Now that I have once again proven beyond the shadow of a doubt that when I get into something I absorb it like a sponge for good or ill, I might as well add: this is where I post my Fandom takes to find other folks who Fandom the way I do. If you don't consume media the same way, that's completely fine.
I have a bachelor's of science in theater (sounds fake I know but it's real), part of which was earned through analyzing scripts and stage plays to understand motivation, meaning, and the world of the play. As a dramaturg, which is what the people who research these things are called, your job is to analyze a text to create a binder full of notes for the director, the actors, the costume shop, and sometimes the run crew. I've not worked in theater since graduation due to illness or the general rarity of dramaturgs finding work, but this is why when I read something text based my brain is already dissecting it and making a list of things to research. That's just how it does. It's just one of many perfectly valid ways to approach fandom; what's 'too deep' for some is 'too shallow' for others.
I also draw fanart and og art, am chronically ill, neurospicy, and disabled, existed in the Before Internet times, have many foes that want to see me fail, and I just don't care.
Be well, be cringe, be whatever, just don't be a dick to me because I match energy.
Here's what I've realized from the Artemis II mission:
You cannot study STEM without the arts, and you cannot study humanities without the sciences. In that tiny capsule we sent to the moon, we sent physicists who are also photographers. We sent poets who are pilots.
We sent experts on exact scientific maneuvers who also express precise emotion and experience that will be quoted for decades. They play with a stuffed moon in the background of a broadcast and have Chappell Roan as their wakeup music. They drove around the far side of the moon.
We sent parents, partners...We sent humans, who are unabashedly showing their humanity and brilliance and vulnerability. They are smart and kind and generous and ambitious and silly and thoughtful and so damn good at what they do. And they want to share it all with us.
So I've been working on this for several days and it's not everything I wanted it to be but I'm still very proud of it. These are my original characters in my story titled Echo Nox. Please love my babies. I hope to share them more often.
Iāve said this before and Iāll say it again but it is absolutely an example of civilizational inadequacy that only deaf people know ASL
āoh we shouldnāt teach children this language, it will only come in handy if they [checks notes] ever have to talk in a situation where itās noisy or they need to be quietā
My family went holiday SCUBA diving once, and a couple of Deaf guys were in the group. I was really little and I spent most of the briefing overcome with the realization that while the rest of us were going to have regulators in our mouths and be underwater fairly soon, they were going to be able to do all the same stuff and keep talking.
Update: you guys this is an amazing resource for learning asl. Bill Vicars is an incredible teacher. His videos are of him teaching a student in a classroom, using the learned vocabulary to have conversations.
Not only is the conversation format immersive and helpful for learning the grammar, but the students make common mistakes which he corrects, mistakes I wouldnāt have otherwise know I was making.
He also emphasizes learning ASL in the way itās actually used by the Deaf community and not the rigid structure that some ASL teachers impose in their classrooms
His lesson plans include learning about the Deaf community, which is an important aspect of learning ASL. Knowing how to communicate in ASL without the knowledge of the culture behind it leaves out a lot of nuances and explanations for the way ASL is.
Lastly, his lessons are just a lot of fun to watch. He is patient, entertaining, and funny. This good natured enthusiasm is contagious and learning feels like a privilege and not a chore
And itās all FREE. Seriously. If youāve ever wanted to learn ASL
I think that it's really important for people to realize that being disabled is traumatic. genuinely. your body and brain feel like they are breaking down and wrong. you are in constant heavy stress from stuff like chronic pain. most disabled people i know have a somewhat regular emotional break down from the trauma of it all. and we are expected to just smile through it by society, to not be in the way, to not be an issue.
