#sockknitteranon

Race vs. Species Use in Fiction

Honestly I’d use “species” to denote the difference between dwarves/ elves/ humans/ etc and race to denote skin tone.

The thing you have to keep in mind is that fantasy coding came from racist stereotypes. You can see it everywhere with anti-semitism, anti-blackness, anti-Native racism (from warlike predators to noble savage), etc. So a lot of the “classics”, so to speak, are really just the racial ideas of the time.

~Mod Lesya

You’re right, it’s confusing – race being used to denote species in a fantasy setting is a language flaw that probably needs correcting. I love Tolkien but this is probably in large part his fault. Just because he – or someone else, not sure – said it that way doesn’t mean it needs to be perpetuated. After all, in his universe, traits that are in the real world cultural – shared value systems, which personality traits a society encourages, the way outsiders are treated – he treats almost as biologically inherent. If hobbits and elves and dwarves were real, there would be clumsy elves, dwarves who are super interested in getting to know strangers, and hobbits who were indifferent to food as long as they got enough to stay healthy–because each group would have balance. 

Species might seem weird because they’re all sentient or inaccurate if they can reproduce outside their own group, but it’s better than tripping over what’s being implied if “race” means “dwarf” or “orc.”

Yep, that one.

(cont) of my symptoms, called allodynia. Basically, that means that sometimes even the most casual touches can feel painful to me, so I need a clown that can either be trained out of physical humour or is unlikely to use it. I'm also concerned that loud noises can give me headaches, but we all know that dehonking a clown is cruel. For all these reasons, I've been leaning towards a mime or mime cross, but I worry that a mime will, when told to get me an item, will simply pantomime the action instead of fetching it. I also know they're a more difficult breed, so honestly if you have a better idea that would really help. I am in an area where mimes and mime crosses are legal, though, I'm not super experienced but I'm not a complete moron! :) Anyway, sorry for rambling so much, and thanks so much for your help!

((oh you XD))

"This is my brother, Writeacus,” Sportacus saidhappily, presenting the elf at his side. The elf waved at the children andRobbie. He had short blond hair that he hadn’t bothered to hide under a hat andwore a grey version of Sportacus’ uniform.

“Are you a hero too?” Ziggy asked in awe.

Writeacus chuckled, “No, but I write about heroes.”

Stephanie looked amazed at the concept, “Really?”

“Yup! It’s my job to write about all the things heroes do. I want to makesure people remember them.”

“You must have a lot about Sportacus then!”Pixel said.

“You bet! Would any of you like to read some?”

The kids cheered and Writeacus began riffling through his bag. Sportacusput a hand on his arm. “Uh, only the truestuff, okay?” He said, a panicked glint in his eye. 

“You write about stuff that isn’t true?” Robbie asked,reluctantly interested in the conversation now.

“Just for fun. Sometimes heroes ask me to write stories for them,”Writeacus grinned. Sportacus blushed and pointedly looked anywhere but atRobbie. Giggling, Writeacus pulled out a thick folder and handed it to theexcited kids. The five of them and Sportacus moved away to look at theadventures. 

Writeacus handed a thinner file to Robbie, “Could you hold this forme? It makes this bag so much heavier.” He winkedand wandered off to join his brother.

@sockknitteranon

oh, shoot! that's fixed now!

Peanut is a rescue from the ferial Mini Mardi Gras Railroad clown colonies that are in south Georgia and Louisiana (we're pretty sure she has some bozo and carnie in her, but shes mostly Mini Mardi Gras). This isn't an easy breed combo, and that's why my friend who runs the rescue I got her from has a hard time placing them, but they make really good companion clowns for more experienced clown owners

Peanut mostly functions as a companion clown, and the combination of the breeds makes it so she's good to travel with me in cars and things (something that is not easy for Railroad clowns). shes still young and were still training her, but shes mostly trained to give me Deep Pressure Therapy (DPT) when my anxiety gets bad or I start to dissociate. shes also just a cuddly clown to begin with, and knows when I'm going through a depression spell and will often try and preform DPT to me to get me out of it.

because she's so small though she's not as good for doing things when my chronic pain flairs up and cant get things off of high shelves for me, but because my family house is already set up for Mini Mardi Gras Jester mixes and we have a household wise mini clown highway, Peanut is really good at bringing things like my meds or water if I'm stuck in bed. We also have some Mini Mardi Gras mixes that are bigger and they help if I need heavy lifting.

my advise if you're looking for a service clown is to look into what you need your clown to do, and what breeds would go well with that. I knew I wanted a Mini Mardi Gras mix not only because of that's what I grew up with (we've had them for generations on my moms side) but because I knew I needed a clown that could ride along with me to give DPT and keep me focused without hurting my back when I carried them.

any other tip is to meet the clowns first and get a range of their temperament. if the clown isn't in tune with you, or is more high-energy than you can handle, it's not the right clown to use a service. you can train a clown all you want but at the end of the day if you cant keep up with your clown its gonna do more harm than good. I would also look into if your clown needs a troop or not, and if you're living space can accommodate that. its one of the reasons you see Jesters as service a lot, there a bit better functioning without a troop if they have something to do.

Hey there, that’s a very good question and actually I have already written a bit about it before, but you’re right, i should try to make the effort to say more. 

If you’re interested though, here are some messy links to other posts where I’ve already talked about it:

https://feministingforchange.tumblr.com/post/166653371245/kindkinofpolyhell-feministingforchange

https://feministingforchange.tumblr.com/post/166395537400/so-i-noticed-that-i-was-struggling-a-lot-trying-to

https://feministingforchange.tumblr.com/post/164632050520/autism-spectrum-disorder-fibromyalgia-and

And in future, I’ll try to make even more of an effort to discuss the overlap in my experience and feel free to ask me about it if there are any particular questions you have. 

I’m no expert on either autism or fibro, but i do live with both and can give an insider’s perspective, if nothing else lol. 

I hope this ending is happy enough! Thank you for naming the child. I am awful at name picking lol

Add this to the list of things I have researched for Lazytown! Hope it’s all accurate!

–

Sportacus set Ziggy back on his feet, much to the boy’srelief. Trixie, Stingy, and Stephanie ran over to make sure he was okay.Sportacus looked up at the tree Ziggy had been hanging from, “What were youdoing up there?”

“I was trying to see into the new kid’s house!”

“Why?”

“She won’t come out and play,” Trixie complained, “And theteacher never makes her go to music orgym class.”

“And she’s always going to the nurse’ office,” Stingy added,“She gets headaches a lot.”

Stephanie was nodding, “She also looks so tired in class.Maybe she’s lazy because she doesn’t get enough sleep?”

“Wait,” Sportacus put up his hands, “You’re talking aboutJulia, right? The girl who moved in last week?”

“Yeah! She’s almost as lazy as Robbie!” Ziggy said.

“I spoke with her mother when they moved in. Julia isn’tlazy,” Sportacus explained. All four kids looked confused, “Julia is… sick.”

“She doesn’t looksick,” Stingy huffed.

“Her sickness is hard to see. It makes it painful for her tomove around a lot. It also makes it hard to sleep.” The kids all exchangedlooks.

Stephanie crossed her arms, thinking, “Would eating sportscandy make her feel better?”

Sportacus shook his head, “I’m afraid that won’t fixeverything. I’m glad you all are concerned for her, but don’t force her to playif she doesn’t feel up to it.”

At that moment, Pixel came running up to the group, “Hey! Wereyou still trying to talk to Julia? I just passed her playing with Robbie in thepark!”

Stingy, Trixie, Stephanie, and Ziggy all looked up at Sportacus.He shrugged.

“Make sure she’s doing a cool super hero pose!”

“I will never understand kids and their obsession with superheroes.”

Julia giggled as Sportacus and the other kids approached.Robbie was kneeling on the pavement, sketching with chalk. As the group gotcloser, Julia stopped giggling. She looked up at the six of them and edgedcloser to Robbie. It was then Robbie noticed them. “Don’t step on any of mywork,” He ordered, gesturing at the other drawings on the blacktop.

Sportacus stepped forward and smiled warmly at Julia, “It’sgood to see you again.” She gave him a little wave. Sportacus turned his attentionto Robbie, “What are you doing?”

“We were both out for a walk and we ran into each other. Westarted talking and I had chalk with me and long story short none of your business go away.” Sportacuschuckled and stepped back.

Ziggy came up to stand beside Julia as she colored in thehair on the super hero Robbie was drawing. “Um, Julia? I’m sorry we were meanbefore. Do you want some of my chocolate?” He started frantically pullingbrightly wrapped candy out of his pocket, “You can have any kind you want!”

Julia bit her lip, ‘”Thank you, but I can’t have chocolate.It has caffeine in it.”

“O-oh. I’m sorry!”

“It’s okay!” She looked around, “Uh, do you want to draw acape on my super hero?”

Ziggy grinned, “Okay!”

“Can we play too, Julia?” Stephanie asked.

“S-sure! Yeah!”