#learning by doing

I still owe this to the world. xD

More specifically, the Markiverse AU adorers of our Kaiju discord. I have to admit, I didn't think I'd ever finish drawing this… classic ADHD me had to be beaten there for MONTHS now xD…. honestly, kudos for your dedication @kujoestars xD

*looks this up and down*

OK LISTEN it's a lot .. a lot of text bubbles, a lot of weird layout.. I would start differently by now, but again, I am still proud I could still upload this for you guys. It's proof of my progression these last few months I guess, and that's something nice :)

Exploring dhiffushi, one street, one space at a time.

Where design meets life, culture, and everyday moments ✨

Happy 3 year anniversary to my first fanfiction!

Camp Phantom Lake 1986

Last year while I was at the OU, along with some mates from the Trans Support Group there, we did a big load of remote support and aid, including making a lot of phone calls and emails and also just talking to them on Discord, supporting him through intersecting transphobia and disableism, for a pal from the group re his local Adult Social Care and the hospital their intense incompetence kept landing him in.

And remembering that he said at one point that that support had pretty much saved his life.

Realistically, it’s not because our support was some sort of slick, super-competent machine. It really wasn’t. We were a bunch of mostly disabled/chronically ill trans students doing degrees and dealing with other crap including some pretty horrific transphobic BS from the OU itself. But because he *wasn’t stuck dealing with that horrific situation alone*.

For me, at least, one of the things that makes me nervous about stepping up to do Important Things is the absolute terror of Fucking It Up. And the worst bit is that that’s not an irrational fear. A lot of legal and institutional processes are deliberately extremely complex and easy to make mistakes engaging with.

But people stepping up when someone needs them is actually *ridiculously* better than no one stepping up, even if said people are not incredibly competent and do make some good faith mistakes.

Even if you’re not confident that you’re going to be that good at the thing, doing it *when* it’s necessary, and *especially* if the alternative is no one doing it, is actually much much better.

There is a study I’m trying to find showing that outcomes at Tribunal skyrocket when the person going is supported even when their supporter is just, essentially, Some Guy (non-gender-specific). It doesn’t actually need to be a legally trained person. Just someone having their back.

We live in a society that very much values professionalism and smooth competence in doing shit, and thus we are very socially programmed to step back when we might fuck up and have to learn by doing. And I think that’s a much bigger barrier to getting involved with our communities than we might give it credit for.