#visual language series

[misspoetree]

Obsessed with the difference between puppy-eyed Porsche facing down Kinn's gun in episode 10

and ride or die Porsche facing down Kinn's gun in episode 14.

I love that he doesn't put down his gun this time around, the self-confidence.

I love the obvious trust in Kinn and their relationship - the fact that his trigger finger is as straight as an arrow.

And I also love how this perfectly displays what the constant betrayals, the secrets and schemes, the lies and the violence, the mafia lifestyle as a whole have done to Porsche. I mean look at his face. This man has been through it and it shows.

Apo (and the whole team) did so so good in the portrayal of this (quite heartbreaking) transformation.

#thanks for coming to my ted talk #even though it's a very short one #haven't posted anything like this in a while #but I coincidentally saw these two screenshots next to each other in my gallery and was blown away #is war-hardened Porsche hot af though? yes. yes he is. I'm sorry. #apo's acting deserves all the awards #kinnporsche #kinnporche the series #thai bl #kinnporsche parallels #kinnporsche visual language #tw: guns #porsche kittisawasd #apo nattawin #because the kinnporsche brain rot is still real #kinnporsche ep10 × kinnporsche ep14

[naanima]

I think one of the most impressive things about Dave Filoni's Star Wars' works (beside his knowledge & respect for the lore of SW) is his understanding of the importance & impact of its visual language on pop culture, and our consumption & interpretation of SW as fans & the general public.

He gets it, he gets that for over 45 years SW fans have seared Luke standing under the twin suns of Tatooine, Yoda teaching Luke in the swamp, Vader & Luke on the bridge of Bespin, on the Death Star, and so much more into our brain, our heart & soul. Those images are iconic, not just from a pop culture front but from a SW lore pov.

It is why in ep 5 of Ahsoka we get so MANY scenes that are callbacks to the OG films but also to the animated series. It is bcos SW is built on echoes of what came before it, except we have reached a point where the callbacks/parallels are to SW media itself now.

So when we get scenes of Ahsoka & Anakin fighting on the walkways of the World Between Worlds, we are getting nearly half a century of cultural VISUAL callbacks & parallels. Luke vs Vader, Anakin vs Obi-Wan, the countless battles during The Clone Wars and so much more. We know & we understand the inherent importance of history that is on our screen. And we fucking breathes it in like life saving air.

It is why when Anakin & Ahsoka stand next to each other, arms folded in front of them, purviewing the destruction of Mandalore, we are recalling the visual familiarities of Anakin & Ahsoka like this in the animated series, the ways Obi-Wan & Anakin stood next each other, the ways Qui-Gon & Obi-Wan stood next each other, and so much more. It is a legacy, it is an iconic stance we all know, that we all connect to SW. Because we have seen it multiple times between Master & Padawan.

It is people walking through dust/gas - a nightmare coming to live, a dream being over, the ways we connect the fear & hope on Geonosis, the battles, and Vader striding through gas. We know the visual cues - a threat or a vision.

But isn't just recalling echoes now, Dave Filoni is creating new SW visuals that will be adding to the lexicon of SW visual language in our brain. Hera, Jacen & Jacen standing in front of the cliff, the ocean beneath & in front of him. It is Anakin striding away into war, smog & fire lighting his way, flashes of Vader present. It is Anakin striding through the smog towards us, Vader across his shoulders. It is the Purgills in the air, in space, their presence in the light. And so much more.

Filoni's visual understanding that SW is full of important & memorable scenes, scenes that are embedded into our subconsciousness, and then creating new scenes for us to latch onto is amazing. A scene in SW can't just be cool, it needs to serve an emotional, a plot, and a mythical purpose. It needs to be iconic.

(And the music. NEVER forget the music).

#star wars #dave filoni #ahsoka #ahsoka series #ahsoka spoilers #visual language #star wars is a like a religion #long text #sw meta #meta

[suckishima]

this page is good!! the one right before this one has shimada saying he's worried about who's going to set because kageyama just served the ball only for it to come right back over and it'll be tough for him to get to it, but then you flip the page to see this double page spread of kageyama smoothly going from serve to set. and oooo it's so well done!

there's a few things i really like about the whole page, first is how well it illustrates kageyama's fluidity between movements and how there's no energy wasted (something the commentators mention on the next page), but then if you look closer at kageyama's eyes too you can see him tracking the ball the whole time! he never loses sight of it so that mentally he's not wasting any time or energy either. on top of all that too, by drawing kageyama in each stage of movement between actions, while keeping nishinoya and tanaka in frame but completely still, it adds the perception of speed to the viewer!! we can feel how fast and fluidly he's moving!

and then it starts to come together even more in the bottom right cell! because, yes the reader just got a great sense of kageyama's movement and focus on the ball, but what we didn't see is where the ball is going to go next. where is hinata in that first cell? nowhere because he's already jumped, foot already in the air high above the tsubakihara blockers, with no doubt that kageyama can get under that ball.

yes kageyama is moving fast but you know who's moving just as fast with him? hinata is!! and i love how as the audience you just know that it's hinata's shoe because furudate has spent hundreds of chapters solidifying this dynamic to us—who else would it be, who else is quick enough to meet kageyama at his highest levels of pure efficiency?

what's more too is that if the reader knows that hinata is gonna be there, then kageyama knew that hinata was going to be there—because again, you can track kageyama's eyes the whole time in the top cell of the page and he never looks to check if hinata is doing a run up, he's focused only on getting to the ball—because he doesn't need to look for hinata. hinata is always there waiting for kageyama's sets to find him

#like. these are just basics about their dynamic at this point in the series but it's because furudate communicates it so seemlessly and #effectively like this (and as usual with no dialogue—only actions) that the reader doesnt even realize WHY they get so hyped every time #theres a freak quick. furudate has built up this visual language and foundation so well that this is all just normal to us and its siiiick #hq #somebody even better #hinata #kageyama #hq meta #2021 reread #x

[ophelia-thinks]

Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars

#like why was farscape able to pull off homages like this with such fucking aplomb #when other SF shows do it and look like pandering cgi zombie vultures #it's because the homages were /part of it/! #when we get these visualizations of john's decaying brain they're set on stages like this one #because the scifi heroes that came before him are his guides #and the dark cosmic joke that premises the whole series is that #he's in a scifi universe that doesn't adhere to scifi logic #consequences carry over from one episode to the next #no federation comes to save you; alien women want to have sex with you in nightmares #no one speaks your language or follows your rules #there's no God no singularity no monolith #no true vision of the future #just some poor bastard hallucinating the 2001 louis xiv bedroom #'this is my world meat. you're just walking through it for a very long time.' #mankind's greatest contribution to the absurd

[welcometogrouchland]

I support the "Batman was unfairly biased to Stephanie for XYZ reasons" crowd so strongly bc DC claims that Bruce is a master planner who is able to understand anyone's psychology but he didn't realize that literally every single one of Steph's problems as a teenager would've been solved by her joining a shitty punk band. If he couldn't figure that much out then he didn't understand her for a minute

#ramblings of a lunatic #PLEASE TALK TO ME I HAVE SO MANY THOUGHTS ON STEPHANIE IN A SHITTY PUNK BAND #her bandmates have turned into ocs it's stage 5 at this point boys #anyway what is steph dealing w/ pre-52 as spoiler that got her in hot water? #1. the anger issues. easily fixed by her getting to scream about beating her dad to death without actually doing it #2. nobody fucking listens to her (including batman). well when u are playing music ppl are definitely fucking listening #3. has no non-batfam friends and thus ends up feeling abandoned almost every time she gets kicked out of the group. bandmates are friends! #don't like being in your shitty house? go to your band mates house and jam! #need to articulate the anger issues in a way that doesn't disturb your frazzled paranoid boyfriend? write angsty songs! #also I do genuinely have a lot of thoughts on how music was applied to Stephanie's character and what it tells us about her #like she loved it. clearly. and she was GOOD at it too. steph is constantly perceived as a screw up and has pretty low opinion of herself #piano was something she could take pride in. in i believe issue 113 of tims og robin series- #-tim is AMAZED at her playing all these years later. so is nocturna a few issues earlier #there's a standard visual language in comics for good or bad music- notation drawn in either shaky or smooth lines #stephs are all smooth and golden. she's good even after all these years of not practicing #but all she says to tim after he compliments her is ''i used to be better...'' SHE SEES THE WORST IN HERSELF AND HER ABILITIES #SHE DESERVES A CHANCE TO FEEL GOOD AT AT LEAST ONE THING LIKE SHE FINALLY GOT TO AS BATGIRL IN HER SOLO #and onto my final point: dinah has several times expressed some degree of fondness/admiration for steph. steph has likewise trained w dinah #and thinks she's cool as fuck. which makes sense. bc dinah is cool as fuck #and what is dinah in??? that's right. a band #steph should join dinahs band for her mental health. this has been an essay #stephanie brown #spoiler dc #dc batgirl #batgirls #<- since that series re-canonized pianist steph!! bless them!

[millenniummmbop]

Things I would create if I was 10% more manic: shot-for-shot remake of the "Bet On It" sequence from High School Musical 2 but with kaiba

#'why?' #every day i am plagued with visions of incomprehensible nonsense that play on an endless loop on the tv wall that is my mind #but sometimes they go away if i draw them out and if i find them funny enough my brain grants me the strength and energy #of a million college kids on their 3rd all-nighter of the week #to pull my own series of routine all-nighters in order to transcribe the visions into a visual language ppl can understand #this is my roundabout way of saying there are so many dumb cursed things i could be putting onto ur dashboards but im NOT bc im NICE lmfao #but also the image of kaiba dramatically running around a golf course singing about never giving up is SO FUNNY to me #and has been stuck in my head for about a year and a half now lmfao #ignore me

[kissporsche]

I'm having a lot of feelings about this shot. The watch (first meeting with Porsche) the ring (duty to family) and the gun.

Because Kinn is thinking about favourite knives and apple juice making them useless. Recently dead fathers and their advice against love making you weak. A gun that is used to enact the family's will, but is also the symbol of a promise for the man you love to return.

All Kinn's conflicts laid out in one shot

#kinnporsche #kinnporsche the series #kp lb #once again the visual language in this show #kp orig #kp meta

[mollypaup]

utena being a story about stories is great. anthy stabbing utena being treated as a real wound instead of it being the obvious stage trick that it is, the sword passing under her right arm, on the side opposite to the audience, is so fucking good.

#rgu #i guess you could interpret it as anthy actually physically stabbing her #but i don't think this fits with the way that utena's visual language speaks about violence #it is lampshaded in a very specific way throughout the rest of the series #with the spinning rose emblem blocking the portion of the screen that they wish to conceal #but this doesn't happen #there is a hard cut #put in place specifically to give the audience the impression that utena has been mortally wounded #but the rest of the show also implies that anthy has some measure of control over the framing of scenes #specifically she uses this to hide her face and true feelings throughout #anthy is betraying her #she wants the audience and utena to believe this #but i don't think she stabs her #this dovetails into why i think the swords of hatred never touch utena #we don't see it even in the stage performance manner of the show

[airenyah]

no you don't understand!!!! for this bad buddy run i'm gonna be watching the episodes without subtitles the first time around!!!!!

#that's so exciting!!!!! #my thai listening comprehension is good enough that i trust myself to watch the eps without subs!!!! without being too confused!!!! #back when og bbs was airing i couldn't do it just yet bc i'd been actively learning thai for only like half a year at the time #but this time around it's been 2 full years!!!!! #and i've been watching many series without subtitles over the past year #and i've been getting better and better at following the plot #(unless the plot is already a mess in the first place COUGHDOUBLESAVAGECOUGH) #aaaaanyway this is so exciting!!!! #i mean i AM rewatching the eps WITH subs afterwards to make sure i didn't miss any details but!!!! #the first two times i watch them will be without subs!!!! i'm so excited!!!!! #(two watches without subs bc i usually manage to catch more the 2nd time around. when my brain isn't busy taking in all the new information #(once i've seen the episode and neither the visuals nor the plot are new info it's easier for my brain to focus on taking in the language) #i haven't watched the og series with the eng subs turned on in a long time but well uh. i've #i've watched and rewatched the series so many times i've pretty much memorized the entire eng translation lmao #but this time around i get to see how much i can manage to understand by my thai skills alone ahhhhhhhhh #can you believe. CAN YOU BELIEVE. #airenyah plappert #our skyy 2 #os2: bbs #adrm

[misspoetree]

I've been thinking a lot about this.

About the transition from Pete's "I really went home" speech to Kim's shirt that simply says "human".

About the gut-wrenching feeling it gives me.

And I think I finally understand.

Because on one side, we have Pete, losing his humanity again and again, to the main family using him like a dog, to Vegas treating him like a pet. Who has to fight, fight, fight tooth and nail to reclaim it, to keep it. Bloody and beaten and ripped to shreds. For something that should be, no, that IS a birth right.

And on the other side, we have the Theerapanyakuls. Murdering and manipulating and exploiting, using people as they see fit, stripping them of their humanity while treating their own (sense of) humanity - their love, care, compassion - like, well, like a fashion item they can put on and take off anytime they like.

And if that contrast, transition, symbolism isn't brutality in its purest form then I really don't know what is.

#kprewatch2023 #I don't know if that has been said before #but I had a little eureka moment for myself if nothing else I guess #God I'm so tired T_T #kinnporsche the series #kinnporsche ep. 13 #pete saengtham #pete phongsakorn #kinnporsche meta #thai bl #kinnporsche visual language

[toastsnaffler]

why are there so many brits and americans in this show already..... I swear there was only like 1 named american in the first book or am I stupid

#i was kind of hoping theyd keep the cast speaking the language the original book was written in. not english :/ #but whatever its netflix i guess they just decided itd be harder to sell to a western audience if the whole show was chinese 🙄 #.diaries #still curious how its gonna go. i think its a hard series to adapt visually but a visual medium should be a much better way of- #telling the story the books wanted to #hmmmm

[cronagorgonzola]

This sounds like a shitpost but for REAL why is no one talking about how much influence Star Trek has on the Five Nights at Freddy's series?

#.txt #the visual language has borg written all over it #i saw a picture of Baby from the graphic novel that was an exact recreation of a shot of the Borg Queen #there was an episode of TNG where someone died inside the guts of the ship and theor subconcious haunted the ship #that mightve been voyager i forget #but the whole time i was just like 'this is JUST like five nights at freddys' #the pizzaplex is borg is all im saying #with a healthy dose of anticapitalist satire #(which i also never see the fnaf fandom talk about. fnaf is a beautiful satire of corporate capitalism and it is NOT subtle) #fnaf #five nights at freddy's #like i always see fnaf youtubers carefully dissecting the literal events of the series but no one talks about the THEMES #there are THEMES to this story and they are deeply anti-corporatw #i doubt scott would describe himself as an anti-capitalist but it is clear from his writing he HATES big corporations

[alpaca-clouds]

Why the media CEOs will always learn the wrong lessons

Yesterday a friend and I talked about how the entire (AAA) game industrie looked at BG3 being as popular as it is and going: "Oh, we need to produce 100+ hour games, I guess! Those sell!" Which... obviously is not why it is popular. The game is not popular because it has 100+ hours of gameplay, but because it has engaging characters, that are well-acted and that work as good hooks for the players. Like, let's face it: The reason why I so far have sunken 160 hours into this game is, because I wanna spend time with these characters - and because I wanna give them their happy endings.

But the same has happened too, just a bit earlier this year, right? When Barbie broke the 1 billion and every Hollywood CEO went: "Oh, so the people want movies based on toy franchises! Got it!" To which the internet at large replied: "... How is that the lesson you learned from this?"

Well, let me explain to you, why this is the lesson they learn: It is because the CEOs and the boards of directors at large are not artists or even engaged with the medium they produce. They mostly are economists. And their dry little hearts do not understand stuff more complex than numbers and spread sheets.

That sounds evil, I know, but... It is sadly the truth. When they look at a successful movie/series/game/book/comic, they look at it as a product, not a piece of art or narrative. It is just a product that has very clear metrics.

To them Barbie is not a movie with interesting stylistic choices that stand out from the majority of high budget action blockbusters. It is a toy movie with mildly feminist themes.

Or Oppenheimer is not a movie to them with a strong visual language and good acting direction. No, it is a historical blockbuster.

And this is true for basically every form of media. I mean, books are actually a fairly good example. In my life I do remember the big book fads that happened. When Harry Potter was a success, there was at least a dozen other "magical school" book series being released. When Twilight was a big success there was suddenly an endless number of "teen girl falls in love with bad boy, who is [magical creature]" YA. When the Hunger Games was a success, there were hundreds of "YA dystopia" books. Meanwhile in adult reading, we had the big "next Game of Throne" fad.

Of course, the irony is, that within each of those fads there might have been one or two somewhat successful series - but never even one that came even close to whatever started the fad.

Or with movies, we have seen it, too. When Avengers broke the 1 billion (which up to this point only few movies did) the studios went: "Ooooooh, so we need shared universe film series" - and then all went to try and fail to create their own cinematic universe.

Because the people, who call the shots, are just immensely desinterested in the thing they are selling. They do not really care about the content. All they care about is having a supposedly easy avenue of selling it. Just as they do not care about the consumer. All they care about is that the consumer buys it. Why he buys it... Well, they do not care. They could not care less, in fact.

So, yeah, get ready for a 20 overproduced games with a bloated 100+ hours of empty gameplay, but without the engaging characters. And for like at least 15 more moves based on some toy franchise, that nobody actually cares about.

And then get ready for all the CEOs to do the surprised Pikachu face, when all of that ends up not financially successful.

Really, I read some interviews yesterday from some AAA-studio CEOs and their blatant shock and missing understanding on why BG3 works for so many people.

Because, yeah... capitalism does not appreciate art. Capitalism does not understand art. It only understands spread sheets.

#baldurs gate 3 #oppenheimer #barbie #barbie movie #hollywood #game industry #media #indie media #media criticism #anti capitalism #late stage capitalism

[aziraphale-rights]

So, what is the deal with the world’s most conspicuously uneaten Eccles cakes? (A meta)

Well, I wouldn’t say it’s bad writing, not even the on-purpose-as-a-secret-message kind. I agree there is a visual ‘loose thread’ here that the creators wanted us to notice, but I don’t think the meaning has anything to do with Metatron or the eventual plan for S3. I think the eccles cakes are all about what’s going on in this episode with Crowley and Aziraphale, and they’re unsettling in exactly the way they’re meant to be, even if we might not register the full implications consciously on first watch.

On the most straightforward level, this shot is the punchline to a joke set up by Aziraphale and Nina in the coffee shop. Crowley orders six shots of espresso, bound to get him all worked up and stressy. Aziraphale, who desperately wants Crowley to be thinking clearly when he learns about the Gabriel situation, says to Nina: ‘What do you sell that calms people down?’ And she replies: ‘Eccles cakes.’ From this moment on the cakes are a visual symbol of what Aziraphale needs from Crowley right now.

That’s why they get so much screentime as we cross the road and go into the shop. Aziraphale won't leave those eccles cakes behind because he’s still hoping that Crowley will respond to the request they represent: Please stay calm, please be patient and listen to me with empathy.

But Crowley never does respond, and as he storms out we get that close-focus shot of the abandoned plate to make sure the subtext hits home. The cakes are framed sitting in front of the horse statue, brilliantly dressed up in Crowley's sunglasses, to remind us that they were brought there for him and he's dismissing them. (Crowley is the frantic horse who can't be managed!)

There’s another level to it, though, which doesn’t fully become clear until episode 6. The episode 1 meeting in Nina’s café is the first time that Aziraphale and Crowley share a scene in the present-day in S2, which means that the last time we saw them together was when they were dining at the Ritz. As viewers, we quickly recognise the visual language of their partnership: a table for two, a drink, a dessert. It feels familiar. But the food gets delivered and then nobody eats it. On that level, it is a set-up without a pay-off and it really niggles as you watch. S1 closed out their relationship with a happy toast after a resplendent dinner; S2 opens it with a snack that gets ignored. The dynamics of who offers food to whom are also off, atypical. It’s a sign of how things are going to go later on, hinting at the fact their dynamic is dysfunctional right now, even though it might seem OK on the surface.

Which brings me, finally, on to the other thing I’ve wanted to point out…

The punchline is that Crowley doesn’t eat the eccles cakes, but the really subconsciously disconcerting thing is that Aziraphale doesn’t. That he seemingly never planned to, and never orders anything for himself. In fact, we don’t see Aziraphale eat anything substantial in any of the present-day scenes in S2. The only things he consumes onscreen are sherry, tea, and a travel sweet. (Oh, and Manipulation Coffee, which is definitely a callback to Crowley’s disastrous sextuple-espresso.) We see him with food, yes, but primarily he wants to give it to other people.

For me this little detail of S2 – not something you even fully notice until you think about it – is a very telling understated cue in terms of Aziraphale’s post-Heaven state of mind. It's about what amuseoffyre puts so well in another meta: 'the whole series looks like he’s having so much fun doing silly human things, but there’s this brittleness to it.' At first glance, we see Aziraphale interacting with food and assume he is now living the happy Earthly life we wanted for him, but on closer inspection he's not engaging much in the pleasure of eating for his own sake. He gets a quick sweet pick-me-up on his way somewhere else in the Bentley - all alone - and that's it. He's too anxious, too busy, he doesn't have time. Crowley doesn't have time to invite him for lunch.

I find it fascinating that Gabriel gets a squillion cups of cocoa in this season, waxing all lyrical about them, and Aziraphale gets none. Aziraphale's mug becomes Jim's mug, even. And he mostly makes the tea to show Muriel how to blend in. In short, S2 Aziraphale is terribly preoccupied with looking after/managing others, and not taking the time to look after himself. Like the Maggie and Nina match-making, all that kindly treat-offering is displacement, displacement, displacement.

No wonder it all goes wrong.

#SORRY for image quality #good omens spoilers #good omens meta #good omens #takes by me

[whumpinggrounds]

Writing Deaf Characters

I am making this a series now so pls drop requests if there is something you’re curious about!

Disclaimer: This is all based on personal experience and research, all of which relate to the American Deaf experience. It’s not perfect, nor is it representative of a global experience of d/Deafness. If you plan to write a d/Deaf or hard of hearing character, please do your own research! This is intended to give people a few ideas about where to start.

Vocab

Deaf = Refers to the cultural experience of being deaf and immersed in Deaf communities.

deaf = Inability to hear some or all sound.

Profoundly deaf = Inability to hear almost all or all sound.

d/Deafblind = Inability to hear some or all sound and as well as having some level (usually high) of visual impairment. 

Hard of hearing or HOH = A person whose inability to hear may not rise to the level of deafness or profound deafness, or simply may not identify with the term.

Deaf of deaf = A Deaf child born to Deaf parents.

CODA = Child Of Deaf Adults. This refers to hearing children, not d/Deaf children.

Manualism = Refers to the belief that d/Deaf children should be taught only sign language and should not be taught or expected to learn to speak.

Oralism = Refers to the belief that d/Deaf children should be taught only to speak and should be discouraged from learning or using sign language.

Bilingual-bicultural or bi-bi education = A school of thought that combines oral and manual education for d/Deaf children.

Mainstreaming = The belief that d/Deaf children should be educated in the same schools and classrooms as hearing students. (More widely refers to the belief that disabled students in general should be educated in the same schools and classrooms as nondisabled students.)

Deaf gain = The Deaf community’s answer to the term “hearing loss.” Rather than losing hearing, a person is said to be gaining Deafness.

Cochlear implant/CI = A medical device implanted into the inner ear which (debatably) produces sensation that is (somewhat) analogous to hearing.

American Sign Language or ASL = An American system of communication consisting of hand shapes, hand movements, body language, facial expressions, and occasionally, vocalizations.

Signed Exact English or SEE = A manner of communicating that directly translates English words into signed equivalents.

Home sign(s) = Signed communication that is specific to the signer’s home or community, which may not exist or be recognized in the wider world.

Identity First Language or IFL = A system in which someone is described first by an identifier that they choose and feel strongly connected to. Examples include describing someone as an Autistic woman, a disabled individual, or a Deaf man.

Key Elements of Deaf History

Can’t emphasize this enough - this is a VERY abbreviated list! It is also not in order. Sorry. That being said:

For a long time in America, Deaf children were not educated, nor was it considered possible to educate them. When this did change, American deaf children were educated in institutions, where they lived full-time. These children were often taken from their families young, and some never regained contact with their families. Some died and were buried at these institutions, all without their families’ knowledge.

In the early 20th century, oralism became popular among American deaf schools. This mode of teaching required lip reading and speech, no matter how difficult this was for students, and punished those who used or attempted to use sign language. Pure oralism is now widely considered inappropriate, outdated, and offensive.

Hopefully you’ve gleaned this from the above points, but d/Deaf schooling, education, and the hearing world’s involvement are a very sensitive subject. Proceed with caution. It’s unlikely your d/Deaf character would have a neutral relationship with schooling.

Helen Keller is probably the most famous deafblind person in America. In her time, she was also known for being a socio-political activist, a socialist, and a vaudeville actress. There are dozens of other famous d/Deaf people who are a quick Google search away. Give your Deaf character Deaf heroes, please.

The Americans with Disabilities Act, or ADA, was passed in 1991, and represented a landmark victory for disabled activists in America. Among its provisions were closed captioning for Deaf individuals, ASL interpreters for public services, and the right for d/Deaf children to attend accessible, accommodating public schools. The ADA is a HUGE deal. It’s also not perfect.

In 1961, cochlear implants were invented. I was going to write more about cochlear implants here, but it’s too long. New section.

Cochlear Implants

Massively massively massively controversial in the Deaf community. Always have been, potentially always will be. For people who strongly identify with Deafness and the Deaf community, CIs are an attack on their identity, their personhood, and their community’s right to exist. 

Do not allow people to “hear.” The input that a person receives from CI can, with physical therapy, training, and time, be understood and processed in a similar way to sound. This does not mean it would be recognizable to a hearing person as sound. It is often described by people who have them as being metallic, buzzy, or robotic. YouTube is a great resource for sound references.

In order for a cochlear implant to be effective, a personal will have to participate in years of training and therapy to correct process, understand, and interpret the feedback given by the CI. This is not negotiable. Even if your character just lost their hearing in an accident last week, a CI will not allow them to instantaneously regain that hearing. Nothing that currently exists in the real world will do that.

CIs, to be most effective, are almost always implanted when the recipient is very young. This decision is often made by hearing parents. This, again, is massively controversial, as Deaf activists argue that it violates the child’s bodily autonomy and is inherently anti-Deaf.

A cochlear implant, once placed, irreparably destroys any residual hearing that the recipient may have had. This is because it penetrates the inner ear in order to function. This residual hearing cannot be regained, even if the cochlear implant is not used.

Deaf people do choose to get cochlear implants of their own accord. Many d/Deaf people are very happy with their cochlear implants! It is still a highly charged choice in light of the political history surrounding d/Deafness and hearing.

Notes About American Sign Language

ASL is not a signed version of English. It is a distinct language, with its own vocabulary, slang, and grammar. Just a sentence would not be constructed the same way in Russian, Spanish, or Tagalog, a sentence in ASL would not be a direct translation of its English equivalent.

Deaf people have historically lower rates of literacy. This is not due to a lack of intelligence; it is because ASL and English are two different languages. ASL has no written equivalent. In order to be able to read or write, d/Deaf children must learn an entirely different language. This means that it is not realistic to always be able to communicate with d/Deaf people through writing.

As ASL is a visual language, many signs started out as very literal gestures. This means that many older signs are continuously being phased out as they or their roots are recognized as stereotypical or offensive. Please be careful in researching signs. I recommend Handspeak or Signing Savvy for accurate, relatively up-to-date information.

Many online “teachers” do not have credentials to teach ASL, and especially due to the prevalence of “baby sign,” home signs, invented signs, or false information spreads unchecked. If you see multiple different signs advertised for the same English word, please be diligent in checking your sources.

Not every English word has a distinct signed equivalent, and not every sign has an English equivalent.

SEE is almost never used by Deaf people. It’s rarely used and is generally thought of as a “lesser” version of both English and ASL.

ASL is a complete, complex, nuanced language. A character would not switch into SEE for a technical conversation or really any reason. Complex ideas, technical terms, and even poetry can all be expressed in American Sign Language.

Just like in English, there are some signs that are only considered appropriate for certain people to use. For example, the sign for “Black” when referring to a Black person has a modified version that is only used by Black signers. This does not mean it is a slur or the equivalent of a slur. It is a sign reserved for Black signers referring to other Black people.

Things to Consider/Avoid/Be Aware Of

I hesitate to tell anyone to avoid anything, because I don’t think I have that authority. That being said:

The Deaf community has a complicated history and relationship with cochlear implants and the concept of being “cured.” What message are you sending when you write a story in which a d/Deaf character is “cured” of their d/Deafness?

Generally speaking, d/Deaf people do not identify with the “disabled” label. Each person has their own preferences, and those preferences should always be respected. Your character(s) may choose differently than their real life community, but you should put thought into why that is.

Generally speaking, d/Deaf people use IFL. This means that a majority of d/Deaf people in America would describe themselves as d/Deaf people, rather than people with deafness, people with hearing loss, people that are hard of hearing, etc.

Okay I lied I’m going to tell you what to do here: Do not use words like mute, deaf-mute, or dumb when describing d/Deaf people. Hearing impaired is also not ideal but is considered outdated, rather than outright offensive.

The best lip readers are judged to be able to catch 30% of the words people say. How realistic is it to have a character that relies 100% on lipreading? What do you gain when you write a character that lipreads, and what do you lose?

Yes, Deaf people can drive. I don’t know why so many people wonder about this. It’s okay if you didn’t know, but please don’t come into my ask box about it.

Assistive Devices/Aids

Cochlear implants ^ see above

Interpreters. Will have gone to school for years, might have specific training for certain environments or technical terms, etc. For instance, an interpreter that works with Deaf people that have mental illnesses would be fully fluent in ASL as well as having requisite mental health training in order to interpret for them. Interpreters could be a whole other post actually, but I won’t tackle that now.

Closed captions. Self-explanatory.

Alarm clocks, fire alarms, and doorbells that use light instead of sound. This is sometimes a typical flashing light, but particularly fire alarms in predominantly d/Deaf spaces can be overwhelmingly bright. Bright like you’ve never seen before. Bright enough to wake someone from a dead sleep.

Some assistive devices also use sensation - alarms that actually shake bedframes exist and are the best choice for some people!

Service dogs - can alert people to sounds like the above - fire alarms, doorbells, knocking, etc.

Hearing aids. Generally not controversial in the way that CIs are. Only effective if people have residual hearing. Do not really expand the range of sounds people can hear, just amplify sounds in that range. Very, very expensive.

Microphones. If a d/Deaf or HOH person is in a crowd/lecture setting, the speaker will want to use a microphone. If this is a frequent occurrence, the microphone may be linked to a small personal speaker or earbud used by the d/Deaf or HOH person.

TTY: Much less frequent now that everyone can text and email, but stands for Text Telephone Device and was/is a way to send written communication over a telephone line. The message is sent, the phone rings, and a robot voice reads the message. Obviously, this is not effective for d/Deaf people communicating with other d/Deaf people, but it was often used to communicate with hearing people/hearing establishments, as when setting up appointments.

Media About/Including Deafness

No media is perfect and unproblematic, but here are somethings I have seen that I can verify do at least a pretty good job -

CODA is a movie that features Deaf actors, ASL, and a story about growing up, family, and independence vs. interdependence. 

The Sound of Metal is a movie that features ASL and a story about identity, recovery, and hearing loss/Deaf gain.

A Quiet Place is a movie features ASL and Deaf actors, although Deafness itself is not necessarily integral to the story.

BUG: Deaf Identity and Internal Revolution by Christopher Heuer is a collection of essays by a Deaf man that discuss a wide range of topics. This book is not always up to modern standards of political correctness.

Train Go Sorry by Leah Hager Cohen is a memoir by the granddaughter of a Deaf man, which discusses the intersections of the hearing and Deaf worlds.

Far From the Tree by Andrew Solomon is a research book about the effect of horizontal identity on parent/child relationships and features a chapter on d/Deafness. This is a good look at how d/Deafness can impact familial relationships. Some aspects of the book are outdated, and it was written by a hearing author, albeit one who extensively interviewed Deaf and hearing parents of Deaf children.

If you made it this far, congratulations! Thank you so much for taking the time to read through my lil/not so lil primer :) If you have any questions, comments, concerns, or feedback, please feel free to hit me up! If you have any requests for a diagnosis or a disability you’d like me to write about next, I’d love to hear it. Happy writing!

#writing disabled characters #writing disability #writing advice #longpost #deafness #deaf characters #writing deaf characters #disability writing guide #hard of hearing #hard of hearing characters

[ohnoitstbskyen]

The Beautiful Animation Touches of Arcane, act 2

It's not exactly a hot take to say that Arcane is one of the most striking and visually compelling animated series of the last few years, the animators and directors at studio Fortiche threw everything but the kitchen sink at this show, creating something intensely dense, layered and absolutely soaking in little animation touches, clever bits of cinematography and just straight up good direction and filmmaking.

It is impossible to discuss everything compelling about Arcane and its animation in one video, but I'm at least going to do my level best to talk about some of my favourite scenes from the second act (episode 3-6), and oh god oh god oh f*** my video about the animation is longer than all three episodes it discusses combined.

In this video we'll focus particularly on Jinx's custom animation rig that lets her swap between the Jinx and Powder personalities, how Silco visually asserts power over Marcus when they argue, how Viktor's entire character arc is contained within a single scene from his childhood, how Vi and Caitlyn speedrun an enemies-to-lovers trope via body language, and the seduction of Jayce Talis and his unfaithfulness to Viktor.

You have no idea how many Netflix copyright blocks I had to edit my way around to get this online.

#tbskyen #arcane #jayce talis #jayce arcane #mel medarda #viktor arcane #powder arcane #jinx arcane #vi arcane #caitlyn kiramman #arcane silco #arcane netflix #heimerdinger #ekko arcane #sevika arcane #silco #sevika #skye arcane #animation #fortiche #league of legends #arcane league of legends #Youtube