Okay here me out.
A young adult novel written by a disabled author.
Where the main character gets into an accident and must use a wheelchair.
(And is written fairly accurately as the author is also in a wheelchair.)
There are more disabled characters than you can count.
The ones who aren’t disabled are the enemies.
It takes place in an alternate version of the 1950s, at an institution for people with disabilities and superabilities.
You see how the disabilities relate to the superabilities (superpowers).
The main character goes through the stages of grief after she realizes that she won’t be able to walk again but she is able to come out of it, not because of a love interest, but because she’s able to find her own strength. (And hit her mentor in the face with a weight.)
In fact, the main character doesn’t have any love interest at all.
None.
You could make the argument that she’s aromantic/asexual.
And the author would totally support that argument.
But despite not having a love interest, the main character is truly cared for, especially by her gruff mentor with a heart of gold.
Did somebody say found families and father-figure-daughter-figure relationships?
Also there’s an interracial couple thirty years in the making.
And an underground resistance of students with disabilities trying to prove that they’re stronger than people think.
And in the end, they’re able to save the day.
And there are a lot of hugs.
And a lot of chocolate milk.
And the main character comes to terms with the fact that her biological family is horrible but she’s fine with that because she’s got the gruff mentor with a heart of gold who may or may not be in the CIA and also knew Al Capone.
And nobody dies.
And nobody dies.
And nobody kills themselves because they think that their lives are over now that they are in fact disabled.
Unlike some other books!
Oh and there’s a pig in a wheelchair.
And it’s all written by a disabled college student who really really needs the money for college and her apartment because apparently life is expensive (who knew?)
And it’s not the best written and it’s not error free but it was written with a lot of heart and a lot of passion in the early hours of the morning because that’s when the author had free time. But if nothing else, it has amazing disability representation. And a pig in a wheelchair.
Interested?
Well, guess what?
That author is me, that book is mine, that book is published, that book is available for you to buy, that book even comes in a paperback version so that you can hold in your hands a story with disability representation in which none of the characters die or talk about how they’re a burden and how they’re lives are over (well, Juniper does once but Ryder knocks some sense into her.)
It’s called The Defectives and you can buy it here:
https://www.amazon.com/Defectives-Burgandi-Rakoska-ebook/dp/B01G7TTLXE?ie=UTF8&qid=1464304077&ref_=sr_1_1&s=digital-text&sr=1-1
So if you’re looking for disability representation that doesn’t end with death and you want to help out a novice disabled author who really needs the money, please consider buying this book.
If nothing else, please signal boost!
Tag: aromantic
Honestly I wonder how many aces with sex drives actually thought they were bi/pan before discovering the term asexual?
I wonder how many aces thought, “huh, sex sounds alright, and I get turned on while thinking about sex no matter the gender of the person, so that must mean I’m bi/pan.”
Because for me, that’s exactly how it was – before I learned what sexual attraction actually was, that having sexual desire for somebody who WASN’T engaged in a sexual act was actually a thing, I thought I was bi simply because sex with any gender was appealing. It was the stimulation, not the person.
Same thing for aromantics interested in life partnerships/QP relationships, who thought that wanting that intimacy with somebody and not caring what gender they were.
That kind of journey of self discovery is just as important as feeling broken before discovering the terms asexuality and aromanticism; don’t let anybody invalidate you because of your past identities, or for having a sex drive/want for a intimate relationship. You’re beautiful and valid and so important!
Yes!!!!! RELATABLE CONTENT!!!
I think this can apply to aces without a sex drive too. I assumed I was pan for a bit because my feelings about sex were broadly the same regardless of the gender of the person I was thinking of. Just took me awhile to figure out those feelings were actually ‘complete disinterest’. (Because, of course, everyone must want sex and I’m an everyone so obviously this is just what wanting sex feels like despite it not feeling like much of anything.)
THIS IS SO IMPORTANT!
*nodnod* I definitely stopped at bi(-sexual and -romantic asexual) on the way to figuring out I was aro/ace and it was for EXACTLY this reason: “Well… I feel the same way about men and women so I guess I must be bi?” It took me a really long time to figure out that “I feel the same way” meant “I don’t feel anything for either.” That had me confused for YEARS. (As well as other things similar to those mentioned above that I’d be happy to talk about in private but not as an addition to a post. -.-;;;)
Can I just say, uh, I’m pretty sure noticing you’re asexual is harder than noticing you’re gay, straight, pan or otherwise. Like, I just read someone’s desciption of hitting puberty and, like, there’s nothing like that. There’s no sudden ‘boob’ moment, no sudden ‘fuck, I’d fuck that’ moment, not sudden anything. You just, like, plod on through life as usual going ‘oooh, that’s pretty, I’d like that hair’ or ‘oooooh, they’re nice, I’d like to be close to them’ but there’s no like, ‘oh, someone would want to fuck that but I don’t’, you know? You just- you don’t notice, you don’t realise everyone else has ‘had a moment’ but you haven’t, you just- keep going as you always have.
And then, much much later, you start to wonder why people are getting so caught up in drama for romance or sex, like, why bother? It’s not worth it, they’re not worth it, why are you doing stupid things for something that’s so- and then you wonder if there’s something wrong with you, start mentally over compensating. Like ‘uh, okay, um, who should I date? Who can I stand to date? Who could I stand to fuck?’ like- it’s not, it’s not something you want, but you want to fit in, to be normal.
Sometimes you don’t even know that you’re doing it.
Sometimes you don’t even know asexual’s a thing.
I dunno, I guess, I just feel like, uh, people should understand more?
idk sorry thank you for listening to me
Thank you for perfectly describing it.
Little do my friends know my dating advice is really just “How to Be a Decent Human Being 101” because I have no intuition with romance.
Just a reminder that you don’t have to hate romance with a burning passion to be aromantic! You can enjoy reading romance books or watching romance movies and still be aro! You can fantasize about romance and want to be in a relationship and still be aro! Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise because you are a fantastic human being who just happens to like romance while still being aromantic!
the term “aro-ace” is especially lovely because it also sounds like “arrow ace.” are you aromantic and asexual or are you an incredibly skilled and deadly archer. surprise, you’re both
Let’s not forget the original arrow ace:
ARTEMIS JOKE I’VE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS FOR SO LONG
im proud of you my children
“Reports from French missionaries to Siam and Indochina in the seventeenth century are sometimes barely distinguishable from the reports sent by agents of Colbert’s East India company, but in the course of the rites controversy, the French Jesuits in China produced a vast literature to communicate to Europe their idealized image of China.”
…this game is way less fun when you’re in grad school.
Nearest book to me is the one I’m currently reading on my kindle…
“Through the spinal column of the neck was the only way to put them down permanently and quickly.”
…surprisingly apt? ;D
Haven’t done this in a while, but was browsing my books tag and…
“Whether it was true that mass murderers started out as agreeable little boys, the way those TV tabloid interviews with neighbors tended to indicate.”
…I got nothing. XD
to my understanding, romantic attraction is very close to falling in love. if sexual desire is the desire to have sex with that specific person, romantic attraction is the desire to do romantic things with that specific person; wanting to hold their hand, kiss them etc
The term “demiromantic” suggests there can be romantic attraction divorced from an emotional connection with the person one is attracted to, and that’s the part I don’t instinctively understand. I accept that it is a thing, but I wonder if I’m in the majority or the minority in that I don’t experience it that way. But if I’m in the minority, it would explain why I never wanted to date casually.
If you’re in the minority I’m right there with you, yo.
It seems like that’s the way of doing things that makes sense? I never understood why people date casually on TV, and go on dates with people they’re not already in a relationship with. Dating acquaintances is a form of socializing that I don’t understand at all, it sounds so awkward, and I don’t see why you would want to do romantic things with someone you’re not in love with, or at least friends with. And yet people do. So that must be romantic attraction without an emotional bond?
Yeah. But like, isn’t the very definition of Romantic Attraction that it’s an emotional bond? So confusing.
(taking casual-dating-to-meet-someone out of the equation, of course.)
Just to throw my two cents in here… I’m not demiromantic, but I am aromantic and I think it may be easier to understand from that perspective? Since being demi falls under the aro umbrella.
So, looking at the aro perspective first: I may desire closeness with friends, but never in the “I want to be romantically involved with you” way. It’s really a question of intent, I think. I may cuddle up to you, but in the same way I’d cuddle up to my sister or mother or father. Same with everything else. If we go out to eat, it’s just two friends getting dinner who didn’t want to cook. There’s no intent to pursue a life together or any of the other romantic trappings. You’re friends and there’s nothing more to it than that, nor would you want there to be.
Now, imagine that in the process of doing all the things one does with a friend, you suddenly DO start to want those things. The romantic things. That romantic attraction develops. The thing with demiromanticism is that those romantic feelings CAN’T develop without the friendship feelings already being there. You don’t go on a date with a stranger and fall in love. You have to be friends first.
I’ve seen so many of my friends meet someone in a bar, or online, or through friends, or whatever, and fall in love and end up together. If you’re demiromantic, that doesn’t happen. You have to already have a close emotional bond before the romantic attractions happen.
Does that make sense? Suddenly I’m not sure. -.-;;;
Honestly I wonder how many aces with sex drives actually thought they were bi/pan before discovering the term asexual?
I wonder how many aces thought, “huh, sex sounds alright, and I get turned on while thinking about sex no matter the gender of the person, so that must mean I’m bi/pan.”
Because for me, that’s exactly how it was – before I learned what sexual attraction actually was, that having sexual desire for somebody who WASN’T engaged in a sexual act was actually a thing, I thought I was bi simply because sex with any gender was appealing. It was the stimulation, not the person.
Same thing for aromantics interested in life partnerships/QP relationships, who thought that wanting that intimacy with somebody and not caring what gender they were.
That kind of journey of self discovery is just as important as feeling broken before discovering the terms asexuality and aromanticism; don’t let anybody invalidate you because of your past identities, or for having a sex drive/want for a intimate relationship. You’re beautiful and valid and so important!
Yes!!!!! RELATABLE CONTENT!!!
Please spread this it’s fantastic
eirenical17 