side of homefries

and lots of people think this very likely,

“Oh little Sionnat has obviously been taken by the fairies and they’ve left us a Changeling Child who knows too much, and asks strange questions, and uses words she shouldn’t know, and watches everything with her big dark eyes, clearly a Fairy Child and not a Human Like Us.”

The Myth of the Changeling child, a human baby apparently replaced at a young age by a toddler who “suddenly” acts “strange and fey” is an almost textbook depiction of autistic children.

To this day, “autism warrior mommies” talk about autism “stealing” their “sweet normal child” and have this idea of “getting their real baby back” which (in the face of modern science)  indicates how the human psyche actually does deal with finding out their kid acts unlike what they expected.

But here’s the thing: life is louder, brighter and more intense and confusing than it has ever been. I live on the edge of London and I rarely go into the centre of town because it’s too overwhelming. If I went back in time and lived on a farm somewhere, would anyone even notice there was anything odd about me? No police sirens, no crowded streets that go on for miles and miles, no flickery electric lights. Working on a farm has a clear routine. I’d be a badass at spinning cloth or churning butter because I find endless repetition soothing rather than boring.

Everyone there was at least closely acquainted with a deaf person, if not related to a deaf person, or deaf themself. Sending deaf children away wasn’t an option because there weren’t facilities for them on the mainland, nor could families afford to lose the labor of their able bodied, deaf kids. So the community needed to have a way to communicate with and incorporate deaf citizens. By 1854 everyone in the settlements were fluent in sign language, church sermons were delivered in sign and English. The deaf people of Martha’s Vineyard did not perceive themselves as disabled, nor did their hearing peers. It was barely more notable that a person was deaf than it was that a person had green eyes.

When Gallaudet University was founded, it began as a boarding school for children and many of the first students came from Martha’s Vineyard. Those students who were from elsewhere came to the school with almost no language skills, having lived their lives in isolation. Those from MV showed up with a fully formed language and literacy, their ability and aptitude completely changed the way deaf people’s intelligence was perceived. Martha’s Vineyard Sign Language formed the basis and provided much of the grammar of what is now American Sign Language.

Eventually the deaf children of Martha’s Vineyard moved to the mainland to attend school specifically tailored to them, much of the rest of the population followed, to move to cities like Boston and New York. And with this migration came the end of the island’s attitude toward deafness. American society views deafness as a disability and puts the onus of communication and accessibility largely on the deaf person, rather on the population as a whole. ASL is an American language, essential and non-optional in the lives of half a million Americans. But how many hearing people use ASL if they, themselves, do not know someone who is deaf? How many public grammar or high schools offer it as a course?

She thinks she does. But every time she says ‘it was easy not to emote’— and she says it a lot— the humans around her who have known her for more than one conversation react as if she smiled or glared or laughed anyway. And she hums songs directly related to her feelings without noticing, which is a dead giveaway about her mood, which is repeatedly remarked on (even by her officers back when One Esk was a decade).

And then there’s how she picks Seivarden up from Nilt despite repeatedly declaring to herself that there’s no reason for doing that. And saves her life a lot. And goes directly from noticing how she has no good reason to be lonely now, none at all, surely not! to checking up on Seivarden on the station and then taking immediate repossession of her and doing almost everything together with her henceforth. 

And how she shot Anaander in the face immediately after having to kill Awn in the very first place and then nursed a towering, obsessive grudge for twenty years and says several times that she really just wanted to shoot one Anaander, for the gesture of it, and throwing the entirety of Anaander into violent self-destructive chaos was a real perk. And how she was indignant that an Anaander hadn’t just searched her stuff (and modified her memories and fucked with her obedience) but got icing on her icons. 

And how she has a really hard time not revealing her identity to Skaiaat immediately, basically snipes and growls at Skaiaat anyway for most of their encounters, then blurts the secret out the minute she encounters the woman while under extra emotional strain, desperate for someone, anyone, to recognize her and validate her enormous loss. 

And how even though she has a huge blind spot about her relative worth compared to humans, she still, CONSTANTLY, notices when anyone is rude to her. She makes incredibly specific notes about when people slight her. She describes the full and complete context of any little dig, for paragraphs.  Again: she is actually, blatantly offended that Anaander got pastry icing on her icons. 

And to go back to her hilarious relationship with Seivarden, she keeps bringing up Seivarden’s callous, condescending treatment of her from the first part of the book for like the entire rest of the book, no matter how blatantly Seivarden indicates that she has a gigantic hero-crush on her and deeply regrets being a shithead and in fact is now following Breq around in desperate hope that she will be able to help Breq out in any possible little way, up to and including fussing about Breq’s leg, her diet, and her temper. Breq is still like ‘I continue to be surprised that jerk Seivarden doesn’t do the same jerk things she did to me once, like a jerk.’ 

She thinks she does. But every time she says ‘it was easy not to emote’— and she says it a lot— the humans around her who have known her for more than one conversation react as if she smiled or glared or laughed anyway. And she hums songs directly related to her feelings without noticing, which is a dead giveaway about her mood, which is repeatedly remarked on (even by her officers back when One Esk was a decade).

And then there’s how she picks Seivarden up from Nilt despite repeatedly declaring to herself that there’s no reason for doing that. And saves her life a lot. And goes directly from noticing how she has no good reason to be lonely now, none at all, surely not! to checking up on Seivarden on the station and then taking immediate repossession of her and doing almost everything together with her henceforth. 

And how she shot Anaander in the face immediately after having to kill Awn in the very first place and then nursed a towering, obsessive grudge for twenty years and says several times that she really just wanted to shoot one Anaander, for the gesture of it, and throwing the entirety of Anaander into violent self-destructive chaos was a real perk. And how she was indignant that an Anaander hadn’t just searched her stuff (and modified her memories and fucked with her obedience) but got icing on her icons. 

And how she has a really hard time not revealing her identity to Skaiaat immediately, basically snipes and growls at Skaiaat anyway for most of their encounters, then blurts the secret out the minute she encounters the woman while under extra emotional strain, desperate for someone, anyone, to recognize her and validate her enormous loss. 

And how even though she has a huge blind spot about her relative worth compared to humans, she still, CONSTANTLY, notices when anyone is rude to her. She makes incredibly specific notes about when people slight her. She describes the full and complete context of any little dig, for paragraphs.  Again: she is actually, blatantly offended that Anaander got pastry icing on her icons. 

And to go back to her hilarious relationship with Seivarden, she keeps bringing up Seivarden’s callous, condescending treatment of her from the first part of the book for like the entire rest of the book, no matter how blatantly Seivarden indicates that she has a gigantic hero-crush on her and deeply regrets being a shithead and in fact is now following Breq around in desperate hope that she will be able to help Breq out in any possible little way, up to and including fussing about Breq’s leg, her diet, and her temper. Breq is still like ‘I continue to be surprised that jerk Seivarden doesn’t do the same jerk things she did to me once, like a jerk.’ 

Spotify (complete)  |  Playmoss

A fanmix for Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie. All a capella (except for the intro) because that’s what Breq would want, right? 

I absolutely cannot find a version of “James Bird” anywhere else, so that one is only on Spotify.

Intro: The Recruited Collier / Kate Rusby What’s the matter with you, my lass, and where’s your dashing Jimmy? The soldier lads have picked him up, and now he’s gone far from me

I Once Lived in Service / The Witches of Elswick I carried her dishes when the lady would dine, and after I took them away, oh

James Bird / Chicken on a Raft I’ll stand by you, gallant captain!

Leave Her Johnny / The Foc'sle Singers beware these packet ships, I say

Wanting Memories / Sweet Honey in the Rock I am sitting here wanting memories to teach me, to see the beauty in the world through my own eyes

Barrett’s Privateers / Poor Angus I’m a broken man on a Halifax pier, the last of Barrett’s privateers

Lonesome Valley / The Fairfield Four you got to go to the lonesome valley, you got to go there by yourself

Hit Like an Atom Bomb / Chanticleer set your house in order, cause he may be coming soon, and he’ll hit like an atom bomb

CHORUS: In amaat’s name I used to be The shining pride of the Radchaai fleet Out conquering worlds for our queen! Now I’m a single mind in a body so mean, Justice of Toren One Esk Nineteen! They sent me out to expand their realm (How I wish I were a ship again!) And for two millennia I was found At more annexations than a human could count!

I had many a crew in my time at war (How I wish I were a ship again!) Towards the end I became quite fond Of a young lieutenant by the name of Awn!

That last one… I hecked up. It’s 267 stitches wide. So if you try it, be very sure of your cloth size. I knew it would be bad, because the prettiest fonts are always the largest, but I wasn’t expecting so much.

Breq:

Awn:

Seivarden:

Anaander Mianaai:

Mercy of Kalr:

Tisarwat:

Ekalu: 

Kalr Five:

Raughd:

Dlique:

Zeiat:

Sphene:

hhhhh imperial radch good…everyone pls go read this series abt salty spaceship AI’s

(Photo: Amanda Ruggeri) 

Why ‘plant blindness’ matters – and what you can do about it

Plant blindness, not surprisingly, results in an under-appreciation of plants – and in a limited interest in plant conservation. Plant biology courses around the world are shutting down at a dizzying rate and public funding for plant science is drying up. While studies haven’t been done on the extent of plant blindness and its change over time, increased urbanisation and time spent with devices means that “nature deficit disorder” (the harm caused to humans by being alienated from nature) is on the rise. And with less exposure to plants comes greater plant blindness. As Schussler has explained, “humans can only recognise (visually) what they already know”. 

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