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Hey. Minors following me. Internet safety is key!! NEVER include these in your bio/byf:

Medical diagnoses - this is nobody's business but yours. You don't owe anyone an explanation for why you are the way that you are

Trauma - same reason as above

Triggers - people can use these against you! Don't give people tools to hurt you. No one has to know what tags you block. Just block tags to stay safe!

Age - age is okay for adults to include but is iffy when you're a teen. Predators want this information, don't give people more than they need. Just state that you're a minor, that's all that anyone needs to know.

In general: stay safe. If you're not comfortable with every stranger out there having access to this information, you shouldn't post it on the internet.

Play devil's advocate and ask yourself about what would happen if someone searched for your information with intent to hurt you. You do NOT owe anyone an explanation!

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I wish people would understand that not everything is for everyone to get. you will be left out of some conversations, a lot of art will not apply to you, you will not like things that people you like enjoy, and just because you cannot add to the topic of discussion or relate does not mean that it is not valued or worthwhile. the internet has coddled people to such a concerning extent that everyone feels like they need to vocally disagree with something just because they don’t get it. Knowing something, and genuinely getting it are not the same. NOT EVERYTHING IS FOR YOUUUUU

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"When you take the Moon, and you take the Sun. You take everything that seems like Fun!"

Yeah, I've been obsessed with this guy since I saw that teaser trailer for the new season. I've been waiting for a month just to watch the episode. Also giving some appreciation for Sunshine Sally.

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Two Kelvinas are Better Than One

Summary: The Captain and Mark meet the colony's meteorologist, aka the resulting brainchild of a fervent discord discussion that started with "wouldn't it be funny if celci had a twin brother named degrees"

Warnings: none

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Mark walked into the meeting room, two mugs of coffee in hand. The captain already sat at the head of the table, reading something on their tablet. "Good morning, captain."

They looked up and smiled. "Good morning, Mark." They happily took a mug as he sat down next to them.

"So, what's on the schedule today?"

"We have our usual team meeting, but first we'll be meeting with Celci and the colony's meteorologist to discuss their concerns for the upcoming winter season." They said, pulling up their schedule on their tablet as they took a sip of coffee. They furrowed their brow and put their mug back down. "Huh, that's weird. My schedule lists Dr. Kelvina twice."

Mark just shrugged. "Must be a glitch."

"It's not a glitch," came a voice from the doorway. Celci walked into the meeting room, followed shortly after by a man Mark didn't recognize. He had the same electric blue hair as Celci, pulled back in a ponytail. His roots were black, matching his well-groomed beard. He wore a white turtleneck and a grey jacket, adorned with a pin that indicated him as a member of the science team. Celci smirked as Mark and the captain stood up to greet him. "Presenting Dr. Digritri Kelvina, New Earth's premiere meteorologist, and my baby brother."

The man scoffed. "Oh please, you're older by ten minutes." He crossed the room to Mark and the captain, giving them both a good-natured smile. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Likewise," Mark smiled back and shook his hand. "Celci never told me she had a brother onboard."

Celci rolled her eyes. "You never asked."

Mark glared at her and she glared back. He pulled his hand away from Digritri. "Well, we look forward to working with you, doctor. Isn't that right, captain?" He glanced over.

They were frozen in place, simply staring at Digritri. Their eyes were wide, a frown tugging at their lips. Mark recognized that look, they got it everytime they encountered something from the wormhole incident. But something was different this time, there was a certain sadness in their eyes that he'd never seen before.

"Captain?" Digritri looked confused.

The captain snapped out of their stupor. "Yes," their face settled into an uneasy smile, and they took his hand. "We look forward to working with you, D- Dr. Kelvina."

He gave them a kind, if not confused, grin. "I have to say, it's an honor to be part of your crew, captain. Your service record is quite impressive."

Before the captain could manage out a thanks, Celci stepped up right beside her brother. "Already trying to get on the captain's good side, Diggy?"

He shot her a dirty look, and she only smirked. "Please excuse my sister's attempts to embarrass me, captain. She's been doing this since we were children, and I thought she'd have grown out of it by now." She stuck her tongue out at him.

"It's alright," they said. They shifted their weight from foot to foot. "Let's just get this meeting started."

The captain took their place at the head of the table, Mark on one side and the Kelvinas on the other. Digritri straightened his jacket as he sat. He pointed to the screen mounted to the wall. "May I?"

"Go ahead, doctor," the captain said. He nodded, typing a command into his tablet.

"I've been studying the long-range scans of the planet, and I've discovered two areas of concern." Radar images appeared on the screen, showing dark blue patterns swirling over a map of the area around the colony. "The first would be the blizzards. The mountain region we settled in is not unlike the ones back on Earth, so we should expect ample snowfall in the next few months. It shouldn't be too much of a problem, though, we have sound infrastructure and plenty of supplies." Mark beamed at that, he always felt proud when someone complimented the colony.

"And the other concern?"

"Ion storms," Digritri said, his tone turning grave. He pulled up a new set of images. There were several more radar images of the planet, and a few photos of colorful clouds floating in the atmosphere around it. "It's a phenomenon I've been studying since before the journey. They're spontaneously forming magnetic storms, filled with ionically charged particles. They're capable of disrupting sensors, communications, even helm controls."

The small group shifted in their seats. That wasn't comforting to hear while sitting on a ship floating in open space. The captain spoke up. "How do you suggest we prepare for these storms?"

"With your permission, captain, I'd like to set up a radar system around the colony. I'll be able to detect incoming storm fronts, including ion storms, before they hit us."

The captain nodded. "Sounds like a plan. You and Mark can work together to build and implement the system."

"I'd be happy to help," Mark gave him a thumbs up.

Digritri beamed, looking between the captain and the head engineer. "Thank you, captain. I'll start designing the system right away." He moved to get up out of his seat, but quickly settled back down. He cleared his throat. "Is there anything else you need before I go?"

"Just one thing," Mark leaned forward, a mischievous glint in his eyes. "Do you have any embarrassing stories about Celci?"

Digritri's smile widdened, and he leaned forward as well. "She had a stuffed polar bear named Snuffles as a kid. She still sleeps with it."

"I do not still sleep with her!" Celci's face grew red, and the shade only deepened when she realized she referred to the stuffed toy as 'her'.

"Oh please, you would've brought that thing into cryosleep if it wasn't against protocol!" He erupted with laughter, and everyone else joined in. Even Celci managed a chuckle at her own expense.

"Well," Digritri places his hands on the table and stood up. "I'd better be off. I'll send you my schedule, Mark, see if we can't find a time to meet up. Thank you again, captain, for letting me be part of this crew. There's no one I would rather be alongside to protect this great colony of ours!" He just about ran out of the room in his excitement.

"I better go after him, he gets lost easily," Celci shook her head in amusement. "I'll see you at the team meeting." And with that, she left the room to chase down her brother.

Once they were alone, Mark turned and looked at the captain. They simply stared at the doorway, lost in thought. "Captain?" They looked over at him, though their gaze seemed distant. "You know him, don't you? Did you meet him during the incident?"

"No, sadly, I didn't," they said. They looked down at their hands, and smiled into their mug. "He just reminds me of an old friend."

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It's been roughly three years since ISWM came out and has stood the test of time since, space was so cool 💙

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If you’re pining you need to stop and pick a different tree. You know, spruce it up a little

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Finished another patch! This one focuses on something Tim (and maybe Masky too?) finds joy in, even if it didn’t take center stage in the series.

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On April 16th 2025 the US federal government has proposed to change the interpretation of the endangered species act so that it no longer protects habitat.

This is open for public comment until the end of May 19th. Please comment and make your voice heard.

Wildlife need their habitat. If the ESA redefines harm so that habitat is no longer protected, the implications for wildlife would be catastrophic.

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'being obsessed with your ocs is so embarrassing' no it isn't. we're returning to our noble roots of playing dolls. stop self depricating and tell me about your guy.

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I offer Taco, our one year old, and Ada, a one month old that we literally just rescued from a car yesterday

less than a week ago i met the best cat that i've ever seen in my entire life and i've never wanted to have a cat that badly

sadly, this cat lives on a farm in a different country and i might never see her again

devastating. truly excruciatingly painful

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NOTICE: As more and more fanfic writers are using generative AI for their works (you uncreative dweebs), I hereby swear on everything I hold dear that I have not and will NEVER use generative AI in ANY of my written work. Everything I post will be organically and creatively my own.

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I have an ambiguous "Happy birthday!" in my calendar on May 2nd, whose birthday is this. Who's getting born. Why is there no name

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PSA

Just a heads up, there are bots going around on AO3 accusing people of using AI. Considering the timing, this is likely AI bros' retaliation for AO3 users calling them out for scraping their work. Examples of what you might be sent:

Screenshots from here.

If you get a comment like this, just report for spam and delete.

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The Cabin

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Writing ASL: Techniques to Write Signed Dialogue

Hey, guys! I've been reading a lot of DC Batfamily fanfiction lately, and in doing so I realized how little I see of ASL being represented in written text (love you, Cass!). I wanted to briefly talk about tactics to writing American Sign Language (ASL), and ways that these techniques can help improve your writing in more general contexts!

SOME THINGS BEFORE WE GET STARTED

I will be discussing everything in terms of ASL! If you have a character who uses Chinese Sign Language or even British Sign Language, the same rules will not necessarily apply! Don't be afraid to do some extra research on them.

Do not let this dissuade you from writing a character who signs ASL! This is by no means the end-all be-all to writing ASL dialogue, and I do not intend this post to insinuate that by writing ASL the same way you write English you are deeply offending the Deaf community. If this is something you're interested in though, I highly recommend experimenting with the way you write it! Above all, have fun with your writing.

Related to 2nd rule, but still very important: not everyone will agree that sign language should be treated/written any differently than English. This is a totally valid and understandable stance to take! I do not hope to invalidate this stance by making this post, but rather to introduce an interested audience to how ASL operates in the modern world, and how that can be translated into text.

ADDRESSING SOME MISCONCEPTIONS

ASL is the same as English, just with gestures instead of words.

Actually, no! There is a language that exists that is like that: it's called Signing Exact English, and it's an artificial language; i.e., it did not come about naturally. All languages came from a need to communicate with others, and ASL is no different! It is a language all on it's own, and there is no perfect 1:1 way to translate it to English, just as any spoken language.

2. But everyone who signs ASL knows how to read English, don't they?

No, actually! Because it's a completely different language, people who sign ASL and read English can be considered bilingual: they now know two languages. In fact, fingerspelling a word to a Deaf person in search for the correct sign does not usually work, and is far from the preferred method of conversing with Deaf people.

3. Because ASL does not use as many signs as we do words to articulate a point, it must be an inferior language.

Nope! ASL utilizes 5 complex parameters in order to conversate with others: hand shape, palm orientation, movement, location, and expression. English relies on words to get these points across: while we may say "He's very cute," ASL will sign, "He cute!" with repeated hand movement and an exaggerated facial expression to do what the "very" accomplishes in the English version: add emphasis. Using only ASL gloss can seem infantilizing because words are unable to portray what the other four parameters are doing in a signed sentence.

4. Being deaf is just a medical disability. There's nothing more to it.

Fun fact: there is a difference between being deaf and being Deaf. You just said the same thing twice? But I didn't! To be deaf with a lowercase 'd' is to be unable to hear, while being Deaf with an uppercase is to be heavily involved in the Deaf community and culture. Deaf people are often born deaf, or they become deaf at a young age. Because of this, they attend schools for the Deaf, where they are immersed in an entirely different culture from our own. While your family may mourn the loss of your grandfather's hearing, Deaf parents often celebrate discovering that their newborn is also deaf; they get to share and enjoy their unique culture with their loved one, which is a wonderful thing!

YOU MENTIONED ASL GLOSS. WHAT IS THAT?

ASL gloss is the written approximation of ASL, using English words as "labels" for each sign. ASL IS NOT A WRITTEN LANGUAGE, so this is not the correct way to write it (there is no correct way!): rather, it is a tool used most commonly in classrooms to help students remember signs, and to help with sentence structure.

IF THERE'S NO CORRECT WAY TO WRITE IN ASL, THEN HOW DO I DO IT?

A most astute observation! The short answer: it's up to you. There is no right or wrong way to do it. The longer answer? Researching the culture and history, understanding sign structure, and experimenting with description of the 5 parameters are all fun ways you can take your ASL dialogue to the next level. Here are 3 easy ways you can utilize immediately to make dialogue more similar to the way your character is signing:

Sign languages are never as wordy as spoken ones. Here's an example: "Sign languages are never wordy. Spoken? Wordy." Experiment with how much you can get rid of without the meaning of the sentence being lost (and without making ASL sound goo-goo-ga-ga-y; that is to say, infantilizing).

Emotion is your friend. ASL is a very emotive language! If we were to take that sentence and get rid of the unnecessary, we could get something like "ASL emotive!" The way we add emphasis is by increasing the hand motion, opening the mouth, and maybe even moving the eyebrows. It can be rather intuitive: if you mean to say very easy, you would sign EASY in a flippant manner; if you mean to say so handsome, you would sign handsome and open your mouth or fan your face as if you were hot. Think about a game of Charades: how do you move your mouth and eyebrows to "act out" the word? How are you moving your body as your teammates get closer? There are grammar rules you can certainly look up if you would like to be more technical, too, but this is a good place to start!

Practice describing gestures and action. ASL utilizes three dimensional space in a lot of fun and interesting ways. Even without knowing what a specific sign is, describing body language can be a big help in deciphering the "mood" of a sentence. Are they signing fluidly (calm) or sharply (angry)? Are their signs big (excited) or small (timid)? Are they signing rushedly (impatient) or slowly? Messily (sad) or pointedly (annoyed)? Consider what you can make come across without directly addressing it in dialogue! Something ese about ASL is that English speakers who are learning it tend to think the speakers a little nosy: they are more than able to pick up on the unsaid, and they aren't afraid to ask about it.

Above all, don't be afraid to ask questions, do research or accept advice! New languages can be big and scary things, but don't let that make you shy away. Again, there is nothing wrong with deciding to write ASL the same as you write your English. I've personally found that experimenting with ASL dialogue in stories has aided me in becoming more aware of how to describe everything, from sappy emotional moments to action-packed fighting scenes. Writing ASL has helped me think about new ways to improve my description in more everyday contexts, and I hope it can be a big help to you as well, both in learning about Deaf culture and in pursuing your future writing endeavors. :)

P.S: I am quite literally only dipping my toes into the language and culture. I cannot emphasize how important it is to do your own research if it's someting you're interested in!

P.P.S: I want to apologize for my earlier P.S! What I meant by “I am … dipping my toes into the language and culture” was in direct regards to the post; what I should have said is “this post is only dipping its toes into the language and culture.” While I am not Deaf myself, I am a sophomore in college minoring in ASL and Deaf Culture, and I am steadily losing my hearing. Of course, that does not make me an authority figure on the topic, which is why I strongly encourage you to do your own research, ask your own questions, and consult any Deaf friends, family, or online peers you may have.

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My obsession continues

I love doodling while at work. /(=w=)/