An autistic friend of mine just said this to me “The harder I work at communication the more people expect from me and the less they are willing to compromise.” and it is the most fucking heartbreaking thing I’ve heard.
This is very much a thing, though – and I’m sure people across the board with other disabilities can verify that it happens to them, too.
People will turn any progress you make toward being “normal” – no matter how straining or difficult it is for you, no matter how little it actually helps you – as either inspiration porn, or proof that you don’t really need accommodations, you just need to “apply yourself! :)))))”
hi everyone! my friend (she did the lovely art) and i are making a new-player-friendly version of the D&D 5E player handbook, and we would love your feedback! we are doing A/B testing right now, so just visiting the website and poking around will help us out a lot, and of course any messages/reblogs would help too 🙂
Anyone who thinks that small towns are just by nature more likely to be close knit, nurturing, liberating communities compared to cities has probably never tried being an LGBT person, poc, or woman in a small town lol
i’ve been vaguely formulating words for a post for months about the “glowup” trend specifically when someone uses a photo from like age 10 or 13 and then a photo now of them as an adult and everyone is like “there is hope!!!!”
bc the subtle (even if unintentional) message that it’s possible to Be ugly at age 10 and that we should’ve somehow been what??hotter?? more attractive, as literal children, is EXTREMELY disturbing and definitely part of why we’re seeing elementary and middle schoolers doing makeup and wearing clothes to present themselves as adults on social media like instagram.
everyone shares those “me at 14 vs. 14 year olds now” memes with a modern 14 yr old perfectly contoured with puckered lips but nobody considers that by sharing photos of ourselves as children and suggesting that we were ugly and lame and embarrassing, we’re teaching kids who are that age now that they should AVOID looking their age.
and then today I saw a glowup post that literally featured a photo of a 20 year old now and a photo of them as an Actual Toddler and I realize maybe I just don’t even HAVE the words
stop saying you were “ugly as a kid” where kids can hear you. kids can’t be ugly, because no one should be holding them to any standard that judges them by their looks! and people will say “okay, but be honest with yourself, some kids just are prettier than others.”
No! Some kids are considered “prettier” than others based ona set of made-up standards set by adults!
No child should ever be viewed through the lens of “attractive” or “not attractive,” because they’re children, and when you refer to your childhood self as ugly or lame or embarrassing, the children around you look for the features you’re referring to in themselves and try to avoid/erase them. And if they can’t, they just settle for hating that part of themselves.
It isn’t about you anymore. The children are listening. They’re watching. Be mindful.
Jackie – sitting proudly in the center of the village is Jackie’s Cafe, unsurprisingly run by Jackie herself. her specialty, “Spiced Pumpkin Cider”, is said to be so good it makes your tongue do a happy little dance. she’s a very hard worker, but some of the townspeople are worried she’s taking on more than she can handle.
(this is a character from Forest’s Secret, an upcoming game I’m creating – learn more about it here!)
sleepliving 