growing up autistic / growing up gaslit

I.

this is the first lesson you learn: you are always wrong.

there is no electric hum buzzing through the air. there is no stinging bite to the sweetness of the mango. there is no bitter metallic tang to the water.

there is no cruelty in their laughter, no ambiguity in the instructions, no reason to be upset. there is no bitter aftertaste to your sweet tea, nothing scratchy about your blanket.

the lamps glow steadily. they do not falter.

II.

this is the second lesson you learn: you are never right.

you are childish, gullible, overly prone to tears. you are pedantic, combative, deliberately obtuse. you are lazy, unreliable, never on time.

you’re always making up excuses, rudely interrupting, stepping on people’s shoes. you’re always trying to get attention, never thinking about anyone else, selfish through and through.

it’s you that’s the problem. the lamps are fine.

III.

this is the third lesson you learn: you must always give in.

mother knows best. father knows best. doctor knows best. teacher knows best. this is the proper path. do not go astray.

listen to your elders, respect your betters, accept what’s given to you as your due. bow to the wisdom of experience, the education of the professional, the clarity of an external point of view.

what do you know about lamps, anyway?

Presenting trans & nonbinary character profiles: vol 1! Who’s your favorite? Are there any you’re surprised to learn about?

This is the first in a series I’m hoping to do occasionally presenting trans characters in media: some lesser known, some popular; some great representation, others flawed but mostly positive. I want to encourage nuanced discussion of trans representation, as complex as it is! Even complicated representation can leave a positive impact on our journeys and help us feel seen— as long as we can acknowledge shortcomings and issues.

I’ve included depiction notes for each one to warn of problematic or potentially triggering material, and to celebrate strong representation.

Who would you like to see in a future lineup?

Some wild shit goes on in ppls lives

For everyone who doesn’t spend their time on Reddit, the here’s the equally wild follow up that OP referenced in the tags.

Title and first paragraph: Wow yeah OP is a complete arsehole

Second paragraph and follow up:

If a trans girl tells you that she wants to start dressing more femme and your response is "but you're conforming to gender stereotypes" then she is entitled to punch you in the face as hard as she wants

Also, if a trans girl says she wants to go on hormones and your response is "but you're still valid if you don't get hrt" then she is also entitled to punch your face as hard as she wants

reblog this version you fucking cowards

I think they’re underreporting the sheer amount of damage Helene has caused. Entire towns are gone. 50 confirmed deaths already. Down power lines everywhere. Emergency responders are swamped. Stoplights are out. There’s a down live power line at the bottom of my mom’s mountain and the sheriff is like “yeah, I know. we called the power company and they’re not going shit.”

The water table is already full, the ground is saturated, lakes and ponds are draining into causeways and it’s supposed to rain tonight and tomorrow. It looks like it’s going to be light misting rain but more flash flooding is possible and more lives and infrastructure may be lost. Many people are still in danger. We cannot begin to estimate how much damage has been done. Unlike Florida, Southern Appalachia wasn’t given evacuation notices or pre-warning of how devastating the storm was going to be, the storm path seems to have gone east instead of its projected path which was more to the west.

Asheville’s Arts District is straight up gone. Chimney Rock is gone. Multiple other small towns have been wiped off the map.

Hi. I live in the Asheville area. The reason there's no reporting is there's no cell signal anywhere in the area. The news can't even get in. We couldn't call anyone, all we had was the emergency radio and even they didn't have information because the news channels don't have connections either.

I am currently evacuated with my family in Charlotte. I'm disabled and one night without power was too much. It may be weeks before we have power.

We were not prepared. We had no reason to be prepared. Helene was supposed to top at cat 2 and veer west. Instead it landed at 4 and charged straight at us. I live on a hill so I was safe from flooding, but no less than 4 trees went down in our yard, two on our house, right above my head.

We are a temperate rainforest. There's nowhere for the water to go. This isn't supposed to happen.

Asheville is fucking devastated. I love my city and I'm heartbroken. Famously the City of Lesbians, the queerest city in the South. It remains to be seen what will happen after it's all said and done but it's fucking horrible. No one here has ever seen anything like this.

How could you not include the next three panels

peer reviewing this because i didnt realize that either

....The teal pumpkins are for *outside your door*, to signal that you have small toys available for the kids. Why are people carrying blue buckets?? Is this new?

If people are telling you it's an established trend to give autistic kids blue buckets to trick or treat with, they're either lying or they're misremembering how the teal pumpkin project works.

The teal buckets have been around since @mistresskabooms was in elementary school, at least, and she's 24. They're not new. They're supposed to signal that the kid carrying it is autistic or otherwise non-verbal.

I actually don't remember these, but I'm also not surprised. I'm deferring to your judgement here.

The reason you don't remember them is I got mad when someone tried to push you to carry one and told them to bugger off.

Makes sense. Seems like some bullshit to me anyways.

....The teal pumpkins are for *outside your door*, to signal that you have small toys available for the kids. Why are people carrying blue buckets?? Is this new?

If people are telling you it's an established trend to give autistic kids blue buckets to trick or treat with, they're either lying or they're misremembering how the teal pumpkin project works.

The teal buckets have been around since @mistresskabooms was in elementary school, at least, and she's 24. They're not new. They're supposed to signal that the kid carrying it is autistic or otherwise non-verbal.

I actually don't remember these, but I'm also not surprised. I'm deferring to your judgement here.

#like opening a door and getting a pie in the face#but it's your favorite flavor - opines @jadewhisper

People who draw Samus Aran as a 5 foot nothing girl with an hourglass figure, flawlessly smooth skin, perfectly applied makeup, absolutely no musculature, and a bubbleheaded smile are cowards. That woman has been put through the ringer and should look like it. Give her towering height. Give her absolutely chiseled abs. Give her terrifying scars snaking across her skin. Give her weird feathers and scales covering her body. Give her a scowl that could shatter glass. Give her a massive co-