Visual Novels Are Just Glorified Slideshows

mentally taking a drag of my mental cigarette because I don’t smoke but life has been very smokable lately

autism awareness is important. you need to be aware of me because I’m right behind you

“Can you pull in Leviathan with a fishhook or tie down its tongue with a rope? Can you put a cord through its nose or pierce its jaw with a hook?

Will it keep begging you for mercy? Will it speak to you with gentle words?

Will it make an agreement with you for you to take it as your slave for life?” - Job XLI

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go to warehouse 62 4 ur money!

who up searing pretty kitty princess pink into the flesh of the victims of my ponzi scheme

the night after i saw how mumbo died i had a dream where i was mumbo and i had a religious experience in which i fully levitated into a higher dimension and “bloomed.”

birds eye view

blunt rotation with all of the will woods (it is going to be spectacularly enjoyable)

I don't think people understand what happened when Sunny was fighting Basil. Basil didn't try to commit a "double suicide", he had a psychotic break and genuinely thought that Something was trying to harm Sunny, so he tried to protect him by killing it. He didn't realize that in the process he was actually harming Sunny and I'm sure he regrets taking Sunny's eye out a lot. The fact that people think Basil could just fucking kill his best friend out of nowhere makes me so mad. Sunny's death is like the last thing he wants.

Okay I’m gonna talk about it more actually. I am disabled.

the key I think to writing better disabled rep in warrior cats (assuming you’re not going the route of making the clans actively ableist and having to get rid of those ideologies) is Choice and Variety. Just like… the simple change of a warrior not having to do EVERY warrior duty would be huge, because “this character is useless and can’t do shit” and “this character ACTUALLY can contribute to society in a way I approve of and is therefore a Good Disabled” are both ableist ideas.

Jayfeather is a big one for me- Cinderpelt voluntarily choosing the medicine cat path after her injury wouldn’t feel like an ableist writing decision if other cats had had more choice and been shown to have varying roles. If Jayfeather realised he couldn’t fight because he’s at his best when he has time to use all his senses and be aware, he could’ve been given several possible options!!

Training to be a warrior but focusing on hunting, which he’d still be capable of

becoming a medicine cat If He So Chose because it’s a way of serving his clan without having to fight

Training to be a full warrior but having a much longer training time than other apprentices and specifically working to develop strategies suitable for a blind cat in battle

all of these involve accomodations being made, him not just being written off as incapable but also not being expected to be just like other cats despite his disability and not feeding into the “overcoming” your disability narratives. Alderheart would’ve been similar, he could’ve had specialised mentoring to help him with his anxiety or he could’ve chosen the medicine den because it would allow him to still do something without placing him in stressful situations. Basically the things any au confronting ableism in the clans needs to do are:

Allow the character to choose their own path according to their individual needs

not treat the character as useless or a liability or helpless BUT ALSO

understand that a person’s worth is not determined by their ability to function to society’s standards and that they’re worthy of respect regardless of how much or little they can do for you

This post is kinda messy but I really wanted to get my thoughts out in one place. As a bonus, here’s some roles a disabled cat might take on depending on their disability

Full warrior, with allowances for their struggles if needed eg a chronically ill cat still hunting and patrolling but doing it less than others, having rest days to receive treatment and not overwork themselves.

partial warrior, focusing on either hunting or patrolling/fighting depending on what better suits their needs

if a cat needs to be confined to camp, for example because they’re immunocompromised or otherwise at risk, they could do a dustpelt and be someone who builds dens/otherwise helps out, maybe doing apprentice style duties like gathering moss and helping the elders (you would however have to throw out the idea that these tasks are demeaning, which in my opinion should probably just be done anyway because there’s nothing demeaning about helping people but I digress)

permaqueen/nursery helper! It’s a super important role that doesn’t require any hunting or fighting, and if a cat wouldn’t be suited to medicine because they can’t memorise herbs and treatments but is still kindhearted and caring this could be a great option

related, add a role that’s the equivalent to a nurse. Brightheart learning about herbs without being a full medicine cat is a huge asset and I honestly don’t know why they don’t expect more warriors to have some of that knowledge- but anyway a cat could help the main medicine cat to gather herbs, mix treatments, check on other cats, etc

becoming a medicine cat as their own choice. If it weren’t such a strong trend in the books there would be nothing wrong with disabled cats becoming medicine cats

also, joining the elders. Again, if a cat feels it would risk their health/be unsuitable to take on warrior or medicine cat duties, they shouldn’t have to. Also the elders always seem like they like having the company

TLDR- the most important thing for how you write a disabled character is not specifically what they’re capable of doing but rather letting them choose their own path and not be treated as lesser for what they can’t do while also not being underestimated about what they can do

real eyes realise real flies