#How come Asians were lumped in as White

[trexalicious]

[militantinremission]

Enter the Elites... But will it help?

Black America has begun to Stand On Our Square & it's obvious that the Democratic Party doesn't know how to deal w/ it. I said that 2024 is a 'Year Of Affirmation' & as Black America reaffirms Our Agenda, the DNC continues to send out Democratic Shills that do Kamala Harris more harm than good. The latest Tools out of the DNC Toolbox are Magic Johnson & Barack Obama. Magic is not known for his Public Speaking, but there he was- trying to Sell the Soap to Black Men at a Rally in Flint, Mi. What I first noticed, was Magic's 3rd Party reference to the Black Community; I guess he isn't Black anymore, he's 'Magic'. It was pretty clear that he didn't write what he was reading. Magic sounded like a White Man from the Jim Crow South: "We gotta get Our Black Men to Vote". This despite The Fact that the ONLY Demographic Group that votes at a larger percentage than Black Men, are Black Women.

Magic Johnson is beloved for his outstanding Professional Basketball Career, his victory over HIV, and his success in Business. I don't know who he is beholden to, but I suggest he stays out of Black Politics; especially at a Time when We're taking note of Who's with Us & Who isn't. Politics isn't Magic's lane, & he risks doing real damage to his Social Capital. Unfortunately, Magic Johnson is just one of many Black Celebrities & Elites stepping up to Democratic Microphones. It's comical to see this recent spotlight on Black America, when you consider how unapologetic The Democratic Party has been in BLATANTLY ignoring Our Concerns over the last 3Yrs. Not long after his inauguration, Joe Biden spoke to CBC Members on a Zoom Call. They were trying to ferret out Biden's 'Black Agenda', but he told them that they need to work w/ Latinx because they will be the Majority in 2040. The CBC fell back, but the Black Grassroots aren't settling. Joe Biden TOTALLY reneged on his Promise to 'Have Black America's Back'. Among the Measures that The Biden-Harris Administration ignored were:

A George Floyd Justice in Policing Bill

An Anti-Black Hate Crime Bill

An Anti-Lynching Law that focused on Black Lives

A Measure to 'Defund' or divert resources from Militarized Units of Police Departments to Mental Health Outreach & EMS Units

$4.5B in Aid to Black Farmers

Joe Biden's 'Lift Every Voice' Act

Kamala Harris' 'Lift Act'

Democratic Shills are quick to say that the Biden- Harris Administration didn't have the numbers to get ANY of that legislation through Congress, but They had no problem gathering enough Bipartisan support to Sign Off on:

An Asian Hate Crime Law

A Federal Gay Marriage Law

Aid & Comfort to 100,000 Afghani & 100,000 Ukrainian Refugees, in addition to MILLIONS of unvetted Illegal Immigrants

Roughly $175B to support an Ultraconservative (Neo Nazi) Ukrainian Oligarchy

Over $30B to support The [Ethno] State of Israel's Zionist Agenda of Genocide & a 'Greater Israel'

Magic Johnson was still catching lumps from the New Black Media, when Barack Obama made a stop on the Campaign Trail (in Pittsburgh?) to give Black Men yet another scolding. In his Address that was equal parts Condescension & Accusation, Barack Obama had the audacity to tell 'The Brothas'(???) that Kamala Harris:

Grew up like Us

Knows Us

Went to College w/ Us

Understands 'The Struggles' & the Pain & Joy that comes out of that Experience

Worked harder & did more (like We did) to 'achieve' the 2nd highest Office in The Land

Barry needs to go back to Martha's Vineyard & stay Radio Silent. His Legacy is not as shiny as he thinks. Black America lost 54% of Our Collective Wealth on his Watch, while Mainstream America gained $35 Trillion in Wealth. The more he speaks, the more he spotlights how different He & Kamala Harris are from Us. As I stated before, Barack & Kamala don't have a 'Black American' Experience, they both have an IMMIGRANT EXPERIENCE. Neither grew up in Black Culture or spent their Formidable Years in the Black Community. The Truth is that BOTH began their 'Black Experience' as Young Adults (in Black Elite/ Boule settings). How many Black Men did Barack have access to before Reverend Jeremiah Wright? The Fact that the First [Noticably] 'Black' Man & Woman in The Oval Office AREN'T from 'The Soil' is not lost on Us. We also see how BOTH aspired to the Highest Levels of Power in just 2 Generations; This has not been the Experience of Indigenous Black Americans in 248Yrs.

Michael Harriot, Ta Nehesi Coats, Van Jones, & a growing number of Mainstream Black Journalists are taking a harder political line. Nina Turner was first to pubically call out Obama for his condescending language towards Black Men, but she has been joined by Roland Martin & a growing number of Media Bootlicks that are starting to See the Light. The accusation of Sexism & Misogyny levied on Black Men Collectively, is unfounded. A recent CNN Poll showed 69% of Black Men voted for Hillary Rodham Clinton in 2016, higher than the 60% that voted for Joe Biden in 2020. Barack himself favored an Open Nomination Process, over simply placing Kamala at the top of the Democratic Ticket. Rumor has it that He favored Gavin Newsome & Sen. Mark Kelly; does that make Barry a Misogynist? Nina Turner told a CNN Panel that the Black Men she spoke to have reasons for moving away from the Democratic Party, but NO ONE in Mainstream Media is talking about those reasons. Society regards Barack Obama as the'Chief Negro Whisperer', but he seems clueless about what motivates Black Men.

The Aftereffect of Barack's 'Address to Black Men' has been a barrage of comments on New Black Media Platforms. CNN's Abby Phillip had a Panel of 'Black Men' to discuss Barack's Message, but the Panelists featured were questionable at best. No One can deny that Barack Obama has lost his luster w/ Black America, & Mainstream Media Outlets are beginning to admit that this is a Trend that started after Obama's First Term in Office. Blackfolk committed to Obama's Agenda of 'Hope' & 'Change'; We could not fathom that he would put EVERYONE ELSE before Us. We made excuses for his disregard of Black Specific Issues. Obama's 'Beer Summit' w/ Skip Gates was a head scratcher. Flint, Michigan was a Wake Up Call. Mother Emmanuel Church, Trayvon Martin, Tamir Rice, Freddy Gray, & Michael Brown made it clear that Barack WON'T protect Us. His interview w/ Ta Nehesi Coats on the topic of Reparations brought it Home that Barack had no intention of doing ANYTHING for Us. We touted Obama as One of Our Own, but he was far from it. We validated him & he used that validation to publicly scold Us. 8Yrs later, Barack Obama's 'Big Daddy' Routine has gotten stale & his language towards Black Men is unacceptable.

Some of Us question Obama's motivation. Were his comments really a gaff, or was this part of a larger narrative? We know that Barack was behind Joe Biden's decision to 'drop out' of the Presidential Campaign, & We know that Kamala Harris wasn't his first choice to replace him. If earlier rumors regarding a plot by Obama, Nancy Pelosi, & possibly Chuck Schumer to destroy Joe Biden's 'Legacy' are true, Barack looks more Clinical than Clueless. The Harris-Walz Campaign tried to mitigate the damage by quickly putting out a 'Plan for Black Men', but EVERYONE KNOWS that Affirmative Action set a precedent on Race Specific Policy. Congress will reject ANY Plan for 'Black Men' before Ed Blum or SCOTUS does. In other words, this 'Policy' is more Word Salad. A closer look at this Harris- Walz Policy reveals more of the same 'Rising Tide' Legislation that Dems only offer Black Voters. It ignores Issues that Black Men say are important.

The Harris-Walz Campaign may have a better understanding of Black Specific Issues if they appeared on Platforms other than The Breakfast Club, Roland Martin Unfiltered, All The Smoke, The Shade Room, & Call Her Daddy. New Black Media has REAL QUESTIONS. We want to know about Kamala's Policy Platform & 'Black Agenda', but We also want to know more about Kamala personally:

What's the deal w/ her Father's Lineage?

Where is his Birth Certificate?

What Year was he born- Was it 1938?

Who is Beril/ Beryl Finegan?

If her Grandmother died in 1960, WHO is the woman pictured holding her as a baby?

Who is Iris Finegan?

Are the Black People pictured w/ her in Jamaica actual Family Members or Plantation Hands?

Did she know about Doug Emhoff's indiscretions?

If her Father (& Step Mother) currently live crosstown from her & Doug in Washington D.C., why is he absent from her Campaign?

Kamala has been making herself more available to Media, but it has not worked in her best interest. The Harris-Walz Campaign has no other options w/ Election Day being less than 3 Weeks away, & her support leveling off. The DNC can keep sending out Shills to get Blackfolk 'In Line', but without a Clear Message & SPECIFIC STRATEGY to actually move America 'Forward'', Kamala just looks like she's repeating the same Menu of Word Salads across different Platforms. We're not the only demographic moving away from the Democratic Party, but We appear to be leading the Exodus. As for Black Celebrities & Elites, it's Time to choose Sides... You're either On Code or you're Not.

-The Smart Play, is to Bet on Black.

[florelia12]

do you have a fancast? like perfect irl people that remind you of florelia (and the rest) not necessarily actors but people in general. tbh it's hard to find the perfect tan girl with green eyes. sometimes it's easy when people aren't in your ear telling you flora is latina bc she might be but it's hard to find latinas with flora's physical traits. and helia to me he's not asian he just has cat eyes. though I have to admit I like it when in fics people say helia and musa are cousins.

okay there is a lot to unpack here.

First of all, no, I actually don't have the perfect fancast for Florelia or any of the Winx characters really and its not something that really bothers me. I don't want a live action (not everything needs to be made live) or a reboot, I want them to fix the mistakes they've done in the actual show and bring back quality content.

Secondly, I am that person in your ear telling you Flora is a Latina and that Helia is Asian.

Not because she might be, but because it has been explicitly said since forever that Iginio was inspired by Jennifer Lopez when creating Flora. The WHOLE POINT of the characters Musa, Aisha and Flora being designed the way they were was to include diversity.

The proof is coming out with the original designs for Musa and Flora where they are both clearly white. What other reason would Iginio have to change their features and the colors of their skin if it wasn't to be inclusive? And what is wrong with him doing that?

When people say Flora is Latina they obviously don't mean she is a Latina, Puerto Rican girl living in an alien world. Her character is inspired by a Latina woman. Hence, her features and skintone (when doing art or fancast) and possible stereotypes (when making hcs or writing fanfics) need to be taken into account.

When you say it's hard to find Latina's with Flora's traits, it's not because Flora's not a Latina or girls who look like her don't exist, it's because there is not enough representation of darker skinned Latinas. THAT IS THE WHOLE POINT. Especially if you're looking for it on pinterest, like you search girlhood in there and all you get are white girls?? Where the hell are the rest of us?

Also Flora having green eyes is directly related to the fact that she is the Fairy of Nature (they literally glow when she powers up) but that doesn't mean Latinas can't have green eyes. One simple google search will show you.

You can argue for Linphea since it doesn't look like Puerto Rico but it also a realm of Nature and that doesn't leave as much room for them to work with as they got to with Musa and Melody (even that has its issues of lumping in all the different cultures) and lets be honest we barely got a glimpse into Linphea's actual culture as it was.

Then we have Helia. Yes his character wasn't explicitly said to be Asian. But his design doesn't leave much doubt, especially the moment someone points it out. His features are inspired by East Asian features, he shares similar design characteristics to Musa and other asian characters.

The fact that you said he just has cat eyes already proves how you view Asian features. And also the fact that you identify he has Asian features but don't want him to be Asian is because of whatever prejudice you are holding onto.

The joke is so fucking old, it was never, ever funny.

Also I want to pose this question to everyone, not this person since they didn't say they think he's white. Why is it that if a light-skinned character's inspiration isn't explicitly stated, they are just by default white?

And anyone pointing out the possibility of them being otherwise makes people think they have the free-reign to just to ignore because the character is light-skinned?

When Helia's background is left for interpretation it makes more sense to explore the hundreds of Asian cultures that exist instead of ignoring all of that and jumping straight to him being white. Like there are East Asians and there are Southeast Asians and no these aren't just two cultures they are a number of different countries with different cultures.

I am South Asian. No, I do not look like Helia or Musa, I look like Nabu.

Hell, I thought Flora was Indian and Helia was white when I was NINE. It took one person casually pointing out "hey they're not" to realise oh ya they actually aren't.

I don't know if this was a targeted ask because I have posted in this account about how i find the Helia and Musa being cousins hcs uncomfortable.

But yeah, I find it uncomfortable because where I'm from (I can't speak for every single Asian country though I don't think this is an isolated experience) it is a joke to ask any new Asian person you meet if they are related or if they know this other Asian person that you know. Again it's an old joke, it's not that funny, it never was.

It is also a joke to say yeah all Asians are related, or they all cousins. It may seem harmless, but I'd say it has deeper roots of incest accusations/stereotypes like marrying your cousin or whatever. Even if I'm wrong about that (if i am please someone who is a poc correct me, white people shut up), it's still a stereotype you are perpetuating. (and no I'm not just talking about older fanfics that were probably written by 11 year olds where everyone is always related, i'm talking about the ones written by adults.)

Why is it never Sky and Stella being cousins? Or Riven and Tecna? They have similar features. Why not them? Why is it always only Musa and Helia?

But that just brings us back to you saying you don't think Helia's Asian. Musa is clearly Asian (if you're going to say she's not then you are just plain ignorant). But, Musa's Asian and her "cousin" Helia just has cat eyes ???If you like that hc then why can’t you accept that he is clearly Asian?

Before white people get defensive about poc calling out racism that you claim isn't intentional, stop and think WHY. It has been said time and time again, racism is not always inherently overt or 100% intentional. It can come out in even as something as 'small' or 'not as serious' as cartoon characters. But it is serious because we poc exist in these spaces too.

Also you can be POC and still be racist. Funnily enough, that was the very first direct interaction of racism I experienced in this fandom. That also does not mean white people get a pass (it's sad I even have to add that as a disclaimer)

I don't even know if you bothered to read this far, but I hope you've learned something.

[olderthannetfic]

I've been scrolling through Twitter to check the End Racism thing hashtag because I found out about it literally after it ended (and because I saw one post on Reddit).

Anyways, one of the first tweets that I saw was about one of the main members (?) I guess (?) of this movement complain that the OTW immediately addressed fics written by AI and how authors could stop AIs from harvesting their works, but had completely ignored the End Racism protest (or whatever it was supposed to be).

And... yes? As another anon mentioned here, they didn't even cause the water to ripple: a little over 5000 fics would be impressive if it were the writing event organized by a fandom Discord, but when it's supposed to be an at large protest encompassing multiple socials and hitting all fandoms, it's nothing. Not to mention that, of those 5000 fics with "End OTW Racism" put into the title, a lot of them seem to just be authors who added it to stories they had previously published.

Considering the numbers they provided (I think the "main" head of this said it was around 5400 works, about a quarter of them being podfics too, so... not original works), I would guess that less than 5k people actually participated and did something concrete to support the cause.

I may be stupid, but I really don't think that less than 5k people (and this is not to take away the work they did, I'm just saying that this is presented as being a massive event when, looking at the numbers, it was very few people) is enough for the OTW people to say "Oh, people are really worried about this issue."

On top of this, their idea on how to fix the issue is just... really dumb? They want to hire diversity readers that will check if works are racist, which is already silly, but don't give any idea of how many these sensitivity readers need to be, where they need to come from, how much stuff they will be required to read in a single day. Like... how many black people are going to be hired? Would there be different teams based on the country they come from? Because racism in the UK, for example, isn't the same as racism in the US. Would there be hired members for every Native tribe too? And what about continents such as Asia, Europe, and Africa? They can be lumped into the Asian, white, and black racial categories, but there's a lot of diversity there. Someone from Ghana cannot say if a story about Algerian characters is respectful towards them. Not to mention the diversity within single countries (India and China come to mind).

They presented a bunch of nonsensical fluff and then got mad that they got ignored. If I were part of the OTW, I would've ignored them too, tbh. It feels like watching those exhausted parents whose toddler is throwing a tantrum, and they just lay on the couch saying "Yeah, don't worry. They'll tire themselves out and get a good night's sleep."

--

I don't think they were actually suggesting sensitivity readers but rather the type of diversity consultant that looks at workplace issues.

But yes, a lot of participants added that title to around 10 works, and sometimes far more.

[bohemian-nights]

Just wanted to say this since I know you have been very vocal about the nettles discourse and how people are dismissing the relationship she clearly had with daemon and this reminds me of the the owl house discourse when it became clear that the fandom’s favourite white bad boy was going to get with the plus size woman of colour who is Asian coded and even voiced by a blasian voice actress (She also has two dads one of whom is black) The white character was also being shipped with the nearest conventionally attractive white boy without a love interest and they hadn’t even interacted on screen and the fandom was shipping the plus size girl with one of her bullies (i shit you not) but as soon as it became clear Hunter and Willow were going to be a thing people lost their shit. I saw so many excuses about how it was only platonic ect and god I remember being utterly baffled by it and now seeing something similar happen and reading your posts has made me realise this has always been a problem in fandom spaces. Thankfully Hunter and Willow are a thing by the end of the show in the owl house which I would recommend you try as the main protagonist of that show is an bisexual Afro Latina in a sapphic relationship and although Disney tried to screw it over during production they managed to end the series perfectly.

And in regards to the daemon and nettles thing the fact that I’m a (dumb) white man and see all the insidious and gross implications about cutting nettles and how it affects the story by giving them over to other characters who are white in source material I can’t imagine how poc like you are feeling. I felt like I was slapped in the face and betrayed. Keep being vocal about it because I’m certainly not rolling over and accepting this

Yeah navigating shipping within fandoms is a doozy, particularly when it comes to Black women(which personally for me is even a separate issue than what non-Black women go through and I don’t think we should be lumped in with “POC”, but it is whatever).

I would rant non-stop about fandom racism/misogynoir and the effects it has on shipping, but honestly ranting about it is extremely draining so I’ve pulled back.

Thank you for the recommendation but I abhor cartoons 🙏🏽

[nicks-disks]

THIS.

The west's perception of Asians is almost strictly regarding EAST Asians who have the paler skin and smaller eyes that we're used to seeing in media. The west have grown used to identifying them as 'Asians' no matter the specific nationality they may hold or the culture they come from. To many, Japanese, Chinese and Koreans kind of meld into a huge lump, and that lump is just known as 'Asian'

This exposure to East Asian people and culture for decades, no matter how racist, insulting an inaccurate it is, has declared East Asians to be THE Asians in the minds of those in the West, and practically any other Asian is kind of seen as a separate thing. I ask you this sincerely, but when I ask you to picture an Asian person, what comes to mind?

As a result, South Asians, Central Asians and even South East Asians are all sort of lost in the mix. I mean, the Middle East is Asian. I'm going to say that again, the Middle East is Asian. If you knew that already it seems like common sense but cannot tell you the minds that exploded when I mentioned that at the family function, and I think it's really important in recognising how the identity of the word 'Asian' can me muddied beyond recognition. I have never ever heard the Middle East described as Asian really

Do I think this stems from some kind of lowkey racism? I'll say yes while trying not to diminish all that East Asia has done in terms of carving a well deserved place out in pop culture. Unfortunately, even with all the racism that East Asians face I do think that the colour of their skin has aided in their massive rise to popularity. Of course there's other factors sych as a Western Audience alreay being 'used to' their pressence on screen and again I don't want to entirely wash away everything they've done by saying 'oh it's because they're light-skinned' but once you hear the kind of rhetoric directed at other Asians it's something that you have to consider. Whiteness is a very important factor to many white people, and even if you aren't while culturally and ethnically, if parts of you resemble a white person then that's close enough. Or, it at least makes you better than the others who don't have such resemblance, I mean that's the whole idea with the category of 'white-passing'

I'm half Indonesian, and growing up I have had so many white kids tell me 'you're not Asian, you're too dark to be Asian and your eyes aren't squinty enough' even calling me a 'dirt-skinned Asian' DIRT SKINNED WHAT and these were CHILDREN. Like between the ages of 6-10. And the worst thing is I know I have it easy by comparison because I've had Indian and Pakistani friends who have been actually beaten because of their skin colour and 'the way they smell like curry' which is a WILD thing for a fucking 12 year old to do to another 12 year old.

This gross distinction between the more desirable light skinned Asian and the less desired darker skinned has separated the word Asian into just being for East Asians, while the rest of us are not even thought about. When we are thought about, it's with this air of disgust and uncleanliness, because our countries and cultures are met with the attitutes that they're unstomachable to those in the West

Is this the fault of East Asians? Obviously fucking not. It's white prejudice seeping into other parts of the world and picking and choosing the aspects that make them the most comfortable. Still, though, I'm very happy in Korea's massive breakthrough to a Western audience, and I'm glad Japanese culture is still being adored today. Now I'm say it's China's turn but the West's hatred towards China even within their love for East Asia is a whole nother discussion

Please, if you're white, check your bias. How do you view East Asians as opposed to literally the rest of the whole continent? Do you feel as though they're 'cleaner' or 'more advanced'? Can you name a country in South Asia off the top of your head? Central Asia? West Asia? South East Asia? Please, the rest of us are worth loving, or at the very least, knowing about

Personal rant but Indonesia is the 4th most populated country in the world and I have met perhaps a grand total of 15 people here who knew the country before me telling them. People who had gone to Bali and assumed that Bali was an entire country, not realising there was like 17,000-18,000 islands attached to it. I love my culture, I love living in the West (for the most part) but it gets so lonely, you feel a bit like an alien because where are you supposed to fit into these peoples heads? They don't really like you, and then compare you to another completely different group of people who they don't understand at all, not even bothering to respect them that much, just using them as a benchmark for you.

South East Asians are literally the closest to East Asians, so much so that sometimes we do fall into the Western idea of Asian (yippee!!!) but still, sometimes i dont feel that privilege. My skin is literally the most lightest tan, I speak without an accent and I have lived most of my life in Australia, I am the closest you could ever be to a white person without being white and yet I never will be, and the culture I'm a part of, that I love, clings to me and begs to be loved, to be spoken about and to be shared. We all want to share our cultures and lives and experiences and loves with you, youse just don't want to listen

Also, even though I'm genuinely pale as hell, if I were to go back to Indonesia now they'd tell me I'm dark and would suggest me to get skin brightening syrums. My mother was bullied and literally beat in the 90s-early 2000s because her skin was so dark that it made her 'look like a servant'. Her skin's like, a deep olive. These divisions based on the colour of your skin are literally embedded within some of the cultures themselves, so of course they're going to be carried over and re-enforced by the West when looking at the continent of Asia.

Anyways this was a disproportionate response to the original post and after re-reading it I so genuinely apologise for taking the lense away from Indians and South Asians, I just wanted to talk about how every Asian suffers as a result of this. South and West Asians get it especially bad though because the fucking media is so cruel to them, please, take the time to fall in love with their cultures and countries I promise you it is the most wonderful, gorgeous thing

“indians and asians” where exactly do you think india is

[forgeofideas]

“Are Indians Asian?”

Among Americans, not exclusive to whites, there is little sense of ethnic nuance or historic understanding when it comes to understanding different peoples across the world. Today we in the United States tend to substitute geographic terms for racial terms. Example: “Indians” are not Asian. In recent years there been an attempt to clarify the ethnic nuisance in the continent of Asia, such as categorizing East Asian, South Asian, and West Asian. But still many Asian American are inclined to state that “Indians” (South Asians) are not Asian. This is a fallacy that must be rectified. In order to understand the question of “Are Indians Asian” we must first have a grasp of the historic understanding how these terms, both geographic and racial, came to be. 

I will first use Africa as a template since more people are familiar with it. Today many Americans tend to forget that the region of North Africa exists, this is partly in due to the fact that North Africa is often lumped in with the middle east. This makes sense since what the arabs called the “Maghreb” is so culterally, linguistically, and religeously similar to the middle east. By geographic definitions (not racial ones), Egyptians, Libyans, Morrocans, and north african arabic speaking countries are in fact african. Yet Africa has with it a very strong racial connotation of black people despite being less racially homogenous as one would expect.  In an American Context we substitute the term “African American” for black. But the term African is a geographic designation, not a racial one. The use of geography in place of race stems from America’s tumutluts relation race. In fear of stoking racial tension, geographic terms are used in place of race to make terms less inflammatory. This later applied to east asians, as despite them only making up around half of Asia, they were synoymized as the definitve asian. In short, “Tunisians, Algerians, and Moroccans are ‘African’ but they are not black.”  

The confusion of what an “Asian” is stemms from the fact that there was a specific racial connotation used to define east, central, and southeast asians. This term however was essentially wiped from the minds of the American population. The term was “mongoloid.” Back then anthropologists seperated mankind into three distinct races. Note, the distinction does not use geographic terms. Race is separate from geography. Mongoloid was the term used to distinguish the “slant eyed-yellow man” NOT Asian. Asian was infact only a geographic term. It was only later that “Mongoloid” was disposed of in favor of “Oriental” or “Asian”, once again the replacment of the racial term for a geographic one was used to soften the idea of race realism and promote social harmony. The term Asian is, infact, inclusive of Arabs, Turks, Berbers, Persians, and of course your various east asian ethnicities. Persians sometimes strongly identify with the word Asia jsut as much as any chinese or japanese does, as they were actually one the earlist civilizations that the term referred to. Even the term “Oriental” only applied to the regions of the levant and anatolia. The origental express, for example took you from Paris to istanbul. To the modern american this seems odd because istanbul is infact a european city having nothing to do with the  “ resting hill roof' societies of china or japan. Once again, Oriental and Asian was a geographic term. The term “Asian” in iteself is more so a Western construct which originally never took into account the far east civizations. Asia, being a greeco-Roman idea, only referred to Anatolia, Persia, and India. 

But if East Asian are mongoloid what are Indians/South Asians. I do not support the study of race realism, but if you were to define it back then, south asians were seperated betweent the white and black races. North indians were defined as apart of the white race, and south indians were defined as being black or mixed. Today we would instead use the term “South Asian” in order to collectivley refer to Indians, Pakistani, Bengali, and nepalese. 

In today’s culture the Term “Asia” has morphed from a geographic term into a racial one which defines the mongoloid as the definitave Asian to the determent of south Asians. Allow me to interpret the quote of many East aian Americans. When East asians say “Indians aren’t Asian,” what is technically mean is that “Indians are Asian, but they aren’t mongoloid.” Understanding the historic roots of the word “Asian” and “mongoloid” will help for people to understand and distinguish between the two. Today there has been a push to recognize “Asia” as an all inclusive geo-culteral term, but there is something crucial to note. There is the way how institutions define things, and the way how culture defines things. Cultre in the united states does not see “Asia” as a geographic term, but only as one that encompasses the mongoloid race. It is then our duty, especially those of east, central, and southeast asian descent to redefine what “Asian” is. 

[voidpumpkin]

YOU FIGHT ON THE COLONISERS SIDE IN SUMERU?!?!

I’m honestly losing track of all the bullshit going on with Sumeru, mihoyo, what the fuck, how are you this bad? For my own sake I'm putting all this nonsense in one place.

Sumeru is a nation in Genshin Impact, like all other nations it’s based off a real world culture. Mondstadt: Germany, Liyue: China, Inazuma: Japan, Snezhaya: Russia, Fontaine: France, Natlan: South America and Africa, Sumeru: SWANA countries (note the non-white/east Asian cultures are just lumped together rather than being separate, distinct cultures.)

First inklings of the problems to come with Sumeru were apparent with the travelling npcs, who are all incredibly pale. They look exactly like the white npcs. Pale SWANA people exist, but they are the minority, the Sumeru npcs we see should not all be so pale. Mihoyo has a long history of colourism, out of the 48 playable characters only 2 are darker than milk, there are no darker skinned npcs, the majority of the non-white playable are paler than most white people. In their other game, Honkai Impact there is only one character with a darker skin tone than milk, that is Carole Pepper, who has slight tan. Despite how pale she already is a major characteristic of her is that she hates how dark her skin is. I repeat one of the main characteristics of Honkai’s only non-white coloured character is that she hates her skin tone. Mihoyo has shown themselves to be consistently colourist before, including how they characterised there only slightly darker skinned characters, Kaeya and Xinyan, both being described as more aggressive than their paler counterparts.

Then designs for Sumeru were released. Not only were they white as fuck, but there designs were quite frankly messy. In the case of Tighnari there was no discernible connection to SWANA culture, and in the case of Doir, she is straight up an orientalist caricature of Indian culture rather than SWANA culture, so they couldn’t even get their caricatures to stick to one region. The conflation of SWANA cultures with each other and non SWANA cultures is a form of racism/orientalism and is unacceptable. The orientalism that is Dori falls in line with the larger misogynistic trend in Genshin Impact, virtually all girls who aren't aren't little children are sexualised/fetishized in some way, with high heels, objectifying outfits, and egregious amount skin shown (something not shared with the vast majority of their male counterparts). This objectification is especially dangerous with the SWANA characters as it is this fetishization and objectification that has been used to justify and condone sexual violence against SWANA women. More details about Dori were released, which showed her riding a genie like it was an animal which people criticised as being disrespectful due to genies being based off the Djinn of Islamic belief.

Then the archon was leaked. And she was a white elf child with a generic Isekai design and absolutely no connection to any SWANA. I repeat, the leader of a supposedly SWANA coded nation has nothing SWANA about her. Her whiteness is even more egregious as a 2D cutscene showed her as a brown skinned adult. Not long after this the trailer for Sumeru dropped. With generic and not very good ‘oriental’ music playing it showed a tropical jungle landscape. Tropical jungles don’t really exist in SWANA countries, don’t get me wrong they do have vast beautiful forests but this didn't resemble them in the slightest. Instead of a) showing how cultures can flourish in desert landscapes as SWANA cultures have done for millennia and the plants that can and do grow there. Or b) showing an accurate depiction of the actual forests that exist in SWANA countries, dispelling some widespread myths about the area. But instead they just went with a jungle. During this trailer we also got to see some of the architecture with only slithers of it referencing actual SWANA architecture.

It was right around this time that Mihoyo themselves put out the terrible defence of ‘it’s just a fantasy world, it’s all cool bro, stop being so mad’ an abysmal defence that doesn’t hold up in their own considering how extensively Mondstadt, Liyue and Inazuma were based on Germany, China and Japan respectively. The level of research and care that went into making these areas and the characters from these areas is what makes Sumeru such a slap in the face. Not helped by the names being accurate. The names of the Sumeru characters are accurate, which shows that Mihoyo is in fact capable of doing research into SWANA cultures and putting it into their game, proving that the orientalist caricature was a choice.

More designs were released, more orientalism. Then the harbingers dropped, a pretty blatant distraction tactic from the racist mess that is Sumeru, with people noting noting that this sliver of Russian culture has more care an accuracy than most of Sumeru.

A couple more Sumeru designs were released/leaked, hinted at being dark skin before release but in fact had the world's slightest tan. These were Dehya and Cyno, who are Eremites, the indigenous people of Sumeru and now live in the desert (keep that in mind.) There was also the release of the desert bandits, enemy npcs who hilariously are noted as being more accurate than the playable characters. The enemies you fight are more accurate than the playable characters (though they still are incredibly inaccurate, especially the women), this will become darker with the recent release of Sumeru’s backstory.

Now the backstory of Sumeru has apparently been released, with a rough summary of it being: the eremites (the indigenous people of Sumeru who are for some reason named after a type of Christian hermit) lived in harmony in Sumeru before the Scarlet king fought the original Dendro archon, creating the desert. The dendro archon subsequently forced the indingenous people to the desert and built a wall. They built a wall to keep out the indigenous people they kicked out, and the enemies you fight are from the desert, i.e. you’re fighting the indigenous people of sumeru, on the side of the coloniser. Genshin already has a history of anti-indigenous racism with the hilichurls, humanoid beasts, countless of which you slaughter, with native americans used as reference for their behaviour. People have also pointed out the uncomfortable parallels to the Israeli genocide of Palestine, white people forcing out the darker skinned indigenous people whilst also claiming to be the ones who are causing it to bloom. 

Whilst we don’t know how this plot will end, considering the track record of genshin and other companies the plot is unfortunately likely going to resolve with, ‘the indigenous people and colonisers should just get along.’

Pretty much every single thing about Sumeru is racist and orientalist in someway and it just gets worse with every new update. 

An especially annoying part is the fans so insistent on denying and defending a fucking gacha game of all things, showing how racist they are in both their support and defense of this mess.

Fuck genshin, fuck mihoyo, and fuck the fans defending it.

I am quite frankly terrified for how they will handle natlan, a South American and African coded nation.

[nellycanwrite]

Our Son

Austin Butler!Elvis Presley x Filipino!Reader

Summary: After a tender love-making in California, you got pregnant with Elvis' child. As soon as you go into labor, you were adamant to tell Elvis that he was not the father for his and your son's safety.

Words: 688

Rating: PG (13+) 

TW: Mild Angst

This is Part 1 of the Austin!Elvis x Filipino!Reader blurb. Part 2

Elvis comes in sweaty into the maternity ward, his secretary lying on the pristinely white bed while she cradles her son—their son—in her arms. There were nurses tending to the I.V drops on her arms; they looked like they were just cleaning up. As soon as they saw him enter, they had to remember that they were attending medical professionals, not some women who would stop and gape at the King of Rock ‘n Roll. The embodiment of lust personified. 

Yet they caught themselves doing just that. Only did they snap out of their amorous gazes when you had to clear your throat and gesture towards the unfinished work they have yet to do.

“Oh, lil mama, I—I came as soon as I heard. How are you—”

“The baby's fine, sir. I didn't expect my boss to personally come here to congratulate me.” You gave Elvis a stern look, your head tilting subtly to the attending nurses. Elvis tried his best to not let his disappointment show. With his years of acting, he knew he nailed it right.

“Can you excuse us, ladies? Gotta talk to my secretary here for her schedule. Confidential work, ‘ya see.” Elvis winked. The nurses giggled and batted their eyelashes at the man until they shuffled out one by one. Finally, with the door now locked and the both of you finally alone, Elvis practically ran besides you and kissed your forehead tenderly.

“Why didn't ya call me sooner? I would've come in a heartbeat.”

“You were having a concert. Besides, you being in the labor room would cause suspicion,” You replied whilst rocking the child in your arms, “my boss shouldn't be this concerned with a child that has an unknown father from a one night stand in Cali.”

“But he's our baby,” Elvis' voice cracked, his fingers ghosting over the blanket that wrapped around their son—his son. “I have every right to be in that labor room while you push our baby out.”

“My baby, Elvis. Not ours.” Your voice was strained, as if you were holding back the tears.

“What are you saying?” You looked down at your son. Your son, not his. There were no traces of your features on his face; he was all American to anyone who would lay their eyes on him. He was going to grow up handsome, you thought. Just as handsome as his father.

“You can't tell anyone he's your son. It would ruin your and this child's lives. From now on, he's going to be my child. He will have an unknown father from California; the result of a drunken one night stand. Do you understand?”

“But he's my child too.” He didn't mean to make it come out as forceful. But everything that you said was true—he just couldn't accept it.

You shook your head, “From this day on, he is not. Please understand, Elvis. It's for your career and for Enrique's safety.”

“Enrique," Elvis parroted, "his name is...Enrique?”

You let out a tiny smile. "Enrique Dallas. My…” you trailed off when you spoke, your eyes darting to the disheartened image of your secret lover, “...our sweet little boy.”

You gave him such a small sliver of that happiness, but he ate it up like a fool in love. Perhaps that was the case. He was, indeed, a fool in love. And as were you.

As much as you wanted to declare Elvis as Enrique’s father, you knew you couldn’t take the risk. A Southeast Asian immigrant—poor, colored, and had little to no right in the land of the so-called free. You and Elvis couldn’t even get married, not with the laws that were implemented to separate folks like you from the Americans.

"...How I wish I could give him my family name," Elvis leaned in and kissed his forehead tenderly, "Enrique Dallas Presley; that should've been your name."

“And he should’ve been our son,” you felt a lump on your throat as you said that, but you swallowed it whole; there was no time to back down from this decision, “but we can’t have that, can we, sir?”

[nyxelestia]

I suspect this also is a function of geography and regionalism as well. A lot of the pedantic debates online boil down to people forgetting they're talking to people in other cities, states, or entire countries. Race is a construct, and when it comes to constructs, context matters. I live in the American southwest, and around here "white Hispanic" people are mostly a subset of white people...but you only have to go like a couple states over and they are a subset of Hispanic or Latino people. They "lose" their whiteness as they move north or east. (You can also see a bit of this with the debates over Obama and Kamala, both of whom are typically described as black but both of whom only have one black parent; they both have another parent who has no African heritage and yet their blackness supercedes everything else, in large part because of their context.) I live in an area which has a massive Jewish population but one which is subdivided based on race -- and ironically, I saw quite a bit of conflicts between these two groups in high school and parts of college because of this. There were Jews of European descent whose families have been here for 3+ generations, and there were Jews of Iranian descent whose families have mostly been for 1-2 generations, overwhelmingly those whose families came here in the 1970s or after. Pretty much everyone agreed the first group was white, but there was a lot of disagreement among and about the second group. Some would say they were racially Middle Eastern because they were from Iran (though they preferred to refer to themselves as Persian to separate themselves from the current regime). Others, however, insisted they should count themselves as white...specifically because they were Jewish. White Christians were not a majority around here. When they wanted to expand their influence without giving up power, their options are to get closer to non-white Christians or get closer to white non-Christians -- and in this half of the city, they chose the latter. Go a state or two over, and it's the other way around. "We're Jewish, and Jews are white here" is an argument I've had said to me -- coming from someone trying to differentiate themselves *from me*. I am Indian, and in the U.S. a lot of people overtly or subconsciously lump together South Asians and Middle Easterners. I am of Hindu background and my family immigrated here from India, so I would and could never be taken as white. But because these classmates who looked quite a bit like me were Jewish, they could obtain a provisional proximity to whiteness that I could not. Proximity =/= belonging, though. Whiteness is still largely being defined by how close to a WASP you appear, not by anything you actually are.

tbh pre Oct.7 I would have responded to the “are there white Jews” question with “its complicated” but now my answer is just simply “no”

[daphnedauphinoise]

A while back there were some tumblr discussions on the nuances/differences of discrimination between us vs the uk (and really everywhere else) and I really appreciated your takes/insights on it. As an American born-raised desi, would it be alright to ask what the experience is like in Britain? Also, is there a lot of difference being Afghani vs Indian vs Pakistani vs Nepali etc in how women are perceived in social or work spaces? I was considering studying/working abroad and wondered where my blind spots were, to make balanced and thoughtful choices. If you'd prefer a dm convo or this isn't an ask you're feeling then no worries. Much respect on individual space and privacy. Thanks for reading 💕 💕 (ps. how is LOLITA?!?!? anybody's favorite novel?!?! not acceptable/deeply troubling)

Hi hi

Obvi I haven't lived in America so I can't do a thorough unbiased report back but I can say that I have been exposed to enough variety of American media to get a grasp of what it is like there. So with that disclaimer in mind, let's rock and roll.

The Asian British Experience is something different to the American experience. Straight off the bat, the main difference in America the term Desi only includes Pakistani Indian and Bengali dispora whereas in the UK, Desi includes Nepal and Sri Lanka. There is a big more of the good old subcontinent togetherness here vs in America. If you are South Asian you are South Asian, there isn't any nitpicking.

The UK is tiny compared and when you look at just many South Asian we have compared to the general population, it is a lot a lot. Our culture is very integrated here in the UK. You average Brit knows a decent bit about South Asia and South Asian culture/history. South Asians are regarded the model minority. We aren't going to go into the whole model minority minority myth thing here but I am not going to lie, it does work in our favour. For example, schools here work on catchment or exam sitting. And back when I lived in England there was a huge problem of South Asian students being picked over Black students to be in certain better schools. As a south asian, along with other Asians we were definitely treated different to other poc in terms of the ease of which subjects we were allowed to pick, who got sent to competitions simply because we are Asians.

Do we have colourism and racism within the South Asian society?

Ye lol. But like I always say the UK, unlike America has the problem of classim. So rich south asian treat poorer south asian far worse than I have seen white people treat south asians.

North Indians, here, have a bad rep for being rude to other south asians which is something every Desi will agree on lol

Colourism is slightly tricky. That will take more explanation.

Working as a Desi in the UK?

All south asians get lumped as one. This isn't necessarily because people just see us as one ( which people do but we are all neighbours and it isnt wrong to say our cultures are similar). Again the model minority thing comes to play and we have those advantages over other poc.

I cant speak too much on work life because I havent had a office job yet but I did have ask my sisters And this is what she said.

'When people find out you are South Asian, there is an automatic pressure of being perceived as highly skilled. You are expected to the best at your job and mistakes are frowned upon because you are south asian, you are smart'

I am still waiting for a response from my other sister who arguably has a better insight because she has worked at a top job in one of the biggest companies.

Off topic but my other sister from another mister pointed out that as a highly educated South Asian women, dating becomes incredibly harder. Your dating pool gets smaller and people become more intimated by you.

I could go on and on about being South Asian in the UK. Being British South Asian vs being a FOB South Asian. The expectations. Our impact on culture here.

But the UK is a brilliant place for South Asians. We have enough of our own people for you here lol. No but genuinely, all it will take for you to settle well here is to make friends with one South Asian and the rest will come easy. There is mutual rule of 'support other south asians' that Desis follow here so you will be fine here. We have people in high places everywhere here so networking is easy peasy.

Feel free to dm me if you want i dont mind,

Much Love

Daphne

Edit : READ the comments.

My mutual @sweetsop has raised very good point there. I realised I didnt include the Hindu vs Muslim thing. Racism between Hindus and Muslims is most definitely a thing but in this day and age it is mostly just the older generation and FOB ( fresh of the boat aka immigrants ). My generation is quite good with the religious differences, like ten years ago Hindus and Muslims would not have been friends and there was so much shit between the two groups.

I should also add, it isn't sushine and rainbows here. You will experience racism here but that comes with being a minority anywhere. POC against POC racism is quite prominent. White people are racist here too but depending on where you live, its whatever. I have heard far worse from POC than from white people.

( I am also slightly tipsy rn so please pardon whatever this sporadic mess is )

[swordgayist]

cultural appropriation in ATLA (hinduism edition)

i’m sure there’s already a ton of posts about this, but whatever, i’m still making one idc. 

ATLA’s cultural appropriation, everyone knows about it, the white people don’t speak about it, and the asian and indigenous people get ignored. we know the cycle. but i wanted to come here and highlight some of the most prominent examples of ATLA abusing hinduism, as i am kinda sorta hindu (i was raised in a hindu household, i go to chinmaya mission, that kinda shit). i might forget some things so keep that in mind.

this is gonna be divided into 3 main sections, since there are different ways that they disrespect hinduism that i don’t wanna lump together.

and i’d say i know a lot about hinduism but that doesn’t make me an expert, obviously, so if other hindus have anything to add and/or correct then please do !! and if anyone else wants to share how their cultures were appropriated then please do that as well !!

so let’s get started shall we?

appropriating hinduism

1) the avatar

we’ll start with the most obvious example: the avatar itself

i know that there are parts of the avatar mythos that are taken from other cultures as well but the idea of the avatar itself is primarily from hinduism.

basically in hinduism, the term dashavatara refers to the 10 reincarnations of lord vishnu (the god of preservation), with avatar(a) meaning form or incarnation in sanskrit, and das(a) meaning ten. it was said that whenever the world was out of balance, lord vishnu would come down to earth in a certain form to restore balance. Each reincarnation is considered a different life with a different story. the avatars of lord vishnu are often considered the saviors of the world.

so basically, the central idea of the show and the actual name of the show is largely based on hinduism.

2) chakras

many different indian religions have a concept of chakras (chakra meaning wheel or circle in sanskrit), but hinduism is the one that primarily preaches the system of seven chakras, the version used in ATLA.

chakras connect the physical body to the ‘subtle’ body (referring more to the spirit and the psyche) by connecting parts of the body to aspects of the mind. the idea is that through different forms of steady meditation you can manipulate the different chakras and allow the pure flow of energy through the body.

the whole idea of chakras on ATLA is that aang has to unblock them all to let the cosmic energy flow through him so that he can go into the avatar state at will. so yeah, pretty much that whole idea was taken from hinduism.

3) terminologies

these are just a few terms that were taken from hinduism. i’m pretty sure there are more that i can’t think of right now but yeah.

“agni” kai 

i’ll be honest i don’t know where the ‘kai’ part is from, i don’t think it’s from hinduism but if it is well fuck me i guess.  ‘agni’ in hinduism is the god of fire, so the creators used it in ‘agni kai’, the name for a firebending duel.

“bumi”

this is in reference to the hindu word for ‘earth’, which is bhoomi. this is also in reference to our goddess of earth, bhoomi devi. also this doesn’t really bother me but i wonder if the creators knew that bhoomi is a name typically used for women (as are most hindi names ending in ‘i’/‘ee’).

in general, concepts like having multiple complex gods (the spirits) who are capable of good and evil and the reincarnation cycle are prominent in a lot of asian cultures, including (and arguably primarily) hinduism.

mocking hinduism

now we get into the mockery of hinduism in ATLA, because it is very much there.

1) whoever the fuck that baboon guy in the spirit world was

now what the fuck was this.

i mean i wouldn’t say this is the most egregious example of them making fun of brown people but lord why did this even need to be there? this random guy from the spirit world has an indian accent ? and is fervently chanting ‘om’ for some reason, and it’s clearly meant to be seen as comical. also portraying brown people as monkeys....... really.

2) combustion man/sparky sparky boom man

when rewatching ATLA in 2019 i actually had no idea that this was a thing, because the last time i had watched it was as a kid and i didn’t finish it.

so lord was i in for a surprise when i saw...

now... now what.

if you didn’t know, combustion man’s ‘third eye’ is designed to replicate the hindu god of destruction, lord shiva. right down to the vibhuti on his forehead (referring to the three line markings around the third eye).

in hinduism, lord shiva’s third eye is used to reduce people to ashes, though as far as i can recall, not very frequently. the primary significance of the third eye is that it represents the ability of higher spiritual thought and higher consciousness.

the ATLA writers take the ACTUAL significance of the third eye, throw it out the window, and then take its destructive abilities to make a super duper cool and dangerous new firebending technique.

and if that wasn’t bad enough, the actual person who uses this technique, and is meant to emulate a GOD who is PRAISED, is a scary, burly, half metal man who is a villain and an assassin. not to mention the design of his facial hair replicates that super duper scary “terrorist” depiction of brown people, particularly of muslims, that white people are so thoroughly terrified of for no reason. 

this is a parody of a god, and they portrayed him as this terrifying, maniacal fucking assassin who, along with p’li, the combustion bender from LOK, is constantly referred to as a “third-eyed freak”. i’ve made this analogy before and i’ll do it again, this is like making jesus into a hitman.

now onto my favorite example...

3) guru pathik

ah, this motherfucker.

i don’t really have any problems with him as a character, i mean hell, must’ve taken a fuck ton of patience to handle aang’s “why would choose cosmic energy over katara” bullshit.

but we all know it, we see it plain as day, don’t even try to deny it.

“guru” literally just means teacher or guide, so i don’t really know why pathik needed to be referred to as “guru” so distinctively from aang’s other teachers and guides, but that’s just extremely trivial compared to all the other issues with this character.

first of all what is this character design? what is he even wearing? if they’re trying to replicate the clothes of swamis and priests and stuff this is already wrong, realized people don’t dress like this. and why the fuck does he have an indian accent? and why was this indian accent done by a non indian (brian george)?

once again, the poor but extremely heavy indian accent is clearly meant to be mocking, if it wasn’t, they wouldn’t’ve gone out of their way to get a non indian person to DO an indian accent, and instead they would’ve just gotten an actual indian person to play the role. 

and oh yeah, the onion and banana juice. because hindus just eat weird shit right.

whether it’s actually weird or not, the show certainly portrays it as weird. and as far as i know no hindu actually fucking drinks onion and banana juice.

ironic because brown people can absolutely destroy white people in cooking. but i digress.

i know what you’re all waiting for. because the guru apparently didn’t have enough fun with guru pathik, so they just had to come back to him in book 3:

where do i begin.

so this is obviously john o’bryan’s super funny and hilarious depiction of pathik as a hindu god.

usually when a god has multiple arms it’s to carry an array of things, from flowers to weapons to instruments, and one hand is typically free to bless devotees (ie. goddess durga and lord vishnu respectively):

but of course white people see this as weird and so they make fun of it, hence guru pathik having multiple arms just flailing about aimlessly (save for the two that are being used to carry the aforementioned onion and banana juice).

then there’s the whole light behind pathik’s head which is usually depicted in drawings of hindu gods to show that they are celestial.

also what the fuck is he holding? is that supposed to be a veena? because this is what a veena looks like:

and i assume the reason this was added was to mock the design of goddess saraswathi, who carries a veena:

but that right there in the picture of pathik looks more like a tambura than a veena. 

and it also just kinda looks like a banjo?

but i guess the animators just searched up “long indian instrument” and slapped it on there. actually no, that’s giving them too much credit, they probably didn’t search it up at all. 

and then the actual scene is pathik singing crazily about chakras tasting good or something while playing the non-veena and it’s all supposed to be some funky crazy hallucination that aang is having due to sleep deprivation. just some crazy dream, just as crazy as talking appa and momo sparring with swords or tree-ozai coming to life.

our gurus and swamis and sadhus and generally realized people are very respected in hinduism, they’re people we look up to and honor very much. and our GODS are beings that we literally worship. and the writers just take both and make caricatures out of them for other white people to laugh at.

4) other shit

before we move to the next portion i just wanna mention there are also smaller backhanded jabs that i can’t really remember now, but one example was when zuko was all “we’ll be sure to remember that, guru goody goody”. or when a character would meditate and say “om” only when the meditation is supposed to be portrayed as comical or pointless. or in bitter work when sokka was rambling on about karma. small things like that. but moving on.

south asian representation, or lack thereof

now i finally get to the “losing” hinduism part. by this i mean the lack of actual representation there is of south asians (the region where hinduism is primarily practiced) despite the fact that hinduism plays such a big role in the show’s world design.

i think it’s safe to say that broadly the main cast consists of aang, katara, sokka, zuko, toph, azula, iroh, mai, ty lee, and suki. 

a grand total of none of these characters are south asian. the writers don’t even attempt to add any south asian main characters. 

there are characters with dark skin, like haru and jet, but a) they’re not confirmed to be south asian and don’t have any south asian features or south asian names, b) they’re side characters, so they don’t count as representation, and c) even if they were south asian and main characters, jet wouldn’t even count because he’s portrayed as a terrorist.

the ONLY truly south asian character we get is fucking guru pathik. so yeah. not representation.

i don’t get how the creators of this show rip off of hinduism (among many other south asian cultures they rip off of), mock indians, and then don’t even have the decency to HAVE a main character who is south asian.

i’ve never gotten a chance to compile all this, and this definitely isn’t all the creators have done, but i hope this was somewhat informative.

[aliensunflower-fics]

The Interview

[ Did I seriously take time away from writing requests and part twos of things JUST to write a fic where Marinette Flambé‘s Gabriel until he’s nothing but a dirty little lump of coal? Yes. Yes I did. Enjoy! ]

Gabriel Agreste would call himself a practical man. He had never been one for frivolous things. And he believed this was a good thing. His straight and to the point nature meant no gift would go unused, no conversation would drag on, his time would never be wasted. And his designs reflected this practical and sharp point of view. Or so he believed.

Gabriel Agreste would also call himself a realist. He knew full well he was the villain, and he knew full well the damage he had done and was doing. But it did not bother him, he was selfish and sentimental at least concerning his wife. And he wanted it all. The wife, the business, the perfect son, the house. All of it.

And that was why Gabriel Agreste wanted Marinette Dupain-Cheng. She was brilliant, creative, determined, and quick on her feet. Each time he'd been near her he could feel the power she radiated her flurry of untapped potential and raw emotion swirling like a tumultuous ocean. Yes, Gabriel needed Marinette to become his most awe-inspiring destructive, and terrifying Akuma, the one who would finally level Paris and rip the Miraculous off of those pesky heroes once and for all! And who knows, if she succeeded perhaps Gabriel would give her the privilege of being his apprentice in his new perfect world. Her designs had been pretty good and he was nothing if not practical.

There was of course one, tinsy tiny problem however with Marinette Dupain-Cheng. And that was to put it simply that she was perhaps TOO brilliant, creative, determined, and quick on her feet. Every time he thought he finally had her something would go wrong! First, it was that useless excuse for a ‘teacher’ getting in the way, then Mayura failed him! Then Marinette had seemingly caught on and adapted! Bullied? Nope, she thought positive thoughts and spent time with friends. Property destroyed? She’d fix it and make it nicer than before! Lied about? She'd clear her name by the end of the day! Stolen from? She’d always find a fix! Each and every attempt was simply a hurdle the girl overcame!

Even Lila and Adrien had failed him! The sausage headed brat had been trying to crack Marinette near religiously but she had yet to produce real results, if she framed the girl some proof would appear to clear her, if she bullied the girl Marinette would simply walk away to calm down, physical assault had not even been enough to break her. And Adrien… Well, he had no idea that his father was trying to manipulate him so his failures were at least forgivable but even then nothing he did worked. He’d tried several times to produce a jealousy akuma out of Marinette pairing his own son off with Kagami and occasionally even letting the Italian leech hang off his son but Marinette never budged, it wasn’t that she wasn’t jealous or even angry it was just that she cared too much for other people, with Kagami the baker girl had backed off and even aided out in their budding relationship her feelings of kindness and friendship out shadowing her jealousy. And with Lila? Well, Marinette was more concerned with Adrien’s emotional and physical well-being, and after seeing what the liar’s fake nails had done to his son's arms Gabriel could understand why. As a last resort, Gabriel had tried forbidding Adrien from ever seeing the girl again hoping that would do it, but not even 5 minutes later he had undone the command when Adrien threatened to quit modeling and blast his father on social media… Needless to say, Gabriel wasn’t sure where his son had gotten the backbone for such a move but he felt like blaming Marinette for that as well.

Yes. Gabriel Agreste had tried everything to akumatize Marinette Dupain-Cheng and nothing had worked. Now at 17, the girl was still going strong showing no cracks in her armor. Well… He had tried ALMOST everything. There was one thing, one last little thing he had yet to try… And that was ruining the young girl's dream. Now Gabriel did not truly wish to squash such talent, but of course, he didn’t really NEED to. Yes, it was perfect. He would invite the youngest Dupain-Cheng into his home for an interview with a prospective internship on the line. He would warm her up by poking and prodding at her design portfolio, then he would accuse her of stealing the designs from Lila Rossi, and finally, he would claim to be blacklisting her entirely from the very world of fashion! No doubt THAT the very destruction of her dreams would finally produce the Akuma he needed to secure victory. If she succeeded he would favor her in his new perfect world as a reward, and if she failed… Well then he could claim he had ‘seen the truth’ while she was akumatized and undo the damage, there was no sense in actually ruining the girls promising career after all.

With his plan set Gabriel ordered Nathalie to make the arrangements. Come Saturday afternoon Marinette Dupain-Cheng would finally be akumatized.

However, Gabriel was hit with his first surprise, or perhaps his first ‘warning’ when Nathalie entered his office to inform him that Saturday was NOT on the table. In a shocking and rare turn, Marinette had somehow negotiated Nathalie to schedule the interview for Friday instead. Forcing the assistant to re-organize Gabriel’s entire schedule. When Gabriel had asked why this had happened Nathalie had seemed unlike herself, flustered and unsure, apparently Marinette had been very firm about having very important Saturday plans she would not even consider changing and had stated simply and sharply that her only free time would be Friday this week or Gabriel would need to wait another two weeks for her next availability. Hearing that was a shock, Gabriel had NEVER once needed to reschedule himself for others! No! They rescheduled for HIM. But fine, perhaps the sentimental girl had some idiotic family get together she felt she could not say no to it didn’t really matter in fact Friday meant he’d get his Akuma an entire day earlier. Fine then, Friday it was.

The second surprise had come Friday itself. When Miss Marinette Dupain-Cheng arrived perfectly on time. Gabriel was the one caught with his pants down as he had expected the girl to be late with what Adrien had told him of the girl's tardiness record. He and Nathalie were left scrambling to get the office in order while Marinette sat in the hall. Gabriel would review the security footage later and note that the young designer did not gawk or stare at his opulent manor but rather eyed everything critically and with an air of absolute boredom as if she had a million other things she would rather be doing. Had Gabriel seen this expression on the young woman's face beforehand he might have noted it as his second warning that things were not going to go as he expected them to.

Finally, the office looked impeccable and Nathalie invited the young woman in. Gabriel stood behind his desk, his face an emotionless mask but his mind reaching out using the magic granted to him by Nooroo to feel for the young woman's emotions so he could better guide this in the way he desired. However when the young woman entered he was not overcome by the tsunami of nerves and emotions he expected rather it was like an ice front had hit his office. Gabriel was shocked, he could not for the life of him read the girl she was a perfect wall of flawless gleaming ice with no cracks for him to exploit, even her eyes which he had seen in photos and through his Akuma's vision were not what he expected. In every picture, Adrien had tried to show him the young woman's eyes were warm and sweet but now those bluebell orbs had frosted over regarding him with a sharp and pointed stare as if she could read his thoughts. As the two exchanged pleasantries and shook hands Gabriel waited for her to situate herself before he did the same taking a second to share a brief glance with Nathalie who seemed just as confused and put off by the young woman's behavior as he was.

Feeling nervous Gabriel decided to open with some small talk hoping to find a crack that would allow him to feel the young woman's emotions so he politely asked a question about how she'd been. She responded curtly and politely that she was fine but busy, he asked about her parents and their business, she cooly responded that they were opening a second location, finally, he complimented her outfit asking if she designed it herself. He expected to feel SOMETHING from the girl exhilaration at being complimented by someone she admired, nervous about him pointing it out, anything! Instead, the wall of ice remained cool and shimmering as ever as she told him that she had indeed designed the outfit herself and that she was pleased it met his standards. And it did, she wore silky black palazzo pants that flowed gently at the bottom but was clearly tailored to her exact centimeter around her hips, her top had some clear Asian inspirations with a modern twist, it was flawlessly fitted but seemed comfortable and easy to move in. It was white with pink and gold hand painted sakura flowers and some embroidery detailing that were certainly done by hand, to match she had pink lips and pristine white heels, her hair was down but perfectly in place, she was the very image of a professional confidant woman all at the young age of 17.

They chatted a while longer with Gabriel asking her about her design process and if she’d painted on the details of her shirt but still there was no crack in the ice keeping her emotions from Gabriel’s prying mind. The only emotion he could read from the girl was in her body language and it was clear she was losing her patience as Gabriel avoided the reason she was here. Clearing his throat awkwardly and sparing another quick glance at Nathalie who looked just as lost as himself. He finally settled in his chair and they began.

It was a rather standard interview at first, as Gabriel did not want to play his cards too quickly and was hoping that if he was patient the ice guarding the woman's emotions would thaw. He asked to see her sketches while they spoke and she easily handed over a professional-looking sketchbook, as he flipped through it he would occasionally pause to ask questions about her design process or inspiration, they were lovely sketches and truthfully Gabriel was hard-pressed to find anything wrong with them, but for the sake of his plan, he acted unimpressed and even critical of her designs. If it bothered her, she made no show of it much to Gabriel’s annoyance. He began to press harder, asking her if she could truly handle an internship under someone of his caliber, then he asked what her grades were, how he could trust her around his son as he’d heard some unsavory rumors about her character from a trustworthy employee. If anything he said bothered her, she never let it show her face a cool mask of professional disinterest. Gabriel tried not to grind his teeth, this was NOT going as he planned, as he prepared to accuse her of stealing Lila’s designs the young designer held up her hand to silence him.

“Monsieur Agreste, you have been asking a lot of questions. May I ask one of my own?”

Her voice was calm but Gabriel could hear the tiniest bit of ice in her tone. Perhaps his prodding was working after all. Either way, he nodded for her to continue, she straightened just the littlest bit before settling Gabriel with an icy look.

“I would like to know why you believe YOU are qualified to be my mentor.”

Gabriel blinked once. Then twice. He was quite sure his mouth was open in shock. He glanced again at Nathalie; his assistant seemed to be mirroring his own feelings and expressions. Finally, he swallowed and his mouth felt dry.

“Pardon me?” The girl in front of him blinked at him as if he were a rather idiotic child.

“I asked: WHY do you think you're qualified to mentor me. Monsieur Agreste.” Her voice was pure ice now and he suppressed a shiver.

He sat up straighter leveling the girl with an icy look of his own trying not to let his shock show.

“And what makes you think it is acceptable to ask me such a question Miss Dupain-Cheng?”

“Well… This is an interview is it not? Did you think I would simply agree to work for you without checking if you are up to my standards?”

Gabriel suppressed a strangled sound of insult as the red hot feeling of anger rose within him as he absorbed the young woman's words. But even still he could not suppress all of it.

“I beg your pardon!” She gave him a critical look but altogether a bored one.

“I do not mean to offend, Monsieur Agreste. But you are not the first to offer me an internship, currently, I have about 5 different offers on my table, the most notable being with the Style Queen herself and La Mode’s head designer Edna. I want to make an… Educated decision. And frankly, the only reason I am here today is as a favor to your son Adrien, who asked me to give you a chance. So again I will ask, what makes YOU Gabriel Agreste more qualified to mentor me, than Audrey Bourgeois or Edna Mode?”

Gabriel was left feeling very much like he had been caught with his pants down. Marinette Dupain-Cheng already had other offers? And with the top jewels of the fashion world's crown?! How? When!? Surely if Miss Dupain-Cheng had made any significant leaps in the world of fashion he and Nathalie would know about it… Right? I mean, true he had taken a step back from the world in his pursuit of the Miraculous and perhaps he had not been as involved in his own business lately. But he had both Lila and Nathalie on the outside yet they had said nothing about the young girl and her fashion career. Frantically searching for something to say to get the interview back on track and heading the way he wanted Gabriel’s eyes landed on the colorful designer bag Marinette had with her. He had noticed it seemed tailor-made to go with her outfit now taking a closer look at it he noticed the subtle detail of ‘MDC’ in golden lettering. No… No, he could not have missed it. Nathalie could not have missed it! MDC was known as Jagged Stone’s and Clara Nightingale's personal designer the mysterious presence had been a thorn in Gabriel’s side snatching his more famous clientele. But now it was clear. MDC was Marinette Dupain-Cheng. The girl he’d been planning to threaten with a fashion world blacklist and accusations of falsifying her designs was his up and coming competitor. Gabriel swallowed thickly trying to think of how he could spin this situation in his favor now. Nathalie who was unaware that MDC was sitting in front of him could offer no help.

“Well, Miss Dupain-Cheng as I'm sure you are aware, I was once very much in the same situation as yourself, I built my own company from the ground up after I was done training with my own mentor. I could show you how a successful business is built up and run. And I could help you polish your designs.”

The girl nodded thoughtfully and pulled out a small notebook and pen scribbling down something he could not see. Gabriel ignored Nathalie’s looks of confusion and his own growing anger. This was not how he wanted things to go but knowing what he now knew he needed to play his cards carefully, perhaps he could get the girl to intern under him then wear her down until she became possible to akumatize? Yes, that might work! Marinette cleared her throat and Gabriel focused on her again.

“So you could give me an excellent perspective on building my own business and running it… I assume this means you have a plan to get your own business back from the brink of failure then?”

Gabriel choked. His eyes near bulging out of his head as his mind fought to comprehend what had just been said. Marinette for her part simply arched a well-maintained eyebrow in response.

“I do apologize if that was direct. It's just… Well looking at your sales numbers in recent seasons shows a continuing decline in sales, not to mention the number of celebrities seen wearing Gabriel originals has dropped significantly. I will not be interning on a sinking ship Monsieur Agreste surely you understand?”

A quick glance to Nathalie gave him a nod of confirmation that the young woman's words were true. He hadn’t even noticed…

“Of course I have a plan to increase sales. I have been taking a… Creative break. So to speak in order to properly mourn my wife and come up with fresh new ideas.”

It was a bald-faced lie that had crawled its way out of his throat and through his teeth. But it seemed to satisfy the young designer who scribbled a few more notes down before again returning her icy gaze to his face.

“I assume this plan also involves cleaning up the rampant abuse your company is known for then?”

“EXCUSE ME?!” It was Nathalie that time, her face pale and her eyes wide though Gabriel very much agreed with the sentiment.

“Oh? Your secretary was unaware? Hm.” The designer jotted something down continuing to speak as she wrote. “It’s well known in the world of fashion, you have mass turn over in your employee’s they complain that you don't take accusations of sexual assault seriously, that your harsh and overly demanding on your employee’s, that you foster an environment in which abusers and bullies can easily get their way. And that's not even touching on the rumors surrounding the pedophilia, sex scandals, and your abusive behavior toward your own son.”

At those words, Gabriel could take no more his chair let out a screech as he leaped up and slammed his hand down on his desk the loud bang ringing out through the room. To her credit, Marinette did not jump or flinch at the sudden noise. Nathalie however, did.

“That is quite enough Miss Dupain-Cheng! I will not have you coming into my home leveling such blatant and false accusations about my business and personal life!”

The young designer's eyes became impossibly icier and she stood calmly flipping her little notepad closed as she leveled Gabriel with a glare that sent ice into his spine and made him swallow. He swore the room temperature somehow went below zero yet he felt the need to remove his jacket, his body feeling impossibly hot and sweaty.

“In that case. I think I've seen everything I need to make my decision. Do not contact me again Monsieur Agreste I have no interest in maintaining any business relations with a man of your… Type.”

Her words were pure venom yet still he felt no anger coming from her, and now she was trying to leave all at once Gabriel found reality slapping him in the face. His Akuma, his glorious Akuma the one that would lead to his victory he NEEDED it. Nathalie as if reading his mind stepped in front of the door, blocking the young woman's path, Gabriel took a calming breath and fixed his tie. He needed to refocus on the task at hand, he had let the girl get to him but no more he would get the upper hand he WOULD get his Akuma.

“I am afraid we are not done here yet Miss Dupain-Cheng. You see we still have yet to discuss the REAL reason I called you here today.” He didn’t miss a beat, didn't give the girl time to interject. “You see one of my models. A Miss Lila Rossi, claims that you have stolen her designs from her. And having looked at your sketchbook I can now confirm her suspicions. I do wonder what your other potential mentors would think of you being a thief.”

It was a risky lie. Well… Not completely. Lila Rossi had tried to claim Marinette’s work as her own a few times before. Obviously Gabriel never believed the girl, but right now the Italians lie’s were ones he was willing to overlook if it got him what he wanted. And he was sure it was, as finally, the snappy icy Miss Dupain-Cheng was frozen, her expression hidden by her hair but her stiff body was trembling ever so slightly. Finally, Gabriel was back in control.

The girl's body trembled more and more and Gabriel briefly wondered if she was crying or shaking with rage but then he heard it... She was making an odd sound that was growing louder until Gabriel realized what it was… Marinette was laughing. It wasn’t a normal sort of laugh, rather it was a hollow dark sound the type of laugh that belonged to villains in cartoons the type of laugh that sent dread into a person's body, and all at once, the victorious smirk on Nathalie and Gabriel’s faces dropped as Marinette laughed louder and harder. When she finished she wiped tears from her eyes before she settled her icy glare back onto Gabriel a sinister smirk playing on her lips.

“Can I get that in writing Monsieur Agreste?” If she sounded venomous before she sounded downright deadly now. But Gabriel held himself tall and firm.

“This is not a joke Miss Dupain-Cheng. I will not tolerate you stealing from my company.”

“Oh, I am being serious Monsieur Agreste. Do you think this is the first time Rossi has tried to play this game with me?” She scoffed. “Please. I have grown used to her childish ways. Last time I sent my lawyer with a cease and desist order to her house. But if you believe your little ‘muse’ so much then it seems I will need to hit her a little harder to make my message crystal clear. I don’t have much tolerance for liars, Monsieur Agreste least of all little gold-digging ones.”

“M-My muse?” Gabriel suddenly felt a part of his stomach drop. Something about what was just said was clearly very wrong.

“Yes. Your ‘muse’ that's what Lila has been calling herself since she began working for you two years ago. Where do you think the rumors of pedophilia came from Monsieur Agreste?” He choked, but she only hummed thoughtfully. “Perhaps you should be more careful who you hire. Especially considering how she sexually assaults your son. But you already knew about THAT and didn’t fire her. So perhaps she really IS your ‘muse’ then.”

Gabriel could hear the unspoken threat in her words daring him to push the issue and face her wrath and knew he was now playing a very dangerous game. He had known that Lila enjoyed hanging off his son and he had told her off about the wounds she left with her nails and that had stopped, but even after that Adrien had tried to speak with him a few times about Lila but he’d ignored it she was too useful as an ally, but now she may have ended up being his Trojan horse. And if the gleam in Marinette’s eyes and the dangerous smile on her lips was anything to go by the young designer knew it. Nathalie was looking paler the longer this went on. Gabriel knew he needed to save himself now, Akuma be damned he’d be useless to his wife if he lost everything before managing to bring her back.

He cleared his throat. “Now… Perhaps I have been a bit... Hasty? In my accusation of you Miss Dupain-Cheng. I was unaware of Miss Rossi’s dubious nature and words. Or her actions toward my son, perhaps you would consid-”

“How DARE you!” All at once, he was hit with the raw force of Marinette’s emotions, her hot boiling anger overcoming him and knocking out his breath. But just as swift as it came the wall of ice consumed them sealing it away once more. “You have a lot of nerve pretending you knew nothing, Monsieur Agreste. When I know for a fact your son and several of your employees have come to you begging and pleading to be listened to. So either you are lying to my face or you really are just that much of a pathetic excuse for a ‘father’.”

He sputtered trying to defend himself, even Nathalie could no longer stand by stepping forward to try and help his defense.

“Oh please. You are a JOKE, Monsieur Agreste. As Adrien’s close friend I know very well the kind of father- no the kind of MAN you are. You are a cold, abusive, manipulative, worm. You ignore your son, neglect him, and treat him as no more than a mannequin for your clothes. The only reason your business hasn’t gone under yet is because you whore your own son out banking on his popularity to keep yourself afloat.”

Gabriel felt anger and a rare sense of shame rush him all at once as he desperately choked out a reply determined to defend himself. Nathalie stepped forward readying herself to help him but he managed to get out his reply before she needed to offer her help.

“I-I am doing no such thing! I love my son and would never allow any harm to come to him!”

Marinette seemed completely unconvinced. Humming thoughtfully she tilted her head to the side locking Gabriel in her cold gaze.

“In that case perhaps you could tell me what you got him for his last birthday? Here’s a hint he didn’t even get a cake or a happy birthday from you.”

Gabriel stuttered stunned that he was being challenged in such a way he glanced to Nathalie looking to her for help but Marinette stepped in the way blocking his view.

“No? Too hard for you? Then perhaps you could tell me when you last had dinner with him?” Nothing. “Hm. Ok, what about when you last spoke with him about something besides his classes, his job, or his extracurriculars?” Nothing. “Oh, then what's your son's favorite food? Or color? What does he want to do when he’s finally 18 and free from you? Does he want to go to college? Does he even LIKE wearing your tacky awful clothing?” Silence. “Nothing huh… Here il go real easy on you. When was the last time you gave your son a hug?” Gabriel stuttered but he was at a loss for words. He didn’t know. “The last hug YOU gave him was several years ago. When I won your bowler hat competition. You haven’t even touched your own son in years, yet you have the nerve to claim you love him? That you seek to protect him? That you would NEVER have let Lila Rossi molest him near constantly had you simply ‘known’ about it.” She crossed her arms. “I am. Unconvinced. Monsieur Agreste.”

Each word was a pointed blade aiming for Gabriel, cutting him down smaller and smaller until he felt like an insect under the young girl's gaze. Yet she offered him no mercy only staring him down as if he were the scum of the earth. And right now, he felt like he very well might be. Nathalie who had been at the ready finally stepped in leveling Marinette with an icy glare of her own, though compared to the designers it was more lukewarm than anything.

“Monsieur Agreste is a very busy businessman, who has been mourning the loss of his wife!”

Marinette scoffed her icy blue eyes roaming up and down his assistant while her face morphed into a look of disgust.

“Of course YOU would defend him Miss Sancoeur. After all, you are complicit in Adrien’s abuse. Feeding him the equivalent of table scraps so he can stay the perfect malnourished model that you both need to fill your bank accounts with cash. And that is not even broaching on the fact that Adrien is quite sure you share his father's bed when you think he's not looking. After all POOR Monsieur Agreste needs some kind of warmth to ‘mourn’ his wife with while he leaves his son to become more and more emotionally damaged.”

It was Nathalie’s turn to be left a gaping, her face impossibly red with shame at the blatant accusation. In fact, neither Nathalie nor Gabriel knew how to defend themselves now. This was so far from how they had foreseen this interview going that they had nothing left with which to defend themselves with. Marinette Dupain-Cheng however seemed far from finished in fact she seemed like she was just getting warmed up.

“Listen Monsieur Agreste, I once admired your work but I now have no choice but to agree with Madame Bourgeois, you have let the death of your wife sour you into a rotten waste of a man, your designs are lackluster, cold and only look good on mannequins, your business is failing, your employees hate you, your neglectful and abusive of the only family you have left, and your stupid enough to have threatened my future career on the lies of a gold digger. I came here today only because I am a close friend of your son who begged me to give you a chance in the hopes I could help salvage your failing company. But I cannot, and I will not work with a man who is as selfish and repulsive as you.”

Checking her watch Marinette let out an annoyed hum clearly she was not pleased with how long this interview had taken. Sidestepping Nathalie who was still struggling to find the words to defend herself. She made her way to the door pausing once her hand was on the handle.

“Oh and Monsieur Agreste. If you're still determined to call yourself a fashion designer… Then the least you could do is stop dressing yourself like a candy cane themed board game mascot, found at a cheap dollar store. It’s an insult to fashion, and I’d even go so far to say that Hawkmoth has made nicer looking Akuma’s and those look like discount cartoon villains from the ’80s. Now do have a good rest of your day. And look out for my lawyers, they will be coming around sometime soon.”

And with that, she was gone. Leaving Gabriel to slump into his seat and hold his head, while Nathalie shakily took the seat across from him that Marinette had just occupied. The secretary was heavily reconsidering her life choices, perhaps her sister had been right when she said Nathalie needed a nice long vacation away somewhere sunny and warm and far from Gabriel to re-evaluate her priorities.

Gabriel however was re-evaluating his life in a much different way as everything that the young woman threw at him sunk into his head. He believed himself a practical man yet Marinette Dupain-Cheng had utterly disassembled his plan, his life, and his actions leaving him feeling like a schoolyard bully who’d just been put in time out by the teacher. He believed himself a realist, yet Marinette Dupain-Cheng had been the one to rip the wool from his eyes and force him to face the ugly reality that he ignored, his business was collapsing, his employees were either jumping ship or were utterly convinced they could get away with blatant abuse, his wife had been comatose for years, his son quite possibly hated him and when he graduated would take his leave destroying the only thing that left his business a fighting chance, and to top it all off he was wearing RED PANTS.

Leaning back in his chair he stared at his ceiling in a hazy state of fleeting thoughts. All he could think was that it has been one hell of an interview.

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[choicesenthusiast]

Representation at Pixelberry: The Follow-Up

One year ago, on June 15, 2020, Pixelberry released a statement regarding representation at the company. Here is the LINK to the original blog post, and here was MY RESPONSE. Oh, how naïve and optimistic I was. It contained a list of goals and promises they hoped to accomplish within a year. Well, a year has passed, and here is my attempt to hold PB accountable. I'll be going over the five main points of their representation plan and if they achieved what they promised. All criticisms are about content released after June 15th. Long post beware, but I'm not putting it under a read more because I feel like it's important for all to see.

1. Commitment to diversity of Love Interests - FAIL

We’ve already been moving towards having Love Interests have customizable skin tones. We will continue to do this with some stories, while also having some characters with clear ethnic identities. At the same time when we have multiple love interests of different ethnicities, we are aiming for those Love Interests to have equal game time.

"LIs with customizable skin tones" mean they come in three flavours: white, black, and ambiguously Asian/Latinx interchangeably. So far I have rarely seen an LI as connected to their culture/ethnicity as Rafael Aveiro, and he just talked about his Vovo's food if he ever were on screen. They had many chances with the other OH LIs as well. Even Ayna Seth and Tatum Mendoza were confirmed to be Indian and Filipino, respectively, though FA gets a little leeway, as it was set in a fictional west-European continent.

As for equal game time? I'm sure the biggest example we can all think of was the mess that was Open Heart 3, which was written during the hiatus (which only existed because they were going to straight up kill Rafael in Book 2). Game time was not equal among LIs, and the white male LI was heavily favoured. PB also continues to pay female LIs dirt by giving them no screen time. In addition to that, LGBT+ players, who are consistently underrepresented, receive one (1) unprepared pride month survey, prpbably only because someone asked them about it on Twitter.

This is the meat and potatoes of everything because it's what they're outputting to their audience. It's what the people see. Given that things haven't been going so well lately in this department, consider this promise a big fat fail.

2. More authentic and diverse hairstyles for people of color - QUESTIONABLE

Our team will focus on providing more authentic and representative hairstyles. We are prioritizing these hairstyles outside of our normal book processes and will introduce them in new books as they are ready.

While, yes, they have added two new hairstyles in WEH, they also just took Jade Bonet's hair and recycled it for LoA F!MC. PB recycles all their hair more often than not.

3. More diverse book covers - QUESTIONABLE

This is an initiative we started in January of this year. As a result the number of Black, Latinx, Asian, Native American, Pacific Islander, mixed, and other characters on new book covers increased from 35% of characters in 2019 to 60% characters in the first half of 2020. However, the number of black characters is still not high enough this year. More are already scheduled for books later this year. We will make sure that Black characters are well represented on our covers in the future.

"Diverse" does not just mean by race, but also gender, sexual orientation, etc. FA has the only recent MLM cover. And don't tell me that the FA and LoA covers are any different from each other. The only black characters on covers are Zoey Wade (QB), and Black!Gabe Ricci (LoA) and Bastien (WB), which aren't even their canon races unless you choose them to be. This is the case for many single-LI books, such as Cassian Keane (W:ABR, which technically premiered on Mar. 16, but the sentiment is the same), Sam Dalton (TNA), and Dakota Winchester (WEH). Not to mention the customizable/multi LI books like DS, RT, BaBu2, MTFL, etc. Majority of these covers are just cishet couples delicately cradling each other's bodies or whatever. And we're not even gonna get into how PB literally put the Open Heart LIs in order of their favouritism on Book 3's cover.

4. Writers/Staff - QUESTIONABLE

We will be engaging in professional training on historical and current racism for our writers to ensure more of them have a better understanding and more context for views of diverse characters in Choices. We will also create a program that gives more authority to people of color in the studio to advise writers and artists on more authentic portrayals in both writing and art of black, brown, and minority characters.

A story with a Black-led cast is something I have asked for in the past, but failed to follow-up on. We will very likely start this with a Black-led cast story led by Chelsa, one of Pixelberry's Black writers.

We will increase the number of diverse writers we source for new stories, starting with hiring more Black and Latinx writers to lead the charge.

For all teams at Pixelberry we will actively work to bring in more Black and Latinx candidates with the goal to increase the number of Black and Latinx employees at Pixelberry. Although Pixelberry is over 50% female, on teams where females are not at 50% we will actively work to source more female candidates.

This promise seemed like a copout from the start because we have no way of knowing who works on what at PB unless we very meticulously stalk their LinkedIn or Twitter or whatever. We have no solid statistics except for what they feed us. I do know, however, that they recently let the Ms. Match writers go and were hiring for external writers, but there really is no way of knowing what's going on behind-the-scenes with their 112+ employees, and of course there would be NDAs involved. We are yet to see a book with an all-Black cast, and receive rare development updates with new books. Actually, I think a really good way to promote diversity is to do staff showcases on their social media. Just a way to show the public who's responsible for what. Writers, game devs, the art team, etc. Don't think it'll happen, but it's always a good idea.

5. Donations - QUESTIONABLE

Pixelberry will also be making $100,000 in donations to Black Girls Code, the Black Writers Collective, and the Latinx Writers Collective at Techqueria. Rather than as a lump sum, we will be making these donations over the course of a year to remind us that we are not making short term changes, but are committed to long term sustainable actions. We’ll also be donating up to an additional $100k from profits for this week, 6/15-6/21.

There has been no proof, no receipts, no evidence from PB that they have donated anything to anyone, and as far as we're concerned, their word doesn't mean anything. No news or updates news about it. I would love to believe that they did something, but as you can see, I've become quite the pessimist. BWC still uses PB's old logo (like, pre-Choices) on their sponsors page, and the last interaction they've had with BGC was in 2013. They don't even follow each other on Instagram. In fact, BGC received a huge donation from MacKenzie Scott, formerly Bezos last July. Yes, that billionaire Bezos, and that got coverage from them. Obviously donations don't need to be for publicity, but in this case I think it's important there should be proof. Again, it's really hard to tell with these behind-the-scenes things, but given how PB loves to gloat and hates to keep promises, we can assume that none of this happened.

~~~

So, what's the takeaway? That PB's fallen down the drainhole of shitty content and empty promises and has no intention of climbing out as long as they still make that bank? Seems counterproductive, because good representation gets good feedback and income. They pump out bad books with barebones "representation" if you can call it that, then drop their precious merch and pretend all is fine and dandy. But just as I suspected one year ago, none of this matters, because people forget things, and people move on, and shit gets swept under rugs. Yet, here I am, yelling at a company in a post I for sure doubt they'll see. Because if not me, then who?

@playchoices Your move. It's been your move for a year now. When will you actually make it?

[olderthannetfic]

I'm a Chinese, nationally and racially. Racial projection seems to be a common practice in western fandom, doesn't it? I find it a bit... weird to witness the drama ignited upon shipping individuals with different races, or the tendency to separate characters into different "colors" even though the world setting doesn't divide races like that. Such practice isn't a thing here. Mind explaining a bit on this phenomenon?

--

Sure, I can try. But of course, fish aren’t very good at explaining the water they swim in.

Americans aren’t good at detecting our own Americanness, and a lot of what you’re seeing is very much culturally American rather than Western in general. (In much of Europe, “race” is a concept used by racists, or so I’m told, unlike in the US where it’s seen more neutrally.) Majority group members (i.e. me, a white girl) aren’t usually the savviest about minority issues, but I’ll give it a shot.

The big picture is that most US race stuff boils down to our attempts to justify and maintain slavery and that dynamic being applied, awkwardly, to everyone else too, even years after we abolished slavery.

There’s a concept called the “one drop rule” where a person is “black” if they have even one drop of black blood.

We used to outlaw “interracial” marriage until quite recently. (That meant marriage between black people and white people with Asians and Hispanic people and others wedged in awkwardly.) Here’s the Wikipedia article on this, which contains the following map showing when we legalized interracial marriage. The red states are 1967.

That’s within living memory for a ton of people! Yellow is 1948 to 1967. This is just not very long ago at all. (Hell, we only fully banned slavery in 1865, which is also just not that long ago when it comes to human culture.)

Why did we have this bananas-crazy set of laws and this idiotic notion that one remote ancestor defines who you are? It boils down to slavery requiring a constant reaffirming that black people are all the same (and subhuman) while white people are all this completely separate category. The minute you start intermarrying, all of that breaks down. This was particularly important in our history because our system of slavery involved the kids of slaves being slaves and nobody really buying their way out. Globally, historically, there are other systems of slavery where there was more mobility or where enslaved people were debtors with a similar background to owners, and thus the people in power were less threatened by ambiguity in identity.

Post-slavery, this shit hung around because it was in the interests of the people in power to maintain a similar status quo where black people are fundamentally Other.

A lot of our obsession with who counts as what is simply a legacy of our racist past that produced our racist present.

--

The other big factor in American concepts of identity is that we see ourselves as a nation of immigrants (ignoring our indigenous peoples, as usual). A lot of people’s families arrived here relatively recently, and we often don’t have good records of exactly where they were from, even aside from enslaved people who obviously wouldn’t have those records. Plenty of people still identify with a general nationality (”Italian-American” and such), but the nuance the family might once have had (specific region of Italy, specific hometown) is often lost. Yeah, I know every place has immigrants, and lots of people don’t have good records, but the US is one of those countries where families have on average moved around a lot more and a lot more recently than some, and it affects our concepts of identity. I think some of the willingness to buy into the idea of “races” rather than “ethnicities” has to do with this flattening of identity.

New immigrant groups were often seen as Other and lesser, but over time, the ones who could manage it got added to our concept of “whiteness”, which gave them access to those same social and economic privileges.

Skin color is a big part of this. In a system that is founded on there being two categories, white owners and black slaves, skin color is obviously going to be about that rather than being more of a class marker like it is in a lot of the world.

But it’s not all about skin color since we have plenty of Europeans with somewhat darker skin who are seen as generically white here, while very pale Asians are not. I’m not super familiar with all of the history of anti-Asian racism in the US, but I think this persistent Otherness probably boils down to Western powers trying to justify colonial activities in Asia plus a bunch of religious bullshit about predominantly Christian nations vs. ones that are predominantly Buddhist or some other religion.

In fact, a lot of racist archetypes in English can be traced back to England’s earliest colonial efforts in Ireland. Justifying colonizing Those People because they’re subhuman and/or ignorant and in need of paternalistic rulers or religious conversion is at the bottom of a lot of racist notions. Ironic that we now see Irish people as clearly “white”.

--

There are a lot of racist porn tropes and racist cultural baggage here around the idea of black people being animalistic. Racist white people think black men want to rape/steal white women from white men. Black women get seen as hypersexual and aggressive. If this sounds like white people projecting in order to justify murder and rape... well, it is.

Similar tropes get applied to a lot of groups, often including Hispanic and Middle Eastern people, though East Asians come in more for creepy fantasies about endlessly submissive and promiscuous women. This nonsense already existed, but it was certainly not helped by WWII servicemen from here and their experiences in Asia. Again, it’s a projection to justify shitty behavior as what the party with less power was “asking for”.

In porn and even romance novels, this tends to turn up as a white character the audience is supposed to identify with paired with an exotic, mysterious Other or an animalistic sexy rapist Other.

A lot of fandoms are based on US media, so all of our racist bullshit does apply to the casting and writing of those, whether or not the fic is by Americans or replicating our racist porn tropes.

(Obviously, things get pretty hilarious and infuriating once Americans get into c-dramas and try to apply the exact same ideas unchanged to mainstream media about the majority group made by a huge and powerful country.)

--

Politically, within the US, white people have had most of the power most of the time. We also make up a big chunk of the population. (This is starting to change in some areas, which has assholes scared shitless.) This means that other groups tend to band together to accomplish shared political goals. They’re minorities here, so they get lumped together.

A lot of Americans become used to seeing the world in terms of “white people” who are powerful oppressors and “people of color” who are oppressed minorities. They’re trying to be progressive and help people with less power, and that’s good, but it obviously becomes awkward when it’s over-applied to looking at, say, China.

--

Now... fandom...

I find that fandom, in general, has a bad habit of holding things to double standards: queer things must be Good Representation™ even when they’re not being produced for that purpose. Same for ethnic minorities or any other minority. US-influenced parts of fandom (which includes a lot of English-speaking fandom) tend to not be very good at accepting that things are just fantasy. This has gotten worse in recent years.

As fandom has gotten more mainstream here, general media criticism about better representation (both in terms of number of characters and in terms of how they’re portrayed) has turned into fanfic criticism (not enough fics about ship X, too many about ship Y, problematic tropes that should not be applied to ship X, etc.). I find this extremely misguided considering the smaller reach of fandom but, more importantly, the lack of barriers to entry. If you think my AO3 fic sucks, you can make an account and post other fic that will be just as findable. You don’t need money or industry connections or to pass any particular hurdle to get your work out there too.

People also (understandably) tend to be hypersensitive to anything that looks like a racist porn trope. My feeling is that many of these are general porn tropes and people are reaching. There are specific tropes where black guys are given a huge dick as part of showing that they’re animalistic and hypersexual, but big dicks are really common in porn in general. The latter doesn’t automatically mean you’re doing the former unless there are other elements present. A/B/O or dubcon doesn’t mean it’s this racist trope either, not unless certain cliched elements are present. OTOH, it’s not hard for a/b/o tropes to feel close to “animalistic guy is rapey”, so I can see why it often bothers people.

A huge, huge, huge proportion of wank is “all rape fantasies are bad” crap too, which muddies the waters. I think a lot of people use “it’s racist” as an easy way to force others to agree with their incorrect claims that dubcon, noncon, a/b/o, etc. are fundamentally bad. Many fans, especially white fans, feel like they don’t know enough to refute claims of racism, so they cave to such arguments even when they’re transparently disingenuous.

--

Not everyone here thinks this way. I know plenty of people offline, particularly a lot of nonwhite people, who think fandom discourse is idiotic and that the people “protecting” people or characters of color are far more racist than the people writing “bad” fic or shipping the wrong thing.

But in general, I’d say that the stuff above is why a lot of us see the world as white people in power vs. everyone else as oppressed victims, interracial relationships as fraught, and porn about them as suspect. Basically, it’s people trying to be more progressive and aware but sometimes causing more harm than good when those attempts go awry.

[master-apology]

One thing I've been thinking about for a while is how race is determined in Arknights. Obviously it's easy to tell lizard person or not, but there are some cases where it's not that clear cut. The specific examples I'm thinking of are the Aslan, the lion people, the Rebbah, also called the Reproba, the hyena people, and the Aegir, the sea people.

As far as the Aslan go, the way they stand out is pretty simple. They have their own distinct race, despite all other peoples based on Felidae being part of the Feline race. The Rebbah, although not as obvious, have the same issue. Hyenas wouldn't stand out, if not for the fact that Folinic, a mongoose person, is also a member of the Feline race. Hyenas and mongooses are fairly closely related to one another, and both are members of the Feliformia suborder of taxonomy. If the rules of categorization were consistent, hyenas would be part of the Feline race, not their own distinct group. The Aegir are an even more extreme example, but in the opposite direction, seemingly consisting of all manner of marine life, ranging from jellyfish to seadragons to cuttlefish to porpoises.

It then occurred to me that race on Terra was likely to be just as much a social and political construct as it is here on Earth. While it's just as unlikely for someone on Terra to mistake an Ursus for a Lung as it would be for someone on Earth to mistake a northern European for an east Asian, race is much more a social construct than people realize. There are numerous times throughout history that race has been changed or constructed entirely for political ends. The examples that occurred to me most immediately was how the multifaceted racial spectrum of Luisiana was simplified to Black and White when it passed from the control of the French to the United States, the numerous laws set in place codifying the definition and privileges of the Manchu during China's Qing dynasty, or, in China again, how the Communist party created the country's 97 official ethnic groups after their initial census after taking power resulted in the population reporting hundreds, if not thousands, of distinct ethnicity. My supposition is that similar events occurred in Terra's past, resulting in how certain races go against the usual mode of consistency.

The Aslan are the rulers of Victoria, having taken power from the Draco that used to rule it before them. The lion people may have once been considered part of the Feline race, but after coming to power, they likely would have wanted to distinguish themselves from the rest of the population, which appears to be predominantly feline, and so renamed their group to the Aslan.

The glimpses we've seen of Sargon so far suggest that the Rebbah also hold positions of power in the country, at least in parts of it. In the Originium Dust event we meet Drudge and Picale, two Rebbah nobles whose father gained territory for his service in battle, and Spot's profile says he's from a military family, possibly suggesting the Rebbah form a sort of military aristocracy. They may have changed the name of their race after the coming to power in the period of turmoil in the recent past that Rangers reminisces about at the beginning of the OD event, setting themselves above the other races of Sargon. Beanstalk coming from a farming family in Columbia undermines that theory a bit, though. Maybe her family was exiled to the neighboring country and took up agriculture, or something.

The Aegir race was likely constructed to put people down, rather than raise them up. No spoilers for Undertides, I haven't read anything about it. What little we do know about the Aegir region is that it's close to Iberia, the birthplace of many of Aegir Operators. From what we can gather from character profiles and conversations, Aegir are a persecuted underclass in Iberia, treated as second class citizens by the Liberi, who seem to make up the majority of "true" Iberians. The ancestors of the modern Aegir Iberians likely emigrated from the Aegir region to Iberia, where the rest of the population lumped them together under the common moniker "Aegir." This name for a diverse group of people then spread from Iberia to the rest of Terra as the Aegir left the country to escape discrimination.

In all likelihood I'm giving this way to much, but it's been going around in my head for a while and I wanted to put it down somewhere.