The Next Chinese Empress @messyhairedheb - Tumblr Blog

Tehehe

everyone: h

polyamorus couples: i think it’s totally radical when my partner meets a squishy new human… if you don’t like seeing your special friend get dicked down then maybe you need to be a little less possessive and a little more critical about the fact that you *illogically* feel jealousy… love isn’t finite 🤗 anyway yeah i use manic panic vampire red

fandomsandfeminism

“What? Like, a disabled protagonist? How would that even work? How could someone with a disability be the hero in an action show?” local anime trash boy wonders while sitting next to his box sets of Full Metal Alchemist, showing no hint of irony or self awareness.

artifactoftoday-deactivated2018

but is Ed really disabled? sure I get he lost his arm and leg

but he’s still able to move and do things perfectly

fandomsandfeminism

He has prosthetics. Having prosthetic limbs (that more than once break amd need repair) doesnt make him not disabled

ladyloveandjustice

It should also be noted that Ed:

-had to undergo very painful surgery to get automail

-had to relearn how to write because of his prosthesis (there’s a post going around showing he had to switch hands etc) and his handwriting is likely a lot worse due to that. This means automail isn’t super good for delicate work, unsurprising, considering what it’s made of.

-experiences phantom limb pain and therefore other associated stuff (this was only really shown in the manga)

-cannot go anywhere too cold without changing his automail or he’ll get really bad frost bite and it will stop working

-cannot go anywhere too hot, period, because the metal attached and under his skin will overheat and he will be badly burned

-Reattachment is painful, but needs to be done frequently if he breaks or outgrows his automail

- it’s HEAVY so much so that the strain has the potential to cause stress on his body, enough that it’s even theorized as possibly stunting his growth.

-it requires regular maintenance or it will break down, as shown when he forgets to do that and it…breaks down

-when it does need to be repaired, it takes time to do that, during which Ed uses regular prosthetics (that usually don’t quite fit him).

-costs a lot of money (not a problem for Ed due to high state alchemist salary/having mechanics as surrogate family, but explicitly noted to being the reason why most people in the fmaverse stick to regular prosthetics along with the painful surgery)

So Ed can’t actually do everything perfectly and experiences a lot of extra hassle, problems and pain people without automail don’t have to deal with! And any advantages he does have are more suited to fighting than day to day life (being able to incorporate weapons/fake out people who want to blow up his arm).

Arakawa did her research and thought it through. Automail is by no means a magic cure that solves all problems associated with losing a limb.

cruisinforarubberman

I’m kinda sad these two might not count.

fandomsandfeminism

Why wouldn’t they? Hiccup is missing a leg

cruisinforarubberman

But he doesn’t struggle.

fandomsandfeminism

Disability isn’t defined by” struggle” or suffering. Having a useful prosthetic doesn’t make them not disabled. Get the fuck out of here with that.

ultravioletcrumble

DISABILITY ISN’T DEFINED BY SUFFERING OR STRUGGLE

lovethemfiercely

I will also point out (quietly, because that last point was SO important) that choosing not to show it on screen does not necessarily indicate a lack of either adaptation or difficulty. It might simply be none of our business.

saturninefeline-deactivated2019

Reblogging for that last comment…it’s really creepy how voyeuristic people act about it sometimes. Just because you don’t see it doesn’t mean they’re not struggling…and their apparent struggle or lack thereof isn’t what “grants” them disabled status. It’s the fact of having a disability.

fierceawakening

If these people were saying “I think I would want to see how a disabled character struggles and wouldn’t want it papered over” I don’t think I’d be uncomfortable, but as it is I’m getting a weird vibe of “if your AT is sufficiently cool you don’t count” and… I’m not comfortable with that.

star-anise

FMA and HTTYD also have themes of being creative and adaptable and questioning society’s basic foundations, which are also big psychological elements of disability. Disability forces you into weird vectors where you do things normal people would never think of, like hopping on one foot to get around, or being helpless and vulnerable when usually you are fierce and deadly. This can promote creative problem-solving and unexpected empathy.

Ed, Al, Toothless, and Hiccup are the heroes they are because they’re disabled. Disability can make people struggle, but it can also teach them to thrive.

dimetrodone

K pop fandom creeps me out for numerous reasons but one weird thing is that it’s the only music following I can think of where I have never actually seen the fans talk about the actual music.