#because i love the deaf culture

[juniperarts]

My deaf spiderwoman OC, Marisol 🕷

Miles knows ASL and even tho it's the Insomniac version of him Imma headcanon all versions of Miles know ASL because that cool asf!

Marisol communicates solely in ASL. She's Italian-American and LOVES pastels and hearts.

In deaf culture they use light to alert and get others attention so I wanted to incorporate light into her fighting style. She uses flash bombs and the main part of her suit, which is based off of the Mirror Spider's reflective back, can blind temporarily enemies. The eyes of her suit allow her to see in the intense light and are very expressive (an important part of signing).

She's not fully flushed out yet and this is only the 2nd iteration of her design so she will definitely change in the future. But for now I want to figure out what her face looks like and draw her with clothes over her suit because she does so all the time.

[jellogram]

Rock bands used to just write about whatever the fuck. Not to be all "old music was better!" but when's the last time the world's highest selling band released a song about killing people with hammers. The Who made an entire rock opera about a deaf, mute, and blind guy who is so good at pinball that he inspires a cultlike group of devotees who think he's the next christ. It was released at the peak of their popularity and was made into a movie featuring people like Elton John and Tina Turner.

I think classic rock gets a reputation for being all about girls and cars and drugs but for about 15-20 years there were absolutely no rules on acceptable song subject matter. Pink Floyd has a song about a gnome going on an adventure. Alice Cooper has a whole album about breaking out of the Ableist Insane Asylum because he misses his dog. These weren't weird little indie groups, these were all highly successful charting bands getting radio airplay and selling out stadiums.

We need to bring this culture back. No more love songs. Sing about wizards.

[thebearme]

Do you have any headcanons for Petey’s mom?

Btw I love your art so much, it’s always peak

I do but sadly almost none of them are the mundane slice of life stuff, SO PREPARE FOR ANGST

Grace knows sign language because her father is a deaf white cat and she eventually teaches Petey sign language for when he goes nonverbal.

Grace has a bad relationship with her parents, which is why she doesn't go back to them after becoming homeless.

Grandpa lied about the flashback with him being a disco king, Grace was actually the cool one. She was a music performer, I can't tell what kind (either a indie solo performer or a rockstar) I like imagine her being a rockstar cause it complement my other headcanon of Petey being into punk.

So that means Grandpa basically married a rockstar and sadly ruined her future in music. But Grace justifies it with Petey's birth, It's worth it for her baby.

Grace gives off hippy vibe, idk why but she's just does.

Grace tried encouraging Petey to keep his love for art and music but sadly that was left in the sidelines for science.

Grace loved going to different cultural restaurants with Petey to try different foods and to understand the diversity in peoples culture. When they become homeless she still try to keep the tradition by doing homecooking instead.

Grace loves maple syrup, which is why she wanted to be buried under one.

[raayllum]

watching The Dragon Prince is a problem because every time people express discontent with another cartoon show it's almost always something TDP did really fucking well so i just default to like.

you want multiple fleshed out villains / antagonists with backstories and well developed motivations who are also wrong and not let off the hook for their actions? say hello to viren, aaravos, claudia, karim, and more.

you want varied queer rep and multiple trans/nb characters? meet an assassin and a blacksmith and a god and a sign language interpreter and a boy who loves plants and his unhinged girlfriend and married queens and rival enemies to lovers wlw who are now planning their wedding.

you want complex family dynamics regarding culture, legacy, power, and abuse? meet the mage fam, the sunfire royal family, the two main princes, adopted children with four parents, step and half siblings and blended families, etc, all explored in their heart and messiness.

you want varied and in depth character for disabled characters and characters of colour? you have a helpful blind pirate and a bitter blind dragon and a sweet amputee wolf and a deaf lesbian general who's also asian. 2/3 main characters are biracial. every couple is interracial. elves and humans alike have a variety of races and we see all of them on display.

you want to explore cycles of violence and healing and grief and war and found family? you want interesting and varied magic systems? you want ethical dilemmas and grey morality and characters being forced to make bad choices for good reasons? well done redemption arcs that still feel fresh, discussions of culture and religion and the death penalty? friends and family becoming enemies and enemies becoming friends and family?

watch The Dragon Prince.

[paper-mario-wiki]

your thesis about your work is very interesting!! if i may ask, how do you feel when well meaning people miss the point and genuinely praise your raps? do u see that as just a lack of investigation or a subconscious celebration of the very thing youre satirizing (eg white rap coopting Black culture to self aggrandize etc etc)? either way i love the concept and execution!!

well, i take care to not write in a voice that isn't my own, which is the main problem with many white rappers.

often, when white rappers take imagery and verbiage from black culture for use in their rap, it's drawn from no actual lived experience. rap music, and the culture of hip-hop from which it spawned, is very explicitly a black form of art, and will always be inherently political for that reason. white, cishet, male artists are the only class of artist to have the luxury of never needing to think about what political implications their art actually has when they participate in it, and so when they choose to play in the hip-hop space, there will be friction by default. (note: im not exempt from these conceptions of whiteness just because im queer, nor is any other pasty homo.)

that said, very few people make the argument "white people shouldn't rap at all" in earnest. the issue is often twofold.

one is that most white rappers see participating in a black art form as needing to perform "blackness", as it has been defined to them as an outsider to the group that has been labeled "black," and the lived experiences that comes with that label. how that typically manifests is in a tone-deaf-at-best caricature that rings disingenuously, which is especially apparent in an art form which rewards honesty in expression.

the second issue, and the much more material one, is that white people will straight up have an easier time getting acclaim as rappers because they are white, and that will lead to money and attention and spotlight being taken away from actual black artists in the field-- which is often compounded by the fact that they will then neglect to actually funnel money back into the community of black artists that they are actively benefiting off of.

that's why, in my rap, my only two goals are

1) avoid making money, and

2) talk shit about white rappers as often as i possibly can, including myself.

if someone were to praise party trick for being a good rap song in the first half, i guess i'd feel awkward about being taken at face value. tho with the other ones, i guess i'd just try to be grateful, because i do typically try to write as honestly as i can.

if you'd like to hear more on this subject from someone who's actually melanated and therefore more qualified to speak on it, click here!

[interdimensionalpancakes]

the main reasons why i ship coai

to me, coai/ shinshi is just the healthier ship, filled with trust, understanding, and mutual interests. it's also the one ship i can see lasting long term in the real world.

they are partners/ solve cases together: Ai likes when he rambles his deductions calling him a "sparrow" (file 713 & 714) and she isn't afraid to ask him for clarification if his explanations get too convoluted. He doesn't really need to help her understand the case, she can figure it out on her own most of the time (file 466-469, 656 [he smiled when he was listening to her deduction]) nor does she give up before she puts any effort into solving the problem first (file 548, 713). She actively contributes to his deductions and he always asks her if she has any ideas (file 287, 525, 664, 729). he can depend on her to stay calm under investigations (file 729, 870) and come up with plans to protect/ help the DB if conan can't be there (file 549, 817). she shares his same investigative curiousity and isn't a bystander, sharing her biochemist background to help shinichi's deductions (file 1098).

they help each other's overcome their weaknesses/ fears: her trust-issues & self-blaming tendencies (file 189-191, 344-346), his impatience & impulsivity (file 429, 475). they put each other at ease when it comes to being paranoid about BO members in public (file 287, 289, 359, 624, 680, 741 [he asked if she wanted to sleep over at the detective agency??], 775, 1006). As for the lies regarding the BO between the two, shinichi said it best in file 341: "[Haibara's] not as tough as she looks." They protect each other because if haibara tells conan about the BO he'll be impulsive/ wanting to attack them immeadiately and if conan tells haibara BO stuff before he resolved it, her trust issues would go on overdrive. Though it should be noted that haibara eavesdropped on some things, so she understands that conan's hiding things from her, by nature that she's the BO "traitor" she's hiding things from shinichi too.

they accept each other imperfections: they tease each other about being adults in a kid's body (file 515-517,724), shiho's age, his lack of tact, his tone-deafnesses, his relationship with ran, her fangirling higo, her aloofness/ sarcasm (file 680), etc. they can get angry with each other and they always apologize, while maintaining a healthy competitive relationship. she loves being able to challenge him intellectually such as telling him to guess her favorite song and the code in file 491, while he's always up for the challenge (file 200) since she knows that shinichi likes puzzles.

he always notices and likes when she smiles (file 275, 292).

shinichi is protective of her and she's protective of him (file 238- 242, 346, 429, 582, 624, 681, 824, 1070) but not in a possesive way & he doesn't need to be told to do so, it's automatic at this point. he promised to always protect her and he kept it.

shinichi always knows when shiho looks like she's going to run away. he always hopes that she doesn't but he always runs after her anyways just to make sure (file 289, 346, 437, 817).

he defends her family when other people make negative comments about them (file 425, 1072).

they share interests other than the BO (soccer, pop culture, animals, music, history, etc.) but they're individuals first.

their relationship has boundaries: haibara respects shinichi's feelings for ran / navigates her jealousy rather gracefully (file 313, 999,1000). conan doesn't probe further about her past with gin when she doesn't want to answer (file 242). they keep each other in check (file 242, 515, 1091). they never force each other to reveal secrets they're not ready to share (file 341) and she can tell when he's suppressing his emotions/ concerns (file 609).

they rescue each other even though they can rescue themselves without each other (file 755,817). she can guess where he'll be/ gives him a spare antidote (file 654) and he always has a plan to get her to safety (file 429, 824). haibara can predict conan's behavior and vice versa (file 289, 430).

side note: it's canon that ran ships coai (file 876), which is hilarious because ai ships shinran (mainly out of denial/ love bc she wants shinichi to be happy/ ran looks like her sister so she wants her to be happy, but this is a whole seperate discussion). also the DB always noticed a vibe between coai, especially ayumi and Mitsuhiko.

for those interested, there's a parallel to shinran: in file 887, haibara ai guessed conan's phone passcode correctly on the first try. whereas it took ran in file 483 multiple tries just to get it correctly. in non-canon movie 16th, conan saw ran's underwear and said 'white' out loud, in canon file 714, he saw haibara's underwear and also said 'white' out loud and he got defensive when she called him a pervert.

[dannyphannypack]

Writing ASL: Techniques to Write Signed Dialogue

Hey, guys! I've been reading a lot of DC Batfamily fanfiction lately, and in doing so I realized how little I see of ASL being represented in written text (love you, Cass!). I wanted to briefly talk about tactics to writing American Sign Language (ASL), and ways that these techniques can help improve your writing in more general contexts!

SOME THINGS BEFORE WE GET STARTED

I will be discussing everything in terms of ASL! If you have a character who uses Chinese Sign Language or even British Sign Language, the same rules will not necessarily apply! Don't be afraid to do some extra research on them.

Do not let this dissuade you from writing a character who signs ASL! This is by no means the end-all be-all to writing ASL dialogue, and I do not intend this post to insinuate that by writing ASL the same way you write English you are deeply offending the Deaf community. If this is something you're interested in though, I highly recommend experimenting with the way you write it! Above all, have fun with your writing.

Related to 2nd rule, but still very important: not everyone will agree that sign language should be treated/written any differently than English. This is a totally valid and understandable stance to take! I do not hope to invalidate this stance by making this post, but rather to introduce an interested audience to how ASL operates in the modern world, and how that can be translated into text.

ADDRESSING SOME MISCONCEPTIONS

ASL is the same as English, just with gestures instead of words.

Actually, no! There is a language that exists that is like that: it's called Signing Exact English, and it's an artificial language; i.e., it did not come about naturally. All languages came from a need to communicate with others, and ASL is no different! It is a language all on it's own, and there is no perfect 1:1 way to translate it to English, just as any spoken language.

2. But everyone who signs ASL knows how to read English, don't they?

No, actually! Because it's a completely different language, people who sign ASL and read English can be considered bilingual: they now know two languages. In fact, fingerspelling a word to a Deaf person in search for the correct sign does not usually work, and is far from the preferred method of conversing with Deaf people.

3. Because ASL does not use as many signs as we do words to articulate a point, it must be an inferior language.

Nope! ASL utilizes 5 complex parameters in order to conversate with others: hand shape, palm orientation, movement, location, and expression. English relies on words to get these points across: while we may say "He's very cute," ASL will sign, "He cute!" with repeated hand movement and an exaggerated facial expression to do what the "very" accomplishes in the English version: add emphasis. Using only ASL gloss can seem infantilizing because words are unable to portray what the other four parameters are doing in a signed sentence.

4. Being deaf is just a medical disability. There's nothing more to it.

Fun fact: there is a difference between being deaf and being Deaf. You just said the same thing twice? But I didn't! To be deaf with a lowercase 'd' is to be unable to hear, while being Deaf with an uppercase is to be heavily involved in the Deaf community and culture. Deaf people are often born deaf, or they become deaf at a young age. Because of this, they attend schools for the Deaf, where they are immersed in an entirely different culture from our own. While your family may mourn the loss of your grandfather's hearing, Deaf parents often celebrate discovering that their newborn is also deaf; they get to share and enjoy their unique culture with their loved one, which is a wonderful thing!

YOU MENTIONED ASL GLOSS. WHAT IS THAT?

ASL gloss is the written approximation of ASL, using English words as "labels" for each sign. ASL IS NOT A WRITTEN LANGUAGE, so this is not the correct way to write it (there is no correct way!): rather, it is a tool used most commonly in classrooms to help students remember signs, and to help with sentence structure.

IF THERE'S NO CORRECT WAY TO WRITE IN ASL, THEN HOW DO I DO IT?

A most astute observation! The short answer: it's up to you. There is no right or wrong way to do it. The longer answer? Researching the culture and history, understanding sign structure, and experimenting with description of the 5 parameters are all fun ways you can take your ASL dialogue to the next level. Here are 3 easy ways you can utilize immediately to make dialogue more similar to the way your character is signing:

Sign languages are never as wordy as spoken ones. Here's an example: "Sign languages are never wordy. Spoken? Wordy." Experiment with how much you can get rid of without the meaning of the sentence being lost (and without making ASL sound goo-goo-ga-ga-y; that is to say, infantilizing).

Emotion is your friend. ASL is a very emotive language! If we were to take that sentence and get rid of the unnecessary, we could get something like "ASL emotive!" The way we add emphasis is by increasing the hand motion, opening the mouth, and maybe even moving the eyebrows. It can be rather intuitive: if you mean to say very easy, you would sign EASY in a flippant manner; if you mean to say so handsome, you would sign handsome and open your mouth or fan your face as if you were hot. Think about a game of Charades: how do you move your mouth and eyebrows to "act out" the word? How are you moving your body as your teammates get closer? There are grammar rules you can certainly look up if you would like to be more technical, too, but this is a good place to start!

Practice describing gestures and action. ASL utilizes three dimensional space in a lot of fun and interesting ways. Even without knowing what a specific sign is, describing body language can be a big help in deciphering the "mood" of a sentence. Are they signing fluidly (calm) or sharply (angry)? Are their signs big (excited) or small (timid)? Are they signing rushedly (impatient) or slowly? Messily (sad) or pointedly (annoyed)? Consider what you can make come across without directly addressing it in dialogue! Something ese about ASL is that English speakers who are learning it tend to think the speakers a little nosy: they are more than able to pick up on the unsaid, and they aren't afraid to ask about it.

Above all, don't be afraid to ask questions, do research or accept advice! New languages can be big and scary things, but don't let that make you shy away. Again, there is nothing wrong with deciding to write ASL the same as you write your English. I've personally found that experimenting with ASL dialogue in stories has aided me in becoming more aware of how to describe everything, from sappy emotional moments to action-packed fighting scenes. Writing ASL has helped me think about new ways to improve my description in more everyday contexts, and I hope it can be a big help to you as well, both in learning about Deaf culture and in pursuing your future writing endeavors. :)

P.S: I am quite literally only dipping my toes into the language and culture. I cannot emphasize how important it is to do your own research if it's someting you're interested in!

P.P.S: I want to apologize for my earlier P.S! What I meant by “I am … dipping my toes into the language and culture” was in direct regards to the post; what I should have said is “this post is only dipping its toes into the language and culture.” While I am not Deaf myself, I am a sophomore in college minoring in ASL and Deaf Culture, and I am steadily losing my hearing. Of course, that does not make me an authority figure on the topic, which is why I strongly encourage you to do your own research, ask your own questions, and consult any Deaf friends, family, or online peers you may have.

[crimson-and-clover-1717]

Stede Bonnet, Renaissance Man (Or an Exceptional Man who Thinks He’s Mediocre)

I’ve posted before about Stede’s love of beauty. He’s an aesthete, finding wonder in art and creative self-care rather than the transcendental. Stede’s a freethinker. He challenges the orthodoxies of his time, rejecting forced heteronormative behaviours, and even questioning the accepted traditions of piracy.

The thing about Stede is he often asks ‘why?’ It’s partly what makes him dangerous to some. This slant towards subversion is much of what Izzy observes and detests. It’s one of many reasons Stede must be kept from Ed. Like a number of Renaissance-style thinkers before him, Stede refuses to go along with the status quo. He is ‘doing something original’, questioning dogma. Many find it ridiculous, bizarre even. And it’s significant that instead Ed finds Stede enchanting, because it demonstrates who Ed might be given the chance to find his own path.

Stede is also a polymath and likely an autodidact - I doubt he learned about ‘insane foliage’ at school. He is self-motived and seems to have knowledge across a broad spectrum of disciplines. Literature, drama, botany, entomology, psychology, art, textiles. Stede’s very much about the life of the mind.

And he’ll approach areas at which he’s not so gifted, such as cartography and sword-fighting, with the enthusiasm of a dilettante; when he can’t succeed the traditional way, he simply subverts the discipline and does it his own. However, the most important thing for me in defining Stede as a Renaissance man is his humanism. People are front and centre. Sometimes that person is himself, and he loses sight of others. But it’s okay as that’s the point. Humanism is partly about being a messy individual who can do better. And Stede is someone who can learn and alter his position when circumstances change. He might not do so in the best way all of the time, but he is a quick-learner and highly-adaptable.

Stede also understands that no culture or institution is bigger than the people within it. The most important thing is human dignity - it’s what he shows and teaches Ned’s crew: that they deserve to be respected as people. Stede also has a strong moral core. When he messes up, he feels it deeply. He demonstrates strong ethics towards the natural world too - he’s absolutely disgusted by turtle vs. crab. Stede believes not so much in human superiority, but human responsibility, and this is the flip side of having dignity as a human being.

Another aspect of Stede’s humanism is his belief that culture should be accessible to all. Some of this might be naivety on Stede’s part rather than a well-thought out philosophy, but he believes in it intuitively. Stede wants the crew to have access to his library despite not recognising they can’t all read. He gives them musical instruments and sports facilities - he’s interested in what makes people flourish. And Stede practically invents art therapy!

His ship is also a safe-space for human relationships to blossom - romantic, platonic, and in between. Zheng’s ship might appear to offer collective harmony, but it’s mandated and dogmatically applied. Opting out of morning tai chi for a 24-hour shagathon might be viewed as an act of dissent. No such big brother is judging you on Stede’s Revenge.

And all of this is because of the man Stede is, and the influence he has on those around him. Sometimes it falls on deaf ears. Many don’t like what Stede’s offering. Others actively rebel against it. But anyone with an ounce of goodness will get what Stede Bonnet is about and embrace it. Stede doesn’t seem to understand his own power, it comes from such an authentic place. For me, it makes him all the more endearing.

[cripplecharacters]

what are the top 5 things you'd like to see a disabled character do in a story?

Hey! This is a very vast question and a lot of it would depend on the character's actual disability - I have completely different wishlists for what I'd like to see intellectually disabled characters do versus what I'd like to see characters with facial differences do. Different stereotypes and tropes affect different groups of disabled people differently - to work with this fact, the below list will try to account for as large amount of disabled character as I can reasonably think of, but it won't have as much detail as you might want. If you have a specific kind of character in mind, feel free to send another ask.

Not in specific order:

Disabled characters being in love. Disabled x disabled, disabled x abled, disabled x very different kind of disabled, all these variants but including more than 2 characters (since I've yet to see a polyamorous disabled character), all of this.

And I mean in actual relationships, not the pitiful and devoid of actual chemistry thing that we usually get (think "really sad disabled man only becomes happy after an abled woman takes pity on him, but they never kiss or god forbid have sex because that's gross and the disableds surely don't do that anyway").

I want to see an interabled couple going through IVF because they want to have kids, a wife with hemiplegia getting to grow old and wrinkly with her autistic husband, a lesbian with Treacher Collins syndrome moving in with her chronically ill girlfriend after a month of knowing each other, DeafBlind men getting hands on each other in the bathroom of a shitty nightclub, a trans woman with autism asking out a trans man with Down syndrome via her AAC tablet, a neurotypical guy with an obvious crush on his classmate with cerebral palsy.

I want to actually see disabled people being shown as desirable partners, good parents and grandparents, potential crushes, going through some new feelings and going on both good and bad dates, from all walks of life, of all sexualities and genders. Just like abled people.

Disabled characters participating in their community. Especially severely and/or visibly disabled characters. This is obviously a concept as vague as it could possibly be, but a big problem with a lot of disabled characters is that they don't... do anything. Not in the sense that they aren't "active enough", but that they aren't really... characters. They're often reduced to a family member who's at home and maybe the abled character takes care of them sometimes, but that's seemingly all that happens; they have no interests, hobbies, agency, preferences, or an internal thought process. All they do is wait for an abled savior to do something to them, not even with them.

I want to see more disabled characters who have jobs (whether it's a "regular" job, a supported employment workplace, a creative job that maybe they can only do a few hours a week, or self-care as a full-time job kind of thing), participating in hobbies that are accessible and/or modified to their ability level, emailing or sending pigeon letters to their friends, trying out new stuff that they're interested in, having actual complex relationships with their caregivers. Anything to actually make them feel like characters that exist in their setting, not just cardboard cutouts that the author had no ideas for.

Disabled characters who are a part of real-world disability (and adjacent) culture. Obviously also a vast topic. Most disabled characters, regardless of setting, are completely separated from concepts that were made by disabled people for disabled people; usually the connection to disability is their actual medical condition and a sterile mobility aid. This is not incorrect or bad to represent since that describes a lot of people, but I'd like to simply see more variety.

I want to see disabled characters who do parasports, who are excited about tactile art, went to blind/Deaf/SPED schools, call themselves #a babe with a mobility aid, decorate their AAC device, learn about disabled history, experience Feelings when hearing that Neanderthals cared about their disabled children, go to disability-centric events or support groups to meet people similar to them.

Do all disabled people do these? Absolutely not, but I'd like for even 1% of fictional characters to represent those who do.

Yeah I just want more disabled characters doing sports. As in real-life sports that real-life disabled people do, apologies to all the fantasy swordfighting that's out there.

There are so many sports out there we can do, some are adapted, some have a sitting or wheelchair version, while others were made specifically for us. Team sports are such a good opportunity to have your character have a community of people like them, have interesting dynamics, yet the only anything I can think of that's about it is REAL by Takehiko Inoue (wheelchair basketball) and the art by @/gayaest / @/sproutwiki (sitting volleyball). Also some Paralympics documentaries that I can count on a single hand - there's like three of them.

I want to see characters who are starting out and really suck at their sport, ones who are decent, ones with ridiculous sports-anime-level over the top abilities. I want to see all kinds of sports done by all kinds of disabled characters; blind kids learning goalball with their blind parents, quadriplegic guys working their ass off to qualify for national murderball championships, folks using sticker-covered bright-pink ramps in their boccia games, people with POTS playing along with their abled partner on their wheelchair rugby league team, standing fencers becoming disabled and adapting to wheelchair fencing that they love just as much. More disabled people having fun, knowing other disabled people, having interests!

Also, parasports are just cool as fuck and interesting to both watch and read about.

Disabled characters getting to make bad decisions. Disability representation is often extremely black-and-white in terms of morality: the character is either an angel who always does the right thing and talks about being grateful a lot, or the character is comically evil, wanting revenge because of their disability, hating their disability, constantly in grief and anger since not a single mildly ok thing happened to them since they became disabled. Neither of these feel like real people.

Disabled characters should be able to say hurtful things, get mad, lie, and whatever else, without being demonized to hell for it the same way abled characters are. They should be allowed to consciously make a decision that they shouldn't take (also known as "dignity of risk" in context of disability). They should get the same consequences for mistakes as everyone else and need to have the opportunities to actually make them.

In a much shorter way: more complex disabled characters.

These are things that I'd enjoy seeing for disabled characters. But the main thing would probably be that I want more of them. The scope of disabled characters in media is so painfully narrow because there's so few of them + they're usually capped at one per series. More writing featuring multiple disabled people please.

Here is a list of wishes from other mods who wanted me to throw them here:

Disabled characters who act like the author did more than a 10 min google search about their disabilities. [So authors doing actual research.]

More disabled characters of color. A lot of time disabled characters are white because it's only acceptable for them to be one kind of marginalized. In real life that's not how it works. People of color are disabled too!

Characters with comorbidities, characters with physical and mental health and developmental symptoms. Disability doesn't just come with one cut and dry disorder all the time - you can even be diagnosed with some things and undiagnosed with others.

[A character can have 5 comorbidities, or 5 completely unrelated disabilities - both happen. Or, most frequently, a bit of both.]

Characters existing in all parts of their diagnostic journey. [So characters who are yet to be diagnosed, currently investigating their symptoms, ones recently diagnosed, and ones who had their diagnosis for their whole lives - and as mentioned previously, you can be on one stage with disability A, and on another with disability B.]

Characters whose whole life isn't just tragedy/struggle! See this a lot when a story with disabled character is just about how life is hard for them as disabled person. Would love disabled characters being leads in other genres and just existing as people. Not to say disability isn't a struggle, but there is more to life and person than disability.

mod Sasza

[rediimere]

The leaked “AI Aloy” footage from Sony has left such a bitter taste in my mouth that, hours later, I’m still fuming and have even more words to say about the overall sinister nature of its implications.

Let's talk about it.

I want to start by saying that there is a difference between what is colloquially called "AI" as a tool for artists and developers in which their software uses their own sources to streamline the process (for example, the "Content Aware" fill tool that has been present in Photoshop for at least a decade), and "generative AI/genAI" that relies on unauthorised theft of resources to artificially splice data together based on prompts. I have no qualms with the former as it relies on being fed its own sources and is an aid for specific purposes. It is not artificial intelligence, but a tool. GenAI, on the other hand, is immoral, unethical, planet-destroying garbage.

The latter is what is being pushed in that egregious video footage. It is the epitome of tone-deaf, soulless, capitalistic wet dream, dangerously misogynistic slop and I am not exaggerating. And I think it's also the culmination of years of fandom culture being integrated by people who have never interacted in fandom, never bothered to learn the etiquette of a space that existed long before they joined, demanded changes for their comfort, and see it as another commodity.

I'm not the first to say this and others before me have been far smarter about it, but there has been a marked change in fandom culture the past few years. Many have said it goes back to COVID, when people generally not involved in fandom spaces joined because they had nothing else to do.

The thing about fandom is that for pretty much as long as it's existed, it has been a safe space for marginalised voices. It's no coincidence that the transformative works of fandom—fiction, art, meta, etc.—have been places for queer voices, for women, for people of colour, for the trans and nonbinary community, etc. With more people joining, these safe spaces have become less so. There are demands for people to "stop shipping" characters that aren't a canon, established ship. There are personal and threatening attacks on people who have a different viewpoint on a character or plot. People have been stalked. People have been doxxed. This isn't necessary new, but is happening with increased frequency and ferocity, especially by younger members and the terfy crowd. The safe space fandom provided marginalised voices really seems to be shrinking.

Outside of fandom culture itself, there is a rising trend of needing instant gratification, of sacrificing unique protagonists for the sake of "relatability" and "self-inserts." There are readers who ignore descriptions of female protagonists and male love interests in romance books so that they can self-insert (and others are calling for authors to stop describing entirely). There are booktok-ers who, believe it or not, complain about the amount of words on a page. I'm not saying their opinions are wrong in general—there is a market for what they seek—but their reviews are to encourage these stipulations to become the norm. And these influencers get enough engagement that their views are seen as profitable by the corporations and execs in charge.

So it isn't really surprising that now fandom is being seen as something that corporation can milk for all its capitalistic worth. Why wouldn't corporations invade a space they've ignored for years as inconsequential now that it's mainstream? After all, fandom was just full of the "weirdos" before, and now it's full of "normies!" This is a space that has been established for decades, built from the ground up by people who value the source material(s), now full of anyone and everyone who will soak up one morsel of customized instant gratification for the dopamine hit.

And that's where genAI comes in.

Why is this so sinister in regards to Sony's recent leaked footage using AI Aloy interacting with a user?

First off: It's Aloy.

Look, if you've perused my social media or interacted with me online at all, you know I love Horizon. My computer room is full of fan-made merch. I've written almost a million words of fanfiction in three years. I've drawn fanart. I helped construct a fanmade dating sim. Horizon has been a huge part of my life for the past three years.

I'm not ignorant of its flaws. I'm also aware of the fact that Horizon is often hated as an IP, and Aloy is the target of a lot of rage from certain audiences. Not to generalise, but let's be clear: the complaints are largely about Horizon being "woke DEI garbage" (you know, for having a queer female protagonist, for featuring other women and queer characters in prominent roles, for having people of colour be important in the story, for being anti-capitalist and pro-environmentalism, etc.—the same tired, ignorant arguments we've all heard), and about Aloy being "fat" and "looking like a man" (hopefully they stretch before that reach so they don't pull something).

So why would Sony use Aloy to showcase an AI conversation instead of someone like Kratos or Joel, who come from more popular and acclaimed IPs?

One possibility is Sony trying to sink Horizon or Guerrilla Games as a company, spurring so much backlash from the leak that the franchise is doomed and dropped so Guerrilla either goes under or focuses on old IPs like Killzone.

Or the more disgusting possibility is that something like genAI is made for the people who loudly and proudly proclaim how "anti-woke" they are, who have detested Horizon and Aloy from the beginning, and now they have a way to "like" Aloy. They have a way to make her say or do or react to whatever kinds of depravity they want to throw at her. They have a way to control and manipulate a fictional woman to fulfill their own incel agenda.

On top of that—Horizon? The video game about how a defective AI made by a trillionaire wiped out humanity? The sequel that revealed another rogue AI made by thousand-year-old billionaires is set to wipe out Earth again? That Horizon franchise is what Sony is using to showcase AI slop? Let's not even go into how the character responses are literally so painfully out of character they can't be taken seriously at all. The irony is so heavy-handed it's almost crushing.

The other reprehensible part of this is the fact that video game actors are still on strike, and this strike is to protect themselves from being replaced by AI. This test footage did sound like a messed up Siri, but Ashly Burch (Aloy's actress) has been in support of the strike. The insult of using her character to showcase this slop is beyond words.

All I will say in conclusion is that I genuinely hope this is not endorsed, supported, or aided by Guerrilla Games. If this plays any part in Horizon 3 or any future part of the franchise, I speak for myself but can confidently say I am out.

In conclusion please do not support any genAI slop, especially in fandom spaces. Make them know it is not wanted, not needed, and is in fact detested and will lose them money in the end.

On that happy note I'm off to bed.

[heartfullofleeches]

I've mentioned before that in Mono's [Robot Alien Yan] culture, an act of proposal/marriage is to gift and/or swap a body part with their soon to be spouse.

Deaf Reader who gives Mono one of their hearing aids. Reader with mobility issues gifting Mono one of their canes. Reader with prosthetics giving Mono their old arm/eye/leg from earth

Mono would give Reader their heart if they could physically part from it. They try to act normal and passive about it, but how can they? The wedding has to be the very next day because Mono wouldn't be able to stand any period longer than that not being forever bonded to the love of its life.

Man I missed Mono

[genericpuff]

What is the thing you feel like Lore Olympus failed at or did the worst. The comic has a magnitude of problems but what is one problem that you have the most hatred for or just flat out makes you angry?

(Just curious)

There are so, so many things I could point to as "the worst" thing that the comic did, because it has a LOT of worsts, but I think ultimately the failing of the original myth's messaging has to take the cake because it's ultimately the root of all of LO's problems.

Rachel herself seems to have this disconnect between what's going on in her head vs. what she's actually writing. It's especially present in her Q&A's and interviews where she claims certain things about the comic / text that just aren't present in the slightest during the actual comic. One such example that ties into my answer is this response she gave to Girl Wonder Podcast:

"I feel like female characters in general, people will be a little harsher on them and sometimes way harsher on them, and I used to be like.. before I started writing the story and like making a story I was like yeah, sexism is not that bad, and [now] I was like oh it's bad. It's quite bad [laughs], so like, I don't know, I feel like the female characters in the story don't get so much of a pass. But this isn't consistent across the board, it's not all the time"

It's ironic at best and tone deaf at worst that she would claim that it's her audience being harsh on the female characters, when she's the one who wrote them into the characters they are that would get that reaction. Minthe had her BPD retconned so now she's just the abusive other girl. Hestia was turned into a cruel hypocrite when it was revealed she was a lesbian. Hera is racist to nymphs and cruel to the lower class and yet she's still rewarded in the end by getting to run off with a nymph girl who we've never seen her have any extended interaction with. And worst of all, Demeter was robbed of all of her agency all in favor of turning her into the evil Mother Gothel mom who's overbearing and cruel to poor Persephone. Some of these women deserve to be called out (Hera and Hestia), and others like Minthe and Demeter were simply used as props to do exactly what Rachel claims she doesn't like people doing and is labelling as sexism - to get harsh reactions and give the audience someone to hate on. Rachel desperately needs to learn to read her own work. Her audience is "sexist" towards these women because Rachel wrote them that way.

It fucking sucks and it's, ngl, extremely disrespectful to the messaging of the original myth that was written to comfort and empower the mothers who had lost their daughters to marriages back in the day. It wasn't some simple "aww the girl moved out and now she doesn't visit anymore!" girls who got married off were often literally never seen again and it wasn't by choice. Not only that, but in certain regions (such as in Athens) the women were isolated to their own section of the house upstairs (while the men lived downstairs) so that they wouldn't be seen by visiting guests or strangers.

It's why in some cultures the original H x P myth was considered a "golden standard" for marriages (at the time) because not only was Persephone given power over the domain alongside Hades, but she actually did get to see her mother - but it wasn't because Hades was just such a kind guy who would let her go willingly, it's because Demeter had to literally hold the world hostage and fight for her right to reunite with her child.

So for LO to not only twist Demeter's love and justifiable concern for her daughter into "helicopter parenting", but also rob her of her agency and power in fighting for her child, it fundamentally misses the entire point of the original myth and undoes itself as a retelling that's trying to be taken seriously in the discussion of Greek myth media. And for that, Rachel should be ashamed of herself.

[idkfitememate]

Love Written in the Stars

૮꒰˶ᵔ ᗜ ᵔ˶꒱ა Pairings : SAGAU!CREATOR x Reader

૮꒰ྀི∩´ ᵕ `∩꒱ྀིა W.K. : 3.7k

໒꒰ྀིᵔ ᵕ ᵔ ꒱ྀི১ Tags/CW&TW : Fluff & angst

໒꒰ྀི˶˙Ⱉ˙˶꒱ྀིა Author’s note : Y’all… I couldn’t help it… you tall as FUCK (If you haven’t noticed I like making reader big because we’re always tiny and it sucks-)

The Creator - They whom created all - was a benevolent Being.

The stars and beyond the known universe mortal and immortal eye could see, was ruled by Their gentle hand - that of which carved mountains and forged rivers in Their awesome image - and claimed by Their loving heart.

The Creator - that of whom bleeds in golden blood and cries tears untainted and pure - had no name that can be said by Teyvatian tongue. No one language - be it Old Inazunese or Forgotten Liynese or Ancient Mondstan - had a single name for It. No one title seemed enough to envelope even a fraction of Their power. Not a single word one may have used to describe It was enough.

Nothing was ever enough.

That’s why every nation had Shrines and Temples and Churches dedicated to Their honor. The ripest fruits, the shiniest metals, and most beautiful of arts and culture and literature and knowledge - anything a person could think of would be given to The Creator. In hope that maybe a person would be blessed.

That perhaps they may be recognized by Them.

Like the Acolytes.

Strongest of the strong in terms of Vision and Element users. Gods and mortals alike blessed with the ability to create large bursts of energy and fearsome attacks.

The front lines.

The most blessed.

The one whom worshipped the most.

If these Acolytes were not helping around their nations they were preying, spending no time for themselves. For how could they? Being blessed in the eyes of their Creator to have even a fraction of The Creator’s power for a blip of a second was more that what their life would and should ever be worth - they owed their entire puny existences to their Creator what kind of awful children would they be to not give their everything - lives, fame, money, worldly possessions, etc - to their almighty Creator?

And so, this was Teyvat.

A land ruled by a merciful Creator who was heard - but not seen - and loving to their subjects.

Until you came.

When you wondered into Mondstadt, the first thing noticed by the people was how similar you looked and acted like their Creator. Long loose-fitting clothes that left little to the imagination flowed around your body with mystifying patters and colors. Your feet lightly - barely - touched the surface of the earth, giving you a sense of floating as you aimlessly flitted around the area, seemingly entranced with worldly wonders like a sheltered child who’d never seen their own shadow.

The people of Mondstadt bit their tongue as you walked around, seemingly on another plane with a hauntingly gently smile placed gently on your lips, serene mind seemingly hours away from the watchful eyes of every Mondstadtian watching you like hawks above a sparrow. You were unaware. Unfrightened. Unchallenged.

Then Barbatos descended.

His voice, usually like a playful breeze, whipped around like a wind storm as he spoke to you:

“Whom DARES copy the looks of Teyvat’s Master and DARES try to get away with it!!?!?”

The people of Mondstadt hid behind walls and pillars, having never seen their God so offended - really, they had never seen him be anything but jovial in this lifetime, stories of his wrath long being buried under snow in Dragonspine and in the seas surrounding his Nation.

Anemo wrapped around your body and lifted you, though in both Barbatos’s and his people’s furies they could not see how his angered winds became light wisps as they lifted you high - like an offering.

His shouts of threats and death went through deaf ears as you stared at the small Archon with wonder, reaching a hand out and patting his head.

The world itself seemed to stop, the whipping winds dying down as his already wide eyes became even wider. His wings fluttered and feathers rose. His breath stuttered when you ran manicured nails across his scalp, a soothing sensation trickling down across his very being.

Everything seemed to stop. No one breathed - besides you who continued to pet the God’s hair. The silence was deafening, enough to hear a dandelion seed whisk through the air. Venti’s eyes traveled up to your own and you smiled - he shuddered.

It was instantaneous, really.

The sharp feeling of winds searing through your flesh and bones, ripping your wrist and hand away from your body. Venti’s blank expression scorched your soul, your smile dropping in favor of surprise. Your lost limb flew through the air and landed before the startled Mondstadtians.

Red.

Your blood, was red.

It was immediate, the way you were thrown to the ground and bound by those with Visions, tight and painful did the ropes squeeze around your ankles - not your wrist for you had only the one now. The gag of leather they stuffed in your mouth was hard and smelled awful, and the bag they threw over your head was stiff and scratchy.

You barely struggled as they took you, paraded you around town, and eventually threw you in some dank dungeon, rank and humid, and left you to rot.

Weeks passed, perhaps even a month. You didn’t know how you had survived but you had, and you were wretched from your cell, still bound and gagged, and thrown onto… something. And it started. A parade… maybe a caravan? You couldn’t see but you could feel the climates change as you were dragged about Teyvat, met with the cheers of vicious civilians who threw foods and rocks at your bound form, much to the amusements of nearly all Gods you came across.

After Barbatos removed a hand, Morax took his turn and stabbed a Polearm through one of your thighs, leaving it there for the wound to fester and decay. Beel did the same, slashing across your chest so that your Red, ‘unholy’ blood would be on display.

The only God who showed you any sympathy was Nahida - it would feel rude to call her by her Godly name when she treated you with more humanity than any other human you had encountered. While her subjects cheered for your death, she sat silently, ashamed. When asked if she wanted to stake her name on your body, a mark to show Sumeru would never forgive, she gave you little more than a cut on your arm. While her nation was distressed at her action, you felt the truth. She had healed you, set a seed in your soul so that warmth spread through your veins and numbed the stabbing pain of all your other wounds.

You’re sure you saw her smile.

However, it was the same through all other Nations. Furina made a show of it and formed a water bubble around your sack, dampening it so you would be waterlogged for the rest of your journey, slowly water boarding you. Mavuika did something similar, slamming a club into your scull till a sickening crack echoed through the arena, met with joyous cheers.

Finally, you made it to the Tsaritsa’s land. The people in charge of transporting you left you in your now torn and rag-like fabrics - no longer flowing and white - and soggy sack, so that you would feel the full effects of the bone freezing chill of Shnez.

She seemed uninterested when you first met her, or at least you thought so, then your entire bottom half was frozen, skin long since numbed and blue from the frigid temperatures.

With the parade done - which was a month long campaign - you were taken to some kind of middle point, where all the Nations gathered to witness the finale of your misery: your execution.

The blade was sharp, ceremonial carvings gracefully curved over its surface, glinting in the midday light. The roar of the crowd was deafening, if you could’ve, you would’ve moved your one hand to cover your ears from the noise, but naturally, you were tied down. The damp sack had been ripped from your head so the crowd could watch the life in your eyes die, which creeped you out.

The honor had gone to Barbatos, being that it was his Nation that captured you. You could vaguely hear Morax mumbling under his breath but ignored it in favor of looking to Nahida.

Where every other Archon was standing strong, sure, she wasn’t. She was shaking, small tears dolloping her eyes. She was scared, worried, so you offered her a smile. You could hear the confusion run through her head at your grin. Though before any words of comfort could be offered, it happened.

The pain was brief, quick. The searing pain you felt through your neck and throat passed by immediately leaving you in painless bliss for a moment. The deafening cheers from the crowd silenced as the light left your eyes.

Barbatos raised the sword high.

The crowd roared.

Nahida clasped her hands together, holding back tears.

It had been done.

Or so… they thought.

The skies grew dark in mere seconds, wind and rain whipping across the gathered crowds of mortals and immortals. The Gods looked to the skies in confusion, should their Creator not be proud of what they’d done?

A blink and they would’ve missed it, the hand that guided the winds took Barbatos by the neck and squeeze, before throwing him down onto the earth before his subjects. Both the Archons and Acolytes looked around, weapons raised.

The wind continued to whip, Barbatos desperately trying to get control but the winds refused to listen to the traitor. A storm began to brew, and it was only mere seconds before a mix of hale and rain poured from the sky, lightning catching unsuspecting crowd members off guard. The Archons tried desperately to regain control, teeth gritting and gnashing but nothing worked. As regular civilians began to cry, Their voice sounded.

“You dare to lay a finger on my beloved?” They whispered, and even despite this their voice made bounds above the storm. Their voice was soft as snow and rung like a bell. The storming clouds parted, giving way for Them.

Slowly They descended, birds singing Their praises as nearby animals bowed. It was as the Teyvat itself sighed in relief when Their bare foot touch ground.

The gods mouths gaped, long having resigned to a life where they may never seen Them, only to see Their heavenly beauty after years of silence. Quickly they fell to their knees, heads hung low with noses pressed to the wet mud. Their followers quickly bowed, faces pressed to the floor as They found their footing on the soft earthy ground beneath Them.

Their figure glided across the floor, not sparring a passing glance to anyone, only slowing as They came to your beheaded body. A whimper left Their lips when They picked up your head, hugging it tight to their body while glaring at the gods.

“… How could you…” They cried, voice swept up by the winds and traveling through the crowds. Eyes widened as pants grew from the now steady stream of tears running down Their face.

“I-If I may be so bold, Your Grace-“ Barbatos started, but he was silenced by a single harsh glare from Them.

They held your head close, pressing kisses to your forehead and whispering as They gilded over to where your still bleeding body lie. Gods and Acolytes watched in wonder as They placed your head onto the stump of your neck with care, humming while energy flowed through your body.

Eyes widened as your wound healed itself, color returning to your skin and muscles loosening. They took you into Their hands, holding you bridal style as your torn and weathered clothes rebuilt themselves at Their silent request. Golden power flowed in your veins, glowing proudly.

The Archons and Acolytes stared on in both fear and adoration as you came back to life, eyes opening to find Their’s staring right back. You smiled, which led to a chuckle, pressing a palm against Their face, grunting at how some of the Archons had to hold back noises of shock.

“My dearest, you came.” You mused, “I had begun to worry.” Everyone seemed to gawk at your causal tone while you situated yourself in Their arms, sitting up and wrapping your legs around Their waist and arms around Their shoulders. They grabbed your thighs and sighed, nuzzling into your neck.

“I would’ve come sooner my love, but knowing you, I waited. I hope this cured that morbid curiosity of yours?” They whispered. Nobody strained to hear what They said, as the world had fallen silent with Their appearance.

The Gods flintched… ‘My love’..?

You hummed pulling a lock of their hair into your hand and twirling it, thinking.

“I think it did,” you decided, “but, I don’t much like having one hand, I’ve found.” Barbatos shuttered. It was evident he was holding back tears to everyone, shaking as he knelt with the sword still stained in your blood before him.

Their eyes widened for a moment before nodding, one hand leaving your thighs and reaching for your wrist, assessing the damage. Their other hand drifted, a newly formed arm taking its place as the old one felt across your body for scars, wiping them away as though they were made of dust. They pressed a kiss to the stump of your wrist, golden light slowly over taking the spot until a hand blossomed like a golden rose.

You smiled and laughed joyously at the new hand, flexing fingers and rotating your wrist. You turned to Them with pursed lips, then used the new hand to grip Their hair and pull Them in for a kiss, Their hands tightening around your thighs while They leaned impossibly closer into you. You parted the kiss, the both of you flustered and grinning.

“Hehe… are you alright, dearest?” You hummed, staring at Them with Their blissed out expression. They simply giggled, nuzzling Their face into the other’s neck.

“… My Lord?” The call was soft, nearly silent. The world itself seemed to pause, the only true audible sound being your breathing.

Their hands tightened around your legs, gripping the flesh with animosity - though They were still careful enough to not leave bruises. Slowly Their head towards the call, eyeing all the Archons behind them with hatred. They scanned the row of shivering gods… besides Nahida.

She stood strong, hands clasped as she stared up at the both of you. Then, her head bowed low. The stern silence that encompassed the area lifted - if just slightly - at her display.

“Your Grace,” she began, “Please accept my most humble apologies-“ “There is no need for that, child.” They interrupted. A hand silently took the small God’s chin, tilting her face from side to side.

“You are Lesser Lord Kusanali… Buer, correct?” They asked. Nahida nodded. They hummed.

“Then there is no need to apologize. You did no wrong.” Their words were clear. Concise. They left nothing for interpretation. Every other Archon’s eyes widened as a hand found itself into Nahida’a hair.

“You did well, child.” They praised. The Dendro Archon herself stood still - rigid - as Their hand found and caressed strands of hair. Her breathing slowed as she leaned into Their touch.

The world was silent at the praise for the littlest Archon - all others in shock as they watched on. You still sat snug in Their grasp, hands clutched at Their shoulders while you lazily watched the praise as it happened - weariness in your bones ignited the large yawn that breached your lips.

“Is my Love tired?” They cooed - leaving you to whine and push away from droves of hands trying to pinch your cheeks. Onlookers still sat in shock as Their playfulness matched yours.

“M… My Liege?” The moment was broken by a small, trembling voice. Both your and Their gazes moved to the other Gods - Archon title stripped away in your mind - to see who had the audacity to speak.

Focalor. Her hands were clasped together - much like Nahida’s had been - with a shaky smile plastered to her lips. Any softness in Their eyes vanished when They stared at her.

“My Liege, if I may be so bold-“ “You are being bold by speaking to me after your crimes, but continue.” All the other gods jaws dropped. Focalor began to shake, tears staining her eyelids.

“O-of course! Uhm.. My Liege, my Lord, our Shining, Glimmering, Illustrious-“ “Get on with it.” “Y-YES!! What exactly is your… uh… relationship with the false one?”

Silence quickly swept over the stage.

Flustered, Focalor jumped up, tears fulling streaming down her face. She blabbered on and on - excuse after excuse about how it had become habit and how she no longer meant it and blah blah blah… you stopped listening as she brought up the others and their influences, which led to a rising argument.

The air grew suffocating as Focalor dragged more gods into her arguing, completely unaware of the stewing wrath of your Love under you. You huffed at Their expression, leaning over and pressing a kiss to Their cheek.

“I think,” you whispered, “that just leaving now and allowing them to fight it out would be best. And funniest… mostly funny.” Their head tilted towards you, humming, a grin growing on Their face. Before They could respond you lit up.

“Can we take Nahida too? She was sweet.” Their grin turned to small chuckles and a nod at your question, resulting in a fist pump from you.

“All this time has made you quite sadistic hm?” You flushed, face hot and laughed back.

“Maybe just a little.” You mused. They smiled and silent reached a hand to Nahida - who was unfortunately engrossed in the argument before all of you - and gently lifted her into a pair of arms.

Nahida looked surprised as you pressed a finger to your lips and winked - before all three of you lightly disappeared in a cloud of light smoke, rising into the sky, leaving the now loudly arguing gods behind to fight before their shell-shocked followers.

Like losers.

૮꒰づ˶• ༝ •˶꒱づ ˚ʚ ꒰⁐⁐⁐⁐୨🎂🍦🍩୧⁐⁐⁐⁐꒱ ɞ˚

The halls of the Chapel were silent. That silence was then promptly broken by the sounds of six distinct walks through the halls.

You sat on the lap of your Love, resting against Their chest to nap - disturbed by the marching from down the halls. You groaned, shoving your head into Their chest, causing them to laugh.

“Looks as though we have company, Dear.” They sung - your only response was a groan.

You both listened, unmoving, as the steps grew closer and closer. You didn’t turn around when they entered your main throne chambers.

Together to footsteps stopped - and in their place six loud thuds echoed as each god fell to their knees. You sighed and pressed further into Them, taking some strands off hair between your fingers and curling them gently.

“Why have you six come to us?” Their voice did well to hide Their anger. Eyes hidden from all but your own glared down at those before you both - those whom would never be worth your time again.

“We have come… to… apologize.” Said Morax. The silence that then filled the air was palpable - able to be sliced through with a knife.

They only stared at those below you while you continued to simply lay on Them, soft breaths bordering on snores. The awkwardness of Their lack of response seemed to be weighing on their shoulders because after a few more minutes of silence, Beel spoke up.

“We are apologizing because we recognize that we made a mistake, My Lord.” She was curt and straight to the point. It almost pissed you off - if you weren’t so tired and bored of the interaction all ready, you huffed into Their neck and They sighed back. With a wave of Their hand, They answered with one word.

“Dismissed.”

You could hear the gods hearts shatter under Their cold gaze - some started and sputter and mutter while others softly gazed at the floor with blank expressions.

“B-but you Illumanence!! Surely you must understand it was just an- an… an accident we-“ “Silence.”

All speech came to a screeching halt. Your closed eyes pressed against Their neck as the order hung in the air. Their hands ran across your spine and shoulders in a soothing way - but Their eyes never left the pitiful forms of those gods before you.

“My allowing of your continued existences is enough of a mercy for such… insolence. Begone with you. Leave. Before I change my mind…” This was the coldest you had ever heard Their voice.

The air grew icy with Their demand and within seconds - the gods had left. There was no reason to continue to grovel, especially with you in Their arms.

“They are gone now, Love.” You hummed, pressing yourself further into them, as though you wanted to combine and become one with Them. They giggled.

“Mmmm… I wanna take a nap.” You mumbled, barely shifting as They picked you up in Their arms as they rose.

“That would be beneficial… considering the tea party we are set to have with Lesser- ahem. I mean, Nahida this afternoon.” You lifted your head with a lazy grin.

“Yippiee…” You cheered, half-heartedly raising an arm before dropping it with a sigh.

“Mmm that was tiring… I don’t like hearing their voices.” You whined. They hummed, continuing to walk you both to your quarters.

“I could get rid of them-“ You snorted.

“No no, that won’t really do much for us heh.” Your voice became more whispery as you got closer to your bedroom. They hushed you, caressing your head.

“You won’t have to see them again if you don’t wish, love.” The door clicked open and silently slid shut behind you. They gently placed you in the large, plush bed in the middle of the room.

You watched as They moved about - the sounds of water running in the connect bathroom soothing your mind. Sunlight beamed through the window gently, warming your body some as you slipped under icy sheets that began to warm beneath your body.

The world began to drown out as your eye lids slowly shut - the last thing you hear being Their voice.

“Sleep well my Darling, I love you.”

໒꒰ྀི˶˙Ⱉ˙˶꒱ྀིა Author’s note : GUESS WHOS BACK. BACK AGAIN. This was not the best but I feel it’s pretty good for first thing back :3 also FUCK YOU TUMBLR FOR FUCKING MY DRAFT UP DIE-

[mythalism]

i think, anecdotally, canadians love to use land acknowledgments and Diversity(tm) a bit more than americans do, and have a degree of always pointing at the us and being like "well at least WE didn't do anything that fucked up! we're so much more enlightened and respectful 😌". and so any acknowledgment that racism exists, or that necessary societal change is often only brought by unpleasant disruption, or specifically that indigenous people live in terrible conditions because of colonization, is bracketed with this type of "but it's very complicated, and who's to say if there's a solution? we're thinking about it really hard, and holding space, and listening and learning, and maybe we will get to fixing it in like 50 years if people ask nicely" rhetoric. and there's a degree of apprehension that "land back" is a call for ethnic cleansing of settlers (somehow, despite this being both physically not possible and not actually anyone's demand) and that any movement towards that will be bad and overly radical.

which maps directly onto how bioware writes elves specifically haha. they'll sympathetically show how they're oppressed and living under the boot of a catholic church-esque entity, but then... ahhh noo, actually they had a very problematic pre-colonization culture, and they're too impractically fixated on the past and that prevents them from moving forward, and the church employees are sometimes trying their best and making amends, and the demands of the elven leadership are just too out there and violent... so really, it's very complicated. maybe it could be better to keep the status quo and only have Incremental Change, forever.

(they sort of didn't do this in the masked empire, but as always they had to throw in a bit about how Rude And Mean the dalish are. plus the ridiculously evil chevalier lore of each one randomly executing a few elves as a rite of passage, and then never mentioning that aspect again bc i guess it wasn't relevant to michel's story. as well as the insanely underwritten premise of what briala and celene's relationship actually was. there's ~toxic lesbians~, and then there's "extremely rich and powerful white noblewoman calls her younger servant class gf ugly for being dark skinned, lies to her for years, has her family and then entire community killed, then tries to seduce her back when she gets angry and leaves" lmao. i think weekes was going for a tragic morally grey starcrossed lovers to enemies vibe, but to me it was more of a horrific one-sided exploitation that the author did not seem to realize they were writing.)

and in veilguard i suppose they tried to avoid the entire issue by mostly removing those aspects of the setting, so you no longer even have the somewhat well-observed depictions of oppression combined with Justin Trudeau Moments, it's just kind of empty.

anyway thank you for appreciating my very long ted talk! i left tumblr after the whole "popular bloggers mass reporting pro-palestine people for terrorism" thing (i can get that treatment for free irl, don't need that extra stress from the Fandom Webbed Site haha). i've just been drifting back to look at dragon age posts bc i was curious about veilguard. i didn't expect much from bioware but it was surprising that they just went even further into tone-deaf bizarre race allegories rather than reading 1 (one) nonfiction book in the years since dai, or hiring anybody from a different background who could weigh in. :')

wow this is seriously so fascinating and insightful and truly does give me a better understanding of both canada and bioware LMFAO so thank you so much for sharing seriously. you are welcome in my inbox for more ted talks anytime and now im just gonna leave this here to marinate on it further and hope other people read it because its fantastic. xoxo

[safety-pin-punk]

Punk History Resources: Vol 2

This is a compilation of resources found and recommended by various alternative bloggers, each of whom are credited for their contributions. This started because I was getting SO MANY asks about resources such as videos, books, and websites to use to learn about punk history. Admittedly, my own list wasn't that long, so I thought it was best to reach out to some others and share their knowledge with everyone. Now, I'm hoping to make this an annual occurrence, where we all share our knowledge with each other. So thank you again to everyone who helped out with this!!

Link to Volume 1

@whatamibutabutteredcroissant @unfriendlybat @ghost--in-a-machine @mushroomjar

YOUTUBE:

Part 1 of The Decline of Western Civilization (It recieved mixed reception from people in the scene) (whatamibutabutteredcroissant)

Part 3 of The Decline of Western Civilization (Focuses on the gutter-punks of 90s LA) (whatamibutabutteredcroissant)

BOOKS:

Some Wear Leather Some Wear Lace by Andi Harriman and Marloes Bontje (It's mostly goth/horror rock/post punk/deathrock but I feel like it's adjacent enough for it to merit a read) (unfriendlybat)

Spray Paint the Walls: The Story of Black Flag by Stevie Chick (whatamibutabutteredcroissant)

Kids of the Black Hole: Punk Rock in Postsuburban California by Dewar Macleod (whatamibutabutteredcroissant)

We Got the Neutron Bomb: The Untold Story of L.A. Punk by Marc Spitz and Brendan Mullen (whatamibutabutteredcroissant)

Left of The Dial: Conversations with Punk Icons by David Ensminger (whatamibutabutteredcroissant)

The Art of Darkness: The History of Goth by John Robb (A comprehensive history of Goth) (whatamibutabutteredcroissant)

Punk Zines by Eddie Piller and Steve Rowland (whatamibutabutteredcroissant)

The High Desert by James Spooner ( A graphic novel memoir of how the authro came into the scene) (ghost--in-a-machine)

Let Fury Have The Hour by Antonio D'Ambrosio (About the band The Clash) (anonymous submission)

MOVIES / DOCUMENTARIES:

Masque (A 10 minute doc about the Masque club in LA) (whatamibutabutteredcroissant)

ARTICLES:

History of Anarcho-Punk and Peace Punk (mushroomjar)

Late 80s and Early 90s Puerto Rico Hardcore Punk (mushroomjar)

The Jewish History of Punk (mushroomjar)

Japan's Impact on Punk Culture (mushroomjar)

The Forgotten Story of Pure Hell, America's First Black Punk Band (mushroomjar)

The Black Punk Pioneers Who Made Music History (mushroomjar)

Why Poly Styrene is Punk's Great Lost Icon (mushroomjar)

Alternative to Alternatives: The Black Grrrls Riot Ignored (mushroomjar)

Abandoning The Ear? Punk and Deaf Convergences Part II (mushroomjar)

Race, Anarchy, and Punk Rock: The Impact of Cultural Boundaries Within The Anarchist Movement (mushroomjar)

Street Medic Handbook (safety-pin-punk)

ZINES:

Sticking To It (safety-pin-punk)

So You Say You Want An Insurrection (safety-pin-punk)

All Power To The People (safety-pin-punk)

How to Survive a Felony Trial: Keeping Your Head up through the Worst of It (safety-pin-punk)

Collectives: Anarchy Against The Mass (safety-pin-punk)

Social War on Stolen Native Land: Anarchist Contributions (safety-pin-punk)

A Civilian's Guide to Direct Action (safety-pin-punk)

Critical Thinking as Anarchist Weapon (safety-pin-punk)

Security Culture: A Handbook for Activists (safety-pin-punk)

Betrayal: A Critical Analysis of Rape Culture in Anarchist Subcultures (safety-pin-punk)

ETC:

The Anarcho-Stencilism Subreddit (people upload stencils for others to use for free) (mushroomjar)

I would love to make a Vol. 3 post next year, so if you have resources and want to share, PLEASE message me!! (Preferably DMs)

[dilatorywriting]

I feel we are all super mean to the reader with Siren Vil??? Are they actually stupid or is it just that they can’t understand what’s going on? Which is kinda valid considering their situation?

I mean it has to be hard for them, right? Not only do they have trouble communicating with THEIR world since they are almost 100% deaf, but then you have the extreme cultural differences of trying to communicate with someone who exists in what is basically from a completely DIFFERENT world (part of your world reference anyone?).

I just feel like, while they may not be a genius or anything, it’s kind of mean to be expecting them to know what’s going on when they have so much working against them. We’re calling them stupid for not understanding that the necklace was a courting gift and that the siren would come back for them… why would they think that?

They could tell the necklace meant more to the siren than they thought it should have and it made the siren more friendly, but why would that equate to what is basically marriage and never leaving them behind? And the reader knows the siren wants to get back to his pod really badly. While they became friends and got attached, that wouldn’t mean he would come back to help the reader. Of course the reader is going to see a ship and try to get off of where they were marooned.

As dumb as the reader CAN be sometimes (like when they took a bite of the cooked crab without removing its shell 🤦‍♀️) I really don’t think they’re THAT stupid. They’re just… on the level of someone who was probably an uneducated kid when they snuck aboard a pirate ship and never looked back and now they’re an adult. You mentioned in one chapter I believe that Riddle taught them to read I think? Or something?

I LOVE this story, don’t get me wrong. At all. Ever. I adore it.

The fact that I’m even here hanging out on the author’s blog shows how much I love it - and your other writing. I guess it’s just been getting to me a little how we all seem to slam Siren Vil’s reader so much. Maybe I’m just making mountains out of molehills. Maybe you’re just being sarcastic and I’m missing the cues because I’m neurodivergent and I do that sometimes. If so I’m sorry.

To end on a good note, I’m really happy you’re back and are doing better. I know how much brains can suck. If your demons are too mean to you, just send Reaper Rook after them. He’ll take care of them for you, I’m sure of it! 💚🖤

I think it’s mostly said out of love, like how when you pick up a cat to give it cuddles and call it a stinky lil garbage gremlin even though you would die for that creature. The Reader in this is someone I try to write as having inconsistent levels of intelligence. Great planner, great at setting goals and reaching them, but TERRIBLE emotional intelligence all around. Not just in Siren Language. Just overall is blind to a lot going on around them. And yes, the added layer of communication difficulties certainly don’t help, but this is a reader I fully see as one who even *if* they had super sight, hearing, and intellect would still be missing the point of things simply because they’re stubborn in their perception and lock onto that One Thing rather than being willing to see the bigger picture. Even when the evidence is staring them right in the face. Which is why we lovingly call them a big ol doofus.