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fyeahaudiodrama · 4 months ago

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Happy @podcastgirlsweek to all who celebrate! While I haven't had the time to properly work on fics (and probably won't this week because oops, hurt my hands yesterday) I still wanted to take the time to highlight some favorite podcast girlies along with everyone else!

The prompt for Monday is highlighting podcasts with women in the leading roles, so here's a few of mine (and hopefully, some new ones of yours if you don't know them yet):

Back Again, Back Again: Ilyaas, you absolutely fantastic disaster of a fantasy ace, never stop trying.

Breathing Space: While the show is anthology with a rotating cast, some of my favorites from across its run include:

Evie Yuriskin

Amity Archer

Any characters who were introduced one episode and then started referring to each other as "my wife" by the end or by their next appearance

Camlann: Some apocalypse survivors interpret dangerous dreams about dark magic to cope. Some knit sweaters. Both are valid and should kiss.

City of Ghosts: Featuring the grungy, disgruntled, tormented-by-visions LADY detective of your dreams.

Desperado: Take note - give your ladies knives. And god powers. And witchcraft. And a sniper rifle, for good measure.

Do You Copy?: I think [REDACTED] deserves three weeks of paid vacation

Fawx & Stallion: Madge Stallion is THE moment. She's six feet tall. She can't stop making innuendos. She's not your fucking Mrs. Hudson (although, she is - no, I shan't say).

Hi Nay: Mari & Laura are my everything - the loving and self-sacrificing hero and the newfound friend who chooses to stand by her side (fire axe and all).

Inn Between: Oh, my Inn Between girlies, where do I start? Fina and Betty, the OGs and life partners that even death couldn't stall? Rosie and Zara, the new best pals who chose to stay together? Phoebe, just one step at a time learning what she deserves and what she doesn't? All impeccable, A+.

It Makes A Sound: Any show focused on music is going to be a slam dunk for me, but Deirdre's quest to reclaim her memories as well as those that tied her to her mother is so damn real and compelling.

The Kingmaker Histories: No female character in this show has ever done anything wrong. Colette gets a migraine pass. Ariadne can turn people inside out. Daphne is owed this for working in a theme park.

Life With LEO(h): Janiiiiiine, so messy and smart and dedicated and she cares so much, I love yoooooou.

Me and AU: Kate's worries and desires and doubts are some of the realest out of any audio drama so when do I find an Ella too

Palimpsest: My faaaaavorite gothic horror anthology, each one fresh with a different brand of haunted, tormented, secret-keeping (and quite frequently gay) gothic protagonist

The Pasithea Powder: Jane and Sophie. Sophie and Jane. What more could you need? <3

The Silt Verses: Women who start cults/leave cults/seek an end to the endless cycle of meaningless sacrifice as so valid. For all your wet cat(fish) woman needs.

Second Star to the Left: Because I always love a good Ishani performance. Hi Gwen, please tell Boots I love them.

Small Victories: You want sad wet cat women? How about one that literally can't stop self-sabotaging (but at least manages to draw the line at sabotaging others...occasionally). She even gets stabbed!

Starfall: I mean, kind of a given, but anyway, Leona definitely exists because she's the kind of action protagonist woman I always wanted - one that could be unapologetically powerful, but still full of flaws and desires (especially ones that weren't about falling in love and minimizing her own strengths). She's even autistic!

Stories From Ylelmore: Keryth! Keryth, Keryth, Keryth! She reminds me so much of the kinds of characters I would make up when I was younger - I love her and her small magic so dearly.

The Strange Case of Starship Iris: Hi queer space pirates <3

Unseen: Another anthology show, but Harry Winters and Never-Ending Circles remains one of the most perfect premiere episodes I've ever heard in audio drama.

The Way We Haunt Now: Get your podcast ladies here, dead or alive!

We Fix Space Junk: My favorite type of repairman is a woman who could kick my ass.

Wolf 359: I don't think I need say much more here - y'all know and love 'em just as much as I do.

#podcast girls week #long post #podcast recommendations

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candycane969 · 1 year ago

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✨🎧🌆ROTTMNT DONATELLO HEADCANONS🌆🎧✨

made by me! candy! :3 no major spoilers

A quick guide!✨

💜 - Supported by canon (things that are pretty sure out there, maybe not confirmed 100% but yeah)

❤ - Kind of supported by canon (things that happened in the series that miiiight lead to some other stuff)

🧡 - My source is that I made it the fuck up (still trying to fit it into the character tho)

⭐ - Not sure if I'm taking this headcanon or not, but I do think It's pretty neat

💋 - Kinky! DISCLAIMER: Ive always seen the rottmnt boys (and April) in the age group from 17 to 19 and thats what I headcanon them as (as it is my own age group!). Ive seen the show and was fucking sure theyre my age and then a month or two later I was slapped in the face with thier actual age lol. I dont support any pedo shit, I also dont think minors can consent. Just putting it out there

Lets go!🌆💜🎧⭐✨

The 'Tism

• 💜 I think Its pretty fucking obvious that this boy is autistic, pretty much everything in the show supports this.

• ❤ Donny's headgear also works as noise cancelling headphones! He's often overwhelmed by background sounds and his gear makes it easier for him to live his life (either on missions or just spending time with his brothers and/or April). He still loves blasting his music on the highest volume tho. It's different when you consent to hearing your jams then when several people are talking at once and youre going crazy.

Tagging as kind of canon because he might have audio sensory issues because of his autism and you can reraly see him without the damn googles.

Different stims

❤ Foot stomping

❤ Hand flapping

🧡 Repeating a song/part of song over and over (yes, even if it has no words)

❤ Spinning on chairs

🧡 Pacing around the lab/the lair

• 💜 He knows ASL! Though It's never said in the show why he learned it, I believe that because he goes nonverbal often. Everyone in the lair can sign a bit because of that, but not everybody is too good at it. Donatello can communicate in ASL fluently.

Gender

• 🧡 Donatello never really felt connected to being "a men" and categorising things as "for boys" and "for girls" always seemed dumb to him. Shortly after Leo's coming out as a trans men (SURPRISE LEO HEADCANON) he went to talk to him about his gender experience. After some thinking and digging, Don came to the conclusion that he is in fact nonbinary. He still uses mostly male pronounces but always appreciates gender neutral pronounces coming his way.

Sexuality

• 🧡 While realising his own gender he also figured out that he doesn't really sees gender that seriously in others either. Men or women, its pretty much whatever to him. He doesn't like to label himself much when it comes to his sexuality, he accepts reffering to him as a pansexual or bisexual.

• 🧡 When it comes to dating Donatello doesn't imagine himself with anyone, really. He finds himself attractive, but doesn't think anyone would fancy him in a romantic way. He's not interessted much in dating either way. But he doesn't exclude dating someone in the future. It's just he won't go out of his way to look for love.

• ❤/🧡 Its obvious Don is a men of science, he's a genius when it comes to coding, math, engineering, I would say chemistry as well. Thats the field he feels the most comfortable in, but he loves learning new things in general. As long as there is interesting knowledge he can obtain, he will be there, soaking it like a sponge. He likes listening to info dumps, and probably listens to long ass video essays and/or podcasts.

• 🧡 Don likes to learn about others people hobbys and takes interest in learning about it. He likes showing others that he cares about something, even though Its something totally indifferent to him. For example, he knows lot about art making process from Mikey (Angelo even made him paint with him a couple of times!) even tho he doesn't really likes drawing and/or famous artists. No many people appreciate his work so he wants to show his appreciation to others.

• 💜 He is pretty low empathy most of the time. It's hard for him to relate to others, and can often feel like someone is overreacting. It's also challenging for him to put his feelings "out there". Which often makes him look unloving or unfriendly. And it couldn't be farther from the truth. He loves his brothers even though they bother him most of the time. And he loves April as well (though she never really troubled him much). He never really thinks that his low empathy is a flaw (more often he thinks about it as a blessing) but there rare are moment when he feels helpless because of it. He is glad that his family knows that he truly cares about them (and accepts any effort he puts in to express his feelings, even if it seems small).

• 🧡⭐ I've seen people headcanoning Donny as a baker and honestly I like it a lot. Cooking is Mikeys domain, and it suits him well, as it allows a lot of freestyling and just overall feeling. Baking and pastry making is very calculated and one miatake can ruin the whole thing. It reminds Don of engineering in a sense. Also baking is an easy way to get love and appreciation from his family because, cmon, he just made the most angelic fruit tarts in the whole universe, of course they're going to praise him. It also works as a stress relief. When feeling stumped and/or overwhelmed over a project or a situation he'll make something easy like brownies to get his mind of it.

• 🧡 He's very sentimental. He loves receiving gifts and will cherish and use them (even if he doesn't like it). He still has every "gamers dont die they respawn" Tshirt and every "dont fuck with my brother he was born in october and has autism" mug. Sometimes he REALLY wants to throw something away but god damn it this is painting Mikey did when he was ten and is just five splats of paint and thinking about him somehow finding out and crying about it might destroy him forever.

• 🧡⭐ This bitch reads fanfics, thats it. It started when he was around 13 or smth with Atomic Lass x Reader and now he knows all the fanfic lingo. He still might read something from time to time and writes very long and well written comments (with constructive criticism).

• 🧡 Speaking of which, Don writes perfect sentences while texting. All the correct spelling and punctuation. He also communicates with emojis and gifs like a millenial.

Food, TW: drinking!

• 🧡 He has a rather strong head, you cant make him drunk that easily. But when it finally happens, youre in for a ride. Shutting him up is near impossible, he will talk non-stop but with much less eloquence then while sober. Its extremely easy to make him laugh, so Leo absolutely loves it. He often looses track of what hes saying and starts completely different rant. Overall a chaotic mess. Really fun to witness it at least once. His beverage of choice is either fun cocktails or beer (tho rarely and/or only with some kind of juice because he doesn't like the fizziness on his tongue).

• 🧡 And that takes us to Donatello that hates fizzy drinks. He hates carbonated beverages, no matter if its cola or champagne. The feeling on his tongue and in his mouth makes him really uncomfortable. When there is no other choice but to drink up some bubbless, he leaves it open for as long as he can to get rid of them. His brothers despise him for that.

• 🧡 He doesn't like weird food combos either and is rather picky. When ordering food Don sticks to what he knows not to risk an uncomfortable texture touching his mouth. Texture is the most often reason for him not liking a specific food. Donnys pretty strict to preparing food as well (the way he does a thing is The Correct Way and no other exception is acceptable). Also he puts milk first so his cereal doesn't get soggy.

• 🧡 I feel like he likes fruit juices in boxes and fruit mousses but this is pretty random 🤷

• ❤/🧡 He wears contacts! We've seen little Donny with glassess, so I assumed he wears contacts now. When he knows he will be spending all day in the lair (for example because of an injury) he still has a pair of glassess he uses. And yes, he tapes them to the head. Because he rarely ever wears them, he never came up with a solution for not having ears and needing glassess.

• 🧡 ABSOLUTELY hates smoking. Will go on a rant if he sees someone he knows smoking. He absolutely despises the smell and WILL take it out of someones mouth/hand and throw it away. Appreciates the fun smells of vapes but still hates them. Will call vapers losers (maybe not exacly in these words but he will for sure).

• 🧡 Really good at makeup, but not as good as Leo is (ANOTHER SURPRISE LEO HEADCANON). He spend years perfecting his eyebrows of course. He also wears eyeliner because serving cunt is important even on the battlefield. From time to time you can see his nails painted as well.

• 🧡⭐ While being flustered or simply distracted he stutters a lot, mostly in a way of repeating whole words or parts of a sentence ("Its good because- Its good- Its good because I um- Its good-")

• 🧡 Enjoys taking very long baths, and actually prefers them much more then showers. Can stay underwater for a rather long time as well!! Being fully submerged calms him down a lot and its overall very relaxing for him.

• 🧡⭐ Ive seen a lot of takes that without his battle shell, he is really flexible (due to having a soft shell). And I like the idea. I think, that before sitting infront of a screen (or a desk in general) to do his work for several hours he stretches deeply so his back won't be so sore later. Also a reason to draw Donny in yoga poses and thats always cool.

• ❤ Makes up shit to fuck with his brothers. Like just spreading misinformation and gaslighting them for shit and giggles. Or to get them to leave him alone for a while. Also will gaslight them if they somehow find out that he was lying ("what? you must have heard me wrong then 🙄💅")

• 💜/❤ Loves singing and dancing!!! Aint the best singer (tho I love his songs in the show Im kissing him as we speak) but is a gorgeous dancer! He finds it incredibly fun and feels fabulous while doing it. Also Im pretty sure dancing counts as stimming so add it to the list. Dances solo like 90% of the time but really enjoys dancing in pairs (dances with April a whole lot when they get the chance!).

• ❤ He rarely laughs out loud, but when he does it is loud and messy. A good joke can make him think about it all day and continue laughing for a long time. Not my og take, Ive seen this headcanon before and I love it so so much :3

• 🧡 From all his brothers, he kind of wishes to be human the most of them all. Its not a big big wish, he does think of himself as very unique individual and takes pride of being a mutant. But sometimes while hanging out with April he can get lost in his thoughts of "what ifs". Maybe in the process of making a cloaking accessory.

• 🧡 His handwriting is god-awful. All scribly and fucked up like Doctors writing. Unfamiliar eye would not decipher a word out of it, but Don knows exactly what everything means. But he mostly writes digitally.

• ❤ Dons dislike of hugging is canon, but I do believe he likes being touched on his head and face (head pats, cheek rubs, scratches). He enjoys hand holding when it's appropriate as well.

• 💋 Im headcanoning the boys to go through mating season once a year (except mikey cuz he small) everyone at a different time. It would be similiar to an ovulation but much more horny (with also fever symptoms). Don would be the second after Raph to get it. While in heat he doesn't go feral or anything, but after a few days stops working because he cant focus on his craft. Waves of sudden temperature changes (mostly high heat) with really horny thoughts and hypersensitivity to pretty much everything...yeah not the best work environment. He spends his most intensive days closed off in his lab or room because he really doesn't want his family to see him like this (the rest of the turtles are in thier rooms during thier mating time as well for the same reason). Also add being possessive while having a SO, and also veeery easy to irritate.

• 💋 Donny takes on a more submissive role while being intimate, even though he loves to be in charge all the time. But he isn't a bottom either, I would put him perfectly in the middle as a switch (more leaning on that sub part tho).

• 💋 His biggest turn on is smell. Like someones natural smell, no perfumes and all. He likes to snuggle in the crook of the neck and take it all in. This becomes cranked up to eleven during mating season, as he absolutely cannot stop sniffing. Would love his significant other to leave him clothes with thier smell on it and sleep and/or snuggle with it.

Might add more later but thats all for now :3💜

Hope you enjoyed it⭐✨

#If you think Ive misrepresented him or something is clashing with canon let me know #going to make Leo headcanons soon cuz I have a lot I love him #rise of the tmnt #rottmnt #rottmnt donnie #tmnt #donatello #text #rise donnie #rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #donatello headcanons #headcanons #donnie headcanons #rottmnt headcanons #tmnt 2018 #rottmnt donatello #writing #rise donatello #rise headcanons

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doctorloup · 1 year ago

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It's been a while...

since I did #audiodramasunday.... I have started on In the Great Khan's Tent, which is a fascinating retelling and exploration of the colonial era translations of the 1001 Night stories from the Muslim perspective, with a glossary of words at the end of each episode for accessibility. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/in-the-great-khans-tent/id1645354582

(At one point the narrator has to translate from the dinar to modern currency via the guinea and I was reminded just how silly British currency was pre-1970s.)

Wolf 359 - I am so late to this party the party was over the previous night and everyone is lying on sofas hungover but, damn this series deserves it's reputation. Such well-written characters. I am not normally one of those humans who pack bond with anything but I adore Hera and her story.

Speaking of adorable characters, relistening to @thenightpost, reminded of how much I wanted to give Milo a hug most of the way through season 1. Poor sweet lad.

Tiny Terrors 31 days of Halloween have been a fun ride. There have been some really great episodes, but I think my favourite was the touchingly nuanced portrayal of parenting a non-verbal autistic child (The Wrong Reflection). Latest @thesiltverses - Oh BOY The first part of this is CERTAINLY SOMETHING. Incredible work everyone, especially Michelle for making me have to pause the podcast as I was running at night and take a deep breath to remind myself I wasn't actually hearing someone being horrifically transformed. Also a very thoughtful and responsible foreword given current events.

@kingmakerpod Ep 13 - Eisen and Collette's rapidly degrading fake marriage had me giggling so much I had to stop plastering the wall I was working on. Kingmaker is fun as heck and you should listen to it. Halloween soon, have a week!

#audiodrama #audiofiction #audio drama sunday #hera wolf 359 #the night post #tiny terrors #the silt verses spoilers #the kingmaker histories

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absurdthirst · 2 years ago

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Hi Keri! I hope you're doing well. I was wondering if you might be able to help me with a recommendation? I have extremely severe chronic migraine, along with all the delightful sensory sensitives and triggers that go with it. I'm renting in a building with a very noisy upstairs neighbor. Because he is technically not violating the legal noise ordinances and has bought a single runner for his hall (🤷‍♀️), he has stated that he is unwilling to compromise in any way.

Unfortunately, those ordinances were not designed with people who have chronic migraines, people who are autistic, people who have PTSD, or any other condition that causes sensory sensitivity in mind. Its looking like the landlord won't do much except for when he throws parties. So, I'm looking into solutions for inside my own apartment. I was wondering if you or your followers might have recommendations for affordable noise canceling headphones, or for any other provisions to help with the sensory impact of loud noise coming down through the ceiling? Thank you so much!

I'm sorry that you are going through this. I know it can be so difficult to navigate. I get migraines often and I just want to wither away and die during those time. (dad caught me in the garage when I was 8 looking for a drill 😳😳😳😳 because I just needed the pressure to ease up)

So, I'm a big fan of my Apple AirPods but I also know that not everyone has iPhone or can afford a hugely expensive cost of noise cancelling headphones. Plus, who wants to wear headphones all damn day? No matter how amazing they are, they tend to make my head and ears ache after awhile.

I do have a set of AfterShockz - they aren't noise cancelling, but they do allow me to go about my day without the ear ache and allows me to hear if someone comes up to me or my phone rings (work phone) while playing music or listening to a podcast.

Have you thought about a white noise machine? How does white noise affect you? I know that every therapist I've ever been to has one outside their office door and it's amazing how effective it can be for blocking noises. Here is a machine that does fan sounds and white noise sounds. It might be a viable solution for when he is banging around.

I know I have a fan right next to my bed on my nightstand that is purely for the noise that it creates. I have a hard time shutting my mind off and sounds affect that. So the fan helps. This is the one I have and it's amazing for blocking out sounds and yet I can still watch tv with it on.

I am assuming that you have talked to your building management, have you suggested that (if you are able) that you move apartments to a top floor? That way you might not have someone above you? I know that moving isn't ideal and a huge pain in the ass, but I also know that it can be draining feeling like you cannot relax in your own private space.

I'm sorry that it took me a bit to answer and I hope that you can resolve this in a way that is no longer a headache to you (pun completely intended. 😂) 🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍

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strangertheories · 2 years ago

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People have been exaggerating Robin's "personality change" and it's so damn annoying. Like, its to the point where they're calling it bad acting now. She literally says, "Even if us losers pretend to be above it all, we still just want to be popular. Accepted. Normal." How long will it take for people to realize she was putting up a front in s3 because she was ashamed of who she was? In Rebel Robin she talks about "camouflaging" to go unnoticed. It's not a stretch to say she's more open now.

Thank you for this! In S3, Robin was a very guarded character and I think a lot of her sarcasm was a result of this. Internally, Robin felt insecure about being not "normal" as a result of her social standing at school and most of all, her sexuality. She kept Steve at a distance using these quips because she didn't think anybody would want to be friends with the real her. I also think she feels like she's never going to be accepted, so she acts like she doesn't care however, deep down she wants to be like everyone else. But she knows she never will be because she's a lesbian and because she has social issues so she puts on this mask to try and convince other people and maybe even herself that acceptance doesn't matter. So in actuality, this season she is showing more of her real personality, not the other way around.

People who've listened to the Rebel Robin podcast will know this quite well too. I'm aware it's dubiously canon but I also don't really care because it's a super interesting exploration of her character that aligns pretty well with the show (with the exception of Nancy knowing her name). Also it means a lot to me so I want it to be part of this universe I love and obsess over so much. As you said, she speaks a lot about camouflage, in reference to her sexuality but also in reference to her existence. Robin doesn't want to be noticed or popular but she also doesn't want to be viewed as weird, so she puts on this sarcastic persona and acts like she doesn't care about things like friends schoolwork when she actually does. This perfectly matches up with her in S3.

I do think we see a new side to her in S4, but that's a result of her making a close friend and coming out. I also think that if you have an autistic interpretation of her character, all of her talk of camouflage and trying to seem average can definitely read as masking. But now she knows someone who accepts her and makes her feel fully comfortable, so she doesn't have to hide herself anymore. She also finds it harder to maintain this mask when she's stressed out. At the end of S3, she talks a lot when she's anxious and is told she's being unhelpful. This is repeated with her whole rabies thing in S4. She also has issues with this when she's with girls she likes, such as Vickie and (at least to me) Nancy, which is a stressful situation and also one we didn't see in S3.

Side note: I didn't know people were saying Maya is a bad actor. I'm aware she's a product of nepotism but she's also pretty damn talented and perfectly portrays the character of Robin. I'm still so grateful she pushed for her to be a lesbian. People need to realize that just because a character develops, it doesn't mean it's a different character. Hell, look at Steve! Plus this personality change has been so over exaggerated, she's just a bit chattier. But I'd argue this is a natural development for her character too.

Jeez that's a little longer than I intended haha. But I will defend Robin until the day I die because she is so relatable and means a ton to me. Also I'm just obsessed with her and Ronance. Thanks for the ask (:

#stranger things #st4 #st3 #robin buckley #ronance

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loavesofoaves · 4 years ago

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De Mort of the Author

This is why they say “Don’t meet your heroes.”

Over the past few years, it has become increasingly apparent that J.K. Rowling has some very terrible opinions that she only seems to get more and more vocal about. As a result, I’ve unfollowed her social media platforms for quite some time now, but still followed Harry Potter-related ventures like Fantastic Beasts (which…that could be a whole essay in how I feel about those) and her Robert Galbraith mystery series (which I have some opinions about that could also be a whole other essay).

(Oh, I can’t resist…for someone who claims to be all about feminism, J.K. Rowling is not great at writing women. There, I said it.)

Recently, it has come to light that she is a trans-exclusionary radical feminist, which I disapproved of, but after reading her blog post from today oh God is it so much worse than I thought. Instead of anything resembling any sort of empathy for her trans fans who have been so very deeply hurt by her support of TERF hot takes on social media, she is so terrifyingly committed to justifying her transphobia that it’s sobering. This, this is the hill that the woman who gave us the book series that defined a generation wants to die on? This was the woman who gave us Hermione who always stood up for justice, who gave us a metaphor for standing up to bigotry and eugenics through Dumbledore’s Army and the Order of the Phoenix, who created terrifying villains like Umbridge and Voldemort who were so very real. How can she not see that she has become the very thing her books preached against—a villain committed to eradicating a certain type of people from the world because they are different? The irony, the fucking irony.

And the cherry on top is she just had to throw ableism into her response as well by throwing in that autistic woman are more likely to transition as if that is something to be concerned about. If you don’t know by now, you should know that I am autistic. This hurts me so fucking much. Part of the experience of being autistic is being constantly gaslit about your ability to think intelligently and rationally because you are different. Telling autistic people that they don’t know what’s good for them because they are autistic and therefore insinuating that their decision-making capabilities and sanity are lacking is ableist. Being trans is valid, regardless of whether it’s a choice or always having felt one was assigned the wrong gender from birth, and trans autistic people are valid and it’s none of your damn business in how they express their gender identities. Again, from the woman who gave us Luna Lovegood, who I have related to deeply, this is so fucking disappointing.

And let’s not even get started that this is what she so selfishly chooses to focus on when Black oppression is at the forefront and we’re in the middle of a global pandemic that is disproportionately affecting Black and Brown people. Oh yeah, and it’s fucking pride month. Woohoo Dumbledore and retroactive representation!

So the good portion of the Harry Potter fandom has established that J.K. Rowling is hurtful and should not have a platform as a public figure. And I think a lot of us who love Harry Potter but are so deeply hurt by its author are wondering, What does this mean? Where do we go from here? Can I possibly still love these books while knowing the person who wrote them is deeply problematic?

I think there is a lot of pressure right now to divorce oneself from Harry Potter entirely, as if the series will taint everyone who touches it because of the author. And if removing it from your life will make you feel better and in a better place mentally, then let go. But I always get wary when people police what media others consume, because, let’s be real, mostly everything we liked from our childhoods is problematic in some way and even though it has gotten so, so much better in the books and shows and movies coming out now, who knows what we’ll be saying about stuff Steven Universe and She-Ra in twenty years? As The Good Place would put it, there is no such thing as completely ethical consumption.

I was an English major. Part of being an English major is reading a lot of books by old dead white dudes who had offensive beliefs. Let’s look at William Shakespeare. He created hundreds of words we still use today and wrote plays that have become ingrained in our culture. His works also contained sexist, racist, and anti-Semitic ideas. And people have reclaimed these plays, challenged these ideas—supported the work while also presenting it in a satirical and critical eye. A performance I saw recently of Much Ado About Nothing with an all-Black cast comes to mind (it’s no longer streaming for free on PBS, but I highly recommend checking it out at some point: https://www.pbs.org/wnet/gperf/much-ado-about-nothing-full-episode/10194/).

So yes, death of the author. The author had intent, sure, but once that work enters out into the world, it’s in the hands of the people, baby. And while, no, we will never look at Harry Potter the same way and will always read it with a more critical eye, I don’t necessarily think that’s a bad thing. In a post-J.K. Rowling world (which will happen completely at some point anyways), it will be interesting to see the new content the fandom generates, the new perspectives. Harry Potter fans are creative, brilliant, diverse, and resilient; they’ve brought us podcasts and porn and puppets. And that is the content that I am excited about, because it belongs to the fans, and the fans say TRANS RIGHTS loud and clear.

So personally, I will not be supporting any new work from J.K. Rowling, which, without making this a whole other essay, has spiraled down the tubes since the Harry Potter series ended. She wrote a book that defined my childhood, for which I will always be grateful, but it was time for her to say goodbye years ago and she is in grave need of time away to reflect on how her actions and writing affect others. I hope she realizes how deeply hurtful she has been one day, but I won’t hold my breath.

But I can’t just pretend I hate Harry Potter now purely for performative virtue signaling, and I think many others are in the same boat. If you are queer and/or autistic and Harry Potter was there for you when you needed it, don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t read it and reflect on it fondly. Do what’s best for your mental health, and as I said earlier, if you need to distance yourself from Harry Potter to heal, that’s also valid. While the series is far from perfect as time continues to reveal to us, it still represents characters and ideas that I still see as good and validating of my own personal identity, and I know many other fans feel the same way. It will never be the same, and let’s not let that be a bad thing.

#harry potter #j.k. rowling #fandom #trans rights #autism #CW: transphobia #CW: ableism #personal

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hetaces · 5 years ago

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@whatsnew-lgbtq‘s 31 days of pride day 9!! i know I haven’t been doing ‘em all but that’s okay.

day 9: books

so books are my area of expertise honestly so I picked a few favorites to talk about a lil bit here (I’ll put it under a cut).

And feel free to ask me about more books because I’m Like That.

These are all ownvoices in at least one way. Ownvoices rep will be italicized in the list.

Highly Illogical Behavior by John Corey Whaley When you hear what this book is about, it sounds really bad. Like “Girl decides to ‘fix’ agoraphobic gay boy and her boyfriend gets ~close~ with him” is essentially what the synopsis says. It sets it up for every bad trope. And then uses none of them. It’s so good, has great portrayal of good accommodations, healthy friendship, and a bunch of Star Trek references. Representation: Sol is gay and agoraphobic

Heart of Iron by Ashley Poston Don’t look up the synopsis yourself, go right to goodreads (i’d link but you know how tumblr is with links), some of the synopses that come up automatically start with a “it’s like [story] in space” and it’s a spoiler. I’ll put the first part of it here bc it’s hard to get the words. Seventeen-year-old Ana is a scoundrel by nurture and an outlaw by nature. Found as a child drifting through space with a sentient android called D09, Ana was saved by a fearsome space captain and the grizzled crew she now calls family. But D09—one of the last remaining illegal Metals—has been glitching, and Ana will stop at nothing to find a way to fix him. Representation: Ana is written as acespec (not Super clear but it was the intent) Captain Siege is a lesbian. Telle is a lesbian. Robb is gay. Jax is gay.

The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee So, there’s a lot of hype around Gentleman’s Guide and I was sort of expecting to be let down, but it more than lived up to it. Henry "Monty" Montague is going on his Tour of the continent (travel around Europe and have fun one last time, is the idea). Chaotic disaster bisexual Monty causes trouble, of course. So then on the way to dropping his sister off at finishing school before returning home early, they get attacked. Because Monty is a dumbass (it’s actually his fault). Cue rich kids travelling with no money & trying to avoid a growing number of people. Mackenzi Lee has hit the nail on the head with growth. Not only does she get that sometimes, growth does happen because of one moment of learning, she also writes it well, which is a really difficult thing to write. There’s a lot of heavy stuff in it, but none of it was thrown in for no reason, it’s actually important to the books and to the characters. Representation: Monty is bi, has PTSD, and (at the end of the first book, so spoilers) deaf on one side Percy is mixed, mlm, and (you find out part way through so if you’re picky about it it could be spoilers), epileptic. Felicity is aroace. Many other characters who aren’t white and a wlw character in the second book.

I Wish You All The Best by Mason Deaver After Ben comes out to their parents, things don’t exactly go well. They get kicked out, and have to go live with their sister who they haven’t seen in 10 years. They start over at a new school, only out to their sister, her husband, and their therapist (because hey, look how well coming out went last time). This book is so damn cute. And a book with a nonbinary main character! Representation: Ben is nonbinary Nathan is bisexual and black

Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire Think Narnia, but with more worlds and less religion and you've got the concept of the doorways. Children have always been disappearing - going through a door that's appeared to them. But magic worlds rarely have use for used up miracle children. So they're sent back. But they don't come back the same. The children at Elanor West's Home for Wayward Children have all tumbled once. And they all want to get back. But with Nancy's arrival, things start going wrong. Representation: Nancy is asexual Jack is pan and has OCD Kade is a trans guy Sumi is bi (Seanan McGuire is a queer cis woman)

You Asked for Perfect by Laura Silverman Ariel Stone is a perfect student: he’s a community volunteer, first chair violin, and is on track to be valedictorian. And then he fails a calc test. When he finds he can’t fix it himself, he reluctantly gets a tutor. And he may not like calc, but he might like Amir. I started recommending this book to people when I was 5 pages into it. Ariel is so explicitly Jewish that Laura Silverman put her grandmother’s matzo ball soup recipe in the back because it’s not fair to rave about it so much and not provide a recipe. He’s explicitly bisexual by page 8. Amir and Sook’s eyes are both described as “warm” and I honestly think it’s the first time I’ve seen characters of color’s eyes described as anything but “dark”. Representation: Ariel is bisexual and Jewish Amir is a gay Pakistani Muslim Sook is a chubby Korean lesbian

The Past and Other Things That Should Stay Buried by Shaun David Hutchinson Shaun is back with more “so... the world might be ending?” and I absolutely love it. Dino’s ex-best-friend July died suddenly 4 days ago, and his family runs the funeral home. Dino is touching up July’s makeup (he knows how she wore it and everyone was doing it wrong), and she wakes up. But she’s not exactly... alive. She’s just not-dead. And then... other people just stop dying. So they have to figure out what’s happening. How July came back - or at least how to re-kill her when nobody can die. So not only is it a super interesting book, it’s also like... Shaun goes in on topics like “gay people making gay jokes and straight people making gay jokes are different” and “a cis guy might (might) not mind if you call him a girl, but do not call a trans guy a girl” Also I recommend anything by Shaun David Hutchinson. Representation: Dino is gay Rafi is trans, mlm, and mixed (white/Pakistani) Multiple LGBTQ+ minor characters

On The Edge of Gone by Corinne Duyvis It’s an end-of-the-world type book (via comet strike). Due to strange circumstances, Denise and her mother end up not at their government assigned shelter, but on a generation ship. And Denise has just a few days to find her sister and prove that her skills are worth 3 spots on a ship with limited resources. Representation: Denise is mixed (Surinamese/white) and autistic Iris is mixed (Surinamese/white) and a bi trans woman. Els is wlw. Leyla is wlw. Samira and Nordin are Muslim Some minor characters.

Radio Silence by Alice Oseman I’m just gonna give y’all the actual synopsis this time

You probably think that Aled Last and I are going to fall in love or something. Since he is a boy and I am a girl. I just wanted to say—we don’t. Frances Janvier spends most of her time studying. When she’s not studying, she’s up in her room making fan art for her favorite podcast, Universe City. Everyone knows Aled Last as that quiet boy who gets straight As. But no one knows he’s the creator of Universe City, who goes by the name Radio Silence. When Frances gets a message from Radio Silence asking if she’ll collaborate with him, everything changes. Frances and Aled spend an entire summer working together and becoming best friends. They get each other when no one else does. But when Aled’s identity as Radio Silence is revealed, Frances fears that the future of Universe City—and their friendship—is at risk. Aled helped her find her voice. Without him, will she have the courage to show the world who she really is? Or will she be met with radio silence?

This book is so good but fair warning, it gets really heavy.

Representation: Aled is demisexual (Alice is queer/aroace) Frances is bi and mixed (white/Ethiopian) Daniel is gay and Korean Carys is a lesbian Raine is pan, Indian, and Hindu

Otherbound by Corinne Duyvis Otherbound is set in two worlds - Nolan’s (ours) and Amara’s (the Dunelands, where magic is real). Amara is on the run with the former princess, Cilla, whose family was overthrown by the ministers. Cilla has been cursed and is being hunted, and Amara’s particular type of healing magic is, basically, convenient for redirecting Cilla’s curse. Since they were children, Nolan has been experiencing Amara’s world through her every time he closes his eyes. He sees through her eyes, feels what she feels, smells what she smells. But he’s just a silent observer. She doesn’t even know he’s there. Until now. Representation: Nolan is Mexica and disabled Amara is not white, mute (due to mutilation), and bi Cilla is not white, fat, and a lesbian The majority of other characters are also not white.

#books #whatsnewpride #i am both very sorry for the length of this post #and absolutely not sorry at all

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garden-ghoul · 6 years ago

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listen to and share my podcast where I talk about being a baby witch and having to learn to manipulate the fabric of society! it doesn’t get more autistic than this!

transcript below the cut.

Before reading: THIS IS THE BEST TIFFANY ACHING BOOK! Because it’s about navigating new peer groups and feeling like an idiot and being weird even among the weirdos who should be your people! Tiffany is SO multiple and so relateable and I kind of want to have kids just so I can read them this book and tell them “See, if you feel this, you’re in good company.”

Also I should introduce Tiffany, since this is the second Tiffany book. In this one she’s 11 years old. She’s a witch who grew up on chalk instead of hard stone and sometimes people look down on her for that. She’s a little pretentious about how perceptive and thoughtful she is and how she knows a bunch of big words she can’t pronounce. I believe she whacked the queen of the fairies on the head with a frying pan, or something similar. And she briefly met Granny Weatherwax at the end of her first book, and Granny gave her the eponymous hat full of sky, which is a pointed witch hat that nobody can see. I’m not exactly clear on why. The point is she’s the perfect picture of a good half of all autistic children and she’s very dear to my heart.

SO the book starts by presenting a bodiless, frightened thing that has lost the brain it used to live in, drifting slowly over the hills. And then Tiffany does a spell that allows her to step out of her body and look at it from outside and it notices her. Perfect! A strong mind! Filled with lots of little nested minds! There’s the setup of the plot, this creature called a Hiver. Now to the action.

Tiffany is going to the mountains, and on the way we get a flashback about that time Tiffany was briefly the ruler of a colony of pictsies—the Nac Mac Feegle. I mention this because there’s a bit with the new ruler, the new kelda she’s called, who gives Tiffany a get out of here this is my turf now look—and this territoriality theme was a very strong in the last book. We also get a lovely bit of editorial from the author on the new kelda, Jeannie: he says that because she’s new, because she’s moved here from far away and is frightened and unsure and alone, she makes a mistake. And that mistake is telling her clan not to protect Tiffany from the Hiver that is following her.

I want to read some excerpts from the later part where we see Jeannie’s husband, Rob Anybody, having some existential dread about it. Because it’s some great comedy and some great pathos, all in one. Jeannie comes out to try and stop him brooding about how he’s not allowed to keep Tiffany safe—offers him a drink of extra strong liquor that may or may not be made from turpentine and when he refuses it she starts yelling that he’s died. A couple of his brothers come out and start crying, it’s a great bit. But then Jeannie, as his wife, asks him not to go save Tiffany. Heavy-hearted, Rob agrees… and the next moment, as his kelda, she tells him he does have to save Tiffany, because Tiffany is the hag of the hills and she tells the land what it is. But be careful, won’t you?

“You've got something to come back safe to me for, Rob Anybody,” said Jeannie. “An' I beg ye to use your heid for somethin' other than nuttin' folk.”

“I thank ye, Kelda,” said Rob Anybody. “I'll do as ye bid. I'll tak' some lads and find the big wee hag, for the good o' the hills. It cannae be a good life for the puir wee big wee thing, all alone and far fra' home, among strangers.”

“Aye,” said Jeannie, turning her face away. “I ken that, too.”

I just love this growing sympathy between Tiffany and Jeannie, as women who have to make their own way to power and self-confidence.

There’s a bit of intrigue for Tiffany on the way to the mountains, with her escort making these divination devices cum curse nets called shambles and having them explode with some kind of oppressive power, but she does make it. We meet her new mentor Miss Level, who has two bodies and used to work in a circus because it seemed like she was reading her own mind. She’s desperate for a bit of company because the last three girls who came to apprentice with her found her too unsettling and left.

She takes Tiffany out to the nearby villages that are on Miss Level’s beat, as it were, collecting gossip and free food and tending to the sick. The witch’s life is presented as this sort of a web of implication and subtlety, manipulating the social fabric so as to do good and get paid without causing any resentment. Although Miss Level says it’s VERY important that a witch never expects to get paid.

“Pretty soon people will be killing their pigs for the winter,” said Miss Level, “and I'll get more brawn, ham, bacon and sausages turning up than a family could eat in a year.”

“You do? What do you do with all that food?”

“Store it,” said Miss Level.

“But you-“

“I store it in other people. It's amazing what you can store in other people.” Miss Level laughed at Tiffany's expression. “I mean, I take what I don't need round to those who don't have a pig, or who're going through a bad patch, or who don't have anyone to remember them.”

Witches are agents of communism! From each according to ability, to each according to need. I think it’s cool that they’re here to sort of smooth out economic inequality.

Miss Level also asks Tiffany about her Granny Aching, and the way she used her influence. I really like this bit.

“Did she help people?” Miss Level asked.

“She made them help one another,” Tiffany said. “She made them help themselves.”

Miss Level sighed. “Not many of us are that good.”

So a witch’s job is to subtly manipulate everyone around her into being a better person.

So Tiffany is doing a lot of boring taking care of people. She doesn’t like it, it’s not very glamorous. Another apprentice witch named Petulia Gristle, who has an inconvenient amount of occult jewelry, stops by to invite her to the ‘sabbat’ the other apprentices have. But Petulia keeps asking Tiffany whether she doesn’t want to dress to fit in, and using strange jargon. Petulia is VERY good at fitting in, in the kind of quickly-back-up-your-opinions-and-turn-them-in-a-different-direction kind of way. We’re also introduced to Annagramma, who is the leader of the apprentices in the same way Granny Weatherwax is leader of the witches: which is to say, everyone cares a lot about her opinion but of course witches don’t have leaders. Annagramma says.

Annagramma is the type of insufferable teen who insists on being the only clever person in the room. This is a tall order because most witches are a bit like that, and Tiffany certainly is. But Tiffany is younger and doesn’t have as much experience manipulating the social fabric, and Annagramma uses her inexperience to humiliate her. Oh sure of course you kicked the fairy queen out of your village. Uh huh. And Tiffany does a little analysis of how Annagramma manages her underlings: she’s like a dog worrying the sheep so much that they don’t have time to do what she says, so nothing gets done. She’s getting in her own way because she, too, is a teen and doesn’t know anything. Aww. I almost like her. I have a soft spot for teens.

Tiffany tells the other apprentices that she’s met Granny Weatherwax (to general disbelief) and that Granny gave her this hat. Everyone asks, What hat? And what follows is maybe my favorite scene from the book.

Long afterwards, and long after all sorts of things had happened, she'd go 'la la la!' to blot out the memory whenever something reminded her of that evening. Miss Level tried to talk to her as she ran upstairs, but she bolted her door, kicked off her boots and lay down on the bed with the pillow over her head to drown out the laughter echoing inside…

Tiffany's First Thoughts were running around in circles. Her Second Thoughts were caught up in the storm. Only her Third Thoughts, which were very weak, came up with: Even though your world is completely and utterly ruined and can never be made better, no matter what, and you 're completely inconsolable, it would be nice if you heard someone bringing some soup upstairs . . . The Third Thoughts got Tiffany off the bed and over to the door, where they guided her hand to slide the bolt back. Then they let her fling herself on the bed again. A few minutes later there was a creak of footsteps on the landing. It's nice to be right. Miss Level knocked, then came in after a decent pause. Tiffany heard the tray go down on the table, then felt the bed move as a body sat down on it.

Just this very sweet and relateable baby teen moment where Miss Level tries to comfort her. The other thing I really love about it is the Third Thoughts being the part of you that makes sure that even when you’re low you still take care of yourself. Because I’ve named that part of myself too and it makes me feel close to Tiffany.

Tiffany is feeling so miserable and insecure and homesick that she really just wants to see the invisible hat. So she uses her “See Me” spell to step outside herself and sees the hat right there on her head… but when she tries to reverse it the Tiffany she’s looking at says, “We see you. Now we are you.” Then: Lightning struck somewhere nearby. The window blew in. The candle flame flew out in a streamer of fire, and died. And then there was only darkness, and the hiss of the rain. Damn, that’s a good end for a chapter.

The next morning Tiffany seems to be back in her body, and feeling just great. But discontented with boring nonmagical chores. She wants to climb mountains! BUT she’s losing tiny bits of time, during which she seems to be trying to leave messages, asking for help. Once again, a multiple witch is able to resist not just mind control, but total annihilation of the mind. It seems like her Third Thoughts are somewhat able to curb the nasty temper of the new Tiffany because they’re already used to regulating her. Which is how it is, right, when you’re going through puberty? But she’s seeing things that were seen by minds the Hiver already consumed, and speaking in their voices. She can read minds and she’s telekinetic. She just wants to ACTUALLY USE SOME MAGIC. She leaves the cottage, and Rob, who’s been worriedly tracking her, talks to Miss Level about her.

Miss Level is bewildered at the idea of Tiffany being a powerful witch because she can’t do everyday magic on command—Rob says no, it’s a deep magic tied to the land, not to be used for party tricks. It kind of reminds me of a recent discussion on ADHD, and how it makes ‘simple’ tasks like doing the laundry or making lunch very difficult, but complex tasks like spontaneously producing a podcast much easier. Tiffany is very much in the mold of a hyperlexic child who doesn’t fit in anywhere and is bad at what people expect her to be good at, while being good at things no-one expects her to be able to do at all. Makes me wonder some things about Sir Terry.

So she goes to Annagramma’s to threaten her and try to recruit her as a crony, because the Hiver likes to amass power. Wherever she goes, shambles and curse nets disintegrate, presumably because her very existence is a curse—the type of magic she uses doesn’t play nice with anything else. She goes to a magical paraphernalia shop and turns someone into a frog to get a good discount. Comes home and kills Miss Level. In the ensuing struggle within Tiffany’s mind, she passes out and the Feegles have to go inside her mind.

Inside the part of Tiffany’s mind where Tiffany still is, it looks like the Chalk, and there are the hills and Granny Aching’s shepherd hut. On the door in chalk is written a list of smells that belong to the hut, and if the Hiver smells them it will be brought there—this is important because as long as Tiffany is on her own turf she’s pretty well unstoppable since her power comes from the land. So Rob sends a raiding party to steal the smells, and meanwhile he’s got to fight a bunch of trees that are trying to steal the sunlight from the hills. When the Hiver appears on Tiffany’s turf the Feegles all start fighting it, because of course they do! The earth shakes; the trees start to fall over; and the hills grow taller and start to move, because they’re the shape of a sleeping girl. Yes! That’s right! Tiffany IS the land, and she is SO much bigger than the Hiver, which she picks up between her two fingers. The Feegle bard begins to weep because he’s not good enough to write a song that will do justice to their hag of the land.

And Tiffany wakes up under a green quilt that looks like the chalk hills. She’s really dissociated but someone tells her to milk the goats, so she does. When she comes back to herself Granny Weatherwax is there and explains that one of the previous hosts, a wizard who studied Hivers, explained everything in Tiffany’s sleep. Hivers collect people, and Tiffany now has a head full of ghosts. That’s right she’s DOUBLE MULTIPLE.

We also have a very good bit with Miss Level, who you will recall lost one of her bodies in a Hiver accident, still going about her business as if she still had four hands without realizing it. And because she’s a witch, she can just do that! To me it reads as a parallel for the hat full of sky Granny gave Tiffany, something you can’t see but that nevertheless exists and does its job. I mean, I’m also a sucker for magical workarounds for disabilities, especially if the disability is something strange like ‘only having one body.’ Granny does a little speech on how magic is the easy part of witching, and dealing with people is both the hard part and the more important part.

Now this is something very important to me! Pratchett’s witches, the good ones, are ALL about tikkun olam. They don’t ask ‘who will repair the world?’ They say, ‘I will do it.’ When I was young this made a huge impression on me, that Pratchett presented these witches as the people to admire. I still find it very comforting, this permission to be able to be nasty and self-confident and know I can’t expect thanks for my good work. This is not necessarily to say that I approve of anyone telling children that selflessness is The Right Way To Be—just that for many reasons I have chosen to try to be generous and hardworking, and Pratchett tells us this is difficult and irritating and uncool. I love him. I’m probably going to witter about this during every single witch book but whatever, Granny Weatherwax is my own mean grandmother who raised me.

So now Tiffany has to repair the world. She’s got to do the medicine for everyone and she’s got to visit old Mr Weavall whose money she stole while she was possessed. But when she checks in the box, lo and behold, it’s filled with gold from the barrow where the Feegles live! Mr Weavall is delighted, gives Tiffany a gold coin, and decides on the spur of the moment to get married.

Which is a very cute way to show that sometimes you’ll get rewarded when you don’t think you deserve a reward, but you’ve got to be humble about it even so. “It’s an unfair world,” Granny tells Tiffany. “Be glad you have friends.” And that’s it, isn’t it?

Granny and Tiffany spend the night up in the mountains stalking the Hiver (unsuccessfully) and then go down the Witch Trials, which is a bit like a fair where all the witches show a cool thing they can do. The Hiver finally starts to move in.

Tiffany builds a shamble, an inconsequential piece of witchery she hasn’t been able to do for the whole book. She can do it now because the stakes are high enough. Yep! That old familiar ADHD feeling, where you can’t make anything happen unless you’re panicking and half mad with guilt! Like us, her power comes from being stressed the fuck out, and it’s correspondingly huge: when she creates her shamble, a curse net to catch the Hiver, the carved horse on the hillside down in the Chalk gets up and leaps away toward the mountains. I’m sorry I haven’t communicated all the great imagery that Pratchett brings back for the climax; he’s excellent at weaving together the details of place in a way that make them important and real. Any book about Tiffany Aching is also a book about her whole country, because in many ways she is the avatar of the Chalk.

And she talks to the Hiver. It’s afraid of endlessly continuing to experience the world, which is a real mood. It wants Tiffany to teach it to die, but it feels that because it isn’t a single person it can’t possibly die. Tiffany tells it a lovely story:

'I'm made up of the memories of my parents and grandparents, all my ancestors. They're in the way I look, in the colour of my hair. And I'm made up of everyone I've ever met who's changed the way I think. So who is “me”?'

She tells the Hiver it might as well just construct an identity and inhabit it, in the same way humans do. And now that your name is Arthur (she names it) you just have to cross this endless desert behind this creepy door that I’ve just invented. So the Hiver goes off to learn how to die! But Tiffany is trapped here forever because her door has vanished. She has a few minutes to sink into despair before Granny Weatherwax opens the door from the other side and goes “Come on now, I’m an experienced psychopomp and so will you be, but we haven’t got all day.” And, importantly, Granny says witches never talk about the psychopomp thing. One of those open secrets.

Tiffany wakes up surrounded by the other apprentice witches. She tries to tell them what she’s seen but Annagramma is pretty set on making it seem like Tiffany must have been imagining things. But she takes off her boots and they’re full of black sand that moves weird, and Petulia has heard the rumors about the dark desert, and they believe her.

“Petulia, we're not supposed to talk about this,” said Harrieta, gently.

“No!” said Petulia, her face red. “It is a time to talk about it, just here, just us!”

This feels very important to me, that there’s a space for girls to have secrets and to explore taboo topics together. The camera cuts away for the actual conversation, but I’m glad they got to have it.

Gossip travels fast among the witches. All of them want to see Tiffany and Granny Weatherwax pitted against each other in the Trials—everyone seems to want one or the other taken down a peg. But neither of them enters. They just stare at each other through all the performances, and Tiffany feels that she’s already won because Granny, the only witch who matters, gave her approval already. It seems a bit shortsighted when I put it like that, but it’s such an important an buoyant feeling to have a mentor figure you admire and trust tell you that you’ve done well. Tiffany doesn’t care what Annagramma thinks any more, and in Pratchett’s universe this takes away her sway over everyone. Not quite how it works, but certainly how it feels in your heart.

Later she goes to visit Granny and gets another lecture on how the trappings of station aren’t as important as what you do with them, and she thinks about how Granny feels a lot of pressure to keep being The Best and would secretly like someone clever to beat her at her own game. It’s a very sweet moment. The books ends with Tiffany going home for a couple weeks to help with the lambing down in the Chalk, and throwing away her fancy witch hat with the stars on it. She replaces it with the hat made out of the sky, which, as night falls, fills up with stars.

It’s a special kind of fun to dissect young adult novels because by reading them we can understand what the author wants children, here especially young girls, to know and believe. In this one we have:

People can’t make you feel small and stupid if you don’t play along with them

Understanding people is more important than any technical skill, and more difficult to learn too

It’s extremely embarrassing to be a weird mentally ill kid but you can do great things if you see your strangeness as an asset instead of trying to destroy it

Regulating your own worst thoughts and impulses is a power that takes careful honing but can become a superpower

Capable friends are the best thing in the world to have.

This, and the very last bit where Tiffany turns up for Jeannie’s first kids to be born, also lead us to an important message: that women should support each other even when circumstances or other people seek to pit them against each other. We see this too during the Trials when the other witches want to see Granny and Tiffany compete. Allying yourself with other women is better all around, and additionally it might surprise other people in a very satisfying way. I’m not a woman and I don’t believe I’ve ever thought I was, but I’m VERY interested in women learning to love themselves and each other. And of course, witches have also got to love themselves and each other, and I am a witch.

Thanks, A’tune in next week, theme song by et c et c.

#rips off shirt to reveal TIFFANY ACHING FANCLUB PRESIDENT shirt underneath #discworld #audio #it's yelling all the way down

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castyourpodtothewind · 6 years ago

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CYPTTW Review #5 - The Ghost Radio Project

Who the hell are you?! Hi! I’m Taylor and I recently dived headfirst into podcasts! I have since binged on several of them and decided to make reviews of the ones that really stood out. These are not going to be big, professional reviews (I’m lazy) but they should hopefully contain information to help you get into some great new listens!

Where do you listen to your podcasts? My personal recommendation for listening to podcasts is the Pocket Casts app, available for Android or iPhone. It costs $3.99 to buy, but I think it's super worth it, since it has a lot of great features and zero in-app ads, which to me is worth every penny. But if you like free apps or just don't have the scratch right now, my runner up is Podcast Addict. It's free and has some (but not all) of the features Pocket Casts has, plus you have to deal with the ads. But if you don't like either of those, do some searching! There's lots of options out there.

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Name of Podcast: The Ghost Radio Project

Creators of Podcast: Gene Jeter and Dilan Taylor

Genre(s): Dystopian Future, Drama, Humor

Start and End Date of Podcast: August 14th, 2017 - November 7th, 2017 (On Hiatus until 2019/Indefinite)

Number of Episodes: 4 (Episodes will be re-recorded for better quality and re-released when the show FULLY premieres in 2019/Indefinite)

Release Schedule: On Hiatus until 2019/Indefinite

Where Can I Find It: https://ghostradioproject.com/ or check out their official Tumblr page at @ghostradioproject

Donation/Patreon?: The donation page they had up has since stopped working, and I wasn’t able to find one that did. (If anyone knows where it is, PLEASE DM me.)

Age Rating: This show deals with violence, exile from a hostile government and has profanity. R.

Where I Am Now: Caught Up

Official Summary: Nearly a decade after the economic, social, and ecological crisis known as the Collapse, a small group of unauthorized radio broadcasters move together through a post-Capitalism era in the southwestern United States, clinging to one another for survival. Due to the hard-line segregation between civilians living in government-run cities and those who remain outside the system, the region beyond the State's boundaries has become a desolate, impoverished place now called the Outlands by most everyone who tries to make a life there. Together, these pirate radio broadcasters form Ghost Radio, a mobile station carried from one frequency to the next as they make their way through the bright, arid lands of West Texas. Tune in to one of the last propaganda-free radio stations in existence. When you can find it, that is….

Representation?: Pretty much EVERY character on this show is either LGBT (including Non-Binary) or POC, and there’s also Autistic representation too.

Transcripts?: Official transcripts are available, but only for the first two episodes.

Trigger Warnings?: Government Exile, Violence

How Long To Listen Before Giving Up?: It’s only four episodes and they’re SO GOOD. Listen to the whole thing. I mean it.

Anything Else I Should Know?: Please read this post from the creators: https://ghostradioproject.tumblr.com/post/174931529609/friends-thank-you-for-your-patience-over-the-last

If You Like This, You Might Also Like: Alice Isn’t Dead, The Strange Case of Starship Iris, King Falls AM

Pros

This show starts strong and STAYS strong. A+ pilot, immediately gets you interested and makes you crave more. I adore the concept for this show. A bunch of queer, disabled, POC liberal fugitives, exiled from the government for being ‘unwanted’ and spreading the news of the resistance through secret radio channels in an RV in the Texas desert? SIGN ME THE FUCK UP!

All the characters share their unique traits in real life. Autistic character? Autistic actor. Non-Binary character? Non-Binary actor. POC character? POC actor. And this is by studio mandate, they make it explicitly clear that these characters must be these things in real life if they are to be acted that way. And these people live in a deep conservative state where actor choices can be slim, making their choice even more admirable.

The voice acting is INCREDIBLE, and for a low-budget podcast I was blown away by how great the production sounds. They rely solely on donations and money out of their own pockets, making it clear that they never want to have ads on this show. Having a podcast without ads is extremely difficult, so please donate to them when/if it becomes available!

The Ghost Radio Project doesn’t just spread news of the resistance, it also broadcasts the only music channels you can get after the government takeover. The soundtrack to this podcast is so good you won’t want to skip any of it.

Cons

None. I can’t think of a single thing I didn’t like about this podcast. It should be way more popular than it is and I hope everyone joins me in awaiting its full, updated release.

MY RATING: 10/10 TRANSMITTERS - Holy DAMN this podcast blew me away. I devoured everything that was available and I’m still starving for more, and it breaks my heart that more people haven’t heard about this show. It’s got so much heart and has so many things going for it, and in today’s turbulent times I found it a very cathartic thing to listen to. The resistance needs this podcast. Listen. Survive. Mobilize.

#the ghost radio project #ghost radio #ghost radio project #cypttw #cast your pod to the wind #podcast #podcasts #podcast recs #podcast reviews #podcast recommendations #ghostradioproject #no spoilers

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noddytheornithopod · 6 years ago

Note

5 for the ask meme?

(From here)

5 - Favorite Episode(s)? Hmm, this is interesting. I have a few that come to mind as favourites for various reasons. I love so many of them, but here’s what I consider major standouts.

Alone Together: This is just such a sweet episode, not really much else to say on it. I’m major Connverse trash. :V

Open Book: I really admire this episode because it has a message that is only growing MORE relevant with time. People are defining their relationships too much by what they do and don’t like in regards to specific media (a major feeling I have right now because of Phineas and Ferb and Milo Murphy’s Law and the increasingly mixed reaction of their crossover lol). If your friendship really matters, you will know it’s okay to have different opinions on a book, movie, show, etc. I mean, it even feels like the Steven Universe fandom forgets this so much, I can tell you I’ve made my share of mistakes with this.

Sworn to the Sword: This is the episode that made me realise what the show could truly be capable of. It’s just so dark and sinister, and I really appreciate how the show isn’t afraid to use its own core characters like Pearl as episode antagonists. Of course, as you’ll see in a bit, this episode is now even darker. :V But I mean, in the end it’s about Steven and Connie’s relationship and how close they’ve become, and also really brought to my attention the idea of how self sacrifice can be detrimental. It’s just so good. I see some people take issue with the end and while I can see why, I’m still fine with it personally. It’s also just so well done from a technical standpoint too, like seriously Do it for Her has to be one of my favourite examples of lyrical dissonance I’ve ever seen, and the visual storytelling is brilliant.

Log Date 7 15 2: Look, I NEEDED a Peridot episode on this list, okay? XD I adore her, and this episode is so funny and great. It also helps add to Peridot’s character to the point it made me wish I got to see this before It Could’ve Been Great. XD It’s also cool because it really shows how much Steven can sometimes miss and as a result us because we’re limited to his perspective.

Mr Greg: Nuff said. Okay but seriously, Steven Universe musical episode? Yes please. Steven Universe musical episode that has major development for Greg and Pearl? Even bigger yes please. Honestly, you can really tell they went all out here, and the level of effort and passion really shows. It’s Over, Isn’t It is of course the big standout song, but they’re all enjoyable, and I really like Both of You both as a song and as the episode’s climax.

Mindful Education: Yeah, another really adored one. When I was first watching it, I have to admit I wasn’t quite sure where it was going. Steven Universe’s slower pace than most cartoons does that sometimes. XD But then the final act came, and it all clicked for me. Steven is really starting to struggle now and question who Rose Quartz really is, and it’s getting to him a lot. It’s also another great episode showing just how supportive Steven and Connie are of each other, seriously I adore them. Also, Here Comes a Thought is one of the best songs if not THE best song in the show hands down, it’s such a powerful piece of music and listening to it really is able to help with things like anxiety and stuff (and I mean as someone with OCD and also being an Autistic person prone to intense emotions, it really is something that helps).

Onion Gang: What?????? Some random townie episode??? Boring filler, get out!!!!!! Okay to be serious, this is actually my favourite of the Beach City citizen based episodes. I always was hoping for an episode that really helped to make Onion sympathetic because to me he’s VERY Autistic coded (in a different way to characters like Pearl and Peridot that is) and as a result a lot of the stuff people say about him rubs me the wrong way. This episode was just really touching, we got to see more of Onion than we ever had seen before and it helps make him more sympathetic to those who aren’t a fan of him. Also seriously, the part where he cries at the end because he’s now alone again always hits me hard.

I Am My Mom: Oh gosh, this episode. It might even be THE favourite depending on my mood. The previous episodes built up the threat of Aquamarine and Topaz really well and they really did have quite a scary presence. But this episode, damn. It just really hits so hard. It’s already beginning at a low point, but it just gets even harder. Just as when Steven seemed to think he might begin to heal over his issues, Aquamarine shows up with Topaz and they completely botch everything. Topaz is great as someone intimidating and will ultimately remain loyal to her duty even if we discover she’s secretly really struggling and sympathetic, but I love Aquamarine BECAUSE she’s such a little shit. I mean, I even get the impression she’s not even fully into her job and just wants what comes out of it for her. Steven’s guilt gets to the better of him to the point where he basically just gives up and sacrifices himself, quite possibly the lowest point for him so far. It’s a DEVASTATING scene, especially seeing how everyone is reacting. Connie’s scream at the end completely breaks my heart because now she risks being alone again, it’s so sad. The next two arcs are really great because this episode is such a wham. Speaking of which…

The Wanted arc: It’s probably just because it’s fresher in my memory, but I love it all so much. Not only do we get major character growth for Lars (and he fucking dies… ouch), but we also have it made clear to us the known story about Pink Diamond doesn’t make sense. I am a little let down by Lars’ Head, which while still a good episode I did feel maybe wrapped things up a little too neatly since Steven had such a means to get home. I guess maybe I just feel they needed another revived being to help establish it more so that it felt less of a surprise and less convenient? Still though, the next arc makes it clear it’s not all so easy.

The Season 5 Connie/Steven arc: Another instance where every episode hits so brilliantly. For me the second half of the episodes are definitely the overall stronger ones, but seeing this fallout made sense even if it was still devastating. I guess it’s why I like Aquamarine so much: she was able to fuck so much up compared to previous antagonists. But yeah, not only is the Steven and Connie stuff really emotional and touching in the end, but I also love the Peridot stuff too. I was happy to see that they addressed the issues in her relationship with Lapis (something I think was discussed further on the SU podcast), but you still so bad for her. It also relit my interest in Amedot, Amethyst was just so caring even if she was rough at times. Also I really liked Sadie Killer, purely because it satisfied the anti-capitalist side of me (Working Dead is a pretty cool song too). Also… they even added depth to Kevin. FUCKING KEVIN. It was also amazing to see that Steven actually resorted to working with him to try and patch things up with Connie, but even that didn’t go as planned.

A Single Pale Rose: So not only did we get a creative way to learn more about, Pearl, we also get the biggest twist of the show so far. Like seriously, Rose being Pink Diamond is the best kind of twist. Not only was it heavily foreshadowed in the series and could be picked up by anyone willing to put the pieces together (I was a big fan of the theory myself because I felt it would fit into Rose’s character really well), but it’s also something that completely changes everything, and I mean EVERYTHING. Everything is now so much more darker and complicated, and Rose is now only even more interesting as a character. And the best part is: apparently there’s even more we have to learn about Pink Diamond that will inform why Rose is such a complicated and tragic being.

Made of Honor: It’s fresh in my memory, but even so I still think this episode is worth mentioning. This Garnet arc is great, and Ruby and Sapphire marrrying is so sweet and satisfying and of course I mention this here because the wedding planning is a lot of fun, but I also loved how Bismuth was handled in this episode. Even if she only had one episode before this, she was still such a fully realised character, and I don’t blame people for feeling so passionate about her. Seeing her come to terms with everything was just really interesting to see.

#ask #meme #steven universe #please send more!#(yes i need something positive to direct my attention to lmao)

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youniversify · 4 years ago

Text

WEEK 6...?

"To meet this one in all the lifetimes I will be given. In every life, in every chance, in every small opportunity that I will have—let the earth and heavens move so I can see you, meet you, and if it's not too much to ask Fate, I hope I get to love you." - writingcap

In the recent turn of events, this entry is currently optional. To be honest, I was slightly disappointed because I already loaded some possible topics in the entries. Result? This incoherent and self-indulgent rants about the topics I couldn't let go of. Some unfinished. Mostly drabbles because I spitball a lot and my attention span for it barely holds enough—I switch frequently.

So I made this prompt of two people finding each other over and over again in even in different universes and in different lifetimes because they're soulmates out of whim because my head was swimming with thoughts of this so I manifested into writing it. Although I doubt I'll continue it given that it's farfetched to become a music video (maybe at the greatest, only a school project film), my friends still hyped it. They're wonderful.

MV IDEA (Ben&Ben's "Araw-Araw")

"Hey."

"Hm?"

"Don't laugh."

"Wala ka pa ngang sinasabi."

"Iiih kasi, my tanong is serious!"

"Ge pagbibigyan kita."

"Naniniwala ka ba sa soulmates?"

Umaga na sa ating duyan 'Wag nang mawawala

"...Like yung multiverse theory eme?"

"Mm-hmm."

"Oo naman."

"Really?"

"Oo ngaaaa. Ang sakin lang, hindi lahat tayo may ganun. May pwedeng dalawa lang sila, may ibang tatlo. Yung iba romantic, iba platonic."

"Ay. Seryoso siya."

"Gago eh malamang seryoso tanong mo 'di ba?"

"'To naman, 'di mabiro. Pero sa tingin mo magkikita sila sa lahat ng universe na 'yun?"

Umaga na sa ating duyan Magmamahal, oh, mahiwaga

-- [CUT TO:]

Their eyes widened. But it followed a retracted confused pair of eyebrows, touch of an unfamiliar thread being prepared. They forget they're not the only ones in the room when someone else interrupts.

"Magkakilala kayo?"

— Parang? — Yes?

The studio lights flicker with anticipation, but neither of them say anything.

[intro instrumental]

Action! The two pretend to bump into each other, the collision of shoulders (albeit choreographed) emitting an unraveling of the thread. Growing familiarity.

They look into each other's eyes, and in them are emotions of...

-- [CUT TO:]

...hatred, envy. Self, why did you agree on letting this damn childhood friend acquaintance stay in their own house again?

Matang magkakilala

"Hanggang ngayon nambabangga ka parin?"

Pota, family friends nga pala magulang namin.

Two strangers meet for the first time. "Magkakilala kayo?" And they lose the words they're finding to say.

https://youtu.be/5uQLDRlp0xI

I'm actually quite glad I put off watching this when it first released during the week of our Preliminary Examinations, because now I get to marvel at the ingenuity. Extraordinary talent pulsing through the screen. Silent films aren't my cup of tea so going into it, I was doubtful. After watching, I shouldn't have doubted the expression of the 19-year-old dancer and choreographer Sean Lew who wrote, directed, and produced this. I realized I shouldn't be so wary of art that I don't understand fully or those of non-linear stories, seeing other fans' reactions of (albeit it's in our human nature to) breaking down and comprehending the meaning of the scenes. Ika nga, "art—you don't have to understand everything. Mas mahalaga yung nararamdaman mo." And I felt pain, anxiety, turmoil, misery, longing, fear, hope, tranquility, peace, and love. I've been a fan of him since 2018 when I discovered them competing in World of Dance and his partnership with Kaycee Rice—which coincidentally enough, is also the time he started creating this dance film. The juxtaposition of words in each Scene: Peace & War, Harmony & Noise, Give & Take, Hopes & Doubts, Fear & Acceptance; and the choice of music deliberately fit to the abovementioned concepts: Billie Eilish's ocean eyes, Panic! at the Disco's High Hopes, Dermot Kennedy's Glory, etc. And for an experimental film, it has a clear resolution! All of the main character's pursuits of piecing together the puzzle throughout his (what seems to be a coming-of-age) journey actually gives the audience the full picture. He's able to reunite with the one he loves, and though frightened by the possibility of that love leaving again by pushing her away, they eventually get to each other's heads and settle.

I've been reading audience feedback about how they think it's badass for a character to smoke. Squinting, I read more and learned that herbal cigarettes are what actors use during shooting. Then relieved, I searched deeper. Unfortunately I found out that even though herbal cigs are marketed as safer, they produce tar which is an active agent for causing cancer in regular cigarettes. So, ekis parin sakin if one day I produce any screenwork to have my actors use them. No smokers as characters I guess. I still have to think in special cases though, like if it's more of a plot device than a character stylistic choice.

So I tried to watch Big Bang Theory with a friend and I just found myself conflicted. Sure, I could make a video analysis essay about misogyny played for laughs and other numerous problematic comedic tropes used throughout the series, but what caught my eye in particular is the character Sheldon Cooper Ph.D., Sc.D. Played by the brilliant Jim Parsons, he's presented as the autistic-coded (that is, not explicitly confirmed by the showrunners nor canonically diagnosed) nerd scientist whose ego is too inflated to make room for tact. Which leads me to my main point: why are stereotypically intelligent fictional characters have low emotional quotient (EQ)? You'd suppose some writers have done research and stumbled upon the IQs and EQs of people. No. Instead, they completely disregard that a person with high regard for the technical sciences wouldn't be kind in the same breath. Realistically, they would value the social sciences because these are what built civilization in the first place and have successfully created and bridged human connection. They would take to heart the value of Psychology as well!

I discovered this podcast from the online fandom of Gaya sa Pelikula. Remember when I said they're critical thinkers? Well, one of the podcast's hosts sent this article on Parasocial Interaction to one of the lead actors himself. He then replied, grateful, with keeping himself in check as to how he views Karl.

He did admit in a question from Direk Takes exclusive paid episode that he sometimes doesn't "banlaw" his character Karl Almasen. Banlaw in film context is the act of washing out one's own character by personality traits, attitudes, behavior, and perspective. Common reasons are because (1) playing morally tainted characters can personally affect your mental health, and (2) blurring the lines between that and other types of dangerous characters (abusers, rapists, murderers) could start to take a toll on you and make you fall into the trap of, "Huh. Maybe my character has justifiable points for genocide." In line with this, he says he doesn't banlaw because Karl is inherently this innocent, wide-eyed freshman who sees the good in everyone without malice—says he could use some of that in his real life.

And that's so valid! He will make you kinder. But because of the fan-suggested article, he took a step back and reevaluated if there should still be a line drawn between him and Karl. In the podcast, we find the answer: Yes. Although Parasocial Interaction is defined as the audience forming a psychological close relationship with those of media personalities, it can still be redefined in the context of the media personality forming a psychological close relationship with his own formed character that may be lead to the constant interaction with his fans, myself included. "Gaya sa Payaso," the aforementioned podcast, tackles this conflict head on as the two main hosts break down situations and discern acceptability. It's an intelligent listen. I am reminded to still create distance between myself and the celebrity, no matter how close we could get.

https://open.spotify.com/show/7mg92j83PtjmbNnQNWVr8x?si=GMEbSF9TQryQANV3xf6Xqw

Full circle moment: after watching an amazing 3-hour interview about the trials and tribulation of sports (specifically cheer), at 1 am I told Paolo that I wrote about him in my Understanding the Self entries. He responded.

A sight to see: mama and papa sitting outside at a table, eating with my sister. I hand over a slice of chocolate cake from Red Ribbon. She takes it with a full smile, and after I've stood there gaping, she shares a laugh with papa. Though the speakers blare in the garage, the noise is drowned out.

Mundane.

Yet unfamiliar.

Do you ever see your parents' mortality hang over their head? Today, I did.

“Makikiisa tayo sa rebolusyong atin. Uuwi’t uuwian.” - Atria Pacaña

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fantasiawandering · 7 years ago

Text

Thoughts on Tech, Games, Autism, and Pokemon Go

So this year continues to be tough. I didn’t think it would be otherwise -- the factors I’ve been struggling with for the last couple years are long-term and ongoing and I was never under any illusions to the contrary -- but with the arrival of summer and the reversion of my feet to more-or-less working order after the six months of plantar fasciitis that helped get me kicked out of dance, I’ve been playing a lot of Pokemon Go as a way of getting active again. Which has combined with a lot of the work I’m doing to try to integrate tech and distance learning into our programming to give me a lot to sort through. Oddly enough, one of the things that’s helped crystalize it a lot has been Pokemon Go. One particular cool thing I discovered was the mitigating effect it has on one of the aspects of ADHD that’s cropped up since, well, basically, my sliders shifted.

I’ve long loved this comic about the autism spectrum as a colour wheel, and it helped sort out a lot about my own autism and why it went undiagnosed for so long (this article helped a lot too, and made me cry with how much I identified). But the colour wheel didn’t quite explain why I’d changed so fast from functional to struggling with things with both aspects of my autism and ADHD that I’d never been hindered by before (or at least, not to the point of not being able to function -- I had my first auditory sensory overload moment at work this year. That was an experience). And then I was rereading John Scalzi’s blog on how Straight White Male is playing the game of life on the lowest difficulty setting, and figured out a metaphor that actually works for me. All those pie slices on Rebecca Burgess’ comic are kind of like autistic difficulty sliders on the game of life, and most of my life, they’d all been set at levels that were challenging, but I could still progress through the game, farm for items, read the codex, etc. Then, in the last couple of years, two sliders got pushed, within a couple of months of each other, up to the highest setting, and haven’t gone back down, and combined with everything else, knocked out my ability to do things that had always been second nature.

Two of the big ones were reading and writing.

It’s not that I can’t. It’s that it’s now SO HARD to maintain that focus that it’s like running a marathon, and I’m so exhausted by trying to act neurotypical at work that I don’t have the energy to maintain it during my free time. Certainly not for fun. As soon as I relax, the ADHD kicks in, and I realize that nothing I’ve read or typed makes sense because my mind has wandered without even realizing it. I have no idea what happened on the last three pages I read, and the stuff I’ve written contains words that have no reason to be there, because my wandering brain just grabbed them and stuck them in.

But here’s where we get back to the interesting thing about Pokemon Go. One of the other things I just kind of gave up on was listening to podcasts. Listening to something has ALWAYS been a challenge for me. Always. From lectures, to author readings, to podcasts, my brain cannot keep focus on the auditory information without dekeing off elsewhere. I wrote entire novels during the lecture portions of English class. But when I discovered that doing cross-stitch during author readings at cons mean that I could not only follow the story for the first time ever, but I was getting sensory information I never had before (I could smell the descriptive passages), I thought hey, there’s something to this fidget tool thing, let’s see what else I can put together.

Which is when I discovered that Pokemon Go is the perfect thing for putting my brain into “listening to podcast” mode. I’ve ripped through all three seasons of the phenomenal Curiosity in Focus podcast while wandering around looking for Pokemon, and am currently looking for other awesome stuff to listen to (I’m open to suggestions!). And oh hell, did it get me thinking about other things, too.

A lot of Curiosity in Focus touches on Daniel’s passion for teaching science (and other things) through D&D. Some of the conversations seemed really familiar, too, overlapping with some of the struggles and challenges I’ve faced while trying to integrate tech into our programming at work. For a lot of different reasons, there’s resistance, but I maintain that it’s really important because it gives students the ability to engage with materials through the communication tools they’re used to using. And much like the work Daniel is doing with D&D, it’s a way of opening up opportunities for learning and engagement to the learners who typically struggle with the “traditional” learning environment.

Gamification is one way of dealing with these obstacles. We’ve been doing it to an extent with tabletop gaming based on the Blue Whale exhibition, but I’m going to come back to Pokemon Go again.

For all the problems the game has, and I’m not going to deny it has its issues, I’m really fascinated by the game design in Pokemon Go. There’s enough to occupy casual players, but between IV stats, Pokemon types, fighting counters, and evolutions, there’s also a ton to occupy people like me who engage in obsessive collection and categorization as one aspect of our autism. But they’ve built up a system that actually encourages that and turns it into an asset.

The game has individual competition -- collect the best Pokemon with the highest IVs and power them up. It has competition between teams to control the neighbourhood. But with the introduction of raid bosses, it now also compels the teams to work together to take them down, ensuring that the competition can’t become too alienating. And it encourages cooperation.

A few weeks ago, I ran into a group of people trying to take down a Tyrannitar at a gym. And now I’m in a chat group of people who work together, share ideas, meet up with each other, and help newcomers. With a few exceptions, everyone, no matter what team they’re on, is willing to wait, support, and help others. People freely give tips on how to catch Pokemon and teach you how to succeed. The person more or less in charge of the neighbourhood group I’m part of is really glad that there’s one guy in the group who will explain all the minute details to everyone else, because he knows he scours the internet keeping up with all the recent developments, they’re accurate, and he will patiently walk newbies through it no matter how many times they ask.

And it goes beyond that. While raiding at a gym the other day, a guy walked past, looked at us on our devices, and yelled “TALK TO EACH OTHER.” Then an older woman walked over and asked “what would you people do without those things? When I was little, we had to entertain ourselves.”

And I explained to her (as the teacher in the group, I’ve gotten pretty good at this and people are starting to expect it), that yes, as a Xennial (I don’t use that word when I’m explaining this, but damn it’s useful), I had to entertain myself, too. Which meant I spent a lot of time growing up isolated, alone, unable to find anyone who shared my interests. I spent most of my time indoors, and that carried into adulthood. And that in the past year playing this game, I’ve discovered parts of my neighbourhood I never knew existed, and talked to more people in the neighbourhood than I have in the ten years of living here prior to that. I now pass by people on the street, here and around the city, who smile and greet me by name. I’ve had strangers whose only encounter with me was catching a bulbasaur stop me from blithely heading into an area they knew wasn’t safe, and walk with me back to a safer, more populated part of the city. People are looking out for one another, and establishing a strong sense of community in a city of a million people.

That’s a hell of an accomplishment for a little game about catching cute cartoon animals.

Yes, I’m aware my experience isn’t universal, but it does illustrate something really critical in regards to the work that I do. Like everything else about technology, it’s a tool. It can be used for good or for ill, but for many, it has become a way to facilitate engagement in something that was previously insurmountable. For some people, that insurmountable thing was starting a conversation with a stranger on the street.

This is the kind of power I want to harness with the work that I do with social media, and Google Classroom, and Makerspaces, and Minecraft programs. We’re not using technology to replace traditional learning. We’re using it to build bridges to invite more people to the party who could never reach it before.

#Ed Tech #museum education #Pokemon Go

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rt-800 · 8 years ago

Text

Episode 107 Live Reactions

Spoilers under the cut.

I haven’t done one of these in a while but right now I have a little bit of time, I can afford to take a short break from editing my novella for class and dig into this episode. Let’s go!

Live recording of Ghost Stories, woo!

Birthday party! Unfortunately I won’t be able to attend, I need to be a few months older to get into the Bell House, as I learned last year to my disappointment (fortunately I was able to give a few awesome folks free attendance though, so it was worth it!)

Exclusive reading from the book! Incredible! :’)

I too scream at labyrinths.

Mole people? What podcast is this?

“Just... what did you do?”

“WHAT DID YOU DO”

Almost probably fine.

Some real political anxieties coming through here from the world of alternative facts.

“Trust us that we are a real store that you can really enter and definitely leave again.”

What the heck just happened??

UHH?

WAIT

SEVERAL YEARS WHAT THE FUCK

NEVER GOT TO KNOW

WHAT

IS THIS ANOTHER UNIVERSE

We DEFINITELY just hopped into another universe!?!?!?

Erika? HER??

A MIDDLE AGED WOMAN WHAT

A TATTOO OF AN ANGEL WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS

The Great Weeks of Memorial??

Vicious and inexplicable attack???

WAIT

THIS HAS GOT TO BE SOME SORT OF

JOHN PETERS YOU KNOW THE WAR HERO

LEANN HART???????

STEVE

WHAT THE FUCK THIS IS THE WORST UNIVERSE

THE GREAT CHANGE????

THIS ISN’T STEVE WHAT IS GOING ON

HE WAS ALWAYS LIKE THAT

Okay. Okay. This is the sort of thing this show always pulls out to catch us off guard

AND IT’S FUCKING WORKING

CECIL TRIES TO SEE WHAT STEVE SAW

THIS IS REALLY UPSETTING??

Mayor Winchell please shed some light on this!!!

MAYOR HOLD ON

MAYOR WINCHELL

IS STILL THE

FUCK

WHAT A NORMAL ASS SPEECH

WE’RE GOING BACK

WE’RE GOING BACK??

OK THANK FUCK.

THIS is the Pamela Winchell I know

So was that the ~normal~ Night Vale? The one without weird shit?

Carlos... don’t go into any subterranean areas. It will make me very nervous.

CARLOS HAS FAVORITE NUMBERS

HE LOOKS AT THEM TO CALM DOWN

THAT IS A VERY AUTISTIC THING AND A VERY CUTE THING AND I REALLY LIKE THAT.

Ten uninterrupted minutes of farm sounds? We gonna switch back to the other universe?

Back to the past, Samurai Jack?

Is this... is this an actual ten uninterrupted minutes of farm sounds?

Are they gonna come through finally?

Nope, okay, good. Thank fuck.

TELL ME MORE ABOUT THIS WEIRD OTHER UNIVERSE THAT IS APPARENTLY LESS WEIRD?

No traffic, this place is isolated, just as we learned from Erika.

NOTHING IS IN THE SKY ANYMORE.

Constant rolling thunder.

OH.

OHHHHHHH.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

OH OH OH OH OH NO FUCKIN’ WAY NO GODDAMN FUCKIN’ WAY

IS THIS THE UNDERGROUND

THE UNDERGROUND FUCKING

THE FUCKING UNDERGROUND MINI CITY IS THIS WHAT WE’RE HEARING

WAS THE GREAT ATTACK, FUCKING, CARLOS, OR THE GOVERNMENT TAKING THEIR SHIT

OR THE BOWLING BALL?

WHAT IF IT WAS THE FUCKING BOWLING BALL.

IT WAS CARLOS?

NO?

I’M SO CONFUSED HOLD ON.

THE PARALLELS.

CECIL NO

THIS POOR ALTERNATE CECIL WHO HASN’T MET A CARLOS.

So this is very definitely the underground city

BUT WE TRY.

THE WEATHER IS

OKAY.

WOW.

THAT WAS GENUINELY JARRING.

At least we do get the music.

Which sounds really nice already?

Hard to get me to like weather music right off the bat, but I like this.

LIKE. A LOT.

I ALREADY PULLED IT UP ON ITUNES AND THE SONG ISN’T EVEN DONE YET.

Anyway.

My taste in music is inconsistent and bizarre...

“Everyone you ever knew is really just a part of you.”

God fucking damn I like this song??

I’m listening to it again with the lyrics in front of me so I get a better understanding. Gimme a minute.

It’s one in the morning and I’m crying over this weather song??

This is some Leonard Cohen level of antiwar sentiment and I fucking love it??

AND THE BRINGING IT BACK AROUND TO JESUS AND THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT

GOD THIS IS SUCH A GOOD SONG.

It’s beautiful and I agree with it and it’s so sympathetic and sweet while still being this biting response to all the shit going on right now? Like it’s not aggressive (which, by the way, is totally cool and how I usually do with protest sort of stuff) but it’s still just so... ugh I AM GLAD I HEARD THIS WEATHER.

Okay, this isn’t a song analysis, this is Night Vale liveblogging. Back to the show.

IT IS THE UNDERGROUND CITY MAKING THE NOISE.

THIS IS THE CONNECTION.

CARLOS DON’T GO THERE.

IT’S THE CELEBRATION OF THE HORROR THEY SUFFERED.

THE HORROR OF OUR CARLOS.

That’s right, they’ve been technically at war with the tiny city for a really long time.

AND CARLOS FUCKED THEM UP AGAIN HOLY SHIT THAT’S SO UPSETTING

No no Carlos loves you I’m sure!

THAT VOICE ACTING FROM CECIL DAMN.

HUNTOKAR.

HUNTOKAR CAUSED THIS.

HUNTOKAR CAUSED THE SPLITTING OF THE WORLDS.

I MEAN WE KIND OF ALREADY KNEW THAT BUT. THAT’S WHAT HAPPENED WITH THE CITY UNDERGROUND.

THE MEMORIAL STATUE IS CARLOS’S FOOT HOLY SHIT I DIDN’T. MAKE THE CONNECTION.

TINY CECIL HAS THE HOTS FOR HUGE ABOMINATION CARLOS.

God, Tiny Cecil (Tinycil?) you dramatic boy, this is not the end of your damn world, YOU CAN GET ALONG, EVERYONE CAN GET ALONG.

So is Huntokar our next big bad? I hadn’t gotten *quite* that vibe from her, even though her involvement in a lot of weird shit has been very clear. We’ll have to see.

#wtnv #welcome to night vale #night vale #the missing sky #night vale spoilers -#spoilers -#wtnv spoilers -

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museumgirlsarah · 7 years ago

Text

Thoughts on EdTech, Autism, and Pokemon Go

Revised and reposted from elsewhere -- it may look familiar to a few of you.

So this year continues to be tough, and as a way to get active after six months of being sidelined by foot injuries, I’ve been playing a lot of Pokemon Go. Which has combined in my brain with a lot of the work I’m doing to try to integrate tech and distance learning into our programming, and as a result, it’s given me a lot to sort through. But one particular cool thing I discovered was the mitigating effect it has on one of the aspects of ADHD that’s cropped up since, well, basically, my sliders shifted.

Backing up a bit...

I’ve long loved this comic about the autism spectrum as a colour wheel, and it helped sort out a lot of personal understanding about my own autism and why it went undiagnosed for so long (this article helped a lot too, and made me cry with how much I identified). But the colour wheel didn’t quite explain why I’d changed so fast from functional to struggling with things, autism and ADHD-related, that I’d never been hindered by before (or at least, not to the point of not being able to function – I had my first auditory sensory overload moment at work this year. That was an experience). And then I was rereading John Scalzi’s blog on how Straight White Male is playing the game of life on the lowest difficulty setting, and figured out a metaphor that actually works for me.

All those pie slices on Rebecca Burgess’ comic are kind of like autistic difficulty sliders on the game of life, and most of my life, they’d all been set at levels that were challenging, but I could still progress through the game, farm for items, read the codex, etc. Then, in the last couple of years, two sliders got pushed within a couple of months of each other up to the highest setting and haven’t gone back down, and combined with everything else, they knocked out my ability to do things that had always been second nature.

Two of the big ones were reading and writing.

But here’s where we get back to the interesting thing about Pokemon Go. One of the other things I just kind of gave up on was listening to podcasts. Listening to something has ALWAYS been a challenge for me. Always. From lectures, to author readings, to podcasts, my brain cannot keep focus on the auditory information without dekeing off elsewhere. I wrote entire novels in my head during the lecture portions of English class, and those were lectures about things I was interested in. But when I discovered that doing cross-stitch during author readings at conventions meant that I could not only follow the story for the first time ever, but I was getting sensory information I never had before (I could smell the descriptive passages), I thought hey, there’s something to this fidget tool thing, let’s see what else I can connect.

Which is when I discovered that Pokemon Go is the perfect thing for putting my brain into “listening to podcast” mode. I’ve ripped through all three seasons of the phenomenal @curiosityinfocus podcast while wandering around looking for Pokemon, just started Imaginary Worlds, and am currently looking for other awesome stuff to listen to (I’m open to suggestions!). And oh hell, did it get me thinking about other things, too.

A lot of Curiosity in Focus touches on Daniel’s passion for teaching science (and other things) through D&D. Some of the conversations seemed really familiar, too, overlapping with some of the struggles and challenges I’ve faced while trying to integrate tech into our programming at work. For a lot of different reasons, there’s resistance from many different avenues, but I believe passionately that the work we’re doing is really important because it gives students the ability to engage with materials through the communication tools they’re used to using. And much like the work Daniel is doing with D&D, it’s a way of opening up opportunities for learning and engagement to the learners who typically struggle with the “traditional” learning environment.

Gamification is one way of dealing with these obstacles. We’ve been doing it to an extent with tabletop gaming based on the Blue Whale exhibition, but I’m going to come back to Pokemon Go again.

The game has individual competition – collect the best Pokemon with the highest IVs and power them up. It has competition between teams to control the neighbourhood. But with the introduction of raid bosses, it now also compels the teams to work together to take them down, preventing the competition from becoming too alienating (most of the people I’ve played with have gotten into the habit of wishing each other luck when the battle begins, regardless of team affiliations). And it encourages cooperation.

And it goes beyond that. While raiding at a gym the other day, a guy walked past, looked at us on our devices, and yelled “TALK TO EACH OTHER.” Then an older woman walked over and asked “what would you people do without those devices? When I was little, we had to entertain ourselves.”

And I explained to her (as the teacher in the group, I’ve gotten pretty good at this and people are starting to expect it), that yes, as a Xennial (I don’t use that word when I’m explaining this, but damn it’s useful), I had to entertain myself, too. Which meant I spent a lot of time growing up isolated, alone, unable to find anyone who shared my interests. I spent most of my time indoors, and that carried into adulthood. And that in the past year playing this game, I’ve discovered parts of my neighbourhood I never knew existed, and talked to more people in the neighbourhood than I have in the ten years of living here prior to that. I now pass by people on the street, here and around the city, who smile and greet me by name. I’ve had strangers I’ve only encountered for a few moments looking out for me and walking me to the subway after dark. People are looking out for one another and establishing a strong sense of community in a city of a million people.

That’s a hell of an accomplishment for a little game about catching cute cartoon animals.

#education technology #museum ed

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