#or do people just naturally not get autistic people in real life and find them scary and that just carries across in responses to fiction

[donnie-and-their-backup-turtles]

i kinda think part of why people treat donnie as less caring than he is is like. sometimes not knowing when he's joking? like that time he threatens to be "semi-lethal" when splinter's in the truck with meat sweats. like i'm sure most of you knew he was joking but like. do some of you realise he like, would not have done that? like remember how he was sad? when splinter actually got hurt? same with leo in the movie? and all of them at every other time?

like he's self proclaimed funniest. and also a mad scientist aesthetic doesn't make a character a villain by itself it's what you actually do with that (yes he has done bad things within that area (haunted stare towards mind meld) but you have to admit he like. did fix those. and feel bad and hopefully learn his lesson but hey that's another analysis)

i have mixed feelings on villain donnie stuff, as an example, because like. ANY character put in a situation where they lose their way is really fun and if in character is really interesting as to what could cause that.

but when it's treated as like. inevitable. who he is, or phrasing his brothers are the only thing stopping him being evil. it's like hm. ugh. kind of hurts a bit actually but that's probably because i relate to him ghfdjk

like the seen in snow day with the tech bo chainsaw like. all he really DOES is cut a snowman there but he's just like. leaning into being "evil" with the chainsaw but like he's just being silly with it. acting like that's proof of anything is wild to me, without any other data points.

also kind of separate but i think there's a dissonance between what is like. seen as evil? between me and like most people lol. like the scene in the movie as well with like "finally, man and machine, entwixt in perfect bionic synergy" someone i watched it with was like "haha evil moment" or whatever where i was just like. yeah real that would be rad as hell. honestly gender also.

not saying he's never done anything wrong but i am saying he immediately tries to fix all of those things

anyway he does have a really interesting relationship with morals in my eyes but like, at his core he really cares about people, you know?

this isn't hate to anyone btw i just care about donnie a lot as a character and as really layered autistic representation

[adrianfridge]

I don't think enough people talk about the physical and mental energy it takes to cook when you weren't raised to cook.

It's not as simple as here are the ingredients and here are the steps. Cooking involves multi-tasking, timing, proportions, prepping, improvising, and more. The more complex the dish, the more juggling it requires.

Oh, and I haven't even mentioned obtaining the ingredients and the cleaning afterwards.

All these "healthy" and "save money" and "live better" motivational speeches to get people to cook more, and I'm over here like Cooking is Fucking Stressful and Incredibly Draining Actually.

I was raised a girl, but I'm entirely self-taught because my mom hated cooking and never bothered to teach me. She was convinced I'll just naturally learn on my own after I got married and was forced to cook for my husband and family 🙃

Anyway, I went through a HelloFresh phase several years ago to try to kick-start myself into a groove, but it never really latched on. I think the only thing I learned is the importance of prepping ingredients in advance so that once I'm bouncing around, things are just ready for me to grab.

This isn't to say I don't cook AT ALL EVER. I can make eggs on a skillet just fine. But it's a one-and-done kind of thing. Much like putting together a cold cut sandwich. But that's not Cooking™.

Turns out this past month I randomly got a hyperfixation to Cook™, so here I am facing the bone-tired aftermath of making meals that'll last more than one day.

After three weekends of going through it, here's how I autistically started handling the stress:

Find a recipe I will follow

Envision myself going through the steps and allocate a certain amount of energy to the task

Compile ingredients I need to obtain (or get my partner to obtain)

(If I have to go shopping myself, do it on a separate day from when I have to cook)

Open a Google Doc and copy/paste the recipe into it

Rewrite the recipe steps based on how I imagine I'll be going through them once I'm in motion

Mentally practice the steps

When it's time to cook, go through steps as I've mentally practiced them, with improvisation when real life takes a different turn

(If a lot of prep work is required, such as peeling and cutting potatoes, sit down to do it with a podcast before starting on anything else)

After cooking is complete, throw out any lingering garbage

My partner does the dishes :)

I'm sure it'll get easier the longer I do it, but this is exactly why I'm 34yo and always hated Cooking™ to the point that I budget for delivery and take-out on nearly a daily basis.

Cooking is hard actually.

[mangyraccooon]

Thoughts about Modern day Dragon him being a late diagnosed autistic

Dragon would be one of those people who knew they were different from a young age but never could figure it out because either parents (who didn’t want a ‘different’ child) or becoming so high masking that it was very difficult to tell. (Probably a mix of both)

When Dragon is 40ish he takes luffy to the doctor for a routine checkup.

The doctor tells him his son is most likely autistic.

She also tells him it’s an inherited trait

Dragons reaction is “ah.”

He never thought luffy was different. That wasn’t true he understood luffy was different but it wasn’t a bad thing in his eyes.

Unknowingly at 7 years old dragon put on a mask. It starts to crack 33 years later in a doctor’s office.

The doctor gives him some pamphlets and online resources to go through. He spends the next 24 hours going through it all + several online quizzes.

Only the next morning when he opens his closet fully prepared to go into work: when he sees all his shirts and suit jackets. That he realizes he has no idea who the fuck he is as a person.

Luffy finds him crying in a mess of ripped silks and cotton.

Luffy crawls into his lap and starts telling him about a new beetle species found in South America.

Dragon calls them both in sick and lets his son decide the schedule for the day.

Later that night he goes through old boxes in the attic. Trying to find who the fuck he is- was- could’ve been.

He finds a couple old albums, his guitar, luffys baby blanket and…

Crying is natural and normal, he has to tell himself. You are not weak for crying twice in one day.

The ring is old, it was his mother’s. It had been left with his secretary along with luffy asleep in his bassinet.

“Sometimes I feel like you just put on this face and I don’t even know which one is the real you; or if there is a real you”

He would never know how right he had been.

Dragon quits his job; he can’t stand it anymore. The partners beg him to stay, he’s the best lawyer they have. But the feeling of a suit collar now feels like a noose.

Borsalino is the only one who still contacts him after.

Dragon has money; so much money. Other than luffy and silk shirts that didn’t scrape his skin there was very little dragon spent money on.

So he glides, spends more time with luffy. Falls into a depressive episode so bad he has to stay with his mother. Tsuru purses her lips when he tells her and dragon can’t help but feel a little angry.

“You knew.”

“I suspected.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“You seemed to be fine.”

But dragon hadn’t been fine, he had been miserable. It was only now he could see how miserable he had been.

He cooks with his step mother who teaches him how to make a puff pastry. Luffy meets a boy down the street who also loves bugs. Life goes on.

Luffy gets a assessment and official diagnosis

The adhd part wasn’t that surprising to Dragon or anyone within 5 seconds of meeting luffy. his son is (affectionately) a human bounce ball.

Dragon gets an official diagnosis and sends a photo of him posing with it to borsalino. Borsalino sends a photo of himself and an online quiz. And dragon understands not everyone needs the word of a doctor to know who they are.

Garp barges into his life and demands he “stop being a freeloader and get a job.” Before flopping on the couch and doing just that.

Dragon gets the drag bar gig out of spite. Iva is the best worst thing that has ever happened to him. After finding out he knew guitar the queen needled him until he started practicing again out of spite (once again he had to stop using that as motivation)

The guitar strings cut at his fingertips.

Garp sets him up on a blind date, which ends with both him and rouge laughing themselves silly. Apparently garp had taken dragons “I like dick” comment to mean anyone who was in possession of a penis (even if it was silicone.)

He turns 42 and has to valiantly fend off Luffy, Ace and Rouge from eating his rack of ribs.

Iva gets him up on stage eventually (he was fine behind the bar)

He did like the eyeliner though and how his shoulders looked in the dress (but that was a thought for another day)

The band thing was a joke (or started as one) rouge sang, dragon played bass, iva played electric and kuma drummed his heart out.

Then it became less of a joke.

It was late, the porch was empty and the moon twinkled. Dragon cradled the phone in his hands. They had gotten a record deal.

He punched in the number slowly.

He was 45 now, he could do this.

The phone rang as he held it up to his ear.

His palms were sweaty.

Voicemail

“I uh-“ what was he supposed to say? “Hi, it’s been awhile. A long time actually- fuck I think I could tell you the exact date if I wasn’t drunk. But- you probably dont want to hear that huh?” He laughed, his breath coming out in a small cloud in the autumn air.

“So a lot happened, since you left. And I don’t blame you for leaving- just so we are clear. Yeah uhmm. So the band. I’m part of a band now surprise! We got a record deal and it made me realize I still- well that is, when I was told. I realized, your the only one I wanted to tell”

“And not in a bragging way!” He added hastily

A beeping noise, indicating the end of the message

“Wani I-“

But the message ended

-should I make this into an actual thing? Lemme know

[flagellant]

Why can't you people be normal about slurs for 2 seconds

Just because YOU reclaimed and identify with something doesn't mean everyone else does. No one cares about you IDing as a queer or dyke or fag or whatever, people just don't want strangers to randomly assign them words that have historically been used as slurs.

Like, do you understand that people have had this word used against them by bigots? Do you understand that maybe, it's tasteless to get upset at people for having trauma regarding a word? Are you able to comprehend that maybe insisting people be okay with being called a word that means odd, spoiled, ruined or weird is not a good look?

I'm autistic and have a severe learning disability. I'm totally fine when people use the word retard, I call myself a retard, I don't care. But I'm sure as fuck not going to walk up to a bunch of other autistic people I barely know and go "lmao what is up my fellow tards!!!"

I'm not trying to start shit, I'm legitimately trying to understand why you find it appropriate to make fun of people, often victims of abuse or hate crimes, for being triggered by a word.

"I'm legitimately trying to understand why you find it appropriate to make fun of people, often victims of abuse or hate crimes, for being triggered by a word."

Gay is a slur. Lesbian is a slur. Homosexual is a slur. Every single word we have ever had has always either had its roots in cruelty and oppression or has been used against us by our oppressors. There is no term that is pure and clean and innocent and has never hurt anyone's feelings.

Let's disregard fag for now. That one's still in the process of reclamation, I'll admit. Let's just talk about queer. Queer has been the academic term for non-cisgender and non-heterosexual history for half a century now. Queer theory has been around for thirty years. Queer was the word which we shouted as a radical inditement of our treatment by our oppressors: "We're here, we're queer, get over it" and "Not gay as in happy but queer as in fuck you" should both sound familiar to you.

And now it's 2012 or so and queer is known as the most inclusive term we have. It's less unwieldy than LGBTQIAAP+. It's not based in a necessity of defining yourself through your oppression like MOGAI. It's, important, a deeply private word. Not in the sense that it is used privately, but rather than it grants its user privacy. If you're queer, everyone instantly knows you're a part of the community, but you aren't being forced to out yourself or give more details about your personal life and identity than you want. It was always a word about identity.

TERFs hate this. TERFs hate this so much, because it's inclusive of people they hate, like asexual people, trans women, and other freaks of nature who society needs to put down like dogs. Queer means TERFs can't as easily define you as the Bad Other. Queer means TERFs will be recognized more easily as bigoted towards the larger queer communities. So, obviously, they do what anyone would, and decide to take advantage of the language of social justice warriors of the time and attack impressionable young kids from 13-16.

The average 13-16 year old doesn't exactly have much experience in real-life queer spaces. They don't get to go to rallies or protests, they don't stay at community centers, their lives are insular and based entirely online. Their understanding of social politics is inherently rooted in the importance of posting in the right language. Their activism is one which tweets correctly. So TERFs slid into their inboxes and went "Hey, just so you know, queer is actually a slur used to oppress people and it's problematic to use since some people have been called it".

And this works, because of course it does, and now I have people like you in my inbox bitching and whining about how queer is a slur and how you've been called queer once or twice in your life. To this I say: My apologies, but fucking suck it up and reclaim it. I don't care about traumatic events you have with queer. It has been reclaimed by the greater community and was done so long before you were born if you aren't literally 50, and more importantly, by giving queer validation as a slur, you actively give our oppressors that power over you. I'm not going to let my oppressors know that if they say an identifier for us meanly enough then we'll stop identifying as that word. I'm not giving the power to silence and repress who we are to people who would use it.

Anon, I respect you enough to say that people who consider my identity as a slur should get punched in the face, because alt-right fash cunts, pig cops, evangelical christians, TERFs, and hyperconservative political lobbyists all consider my identity as a slur. Why should I treat you any different to them? What about your specific treatment of queer as a slur ends up with a meaningfully different result? The neonazis on kiwifarms won't care why you're telling me to shut the fuck up about queer. They don't give a shit about why you're saying this. What they give a shit about is if it works and if calling people queer will get them to shut up and curl up in a little ball and admit defeat and hand them slurs on a silver platter. And I'm not about to live that sort of life, so either get with the program or fuck off.

[davenweenie]

I need to have a little rant about certain Spencer Reid fans. Don’t take this too seriously, we are talking about a fictional character here and not a real person, my opinions are just that. MY opinions, you don’t have to agree with them.

Prison and Post-prison Spencer Reid sexualisers in particular. I just find that sexualising a man being wrongfully accused of murder and drug trafficking, at his literal lowest and ready to die is a little weird. MGG was phenomenal in these episodes and conveyed the feeling of utter helplessness so well. I think most of the fandom are in agreement that Spencer is autistic, being in prison is an awful time for anyone but would be especially difficult for an autistic. Having to constantly mask, unable to express normal and natural traits would be completely exhausting for starters. But also, fighting for his life in there, being an FBI agent as well as how he looks physically must have been terrifying in prison surrounded by some of the worst people on earth.

You don’t have to be a genius to know that someone who looks like Spencer would be in a huge amount of danger in prison. He’s physically weaker compared to other men, he looks a lot younger than he is and let’s face it, he IS a pretty boy and I’m not trying to be funny or ironic when I say that. Unfortunately, that makes him the prime target for SA in a prison setting. This is vaguely mentioned and hinted at in the show. It is also hinted that this is what he experienced the night he was ambushed in his cell and beaten.

Once out of prison, he is clearly suffering from PTSD. He is struggling to unmask, he’s struggling to be independent again (which is something a lot of released prisoners experience) and he lashes out a lot more than he ever would have previously. This is because he is quite literally traumatised. For some reason, people find this attractive. I do not. I don’t understand how someone clearly suffering from PTSD and related issues is attractive. Yes, Spencer is attractive in general and it is okay to find him attractive but I’ve noticed a theme of people only finding prison and post-prison Reid attractive. This is just very peculiar to me. How is a man at rock bottom what gets you off?

And adding to that, it gives off the impression that those select people didn’t like Reid when he was actually being himself. A nerd who likes to ramble, a geeky, weird guy. If you don’t like Spencer being a weird, quirky guy, you don’t like Spencer at all because post-prison Reid is nothing like the real Reid before his major traumas.

Dunno, just something that has been bothering me for a while.

[punkeropercyjackson]

When i was almost entierly friendless and lost in myself,lesbians and trans women gave me their friendship in the form of kind words,support,defending me,making things for me they knew i'd love,fun hangouts and did and have done nothing but make me love myself in my transmasculine and nonbinary/bigender girlhood even when i don't know them and are the type of woman i relate the most to like i do my fellow black women and i'm now dating a trans woman who was my best friend for a long time and stuck by me through stick and thin and i love them-they are pre op and e and have specifically asked for they/them until they can start their transition-with my entire heart,soul and life because they were exactly the person,the kinda girl i could've used in my life as a bullied autistic tomboy that was getting fucked up without even knowing it and i deeply admire my lesbian friends femme and butch alike for their amazing gender expression and how beautiful their love is and they've said the same about me

Lesbians and transfems are not hateful.They're wonderful people who're full of so much love and just because with the exception of my girlfriend that love's not romantic that dosen't make it any less valuable and you 'interfighting is stupid,we're supposed to be having t4t sex!!!' niggas need to lower your borderning on sexual harrassing voices because you sound like creepy douchebags and like conservatives too when you rag on 'f*mboys',a tma slur to begin with,for being too feminine and kiddy and cringe or whatever rethoric you haven't unlearned.If a lesbian or a trans girl dosen't like you,there's a very high chance you did something to provoke them or him or her or xem or [insert the neopronoun that will piss you off the most here]and you might've done it on purpose.The patriarchy dosen't stop at cishets and it's worth noting that pretty much all my trans guy friends are somewhere on the nonbinary spectrum.Don't be talkin' bout lesbians and tgirls being too harsh on men and having 'male experiences to analyze' at all actually,because you're implying a lot that never applies

If you want to be as much of a man as cis men,then you be prepared for the fact that you're as capable as misogyny as them,ESPECIALLY if you're cis passing and i never will be because i'm so femme presenting and naturally adrogynous looking thanks to being black/white that i find my looks perfect for my gender and i'm still a man just as i am a woman.Lesbians don't have fuck men to be 'real allies' and you can't make them the bad guy for not wanting men if you get to the good guy for not wanting to be near girlhood at all and unless they wish to be identified as such by multigenderhood or another factor,trans women have every right to not want to be lumped in with men or lack of gender at all.Intersectionality is very important.In all aspects.Not just when it might benefit you.Be serious just silly goofy little guys,you haven't been funny since you started that shit and i'm going to strap you to a Looney Tunes car unless you stop telling lesbians to stop defining themselves by not loving men and bullying tgirls for loving being girls.Those are my best friends and my girlfriend and my friends' friends you're harrasing you ungrateful cunts

[mywingsareonwheels]

The stratification (in marketing at least) between "grimdark" crime fiction (inc books) and "cosy" crime fiction grates on me sometimes, because I like nothing that's at either extreme. I don't want relentless pain (and I find both organised crime and serial killer plots pretty boring unless they're really well-handled), and I don't want cheerfully callous "ooh, the bodies are piling up! how inconvenient! have another slice of Victoria sponge!".

I want humanity and compassion and humour and treating deaths like they do actually matter even when they're of awful people, thank-you-so-very-much. I want the satisfaction of a puzzle solved. I want an awareness by the author that yes the human fascination with murder mysteries (going right right back to Oedipus Tyrannus etc.) is kind of odd, while also not apologising for it. I want characters I warm to and care about, even if I sometimes want to throw things at them. I want a predictable structure to some extent, because it helps my autistic brain when I'm having a rough time (see also romances!). If at all possible I like at least some awareness that there is structural oppression in the world and that capital punishment is Not Great even if by the very nature of the genre (especially in police procedurals) I never expect murder mysteries to have the same politics or morality as me[1].

Some of the murder mysteries/crime fiction I do really love: the Cadfael books, Endeavour, the Lord Peter Wimsey books, the Ruth Galloway mysteries, the Discworld Watch books, the Ian Rutledge mysteries, and every time KJ Charles or T Kingfisher get a bit murder mystery on us. And so on and so forth. There are a good number! And a fair variety in tone in all of these they just... still all operate in that blessed middle space between grimdark and cosy, and involve Caring About People, and I just wish there were even more. <3

(Do recommend your own favourites if you wish!) [1] In real life, I am very much of the opinion that ACAB, that prison is a horror, that capital punishment is one of the greatest evils there is, and that retributive justice in general is wrong and unhelpful; those views affect which murder mysteries I like and how I read/watch/listen to them to some extent but, well, fiction is not reality. And being aware of that gap helps me to keep true to my views while still enjoying stories that go very much the other way!

[cheetee]

encanto headcanon collection #30493929

Because she's constantly listening to people, Dolores is fluent in every language spoken in the Encanto. she hasn't told anyone except Mariano this (it's not a secret, just nobody else has asked)

Camilo upstages EVERY QUINCEANERA. doesn't matter HOW nice and unique the dress you find is, doesn't matter if you hide it from him, he WILL show up in a dress that's prettier and more ostentatious. nobody knows if he's pulling them from magazines or making them up or what. he has every gender but mainly his mom yells at him for being rude, says if he's going to be a woman he 'needs to be uglier'

Dolores doesn't get sensory overload in crowds. Her favourite hobby is sitting down listening to 18 peoples drama simultaneously. she gets extremely overwhelmed in quiet rooms when there's no other sounds to focus on except the things she's actually supposed to be listening to

Dolores is extremely face blind and can't ready body language at all, she completely relies on listening to people's bodies to recognise people and their feelings. When she loses her gift it becomes extremely obvious she is Very Autistic (she doesn't mind)

Bruno can magically sense how much time has passed, what time of day it is etc with perfect precision. Again nobody knows this until he loses his gift and reveals he has never in his life learned how to read a clock

Mirabel shuts out her parents a lot and isn't very close to them even though they get on fine. there is NO REASON for this she's just 15. they've literally never done anything wrong she's just like 'idk they don't understand me'

(but because she's not going through any kind of supernatural crisis they think she's doing great. smoothest adolescence ever. nailed it)

(when isabela went through puberty she just RUINED the local ecosystem)

Alma is openly socialist, anti-war, Encanto is a refuge of peace etc etc, so gay couples have gotten married in their Encanto. this headcanon exists simultaneously with 'alma sleeps with women because she's homophobic': Alma can never bring herself to sleep with another man since Pedro but sex with women 'doesn't count' so she HAS absolutely gotten down with several other old women in the village. gay love is real but not for her. rip

Bruno sold ONE emerald vision plate in 1951 and that's the sum of the entire family's money, but nobody understands money so all he uses it for is for allowance for the kids

Bruno is actually very good-natured about being mocked or laughed at. Because most people in the village would treat him with terrified politeness he considers it an upgrade

Bruno is making NO effort to counter the rumours about him at this point, he's too old, local children sneak up to him and ask if it's true he eats brains and he's just deadass like 'wouldn't you like to know'

Dolores has perfect recall with sounds/words but she pretends not to. life is easier that way

Antonio can talk to bugs they mainly just sit around saying things like 'Leaves' and 'it's sunny'. Isabela starts keeping bugs with him. sometimes they just sit down and have Bug Conversations. ('Antonio, I like leaves' 'Leaves')

As an aunt Julieta is incredibly fun, but Pepa is just Another Mom But Stricter. rip.

Bruno is just DOGSHIT at giving presents. they still bring up when he gave Julieta a hammer for Christmas

[lakesbian]

what are your animorphs thoughts on how the characters have been changing over the course of the series so far? also, do you have a favorite animal moment in the ones you’ve read?

okay this got long due to my rambling so its going under a cut

well i can't say i have any profound analysis on how they've been changing but it's fun...jake rocks because he very rapidly went from "why are you guys saying im the leader im not the leader stop saying im the leader" -> someone has to be the leader, they want it to be me, i'll take the responsibility for making the calls that could get people killed and he Is becoming more repressed and solemn over time about it but he's also great at like. having internal spirals over it and shaking like a leaf and becoming very reactively resentful of both himself for not knowing what to do and everyone else for expecting him to know what to do. & sometimes people are like aww jake it's not your fault but sometimes they yell about how he's the one that got them into this mess so he has to get him out of it while internally regarding him as genuinely being the facade he puts up (<- even marco does this it's dire for jake) so you know. he's not doing so hot. shoutout to when cassie is like so what you're not supposed to be human? and he's like that's exactly right i'm not supposed to be human. it's fucking over for him marco has started calling him Prematurely Middle-Aged. he is turning into brian laborn. i like how they know they can still strategically coerce Whimsy and Immaturity out of him (e.g. 'letting' them sneak into a hollywood concert thing) by appealing to specific teenagerisms of his (shaq will be there).

veryfunny how they. put an arc about tobias navigating [checks notes] accepting his therian identity in the 90s children novels. just straight up. they gave birdboy a stomach-fluttering creeping lack of ability to stay in denial while a higher being was showing him his ideal body moment. They gave birdboy a "rachel is forced to accept who he is and stop solely thinking of him as a human tragically locked away by finding that only appealing to his true self as a red-tailed hawk rather than as a human can bring him out of being lost in a morph" moment. Also, he was autistic about dinosaurs as a child. i fear perhaps he'll have less focus for the rest of the series because his personal arc has like. more or less been sorted already. he's good now. there is the chosen one™️thing coming up still but i like that significantly less than him being just some guy so that's not really exciting. it's nice for him that his life is cool and awesome now though. i will say it's funny how almost every time the animorphs describe each other in their books they're just so wildly off-base (generally in the 'falling for the facade' way but it was funny when marco just confidently rattled off statements about rachels purported secret insecurities that were not even remotely accurate) and with tobias everyone is still like. poor soul. forever trapped in the body of a hawk. and then you cut to tobias and every time he's not in hawk morph he's complaining and bitching and moaning about how he wants to be back in his REAL body with his REAL eyes because they're SO MUCH MORE AWESOME. he's good, guys. he's fine. he's chill.

i am on the. checks notes. second chapter of the Cassie's Spontaneous Mental Break Over Doing Violence book. i like how she had an entire book dedicated to that one specific experience some kids have of being A Kid Who Loves Animals (TM) and then processes that bad things happen all the time in nature + human morality with regards to caring for animals is complicated and biased and gets really distressed about pondering the matter. like you know that type of experience. love that she gets an entire book dedicated to having it. fantastic character trait that she's the most prone out of all of them to having morality debates with herself and distress over the idea of choosing wrong to the point where she genuinely needs someone (marco) to explain to her that inaction is in itself a decision. girl who is very sick and tired of bloodshed, and also keeps accidentally murdering people. remember when she's like [trying 2 joke] i dont want to decide...could you just decide for me jake and jake is like [seriously, completely aware she wasn't kidding on a deeper level] do you Want me to decide for you? it is perhaps most necessary for her over all the other morphs that she gets to Not Be The Person Making The Final Calls. this does not stop her from having increasingly many little moments of nervous breaks before she gets so upset she tries to hard-quit though. should be interesting to see where that goes over the course of the entire series because she has a lot more books to suffer badly through

rachel is like. i think she's the slowest boiling pot here. she's had one (1) moment of really getting snappish about her role being The Brave One but other than that she's largely going "unfortunately i cant stop talking (instinctively immediately calling marco a pussy when he says something is scary and then throwing myself into it to motivate everyone even if i am also so very scared)" and then continuing to play out her role. it's been cute to watch her friendship with marco develop they're by no means each others favorite but they're playful with each other and they're learning how to read each other. i like when rachel is like hmm i think i hear your mom on a submarine and hes like thanks rachel [thinking] if she says youre welcome shes lying to be nice and shes like. Thank you for having better hearing than you? Loser. and hes like oh thank god. it's also very cute when he steals the tv remote while they're all hanging out in a hotel room and acts like he's gonna turn it to baywatch and she gets annoyed and then he puts it to xena warrior princess for her and shes like oh ok :). she is always getting ripped and torn to shreds and almost dying and it may actually be traumatizing the other animorphs marginally more than it traumatizes her. i think thus far my favorite scene with her is when she's traveling with tobias during megamorphs 2

aximili is like. he can be kind of nothing when it's not his book but his characterization is overall really solid. kind of enamored with how much having dinner with cassie impacted him. i want to see more of his developing friendship with tobias...i like how in his head he's like "and we're Best friends :)" without checking to see whether or not tobias also thinks this. deeply deeply funny character in terms of literally being a jock who didnt pay very much attention in school sent back 400 years and expected by everyone he meets there to, like, explain how to invent electricity when all he knows is what electricity is. i think during the dinosaur episode he should have started insufferably asking the other animorphs to explain how to invent a cellphone/water purifier/etc to make a point. bonus points because he comes from a society where being considered more technologically knowledgeable than other warriors is literally a huge diss. he wants to be a jock but he's being considered a nerd by all of his friends just for knowing what is to him basic fact. which obscures the truth that cassie is the real nerd of the group. sad! i disagree with the people who think he's genuinely weird compared to other andalites and not just on earth btw. just a side note. i really like his character development and internal struggles over geopolitics while being Extremely Fifteen. he is fifteen and they are making him undergo the horrors. i would like to see more scenes like where he's invited to dinner at cassie's or where he remembers the dinner at cassie's as smth very fond/important to him but at the same time i can get behind him having a like...undersiders-type relationship to the other animorphs where the connection is simultaneously very superficial and very deep because he wouldn't be in proximity to them if not for Being In A War Together and they don't really have any intimate interactions with him but they still have the intrinsic closeness of constantly fighting for each others lives. i like how he's objectively rachel's least favorite & least trusted and they would still bite claw maim for each other!

marco is becoming increasingly complicated 4 sure. kind of enamored with his character trait where he's completely fine with going "ATTENTION EVERYONE: i am so terrified and scared and afraid that i am shivering and crying hysterically and peeing myself and i've almost fainted as well" but he simultaneously considers the idea of anyone finding out about deeper emotional vulnerabilities of his and pitying him to be intolerable. which kind of clashes in an interesting way w/ how the other animorphs are all pathologically obsessed with the notion that it's fine for anyone Else to be afraid, but They can't be afraid or they're a coward and should be ashamed of themselves. i forgot the specific context but shoutout to when marco fully genuinely says that something is very scary/he's very scared and he wouldn't blame anyone who decided to go home and then cassie projects her own insecurities onto the statement and makes a kind of snippy remark about how she's not going to back down despite the fact that it was in no way targeted at anyone. i like how it's sort of his job to be The Sensible One (although this has shifted over the course of the series now it's more his job to be The Funny One i.e. the emotional medic) but his brain just completely shits out when he's scared and he frequently has to be reminded of common sense things during fights. i like how this does not stop him from being extremely impulsively angry and violent and poorly restrained around things that hit home for him. i like how when jake tries to go "are you ok? asking because you have not made a singular jest and thats worrying to people" marco takes it as "alright fucking fine i'll do better at doing my job and making jokes" instead of emotionally engaging. it's gonna be interesting to see where he goes he's one of the more complicated ones to see the perspective of

[script-a-world]

Submitted via Google Form:

I'm building species for my world and I want to know the difference between human races and variations vs animal breeds and variations biologically. Also, why is selective breeding humans called eugenics and gets a nasty rep, but selective breeding animals is a good thing? Is that just 'humanity' talking? Like killing animals is just nature although nasty stuff moves into cruelty, but killing humans is just straight up murder?

Wootzel: This isn’t really a worldbuilding question the way you’re asking it, it’s an ethics question. However, since it has come up a few times on this blog, we’re going to try to break it down as we’re able to and address the implications of thinking about humans using the terms in the ask. It should go without saying, if you’re thinking of a made-up species with human-level intelligence, everything said here should apply to them as well.

Discussions of eugenics, humanitarian atrocities, and racism under the cut.

People cannot be forced to reproduce or kept from reproducing by other people without ethically horrible results. Full stop. The only exceptions to this are people who do not have the cognitive ability to understand child-rearing, either because they are children themselves or because they have cognitive impairments that result in them being in another person’s custody in adulthood.

This DOES mean that people who are not fit to be parents raise children. This DOES mean that people can have children who are physically or mentally incapable of taking care of them. This DOES mean that sometimes debilitating genetic problems are passed on. There is no ideal solution to any of these problems, and there never will be.

If people can be kept from having children based on any criteria other than individual cases, there will always be opportunities for abuse, and there will always be abuse. Humanity is too complex for us to ever draw lines between those who “should” be allowed to reproduce and those who “shouldn’t,” because a line that would be beneficial in one case will be a violation in another case.

To make this clearer, I’m going to include some examples. These are not based on any individual case or person, but do reflect real-life scenarios. Reader, if you’re a member of a group that is often threatened with eugenics and might find these discussions distressing, proceed with caution or skip the next two paragraphs.

Genetic Cognitive Impairments, such as severe learning disabilities and autism, are often mentioned in conversations about eugenics. Some of these conversations can even seem well-meaning, because there are absolutely people in these diagnostic groups who would be entirely unable to parent a child. They’re still wildly unethical because these people exist on a spectrum, and there are people with every mental condition known to man who make wonderful parents. If one person’s autism diagnosis could be used as a reason that they aren’t a fit parent, then what’s to stop that precedent from threatening every other person with that diagnosis? Where does one draw the line? ADHD has some similar symptoms to autism, and in some cases it can make parenting difficult, too. So can depression or anxiety, which in most cases are not genetic. NONE of these conditions can ever be used as an indication that a person is not fit to parent. I have ADHD and know several autistic people, and most of us would not choose to trade in our weird brains for a neurotypical one, even though they can cause us difficulties. There is joy to be had in life at every difference and level of functionality, so no argument against letting children be born with these conditions holds validity, either.

There are lots of heritable conditions with primarily/only physical symptoms that might be the target of eugenics discussions as well. I don’t know enough to touch on all of these, but I can still break apart some arguments here as well. Some conditions, like Sickle Cell Disease and Cystic Fibrosis, can be debilitating and no parent could ever want their child to inherit them, but most conditions that are this severe are recessive (must be inherited from both parents) and without genetic testing (which is not even possible for all conditions due to the complexity of genetics), it’s difficult or impossible to know if a child might inherit a condition. Many other conditions, for example Diabetes and Migraines are associated with multiple genes, and most of them aren’t well-understood yet, so even the presence of a group of genes isn’t a guarantee. A possibility of passing on a genetic condition is not a good enough reason to restrict someone from having children.

End of real-world-condition examples.

The argument of “no genetic condition is bad enough to justify eugenics” is only part of the picture. Another issue is: How would this ever be enforced?

There is no form of preventing someone from reproducing that is ethical to do to a human due to our highly developed sense of self, sense of agency, and comprehension of our circumstances. 

Preventing access to reproductive partners is way too much restriction of freedom and would probably result in social needs not being met.

There is no form of temporary birth control that’s effective and safe for everyone, and there are probably some people who can’t use any form without suffering. Many of these can easily fail or be sabotaged. Forced medication is a violation of bodily autonomy, which comes with trauma, and there’s no way to force someone to use birth control without restricting basic freedom as well.

Permanent sterilization involves surgery no matter what gonads you have, and surgery is inherently risky. Forced surgery is also a massive violation of bodily autonomy, which is deeply traumatizing, and might have long-term unintended consequences on bodily health.

Legal consequences to reproducing would not change the outcome: A child was born. They would also result in children being separated from fit parents. This would probably also result in people--children and parents alike--having a lower quality of life because of legal or social consequences of existing.

If someone has a condition they don’t want to pass on, but they could have a healthy child with the help of something like IVF, they should be free to make that choice just as much as someone without any known genetic problems.

The third side to this problem is that if there’s precedent for restricting someone’s reproductive rights against their will, people in power with shitty intentions will use it against groups they don’t like and fall back on a medical excuse, even if one doesn’t exist or is invalid. This is not a hypothetical: women of minority groups have been sterilized against their will while in surgery for a condition that didn’t require them to be sterilized to survive.

The only thing that can ethically be done to prevent the passive of heritable genetic conditions is education and access to medical care. LOTS of people with genetic conditions will go to great lengths to avoid passing them to their children, and these choices should be available to everyone.

To wrap it up: Humans have a greater capacity for understanding than other animals, and we can make our own choices. Removing those choices and removing the potential for parenthood is enormously damaging to individuals, and can even result in genocide on a larger scale. There is no way to adequately draw defensible lines around the people who “shouldn’t” be allowed to reproduce, or to prevent those lines from being crossed if there were to be drawn.

Tex: This is historically a hotly-debated topic, so I’ll be adding a lot of reference links for your perusal that I recommend reading, in order to add an appropriate level of context to my answer. Very broadly speaking, eugenics involves a group of people deciding that a selection of characteristics - usually phenotypes but now the argument has begun to include genetic code - that are allowed to reproduce. This is usually enforced by killing, sterilizing, and/or maiming anyone (via bad medical practices) that does not get approval from this group of people. Who these people are matter very little, as it changes according to era and geographical region - they share the common characteristic of violent enforcement of their ideals, which often leads into things like war and the accompanying war crimes.

Animal husbandry typically does not include humans, though only by the slightest framing of definitions - we still have plenty of similar actions taken against other humans, such as human trafficking, forced births, and arranged marriages. The domestication and rearing of animals is generally used for agricultural purposes, such as meat, dairy, and egg consumption, when it does not also include textile, leather, and sundry product production.

“Killing” animals implies that an animal died for purposes other than the above listed purposes. This would include social habits such as trophy hunting, which is frequently frowned upon as the people participating in such hunting do it for obtaining social status among their peers rather than subsistence.

Predation - which often includes but does not only include animals - is when one species preys upon another species (I use “preys upon” in the literal sense, here, not the metaphorical or euphemistic). When this happens, for various reasons such as energy conservation in the predator, impatience due to hunger, and need to prevent injuries from the prey fighting back  - the prey is usually killed rather quickly. Predation establishes trophic levels, and the differentiation of species from autotrophs to detritivores.

Humans are omnivores of varying degrees, obtaining their nutrients from a variety of food sources. I bring this up because it impacts both reproductive habits within human societies and the development of food resources by community. As the following links will inform you, there is a gradual, shifting line between the definitions of “who” and “what”.

Across many, many different cultures and across many, many different eras there has been debate upon what is human, and therefore, who is human.

Is a human merely that which is part of the community? If so, is a pet dog human? If not, why so? What lines are being drawn? A pet dog would, in some parts of the world, not be considered a source of food - some places have both considerations in hand, where the animal we know of as a dog can be both a pet residing in a household as well as a component in a dish. The same goes for cats, birds, horses, and any other animal - or non-animal - one could conceive of rearing and caring for within the boundaries of one’s home. Is a human who is not a member of your household - and thus, your community - a person? There are varying degrees in nearly every part of the world that changes whether one answers “yes” or “no”. In which case, if you define a human not part of your community as a “who” rather than a “what”, even if another community holds this same human as a “what” rather than a “who” - who is correct? Who is more correct? On what grounds can these opinions be enforced?

By that same metric, if another community considers you a “what”, does that mean you cannot be referred to as a “who”? On what basis is this defined, and “who” gets to enforce these definitions?

If someone is a “who”, can their reproductive habits be dictated by another? If something is a “what”, can their reproductive habits be likewise dictated? Can a human be treated like an animal? Can an animal be treated like a human? To further articulate, which of these is a person? Can a person only be a human? Can an animal - or other species - be considered a person? What is the definition of personhood? What is the definition of humanity? Who gets to decide that? What gets to decide that?

Further Reading

OpenStax Introduction to Philosophy

OpenStax Introduction to Anthropology

OpenStax Introduction to Sociology

OpenStax Concepts of Biology

Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species By Means of Natural Selection

Wikipedia Deductive reasoning

Wikipedia Abductive reasoning

Wikipedia Inductive reasoning

Wikipedia Existentialism

Wikipedia Philosophy

Wikipedia Infinite regress

Wikipedia Value theory

Wikipedia Outline of philosophy

Wikipedia Problem of universals

Wikipedia Subject and object (philosophy)

Wikipedia Selective breeding

Wikipedia Animal husbandry

Wikipedia Culling

Wikipedia Eugenics

Animal Cognition (tw: contains images of spiders on home page)

 Addy: Tex and Wootzel put in some absolutely fantastic stuff, so I'm just going to share a bit on why I think we generally differentiate between humans and animals when it comes to genetic lines… and animals as working animals (plowing, herding, meat, livestock guardians, etc) vs animals for aesthetics (pugs, Scottish fold, pets).

Golden retrievers were bred for a strong retrieving instinct and for soft mouths, that they'd cause less damage to waterfowl carcasses. Collies have generally been bred for intelligence and herding instincts, for obvious reasons. Draft horses are bred to pull loads. In a working animal, you don't get the severe health issues you get in aesthetic animals. They're bred to do a job, and if they're sick or ill, they can't do that job very well.

I think there's something about being responsible and something about being careless with genetic lineages in animals. We have a degree of control over these things (re: domesticated animals that are born for the purpose of human use), like it or not. It's what we do with it that matters.

Many animals will happily commit incest. Dogs from the same litter, for example, will happily mate with each other. Do you stop it (either by separating the animals or by neutering/spaying), or do you stand by and let it happen? Animals, just like humans, carry recessive genes that can cause health issues. Responsible breeders keep all sorts of records to keep genetic issues out of their lines. Irresponsible breeders don't care.

Think about the practice of fixing (neutering/spaying) animals in general - it's common practice to get an animal fixed once they're old enough, to keep them from reproducing. These animals don't live in a wild environment, where their populations are kept in check by other factors. We domesticated them, and they live in our spaces. If we let them breed willy-nilly, their populations will grow out of control and ruin/imbalance local ecosystems. They live in a human environment, and they're our responsibility.

On a tangent, mules used to be a whole industry

When it comes to making decisions re: the reproductive habits of other humans, the power imbalance of domestication isn't present. Other humans (and their reproductive habits) are not my responsibility. It's their business. 

You do get some laws in some places about letting first cousins marry, but – on the whole – if someone with a genetic issue thinks about having children, I am not part of that discussion. That person is allowed to make their own decisions about what to do with their genetics. Since their genetic code is theirs, having an outsider mess with that (eugenics) is seen as a human rights issue. It takes the autonomy of that choice away from them.

Also…. The other side of selective breeding isn't just culling, it's breeding. With animals, that generally isn't an issue. If it is, there are all sorts of strategies to make animals more likely to be willing to do to the do with each other. But humans? If you have a human that doesn't want to have children, who doesn't want to reproduce, eugenics would say that that doesn't matter. That you want to push forward certain genetic lineages, even if the members of the population with those desired traits don't want to comply.

And that, for obvious reasons, causes issues.

[cosmichighpriestess]

Entering your villian era.

When you've been demonized and judged your entire life for existing and not hurting anyone intentionally or for your special unique abilities and how you look, your beauty, your handsomeness, how you speak, based off your skin color, your class, your status, how you dress, your hair, your unique makeup and/or nails, your gender, your weight, how you hold yourself, your unique qualities, your psychic abilities, your neurodivergence, your quirks, where you go, where you work, your reputation ect. Remember, none of those things define you.

You are special just as everyone else is special in their own way. We are all equal as souls having a human experience. But your inner light is invisible to most people and their insecurities and fears feel exposed in your presence. You are the truth in a world full of lies. Basically, just for existing and focusing on yourself and your life, your family, your passions, your interests, your self care, your immediate surroundings, your community, and your friends that you have the ability to help when you can. Ect.

Basically, you are a person who is attacked for being who you are, focusing on yourself, your success, your happiness, focusing on the next level you want to get to and just for simply existing, triggering them and their insecurities and believing the lies that everyone tells about you because they are triggered by you.

You are so accepting of everybody around you and anyone you encounter but nobody is accepting of you. Where it is very rare that somebody is ever celebrating you or even acknowledging your existence. They mistake your inner confidence as arrogance. You know the difference between being arrogant, narcissistic and deeply loving yourself and having confidence. They demonize your character because you threaten their ego and limiting beliefs about themselves and how people should act according to their rules. They're playing a secret game with you the moment they felt triggered by you.

"Oh this person doesn't do it my way, they are so (insert insult) this and that, oh this person is bad because x,y and z, and this I heard from so and so that they did this. Oh they're so full of themselves because they ignore me. they're so skinny. They're so fat. they are broke, they're so rich . Oh she or he is really like this I know because of this this and this" we all have beliefs, negative beliefs of how things should be or look. When they project and blame you and draw their line in the sand.

I have some information about you from God, actually that's not what the data says about you and your character. God says show me the data. The data and the truth is that you were living in integrity to the best of your abilty and being the perfect scapegoat for their shame and insecurities, and abusive, gaslighting, manipulative, controlling ways.

If you are autistic/neurodivergent and you couldn't help that you didn't understand humans and their lack of compassion and understanding, you couldn't help being yourself and you were abused and used for not being understood. You are very brave to be the light in the darkness, you are very spiritually highly advanced if you are autistic. You don't have to be to relate to this. So if someone, anyone is hurting you whether they realize you're triggering them or not just remember it's their loss.

They want you to be the villain and they want to play the victim, when in reality they are in denial they are abusive and toxic. Yeah of course I'll be the bad guy in your story if it gets you to leave me alone. God will show them what it feels and looks like to be a real victim, whatever you had to go through they will find out for themselves how it feels. Of course we'll be the bad guy in their story because then we get peace, we get real unconditional love, we get celebrated and embraced for who we are naturally; while you took our kindness as manipulative, as weak, as stupid and inferior. Not all of us think the same. Not everything is as it seems.

Embrace chaos but check your ego, "check yourself before you wreck yourself." If you have made it this far and you relate to this, you are not someone that is in competition with others. If someone doesn't like you, you know by now that has nothing to do with you. They are entitled to their distorted opinions. Who cares? Why are they so focused on you and other people instead of themselves? Aren't we all just mirrors and they are seeing a distorted version of you?

Why are they so bothered by someone who doesn't bother anyone? Because they're not focused on healing they're focused on pointing the finger at everyone else. That is not your business and that is not your problem what someone else thinks of you. But it IS up to you how you choose to react. Give your demons a kiss on the forehead. You are GOD, God's power flows through you. Release your illusionary fears. You are always safe. Always choose love and forgiveness, even if they label you as the narcissist. They don't write your story for you, only you do.

Sometimes it's the people that nobody expects anything from that do the things that nobody expects. Those who were last shall be first. It is destined. It is written in the stars. If God is for you no one can be against you. You were not made for the weak. Your natural light triggers those operating from fear and lack. Deep matrix fear based programming. All they know is suffering and believing in the illusions, but your inner light exposes the darkness and their illusions and they can't handle the truth.

They are just a reflection of another old version of you. But they feel rejected by you so they continue to turn you into the villain. You are the truth. What looks upside down is actually the opposite of your true reality. You cannot be easily brainwashed by the fear and control tactics. Your being is a force to be reckoned with. We are no longer giving our energy to the wrong people who do not value or appreciate our kindness and presence. What's meant for you will always find you. It can never miss you.

So, when you are labeled as the villain in their story, just remember you can flip the script at any moment, you don't owe them shit, not even to play pretend with them so they feel less threatened and stay unbothered in your truth. Be love in the face of their hate. Forgive them, for they are you. Follow your joy while they watch. Honor your truth. Stand in your authenticity. Stay balanced in your darkness and your light, accept your role on Earth as the light barrier, the light holder, the enlightened master, the wounded warrior, the teacher, the leader.

Any falsehood or lies will be quickly and easily uncovered because there's no hiding from anyone in New Earth, everyone is telepathic and psychic and can see right through any lie, any deception, any projection, manipulation, any reptilian agenda. Your presence exposes their wounds. You are not the problem. You never were. Your pure, gorgeous energy triggered them so they blamed you for how they were feeling then abandoned you. We are raising the level of human consciousness. It was what we came here to do. You are divine, never forget who you are.

[melancholicmarionette]

Thoughts I’ve been trying to put into words part a thousand—

I think I have the sentiment “I don’t get why people get all serious about gender” but I never know how to say that without sounding dismissive as fuck to people who really need to not be dismissed. But I mean like—okay—

So I’m autistic. This is not news. I don’t know if it’s totally related, but it means I’m used to not really understanding things about the world on a fundamental level, mostly greater concepts that people accept as fact. I’m bad at math and most hard sciences because I am told that pi is a number that never ends and it keeps going forever and that these are how many elements make up everything in the universe and maybe there are more or maybe there aren’t. Like, my brain simply cannot conceptualize these things. I know that these are important things to know, I just have 0 clue how it is possible for a person to know them. But there are people that know better than me. So someone goes “also, there are imaginary numbers” and I’m just like “…okay.” That’s just not somewhere my brain goes.

So when I say I don’t get why people get so weird about the social construct of gender I mean—well by people I mean TERFs, really—life can be filled with so much less anguish and turmoil if you just accept that you are not going to understand something and that doesn’t make you stupid or wrong. Sometimes accepting that things that are not tangible or visible are still valid makes your brain stop hurting.

I’m a woman. If you ask me how I know that intrinsically my go to response is I Don’t Know, I Just Do™️ and if someone, cis or trans or nb or anything else, said that to me I cannot imagine any other reaction than “well, okay.”

Gender is a social construct. We made it, collectively, and it’s changed a lot in the entire time we’ve accepted it. It’s still changing now. So there are a lot of things we can’t see.

Fact that I can’t dispute: penises and vaginas are different from each other. They are fundamentally not the same thing. There are a lot of ways people’s genitalia can look, being intersex is possible. Physically, visibly, there are different body types whose reproductive organs work in different ways. It makes perfect sense to me for that to be true.

Where it gets fucky for me: your random assignment of chromosomes gives you a role in society at birth that you cannot fundamentally change ever in your life. And if you ask why this is, people will just say “god said so” or something and idk maybe your god did, sure, but I don’t know him. He ain’t the boss of me. And then TERFs and the like will go “because nature said so” or “because biology said so” and I’m immediately like no!! No they didn’t, Joanne, you said that!! Biology and nature said one of these types of bodies carries babies and the other helps make the baby, that’s it!!

I don’t cite my vagina when writing about why I’m a woman. It has nothing to say. I don’t know why pi never ends and I don’t know how the fuck we know enough of what a water looks like that we can make little models, but I live in my brain and I know how I feel. I am never going to know another person better than they know themselves and it’s fucked up when people claim otherwise.

So I don’t feel like I can participate in discourse in a meaningful way because I’ll say “this trans woman is a woman” and some chucklefuck with a blue check will say “but they were born with a penis” and my response is so what. Genuinely, so fucking what.

One of JK Rowling’s first transphobic posts was saying that the trans community are trying to deny that sex is real and it’s such an intellectually dishonest take I was taken aback. I don’t think you’ll find anyone outright denying that sex organs that fall within the binary standard are in fact physically different from each other. The hang up is that that assigns you an identity that you didn’t necessarily consent to because you were a fetus at the time. So my automatic response to arguments of that nature, that gender itself is assigned this way and that way and no other way, are unironically “who do you think you are?”

I can’t engage in intelligent discourse with the way I feel because on paper it seems childish. My response to transphobes is oh my god just shut up. And it’s not necessarily because reading the cruel and untrue things they can fit into like 280 characters is draining (because it is) it’s because I just don’t believe any of their points have value. And it infuriates me that these people so consumed with hatred for people they don’t know are affecting legislation and the safety of trans people. And I can’t engage because I don’t believe these people can change and that bleeds through. They are nothing. And if any TERFs (or GC, I think you’re using to sanitize it) have read this far, they think the same about me. Probably that I’m a simpleton who hates women and lives in a bog eating swamp sludge for sustenance and i take offense because I do not hate women please get out of my swamp.

Idk, I’m rambling on tumblr late at night bc I can’t drop this into a conversation. I’m tired. Trans right are human rights gender is a social construct and I may be a mud creature shambling through the bog

[sunset-skater]

since we can't draw characters we'll just visualize ideas we know we lack the skill to draw so we need to figure out how to write about them instead. anyways enjoy a before/after of the classified au sambastian polycule, because being abandoned at a remote astrological facility it putting them THRU IT

Sam, back in the city

loved his time living in Pelican Town, but is ecstatic that he gets to experience city life alongside Seb

on disability for his adhd and chronic pain, so he plays house husband but also has the space to just focus on his music. plays guitar on good days, makes digital music when he's having a bad pain day

visits home whenever Seb does, to keep in touch with his parents and especially stay in Vincent's life

always goddamn sunshine even on his flare up days, he's just so happy to be alive and loves sharing it all with Seb

went from saying hi to the guy Seb's on voice with, to getting to know his boyfriend's latest date, to eventually falling for the guy Seb's dating and branching this polycule into a triangle

Sebastian, finally in the city

works part time at a bookstore, freelances as a programmer on the side, loves being able to work with information on so many fronts

owns way too many books cause they're SO cheap through work!

very autistic at work, usually wearing headphones and doing his own thing. his coworkers love that he enjoys all the mundane tasks they'd rather hand off

visits home on the regular to hang out with his mom and enjoy his hometown, calls her lots even when he isn't visiting

plans to move back to Pelican Town someday but is enjoying the city at this stage in his life

takes over the house husband role when Sam's having a bad take, finds so much joy in being able to help out

met Scott online on some astronomy forums, eventually started dating online and they voice chat lots

Scott, working his dream job

cannot believe how lucky he is to be working in astronomy like THIS

has a real firewatch vibe going on, takes care of his base and the surrounding site in between processing collected information

hasn't actually gotten much of a formal education yet, but has enough training from work - and enough research done on his own time - that he knows his way around here better than most of the people he works for

absolutely loves this life, living out in the middle of nature while working in a field of science he loves with all his heart. he even gets to use the equipment during his off hours to do whatever he likes - it's the most jacked up stargazing he's ever done

met this cute guy who loves moon aesthetics but then turned out to be the nerdiest tboy ever??? Scott's in love??? and his boyfriend is a handsome guitar-playing goofball who's always teasing Seb on video calls??? Scott's in love with them BOTH??? how lucky is he

and then a visit to meet the long distance boyfriend turns into a new living situation because extenuating circumstances means that the boys just... can't leave

Sam, isolated by woodlands and machinery

definitely losing it. the least capable of coping with these circumstances, he is NOT built for this kind of quiet. he can't even talk to people online - the only people he's got to interact with are his boyfriends, one of whom is as stir crazy as he is and the other who's so often busy with the work that trapped them here in the first place

is very bad at hiding it. he wants to be a good presence for Sebastian, and when he's in a better mood he's honestly able to lighten the mood, but when he's doing bad he wears it on his sleeve. he spends hours outside alone or holed up in a corner with noise cancelling headphones to make music, just trying to keep himself sane and feel like he's in his own space

he loves Seb so much. they spend so much time together, where Sam cooks or shares his music, Seb reads aloud to Sam or cuddles him to sleep. they try to recreate their old life anywhere they can just to feel okay

he misses his family so bad, but especially feels so much guilt and worry for Vincent. he's supposed to be there for him, yet Vincent's lost his older brother until further notice. he wants to go home so bad, spend an entire year living with his family again just so that he can make up for lost time with Vincent

anytime Seb sleeps, if Sam isn't laying in bed with him then he's set up shop in Scott's workplace so that he doesn't have to be alone. even if he's sitting on the floor with headphones in his own world, he needs so badly to be in the same room as someone. he just wants to see Scott working out of the corner of his eye - experience some semblance of normalcy

Sebastian, paranoia and nicotine cravings personified

hates this place. at first it reminded him of home but now it's such a bastardized version of it, where he resents the technology keeping him here and how the lack of civilization made it possible to keep them here at all. what's he supposed to do, walk into the woods and hopes he survives long enough to find a highway?

that said he tries to keep it hidden. even when this anger seeps through, he says it's the lack of cigarettes or the fact that his bpd flares up easier in such small confines. it's obvious how angry he is with the situation - but he can't bring himself to be open with it

in spite of it finds ways to help Scott wherever possible. he can't believe how badly he misses actually working, so he helps with the non-science work whenever possible. it keeps him busy and helps him feel productive

in spite of this all he still cares about Scott so much. he always sounded like he had some kind of dream job - but now they're trapped here and he doesn't even care. what does this place have, that Scott is so unphased by these surroundings? he just wants to be his boyfriend

he wanders outside a lot during daylight hours, wishing these woods were more like the ones they have at home. the forests he grew up in lie so much further north, and he can't even tell what is and isn't manufactured. how many of these trees were replanted after the original forest was destroyed, and how much of this is actually like this?

he misses his mom more than anything. he could handle all of this if only he could call her and talk through everything he's feeling. instead he just has old voicemails saved to his phone, voice memos she recorded while working so that random sounds of saws and chisels can be heard in the background, and leagues of text conversations he rereads just to feel like she's here

Scott, still working his dream job

feels absolutely HORRIBLE about how getting his boyfriends to visit turned this south. he worked so hard to get permission for them to visit at all - since he isn't sure when he'll actually get a break from work - only for this to happen

copes by sinking himself further into work, both to satisfy the higher ups and hope that he gets Sam and Seb out of here sooner, but also just to lose himself into something he enjoys. to immerse himself in space and all its wonder is escapism undiluted

honestly misses working alone, and enjoys late nights spent alone at the console surrounded only by the joy of science

the one thing he does miss most is the lack of an online presence. ever since they killed their internet connection - only his dedicated work consoles have any kind of connection, and those are glorified pagers with how limited their communication options are. he's got his boyfriends here in person, but everyone else in his social sphere saw him drop off the face of the earth

he doesn't know how to regret bringing Sam and Seb here. he hates that it ever came to this, wishes he had some way of anticipating this, but also he's not sure how he could've known. he just wanted to meet them, show them the pride and joy that is this site, but instead they've all been punished

[moltengoldveins]

Ok. I’m gonna talk about VR-LA a sec:

Just. Listen. The sheer joy I feel at the Knowing the crew has of VR-LA. How he’s so clearly autistic (or something similar) and it isn’t easy, it isn’t the kind of thing that only affects him once in a while, it’s day in day out every day, it’s down to his gears. It’s a different way of looking at the world, of living, of loving. How he experiences and expresses feelings and emotions so powerfully and so differently than everyone else in the show. How that’s not shown as ‘normal for him, but unusual for everyone else, so we make do,’ so much as it’s shown as ‘the ideal. of course VR-LA does X or says Y, that’s what he’d do! Why would it be better for him to have done otherwise?’ How the rest of the crew adore him, and he adores them, and they don’t even blink when accommodating him because it doesn’t even register as unusual accommodation. Everyone has a different way of looking at the world. Everyone gets accommodated. Why would we treat him differently? As someone with (undiagnosed, I’m working on it, trustworthy doctors are hard to find, but I have however been peer reviewed many times XD) autism, I assume the rest of the crew are just as relatable as he is. I assume the ways they feel and act are just as real. But I see myself in everything VR-LA does, and it really puts into perspective how most people in my life view love, and emotions, and friendship. VR-LA screws up. He does stupid stuff because he isn’t seeing things the way other people do and that gets people hurt or it hurts their feelings. He’s rude or blunt or uncompromising, he ignores or downright trods over good sense when it comes to diplomacy, and every single time he does I’m right there with him, not seeing the consequences until they’re right up in his face. But not once, in the entire show, does anyone make VR-LA the character or Noir the actor feel bad for who VR-LA is or who Noir has made him to be. When he apologizes, he mentions specific mistakes and he is forgiven for those mistakes. He does not apologize for ‘being bad at X general thing (like empathy)’ and nobody makes comments like that. He is aware of his own shortcomings but does not feel shame for them in the sense of ‘what I am is broken’, nor does he feel he is obligated to change what he is so he’s no longer bad at those things. He’s growing and getting better, yes, but he isn’t changing who he is, and nobody wants him to. Finbar and Kyana don’t even really consider pushing their brand of affection on him in situations where it’s unwelcome: conversely, VR-LA steps up and makes efforts to accommodate them when he’s trying to show affection. He makes Finbar the necklace. He takes time to talk to Dani while she’s working. AND. Nobody ever doubts VR-LA loves them??!! Despite the fact that he doesn’t do the typical verbal or physical affirmations of such??? He loves and is loved with a passion and never once does the crew think it isn’t enough because it’s not the right flavor. And that’s Shocking to me. It’s fascinating. I can barely conceive of that, and I certainly couldn’t before this last year or so of listening to the podcast and building solid friendships outside my childhood sphere. I love my family, and they love me, but there is now and will always be a disconnect between the way I naturally show love and they ways they are willing to accept love. That’s ok. I’m more than willing to take the extra step because I love them, and they are learning. But this is an entirely different ballpark. Rolling with difficulty is incredible, but this is the part that I think truly makes it one of my all time favorite stories. The crew Knows VR-LA, and loves him for what he is, the way they know he will understand. It’s viewed the same way two nt people are viewed, making concessions and adjustments for one another. Neither party is more to blame for what they are, and that’s just really really nice to see.😊

[autismcats]

what is the real hidden message of frozen 2′s “show yourself”?

so i got the inspiration earlier to finally rewatch that frozen 2 “show yourself” music video on youtube, and i had some thoughts in the middle of doing so.

as a disclaimer, i just want to say that i’m absolutely queer myself. this is not to discredit others’ interpretations of the song, and this is just my own take regarding my life experiences. i’m not claiming to speak for everyone in this post. in fact, i do still believe queerness has a lot to do with the subtext inside of the lyrics.

but anyway, i remember when the movie was in theaters at the end of 2019 and there were plenty of articles written about how “show yourself” has a hidden meaning about accepting the idea of being queer. there are lots of people my age who were new to identifying as lesbian, gay, bi, and/or trans at the time and i thought it made a lot of sense, especially because the headcanon and theory that elsa is a closeted lesbian was so popular at the time. it paved the way to shipping elsa + honeymaren (elsamaren) and made it easy to read frozen 2′s ending with them dating.

and that’s definitely notable ─ i’m not disagreeing!

but something always felt off about how i related to the lyrics personally and i was never sure why.

until i stumbled upon it again today.

in my opinion, i think the song is better heard with autism (or otherwise neurodivergency) in mind. it tells my story of finding the missing piece much better than it does of my realizing that i’m bi + trans, as well as my coming out.

again, i don’t think the LGBTQ+ reading is wrong! honestly i believe it comes down to a mix of both that and the autistic reading. but i see the latter outweighing the former here.

to me, i looked up these lyrics on google and my mind went straight to getting a diagnosis, an answer as to why my social life has always been so wrong:

i've never felt so certain all my life i've been torn but i'm here for a reason could it be the reason i was born? i have always been so different normal rules did not apply is this the day? are you the way i finally find out why?

everyone has something different to say about what part of their identity has impacted their experiences the most growing up. for me, it’s being neurodivergent. my sexuality, probably like most people (but of course not for many others), didn’t show up until my teenage years; same with my internal gender and outer presentation. my autism, however, has been present and influenced who i am for my whole life. i felt elsa’s longing and determination to find answers to her lifelong questions about not just who, but how & why she is in her musical journey throughout the ice caves.

i feel like we can all say confidently that who we are, regarding being queer, is something we can answer with the factual statement that we are queer and that’s just that, unless of course we get into the old debate regarding if it exists as nature vs. nurture. regardless, it’s always innate to some degree, and doesn’t inherently determine our personalities, behaviors, or understandings. autism & ADHD both do; it’s literally what defines autism as we know it.

that’s my argument. as i said, i’m not looking to “prove” anything or present my subjective opinion as objective fact. my take isn’t that the neurodivergent interpretation is more important or valid than the queer interpretation, just that i prefer the second option over the first.

either way, elsa is, without a doubt, an autistic sapphic! this is (part of) what makes her a valuable, relatable character to a lot of young people and we should always celebrate that. ♡

[bi-turtle-enthusiast]

Hello.... Can I ask your top 5 (or top 3) favorite characters from MDZS? And why you loved them? And your top 5 favorite moments from the series? Thanks if you want to answer....

yeah sure!

Characters:

5. Lan Sizhui/Lan Jingyi I love their dynamic SO much. They're best friends who have clearly known each other for such a long time, and they're both really interesting characters in their own right! Lan Sizhui is so interesting, what with his Lan upbringing and his Wen heritage, and the fact that he's connecting to both by the end of the book. Lan Jingyi is Lan Sizhui's ride-or-die, protecting his best friend at every opportunity while having the best lines in the entire book, and he makes every scene he's in 100x better.

4. Wen Qing Medical malplractice queen!! But in all seriousness, there's something so viscerally powerful about the fact that she's willing to go against nature itself for her baby brother. She'd both die and kill for Wen Ning, and later for Wei Wuxian. I feel like her type of character (murderous older sister) is kind of rare and I really, really like her. I feel like The Untamed really fleshed out her character and I really appreciated her after I watched it. She's equally capable of nurturing and destroying—a force of nature herself.

3. Lan Wangji/Wei Wuxian Fun fact: I hated Lan Wangji when I first read MDZS, and to be honest I'm still so-so on novel Lan Wangji. However, he was easily one of my favorite characters in The Untamed, and watching it made me see him in a whole different light. He doesn't communicate through his words, but through his actions. I think Wang Yibo was perfect casting because he NAILED Lan Wangji's micro-expressions and body language and really brought the character to life. Reading Lan Wangji as autistic also made me understand him a lot more. As for Wei Wuxian, I initially read him as a silly guy and... was right. Despite everything, he stays silly. I do find him a little insufferable pre-death, but I think that was intentional. He probably would have been higher on the list, but while I think he's a really compelling character (and ADHD personified, just like me fr), I'm also very frustrated by him and I don't like how he treats people sometimes. Still, I adore the way he looks after Jin Ling, refuses to let anyone blame Jiang Cheng for anything that happened to him, and takes care of Lan Wangji (towards the end, anyway).

2. Jin Ling Ok he probably would have been at the very top of this list but unfortunately jiang cheng brainrot is real. But CAN WE TALK ABOUT HIM. Over the course of the story, he finds out that his disgraced uncle who insulted him for not having a mom was actually Wei Wuxian reincarnated, then had to contend with the fact that Wei Wuxian was both the reason his parents and grandparents died AND the guy who protected him at every opportunity. Not to mention, he learned that Jin Guangyao, his beloved uncle who gifted him his beloved dog, had orchestrated his parents' death and was ready to kill him too. And what does he do at the end of the novel? He cries. He doesn't seek revenge, he doesn't get angry, he just cries, and he lets go. He chooses not to pursue revenge, because he's seen how the quest for revenge has destroyed everyone around him in one way or another. He's a little shit (because he's an edgy 15 year old) but he's a really intelligent and kind person who loves Jiang Cheng more than anything.

1. Jiang Cheng Some of y'all are going to disagree with me but it must be said. Jiang Cheng is the best MDZS character. Jiang Yanli's love and care taught him how to be loving and caring too. He loved Wei Wuxian, he loved Jin Ling, and he loved his sect. Jiang Cheng never stopped loving Wei Wuxian, even after everything that happened. He hated Wei Wuxian too—that's undeniable—but he also loved him. He kept his belongings intact, he never stopped believing he would come back, he literally gave up his golden core to protect Wei Wuxian. And Jin Ling! He loves Jin Ling so much! Despite having AWFUL parents himself, he was determined not to be that way towards Jin Ling. He did his best to break the generational trauma of his family because he wanted Jin Ling to have it better than he did. When Jin Ling becomes sect leader, he makes sure that he knows that if he EVER needs ANYTHING, he'll provide it to the best of his ability. I could go on for hours about this man. Best MDZS character. He's so full of resentment and hatred and vengeance, but in the end, the thing that always wins out over everything else is his unshakeable love.

Honorable mention: I loved MianMian in the Untamed and wish she got more time to shine in the novel

Favorite moments: 5. Literally anytime Lan Jingyi is in a scene. Every time he opens his mouth it's my favorite scene. He keeps Wei Wuxian humble in a way that only a teenager can. 4. The WangXian scene where Wei Wuxian hides porn in Lan Wangji's book. It starts off so genuinely nice—you can tell Lan Wangji isn't really serious anymore when he tells Wei Wuxian to stfu, and you get the feeling that Wei Wuxian is probably the closest thing Lan Wangji has to a friend. Wei Wuxian draws Lan Wangji a little portrait, and it's genuinely a sweet gesture. Lan Wangji thinks so too—he hasn't ever gotten something like this, and the fact that Wei Wuxian took the time to learn his appearance and commit it to paper makes him feel some type of way. And then, it turns out that everything was just a ruse so Wei Wuxian could prank Lan Wangji. Lan Wangji is,, understandably enraged. It feels cruel that Wei Wuxian would be so insincere just to do that. I kind of hated Wei Wuxian in this scene, but it's one of my favorites because it kind of shows the nature of their initial relationship—half-sincere, but never truly sincere. 3. Xuanwu cave scene. It's so funny and so painful and so sweet. We really see everyone's characters coming out—Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji being selfless protective, Jiang Cheng being capable and responsible, Jin Zixuan being brave and righteous, MianMian being the GOAT, Wang Lingjiao and Wen Chao deserving death, etc. 2. The umbrella scene in the Untamed. It was just so powerful. Lan Wangji putting down his umbrella, which represents the rules and morality of his sect, and just letting the rain mess up his perfect appearance. He doesn't know what's right and wrong anymore, because he loves Wei Wuxian, but everyone is telling him that's wrong. Wei Wuxian himself doesn't know what's right and wrong. Lan Wangji has been thinking in terms of black and white all this time, and for the first time, he finds himself in a gray area. It was just so powerful!! 1. The conversation between Jin Ling and Jiang Cheng after the temple scene at the end. It was just so beautiful. Go read/watch it.