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incrediblysincere · 4 years

Note

ive seen a lot of rvb pos ts on ur blog and im just u kno tht its abt all men and wrtten by all men right????????????? its problematic u shld stop wtching it

You know what? Go ahead and try.

You’re targeting Gamers.

Gamers.

We’re a group of people who will sit for hours, days, even weeks on end performing some of the hardest, most mentally demanding tasks. Over, and over, and over all for nothing more than a little digital token saying we did.

We’ll punish our selfs doing things others would consider torture, because we think it’s fun.

We’ll spend most if not all of our free time min maxing the stats of a fictional character all to draw out a single extra point of damage per second.

Many of us have made careers out of doing just these things: slogging through the grind, all day, the same quests over and over, hundreds of times to the point where we know evety little detail such that some have attained such gamer nirvana that they can literally play these games blindfolded.

Do these people have any idea how many controllers have been smashed, systems over heated, disks and carts destroyed 8n frustration? All to latter be referred to as bragging rights?

These people honestly think this is a battle they can win? They take our media? We’re already building a new one without them. They take our devs? Gamers aren’t shy about throwing their money else where, or even making the games our selves. They think calling us racist, mysoginistic, rape apologists is going to change us? We’ve been called worse things by prepubescent 10 year olds with a shitty head set. They picked a fight against a group that’s already grown desensitized to their strategies and methods. Who enjoy the battle of attrition they’ve threatened us with. Who take it as a challange when they tell us we no longer matter. Our obsession with proving we can after being told we can’t is so deeply ingrained from years of dealing with big brothers/sisters and friends laughing at how pathetic we used to be that proving you people wrong has become a very real need; a honed reflex.

Gamers are competative, hard core, by nature. We love a challange. The worst thing you did in all of this was to challange us. You’re not special, you’re not original, you’re not the first; this is just another boss fight.

Oh, you call yourself a gamer because you play COD? Bitch PLEASE! I am a gamer, YOU are a Lemming. I’ve got a game from every damn genre, I’ve got FPSs, TPSs, RTSs, RPGs, Racing, Horror, Sims, I’ve even got bloody JRPGs. I’ve got AAAs, indies, art houses, I’ve got prequels, sequels, should never of been made-els, I’ve got standard editions, special editions, collectors editions, Limited editions, legendary editions. I’ve got Super Nintendo, Nintendo 64, Nintendo Gamecube, Nintendo Wii, Nintendo DS, Gameboy pocket, I’ve got X-Box, I’ve got Playstation, I’ve got DLC, I’ve got expansion packs, map packs, weapon pack, content packs, I have something of EVERYTHING! I, and take note, I am a gamer you bloody Lemming, I play real games, no matter the console or genre, that stir real emotion, I play everything from Fallout and Mass Effect, to Gears of war and Assassins Creed, to Banjo Kazooie and viva pinata, to, yes, even Call of Duty. So you shut up, get in line and throw your money at Activision for the same damn shooter every year, so that WE can get PROPER games published, and stop calling yourself a Gamer you self entitled, hate filled, slur slinging little wannabe.

You can’t kill the gamersThe gamers will live onChristians tried to kill the gamersBut they failed! As they were smote to the groundPoliticians tried to destroy the gamersBut they failed! as they were stricken down to the groundFeminists tried to kill the gamersHahahahaha!They failed! As they were thrown to the ground

No one can destroy the gamersThe gamers will strike you down with a vicious blowWe are the vanquished foes of the gamersWe tried to win for why we do not know

Journos tried to destroy the gamers, but the gamers had their wayFeminists tried to dethrone the gamers, but gamers were in their wayChristians tried to destroy the gamers, but the gamers were much too strongCourt rooms tried to defile the gamers, but the courts were proven wrong

Gamers!

#this is so funny i dont even watch rvb any more #also like nice try but i didnt send that ask #i still agree w it though #harry potter sucks read a real book like stone butch blues #long post #Anonymous

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cocona · 4 years

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will march be a good month for me ☀️

hi hi !! here r the cards i pulled: the son of pentacles, the 4 of pentacles in reverse, the chariot in reverse (7), and judgement (20). disclaimer: this isnt a prediction, this is the energy around the following weeks based on what energy youre currently feeding into ur life n ur reality !! ok !! u can always change it up !!

i think this will be a month of overcoming things for you and having a lowkey redemption ark, as youre gonna find out things abt urself and others that will force you to move forward.

1. first week: the son of pentacles. u feel like uve reached a point in ur life where u want to stay calm and stable. but this month isnt when youre gonna find that. hm. u might go into this month with a mindset of wanting to achieve serenity and might even be stubborn with such a mindset ! but youre gonna be mainly chill next week i feel ! this is abt money i feel !

2. the second week: 4 of pentacles in reverse. this is the card of making Big acquisitions and letting go of negative people. the opposite of greed and keeping things to yourself, money wise! you will feel generous and might want to treat others. this is also a card tht indicates letting go of toxic bonds, moving forward and being kind to urself on that aspect. but it can also mean that youve been wasting ur money a lot and spending recklessly and telling you to check on that and to fix it. you’ll know when the time comes. however from the following cards i feel like you’ll go overboard w ur spendings,,, hm . love wise it means tht ure letting go of ur fears n allowing urself to get softer and to melt into a relationship !!!

3. third week: the chariot (7) in reverse. this is generally the card of backtracking and being lost ... it shows that uve become the passenger of ur own life n have stopped driving urself.. if u dnt hold the horse it’s gonna do wtv it wants !! this means tht u might feel low in ur shoes, frustrated, aggressive, tired, or mentally overwhelmed n exhausted.. or like u act boastful and rush into things. if a decision comes up during that time, force urself to think it through.. i feel like im not picking up on sth but .. uhh i got another card to clarify it and i pulled the 10 of swords. p violent imagery: an ox with nine swords stuck in its back and a tenth one traversing its head by entering thru one eye n exiting thru the other,, the 10 of swords means that youve let yourself get stabbed in the back or that uve reached exhaustion. yes now tht makes sense. i think this will be a time where you will feel exhausted and thats why youd be aggressive and tired, and you might want to give up on sth thts v important to you because you feel negative energy from it. 10 of swords is also the card of badmouthing, of someone talking trash abt u and plotting ur fall,, so watch ur back ! this will be an especially exhausting week for u mentally as you’ll be saying goodbye to sth, and might feel like ure at a dead end for ur projects. at tht time, remember that after reaching the end of sth, u can start sth new ! i pulled the new moon card from my moonology oracle, which means tht ure gonna be starting sth new (and not starting over)!!!

4. fourth week: the jugement (20). ok the judgement card is one of my favourite ones cos i usually associate it with a cheerful situation. it’s forgiving yourself and others, cleaning up ! it’s accepting yourself for who you are, accepting tht u can have falls and such.. this is the card of apology, and letting go of fear. as you may know, the month of march ends at the beginning of aries season ! it’s time to feel that energy: confidence, trust, innocence, spontaneity ! it seems like when the month will come to an end, what you’ll have gone through will help you to find the correct direction to find ur real purpose. and you’ll feel relieved. you’ll have to forgive yourself and other and stop keeping up petty arguments and excuses.. yes ! this is what im getting. this is a very positive, calm, neutral energy. when looking at it, i feel like like laughing out of relief, like i found out sth that is super comforting and simplifies my life, which means tht i dont need to keep useless drama alive. this is abt u though, and this is what you’ll aspire to do at that time n tht u shld do. this is also the card of receiving good news !!

if u want a deeper reading by someone whos much more skilled than me u shld check out shonnetta’s monthly pick a card for march !! n i highly suggest u to follow her to have a weekly forecast..!

#tarot 🃏#this was long but i felt like i needed to speak it in detail... as always this isnt set in stone but i feel like youre gonna need to cut off #and from someone especially..sth tht will hurt a lot but youll feel a lot better when ure gnna let them go!#gl !! ilusm n i hope you'll find a proper support system !!#💌

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trcnquils-archive · 6 years

Text

hihi everyone !! lily here with my favourite son , raffy !!! but like .. if you call him that he’ll definitely get booty tickled :/ anymeme , i’m just gonna warn you guys now that this intro’s gonna be pure garbage . like i know people joke but srsly ... anyways i have a stats page for raf here and a wc tag here but no bio bc i ... don’t have the emotional energy for that SO here’s the run down !

* raul esparza , forty five , cismale — hey , have you seen rafael romero anywhere ? i’m hearing beyond the sea by bobby darin so he must be around here somewhere . hm , maybe they’re at home in commercial drive or at work . they’re a high school teacher , y’know . people also call them the academic ‘cause they can be pretty reserved & stubborn . but others say they’re also benevolent & empathetic , so i guess it balances out .

okay not to be dramatic but .. raf had a pretty rough childhood idk why but ... all of my muses did .. maybe i’m projecting or maybe i like 2 suffer but uk.. its wtvr ig :/

background

death tw / cancer tw

— born in dawson creek , british columbia , raf’s family had to move to the small city of grande prairie when he was around eight years old . his dad was laid off from his job at the oil patch and they moved to alberta for the supposedly better jop opportunities but with only a high school diploma and his lack of ambition , there really wasn’t much there for him .

— with 5 kids in the family and an unemployed dad , raf always kinda knew the #struggle . and when he thought things couldn’t get any harder ! raf’s mom was diagnosed with stage three breast cancer his freshman year of high school , it kinda ran in her side of the family . then by the time sophomore year rolled around , raf was helping his dad plan her funeral .

— after that , things really started going downhill fast . his dad still couldn’t find a job and started pretty much flaking on them , disappearing multiple nights in a row , drinking heavily . raf’s dad was a good man , respectful , and care about his kids but just not enough . it came to a point when raf reached his eighteenth birthday that he just left them , with nothing more than a note apologizing , saying they’d do better without him .

— throughout high school and up until his college years you better believe that raf was on that work grind™ . his mom left him and his siblings the house plus a decent amount of money but he wanted to save that money for their schooling so he was working multiple jobs at a time , some full time , just to support himself and his siblings . raf missed so much school one year that he almost failed his junior year of high school . but grande prairie was a small place and all of his teachers pretty much knew what was going on so they cut him some slack .

— really , they pitied the kid . they tried really hard to help him in whatever way they could his senior year since they knew raf actually had potential . they got him to focus more on his education and work just that much harder and it all paid off ! because raf got a full-ride scholarship to the university of british columbia . things really started looking up after this .

— since he refused to leave his siblings behind , raf sold their house in grande prairie and used the money from that with the money their mom left them to move himself and his siblings to the tiniest , cheapest apartment he could find in vancouver . while still working , in ubc he completed his bachelor’s in english and afterwards he got accepted into their law school .

— after law school , raf flitted around the city between different jobs at smaller firms for a couple of years until landing a decent one at one of the city’s top corporate law firms . there , he worked his way up and up through the years , earning a name for himself in the city until he reached the title of senior partner . throughout this , he supported his siblings , helping put them through college , etc .

— it was some time around this point in his life that raf fell in love , got married , and had a kid of his own . but he was so focused on work , not wanting his family to go through the same financial struggles he did , that he completely forgot about spending time with his wife and son . this was the main reason his wife divorced him and moved out of their condo and this kinda .. what led raf to ~reinvent~ himself and have a reverse mid-life crisis jfdijfing

— so he dropped his HIGH-PAYING JOB AT A TOP NOTCH CORPORATE LAW FIRM smh ,,, and picked up a teaching job at his sons high school :/ can u say .. embarrasing .. but he a smort binch and worked smth out money wise so that they’re not broke .... like a savings ? im a dum binch so idk but like ... yeah ....

— so like right now , raf just wants to spend time with his son , inspire kids , help them the way his old teachers helped them in high school . even tho ... he kinda fucked emotionally , doesn’t think his feelings are valid ... #relatable #toxic masculinity ,, but like hes TRYING ok

connections

— coworkers !! pls ! maybe they get along , maybe raf hates them , maybe they hate raf , gimme all of it !

— friends ! casual or more the ride or die , “i won’t let you go through this alone” type , whatever works !!

— former students . again , maybe they hated each other , or maybe ! raf changed someone’s life , a gal can only dream right ...

— neighbours . if ur muse lives in commercial drive in a maybe nicer condo , cause y’know , he spoils his son , then ! maybe they cld be neighbours !!

— uhhh people who are friends w his son ? idk that’s kinda weird but he’s like 17/18 sooo uk , go off

— someone that knew him from his #lawyerdays would be cool too ! so if your muse is in tht typa scene .. they cld meet him now n be like ... wow u rlly downgraded :/

— idk being a dad is natural to him , he’s been a dad since he was like 15 so if ur muse needs guidance ... the light ... a father figure ... big brother .... let a heaux know cause i think raf lowkey thrives off of being needed ....

— anything else ! if you have any other ideas or maybe we shld just surprise ourselves and completely do it chem based , that’s cool too ! i’m literally down for anything !!

there’s a bunch of personality stuff on his stats page i don’t wanna make this any longer than it already is SO THATS IT IM DONE IM GOING TO STOP TYPING NOW BUT PLS !! give my sad boi some life

#van.intro #wow .. i call this a run down ?#i just .. love him sm :( im srry #« ☂ ⁞ ❛ you have dreams in life ? that’s lit ❜ › ooc »

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njawaidofficial · 7 years

Text

She fought to get a mat on the sand so her wheels could take her to the sea.

http://styleveryday.com/2017/08/12/she-fought-to-get-a-mat-on-the-sand-so-her-wheels-could-take-her-to-the-sea/

She fought to get a mat on the sand so her wheels could take her to the sea.

The day Gabrielle Peters started using a wheelchair was the day she started learning how to fight.

Photo by Leo Reynolds/Flickr.

Peters is prickly, and it’s earned. For years, she clammed up in the face of condescending stares from strangers, platitudes from politicians, and second-class treatment from doctors. Now, when people try to “fix” her, she recommends they “take a good, long look in the damn mirror.”

When the housing complex where she lives in Vancouver was sold to a Mennonite group that forced residents to participate in prayers in the communal dining hall, she told Canada’s largest newspaper.

She doesn’t want to be saved, humored, or, worst of all, anyone’s “inspiration porn,” that flat, familiar treacle where a disabled person “overcomes” the odds to run cross-country, throw a javelin, or juggle a dozen chainsaws behind their back — stories told mostly to remind able-bodied people how “good” they have it.

Peters wants equal health care, equal access, and equal rights. She also wants to go to the beach.

Until Wednesday, Aug. 9, 2017, it had been more than 10 years since Peters had been on the sand. “The world I exist in was not designed for me, and the people I exist with have all sorts of messed up ideas about me,” Peters says.

A self-proclaimed “city person,” the water is her favorite place to be. The forest is a close second. When Peters was discharged from the hospital after rehabbing from the autoimmune disease that required her to begin using a wheelchair, she was determined not to let her new mobility arrangement reduce her quality of life.

But, without a flat surface, determination means squat.

She tried hiking the “accessible” trail in the city’s expansive Stanley Park — to no avail. The surface was uneven, the paving was intermittent, and the grade was too steep.

A photo Peters took of the trail in October, showing pebbles and pine needles over uneven dirt. Photo by Gabrielle Peters.

Accessibility, it turns out, is subjective.

At the beach, she would sit as close to the water as she could — by a paved seawall far from the tideline — while her friends lounged on on a sandy section nearby. When she left, her friends would get up and move closer to the water.

Unlike the United States, Canada does not have a major federal law mandating equal opportunity and access for people with disabilities.

While many Americans, particularly those who lean left, tend to view the country as a sort of “America Plus” — what we could be if only our self-involved, short-sighted politicians rolled up their sleeves, delivered a killer Aaron Sorkin-style speech, and started working for the common good — on disability, Canada largely relies on a vague statement of principles laid out in documents like the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedom, which calls for “equal protection and equal benefit of the law without discrimination based on … mental or physical disability.”

Efforts led by groups like Barrier Free Canada, Every Canadian Counts, and others to establish concrete, nationwide standards for accessibility, have thus far failed to produce legislation.

In the meantime, many disabled Canadians are forced to rely on the generosity of local governments — and the tenacity of their fed up, pissed off peers like Peters — to safeguard and expand their right to access public spaces.

In summer 2016, Peters (@mssinenomine on Twitter) began tweeting at the Vancouver Park Board, the agency responsible for the city’s beaches, demanding access to the shore.

The solution, she discovered, was 2,700 miles away, in Northern Bruce Peninsula, Ontario — where the town had installed a flexible mat on the sand, allowing wheelchair users to glide all the way up to the waters’ edge.

.@ParkBoard Beach shld be for every1 #accessibility #disability ht @EveryCdnCounts @rnsharen https://t.co/sbZSsR4sZW pic.twitter.com/VZ4Yx4aNpN

— sine/G. Peters♿️ (@mssinenomine) June 20, 2016

If a tiny Lake Huron community of fewer than 4,000 people could get its disabled residents and visitors to the shoreline, Peters argued, her wealthy global city had no excuse.

The Park Board replied with a “survey of a plan of priorities for some time in the future.”

It felt insulting.

It turns out Vancouver city officials were indeed working on a solution — having spent the previous two years searching for a way to open up the shoreline.

Park Board Chair Michael Weibe, who also sits on the Vancouver’s Persons with Disabilities Advisory Committee, spends a lot of time on the road.

When he travels with his mother, who uses a wheelchair, he keeps a running note of “what works and what doesn’t,” based on her feedback — as well as the feedback from residents who write and call his office with suggestions.

“It’s always great to have such a healthy user group that’s willing to share the information with us,” he says.

Part of the solution, it turned out, was in Vancouver’s own backyard.

The Park Board purchased a single MobiMat dirt cheap from an event company eager to sell it.

The low cost turned out to be a warning sign. The mat didn’t come with all the required parts, which required money the board hadn’t budgeted for and then had to find.

There was another problem too. Unlike Northern Bruce Peninsula, Vancouver has 14-foot tides. If the MobiMat was rolled all the way out to the water’s edge, parts of it would quickly be swallowed by the sea.

As a result, the mat sat in storage for the first few weeks of the summer.

Peters didn’t think she should have to wait for something able-bodied residents already had unlimited access to.

On June 23, she emailed a representative from the Park Board who had contacted her after her earlier tweets. She explained the feeling of dependency that comes with having to call in and request a beach wheelchair — which are not self-powered — in order to get on the sand. She explained the fear of leaving one’s wheelchair unsecured, and that many people have no desire to be pushed. She explained the longing she and others experience standing or sitting by the seawall, squinting at the waves meters away.

“I want on the beach now,” she wrote.

A member of the board followed up with a phone call a few days later. The hold up, he explained, was the missing parts, which were awaiting delivery.

Stock up on sun screen/get ready to wheel to English Bay Beach soon🤞🏻Thanks @ParkBoard This is great news! #vanpoli #accessibility #Happy pic.twitter.com/YP0UOYVArt

— sine/G. Peters♿️ (@mssinenomine) June 27, 2017

//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

For the first time, it was evident that someone was listening.

On Aug. 9, the city finally rolled out the mat at English Bay Beach.

Peters had been having health complications and had a doctor’s appointment scheduled for that day, but was determined to “soak in this tiny little win in a sea of inequality.”

And, of course, to “try it out and get close to my water.”

This time, her determination was met with the right piece of equipment.

She was nervous wheeling to it. As her chair edged on, the artificial surface slowed her pace, but did not leave her feeling “tippy or off balance.” She found that it wasn’t difficult to maneuver. A small gap in one section turned out to be easy to navigate.

A few minutes later, she caught the sunset.

6. There’s a bit of a gap at 1 section which I prob should’ve got photo-but was too busy looking at this. Haven’t been this close in decade pic.twitter.com/LYOPmFHdN7

— sine/G. Peters♿️ (@mssinenomine) August 10, 2017

//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

“You’re a trailblazer,” an older woman told her.

Peters explained that she didn’t work for the Park Board, and she left to go get a hot dog. Back near the seawall, her former high water mark, she saw a man in a motorized wheelchair and told him about the mat. She watched him power over and down the path, stopping at the edge.

As she was leaving an hour later, she noticed he was still there.

“I never spoke to him, but I think I know how he feels about it,” she wrote on Twitter later that day.

Still, years of delayed promises have left Peters feeling anxious about the mat’s prospects.

“What if no one uses it?” she wonders. “What if it turns into an excuse to not make something else accessible because it wasn’t popular enough?”

The current setup is not perfect. Right now, there’s only one mat and the beach gets crowded. Also, it can’t really get that close to the shoreline because of the extreme rise and fall of the bay.

But there are signs the tide is turning. One of the first things Peters noticed was that there was no sign alerting beachgoers to the presence of the mat. If you didn’t already know about it, she realized, you would have no idea it was there.

Peters wrote the Park Board on Twitter. This time, they replied immediately.

Hi! Thanks for raising your concerns, sharing your story and keeping us accountable. This sign was installed as of this afternoon! pic.twitter.com/JruM0ICVGj

— Vancouver Park Board (@ParkBoard) August 10, 2017

//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

Weibe notes that other residents have recommended creating more sitting areas adjacent to the mat to make it a social space. Recently, the Park Board purchased nine new wheelchairs with inflatable tires that can travel over sand to the water line, though they still require the aid of a friend or lifeguard.

A beach wheelchair. Photo by the National Park Service.

“Our goal is to have them at every beach because the call in [to get a beach wheelchair] is just another barrier,” Weibe says.

Peters agrees — and has a million more ideas for what the city can do next.

She wants Vancouver’s beaches to get waterproof wheelchairs powered by compressed air for use in the ocean. She wants the Park Board to install a ramp by an area of stairs near the water. She wants adapted versions of the dozens of adventure activities in the city.

“I don’t get people who see this accessibility innovation as burdensome,” she says. “It’s fucking amazing and cool and requires the best kind of integrating of tech, design, ideas, and people.”

Gabrielle Peters knows how to fight. She fought to go to the beach and won. She’ll keep fighting until every space everywhere is accessible for everyone.

Until that happens, she’ll celebrate the small victory the way she prefers. By soaking in the salt air.

#Fought #Mat #Sand #Sea #Wheels

#fought #mat #Sand #Sea #wheels

0 notes

tragicbooks · 7 years

Text

<p>She fought to get a mat on the sand so her wheels could take her to the sea.</p>

The day Gabrielle Peters started using a wheelchair was the day she started learning how to fight.

Photo by Leo Reynolds/Flickr.

Peters is prickly, and it's earned. For years, she clammed up in the face of condescending stares from strangers, platitudes from politicians, and second-class treatment from doctors. Now, when people try to "fix" her, she recommends they "take a good, long look in the damn mirror."

When the housing complex where she lives in Vancouver was sold to a Mennonite group that forced residents to participate in prayers in the communal dining hall, she told Canada's largest newspaper.

She doesn't want to be saved, humored, or, worst of all, anyone's "inspiration porn," that flat, familiar treacle where a disabled person "overcomes" the odds to run cross-country, throw a javelin, or juggle a dozen chainsaws behind their back — stories told mostly to remind able-bodied people how "good" they have it.

Peters wants equal health care, equal access, and equal rights. She also wants to go to the beach.

Until Wednesday, Aug. 9, 2017, it had been more than 10 years since Peters had been on the sand. "The world I exist in was not designed for me, and the people I exist with have all sorts of messed up ideas about me," Peters says.

A self-proclaimed "city person," the water is her favorite place to be. The forest is a close second. When Peters was discharged from the hospital after rehabbing from the autoimmune disease that required her to begin using a wheelchair, she was determined not to let her new mobility arrangement reduce her quality of life.

But, without a flat surface, determination means squat.

She tried hiking the "accessible" trail in the city's expansive Stanley Park — to no avail. The surface was uneven, the paving was intermittent, and the grade was too steep.

A photo Peters took of the trail in October, showing pebbles and pine needles over uneven dirt. Photo by Gabrielle Peters.

Accessibility, it turns out, is subjective.

Unlike the United States, Canada does not have a major federal law mandating equal opportunity and access for people with disabilities.

While many Americans, particularly those who lean left, tend to view the country as a sort of "America Plus" — what we could be if only our self-involved, short-sighted politicians rolled up their sleeves, delivered a killer Aaron Sorkin-style speech, and started working for the common good — on disability, Canada largely relies on a vague statement of principles laid out in documents like the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedom, which calls for "equal protection and equal benefit of the law without discrimination based on … mental or physical disability."

Efforts led by groups like Barrier Free Canada, Every Canadian Counts, and others to establish concrete, nationwide standards for accessibility, have thus far failed to produce legislation.

In summer 2016, Peters (@mssinenomine on Twitter) began tweeting at the Vancouver Park Board, the agency responsible for the city's beaches, demanding access to the shore.

.@ParkBoard Beach shld be for every1 #accessibility #disability ht @EveryCdnCounts @rnsharen https://t.co/sbZSsR4sZW http://pic.twitter.com/VZ4Yx4aNpN

— sine/G. Peters♿️ (@mssinenomine) June 20, 2016

If a tiny Lake Huron community of fewer than 4,000 people could get its disabled residents and visitors to the shoreline, Peters argued, her wealthy global city had no excuse.

The Park Board replied with a "survey of a plan of priorities for some time in the future."

It felt insulting.

It turns out Vancouver city officials were indeed working on a solution — having spent the previous two years searching for a way to open up the shoreline.

Park Board Chair Michael Weibe, who also sits on the Vancouver's Persons with Disabilities Advisory Committee, spends a lot of time on the road.

When he travels with his mother, who uses a wheelchair, he keeps a running note of "what works and what doesn't," based on her feedback — as well as the feedback from residents who write and call his office with suggestions.

"It’s always great to have such a healthy user group that’s willing to share the information with us," he says.

Part of the solution, it turned out, was in Vancouver's own backyard.

The Park Board purchased a single MobiMat dirt cheap from an event company eager to sell it.

The low cost turned out to be a warning sign. The mat didn't come with all the required parts, which required money the board hadn't budgeted for and then had to find.

There was another problem too. Unlike Northern Bruce Peninsula, Vancouver has 14-foot tides. If the MobiMat was rolled all the way out to the water's edge, parts of it would quickly be swallowed by the sea.

As a result, the mat sat in storage for the first few weeks of the summer.

Peters didn't think she should have to wait for something able-bodied residents already had unlimited access to.

On June 23, she emailed a representative from the Park Board who had contacted her after her earlier tweets. She explained the feeling of dependency that comes with having to call in and request a beach wheelchair — which are not self-powered — in order to get on the sand. She explained the fear of leaving one's wheelchair unsecured, and that many people have no desire to be pushed. She explained the longing she and others experience standing or sitting by the seawall, squinting at the waves meters away.

"I want on the beach now," she wrote.

A member of the board followed up with a phone call a few days later. The hold up, he explained, was the missing parts, which were awaiting delivery.

Stock up on sun screen/get ready to wheel to English Bay Beach soon🤞🏻Thanks @ParkBoard This is great news! #vanpoli #accessibility #Happy http://pic.twitter.com/YP0UOYVArt

— sine/G. Peters♿️ (@mssinenomine) June 27, 2017

For the first time, it was evident that someone was listening.

On Aug. 9, the city finally rolled out the mat at English Bay Beach.

Peters had been having health complications and had a doctor's appointment scheduled for that day, but was determined to "soak in this tiny little win in a sea of inequality."

And, of course, to "try it out and get close to my water."

This time, her determination was met with the right piece of equipment.

She was nervous wheeling to it. As her chair edged on, the artificial surface slowed her pace, but did not leave her feeling "tippy or off balance." She found that it wasn't difficult to maneuver. A small gap in one section turned out to be easy to navigate.

A few minutes later, she caught the sunset.

6. There's a bit of a gap at 1 section which I prob should've got photo-but was too busy looking at this. Haven't been this close in decade http://pic.twitter.com/LYOPmFHdN7

— sine/G. Peters♿️ (@mssinenomine) August 10, 2017

"You're a trailblazer," an older woman told her.

Peters explained that she didn't work for the Park Board, and she left to go get a hot dog. Back near the seawall, her former high water mark, she saw a man in a motorized wheelchair and told him about the mat. She watched him power over and down the path, stopping at the edge.

As she was leaving an hour later, she noticed he was still there.

"I never spoke to him, but I think I know how he feels about it," she wrote on Twitter later that day.

Still, years of delayed promises have left Peters feeling anxious about the mat's prospects.

"What if no one uses it?" she wonders. "What if it turns into an excuse to not make something else accessible because it wasn't popular enough?"

The current setup is not perfect. Right now, there's only one mat and the beach gets crowded. Also, it can't really get that close to the shoreline because of the extreme rise and fall of the bay.

But there are signs the tide is turning. One of the first things Peters noticed was that there was no sign alerting beachgoers to the presence of the mat. If you didn't already know about it, she realized, you would have no idea it was there.

Peters wrote the Park Board on Twitter. This time, they replied immediately.

Hi! Thanks for raising your concerns, sharing your story and keeping us accountable. This sign was installed as of this afternoon! http://pic.twitter.com/JruM0ICVGj

— Vancouver Park Board (@ParkBoard) August 10, 2017

A beach wheelchair. Photo by the National Park Service.

"Our goal is to have them at every beach because the call in [to get a beach wheelchair] is just another barrier," Weibe says.

Peters agrees — and has a million more ideas for what the city can do next.

She wants Vancouver's beaches to get waterproof wheelchairs powered by compressed air for use in the ocean. She wants the Park Board to install a ramp by an area of stairs near the water. She wants adapted versions of the dozens of adventure activities in the city.

"I don't get people who see this accessibility innovation as burdensome," she says. "It's fucking amazing and cool and requires the best kind of integrating of tech, design, ideas, and people."

Gabrielle Peters knows how to fight. She fought to go to the beach and won. She'll keep fighting until every space everywhere is accessible for everyone.

Until that happens, she'll celebrate the small victory the way she prefers. By soaking in the salt air.

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