angels-and-wizards

[angels-and-wizards]

When I was a very suicidal trans activist in Texas, Benjamin Sisko saying “sure, you would [die for your people]. Dying gets you off the hook. The question is: are you willing to live for your people?” changed and possibly saved my life. It’s up there with “if we are going to be damned, let us be damned for who we really are” from Picard. Star Trek not only shows us a better world, it teaches us how to make it there

[angels-and-wizards]

[angels-and-wizards]

imagine you’re in the gallifreyan academy. You regenerate and now you have to go to class with a new face. everyone knows you died and they’re probably gonna make fun of you for that. how do you even go on with your life.

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'How does that sound, for starters?'

Sidra processed that. In some ways, it wasn't so different from her intended purpose. She'd be monitoring the safety of the shop and responding to requests. She'd perform tasks as directed. She'd be Pepper's eyes where she couldn't see. 'I can do that.'

Pepper studied her. 'I'm sure you can. But do you want to do that?'

Sidra processed that, too, and came up empty. 'I can't answer that, because I don't know.' When she was given a task, she performed the task. When a request was made, she filled the request as best she could. That ... that was her job. That was her point.

a closed and common orbit, Becky Chambers, 2016, p50

Reading a book where the perspective character is an AI really reminds me how much I felt like an alien as a kid huh

[angels-and-wizards]

Animated scene of Sidra and Pepper from A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers when Sidra scans her new room. Sidra is a copy of a ship AI who was placed inside an artificial body after a catastrophic failure deleted her predecessor, Lovelace. She must learn how to blend into society on Port Coriol as a human or risk being arrested and destroyed.

Still under the cut!

Sidra often feels like she does not belong in her human body as her mind was made to run a ship. She has trouble viewing the world through her two eyes instead of through various cameras aboard the Wayfarer. She finds comfort in being able to view her room the way she would as an AI through a camera in the corner. This scene always stuck with me as someone who experiences dysphoria and feels a disconnect between my body and mind.

To make this animation, I created different versions of the same image in Clip Studio Paint. They were then uploaded into PowerPoint, animated, and saved as a gif. This process was very fun and I hope to make more animated scenes!

[angels-and-wizards]

I'm starting to see why A Closed and Common Orbit is everyone's favorite. I think it's because the smaller cast means that the characters and their issues can be much more fleshed out, and that's where Becky Chambers really shines.

In particular, Sidra really resonates with my experience as an autistic trans person, especially the way people take her choices away from her constantly while telling her that of course they see her as an equal and refusing to acknowledge that her experience is inherently different from theirs because her brain is not designed like theirs.

[angels-and-wizards]

is it time for another a closed and common orbit reread

[angels-and-wizards]

google it

[angels-and-wizards]

Phoenix

A speedpaint video of this will be available at my Patreon soon 😊

[angels-and-wizards]

BARRY LETTS: Roger came to me and said he wanted to leave. So I reluctantly said, "Okay." I said, "Well how do you want to leave? Do you want us to just not use you any more so that you can come up in another story later on if you want to, or do you want to go out with a great big bang? You know, so it's the headlines." He said, "Oh, let's have a great big bang."

starting a collection

[angels-and-wizards]

some classic who sketches

[angels-and-wizards]

delgado master: ruthless sadist bowled over by own incompetence

crispy master: master go crunch

ainley master: escaped vampire attempts to reenact bdsm scenes in front of daughter

roberts master: who do you think goo are

jacobi master: i have never been so terrified of something that living through my teenage years again seems an acceptable price to pay

simm master: state-sponsored tinnitus makes you evil

missy: mary poppins gets a redemption arc

dhawan master: pure, motiveless bad writing barely salvaged by ra ra raputin

[angels-and-wizards]

average doctor who poll: who would be the greatest serial killer? innocent classic who companion or well-known nuwho side character who happens to own a knife? every single reblog is #innocent classic who companion literally #becomes a serial killer in their spinoff series I Am Become A Serial Killer #which clearly none of you have read or you wouldn't be voting nuwho. nuwho side character is winning by a 68% margin

[angels-and-wizards]

you may be thinking, no time lord other than the doctor licks random items. incorrect! within like a few months of travelling with him romana is also doing this. however few other renegades do this. it's something every time lord secretly wants to do, most of them are just never exposed to the possibility that they can do it.

[angels-and-wizards]

[tardiswiki voice] pregnancy in humans typically lasts nine months. SOURCE: a random audio about alien slugs or something

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you can tell that ian chesterton is not normal because he is a science teacher. science teachers are rarely normal

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like adric legitimately does just have a horrendous time for a series straight and then dies. fucked up