I’m so bad at social media I stg. One day I’ll post consistently again. But in the meantime, I have an announcement of sorts, I’m opening commissions! I have information and examples of my work that can be found here!
I offer portraits, and character reference sheets!
I wanted to give an update, art commissions are still open, but I’m also adding video and gif commissions as well. If you want to see examples of my work, I have a TikTok . Videos will be upwards of $30 USD depending on the length of the video, given how much time it takes to record and edit, the only exception being videos that follow the “custom main menu” Twitter trend that was around for a while. I would charge about $10 USD for this. If you’re interested, please dm me!
As quickly as he had returned into my life, Estinien was gone again. After learning that the eyes had become a new primal he was determined to track it down, even if he couldn't face it himself locating it would be useful for those who could.
Eager to understand whatever had woken in me I tried as I could to repeat it. Even with help an aids from conjury and thaumaturgy tools I had barely more than a few linger wisps. It wasn't aether, what ever it was, and I struggled to try and form it again.
Sick of trying, I was ready to give up, and just in time. G'in, Alphinaud, Alisaie and Lyse had arrived from Gyr Abania. I was surprised of all people to see Lyse, considering the frontlines right now was her home land. I was happy to see them all, even though all they brought was sad news from the front.
At least they said, it was good to see me standing. Was that a blessing? I wasn't sure.
You know, I love this comic dearly, but ever since I’ve put it out into the world, I realized that
I made a grave error in my script.
A lot of people in the comments have, understandably, tried to correct me on my choice of words, most specifically on this panel:
“And yet a chimp can not learn language the way a human can.”
And I’m here to admit my mistake………….
I forgot to put a disclaimer reminding people that I do, in fact, know what the fuck I’m talking about.
Alright, I know that there’s a fun little factoid that gets passed around a lot - that gorillas/apes/chimps can learn sign language, and therefore CAN do language as well!
And the thing is - no, that’s not actually true. Not in the way you may have come to believe it.
If you want the TL;DR of it:
most, if not all, projects involving great apes and sign language were started and largely led by people with no actual native OR near-native understanding of sign language. Even if the apes DID learn signs, they did not learn ASL in any meaningful way.
the tapes used to prove that the apes were effectively communicating in ‘sign’ were heavily doctored and cut in order to make them seem more cohesive and convincing than they actually were
through a thorough review of the tapes, the apes (gorillas, chimps) involved were found to be effectively signing random things until the handler saw one that they thought was ‘correct’
the handlers were often incredibly close to the apes and were often giving their charge signals - sometimes signing things for them to repeat, and the apes were often determined to be only copying signs their handler threw up, which was counted as ‘correctly answering’
many, many apes often signed in an extremely limited manner - although they had the ability to sign many words, they rarely, if ever, asked questions - one of the main hallmarks of 'true’ language use
human language is thoroughly agreed upon by linguists to be a specific ability, and it has been determined that current apes do not have anything similar, though - importantly!! - they are still able to communicate in a multitude of incredibly complex and effective ways!
For further reading, I would suggest the following:
Here’s some reading about Nim Chimpsky, one of the more famous chimps, whose life was pretty horrible and frankly tragic by all accounts, even human ones
Here’s a wiki article with an overview of various ape language experiments and their surrounding issues
And HERE is a very succinct podcast episode that neatly summarizes the entire issue within an hour and twenty minutes:
“It’s interesting that we became enthusiastic about ASL in the process of teaching it to a population that couldn’t benefit from it.”Mike te
Strong Wave, a Roegadyn guardsman of Moraby Drydocks, started his day like any other until his eye caught a glimpse of a small unique chest floating near the harbor. "How strange." He muttered to himself, leaving his post to gather the mystery treasure.
Once it was in his possession, he opened it slowly and to his surprise he didn't find gil or gems, but a small baby wrapped in sea foam-colored silk and a small note in a tongue he did not understand. "A babe?" He looked confused, peering down, but then swiftly scans the sea where he found the chest, hoping for more answers.
Suddenly, the baby starts to cry, bringing his attention back. "There there, little one," he says calmly. Reaching in, he gently holds the child close. "Poor lass, don't cry, you'll be safe with me."
As weeks turned into months and months into years, Strong Wave did everything he could for his beloved daughter he named Marian Waterborne. He taught her how to fish, farm, and even how to fight just in case danger ever crossed their path.
The days that followed were never dull. Some days were peaceful and others Strong Wave felt like he couldn't keep up with some of Marian's odd behavior. She had a troublesome habit of always wanting to be in or near the sea despite all the warnings he constantly told her. "But da' someone calls for me." Marian always told him with a pouting face. Strong Wave would just let out a long sigh before picking her up with a soft smile, "My little sea gem, you really are something special, aren't you?"
Strong Wave and Marian would stay in a humble home near Moraby throughout most of her early life, but would later move to Ul'dah as Strong Wave felt that Marian deserved to see more of the world and should experience all that she could.
