#so i just shut up or struggle when the conversation is more mundane etc. i still like interacting with ppl it's just confusing sometimes..

[kimiko24]

autism really is a bitch huh

[littleoddwriter]

I love your writing! I was wondering if you could write Jesse, Asa, and poly Ghostface with and autistic gender neutral partner please.

Slashers x Autistic!GenderNeutral!Reader | Headcanons

Thank you so much for the request and compliment, I'm glad you enjoy my writing. :) I really hope you'll like these Headcanons! [Fortunately, I'm 98% sure I'm autistic, on top of having BPD, which has great overlaps with Autism anyway, so I've done lots of research over the past years and yeah- I'm just saying that I am definitely not unfamiliar with it and I hope I did an alright job! I focused on certain aspects that I know pretty much every autistic person experiences to some extent at least and that I'm personally familiar with as is. <3]

notes; GenderNeutral!Reader; Stimming; Meltdowns; Sensory Overload; Special Interests & Infodumping; Routines; Semi-Verbal; Asa is autistic, too; Stu has ADHD; Dealing with Difficulties in Social Situations; Implied/Referenced Self-Harm (unintentional); Implied/Referenced Ableism; Implied Murder; Poly-Amorous Relationship.

Characters: Asa Emory/The Collector; Billy Loomis; Stu Macher; Jesse Cromeans/Chromeskull.

Asa Emory/The Collector

With Asa you’re lucky, since he’s autistic, too – so whenever you talk about your special interests, he’s not only listening attentively and engaging in an actual conversation with you; he also goes on about his own afterwards!

In addition, it was such a relief to not be forced to mask around him at all, and it was only later that you realised just how much less exhausted you were at the end of every day then

He obviously understands all the struggles you face better than anyone, and while it’s not all exactly the same for him, he can sympathise with you and help you out, just like you do with him

If you suffer from sensory overload, he knows exactly what to do – he turns off all lights, gets out your noise cancelling headphones and stim toys you might rather have instead of hurting yourself with more extreme stims you have at times like this

He handles your meltdowns really well, too – he always lets you ride them out and makes sure you know that you’re not alone and that he’s here for you

Some days you might not talk at all, and he couldn’t care less – he knows what it’s like, he is semi-verbal as is – and so you two have come up with a system to let each other know what’s going on; and you have prepared cards for more mundane things, while you otherwise resort to texting each other about more important and unique things

On the other hand, you also can’t shut up sometimes and generally he is okay with it; he actually enjoys the things you tell him, but when he needs to focus on his work it can be a bit distracting of course – still, he never holds it against you – he just tells you to be quiet and talk to him later, and you understand it; so it’s fine

The two of you also have a whole box full of different stim toys you both use, and it makes you incredibly happy to have a shared collection of them with your love – it’s almost strangely romantic

Since you’re both autistic, it was super easy to come up with routines that work really well for either of you when you moved in together – that way you never get in each other’s ways or upset one another

Billy Loomis & Stu Macher

Stu has ADHD, so he understands you better than Billy does in this department, but they both put in a lot of effort in knowing what boundaries you have, what they’re supposed to do in which situations, what you struggle with most, etc. – They’re happy to make accommodations for you

Sometimes Stu’s current hyperfixation is something in the realm of one of your special interests and so you just talk back and forth about it for hours, which can drive Billy a little insane, but he secretly loves just how passionate you two get, while he’s just sitting between you two and watching you go on about topic XYZ

If anyone at school or college thinks they have the right to mock you and these two witness it, or you tell them about it, you can be certain to not see that person ever again

They never make you feel weird or embarrassed about your stims, interests, or specific ways to do things – it’s who you are and they love everything about you, especially the things that others usually didn’t

Just like Asa, they are ready to help you out and provide for you, when you’re suffering from intense sensory overload – you’ve walked them through what is best for you in such situations and they’re really good at following what you said

Meltdowns, too – you’re never made to feel ashamed; they never treat you any differently and just let you ride it all out, as they comfort you afterwards and tell you that it’s alright

Even though they’re both very social, they never force you into situations you’re uncomfortable with and make sure you’re okay whenever you do come along to house parties, or meeting with several people at once – if you need to leave, they’ll go with you and comfort you if needed

Jesse Cromeans/Chromeskull

You tell him that you’re autistic pretty early on, and while he didn’t know too much beforehand, he does his research and lets you tell him how it affects you, etc.

He is incredible, really – he lets you infodump about your interests and engages in it via signing or texting you what he thinks; he is genuinely interested in whatever you have to say and admires your passion and the way your entire face lights up when you get to talk about something so important to you

He might not understand your sensory issues entirely, but he doesn’t judge you for them either – he gladly accommodates you in whatever way you need

He buys you stim toys you’ve been eyeing, but couldn’t afford by yourself; and he generally doesn’t make you feel bad about your stims and behaviours

In case you tell him about the ableist things people have told you before, and how they might have mocked you for things you can’t help, he gets angry on your behalf (he may target some of these people next, too – just for good measure)

If you happen to have a meltdown in his presence, he makes sure to not agitate you more; instead he assures you of his presence and comforts you when you need it – if you’re okay with cuddles and kisses, he’ll primarily use those to calm you down when the worst is over

He never gets in the way of your routines and always makes certain you can pursue them properly – he doesn’t want to cause you any distress

Whenever you may lash out because of sensory overload, he doesn’t take it personally or get mad at you; instead he asks what is causing the overload and accommodates you – especially in public; he’ll remove you from wherever you may be at that moment and comforts you to help you come down from it

[getofy]

bakugo as your boyfriend would include...

request: what would dating bakugo be like?

gn!reader (but there are slight fem themes if you squint); fluff; headcanons; no spoilers

character: bakugo katsuki

a/n: this goes out to my one & only <333. ilysm deku kinnie pls enjoy! also, @ bakugo simps i hope this feeds u well. he’s sm fun to write for. headcanons + a short playlist are under the cut.

*ty to my bakugo kinnie/simp friend for helping me write this. i appreciate u. A LOT of these ideas r hers!!

-

FALLING IN LOVE WITH HIM SOUNDS LIKE:

01. TEENAGE DIRTBAG by WHEATUS

02. GUTTER GIRL by HFHW

03. BOYFREN by LOVE LEO

04. IN TOO DEEP by SUM 41

05. TOUNGES by THE FRIGHTS

06. R U MINE? by ARCTIC MONKEYS

-

katsuki is a very emotional person. he feels incredibly deep and profound things, but has trouble expressing it in a healthy manner. this being so, him as your s/o would consist of a lot of subtle displays of affection! such as...

-> SHOWING YOU HOW TO DO STUFF:

he’ll teach you small things about his hobbies. will 100% show you how to play the drums, mountain climb, etc.

literally you learn so much with him it’s insane. he claims it’s because he couldn’t stand dating an incapable person, but in reality it’s just because he likes feeling useful/needed HAHA.

-> TOUCHING YOU:

this man is lowkey super clingy...so he will always find a way to be physically close to you.

a BIG fan of putting his arm around your shoulder fs. don’t mention it to him though because he’ll IMMEDIATELY stop doing it.

-> LETTING YOU SIT ON HIS LAP:

if you’re comfortable with it, he’d adore it if you sat on his lap!! like fr if you walked up to him when he was lounging on the couch and did it this is how it would go...

“what’re you doing?”

“sitting down, why?”

he just stares and then grunts before going back to whatever he was doing

don’t let his indifference fool you, he is very pleased.

probably looked up at the ceiling and thought about it for an hour once you left

he thinks about you a lot

-> ALWAYS COOKING FOR YOU:

he pretends like it’s a nuisance, but it genuinely makes his day when you eat the stuff he prepares. literally if you’re hungry just ask him to make you smth and he’ll do it. he actually gets angry if you decide to cook without him.

one time, katsuki seemed really tired because of training and school. so you tried to make something for the both of you guys to enjoy together. it uh...didn’t go well...

“what are you doing?!”

“cutting vegetables...”

“no. you’re doing it all wrong. give me the knife.”

“excuse me??”

“GIVE ME THE KNIFE.”

you ended up giving him the knife

the meal was great!?? but he scolded you for like 30 minutes after PLS.

-> SHOWING YOU OFF:

he’s proud that you’re his s/o, so of course he’s gonna brag about you to EVERYONE.

it’s not overbearing or in an annoying way either. it’s moreso him talking about your accomplishments and stuff like that.

he literally only shows you off for his own benefit. NEEDS everyone to know how cool you and him both are.

it’s an ego thing.

i take back what i said abt it not being annoying. it’s a nuisance to everyone who ain’t you.

-> SITTING NEXT TO YOU:

like i said before, he needs to be close to you at all times. sooo he always sits next to you. no questions asked.

expect to see a pouting, petty katsuki if you decide to sit next to somebody that isn’t him.

“are you seriously mad that i sat next to deku and not you on the bus?!”

“‘COURSE IM MAD.”

“you’re impossible.”

“HUH??????”

-> LETTING YOU WEAR HIS CLOTHES:

PRACTICALLY CHUCKS HIS SHIRTS AND HOODIES AT YOU. LITERALLY JUST- PELTS YOU WITH HIS CLOTHES UNTIL YOU PUT THEM ON.

you took his hoodie without asking ONE TIME and now he’s hooked on seeing you in his clothing.

he’ll always pretend like he’s doing you a favor though.

gotta love how annoying he is! 

-> GIFT GIVING

i wouldn’t go as far to say that gift giving is his love language, but he’ll buy things that you bring up in causal conversation a whole lot.

he just kinda bashfully shoves the gift in your hands and watches as you fawn over it.

“awww! how’d you know??”

“you wouldn’t shut up about it.”

he loves seeing your pleased expression!! +100 boost to katsuki’s confidence.

-> HELPING YOU WITH ACADEMICS:

we ALL know how smart this man is.

he will 100% help you study for school if you’re struggling!

don’t expect him to go easy on you though.

if anything, he’ll probably be harder on you because he really wants to see you succeed.

he basically carries you through math

-> KNOWING MUNDANE FACTS ABOUT YOU:

i can see him knowing EVERYTHING about you. your birthday, your morning routine, your favorite snacks, your favorite songs, etc.

it doesn’t take a lot for him to remember this stuff either???

like, he thinks you’re unforgettable, so he just knows

-> WANTING TO IMPRESS YOU:

he wants you to know how cool he is so bad it’s laughable.

he’ll show off during training exercises FOR SUREEEE

bakusquad teases him abt it when he does lol they ALLL know how whipped he is for you

kirishima: wow, you’re really into it today bakugo!

denki: well (y/n) IS watching

bakugo: SHUT UP.

MISC HEADCANONS!

-> you enable him so much...like way too much. please get on that. someone needs to hold this stupid man accountable. he probably likes it when you scold him despite his protests so don’t be afraid to tell him off baby.

-> your approval makes his heart go $$/!/?!!!error??77776. like, even before you two started dating, he would ALWAYS feel flustered whenever you would compliment his outfits, fighting style, etc. now that you guys are dating, he still feels extremely dazed when you dote on him.

he’ll probably act super cocky about it though

“ ‘course i look good, idiot.” 

he’s trying his best to suppress the stupid smile trying to take over his face. eventually, he lets it out, and tbh everyone in 1A knows that it’s because of smth cheesy you told him.

he is SUCH a softie for you it HURTTSSSS GAHHHH!!

-> katsuki is a very protective boyfriend.

this goes for everything, but especially applies during intense situations.

will literally lay his life down for you without thinking twice about it. don’t fight me on this. it’s canon.

if you’re going on a dangerous mission, you BEST believe this man is tagging along with you.

if for some reason he can’t go, he’ll make it a point to stay up way past his bed time waiting for you to come back.

when katsuki chooses you over sleep just know that you’ve won at life.

he doesn’t see you as inferior in any way. he knows you can handle yourself, but he really wants to keep you safe bc if something bad happened to the love of his life he would be in shambles.

on a lighter note, if mineta bugs you, he’ll absolutely wreck him. will literally punt that grape boy into the next stratosphere.

also!! he’s not the type to care about what you wear. if you’re wearing smth a bit more revealing, the most he’ll say is that you look hot. literally is so unbothered.

he trusts you a lot so it’s like 🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️

protective ≠ possessive

-> dates w/ him are super all over the place! one weekend, you guys will just chill in his dorm and the next he’ll be laughing maniacally as he chases you down during an intense round of laser tag.

-> he’s big fan of competition, so he’ll turn everything into one.

let him win.

-> his hands are really sensitive because of his quirk, so if you kissed them he’d turn to mush.

im literally begging you to touch this man. help him. he is so touch-starved it’s not funny.

-> he runs hot so cuddles w him are so nice and comforting :(. will pull you in close and tight and NEVER let go.

in short, while dating katsuki definitely comes with it’s quirks, it’s a beautiful relationship. he respects you endlessly and will do anything to ensure your happiness. treat him right and he’ll do the same!!

have fun dating explosion boy!

*do not repost my work without proper credit and my explicit permission

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[whentherewerebicycles]

omg omg i am doing some fascinating reading today about the neurobiology of creativity for the playfulness project and it is ALSO helping me understand something that i have been grappling with for a while re: screentime and mindless scrolling on social media. i think a lot about that state of ‘endless scroll,’ where you are glued to your phone and can’t break away from the tumblr/twitter/instagram/facebook loop even though you know the activity you’re engaging in is making you feel increasingly unhappy and restless and dissatisfied.

the common explanation for that feeling is “oh, social media causes you to compare yourself to others, and that makes you unhappy,” but i’ve been thinking for a while that it must go beyond that, because often i’m not even engaging with content that would prompt comparison between my life and someone else’s (or engaging with ads that would make me feel dissatisfied about my body/life/job/whatever). i’ve also been thinking a lot about why it is that when i put my phone away (FAR away, like in my car or in a drawer in my closet) and read a physical book, it’s like something in my brain lights up again, and i find that suddenly my mind is spilling over with thoughts and ideas and hypotheses and plans for the future. i also feel so much happier and more buoyant in the second reading mode, in part because i experience that burst of creative thinking as intensely pleasurable and i begin to engage in a kind of future-thinking that projects me from the mundane present into an exciting, speculative future. in both situations—mindless scrolling and reading a book (or a PDF where i have all social media stuff blocked)—i’m actively reading text on a page. but the experience is so different (and the felt switch between the two states so dramatic) that i know there’s got to be something really different happening in the brain as i read.

the article i’m reading today is about the neurobiological basis of “combinatory play,” which is a form of creative, imaginative thinking that involves combining and recombining seemingly disparate ideas or schemas—in essence, engaging playfully with “what-ifs” and other kinds of speculative thinking (“could this be connected? what happens if i put this idea in conversation with that one?”). it outlines the four different stages of creativity: preparation, incubation, flash of insight (the eureka! or breakthrough moment), and then the methodical testing and validation of the eureka idea. but it focuses especially on the incubation period, which is the phase where you take a break from focused, deliberate work and instead engage in activities like daydreaming, mental wandering, doodling, meditating, sleeping and dreaming, walking, washing dishes, etc., ie activities where you disengage the conscious mind (with its desire for rational solutions and clear answers) and allow the unconscious mind to “play” with different, seemingly illogical ideas or combinations of ideas beneath the surface of conscious thought.

most interestingly: using brain-imaging technology, researchers have been able to demonstrate that in the moments before the flash of insight (the “aha!” moment), activity in your left frontal cortex slows and the visual cortex shuts down completely. according to this article, this slowing/shutdown “suggests that the brain needs to cut out external sensory input to increase connections between the conscious and unconscious mind and to let it play.” those moments directly precede the flash of insight, which occurs “with a burst in the right temporal lobe.” 

HERE is why i think that fact is so interesting re: mindless social media scrolling. when i am reading a book, i have significantly more control over the amount of external stimuli entering my brain. i am reading in a linear fashion, but i am also often pausing, looking up from the page, gazing off into the distance to speculate about possible connections, asking myself questions about what i’m reading, testing the information i’m encountering against what i already know or think to be true, etc. in other words, when i am reading a book or from a printed page, my brain moves fluidly between focused attention (the “preparation” stage of creative thinking) and daydreaming or speculative reverie (the incubation stage). the page itself is static, but it’s that stable foundation that allows my mind to wander freely in and out of focused attention, as i alternate between focused reading and a more playful, imaginative, speculative mode of thinking. being able to daydream (a state in which my unconscious or semi-conscious mind weaves in and out of conscious thought) is what allows unexpected new ideas and connections to surface in my mind, and that’s what prompts that exciting rush of creative thinking and future-oriented "what-if” thinking, which in turn triggers those feelings of intense pleasure and delight that lift my mood. 

you can’t daydream when reading on a screen, because there is no stable base, and no point at which the brain can momentarily taking in external stimuli can slow or stop (that slowing / shutdown in the left frontal cortext and visual cortex that necessarily precedes a burst of creative insight). on a screen, with the ability to endlessly scroll past content that is designed to hijack your attention and keep your brain continually stimulated. there’s no break in that flow of external stimuli, and no natural stopping points (like the end of a page) that would prompt your mind to rest for a moment or allow you to slip into that state of reverie. we also know that phones are SO GOOD at hacking into our brain’s attention system and trapping us in these extraordinarily addictive & self-reinforcing feedback loops, so we continually seek out more and more stimuli even as addiction makes us increasingly desensitized to the dopamine burst (and thus makes the activity itself less and less pleasurable to engage in).

finding it difficult or impossible to break out of mindless scrolling mode is not a personal failure of willpower. mindless scrolling is a behavior that social media apps are deliberately designed to elicit & repeatedly, unceasingly reinforce, which (because of our neuroplastic brains!) creates these addictive feedback loops we struggle to get out of. and, while comparative thinking might be part of why social media makes us unhappy, i think an even stronger reason might be that mindless scrolling traps us in this state of captivated attention (we can’t look away, bc the addictive loop has become too strongly reinforced) which is also simultaneously a state of continually distracted attention (it’s not sustained focus on a single idea or thread, because the endless scroll means we are continually barraged with stimuli—the emotional content of people’s opinions, ads designed to catch our eye, features of the app like alerts or notifications that continually distract us/break sustained focus, etc etc). hoo boy that is the WORST state of mind to be stuck in, and it’s the one that almost all of us operate in when we’re in that mindless scrolling phase!!!

so we are stuck in mindless scroll, but we are also continually having our equilibrium disrupted by a flow of stimuli designed to trigger strong instinctive or emotional reactions. AND THEN, on top of that, social media apps are essentially designed to eliminate the “incubation” stage—because time spent daydreaming, mental wandering, getting up to do something else, looking off into the distance to engage in imaginative speculation, etc., is time not spent engaging with the app, and therefore is “unprofitable” time that doesn’t serve the core purpose of social media: to keep us hooked on our phones, so that companies can continue harvesting our data (for profit) and/or selling us things. it’s not necessarily that companies are deliberately setting out to kill creative thinking or daydreaming or whatever (i mean... there’s an argument to be made here), but more just that incubation stage thinking isn’t profitable or productive in any way, and thus—in a culture obsessed with maximization and efficiency and productivity—is wasted time that could be harnessed for other ends. 

i don’t know if this makes sense!!!! but it is helping me understand that i think my instinct is right: that the kind of reading we do on screens is not the same as the kind of reading we do on paper or just when we are working away from screens/apps/phones, and also that there is probably a neurobiological explanation for why i feel so much happier, more engaged, and able to think fluidly and creatively when i am reading away from my phone vs. when i am reading on my phone or am stuck in mindless scrolling mode. 

[chocochar]

Hallooo :) I must ask bcs' I need some fiery sugar....would you consider doing headcanons about, (yes you are reading it correctly 😂😂) ENDEAVOR. Like he on a first date with his s/o 🔥

HOOOOO boi I haven’t ever written for Endeavor, I’m gonna be 100% with you XD so I really hope this is okay, sorry it took so long, I rewrote it a few times and I’m sorry ahead of time if he comes off as OOC! TuT  (btw i loooove your Midnight Stalker fics, had to add that, okay onto the hc’s!)

🔥 Endeavor is, well, not the best person socially. In fact to most people he’s hard to get along with, so finding someone who cares for him despite this the older man wasn’t expecting.

🔥 (F/n) is quite a few years younger, but doesn’t seem to mind the gap in age, being in their 20′s. Having started working at his agency as a secretary (F/n) proved themselves quite efficiently, which that along with their looks and attitude Endeavor couldn’t help but start to watch them, glancing and feeling a softness in his chest that he’s never experienced. They didn’t show fear of him, even if he got mad they’d simply fix the mistake and even tell him to calm down.

🔥 Endeavor never planned to ask them out. The #1 hero dating a secretary? To him at first it was an embarrassing thought. Plus his track record with relationship is... not good and scarce. But as time went on and the hero slowly began to change inside inch by inch since becoming the big #1 that thought started becoming more appealing, even if Endeavor wouldn’t admit it.

🔥 It was Hawks who set up the date (kind of, he helped push it, and nearly lost his feathers for it). He saw the light blush dusting the fire users cheeks when (F/n) came up to them with documents, and he was quick to ask if they’re single and looking.

🔥 Endeavor tried to hide his interest when (F/n) said yes to both, but his flames burst high when Hawks grinned and asked,”Oh yeah? Well, are you interested in hot heads?” as he visibly gestured at Endeavor.

🔥 (F/n) understood, and glancing at Endeavor they were reluctant to say so at first, but once they saw the way the hero was eyeing them they blushed, turning back to Hawks and saying,”... Yeah, I actually am.”

🔥 Smiling they figured Endeavor may get mad, after all he couldn’t possibly be interested in them-

🔥 “Soooo how about dinner with Mr. Hot Head here?~” Hawks grinned, jutting a thumb at the red head standing beside him stiffly.

🔥 (F/n) was surprised, but replied,”I mean... I suppose yes-”

🔥 Hawks grinned wide and added,”Alright, I’ll set it up, don’t worry you two awkward love birds, it’ll be great.~” Endeavor hadn’t said a word the whole time, dumbfounded it seemed, not knowing what to say.

🔥 Hawks left. When (F/n) looked at Endeavor he was already leaving, but stopped with his back to them.

🔥 “Meet me at the address I’ll give you through text, at 8 PM Saturday. You have it off, correct?”

🔥 “Uh... Yes.”

🔥 “Good, don’t be late.” He left once he’d said what he needed to, (F/n) was shocked but smiling they go back to work.

🔥 Boooi (F/n) isn’t prepared for the expensive dinner waiting for them

🔥 They aren’t dressed up super fancy, they did their hair nicely and made themselves look presentable at least! After all, they’re going on a date with the #1 hero! And he definitely seems like an ‘appearance’s type of man from just working with him

🔥 The place is nice, and (F/n) settles in feeling a little out of place. Enji got them flowers and looks incredibly handsome in his tailored suit, the scar across his left eye not bothering them a bit even when he received it. His face looks red too, and they wonder if his heart is pounding a million beats a minute like theirs

🔥 “I’ve heard really good things about this place, have you been here before?” (F/n) breaks the silence that settles over them

🔥 “Yes, a few times,” he starts, going on to explain (in sparse detail) about the hero parties held here that he only came to due to his position as #2, now #1

🔥 Silence sits between them again after (F/n) replies, and they’re racking their brain for more to say

🔥 “You... Look nice tonight,” he says out of nowhere, catching the secretary off guard as they look taken aback, cheeks going red. “This isn’t too... Awkward, is it?”

🔥 Again fairly surprised by his sudden shyness (F/n) blinks before smiling. He is a socially awkward kind of guy, so shaking their head they decided to take the lead for the date, at least for now.

🔥 “Not at all, it’s nice,” they reply. This seems to put the #2 at ease as he nods and clears his throat, looking over the menu. (F/n) rests their chin on their palm and asks,”So, um... Enji, Tell me about yourself.”

🔥 It’s a simple request to help break the ice although (F/n) is already well aware their boss isn’t very forthcoming with information about himself. But this doesn’t change anything, after all they did come to dinner with him with this fact in mind. Enji cocks a brow, meeting their (eye color) orbs with his cerulean.

🔥 “Such as?”

🔥 “Y’know, favorite TV show, what you do in your spare time, do you like cats, etcetera, just some stuff so I know my date better, right now we’re more than just boss and secretary after all,” (F/n) winks, this gaining surprise from the normally uptight man. He brings the scowl (which he’s trying to reel in for tonight) back but he seems to be fine letting them know some answers. Not everything, he keeps the more personal aspects of himself under wraps for now, after all it’s only a first date, but the secretary across from him seems appeased and even smiles at the answers. “I see, I’m fairly surprised but you seem kinda normal.~” They tease, Endeavor averting his gaze.

🔥 “And you?” It’s his turn to learn about them more. Granted, he’s studied them, he knows some things but learning more never hurts.

🔥 “Well, I love to (hobby) and (hobby), my favorite show is (TV show), I’m probably more of a dog person, I am definitely a (night owl, morning person, etc), I like to make sure I’m always on time to things,” they start to tell him, answering any questions he has. Even if it’s a mundane conversation he is surprisingly taking every piece of information in and locking it up in his thoughts. That way, he knows for later. To be honest, he’s intrigued. (F/n) laughs lightly and finishes with,”Sorry, sorry, I was rambling, haha!”

🔥 “It’s fine.” Endeavor responds, telling the waiter what he’ll have. “I find you interesting, different compared to others I’ve met.”

🔥 “Is that a good thing?” (F/n) laughs, smiling warmly lifting their brows.

🔥 “Yes, very,” he replies, and even gives a small smile himself, although it’s easy to miss.

🔥 The two start to eat once their food is brought out and while they eat they talk, discussing not only more about themselves but Endeavor’s jobs, (F/n) plans for something at work, and more. Soon enough they’re done and after paying Enji takes (F/n) home, the drive even holding it’s own conversations. Enji surprisingly seems to have been brought out of his tough as steel shell although it’s only with (F/n), and (F/n) is content in his company, seeing the normally scary boss is surprisingly softer inside, under all the layers of anger and pride.

🔥 Reaching (F/n)’s address Enji parks and turns his gaze to the secretary, who’s getting ready to leave but stops to look at him.

🔥 “Thank you for dinner, Enji, it was delicious,” they sigh happily, smiling and he nods, (F/n) unbuckling and about to get out but stopping.

🔥 “Perhaps we can do it again, I enjoyed your company, (F/n),” the fiery red head admits, (F/n) nodding.

🔥 They surprise him with a kiss on the cheek before getting out of his car and peering back in at the blushing, taken aback older man.

🔥 “Of course, you have my number so call me and we’ll plan another date~”

🔥 The (brunette, blonde, etc) shuts the door and waves as they head inside their home, Enji not leaving right away as his heart pounds. Clearing his throat he watches them go in and shut their door before leaving, already planning to ask them out again (and keep this secret from Hawks lest Enji listen to the feathered annoyance tease him about)

AHHHHHHH I hope this was okay!! I kinda struggled with Enji so I hope he wasn’t too OOC QwQ thank you for the request!

[mantra4ia]

NBC Debris, episodes 1-9: overview of high hopes and adjusted expectations

*Mild spoilers ahead*

I'm rooting for this show guys, really I am. The premise and the two main characters / actors are interesting, or at least try very hard to be. But this series has been slow off the ground despite my excitement during preseason teasers and here's why, in my view.

Pros:

An intercontinental alliance gives room / potential for some interesting spy craft, I just wish it was slightly more artful, less heavy handed.

Alien debris having potential to do good things is also a fantastic promise to expand on. George Jones talked about some terraforming level stuff (whether it goes right or wrong is another story), let's see more of that. Are tech giants fighting over the intellectual property rights to debris-based advances? How are money and favor between industry and the government changing hands (apart from a very literal briefcase full of cash on the black market when we first meet Influx)? How do different pieces of debris interact with one another, maybe it changes some of their properties in unpredictable ways.

Bryan and Finola have good amorphous lead chemistry. We aren't being force-fed where it is going to go, but we know it's a compelling relationship where they're both relying on each other to get through challenging emotional hurdles (marine special ops, family tragedy). And we see them together, riffing off each other from the beginning, and it works as both a personal and professional partnership.

Strongest debris-scifi-based episode was definitely 1x04 "In Universe" with the chlorine- respiration-based biome. To me it's the best of the season so far.

Strongest character episode so far is maybe 1x09 "Do You Know Icarus?" or 1x06 "Supernova"

Cons:

Episodic structure hampers the ramp of tension building. You don't get big payoff because you get short plot points. Yes there's the recurring "ball of light" and Influx references, but those are more phantom thread teasers than a long game of steadily developing insights.

No fully developed villain or antagonist to make the stakes seem tangible and priorities urgent or simmering: is it Influx, Maddox, Ferris, casually mentioned foreign government espionage, the guy who played Michael on The Vampire Diaries? I don't know, and worst of all nor do I really care because I don't feel their immenent threat or ideological purpose. I am more worried about the debris body count, but debris is a problem / quandary, not a viable adversary at this point. We've got a multi-front conflict, and 45 minutes with underwhelming writing complexity to try and meet the task. It's a struggle.

The ABCD action-based plot. I have to do this sequence in order to beat this level. Where's the character building?

Speaking of which, while I like Bryan and Finola's dynamic opposite each other, I can't say the same about their development as individual characters. Their depth and relationship to others has so far been terrible due to superficial telegraphing which tells us rather than a writing structure that shows us why we're supposed to care about them, their lives, or their relationships to others, like Finola and DeDe and George as a family unit, or Bryan and Maddox. Seeing an old family video of sisters dancing to a favorite song does nothing for me when I haven't seen them interact on anything more than a long distance phone call. Can we maybe get a flashback of them at George's memorial so that we can get a sense of how devastated the family was or see the consequences of DeDe's substance abuse habit as a crutch during an emotionally chaotic time in her life? No. We get hearsay. Maddox is supposedly so worthy of Bryan's trust, pulled him from the brink of a dark emotional abyss (1x07), but we get no sense of that bond off the clock like Bryan checking in on Maddox's family, or any sort of personal connection. Just a cold professional relationship with a few one liners.

Telegraphing to ambiguity ratio: certain things the audience gets explained to us, like alternate universes visible in the molecular imperfections of glass or how they damaged George's hippocampus and impaired his memory (like they're just throwing out words to sound sci-fi impressive), and yet some basic details that would help build this world lore and make it believable are left up to off-screen imagination? Come on now, we all know the season one is for world building. Hop to it! Debris falls from the sky, worldwide, and you're telling me no one knows about it and it doesn't impact public life / culture in any way, it doesn't make the news cycle, nothing? You're an Orbital agent, and you're able to fly around in laboratory equipped jets and land in whichever airspace you please, and no one bats an eye? Terrorists are using debris against civilians, and we don't see government restrictions, curfew, lockdowns, etc, we don't get any minor glimpses into ramifications on ordinary life? No, because the focus is always trained on our "field agents" but not the playing field. It's mundane, small stuff questions that keep us grounded, which is a refreshing and needed balance in sci-fi, but apart from a conversation about stale Peeps I don't see attention to daily details of life as we know it.

We are literally told in the pilot by a title card (talk about expedient) that "three years ago images were captured of a wrecked alien spacecraft moving through the solar system" and for 6 months debris has been falling. Has it smashed through any cities causing panic? How is it spun by the media, or how is Orbital keeping it out of public attention? Is there a political power struggle over research access, and what do those higher up agency meetings look like? Where and how is the recovered debris being cataloged and stored when it is not used in active research? Who has clearance to it, what is that clearance called/what does it entail, which government retains agency of debris pieces, or does that depend on where Orbital recovers it? This is like first-five-episode-arc lore building and we are nine hit or miss episodes into the season! I need this show to level up if it's taking the route of being clever and cerebral, which it appears to aim at by focusing on the scientific part of sci-fi. If it's goal is to be a small scale, partner ride along weekly mystery with heavy synthetic sound cues, then it needs to pick a tone that takes itself less seriously.

The dialogue is so lackluster and expository. Please get some of the writer's room to focus on making it sharper, quicker, smarter.

The science of debris: George Jones, as some genius mind behind Orbital tech, isn't believable. We don't get to see any part of his professional life in Orbital in the three year lead up to when we meet our characters, he doesn't even have any dialogue when Finola first finds him captive. We have "science-aesthetic" scribbles on a chalkboard and Finola's word that George is a workaholic research savant. It doesn't ring true and by extension some of the "rules" of this Orbital technology seem murky (not as in we learn alongside the characters, but as in the concept seems under developed). George's biggest contribution thus far is a levity critique of Bryan's driving speed. At this point he's a plot device to further Fin's journey, as is DeDe. That's base.

Lack of interest in supporting ensemble: why should I care about Maddox's family crisis, or DeDe's addiction or George's suicide after he was shut out of his own research at Orbital, etc? Again this ties back to previous points of show don't tell, and build a world, maybe use some flashbacks. Make it personal — why is George's research (apart from a generalized better world) so singularly important to him that it breaks his family, what compelled Brian to transition from military service to Orbital? How are different factions within Orbital — like the research team and the field agents — getting along, who's at the very bottom of the barrel or on the very top of the hierarchy?

I want this show to succeed, but I don't get a clear read on what genre they want to be or more importantly what the characters want. Please increase the focus on dialogue, get the basics of want-obstacle-action done right, and then the debris and the conflict it creates can have a bigger impact.

[ever-searching]

Super Mega Detailed Character Meme: Cain Locke

Appearance

Gender: Demiguy (probably) Race: Midlander Hyur Height: 5′9″ (175cm) Eye colour: Amber brown Hair colour: Jet black with red-orange streaks

The basics

Name day: 28th Sun of the 5th Umbral Moon Occupation: Thaumaturge-in-training, odd-jobs Sexual identification: Pansexual Romantic identification: Grey-aromantic Alignment: True neutral Criminal history: Pickpocketing and minor thievery; may or may not have been hired to assist in extortion once or twice in Ul’dah. Relationship status: Single Sweet on: Who knows? I don’t.

Favourites

Favourite food: Vegetable soup, finger sandwich, ‘The Gridania’ pizza at Stellazio Pizzeria Favourite drink: Coffee Favourite artist: Can’t name any, but he enjoys Lominsan shanties and appreciates the colours and compositions of the few Ishgardian religious works of art he’s seen. Favourite scent: Light floral perfume Favourite person: Doesn’t want to (or can’t) name anyone

Ten random facts

Cain can otherwise shrug off rude comments quite well, but he tends to take offense in insults referring to things which are at least partly a consequence of his lack of money (such as his clothing).

He sometimes gives nicknames (’Blinders’, ‘Stoneface’ etc.) to people who annoy him.

He is quick to learn the basics of almost anything, which has helped him to get on his feet and away from the streets.

Cain has relatively bland taste in food, preferring mild tastes to spicy things and not being too fond of sweet things. He does enjoy strong coffee, though, and never mixes milk or sugar into it.

He takes interest in make-up and jewellery and would probably buy some if he could afford it (and find a reason to wear them).

He keeps a notebook filled with sketches of people he considers “interesting”, whether or not he has actually talked with them.

He is - perhaps needlessly - worried of being judged on the basis of being a former street urchin and not being just your average studious would-be mage. It’s the reason why he shed off most of Ul’dahn vernacular from his speech, avoids the Pearl Lane, wears his hair different when participating in the Lominsan fight club and only makes indirect references to having lived on the streets for several years (and only to people who he trusts to some degree).

The tattoo on his cheek is a result of a night involving a few fellow trainee thaumaturges, an attempt of being social and too much alcohol.

Speaking of alcohol, if Cain gets drunk, he tends to lose most of his inhibitions. He still respects others’ personal space, but he is much more likely to speak his mind and act on a whim. He also gets terrible hangovers.

Cain once considered secretly delving into “darker arts” and learning how to speak with dead, simply in order to try to find out his parents’ fate.

Five things

5 things they like:

Sparring against an opponent of more or less equal strength

Books & reading

Feeling like he fits in with people without having to fake things

Long hot showers (with a cup of coffee or good company afterwards)

Seeing the results of his work (or anything else he has put effort into)

5 things they dislike:

Dirty living spaces or work spaces

Not being able to afford basic necessities

Parents who mistreat or neglect their children

Having to do heavy physical labour

Long periods mundane life with nothing exciting happening

5 good habits:

Takes care of his hygiene and appearance

Exercises regularly 

Gives people a chance to prove themselves before making a judgement

Can usually keep his temper in check and hide his dislike of someone

Is curious about new things and willing to try them out

5 bad habits:

Sometimes neglects food and sleep, especially when focused on a task or stressed

Isn’t always so good at discreetly observing people, causing him to stare at them awkwardly

Takes a while to open up to people and relax in their presence

Seeks help only when he has to or when he feels that the pros of help would seriously outweigh the assumed cons

Observes others before approaching them or participating in a situation, which might make him seem distant, detached or shy

5 personalities they gravitate toward:

Mellow and amiable personalities who are easy to get along with

Considerate people who invite less outgoing ones into the conversation or activity

Witty yet good-humored types

Occasionally clumsy or awkward ones with a good heart and/or cheerful demeanour

Multifaceted, mysterious individuals

5 personality types they avoid:

Obnoxious types with superiority complex

Patronizing people or those who try to act as his parental figures

Uncouth boors

People with no respect for personal space or consent (i.e. those who try to touch others without permission, especially if inappropriately)

Authoritarian or intimidating members of the law enforcement

5 fears:

Being abandoned

Permanent physical injury which would debilitate him in some way

Losing his ability to cast spells

Not being good enough to become anything but an ordinary citizen struggling with his day-to-day life

Being shut in a small space with no one else around

Tagged by: @kilieit (via being a member of @polaris-fc)

Tagging: I think everyone I know has already done this... so I tag you - the hypothetical person who hasn’t done this and wants to do this. Do it!

[creativesage]

(via Your failure of imagination is not my problem – anthro{dendum})

January 10, 2019

Written by: Zoe Todd

In November 2016, I flew to Zurich to deliver a talk on my work on Métis legal-ethical paradigms, prairie fish, and the Anthropocene. When we booked the tickets earlier that summer, it didn’t occur to me that I’d asked my hosts to book my travel for the night of the US Presidential election. So, as I set out from Ottawa, the Canadian capital, on the evening of November 8, I entered a strange and disorienting patch of space time that took me through multiple timezones, geographies, and national boundaries while the fate of American governance hung in the balance. At 6 PM, in the Ottawa airport, things still seemed hopeful. Maybe Trump wouldn’t win. Two delays later, I finally made it to Toronto. There, at our international departures gate, things were taking a turn for the grim. TV screens around us showed that Hillary was slipping, and Trump was gaining steam. I turned to a fellow passenger and said ‘wow, we might wake up to a Trump presidency’. Her face widened in horror: “don’t you dare say that!”.

As we boarded the plane, many of us realized there was no wifi onboard. There would be no obsessive refreshing of twitter feeds or CNN polls as we flew over the moonlit expanses of the Atlantic. We were locked in, for better or worse, for the next seven hours. As we flew up and over the eastern coast, over Newfoundland and out into the Atlantic, whatever was going on back in America was inaccessible to us.  When I awoke in the morning, we were readying to land at Heathrow. Just seconds before the tires touched the tarmac, I felt an overwhelming sense of nausea. I can’t explain it, but somehow I knew in those seconds when we came back into contact with the earth, that Trump had won. (The canny pilots waited until we were about to deplane to announce the election result, and the spirit of the entire economy section deflated, save for one man who shouted a muted ‘woohoo’ before reading the room and shutting the heck up).

This made for a dramatic backdrop for my first visit to Switzerland.

The evening of November 9th, strangers gathered in a large auditorium style classroom on the campus of ETH, the fabled Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics university in Zurich. My lovely hosts welcomed me, and I gave a talk on Métis law, watersheds, fish collapse, kinship, and oil and gas spills in my home province. At the end, the audience engaged in a deeply respectful way, asking questions about Indigenous theory, environmental issues, etc. However, the mic made its way to a young man who seemed to be somewhat agitated. He lobbed a softball question at me about spirits, I think. And then, his body language shifted. He had caught me in his snare! Aha! If I believed in spirits, then clearly this wasn’t science! I can’t remember the exact details of his next question, but it was not the words that mattered. It was the form, the energy, and the weaponization that mattered. He pounced on the mic — and launched into an accusation of my work being ‘anti-science’ (a sin to end all sins in a STEM institution).

I tried to answer, but he kept going, working himself into a froth. This clearly wasn’t about the content of my work, or even about ‘questions’. This was about the affront of my Indigenous presence in his rational space. How. Dare. I. Exist. In. Academia.

My hosts grew concerned with his hostility, and he was eventually asked to leave. When he left, the audience erupted in spontaneous applause. And we continued on.

(They weren’t going to let a Trump win, or the emboldened rage of the right, stop them from being good hosts, from looking after their guest, or from enacting some basic forms of care for their invited speaker).

A little while later, I shared this experience with a mentor. I shared my account of being heckled by a member of the audience. She compassionately corrected me:

“You were attacked, Zoe. That is an attack.”

Since that conversation, I’ve reframed my understandings of my experiences of white hostility in the academy. They are many. They are sometimes hilarious (“he said what to you?” a colleague will laugh as we parse out the latest experience). They are often dispiriting (you can only put up with hostility from dominant society for so long before it starts to wear you down). They are monumental (‘a whole department behaved that way?” a friend will whisper in shock as I share a story over a long overdue lunch). They are sometimes mundane. I am not the first nor the last to write about this — so many brilliant BIPOC scholars have outlined their own stories of surviving white hostility in academia and beyond. Sara Ahmed (2018) draws on her work with interlocutors working in diversity policy contexts to demonstrate how refusal to absorb certain forms of hostility from dominant groups impacts those who speak up:

“Another practitioner describes: “you know, you go through that in these sorts of jobs where you go to say something and you can just see people going ‘oh here she goes.’”  We both laughed, recognising that each other recognised that scene. The feminist killjoy, that leaky container, comes up here; she comes up in what we hear. We hear each other in the wear and the tear of the words we share; we hear what it is like to come up against the same thing over and over again.  We imagine the eyes rolling as if to say: well she would say that.  It was from experiences like this that I developed my equation: rolling eyes = feminist pedagogy.”

In Citizen: An American Lyric, Claudia Rankine (2015) states: “Because white men can’t/police their imagination/black men are dying.” (cited also by Kellaway in this interview with Claudia Rankine in the Guardian). White imagination is murderous.

As Ahmed references in her above mentioned 2018 piece, in his work in the UK with the UCL campaign “Why Isn’t My Professor Black?”, Dr. Nathaniel Adam Tobias C—- (2014) challenges the failure of the white british imagination to formulate the academy as one that includes Black professors:

http://www.dtmh.ucl.ac.uk/videos/isnt-professor-black-nathaniel-coleman/

These forms of white imagination, which inform violent white supremacist actions against Black people in America, the UK, and other white supremacist nations, are pervasive. I do not want to co-opt this work that Ahmed, Rankine, and C—- are doing, but rather to explain how it informs my own understandings of how white imagination operates to evacuate — sometimes very aggressively evacuate — Indigenous bodies and thinking from academic spaces.

Informed by this work, what I have come to realize is that many of the hostile encounters I have experienced in academia are, at least on some level, about failure of white people’s imagination. Failure to imagine Black, Indigenous and other racialized bodies in the hallways of academe. Failure to imagine epistemologies beyond those that fester in euro-western academic paradigms. Failure to imagine possibilities beyond jealously guarded white (often male) syndicates. Failure to imagine that white folks occupying space on stolen land ought to perhaps….ahem…tread a big more humbly. They are also about racism, white supremacy, sexism, classism, elitism, insecurity, jealousy, and greed.

But it is failure of (white settler) imagination that I can tackle the most directly with the energy and resources that I have at my disposal right now. (I keep doing my fallible best to disrupt white supremacy, sexism, and other forms of structural violence, but those are a much longer term struggle). When someone lashes out at me at an invited event for my use of Indigenous methodologies, Indigenous philosophy, Indigenous citational praxis — I reframe it for myself as their failure to imagine something bigger than they occupy. Through this framing, I am able to stop, or at least try to stop, taking these attacks personally. To mentally reframe these attacks in a way that doesn’t destroy me. I have to do this to survive. (I am not saying you have to do this. Everyone’s survival is multifaceted and complex).

But, I also want to address my white academic colleagues directly: this hostility is happening on your watch. When you invite Indigenous scholars into your colonial institutions, as guests, as colleagues, to share our knowledge on lands stolen and violated by the institutions you occupy and uphold, you have a duty to be good hosts and good colleagues. The toxicity or dysfunction of your department, the decades long disputes that shape your Faculty or Senate or tenure processes – these are not my problem. If these explode during my visit, you might want to, energetically speaking anyway, clean house a little. Because your guests aren’t consenting to travel hundreds, sometimes thousands, of miles to be attacked or mocked. When you invite a guest into your space, there is an implicit expectation you will be on your best behaviour. In fact, visiting is one of the things that deeply informs Métis being. Hosting and being hosted is one of the ways we build up our nationhood, renew kinship obligations, and restore relationality. We take hosting, and being hosted, very seriously.

This goes beyond visiting and hosting, though. It stretches into the very fabric of academia. To how we conceive of how to be and how to formulate knowledge. But the casual dismissal of pervasive white settler hostility in academe is conspicuous when juxtaposed with how frequently any form of refusal or accountability from Indigenous scholars (and BIPOC scholars) is immediately parsed as inexcusably hostile. Isn’t it a little rich for white scholars to be able to be dismissive, rude, to raise their voices, to shout, to bodily intimate people, to go out of their way to humiliate Indigenous and other scholars? But if we so much as firmly refuse this, let alone openly address it, we are unprofessional and shrill? Marked as ‘difficult’ and whispered about by the very people who take glee in ‘cutting us down a peg’ at any opportunity?

A further concern: if you are a white scholar treating me, your peer and colleague, with hostility and contempt, it gives me a VERY good indication of how you treat Indigenous students. In 2004, Comanche scholar Joshua K. Mihesuah wrote about the reasons that Indigenous students drop out of school in the USA, and among the most significant reasons he lists are hostility in academic environments:

“Many dropouts and “stopouts” (those who leave for a while but return) choose not to conform to the values of the dominant society, and many remain frustrated because the academy does not meet their needs.” (Mihesuah 2004: 191)

“There still is a lack of respect among many university faculty, staff, and administrators for Native cultures. In Flagstaff, for example, despite the Navajo, Hopi, Walapai, Havasupai, and Yavapai Apache reservations’ geographic proximity to the border town (there are twenty-two tribes in Arizona), it is surprising to learn that few faculty have visited those communities. Insensitivity and stereotyping, both blatant and subtle, of Indigenous peoples are pervasive in classrooms. “Given” tribal names such as Papago, instead of the self-determined Tohono O’Odham are still used by professors; Squaw Peak and Squaw Peak Parkway are names that persist in Phoenix (although they have been renamed after fallen Hopi soldier Lori Piestewa); and despite Natives’ concerns about the ski resort on Natives’ sacred Mount Humphreys in Flagstaff, plans are in the making to expand the resort by using reclaimed water for snowmaking (which many Natives and environmentalists fear will increase the number of ski runs). New legislative and congressional lines have been drawn to include Flagstaff and large portions of the Navajo and Hopi reservations. Natives have high hopes for more political clout, but many non-Natives are concerned that Natives will get more than their share of funding, although there is no historical precedent for this concern. These topics are debated in classrooms, and quite often, Native students are too intimidated to speak up to express their views and stance about the ignorance of their instructors and classmates. Students continually fail Gateway courses (basic math, English, and science) because professors tend to have a “cut it or you’re out” attitude.” (Mihesuah 2004: 192-193)

Many of the behaviours Mihesuah details here are things that students have quietly brought to my attention that my own colleagues have perpetuated against them at myriad institutions across North America and Europe. So, again, if you can barely treat an Indigenous professor with respect, I can safely assume students are not being treated with respect either. So let’s cut the niceties and start addressing this white academic hostility directly.

(January 12 edit: for an article that explores what happens when white hostility is formalized into a wholesale dismissal of a discipline, please see Dr. Robert Alexander Innes’ piece “Introduction: Native Studies and Native Cultural Preservation, Revitalization, and Persistence” in American Indian Culture and Research Journal 34:2 (2010) 1-9. In this piece, he articulates how a white political science scholar in Canada elevates a misinformed understanding of Indigenous scholarship to dismiss the entire field of Indigenous Studies. Hostility indeed.)

Ultimately, I hope that white settler scholars will step up and do the labour necessary to address the way that their peers lash out at Indigenous scholars and other marginalized communities. I hope that my white peers will pay attention to the tone their peers use when they don’t understand an Indigenous philosophical approach, or how they respond when they feel threatened by Indigenous law and praxis. I hope they will challenge their colleagues when they, unabashedly and unapologetically, attack that which challenges their very ontological claims to knowing and being. I hope they will take note of the ways that BIPOC scholars are policed for their tone, language, wording, bodies, and being but white scholars are often allowed to be inexcusably hostile and violent.

You can take a cue from my colleagues in Switzerland, who kindly told their peer to find a way to engage respectfully or to leave. I mean, if you are hosting a guest or building any kind of collective, why would you allow your community to treat someone disrespectfully? It’s really that simple.

Works Cited:

Ahmed, Sara. 2018. Refusal, resignation, and complaint. Feminist Killjoys blog. https://feministkilljoys.com/2018/06/28/refusal-resignation-and-complaint/

C——, Nathanial Adam Tobias. 2014. “Why Isn’t My Professor Black?”. http://www.dtmh.ucl.ac.uk/videos/isnt-professor-black-nathaniel-coleman/

Mihesuah, Joshua K. 2004. “11. Graduating Indigenous Students by Confronting the Academic Environment”, pp. 191-199 in Indigenizing the Academy, Devon Abbott Mihesuah and Angela Cavender Wilson, editors. University of Nebraska Press.

Rankine, Claudia. 2015. Citizen: An American Lyric. Graywolf Press.

Zoe Todd

Zoe Todd (Métis/otipemisiw) is from amiskwaciwâskahikan (Edmonton), Alberta, Canada. She writes about fish, art, Métis legal traditions, the Anthropocene, extinction, and decolonization in urban and prairie contexts. She also studies human-animal relations, colonialism and environmental change in north/western Canada. She holds a BSc (Biological Sciences) and MSc (Rural Sociology) from the University of Alberta and a PhD (Social Anthropology) from Aberdeen University. She is an Assistant Professor of Anthropology in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada. She was a 2011 Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation Scholar.

[Entire article — click on the title link to read it at anthro{dendum}.]

[buscemifan]

here’s some zestiria thoughts

you’re free to disagree, this is just my opinion

i dont like this game. heres a few reasons why

I have at least ten hours on my playthrough and it STILL does not feel like the game actually started. I can’t even pinpoint why. I feel like I’m just going through the tutorial exposition. and due to the nature of the game and having so much of your journey hidden from you, it feels like that feeling won’t ever go away.

Alisha leaves. Actually all of the characters should leave except for Alisha. Her fighting style was fun and I loved her come back Alisha

The lore is so boring. Most of the other tales games have wonderfully vast universes that manage to incorporate social commentary into amazing worlds (symphonia with separation of church and state/racism, vesperia with corrupt govenrments, Abyss with the individuality of a person and human life, etc.) but from what I can tell Zestiria is pure lore. 

its not even good lore?? like. you’re the sheperd. remove the evil please. where’s the gray morality? every other tales game makes you think about this decision may be good for me, but not for someone else, but not zestiria. why is it so perfect? the only person who cares about the hellions being purified or whatever is the Bad Guy, so. who cares. definitely not me

speaking of that, the whole game is set up within the first two hours and then that’s it! you’re off! have fun being the world’s errand boy! sorey goes around and does a series of convoluted sidequests that are so forgettable and “point A to point B” i can’t but feel like i’m checking stuff off of the world’s most mundane to-do list. plus lailah keeping information from you just kind of feels like if your mom was telling you to do a bunch of chores for a surprise, but never tells you what the surprise is.

you cannot have a world that vast with lore so deep and then make the plot so streamlined. I don’t need a star on a map that’s 5 feet in front of me when you told me to go 5 feet forward.

what the heck is mikleo’s personality?? maybe this is just the fandom but I interpreted mikleo as a snarky and immature boy that holds sorey in a high regard and is willing to make sacrifices for him and only him. but there’s like 18 different mikleos floating around. whatever makes your ship sail, I guess. personally, i think he’s rather boring, but he’s pretty, so it’s fine, right?

oh yeah can the normin shut the heck up. they ain’t cute. stop tryna make me like them bamco

why do they not explain the lore more. I understand that I keep hammering this and maybe it’s better in Berseria (I don't know, i haven’t played it) but if Zestiria wants to be respected as a standalone game, then it needs to act like it. seraphim physics are NEVER explained. they’re invisible, but do they have mass? can you bump into them? why can they carry visible people with no repercussions? are all the clothes they wear invisible, or only when they’re on their bodies? can they change clothes? WHAT ARE THE RULES

i’ve been trying to beat around this bush but. it’s not fun. games gotta be fun. otherwise just make it a movie or smth. the gameplay is a snooze, the battles are clunky and awkward (if you’re gonna replicate the graces style, don’t give it that style without giving it the speed). the most fun I’ve had playing this game are in the accessories screen

The field banter is cute and all, but there isn’t enough to make it fun. You hear the same conversations a million times.

malevolence is so, so dumb. people make bad decisions, people are evil. don’t blame it on some weird purple space dust. it’s just human nature. have sorey try to purify a person and his behavior not change. have sorey struggle to understand how can still be evil, I purified him? sorey living with seraphim and trying to understand how a human could do such horrible things; they had so much going for this game and they wasted it ALL and I’m pissed

please tell me why I should care about Rose. like the game clearly couldn’t decide if they wanted the cool & collected assassin or genki happy girl or quirky hipster girl and tried to make her all three. i don’t care for any of her except her introduction, when she’s all “I could kill you if I wanted.” That was the best Rose. bring her back

i literally don’t care about any of the cast, sans Alisha and maybe Zaveid. Sorey is great but he’s a pretty boring protag and everyone else either annoys me in one way or another or just wasn’t a good character in the first place. maybe they just weren’t the right cast for the game?? i’m not sure. but i dont care

the game looks gorgeous but it moves so awkardly

also the whole “no speech bubbles” thing was great in theory but it misplaces the player’s priorities. older games were better in that respect because voice acting would indicate an important scene, and newer older games were the best because you’d get non voiced speech bubbles, then voiced speech bubbles, then voiced captions at the bottom. it helped you differentiate what was important! with zestiria, every scene treats itself like it’s the most important scene in the whole game, and I’m not sure what information is actually relevant to the plot

anyway that’s my thoughts. kudos to you if you actually like this game, glad you could get enjoyment out of something I couldn’t