A nifty pinned post to point you to places around the blog (or off the blog, whatever the case may be) + ask guidelines, FAQ and navigation. Last updated: 29 June 2026.
I'm known around here as Art â short for my pen name A. R. Thompson â and I'm a freelance editor and indie author. This blog is my part-time writeblr, full-time outlet for *gestures vaguely* everything else. Or, in other words, it's where I answer questions and blog about writing, d/Deaf and HoH + disabled representation, autism, my special interests â primarily storytelling, mythology and folklore â and any and all fixations that come my way.
Other places you can find my stuff (aka, where I'll go if Tumblr completely fails):
my official blog â essays, short stories and my annual newsletter. You'll also find my editing services here.
Substack â short stories (this is likely where I'll be most active in the event of Tumblr's demise).
Payhip â the current and legacy versions of my Wordcount Tracker spreadsheet, plus downloadable epubs of my short stories.
If youâd like to support what I do, you can throw a coin to me via Ko-Fi.
If the askbox is open, then Iâm happy to take asks for writing advice! Just be warned that my average response time for advice-related asks is currently.. slow. So maybe donât send in anything time-sensitive đ . Also itâs helpful for us both if you check the ask guidelines and FAQ in this pinned post first.
[continue under cut for ask guidelines, FAQ and navigation]
Ask guidelines
Check the tag navigation and FAQ first â I try to be meticulous about tagging things so that itâs easy to find specific topics/posts. Iâve also been running this blog since 2017; chances are, thereâll be something helpful in here already.
I wonât do your research for you. Yes, Iâll fact-check and look stuff up if Iâm unsure, but Iâm not a search engine. If your question has a concrete, factual answer (e.g., âWhat causes deafness?â, âHow much do cochlear implants cost?â, âWhat is sign language?â), please look it up yourself.
Or, to put it another way: I can give advice/opinions/guidance based on my own experience and knowledge; share resources that Iâve gathered or written, and guide you towards places to find information. Separate research efforts are for paying clients.
Remember that my opinions and experiences arenât universal. Writing advice â especially relating to sensitivity and representation â is highly subjective. I do my best to read up on and consider other perspectives, but sometimes thereâll be nuances I miss or perspectives Iâm unaware of; your story and peopleâs reactions to it arenât my responsibility.
Remember that Iâm not obliged to answer your ask. While itâs totally okay to send a followup ask if youâre worried I havenât received your message or if you canât remember if you sent an ask, any hassling or pressuring me for an answer will get you blocked. If I canât answer an ask for whatever reason, Iâll always let you know.Â
Bottom line is: Iâm a human person with chronic illnesses + executive dysfunction doing this for free because I enjoy it; if it stops being enjoyable, I stop doing it. I will make liberal use of the block button.
FAQ
Q) âHow do I write d/Deaf characters?â
âIf you have a question about d/Deaf and HoH characters, start here: A primer on research for deaf and hard of hearing characters.
Then check out my âWriting Deaf Characters | People are Peopleâ post and the writing deaf characters tag.
Q) âHow do I write [disability/deafness/sign language] in [Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Historical] setting?â
Check the following tags: disabilities in SFF + disabilities in history + worldbuilding for deaf culture + superpowers and disabilitiesÂ
Q) âWhat pieces of media with deaf characters in do you recommend?â
Check [this ask] for some reccâd books, comics and TV series with deaf characters. Others that I like are Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant and A Quiet Place (2018). The novelisation of The Shape of Water does sign language fantastically. My deaf representation tag also has some posts where I talk about specific instances of deaf rep in media.
Q) âHow do I write a signed language?â
The TL;DR answer: I recommend writing signed dialogue like you would spoken dialogue, and switching out characteristics of spoken language with sign-specific ones â e.g., âsignedâ takes the place of âsaidâ, describe how the signs are shaped instead of describing the tone of voice, etc. Start with the following posts for more info: Writing Deaf Characters | Speech is Speech + Writing Sign Language FAQ. More useful links are in the navigation section.
Q) âHave you seen _ and what do you think about the representation of _â
Try plugging in the name of whatever book/film/show you want to ask me about into the search box. If Iâve talked about it at all, Iâll have tagged it so you can find it.
Q) âDo you have a chronic illness/are you deaf?â
Yes. The ones I discuss on here are Russell Silver Syndrome, autism, hypermobility, fibromyalgia. And the deafness, of course.
Q) âAre you deaf, Deaf or Hard of Hearing?â
I have profound deafness in my right ear and moderate loss in my left. Medically speaking, Iâm hard of hearing; I identify as deaf because thatâs personally important to me. I donât consider myself culturally Deaf because I was mainstreamed at a young age and only started to learn more about and engage with Deaf culture in my early teens.
Q) âWhat do I do about writerâs block?â / âIâm in a creative slump and canât get outâ etc.
Take a look in my writerâs block tag â¤ď¸
Navigation (key tags):
writing deaf characters - everything about writing D/deaf characters.
sign language - everything about sign language: how to write it, what itâs like to speak it, misinformation & truths, resources, etc. You can also use the search bar for specific sign languages; if Iâve posted about them, theyâll be tagged (e.g., auslan, ASL, BSL).
hearing aids - me talking about experiences with HAs, what theyâre like to use, and anything related to writing characters wearing HAs.
sensitivity & representation - all things relating to inclusivity, sensitivity and representation in fiction.
monsters & monstrosities - monsters and monster theory.
writing advice - the all-purpose tag for everything writing advice related.
writerâs block
summaries & blurbs - troubleshooting and advice for summaries/blurbs etc.
worldbuilding - everything related to worldbuilding for fiction.
misadventuring in mythology and folklore - Catch-all tag for myths, legends and folklore; search bar is your friend for specific topics. There are many shitposts here.
special interest tag / the hyperfixations tag - special interest central (mostly viking history, sherlock holmes, and all things mythology and folklore. In the process of sorting and combing these tags).
fragments of essays - when I have ideas for essays but not enough spoons to write them, the fragments go here.
my writing - all original writing: short stories, poems, WIPs, articles, essays etc.Â
The Wyrdseren - the duology to which #When Dealing with Wolves and #The Kindness of Ravens belongs
The Blood Enigma (WIP) - urban fantasy m/m(nb) romance about a legally dead (sort of) vampire trying to navigate his unlife, depression, grief and being a fugitive with a runaway child.
Falling Stars (WIP) - high fantasy apocalypse with a sprinkling of cosmic horror + polyamorous romance. Currently in draft zero.
Transgender woman faces two felony charges after drawing a firearm during an altercation.
A Wyoming transgender woman is facing two felony charges after drawing a firearm during an altercation she says began with anti-LGBTQ+ and a
RĂhanna Kelver, a bartender and trans rights advocate in Laramie, has been charged with aggravated assault and possession of a deadly weapon with unlawful intent after a 13 September 2025 confrontation outside the Crowbar & Grill, whereshe worked. Kelver could be sentenced to up to 15 years in prison if convicted on both charges.
Kelver says one man in a group of men across the street from her started shouting homophobic and transphobic insults at her before the man allegedly shoved her to the ground in a downtown crosswalk, as reported by The Laramie Reporter.
There's more, as it pertains to Black trans people's right to self-defence:
Despite Wyomingâs âStand Your Groundâ statute, which allows people to use reasonable force in moments of self defense, Kelver faces up to 15 years in prison for both charges, as well as up to $11,000 in fines, per Cowboy State Daily. Kelver faces an additional year and $1,000 fine for a charge of interference with a peace officer. [...]
As pointed out by Slate, self-defense laws are often put into question when people from marginalized communities, especially trans people, use them, including Cece McDonald, a Black trans woman who served time in a menâs prison for defending her friends during a racist and transphobic attack. Ky Peterson, a Black trans man from Georgia, was also arrested and imprisoned for killing his rapist in self-defense.
I wrote a short explanatory piece on how gun control (in the USA, specifically) has always been a tool of oppressors against marginalized folks. You can find it on Tumblr here.
Kelver needs assistance with her legal fees fighting these charges. Her crowdfunding sites keep being removed so here's her Venmo:
When Scott Durham pushed RĂhanna Kelver to the ground, she drew a gun in response. Kelver, a trans woman now facing two felony charges, said
Hope you don't mind me adding to this, i live in laramie and ive known rĂhanna personally for several years and this incident has been so difficult for her, and additionally the attack exacerbated health issues for her.
a local reporter posted this article this morning that delves into her attacker's affiliation with the fascist patriot front org and the fact that since he moved to laramie in 2023 there has been a significant uptick in hateful activity and propaganda being spread throughout the town. this man was prevented from walking at his high school graduation by his own admission due to his racist, queerphobic, and antisemetic behavior.
one of the things that has been infuriating to me is that her attacker is not the one pressing charges. not the literal man she pulled a gun on, it is the police who are threatening her with 15 years in prison.
please help rĂhanna if you can, she doesn't deserve this and it is depicting the increasing danger for trans women and other queer people in this city and state as a whole.
i hate those posts that are like âhes tall, handsome, funny⌠i didnt say a name but he popped into your head didnt he ? :)â like no? he didnt. who the fuck is heÂ
The base image is from Norman Lindsayâs A Homage To Sappho
This will be the second time Iâve switched up the genitalia on one of this series but is the first time Iâve hand drawn the addition of the body hair and genitalia. More adjustments made tomorrow but yeah!
I have some segments to redo, refining to do with a single thread going back thru, and graphite to carefully remove but per request some of the ladies got top surgery
Iâm literally so stoked about this piece Iâm so mad I keep having to take breaks bc whenever I concentrate for too long my jaw clenched up again and I start getting pain in my faceee
*dragging myself across the floor and covered in blood* it is finishedâŚ
My bad Iâve been in a mixed episode for almost two months and itâs made me have more episodes of lying in bed unable to move or do anything meaningful
"I am not a vessel for your good intent" goes hard as a line from a disabled perspective. Abled people care so much more about being their idea of a good ally than they do actually being a good ally. They shove their good intent right down your throat and then act surprised when you tell them they're suffocating you.
[ID: An image of a sign with a blue background and with a graphic of a stick figure in a wheelchair at the beginning, resembling disabled parking space signs. The text below the stick figure reads "I am not a vessel for your good intent." /ID]
With Winnie-the-Pooh and The Battle of Hastings sharing an anniversary today, did you know that E. H. Shepard once drew this amazing scene for an exclusive book bag?
I feel like . A lot of Being Autistic is giving people way too much benefit of the doubt cause you're trying not to have a social anxiety paranoia doom spiral but sometimes they really and truly just are treating you like that & you have to be the crazy one & be like I know you're fucking lying to me
Like oh yeah no it's not that I didn't notice. I've just been ignoring it. Yknow. Which somehow feels worse and stupider than if I really didn't know any better
I have 45 usd oc commissions open ⥠I have 15 slots open!
I can not draw: real people (example: "can you draw me / my grandma / etc") as it is beyond my capabilities. Non humanoid characters, mecha, furry or helmed characters or characters with large horns that will not fit in the portrait aspect ratio.
You can purchase a comm here!
https://ko-fi.com/c/a0ddd9de2c
Commission available on Ko-fi.com
Lemme draw your dnd characters, tavs, book mcs! Id love to work for you!
[ID: A photograph featuring wall tiles. In a gap, a shark is doodled on the grout. An arrow points to the shark from writing saying âgrout white shark.â End ID.]
To my mind, the appeal of both [vampires and werewolves] is very strong and very obvious, and people are unlikely to be swayed from one to the other. If youâre interested in animals, control/lack thereof, The Fleshâ˘, transformation of the physical body, etc., the werewolf may suit you better. If youâre more interested in seduction, desire, dependence, transformation of social position, etc., the vampire may be just what you need.
I find itâs also worth pursuing where people want to place shame⌠vampires and werewolves both seem to struggle with shame over their âconditions,â and leaving only the question of whether you want your character to feel guilty over, say, their physical form vs. their desires. (Keeping in mind you can of course do anything with any character.)
Furthermore, there are clear class and gender implications to both archetypes. For a variety of reasons, there is an association between the âhigh classâ and âfemininityââthink 1700s men in their big wigs and heels and frilly, pastel outfits, or how Americans associate certain British accents both with money and effeminacy. (Note specifically that this does not rely on any presumed 'objective' associations with masculinity or femininityâobviously, these don't exist to begin with, but even when we can look back and say, e.g., "oh, the heels were actually a symbol of masculinity at the time," this does not alter the fact that in the current cultural eye they have been transformed.)
The fop, the dandy, cannot be extricated either from his money or his presumed femininity. It is not a coincidence that extreme femininity is associated with an extreme cost (in not only literal money but also time): shaving, waxing, skincare, large amounts of fabrics, structured garments which restrict movement (and therefore ability to do labor), attached frills and lace and bows, accessories, jewelry, makeup, lingerie, perfume, dozens of shoes.
There is, similarly, an association between âlow classâ and âmasculinityââwhen you picture a butch, do you see her as an accountant or a lumberjack? Physical strength, flannels, pants, manual labor, endless work to survive. These things are all bound up together.
Then you throw in the vampire and the werewolf. The traditional vampire is wealthy, remote, fashionable, slick, soft-spoken, implicitly fruity if not explicitly so. The male vampire is likely to be hairless, svelte, long-haired, and generally androgynous. The female vamp wears glossy makeup and long gowns.
The traditional werewolf, on the other hand, is often lower-class, working with their hands, living in closer proximity to nature and other people, louder, rougher, brasher, generally physically capable and able to show it. The male werewolf is likely to be hairy, muscular, short-haired (at least on top), and generally masculine. The female werewolfâwell, this depends. In the big alpha/beta/omega m/f circles she may literally be Just Some Girl, but in other cases she may be feral, unmannered, (at least slightly) muscular, etc. Of course, mass media is too afraid even to depict a woman with unshaven legs, so you're not likely to see her often.
If these seem like extremely racialized dynamics, you are correct. Iâve said this before, but the vampire has essentially transformed from the antisemitic/antiziganist/xenophobic âlooks pale and âwhiteâ like us, but in a WRONG, âdarkâ wayâ (light-skinned with dark hair/eyes and âsemiticâ/âforeignâ facial features) aesthetic to one of white Christian abnegation (if you pictured the Cullens, youâre right; if you pictured the original Interview With the Vampire, youâre also right).
Iâm less of a werewolf specialist, but I think that the complexity of shifting werewolf racializations also have something to do with the difficulty of defining something as definitively âwereâ or ânot wereâ. People of color have always been dehumanizingly compared to animals;Â Twilightâs turning an Indigenous nation into wolves is only the logical next move in a long history of anti-Indigenous racism. At the same time, thereâs this big new boom in werewolf media, and would you look at thatâjust as the vampire became white when he stepped into the heroâs role, so has the werewolf become this strapping, chiseled young white man ready to sweep young white women off their feet. And his female werewolf wears perfume! Oh, well.
(Note that these are only the broadest strokes of how vampires and werewolves are most popularly visualized, and therefore by necessity incomplete. Most ânon-normativeâ vamps and weres 'respond' to these archetypes rather than 'setting' them, in my opinion and experience.)
Also, thereâs just been so much more popular vampire media in the world, so vamps more easily take on whatever symbolism you want them to have because thereâs precedent. Popular, famous, everyone-knows-who-Dracula-is precedent. The vampire has been very clearly used to represent so many things that you have more to, in theory, respond to; at the very least, more to respond to that your readers are likely to recognize. Werewolves may better suit those who like uncharted territory!
My personal preference follows below the cut, because this has gotten long enough...
To give my own personal little flavoring of the vampire vs the werewolf⌠which is to say, to discuss why I am so consistently drawn to the vampire:
I like the symbolism of a creature which âlooks just like usâ but is not like us, which seduces others to be like itself, which refuses to breed cisheterosexually but builds (remote, disinterested) community nonetheless, which struggles with a desire that is not accepted in its society. If this sounds remarkably queer all of a sudden, that is correct!
(I find Iâm most compelled by werewolves, unsurprisingly, when they are big hairy butches. Iâm predictable that way.)
Thereâs also the natural Jewish reclamation of vampires; we have the blood libel and the âlooks like us but not like usâ and the conversion and isolationist community and the pale-and-dark thing going on all the time. Yes, please, help me romanticize Jewish men! Brooding intellectuals, you say? Swoon.
I also think my being drawn to vamps matches my preference for frills and capes and all things ouji-and-lolita-fashion; I simply prefer the aesthetic of some tall androgynous thing skulking about in Victorianesque ornament. I like candelabras, castles, and foggy moors. Androgynous men are easier to find in media than androgynous women; itâs been said a thousand times that Louis and Edward and insert-pop-culture-vamp-here is strangely effete, but naming an overtly masculine werewolfwoman is hard. There are fewer futches, even, in media than there are metrosexual men. Thatâs just how the world is. I like a lot of things that simply happen to match vampires more readily than werewolves, so I fell in with the vamp crowd.
(I also suddenly realize at this point that Iâve always liked Remus Lupin, that strange, guilty creature who seems deeply at odds with his condition in a way that quite clearly parallels a fear of his own masculinityâmade all the clearer by his panic at becoming a father. It seems the shame&masculinity combo, particularly paired with paternal guilt, can easily be used to compel me⌠much to ponder.)
I think thatâs the end of my screed. I donât think there really is an objective better creature in this discussion, and to die on that hill would be silly; I see all sides.
P.S. Please send me your masculine woman werewolf recommendations I am starving for some good food.
