Well looky here Part 2
Yeah so let's continue this, shall we? :^)
Previously: Iono pesters Grusha into appearing on Iono Zone to talk about The Accident™️. Grusha fucks around and talks about a load of unrelated shite instead. Iono gets mad, Grusha gets offended, and finally snaps and tells her all about The Accident™️. Iono gets sad because as it turns out, The Accident™️ was a sad event. Who would've thought?
It's the next morning. As usual, Geeta is monitoring her gyms to ensure they've opened on time; each leader is given a key card which not only activates the power to the gym, but also lets her know they've arrived. It's a bit draconian, and she acknowledges that, but if she didn't watch them so closely, then Lord knows half of the barely interested motely crew she calls a League wouldn't even bother showing up to work.
Most of the leaders have signed in by now. All of them except for Grusha and Iono.
Now Grusha being late doesn't bother her in the slightest; she knows from the countless cancelled gym inspections that his gym's location makes it prone to closure due to adverse weather conditions. The weather can often get so bad that it's the only gym in Paldea with different opening hours depending on the season, as well as the only one with beds and showers in the event that staff find themselves stranded there overnight. Needless to say, him being a bit late isn't out of the ordinary.
Iono being late, on the other hand, certainly is out of the ordinary. Not only does she live within walking distance of her gym, but due to her gym career's popularity on her channel, she never misses a day off work, at least not without prior notification. Needless to say, her being late is definitely cause for concern, in Geeta's eyes anyway.
Geeta barges into the reception, likely interrupting Rika's escapades on Bumble, and asking her if she's heard from Iono that morning.
"No, why, should I have heard from her?"
"Well she's never usually this late."
"Hm. Strange." Rika's attention returns to her phone. This sounds suspiciously like a Geeta problem anyway. Only she's this anal about everyone being in on time.
"Grusha hasn't signed in either, could you call him as well after you've called Iono? It's probably just the weather in his case, but I just want to be sure-"
"Oh, apparently they were together last night. He was one of her streams. Didn't watch it myself but a few of my friends did-"
Geeta shot her a glare. "Are you suggesting they spent the night together...?"
Before Rika can respond, Geeta turns on her heel and leaves, demanding Rika call them both, just for putting the mental image of them making out into her mind. Rika huffs, closing Bumble and calling Iono. She's never off her phone, she'll answer for sure.
The number rings out.
She tries again, getting the same result. Third time, and the call is rejected outright. Either she's filming a video, or she really doesn't want to be contacted right now.
Assuming the former, and figuring Iono will just text her if she's currently busy, Rika then rings Grusha. He answers immediately.
"Listen, tell Geeta I'm on my way, it was really foggy this morning and it's only just lifted-"
"Yeah yeah, I figured. Listen, uh- wait you said you're on your way to your own gym?"
"Yeah, I just said that."
Technically he didn't, but she's willing to let that slide. "So you... didn't stay with Iono last night then?"
A loud fake retch from the other end. "Ew, no, why?"
"She hasn't signed in yet, Geeta says that's weird. Apparently."
"Well she wasn't exactly in good form when I left her yesterday. Not sure if that has anything to do with it."
"What do you mean?"
~~~
Grusha hadn't known what kind of reaction he was expecting from Iono when he showed her that photograph. He'd wanted an apology, sure, just... not a tearful one. He didn't like tears.
"I mean, you did ask."
Perhaps that was a bit too blunt for the occasion. Iono did seem genuine distressed and sorry after all, and he certainly didn't want to rub anything in.
But at the same time, she did ask.
She sniffed, wiping her nose on her oversized sleeve and regaining her composure a little. "I'm sorry, okay? I just..." Her voice trails off as the tears came back.
He sighs and sits down next to her, arms folded once again. "I'm not opposed to talking about it, you know."
She glares. "Then why didn't you?"
He leans back, eyes moving up to the ceiling. "Well, how would you feel if people kept asking you for interviews, but only about that one time you did a makeup video and your foundation was way too dark and-"
Iono groans loudly. "Why do you of all people know about that?"
"That doesn't matter. But you wouldn't want to be remembered only for that incident, would you?"
She suddenly seems to realise what he's getting at, and looks away sheepishly. "No. I guess not."
"But that's what it feels like for me." His voice grows quieter. "Ever since my accident, it's like nobody ever cares about what I actually achieved. It's overshadowed everything. Every tournament, every achievement, every competition I ever won, everything I ever did for that sport here in Paldea, it just... doesn't matter any more. I'm the most decorated winter athlete in Paldean history, but it doesn't feel that way any more. I'm just "the one who had an accident" now. That's it."
Iono pauses. "I... I never thought about it that way."
~~~
"Let's just say... she has a lot to think about at the moment."
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Please, if you can, take a moment to read and share this because I feel like I'm screaming underwater.
NPD (Narcissistic Personality Disorder) stigma is rampant right now, and seems to be getting progressively worse. Everyone is using it as a buzzword in the worst ways possible, spreading misinformation and hatred against a real disorder.
I could go on a long time about how this happened, why it's factually incorrect (and what the disorder actually IS), why it's harmful, and the changes I'd like to see. But to keep this concise, I'll simply link to a few posts under the cut for further reading.
The point of this post is a plea. Please help stop the spread of stigma. Even in mental health communities, even around others with personality disorders, in neurodivergent "safe" spaces, other communities I thought people would be supportive in (e.g. trans support groups, progressive spaces in general), it keeps coming up. So I'm willing to bet that a lot of people on this site need to see this.
Because it's so hard to exist in this world.
My disorder already makes me feel as if I'm worthless and unlovable, like there's something inherently wrong and damaged about me. And it's so much harder to fight that and heal when my daily life consists of:
Laughing and spending time with my friends, doing my utmost best to connect and stay present and focused on them, trying to let my guards down and be real and believe I'm lovable- when suddenly they throw out the word "narcissist" to describe horrible people or someone they hate, or the conversation turns to how evil "people with narcissistic personality disorder" are. (Seriously, you don't know which of your friends might have NPD and feels like shit when you say those things & now knows that you'd hate them if you knew.)
Trying to look up "mental health positivity for people with npd", "mental health positivity cluster bs", only to find a) none of that, and b) more of the same old vile shit that makes me feel terrible about myself.
Having a hard time (which is constant at this point) and trying to look up resources for myself, only to again, find the same stigma. And no resources.
Not having any clue how to help myself, because even the mental health field is spitting so much vitriol at people with DISORDERS (who they're supposed to be helping!) that there's no solid research or therapy programs for people like me.
Losing close friends when they find out, despite us having had a good relationship before, and them KNOWING me and knowing that I'm not like the trending image of pwNPD. Because now they only see me through the lens of stigma and misinformation.
Hearing the same stigma come up literally wherever I go. Clubs. Meetings. Any online space. At the bus stop. At the mall. At a restaurant. At work. Buzzword of the year that everyone loooves loudly throwing around with their friends or over the phone. Feels awesome for me, makes my day so much better/s
I could go on for a long time, but I'm scared no one will read/rb this if it gets too much longer.
So please. Stop using the word "narcissist" as a synonym for "abusive".
Stop bringing up people you hate who you believe to have NPD because of a stigmatizing article full of misinformation whenever someone with actual NPD opens their mouth. (Imagine if people did that with any other disorder! "Hey, I'm autistic." "Oh... my old roommate screamed at me whenever I made noise around him, and didn't understand my needs, which seems like sensory overload and difficulty with social cues. He was definitely autistic. But as long as you're self-aware and always restraining your innate desire to be an abusive asshole, you're okay I guess, maybe." ...See how offensive and ignorant that is?)
Stop preventing healthcare for people with a disorder just because it's trendy to use us as a scapegoat.
If you got this far, thank you for reading, and please share this if you can. Further reading is under the cut.
NPD Criteria, re-written by someone who actually has NPD
Stigma in the DSM
Common perception of the DSM criteria vs how someone may actually experience them (Keep in mind that this is the way I personally experience these symptoms, and that presentation can vary a lot between individuals)
"Idk, the stigma is right though, because I've known a lot of people with NPD who are jerks, so I'm going to continue to support the blockage of treatment for this condition."
(All of these were written by me, because I didn't want to link to other folks' posts without permission, but if you want to add your own links in reblogs or replies please feel free <3)
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