Also known as the TGS Mondays guy✨ Check out my arts n crafts blog: @syr3ns-arts-n-crafts
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Latest Posts by syr3n-go-merp - Page 6
On the subject of Plushie Dreadfuls (warning for anti-autistic ableism)
So, Plushie Dreadful’s most beloved plush; their Gender Dysphoria Rabbit; often makes the rounds on here! It looks like this:
(ID: an image of a plush toy against a white background. It’s a white rabbit sitting on a gray box. It has blue and pink details, and the trans symbol on its chest. It seems to be designed to appear scratched up and messy. End ID.)
A lot of people really love this design and the posts featuring it get a lot of notes!
Plushie Dreadfuls are a line of plushies based and themed off of a multitude of things. These things include gender and sexuality, emotions, and disorders. These designs are very cute and charming, which is why what I’m about to tell you is frustrating.
Plushie Dreadfuls, as the plushies can be based off of disorders, have a plushie for autism spectrum disorder. It looks like this!
(ID: a plush rabbit toy, a bag, and a blue pop-it stim toy against a white background. The bag is a tote bag, and it appears to say, ‘respect the full spectrum’, and ‘hope’. The pop-it is rabbit-shaped. The plush rabbit toy has a blue infinity symbol on its belly, and the insides of its ears have a checkered pattern. End ID.)
This is the Hope Rabbit! This rabbit is cute, and I have little to no issues with it in terms of design. The infinity symbol being blue wasn’t the best choice, but I understand that it likely was simply made that color to go with the rest of the design. It would have been better to go with another color, but hey. I’m willing to go easy on that aspect because all Plushie Dreadful designs are made by people with direct experience, as it says via their website. This particular design was created by an actually autistic woman!
It’s in the official description of the plush where I find issues. First, they describe it as ‘for Autism Awareness Month’, which is a minor mistake that I can easily let slide. However, the official description of this item also states, quote, “10% of the proceeds go to the A.E. Wood Foundation when you purchase a Hope Rabbit from the Mysterious Shop.”
As much as one small Google search will tell you that A.E. Wood Foundation preforms autistic behavioral therapy. Autistic behavioral therapy is abuse and torture of autistic people, in order to make them act more ‘normal’. This is where the plushie’s use of the infinity symbol becomes infuriating. The infinity symbol is the symbol of autism acceptance. If they did research into it, they would know this. Autism acceptance; what the infinity symbol stands for; and ABA which forces autistic children to conform to allistic standards cannot coexist. They are opposites.
“So what can I do?”
Please do not buy this plushie from Plushie Dreadfuls from the Mysterious Shop! Your money will go towards the torture of autistic people. If you must have this plushie, buy it secondhand!
If you feel it appropriate, you can also boycott the entire Plushie Dreadfuls line.
Leave a review on the Hope Rabbit, letting the people who buy it and the sellers know what this organization does and what it supports!!
Email their customer support, support@mysterious.design
Plushie Dreadfuls has a Twitter too. Bring your issues with this up in the comments of this account’s posts! But do NOT harass them.
Remember, our goal out to be to stop the donations to A.E. Wood! Not for the plush to be discontinued, nor to ‘cancel’ the brand. I do not doubt for a moment that this is a simple mistake born from good intentions, due to this brand’s prioritization of the voices of the disorder they base plushies on. Let’s be calm and civil!
That’s all! Again, I bring this all up due to the Gender Dysphoria Rabbit’s popularity. I think that you can feel free to buy that rabbit, because it doesn’t have its proceeds donated to ABA. But if you choose to shop at Plushie Dreadfuls, please do not purchase the Hope Rabbit!
Update #1: We have a response from customer support! From what we can tell, Plushie Dreadfuls’ owner seems to support A.E. Wood and ABA therapy, and seems unwilling to reverse this decision so far. Perhaps if we all voice enough concern, we can change their minds?
Update #2: A perspective from someone who is familiar with the people behind the brand!
Hey! If anyone has a couple extra bucks/ a love for old animation please check out this awesome project I’m working on with some cool people!
Disney Needs To Respect Its History (On Disney Plus)
Disney continues to disregard that which made Disney Disney. @DisneyPlus started off great, but has become a disappointment to film historians and superfans. ✍️@RealENHolloway #DejaView #DisneyPlus $DIS
Please welcome back guest writer Ethan Holloway! Since its launch, Disney+ has offered hundreds if not thousands of titles available to stream to many Disney fans, but one big criticism of how Disney+ is run is the lack of legacy titles Disney has added over the past few years, so let me explain why Disney should use Disney+ as a way to preserve their legacy. Big and Small Screen Legends Die…
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