I had a blind professor, last semester, and I swung through his office to make up an exam. It was a while before I knew he was in there because he was sitting with the lights off. I finally went in, apologized, and took the exam by the light of a nearby window (which was fine). Forty-five minutes into dead silence he panicked and yelled in this booming voiced, “WAIT, YOU CAN SEE!!!” before diving across his desk to turn on the lights. I’m sure he was embarrassed but I thought it was endearing and it highlighted a large aspect of disabled life that I hadn’t previously considered.
Sort of relatedly I once had professor who was deaf, but she had learned to read lips and speak so she could communicate easily with hearing people who didn’t know sign language. One day she had gotten off topic and was talking a little about her personal life, so that one of the students said “Oh, I know, I grew up in Brooklyn too.”
She stared at him for a long time and then said “How do you know I’m from Brooklyn?”
And he said “You have a Brooklyn accent.”
She said “I do?” and the whole class nodded, and then she burst out laughing and said “I had no idea! The school where I learned to speak was in Brooklyn. I learned by moving my mouth and tongue the way my teachers did. So I guess it makes sense that I have their accent, I just never thought about it.”
I had a teacher who couldn’t see color (
Achromatopsia ) and on the first day of class, he told us to tell him if his clothes clashed because he could not tell.
196 - ESPEFIELD - An Espefield is extremely LOYAL to any Jon it considers to be WORTHY. Unfortunately, it has not yet found a Jon that fits the bill, so it is loyal ONLY TO ITSELF.
If you don’t like the fandom, consider the fact that things tend to become popular and generate large fandoms because something about them is good! Harry Potter, The Original Star Wars trilogy, Game of Thrones, Portal… all aren’t to the tastes of everyone but they are generally accepted to outstanding examples of their respective mediums, which can be used to showcase how to do certain things right. Homestuck is the same way.
If you don’t know if it’s your thing, it’s worth checking out if you like:
Strong well-written characters and possibly the best example of character voice I’ve ever seen
well done time travel
stories with an excellent balance of seriousness and humor
good world building and lore
an interesting story that manages to be complex and yet easy to read
an inclusive cast
a story where the lesbians get married instead of dying at the end
video games
the internet
stories that make you think in an enjoyable way
fourth wall breaking (that somehow manages not to actually disrupt the story)
have I mentioned the characters? Because they’re really good
Reasons not to
you don’t like any of the above things
You just can’t stand anything that’s not non-fiction as a personal preference
You also may be annoyed at hearing it recommended a lot and think it’s worth denying yourself an amazing experience just to stick it to the people who can’t shut up about it (ironically giving them power over what you experience and why.) If so, it’s your choice, but I personally don’t find it the best way of experiencing things!
Lastly, the beginning can be weird/confusing and seem like it’s not for you. It sort of jumps into things, and you may think “I don’t like this, this is clearly something that was designed for reader submissions and I won’t get much out of it reading it after the submissions were already chosen.” I can guess these thoughts, because they were mine, and why it took me so many years to read it. Let me just say its a lot more than it appears, and those factors disappear by the end. Think of it as a conversation going on that adds another level to things.
Did I miss any reasons? Are those reasons not enough?
