Dr Caspian Crow. Here at your service.

emo Tamagotchi bugs :3

(original post)

This name was given to me by a D/deaf person. Hearing people cannot create sign names, as this is incredibly disrespectful to Deaf culture and the Deaf community. Please, if you are hearing, do not do this. It is not our place, even for a fictional character. Ask a D/deaf person.

- banditos experience a broad number of burial practices. you see trends based on the districts they escaped from, but the most common two are, of course, burial and cremation

- similar to early pagan / most christian practices, those who choose to be buried are buried facing East. while in our world this is because the rising sun represents resurrection/new life, for the banditos it more represents a return to mother trench, as well as protection in the afterlife (East is up being instructions on how to find safety. go east, find sanctuary. they want the spirits of the fallen to have an easy time finding rest and peace, so they’re buried in a way that their spirits can simply rise and walk forward into the sunrise.)

- burial goods are extremely common, usually things that were treasures by the deceased. jewelry, childhood toys, favorite blankets or articles of clothing that weren’t willed to the living. it’s also common to have two burial shrouds: the first, used to wrap the body itself, in bandito yellow. this is said to prevent the body from being used as a vessel, as bishops can’t find it. two, a quilt or other sort of woven blanket. each tile/square will have been completed by a member of their family, found or biological.

- cremations follow a more chthonic route, where instead of burial goods the body is cremated alongside food. typically the deceased’s favorite. rather than the smoke of it being offered to mother trench, it’s offered to the spirit of the passed. cremations are typically done at sunrise so that the spirit can follow the sun to mother trench’s heart.

- deaths are given a week. the first four days are to mourn, the fifth is the handling of their belongings, the sixth is the disposal of the body, and the seventh is a feast and games to celebrate the life of the passed. you aren’t expected to stop mourning immediately, of course, but the first four days are considered for the family only.

other special district considerations TO ME

- nills district escapees tend to want to be used to plant trees. something that they can be remembered by since i see nills as being the bishop of the dead and their memory.

- sacarver district escapees tend to have fewer burial goods because of the high consumerism in her district— its something they don’t want to bring to sanctuary with them.

- banditos from andre’s district tend to have their celebrations include a lot of music and dancing! they’re also most often buried with beads or worry stones

I did a redraw of the very first Torchbearer piece I ever drew on my blog to see how I improved. Turns out drawing the same dude for almost 2 years is really helpful to get better at art! I'm actually really proud of how far I've come ;v;!

Original (left) - November 2024 Redraw (right) - June 2026

❤ tag list ❤

its a blind leading blind situation when it comes to learning ASL

So, I'm sure you probably know this already, but the absolute best way to learn ASL (or any sign language really) is in person, through a class. If you can, get a Deaf teacher as well. I can't put enough importance on how different it is to learn and use this language in person, with other people, than doing it yourself. And better yet, join your local Deaf scene (clubs, events, and the like) while learning, the entire community is really welcoming and loves new learners.

But, going to a class is also not an option for a lot of people, so here's some online recommendations if you have to:

anything by Bill Vicars. He is a fantastic resource. He has a youtube channel with vocabulary (and more), a website, and a really cool website to practice reading fingerspelling.

handspeak, a website with more vocabulary

signing savy, more vocabulary

with those, you could look up just about any word you want, but that's only a piece of the puzzle for ASL. Grammar is really important, and what makes it distinct from just Signed English. ASL syntax is generally subject-verb-object, but there's something that is really important that isn't just the gestures being signed.

Facial expressions in ASL are everything. They tell you important context, (like how far something is, or how large it is), emotions (of course) but also grammar itself (such as raising your eyebrows at the end of a sentence to indicate a yes/no, raising them to indicate the subject, or lowering them for 'wh' questions, like what, when, where, how.)

really really happy to tell you that ive been referring to his dog as big jim (more about him at the bottom of this post!)

big jim i love him so much!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

they also share a name! :D

“Honey girl?” Clark’s voice is quiet as he shuts the door and notices all the lights are off in your living room. 

Sure it’s late, but you usually have your lamps on to set the evening mood. 

He gets no answer and starts listening for your heartbeat. It’s not a habit he indulges in often, but this is strange. 

He hears it and finds you curled up in bed, lights off, air conditioning blasting and a patch over your face. 

Immediately he knows what it is. 

You’d been getting migraines more and more often lately and no matter how much you ate, what medicine you took or how much you limited bright 

lights, it only seemed to worsen. 

Clark had looked for a tumor after the third night, even though you insisted that this just happens sometimes. 

He doesn’t make any noise as he reaches you on the bed, his hand smoothing your hair back and taking the mask off. 

It’s all melted now, and as he’s about to leave to get your other one, you stir. 

“Clark?” Your voice is a gravelly whisper, and as you try to raise your head you hiss. 

He’s back at your side instantly, “Lay down baby,” he murmurs, helping you lay your head back on the cool pillow. “M’just gonna get your other ice patch.” 

You hum, making him frown. Any sound you make sends another pulse through your head and Clark can feel the distress rolling off you. 

You think you fall asleep because you flinch when Clark puts the cold ice pack on your face. 

“Have you eaten?” He whispers, rubbing up and down your back as you try to relax. 

“Yeah, had toast and chicken salad.” The words come out slowly as you turn to lay flat on your back so you can at least face Clark. 

He tuts, but lets you move till your palm cups his cheek. “Good girl,” he presses a kiss to your palm. “Wanna go back to sleep?” 

“I wanna spend time with you.” Your voice goes watery immediately. You don’t mean for your voice to tremble like that, and you didn’t realize how much you’d actually missed just existing with him till you said the words.  “I haven’t spent time with you in days, Clark.” Your voice cracks on his name and Clark feels it in his heart. 

He shushes you, lips to your cheeks as the tears squeeze down your face. He’s gentle as he thumbs the tears away, and then as he turns so he’s laying next to you and tucks you into him without shifting your head. 

“We’re spending time with each other right now,” he whispers, trying his best not to make you cry. “Honey girl,” he murmurs when you cry harder, no doubt making your migraine worse. “You’re breaking my heart, angel.” 

“I just wanna do fun things with you again.” You hiccup and Clark sighs. 

“We’ll do fun things when you give yourself some rest, baby. You need rest to help with the migraine and I’m calling us out of work tomorrow. You can’t keep going to work with this.” 

You nod and take a deep breath, rubbing your face into his chest. “I really want it to go away.” You press a kiss to his chest and Clark cups the back of your head, squeezing at the base of your neck. It had you relaxing instantly. 

“I’m right here all night,” he kisses your head, “Let’s get some rest, okay?” You nod again, letting Clark’s fingers tug at your hair and squeeze at your neck to alleviate the pain in your head. 

“I love you Clark, I really do.” You’re starting to sound a lot more relaxed than before. 

its a blind leading blind situation when it comes to learning ASL

So, I'm sure you probably know this already, but the absolute best way to learn ASL (or any sign language really) is in person, through a class. If you can, get a Deaf teacher as well. I can't put enough importance on how different it is to learn and use this language in person, with other people, than doing it yourself. And better yet, join your local Deaf scene (clubs, events, and the like) while learning, the entire community is really welcoming and loves new learners.

But, going to a class is also not an option for a lot of people, so here's some online recommendations if you have to:

anything by Bill Vicars. He is a fantastic resource. He has a youtube channel with vocabulary (and more), a website, and a really cool website to practice reading fingerspelling.

handspeak, a website with more vocabulary

signing savy, more vocabulary

with those, you could look up just about any word you want, but that's only a piece of the puzzle for ASL. Grammar is really important, and what makes it distinct from just Signed English. ASL syntax is generally subject-verb-object, but there's something that is really important that isn't just the gestures being signed.

Facial expressions in ASL are everything. They tell you important context, (like how far something is, or how large it is), emotions (of course) but also grammar itself (such as raising your eyebrows at the end of a sentence to indicate a yes/no, raising them to indicate the subject, or lowering them for 'wh' questions, like what, when, where, how.)