Krim

cant transfer yourself to wheelchair? now u have to schedule carers every time u might want to move from chair to bed or toilet, have to staff these shifts, sacrifice your alone time/comfort/independence, teach them how to safely transfer u, remind them every time, purchase and maintain expensive equipment etc.

can't pee or poo in the typical way? have to do lots of steps for catheter use or bowel program or ostomy care. have to take special meds. have to travel with medical equipment, wipes, etc in all your bags now. have to buy and store it all too. have to deal with all the ableism from people about this too

[ID: mirror selfie of maja doing a wheelie in its red and black apex a manual wheelchair. it's black with long red and black locs and is wearing a black graphic t shirt, a black and white button up, and red shorts. it has one hand on its pushrim and the other holding its phone /end ID]

Now, I thought this AI generated garbage was just truly terrible on a number of levels; first off, she looks wayyyyyy too modern - her makeup is very “Hollywood glamour”, she looks airbrushed and de-aged, and as far as I’m aware, Ancient Egyptians didn’t have mascara, glitter-based eyeshadows and lip gloss. Secondly, her features are exceptionally whitewashed in every sense - this is pretty standard for AI as racial bias is prevalent in feeding AI algorithms, but I genuinely thought a depiction of such a known individual would not exhibit such euro-centric features. Thirdly, the outfit was massively desaturated and didn’t take pigment loss into consideration, and while I *do* like the look of the neck attire, it's not at all accurate (plus, again, AI confusion on the detailing is evident).

So, this inspired me to alter the image on the left to be more accurate based off the sculpture’s features. I looked into Ancient Egyptian makeup and looked at references for kohl eyeliner and clay-based facial pigment (rouge was used on cheeks, charcoal-based powder/paste was used to darken and elongate eyebrows), and I looked at pre-existing images of Nefertiti, both her mummy and other reconstructions. While doing this, I found photos of a 3D scanned sculpture made by scientists at the University of Bristol and chose to collage the neck jewellery over the painting (and edited the lighting and shadows as best as I could).

Something I see a lot of in facial recreations of mummies is maintaining the elongated and skinny facial features as seen on preserved bodies - however, fat, muscle and cartilage shrink/disappear post mortem, regardless of preservation quality; Queen Nefertiti had art created of her in life, and these pieces are invaluable to developing an accurate portrayal of her, whether stylistic or realistic in nature.

And hey, while I don't think my adjustments are perfect (especially the neck area), I *do* believe it is a huge improvement to the original image I chose to work on top of.

I really liked working on this project for the last few days, and I think I may continue to work on it further to perfect it. But, until then, I hope you enjoy!

Manual Wheelchairs

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There's two main types of manual wheelchair. (All image descriptions are in alt text)

Standard chairs

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The first type is a "standard chair". It's not the same thing as a "hospital chair" - a hospital chair is a type of standard chair. These are the folding type off the shelf from a mobility shop, or borrow from a mall. Below is an example, the Karma Flex standard wheelchair.

A standard chair can be good for many. Many wheelchair users use standard chairs. They are cheaper and easier to come by, but are often heavy and have parts that make them a bit harder to use, like the high backs or chunky armrests. There are many types of standard chair, some nicer than others.

What's a hospital chair?

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A hospital chair is a type of standard wheelchair. They're the cheapest and nastiest type, often made out of metal and can't be adjusted, and very heavy. Many people may use them, but they're not ideal. A normal standard is better for most people, but a hospital chair may be used as well. Below is an example, the Care Medical hospital chair.

They're cheap and can be rented or found secondhand in lots of places, but they're pretty uncomfy and can cause injuries or sores if used for too long.

Active wheelchairs

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An "active wheelchair" is a nicer kind of wheelchair, and may be custom or non-custom. A custom wheelchair is a type of active wheelchair. Although most active wheelchairs are made custom to their first owner, not all are, and many people may own non-custom active chairs. Below is an example, the Quickie QRi.

Active chairs are set up to be comfortable, easy to use, lightweight, and supportive. They're usually the same models as custom chairs (like the one above, this can be ordered as a custom), but are not built just for their user. People might find secondhand active chairs (meaning not custom anymore) or find "floor models", active chairs that are not made custom for anyone for sellers to display. Non-custom active chairs are common for people who can't afford a brand new custom chair.

What is a custom chair?

(plain text: what is a custom chair?)

A custom active wheelchair is an active chair made just for the needs of the person using it. This includes the size of the seat, the type of frame, the type of backrest, the cushion, and really any part on the chair - all made just for the user. Below is an example, the Quickie Nitrum.

Custom active chairs are usually very expensive. Usually a person will need help from an assistance system to afford one - in Australia, the NDIS; in America, health insurance; in the UK, the NHS, and many more. Not every country has a system to help, so they can be hard or impossible to get in a lot of areas.

Later in the movie, when Barbie is crying about how she isn’t pretty anymore, the narrator cuts in to say as a note to the movie creators that Margot Robbie was probably not the best casting choice to make that point. Allan, able to hear and understand the creators voice must have heard this and therefore must know that he is in a movie.

But like, if you don’t find any turtles it might be that there are no turtles or maybe you’re just really shitty at looking for turtles and maybe you THINK you saw a turtle over there or maybe it was just a stick. Maybe there are only a few turtles. Maybe you need to do something special to find the turtles. Maybe a bunch of these rocks are actually turtles but you couldn’t tell them apart. Maybe there are no turtles. You have no idea. Meanwhile some people are saying “Oh there have to be turtles! You’ll find them eventually ;)” or “How many turtles have you found in your pond?” or “Try planting some vegetables at the shore to attract the turtles.” Or “Oh no! What disaster happened to your pond that there are no turtles?” And you’re just standing there wet with an empty net and a tired expression.

But whatever because whether there are turtles or fish or not your pond’s ecology works just fine without them because that’s what eco-communities do they form a system around what they have. You aren’t missing anything if you don’t have turtles you just have a pond system without turtles. If someone tried to change you by pouring a bunch of turtles into your pond it would probably fuck something up.