Ngl I Thought The Puzzle Piece As An Autistic Symbol Meant Like. I Am A Vital Puzzle Piece To Your Society.

when i was a kid i used to respond to the "glass half full/half empty" question by asking how the liquid in the glass got there in the first place. nobody ever gave me a chance to explain my reasoning so i'm doing it now

if you have a glass and it has some liquid in it, up to the halfway line, whether it is empty or full depends on what happened before the question was asked. if you started with a full glass and poured half out until only half remained, the glass is half empty, because if you continued pouring it would be fully empty. however, if you started with an empty glass and poured liquid from another container into the glass up to the halfway line, the glass is half full because if you continued pouring it would be all the way full. logical, no?

i was 13 years old when somebody finally told me it was supposed to be some kind of optimism/pessimism thing. i always thought it was a riddle that nobody let me solve

Not my usual content, but I made something I wanted to share...

Edit: Now with an ID from @a-captions-blog! Thank you for writing it!

[Art description: A Pokémon-themed comic featuring OP as a Pikachu. Long description follows.

1. The tips of Pikachu’s ears are shown with text that says, ‘I’m a Pikachu / My world is filled with lots of cool stuff. Sometimes it feels like anything is possible!’ Under this is a collage showing a Charizard, a Pidgeotto, a Nidoking, an Eevee, and an Ivysaur, all in the background as the Pikachu looks up in wonder. Text reads, ‘All sorts of types, all sorts of attacks, all sorts of Pokemon.’

2. Text says, ‘But...only two ways a Pikachu’s tail could look.’ Two boxes in the upper corners show the male and female Pikachu tails, respectively. The male has a rectangular end to his tale, and the female has a heart-shaped end to hers. Text continues, ‘So then, what am I?’ A large drawing of the narrator Pikachu is shown, with an arrow pointing to their tail, whose end is split somewhat like scissors and doesn’t match either the male or female drawing above.

3. Text says, ‘Too pointy to be [female], too much of a V-shape to be [male]. I thought there was something wrong with me.’ Under this are three cascading panels showing the Pikachu from below at an angle emphasizing their tail. The second panel shows mel further away, and in the final panel she have disappeared entirely. Text on the panels reads, ‘I felt / very, very, very / alone.’

4. Text says, ‘But then, something happened. I found others like me.’ The art shows the narrator reaching out to another Pikachu. Under this are three other Pikachu. One has a rounded tail, one has a tail that has been stitched up to be rectangular, and one has a tail with a slight spike at the tip.

5. Closeups are shown of each of the tails from the previous panel, with text that says, ‘Round tails, scarred tails, spiky tails.’ Under this is a drawing of the Pikachu all hugging with lightning coming from their cheeks. Text reads, ‘They told me nothing was wrong with me, and I wasn´t alone anymore.’

6. Text says, ‘There are many ways a Pikachu’s tail can look. I’ve heard there’s at least over 30 different variations.’ Under this are two panels. The first panel shows the narrator lying on their back on a background of male and female symbols. Text reads, ‘Some days are still hard.’ In the second panel, the Pikachu with the scarred tail is shown with text that says, ‘My friend tells me her tail used to look just like mine. It was taken from her.’

8. The narrator is shown sitting and looking upwards. Text reads, ‘Some trainers won’t accept Pikachu that aren’t [male] or [female]. They alter our tails without our consent. But things are getting better. We are making change. We’re fighting so that our tails will be left alone.’ Under this is a panel showing the four Pikachu running happily towards the right. Text reads, ‘We’re all on a spectrum. Every tail looks different; anything is possible.’

The final text reads, ‘This is a comic about intersex people.’ The watermark in the lower right says @ PostManic. \End descriptions

Writing Tips Master Post

Edit: Some posts may be deleted

Character writing/development:

Character Arcs

Making Character Profiles

Character Development

Comic Relief Arc

Internal Conflict

Character Voices

Creating Distinct Characters

Creating Likeable Characters

Writing Strong Female Characters

Writing POC Characters

Building Tension

Writing Grumpy x Sunshine Tropes

Plot devices/development:

Intrigue in Storytelling

Enemies to Lovers

Alternatives to Killing Characters

Worldbuilding

Misdirection

Consider Before Killing Characters

Foreshadowing

Narrative:

Emphasising the Stakes

Avoid Info-Dumping

Writing Without Dialogue

1st vs. 2nd vs. 3rd Perspective

Fight Scenes (+ More)

Transitions

Pacing

Writing Prologues

Dialogue Tips

Writing War

Writing Cheating

Worldbuilding:

Worldbuilding: Questions to Consider

Creating Laws/Rules in Fantasy Worlds

Book writing:

Connected vs. Stand-Alone Series

A & B Stories

Writer resources:

Writing YouTube Channels, Podcasts, & Blogs

Online Writing Resources

Outlining/Writing/Editing Software

Writer help:

Losing Passion/Burnout

Overcoming Writer's Block

Fantasy terms:

How To Name Fantasy Races (Step-by-Step)

Naming Elemental Races

Naming Fire-Related Races

How To Name Fantasy Places

Ask games:

Character Ask Game #1

Character Ask Game #2

Character Ask Game #3

Miscellaneous:

1000 Follower Post

2000 Follower Poll

Writing Fantasy

I'd there anything that you'd like a prosthetic limb to be able to do? Like something that's not on the market but you could slip on to accomplish a task and then easily remove before it gets cumbersome?

I'm sorry i sat on this ask for so long, it's been very difficult to write an answer to this question that i feel is both honest and useful, but here's my best attempt at answering with what i consider to be an okayish amount of context...

I'm assuming you're asking because this post of mine blew up and got a lot of attention, and it looks like you're a maker that's keen on designing things to help disabled people and that's great! there are a lot of areas where products just don't exist but are of great help or need to people, and filling that gap is really really great! lots of people have lots of different needs, and many disabilities and situations can be helped with technological solutions, much of which need more development, both professionally and more grass roots.

but when it comes to my situation, ie upper limb amputee, i cannot stress enough: the problem is not prosthetic technology, the problem is other people, and ableism.

what i want people to focus on is that i can do almost everything i need to for myself without a prosthesis, using just my elbow, my nub (the soft squishy end of my residual limb), and a taking my time. a bit more awkward, a bit slower, more trips to the fridge and back, but i can do it. the things that i can't do myself, I'm lucky enough to have people to help me and happy to do so.

but what people actually focus on is prostheses, people love prostheses... so let's talk prostheses!

I have a myoelectric prosthetic "hand" - a big robot gripper that i can control with intentional nerve signals picked up via electrodes inside the socket that sits over my forearm; telling it to open and close on command, and controlling how fast it does so. the initial reason i wanted one was for soldering, because electronics is an on and off hobby i wanted to continue. I'm sure you know that through-hole soldering is at least a three handed job even for the regularly limbed, so i thought i needed it for that at least, and figured it would be handy (hah) to just wear all day for any task i might want two hands for.

well, in the four years of training and rehab and practice since... I'm fairly confident i don't actually need it for soldering, let alone anything else. my elbow grip and dexterity is good enough i can easily hold and aim a spool of solder without my prosthesis. i sometimes put it on to take out the trash, but that's just a time saver, it takes less trips and is faster than slinging bags over my nub arm. it has a little led flashlight in it that's useful at night outside sometimes? and as alluded to in the original post, it's got a small tip that can press little buttons that my nub can't, and that's the role i most often reach for it to fill.

but myo prostheses are a hassle to put on, often taking several attempts to get positioning right, it's hot and sweatty, there can be pressure sores, and it's real heavy in a way your shoulder never really gets used to. these are not really technological issues that need more research or smarts to solve, they're pretty fundamental limits of trying to attach any kind of medical devices to the human body. if i really had any big necessary use case for absolutely needing two hands, I'd go back to physical therapy and re-train to use a body powered prosthesis; the ones that secure with nice soft leather straps and use your opposing shoulder to control hook grip with tension wires. technology that hasn't changed in several centuries because we kinda already perfected it... it's low tech, reliable, has built in proportional control and feedback, and never features in science fiction because it's just not cool enough.

so why do i still bother? why keep my prosthesis, maintain it, have the socket padded so it keeps fitting, continue the slightly painful muscle control exercises instead of letting them atrophy and the damn robot hand sit on the shelf forever?

the problem is other people, and ableism.

when I leave the house in my natural body, nub on display for all to see (under an arm warmer because perpetually cold stump is a problem seemingly every amputee has to deal with)...

people stare. they notice me from a distance, no matter what i wear, how i carry my body. but it's not just staring. it's glaring, it's disgust, it's fear, it's dehumanisation. i have people recoil in horror, cross the street to avoid me, pull their children close to their bodies as if they might start dropping limbs if they get too close. people have stopped me in the street, from behind, demanding to know "what happened", I've had to get off trams at random stops to escape little old ladies insisting i disclose my highly traumatic medical history and that I'm being rude and uncooperative for not "educating" them on "such a fascinating curiosity"... or best yet, the one all my wheelchair using friends know inside out: forceful unwelcome "help" from strangers without even a hello, yet alone an ask. i once had a man leap to his feet and begin thrusting his hands towards my crotch because i wedged a water bottle between my thighs to unscrew the cap and he decided i was clearly incapable of doing it myself... and this isn't even getting into the ways that medical professionals treat me differently.

i go outside in my natural body, and I'm treated as a freak.

you know what happens when i go out wearing my prosthesis? children smile, adults mind their own goddamned business, leave me alone, and at absolute worst I've had a total of two people in four years talk to me about it, politely introducing themselves before saying "that's neat, how does it work?"...

because fiction and futurism have given people so many deeply ingrained fundamental ideas about prostheses and amputation that I am treated more like a human being while wearing a bulky robot claw with electrodes pressed into my skin, than when i dare to exist as i now naturally am.

this is also borne out by the hundreds of notes on my original post declaring we need to invest more, research more, design more, so that prosthetic technology is better and "works" and is cooler... and literally nobody asking why a piece of technology was designed in such a way that i needed to use my nose, needed to hold two buttons down simultaneously half a meter apart that are barely fingertip sized, when either of them being a toggle would work - a firmware fix that would take 30 seconds to implement if anyone actually thought about the real technological needs of limb different people, instead of scifi fantasies about improving prosthetic technology until its "indistinguishable from the human body", as if that goal should be self evidently desirable.

the actual technological solution to this situation, by the way, is a bracelet with a chopstick glued to it.

so.

*deep breath*

I'm sorry this was long and angry, I hope you can sense that my anger isn't directed at you, the question asker, but broadly at everyone and the way society perceives amputees/limb different people... and I hope anyone who reblogged my original post also shares this, because damn did tumblr miss the point of it!

to finish off, I'll give you the snippy snarky bitch response i originally had in consideration, before I decided to spend several hours on paragraphs of furiously slow one-thumbed attempt at shifting my audience's perception of prostheses... because legit it's great that you want to know how things can be improved for disabled people through technology! it's just that in this one particular case...

if you want to design some technology that would be most helpful to me but is totally absent from the current market, I'd like a portable pocket sized device that projects a psionic field to make ableds mind their own fucking business and just treat me like a human being when i go outside :3

A post for people who struggle with dental care <3

*made by somebody who also struggles with dental care

A few things to preface:

I am not a dentist! If you have any concerns about your oral health please reach out to a dentist or doctor!

You aren’t gross or bad for having trouble with dental care- it can be really difficult! Oral health (or any health) is not a moral indicator.

People have different opinions about fluoride- I’m of the opinion that fluoride is beneficial/necessary so this post will be made with that in mind. (I’ve linked a source below)

I am not affiliated with any companies, any brands I mention or link are simply the ones I use or have found online (:

Okay now to recommendations! (:

Mouth wash

I find that alcohol-free mouth wash is a way better sensory experience for me and has honestly been a huge game changer! If this is you too, look for products that say “alcohol-free” and check that they that still have fluoride! (:

Many people find mint to be unbearable! If that’s the case, don’t feel bad about trying other flavours, even if those are flavours marketed towards kids.

If you’re unsure of which flavour you might like, I sometimes see small travel sized mouth washes at drug stores, so if you wanted to try one out before committing to spending more money those could be a good option!

I use: Listerine brand antiseptic alcohol free mouth wash. I personally really like there green tea flavour, but they have other flavours as well. (I’ve linked the one I use below)

Tooth brushes

Electric tooth brushes can be very useful for people who may struggle with finding the effort and motivation to brush their teeth, and/or people who may struggle with dexterity, mobility, or doing a thorough brushing for any reason.

Some people might find the vibrations and noise of electric toothbrushes to be too overstimulating.

Electric toothbrushes also tend to have a larger handle which can help people who may need large handles to be able to hold things! You can also find some large handle-hand held toothbrushes online. Large handle toothbrushes might be marketed towards elderly people. (I’ve linked one below)

Whether an electric or handheld toothbrush is best for you, one thing that might be helpful to look for is soft bristles.

Soft bristles are useful to people who have sensitive gums! Sensitive gums may be caused by different health conditions and they are also common with people who haven’t brushed their teeth in a long time. In anecdotal experience, most autistic people I know (including myself) have sensitive gums. Soft bristled brushes may be marketed towards children and/or elderly. If you think they might help, please don’t let that stop you from trying them out!

(You know all those jokes about bleeding gums? Gum sensitivity can seriously deter people from brushing, you aren’t being “too sensitive” and you aren’t alone! There are alternatives)

I use: handheld Oral B brand soft bristled brush and Oral B brand sensitive gum care electric toothbrush. (Oral B website Linked below, you can also find these on Amazon).

Toothpaste

Mint can be an overwhelming flavour for many people (myself included). Sometimes, mild-non mint flavours will be marketed towards children. Just double check to make sure your toothpaste has fluoride as toothpastes for very young kids often won’t contain fluoride.

Foamy toothpaste can also be overwhelming! If this is the case for you, look for gel toothpastes.

Similar to mouthwash, you can try to find travel size toothpastes to see which flavours work for you!

I use: brand hismile toothpaste. (Linked below) It is a gel toothpaste with really nice flavours! I’ve tried mango and coconut and I like them both. This has been a big game changer for me in terms of motivation for brushing my teeth and I find I’m able to brush them for the whole 2 minutes! (:

What to do when mouthwash and brushing teeth just isn’t feasible

If you absolutely can’t brush your teeth or use mouthwash, I saw a dentist on tik tok recommend simply swishing with water! This can help get rid of things stuck in your teeth and help prevent build up. A lot of people have an ‘all or nothing’ mentality when it comes to dental care, but remember that even a ‘small’ action taken is still an action taken!

Advice on following a schedule

Being autistic, I can sometimes get really caught up in following ‘rules’ I was taught as a kid. One of those rules is to brush your teeth once in the morning before breakfast and once before bed after dinner. Having trouble with brushing teeth due to both mental and physical health issues while also trying to follow this rule meant that there were often times that I couldn’t brush my teeth at the times I was ‘supposed to’ but I also actively did not brush my teeth when it wasn’t those times, even when I could.

For some people, following a strict schedule might be really useful or necessary! If this is you, it might be useful to set an alarm on your phone to remind you and help get you into the habit of doing it at the same time every day.

For other people (like me) you might find it useful to make a habit of brushing your teeth when you remember and when you’re able to do so rather than adhering to a strict schedule. Even if that’s mid day, or midnight, even if it’s right before you eat. (:

You might also find it helpful to task-stack. For instance if you shower every day in the morning, it might be easier to brush your teeth every time you shower. Likewise, if you take medication every day, it might be helpful to brush your teeth when you take medication. For some people It can be easier to add to an already existing habit than to create a whole new one.

Whether you follow a schedule or not, you might also find it useful to have a chart to check off once you’ve brushed your teeth! These might be marketed towards children. (I’ve linked one below) Theres nothing wrong with having “childish” charts if they help you! If that’s not your vibe, you can also find some simple designs in the form of dry erase boards. (I’ve linked one below as well).

*last notes: please let me know if using the #/cripplepunk isn’t appropriate and I will remove it from the post!

Feel free to add onto this post with further advice or products that help you! (:

Links:

Why fluoride is important:

Green tea flavour alcohol free mouthwash:

LISTERINE® Antiseptic Mouthwash, Rinse & Oral Care Products

Green Tea Zero Antiseptic Mouthwash | LISTERINE®

Do you find rinsing a little too intense? Introducing LISTERINE® Green Tea Zero. This mouthwash contains essential oils and green tea extrac

And other flavours of alcohol free mouthwash:

Large handle toothbrush:

Oral B website:

oralb.ca

Oral-B | Electric Toothbrushes & Oral Care Products

Explore Oral-B's electric, manual and battery toothbrushes. Read important information on how to maintain good oral hygiene and a healthy sm

Hismile website:

Charts:

! ! Urgently ! !

‏today I took my wife to the hospital and the doctor said she needs healthy food, please help me my wife is pregnant I don't want to lose her baby ‏

https://gofund.me/cd14d440

! !

Vetted by : @gazavetters

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There's a bunch of adhd advice out there that's like "people with adhd tend to work better under deadlines due to the anxiety so here are ways to artificially induce a stress response in order to get you to get work done" and it's like well what if I don't want to be stressed out all the time in order to function

for everyone who needs a little reassurance and hope.

Remember, everyone, we still have a system in place and the Constitution still exists. We are not in a full dictatorship, yet. We can not give in to despair at every single thing this new administration does, because those checks still exist.

And until they don't - and that's a big if - we must keep our heads about us. Do not panic. Do not fall into apathy. Do not do anything irreversible.

The system will not save us, but it can protect us from the worst possible outcome for now.

And we will continue to fight even once it can't or won't.

Awesome! Thank you so much. I will definitely link it to you once I've edited, recorded and uploaded it all.

Hi, I'm a big fan of your fanfic entirely out of spite and I also dabble in voice acting a little. I was wondering if I could make an audio reading of your fic to sort of accompany reading it and upload it to youtube (links to fic included ofc).

It likely wouldn't be like professional quality or anything. But I wanted to ask permission before I considered uploading something like that anywhere, seeing as its your work.

Hope you have a great day and honestly your writing is incredible.

Hey there! Thank you for your interest in Entirely Out of Spite! Yes! Please go ahead and make an audio reading of the story! Once you upload it, I’d love to have the link as well.

Also, in case you need to reference my author name (and because I’ve had a lot of people reach out to me to ask), here’s how you pronounce bgtea: bee-gee-tee.