#cochlear implants are so cool

[sherlock-on-opium]

Deaf Mic because why not

[cripplecharacters]

Hey there! I have a couple of questions relating to the same OC, if that's okay? His name is Enoch, and he's Deaf, specifically from Waardenburg Type 1, so my questions relate to some things about that:

1. I know Waardenburg Type 1 has telecanthus, and Enoch wears glasses, so I was wondering if the telecanthus would affect the type of glasses, how he wears glasses, etc, at all?

2. I've seen a lot of conflicting info on whether hearing aids can do anything for congenital profound sensorineural hearing loss. He inherited Waardenburg Syndrome from his mom who's also Deaf and he grew up in a primarily signing household because of it, so he doesn't wear hearing aids often in a home environment regardless, but I wanted to know if having him wear hearing aids for work makes sense or if I should just forgo this entirely? I'm cool with either, I just would like clarification!

3. I've also seen conflicting info about how loud noises can hurt the ears of someone who's already Deaf. I know that it can still damage the physical structure of the ears, but I was wondering how that would actually manifest in things a person can feel or experience. This man is going to be around explosions, so I thought it was relevant.

As a side note, I have a background in medicine because I'm a veterinary nurse for work, but while I can read medical resources with no problem, human medicine and the first person perspective of Real Human Beings is obviously very different, and I don't want to screw up something actual humans experience, so I'm struggling a little to find resources I trust. Thanks for listening to my little rant, and I appreciate your help!

Hi!

For the first question: no, I dont think it would have an effect. he might prefer glasses with the rubber bridge pieces rather than a solid plastic bridge, but standard glasses come in so many shapes and sizes (and can be heated up and bent to better fit an individual's face shape) that i don't think he would need special glasses.

For the second question: probably not. From what I know of WS, hearing aids aren't going to do a whole lot. They don't for many causes of profound hearing loss, though there are cases where hearing aids are more effective. Depending on his mom's upbringing (and what time this is set), she may or may not have cochlear implants. And further depending on her opinion of the technology, she likely made a decision for Enoch whether he has CIs.

And question three: ear protection is necessary in environments like this regardless of hearing status. There's other damage beyond cochlear damage (hearing loss) from exposure to explosives. It's always safer to protect your ears.

Mod Rock

[wosoimagines]

You Didn't Know? - Arsenal WFC/Reader

prompt: R is new to Arsenal after proving themselves at the World Cup, but there are a couple of hurdles they have to face before the team fully accepts them.

warnings: none

words: 6497

I will say that I am not deaf or hard of hearing so if there is anything that I've gotten wrong, please let me know so that I can fix it (I tried to do as much research as I could). Anything that represents sign langue is in continuous italics.

Also, this will become a series, so don't worry about needing to ask for a part two because it will be coming. (I think that this has honestly been one of my favorite ideas for a fic ever and I can't wait to continue it)

part two

(Y/N) POV

I grinned as I got out of the car. I wiggled my eyebrows at the camera once I noticed it. Honestly it wasn’t too surprising that Arsenal would be filming my first day here. I didn’t hesitate to greet the people who were waiting for me either.

“(Y/N), it’s really nice to finally meet you,” the woman that I knew as Clare Wheatley greeted me. I quickly shook her hand once she held it out to me. “Congratulations. We’re really happy you’re here.”

“I’m gonna show you around,” the dark-haired woman who was behind Clare spoke up. I sent her a soft smile. “I’m Sadie Ross. I’ll also serve as an interpreter for you should you need one.”

“You know Auslan?” I asked. I didn’t always have the option to take out my cochlear implants here recently. Once Sadie confirmed that she did in fact know Auslan, I couldn’t help the grin that overtook my face. “I use a Northern dialect usually, but I do know the Southern dialect as well.”

“No worries,” Sadie assured me. She moved closer to me before patting my shoulder so I would follow her. “I’ve studied both dialects.”

“Cool.”

I followed Sadie through until we got to the locker rooms where I was given my own Arsenal gear to get changed into. It was obviously just practice gear, but it was nice to be in official gear from my new club.

“It suits you!” Sadie assured me once I stepped out of the locker room.

“I like it!”

“So, we’re going to take you on a tour, show you the grounds, show you your new home,” Sadie said. I couldn’t help but smile as she had started to sign the words she was speaking. “This is obviously the changing room. This is the technical corridor, so we essentially have all of our tech staff in here. Our head coach Jonas in this hall.”

I looked down the hall that Sadie had been talking about. I started to move with Sadie so that I wouldn’t fall behind her.

“If you come down here, this is where the medical section is. Stuff like physiotherapy, massages, cold therapy, all of that sort of stuff will happen here.”

I paid attention as Sadie walked me through where the medical team could be found along with any rooms concerning treatment were. Sadie also showed me where the meeting room was and assured me that she would be at all of our team meetings and regardless of if I had decided to wear my cochlear implants or not, she would be translating everything that was said.

Then we were off to find the gym. This was one of the places that I was most excited to find since I knew I would probably be spending quite a bit of time in the gym. I appreciated that Sadie had also pointed out where each section was.

Soon we were headed outside.

“So, this is where we come out to get to the pitch?”

“Yeah.”

I grinned as Sadie pointed out where the exhibition pitch was. I was sure that I would be out there soon enough. Before long we had made our way to the mess hall that they had. It was there that I met Mikel Arteta.

Sadie had disappeared while Mikel introduced himself to me. Then I got to meet Win. Who immediately had all of my attention as I moved to the floor to play with the dog.

It was ultimately drawn away from Win though as Sadie made a reappearance. I was quick to get to my feet as I took notice of what Sadie had in her hands. I took in the back of the kit that had my number and name on the back.

“Such a beautiful kit,” I said as Sadie handed it over to me. “Honestly, can’t wait to play in it.”

“Come on,” Sadie said with a chuckle. “Let’s get you changed into it.”

I did a little fist pump before the two of us headed out of the mess hall and back to where the changing rooms were. Once I had the kit on, I headed down the hall to the room that Sadie and I had passed earlier.

“How’s it look?” I asked as I entered the room.

“I’d say it’s probably one of the best looking kits you’ve ever worn,” Sadie said. I let out a laugh at that. Honestly, I didn’t have the chance to wear that many different kits. I had left Australia to go to the States to play college football for Stanford. Other than my youth club kits, the only other kits I had been in were with the national team, but those had been more recent. “Not too big or too little?”

Of course, we had to take pictures of me in the kit while I was in front of the logo that was on the wall. It had been one of the moments I had been looking forward to since it was announced that I was signing with Arsenal following my college career and performance at the World Cup. Then I moved to take pictures of me signing my contract.

The rest of my afternoon was filled with a photoshoot in a full kit before we headed to Emirates. It was pretty cool to finally be able to take in the stadium in person considering I had grown up an Arsenal fan. I didn’t mind the photographer that followed me around getting pictures of me exploring Emirates.

We even sat down for a formal interview before Sadie played twenty questions with me so that fans could get to know me better.

“Why Stanford?”

“Why not?” I countered. I laughed as Sadie rolled her eyes. “I dunno why I chose Stanford. I had played with youth clubs, but no one was looking to give me a shot with their senior team in Australia. I was smart enough to get scholarships to attend school in the States. Stanford happened to have open tryouts and I was just really lucky that I was able to impress the coaches there and they ended up giving me a spot on the team.”

“Was it hard?”

“Yeah. I was pretty much all alone in a country I didn’t know and having to constantly prove myself,” I admitted. My time in college, while it had been great, had probably been the worst time of my life so far. “I had to practice all the time while keeping up with my studies and even then, I would barely get playing time. Then we had the 2019 College Cup. I didn’t get a lot of time still, but our coach, Paul Ratcliffe, had taken notice of all the practice I put in, specifically with my penalties so when the game went to penalties, I got to take what ended up being the final penalty. I finally knew what the biggest shot of my career was.”

“Did it help you to prepare for the shootout in the World Cup?”

I shrugged at that. Nothing could compare to the shootout that happened at the World Cup. I hadn’t even expected the penalties to go on so long that I would even take one, but then that plan had collapsed, and I ended up taking the final penalty knowing that France wouldn’t have that much film on my penalty kicks and tendencies.

“Nothing will compare to my World Cup penalty. That has probably been the best moment of my life,” I said. I motioned to my ears. “I do kind of have an advantage. It is nice to be able to literally turn off all of the noise. And if you watch the play back close enough, you can see that I had turned it back on right after the ball left my foot. Being able to go from dead silence to hearing the entire stadium cheering was incredible.”

“Did you get the game ball?”

“I did. It will be brought over after our next national camp because surely by then I’ll actually have my own place.”

“Now to backtrack, because you’ll be getting to play with Lotte and Alessia obviously. Not only did they knock you and Australia out of the World Cup but you, as mentioned earlier, won the 2019 College Cup by scoring the winning penalty which caused the two to lose the same game. Is there gong to be any bad blood?”

“No, I don’t think so. Does it sting that we didn’t win the World Cup? Obviously, but we were able to do an amazing job and we overcame everyone’s expectations that they had set for us. In the end, it just wasn’t our year for it. So, I don’t have any hard feelings about that,” I said. I had been upset and frustrated that we weren’t able to win the World Cup, but I was still really proud of the rest of the Matildas. “As for 2019, that’s a question for Lotte and Alessia. Honestly, I’m not even sure if either of them remembers me from it. I might have scored the goal, but my role that season was not a huge one. I didn’t even see an increase in minutes that second year with the team.”

“What are you most excited about being here with Arsenal for?”

“To play for the team I’ve always loved,” I said before looking over my shoulder at Sadie. “It is really cool that I’m also going to get to play with Caitlin and Steph more than just with the national team. And it isn’t just them. I could pretty much learn from most of the players here with Arsenal and I’m excited to get the opportunity to do so."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I sat by myself again in the mess hall. It seemed that until I got rid of this ear infection, no one was going to approach me except for Sadie. I had really appreciated that she was sitting to eat with me. My hunt for a place to call my own had also been stalled considering I had been trying to rest.

But it had already been three weeks with none of the normal tips and tricks I knew had helped to get rid of this ear infection. Our medical staff at Arsenal hadn’t been able to help me, so they had gotten me in to see a doctor. The doctor had told me it was labyrinthitis, an inflammation of the inner ear.

I had been given medicine for the dizziness that I was experiencing but it did nothing to help the pain I still felt. It led to me ultimately being ruled out of the first qualifying round of the Champions League that took place two weeks ago.

And I couldn’t help but feel like it had partially been my fault when the team came back after being eliminated by Paris FC. I hadn’t even been there with the team for the games. I also wasn’t entirely sure how much the rest of the team knew about why I had been a scratch for the journey.

I looked up at the small tap on the table. Sadie sent me a soft smile as she sat down.

“How you feeling?”

“Tired.”

Not only was I dealing with an ear infection, but the loneliness was starting to get to me. I knew that it would be hard to communicate with my teammates while I wasn’t wearing my cochlear implants, but none of them had tried to get to know me. Not even my national teammates.

I couldn’t wait for the national window to open. Unless I was deemed unable to travel, I didn’t see why I wouldn’t be called up. Even though we’d be in Perth, rather than Brisbane, I was still happy that I’d be back in Australia. I’d even get to see Theo since he had gotten a job with the Matildas. I knew that his main job was to act as an interpreter while I was with the team, but he was also helping take care of all our gear as well.

I sent Kyra a small wave when she smiled at me. The small smile that had taken place on my face quickly turned to a frown though once she moved to join Caitlin and Steph who were sitting with a couple of the English players on our team along with Katie. I sighed as my head dropped down.

“I can say something to them, you know.”

I shook my head. I didn’t need Sadie tackling my problems for me. Besides, once I got over this ear infection, I’d be right there with the other Aussies.

“The last thing I need is for them to think that I’m a coward because I can’t join them and then I send you to confront them for not spending time around me.”

Sadie softly sighed before she nodded. I knew that she hated that I had been left on the outside of the team, but what choice did I really have? I wasn’t really that great at reading the lips of anyone outside of the Aussies and it wasn’t like Sadie could follow me around all day to translate everything for me, she was still one of our assistant coaches.

It was honestly just a really unfortunate situation. One that I hoped would be resolved within two weeks. I wasn’t sure where I would be at mentally if I couldn’t play in our WSL season opener.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My ear infection had finally gotten better a week before we were slated to take on Liverpool, but I was still finding it hard to talk to any of my teammates. Kyra seemed to be the only one willing to seek me out, but it wasn’t often as she was still attached to Caitlin and Steph’s hips. Maybe that’s why I hadn’t been as excited about getting to start against Liverpool. I had questioned Jonas’ decision when he told me, but he said it was the perfect chance to see what I would be able to do so that he could figure out how he would use me for the season.

It would have been fine, if it hadn’t been for the number of knocks that I was taking. It seemed that Liverpool had decided to target me. I wasn’t sure if it was because they weren’t sure what I could do, or maybe they had decided that I was the weak link on the field. But I could handle what they threw at me.

At least until Taylor Hinds and I clashed in the midfield trying to fight for the ball. She had got a hand on the side of my head which ended up knocking off my cochlear implant. This was one of the times where I hated my cochlear implants because it wasn’t like I could just leave it on the ground to come back to while I chased after the ball. No, I had to make sure I grabbed the cochlear implant that had come off my head to make sure that no one stepped on it and destroyed it.

Ultimately, I didn’t even have to worry about Hinds getting too far because the play was called dead. I had assumed that Hinds was going to be reprimanded for the swipe at my head. I wasn’t really sure, but I knew that it gave me time to put my cochlear implant on.

I didn’t tilt my head in confusion when I saw the ref, Emily Heaslip, going to talk with Liverpool’s coach, Matt Beard. My eyes darted between my own teammates because I had no idea why Heaslip was talking to Beard. At least I didn’t have a clue until Heaslip started to wave me over. I glanced around me to make sure she wasn’t trying to get someone else. I even pointed to myself as I raised my brow in confusion. Heaslip nodded her head and waved for me to go over where they were again.

I shrugged as I jogged over to the sideline.

“She’s cheating,” Beard said once I got close enough to hear them. He pointed to the side of his head. “She’s got earbuds in. Getting information from someone up top.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I watched you put it in,” Beard said as he turned to me. My hand flew up to touch my ear. “Yeah, those!”

“You mean my cochlear implants?”

“She should be sent off.”

“They’re medical devices. I have to have them to hear.”

“I’m sure that’s what she tells everyone so she can cheat. After all, how good can a college walk on be anyways.”

Now that was uncalled for.

“I’m better than you because at least I’m playing professionally.”

“Take them out.”

I froze at that. Surely, I didn’t hear that right.

“Take them out before the yellow I’m going to give you becomes a red.”

Heaslip was out of her mind. My eyes immediately darted over to Jonas as I motioned to my ears causing the man to make his way over to us. I wasn’t surprised that Sadie was following behind. Nor when Kim left the huddle of my teammates to see what was going on.

“She’s getting a yellow for blatantly cheating,” Heaslip said once Jonas asked what was going on. “At least I’m giving her the chance to continue the game.”

“They want me to take my implants out,” I explained. I knew that Jonas and Sadie would both be confused as to what cheating they were talking about. “Neither of them are listening that they’re medical devices.”

“Calm down,” Kim softly said from behind me.

I looked over my shoulder at her.

“No, they don’t get to discriminate against me just because they’re idiots.”

Heaslip had enough arguing I guess, because when I looked back at her there was a yellow card pointed at me. Definitely not how I wanted to start my career with Arsenal, but there was nothing I could do to change it now.

“Kim, go,” Jonas said. My captain hesitated, but she moved away from the group to join our teammates. “She quite literally can’t hear if she doesn’t wear them.”

“They come out. Now.”

Heaslip wasn’t even listening to what we were saying. Jonas nodded before glancing at Sadie.

“Okay, just give us a minute so (Y/N) can get them out.”

Heaslip nodded and stayed where she could watch as I walked back toward the bench with Jonas and Sadie.

“It’s not fair,” I said. I had no idea how I was going to play if I couldn’t hear since I always wore my cochlear implants when I played. “My first game with the team and they get to ruin it because they don’t know what cochlear implants are?”

“I’m not taking you out,” Jonas said. I blinked at that. I hadn’t expected him to keep me in. “You can still play without needing to hear. Just try not to keep playing too long after plays are whistled dead.”

“Oh, because that’ll be so easy.”

It wasn’t like I could just keep my eyes trained on the refs for the entire match.

“Sadie will hold onto them.”

I sighed as I looked between the two. It would be nice to finish my first match with Arsenal. I couldn’t do that if I let idiots ruin it for me. It only took me a second to take both of my cochlear implants out and hand them over to Sadie before was back out on the field.

Coming off from the first half, I knew that I was skating on thin ice with Heaslip with the amount of time it took for me to realize when plays were dead. I wanted nothing more than to keep my head down while Jonas talked to us at halftime so that I could at least pretend that the rest of my teammates weren’t staring at me, but I didn’t have a choice. I had to look up so that I could understand what was being said as Sadie translated it for me.

Going back out for the second half wasn’t any easier. I had been slow to move at kickoff since I was relying on when everyone else moved. I tried my best to stay away from fouls, whether my team was committing them or Liverpool, since they were the most unpredictable ways for plays to be called dead. It wasn’t as bad as the first half had been.

But it really came to a head in the 67th minute. We were already down by one, but Caitlin was getting the chance to make a run. I had made the decision to pull toward the middle of the field from my side as the rest of the midfielders were still behind the forwards and I. Caitlin was clearly fouled by Koivisto, but no one was stopping even though Caitlin stayed on the ground.

My eyes stayed trained on Caitlin who wasn’t getting up as I moved backwards. Then I decided to do something that was definitely risky, but I knew that if Caitlin still wasn’t getting up then it would be good for our trainers to check her out. So, I darted across the field where Koivisto was still trying to move the ball. Koivisto stopped and relaxed as soon as I got close to her, but it didn’t stop me from knocking into her to win the ball back. As soon as the ball was at my feet, I sent it out of bounds.

As soon as I had turned to go check on Caitlin, I knew that I was in for it. Heaslip had her eyes trained on me as she started to march over where I was. I scoffed as I rolled my eyes at the clear fact that it was me that she was coming to talk to rather than Koivisto who had been the one to actually foul another player.

I didn’t even pretend like I was paying attention to Heaslip this time. I was just tired of all of the bullshit from this game. However, my eyes did widen when she pulled out the yellow card again and pointed it at me before the red card followed since I had already gotten a yellow.

“Oh, come on. What do you want me to do?” I asked her as I motioned to my ears. “I can’t hear. You made sure of that.”

Heaslip’s lips were moving, but I had no interest in trying to figure out what she was saying. This was insane and I couldn’t believe that I was actually going to have to fight these cards just so that I could play in our next match.

“No seriously, I would love to hear what you want me to do. Oh, wait. I can’t because you made me take my implants out.”

I shoved the arms that were trying to pull me away from Heaslip away from me. I couldn’t wait to fight these cards though so that Heaslip would never call a game again. There’s no way anyone would ever have her referee a game once they found out that she had discriminated against me by denying me the use of my cochlear implants.

I was a bit surprised when Caitlin got in between Heaslip and I before the older Aussie started to push me back. She was pointing toward the tunnel, so it didn’t take much to guess that she was telling me to get off the pitch. My shoulders slumped forward at the obvious disappointment from the player that I had spent so much time looking up to. I couldn’t bring myself to meet anyone’s eyes either as I made my way off the pitch and to the tunnel.

I didn’t even bother to stop by Sadie to grab my cochlear implants. This had to be the worst debut I ever had.

I took a seat in front of my locker. It was an easy technique that I liked to use to help keep me grounded. It made it easier not to lose myself if I could feel the ground under me. I stayed there for the rest of the game. It wasn’t until Jonas and Sadie had entered the locker room that I realized that the game had ended.

“That was the worst game I have ever played.”

Sadie frowned but she relayed the message to Jonas who rubbed at his forehead. Jonas’ eyes stayed trained on me even though mine had to dart between him and Sadie so I could understand what was being said.

“I should have taken you out. That’s on me. I just wanted to give you the opportunity to prove to them that you were better than they gave you credit for. Which you did. We’ll fight the cards and I’m sure that they’ll be overturned considering you really didn’t do anything wrong.”

I shook my head at that because there was nothing that we could do to allow me to redo my first game with Arsenal. Especially in Emirates. It had all been messed up.

“I have dreamed of this day since I was a kid. And it got completely fucked up. I don’t care if the cards are overturned, but I do want apologies from Beard and Heaslip.”

Jonas nodded in agreement once Sadie let him know what I had said.

“Completely understandable and I’ll be sure that it is known that we fully expect apologies from both for forcing you to do something you didn’t want to with your cochlear implants. Whether or not you wear them should be entirely your choice.”

I nodded as I wiped the tears away from my eyes. I knew it wasn’t guaranteed that I would get an apology from either of them.

“I believe there are some fans who would still like to see you. Even if you did get sent off.”

I sighed and dropped my head at that. Before the World Cup, no one was interested in meeting me. It meant that when I had a bad game, or it didn’t go the way my team had expected, that I could leave without disappointing too many people.

But I knew that I needed to go see the fans. They deserved something good from me today after the game. I got to my feet, and I found that Sadie was holding my cochlear implants out to me. I took them from her before I headed out of the locker room so that I could go see some of our fans.

I fiddled with the cochlear implants in my hands as I made my way out of the tunnel to the field. I just wanted to greet the fans and then head home. But it seemed that nothing was going to go my way as I was snagged by the back of my jersey.

When I turned to see who had grabbed my jersey, I was surprised to find Caitlin behind me. She was holding a microphone causing me to full turn to find her in the middle of an interview. I furrowed my brow because I wasn’t sure why she had stopped me considering I hadn’t crashed the interview until she pulled me back. But my eyes moved away from where she was to the reporter who Caitlin was talking to.

“You’re going to have to give me a moment,” I said once I realized that the reporter’s lips were moving a lot faster than I could decipher. It didn’t take me long to get my cochlear implants on before I looked back at the reporter. “Okay, now I’ve got my ears on. What’s up?”

“I was hoping to get your thoughts on your first game with Arsenal. I know after how you played in the World Cup that a lot of the Arsenal faithful were looking forward to seeing you only to find out that you were an illness scratch during the Champions League games.”

“I won’t lie. It’s all been a bit frustrating. Up until today, none of that had been anyone’s fault,” I admitted. I knew that I had to be careful about talking about my frustrations for tonight because I could still be punished if I said the wrong things. “I’m just hoping things will start turning around.”

“What’s been so frustrating?”

“Well, obviously I was an illness scratch for the Champions League games we had. I had been dealing with an ear infection during that time and it lasted until last week. It was brutal and there were times where I was in so much pain. It was just unfortunate that it had to happen almost as soon as I had arrived at Arsenal,” I said as I rubbed the back of my head. It had honestly been the worst ear infection I had ever had. “It made it hard to communicate with anyone really, so that was really hard because I do enjoy spending time with others. But I finally got rid of the infection last week, and Jonas decided to give me the start. So, things are starting to turn around.”

“Even with how tonight ended?”

I glanced over my shoulder at Caitlin who had asked the question. She had a frown on her face. I wasn’t entirely sure why Caitlin looked upset, but I knew that it probably had to do with me crashing her interview or the fact that I just revealed that I had been in pain and isolated.

“Getting carded for the reasons I did was insane and frustrating. Jonas and I have already agreed that we’ll be appealing the cards,” I said. Honestly, I couldn’t believe that Caitlin was okay with the cards I had been given. “I’m sure we’ll win the appeal. I would like to make formal complaints about both Beard and Heaslip considering how I was treated.”

“Well, I’m not entirely sure that you’ll overturn those cards,” the reporter pointed out. I turned my head back to look at her. “You obviously got into a heated talk with Liverpool’s head coach, Matt Beard, and tonight’s referee, Emily Heaslip.”

“It’s simple,” I shrugged. Was I really around this many people who had no idea what cochlear implants were. “One of my cochlear implants fell off and Beard had to be nosy, even though he can’t tell the difference between earbuds and my cochlear implants. Then Heaslip sided with him without talking to either Jonas or I. Which she should have done to figure out what I had in my ears if she was really worried about someone cheating, but she refused to hear us out as we tried to explain.”

“Well, I wish you both better luck for the future.”

I sent a soft smile to the reporter, happy to finally be done with the interview. Caitlin followed me as I headed to where our fans still were so that I could greet them. Caitlin stayed close to me as we talked with the fans and took pictures and gave autographs. I didn’t think much of how close she was staying to me until we were headed back through the tunnel.

“So those weren’t earbuds?”

I stopped in the tunnel causing Caitlin to crash into my back. I honestly hadn’t been expecting the question. Once I regained my balance, I turned to face Caitlin.

“We played at the World Cup together. Not only that but we spent over a month together to prepare for it and then play in it,” I pointed out as I tilted my head in confusion. I knew that I had tended to stick around the ones on the national team who were closer to my age, but we had all spent so much time around each other. The World Cup was one of the few times where I had worn my cochlear implants even when I didn’t want to. “You’ve seen my cochlear implants before.”

“I thought they were fancy headphones,” Caitlin defended. I shook my head as I let out a sigh. She could have just asked me what they were, and I would have told her. “So, what do they really do?”

“We can come back to that in a second,” I said. There was something else that was bothering me now from today’s game. “Were you upset with me when I got the second yellow because you thought I had gotten the first one for wearing fancy headphones?”

Caitlin only shrugged. My shoulders slumped forward because her silence said it all. My own teammates had thought I was cheating along with our referee and opponents’ coach.

“What is it that they do?”

“They’re basically my ears,” I said. This time it was Caitlin who was tilting her head in confusion. “It’s kind of how I’ve always seen them. I have my actual ears and they can hurt and, obviously, I can still get ear infections. But since my actual ears can’t process sound, I have my cochlear implants which are my hearing ears.”

“So, they’re like hearing aids?”

“They have the same purpose but work differently,” I said. A lot of people asked me about this when they first found out that I had cochlear implants so that I could hear. “Hearing aids just amplify sounds so they can be detected by damaged ears. Cochlear implants bypass the damaged parts.”

Caitlin slowly nodded as she furrowed her brow in thought. I didn’t mind answering the questions she had for me. I never had been opposed to answering questions about my disability. But if my own teammates hadn’t realized that I had cochlear implants or what they did, I wondered how many people were unaware of my situation.

“And we all just ignored you when joined the club.”

“It hurt, yeah,” I shrugged. This time it was Caitlin’s shoulders that slumped forward. “I understood though. Outside of our little Aussie group, no one on the team had ever played with me before. And it wasn’t like I’ve exactly had a lot of experience playing with any of you either.”

“But we ignored you.”

“I couldn’t really talk to anyone,” I pointed out. It might have sucked and hurt while I was being ignored, but I had understood why I was ignored. “Sure, I could talk, but I wouldn’t have been able to understand the rest of you.”

“Ross didn’t ignore you.”

“Sadie? She knows Auslan, AKA Australian Sign Language,” I said. I had gotten better offers from other clubs, but Arsenal had already told me that they had an interpreter on staff. “Sadie is literally employed as an interpreter for me now that I’ve joined Arsenal. It just so happened that she was already an assistant coach here at Arsenal and now they’re also paying her for acting as an interpreter.”

“Oh.”

I furrowed my brow. The last thing I wanted was for Caitlin or anyone else on the team to feel like I resented them for not being able to communicate with me. Maybe if I was a kid then I would feel differently about the whole situation, but I had long ago come to terms with the fact that most people wouldn’t be able to communicate with me sometimes.

I grabbed a hold of Caitlin’s wrist as I dragged her to the locker room. I was a bit surprised when we ran into Kyra who was leaving the locker room. It was obvious that she was headed home too considering she had her bag with her.

“Back in the locker room,” I said to her. Kyra’s eyebrow shot up as she looked between me and Caitlin. I looked over her shoulder though to see that the rest of the team was in the locker room. Even our injured players who were talking with the others. “Team meeting! No one leaves until I’m done talking.”

Everyone’s eyes were drawn to me as I turned back to look at Kyra. Kyra nodded before moving back into the locker room which allowed me to drag Caitlin in. Once the locker room door was shut, I let go of Caitlin’s wrist so that she could move to sit down.

“It’s been brought to my own attention that a lot of you are more than likely unaware that I’m Deaf. I was born deaf, and I do use cochlear implants to hear,” I announced. My eyes darted around the room to see how my new teammates would react. “I also know Australian Sign Language, or Auslan. So does Sadie. I wasn’t ignoring anyone or wanted to be left alone during my first month with the club, but wearing my cochlear implants while dealing with an ear infection is quite annoying for me so I chose not to wear them. And I’ll answer any questions you ever have. I really have no problem answering questions.”

The team stayed quiet as they processed everything that I had just told them. The longer the silence went on, the more nervous it made me. I couldn’t help it as I started to fidget where I was standing with most of the team’s eyes still on me.

“So Heaslip made you take off the only thing that allowed you to hear?”

My eyes darted over to where Alessia was sitting. I hesitated for a moment before nodding in confirmation.

“I wasn’t cheating,” I repeated. Just the idea of my new teammates thinking that I had cheated made me nauseous. “And all the warnings for not stopping at the whistle? I couldn’t hear. I had to take cues from everyone else. Well, from you guys.”

My eyes turned to Kim who got up to move in front of me.

“If anyone else ever tries to make you take off your cochlear implants when you don’t want to, they’re going to have to go through all of us,” Kim assured me as she put a hand on my shoulder. “And I know that I’ll be giving you my full support in appealing the cards and any other action you wish to pursue against Heaslip or Beard.”

I sent her a small smile. It was nice to have someone who was willing to back me up so quickly. Especially considering that it seemed like the whole team had been under the impression that I was ignoring them on purpose.

“You’ve got my full support as well,” Alessia said as she stood up.

I didn’t miss how my fellow Aussies shared a look before they also stood up to declare their support. And soon after they stood up, so did the rest of the team.

I couldn’t wipe the grin off my face thanks to the support that the team was so willing to give me even though none of them truly knew me yet. It might have honestly been one of the first times that I ever truly felt like my entire team had my back.

next part

[mcytblrconfessions]

I’m a deaf mcyt fan (i wear a cochlear implant) and sometimes I think it’s way more fun to just have my implants off and turn on captions for streams (only really works for QSMP) bc it enhances the visuals/reactions of streamers!

It’s also so much easier to engage with chat bc usually if a streamer says something funny, I will miss it even with my cochlear implant on, but the chat without fail will repeat the line so I get it. It’s also much easier to keep up with chat shenanigans so I enjoy adding to the crazy theorization/statements haha. TBH sometimes even with my cochlear implant on, I keep the sound-muted box beside my name on twitch so I don’t feel as dumb asking about what I missed haha

P.S. Thank you so much to all transcripts writers, closed captioners, translators and lore recappers/theory writers for stating the lines I miss from vods and clips (especially people who use English captions for English speakers, bc sometimes people don’t see that as nesserary even though it helps deaf/hoh/eal people). There’s so many cool/funny moments I would’ve missed otherwise so thank you so much for that <3

[indigokra]

“it’s nice to know you work alone” 🪐⚡️

(click for better quality, more info and alt text below cut)

another jupeter piece and some recommended songs from my jupeter playlist!

I have synesthesia which means my brain associates certain audio and music with different colors and shapes, so I worked a lot with the colors on this piece and especially the background to kind of translate some of the visualizations I get when I listen to these songs together! If you read the lyrics of both you’ll see why I heavily associate them with juno and peter!

I have another piece that I’ll hopefully post circa S3 that goes along with There’s No Secrets This Year (the most jupeter song ever) and a comic for Waltz in E-Major, Op. 15 “Moon Waltz” by Cojum Dip that I really want to work on soon! My playlist is still a work in progress and I’m currently in the process of moving my spotify accounts around but as of right now the full playlist link is here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6SP3sUjzSTBCPhouCe4xXY?si=277Hd2pqTGmRzPLcSx6dvQ

I organized it partially by season so hopefully it’s easier to understand the character connections of the songs. (The first song of the playlist is an instrumental guitar piece that my dad’s guitarist is doing as a side project which is super cool and you should definitely check out his stuff (and also please send some streams his way) If you love vocal-like sexy guitar riffs and weird time signatures and video game-esque music, Vision Swords is for you lol)

Alt Text:

A lineless digital art painting of Juno Steel and Peter Nureyev from the Penumbra Podcast. Juno's face is visible in a profile view as he holds his blaster in his outstretched hand. Juno is a short Black and South Asian person with dark brown skin, a scar across his nose bridge, and black hair that is lit with purple lighting. Juno has short locs and a high undercut with a star design shaved in. He is wearing a tan trenchcoat, a white button up, and black tie. He is also wearing a cochlear implant, hot pink star earrings, and hot pink acrylic nails. Peter stands behind him with his face partially obscured. He is a tall South Asian man with medium brown skin and dark shoulder length brown hair. He is pointing his blaster and wearing a black suit jacket with gold details. The background of the painting is hot pink, neon purple, and bright blue. The background colors mix in with one another in a perspective blur from the center of the painting. [end alt text]

Thank you so much for the support while I’ve been on hiatus! I’m going to college this fall for Robotics Engineering and I’ve been dealing with some pretty big health problems as well (I literally just got out of surgery today lol) which has left little time for art (fanart or otherwise) 😅 Love ya!

[baphometsss]

We need to talk about spirit hand!Inquisitor

I've been trying to put this into words for a while but it's really tricky to explain. I'm gonna try anyway bc I feel like it's an important discussion to have

First though, a disclaimer: I'm not physically disabled. Everything I'm about to say is based on me trying to relate through my own experiences of mental illness, the experiences of a disabled family member who uses a prosthetic leg, and research into how to write disabled characters properly in my own personal projects (thanks to cripplecharacters blog for helping me understand it better!) So, you know, you can take it or leave it--and please feel free to add your own experiences! This isn't a call out post or anything, I'm just trying to put my thoughts into words and start a conversation in good faith

The problem with fanworks where the inquisitor's wooden prosthetic is replaced by a magic/spirit hand is that it falls into a really tiresome trope where the character has the limb replaced with a magical prosthetic that essentially nixes the disability entirely. It's called the Cool Robot Arm or Perfect Prosthetic trope and it plays into disability erasure in a big way. This is pretty frustrating when you know having a limb amputated is a big deal that comes with a lot of pain and long-term effects, even if the amputation procedure itself was free of complications. Prosthetics are also basically a whole thing of their own, but suffice to say they also come with their risks and problems as well.

The thing with representation is that it needs to reflect real life experiences if its going to approach anything good or meaningful. Video games like Dragon Age often attempt to do this, but they also often miss the mark. I know a lot of disabled (and able-bodied) people want to see better representation of disability in media, but when that fails, we have the opportunity to do better in our fanworks. It feels like a lot DAI/DATV fanworks jump into the magical prosthetic trope far too easily and without very much thought for how it negatively impacts that representation. The Inquisitor becomes disabled through losing their left hand, and that would be a complicated journey for them. This is not a part of their character that can be written away without losing a huge part of their story--regardless of how we role-play them.

For me personally, I try to balance it out by being realistic about both the prosthetic, the spirit hand, and the remaining limb. For example, prosthetics rub and cause blisters and other skin conditions. They can be bulky and heavy and cause musculoskeletal problems. Residual limb pain is thing and can be chronic and debilitating. Learning to use a prosthetic usually requires physical therapy, and some people just prefer not to use prosthetics at all, or only some of the time or for specific tasks. Much of the discourse around prosthetics is focused on making them indistinguishable from a natural limb, when practicality and comfort should really be the focus and not this ableist idea that differently limbed people should want a prosthetic that looks identical to the one that was lost. There are so many potential stories that can be written about this experience, yet we almost never see any of them. My mage Inquisitor has a spirit hand, but she doesn't use it much because it's difficult to maintain both that and use offensive magic in battle, and she doesn't have the mental energy to use it 100% of the time. It's also not that easy to use, even when she does have the energy. She only really uses it occasionally anyway (usually to make random shapes with it to amuse other people) and prefers her prosthetic.

To put it another way--consider how deaf/HoH people who get cochlear implants often continue to use sign language afterwards anyway, even if the procedure was successful. This is because a. it's their first language, which means verbal language is a new language to them and b. gaining hearing after a long period without it can be extremely difficult to adjust to. It can be overwhelming and even painful. The point is that just because aids and treatments exist, it doesn't mean that they're a one size fits all and each individual person will have their own journey in figuring it out. That's one of the things we should be writing about, rather than just nixing it away with a magic limb because it's the easier route and it doesn't require us to consider writing outside of our own experiences. And don't get me wrong, I get that it's scary. You don't wanna upset people with your writing or make them feel even more alienated. But you have to start somewhere and be willing to listen to criticism if you're going to get better.

Furthermore: ableism for sure exists in Thedas. Can you imagine how that would affect the Inquisitor? How they'd adjust from being revered as the Herald of Andraste with a divine mark on their hand to being almost killed by it? How their political enemies would use their disability against them? How they would be affected emotionally by having to deal with that ableism potentially for the first time? Would they find community among other veterans who have become disabled through conflict? Or would they isolate themselves and carry the burden alone? Would they experience mental health issues because of it? These are all examples of how ableism affects real people. Of course, none of this is negated by the spirit hand, but it's something I've seen very little attention given in fanworks.

For me personally, I also try to think of this through my own experiences of mental illness. I have chronic depression/Dysthymia, which is not exactly the same as clinical depression. It follows similar patterns to other mood disorders like Bipolar Disorder in that it's cyclical; my baseline is being moderately depressed, and then every 2 or 3 months I will go into 'double depression' which is where I experience an intensification of symptoms that mimic going into an initial depressed state, while aggravating the symptoms I already have. It's hard to explain it, but suffice to say, it requires me to take medication to control it. I don't like it, but it's the way my brain is wired up and I've been told by multiple professionals that I will always have to take medication for it (antidepressants and antipsychotics, although I don't take the antipsychotics atm). This medication causes a variety of annoying side effects that I have to accept as a trade off so I don't regress too far.

This is just one of the mental health conditions I have to contend with, but it's one that probably effects my life the most. I know it's not comparable to amputation or other physical disabilities and I'm not trying to say it is. But I use it to understand writing for disabled characters by, in conjunction with my research, empathising, by thinking of how much it would bother me if someone wrote about my life and did everything they could to ignore this very prominent part of who I am. I would have to ask why they were so keen to ignore it. Dysthymia doesn't define me, it's not something I'm 'proud' of per se, but it does affect a big part of my life; I've struggled with it every day since I was 10 or 11--so of course it's shaped who I am. I use it to imagine how frustrating it would be if someone tried to cover up or negate this part of me and then dressed it up with something like... idk. Magical anti-depression goggles or something, or worse still decided to make my story all about the goggles. It would make me feel like I wasn't a person with experiences worth writing about, that I would be fine if it weren't for this illness I undeniably have and can't help having. That my illness is akin to a personality flaw--an ableist assumption that Dysthymia sufferers in particular have to deal with, because it's a depression that does not go away and people think it's just our personality rather than an illness.

I personally found these posts x x x really helpful in figuring out how to write my inquisitor. Tbh cripplecharacters is invaluable anyway, especially their 'magic aids' tag for writing Inky. I really strongly recommend that you read them before writing about your inquisitor's prosthetic and their perspective on losing their arm. Listening to actual disabled people when writing disabled characters is the most important part of the process and it'll only make your work better. You really have nothing to lose by doing it.

Like I said, I'm not trying to call anyone out. I have most likely missed the mark just in writing this post, because it's not my personal experience. I do think the spirit hand is a cool concept. It's just not a quick fix and writing about it needs to be done more consciously than I think most people do.

[trip-the-cal-fantastic]

Ears

Dad!Jake x Fem!OC, deaf son, and hearing daughter

Warnings - Toddler tantrum, snot and drool but not very much, cochlear implant on a child, Jake being a dad, jake being a girl dad, kissing, and use of pet-names (significant other and kids)

Word Count - 2,500exactly (Kinda cool, right?)

‘Indicates use of sign language.’ Sentences will be written in ASL grammar and sentence structure - Time, topic, comment, question word when applicable (who, what, when, where, why, and how).

“Indicates when a word is spoken and signed at the same time”

~~~

Jake stood at the kitchen sink, rinsing the dishes he had just washed and placing them onto the drying rack. About four feet to his left, his son, who was supposed to be playing in the living room, was throwing a borderline temper-tantrum, tears streaming down his face as he wailed. Mariah had taken their daughter, Tommie, for her nine month doctor's appointment, so it was just Jake and Henry at the house. The reason for Henry’s fit was currently unknown and Jake was determined to get to the bottom of his little boy’s emotional outburst.

Henry gripped the pant leg of Jake’s jeans in his little hands, tugging on the fabric and basically trying to climb onto him. Jake took a deep breath to calm himself, not wanting to be angry with a child who could barely express himself. 

“Henry.” Jake gently pried the boy’s hands away from his pants, squatting down to be on the same level as the crying three year old and using the boy’s sign name, which was the sign for ‘deaf’ but with the letter ‘h’ handshape rather than just the index finger. “Look at me.” He signed as he spoke, knowing that it was one of the only ways Henry would learn what the gestures meant.

Jake blew cold air over his son’s reddened face to try and soothe him. Henry looked up at Jake, his little cheeks stained with tears and Jake physically felt his heart clench at the sight. “Why are you crying?” If anything, Henry cried harder at Jake’s question. 

He had only turned three about two months ago, so explaining how he felt was difficult, especially when he couldn’t use his words. Or, even know what words to use, for that matter. 

Henry took a few steps forward, reaching for Jake with his left hand as his right came up to stick his fingers in his mouth. He tried to climb into his lap, but Jake stopped him, placing a soft hand on his hip and shaking his head. “Wait. Henry, wait.” As much as he wanted to hold his little boy right now, Jake had to get him to calm down a little bit. Henry cried even harder at the denial of being held.

Jake gently pulled Henry’s hand from his mouth and used his palm to wipe the tears from his cheeks as best as he could before standing up to grab a paper towel. He knelt down again and cupped the back of Henry’s head, using the napkin to wipe the snot from the boy’s nose and the drool from his chin. He crumpled the paper towel and tossed it up onto the counter to be dealt with later. “You need a big breath.” Jake made the sign for ‘breath’ dramatic, showing Henry what he needed to do, breathing in through his nose and out through his mouth. 

Henry repeated the action, taking a stuttering breath in through his nose and letting it out as a mix between coughs and sobs. That’s when Jake noticed the tiny LED light on Henry’s processor flashing orange, meaning that the battery was low. As the battery life got lower and lower, a series of six beeps would sound through the implant, spaced out into three groups of two. After the tones, the quality of sound that Henry received would decrease. 

“Good job.” Jake nodded and smiled at him. “Again. Slow.”

Henry took four more deep breaths before he had calmed down significantly. He tried to climb into Jake’s lap again, and Jake let him grab onto his shirt, holding the boy to his chest as he stood and sat him down on the countertop. Henry brought his hand up, fidgeting with the earpiece of his cochlear as he pouted and sniffled.

Jake decided to go ‘voice off’, as he and Mariah called it, knowing that the deteriorated sound of his voice only made things more difficult for his son to understand. ‘You not want processor?’ He furrowed his eyebrows as he signed to show that he was asking the boy a ‘yes or no’ question.

As a response, Henry whined loudly and reached up, pulling his cochlear off and throwing it to the floor. Before he could stop it, the device clattered to the floor, and Jake had to close his eyes, taking a few deep breaths of his own before he muttered under his breath. “Henry Michael Kiszka. That thing was expensive.”

Jake waved his hand in front of Henry’s face to get his attention. “Hey.” He bent down to pick the processor up and held it up in his left hand so that Henry could see it as he signed. ‘Not throw. Bad boy. Easy with processor. Careful.’ Jake moved to hang the external processor on the fridge, making a mental note to change the battery when he got everything figured out with his little boy. 

He stood in front of Henry again, silently watching him as he rubbed his eyes and sniffled in tiny, hiccuping breaths. All of the pieces started to fall into place as Jake tried to think of why Henry was so upset. 

The TV was on, the kitchen sink had been running, the battery of his processor was low, and it was getting close to the toddler’s usual naptime. He had a tough time getting to bed last night, so the excessive amount of jumbled background noise mixed with Henry’s tiredness had begun to take its toll on the boy.

~

The previous night, Jake had been in charge of bedtime for both kids. Mariah was at the dance studio late for a private group lesson with her students, but she had taken a break to call Jake and check in. At that point, Tommie was already asleep in her crib with her sound machine going. Henry, however, was throwing a very similar fit to the one he was having moments ago, laying on the floor and sobbing. 

After letting him cry it out and ending the call with Mariah, Jake carried Henry to the master bedroom and laid with him on his chest, singing to him and letting him feel the vibrations of his voice until he fell asleep, which took nearly twenty-five minutes. 

Mariah had come home to a silent house. She checked on Tommie before heading down the hall to her and Jake’s room, finding her boys laying face-to-face, mirroring the way the other was laying perfectly. They were rolled on their sides with their hands tucked under their chins. Henry lay in the middle of the big bed, only his head visible from under the blanket. 

Everything about that little boy was Kiszka. He looked identical to Jake and Josh when they were this age. His nose, his ears, the shape of his lips, his blonde hair that had long-since darkened to be the same chestnut brown as Jake’s. All of it was inherited from his father. 

Mariah sat on the edge of the bed next to Jake’s hip, gently rubbing his shoulder and leaning down to press a kiss to his temple. “Jay, baby. I’m home.”

Jake stirred, his eyes slowly fluttering open as he was roused from his sleep. He looked up at Mariah, a sleepy smile spreading across his features. “Hey, honey.” His gaze flicked down to Henry and he let out a tired sigh, starting to move to pick him up. “I’ll go put him in his room.”

Mariah’s hand shot out, grabbing Jake’s arm and stopping him from disturbing the snoozing toddler. “Leave him. You both sleep better when he’s with us anyway.”

~

Jake scooped Henry off of the counter, making his way back into the living room. He sat in the recliner and grabbed the remote, shutting the TV off and bathing the house in complete silence, except for the barely audible hum of the refrigerator. Jake tossed the remote onto the couch as he used his foot to rock the chair, Henry clinging to him and burying his face into his neck. “You’re so tired, little bear.”

Henry couldn’t hear Jake all that well without his processor as he was profoundly deaf, but he could feel the vibration of his voice where his face was pressed against his dad’s throat. His breathing went from hiccuping gasps to slow, even inhales and exhales. Henry blinked slowly, letting his little body relax into Jake as they rocked, the repetitive, back and forth motion providing extra comfort for the exhausted child. 

Jake softly patted Henry’s bottom as he continued talking and rocking. He knew the boy wouldn’t have any idea what he was saying, but the feeling of his voice was something Henry found soothing. “You have to be gentle with your processor, bubbie. Your cochlear is like your ears. That’s how you hear. If it breaks, it’s gonna be such a pain to get a new one.” He wasn’t exactly sure how true that last part was, but he was just rambling to get Henry to sleep. 

“Those were some big emotions you had. I think you were feeling overwhelmed and a little misunderstood. Maybe overstimulated.” Jake sighed as he looked down at Henry, his little cheek smushed against his collarbone and his eyelashes fanned over the apples of his cheeks. He ran his hand over the boy’s hair, which was cropped short at the sides to better facilitate the magnet of his cochlear. 

Once he was sure Henry was fully asleep, Jake stood with him in his arms and carried him down the hall into his and Mariah’s room. He carefully laid him in the bed and pulled the blanket over him, leaning down to press a soft kiss to his forehead. “Daddy loves you, Henry. More than you could ever imagine.”

Jake pulled the bedroom door closed behind him as he made his way back out to the hallway and headed into the laundry room, gathering the clothes from the dryer and taking them into the living room to be folded. 

Just as he was placing the last pair of folded socks into the laundry basket, Jake heard the front door open and close, meaning his girls were home. He quickly stood from the couch and hurried into the kitchen where Mariah was holding Tommie and setting various envelopes from the mailbox on the dining room table, along with the baby’s diaper bag. 

Upon seeing Jake, Tommie squealed and kicked her little feet. This was her reaction every time she saw him, no matter how long they had been apart. She reached for him over Mariah’s shoulder and Jake was quick to scoop her into his arms, holding the baby up over his head and peppering kisses across her chubby cheeks. “There’s my darling girl. Daddy missed you so much, Tommie.” The baby giggled and let her tiny hands rest on either side of his face, babbling and drooling a little. 

“And he missed Mommy, too.” Jake positioned Tommie on his hip and used his free hand to pull Mariah to him, his lips meeting hers in a soft but passionate kiss. He pulled away slowly, keeping his face mere inches from hers. “Hi, baby.”

“Hi, Jay.” Mariah leaned back in, her lips connecting with his once again. “No shots for sissy today, thank goodness.”

Jake chuckled, adjusting Tommie to hold her in one arm with her back pressed against his chest and peppering tiny kisses across her black hair. “Oh, good. She would’ve been pissed.”

Mariah laughed, starting to unpack the diaper bag. She pulled out the previously-frozen teething toy, turning to put it back in the freezer, but pausing when she saw Henry’s processor hanging on the fridge. Normally, the device was in the room that he was napping in. “Speaking of pissed. What’s this about?”

“Tantrum before his nap.” Jake spoke from where he leaned over the counter, forming an effective cage around Tommie with his forearms to support her as she sat on the countertop. Her tiny, curious hands explored Jake’s face, grabbing and patting his cheeks and nose. “That reminds me. I need to change the battery. Ouch, Tommie.” He huffed a laugh through his nose. “That’s my nostril you just stuck your entire finger in.”

Mariah leaned on the counter next to Jake, smiling at the baby girl as she ran her hand over Tommie’s head. “Did you get to the bottom of the fit?”

Jake nodded, pulling his hand away from Tommie as she tried to put his finger in her mouth. “I think so. In addition to the battery dying, the TV was on and the sink was running, so I think he was overstimulated and tired.” Making sure Mariah had the baby supported, Jake moved to grab the processor off of the fridge and took it over to the charging port on the kitchen table. He took the old battery off and attached it to the charger, replacing it with the new battery before hanging the cochlear on the fridge again. “Poor kid was exhausted.” Jake picked up the paper towel he had previously set aside and tossed it into the trashcan as he made his way back over to his girls, rubbing the small of Mariah’s back and gently squeezing Tommie’s chunky thigh. 

Mariah placed her hand over Jake’s on the baby’s leg, taking a moment to study his features, which were displaying his own exhaustion. “You look tired, caro mio.”

Jake’s response came out as a mumble, his gaze never leaving the infant in front of him. “I’m fine, sweetheart.”

Mariah shook her head, placing her finger under his chin and making him turn his head to look at her. “No, Jay. You’re not.” The circles under his eyes were dark and prominent and he seemed barely able to hold his eyes open. “Go lay down with bubbie. Just so you know, I will not be taking ‘no’ as an answer.”

Jake closed his eyes, a soft sigh escaping through his nose. “Okay. You win.” He let out a breathy chuckle as he leaned in to press a gentle kiss to Mariah’s lips, doing the same to Tommie’s forehead. “I love you, honey. And, I love you, Tommie girl.” With that, he padded down the hall and into the bedroom, making quick work of changing out of his jeans and into a pair of tattered sweatpants, deciding to leave the self-cut, white shirt he had on. 

He carefully lowered himself into the bed, trying his best not to wake Henry, who ended up letting out a soft whine as his brow furrowed. Jake slid under the comforter and rolled to face the boy, gently pulling him into his body. “Shhh. It’s just me, baby boy.” Henry immediately koala-ed himself around him, his little hand gripping Jake’s shirt in a fist. 

It didn’t take but three minutes before Jake’s eyes closed on their own, his arms wrapped loosely around his son as the steady rise and fall of their chests fell into sync.

~~~

Thank you, anon for the request!!!

Keep the requests coming, please! I loved doing this!

(Thank you so much @hailtheaeon and @hailthegodsong for your help!)

[anxiousstark]

A Lull in Our Symphony | E. M

Eddie x Deaf!Reader (cochlear implant). Word Count: 2k Genre: Fluff and cosy vibes. A/N: This was going to be a brief post, but here it is. I had a dream about it and couldn't get it out of my head. I looked into ASL and cochlear implants. I hope I was able to correctly and respectfully represent it. This was inspired by a dream I had and numerous videos I'd seen online about how people take breaks from wearing their cochlear implants. All Rights Reserved. The author, me, does not allow any type of copy or adaption. BIG MASTERLIST

Eddie walked through the door of his trailer after another day of tinkering at the repair shop, expecting the usual warmth and familiarity that awaited him. But today, something felt amiss. The living room light had inexplicably gone dark. It was an unusual sight because, typically, he would find you nestled beneath a soft blanket, absorbed in the glow of the television.

Eddie couldn't help but admire the graceful way you watched those programs. The square television set was notorious for its fickle signal, often reducing the picture to black-and-white and distorting the sound. Yet, amidst these technical hiccups, there you were, radiating joy, arms wide open, eager for a hug or a loving embrace.

He'd occasionally try to escape, claiming he was sweaty and smelling of oil. But you had a knack for sidling up to him, playfully reminding him of the wonders of a shared shower. After a few minutes or even hours of cradling each other, you both would leap into the shower, washing away the day's grime and worries.

So, on this particular evening when Eddie entered the trailer and didn't find you in your usual spot, a sense of uncertainty and discomfort washed over him. He wondered if you were perhaps feeling unwell, and that thought weighed heavily on his mind.

Eddie carefully placed his keys on a small porcelain dish perched atop the television, ensuring they made no noise as they settled on the surface. He didn't want to disturb you. With the same intent, he removed his work boots and lined them up by the front entrance.

Stealthily, he moved to the kitchen, opened the fridge, and grabbed a can of soda, downing it hastily as if his throat had transformed into a desert. The shock of the cold rushed through him, which was strange considering the refrigerator's unreliable cooling. More than once, he had been forced to discard spoiled food due to its fluctuating temperatures.

After disposing of the empty soda can, Eddie made his way to the shared room he and you called your own, all the while reminiscing about the day you had moved in with him and Uncle Wayne. In this tiny trailer, space was scarce, but it was a temporary haven. He knew that you both had dreams of a more secure and spacious flat in the future, something that would truly be home. But, for now, this trailer served as your residence, shared with Uncle Wayne.

Eddie's brow furrowed with confusion as he stood before the locked bedroom door. He gently rapped on it three times, a familiar signal to let you know it was him. However, this time, there was no response. It was then that realization slowly crept over him. The absence of your welcoming presence in the dimly lit living room, combined with his bedroom door shut tight, tugged at his heartstrings. His heart ached as he began to piece together what had happened.

Eddie cautiously pushed the door ajar, just enough to slip through, careful not to intrude on your privacy. His hand fumbled in the dim light, finding the switch, and he began to flash the lights on and off, a silent signal that he was there. A soft voice permitted his entry.

Inside the room, you lay on the shared bed, clad in nothing but a pair of silky pink panties and one of his countless Hellfire T-shirts. The bedsheet, a gentle embrace for your feet, formed a delicate, artistic mess. Eddie couldn't help but be captivated by your beauty as he entered the room, his heart silently echoing the question, "How did I ever get so lucky to catch your attention?" If only he knew how fortunate you felt to have captured his heart.

Eddie moved further into the room, a warm smile gracing his lips as he noticed the slight pout on yours.

Eddie quietly shed his jacket and shirt, feeling a slight shiver pass through his body, whether due to the temperature shift or the intensity of your gaze, which explored his exposed chest and abdomen. It wasn't a look of desire, but rather one filled with admiration and respect. The love shining in your eyes conveyed a multitude of unspoken emotions.

Eddie continued undressing, removing his pants and socks until only his boxers remained. As he neared the bed, you raised your right arm, revealing a hair tie encircling your wrist. Eddie took it gently, his fingers brushing against your skin, and used it to secure his hair into a tousled, low ponytail.

His affectionate gaze traveled over your body, from your covered toes to your eyes. Then he extended his non-dominant hand, palm up, and used his dominant hand to tap his non-dominant hand's fingers several times. He furrowed his brow, widened his eyes, and conveyed a sense of frustration and concern on his face, underlining the emotion. "Overwhelmed?" A simple nod was your response, and he didn't need to look far to notice your cochlear implant resting on the side table next to the shared bed. Eddie understood the challenges you faced, and he often felt a profound sense of helplessness whenever he saw you struggling with agitation, fear, or the overwhelming sounds surrounding you.

Eddie's pout deepened, and he moved his open hand in a small circular motion near his chest, palm facing downward. Then, he formed a "B" handshape by tucking his thumb into his palm and extending his index and pinky fingers. He gently pressed the "B" handshape against his cheek, gradually moving it lower, as if caressing his cheek with his fingertips, conveying a heartfelt "I'm sorry, baby."

In response, you mouthed, "It's okay," reluctant to shift your hands or speak aloud. Eddie couldn't bear to see you in such distress. He vividly remembered that night when you had sat weeping on the bathroom floor, overwhelmed by the cacophony of new sounds you had never heard before. You had confided your fear of never getting accustomed to them and feeling ungrateful.

With a soft sigh, Eddie's right hand gently squeezed your favorite spot on your thigh, seeking physical reassurance. He raised his eyebrows, displaying a puzzled expression. He brought his hand to his chin, palm facing upward, then moved it away from his chin, forming a loose "5" handshape with his fingers slightly apart. Next, he held his dominant hand in a "C" handshape, akin to the "OK" sign, and touched it to the back of his non-dominant hand, held in a "flat" or "B" handshape with the palm facing up. Finally, he pointed to himself with his index finger and positioned both hands in "5" handshapes, palms facing downward, moving them downward and outward, as if extending an offer of assistance. "How can I help?"

Eddie's eyes glistened as he closely observed your signs. You held your hands in a relaxed "5" handshape with palms facing each other, then brought them together as if softly caressing or cuddling something. You raised your eyebrows at the end of the sign, inquiring if he wanted to cuddle.

"Of course," he replied, this time articulating his words so that you could read his lips. Eddie had started tying back his hair when he began dating you, ensuring that his curls didn't obstruct your ability to understand him. "Do you want to talk about what happened first?"

As you began to sign passionately, conveying your frustration and anxiety, Eddie couldn't help but feel a twinge of embarrassment. He had only recently started learning American Sign Language (ASL) as soon as he found out about your deafness. Books and resources became his companions as he embarked on this journey to better communicate with you. Even now, he occasionally stumbled or forgot certain signs, but your patient instruction had brought him a long way in a short time.

After momentarily drifting into his thoughts, he snapped back to the present, noticing your shocked expression and your rapid signing. You could speak, but when stressed, you felt more at ease using signs, especially when communicating with someone who understood ASL.

Your explanation began to make sense to him. The fridge produced an unusual and terrifying noise, a sound Eddie and Uncle Wayne couldn't perceive. In your pre-implant life, placing items on surfaces didn't pose a concern, but the newfound ability to hear made even these mundane actions startling. While your hearing wasn't perfect, it exposed you to a world of sounds you had never known before. They occasionally frightened you, but more often than not, they overwhelmed you. Nevertheless, with each passing day, you were adapting, learning the sounds of your environment, and the process brought you a sense of satisfaction. There were sounds you cherished, like the flowing river, the chirping bird that Eddie complained about every morning, and the wind rustling through the trees. But nothing could compare to the beauty of Eddie's voice.

Eddie's voice was like a soothing balm for your soul, a comforting sensation akin to a honey candy soothing a sore throat.

Eddie let out another sigh, this time one of relief. Before he could even count to two, you pushed yourself on top of him. Your chest gently brushed against his midsection, and the absence of a bra strap digging into his ribs didn't go unnoticed. Your head nestled on the crook of his neck, your lips and breath sending delightful shivers across his skin.

Your left leg slid swiftly between his, and he almost let out a yelp as your knee ventured too close to his sensitive regions—luckily, you halted just in time to prevent any discomfort. It wasn't until you nestled close to him that his hands finally came into contact with you, a sign that you were comfortable and at ease in his arms.

Eddie's left arm wrapped around your waist, pulling you in as close as humanly possible. His other hand embarked on a gentle, exploratory journey, tracing a path from the back of your knee to your upper thigh. His fingertips brushed against the band of your underwear, daring to slip underneath for a brief, tantalizing moment before continuing their exploration. His hand ventured beneath your shirt, gently grazing the tender underboob area for a few moments before finally resting on the back of your head. The pads of his fingers returned to those regions that used to ache when you were overwhelmed by sounds, and he began massaging them with tender care.

The sounds of your pleasure and relief brought a chuckle from Eddie, the vibrations of his laughter reverberating through your body. He understood your unspoken desire as you placed your hand on his chest.

Eddie began humming his favorite tune, a love song he had composed. It was a beautiful melody with a captivating guitar solo that allowed him to shine even brighter. Its title? Your name. You relished the vibrations against your hand and chest.

Eddie chose to sing one of his favorite parts with such intensity that you could feel the vibrations coursing through his chest even though you couldn't hearthe words.

Your touch, a lightning strike, fierce and bold,

A symphony of chaos, a story to be told.

Through the darkest night, you're my eternal guide,

In your arms, my restless heart finds where to confide.

He continued humming, gently urging your head to rise, meeting his loving gaze. Eddie's smile beamed as he brought his head closer to yours, allowing his lips to meet yours in a tender dance of kisses. Their pace was unhurried, and soft sighs passed between you as your lips caressed each other. The kiss gained a touch of passion as his lips captured your lower lip. Eddie's palm roved over as much of your skin as it could reach, and his tongue entered your mouth, eliciting a gasp from him as the kiss deepened.

"I love you," you whispered, your lips still moist from the shared kiss.

Eddie began to respond, but you quickly pressed your palm against his mouth, guiding your body toward the side table and retrieving your cochlear implant. Once it was securely in place, you removed your hand from his mouth and signaled for him to speak, "Now."

Eddie smiled and, now that you could hear, replied, "I love you too." The words flowed freely and earnestly, knowing that you could finally hear them.

[yuu-twisted]

Trying to get back into drawing after ages of not doing it, and also trying to figure out how I want to draw the twist cast in my art style. I was fighting my tablet pressure at the time but everyone's gotta start somewhere.

silly personal hcs in here: Leona but his school uniform hes still got all his accessories cause they're cool and I say so, We have the mers having their fin like ears on land, Ive even thought about the idea of them needing like, cochlear implants or like prosthetics that allow them to hear on line [yes I know its just magic shut up], and then Jamil I think is an angry crier, idk why I just, he feels like the type to tear up when he hits his emotional limit or when he gets embarrassed. We already know he can't deal with compliments and hides in his hood, perhaps the next step is tearing up a little. Probably not but Ill dream

[the-s1lly-corner]

Would you be game to write some headcanons about sector v working with a deaf operative?

Sector V working w/ a deaf!operative!reader

OOOOOO first full sector v request! Usually I limit requests to 3-4 characters but I don't have the heart to cut out a character since it's so so close to the character limit!! writing a few requests to break up the upcoming stream of "(x prompt) w/ (y fandom)" posts since... its going to be a long stream

Notes: reader is GN, platonic post

CWs: bullying, ableism

NIGEL

he already knows some basic sign, so learning more in order to better communicate with you comes fairly easy to him!

^hc that he sometimes uses basic signs to signal to other operatives during stealth missions

sometimes forgets your deaf so admittedly when hes stressed or heated he says something to you before instantly having a "wait-" moment and corrects himself

does his best to not treat you much different than non deaf operatives, treats you with a lot of respect and will quickly stand up for you if someone begins to treat you horribly

HOAGIE

similar to nigel he knows basic sign for the same reasons, and hes going to be dedicated to learning more so you can talk more- especially if you two share some interests

if you have hearing aids and/or cochlear implants he offers to try to beef them up, if you want them to be amplified.. respects your answer regardless of if you take him up on his offer or not

your loudest cheerleader, will hype you up and stand up for you at any given chance

sometimes makes bets on you when someone says something nasty about you... "oh yeah well (x) can do this better than (y)", which can sometimes lead to chaos

circling back to aids, if you use them, hes quick to repair them if someone or something were to damage them

KUKI

very sweet but a bit forgetful so sometimes forgets you cant hear her sometimes, but pretty quick to pick up that you can so she starts writing stuff down

sweater sleeves are too long so her hands can be hard to see a lot of the time... however in cases where writing takes too long she pushes her sleeves up constantly in order to sign

not the best at signing but shes doing her best and typically gets her point across

will glare daggers at anyone who so much as gives you a nasty look... it has enough intensity that most will back off and leave you alone.. at least for as long as kukis around

always makes sure to include you if you show any interest in an activity or mission, will not take anyone saying no as an answer

WALLY

dumb... most likely to forget youre deaf and tends to need a minute to remember he needs to sign... does get better with time though!

not very good at sign and writing is... well we know how his spelling is... hmm.. sometimes you and hoagie sit down and try to help him with signing

if you wear aids he thinks they look cool, kid brain tells him youre kind of like a cyborg even if theyre simply hearing aids that you can take off at any time

very loud and confrontational when anyone throws any shade at you, will very quickly escalate if someone doesnt restrain him

sometimes you and hoagie hang out in the tree house playing card games

ABIGAIL

doesnt know sign prior to meeting you however shes a pretty quick learner!

probably the only one out of sector v who doesnt forget or have slip ups, asides from hoagie, very quick to remind others that you cant hear them to save the time if theres something actively going on that calls for immediate action

very quick to stand up for you as well, doesnt let anyone get away with saying something horrible about you even when youre not around

doesnt underestimate you either, if you know what youre doing shes going to let you do what needs to be done- shuts down anyone who tries to say otherwise

[everythingwasnormalhere]

deaf Craig who refuses to wear hearing aid. Tahts what I got for you

his ass is too lazy to learn sign language so he just struggles listening and speaks weirdly. (Half of the kids don’t know what he is talking about)

Tweek gets him hearing aid, Craig knows it’s expensive so he uses it.

the end (I don’t know how to write fanfiction thanks for being the person k go to to infordumb))))

(its been 4 days sry ib kicking my ass lmfao) (yes i have much older asks but shhh)

DEAF CRAIG IS VERY YES ACTUALLY

okok his ass would indeed NOT learn sign because hes an idiot but he WOULD however make his own sign language. middle fingers mostly. but yeah made up stuff only lmao

im not sure if hes deaf since forever cuz then the deaf accent does make a LOT of sense, or if its something he gets later in life cuz then his voice would stay mostly-normal? i think??? (im very not in touch with D/deaf community for someone who goes to sign class... help)

but also this asshole he will be very much a dick about it. like. he will purposefully not listen to people. and if they're like "craig are you hearing me????" he will be like. no actually. i am not. who knows if hes genuine but it works and its hilarious to him the little bitch<3

ALSO AGAIN HC THAT DEPENDS ON IF HE WAS BORN DEAF- bc if im not wrong theres actually many ppl who were born deaf and just. dont wanna hear shit. they dont want hearing aids nor cochlear implants they're just chilling and thats a-okay :3 however within ppl who became deaf later in life this happens a lot less so idkkkkk

((like. the point where he dont wanna use hearing aids but in the end he does anyway is what's kinda... idk icky to me. its not like mobility aids where without them the person would probably collapse (or not! arm protheses my behated), its just. hearing. if he's better off not doing it, maybe that's fine too. but idk. i am again not close with D/deaf community so))

BUT THIS IS VERY COOL STILL AND IM VERY HAPPY IM YOUR GO-TO INFODUMP PERSON BC I LOVE INFODUMPS SO MUCH<33

[cripplecharacters]

Hey there! I want to try and add some character customization options to a video game I’m working on to represent some disabilities. Although I’m not sure whether I’ll be able to implement wheelchairs or canes/crutches (I’ll be pushing for it, don’t worry), I know prosthetic limbs should be an easy enough addition. Do you have any other ideas for what I could add?

(BTW, these are anthropomorphic characters, if that changes your recommendations)

Hello lovely asker!

This is amazing, I love this! I think people love to be abled to see their selves especially in settings like video games where we're not always included. Here's some I can think of that would be amazing if you could include into the character building selection process.

Mobility aids: Wheelchairs (power, manual), canes, forearm crutches, walkers, rollators

Other medical aids: Braces, prosthetics, insulin pumps, CGM's, Oxygen Cannulas, central lines, feeding tubes, hearing aids, cochlear implants, AAC devices

Physical differences: Birthmarks, scars, limb differences, cleft lips, height differences (and while not our area but being able to change the weight of the characters is something I know a lot of people would love)

Other bodily differences - you note that these are anthropomorphic characters so they have (might have) different body parts than us. So differences in their characteristics that sorta mimic the human body would be cool! (A character who doesn't have a tail etc that sorta thing)

That is all I can think of right now but even just getting any disability pertaining features into the design process would be amazing in itself! Happy game designing 😁!

~ Mod Virus 🌸

[moltengoldveins]

today on Weird Freaking Heteronormative Experiences I complimented a cashier on his cochlear implants (they had little pumpkins on them, they were COOL) and he jokingly replied with “Thanks, are you Captain America’s wife?” I bluescreened for a long moment, then remembered I was wearing a Captain America t-shirt. By that point it was too weird a moment to salvage so I just shrugged, said “nah, just a fan” and left. What. I. Huh? I’m not offended I’m just…. Confused. It was meant as a joke, I can see that, but um. I’ve NEVER heard a joke like that before? Or even remotely similar? Why???

[cosmica-galaxy]

What would happen if Y\N was Deaf? And they were wearing cochlear implant what would the mimics/multiverse and agents react to this?

Camron would probably be stunned to find out that the human couldn't hear at all! It's no wonder how the human knew how to communicate via sign language, seeing as they probably had to learn it just to communicate with other humans. But the device in their ears allow them to hear?? It's actually pretty cool! DJ is also as equally as surprised! He can't imagine a world without sound...I mean...he's a speaker! It's his job to make noise and play music! A world without music for a speakerman is like peanut butter without jelly...whatever that means. But once the human explains that they CAN hear, but with the help of a device, he would be relieved on your behalf. At least you can still hear! Vee would probably have already surprised that the human was hearing impaired from the way they barely react to anything that involves loud noises. As well as them already knowing sign language. But then, they still reacted...and it seemed to be with a device that helped them hear somewhat. Which was fortunate. He was beginning to wonder how you survived so long with those singing toilets outside. Buddy would be a little concerned from the human's inability to discern sound. Especially since the skibidis are a SOUND based threat. But maybe it's a blessing disguised as a curse? If you can't hear that annoying song, you can't be turned into one of them, right? So when things go and get tough, turn your device off! He'll dispatch them before they get too close! Pal is familiar with body limitations. Speaker mimics are excellent listeners, but most are visually impaired and limited to sound. So he decides to make a partial deal with you. If you'll be his eyes, he'll be your ears! Deal? We'll look out for each other out here! Fiend is much more concerned and worried for the human. How did you survive with such limitations?! Oh...you had a hearing device the whole time...so why don't you use it--oh. The skibidis. Yeah, to be honest, if he could turn off his own hearing--he would. Still, try to keep an ear out for threats, okay? They are a SOUND based enemy after all. Fellow is understanding of body limitations as well. He can't be above ground most of the time because of the sun and he can only see via vibrations. It's a quirk for those who dwell underground. But you have eyes, right? So, in a similar fashion to Pal, he'll offer to keep an ear out for threats if you would be his eyes in exchange. Even if you have that device in your head, he bets you won't be able to sense a troop of skibidis from a few miles away! That's an offer that can't be beat! Comrade is both impressed and confused about your survival rates in a sound-based apocalypse. How did you manage to survive this far without being...you know...converted or killed? Ah...he understands. That device in your ear is providing your hearing for you. Human ingenuity...the thing that worries him the most. Still, at least it was used to HELP someone. Something ingenuity is rarely used for nowadays.

[haveyouseenthis-childhoodshow]

Have you seen this childhood show: Inspector Gadget (1982-1985), United States, France and Canada (English and French)

Commentary/Context/Memories: No user commentary

[Mod A: I have seen a couple of episodes of this show, but I don’t think it was the 80s version (it may have been the 1999 movie but I don’t remember it well). It is about a “powerful but dimwitted cyborg police inspector” (according to the Wikipedia description which seems a bit harsh haha) named Inspector Gadget, so named bc he is a cyborg that can activate any of the hundreds of tools in his body with the phrase “Go-Go gadget”! His goal is to investigate and stop the evil plots of Dr. Claw and the M.A.D. (Malevolent Agency of Destruction). While it seems like Inspector Gadget saves the day every episode (and he actually does sometimes), it is actually the behind-the-scenes mechanisms of Inspector Gadget’s niece Penny and her dog Brain, who either help correct Inspector Gadget’s mistakes/plant clues, or they are disabling the traps that M.A.D. set up. Neither side knows that this 10 year old kid is the true mastermind (that fortunately is not working for M.A.D.). Researching this makes me want to actually watch at least the movies properly as an adult because the plot is cool and also because as a “cyborg” myself (I have a cochlear implant) I find the diverse cyborg characters in media very interesting, particularly when they are a loveable himbo like Inspector Gadget seems to be!]

[mtsodie]

btw the audiology appointment was rlly fun : ) got a new cochlear implant ( nucleus 6 to 8 ) ... its so much smaller and hopefully ill stop getting so much pain . they gave me a bunch of shit to go with it as well like chargers and more batteries and also a wholeass backpack . they always give some kind of bag to keep your stuff in ( last time we got a suitcase kind of deal ) ... i also met a person being trained at my appointment ! they had rlly pretty hair and im pretty sure they were nb ??? they were super cool i complimented their hair and they complimented mine