pillows-and-blankets

[pillows-and-blankets]

nobody on tinder wants to play synthesizers with me

#i would play synthesizers with you tumblr user slimetony

[pillows-and-blankets]

🟨

anerican choese

[pillows-and-blankets]

i think i would enjoy grazing. were i a cow ...

#pfp checks out

[pillows-and-blankets]

Happy 24-6-01!

[pillows-and-blankets]

my contribution to the tv klapollo madness 👍

[pillows-and-blankets]

they r going 2 eat him

#oh ive seen this guy before!!! #or a similar guy who makes massive ant vivariums #prev: beautiful rainforest vivarium butches are in your area!

[pillows-and-blankets]

I get my media recommendations the old fashioned way: by watching someone I follow on here go on an unhinged reblog spree of media related content until I eventually decide to go "alright, what's all this then"

#prev eheh i cant say no to a free demo #i shall check it out tmmrw if i have time :)

[pillows-and-blankets]

[pillows-and-blankets]

WE ARE LIVE!

[pillows-and-blankets]

TOMB RAIDER: The Legend of Lara Croft (Oct. 10, 2024)

#lara croft #tomb raider

[pillows-and-blankets]

Light answers a tough question

#chrewly embarrassed becuase i have had this exact conversation before #and blurted out she/her

[pillows-and-blankets]

I get my media recommendations the old fashioned way: by watching someone I follow on here go on an unhinged reblog spree of media related content until I eventually decide to go "alright, what's all this then"

#one day i will check out octopath traveller...

[pillows-and-blankets]

The mile-long rainbow flag being carried down First Avenue in New York City.

#nyc

[pillows-and-blankets]

[pillows-and-blankets]

This all started because I had this idea of Trucy asking Maya for some grand gift ideas for Phoenix, and Maya blabbed about that one time they made the choco Phoenix bust. Originally just a simple Wright - Edgeworth family piece, it escalated into being a ridiculous mess that took me something like 3 weeks to finish. ...I think? I lost track of time at some point in the madness. I suppose you can have fun counting all characters. Because I'm definitely not going to. I have even hidden some mons, so if you like spot-the-mon (?) games, you're welcome. Print version will come sometime in the future <3 Process pics under the cut.

As you might be able to discern I added further ridiculousness as I went. I don't think I've ever painted something quite so detailed ever. Definitely never so many characters at once. I even repainted Phoenix completely at some point. Honestly I probably will nitpick until the end of time, so I'll let it sit for a while before uploading the print on the print shop because I need fresh eyes to discern whether I need to make any adjustments and I definitely don't have eyes at all anymore now.

#WOWZERS #the colours... so pretty... #ace attorney #pkmn

[pillows-and-blankets]

I am always saying this

#sam.txt

[pillows-and-blankets]

Writing Deaf Characters | Speech is Speech

Before I get going, I’m 75% deaf, as some of you know, semi-reliant on hearing aids and lip reading. My first languages were Makaton sign and then BSL. I now use spoken English. This is part one of two. People are People covers characterization and toxic tropes.

There are a lot of issues I find with how deaf people are represented in books, when represented at all. I would love to see more deaf and hard of hearing characters in the books I read- without having to read books specifically about deaf/HoH people- but when I find them, they’re grossly undercharacterized or stereotyped. Authors write them in a way that sets signing language characters apart from speaking characters as if they are inferior, and this makes my blood boil.

Some technicalties

I’ll keep this brief.

You may have heard that “deaf” is a slur and you should use “hearing impaired”. Don’t. I’ve never met a deaf or hard of hearing person who believed that. Use deaf for people who are deaf, and Hard of Hearing (HoH) for people who lack hearing. These can be interchangeable depending on the person. This is why sensitivity readers are a useful part of the beta process.

Sign language is incredibly varied. It developes in the same way as spoken language. Fun fact: in BSL there are at least half a dozen ways to say bullshit, my favourite of which is laying your arms across one another with one hand making a bull’s head sign and the other hand going flat, like a cowpat. It’s beautifully crude, and the face makes the exclamation mark. Wonderful.

There are different sign languages. Knowing more than one would make a character multi or bi-lingual, even if they are non-speaking.

Makaton is basic sign language used by children, and it mirrors the very simple language used by toddlers.

Yes, we swear and talk shit about people around us in sign language sometimes, and no, it isn’t disrespectful to have signing characters do this. Just remember that we also say nice things, and random things, and talk about fandoms and TV shows and what we’re having for dinner, too.

Each signed language is different from another. ASL and BSL? Nothing alike. Just google the two different signs for horse.

Remember that sign language is a language, equal to the spoken word

Therefore, treat it as such. Use quotation speech marks and dialogue tags. You only need to explicitly state that this character uses signed language once, and then let your modifiers and description do the rest.  It isn’t a form of “sub-speech" or “making hand actions”- sign language is a language all on its own: it has its own grammar rules, syntactical structures, punctuation, patterns, idioms and colloquialisms. For example, “what is your name?” becomes “Your name what?” with the facial expression forming punctuation in the same way that spoken English uses alterations of prosodic tone (inflections). There is even pidgin sign; a language phenomenon usually associated with spoken language.

In the same way that you would describe a spoken-English character’s tone of voice, you would describe a signed-English speaker’s facial expressions and the way that they sign- keeping in mind that these things are our language’s equivalent of verbal inflection.

So please, none of that use of “special speech marks” or italicised speech for sign. If your viewpoint character doesn’t understand signed speech, then you take the same approach that would be used for any other language they don’t understand, like French or Thai. E.g “He said something in rapid sign language, face wrinkling in obvious disgust.” is a good way of conveying this. The proof that you’ve done this well is in whether or not you can switch “sign language” for French or something else, and it would read the same.

Don’t be afraid to describe how things are said, either. Sign language is such a beautiful and expressive way of talking, and to see a writer do it justice would be truly fabulous. Putting this into practise:

“Oh, I love maths!” She said, fingers sharp and wide with sarcasm. She raised her eyebrows.

“I’m sorry.” He replied and made his face small, but could not keep the grin forming. She was starting to laugh, too.

 For the sake of readibility, I’m putting the rest of the information in part two.

This is part of my weekly advice theme. Each week I look at what you’ve asked me to help with, and write a post or series of posts for it. Next week: settings and character development (including heroes, anti-heroes, villains, and every other kind of character).

#references #writing #very useful for hearing character that also sign :)