#actually psychotic – @seaweedstarshine on Tumblr

Thinking about River affectionately calling the Doctor her “madman in a box” only after he's called her his “bespoke psychopath,” and vice versa. They each were called these words by the other before ever using them to describe the other.

Thinking about the way they defy reality for each other. How modern psychiatry elevates objective reality to gatekeep full participation in society, yet they shatter objective reality with love — “I can’t let you die without knowing that you are loved.” and “You are always here to me and I always listen and I can always see you.”

Thinking about “What's the mad fool talking about now?” and how Gallifrey ostracizes those labelled mad, going so far as to see it as failure in children. Thinking about “A child is not a weapon!” “Give us time.” and how Kovarian equates psychopath with weapon as a tool of dehumanization and control.

Thinking about the way the psychiatric-industrial complex inflicts violence upon those who deviate from psychosocial norms. How their relationship was born in violence, but of madness — not madness in a post-Enlightenment framework of opposition to Reason, but madness as radical compassion that doesn’t demand so-called rationality — “Every time you've asked, I have been there.”

Thinking about how neither of them chose “psychopath” or “madman,” but they both own those words as instruments in their own agency.

#words by seaweed #(eleventh) doctor is neurodivergent tag #river song #eleventh doctor #twelfth doctor #antipsychiatry #mad liberation #madpunk #yowzah #doctor who #bc I've seen the discourse on whether river is ‘actually’ a psychopath heres your regular reminder that psychopath is NOT a medical term #it's madman but with a lack-of-empathy slant.#saneism #ableism #reclaimed language #actually psychotic #mental health #neuropunk #disclaimer: not a philsopher. can u tell I was a graphic design major w an incidental personal investment in psychotic ppl rights #anyway when I say ‘madness as radical compassion’ I don’t mean that madness creates compassion; but that this position #where participation in modern personhood is violently denied+ autonomy stripped due to weaponizing mental health interests #elicits a different framework of compassion— one doesn't have to make sense or ‘fit’ into a convenient Narrative for compassion #the fact that they passing laws to make conservatorships easier to acquire in several states makes me shriek when I think sometimes #so uh tune in next time for me drowning my sorrows in my canon psychotic eleventh doctor evidence posts