sidenote happy almost March 5th everyone! happy to be here with you all for two years :)
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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.
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Shockingly underrated thing about Leo is that he’s legitimately charming when he wants to be?
He’s the Faceman! He’s persuasive! That’s not just some random title he gave himself with no backing to it. People will listen to him. Even if they think he’s being annoying or if they’re upset at him, people listen to him anyway! There’s a reason his bros push him out front to talk to people, and when this happens, that talking nearly always works.
Moreover, Leo knows people. He looks at them and takes into account how they act and what they’re like as he makes his way through the conversations. It’s easy to forget this aspect of Leo’s character because he only brings it out when he really needs (read: wants) to, but it really is a notable part of him that always love to see.
And I say charm in particular because he has a knack for not only getting people to pay attention, but for getting people to stay and listen to what he has to say.
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"Velvette snapped a picture with Husk giving a grin in the background. He was enjoying this whole meeting thoroughly." - Chapter 5 of Ace of Finch by Ace_of_Many_Cards on Ao3.
This fic is so good. I'm in love with it. Husk and Velvette's friendship makes me insane they're so adorable and hilarious.
I highly recommend it!!!! It's a Huskerdust, Overlord Husk au and it is amazing!!
Bonus: here's the post with no text
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leander the... saint?
on this wonderful day i bring a theory about leander's name, or who he's named after. this is vastly speculation because leander is a mystery and a half in the body of a man, so take it with a grain of salt.
we know very few things about leander's life before canon: he grew up with a hightown family, was considered a prodigy, and left his home because he didn't want to join the senobium.
and then, as per norm at this point, i found a connection with a saint.
meet saint leander of seville, the only one known by that name:
now this is a man with some muscle on the tiddy department
this man is one of four siblings born to an elite family in what is now cartagena, spain. now, all four of them are in the religious area of life, and all four are considered saints.
however, saint leander was exiled by the king liuvigild for protecting his son, who was also canonised as saint hermenegild, and sent away to byzantium. there, it's said he attempted to get the emperor to fight against liuvigild, but failed.
and i gotta point out this dude's staff.
those are both from artistic depictions, obviously, but those decorations are... pretty similar to lilies, in my opinion. or, if i were to talk about a flower looking like that, i'd talk about lilies.
also, the way is bends into a swirl/spiral is quite interesting when you remember leander's (the character, not the saint) connection with immortality, and this little detail in his cg:
you see the swirl?
anyway, i am out of words to talk about them, but i just wanted to talk about how similar leander the character and leander the saint are, and how the character might have been named after the saint.
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