My Glob. This Is Perfect. I Love It So Much.

My glob. This is perfect. I love it so much.

The Baby Batch: The Galactic Olympics

(Tech as Stephen Nedoroscik)

@zaya-mo @the-sith-in-the-sky-with-diamond @ladykatakuri @marierg @thecoffeelorian @salubriousbean

Got the sudden urge to draw Wrecker, so here you go! Referenced the pose from a screenshot of the show.

So I keep seeing posts about Echo and discussing his disabilities...and I keep sitting out to not "rock the boat" per se but I give up.

Here's my 2 cents (as not an amputee but) as a disabled individual who uses a wheelchair.

First of all, ppl seem to not understand there is a line between canon and au/fanon. There's nothing wrong with either side.

Canon Echo

missing legs just above knees-knees down (you dont give pants to robo-butt)

Missing right hand that is replaced by scomp

Pale like a vampire

Bald

There's nothing wrong with giving Echo a robo hand - or whisk hand or whatever for that matter. Nothing wrong with drawing him regaining colour or hair (tho I honestly think hair around those plugs are gonna hurt but that's a PERSONAL opinion not a fact). There's also nothing wrong with havinf an au where Echo doesn't blow up and lose body parts! (I have an au in my head where my legs work normally, for ex)

What is wrong is attacking others for enjoying the fandom.

Able or disabled.

While Echo CHOSE the scomp in a want to be useful (a constant problem when you go from able to not, at least in my experience) he shouldn't be forced by fandom narrative to stay with the scomp. He has the right to change his mind (canonically or fanonically) at any point just like anyone else does for any other situation.

There's tons of people irl who have different prostetics for different things. There's no reason why Echo can't have, idk, a bag of hands that have different attachments for HIS ease. Cuz that's the key here. They're to make his life better and easier. Scomp helps him do things he could do before, his work and passion. But you know what a scomp doesnt make easy? Cooking. He could have a whisk or flipper hand for cooking. That'd help him. Scomp doesnt make things like drawing or fine motor controlled activities easy. A robo-hand would. Ffs A damn fan attachment would help during a very niche relaxation, vacation event.

Now Echo NEEDS legs. And His canon legs do their jobs very well - as seen especially in s3 cuz OMFG ECHO. HOW. I could never even when my legs were normal!

I do not see how it makes sense for Echo to be missing his entire body hip down. Again, you dont put pants on a robo-butt. Maul is our prime example. I personally find it really asshole-ish to demand he canonically is this way - why take away more from him than already has been? If someone said to me "well your legs already don't work as they should, let's just cut them off" I'd lose my damn marbles. (But again, this is a my pov)

Since it keeps going around...here is the definition of Ableism.

"Discrimination in favour of able-bodied people"

The previous point works for Skin pigmentation as well - there's no CANONICAL explaination specifically stating how Echo can't ever regain colour. (My personal pov is that it's nice to see both canon pale Echo and various shades of tanning of his skin)

A character having or being given hair, is not ableist. Hair style seems to have nothing to do with Echo's disabilities (and unless disney themselves tells me it does, it does not)

Giving a disabled individual prostetics/mobility devices, fancier or lesser than what they originally had, isn't ableist. These technologies eventually break down if not having them get lost or needing to be made better to better help the individual. (I had a walker before the 2 different wheelchairs i have and then 4 different canes before the walker - for example. Needs change, items break and upgrades are needed and when they arent available? downgrades are sometimes necessary)

Ableist is saying Echo is perfectly normal, saying he doesnt need prostetics and expecting him to do what he could before without them. It's saying "I dont like this character cuz he's ya know, fucked up" or "well this character doesn't have a disability cuz they're really just fine". Ableist is demanding that someone has to remain in a state of helplessness or refuse them aid because they are disabled so they have to stay just as disabled as before. Everyone has a right to have their autonomy and to enjoy thier life - not just "normal" people.

Anyways, this is all my words on the subject - well the physical aspect...i didn't even touch the emotional side this could all have. I could go into other characters in star wars with disabilities but I feel its a mute point. Star Wars, in general, kinda takes the stance of "its okay if you're missing xyz, we'll get you a new (robo) one" Where a lot of disabilities don't feel out of norm and instead feel normal (ex: its not "oh no, honey. Don't look at her, she's got issues" and more its entirely not addressed and the individual is treated the same as someone without physical impairments)

As I said before, I keep seeing opinion pieces on this subject and/or similar subjects. However I'm unaware of any of these opinions being made by anyone who is not abled-bodied and as such, I think it was worth putting this forth to give another pov. A pov from a mobility device and a life where one's body cannoy do what it used to and deals with ableism more outings than not.

Thanks for coming to my ted talk...?

halp idk how to end this 🤣

In a world where people understand the difference between criticizing how a writing choice was handled and criticizing characters we would avoid so many thousands of words about how everyone else is feeling Wrong about fictional media.

Tech lives!

I commissioned some art from @luxris from a short scene mentioned in my fic where Tech lives and comes home to Pabu after Tantiss. This is my fic where Tech is not CX-2, but he still goes through a lot to come home and builds himself a hoverchair. Thank you so much for making this! I love how comfortable and in love they are!

What's up?

How did I hear that your commissions are open... Could you draw a beautiful lie where some members of the BB crew (the ones you choose) are just enjoying their day in Pabú?

You'll make me happy 🥺❤️‍🩹

They’re all happy, healthy, and enjoying the afternoon on a stretch of perfect Pabu paradise 🏝️🌅🐚 (definitely gonna paint this one; I’m enjoying it so much)

(By the way: I’m taking requests, not commissions. I’m not getting paid for fanart; it’s just for fun ☺️)