HMD

[threelayers]

How's my "voice?" Hah, that joke never gets old for me.

Anywho, feel free to drop any constructive criticism you want to share in how I play Neo. Anon is enabled and IP tracking should be off. All comments are initially screened for privacy.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

As discussed, can you provide content warnings for your constant ableist remarks please?

[threelayers]

There is a very very distinct possibility that I am unintentionally including some form of ableism in tags. It's not intentional, but I'm not going to pretend like it couldn't be happening.

I am going to ask for a specific example, please, so that I can identify the comments, include warnings as necessary and remedy the problem moving forward. While the character actively chooses not to use ASL and prefers text/text to talk methods of speaking, the purpose is not meant to portray any sort of elitism.

However, I believe I 'may' know what is causing this issue, so I'm looking for a specific example to confirm. If it's what I think it is, I apologize for not including a warning, will include one immediately to the appropriate network tag and endeavor to keep it up at all times in the future.

[(Anonymous)]

"She had no clue what this woman was trying to say with her fingers and it looked silly and embarrassing for both of them."

"Being mute in Remnant was not a thing overcome. It was a thing pitied and then ignored, like debilitating injuries if you didn't have the kind of resources the Atlas elite had. It just sucked to be you and you moved on."

"In a world that wanted nothing to do with a crippled, worthless soul, only he saw something worth nurturing."

This has nothing to do with so-called "elitism" regarding a communication preference, though that comment in itself is inherently related in ableism as it positions American Sign Language as belonging to a "lesser" class. It is about the continued -- and canonically unfounded -- commentary wherein you continually endeavor to diminish. You mentioned to me previously that there's no canonical evidence for a hatred and fear of ASL, yet you continue to use her to mock the language and promote the belief that it "looks silly" and is "humiliating" to use. Now adding in words that are well known as inappropriate and ableist, and directly comparing disability to human worthlessness when her canon directly portrays her as strong, capable, and an asset to those around her is really just a step beyond.

Discussion of Ableism

[threelayers]

First of all, I apologize for that older tag. I've spoken with a person who is actually functionally deaf since making it and am deeply embarrassed by that particular tag and that direction I took in the initial months of portraying Neopolitan.

That attitude on her part will never be happening again.

However, upon speaking with some fellows on plurk, we've generally concluded that any reference to her backstory or the fact that she felt her society considered her 'lesser' because she could not speak, and the fact that one of the things she loved about a very specific individual was the fact that he did not care and was able to communicate with her clearly at all times, that he understood her where the rest of her world ignored her, would be construed very easily as being references to an ableist culture and should receive a content warning.

Because of this, I've included a content warning on her most recent network tag because conversations within it relate to Roman Torchwick and the above issue.

==========

Again, that particular tag is no longer one that I believe I can edit. If it is one I can edit, toss me a link. I'll immediately go back to the old material and include an ableist tag and if I can actually edit it to remove that, I will. That and several other older tags are deeply embarrassing to me because I understand how they can be easily seen, and that was not how I wished to portray the character, so at this time I do not believe any current material includes any references to ASL being somehow silly or lesser.

However, I do not believe I am currently doing that with any current tags.

Re: Discussion of Ableism

[(Anonymous)]

I'm really happy to know the steps you've taken to address this and grateful for your willingness to share them here. It's definitely not easy to admit fault, or to stand up and say that something got off track and may have caused unintended harm. I certainly agree that it's reasonable to think Neo experienced and internalized ableism due to her mutism, and crab theory is certainly alive and well in disabled communities. But there's a difference between acknowledging and glorifying, and those early tags seemed to fall on the latter side of the equation.

Obviously "cripple" is an ableist slur that should need no explanation. Even when portraying a disabled character, I'm going to side-eye any abled person who chooses to use hateful and harmful language. Thank you for modifying the post to include a content warning, and thanks for being open to the discussion.

You don't need my permission obviously, but if you don't want to see this hanging out in your HMD you're absolutely free to delete or screen again. I'm grateful you took the time to listen and respond.

Re: Discussion of Ableism

[threelayers]

I appreciate that you've given me permission, but I'm a flawed enough player that I think it's better if I acknowledge my flaws and learn from them. I've screwed up enough over the years that god knows I should be mindful it can happen again.

I'll angle to avoid the word "cripple." I don't think I use it right now, but it could slip in unintentionally. Right now, what I'm going to do iin any log or thread that is likely to include a reference to why she loved Roman (the fact that he was never ableist towards her at all, and never once called her his lesser.), I'll include a CW that references "Ableist Culture" Because there are aspects of Remnant that are not cool in modern society, and this happens to be one of them.

I'm doing my best to keep it to acknowledgment, though.

(I found the actual thread in question: It is on another player's log, so I'm going to do what I can to include a warning to that thread specifically, and we'll do our best moving forward. Feel free to private message me any threads that I can change warnings on for older material and I'll try to fix those CW. I'll apply the above CW moving forward. I hope this helps at least protect folks comfort a little better. Thank you for your undertanding.)