The Skellingcorner

[abschaumno1]

[stahscre4m]

there are guys in my dorm who decided to play cards in the elevator

[thewolfofnibu]

see what intrigues me about college isn’t the intellectual pursuit or the bonding or whatever, its the fact that people have the freedom to do random shit like this

[haedia]

Okay, everybody, I have a story about random shit in college. When I was in college, there was a particular class I took where, no matter what time you walked into class, if you made it into the room before the professor, you wouldn’t be counted late. I mean, that’s a pretty cool policy, given how some professors are really obnoxious about attendance. 

Well, one time, a fellow student of mine was running late to class. As she reached the edge of the building, she saw her professor making it to the front steps (super long rectangular building here). He looks up from walking and he sees her. He then points to his watch, gives her a well-meaning “Look who’s late” face, and walks on inside.

What he didn’t know, though, was that this particular student was like freakishly good at bouldering and related climbing skills, so she was just like “Fuck it” and SCALED THE BUILDING!

She tapped on the window of the 4th floor classroom (the floors had like 20ft ceilings, so, she was quite a ways up there), nearly making one student piss himself. They opened the window, she rolled through, onto the floor, and slid into her seat about five seconds before the professor opened the door to the classroom. 

He did a double take, started to say “How the hell d–” when a security guard ran in, red-faced and panting, pointed at her and bellowed “STOP DOING THAT!”

[writingwithcolor]

If you’re not in a group and you want to learn how to write characters in that group respectfully and realistically

[shiraglassman]

1. Read media by people in the group. Fiction, nonfiction, blog posts – anything from “how my day went today” to 300-page epic adventure novels to history pamphlets. (By people in the group, not just about them. This is important.)

2. Google “How not to write a [the group] character” because the odds are that at least a few people in the group have written blog entries rattling off all their least favorite tropes representing their demographic. I’ve seen lesbians writing about how not to write lesbians, Asians talking about offensively-written Asians, etc. Refraining from writing the overused, negative, one-dimensional tropes listed in posts like this is probably a good start.

[downtheupstairs]

I want to emphasize this in relation to writing disabled characters. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve read works - from fanfiction to famous literary works - where it is strikingly obvious that the author has never actually read about or talked to someone with this disability about their experience.

And I understand. Before I became disabled, I too thought that all I needed to know in order to write a disabled character were the facts about the disability. The symptoms, the causes, the treatments, how it impacts the body, etc. I thought that all I needed to know was what doctors have written about it.

But there’s so much more to being disabled than just your impairment. It impacts you socially, financially, emotionally… every single aspect of your life. So, if you want to write about a character with a disability, please please PLEASE read stuff people with that disability or at least a similar disability have written about it. And look into communities on tumblr. Most disabilities have at least a small tumblr community where people talk about their experiences. Also get involved in the ableism community, because unless you are disabled or are reading what disabled people are saying about it you aren’t noticing 90% of the ableism in your life that your character would likely notice.

[shiraglassman]

This is a good addition to my post. So many disabilities have clichéd narratives that fiction learns to repeat from other fiction, not from the experiences of people with that disability.

[sweetlittlevampire]

Alright, so my 3-week internship ist starting tomorrow morning, and I´m just - 
I know there´s probably no need to be afraid. The rational part in me knows this. But nonetheless, right now? I am shaking.

Trying to calm myself down by preparing my lunchbox…

[the-enchanted-storybook]

[just-shower-thoughts]

Maybe only cats can become ghost. That’s why ghosts just knock over stuff and make noises at night.

[magickality]

This is one of the most intelligent things I’ve ever read.

[marvellousbee]

Fun fact

[thecuriousviolet]

Native Americans weren’t allowed US citizenship until 1924.

Let that sink in. We lived here first…for thousands of years. And less than a hundred years ago we were finally given citizenship.

[istamaza]

We also fought in WWI despite not being US citizens.

[the-yaadihla-girls]

In Arizona, natives weren’t granted the right to vote until 1948. Think how that type of neglect ties into resource colonization as infrastructure was developed within years prior. 

[giizhigaate]

In addition: the indigenous peoples of Canada were not recognized as Human Beings until the year 1960.
Now let that shit sink in.

[fatbodypolitics]

In the US it wasn’t until 1968 that the Indian Civil Rights Act was passed and allowed for the right to freedom of speech / assembly / press, a jury trial, the right to an attorney etc. It’s so fucking frustrating.

[beoriseyo]

and it wasn’t until 1978 that we were legally allowed to practice our own religions. in a nation founded on religious freedoms, it was illegal to practice our own religions. in our own country. how fucked up is that?

[wtfzurtopic]

Aaaand Native Americans weren’t entitled to their own languages (had no legal rights to teach them in their schools, use them in business) until the Native American Language Act of 1990.

[jeankd]

I teach this to my students, because NONE of it is in a single textbook. This is and act of indoctrination

[smallrevolutionary]

Boosting because I didn’t know any of this.

[travelerofthetimestreams]

These facts should be known by all.

[writingwithcolor]

Writing With Color – Featured POC Profiles

Writing With Color is grateful to receive PoC Profiles from folks all over the world, PoC Profiles being a snapchat in the life of folks of marginalized race, ethnic and religious groups who share their stories. This post features some that have gained traction from readers and resonated with many (Based on 2014-2016 results).

Top Frequented Profiles

• Female Korean-American Teenager 
  
• Orthodox Jewish 
  
• Mexican Woman (born and raised) 
  
• Americanized Mexican-American Teen Girl 
  
• Being White-passing and Native in America 
  
• Being a Nonbinary Black Teen 
  
• Being Chicana 
• Chinese-Canadian
  
• One Perspective of a Filipino American
  
• Being a Queer Asian Scientist
  

Personal Experiences on Important Topics

• Missing Links and Identity Issues
  
• Racism/Microaggressions among POC
  
• “Next Village Over” Face Mixed Woman
  

We highly encourage reading all of the perspectives WWC readers have to offer. You may find them insightful, especially in regards to getting that “real” perspective as well as learning more of how people would like to be portrayed in media, as many offer thoughts on their representation.

View the rest of the collection of PP here.

If you’ve got some experiences to share as a PoC and/or ethnic or religiously marginalized person, submit them to writingwithcolor.tumblr.com/submit.

Don’t know where to start? Topic ideas provided here.

–WWC

[soundcloudgems]

Marian Hill - Down

[marvellousbee]

[aadammichaellee-blog]

This has been my jam recently.

[writingwithcolor]

Yes, in my novel, the Ancient Egyptians are Black

[ktempest]

A few weeks ago I was having a conversation with an indie publisher ((Whose name I won’t reveal here because they might not want everyone and their mama to know they have this opinion.)) about an anthology project they’ve been wanting to do for a long time: speculative fiction stories set in Ancient Egypt where the only rule about the stories is that the authors must make it clear that the…

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[lookatthewords]

“So yeah, it is a bit of a radical act to stipulate that stories set in Ancient Egypt should have Black Egyptians and I can sort of understand not wanting to walk into that particular hornet’s nest willy nilly. Still though. I’m ready and waiting for this anthology to become a reality because I will just write a story set in the Steampunk Egypt world my novel is set in. Because, other than wanting to ensure the culture I crafted is matriarchal, my other base reality is that all the native Egyptians in the book are Black. I intend to mark their dark skin colors as often as I can get away with, and using language that makes it clear they and other people in Egypt consider that skin to be beautiful. Hell, everything about their features will be marked as the epitome of beauty and the standard by which people of nearby countries judge themselves by.”