#laully's posts

[ghostlytuxedo]

Kicking off pride month with a friendly reminder that

[ghostlytuxedo]

The World Trigger english dub is the best worst thing I've ever heard, & I hope it got appreciation for that. I genuinely think it'd feel out of place if it was "better." It has so 'early 2000s' vibes, in all the best ways.

[ghostlytuxedo]

This is a Toph appreciation post explaining why I think Toph from Avatar: The Last Airbender is one of the best, and least offensive, blind characters in popular media, from the perspective of a blind person with ADHD who sucks at explaining things.

This would've been more fitting when I was seeing a rise in "inclusive" media adding blind characters as some kind of uncomfortable attempt at comic relief, but I'm making it now.

Limitations:

While Toph does follow the "'blind' character who can 'see' via powers" trope, she still has some physical and social limitations due to her blindness. I normally wouldn't give super senses or alternative vision a representation pass without major physical limitations despite it, but I'll defend Toph because of how well-written her character and how her blindness is relevant to her was.

Physically, she can't see visual details such as pictures or print. Print being the only in-universe medium, she can't read or write. Even with bending, she is essentially nearsighted, and she can't feel anything she isn't vicariously in physical contact with through the earth. Other elements, loose material such as sand, and wearing shoes also block her ability to feel. That ability being blocked causes her distress, but so does taking away blind people's canes, their substitute 'eyes.'

Socially, she has to prove to her family that she isn't as helpless as they think she is. She proves it by using her bending equivalent to vision, but let's imagine her bending as an accommodation. Being held back by overprotective parents who don't understand that she can do most of the same things anyone else can, she just has different ways of doing it, is a realistic situation.

After being made fun of for her makeup, she glumly claims one of the good things about being blind is that she doesn't have to worry about how she looks. However, she does care about how others view her, even if by all logic appearance shouldn't matter. When you can't see yourself or others for comparison, you have to rely on what others say, and trust they'll tell you the truth whether you stand out or not. It can be very stressful.

Comic relief:

Most blind comic relief characters are varying degrees of incompetent, infantilized, nutty buffoons, who lack caution or awareness of their actions, and don't know how to adapt or preform basic tasks non-visually. The audience is expected to laugh at them rather than with them.

Toph, on the other hand, is witty. Her blindness isn't the focus of her character, and presents comedic opportunities naturally in the form of her own sarcasm when people forget she can't see, and snarky remarks similar to 'blind jokes' many blind people make on a regular basis. I could make a whole post dedicated to examples, but for now, I'll list a few.

When they're looking for the library, she gets irritable and shouts, "There it is!" When the group looks over, she says, "That's what it will sound like when one of you spots it," waving a hand in front of her eyes to remind them that she can't see. When asked if she wants to go into the library, she says, "I've held books before, and I gotta tell you, they don't do it for me," referring to how she can't read them. When Sokka holds up her wanted poster and rhetorically asks what it is, she retorts, "Well it sounds like a piece of paper, but I guess you're referring to what's on the piece of paper." When Katara calls her makeup pretty, Toph says she'd return the compliment but she can't tell. When Sokka makes bad art, Toph says she thinks it looks perfect. And, while using a disability to cheat security in real life is bad, come on. Seeing eye lemur? Sign me up.

What makes these moments funny, though, is that they aren't the majority of things she jokes or talks about. They come up because they're just the type of thing she'd say, similar to making fun of people or praising being back on solid land before making a snow angel in literal rock. She's genuinely a great character on her own. And when she does fail to catch things because she can't see them, or put wanted posters up facing the wrong way, or complain about her feet not being able to see, it's still funny because, unlike characters in other media, it isn't overdone, it's realistic, and she is well aware of her actions. She works because 'blind dumbass' isn't 90% of her personality, and she isn't the only character taking on the role of comic relief.

Conclusion:

I want to see more Tophs in fiction. Give me more blind characters who are confident in their abilities and act like normal human beings who just happen to be blind for effing once.

[ghostlytuxedo]

People who denounce queerplatonic relationships because, "You can platonically cuddle, live with, marry, etc. best friends," singlehandedly destroy their own idea of romance. You can be intimate with, live with, etc. best friends, so obviously romantic attraction doesn't exist, either.

I could just call my partner my best friend, but to us that doesn't fit how close we feel. And to me it isn't romantic. (I've had romantic feelings before. This ain't it.)

Don't call someone else confused because you don't understand how they feel.

[ghostlytuxedo]

To the people who use unicode font generators in their writing: People who use screen readers CANNOT read your work. This is for any writing, but I'm specifically calling out AO3 because I see this issue there the most.

Screen readers may skip over unicode text altogether, or read each letter as, "modifier letter," or say, "unpronounceable," or spout a bunch of gibberish, etc.

If you want dialogue identifiers or any sort of curly/big/discernible text, AO3 and many other sites have lovely italic and bold font options that are 100% screen reader compatible! (Glitch text is often used sparingly & implied by context—or rarely vaguely readable—enough to only be a minor inconvenience, & I see why it's used. Just leave A/Ns if u think u should.)

I can't tell you what to do, obvi. It's your choice to make, and I know it comes with sacrifices. Just know that unicode may cut you off from potential readers.

Thank you for your time and consideration. ❤️

[ghostlytuxedo]

"I'm neurodivergent, & I don't act like that / you're just something else," is such a dumb argument. I've gotten it from family, teachers, random people online... Also, no, being neurodivergent shouldn't be a pass to call somebody the R word because their brain works 'less normal' than yours. A slur is still a slur when it's used as an insult, no matter who says it.

[ghostlytuxedo]

Even if aromantic hasn't made it to the top, look what snuck its way into the 2nd preview.

[ghostlytuxedo]

Just a thought that won't leave my head until I externalize it:

The Roomba that screams when it runs into things, but it's passive-agressive Stirling voice lines instead.

I don't have a Roomba and it's taunting my soul.