Hold myself up and love my scars

Big announcement:

have you ever cried actual tears of joy (not from secondhand joy like media, joy from your own life events)

Was driving with my grandmother and in broken English she says “no eyes… no nose… no face. Don’t trust.” To which I looked around wildly in search of this omen of ill portend.

Dealing with beauty standards is rough, and it can really negatively affect/destroy your self-esteem. (Speaking from ongoing experience…) So, I say this with respect and understanding: this is an odd take.

Wow

My personal experience with being asked this question and then given that line, is that the neurotypical person expected you to feel shame. I have some slightly less anecdotal evidence to back up this anecdotal experience. I took substitute teacher training once, and we were told that the best thing to do with middle schoolers "acting up," was to shame them, to figure out how to draw attention to them and this negative attention in front of their peers would shame them into good behaviour, or at least silence. I raised my hand, having already distinguished myself as the "weirdo" of the group, and said, "Is this the reason I spent a lot of time in the principal's office for truthfully, loudly, and clearly answering questions like, 'would you care to share your thoughts with the class?'" And was told yes, that was a perfect example, but I was the rare case where it backfires.

attention to all dashcon attendees

there are people who think this is a joke