axellenobody

[axellenobody]

Its been a while

I dont use tumblr much honestly twitter was my go to. But as a precaution for twitters downfall, im gonna try to be active on tumblr as well. Long story short my mother passed away in January and since then life has hit me like a truck. Havent streamed in a year, Im in the process of moving in with my partners and finally got a good job. so hopefully things go well.

[axellenobody]

fucked up how colors look different depending on what screen you’re looking at them on. that should be illegal I think

[axellenobody]

fucked up how colors look different depending on what screen you’re looking at them on. that should be illegal I think

[axellenobody]

WHY TUMBLR WHY!!!!!!!!!!!1111oneone

They updated the web interface again. It broke all the tweaks I had to make queueing and posting a fast and easy process. Jeez, I need a day away from this BS company. 

-Rodney

[axellenobody]

For Autism Acceptance Month, I felt the urge to focus on Quinn’s terrible experience with a certain type of therapy that many autistic children were/are subjected to. For Quinn, this lead to masking, self harm, and overwhelming stress growing up. Because of her need to protect Claudette from this abuse, she was finally able to understand that her own autism wasn’t a bad thing and taught her daughter the same.

Misinformed and ablest societies are the reason why autistic people call for acceptance rather than awareness. We don’t need a cure, we need understanding and resources that actually help us rather than those that stigmatize and try to change us. 

Read more here: https://www.spectrumnews.org/features/deep-dive/controversy-autisms-common-therapy/

[axellenobody]

My oldest son takes after me in artistic talent. I'm so proud I'm tearing up. It's so cool he learned metal working! I'm jelly. That drawing? It was featured at his school.

[axellenobody]

Hi! I just wanted to thank you for the dyslexia friendly character sheet for DnD! Its a really great idea and format! I did just want to ask about usage and whether you would like people to pay for it or if its just free to download?

it's free to download. our only requirements is to credit us if you post it or share jr and enjoy your games :3 accessibility shouldn't be behind a pay wall.but if you do Wana support us in the reddit post our separate socials are there for twitch and youtube if you Wana watch us :3

[axellenobody]

Howdy! I love your Dyslexia-Friendly D&D 5e sheet, but I was slightly confused by the fireball in the top right of the first page? Is that for Spell Points? Either way thanks for making it!

it can be. the fireball is blank for any useage. From spells, to surge points or anything your specific charater- needs. Also I'm glad you enjoy the sheets :3

[axellenobody]

To the mods: Please, look into making a kofi!! I love the blog and have a lot of admiration for all your work. Would love to have a way to show support for you sometimes too 😊 I'm trying to link the website and Tumblr won't allow me, but you guys can just google kofi and I'm sure you will find it!

Is this what everyone wants? Leave a yes or no in the comments. :)

-Rodney

[axellenobody]

just Wana do a post for us lgbtq people. delete if it breaks rules. Work sucks I know. I am Non-binary(Afab), poly and pansexual. being dead named and misgendered sucks, having people assume I'm straight beacsue of my partner sucks.. But what doesn't suck is dispite all that I am who I am and I am happy for it. I am PROUD of all of you who go through the same shit. I am proud of all of you. those in and out of the closet. I love you all and wish you luck and love

[axellenobody]

So just a heads up aparently this is a thing. The "Free to breath agancy" made a card claiming to be Ada approved which it ain't cause that's not how Ada works. If someone trys to pull this with you. This as far as I know this is fake as hell and it's a bunch of Karen's who Wana pretend to be disabled so they don't wear masks

[axellenobody]

[axellenobody]

“she’s a sacrifice demanded by the elites” goes so fucking hard. you tell them girl.

[axellenobody]

Fuck coworkers. Due to the covid situation I lost hours so I've been streaming on a popular gaming service to get pocket $ I mention this to my nerdy coworker and he gets a look of disgust and says "I didn't take you for one of those toddy streamer sluts" I'm furious. Like wtf. I don't use webcam or crap like that and even if I did that gives him no right to judge me or female streamers (I'm NB but Afab) he then said "why not just do p0rn then I'm sure some1 fines you attractive enough" uuugh

[axellenobody]

autistic self diagnosis is valid

[axellenobody]

Some fairly important news from the AO3 today, re: the covid-related traffic increase and how they are coping. The entire post is worth reading but the big stuff I think is:

logged out users will see delays in work updates, on an hour cycle it seems

logged out users will no longer count towards hit counts for the foreseeable future

this uptick in traffic is corresponding with server maintenance and updates, so while they would like to add new servers to abate the trouble, they both need to finish their current work and then get ahold of some servers, which might be difficult at this time

my recommendation is to get yourselves some AO3 accounts if you somehow don’t have one yet. and, as a creator, I would highly recommend leaving feedback on stuff you like. there is going to be an artificial decrease in hits for authors for a while, and this is a particularly lonely and stressful time. if someone’s work is helping you through this difficult time…. help them in return.

[axellenobody]

We’re Ready

I was presenting an assembly for kids grades 3-8 while on book tour for the third PRINCESS ACADEMY book.

Me: “So many teachers have told me the same thing. They say, ‘When I told my students we were reading a book called PRINCESS ACADEMY, the girls said—’”

I gesture to the kids and wait. They anticipate what I’m expecting, and in unison, the girls scream, “YAY!”

Me: “'And the boys said—”

I gesture and wait. The boys know just what to do. They always do, no matter their age or the state they live in.

In unison, the boys shout, “BOOOOO!”

Me: “And then the teachers tell me that after reading the book, the boys like it as much or sometimes even more than the girls do.”

Audible gasp. They weren’t expecting that.

Me: “So it’s not the story itself boys don’t like, it’s what?” The kids shout, “The name! The title!”

Me: “And why don’t they like the title?”

As usual, kids call out, “Princess!”

But this time, a smallish 3rd grade boy on the first row, who I find out later is named Logan, shouts at me, “Because it’s GIRLY!”

The way Logan said “girly"…so much hatred from someone so small. So much distain. This is my 200-300th assembly, I’ve asked these same questions dozens of times with the same answers, but the way he says “girly” literally makes me take a step back. I am briefly speechless, chilled by his hostility.

Then I pull it together and continue as I usually do.

“Boys, I have to ask you a question. Why are you so afraid of princesses? Did a princess steal your dog? Did a princess kidnap your parents? Does a princess live under your bed and sneak out at night to try to suck your eyeballs out of your skull?”

The kids laugh and shout “No!” and laugh some more. We talk about how girls get to read any book they want but some people try to tell boys that they can only read half the books. I say that this isn’t fair. I can see that they’re thinking about it in their own way.

But little Logan is skeptical. He’s sure he knows why boys won’t read a book about a princess. Because a princess is a girl—a girl to the extreme. And girls are bad. Shameful. A boy should be embarrassed to read a book about a girl. To care about a girl. To empathize with a girl.

Where did Logan learn that? What does believing that do to him? And how will that belief affect all the girls and women he will deal with for the rest of his life?

At the end of my presentation, I read aloud the first few chapters of THE PRINCESS IN BLACK. After, Logan was the only boy who stayed behind while I signed books. He didn’t have a book for me to sign, he had a question, but he didn’t want to ask me in front of others. He waited till everyone but a couple of adults had left. Then, trembling with nervousness, he whispered in my ear, “Do you have a copy of that black princess book?”

He wanted to know what happened next in her story. But he was ashamed to want to know.

Who did this to him? How will this affect how he feels about himself? How will this affect how he treats fellow humans his entire life?

We already know that misogyny is toxic and damaging to women and girls, but often we assume it doesn’t harm boys or mens a lick. We think we’re asking them to go against their best interest in the name of fairness or love. But that hatred, that animosity, that fear in little Logan, that isn’t in his best interest. The oppressor is always damaged by believing and treating others as less than fully human. Always. Nobody wins. Everybody loses. 

We humans have a peculiar tendency to assume either/or scenarios despite all logic. Obviously it’s NOT “either men matter OR women do.” It’s NOT “we can give boys books about boys OR books about girls.” It’s NOT “men are important to this industry OR women are.“ 

It’s not either/or. It’s AND.

We can celebrate boys AND girls. We can read about boys AND girls. We can listen to women AND men. We can honor and respect women AND men. And And And. I know this seems obvious and simplistic, but how often have you assumed that a boy reader would only read a book about boys? I have. Have you preselected books for a boy and only offered him books about boys? I’ve done that in the past. And if not, I’ve caught myself and others kind of apologizing about it. “I think you’ll enjoy this book EVEN THOUGH it’s about a girl!” They hear that even though. They know what we mean. And they absorb it as truth.

I met little Logan at the same assembly where I noticed that all the 7th and 8th graders were girls. Later, a teacher told me that the administration only invited the middle school girls to my assembly. Because I’m a woman. I asked, and when they’d had a male author, all the kids were invited. Again reinforcing the falsehood that what men say is universally important but what women say only applies to girls.

One 8th grade boy was a big fan of one of my books and had wanted to come, so the teacher had gotten special permission for him to attend, but by then he was too embarrassed. Ashamed to want to hear a woman speak. Ashamed to care about the thoughts of a girl.

A few days later, I tweeted about how the school didn’t invite the middle school boys. And to my surprise, twitter responded. Twitter was outraged. I was blown away. I’ve been talking about these issues for over a decade, and to be honest, after a while you feel like no one cares. 

But for whatever reason, this time people were ready. I wrote a post explaining what happened, and tens of thousands of people read it. National media outlets interviewed me. People who hadn’t thought about gendered reading before were talking, comparing notes, questioning what had seemed normal. Finally, finally, finally.

And that’s the other thing that stood out to me about Logan—he was so ready to change. Eager for it. So open that he’d started the hour expressing disgust at all things “girly” and ended it by whispering an anxious hope to be a part of that story after all. 

The girls are ready. Boy howdy, we’ve been ready for a painful long time. But the boys, they’re ready too. Are you?

I’ve spoken with many groups about gendered reading in the last few years. Here are some things that I hear:

A librarian, introducing me before my presentation: “Girls, you’re in for a real treat. You’re going to love Shannon Hale’s books. Boys, I expect you to behave anyway.”

A book festival committee member: “Last week we met to choose a keynote speaker for next year. I suggested you, but another member said, ‘What about the boys?’ so we chose a male author instead.”

A parent: “My son read your book and he ACTUALLY liked it!”

A teacher: “I never noticed before, but for read aloud I tend to choose books about boys because I assume those are the only books the boys will like.”

A mom: “My son asked me to read him The Princess in Black, and I said, ‘No, that’s for your sister,’ without even thinking about it.”

A bookseller: “I’ve stopped asking people if they’re shopping for a boy or a girl and instead asking them what kind of story the child likes.”

Like the bookseller, when I do signings, I frequently ask each kid, “What kind of books do you like?” I hear what you’d expect: funny books, adventure stories, fantasy, graphic novels. I’ve never, ever, EVER had a kid say, “I only like books about boys.” Adults are the ones with the weird bias. We’re the ones with the hangups, because we were raised to believe thinking that way is normal. And we pass it along to the kids in sometimes  overt (“Put that back! That’s a girl book!”) but usually in subtle ways we barely notice ourselves.

But we are ready now. We’re ready to notice and to analyze. We’re ready to be thoughtful. We’re ready for change. The girls are ready, the boys are ready, the non-binary kids are ready. The parents, librarians, booksellers, authors, readers are ready. Time’s up. Let’s make a change.