"There Were Dragons When I Was A Boy"

this poem is about being nonbinary.

who gave you the right to be so beautiful, sir

what if the series ends with Sophie's mind breaking

and because she is the only person who can heal a broken mind, then that would just be. the end

fintan

you agree.

Physical Touch and Autism

Something I would love neurotypicals to understand is that, as with all symptoms, aversion to physical touch is a spectrum. There are some who like it, some who hate it, but there's also a very concrete middle.

What this can mean is that we don't mind, perhaps even enjoy, physical intimacy. Hugging is fine, for example. What we hate is unexpected physical intimacy.

I love hugs. I love to hug people. However, when I don't initiate said hugs, it makes me uncomfortable. Some of us simply require autonomy over our bodies, and that's okay.

I think there's a great pressure on autistic people to lie firmly on one 'end' of the spectrum in each symptom they display, but this isn't the reality. I don't speak for all of us, but if you want to know what an autistic person's views are on this kind of thing, I beg you to talk to them.

And it's not necessarily related to if we're high or low support needs either. Everyone is different. (And neurotypicals can be touch averse too! It just happens to be that I focus here on autism, where it's most prevalent.)

It's like being a cat. We show you what we need, and we love you if you can meet that. But what each cat needs slightly varies. You just have to learn.

I hate arriving to fandoms late cause I'm sitting over here dusting off posts from 2022 and screaming about them 2.5 years later feeling like this

something interesting about all of the canon empaths- they're all full of it and ultimately value themselves or their agendas FAR more than those around them

Look at Oralie

Look at Cassius

Look at Stina

Look at Keefe

That's how you could tell Marella wasn't going to be one- she's more empathetic than the Empaths

Fitz’s flaw isn’t that he has anger issues or even a temper. Every time he expressed anger it was for very valid reasons that involved loosing a family member, being forced to live with a person who has hurt the people he cares about, and not being able to be with the person he loves due to social norms. Fitz’s actual flaw is that he has a physiological defense mechanism called displaced anger, which can be brought about by childhood trauma and the overwhelming pressure to be perfect. His displaced anger causes him to direct his anger at people who aren’t necessarily the source of the problem.

This has even been acknowledged in the books by many characters, such as Alden, Keefe and even Fitz himself. Granted it's never stated plainly as "displaced anger" but it's heavily implied that they notice he tends to direct his anger at one person in particular. Sophie, unfortunately, tends to be that person. His displaced anger can, in some ways, be slightly harmful to Sophie especially her mental state because she has shown signs of traumatic responses to his anger. For example, in Nightfall, when Mr. Forkle revealed to everyone that he had a twin, Sophie was relieved that Fitz was directing all his anger at Mr. Forkle instead of at her, even though Fitz would have no reason to direct his anger at her in the first place. I’m ashamed to admit that old-me would probably bash Fitz like a crazy person for this but being more mature and seeing the nuance in the situation I can’t help but wanna hug them both.

They both have their own ways of coping with their situations and they’re all valid. Fitz especially has shown a great amount of change already in the recent book, so much so that he even seems to be forcing himself to be okay with certain things that Sophie has done, even though he honestly doesn't need to be. Like Sophie getting with his best friend only a few weeks/months after they’ve broken up. Sophie even admitted that she’d also be very angry and hurt if Fitz did the same thing. I'm going a little off track here but bottom line is that Fitz does not have anger issues or a temper. He never did. He has a physiological defense mechanism which is his displaced anger. Spread the word!

the arcane fandom can argue about literally anything, but the one thing we all agree on is that ekko, the boy savior, is the most unproblematic character ever, and that we all absolutely love him. while everyone else is caught up in gay tragedy of all kinds, my boy ekko is just over here trying to fix his goddamn tree