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heraldofcrow · 1 year

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I literally figured out the best way to connect Djura and Eileen in Bloodborne because there IS actually a way that Djura’s, “Hey, every beast, every monster…was once a person. They still ARE people,”could influence Eileen and actually become relevant to her story.

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There’s something to be said about Djura’s mentality and how it could clearly be a metaphor for how we see certain people in society. He’s sympathetic. He’s ahead of the game and is shockingly different compared to the people of Yharnam, who literally judge you as lesser and evil based on the fact that you’re an outsider alone.

Beasts? Being people? No way in hell would they accept that. It’s the same issue that Byrgenwerth and the Church had. If they could convince themselves that the sick and the ill were subhuman, then what would stop them from committing atrocities against them? This way too accurate to real life human history as well. We know plenty of examples, and Bloodborne imitates them flawlessly.

“No, these malformed aquatic creatures of this village are not human. It’s okay if we torture and mutilate them.”

“No, these vile-blooded fiends are subhuman. We can genocide them.”

“No, these people in Old Yharnam are all turning into beasts anyway. They lost their humanity. We can burn down their home and seal them away.”

—

Djura is considered a fool for what he does, but his kind heart and will to defend those that others consider monsters is incredibly admirable.

Eileen is similar in a sense because her goal is to mercy kill blood-drunk hunters and ensure they die true deaths. There’s honor in what she does even if she doesn’t believe it.

However, it’s clear that there’s also an element of refusal on her part to acknowledge that beasts and blood-drunks are the same. She warns the Good Hunter to keep their hands clean because a hunter should only hunt beasts, not people.

She warns us that there are no humans left, but that they are all beasts now. She knows that they were human once, but she seems to believe it no longer matters because of their transformation. I actually think this may subtly influence how she sees blood-drunks, whether she believes it or not.

We can kind of see it if we attack her during Henryk’s boss fight. The way she talks to us is fascinating.

"Aren't you a shame? You drunkard. Don't display your embarrasing form like a beast. I'll be your humble suicide assistant. You're a hunter, aren't you? Isn't that the true purpose of being a hunter?

Enough already...No one could blame you. Aren't you a shame? You drunkard."

—

This is the Japanese translation of course, but it still has the same energy we hear in English. There’s a tone of horror and disgust. To Eileen, it seems like she’s convinced that a drunkard is like a beast. They have taken on a shameful and low form. It’s not willful, but it’s definitely not a sign of true humanity either.

I theorize that Eileen may have lost heart at some point, and no longer sees her task for what it is. She thinks it’s sort of hopeless in a sense, because drunkards and beasts are really no different. At some point she believed that she was allowing hunters to die human deaths…but if beasts are human…then how is her work any different than a normal hunter’s?

I also love the theory that she’s on the edge of blood-drunkenness because of this, and even targeted someone like Henryk that was actually sane. She’s slipping.

But that’s where Djura could come in, because what would save Eileen from the madness of what she does could be the full acceptance of beasts being human. She would have to decide if she was willing to kill them, and since she was already a mercy-killer, she probably would. Not out of malice no, but in the way you shoot a wounded deer. That’s been Eileen’s profession as a crow since she began.

The problem is that she was clearly prepared for the “defilement” of becoming a crow, for the honor-less side to it. She willingly shouldered that burden. But did she do the same with beasts?

And when it became her close comrades losing their minds to the blood, did she accept that they were still human? That they were the same person? Did she tell herself they were monsters to get through the pain of having to see them change so much?

Accepting the truth about beasts could help Eileen to avoid giving the “safe” answer for why drunkards or monsters do what they do. You can’t separate the human from the beast. You have to accept that they are one and the same, even if sick.

That’s the whole point. If you accept that a person does what they do because of sickness and not because they’re an inhuman devil, you can show them mercy. That’s a rarity.

Djura chooses to do this by sparing them, and Eileen does this by way of mercy-kills and an honorable burial. They are similar, but Eileen clearly still struggles with it, and honestly who wouldn’t? Who would want to accept that they had so much blood on their hands?

Who would want to accept that someone you once cared for is absolutely unrecognizable and monstrous now? Who wouldn’t try to cope with that by saying that they simply aren’t human anymore?

No, that’s not the person I knew once…it can’t be them…

No, they’re just a mindless thing now, aren’t they…

(You all know what I’m thinking with that last part lol).

But Djura rejects that illusion and embraces it. They’re not monsters, they’re human. They were human. They are human. No type of sickness would ever change that, be it mental or physical.

Yes, Eileen your targets are no different from the beasts, because beasts are humans too. Yes, it’s horrific and depressing. Yes, it feels hopeless, but that’s why we need vessels of mercy like you and Djura.

They both get the idea, and while Eileen may struggle, I think there could be a lot of potential to dig into her psychology and how she could change her mind in the story. Djura could be a strong source of influence. That’s why I want to connect them.

Eileen very likely lost people in her life to blood-madness. That hurts, and exploring the ways in which a person would try to deal with that just fascinates me. It can be hard to watch someone you love change in a darker way, especially if you feel responsible for it.

In a world like Bloodborne, where actual beasthood is a possibility, who wouldn’t try to convince themselves that such a person had simply lost their humanity?

Aaaaand that’s where the drama comes in :)

—

Anyway, shoutout to Eileen and Djura. I love FromSoftware so much.

#I wrote this for one reason and i think you all know #lolol #ok no but in all seriousness i did want to explain what i was thinking about this because it was tormenting #i’m still trying to wrap my head around this #because there actually a fascinating duality with eileen here #hell it’s with every character in the story pretty much #but the story i have come up with for eileen really plays into it #i’m just obsessed with the obvious metaphor about society and mental illness in particular #obviously certain parts of history too but you know it’s just so common for people to see the mentally ill as “monsters”#like as if that person wasn’t the same as any of us and is just sick?#like if you get tuberculosis does that mean you aren’t human anymore?#of course not #the virus and the human are never the same #the demons in someones head are not who the person is #that actually reminds me of the league now wow #i think valtr was trying to eradicate the “vermin”or the virus in people and then lost sight of the difference of course lmao #this just keeps getting better #anyway i’m rambling #eileen the crow #retired hunter djura #bloodborne headcanons #bloodborne #CrowNotes

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daytaker · 3 months

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The Gang React to You Giving Them Chocolates on Valentine's Day

And other Valentine's Day miscellanea. I'm going with MC giving store-bought chocolates. I know in some places, it's more common to give homemade chocolates, but I for one do not have any idea how that is done and it's not something that's common where I live, so I'm going to go with what I know, which is very little. Enjoy! (Mostly below the cut.)

The length of these varies. Some are quite short. I just wanted to put out some sort of Valentine's Day themed Thing, even if I'm almost two days late.

Lucifer

"How thoughtful. I don't suppose there's anything deeper I'm meant to read into here?"

He's so smug. Unreasonably so. More than you would expect. Yeah, guys, he got chocolates from MC. But his pride doesn't allow him to flaunt the fact. He has to just hope and pray people actively ask him whether he's gotten anything or where those not-so-discreetly placed chocolates sitting on his desk happened to come from.

Lucifer is very traditional in his treatment of you. When it comes to events like this, he's almost painfully predictable. He'll certainly have roses for you, and depending on your relationship, he might reserve dinner for two at a high end restaurant. And if your relationship is at a certain level, you can expect a trail of rose petals leading to the bed. It's kind of cringeworthy but he means well.

Mammon

"O-oh... Ahem... Is it Valentine's Day? Ha! I thought I was forgettin' somethin'. Heh, uh... thanks, human."

Obviously he didn't forget; he's been stressing over this day for the past week. He needs to get you something, but it can't be anything that's too cheesy or anything that makes him look cheap, so he's probably broken the bank to get you some sort of jewelry that he'll spend the next century paying off, but it's worth it.

When he gets chocolates from you, he plays it off like it's no big deal, but actually, he's so excited to reciprocate that before he has time to think it over, he's acting like he just so happened to have this expensive piece of jewelry on his person so you might as well take it for him. He spends the rest of the day kicking himself because now how in the world are you supposed to know that this was actually a very tactful and expensive gift from the greatest demon in the Devildom?

That, and he'll probably spend the entire day glaring at his brothers and the dateables from the corner as they shower you with gifts and attention.

Leviathan

"Wh...? For me? This isn't a prank, right? Because I'm not gonna forgive you if this box is full of tide pods!"

It's not full of tide pods, so all is well. He's so embarrassed to have doubted you that he tries to just shove his gift into your hands and push you out of his room, but it won't take too much persistence to get him to back down.

His gift is some sort of merch relating to an anime, manga, or game the two of you have particularly enjoyed together. Preferably something cute and evocative of the holiday. He doesn't know. He's never done this before. Why would he? Nobody would ever think to give him anything on Valentine's Day, so why would he bother with gifts? You do remember that nobody likes him, right? He doesn't like them either, so it's fine, but---

Let's just thank him for our gift before he falls too far down the self-hate spiral.

Satan

"I had hoped I might receive something from you today."

Satan is glad to get something from you, no matter what it is, but to be honest, chocolates probably aren't the best choice for him. He'd rather have something a little more heart-felt, that seems like you picked it out with him in mind. Literally anything cat-themed, or a book of some sort (bonus if it's a romance novel).

He's probably gone and done something stupidly romantic like buy you flowers and a book of poetry with certain parts highlighted.

But don't be fooled. Satan's favorite part of Valentine's Day is talking about its gruesome history, from the martyrdom of St. Valentine to a whole host of brutal murders that have taken place on the day. Catch him trying to figure out how to shoehorn the Chicago St. Valentine's Day Massacre into a casual conversation.

Asmodeus

"Oh, for meeee? You're such a sweetheart!"

He adds it to his enormous pile of chocolates, cards, flowers, and love letters. But of course, it's special, because it's from you.

He loves it, but... he's another one who would probably prefer something a little more personalized. Being who he is, he's a very popular demon on Valentine's Day, so seeing you put in a little effort to get him something with a bit of Asmo-flair would thrill him.

Beelzebub

"Chocolates...? This is the best thing I could have asked for. They'll taste even better knowing they're from you."

Well, obviously he loves them. He probably tried to get you chocolates too, but it doesn't matter how much he loves you. Beel's gonna Beel. The box is empty. He's shocked. He was sure he left some.

Belphegor

"...Wait, it's...? ...Thanks, MC. They look really good."

Belphie stares down at the chocolates in his hands, looking tired and mellow, while he internally panics because holy shit, it's already February 14? When did that happen? He doesn't have anything for you. He hates Valentine's Day. Why does it have to exist and lay bare all his inadequacies, like being a procrastinator and forgetting to prepare for things in advance even to the slightest degree?

Diavolo

"Ah, for Valentine's Day! It's a delight to receive this in person!"

Diavolo probably gets plenty of Valentine's Day presents from admirers (and suck-ups) around the Devildom, but most of them come in the mail or are otherwise delivered in an impersonal manner. So when you approach him directly to give him some chocolates, he's reminded why you're everyone's favorite human (himself included).

Also, you'd better clear out your schedule, because Diavolo booked out all of Ristorante Six for a dinner date tonight. Yes, the entire thing. Yes, on Valentine's Day. No, he's not worried about the dozens of disappointed couples who had probably been hoping to eat there.

Barbatos

"Any gift from you is satisfactory in my eyes."

It's kind of embarrassing to give regular old chocolates to someone like Barbatos who's a complete whiz in the kitchen, especially when it comes to sweets. But you figure he'd appreciate the gesture, and you'd be right. Of course, he will turn around and present you with a variety of immaculate, handcrafted artisan chocolates, tailor made to your personal taste. But sure, those store-bought candies you got in the heart-shaped box are completely fine, so stop stressing out about it.

Solomon

"Aw, thank you, my adorable apprentice! I have some homemade chocolates for you! What? Aren't you going to try some?"

Solomon tries to kill you on Valentine's Day...with love, obviously! But seriously, aren't you going to try the chocolates? He put his whole heart into them. And the hearts of several unique Devildom species. They're not toxic, stop worrying.

Simeon

"The fact that you thought of me means more than you realize."

And he means it. The fact that you thought about him, and when thinking about him, made the active decision to buy him something for Valentine's Day makes him stupidly happy.

Simeon strikes me as a flowers kind of guy. He got you flowers. Maybe some homemade treats too, but definitely flowers.

Luke

"Thanks! I got you something too. Happy Valentine's Day!"

Luke made cookies. They're delicious. Befriending this kid is the smartest thing you ever did.

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chrkrose · 7 months

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I mean I am all for girls sticking together, especially against someone like Joe Jonas who I have side-eye since forever, but if that means fawning over Taylor Swift I guess I'll pass. Especially when she did something very very similar to someone with waaaaay less power than she has in the industry. She has much more in common with Joe Jonas than with Sophie Turner. Obviously, the situations vary in terms of Sophie being a woman (so misogyny adds an awful layer to what she's going through, which Joe Alwyn doesn't have to face) and the mother of Joe's kids, which makes Joe Jonas' actions even worse, but how is it that people are forgetting how Taylor went on her own "smear campaign" against Joe Alwyn just because he dared to break up with her and /or not be willing to marry her? She painted the guy as if he was insecure and jealous of her success, implied he was holding her back, went on pap walks to drive the point home that he was keeping her "hidden" and preventing her from being her own self, made all of her friends unfollow him on social media, all of this knowing exactly how that would look like, and how that would weaponize her fans against him. The dude can't do as much as take a subway without his name going trending on Twitter with her insane fan base calling him all kinds of names. There were fans even wishing for him to kill himself, and the tweet had tons of likes. Never mind the fact she made a point of dating a racist misogynistic right after and weaponized that relationship too (because you can't tell me part of her motivation to state in public she had been the happiest she has ever been, to have the guy in all of her concerts singing along her songs when she built the narrative that Joe was unsupportive of her success wasn't a way of getting back at him). And according to her own lyrics, Joe Alwyn has a history of dealing with mental health issues, like anxiety and depression. And yet, Taylor did all of that to the person she dated for six years. It wasn't a marriage with kids, but the relationship lasted longer than Joe Jonas and Sophie's marriage and almost the entirety of Joe Jonas and Sophie's relationship. I see no difference between Joe Jonas and Taylor Swift, she just gets away with being an awful person. And unfortunately for Joe Alwyn, people bought the narrative that Taylor sold out there about him. Luckily, Joe Jonas wasn't able to stick the "Sophie is a bad mother and unfit partner" narrative to her. I also can't help but think this outing is much more PR Taylor swift seeing an opportunity to come out as a “girl’s girl” than Taylor Swift reaching out to a friend. Afterall, where was this attitude when people were calling her out for dating a racist misogynistic? Hmm yeah, she can fuck off. I also am going to be super cynical here, and it's something I've noticed about her for ages now. To me, she feels a certain validation in other women's failed relationships. Especially with a woman who got something Taylor wished had had herself.

#anti taylor swift #sophie turner #joe alwyn #joe jonas

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sunnysam-my · 2 months

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Dark Academia is a subculture and it isn't problematic, just misunderstood.

I am so tired of people that aren't a part of this community shitting on dark academia literally any time it gains popularity again, claiming that it's pretentious, elitist and racist. It's not problematic, at least not in a way most people criticise it for.

What all of those people don't seems to understand is that there's the dark academia aesthetic and there is the dark academia the subculture. Even when they do understand they still put people who are only interested in the fashion and overall vibe together with people who are dark academia.

Why is dark academia a subculture?

First let's start with what even subculture is?

It's a cultural group within a larger culture, often sharing a collection of values, beliefs, rituals and traditions. Despite what many believes, it doesn't have to have any connection to music, like Star Trek and Star Wars fans, but there's no need for having a shared fandom at all, like the gays, bikers and youth.

Participation in the dark academia subculture is not limited to following a specific set of fashion. It suggest preferred activities, hobbies, philosophies and lifestyles. The focus is on reading and expanding one’s horizons, on becaming the best version of oneself no matter the cost, especially by engaging in classical literature, history, foreign languages, mythology, art and philosophy. On top of that DA is actually connected to certain music (classical and neoclassical) and fandoms.

The (incorrect) criticisms:

1. One of the more common criticisms of dark academia is that of its superficiality and pretentiousness – that it is more a fetishisation of intellectual life than real intellectual life. "Instead of being a reading society, it's a Dead Poets Society cosplay." This is just simply untrue. Yes, there are people who are purely here for the aesthetic and vibes, but they aren't part of the subculture. People who are genuinely part of this community do read all those books, write poetry, journal e.t.c regularly and try to be well educated.

2. The money issue. Now this is where it gets funny. Dark academia is often called classist and racist because of it's "idealised vision of the academic lifestyle in which the money is simply there". Obviously in places where higher education is strictly financially driven studying is a bitch. Nowadays there are even a lot of doctors who are homeless, especially in US. But DA is mainly a European thing, and in a lot of EU countries studying isn't that expensive, it's not cheap either (books costs a lot and not working doesn't help), but you don't need to pay for a good education, you need to study hard and compete with others to get good education.

This however is not a dark academia problem. It's a harsh reality. One that we need to fight with. Getting higher education shouldn't make you get into a debt. It shouldn't make you sacrifice social life for studying all your life only to end on the streets.

3. "Eurocentric obsession". This is so dumb I don't even know to say. How can you possibly call people, mostly from Europe, problematic for being fascinated by Europe's history, it's past culture, Greek mythology, mostly European philosophers (but American too), Latin that is still fucking taught at many schools here, etc. All of things are taught in schools here. There is nothing wrong with you being obsessed with Asian royalty and making it part of your personality, but God forbid, you, a white person, are obsessed with the best parts of your history and culture 🙄.

4. Another criticism of dark academia is that it encourages unhealthy behaviour, both physically (caffeine overconsumption, smoking, drugs) and mentally (perfectionist, constant competition). The pursuit of perfection comes at a price. The entire idea of DA is to study as hard as possible so you can reach enlighten. It's workaholism, except it's school, not work. Now this is why I think dark academia isn't problematic in a way people think, but is misunderstood.

A melancholic comforting dream

It's easy to understand why people think DA is unhealthy or fake. Nights spent studying, writing essays for hours on end, drowning in books and writing excessive notes. For many this sounds like a nightmare, but dark academia romanticise it. It see it as the true joy of university life. At the same time there's taking joy in reflecting on what is irretrievably lost, pessimistic and melancholic.

In reality most people in this community are overworked neurodivergent, usually twice exceptional, youth who struggles mentally. So many people are twice exceptional and it's very obvious. The hyperfixetions, the love for linguistics and humanities, the hate of math.

For many Dark Academia is a coping method.

Staples of dark academia fiction explore intellectualism, classic literature and self-discovery, but also the struggle of fighting for your identity, the way humans are shaped by their trauma, the way they destroy themselves to be better. The word "dark" in Dark Academia is primarily about those dark sides of the human nature, not just the dark colours of the DA aesthetic.

If you think that Dead Poets Society romanticised suicide or Kill Your Darlings academicly motivated drug use then you're the crazy one here. People loved those movies, because of how relatable they were, even the suffering.

Studying is a bitch. If you make it fun then you are less depressed about the fact that you don't have the choice to not study all night. It's not just nostalgia for what you haven't experienced, but what you have to endure all your youth. Some people are forced to study to be the very best and sacrifice their (social) lives, because the system is so broken, but if you can make it into your own, comforting, time - it's better. Sure, the movies and books have lots of harmful copying mechanism, but irl (or in this case online) this community encourages healthy methods like reading, making art, journaling, acting etc.

I do think there's a lot of to talk about when it comes to, for example, sexism, and I do agree DA needs more diversity than just white cis man, but like I said, it's not problematic in a way most people criticise it for.

#dark aesthetic #dark academia #dark acadamia aesthetic #dark academism #subculture #dark academia subculture #mental health #relatable #autism #adhd problems #problematic #coping mechanism #light academia #chaotic academia #dead poets society #kill your darlings #neurodivergent #intellectualism

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matan4il · 6 months

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hello! as someone who's very much uneducated about the israel-hamas war but wants to educate themself more on the topic, I just want to ask if wikipedia is a good place to start? obviously it's not the be all end all and further research is necessary but do you think it's a good starting place? since with longer texts after some point my brain stops being able to properly comprehend them lol. if it's not then can you direct me to other, more reliable sources? I know it's quite a big ask but I don't want to go around using terms and saying things I don't understand and spread misinformation in the process ^^;;

Hi Nonnie! I just wanna start by commending you for the desire to educate yourself. It's not easy, this conflict has many aspects, and goes back quite a while, so I understand people who don't want to. All the more respect to you for having this willingness to dive in! *hugs*

Wikipedia is def not a reliable resource. I was an editor for a while, because I wanted to contribute my Jewish history knowledge. What I discovered as a Jew is, that it's a website with a bias towards antisemitism. Because Wikipedia is open for anyone to edit, the dominant narrative between two conflicting sides is always going to come down to numbers. Which side has more people to add new pages, or edit existing ones? Which side has more representatives for when disputes are settled with a vote (which is a dumb way to settle encyclopedic disputes... at a certain moment in history, the popular vote would have determined that the earth is flat). So consider that there are a mere 15 million Jews worldwide. Meanwhile, according to a global survey by the ADL, about 26% of the adult human population harbors antisemitic views. That's over one BILLION adults. When those are the proportions, unsurprisingly Wikipedia has an antisemitic bias. I've seen it on pages that have nothing to do with the Israeli-Arab conflict, too.

But don't just take my word on it! Here's an example of an academic article that touches exactly on the antisemitic bias of Wikipedia:

A resource that I like for understanding the Jewish/Israeli POV is the Jewish Virtual Library. It's dedicated to Jewish history in general, and as part of that, covers the conflict. I like it as a resource, because it's encyclopedic in nature, it contains a lot of parts of the conflict that tend to be erased by less history-oriented websites, it is organized in a manner that's relatively easy to use (I would recommend starting with "Israel" and "Myths & Facts", but you also have a search function), it doesn't look away from some criticism of Israel, and at the same time, I've never seen any anti-Palestinian sentiment/bias on there. Another resource is Unpacked, a project that aims to do about the same thing, but mostly in video form (they also have a website). I think its biggest downsides are, that with the video format, it's sometimes too condensed to do some issue justice, and that the website is a bit harder to navigate.

I looked at other encyclopedic resources online and... most of them are just not that in depth, because not being dedicated to this conflict specifically, they start for the most part in 1947, and miss a lot of the historical context that precedes the events of that year.

If I were to recommend specific books, on why a false narrative has become very common regarding this conflict, I would point to The New Historians by Efraim Karsh (it deals with how biased historians fabricate a false narrative about the conflict... To prove the falsifications, Karsh goes back to some of the most critical documents and events in the history of the conflict, examining the original evidence. I learned A LOT that I had no idea about from this book), and Industry of Lies by Ben Dror Yemini (same thing. This book was the first place where I learned stuff like... that Israel had actually offered to take as citizens some of the Arabs who had fled the 1947-1949 War, or that during the war, there were places where Jews were asking Arabs not to leave, such as over the radio in Haifa). You can also search both of these men online, they have stuff they've shared since publishing these books.

I hope this helps? And of course, if you need help with any specific question, I will try my best for you! Have a great day! xoxox

(for all of my updates and ask replies regarding Israel, click here)

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weirdchristmas · 1 year

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ok but this isn't the first time you've posted racist content, just saying sorry doesn't make up for having the post to begin with let alone the hate you showed to your followers. Those post should of never been made at all and today wasn't even close to the first time your showed you don't give a fuck about bipoc and the fact you even purposely missed certain post just proves you really don't give a fuck unless called out.

I don't know who you are, but I disagree with all of this. I didn't intend to post them at all. I think once about ten years ago I posted a few of them with some talk pointing out how they were examples of the worst that the old cards could be. But since the rest of the blog was snarky, folk thought it set the wrong tone. I didn't agree initially but eventually people convinced me. So I don't post them anymore as part of the "HAHA WTF" cards.

As I just posted, I do think it's important to know the history of stuff like this, but it's a matter of context. They're not jokes, so I don't share them as jokes. But I also don't agree that simply acknowledging their existence makes you complicit with them.

So... I apologize that they were in there. I'm sorry to everyone for that. Like I said, I was grabbing groups of 50 random cards from different folders on my disks without even looking. I thought I had all the racist cards in one well-labelled folder that I'm using for a research project. But obviously some were filed incorrectly and ended up as part of the few hundred things I loaded into the Tumblr queue last night which I obviously did not "curate" very well (or at all, which is also why there were a ton of Thanksgiving and Halloween cards mixed in).

(FWIW, I also have folders for misogynistic, classist, anti-suffragette, anti-Irish, Nazi, and on and on. The history of awfulness is just part of what fascinates me about this hobby because our common pop culture often shows us at our worst, not just our dumbest.)

But if you feel like I'm actually full of hatred toward bipoc, then that's how you feel. And now I've let other people see your claim, too. I disagree, tho, and I hope others do, too.

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eighthdoctor · 8 months

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I've never done any kind of proper historical studies -- everything I've learned is from high school, from reading things on wikipedia, from history podcasts, and more rarely (because I rarely have the patience to read) from books. So I... hardly know anything about specifics. The kind of intimate knowledge of the inner workings of empires and peoples that a college educated student would have.

This might sound odd but... it's a bit reassuring to me that even someone who's spent years studying those two specific subjects doesn't feel comfortable saying for certain what any individual person, or group of people may have been experiencing at any given time. That the environment people lived in was so *vastly* different that one can only have clues as to what people felt, how they experienced the world.

All that being said, and I do apologize if this is another too-vague or too-broad question -- do you feel as though your college studies have changed the way you relate to the past?

So I wanna unpack some of this a little bit, because you're closing off some avenues I don't think you need to close off.

College students do learn about specifics, but the thing that's really being taught in college is how to think and learn. Skills, not facts. Part of what made that conversation with the history majors so memorable is that it highlighted how much is different between majors in that regard.

Sociology vs psych might be a valuable example here: Rule of thumb, sociology teaches you to approach issues on a population level, groups of people; psychology teaches you to approach issues on the individual level. There's very few areas where either is 100% right to the exclusion of the other, but it's useful to know which lens (a) you and (b) your source is using, if you're going to be reading about, e.g., the causes of poor academic performance in American boys. Psych says this is due to a rise in ADHD; socio says our classrooms aren't suitable for...anyone, but especially people who have never had to sit still and be quiet (ie, boys).

WHAT you learn in college is HOW to learn. (It's also, crucially, a period where 1, you very often have nothing else to do BUT learn and 2, you are paying a gazillion dollars for the privilege of learning, so you're heavily incentivized to actually do it. Free activities are easier to stop doing than ones you paid to do.)

It's how to navigate databases, how to read articles (peer reviewed or otherwise), which resources to trust, what it MEANS to trust a resource, how to read with different lenses, how to find information at all, what sorts of conclusions are reasonable or specious to draw from that information (aka: how flimsy can your argument be before your professor will tell you to find more evidence), when to apply certain techniques...

* Enormous caveat: if your professors were any good. Some of them aren't. Many of them aren't. If your professors universally suck, you'll come out with a meaningless degree and student debt, which is not ideal.

But theoretically, at least, the purpose of 21st century higher ed is to teach you how to learn.

Then you go apply it.

All of which is to say: The granular factoids I have on call about 15th and 16th century explorers did not come from college; I didn't take a single class on that era. They came from books and articles and online resources. College taught me how to evaluate those books (although common sense plays a huge role here) but the rest of it was self driven.

Here's the other thing: None of that knowledge is paywalled.

While the decline of Google makes finding some of these resources harder, I highly, highly recommend just searching things like "how to judge a history source" and "basic resources for social history" (a guess based on your focus on 'inner workings of empires and peoples'). Then read a bunch of links (please first filter for obviously AI written pages!).

THEN ask yourself some questions: Where did those links disagree? Are there areas they all agreed on? Was there something that 8 pages agreed on but 2 did not? If it seems like a key area, go check who's written & hosting those links, and consider what they might (or might not) know about the field. (If r/askhistorians and PragerU disagree on a definition, you can bet which one I'm listening to.)

After reading a bunch of pages, you probably have MORE search terms and MORE questions. Repeat. Repeat.

I just mentioned r/askhistorians: For this sort of thing, I would read anything with the Monday Methods flair. Start here. That page was last updated 5 years ago but it DOES link to 3 years of mostly weekly posts on how historians think. 100% free. No college tuition required.

Podcasts are great resources. r/askhistorians is fucking invaluable. I would murder for the r/askhistorians modteam, no questions asked.

Reading is a learnable skill! Reading history books is very learnable! I stopped reading print material for 2 years, and when I was getting back into it, I set myself an alarm. 15 minutes a day in the evening when I had nothing else going on. Start with fiction if you're out of the habit, YA would be my recommendation, then start expanding.

There ARE history books with audio versions out there and you can check your library system for those; I don't vibe with audiobooks so can't provide any specifics, but I know they exist. Most history books won't have recordings, though--what you may be able to do if you check out or purchase a digital version is use a text-to-speech program or screenreader to read it to you. This obviously has some drawbacks :P But it's an option!

So: Did my degrees affect how I interact with history? Yeah. I'm not discarding the impact of my education, I had some really phenomenal classics teachers. But they're not the only way to get that result. There are other routes to the same destination.

#asks for ts #jennifermoriarta #ask more questions about who is writing this and why!#history #long post for ts

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1cindyschineselitblog · 1 year

Text

Reflections on a Year of Reading Chinese Literature

Titles Read

The Corpse Walker by Liao Yiwu

Peony in Love by Lisa See

Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng

Strange Beasts of China by Yan Ge

Out of the three countries that I had chosen, the last one was on a whim: China. At first, I didn’t know what to expect because I didn’t know much about China other than its conservative traditions and its one-birth rule. Obviously, I haven’t read every book, but I think I’m allowed to say that a lot of the historical fiction books that involve romance are where one of the main love interests is a ghost. Maybe it’s just me, but that’s a common theme I’ve seen so far. Also, a lot of Chinese books have the most gut-wrenching plot twists, it makes me so… frustrated. But I learned that foot binding is very important in China’s history: having small feet; people used to powder their feet too? For the most part, the families in these books were conservative and didn’t really let the girls interact with boys. This was more of a burden than anything because the girls ended up dying due to naivety. The main element that I saw between the four books were broken families. This could either mean a family is broken internally or that a family would break. Not only that but misunderstandings could be more detrimental than what you see on the surface.

From Liao Yiwu’s nonfiction book The Corpse Walker: it’s common knowledge that the government can become corrupt under certain individuals. But the fact that one person can change the attitude of so many people just by saying a few words is crazy. Chairman Mao’s reign was just one huge dictatorship that made peasants feel as if they had power. Power can turn a “good person” into a hungry and ruthless beast. It didn’t matter if you had done well for a person. As long as one was poor and the other was rich, the poor would publicly beat and humiliate the other party.

Lisa See’s historical fiction book Peony in Love: proves that curiosity killed a cat, but that ignorance isn’t always bliss. Peony, the main character, is a naive girl who is sheltered so much to the point that she knows basically nothing about boys, the outside world, or even being a “normal person.” Protective nature is good, but this type of parental behavior needs to be limited. The book proves that the most protective parents create the most rebellious children.

Celeste Ng’s novel Everything I Never Told You: in addition to the theme of child rebellion, Lydia is a prime example of the consequences of protective parents. But her parents were protective of her image. She was the golden child, the child who didn’t say no because she wanted to make her dad happy and didn’t want her mother to leave again. A family can only look so perfect on the outside until you really get to talk to the kids. Some parents don’t realize their impact on their kids even if it’s a small thing.

Yan Ge’s contemporary fantasy book Strange Beasts of China: is one that I haven’t finished yet. But something that people don’t understand is that “just because you know someone, doesn’t mean you know all of them.” This may seem like common sense, but it’s really not. Even if you have a best friend or someone you’re super close to. There is no person in the entire world that will know you in and out.

Before, I used to romanticize the idea of living in the old days. But I probably won’t survive with all the feet binding and the number of conservative views. I’d probably be accused of being possessed by a demon or something. What surprised me is that when I read, I often connect its history with something in our modern time. For example, foot binding and powdering them was seen as something for the husbands because they were pleased with small feet. It was normal then, but now it’s seen as weird so I’m intrigued about why it changed. I’ve also learned that I’ve very gullible when it comes to reading. I knew that there were plot twists, but I never saw them coming. Now I understand how important word choice is and how it creates a different type of scene to mislead you so that plot twists are more dramatic.

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somerabbitholes · 2 years

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hi lol this is kind of weird to ask i know, but i wanted to take history for college and when i told my parents, they told me that most people who take history (and literature) are either a. people who want to take civil service and need to study more seriously for that i.e. not really taking history seriously or b. people who dont know what to do so they take the easiest option/women who just need to study until they get married, and basically that i would be surrounded by people who wont take the subject seriously, which could then affect my own seriousness. bc you have taken history i wanna ask you if thats like actually true or just an oversimplification or exaggeration?

we're 12 people in my specific combination of courses, and all of us want a PhD at some point, which is sort of an implicit assumption at the master's level: if you've made it this far, you're sticking with the subject. not all of us are looking to teach, but we do want to be part of the larger project of history. there are, of course, people who want to join the civil services but that doesn't mean they don't care about what historians do. for a lot of people i know, the civil services are just a stable job that'll give you money to support research and everything. like if you join the MEA through the whole civil service apparatus and are at a certain level, you get a grant for a PhD in the field you're interested in. so the thing about people just there for the job prep is a huge oversimplification; it's obviously a lot more nuanced.

but that stereotype also doesn't go away, even when you're part of academia: there's a sort of runnning joke in my department that most people who study ancient india do so because it's less investment and it prepares you for the exam, and there's sometimes a latent contempt for those who are just there too, but that's just an assumption and it goes away when you actually talk to someone who's studying for the exams. (because the problem isn't really that people who want to join the government aren't 'serious enough' about history, it's that academia and the bureaucracy work in ways that makes reconciliation or doing both so difficult). i'm not even going to touch the women thing because not a single person i know is killing time until they marry.

and i know you're not talking about this, but i just want to point out that history is not easy or self-evident. there's a very frustrating but very common assumption that all we do is read dalrymple or other popular historians or just go over chronologies until we know them perfectly. and as much as popular writing would have you believe that history is something "anyone can do" if you've got "a good story to tell", it is still something that needs training, there's value in being trained to read archives and write in a way that can be both critical and literary. people spend years extracting truth and building coherent narratives out of maddeningly disparate sources. it's more complicated than you think and you realize that the more you do history.

i don't think you need to worry about being surrounded by people who aren't serious. i'm not saying you'll never meet those people; i'm saying it won't be extraordinarily different for history. every field has them and that's just how it is. but you'll also find classmates and professors who care deeply about the subject, and they'll all love it and care about it in different ways, and that makes it so, so worth it.

i hope that helps & i'm sorry if i went off.

#anonymous #answered #for later #history #historyblr #c stuff

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freshlybakedspiderbread · 8 months

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hi! im gonna say seiga or miko for the ask game!

seiga was just done over here but she's about to come up soon :P ! so that toyosatomimi...

General opinion/How much I care about them: i love miko... 🎧 i mentioned before about coming to love the td crew as a whole over a long time of reading doujins featuring them and Miko is obviously a big part of that too. she and her crew are such a fun addition to gensokyo's worldbuilding and Miko herself is amazing. zun's historical rpf version of prince shotoku who became a hot girl wizard and wants to take over the world and is super charismatic about it? that's unmatched.

...that said, kind of a tangent here, her premise and deliberately kinda nationalistic motifs are only fun in touhou because she's contrasted with a bunch of similarly ambitious reglious leaders and their own groups, and that you know none of them would ever actually ever 'succeed'. They'll probably always be competition and waning in powers, but that consistent conflict is sort of its own kind of peace since gensokyo can always accomodate them.

A ship I love: hey guess what im not done talking about seiga because its seimiko time. just like seiyoshi i also have a really specific headcanon backstory in mind for them which i cant really get into all of it right now, but to try and sum up: Even if Miko knew Seiga's desires were only self-serving, she admired/respected/idolised/loved Seiga who appeared before her to answer all of Miko's greatest desires, and at some point decide it wasnt enough to just learn how to not die from her, but to also become a beautiful hermit who challenges the fate the world bestows them.

And it mustve been unexpected for Seiga to meet someone who managed to see her for everything she is (which includes defiling corpses and generally making an enemy of heaven every day), and not only not really care but also Gets Her.

thaaaaat all being said, in present day Miko knows Seiga has a Reputation and gets up to Antics that doesn't exactly paint hermits in the greatest light, so she's like always bouncing between two ends of a meter where she's begging her dear teacher to reign things in, or she's trying to explain to others why digging up corpses is actually not as bad as it looks 😰🥰

A non-romantic relationship that I love: it doesnt come up in my head often but her shared parenting of Kokoro along with Byakuren and Mamizou is both sweet and extremely funny. Miko taking it upon herself as a matter of pride to guide the menreiki thanks to her role in their creation is really good, and its also really funny that despite that connection she still basically has to compete with others over her, and she probably loses to the tanuki more often than not??

also does 'ex-romantic' count because i absolutely adhere to belief that in her and okina's former lives, they absolutely were a thing, bonded over a shared love of art and beauty, created a whole bunch of noh masks together... But then Miko started caring about all that a whole lot less when a certain hermit hailing from China entered the picture, and the rest was history 😌

The NOTP: call me miss no fun but it might be miko/byakuren. i do actually really love the rivalry between miko and byakuren, the back and forths, the varying hypocrisy, the thematic parallels, and the ways they do manage to work together for a common cause! I just. have yet to see a way to turn it romantic that works for me.

also on that note if you're gonna do miko/saki (which will always just be for jokes to me and never anything i sincerely consider), saki has to be the one putting a saddle on miko 🤠

My biggest headcanon about them: everything above was kinda it 😆 maybe more will come to my mind in the future...

An idea for a fanfiction I would like to write/read about them: she'd be in the seiga backstory fic too since their first meeting is kinda vital to both characters. but as for another idea... Adventure Game type story where to earn points with the people, she susses out some random people's desires and goes to find the most quick and expedient way to fulfill them n_n

Something that makes me think of them: one time in pokemon xy i thought of naming an espurr after her because i knew meowstic kinda reminded me of her 🐱

#the next one of these i do is likely the last!#toyosatomimi no miko #touhoupawject

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transhawks · 1 year

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What even is this so-called "hero and villain" side of fandom? Why are we so divided? Why do people assume "so and so" must be friends and obviously know of each other as "a group" thus representing, the entire "other side." Why do we believe certain "groups of blogs" must definitely hold a certain opinion because of a few posts from other blogs that are part of that "other labelled side" not realizing they're completely unaware of each other and do not agree? Is that what creates this "middle ground" of not really fitting in with either of them?

I've been shifting between all three, and I've noticed some hero stans think villain stans think a certain way, but those villain stans are the same ones you and some others disagree with, but yet those opinions seem to largely define "the other side." I've also often seen villain stans act petty and engage with hero stans in the way your anon does here, and some anons constantly share that "perceived majority view point" with hero stans, and I think this is what's causing this huge disconnect. These individual people going from blog and blog sharing stories and that colors our perceptions of each other, and we put everyone into a collective bubble despite these three sides of fandom having smaller groups with their own perspectives on the series that don't match that perceived image. A lot of these three sides even have things they agree with each other on, and things they enjoy about the series, the common ground is there, but we're too divided and chose to stay in our own areas, and I do think that is for the best because one way or another, the differences in opinion will collide somewhere.

I just wish some individuals would stop trying to stir up trouble, it leads to things like someone calling all Hawks stans annoying with a petty meme over proper communication, all because of a basic post where an anon was saying Twice wasn't a good person for his willingness to kill, and the OP clarifies that that wasn't the reason they thought Hawks called him a good person, but because Hawks thought Twice had the potential to be a good person because of the positive traits he'd seen in Twice and wanted him to channel it into something else. Which is a fine opinion to have whether you agree with it or not or think it's all wrong because Hawks is the devil obviously, but my point is: It's a basic post like every other basic post on this website where nobody is attacking anyone or being sassy or rude, which makes the response received completely uncalled for imo, and with the lack of fact-checking? Leads to a "common idea" of a certain group of people "acting a certain way" without knowing what prompted that idea and if it's even deserving. For the record, I used to be guilty of this as I thought all villain stans read the League as positive revolutionaries, not realizing how harmful they were to themselves, but it's been a good year or so since then ever since I decided to actually see what some of you were saying instead of going off word-of-mouth. But that's also why I know how much making exaggerations and spreading assumptions can be an issue.

So, I love my fandom history. I'd say the divisions were less a thing prior to 2018/9 for a couple reasons - the League were less interesting. We had less of them, and the villains were just not given the same depth...yet (i argue 115 is one of the best chapters in this manga). You had stans, of course, and essentially people into the adults over the kids really gravitated towards the villains.

I'd say a few things changed that.

The League went after Overhaul and cemented themselves as a 'group' more so than a bunch of random wackos.

And Dabi is Touya theory got really a lot of confirmation from the Pro Hero arc.

Essentially, once the Hawks Infiltration plot entered this manga, the manga shifted in focus. The villains got more time, more depth, often more than the kids for certain villains. Then MVA happened.

So it went from interest to genuine interpretation of the manga after this. Horikoshi basically threw away his earlier statement of not wanting to humanize the villains too much and started doing that. Villain stans went from people who just found the villains more interesting to being in a space where we were debating how right the villains were as the world started kind of proving they might have a bit of a point. This did divide the fandom. One of the uhh core divides is really about narratives and how we read the story.

I'll give myself as an example - I'm a Hawks-focused blog, right? From the very start I made this blog to talk about him, since I was fine on my main account randomly rbing bnha once in a while, and I was really into Deku before I caught up circa June 2018. It was wanting to write meta on Hawks that changed that. Now, a lot of the names of people who wrote meta alongside me back then are no longer active as far as I can tell, but I'm still here. And yet you know why I've not gone into the Hawks tag in a year and a half? Every time I try to do a mass rb of fan art there's always a couple I can't because I'm blocked. People I've never interacted with or seen in my life. It doesn't really bother me, just gives me pause because I'm rarely the type to block. Unfollow, yes, but not block. The only people I've really blocked were certain unhinged people I absolutely do not wish to engage with or former friends who hurt me deeply and even seeing their blog names causes me discomfort. So I always wonder what was it that made these people block. It comes down to interpretation and talking about.

I've made peace with the fact those random Hawks-likers dislike my take on the character. It's fine, I don't have to prove much to them these days. I've been right, I've also been wrong. But I've written stuff for this small fandom space for years, and I know enough that if I am wrong, I'll accept it when it comes out. But those fans are bothered seeing my posts, and I think that's where the divide is - when we challenge each other's view of the manga. And visibility is unfortunately as good as. I don't tag my meta as #antihawks or #hox because I'm not "anti" the character, just able to articulate and criticize and CELEBRATE how flawed this character is (that and I get really upset when i see people tag my stuff with #hox as it reminds me of the people I once thought were my friends).

Simply, it's about the interpretation of the manga. You have people in parts of this fandom who absolutely do not believe the villains can be saved or that the hero children should save them. There's little communication I can have with people when we so fundamentally disagree on this. Same with my views on Hawks being wrong. Those people who block me fundamentally disagree with me on Hawks having done the wrong thing. Conversations are difficult.

I get your point here. Like I don't assume all "hero" stans are like the unhinged anon who sends me asks about the kids doing emotional labor or something. Some part of me is just "we have different interests" about people who mainly focus on the kids.

But there is a boogie man kind of anon thing, you're right. A lot of people don't see the bad takes they're told of them through their inboxes. It makes things go haywire. I will say my recent stuff is in response to seeing discussions and feeling absolutely dismayed at at a few villain-focused blogs that I know interact with me. The message was for them.

But you're right in that there isn't a "common consensus" because fandom is not a hive mind and shouldn't be. I've been in a space where we tried to make a hive mind in 2020 and let me tell you, it's awful. I refuse to like censor or remove my opinions to be part of a group these days because I did that in 2020 and it hurt so badly because nothing was good enough in that space - we all watched each other like raptors looking for the slightest misstep or transgression, to the point where the person I'd consider the ringleader of it all would look at who like what post when she didn't like the post or not engage with a post. It was insanity. I wish I can attribute it to pandemic lunacy, but like.... I can't. It was just a lot of absolutism and power highs. No nuance. People got cut off quickly like contestants in a contest reality tv show.

But views change. I did read the League as that, or more was inclined to. I hoped Tomura would change his mind and break free from AFO, because even I saw his beliefs and wants as self-harming back in 2019. There was a lot of this tied into his name being Tenko, a term for the coerced ideological renouncement of communism prior to WWII of many prominent Japanese leftists who then supported the emperor. I was sure there was a "turn" somewhere in his future and I hope he'd fight AFO and lead the League to something greater. When the possession plot happened, that ruined most of that for me but it took me a year or so to really process where the manga was headed.

If anything what I'm most dismayed about is people not like... letting their earlier views go as the manga goes on. Dabi is very different than we thought initially, and very few people accurately predicted the sheer level of jealousy, or how much he adored his father (compared to his other siblings). Endeavor is far more complicated than we thought initially, and while I still call him an abuser and rapist I also ponder a lot about Endeavor with broader questions about abolitionism and restorative justice and whether rapists and abusers can be reformed because these are the sort of difficult questions all this makes me ask myself. But a lot of people refuse to even question previously held opinions. idk, sorry for rambling. Your ask made me reflect on how much the fandom has changed in the years I've been here, over and over again.

#asks

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torturedpoetemotions · 2 years

Note

can you explain more about the question/result breakdown for your fandom quiz (maybe behind a spoiler tag for people who haven’t taken it)? especially wondering about the first question about the single by itself story name. it was such a great quiz!

Sure! For the most part I tried to create questions with answers which originated or evolved within broad buckets of time that also roughly correspond with major shifts in how fandom has connected and interacted. These are the buckets I had in mind:

Pre-Internet (1960s - Mid 1980s)

Early Internet (Late 1980s - Late 1990s)

Proto-Social Media Internet (2000s)

Social Media Internet (2010s +)

For instance, where you first read fic is a pretty good time frame indicator, because different platforms and tools became available at different times and were popular places for fic at different times. Sometimes I also went by association, basically what age group/generation of fandom is generally associated with this thing/idea/attitude about fandom?

Obviously none of this is super rigid or scientific, both because there's a lot of overlap and there are outliers in every category and time period, and also because this is a just a silly little uquiz my wife and I made for fun during our lunch breaks.

A common misconception I keep seeing in the tags, too, is that someone is "too old" or "too young" to be in a certain category.

While some of these are hilarious to read (i.e. the people who literally weren't alive until the mid-2000s who insist they can't possibly be a baby fan...or all the people my age or older horrified at the thought of qualifying as anyone's aunt or uncle), this quiz has nothing to do with your chronological age and more to do with balancing the norms when you entered fandom with whichever fandom norms you've latched onto since. Which is how you have some very young people getting fandom elder or wine aunt, and some grownass mortgage-aged adults getting baby fan.

So if you lived through the first issue of Spockanalia, you'll skew older because that event dates back to the earliest days of modern fandom. But if you call a short one-chapter fic a drabble, you're going to skew younger because that's a newer use of the term. Ideally it balances out to give a decent idea of your time in fandom, in most cases. But again, this isn't super scientific.

Also! Just for fun, here are some questions that didn't make the cut!

1. How do you refer to a villainous or antagonistic character that you nevertheless adore/enjoy?

Woobie

Problematic Fave

Trash Prince/Princess

Poor Little Meow Meow

WTF?! Those all mean different things! You can't just--AUGH!

I don't know what any of these terms mean

I don't have faves that are problematic

2. Which of these published authors with history in fandom most activates your fight or flight response?

Diana Gabaldon

Cassandra Clare

S.E. Hinton

Anne Rice

E.L. James

George R.R. Martin

Addison Cain

3. What do you call fans' critical analysis of their fandoms' source material?

Discussion

Fannish or Fan Essay

Discourse

Metadiscussion

Meta Essay

There's also a lot of early or time-bound fandom terms I couldn't find a way to work in, too, like the fact that the plural of fan used to be "fen" in some circles. And I didn't even get to touch on different generations of fans' relationship to academia, which is a special interest of mine.

Meta or Meta-analysis

Analysis

Thanks for this ask! It was really fun to answer.

#ask box #anonymous #fandom #fandom history #fandom age uquiz

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inquisitorius-sin-bin · 2 years

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🥺🤡🛒✨👀 for the fanfic asks

Thanks so much for asking!

🥺 Is there a certain type of moment or common interaction between your characters that never fails to put you in your feels?

Pining, that really does it for me. Knowing that two characters want each other but can't have each other due to their circumstances. ESPECIALLY when they have a moment where they allow themselves to slip and revel in their connection, knowing it can necessarily only be temporary.

🤡 What's a line, scene, or exchange you've written that made you laugh?

So both NAJ (the protag from Whiskey and Teeth) and MXW (the protag from Canto Bites) have a Western flair to them and that comes with some kind of corny, teasing jokes. But I do enjoy writing them. Like the, "what are you, some kind of inquisitor?" and "is that a lightsaber?" *is obviously a lightsaber* "no I'm just happy to see you." So if you enjoyed that, look forward to more of that.

I also snickered to myself every time I wrote HRH (protag from Studied and Praised) thinking something along the lines of, "I've got this, I'm poised, Heir to the Empire" and then immediately crumbling because the Inquisitor did something totally benign like look at them and say 2 words. They just could NOT handle having a crush.

🛒 What are some common things you incorporate in your fics? Themes, feels, scenes, imagery, etc.

Ohh SO many! I really like to play with balancing attraction and repulsion, there's something to me really naughty and sexy about knowing you should be scared, reviled, angry, etc, and instead finding yourself attracted, aroused, enamored. NAJ was a little scared and a lot thrilled by it. HRH was initially repulsed but then found beauty in the features they initially reviled. MXW has loving adoration for the Inquisitor, but is also viciously angry with him.

I've also spoken about this before, but I enjoy interpreting the Inquisitors as a sort of "Dante's Inferno" type literary demons. They commited the ultimate sin and are damned forever, and their mission is to tempt others into damnation with them. They are suffering, and yet their respite is to drag others to the dark side and to the Inquisitorius to suffer with them. I'm not religious, but I live in a very deeply Christian place and grew up with people not allowed to celebrate Halloween or read that book series about Witchcraft and have to drive past stuff like this on a regular basis:

(Maybe he already has, oh ho!)

Anyways, that deep-rooted cultural tradition has kind of left a mark on me and it's DEFINITELY a part of the works. Temptation to the dark side, the heros being punished for their one flaw or sin, burning/flame and devil imagery, etc.. But I hope it isn't to the point of being offensive, that certainly isn't my goal.

✨ Give you and your writing a compliment. Go on now. You know you deserve it. 😉

Aw thanks! Let's see, I've been out of the game for a long time, and I'm really excited people like these works! I'm really happy to have finished something, and boy ohh boy, when I am writing them and when I am reading back over them 🥵. But also! I think even though the purpose, at the end of the day, is to write self-insert porn, I think I do so in a way that tells a compelling story and hopefully makes the reader feel like they have a role and a place in this universe too!

👀 Tell me about an up and coming wip please!

So Canto Bites... typically my writing goal is to get 1000+ words written in a day, but I can only get about 500 a day for this piece because it is really emotionally heavy. MXW stands for Mx. Wrath. They're our first protagonist that has a previous history with the Inquisitor. They are a Horse Girl (gender neutral). And yeah, everything about this is pretty personal for them. This one will probably be my most trigger-heavy work, but I don't write non-con so none of that. Just like, on the darker side of things. I'll try to balance with something lighter next, but this one does really excite me!

Also, my previous two works were based on characters/scenarios I had really worked heavily with in the past so I had a really well-developed world for them. MXW is totally new. Well, they're based on a previous rendition of themselves, but that rendition was same premise but totally different circumstances, different mood, emotions, etc. So basically, I'm working through this scenario for the very first time! Which is doubly exciting for me.

#thanks again!

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fastandtheformula1 · 2 years

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a/n: literally just realized i’ve been spitting out fanfics/blurbs for the past year and a half and you guys haven’t really gotten to know me… so here we go!

hello! i am the writer of this blog! you can call me ro (she/her). i’m bisexual!I love 5SOS (Ashton girls RISE), Big Time Rush (where my Kendall girls at), and musical theater (specifically for Mike Faist but we’re not gonna talk about it). I love Formula One too, hence my username.

i’d love to talk to you guys so send me a question/hello in the ask link!

requests are still open if you’d like a specific fic idea!

also, i found this from @nottheweirdest, and thought I would give it a go! i modified some questions to fit my blog hehe

Fanfic Writer Emoji Ask

😅 What’s a story or scene you’ve created that you’re embarrassed exists?

literally EVERYTHING. most def my pete davidson after a fight blurb tho. pretty cringe.

🥺 Is there a certain type of moment or common interaction between your characters that never fails to put a smile on your face?

when person a is obviously very sad/depressed for no reason at all and person b just does a bunch of random shit just to see person a smile. and when they do person b is so elated that they’re running around/talking to the dog about how they got person a to smile like person a just said yes to their marriage proposal

Or when person a is depressed/sad and person b does a bunch of soft things just to see person a relax for a split second. (bear hugs, remembering the small things, carrying them bridal style to their bedroom)

brb gonna go cry.

🤡 What’s a line, scene, or exchange you’ve written that made you laugh?

omg in my bo burnham blurb where the reader says “i think the gods are telling us to stop being so lovey-dovey”... stOP pLEasE whAT are you doINGGGG

😈 Has there been a point in a story where you did something just to be playfully mean to your readers?

not yet… but there will be *cough ashton irwin* cough*

✍🏼 Do you have a beta reader?

nope! all me :)

🛒 What are some common things you incorporate in your fics? Themes, feelings, etc.

probably angst

🎢Which of your fics would you call your wildest ride?

def. done w/ ashton irwin..still working on part 2 but oof

✨Give you and your writing a compliment. Go on now. You know you deserve it.

tbh i love my poly!5sos stuff. it’s so super fun to write

💋First kiss fics. Love em or hate em?

neither, really. they just sort of annoy me lol

🎶Do you listen to music while you write? What song have you been playing on loop lately?

nope!I work in complete silence at 3 in the morning

🛠What tools/programs/apps do you use to write?

google docs on my school chromebook 😬😬 god help me.

❗️Do you have a fic you started, but scrapped?

SO MANY. probably have thrown away at least 30 or so

🙋🏽‍♀️Do any irl people know you write fanfic?

2 of my friends and my sister

🍦What’s the sweetest fic you’ve created so far?

tbh i’m a pretty angsty gowrl… maybe “insomnia” w niall?

🌶Do you write the spicy stuffs? If so, what’s your most popular nsfw fic?

i have tried. so. many. times. I cringe whenever I write anything smexy.

🌞Do you have a preferred time of day to write?

i really only write from 12-3 a.m. (ik i need help)... I’m a night owl so it’s perfect.

💖What made you start writing?

i had the idea to start writing for a while, then my sister and I talked about it and I made an account and the rest is history.

💌How do you feel about comments and feedback?

feedback is always appreciated as long as you are nice and kind about it! I’m not the best writer; I can always improve!

❌What’s a trope you will never write?

not really a trope but, degradation in the bedroom… i just don’t understand

💲Would you ever open commissions?

probably not

🧐Do you spend much time researching your stories?

eh not really, about 5-10 min max.

🏆What’s your most popular fic?

Andrew Garfield boyfriend headcanons. (honestly, headcanons/ blurbs are so fun to write)

🎃Do you write fics for certain holidays? Which is your favorite holiday inspired fic?

I currently don’t have any holiday themed ones, but I’m down to write them if they’re requested

📈How many fics do you have?

21 and counting!

🦅Do you outline fics or fly by the seat of your pants?

normally it starts out with 2-3 sentences of dialogue, then I piece together the background, then add in details and voila.

👀Tell me about an up and coming wip please!

OKAY “done” W ASHY BOY… I APOLOGIZE IN ADVANCE FOR THIS FIC. I’M DECIDING OR NOT IF I SHOULD CRY HAPPY OR SAD TEARS

🤗What advice would you give to new fanfic writers that are just getting started?

personally, I don’t like having a schedule/ specific day to post, but that’s just me. i know most people have a routine, but do what you want! haven’t written in four months? that’s okay! been writing nonstop for two weeks? also wonderful!

write whatever makes you fall in love with writing again! whether it be a super sappy/cringey trop that makes your knees buckle, do it! :)

💞Who’s your comfort character?

Fred Weasley 1,000%.

🤩Who is your favorite character/person to write?

ASHY BOIIIIIIIIIIII. god i love ashton irwin. His demeanor, poise, confidence, ugh I want it all.

🤲🏼Would you please share a snippet of a wip?

Little background… poly!lashton w/female reader who’s having a depressive episode:

“Hey. Hey, what’s goin on? Is everything all right?” Ash asked, very worried.

You rolled over to Luke as a response, your face near his hips. You felt his hand in your hair, playing with it. Ashton climbed into bed and started to draw shapes on your back.

“C’mon angel. Talk to us. You’ll feel better.” Luke said as he patted your head.

“You can’t stay up there alone, Y/N. Think out loud.”

so excited to share this one… just can’t figure out the ending

😬Which of your fics would you be most horrified for friends or family to stumble upon?

anything poly!5sos. Anything poly in general… i mean it’s not a “traditional” relationship, but a part of me still loves it for some reason

🎉What leads you to consider a fic a success?

def a combination of how proud I am with it, and how much you guys interact with it

✅What’s something that appears in your fics over and over again, even if you don’t mean to?

i always end angsty fics with an “i love you”... whoops

📚Would you ever want to turn writing into a career?

maybe as a side hustle!

⌛️How long does it take you to write a fic, or a chapter?

3-5 business days. On a serious note, 2-3 weeks. Maybe 2 hours. It really depends on who I’m writing

🤯What’s a genre you struggle with as a writer?

SMUT OH DEAR LORD. I CAN’T WRITE IT TO SAVE MY LIFE. i’m trying it out on some new ones tho!! I never have a problem reading it though

💔Is there a fic of yours that broke your heart?

not yet, but soon 👀

💥How do you feel about criticism?

again, as long as you are nice and kind about it!!

🤭Do you have a favorite tag to use when posting your works?

i don’t have a fav, but I always seem to go with writing? seems appropriate lol

🥰How do you feel about reader interaction? Are you open to receiving questions about your fics?

YES!!!! I love interacting w you guys!

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petrichoraline · 4 months

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I agree with everything you said, Cathrine is delightful, naive but stands her ground and she's only going to get better with age. Yeah, the whole age gap is a bit... But considering the time period it was written in I just imagine him younger idk. The action part is when they're in the abbey ig, that's the most fun part and I'm not going to spoil it to you ofc but I'd do the same as Cathrine if I was in a place like that lol maybe without saying certain things tho. I would love to know your thoughts on the novel, by the end I did like henry, he did show up and out when he needed to. I'd have to say that my favorite austen romance is persuasion, the man did annoy me in the begining even tho ig I understand that one considering their history but his letter in the end has to be the best austen letter, I'm not a fan of love letter in general but since they already have a history together it hits differently idk also talking about relatable heroines Ann Eliot my beloved, the people pleasing is next level (but we're working on that)

I waited to finish the novel to reply and now I understand what you meant hahah, a lil warning about spoilers ahead for anyone who might come across this that wants to read Northanger Abbey

Catherine's imagination running wild annoyed me a bit only because she was using it on a real person and in such a way but I understood she's an avid reader seeing patterns in real life and im sure her subconscious craved to make a villain out of the general - he was too attentive and polite for her to have an excuse to say anything bad about him though he was the most dreadful part of her experience in the abbey. but the way she talked to henry about it, I can't help but laugh, she feels so at ease with him and trusts him so much that she forgot all about manners and common decency and asked him questions that so obviously show her suspicions- like what heroine would share she suspects his father of murder with her crush 😭 propriety and common sense were sent out the door faster than her lmao

as for henry yeah, he did show up when it mattered and related the information to her in a very considerate way, he was also extra caring after she ran away in tears all ashamed when her suspicions were revealed so all in all you can tell he can be a little shit when he's in a silly goofy mood but also be extremely sensitive in certain situations, we love a man with a high eq 😄

the novel itself... I am not going to lie to you, I am a bit disappointed - I pushed through some boring parts in the hopes of some grandiose drama but things were resolved in a very bland way. the conclusion to the engagement situation is related through letters, we don't see either the thorpes or james himself at all, later on we only hear about what went between the general and john and I get it creates this feeling of "we're done with them, let's wrap it up, chop chop!" as if we didn't spend half the novel with those characters around. the way catherine moves on isn't technically quick but in writing it feels like it. aside from that part being rushed, so was the ending- eleanor having a fiance and catherine not knowing anything of it does make a bit of sense because she is a more discreet person but tying the whole thing together with "and his servant left behind the washing bills from so many chapters ago!".. I wouldn't call it lazy but it was a random choice. (I did find the part where she says she can't name the fiance cause the structure of a novel wouldn't allow it entertaining tho); the resolution for the thorpes was very similar to a fairytale - bad guys left vexxed, good guys in complete bliss. in sense and sensibility the "bad girl" at least got a man out of the whole ordeal lol so I was expecting some twist or another but it's fine, just as austen was done with the characters, so was i lol

I think most of all I wanted a more dramatic moment of getting together for henry and catherine but I suppose the whole point is this it's a regular story with regular characters where the only dramatics spawn from some very common behaviours in people in higher society. the final chapter was just rushing everything which honestly isn't a bad thing considering i was not too curious even three chapters prior as to how it all ends, I think austen mightve known it was gonna be predictable anyways so might as well not waste much thought and time on it.

I did like the book, as I do with every austen book, because it's an experience - I like the humour, I like the writing style (though some sentences could do with being shortened, I have to reread again and again when I'm sleepy sometimes), I think the fact there are less descriptions of surroundings and more cheeky commentary on society and fun dialog works for me very well. this novel is no different in these aspects than the ones I've previously read and im glad about it. when it comes to characters, I'm fond of Eleanor particularly but I appreciate the Morlands as well - they seem very simple in their thinking but very loving and caring, they give their children freedom and support them unreservedly, im sure henry and eleanor would love to be in their company in the future (im also so happy for eleanor and I hope his family is the warmest and help her heal from all she's endured)

it was a fun read and im satisfied i finished it regardless of anything, also very glad I got to talk with someone about it 😊

the letter in persuasion you mention sounds exactly like the type of profession of love i want, here I just mostly got austen describing events and we didn't even get to see catherine find henry at the door, we had to follow her mother to the bookshelf upstairs 😂 so a letter in the character's own words sounds great!

people pleasing would drive me up the wall, that's why I was so happy with catherine but! relatable it is. so I will probably yell at her with affection and understanding hahah (I'm sure you're doing great, one "no" at a time)

i think I'll probably think of other things to say on the matter after i've posted this but alas :') sending you hugs, thanks once again for talking to me about it <3 I hope I haven't disappointed you with my answer, I'd love for you to correct me if I've said smth wrong but also just share whatever 💓

#and now i shall bid my adieu #petri replies

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mimzy-writing-online · 3 years

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Writing Toph Beifong, Advice from a Blind Writer

I’m Mimzy, an actual visually impaired writer and blogger who talks a lot about writing blind characters accurately and sensitively. A while back someone sent me an anon asking how to write Toph more accurately and sensitively.

Anonymous asked: Hi there! Your blog has been super-helpful already - I thought I knew a bit about writing with blind characters, but it turns out there was a lot to learn - but this is more specific. I'm writing a The Last Airbender fanfiction, and one of the characters is Toph. I think the fandom has done a fairly good job of respecting her blindness, but what are some things you'd like to see when people write her? I want to represent the character as best as possible; thanks in advance!

It’s taken a while for me to answer because I have a lot of thoughts about it as both a blind writer and someone who has read a lot of atla fanfiction. So here we go:

Before we get started, I want to mention some things:

One: I have an entire series for writing blind characters that continues to grow with time and the most up-to-date version can be found pinned as the top post on my blog. There will be a time-stamp for when the post was last edited and a long series of links to all relevant posts on the subject.

Here’s a quick link to that post, but again, all you have to do is click my blog url and you’ll find it immediately.

Two: I’ve noticed something amazing about the atla fandom and I would like to thank you for it. I’ve noticed a lot of bloggers have taken to writing image descriptions for both the fanart and memes you post in the fandom, whether it’s OP including the description or another blogger adding it themselves. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a fandom so consistently doing this and that’s incredible. Realizing how many different blogs were picking up this habit has warmed my heart.

I’d like to see writers use her other senses. There’s soooo so much more to her O&M (Orientation and Mobility) than earth sense.

Beyond sight and earth bending, there’s hearing, touch, smell, taste, sense of direction, hot vs cold, sense of pain, sense of where your body parts are in relation to the rest of you, sense of internal well-being, etc. Before Toph had mastery of her earth bending, she had to have mastery of those too.

Toph also must have very strong opinions about certain smells, sounds, tastes, and textures. Toph is opinionated about everything, and when so much of your understanding of the world depends on senses that most people are ignoring in favor of some other sense you don’t have, it gets frustrating. I’m sure that tree looks pretty but the smell is terrible. Who cares if this fabric looks pretty, it’s scratchy, do. not. like. at. all.

But also in positive ways too. Oh, that flower arrangement looks bland and monochromatic? Who cares, it smells sweet and honey-like. Weird dark cavern with high ceiling and no light? The harmonics are awesome.

Every character probably has a certain sight or image they’re particularly fond of: Katara watching snow fall, or Aang enjoying how small the world looks from up on Appa, or Zuko enjoying the sunrise every morning during meditation. In that line, Toph must have some things personal to her that she enjoys.

I imagine she likes the taste of foods familiar to her childhood, the smell of whatever flowers grew around her home, and the texture of certain kinds of dirt Example: loose dirt probably isn’t the best for seeing, but I think she would enjoy how it feels to run her fingers through it or maybe enjoy the way it softens her perception of the world the same way sighted people like to see colorful, bright lights reflecting off puddles in the middle of rain.

If you struggle with this, that’s okay. I recommend taking some time to think about it for yourself, to find what tastes and smells and textures and sounds you enjoy the most, what makes you feel safe and at home, what brings you comfort, and relate that back to Toph.

In a Modern AU, I want to see Toph have a cane. Even in a Modern AU with bending included in the world building, I think Toph would benefit from having a cane.

The cane has a lot more function than bumping into things. A big part is that it signals to others that you are very obviously blind. Which is a big deal because sighted people are really, really bad at spotting the blind person.

(psst, please stop saying ‘the blank look in her eyes’ because I swear to god it’s been killing me inside for years.)

Also, even in an AU with bending, I think Toph would like the advantage of tapping her cane to create a stronger, more distinct vibration than a small shifting of her weight on her feet. It would have more control.

You could give Toph a guide animal, buuuuuuut, um, Toph is not a guide dog person. Like, there are some people who definitely prefer a guide dog, and some people who definitely prefer a cane, and some who definitely prefer no mobility device at all. Toph does not have the vibes of someone who wants to be both responsible and reliant on an animal when she’s so insistent that she can take care of herself on her own. Toph likes animals, but not that much.

Although, yeah, only 10% of the blind community use mobility devices, so cane and guide dog users are the minority of the blind community, but I stand by the vibe that Toph would love the independence of a cane. Also, it’s almost never ever done. Modern AUs never seem to touch much on Toph’s O&M skills with canes or guide dogs.

I wrote a whole post on everything you need to know about canes, what orientation and mobility is, how you learn O&M, what kind of canes exist, how to use them, how to describe the sensory input a cane gives you, and everything I know about guide dogs from past research.

Honestly, you could give Toph (or any blind character) a cane in any AU, because I fully stand by the theory that canes are a piece of technology that has been invented, lost, and reinvented again and again.

I wrote “I found a piece of lost blindness history” a few months ago after a visit to see my grandparents. My grandmother told me how her blind aunt found a way to write letters by hand to send to my grandmother when she was a child. I speculated on how the long cane has probably been invented and then lost and then reinvented over and over again in history, as well as giving a little history on the growing popularity of guide dogs in the 20th century following World War 1.

About the “blank look in her eyes,” I have a theory to the exact cause and nature of Toph’s blindness.

I know it’s common to think that the milky green color of her eyes is why she’s blind, though I’m not sure how many realize that milky green color is caused by severe cataracts. At least, cataracts is what I assume to be the reason for the color of her eyes. However, people with cataracts still have some remaining sense of light and shadow perception.

Only 9% of the blind community is completely blind, seeing absolutely nothing. The rest have some remaining vision, even if that’s only light and shadow perception or the perception of vague movement.

The percentage of people born completely blind is even smaller.

Toph says that she’s never been able to see, which would lead me to guess that the initial cause of her blindness was a defect with the visual processing part of her brain. I also theorize that the cataracts developed slowly over her very formative years and that she likely wasn’t born with them. For that reason, I think it would have taken a few weeks or months for her parents to realize there was something wrong with her eyes.

Here is a post about the developmental years of blind children and how their life would differ from both sighted children and from someone who went blind as an adult.

What is it like to see nothing?

It’s a concept that sighted people struggle with and I completely understand. I myself didn’t understand the concept of “nothing” until someone explained it as this:

“Imagine trying to see out the back of your head.”

Which, genuinely, imagine that. Try that. Because here’s what I found. There’s no part of my body that can help perceive that. I don’t have eyes there, nor do I have a part of my brain that can process that. Because of this, there is no sense of light or dark, no shape or shadow or movement or depth that I can perceive. There is nothing.

And honestly, it gives me a headache trying to think too much about it.

Toph doesn’t see black, doesn’t have a mental image of it. When people talk about light and dark, Toph has nothing to base the concept on. The closest relation she has to that is silence versus sound, or her earth sense when she’s in the air on Appa versus when she’s on solid ground. But it’s not the same.

I would like to examine the way the show tried to describe Toph’s earth sense, that black void with ripples of white stretching from her feet and outwards. Television is a visual medium so of course their explanation of Toph’s earth sense would be visual, but that’s not what it’s actually like in her head. More accurately, it’s like touching the back of your head to something and feeling what’s solid behind it and what has more give. A wall versus a pillow for example. Slamming your hand on a flimsy table and feeling it rattle under your palm. And for someone so adept at using that sense, she feels not just the table surface under her palm, but the individual rattles down the four legs, how uneven those rattles are because the legs are carved decoratively instead of solid planks, and how the foot of each leg bumps against the ground, and how the floor vibrates in response to the impact, which she feels in both her feet and hand.

About Toph’s Relationship with Her Parents

It’s not something I see touched on much. There’s been a lot of focus on Zuko and Azula’s relationship with their parents and the abuse, as well as exploration of Sokka and Katara’s trauma with losing their mother, and Sokka looking up to his warrior father while Katara struggles with her abandonment issues.

Please don’t take this as a critique, because there are a few valid reasons for this and I would like to give you some insight on how to explore Toph’s relationship with her parents.

For starters, the show had a lot more reason to focus on Zuko and Azula’s parents, with Fire Lord Ozai being the primary villain and Zuko’s greatest abuser, and Azula’s dependent worship of her father in response to Ursa’s neglect and favoritism of Zuko, which was likely Ursa’s response to Ozai’s favoritism of Azula. Their parents are huge driving motivators for why Zuko and Azula make the decisions and mistakes they do, why they are at one point in the show the villains themselves. (And why I think Azula should get a redemption arc and some healing.)

Katara’s trauma of losing her mother and blaming herself is a huge factor in both her response to the war, her relationship with her bending, and her motherly nature with her friends. The show has to explore that. Just as it has to explore Sokka’s problems with toxic masculinity in response to being the man of his village, and his desire to be a great warrior and leader like the father he idolizes.

The show needs to explore that to make the plot move forward, and it benefits from these being two sibling sets with different responses to their upbringing and different sibling dynamics, setting them up as foils for each other.

The show also wouldn’t benefit by giving Lao and Poppy Beifong more screen time. Their established character were two nobles who kept as far out of the war as possible and prospered monetarily for it. Poppy was polite and demure and Lao liked to lead the conversation. Unless the gAang decided to return to Toph’s home, those characters had no reason to pop up anywhere in the show. And if they did, they would be a hinder to Toph and her part in the plot as both Aang’s earth bending teacher and as the greatest earth bender in the world, tossing Fire Nation soldiers eight ways to Sunday.

So truly, I understand that there’s not a whole lot of canon material (comparatively) to go off of when developing this, but I will offer some insight on what is there in canon.

Toph’s relationship with her parents is explored in that it maps out why Toph doesn’t want to be mothered by Katara, why she wants to prove how independent she is, but there’s very little on screen interaction between Toph and her parents.

Toph deeply loves her parents. I think that plays into why she doesn’t want Katara mothering her, because she has a wonderful mother at home who she loves and wants to better understand her, but she had no friends growing up and no older sister, which are the roles she needs and wants Katara to fill. If Toph wanted a mother figure, she would have latched onto Katara. Look at how Zuko never sought out another mother figure but did find a father figure in Iroh as he began to heal from his childhood trauma and separate his self image from his father’s acceptance.

Toph is in a complicated situation, she loves her parents but the way they’re raising her is hurting her in the long run. But Toph can see that their actions are because of their immense love for her. She can see how they would do anything for her. While she never had any examples of how other noble children were treated by their parents, who might have been distant or disinterested or always away for their social and work lives, she was remarkably loved by her parents. Her father put careful thought into her tutors and checked in on her progress. Her mother feared for Toph’s emotional state when she was kidnapped (even if she was incorrect about how Toph would respond), showing genuine empathy for her daughter.

I think their over protective nature became the love language Toph best understood them by, and part of her reasoning for not revealing how capable she was, was because she wanted to keep experiencing that love and care for as long as she could. But it’s not a love language she would put up with from anyone else.

I would like to point out Toph’s genuine excitement to see her mom again in the season finale of Book Two, how badly Toph wants her mom to understand and accept her for who she is.

My thoughts on what Toph can’t do: read, swim, see in the sand, fight things mid-air.

For how incredibly powerful the show makes Toph with her earth bending and the O&M she taught herself through it, they do touch on some of her weaknesses when they come up and find a useful way to showcase them.

The Serpent’s Pass was an excellent example of Toph’s vulnerability in water. From her fear of not being able to see on Katara’s ice bridge to not being able to swim and needing Suki to save her, Toph’s weaknesses putting her in danger added to the excitement and “sitting on the edge of your seat” feeling while watching the episode without turning her into someone who was helpless. She was just in a position where her normal defenses were useless.

Just like the earth benders in the metal prison in the ocean, or Katara having little water in the middle of a desert where her friends needed that water to survive more than she needed it to fight, making her vulnerable later in the show when the insect-wasp things attacked. Just like fire benders being weaker at night, or powerless during a solar eclipse, or a sighted person being lost in the dark. Those were just situations in which the tools you were accustomed to relying on could no longer help you or were taken away.

The show was clever in that it didn’t make her inability to read a direct threat to her safety, but rather as a clever plot device for her to be alone when the sand banders attacked and have to choose between fighting them to save Appa, or holding back an entire fricking building by the tiniest spire on its very top from falling into a void leading to the spirit world. It also showed her weakness to not being able to see or fight as well in sand. Which the show later made an effort to show how she’d improved on that problem in Book Three when she was surrounded by nothing but sand at Ember Island.

Like improving her ability to see in the sand, I would like to see a character teach Toph to swim, or at least float, so that she never feels helpless again. If she took the initiative to improve her sand bending so much, I’m sure she would have learn to swim eventually.

And on the note of reading, I’ve seen some speculation on how Toph could learn to read, whether it’s through using ink that has some percentage of earth mixed in, or developing the sensitivity to feel out the different weight, consistency, and texture of ink on paper.

I would like to bring your attention to Louis Braille, the blind Frenchman who invented Braille while studying at the Institut National des Jeunes Aveugles, the world’s very first school for the blind in Paris France (established 1785). Previously Louis was learning to read through a method in which each letter was pressed into the paper to leave an imprint that someone could feel out with just their fingers.

Louis Braille concluded that raised lettering was impractical because-

1. It is difficult to read, the letters had to be printed in huge font to be fully felt out and printed on thick paper.

2. Thick paper means higher quality, more expensive. Larger font means more paper is needed for a single text.

3. This made it inaccessible due to expense and the sheer volume of a text.

4. If today’s Braille books are hard to access and giant compared to traditional books, I can’t imagine how inaccessible those raised letter books really were.

The subject of Braille, the start and controversial near downfall to Institut National des Jeunes Aveugles were discussed in a post about writing a blind character during the Victorian Era.

I’ve heard others complain in the past about fantasy universes in which a sighted person invents a solution to allow the blind to read, when the most effective and longest lived method was invented by a blindman over two hundred years ago and is the standard taught in schools today.

And while I couldn’t easily explain it or how it works because I can neither read Braille nor speak Chinese, I can tell you that Chinese Braille exists and works only slightly differently from the Braille western languages use. So, again, modern AUs especially would benefit from enabling Toph to read Braille and use a computer and phone with screen reader.

But just as easily you could choose not to have her learn to read but rather have sighted people read things aloud to her. Whether it’s in a professional setting as an adult having an assistant who reads and writes for her, or as a cute, fluffy little moment between Toph and another character. Both are just as genuine to the blindness experience.

Blind Jokes

If you ever get around to reading my post about blind jokes, I’d like you to remember that it’s primarily written for people writing original characters and that Toph canonically makes blind jokes, so to take away from that would not be true to her character.

Does Toph’s Earth Sense Negate her Blindness?

It’s a question I’ve seen raised before and discussed by both abled, disabled, and blind people. There are multiple perspectives on it, but my own take on it is that Toph’s earth bending does not negate her blindness, but rather functions very much like the process of learning to use a cane.

She had a tool, a teacher, and she learned to use that tool. Instead of a cane, it was seismic perception and her teacher were blind badger-moles. She spent years learning to earth bend as they do and then continued to take it to new heights as she explored fighting with it on her terms against sighted fighters.

Come to think about it, I would love to see Toph teach another visually impaired or blind earth bender who to see and bend as she does.

Is Toph Good Blindness Representation?

This question was posed to me in the comments of my master post, and my answer was something like this: “Toph is good representation, but she can't be the only type of representation we get. She's the best we had 15 years ago, but there are a million ways to nuance the blindness experiences. Toph's experience being born blind, having very over protective parents, being a small girl in a patriarical and wealth influenced society, having no friends growing up. Those are all great aspects of blindness to show, but there is so much more to explore. As for her blindness and whether or not that's negated, that's also nuanced. She has limits, she's not all-powerful, but she is the best earth bender hands down. More or less, I love Toph, she's a great character, give me like a million more blind characters who are completely different from her.”

I want to see accurate and well-written blind characters become much more common in modern media, and that’s why I started this blog. So if you decide you want to write your own blind character from scratch, feel free to come back and look at some of my other stuff.

End Notes:

I want to thank the anon who sent the original question because it never occurred to me how much the atla fandom would benefit from a post like this.

You should follow my blog. Along with advice about writing blind characters, I write general writing advice and answer questions about writing, college, plot development, character analysis, and living with blindness. I curate writing advice from fellow writeblrs, write my own image descriptions for writing memes, post about mental health and working/living with ADHD, disabilities outside of blindness, and LGBTQA+ topics.

#avatar the last airbender #toph beifong #atla toph #atla #blind character #writing advice #writeblr #fanfiction

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