I know the discourse on Frankenstein 2025 is stone cold by now, but can we PLEASE take a moment to talk about how Victor’s treatment of his son (I’m always for “they’re both Frankenstein since creator= father” and if any version earns that, it’s this one, but I digress) parallels how abusive abled parents treat disabled -especially neurodivergent and developmentally disabled- children?
He immediately jumps to the idea his son was a mistake and created (ie born) “wrong”,
He never tries to met him at his communication level or give him accommodations to help said communication
He keeps him restrained “for his own safety and so he’ll leave less of a mess”
His lessons are more about punishing unwanted/“bad” behavior that understanding and growth
He gets mad when he doesn’t grasp new things/concepts fast (even though he doesn’t actually explain ANYTHING)
He gives him up as a “lost cause” when his methods don’t work
He outright denies his personhood when he thinks he “isn’t intelligent”
He tries to murder him when he can’t take it anymore
He hides his existence from society and family members out of shame
He freaks out at the idea of him having a relationship and producing “more like [him]”
Like, I know “monster as a stand in for disability” isn’t a hot take (especially for Frankenstein), but it really hit me in this version!
The Australian-born children the government wants to deport because they have a disability - ABC News
The Australian-born children the government wants to deport because they have a disability – ABC News
This is disgraceful that residency can be judged on the disability of a child and the related cost to Australia. Yes, this is how it is in Australia today.
This is blatant disability discrimination, which I would not have thought possible in such a progressive country as Australia. For this means it does not matter, what people have been doing in Australia, working there and producing wealth,…
The Australian-born children the government wants to deport because they have a disability - ABC News
The Australian-born children the government wants to deport because they have a disability – ABC News
This is disgraceful that residency can be judged on the disability of a child and the related cost to Australia. Yes, this is how it is in Australia today.
This is blatant disability discrimination, which I would not have thought possible in such a progressive country as Australia. For this means it does not matter, what people have been doing in Australia, working there and producing wealth,…
HOLD UP! #Nightline is doing an ‘EXPOSE’ on disability abuse!
More media coverage to make everyone assume if I smile I’m stealing your $$, and ensuring I have to reapply for basic survival support for my incurable chronic disease TILL I DIE.
Warnings: abuse of disabled person, death, spider8itch
AO3 Link
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Your name is Karkat Vantas and you have no idea where Gamzee went. For as tall as the dude is, he disappears in a crowd far too easily. He dragged you to this New Year’s Eve party, got you a drink and as soon as you looked away, he was gone. You press your back against the wall, your drink in your hand, and you sigh. You’re not a fan of crowds, especially when most of the people are taller than you by an entire head. You feel out of place and tiny. People stopped coming over to talk to you; you do nothing but frown at them anyways. Everyone you know who’s here is here with someone else and you don’t feel like being social with them. You’d much rather be back home, wrapped in a blanket, and watching stupid movies by yourself, with Gamzee, or god forbid, Egbert.
You hear someone giggle nearby you and your eyes snap open in alarm. To your left, surrounded by people on all sides, is Vriska. You grit your teeth and your frown deepens. A thought comes to you suddenly and you push from the wall and weave through the crowd of people. Gamzee really never had a quarrel with Vriska – her cousin on the other hand… They never hated each other until last year. After the… accident, Gamzee hated Vriska. She never apologized for what she did, even after… No. No, don’t think about that. Not right now. Find Gamzee first. Find Gamzee first.
You check every room you can get to, but you don’t find him. You slam one door open and then you slam it closed, rubbing at your eyes. Well, that’s definitely not what you ever expected Sollux and Eridan to be doing. You leave as soon as you hear Eridan moan, trying to burn the image out of your brain.
Where the hell was Gamzee? You’d think that the clown would be out dancing or talking to people or maybe even getting drunk off his ass. But he’s nowhere in the crowd and you even wonder if he’s here anymore? No, Gamzee might be a half-brained twit, but he still cares about you. Even if he’s drunk or high off his ass, he always comes looking for you. The little fuck almost got himself run over once trying to get to you. You smile fondly at the memory, but you jolt out of it when someone shoves past you. You stumble out of an open door and onto the balcony. You turn around to shout profanities at whoever pushed you, but you see two long legs swinging right above you. When you look up, you see Gamzee sitting on the edge of the roof, staring up at the sky.
“What the actual fuck, Gamzee?” You ask, looking for a way to either get him down or get up there. Gamzee looks down and smiles. His grin’s wide, but you can tell he’s not his normal, stupidly happy self.
“Oh hey best friend. Didn’t see ya down there. Where did you all up and come from?”
“Came looking for your stupid ass. You left me alone by the drinks about two hours ago. I’ve been looking for you. Have you been out here in the cold the entire time?” Gamzee’s smile softens and he shifts so he’s lying on the roof on his stomach. He rests his head on a hand and lets the other swing down.
“Sorry best friend. Thought I saw some people out here. Thought they might want some company, but guess not. They all up and left after I started talking with them. Guess I forgot about you, my little firecracker.” You blush and avert your gaze. If he were closer, you’d swat him for calling you that, but the closest thing to you is his hand. He must notice you feeling too far away because he reaches down and holds out a hand.
“Hey, best friend. You wanna come up here and join this clown?”
“Gamzee. I don’t see any possible way I can actually get up there. I have no idea how you even got up there, but you are a flexible freak, I guess you could have—WHAT NO, GAMZEE WHAT IN THE NAME OF ALL THAT IS HOLY AND SANE ARE YOU DOING PUT ME DOWN PUT ME DOWN PUT ME DOWN OH MY GOD I’M GONNA DIE YOU’RE GOING TO KILL ME YOU STUPID PANLEAK PLEASE PUT ME—“ Gamzee had scooted closer and grabbed the back of your shirt to hoist you up so you could sit next to him. You glare at him, but you cling to his arm and stare down at the balcony below. He wraps an arm around you and pulls you close to him. He grins again and you want to shove him away, but you’re afraid one of you will fall off so you reluctantly curl up into his side. He pats your shoulder and looks back at the sky, his smiling gradually fading. He looks so forlorn and you can’t stand seeing Gamzee like this. You jab him in the side and he honks halfheartedly.
“Why aren’t you hanging around any of the others, best friend? Pretty sure Sollux’s around here somewhere.”
“Yeah, he’s fucking Eridan.” Gamzee turns his head in your direction, an eyebrow raised. Somewhere below you, someone moans and the two of you stare at each other before falling into fits of laughter. In your case, you almost literally fall off the roof. Gamzee catches you and holds you tightly.
“Can’t have you falling off, best friend. I ain’t losing you too…” Gamzee trailed off and you suddenly understand why he’s up here alone and why he looks so sad. After a while, you speak up, whispering quietly.
“I saw Vriska earlier and I got worried that… something happened.” The hand on your shoulder clenches, Gamzee’s nails painfully digging into your skin. You ignore it and pap your hand on his face. He relaxes some and you reach around to rub your hand into his back. He relaxes some more, but the sadness on his face doesn’t leave. You suppose it wouldn’t after all.
“You know what day it is, best friend. You remember it, right?” His voice breaks a little and he sniffs, trying to cover it up. You rub his back harder. How could you possibly forget?
How could anyone forget the day Gamzee’s world fell apart? You remember it clearly and it fills you with a mixture of sorrow and rage. A few years ago, there had been an accident. One of Gamzee’s friends, Tavros, had been hanging with some people. He had to leave and he waited by the bus stop when Vriska came up behind him. She started talking to him and apparently she had been saying how his friends didn’t care for him and only hung out with him because he was a pitiful fool. He had tried talking back to her, but something happened and she shoved him out in the street. Barely a second later and a car hit him. The accident paralyzed Tavros from the waist down. But Tavros never seemed to let the accident bring him down. He was still as happy and kind as he had been before, but his self-confidence had taken a hit and sometimes he had wondered if what Vriska said was true.
Gamzee and Tavros got very close after the accident, even going on a date once or twice. Tavros became Gamzee’s sun and stars and he adored him in almost every way imaginable. You had never seen Gamzee so happy before and it made you happy to see how Gamzee’s eyes would light up whenever he talked about Tavros or even when anyone mentioned Tavros at all. They had been pretty much dating for an entire year and their anniversary was coming up when Vriska came back into the picture.
You don’t remember all the details since the only side you had heard came from whatever the police had squeezed out of Vriska. What you did know was that Vriska had somehow gotten Tavros alone with her. She had talked to him and though you don’t know exactly what she had said, you could imagine. You were sure that she had told him what a failure he was and how no one wanted him, not even Gamzee. You were sure that she told him lies and you knew that she had told him that everyone would be better off if he wasn’t around. She told him to die. She told him to kill himself. She admitted that she had told him that she wished he had died when that car hit him. Vriska told the police that he had rolled away from her, trying not to listen to her. She apparently kept yelling at him as he crossed the street. But somehow, his wheelchair malfunctioned and it stopped. He couldn’t get it moving again and somehow, a car had hit him.
That was what Vriska had said, at least. You didn’t know what to believe, but when Gamzee had heard what happened, he was furious. You held Gamzee back and you took him to your house and far away from Vriska. He swore that he’d kill her. He screamed it in her face that he would kill her for what she had done to Tavros. It took days for him to calm down and weeks to accept that Tavros was gone. From then on, Gamzee never smiled genuinely again. With every smile, you could see how broken he was. With every laugh, his voice cracked. For months, Gamzee had called you and you listened to him cry. For months, he cried. At Aradia’s urging, Gamzee went to Tavros’ grave every weekend and he talked to him. You had gone with him the first couple times and he broke down into tears every single time. Eventually, he seemed to get better and you let him go alone to the cemetery now.
But it had only been a year since then and Gamzee was still broken. You pap his face and he smiles a little. He brings you close and hugs you and you can hear the partygoers counting down to midnight. He squeezes you until you can barely breathe and you can’t feel your fingers or your toes, but you can feel the tears streaming from his face. You squeeze him back and rock him back and forth. Gamzee whispers quietly as fireworks go off and you can barely hear it over the celebration below.
Lisa was not a criminal, just a person living in care. Absolutely shocked to see this from a report in about care of people with a learning disability in UK. That someone could be kept for 9 years living in solitary confinement because of a learning disability in an institution in 2014 is barbaric.
Transcript:
"Lisa’s story
Lisa’s story was described by David (who works for NHS England and had recently
reviewed her care), Di (CQC inspector) and Viv (CBF). Lisa was “discovered” by a CBF
Expert by Experience member of the CQC review team, as part of the learning disability
review (www.cqc.org.uk/content/review-learning-disability-services-1) of her service.
During the two-day inspection of the assessment and treatment unit, no one set eyes
on Lisa – the CBF Expert by Experience was concerned because she was told that Lisa
lived in a locked area at the end of a male ward. She did not come out and no one went
in. The CBF raised concerns through the usual channels and was “reassured” that Lisa
was “well-known”, had an advocate, that there were regular review meetings, and that
she was very complex and challenging. CBF insisted on pursuing her case and discovered that she was kept in a locked area, slept on a beanbag, never went out and
staff interacted with her through a small letterbox style “hatch”. For example, her food
was passed to her through this hatch, and her hair was brushed through this hatch. She
lived like this for nine years detained under the Mental Health Act. There was no
therapeutic input – it was containment, and it cost an average of £1,800 per day, over
£12,600 per week. No one raised concerns about this arrangement until CBF did. Lisa
has now moved to a new service and is doing well, but there is considerable work to do
to undo the damage caused by living in solitary confinement for so long."
The report is here (PDF) http://www.cqc.org.uk/sites/default/files/2014%2006%2017%20Three%20Lives%20report%20FINAL.pdf
