparkle around "a bitch" is chef's kiss.

Final Score: 11 out of 10. Perfection.

[thatdogmagic]

Remember this smug as hell post?

Well, keep it in mind.

I'm going to give some people here the benefit of the doubt and go into this post with the assumption that they genuinely don't know how fucking awful the Tumblr """"porn filters"""" are for images deemed - or reported by users as - 'NSFW.'

This is a rehash of everything I wrote out before, but it's going over all of it in one big post, because this issue with community labels moves well beyond debates over what is and isn't NSFW. There are doublestandards within doublestandards, and no way at all for artists and creators to know for sure if their post is going to get blacklisted.

We're not merely talking about the fact that these filters exist. We're talking about the fact that they are wildly inconsistent, and that reported images aren't seen initially by a person so much as an extremely stupid algorithm. That's why there's the option to say 'this ruling was made in error.'

There are literally no set guidelines for what qualifies as NSFW, and what doesn't, when it comes to nudity, and to what characters those guidelines actually apply. Staff rulings do not match up to one another. They legitimately do not make sense. You cannot divine how a ruling is going to end up, and it is infuriating that staff is jerking us around like this when the platform very clearly wanted artists like us back.

Not only that, they were, yes: that fucking smug about it. In case you forgot, that 'cheater' picture is talking about people who fled the NSFW ban specifically.

Examples follow:

Both of these images were caught by the filters, and then appealed. The first one was (visibly, as you can see) downgraded to Everyone, in spite of the character showing more secondary sex characteristics than the first (breast, visible nipple).

Similarly, a male character showing a pube fluff was left alone, even in spite of being cited in my appeal on the second image.

Last, there is, as noted, this readily available image of Felicia, that you can find by searching 'darkstalkers Felicia' on the search bar. Did people forget that she's bottomless, and those aren't panties?

Using fluff to cover junk is an age-old trick for characters like this. And it clearly isn't a problem with the male character.

Further, you can go through just about any archive and see a ton of images that were not subject to community labels, many of which are much more racy, and much more legitimately "NSFW."

So, yes, beyond the disgust of Tumblr staff treating any body like mine as filthy and inherently sexual in nature, this is also about a system that is arbitrary, penalizes artists for no good reason, and has deeply opaque standards. You never know when a piece of yours is going to run afoul of a bot, or what a staff ruling will ultimately be, or why the ruling is there in the first place.

And that's bullshit. If you think it's anything other than bullshit, you're being a contrarian ass. Especially since a forced label absolutely WILL kill your visibility, where compared to implementing the label yourself. It is punitive, it is punishing, and I will say again: it is completely unnecessary to jerk us around like this when the platform very clearly wanted us back.

And now that we are, we're back to being treated like garbage, constantly having to guess what the rules actually mean, how they apply, and to which sorts of bodies they apply, all while watching our viewcounts on contested posts eat ten kinds of shit.

tl;dr, do not talk to me about 'following rules' when the rules are so ill-defined as to be quite literally useless, to me, and to every other artist on this website.

[satoriberry]

"there's no ink." "yer kinda cute." - karasu tabito

★ resume: you need to make photocopies of a correction sheet for all 35 of your classmates. also, karasu can't use printers.

★ heads up: karasu is potentially ooc but imo he acts the way he does when it comes to football outside of bllk he's CRINGE BOOOOO, reader has hair that can be tucked behind her ear so it can be short or long yknow and uhhh nothing else ig, maybe just karasu being cringe but what's new. also reader is so fucking sick and tired of people in this so she's a bit rude but its justified :3

★ berry's note: oh wow im WRITING!! [😱😱] n e way, i hate this guy a lot and i cant imagine him excelling at using a printer by himself, so time to make a cutesy scenario out of it where he makes a fool of himself!!! enjoy!! :3

maybe it was because of the big, fat, red "57" that was surely an adequate and representative grade for your work - and not just your geography teacher being a bitch - but for some arbitrary reason, an itch developed in the back of your brain and made you feel a bit less tolerant of stupidity. at least until you get back home and sleep like a comatose patient.

you felt a slight comfort in knowing that even the self-proclaimed class genius got a gut-wrenching 60 on the same test, which isn't the nicest way of finding inner peace, but who cares? besides, geography is for losers who want to make statistics about the declining birth rate, and you couldn't care less about women giving birth to less and less children with each passing decade. strutting down the empty hallway, you gripped the sheet containing the answers to the questions with a bit too much intensity and aggression, slightly creasing it in your hand but you had bigger things to worry about. the printer room.

the godforsaken printer room - that served as the only motive to still keep hallway number 4 of the third floor accessible - possessed a myriad of faults and problems, the worst one being that they rarely kept the ink fresh; 'they' being the student body whose only involvement was that. keeping the ink fresh. they didn't even have to buy it, their only job was checking the printer's ink every 4 to 5 days and replace the cartridge if needed so. but, suprisingly (considering how competent they usually are), no one was bothered enough to accomplish this single task. nevertheless, it seemed that you weren't the student to first stumble upon this inconvenience today. the door to the printer room was slightly ajar and the lights were clearly on, so someone had to be in there.

taking the final steps, you lightly pushed the door all way to the end and gazed upon the wall where the (shitty) printers sat on an alignment of old desks. there was someone, you knew that already, but that someone seemed a bit familiar.

oh. it's that super soccer guy from bambi osaka. kawaru tamiko.

or at least you thought that was his name. you weren't good with names.

he was leaning forward against a table carrying an old canon®, tilting it forward with a grip on either side, and his hair flattened against the wall. almost like a person checking the label on the back of a cargo box that was too heavy to move. he was probably trying to look at the wires in the back, there was no other explanation for such an awkward posture.

it took him a few seconds to notice your presence, partly because he was so engrossed in the printer, and partly because you didn't care enough to say a word and instead opted for standing awkwardly with a hand on the doorframe. he turned his head towards you a first time and immediately went back to the printer before rapidly turning his head towards you again, this time fully absorbing your existence. kawaru abruptly let go of the table, producing a loud noise as it hit the wall, making you slightly wince at the idea of an even more damaged printer. you walked towards him.

running two fingers on the dust coating the surface of the printer, you lazily muttered, "it's not working, is it?", expecting nothing less from junk that was probably in use from before the fall of the soviet union. he had stood up straight and begun to awkwardly swing his arms back and forth, a clear attempt at de-stressing. "err, no, pretty sure there's a wirin' problem," he answered, though you were moreso talking to yourself than him, but that didn't matter.

"and uhh, this button right here hasn' stopped flashin' ever since i turned the thing on. prob'ly needs a technician," he continued, forcing a more assertive tone towards the end. you asked him to show you what button he was talking about, so he eagerly pointed at a flashing button located on the left side control panel of the printer. a button that had the image of an opaque drop on it. a button that had the faded word "ink" written underneath it.

the printer was working fine. it just needed ink.

and he thought it was broken.

you stood there in silence, physically and mentally unable to comprehend how someone can miss such an obvious clue. you didn't take your eyes off the flashing button, breathing quietly, trying your best to not lash out on kawaru. you noticed a frizzy lock of hair sticking out from your head and proceeded to tuck it behind your ear, then put your hand over your mouth in an attempt to hide your frustration, eyes still on the flashing button.

karasu, on the other hand, was waiting next to you, though his eyes were moreso fixated on you than the printer. did he know you? he didn't think so, but you seemed like someone he can find interest in, definitely the thinker kind since you appeared to be pondering a solution to this ordeal in a rather sophisticated manner. other questions flowed through his mind: what class were you in? were you a 3rd year? were you in the advanced course? did you have any mutual friends? did you do any extracurriculars? did you like soccer? have you ever been to one of his matches? he couldn't stop the flow of possiblities as to how to get to know you.

"there's no ink." "yer kinda cute."

you slowly turned your head to face him, body stiff and unmoving. he realized how outlandish the comment he just made was, and possibly inappropriate considering the circumstance.

"huh?" "what?"

you blinked at him with gradually developing bewilderment, fully certain that you heard what you heard but that didn't change the fact that you weren't awaiting that from him.

and sadly, you couldn't say that it displeased you. the opposite actually.

"i err, i...anyway, you said ink? there's a few cartridges in the desk's cubby. whaddya need? black? magenta? cyan? yellow?", he started to speak again at a fast pace, wanting to get done with this interaction and dwell in sorrow from his incapacity to talk to cute girls. "black's fine," you answered, looking away to make it less embarrassing from him. he dug in the cubby for a moment, hand banging the sides of the metal compartment before he got hold of a blocky object. he read the cartridge's sticker and made sure it was black ink before standing up again.

you expected him to press the button that dislodged the upper half of the machine and replace the cartridge, however, he stood quietly, fiddling with it while nervously looking at and away from you multiple times. oh. he doesn't know how to replace ink. exhaling through your nostrils, you stuck out your hand, wordlessly demanding him to hand it over - an order he prompty followed.

karasu felt you snatch the cartridge before he could even fully place it on your palm, making him feel even more guilty for wasting your time. he watched as you effortlessly pressed a series of buttons, took out things, replaced things and before he knew it, you snapped the top of the printer back on, which caused the flashing button to stop doing so. was he a loser or were you just a printer connoisseur? he didn't care enough to think of an answer though, he was once again focused on subtly seducing you and make you notice his more pleasant qualities.

you chose to ignore him for the rest of your stay in the printer room, procuring 35 copies of the sheet and preparing to leave when you felt a hand (his hand) lightly tap you on your back.

"yes?," you said, though you recognize you could have said it with a bit less bluntness in your voice. he took no notice of this however, and asked, "what's yer name? i think we've met before."

"(last name) (first name). no, we've never met, or at least i don't think we did," you replied before staring at him with more attention than before, noticing a few details about him that you missed. for example, the mole on his upper left cheek, or the weird angle at which his hair was styled. what kind of fucking product would you need for that?

"ah, hahaha, my bad, i was prob'ly thinkin' of someone else. umm, i...i meant what i said earlier," he mumbled his words more and more. you raised an eyebrow, not getting what he meant by 'what i said earlier', before remembering that he had called you cute. oh, right. that happened.

you involuntarily flashed a face of understanding, then lowered your head to bite your cheek. you didn't want to look like a loser while trying to hide your smile, a smile you rarely gave to guys with bad flirting skills, albeit this one was of the more good-looking variety so you can superficially excuse his lack of skills. "thanks, that was very sweet. i wasn't expecting it but it's still sweet. thank you."

"i can help ya' carry those papers to your classroom, that looks a bit heavy-"

"it's fine, really. but i do have a question. what's your name?"

his expression changed from nervous suaveness to a giddy grin, feeling honoured that you were interested in his name. "karasu tabito. i play for the local youth team, bambi osaka. you didn't ask fer that but, y'know...," ah. that was his name. karasu tabito. kawaru sounded a bit too childish for a guy like him.

"karasu tabito. yeah, i've seen you play. you're fun to watch." you tried to lighten the mood a bit cause the boy was seconds away from developing a rash if he kept scratching his neck like that.

"fun to watch? me? oh, thanks. i've been called a 'good player' and 'excellent' even, but 'fun', i've never gotten that before. w-whaddya mean by that though? what's fun, my playstyle or my presence or-,"

you couldn't afford wasting any more time than you already have, so cutting him off, you replied, "fun as in watching you in your element is rather entertaining, i don't do much sport outside of PE, but i can tell you love what you do. sorry, i have to leave, my teacher is gonna be up my ass about taking so much time."

karasu's lips formed a thin line, bitter about not making much of this exchange. and before he could even hold himself back, his mouth let out, "wanna watch my practice after school? you don't have to stay fer the whole thing, jus' to show you how i play outside of official matches."

"sure."

"what? hu-"

"i said, 'sure'. i'll watch you, i'll even stay for the whole practice, i've got nothing. catch you at the shoe lockers, bye."

and with that (plus a quick smile to soften the blow), you speedwalked out of the printer room and began to go down what felt like a dozen floors.

you didn't allow yourself to think about what happened up there, to avoid cringing at your bizarre attitude and not think about the fact that a (weird) guy you would consider somewhat out of your league, just asked you to watch him play.

bonus!!

lunch break finally rolled around, and your friends typically hung out in an obscure part of the courtyard to eat while hiding their cellphones from any faculty members. checking your messages, you noticed an instagram dm from someone whose username already crossed your mutual recommendations but you never took the time to open their profile.

kr_tabito23.

-> coach is sick but i still want an excuse to talk to you

-> there's this really rad crepe shop in namba parks

-> im paying :]

-> you can't say no

-> lol kidding

-> sorry that was weird

you giggled at whatever he was trying to achieve, he was definitely a dork. you didn't mind that.

-> sure. still gonna catch you at the shoe lockers c:

and somewhere in the school, on the opposite side of the main building, next to the fountain where he and his friends usurped the benches, karasu jumped from his seat and into the air, bumping his fist and yelling unintelligible words while his friends watched, confused but happy for their normally cool and collected fellow.

★ berry's post-writing note: guys im gonna be honest i hate the ending my inspiration juice ran out so i just came up with something but i feel like it could've been a bit better. still happy that i wrote something cause ive been in a long ass writer's block since?? what??? february? anyway, criticism is always accepted and uhh thank you for reading till the end!! <3

[slveepyscwrs]

Not all people with disabilities... (Part 1?)

(Disclaimer: This isn't to put down people who do actually have the severe versions of these disabilities that I mention, this is rather to stop the stereotyping and viewing of disabilities as a black and white thing.)

Not all blind people see absolutely nothing. (Most blind people have some degree of usable vision.)

Not all colourblind people see in black and white. (This is actually one of the rarest forms of colourblindness.) (Also, yes, according to the ADA colourblindness is in fact a disability.)

Not all deaf people live life on mute. (Many deaf people can hear some degree of noise.)

Not all people with autism are children. (Autism isn't a childhood thing that 'goes away,' and autistic kids inevitably grow into autistic adults.)

Also, not all people who use sign language are deaf. (Sign language is used primarily by deaf people, but hearing people may use sign language for other disabilities: Down's syndrome, autism, mutism/selective mutism, etc.)

Not all wheelchair users are paralysed. (A lot of them can stand up when needed, or even walk a few steps if it's a good day!)

Not all people with chronic pain are in 10/10 pain 24/7, but that doesn't make the suffering any less worse. (Although if you do have conditions that cause 10/10 pain take a virtual hug!)

Note: The 1-10 pain scale isn't very disability friendly to begin with, but that's a post for another day.

Not all chronically ill people have flare ups with the same frequency (some may have it every other day, some very rarely or hardly at all). Just because you're not having flare ups that often, your illness isn't any less valid.

Not all people with chronic fatigue sleep a lot. (Fatigue =/= Sleepiness, and many people with chronic fatigue actually have insomnia.)

Not all people with disabilities require visible aids. (Someone's internal suffering isn't defined by whether society deems that they 'look sick' or not.)

Not all people with mutism make no sound at all (People with selective mutism can speak normally in some situations, and even fully mute people may be able to make some form of noise.)

Also, SELECTIVE MUTISM =/= JUST BEING SHY. The name is a bit misleading, because we don't 'choose' with free will which situations we can and can't speak in, per se.

Disabled people don't owe you politeness. (We're allowed to have bad days, we're allowed to be miserable, and what seems 'rude' to you might actually be a bad flare up. Sometimes we just need to be left alone.)

Lastly, not all people with disabilities are officially diagnosed with a disability.

('Just get a diagnosis' is incredibly ableist. The fact that it's a lot of disabled people themselves pushing these sentiments is just drawing back our community as a whole. Not all people are in a financially, socially, or emotionally well enough situation to seek professional help. On top of that, the healthcare system sucks so bad that it's not surprising that some people just avoid seeing the doctor altogether. A disabled person doesn't have to have an arbitrary label to make their disability valid. Although getting a diagnosis can be a very validating experience for disabled people, it is by NO MEANS the be all and end all.)

[sysmedsaresexist]

Hey we've been thinking about that "OSDD was a temporary diagnosis" post for a while and. it makes complete sense what you guys said but like. we can't get ANYONE to diagnose us as anything CDD, let alone anything that isn't going to give us the treatment equivalent of slapping a bandaid on a stab wound. Is there like, anywhere we could look further into P-DID/DID research on the subject? We're not comfortable moving off of the self diagnosis of OSDD-1b yet so we wanna be triple sure to get as much information as possible.

Thankies 💕💕💕

- 🐑 & 🌸 of the Constellation Collective

There's places all over to find that info, but I want to encourage you not to overthink it. You can dig deeper, you absolutely should, but the label... it doesn't matter. It's really, truly okay to get this one wrong and switch around between the labels or use them interchangeably. I promise. You don't need to be right, because you're right regardless (unless it's a misdiagnosis, but I'm going to talk about that at the end of this, because it's important).

I am diagnosed OSDD, but I call myself DID. It's easy, I understand that there's not that big of a difference, no one is going to yell at us (me or you) if it turns out that we have the other one. We're not misrepresenting ourselves. If it turns out I would only ever be diagnosed with OSDD, that doesn't mean I was wrong using the DID label, or that I was even mislabelling myself.

Whether you're diagnosed with DID or OSDD largely depends on where you live. I made a post about this a while back but I can't find it. The US is more likely to diagnose OSDD with minor amnesia than the UK. They're more likely to call minor amnesia DID (as they should). It's literally a dice throw, and not that important.

To quote my BFF, Colin Ross,

The dividing line between DID and most cases of dissociative disorder not otherwise specified is arbitrary [or OSDD]. Most cases of DDNOS are partial forms of DID which lack either clear switching of executive control, full amnesia barriers between identity states, or clear differentiation and structure of identity states. They are partial forms of DID with the same patterns of childhood trauma and co-morbidity.

Also this quote.

So on the one hand we have a vast swathe of people who are, or would be, diagnosed with OSDD as opposed to dissociative identity disorder but who show almost all of the symptoms of DID. Many people therefore see DID and OSDD as appearing on a spectrum, and prefer to conflate the two conditions so that DID/OSDD represents a range of dissociative experiences with more or less amnesia and greater or less elaboration and distinctive identity states or parts of the personality.

It is also what happens in practice: very few people would realistically distinguish between DID and OSDD.

And,

Both OSDD and DID are the result of the spontaneous action of the brain in response to trauma. Both contain different self-states, holding shards of memory and ‘unformulated experience’ (Stern, 1997). Both can be helped by similar approaches to therapy which encourage neuronal repair and result in brain growth such as increased hippocampal volume. Above all, all forms of dissociation need to be validated for their unique contribution to survival.

P-DID is a bit of a new one. Here's the ICD link to it, if you want to read more, but it's going to be the same as above. It's really not that important. Its main difference is that the system doesn't really switch, it's mostly intrusion (like feelings bleeding between alters and host).

These are really only useful for describing how your system generally functions.

Finally, misdiagnosis.

It's okay to be wrong completely. Maybe it's just BPD or OCD, autism, any of the number of disorders that come with identity confusion.

When someone self DX something like BPD and they finally get to therapy and find out it's literally ANYTHING else, we celebrate with them. Good job, you found answers! You're on the right path! You can get the right kind of help now. You did what you had to do in order to get by, and you did your best to try to understand yourself with the tools you had. The use of the first label wasn't malicious, you didn't hurt anyone by using it, and you probably got yourself pretty knowledgeable on the topic.

You are now a resource for those who are also trying to figure themselves out.

Who knows better what the difference between BPD and OSDD is than someone who tried out both and found the answer?

Being wrong doesn't mean you're bad, I don't know why we don't celebrate a misdiagnosis of DID like we do some others. We're all just trying to understand ourselves, and sometimes we're wrong. The point is that eventually we figure it out, and the journey there... recognizing a misdiagnosis is a GOOD part of your story, and it's an important story to share. You were still struggling, regardless of what label you used and what you're being diagnosed with.

Use the label that feels right to you. If you want to keep using OSDD, that's fine. You're describing how your system works right now, and that's perfect. Using DID or OSDD, you'll end up in the same place regardless-- hopefully this means with a good therapist who's going to take your symptoms seriously, but you're going to end up in that same chair no matter what label you're using.

I really hope this helped.

Also, I didn't really touch on it, but I'm sorry you're struggling to get a diagnosis. That must be incredibly frustrating. Don't give up. Unfortunately, the average is about 5 years for most. Keep advocating for yourself.

[blackflash9]

AC and the Conundrum of Sequels

So I've noticed a particular trend that paraded many people's minds within the AC community, and that's been the gradual descent into this rather presumptuous mentality that the more sequel games a character has, the more unequivocally 'better' their development is as a character. This is often followed by Ezio used as the poster child.

[Disclaimer: I don't hate Ezio or Bayek, I'm just using them to illustrate my points] While I understand this sentiment, I've also learned that under a more critical lens, a lot in the case of Ezio's supposed "growth" has arguably always been more aesthetical than anything of substance. When we are first introduced to Ezio in AC2, we are already bombarded with a character that is far too perfect. It's hard to think of any genuine flaws in his personality or behavior - especially those that have any lasting consequences for the plot. He never quite makes any mistakes either; it doesn't help that everywhere he goes there's a small army of people desperate to help him out. He also has actual armies willing to help him at the drop of a hat, as well as being best friends with one of the smartest people in human history. His achievements in the plot are all handed to him on a silver platter.

He's never made to learn to do anything for himself. At first, you feel like that could have been the point of the early game. Ezio's father and brothers are dead, he's a wanted man and he needs to protect his mother and sister. Then, instead of trying to get them to safety, he prioritizes a chance for revenge, which suddenly brings the whole city down on him, making it harder to protect his family. The whole thing would then set up a story about Ezio having to grow up, stop being so brash and arrogant, etc. Having been born into luxury and an easy life, he now has to learn how to provide for himself and others. But these opportunities are missed.

When it comes to Ezio's motivations, I always felt like there was no reason for him to continue pursuing the Templars after all the Florentine conspirators were dead. Nor is there any kind of "Creed" or higher calling at play here, since he doesn't remotely know what the Assassins are for another ten years. He just hears that there are some bad guys in Venice and decides to go kill them. By this point, he doesn't have any real reason or motivation to continue hunting them other than his own blood lust. As a result, Ezio often feels like he is a vehicle is that dictated by the plot rather than the other way around.

I mean, only look at the average description for his character arc:  "He went from a young teen to wise master assassin and mentor."  That's all there is to say for most people: arbitrary labels. Rarely do you receive any commentary around here that delves into any shifts within his mindset, outlook, point of view, or anything that isn't just this parroted and outdated take. When we get to Brotherhood, this problem is exacerbated more where Ezio is even more static than he was before (aside from leadership and giving orders), because his arc was already concluded in the game prior where we already spent over twenty years with him where he was already leading people and giving orders. It's just more pointless and reductive padding.

Bayek is another character that normally gets wrapped up in the sequel discussion, but genuinely ask yourself: Is there anything else left to do with Bayek in a sequel? Much like Ezio in AC2, his arc is also pretty much wrapped up by the end of Origins (including the Hidden Ones DLC). He begins looking for revenge for his son's death; takes a stand against the Templars when he realizes the problem is far bigger than just himself; founds the Assassins to fight this corruption. What else is there to really do with the character? His arc's been concluded, it's not even like AC2 where not killing Rodrigo Borgia left a door open for a potential sequel. Any new game would essentially have to come up with a load of new goals and motivations for him to the point you may as well just come up with a new character.

But this is frustrating because we see complete and profound development from characters like Altair in a single game, even before Revelations. He begins as an arrogant jerk who sees himself as better than everyone but slowly becomes a wise individual upon learning from the complexity of his enemies and the contradictions within his own Creed. It's learning from his allies and enemies alike, learning the pros and cons of concepts like freedom and control, about what is gained and lost from acquiring both in life, does he truly become not just a better leader for the brotherhood but a better man.

We also see the same from Connor in a single game. Starting as a naive idealist who wants to fix all the world's problems, only to realize that he'll never be able to do so. The consecutive deconstruction of his naivety through each of his interactions with allies and enemies alike teaches him that the ability to judge right from wrong can sometimes be lost in a world that's presently reluctant to do the same. But through it all, he maintains his faith in his convictions and compromises with what's in his control to forge a better tomorrow for humanity. Altair & Connor reach the same conclusions about life, human nature, and their place within the ongoing struggle in one game, a fraction of the time, as much, if not more than Ezio does in three. Yet, more is needed because we've been spoiled and entitled to more than what was necessary with Ezio. And it's honestly this fixation that holds this series back. Whenever we delve into this topic, I never really feel like the underpinnings behind what sequels actually did for Ezio and his characterization are discussed beyond the surface-level shallow aesthetics, or the ignored light-switch motivations that have made many in the community so insistent that every other character must also have this kind of treatment.

[pricechecktranslations]

Would you consider 5th perriot as a main series sin song (ex evil food eater)or a response song(ex drug of gold)- obviously it starts as a response song but it really doesn't fit the typical Mode as a commentary on the sinner by someone who loves them its just lemy killing some guys and dying. maybe It's a false response b/c of margarita's false contract? I don't see how lemy could be 'diligence' like gumila is 'chasisty' lol

It's a response song. My main reasoning for labeling it as such is the Seven Crimes and Punishments album, where all of the main seven deadly sins songs are paired up with their response song. Fifth Pierrot fills that slot for Gift.

However, the very concept of "response song" is itself an arbitrary label that the VOCALOID fandom is, I think, a little too rigid about--I don't know if mothy himself has ever described these songs as such, and Fifth Pierrot is not the only one that doesn't really fit. I mean, the song for Muzzle of Nemesis is Last Revolver, which A) came out first, and B) is from Nemesis' perspective rather than that of her lover. Girl of the Miniature Garden similarly came out before the song it's supposedly a "response" to. Weathered Head might be about two people who loved Kayo, but it's written from the POV of a detached narrator, not in first person.

I think it's more helpful to view them not as "response" songs but rather just "directly connected" songs. Songs that are meant to give us an alternate or opposing viewpoint of the events of the main song, something that sheds new light on what happens in it. Sometimes that means showcasing a sympathetic side to the main sinner that wasn't present in their song. Sometimes it gives a "conclusion" to a story that had an ambiguous ending. Sometimes, like in Fifth Pierrot, it means revealing more fully the sinister criminal organization that was only hinted at in Margarita's song. It's also worth pointing out that this was around the time mothy was getting more serious about writing the plot to his story, so I think when making Pierrot he was more interested in setting up story threads that would pay off later.

.

Also these "response songs" aren't written around the "7 heavenly virtues". Like, I've seen people try to make that argument multiple times and it feels like shoehorning to me. Gumina's song isn't about chastity any more than Carlos' song is about temperance.

[disgruntleddemon]

I find it hard to put into words, but I'm tired of masculinity and femininity being treated as inate to men and women respectfully. Like a man who does stereotypically girly things is just "secure in his masculinity". What does that even mean? You don't even need any "masculinity" as a man. You can just be a dude who's feminine. It's not something innately baked in.

Or like the constant emphasis women can do xyz and still be beautiful and feminine. But again, what does that even mean? Why do you need to be feminine at all?

I think in the end it's just arbitrary labels for stuff, and it's so tiring

[sir-arlieosaurus-lung-struggler]

the aromantic is confuesed

☆ Aromantic culture is just genuenly not understanding the difference between romantic relationships and platonic friendships.

☆ Fyi: apologies for the plethora of "like," statments, it just feels more natural for some reason. I expect this to possibly get hated on? I dont know, couldnt care less if it dose tho 🤷🏻‍♂️

☆ Like, I just dont understand the concept of cheating. I get its considered bad. I get why its considered bad as its a breach of trust/boundaries/etc, but i dont understand why people prefer to be monogamous as i genuinely just dont see a difference between friends and romantic partners, I get that there is a difference, i respect that differece where people draw it themselves, I just can't see it.

☆ Like, I see the difference between queerplatonic relashionships & friendship, but I just can't distinguish any other type of relashionship & romance for some reason.

☆ And i just dont get why theres a distinction between monogamy & polyamory either? Like, were people? Why not be open to the possibility of feelings not following the preset mold of a random relashionship Hiarchy? Like ofc you can have your own rules in a relashionship, but I just dont get why monogamy with the 1 perfect "other half of you" is the priority vs fulfillment? Like, I don't expect 1 person to be my "other half" for the rest of my life, nor do I want someone to expect that of me cause that just feels like dumping way to many expectations onto 1 person. And like, you can devide yourself amoung multiple friends why not multiple romantic partners?

☆ And i dont get wanting a lifelong relashionship like that? I mean i do get wantinv 1 but expecting 1 i feel is just throwing alot of expectations on anither person, people change, feelings change, alot changes in life. It reminds me of how people are expected to choose what they want to do for the rest of your life as a teenager.

☆ Why r y'all bringing the government into your relashionship? And why do y'all STRIVE for that? Like, "lets officially legaly combine ourselves into a unit and make it real damn difficult if we end up seperating." Why should having a romantic partner logustically help you in life?? Like "hey, these 2 ppl said i do infront of an officiant, lets see if we can improve theyre taxes." How is they're logistically a "making this relashionship official" outside of- consenting parties deciding they're in a relashionship????

☆ Like, everyone was assigned to make a different venn diagram and label it with arbitrary concepts and they're relation/similarities/lack thereof, and its graded on participation; But everyone still argued over the non answer because they just can't fathom they're being no wrong answer.

☆ This isn't really meant to change anyones mind on romance, do whatever tf you want with your relashionships its your life; This is just me being real fucking confused at why people arbitrarily made these catagories lol.

☆ This was origonally gonna be an ask on an aromantic culture is blog but I quickly realized this was gonna be way too long for that.

☆ I may or may not add more mini rants to this in future reblogs this is just what I could think of as I was writing. Thanks if you actually read all of this

[dollsonmain]

I think the manager at the gas station is getting frustrated with me. She keeps saying I need to do X faster, and I have warned her repeatedly I am not fast in any way.

Refill the cooler faster: I can't do that. I have to match labels to know what is what because I don't consume any of those drinks (alcohol or otherwise, it's mostly soda, sports drinks, and energy drinks and I don't drink those other than V8 Energy), and I have to lift product slowly and carefully so as not to hurt myself.

And the back stock is not organized in a way that facilitates going faster. It's cramped and messy and there are vague places for things indicated by signs on the walls but no storage structure at all other than Big Pile Here.

Make the sandwiches faster: Do you want sandwiches on the floor? That is how we end up with sandwiches on the floor. Also try a mini ice cream scoop for the "salad" sandwiches instead of a tiny plastic spoon and provide a larger workspace.

Get to the register faster when someone comes in no matter what I'm doing: I am not fast, and I don't want to break the glass bottles so have to set them down very gently otherwise my arm may decide I told it to slam them down or to punch a shelf.

Ring people up faster: Make everything scan, then. I cannot find all the little arbitrary buttons on the register quickly, and am not going to be able to memorize that an ice cream sandwich and a watermelon popsicle are both considered "ice cream eclair" in the sub-sub-sub menu for ice creams, or remember which chips do and do not scan, or which medicines, or which non-food items are in what category (grocery 1 or grocery 2). Every item not made in-shop has bar codes. Take some time to input them into the system to be scanable, OR, show me how to do it and someone else run the register while I set it up for you. I will have it done in two days if not interrupted.

Then, take the in-shop items, assign them bar codes (this does require a program that can do that), make a print out with pictures and bar codes, and set that by the register to be scanned.

I also can't find cigarettes quickly because I have no experience with them so saying something to me like "Marlboro red black 100 menthols" means nothing (and I am only familiar with Marlboro because cigarette ads were legal when I was a kid) and all I have to go on is what the end of the package looks like nestled in among 50 or so other nearly identical packages. We're lucky if I can even find the brand in the display.

Count the change faster: I cannot numbers quickly.

Bag products faster: I am clumsy that is not happening. I struggle to get the bag off the hook, even.

Count the drawer faster: Ma'am, this is numbers, again.

I don't have any faster in me.

-

I am very not suited to gas station cashier. I'd probably do fine at a place like Walmart where the customer brings everything to you, cigarettes are stored front-facing, and everything scans.

[somethingclevermahogony]

Hello @somethingclevermahogony ! 👋 Congrats on recently hitting 300 followers, by the way! 💛✨

From the WIP AMA tag, I’m really curious about the deities in your world. Can you tell me how The Gods play a role in your WIP? (I also love how you have maps made. That’s super creative! 💫)

Thank you for the congrats and thank you for the question!

This is a bit of a complex question as there are several levels of what could be considered a "god". I've talked a bit about this before.

To properly explain the nature of gods within the world of Kobani I will go through each type of being that could be labeled "deities"

The River of Creation, Law and End, The First Ones, and The Heavenly Gods, Great Spirits (Aka Mountain Gods)

The Universe (in truth a conglomeration of distinct dimensions/mini-universes clustered around a singular point) exists within a torrent of cosmic energy, The River of Creation.

The River, Law and End

The River, known by the people of Kishetal as the Shobiash, has always flowed through the Endless Void that is the Chaotic Nothing, its source and its end, if they exist, are only be known by those beings who wander its far shores. The greatest of these wanderers are Law and End, who oversee that which is, that which will be, and that which must be.  The River is all, it is existence, matter, energy, and time. All mortal things are born from the River, and all mortal things one day return to it. Worlds, universes, pantheons, they have emerged and sunk back into the golden eddies. The current universe, that of Kobani and the other celestial spheres emerged in the same way and will, in time, return. There are countless universes doting and permeating the River. The Universe of the Testament can be considered just one of these universes, a fragile island in the torrent.

These Entities have no interaction or direct influence on the world of Kobani as their domain and very nature puts them far far beyond the level of planets, much less people. These beings are no more worshiped than we may worship the concept of time or physics.

The First Ones

The separation of the Testament Universe into distinct dimensions was implemented by the beings referred to as the First Ones, these were the deities emerged from the cosmic current inorder to inhabit that new universe. They constructed and shaped several distinct dimensions around a singularity, which allowed for these places to be connected while also existing in their own space and time. There are 13 distinct dimensions, each with their own countless stars, planets, etc.

These First Ones would then return to their River, whether they merely melted back into the current or journeyed to a different universe is unknown. As a result these gods play next to no part in the events that unfold on Kobani, as they left far before the birth of the mortal races.

In their wake, the First Ones left offspring, beings born of a mixture of the Cosmic chaos and Universal "Scraps." These would become the Heavenly Gods.

The Heavenly Gods

The Heavenly Gods are the arbiters and keepers of order and natural law, most notably the Awakened cycle of reincarnation and the proliferation of life on the mortal and spiritual worlds (this will be explained further below). The appearance and even number of gods are in constant flux as a god, through choice or circumstance, may split into multiple entities or else recombine into a greater entity. However, their essence and soul are static. As an example, a god such as Fepacha may simultaneously be seven beings while still being of one essence and soul. This is part of why so many gods appear in various religions across Kobani. Though the Heavenly gods may be ascribed "domains" by mortal worshippers (The Sun, Trickery, Etc.) these are largely arbitrary and reflect very little about the nature of these beings.

The sheer magical energy which radiates from these beings when in their whole forms is intensely powerful; most of the lingering “wild magic” in Kobani is the result of multiple gods visiting the planet while in their whole forms. This event was called the Calamity and was an effort by the gods to stop the destructive tendencies of the humans of that period. This particular event destroyed all human settlements and over 99.5 percent of the human population. This is the only time that such an event has ever taken place.

As a result of their effect on the world, the gods rarely venture outside of their domain and typically take little interest in the matters of mortals so long as balance is kept in check, with a few exceptions. Most of what mortals know about the Heavenly Gods, stem from the descriptions given to them by spirits ( many of whom have also not seen the gods, this is the reason why depictions of gods may vary so wildly), or else by ancient memories passed down from the time of the Calamity. While the gods have relatively limited effects on the WIP, one god in particular does have a small role, I'd tell you more though that would be a spoiler.

The Mountain Gods

The last category are explicitly not gods, but are sometimes referred to as such.

Great Spirits or Mountain lords are those spirits considered to be exceptionally powerful by humans. In some cases, they may be worshiped as minor deities or protectors of a certain region or geographical feature, often a mountain.Some cities may also have a Mountain Spirit which acts as its protector (though it should be noted these protections are against supernatural and climatic events, not political ones, a Mountain God does not care if a regime changes so long as they continue to receive offerings and respect). Many Great Spirits may loosely serve or act in the name of a Heavenly God, often the patron god of a Kishite or Korithian city for example, based on the deity which the local Mountain God serves. In many places across the Green Sea and beyond prayer is directed not at the Heavenly Gods directly, as it is believed that they are too distant and powerful to hear much less care, but rather to spirits which may act as conduits to the Heavenly Gods. In Kishetal it is typical to start a prayer first with a call to the spirits or through a ritual to attract the spirits that are believed to be connected to a certain deity. 

The other defining trait of Great Spirits as opposed to the lesser spirits is their ability to produce viable offspring with humans, these offspring are called Spiritbloods (sometimes erroneously called Demigods). Spiritbloods are much larger than normal humans and exhibit a range of superhuman traits. 

A demon is a great spirit that acts in a way that can be seen as particularly hostile to humans or other spirits, or else a Great Spirit that has chosen to abandon its role as a servant of the Heavenly Gods. Demons hide in their lairs, still fearful of what few magical weapons remain, and from there they manipulate and play with humans. Demon is not a species or race, but a title. Demons are particularly cruel, hostile, and powerful spirits. There are many hostile and territorial spirits but a demon is different, a demon wants mortals to enter their territory, like a spider waiting to catch a fly.

It is this last category of “sort of” deities that has the most direct influence on the plot of the WIP.

[helsex-moved]

Posted this as a thread on twitter because I got fed up with them so might as well put it here.

Why mspec lesbian hate/discourse is just the same old bigotry and terf-like exclusionary mentality in a new font:

Where the problem starts is making hard and fast 'rules' about any label, sexuality or gender. Like, lesbians can only be non-men attracted to non-men, or lesbians can only be attracted to someone feminine identifying.

That there's a 'point' to any sort of definition like that. Labels are not boxes not for the wider populace to smash you into, they're for you and only you.

We contain multitudes, humans are vastly complex, our feelings and identities cannot be explained by one label with one fixed definition and they shouldn't have to be. Reducing a label to a simple meaning for your own convenient understanding is foolishness. You don't have to understand the intricacies of everyone's identities, you just need to respect it.

But engaging with that argument on the terms that there are set limits of labels, this ignores HUNDREDS of years of queer history. People have been using 'conflicting labels' for centuries. If we say it can only be 'non-men' that asks us to define ourselves what qualifies as a 'non-man' which makes us no better than the republicans trying to ask people to define what a woman is.

Gender and sexuality are different to every single person and everyone will only be able to define their own view and experience with it.

But ignoring that nuance it still disregards people's gender identity.

There ARE transmasc and transmen lesbians, lesbians who fully identify as men but also as lesbians for various reasons that are all personal and valid.

There are genderfluid and sexuality fluid people as well as multigender people who one day are gay men or lesbian women or lesbian men and gay women!! Or all of those at once !! Gender and sexuality are messy and it's so wrong to go around and police it based on your arbitrary standards.

Hell butch lesbians are right there!!!! A lot of them identify in large part with, or even solely with, masculinity NOT femininity. I myself identify at butch and am transmasc with no connection to femininity or womanhood.

Before policing what identities people can have in this way it was policing whether or not trans women are valid lesbians. Or nonbinary people. Or even just cis lesbians who use he/him or other pronouns. These arguments are still used by TERFs. Do you really want to be on the same side of thinking as a terf?

It's all rooted in bigotry and feeling entitled to label someone, not respecting the label someone makes for themself, it's a tale as old as time but now we're labeling it as progressive.

All labels made up in the end. They're just vague social constructions and definitions we use to try and explain how we feel to others but can never fully explain our entirely nor should they be expected to.

Good faith identities do not hurt you. Good faith identities do not hurt the community.

Bigots hurt the community. Infighting hurts the community. By standing against rather than with people who are more similar to you than different you are perpetuating bigotry in new flavors and wasting energy infighting while there is a genocide waiting on our doorstep. By attacking what you don't understand you aren't any better than the bigots

To bi/pan/mspec lesbians who have been subject to seeing so much hate for them from the community that's supposed to be theirs, I love you <3 happy pride.

[weepingpussywillowtree]

Pontificating on the state of my relationship below

For the first time in my life I'm slowly discovering that away from my family and when managing my anxiety/accepting my autism I am a fundamentally happy person and that despite how dark and difficult the world can be I'm excited for the rest of my life...

I asked my partner if he's excited to live. He said no. I asked them if they are unhappy; they said yes. I asked him why he's unhappy, he said where we live and his job. I asked him if he wants to work to change those things. He said he's afraid of failure. I asked them if they are so afraid of failing that they would prefer to be unhappy than risk failure and they couldn't answer and got upset with me. I asked him if he thought he was depressed and he said he didn't really want to think about it.

It's four months until our lease is up. We have been prepping for a long distance move, but he's not really helping with the planning and logistics at all. He doesn't really seem to have any strong feelings about it. I'm very afraid that we will move somewhere and they will realize afterwards that it wasn't what they wanted, or that moving can't solve their deeper unhappiness. I'm overwhelmed by all the logistics and planning. I don't want to drive the ship of our joint lives by myself anymore. I have told him this, explicitly.

When we first got together, we were both 18 and stupid and depressed. We really supported each other through a lot and honestly I think the pandemic keeping us at home together masked a lot of our issues. It's been five years now, and I'm finding myself frustrated by their apathy toward life, as well as their unwillingness to do anything about that apathy or even acknowledge it as a problem. It seems like they really would rather be unhappy than risk failure... Or in my view, risk happiness or joy. I am wondering if this is the end. We have so much history. He is the closest and most supportive person in my life, the first person I've ever had even close to a healthy relationship with, but it feels like since we graduated a year ago I've been dragging him along into something he doesn't want. If I'm going to be with someone, i want to be with someone who asks me out on a date occasionally. Or wants to do things with me when I ask. Or wants to set goals for the future. Or like, wants to do anything...

I asked them if they feel intimidated by/do not want the arbitrary label of 'adult' now that we are out of college. They said yes. I've tried to tell them that being an adult is meaningless, that we're all just faking it till we make it, that all I need is for him to try to be more engaged in planning out the things they've said they want, but it feels like talking to a wall. A wall full of shame and guilt and self-hatred. I asked him if part of the reason he's always telling me that I'm amazing is to absolve himself of the guilt of not doing things I do/assure himself that it's fine that I do more to hold us together and he just looked sad and said "you caught that huh?".

It feels like it's over. I can't move across the country, away from all of my support network, with someone who barely wants to be alive. But when I suggest moving somewhere closer he gets angry and says I'm holding on to where I grew up too hard.

God fucking damn it. I wanted it to be him so badly. But I'm so tired, and Its not like I'm thinking about hypothetical replacement partners. Honestly, at this point, in my fantasies about the future I am single.

[dapg-otmebytheballs]

Thoughts on the, Phil is autistic discourse?

Simple answer: yes, yes he is, and I've been collecting stuff in my 'tism' tag for the same

To get more serious tho: neurodivergence is a massive spectrum of symptoms, and a lot of diagnostic criteria we uphold as watertight categories are actually quite arbitrary very often. Now I'm someone who, like much of the autistic community, do not see it as a 'disorder'(ie, I do not see it as needing a cure/something being wrong, I do understand that it is a disability and I find it to be so myself for many of the symptoms) but a neurodivergence. And a key part of the neurodivergence movement is to reject psychiatric categories and accept "symptoms" as just traits, ways in which different people's minds work and different ways in which people process trauma and different sensory experiences since all sensory experience is neurological and therefore inherently subjective etc etc. It's an alternative to the pathologising medical model of psychiatry. That being said, autistic people have particular kinds of shared experiences, not everyone will have them the same way it's a broad range of traits, but we are able to recognise, let's say, "one of our kind" very often. That's how I found out I'm autistic too, by talking to other autistic people who helped me figure out this part of my neurodivergence amongst other stuff. I think people who don't go for diagnosing - whether "professionally" or through self-identification - are completely valid for doing so, it's really just a matter of whether or not you're trying to put a word to your experiences, and if you aren't then you aren't. I will say that so many autistic people here talking about how they have shared experiences as autistic people with Phil probably indicates that he is one of us, but whether he chooses to use that as a label or no is up to him of course, and at the end of the day "is xyz autistic" will come down to "does xyz wish to use the label of being autistic to put a name to their neurodivergent experiences". Can a lot of what is considered strange and random behaviour on Phil's part be explained when you look at it from the lens of autism though? Yes definitely. It's all about people finding people they relate to and going [leonardo di caprio pointing meme]