Hello you!

My co-authors whipped this up

Since July is Disability Pride Month

(as opposed to every other month when we're all demure about disability rights /gentle sarcasm)

He was ignorant and sheltered, and he was also a queer elder seeing a queer kid embrace things that scare him because he was hurt just for existing — imagine how much worse it would’ve been if he intentionally rocked the boat like that

Thinking about how, despite everything he tried, he was still labeled the villain and she was still called a monster, and eventually he was willing to throw away everything he knew and loved to protect her. Thinking about the joy he experienced once he started cutting loose and questioning all the limits he put on himself and others put on him. Thinking about how he was tokenized and targeted growing up, thrust in the spotlight from a young age and how even then very few people were willing to try and actually see him for who he is. Thinking about how he saw Nimona

"No matter what we do, we can't change the way people see us." "You changed the way you see me... didn't you?"

"but i have thoughts about being violent towards people! towards children! surely that makes me dangerous!" are you being violent? for real? with your actions? if not, then you are not actually hurting anyone

"but i have thoughts that are offensive and hurtful! they're bigoted, or they're horribly rude, or they're invalidating to others! i'm a horrible person." and what are you doing with those thoughts, exactly? are you taking bigoted actions, or saying those rude things, or taking steps to actually invalidate people? no? well then. no one is getting hurt. and in the meantime, if it really bothers you, doing things like helping unlearn your biases (both against minorities and just, like, against furries and theatre kids and shit) might help some of those thoughts go away, but sometimes you just get shitty thoughts.

"but i have horrific thoughts about sex!" are you hurting people. are you forcing people to do things they don't consent to. or are you just playing the upsetting possibility in your mind over and over again, and acting like that's even remotely the same thing?

-Our autistic, powerful, babygirl Paladin, Xenk Yendar