#Discrimination Against Dwarves

[msclaritea]

Taika Waititi's 'Time Bandits' Reboot Ditches Dwarfs, Stars Lisa Kudrow Leading 'Idiots' | Cosmic Book News

The original is a huge cult-classic

The original is a huge cult classic among those who watched Terry Gilliam’s Time Bandits movie in the ’80s — especially that ending.

The film kicks off in young Kevin’s room where six dwarfs have stolen a cosmic map and are looking for a way to escape before they are discovered by the Supreme Being who wants the map back.

Well, hence the title, the boy ends up with the group of dwarfs as they escape through time leading to all kinds of super cool adventures. And again, that ending.

Lisa Kudrow leads “a band of idiots through time” says Waititi

So, apparently, what is happening in the Taika Waititi reboot, is that while the TV series will feature an 11-year-old Kevin similar to the original film, Lisa Kudrow plays Penelope, the leader of the group of thieves, and all the dwarfs have been ditched in favor of non-dwarf actors.

EW.com has a first look (above) which includes Kudrow as Penelope front and center along with the other “Time Bandits” that make up the group, with actors Tadhg Murphy (Alto), Roger Jean Nsengiyumva (Widgit), Kal-El Tuck (Kevin), Kiera Thompson (Saffron), and Rune Temte (Bittelig).

In addition to David Rappaport as Randall, the original movie also starred Kenny Baker as Fidgit, Malcom Dixon as Strutter, Mike Edmonds as Og, Jack Purvis and Wally, and Tiny Ross as Vermin. Not to mention greats like Sean Connery and John Cleese.

Reimagines the classic story

According to the description in the article, “The new Time Bandits reimagines the classic story over 10 episodes, following Kevin as he falls in with a group of marauders led by Lisa Kudrow’s Penelope.“

“I just love Lisa Kudrow and thought it’d be awesome to see her leading a band of idiots through time,” Waititi told the site.

Big controversy

Charlyne Yi also stars in the series as Judy and recently posted to social media that she was “physically assaulted” and “psychologically abused” on the set of Waititi’s Time Bandits.

“I was not safe, supported or protected. I was physically assaulted multiple times by an actor, as well as psychologically abused,” the 38-year-old actor and comedian posted to Instagram. Yi further claimed that she was “gaslit by coworkers, producers, and HR,” “coerced to quit,” and denied workers’ compensation for the back injury and PTSD she allegedly sustained during filming.

“I am tired of being met with retaliation for protecting my life and others,” Yi wrote, adding that she was also seeking a lawyer and a new manager.

A Paramount TV spokesperson told EW.com: “The safety of our cast and crew is very important to us, and we take all concerns that are raised to us very seriously. At the time of the complaint, Paramount Television Studios conducted a full investigation regarding allegations that were brought to our attention. While all investigations are confidential and we cannot comment on specifics, additional steps were taken to address concerns.”

Good for her. A shame others aren't so brave.

[fidenciocryptidcreechur]

sebek Zigvolt deserves more appreciation

him & rook hunt

They're just

I just

I just like them as so much as characters.

rook is unapologetically himself. He stays true to himself and his ideals no matter what anyone says. Even though literally everyone, including his closest friend Vil, thinks he's weird and even off-putting. Don't get me wrong about Vil. He and Rook are amazingly close but there are multiple instances where Vil finds Rook irritating. He is often told in some manner to curb himself, to tone down his passion for finding the beauty & positivity in all things. All he does is be unabashedly genuine & passionate & artistic & honest. He's also one of the few characters who is relatively kind to Game Canon You from beginning to end in game Canon. In multiple instances in his dialogue he invites others to join him in his hobbies and activities and despite being faced w/ hostility. Even on his birthday, Malleus did not want to go despite sending an invite-which yes Mal can have preferences - but still the fact that the King of lonely rejects an invite shows how fairly isolated Rook is. Yet despite criticism from all around, he maintains this unending positivity & drive to improve. I love Rook hunt

Sebek too. He is a very driven & honest Character. In multiple vignettes he is shown to be helpful, to Show care, to Show admiration for skill in his peers. Yes, he is standoffish. However, he is not deceitful nor manipulative nor does he seem to intend harm unlike a great deal of many especially early on. A lot of comments about humans seem to stem from internalized racism. There is a lot of canonical instances discrimination against fae, especially those who are notably different dwarves & the pixies. So it would be unsurprising if Sebek also grew up under discrimination AND scrutiny both from human community & the fae Community. We know that his grandfather Baul is very vocal about his disapproval of his fae daughter's marriage w/ a human. Yet despite this, he still does his best & still clearly cares. He grew up w/ parents who went against a lot of opposition to be together and are very loving and likely took some of that determination & attitude w/ him in life. He will give praise for skill and will help those he can. His circumstances & upbringing (Scrutiny & discrimination from both fae & humans, even his own grandfather though he mentions that progress has been made there). Despite all of this, he is doing his best and is a wonderfully genuine and honest and expressive and determined guy

So yeah

I love Sebek and Rook. They're great characters and I think they need more appreciation.

also these 2 put the Sebek appreciation way more eloquently than I

[grimbluesins]

I HAVE AN AU!!!! WHAT

WILD KRATTS — SHAPESHIFTER AU

INTRODUCTION

============

Even in a land of marvelous magic and technology, hatred, fear, and prejudice sweep through the people like a plague. The four major races— humans, elves, dwarves, and orcs— have established their own nations, leaving little to no land for anyone else. They discriminate against all of the other humanoid races and call them the “otherfolk” as a way to distance themselves from them.

These otherfolk include mammalians, avians, dragonblooded, reptilians, merfolk, and fey. There are many subraces of these larger umbrellas, but one of the rarest and most elusive races of otherfolk are the shapeshifters. They’re a very rare type of fey that can change their shape at will. When they’re born, they take on the form of their mother, and eventually give themselves a more permanent humanoid form as they continue growing.

However, this is not what the shape of their soul is, and they cannot feel whole until they find their “true form:” the living being that matches the shape of their soul. Every true form is unique to the shifter, and it usually takes a lifetime for a shifter to find their true form. One of their major drawbacks is being unable to turn into something they have never seen before. They must have a clear image or memory of the thing.

The true form quest is the greatest and most important endeavor for shapeshifters, but due to their treatment within society, taking on such a quest is monumentally difficult.

If a shapeshifter is discovered, different things will happen to them depending on what nation they’re found in. Humans will typically enslave or experiment on them, elves will often imprison or execute them, dwarves find them delectable, and orcs have little use for them outside of turning them into concubines or forcing them to become the tribe’s spies. Due to their awful treatment and reputation, many otherfolk shun them and they are considered the scum of the earth. Most shifters are too terrified to leave their secret fey colonies to ever fulfill their rite of passage.

Two shapeshifter brothers have just begun to set out on their true forms quest along with their adopted human cousin. They know it’ll be difficult and dangerous, and they’re optimistic, but they haven’t seen nothing yet.

[teriri-sayes]

Reactions to Chaos Creator's Chapter 252

New chapter title - 31. Chaos Plus Chaos

TL;DR - Cale talks to White Snake, Past Dragon, and Horns. The world only has 1-2 months left before destruction. CJG disappears after heading to a ruined temple. Chaos creator Cale agrees to meet with chaos dreamer Pope Kesilia.

World Destruction Lots of info dump today. Cale met the white snake in her human form. She introduced herself as Wisha, and her appearance reminded Cale of Clopeh because of their similar hair and eye colors. And when Cale saw Clopeh staring at Wisha, he wondered what Clopeh had been doing in the battle earlier, and felt uneasy... 😂

I wonder how Clopeh's family is related to Wisha. Their similarities are too many to be called a coincidence. The Sekka family's symbol is a white snake, and Wisha has the form of a white snake. So it's possible that someone related to Wisha had gone to Cale's world centuries ago, like how we suspect the Thames to originally be the Snow family.

Moving on, I'll summarize the info we learned today:

When the source of the world runs out, the world will collapse.

All the living beings will be full of extreme emotions when that happens. They'll either die in search of their gods, or die in immense despair.

The Dragon Lord plans to harvest everything they leave behind, which include the intense emotions and dead mana, and use it to create an absolute god.

Not all elves followed the dragons. So do the dwarves.

Wisha found a way to contact the source of the world, aka Aipotu itself, though she got hurt through the process.

Aipotu only has 1-2 months left before destruction.

The dragons and their minions (the elves) knew about this countdown, but the mixed blood dragons did not.

The mixed blood dragons were bound to die soon, so the dragons excluded them from the plan.

The mixed blood dragons were pampered, so that when their end came, the mbds would die with hope or despair, making them quality ingredients for the Dragon Lord.

The Dragon Lord was aware of the mbd's rebellion plan.

There seemed to be some beef between Wisha and Horns. Wisha was called by Horns to be a "great pureblood" who discriminated against "lowly half-bloods", saying that kicking out the young half-blood children was akin to sentencing them to death. Wisha called out Horns, telling him that a heinous person who killed lots of beastkin had no right to say that. In the end, Cale had to use his DA to calm the two down.

Chaos Everywhere Cale set three goals. First was to meet Aipotu through the safe method that Wisha found. Second was to defeat the Purple Bloods. Third was to find more allies in this world.

Thus, Cale asked Horns if he could set up a meeting with Pope Kesilia. Horns was confused because he had just told Cale about the pope's plan to cause chaos, but Cale said that he was someone who was good at causing chaos too, so they had something in common. Oooh, the chaos creator meets a chaos dreamer! 🤣🤣🤣

After Cale's meeting with Horns and Wisha, he had a conversation with Past Dragon. I found it strange that the author did not give him a name when she gave Wisha one. Anyway, Past Dragon told Cale, CH, CJS, and Sui about what happened to CJG.

CJG headed to a ruined temple in a southern jungle to verify the stories he heard from Wisha and the Past Dragon. That ruined temple belonged to... the God of Chaos! They lost contact with CJG after that.

Everyone was shocked to hear about this new god. Cale recalled that the God of Chaos was one of the 5 ancient gods. Sui warned CJS to be careful of what he says about that god.

And the God of Death who was listening to them was continuously sending out angry messages. Poor GoD had been pulling all-nighters for several days, investigating the wanderer list because CJS and Sui had been pestering him to. He was troubled with the God of War, and now, there was also the God of Chaos.

Cale eventually assigned Sui to investigate CJG's disappearance. Why Sui though? Even Sui told CH and CJS that it would be better for him to go than them.

Ending Remarks All the chaos mention in this chapter was funny. But poor GoD. Fortunately, gods don't die, so he won't die from overworking. 😂 Next chapter will be Cale's meeting with Pope Kesilia... No, wait. Isn't it time for Cale to talk to HBD and give him a name already? Come on, author-nim! Please don't delay it any further!

[aquadestinyswriting]

Ayyyy, Aqua! :D Happy STS! So I'm making my way through Titan Modern AU, and . . . actually, take two questions on it. 8)

I have legitimately looked everywhere, and I am severely curious. :') Have you thought of a title for this one, or is its title literally just Titan Modern AU?

More importantly, tho, how much did you have to change to make the world of Fangthane's Folly fit the modern day? (And what did you end up keeping? I notice there's magic and dwarves, but how different are these bits compared to their DnD roots?)

Hope this ask finds you well! :D o/

Hi Jax, this is technically a day late, but not really because time zones are a thing :P. I am very well, thank you. I am enjoying the fact that the words seem to be flowing quite easily for the time being and taking advantage of that to write a lot for all my ongoing series and creating new ones. Thanks very much for the questions, I have a lot to talk about with this AU :D. Answers are under a cut because the second one is going to get quite long.

Question 1

I don't currently have an actual title for this one yet. I have a tendency to title WIPs towards the end of writing them and this one is no exception. I have some vague ideas, but I'm not too concerned about it just yet. Especially since there's a high possibility that this one is going to throw some major curveballs my way once I get into the thick of the plot that might well change the kind of title I want to give it.

Question 2

Ah, the dwarves are technically not a thing for this one. Everyone is more or less human, unless it's directly stated otherwise. The reason Fangthanian women can have beards at all is down to a slight genetic quirk which means they are pre-disposed to much higher testosterone levels than average. The Throffite community, in particular, is very insular and tend to inter-marry within themselves due to a history of discrimination against them.

As to how I changed the setting to fit with the modern aesthetic:

I've modelled Fangthane city a little bit after towns like Fort William, since the location of Fangthane in Allansia has a relatively similar geography to that of the Scottish Highlands. So Fangthane city is no longer built into the mountain, but is a city that was built very close to the mountain (which is now called Ben Oir). Extrapolating from there, and taking into account the maps that exist of Allansia, it was a a matter of figuring out how and why there would be outposts for the kingdom that are so far away from the capital. In that case, an old empire made a lot of sense, and taking into account the relative time period this AU is set in (roughly the 90s to early 2000s), it also made sense that said empire had been disbanded, but that communities deriving from it still exist (hence why Stonebridge and Firetop are still mainly natively Fangthanian). So, yeah, culturally speaking Fangthane is basically the UK transplanted into Allansia at this point.

I wanted some of the history of Toreguarde to remain intact because there are plot things related to that that will pop up later in the story. The city was almost destroyed, officially, by what is considered to have been a terrorist organisation that was working on behalf of another state and/or one of the ruling council of Toreguarde of the time who went just teeny bit mad with power (Greydown was an absolute ass in canon, and is in this AU too).

As the setting, rather purposefully, appears to be lacking in magic, no mentions are made of demons, portals or the breaking of reality, even by those who were present at the time. The remaining Heroes still exist, but I'm working out what their exact roles in all that were. Egrim is still a priest, so that's him covered. Alexis, upon talking to Dru about it, was probably a sniper that was a part of the military forces of Toreguarde at the time, while Selene was probably some sort of science-y nerd person brought in to help explain some of the weirder stuff that went on that was kind of acknowledged and then later given plausible and sensible scientific explanations. She just happened to be somewhat decent at this diplomacy lark when communication with the reinforcements from Fangthane started going south, hence her current role in the story. She probably worked quite closely with Ivan, who I have yet to figure out the details of, with regards to that. I also need to figure out what Fai did and what happened to him...

I am doing a lot of this worldbuilding and adjusting Fantasy canon on the fly, to be quite honest, so not a lot of it is set in stone just yet. However, I have given some thought to the Throffite community both in Fangthane and in Toreguarde and some of their history and culture, drawing a lot on what I established about Throffism in the fantasy canon and doing some major research into the irl history of such things to make sure that anything I write about it is handled as sensitively as possible. I have also written copious notes on the hows and whys of the fractious relationship between Fangthane and Toreguarde that would fit in with more modern (Western, as that is what I'm familiar with) political norms.

[valacirya]

So i wanted to send an ask about thingol, especially regarding the "cultural genocide" anon. I in no way want to sound rude, but I do disagree with a lot of points.

Re the quenya ban: while I would not describe it as an act of a cultural genocide, I still do not think Thingol was justified in doing it. There are many ways to enforce consequences besides banning the language of an entire ethnos. It does not bear many consequences asides symbolics at all.

One might say Thingol was protecting the culture of Sindar from assimilation by the Noldor: but by the time he placed the ban the Noldor were in Beleriand for well over sixty years, during which they managed to lay a siege on Angband. Maybe Thingol realises that they will not be able to defeat Morgoth without the Valar: but the alternative is to be killed by Morgoth now, because the Valar won't come, and the Siege of Angband does prevent Morgoth from doing it. Nonetheless, the Noldor have a) proven that they have come to Beleriand to fight Morgoth and b) did not commit any acts of cultural crimes, and the lands they settled on were given to them by Thingol. If anything, if Thingol thinks the language to be that important to the culture, it's he who strives to culturally assimilate the Noldor, not vice versa.

It is also worth noting that the main reason the Noldor came to Beleriand - one of the main reasons Feanor was motivated to come to Beleriand - is because they wanted to fight and defeat Morgoth. "Lands to rule" were one of the motives Fëanor used to persuade the crowd, and they worked - but, again, the lands the Noldor settled in are given to them by Thingol. Besides, Galadriel (whose main motivation were lands to rule) spends most of the First Age ruling nothing and living in Doriath instead; Finrod, who has the biggest kingdom and similar motivations to Galadriel, got his lands by Thingol's will too.

Re: racism; Thingol is known for being racist/xenephobic/discriminating. There's literally no going around that. First, the Sindar (whom Thingols is the leader of) hunt down the Petty Dwarves; then, the humans were not allowed to cross the Girdle, with Beren being the first exception due to the power of Doom or similar forces (and, after Beren, Thingol debates imprisoning Morwen in the CoH, which shows he does not view her as his equal - and, let's be honest, after lifetime in Angband it does not take much to pity Húrin); and, notably, he calls dwarves an "uncouth race" (top ten last words, rip my guy).

Thingol is a great character, and often gets a lot of undeserved hate, but he also has his own flaws, often very serious. I in no way want to sound rude or offensive or "shit on" your posts, as the last anon said, but this has bugged me, so I wanted to state my opinion.

Thank you for the ask, anon, and I appreciate the way you worded it.

I agree that banning Quenya was not a good thing, but I understand why he did it. I'm not sure what other consequences he could have enforced? He didn't have the military force to take on the Noldor (I don't think he would have even if he did since he recognized them as allies against Morgoth). There's no concept of trade sanctions or economic consequences. The Noldor wouldn't let their princes stand trial in Doriath. The ban was also a soft power move to demonstrate that the Sindar were loyal to Thingol above all. Symbolic power is important, and it was a response to the kinslaying.

I disagree with the claim that the Noldor didn't commit any cultural heritage crimes. The theft and burning of the Teleri's swan ships was absolutely a cultural crime. And the Teleri used to be Thingol's people and are his brother's people.

I also agree with his decision to not fight. Like I said, Doriath had to survive. He knew about the Doom and avoided being enmeshed in it (until the business with the Silmaril, which was absolutely a bad move). The Girdle was strong enough to withstand Morgoth, and Thingol had fought and won against him once (though at great cost); multiple times in the Silm he is said to be Morgoth's enemy so I don't think for a second that he abandoned the fight. His decision to stay out of the fight was strategically sound and in Doriath's interest. Not to mention he accepted Sindarin refugees after Bragollach and Noldorin refugees after the fall of Nargothrond.

You have a good point that the Noldor dwelt in the land that Thingol allowed them to. Personally, though, I don't think this or the ban was an attempt to assimilate the Noldor but rather to protect the Sindarin people and culture. Thingol may not have been able to defend those lands, but the Sindar do consider him king of Beleriand as evidenced by their immediate enforcement of his decree.

If I recall correctly, the Finwean grandchildren all wanted to go to Beleriand to rule. I think it was a motivation almost equal to the desire to defeat Morgoth. The language Feanor uses to describe Beleriand I feel has uncomfortable undertones. In my opinion, Galadriel's decision to stay in Doriath was an acknowledgment of that and her complicity in the theft of the swan ships, her decision to continue after the kinslaying and also lying by omission to Thingol and Melian. And for Celeborn of course.

Lastly, I agree that Thingol often acted discriminately. However, he is shown to change his behavior when he learns better. If I recall correctly, the hunting of the Petty Dwarves (which was horrific) stopped when the Sindar learned who they were after establishing contact with Nogrod and Belegost. He changed his attitude towards Men after Beren proved himself, and even before that, he sent aid to the Haladin during Bragollach. I'm not condoning that he didn't allow Men into the Girdle, but that was because he had troubling dreams about them and because Melian prophesized that one with greater power/doom than her would enter. And after Beren and Luthien, Men are allowed in. As for the Dwarves, I absolutely condemn how Thingol insults them and his death was stupid and entirely preventable. However, I think this was a Silmaril and dragon gold-influenced event since we are told that Thingol had a friendship with the Dwarves. They built Menegroth together (I think the exact quote is the "Dwarves labored gladly for him"); the Dwarves came and went freely and adopted the Cirth; they also made weapons for Thingol who paid them fairly with Falathrin pearls. I'm not absolving Thingol of blame (or the Dwarves either), but I don't think this particular scenario was indicative of his actual attitude towards them. If anything, it showed the dangerous power of the Silmaril and the corruption of the dragon gold; and through it, how deeply Morgoth's evil ran through Beleriand.

Ultimately, with all these points everyone has their own opinion/interpretation. I don't expect others to agree with me or like Thingol. I think the Quenya ban was understandable, others might find it unacceptable. We can have engaging and polite conversations about this stuff without changing each others' minds. Really the only thing I would be forceful about is treating fanon as canon. Other than that, you do you boo.

Also, I apologize if I didn't respond to any part of your ask; I'm at work and a bit distracted.

[echthr0s]

@bodysnatch3r replied to your post “it is so surreal to me that the oh-so-long-awaited...”:

i think we're still in early days. i caught a glimpse of a post today saying that bioware is Actively Discriminating against elves in favour of presenting the dwarves as victims of elven imperialism. we'll get there.

​listen, discourse will always crop up eventually but there's something special about the way big fandoms can somehow generate viral discourse on Day 0 of new content dropping. especially DA fandom, packed full of known infighting experts using their humanities degrees for evil. 2 weeks is an eternity in Internet Time™, this relative silence is a cry for help is what it is

[legendaryevokercupcake]

Friendly reminder to the RoP fans who don't know the original lore:

Valandil is Isildur's son (But let's be honest, he was more raised by Elrond)

Galadriel is older than the sun

Elven men canonically have long hair

Elrond was found by Maedhros and Maglor and also is not, in fact, an orphan, his mom is a bird and his dad is a star and they may or may not be divorced

Isildur, Ar-Pharazon, Miriel, Valandil, and almost all of the rest of Gondor and Numenor's royals are Elrond's nieces and nephews.

Galadriel has a husband and a daughter

A daughter who IS MARRIED TO ELROND

Gondolin

In Valinor, one year is a century long. 20 years to an elf is only about three months to a human.

A Durin would not be the son of another Durin

None of these events happen anywhere near one another in the timeline

Galadriel sees right through Sauron instantly, she does not fall in love with him

Nor does she fall in love with Elrond, as he is her son-in-law and also her therapist

And finally, a reminder to the Tolkein purists:

PEOPLE CAN BE BLACK.

Elves can, and in fact, probably were, people of color. Only the Noldor were probably ever genuinely white. The Sindar, the Vanyar, the Falmari, all of them were probably various POC.

In the final version of the canon, dwarf women having beards was uncertain, and even if it was 100% sure that the group of dwarves we know had women with beards, Disa is clearly a different ethnicity, and possibly a different culture, so it is entirely possible that she would not have a beard.

Arondir was a prisoner, and elven prisoners likely had their hair cut to insult or disgrace them, so it is entirely possible that he would have short hair at the time he is shown.

Elrond, Disa and Durin are cute. It does not matter that they aren't canon. People can like these characters. I liked several of them myself, though I found some quite flat and one-dimensional.

As long as you aren't hurting anybody, discriminating against anybody, or erasing someone else's hard work (ahem, Tolkein's elvish language and customs) you can do whatever you want. Hell, I kinda want to ship Disa and Celebrian. I'm not hurting anyone, so I can do just that! (Amazon, however, is hurting people. Know that before you go into this.)

[lasnevadaslaborunion]

For clarification, a character in WoW was Twinbraid, a white dwarf, whom in vanilla, wiped out an entire tribe of tauren, whom are blatantly coded as Native American, whilst citing imperialism and racial superiority as his motivation, also colonizing their land and building a giant military fortress over it.

Than in Cataclysm, Twinbraid took part in a wounded knee allegory, once again on the tauren, and killed goblin civiliians out of sheer racism.

In Mists of Pandaria, Twinbraid is promoted by Varian, a heroic character to High Marshall, and the Horde player is sent to kill him. And guess what, the writing depicts this racist, misogynistic colonizing piece of shit as a victim of the evil Horde.

Zero mention is made of his atrocities even by the questgiver, Wrathion, Twinbraid gets dialogue about "protecting" the pandaren from the evil of the Horde, he gets to complain about his military fort and scumbag soldier being killed, the orc, tauren and goblins whom are resisted Twinbraid are given "evil" dialogue about enslaving the pandren and Twinbraid is given the final words about "why the Horde can't live in peace with their neighbors" in an attempt to guilt the Horde player.

Oh and in a tie in novel released around this time, Baine, the leader of the Tauren, whom is completely subservient to the blonde blue eyed Anduin, exiles a bunch of tauren for resisting human and dwarf colonization.

And lets not forget the countless instances before and after Mists of Pandaria depicting the blatantly indigenous people coded trolls, that literally worship Voodoo (a real world religion), as evil villains that deserve extinction for not letting white humans, dwarves and elves take their lands.

Yeah if anything, Garrosh showed the only problem was if someone of an inferior non white race tries colonization, racism and imperialism than its bad.

According to WoW, Its good when "aryan white supermen colonize, discriminate and do imperialism against inferior non white races."

You need to realize how racist WoW is, especially the MoP storyline.

But you don't understand! The dwarves just wanted new stuff for their museums and the meanie tauren wouldn't let them have it /s

Yeah, don't even get me STARTED on racist implications in World of Warcraft. This game is my go-to example when I talk about terrible depictions of indigenous cultures. I've taken to calling it the Tauren/Troll complex.

Native peoples in fantasy are only ever allowed to fill one of two roles:

The noble, peaceful, nature-loving mystics who are perpetually victimized and need to be rescued by, eternally grateful for, and perpetually subservient to the white male hero, or

The evil, aggressive, cannibalistic animals who do Weird Blood Magic and are hurting the poor white people who just wanted a new home, won't you please go murder them for being upset about their lands being taken???

It's fucking gross. Not a problem that started with WoW, and likely not one that will end with WoW, but damn if it doesn't leave a sour taste.

[gothicdicordia]

The New DnD - 3.5 vs Now.5

It's been hard for me as a long time builder of Faerun (complete worlds/modules via Electron) and a live PW DM to negotiate some of the more subtle changes a new player would never get. I started with 3.5 and being really well-versed in those rules/physics and the new stuff is so simplified.

Then in game - certain things were generic-fied - like using domains instead of Gods/Goddesses instead of both.

And of course - the general use of Drow, Tieflings, and Elemental/Aasimar as discriminated against, but not integrating that more fully into the plot for player characters origin characters. No one likes racism - but it's been a part of Faerun culture forever (Dwarves hate Elves and vice versa, everyone hates Mindflayers and Thayans (except Mindflayers and Thayans.) And to choose that race was to accept - possible racism/culturism and physical/character stat weaknesses.

(It is also important - overall - the thing that DEFINES adventuring parties is the ability to see past racism either with benevolence or seeing each diverse member as an a means to an end or asset toward their goal even if it pushes them to give up racist views of their past.)

So seeing a massive bloom of Tiefling/Drow/Aasimar ocs/tavs kinda put me off at my core. Yes, horns are cool, but wtf you are going to have the plot/culture/shift pivot around that choice. (At least you would if I wrote the game.)

Also I felt Evil Playthroughs lack a bit of bite and don't sandbox the evil character stringently enough in the environment. I mean if you are going to pick evil - let's get some evil Gods in there vs Domains. If you play a Thayan Red Wizard, you get treated like one or a Priest of Lovitar or Druid of Talona/Malar. You should walk into Rivington and people cringe in fear when they see the robes/tattoos or the religious symbols.

Same thing for neutral/good - you walk into town, people see a Chauntea Druid and know they could get healing (for free) or maybe help with sickly plants or fields. Or a Knight of Lathander or Tyr walks into town and they know they could get both help and healing. They are HAPPY to see you.

Honestly though - I don't care in the end. The popularity of the game is forcing literacy on people who usually play mindless console games. It is basically forcing non-readers and delayed readers to read to enjoy the game. It might not be the DnD I learned or am most fluid with, but it is an evolution on the Toolset I know so well and the physics I learned to develop in its baby-stages in NWN1/2.

And as long as a game is forcing/motivating young people to READ and learn, plus teaching them tabletop unwittingly, fueling fan art and writing, and even moreso fueling new modders to learn to code/program to make the game do what they like - I am VERY happy with the creative zeitgeist it is.

Nuala: "Grandpa Tam? *rolls eyes* "Now I have to argue with a mirror about who's the boss in Thay."

[perianthkatsketches]

Hey so like has anyone made a dungeon meshi au for bsd yet.

Because...

Atsushi - Beast-man Tall-man (like Izutsumi) but tiger

Akutagawa - Gnome (shout out to Hawthorne calling Aku "little guy") (also gnome instead of half-foot so he gets magic :D) (Rashomon can be a spirit like that one guy's Undine)

Dazai - Half-Elf (like Marcille) (if you know you know :3)

Chuuya - like. Half Dwarf half Half-foot? (Dwarves have historically been enemies with elves, Half-foots are known for being used in scientific experiments and bait (Stormbringer), and hybrids are known for being discriminated against.)

Ranpo - Tallman lol

Yosano - Elf? Perhaps a Canary? Practice of forbidden magic?

Idk feel free to share your thoughts

[harsh-epilogue]

oh yeah most def i think there would be homophobia in asgard, seeing as discrimination against giants and dwarves is already a thing thanks to odin. i bet that bastard also would make snide comments about relationships that aren't heterosexual, implying both directly or indirectly that anything else is unacceptable. on the other hand, i'd like to think that maybe with heimdall there will be a change to this? just like how thor tries to be better for his daughter, i also feel like he realizes he needs to be better for his family (i need both the angst and the comfort, can't do without them tbh *sobs*). that also means accepting himself as part giant and accepting his brother, because those are not bad things as odin tries to make them to think. coming out of the closet won't be the easiest thing for heimdall, but... at lesst he'll talk to a thor who is willing to listen and understand :'( OH AND SIF, sif is a big catalyst and support because thanks to her thor tries each and every day, she's more open-minded than any aesir imo, and she wants her family out of odin's clutches SO YES MY BFF SIF! ❤️

oh i got reminded of how it's like in greece and whew boy howdy things are so different there i'm laughing so hard lmao. especially in sparta. you're not manly there until you've banged your male best friend(s)! kratos knows *winkwink* heimdall looks into his mind and tries so hard not to be jealous.

I agree that it would be quite difficult for heimdall to be able to accept himself and his feelings. Thor as well first a bit hostile but then avoidant. Which I think would last a while before Sif wanting to bring the ties between brothers back together.

And YES SUPPORTIVE SIF WE LOVE THAT 💕💕

I also find it hilarious the difference between Greek views on male on male relationships and Nordic XD

[trayzen-the-infinite]

Baldur’s Gate Primer

I’m realizing Baldur’s Gate is (fittingly enough) the gateway for some people into DnD. I’m also seeing some of these tourists complaining about the rampant fantastical racism throughout. So just as a quick overview of the world as a whole to explain this here you go:

The world of DnD is basically fantasy Liberia. Everyone and I mean everyone was a slave to someone else, sometimes they took turns being the slave and slave master. Which creates a lot of understandable resentment with everyone else. Then theirs the half breed races like Half Orcs and Half Elves. The Elves and Orcs have cosmic beef with each other because the Orc god is a salty bitch and passed his resentment of the Elven God onto his children. The Orcs are generally tribal people with a culture of violence and zealotry for their God who is basically spite and violence incarnate. Half Orcs carry the genetic violent tendencies but if raised in general society are much less belligerent and are thus usually looked down on by Orc society.

Similarly to Orcs, Half Elves are also generally looked down on by full Elves as Elves generally have a bloated sense of self worth. They have this whole reincarnation thing about their life cycle and Half Elves are exempt from this which makes them freaks in the eyes of elf society.

Dwarves are probably the only mortals that can match the Orc god in holding Grudges and have a bone to pick with Orcs and Elves for various reasons. They’re very proud people and take pride in their lineage. Dwarves, in spite of how prickly the average dwarf can be, are loyal people when won over.

Teiflings are half demons who are typically used as foot soldiers for devils (willing or unwilling) tieflings are unfortunately connected to the ones that terrorize entire societies. While that resentment is unfair it’s also not unwarranted. Although this racial prejudice also pushes them to the clutches of devils and general crime, deciding to embrace their demonic heritage rather than suffer discrimination. It’s a dangerous cycle which only exemplifies the kindness of the ones that don’t turn to darkness.

These next two are particularly important especially for the context of Baldur’s Gate: the Mind Flayers and the Gith. Starting with the Mind Flayers they’re either unfathomably ancient as even the Aboleths who have existed since the beginning of the universe and have all knowledge of the most ancient past, have no memory of the Mind Flayers or they’re so new they technically don’t exist as it’s believed they might be from the future. In any case they had a massive and powerful empire that extended not just to another plane but into actual space. The Gith were their primary slaves. Being that they reproduced by body snatching the Gith were also more literal sacrifices for the growth of the empire.

One day they rebelled against the Mind Flayers and not only succeeded but completely dismantled their entire empire and the Mind Flayers hid, barely surviving in our plane. The Gith would be the embodiment of not only the racial tensions of the setting but also meta commentary for something that happens in the real world. As rather than learn from the failures of their former masters The Gith just mimicked the Mind Flayer society wholesale and became terrors upon all other beings. They were pirates, conquerors and the racial cleansing of the Mind Flayers itself has become part of their culture as once a Gith reaches age they are tasked to claim the head of a Mind Flayer as a trophy before they’re allowed to come home. The Gith have even claimed the home of The Mind Flayers for themselves in an outer plane. Time runs differently there so the aging of a Gith really only happens while they’re hunting for Mind Flayers or otherwise causing problems for everyone else.

[ao3feed-izuku-midoriya]

Even an Orc

Even An Orc by Rick Locker

Two centuries have past since Magic and all that came with it first came to be. Humanity is no longer alone and shares the world with others, great Heroes of Legend fight against evil Villains and Monsters of Myth, Science has taken a backseat and creatures that belong in the grave instead roam the dark alleyways and forests of the world. Enter one Izuku Midoriya, a Half-Orc. In a world where the unhuman is common yet despised and where your skill with magic determines your worth, Izuku struggles. Deformed by the cruelty of birth and almost-powerless by the cruelty of God, Izuku is determined to show the world that anyone and everyone can become great. Even an Orc like him.

(WIP/Might continue, might not, let's see how it goes.)

Words: 4529, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English

Fandoms: 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia (Anime & Manga)

Rating: Mature

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: Gen

Characters: Midoriya Izuku, Bakugou Katsuki, Midoriya Inko, Midoriya Hisashi

Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Magic, Alternate Universe - Urban Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, Orcs, Elves, Dwarves, Discrimination

Read Here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/48452533

[mfelewzi]

The Wars of Arran/Guerres d'Arran, an interesting fantasy comics' series published in France and drawed by different european authors.

Part of the fantasy world of Aquilon, is a good fusion among Epic Fantasy as Tolkien, Sword & Sorcery as Howard and Moorcock and Low Fantasy as G. R. R. Martin, were the protagonists are the non human people as elves, ogres and goblins and dwarves, here minoroties or Native people with their problem between them and the human race, the new people and Master of Aquilon. So we can see discriminations, persecutions and genocides against minoroties, so who want to make some comparisons can do It. But please, no hate.

Ah yes, the covers' tomes (yes, this is how the volumes are called) about elves are in italian. Sadly I didn't find the french covers with the titles. And for Who is interested: yes, the name of one of our comic book publishing houses is Panini, literally "Sandwiches". Well, I don't accept lessons by countries when their most famous comic book publishing house is called "Dark Horse".

Anyway, there is an interesting spinoff set in the Aquilon version of Africa, Terres d'Ogon/Lands of Ogon. For all people Who want a Fantasy that isn't set in Europe or in Far Asia (because I didn't Say that there are some Middle Eastern-like countries in Aquilon). If somebody is interested and It's bored with all the useless and tokenist fake fantasy made in Netflix, or they wanted a more mature and not inspired by D&D version of Legend of Vox Machina.

[rosereign]

I just had….the funniest dream. Why was I cruising around the city looking for the cutest workers at a Matha’s Bros. (If you don’t know Mathis Bros is a large furniture store in okc but in my dream it’s a small chain grocery store and it’s spelled differently). I was driving to each store looking for a cute guy to ask out. There were three stores and they each looked different in terms of size and quality. The first one looked like an old grocery store like an old Country mart or Homeland (small local chain grocery stores in Oklahoma) and the deli signs were all yellowed and ancient. I left that one but the guys were kinda cute but nOT CUTE ENOUGH ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I then went to this very new, huge, and pristine looking Matha’s Bros but the guys were not cute no no no. They were short and hairy ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ SO I LEFT. (Idk I’m usually not this picky nothing against short and hairy guys yall cute little hobbits….or dwarves. Again I do not DISCRIMINATE) Anyway I was confused why that one was a bust because it was new and big. But I keep looking and I go to a third one that’s very small and looks like a kinda run down car maintenance shop. I go in with little Sophie in a carrier and I decide to get her some food there. When I walk in the guy at the counter is like some sort of chiseled Mediterranean god. I nod at him because I’m awkward and I order popcorn shrimp, a small pizza, and a small sprite even though we have huge jugs of water in the car. He brings it to me right away and the pizza is actually a huge one not just a slice and I’m like wait a minute I thought it was a slice how much is it? He says it’s 17.50. I don’t have the money on me and then my dream ends and I wake up thinking will Sophie even eat popcorn shrimp???

I think this dream is about how vapid and vain I am omfg………. But also how the best man for me is probably in the last place I’ll look. How cute.

I had a dream before this one of one of my mutuals (who I’m obsessed with :( working in a grocery store and falling in love with one of the workers. Maybe it’s telling me to find another guy. Yeah.