#oakwyrm

[mothshrub]

Anyway, the latest hobby here is 'watching video essays by trans authors particularly but not exclusively if they have an essay on masculinity or gender and society'.

Recs:

Contrapoints

Jesse Gender

Lily Alexandre

Lady Emily

RickiHirsch

Alexander Avila

Oakwyrm

Shanspeare

KazRowe

Philosophy Tube

Swolesome

Khadija Mbowe

[voidwithtoomanygooglyeyes]

[awesamkiller]

*clears throat*

I drew my favourite youtuber, @oakwyrm !

His videos on disability are something I look forward to all the time, and I love the way his voice sounds for his voiceover-style videos. I cannot sing high enough praises, the videos are amazing and they keep me critical of my media where it counts while being super interesting and sarcastically funny sometimes!

All in all, Oakwyrm, thank you for making the content you do! It helped me both come to terms with my own disability and learn to love it, learn to argue for my proper treatment, and find my community. You are so cool :].

[gaasubap]

My Youtube playlist Disability and (Dis)Ableism (systems, vocabulary, voices) I'm still not fully happy with it. It's still cluttered at the end and there's some longer videos I still need to rewatch. But it's the last day of Disability Pride month! I'm not gonna let perfection come before progress!

[strawberrymilkmanistaken]

Has anyone who follows Oakwyrm heard any news about him recently btw? Not to sound like. Weird and creepy but last he updated anywhere was almost a year ago and I'm lowkey kinda worried.

[m3-mianbo]

I love your videos by the way. Watch them often on youTube. Anyway I'd rather respond on here than youTube (not that I'mn expecting you to notice my response, I'm not that kind of person who expects to hear back from a celebrity, if you count as that*). But something I think you maybe didn't say, but I thought of... is what if technically it isn't a retcon - It is still true that Heath's father is Lucifer - it is also true that Heath's father is Hades - but they are not the same person! I.e. Heath has two (or more) dads and they are (or used to be) in a relationship. Anyway, that's what I might like to headcanon. <3 <3 <3

This video is mostly me having some fun with mythology and folklore, which I don't get to do all that often.

[hahaweevil]

If anyone has any advice for writing proper disability representation/allegories, PLEASE HELP

[mrsonvsyoutube]

This Movie Traumatised Me

[januscorner]

Queer YouTubers That Don’t Suck:

So after all the horrible stuff with James Somerton you might want queer video essayists who aren’t like that. Here are some of my favorites along with my favorite videos of their’s

STRANGE ÆONS - History of Queer Women’s Symbols

Spacey Aces - Asexual Imposterism | Am I Fake?

Rainbott - Why are all Cryptids queer icons?

Lily Simpson - The Trans Boy Meets World Episode

Hana Hyperfixates - Gravity Falls and LGBTQ+ subtext: Decoding the Queercoding

Rowan Ellis - The Tedious Repetition of Coming Out Movies

Oakwyrm - A Delightful Dead End

Jessica Kellgren-Fozard - Are You a Butch, a Femme, or a Stem?

Dreamsounds - Boy Bands & Queer Feelings

[shwarmii]

seeing as i have not been tracked down and mounted on a wall as of yet, i will take that as license to continue lmao sorry, ill stop this bit now lol

i also wanted to shout out how much i love the song "Better Place"(, period, but also) under the lens of it as one of those "having a chronic illness/disability makes this song feels different" kind of tracks. like the idea of the singer being okay with discomfort just for the person being sung to, in this case Branch + the others @ Floyd, to be in a place that is better for them (which i initially took as that older health rhetoric about how, when you're sick, your family will often send you to the oceanside the get better; because doctors used to actually perscribe "ocean air". like, it's in Greta Gerwig's "Little Women" as one of the family's attempts to heal Beth) and to be somewhere that gets the sung-to-person excited (because there's nothing like seeing someone you love be fragile and sick and fatigued be so excited for what they are seeing that they just get this surge of energy and happiness. even if they pay for it later with a flare-day, just hearing them laugh and go "that was so worth it tho" is awesome). im really glad they picked to sing that song for Floyd, esp since the Brozone family were overall initially uncomfortable being around one another but got through it for Floyd's sake. it was a very fun song (especially with all its ad libs, i loved those)

im also very glad they kept his hair's roots white, to show the consequences of Floyd having been held captive for so long. i know some people's hair goes white prematurely from stress; and i know a lot of people dye their hair for a sense of agency and control (especially would make sense in Troll culture, considering the cultural importance of hair to them). i know some people have the hc that Clay's hair as a kid was dyed blonde, hence why his hair has changed to green (i think it was meant to serve as a visual reminder of how he's changed from Fun to Serious; since all the other brothers largely kept their personality. but who knows, Branch's hair was originally very blue and is now much more black than it originally was; maybe personality shifts change hair in a "true colors" kind of way. but that's just me, i do also very much support Clay's Hair Was Dyed Blonde Back Then and is its natural color now). i think Floyd's hair being impacted by the crystal nonsense, and Floyd trying to reclaim his body/hair through dying it back to the color it majorly was before everything happened makes sense. maybe he was convinced to leave the roots white as a kind of "reverse frosted tips" look lol

but yeah, i really do hope against hope that Floyd gets to be an ambulatory mobility-aid user. we saw in the crowd-shots of the last Brozone concert before their break-up how a Trolls wheelchair could look (which... not going to lie: i wish that was designed to make more sense, bc i cannot tell how that Troll self-propels without using their hair). and i think it is really cool that Trolls mobility-aids look so cutesy and loud and fun! like (ex-)King Peppy's all-green cane having polka-dots is really cute. i would love to see Poppy maybe use her scrapbooking skills to help Floyd customize his mobility-aid/s, assuming he would like the help, since it has been confirmed as early as "Trolls: Holiday in Harmony" via the comparison of Branch's attempt at scrapbooking that not all Trolls innately have that talent the same way all Trolls can sing. so i would love to see Poppy explicitly expand her talents from scrapbooking into other crafts (i think it'd very "queenly" of her to so directly interact with the assumed-marginalized of her community, and would be a great way for her to practice her listening-skills in a leadership role without it being too high-stakes). but id also love to see Satin and Chenille help as they explictly have talents with textiles/fabrics too. i just would love to see Floyd get a lot of help in this adjustment, and i also would love to know more about Trolls mobility-aids in a world-building sense (like, i LOVE the world-building towards mobility-aids in "Fullmetal Alchemist" with its automail (magical metal prosthetics that require painful surgeries and intense maintenance) and "Witch Hat Atelier"'s multiple mobility-aids, primarily their sealchairs (wooden chairs with deer/ram-like hoofed legs that can jump and run, but require seal maintence and money to gain, and cannot work in areas where magic is disallowed like a king's castle) and "Avatar: The Last Airbender"'s whole exploration of Toph and Teo (tho i do have heavy qualms over the Teo-episode's overall message to descrate the sacred, that was all Teo's DAD; so i digress as Teo himself is wonderful (there's a youtuber by the name of Oakwyrm if you want to hear more about my complaints on Teo's dad/that episode overall, as well as analysis on disability representation; Oakwyrm does a lot of disability analysis, i love it lol)), give me more disability in my fantasy PLEASE. this world is so creative with its Caterbus and Rhonda and how creatuve Trolls can apply their hair, i would love to see how their culture impacts what mobility-aids are available — like maybe the Trolls wheelchair-user in the Brozone crowd was how wheelchairs were 20 years ago, we have room to explore what Trolls disablity tech would look like nowadays. like, are the wheels still that big? and hard to reach? but also, just fun stickers and patches and customization in that distinctly Trolls-way would also be very fun to see, i would love to see how Floyd would want his mobility-aid/s to look should he ever have them ♡

assuming 👀 that i won't be hunted for sport for having been a closet "Trolls" fan.. 👀

i just wanted to shout out how refreshing it would be to have Floyd be chronically ill post-Velvet and Veneer. like, he can still dance and sing for his solo career; he just needs to cushion time before and after to recover, and he needs accommodations for things to prevent flare-ups of his symptoms. i doubt "Trolls" will, but itd be really cool if they used Floyd as ambulatory mobility-aid representation ("ambulatory" means his disability would be dynamic enough that he can walk/dance, but he needs mobility-aids on days where his body is flaring up and/or to prevent future flare-ups; like wheelchair, crutches, cane, whatever). maybe he has to go to a doctor regularly to navigate his symptoms, idk. maybe Clay can be his medical advocate sometimes. it'd be nice to see is my point

[cripplecharacters]

The "curse as disability" trope is nothing new, and to the extent of my knowledge Eda Clawthorn from Owl House is one of the best examples (A youtuber named Oakwyrm did a great video explaining this)

But thats a curse that involves being transformed into something, I'm curious about a difrent type of curse.

There's a story (I forget if it was a book or movie) where a prince had a "charming curse" and that curse would make him say "charming things" against his will.

If I remeber correctly he could still talk like any other person, but now and again he'd throw out some kind of complaint or other "charming" thing, completly against his will, and despight of how he's actually feeling.

Immediately I saw similarities to the verbal side of tourette syndrome, granted: I know that actual tourettes is about unwanted repetitive movements/sounds and in some cases if you tell someone with tourettes not to say something, they'll say it as a tick (I watched an interview with people who had tourettes and one of them explained a situation where that happend to them)

I'd just like to know, if seeing similarities between this charming curse & tourettes is ableist or not

And if I were to write my own charming curse story would reaserch into tourettes syndrome & it's psychological effects on those who have it be a good idea

Hello!

We also have a post discussing the "curse as disability" trope (and how it relates to Eda in particular) that you can read here [Link]. You may find it helpful.

Without more information about the charming curse you're referring, it's hard to make a judgement on it. I've done some searching for what you may be referring to but haven't been able to find anything about it.

From the sound of it, however, I'm not seeing any real similarities to Tourettes -- at least in my experience. If you hadn't mentioned it, I don't think I would have made the association at all. Again, it's hard to say for sure without knowing what portrayal you're referring to but I don't think it's something you have to worry about.

Verbal tics are about more than just saying something without wanting to. There's a physical component to them too (at least in my experience), kind of like a tightening almost. It's difficult to explain to somebody that doesn't experience it but the closest I can get is the pressure before a sneeze or that desire to scratch an itch.

It's not as "easy" (for lack of a better term) as just saying a phrase or word that you don't want to say.

Tourettes in particular also has several other aspects to it. While other tic disorders can be just verbal or motor tics, the diagnostic criteria for Tourettes specifies both verbal AND motor tics.

There's also the fact that with verbal tics, it's usually the same/similar phrase or words being repeated.

For example, I had a tic a while ago that was quoting an outtake from the Magnus Archives ("Happy little doorbells- doorbells?! Who's here at 12? Fifty minutes early!!"). Quoting the whole thing was pretty rare for me but I would often quote parts of it ("Doorbells?!" and "Fifty minutes early!!" being two of the more common ones). While people can also have multiple different verbal tics, if it's a completely different phrase or word every time it wouldn't really be a tic.

Basically what I'm saying here is that it's different enough that I wouldn't worry about the possible associations and I'd also advise against linking the two in your own work.

Also just to address something real quick:

in some cases if you tell someone with tourettes not to say something, they'll say it as a tick (I watched an interview with people who had tourettes and one of them explained a situation where that happend to them)

This is something that I see a LOT around discussions of Tourettes but honestly, I've never experienced this personally and neither has anyone else I know with Tourettes.

In my experience, verbal tics usually start as something that I say or do that just ends up getting 'stuck' (for lack of a better term). For instance, I have one longterm tic that's kind of clearing my throat. When it started, I was hanging out with a guy that liked to talk a LOT and it was a "yeah, mhm" type sound that I had been making when he spoke so that I was able to respond. I did it so often that it became a habit and then ended up as a tic that I still have now. Likewise, the tic I mentioned earlier started as me jokingly quoting this one video. It became a habit, then a tic. For me, the pipeline from just saying something to it becoming a habit to then becoming a tic is pretty clear to see.

Of course, this won't be the same for everybody.

I'm sure the situation you mentioned (telling somebody with Tourettes not to say something and it becoming a tic) does happen -- it's just not as common as people seem to think and there are other ways that things become tics.

Personally, I wouldn't be surprised if it had something to do with ironic process theory (IPT, also called the "white bear phenomenon". It basically says that telling somebody not to think of a specific thing makes them more likely to think of it).

(I know you mentioned that it happens in some cases, this is really more of an aside^)

But yeah. In summary, it's hard to tell without more information on the charming curse but in general, I wouldn't link it to Tourettes.

Cheers,

~ Mod Icarus

[eowyn-igneelcheshire]

I finally watched Nimona and I really relate to her, especially the itchy insides she describes. Both in terms of the gender allegory, as I am bigender and do (only on occasion, thank god) experience dysphoria, but also in terms of literal shapeshifting. I don't fully understand why or when it started, but I often experience physical discomfort that I can only describe as an urge to shapeshift. I've never felt comfortable having a human body and the majority of the time the discomfort with my body can be (mostly) fixed by wearing a pair of cat ears and a tail (which I have worn 24/7 nearly 356 every year for the past 5-6ish years, but did attempt to start doing all the way back in 1st or 2nd grade. Though that only lasted one day, since a classmate ripped my tail off and I was banned from wearing it again, and I wasn't able to try again until 7th grade) but sometimes the ears and tail don't work and I instead need to wear horns or wings or a centaur costume, etc.. None of which I currently have access to unfortunately. I did recently get a pair of pointed ears from hot topic so if I ever have a day where I need to be an elf, fairy, or vampire I can do that at least.

If anyone can think of what this might be please let me know. I briefly thought I was a therian but I've realized that doesn't really fit because a) not just one animal and b) not just animals, so I'm not really sure anymore.

[jumezart]

Rough sketches of alternate outfits for the Nightmore Night episode, since my buddy @oakwyrm got disappointed they didn't use the opportunity to put them in winter-appropriate and species-appropriate clothes. He also provided ideas for how to dress them and it got me really inspired! so credit to him! :3 Cleo is also here because two of my friends complained she wasn't.

Clawdeen and Clawd aren't as bundled up as they could've been given that they're covered in fur.

Drac, Cleo, and Frankie doesn't need to bundle up given the entire undead thing. Hence why Draculaura is wearing a skirt and Cleo is in an indoor jacket, though Cleo will need to prioritize staying dry. Also Frankie has a metal leg so they're not taking any chances. Lagoona is freezing her fins off because she's cold blooded.

Heath doesn't need the bubble-vest at all but i saw some concept art where he's wearing it and I liked it for him. He's a glowing a little dimmer by the cold and growing spots but he's fine.

Abbey wears her fur and a light jacket because if she's wearing the exact same thing on the Himalayas as she does in shorts-weather monster high I would assume she'd overheat. I understand why the showrunners chose not to rig 7 new models for only one episode, when they're not even selling dolls with the outfits, and how they got around it by having the characters not plan to pack warm clothes. But still, as someone who has lived her entire life in the arctic I have a pretty strong opinion about cold-outfit character designs.

[sameoldchangeling]

A birthday gift for @oakwyrm. His writing advice has genuinely improved my work in so many ways, not to mention his content is just downright entertaining to watch. I didn't want to just redraw his art, so I tried my hand at designing a mix between his in video stills and his pfp. Happy Birthday!!

[johannepetereric]

Sonic tricks the grappling hooks into tangling together like a car crash

He runs over to pick up Helen STRAIGHT FROM HER FUCKING WHEELCHAIR--

Will Oakwyrm get (more) grey hairs?

--and runs up the tangled ropes to the copter, kicking out the pilot (who falls screaming into the lake), and taking over. Helen: "Do you know how to fly a helicopter?"

Sonic is already flying them.

"I usually let Tails handle these things."

In retrospect, this means that all Amy, Knuckles, Sonic, and Shadow had turns flying Tails' shit

"Do I do this?" and presses a blue button.

It releases the grappling hook. The soldiers fall over.

"Also, let's not forget anything."

He opens the--the grip lever?--and presses the red button.

It releases a grappling hook, that wraps around the wheelchair and flies off with it--in real-world physics, that thing would be falling off, it's not not-secured.

Helen looks out the window, presses her hand against the glass. "Look, Sonic!"

And it's the glowing white flowers from earlier, a beautiful sheet of cream over the land.

Petals my off like dandelions as they pass by.

The utter JOY, the big eyes, the widest smile.

And it fades to black.

[alpaca-clouds]

Two weeks ago, @agramuglia uploaded the cut version of the stream he did with Charlie Knight on disability representation in fantasy worlds. And given that around the same time we had a bit of a discussion in my blog about the same issue in regards of BG3, I want to share some thoughts on this. Mind you, I am also picking up some stuff in regards to the amazing videos that Oakwyrm does on disability representation.

Because there are two topics that are so often not brought up in this context. And I am kinda saddened and a bit annoyed by this. So, let me talk about it. Because the topics of what kind of disability we see in fantasy and science fiction and what kind we don't see is actually a big topic.

Generally most fantasy disabilities fall into one of two categories:

Acquired disabilities (often in forms of missing limbs or a missing eye) that were acquired under dramatical, tragic, or heroic circumstances.

Fantasy-setting specific disabilities (for example a character who cannot fly in a setting, where everyone else can fly, or of course the classic "non-magic character in a magic world").

The first kind is the stuff we see probably most of. Again, often we see this in form of missing limbs, that depending on the setting are either replaced with some sort of magic prothesis. Ideally this is handled at least like it is in Fullmetal Alchemist, where the prothesis does not always work perfectly and needs some maintanance. Sadly, though, in a lot of cases the magic prothesis is perfect, and also other stuff that usually comes to play in regards of missing limbs (like phantom pain and related issues) do not really come to play.

Same goes with some sort of magical glass eyes and so on, if characters are missing an eye. I will not even start with the fact that glass eyes in fantasy are always perfect little balls rather than how those actually look in reality.

And either way: Usually the way those limbs and eyes have gone missing, there is really a big story behind it. In real life very typical ways for people to loose limbs is stuff like simple injuries that lead to infections, or accidents that were really kind of silly. Not in fantasy or scifi. There you do not geenrally lose a limb, unless you lose it to a dragon or devil (or I guess in a desperate attempt to revive your mother). There is always a good story behind it.

And then there are the other kind of disability we see, which the more metaphorical disability. Yes, within a world were everyone can do magic, the person who cannot do magic is disabled. Yes, within the world where everyone can fly, the person who cannot is also disabled. And yes, Karlach in Baldur's Gate 3 with her engine that is killing her has also a disability within the context of the world - as does Gale with his orb, or Shadowheart with her magic pain attacks. Heck, you could make the argument that in a way Astarion as a vampire also has magical disabilities.

But what bugs me so much about this is... The lack of all the stuff that does not get shown.

A lot of people have already spoken about how rarely we see some sort of wheelchair in fantasy settings. (In SciFi we often then see the flying wheelchairs, that are an issue on their own, though that is something I will have to talk about at another time.)

But there is so much more that we usually do not see.

Missing limbs make up around 7-8% of all disabled people. And those are mostly older people, given that - again - limb loss usually occurs because the body struggles to heal a wound and the limb needs to be amputated to prevent infactions from spreading and such. (Almost 90% of people who loose their limps are also older than 45 when they do.)

A lot of disabilities (the vast majorities) are in fact some sort of cognitive disabilities. And sure, we do see quite a few characters that are autism-coded or ADHD-coded in media. Exhibit A would be Dungeon Meshi, of course, but I mean, we all can probably name a few characters that read very autistic or hyperactive. But those are also usually the variations of those where yes, the characters might experience some disability from it, but... We do not have an autistic non-verbal protagonist, do we now?

And then there is of course all those other disabilities. I mean, I cannot imagine a single example of a character with trisomnie in fantasy or scifi media. I also have not seen a character with my disability (severely limited lung function) in fantasy or scifi before - even though, mind you, scifi could probably easily create a device that would allow someone like me to live fairly normally. You will also rarely ever find a character with something like athritis or other forms of rheumatic illness in fantasy and scifi settings. And generally speaking, with a few exceptions there are barely any characters who were born with their disabilities or have acquired their disabilities through sickness of one way or another - even though this is by far in the real world the most common way of acquiring a disability.

Other stuff we do not see: Limb differences, anything that is perceived as disfiguring (and even if those are described in books, they usually get toned down HEAVILY in movies or games, and of course anything that is related to food.

With this I am not saying that the other disabilities - those we see - are bad. But I am saying that we absolutely deserves to see those other disabilities too. And not just in some realworld drama stuff. (I mean, when it comes to depictions of a character with down syndrome in media, I can only think of one good example, which is Ansel in Stumptown, which is very much just crime drama. But that is like the one time I can think of that a character with that disability who is given agency by the plot, and who gets to have his own life, with a job, and a girlfriend and everything.)

And yeah...

Like, the two pieces of fantasy media I wanna point out as being actually pretty darn good with disability representation of a wide variety of disabilities are:

Witch Hat Atelier: This series basically focuses on the question of morality in regards to using magic to cure - and using magic to cure disabilities, too. Because of this, we see a variety of disabilities, including disabilities people were born with, disabilities acquired through sickness or through dramatic plot reasons and so on. This is really, really good in that regard.

The Witcher novel series: I hate it so much that this is something that all the adaptions just ignore. The Witcher books are very, very heavy in dealing with disabilities in a lot more realistic matters. The fact that magicians mostly are disabled people, for whom the society does not have any other use than learning magic (for whcih they get cured of their disability, and the books actually dare to quesiton "Is that a good thing?") is one part. But Geralt himself is fairly disabled, as he is dealing with chronic pain and has a limp. Gods, I would murder for a good adaption of these books