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.
17K notes
·
View notes
Thinking about the fact that Mabel and Dipper didn't know they had two great uncles.
Yeah they are 12 and at 12 I had a shotty understanding of my family tree- But really? Nobody brought up their great uncle? Stanley? Especially since they'll be staying with his twin brother, Stanford?
Shermie never went to Stan's fake funeral, which to me means the twos relationship was strained on some level. If Shermie is older that means his view of Stan was poisoned in some way, that even as kids they weren't close. If the Shermie is younger then he never even got to meet Stan and all he knew about him was how he failed his family. Hell, people probably barely mentioned Stanley TO Shermie.
The fact that Stan had become a black stain upon the Pines family name makes me so vividly upset. Stanley faked his death and the family just- seemingly decided to strike him from the record. To pretend he didn't existed to spare themselves the sadness and shame.
Stanford and Shermie Pines. The only children worth mentioning of Filbrick and Caryn Pines.
It was never Stanford that was lost to the world. It was Stanley, ever since he had to leave New Jersy- it was always him that had to be struck from the record. Change his name, change his state, change his affiliations, destroy the remains of ghost that was Stanley Pines. Kill him so the family doesn't bring him up, doesn't ask questions, stops asking "Stanford" about his twin.
I just keep thinking about the fact that since the day he made one single mistake all the way up until Ford walks out of that machine- Stanley Pines was killed and did not exist. And Stan himself had no one to blame, he had to play the part in his own demise- He is the only one who ever knew Stanley was alive and has been for decades.
He lives in the multitudes of every personality he's ever taken, all in the hope that he himself can stop being Stanley Pines.
612 notes
·
View notes
Stillborn danyal al ghul au incorrect quotes - dpxdc au
Vlad and Danny, fighting for the nth time this month:
Danyal, exhausted: hey if i call you dad will you like. Stop. I have a test tomorrow.
Vlad, has a parental bone in EVERY part of his body: *immediately stopping*
Vlad: What do you mEAN YOU HAVE A TEST. WHY DIDN'T YOU LEAD WITH THAT--
Danny: BECAUSE YOU'RE TRYING TO KILL DR. FENTON AGAIN, VLADIMIR.
-------------
Danny, flopping into bed facefirst: i need sleep or rehab. again
Tucker (maybe?? I haven't decided yet who he's friends with): i thought you were clean
Danny, into a pillow: not if this keeps up.
-------------
Tucker: favorite superhero go
Sam: Wonder Woman
Danny: the Flash
Tucker: Okay Sam's is obvious but, Danny I would've thought you'd say like, Martian Manhunter or Superman or Starfire. But Flash??
Danny: i had a foster in Central City for a few years and met him, he's a really nice guy. He made me promise to invite him to my high school graduation and is part of the reason I made it to rehab and ended up getting rehomed and picked up by the Fentons.
Danny: I have a hoodie with his logo on it in my closet, i saved up to buy it and its the first thing I got with the allowance the Fentons got me
------------
Danny wearing three layers and a scarf in the middle of summer: *shivering*
Sam: how are you cold you're literally made of lava
Danny, hissing: lava cools at contact with the air and I'm trying to keep my body temperature at a reasonable level, SAM.
Tucker, touching Danny: you feel warm to me
Danny: to YOU
------------
Danny:...i could eat lava
Tucker:
Sam:
Danny:
Tucker: do it. no balls
Danny, getting up: bET--
------------
Danny:
Dash:
The Both Of Them: *under the bleachers to smoke/vape*
Danny, smokes: I wont tell if you won't tell
Dash, vapes: ....deal
-----------
Danny, breaking into Vlad's lab: YOU FUCKER QUIT-- what the hell is that
Vlad, working on his newest invention: Language. ....And it's something I'm working on, go away
Danny: what? no, fuck you. You're trying to kill Jack again and this looks interesting. I was gonna come beat you but now I'm curious what the hell this is
(Vlad spends a good hour explaining what he's doing before they start arguing and Danny starts a fight)
------
Danny laying on the ground staring the ceiling, feeling like shit:
Jazz, popping by his room: ,,,what'cha doing, Danny?
Danny:
Danny, internally: 'Jazz says i should be more open'
Danny: considering the benefits of relapsing
Jazz, immediately stepping into the room: oh okay so lets talk.
-----------
Danny, meeting Robin as Phantom for the first time unaware of his identity and his own birthright:
Robin:
Phantom:
Phantom: fuck you
Robin, a 12 year old: fUCK YOU
-----------
Vlad: Jack Fenton iced me out of my early adulthood and got you, his foster son, killed by his own invention. He is a danger to society and I personally want him dead.
Danny: okay, cool motive still murder.
Danny, louder: I DONT NEED YOU TO TAKE REVENGE ON MY BEHALF
-----------
Vlad, grabbing Danny's shoulders: aren't you tired of being nice
Danny:
Vlad: don't you want to go apeshit
Danny, in the american foster system since infancy, was in rehab at 11 years old, has been fucked over metaphorically, emotionally, physically, ten times over:
Danny: i feel like we need to have a talk
----------
DP/Regular DPDC Vlad: *gripping by the shoulders*
DPDC Vlad: how
Stillborn Vlad: what
DP/DC Vlad: how are you getting him to like you.
Stillborn Vlad:,,, well first off i don't torture him so jot that down
Stillborn Vlad: second of all, like is a strong word.
Stillborn Vlad: Daniel only likes me on tuesdays and when i show him how to make fireballs
493 notes
·
View notes