I Remembered This Is An Art Account Again So Have More Of My OC And Shit

I remembered this is an art account again so have more of my OC and shit 💖✨✨✨✨

I just remembered this is also supposed to be an art account and I don’t post my own stuff very often, so here’s some stuff that are drew for me bc why not

Yes these are mostly all of me in Genshin for different things and video game self inserts, why thank you for noticing lol

Disabled Representation Has Come Farther Than You Think

You’ve Just Been Conditioned Not to See It.

I recently got into a huge fight with an abled friend about disabled representation, in which he was completely convinced that the stance he held was that of an ally. He’s a long time friend of mine and I know he really did think he was fighting for us and coming from a place of trying to help us.

And it really got me thinking about the way abled people perceive disabled people. And how that message is internalised and reinforced in so many ways.

My friend was trying to say that characters like Cyborg, Misty knight, Daredevil, Toph, Edward Elric, Bucky, Nebula, etc were not good representation. And he at first refused to listen to me (an actual disabled person) when I was like; no, we like that. we love that. we LOVE seeing badass and competent and sexy disabled people. It’s validating and empowering.

His argument was that it didn’t really count because nobody saw them as disabled and that it would be the same thing as saying Gamora is black representation.

While I understand where he was coming from, both of us also being black, it was hard to get him to understand how it wasn’t the same thing.

Gamora is a black actress painted green to portray a green-skinned alien. She has black features, yes, but within the narrative she very much is not a black woman. She’s an alien.

But a disabled character is always still a disabled character. Regardless of how high tech or SciFi or magical or fantastical the world or universe is; an amputee with a prosthesis is still an amputee. They are still disabled. Yes, even if their prosthesis shoots lasers.

And other characters, like Toph and Daredevil, who are both blind, have superpowers/superhuman abilities that allow them to overcome their disability. That does not make them less disabled.

Their blindness still impacts their everyday lives. They can’t read. They can’t draw. They don’t know what things or people look like, or what color things are. They can’t read someone’s facial expressions during a conversation. They can’t follow a map without assistance.

When I asked my friend for examples of what he considered good disabled representation he said Professor X, Oracle, and the Thinker. And that made me pause and I won’t lie, it upset me. It felt degrading. I got kind of angry at him and it got a little heated.

Because what he was saying is: the smart one in the wheelchair that never actually joins the battle because their body is too frail? Those are the only good disabled characters? The ones who still need to be protected and treated tenderly and are physically weaker?

Do we only exist when you can view us as some subhuman lesser other that you can take pity on?

But it’s not only my friend who thinks this way.

I’ve seen quite a few arguments online about people who don’t think Edward Elric is disabled, despite being an amputee.

Who don’t think Cyborg is disabled, despite the fact that his entire power set is due to a life support and mobility aid device.

And my friend was shocked that I, and many other disabled people, find these depictions of strong and confident and capable disabled people empowering. He fully expected that I would find those depictions offensive.

And that’s when it really hit me.

The issue is not that characters like Bucky or Toph or Daredevil are bad representations of disabled characters.

The issue is that people don’t perceive them as disabled. They’ve internalized this belief that disabled people have to be weak and delicate and fragile and in some way physically inferior.

They’re only considered disabled if they’re tragic and/or weak. Or ugly. People love to project a tragic subhuman otherness onto disabled people who are ugly.

If they’re cool and badass that confuses them. That doesn’t fit with the narrative that’s been built in their heads.

The idea of a competent, confidant, and strong disabled character, especially a cool disabled character is just so completely foreign to them that they don’t even consider it.

Now I’m not saying that depictions of disabled characters like Oracle or professor X are bad or harmful. We need representation of disabled people who aren’t strong and don’t have superpowers and maybe don’t feel particularly empowered. That’s a genuine representation of many disabled people.

It just isn’t the only one.

I think the issue with disabled representation is not that it doesn’t exist (as I’ve seen many abled people online claim in our defense) but that we need to shift the way we think of disabled people so we stop overlooking a lot of the really cool and badass and awesome disabled characters we do already have.

So if you read this far through this essay, please stop for a moment and consider the preconceptions you have about disabled people.

Have you ever overlooked a disabled character because they were strong, powerful, charismatic, or, (God forbid!) SEXY?

And if so, I’d ask you to take some time to examine in yourself why you don’t think of disabled people as being able to be those things.

Mod Izzy

On the subject of "People don't really like pwTrauma/Mental Illness," people's "activism" is so fucking transparent. Characters like Steven Grant are praised and coddled because his mental illness is cute and uwu look at his little bear paws aw he's so nervous vs character like Marc Spector are perceived as "bad" because he's a liar or rude or violent. Or on the other side, the "Marc has never done anything wrong, he's just a wet cat" people who attribute all of Marc's violence to Khonshu.

You can like Steven and think he's endearing and also acknowledge he called Marc a parasite and punched Marc after seeing their trauma.

You can like Marc and recognize he is a liar and is extremely guarded because of trauma. You can recognize he likely only became a mercenary because pwMental illness he was kicked out of the army and it was likely his only option while also acknowledging that he killed people.

Matt Murdock is a depressed man who lies and manipulates his friends and is also an earnest person who wants to protect his community.

Jessica Jones is an alcoholic to pushes everyone away but she gives a shit.

Wanda Maximoff was so hurt and lost her grief exploded and created a fantasy where she could be with her husband and have kids.

None of these characters are good or bad. They're people. And sometimes, people with trauma are assholes. People with trauma are bad friends sometimes. They can be manipulative, liars, clingy, insecure, aggressive, and violent. But guess what. Acknowledging the times they're "problematic" is not an attack on the character nor is it stigmatizing.

But, if you hate a character for exhibiting behaviors typically associated with pwmental illness, maybe you're not as good of a person as you claim to be.

With the announcement of the Harry Potter TV series, you will be made aware of the people in your social circle who are excited about it.

Now is a good time to stop knowing them.

HI, LET'S TALK ABOUT AO3 TAGGING ETIQUETTE FOR A SECOND.

Reminder that when you're tagging a fic, you're supposed to list the relationships AND THEN THE SAME CHARACTERS IN THE INDEPENDENT CHARACTER TAG.

It's supposed to be "Joe Bloggs/Jane Doe" as the relationship tag, and then also: "Joe Bloggs" and "Jane Doe" in the independent character tags. If you do ONLY the relationship tag, then the search function doesn't work properly.

This is super common with Original Characters. People will have "Joe Bloggs/Original Female Character" in the relationship tag, but then won't list "Original female character" in the independent character tags, and this means that anyone using the character tags to search for content with original characters will not find your fic.

Same for reader-insert fics. It should be "Joe bloggs/reader insert" AND "Joe bloggs" and "reader insert." Three separate tags, because they're three separate things. One relationship tag, and two character tags.

And of course, its the same for established characters. There are so many characters that I search for by the character tag, because I will read a huge range of content for them, including gen and different relationships.

If you ONLY tag "Peter Parker/MJ," and don't tag either of them in the independent character tags, then I - who searches for "Peter Parker" the independent tag, will not find your fic.

It also means that people can't exclude characters. There are some characters that I don't give a shit about or actively dislike and I will add them to the exclusion field. That won't work if you've put those characters only in the relationship tag.

For the love of God, please remember to use the relationship AND THE CHARACTER TAGS.

does anyone else ever like. edit and clarify their own wording when talking to themself. like "nah actually that sentence was mid, let's take it from the top" or "and by [word/phrase i just used] i mean [explanation], not [alternative interpretation that wasn't what i meant, even though i know what i meant because i'm talking to myself]" or am i just a total weirdo.