Reflecting on Representation in Audio Drama (as a Creator)
It's a commonly sung praise of fiction podcasts that, because of the indie nature of the space, minority representation is much more commonplace, but I don't think I've heard much of what that looks like for creators on the other side, so I just want to talk about it a bit in regards to my personal experience, writing an upcoming audio drama and being physically disabled.
"Write what you know" is advice given far and wide, even beyond podcasting, so when working through the pre-canon impact the city collapse in SPACE SPECKS had on the population, a long-term injury seemed like a trail worth heading down. Thus one of the show's characters, Nora, was partially trapped underneath a collapsed wall after an explosion, with her partner forced to do a field amputation to get her to safety, and, in a broader sense, save her life.
As an amputee, just the idea of writing a character with an amputation was exciting — I've struggled to find any relatability to other amputees, in both fiction and in real life, due to the circumstances and type of amputation I had. Creating a character who's amputation was, like mine, traumatic, who struggles with phantom pain and her disability being minimized and not having a say in the medical decision, now having to relearn navigating the world with mobility aids has meant so much more to me than I ever expected it would.
We're both partial foot amputees (write what you know, right?) and for me, this came with a lot of strife that I'm now getting to explore through Nora. I didn't call myself an amputee for a very long time — I didn't think I "deserved" it, because you wouldn't ever be able to tell just by looking at me, because my healthcare team and my family told me I would be fine and would adapt to walking again and because, even in amputee spaces, I simply didn't have it as bad as others did, along with hundreds of other reasons.
In short, though, audio drama is allowing me to tell a story that I would otherwise probably continue to feel isolated within. Becoming an amputee was a huge shift in my life I've never shared with anyone, but now Nora's injury has the opportunity to help me and maybe help others feel seen and understood, (even if their circumstances may be different!) This is just an incredibly unique sort of catharsis I didn't expect to find in podcasting & I'm really grateful for the opportunities this space presents. :)
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I would read your zhongxiao codependent yuri
Like, I do generally picture them as a vaguely father/son dynamic BUT THAT IS NOT CANON. It's just as much fun to view them through a romantic interpretation! Idk why people can't view the same characters in different kinds of relationships without being weird about it.
Anyway I love your vision and would love to hear more about it lakdjs
THANK U SO MUCH Im not sure if I’m gonna write zx in the future since I’ve tended to be shy about posting my stuff relating to them for over a yr now, but I did post this fic with them last year while trying to get a hold on how to write them (mind the tags it’s pure angst omg). I was too shy to tag it as ship since it didn’t feel shippy enough, which is kind of funny to me in hindsight bc I reread it and am like. Man I think only a zx shipper would write this NUFNVJVJV
Post got kind of lot Im gonna go on a tangent about them under the cut
Honestly my theory for why ppl r very set on the father/son interpretation is everyone’s immediate thought on to how to make the power imbalance between them seem less uncomfortable is to apply a parental interpretation to it. Which is fine ofc, I get it, but the way ppl push it as canon a lot kind of grates on me a little bc they’re usually incredibly passive aggressive and pushy even if u clearly designate ur post as ship OTL
Also not really a fan of the characterizations either since ppl tend to treat Xiao like a moody teenager Zhongli has to reel in (this is hilariously reminiscent of the post I made about how ppl handle scaramouche and nahida a bit ago haha). And idk I just feel kind of polarized about the headcanon overall bc I associate it with people being really uncomfortable and frustrating about zx
I just like how there’s sort of an imbalance to them, some zxs like them being more fluffy and functional but I sort of like it where it’s not like, entirely dysfunctional but I’m prioritizing a specific kind of character study over romance. This tends to be how a lot of my ships go ngl I just sometimes enjoy the intensity/intimacy of romantic feelings thrown into the mix if it makes it interesting but I’m not often interested in a lot of my ships following more standard romance plots(?) I guess? Unless it’s specific ones. Which sounds clinical when I put it like that but this is just bc I am very aromantic NHFBVJVJ
When I say codependency in zhongxiao honestly it’s sort of a theoretical(?) codependency—not sure how to word it? I think Xiao would be really fucked up if he didn’t have Zhongli in his life suddenly but I don’t think his relationship with getting attached to people invokes what people would majorly think of when they think of codependency in a ship I suppose. It’s moreso I just feel Xiao could be at his worst with dehumanizing himself in comparison to other people with Zhongli, because said mental state is driven by how he feels about debt, service, and duty which are very closely tied with devotion and how he would feel about someone he considers his god and leader, as well as someone who saved him
It’s fun this is paired with Zhongli who generally knows how to work with Xiao kind of understands the self destructive depth Xiao’s loyalty/devotion comes with. Also fun they have been around each other for a very long time and Xiao as one of the adepti is familiar with the past I think Zhongli appreciates having around. They work but it’s also a case where Zhongli is in such a position of power over Xiao its kind of very delicate situation that’s hard for both of them to navigate. Which is fun to explore. I esp love contrasting it with other Xiao pairings (actually i think i still have that xiaoven fic up on my ao3 where I tried to convey a specific interpretation of them in a similar exploration vein too)
I totally get why people wouldn’t like it (I feel a lot of my opinions on xiao ships just clash with a lot of fandom consensus so bad all the time And it’s just bc I’m like this I’m not even trying to be contrarian or anything. HELDINCJD) but I just tend to handle shipping in a specific way. It’s not I don’t enjoy fluffy or lighthearted zl and xiao stuff I actually enjoy it a lot I just like there being layers. This makes it feel more impactful when I think about how Zhongli looks out for Xiao in canon or how Xiao gets like textually flustered talking to him (lantern rite 2023 was so tailored to my tastes it’s not even funny)
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CAPTAIN IT'S ROBIN PLEEEEASE TELL ME ABOUT THE DEATH GAME RPG YOU PUT YOUR FRIENDS THROUGH I LOVE THOSE
ROBIN ROBIN MY DEAR DEAR MUTUAL ROBIN YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT KIND OF PANDORAN BOX YOU'VE JUST OPENED. LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT THE EXECUTION GAMES
The Execution Games (otherwise known as the exgames, or usually teg) is a series of death games run by yours truly, but more Specifically, is run by the hosts: Killer, Hunter, and Ripper. I'll talk more about them later because I can't ever shut up about them, but the players then include, surprise! me again, but also my dear friends :) who enjoy violence like me :) Teg was truly inspired by my obsession with last life and how badly I wanted to play with my friends, plus my inability to play minecraft at the time and my game design and digital storytelling muses, so you can see those influences. A good handful of us play characters that share names with us (helps that many of us have large hoards of names lol) and so p! is used for players, c! for contestants, the characters actually fighting in the games, and then there are also spectators (s!) who mainly watch, but also Can interact with the playing field in limited ways
As far as what the games actually look like, they go on a weekly basis, with wednesday being Execution Day (or exday), where every contestant must draw a card. The contestant who draws the ace is that week's Executioner, though there can be multiple as people lose lives and also become executioner if they draw the 2 or 3. If you're executioner, you need to kill someone by the end of next exday. Simple as that. If you don't, you become the target of the next week's executioner, and you take double damage from their attacks! :)
Now. the hosts. ohhhhhh the hosts. So the thing about teg is that it's a bit of a meta game. There's an item called your talisman that players have to carry around in real life, and if caught without it they're are consequences for their contestant, and all resources for crafting and whatnot come from photos of real life. So in this nature, the hosts are.. weird. They can talk to the players, for one thing. If we consider Killer (any prns), who was originally the sole host of the games and is their creator, well. a lot of players have talked to Killer directly, and more than once. It's a common occurrence. Killer knows the players, and knows the contestants, and knows the difference between them, because a crucial aspect of teg is this: the contestants are the manifestation of the player's desire to play. The games are violent, and deadly, and lead to heartbreak and destruction and anguish. So of course not every contestant might be happy about playing. But if the player is having a good time? sucks to suck <3 that's what it's all about
As far as the other hosts, they're all siblings, but the other two emerged after Killer. Despite this contradiction, Hunter (she/he/they/it/none) is actually the eldest, and while it doesn't do the hands-on hosting that Killer does, she is responsible for the story and lore of teg, as well as the world itself, the playing field, the arena the contestants find themselves in every games. They actually work with Killer in a sandbox to construct the new playing field between games <3 very sweet. What Isn't so sweet is the youngest bitch Ripper (he/she/they/any). This thing is a bastard. and rude. and generally awful. But Ripper's entire purpose is to be on standby in case of Killer's death, which spawned from a point in time where. uhm. some players were considering trying to kill Killer LMAO so yknow. Ripper can Only host if Killer is dead. which makes him a bit salty LOL
But all of that aside ! The point I touched on about contestants being forced to play even if they don't want to (which a lot don't LOL) is the part I think you'd enjoy as far as "forcing my friends to play death games with me ^_^" since as far as the actual players my dear wondrous friends, they ofc aren't forced to play if they don't want lol, but their contestants are held to their whims <3 and it is the job of me and Killer to keep that locked down YIPPEEEEEEEE!!! ^_^!!!
I'm now going to stop talking before this becomes four billion words LOL. but I love teg. There's actually a secret hidden tegblr that is extremely unfinished and hasn't been touched since the first exgames (we're currently on the fourth) but I've been wanting to revamp, and likely will once I'm back at college ! :D and if you want to hear more, there will certainly be more about it there <3 and also if anyone wants to talk more about teg more it is not hard to get me to talk about it. clearly ASDFLJSABDF. it's been my passion project for a couple years now and I love it dearly <3 so yeah. I love putting my friends through my deathgame rpg ^_^
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the usual izzy gets surprised by not having had menopause yet and a baby trope but adding in a twist: it happens pre-canon and by the time he gets unceremoniously dumped off the ship, he’s known for at least a month
just. increasingly tense izzy, who not only has to deal with not being able to keep anything in his body and worse nausea than he had even in his first week on a ship, but also can’t sleep marinating in the familiar coldness between him and ed that suddenly grates all over again. who’s forced to contend with the idea that something might finally force them out of this stalemate, and he doesn’t know if he wants that really or what outcome scares him the most, and it makes him pissier than a rabid cat soaking wet most days
and then it happens anyways, in an entirely different way that didn’t even require izzy to voice all of his fears and lay bare their problems, because stede fucking bonnet did that with his mere presence. no need to admit to his fear of being abandoned now, is there, is all he can think bitterly over a mug of fucking water of all things in jackie’z.
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