If We Wanted To Engage In Nuance (lol, Lmao) On The "are Audiobooks Reading" Debate, We Really Do Need

If we wanted to engage in nuance (lol, lmao) on the "are audiobooks reading" debate, we really do need to bring literacy, and especially blind literacy, into the conversation.

Because, yes, listening to a story and reading a story use mostly the same parts of the brain. Yes, listening to the audiobook counts as "having read" a book. Yes, oral storytelling has a long, glorious tradition and many cultures maintained their histories through oral history or oral + art history, having never developed a true written language, and their oral stories and histories are just as valid and rich as written literature.

We still can't call listening in the absence of reading "literacy."

The term literacy needs to stay restricted to the written word, to the ability to access and engage with written texts, because we need to be able to talk about illiteracy. We need to be able to identify when a society is failing to teach children to read, and if we start saying that listening to stories is literacy, we lose the ability to describe those systemic failures.

Blind folks have been knee-deep in this debate for a long time. Schools struggle to provide resources to teach students Braille and enforcing the teaching of Braille to low-vision and blind children is a constant uphill battle. A school tried to argue that one girl didn't need to learn Braille because she could read 96-point font. Go check what that is. The new prevalence of audiobooks and TTS is a huge threat to Braille literacy because it provides institutions with another excuse to not provide Braille education or Braille texts.

That matters. Braille-literate blind and low-vision people have a 90% employment rate. For those who don't know Braille, it's 30%. Braille literacy is linked to higher academic success in all fields.

Moving outside the world of Braille, literacy of any kind matters. Being able to read text has a massive impact on a person's ability to access information, education, and employment. Being able to talk about the inability to read text matters, because that's how we're able to hold systems accountable.

So, yes, audiobooks should count as reading. But, no, they should not count as literacy.

Reasons to Love Timber:

Crazy even for a vigilante x Most un-civilian civilian

Same trauma different trauma responses

Tim dating someone even the Bats are scared of

Buy 1 Timbern get 1 QPR with Darla Aquista free

The objective hilarity of Tim being surrounded by superpowered men in spandex punching people out without a gay awakening, but Bernard rolls up his sleeves and takes out one (1) guy and Tim's third eye is wide fucking open

One of them says something insane like "I hacked into the Pentagon once" or "My uncle Freddy taught me to drive. Now I know stuff like how to survive swerving off a bridge." and the other says some variation of "I'm so in love with you" or "Marry me" or "You wanna get a room?"

Neither of them holding back from taking potshots at each other

The fact that Tim knew Bernard before he knew Jason or Damian

MILF and DILF lover Bernard Dowd vs. Cannot-stop-collecting-parental figures Tim Drake Fight

Bruce trying to shovel-talk Bernard and him just panicking and blurting "Smash" on impulse and both Tim and Bernard dying of embarrassment while Bruce is just confused

Tim Drake, seasoned vigilante, dating a civilian who can not only whoop his ass, but will do so upon request

Bernard being the most kidnapped man in Gotham and Tim just having to deal with that every week, to the point where he just incorporates it into his schedule

The two of them being the most insane people in the room and conversing about something that seems normal to them but scares the fuck out of everyone else in the room

The two of them stargazing on the tallest gargoyle in Gotham before writing their initials into the base with Sharpie

Louis Grieve Trio being a literal love triangle (Tim was dating Steph, Darla had a thing for Tim, Bernard had a thing for Darla and also apparently for Tim, who apparently had a thing for him too. Also, Darla kissed Bernard on the cheek once.)

High school Bernard creating the wildest theories about Batman and Robin, while Tim refutes the idea that they even exist but then doing a bunch of stupid public stunts as Robin just to watch Bernard melt down the next day at school

Trying to toss popcorn into each other's mouths while watching a movie and absolutely losing their shit when they manage to land one

Both of them having to deal with a massive amount of comphet

Tim having no care for his safety or weakened immune system and Bernard still-scarred-by-Darla-dying-in-his-arms patching him up with a haunted look in his eyes that makes Tim reconsider being so reckless this time around

Best Friends Both Secretly See Each Other As the Sidekick

Both of them being skater boys but in different directions- Tim loving skateboarding and Bernard loving figure skating. They find a compromise in rollerskating and spend afternoons trying not to fall flat on their butts and pecking each other on the lips as they help each other up

"Bernard, I think I have a crush on you... What do you mean we've been dating for two months?"

"What do you mean those kisses were romantic? I thought this was a French thing? ... We were in Paris for a week, give me a break!"

Tim dating the one person Jack Drake hated with a passion

Dana laughing hysterically when Tim tells her he's going out with Bernard Dowd- yes, the same guy who used to flirt with her when he invited him over to lunch- and then fighting off laughter again when Bernard stage-whispers to her that he'd be willing to leave Tim in a heartbeat if she ever changes her mind (while Tim goes redder by the second)

Trying to summon a ghost and bickering about who will chicken out first before they get startled by a loud noise and both run out at the same time

Epic videogame battles

The Batfam gearing up to threaten Bernard because he's an ex-cultist and organ seller and being shocked when Bernard threatens them back because Bruce objectively sucks at parenting, Jason tried to murder Tim once, Damian tried to murder him more than once and listen, maybe they won't stay together forever, but Tim will always be his best friend, and anyone who messes with his friends is On Sight

"Uh, this theory seems a little crazy, even for you." "No, no, hear him out."

Bernard secretly holding a resentment toward Tim and Darla for leaving him to go be vigilantes because he never truly moved on from Louis Grieves and it hurts to know they were off doing more important things while he relived the gang war over and over again

Both Tim and Bernard being touch-starved but Tim being touch-averse (if you held him he might just fall apart) and Bernard being touchy (please hold him to keep him from falling apart)

Tim frantically trying to hide his secret identity while Bernard knows and just trolls him the whole time

Achilles and Patroclus-coded dynamic

Tim having polaroids of all his old school friends (Ives, Ariana, Danny, etc.) and then stopping by Bernard's every once in a while to run his fingertips across the edges and notice the differences in his features- not just physical aging, but how the edge of his smile used to be a lot smugger, the light in his eyes a little dimmer now

Metalhead Tim vs. ABBA enthusiast Bernard

Tim spending days poring over a case before Bernard casually walks in and looks over his shoulder at the plans. He offhandedly mentions something and then it all clicks into place for Tim, who kisses him on the lips before running out to take down the baddie

One of them going on a longwinded rant beside a conspiracy board absolutely covered in red string and photographs. Everyone in the room turns to their boyfriend with an exclamation of "Uh... Do you wanna stop him- ookaayyyy." When they find the other just staring at them with the widest heart eyes, actively adding in input every time the other stops to take a breath.

Darla finding out the two of them are dating and squawking indignantly that this better not mean that they're gonna turn her into a third wheel now before forcibly crashing all of their dates (neither of them mind because this means it'll be easier to keep her safe and keep her from dying on them again)

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ohtobefightingthefoos

2 months ago

suzanne collins coming back to make her point even more this time around bc people are still too ignorant to get it god i would die for this woman

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ohtobefightingthefoos

4 months ago

u know what makes me cry..... that one van gogh quote about life changing for the better..... “many people seem to think it foolish, even superstitious, to believe that the world could still change for the better. and it is true that in winter it is sometimes so bitingly cold that one is tempted to say, ‘what do i care if there is a summer; its warmth is no help to me now.’ yes, evil often seems to surpass good. but then, in spite of us, and without our permission, there comes at last an end to the bitter frosts. one morning the wind turns, and there is a thaw. and so i must still have hope.” yeah..... Crying....

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ohtobefightingthefoos

4 weeks ago

[gripping the sink] perfectionism does not help me avoid embarrassment or shame. perfectionism is in itself a form of shame. when i struggle with perfectionism i struggle with shame. when i struggle with perfectionism i struggle with shame. when i struggle with perfectionism i struggle with shame

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ohtobefightingthefoos

4 weeks ago