If we wanted to engage in nuance (lol, lmao) on the "are audiobooks reading" debate, we really do need to bring literacy, and especially blind literacy, into the conversation.

Because, yes, listening to a story and reading a story use mostly the same parts of the brain. Yes, listening to the audiobook counts as "having read" a book. Yes, oral storytelling has a long, glorious tradition and many cultures maintained their histories through oral history or oral + art history, having never developed a true written language, and their oral stories and histories are just as valid and rich as written literature.

We still can't call listening in the absence of reading "literacy."

The term literacy needs to stay restricted to the written word, to the ability to access and engage with written texts, because we need to be able to talk about illiteracy. We need to be able to identify when a society is failing to teach children to read, and if we start saying that listening to stories is literacy, we lose the ability to describe those systemic failures.

Blind folks have been knee-deep in this debate for a long time. Schools struggle to provide resources to teach students Braille and enforcing the teaching of Braille to low-vision and blind children is a constant uphill battle. A school tried to argue that one girl didn't need to learn Braille because she could read 96-point font. Go check what that is. The new prevalence of audiobooks and TTS is a huge threat to Braille literacy because it provides institutions with another excuse to not provide Braille education or Braille texts.

That matters. Braille-literate blind and low-vision people have a 90% employment rate. For those who don't know Braille, it's 30%. Braille literacy is linked to higher academic success in all fields.

Moving outside the world of Braille, literacy of any kind matters. Being able to read text has a massive impact on a person's ability to access information, education, and employment. Being able to talk about the inability to read text matters, because that's how we're able to hold systems accountable.

So, yes, audiobooks should count as reading. But, no, they should not count as literacy.

Finally, a good fucking take.

I wasn’t crazy about this piece so I wasn’t intending on publicly posting it again, but it keeps getting stolen every five minutes so I figured I’d put it here so people at least know who to attribute the original thing to lmao

[Digital illustration, Procreate App, 2020]

ITS NOT A PHOTO????????

little zukka thing i miss them

Today’s Davenport makes a stone call! … Also there’s a dragon.

[Image description under readmore!]

Keep reading

[ID from under cut: an eight paneled comic featuring Barry and Kravitz on a reaper-related reason. Panel one is split into two images. On the left is a skeletal Barry looking at his Stone of Farspeech which is floating up and glowing, labeled with an appropriate “glow-y noise”. On the right, Barry’s flesh face pops in as he answers, “Uh, hello? Oh hey Davenport! It’s good to, uh, it’s good to hear from you. How are you-” a small pause as Davenport says something we can’t hear- “ Oh me? How I’m doing?” Panel two reveals that Barry and Kravitz are standing in front of a giant skeletal dragon. Kravitz says, “Are you serious? Now is not the time for personal calls, Barold.” Barry ignores both of them as he continues talking on his Stone. Barry says, “I’m just taking care of some business near Goldcliff.” another pause as Dav talks. “What’s that?” Panel three, Barry has turned away to continue his conversation, “YEAH SURE I HAVE A MOMENT!” Kravitz disagrees with a, “NO YOU DON’T” as the dragon lunges at Kravitz who shoves his scythe into its mouth to stop it from chomping on him. Barry says, blissfully in response to whatever Dav says, “Could you repeat that - Merle’s not answering his stone again?” Panel four, Barry has his back to the action, “He must have put his stone on silent again,” (here Kravitz interjects, “YOU SHOULD TOO-”) Davenport responds, “I know know, I’ll stop by after I finish up over here and tell him to turn it back on-” Davenport asks something, “uh, yeah I’m in Goldcliff?” Dav says something and Barry answers, “I can teleport over- Reaper powers?” Panel five is split into two images again, the first has Kravitz looking angrily over his shoulder as Barry says, “Yeah I’m still doing that”. Kravitz yells, “COULD HAVE FOOLED ME!” Kravitz turns back to the Dragon to see it rearing up to do some purple attack. “Oh shit,” Kravitz says as Barry tells Davenport, “I know you forgot- it’s okay-” Panel six, the dragon releasese a gigantic purple blast with a “RAZE” sound effect. Barry pays it no mind as his robe whips around and his hood falls revealing his mullet blowing frantically. “No. Listen Davenport. I know that first couple of years are hard - just remembering this isn’t temporary it’s, well, it’s weird to realize this all won’t disappear in a year but I swear it’ll get better.” Panel seven, Barry finishes up his call with several pauses as Davenport says stuff, “Mmmhmm, yeah who knows maybe I’ll take up gardening?” (pause) “Yeah yeah I’ll take care of it. Don’t worry I- Yeah” (pause) “Okay love you too, dad. Yup, bye.” Behind him a rift is torn open. Panel eight, Kravitz leans out of the portal and looks steamed and also smoking from purple flames. Kravitz starts, “DO YOU NOT SEE THE DRAG-” but Barry cuts him off by smacking one of the flames on his shoulder, “Oh yikes, bub. You’re a bit on fire.” Kravitz responds, “YES FROM THE BONE DRA- wait did you call him dad?” which Barry pauses it and asks, “The dragon? No that’s a female - we should probably do something about that. They’re stronger.” The dragon leans in the bg smiling. End description]

Paraphrasing again buuut I wanted to try illustrating this scene!

Laurence: oh no, I have amnesia and can not remember any of the beautiful and tragic events of the past 8 years!

The tharkay subplot:

(Hands, the joke is that he got his hands f—)

been a while

Laurence and the children he keeps accidently adopting, Forthing count your days

Original

really good tiktok

The voices in my head.

A masterpiece, as usual.

Another fucked up part about Helena tricking Mark S. into sleeping with her is that it would seem as though she knows exactly what's going on with Gemma. She knows what Cold Harbor is and that Mark is integral in completing it. She probably knows exactly where Gemma is and if she can still be saved. Yet she pretends to help Mark S. look for her, with no intention of actually aiding in the search, in part to learn what they plan to do if they find her, but mostly just to continue flirting with Mark S.

Her personal desire to take over Helly R's relationship with Mark S aside, it still makes perfect sense that she didn't help them find Gemma. The consequences she would face for that would have no doubt been terrible, and it would have been a deeply out-of-character move to do something that would negatively impact Lumon, especially for altruistic reasons. Not to mention, she doesn't even see Mark S. as a person. For her to deliberately withhold information that would reunite Outie Mark with his dead wife...I don't think she sees Outie Mark as a person either, or at least, that is what she would have to tell herself. He's an employee of the company with a file to complete. nothing more. And certainly, with whatever they are doing to her, she cannot allow herself to see Gemma as a person.

the whole mess of personhood denial makes Helly R. asking if she is livestock in the very first episode so much more interesting to me. On a deep, subconscious level, she knows that is how Lumon sees people. Because if they actually grappled with the humanity of their workers, they would have to face the horrors of what they are doing. As an Eagan who is being groomed to take over the company, Helena probably feels like livestock on the outside too. She is truly never free. I think Helly is in so many ways the manifestation of Helena's own suppressed disgust with Lumon and with herself for participating in its horrors. Her confession that she is ashamed of who she is on the outside was, at least to some degree, true.

incapacitation

content warning

i feel like an often overlooked downside to 10-episode seasons and the death of the "monster of the week" format is that we get way less whump variety nowadays. used to be that there'd be dozens of opportunities for your fave to get punched or kidnapped or hypnotized or what have you. these days if it doesn't fit into the main plot, it just doesn't happen. this is a tragedy. we should be protesting.