#also the book is really about parentified older sisters. but i digress

[hussyknee]

I just made a noise like a dying seal and scared my cat.

my fav letterboxd reviews of red white & royal blue aka yaoi for white liberals

[viscountessevie]

I love the racism and sexism shown towards Edwina and Kate, esp. by white book fans:

They are mad that Edwina isn't simply a cheerleader for Anthony and Kate and instead is allowed to be angry. They also complain that she was too soft or naïve and they really don't like brown girls outside of stereotypes.

Also, there is a clear misunderstanding of Kate's role, especially in the context of her being the eldest in an Indian family (I'm black but similar dynamics) and mad that she isn't as 'gentle' as she is in the books.

FACTS ALL AROUND!! Honestly racist and sexist fans need to get the fuck out of here. There is NO place for your bigotry here especially not on this blog and if I ever get a hint of it in my DMs or Asks I will block you anons, just a warning for anyone wants to throw hate at me or my fave characters for having unpopular opinions about Daphne being a r*pist and me disliking Penelope as a character and her arc direction.

[It gets long more under the cut:]

Also those Kathony 'fans' who are being horrible about Edwina, I do not claim them, you cannot be a TVWLM fan without loving Eddie as much as Kate loves her. And yes the writers fucked up the Sharmas sister's relationship and bond but I still love and adore my Sharma girls and I hate hate that the writers pitted them against each other. Honestly Eddie cannot catch a break with the fans; if she's too soft or naive, she is a doormat and not her own character but if she's brash and loud, oh no go back you cannot be allowed to be angry and mean to Kate, you're a bitch Edwina. It's a double edged sword if she shows ANY type of emotion. It fucking sucks and it's exhausting and a real world issue a lot of brown girls like me face. Everything we do is criticised but Penelope can commit hate crimes and Daphne can literally r*pe someone and part of the fandom still celebrates them, I see you racist side of the fandom I see you.

Also about Kate's role: OHMYGOD TELL ME ABOUT IT and partially I will fault the writers for not explicitly explaining why Kate has this sort of an armour of a personality when it comes to the image she projects to the world, but rather its implied and to picked up on by POC fans who have had that experience of being the eldest child in a POC household. While white fans are ignorant to this very specific experience that we all go through.

So since the writers did a SHIT job of explaining it, I'll do it myself: Basically Kate is VERY similar to Anthony in the sense that she was parentified. If Mary had been more present like she was in the books, I don't think Kate would have been as badly parentified as in the show. I feel like in a way Kate took it upon herself to fill her father's role and parent Eddie alongside Mary and Show!Mary just never noticed because she just saw it as Kate being a good older sister. But like come on Mary, Kate gave Eddie her whole education - where were you?? Of course their show versions now have a parent-daughter relationship than sisters.

And it's fucking awful because they took away Mary's role within the Sharma family unit by adding on to Kate's eldest daughter burden to be a surrogate mom to Eddie. I am once again asking what the fuck was wrong with her storms and parent deaths being her trauma?? But nooo, Kate had to become the head of the household as if Mary isn't right there!!

Anyways I digress, and as a blanket statement I need people to know for this next section, I'm drawing from my own experience as a parentified eldest Indian daughter and so if you had a different experience as the eldest Indian daughter feel free to add on!! I just want yall to know I'm NOT speaking for ALL eldest Indian daughters.

Okay so basically Indian eldest daughters are way more parentified than Anthony ever was (not to compare but the shit we went through is so much more intense than Ant's story because mans was never whacked by Violet when he messed up) because in some cases like mine, our parents are always working and we'd end up babysitting and spending most of our time with our younger siblings more than our actual parents do. So automatically and unconsciously we end up parenting and raising our siblings. This shit starts young too, it didn't matter we had a helper to help with chores as a kid because she was helping keep the house clean while I had to mind my brothers.

It's just such a heavy burden to bear. And I would say for Kate its even heavier because she had to self-teach or at least sneak into the royal family classrooms to learn about all the things she taught Edwina. Even if she didn't teach Eddie all the 5 languages she speaks, she had to find a way to get Eddie those language books and practice with her - so on top of teaching herself all of these skills to depart to Eddie eventually to train to be the perfect debutante. On top of all of this - god knows where Show!Mary was - she had to raise Edwina because it is implied that like Violet, Mary was grieving and absent. WHICH IS THE WORST COS KATE HAD TO PUT ASIDE HER GRIEF AND MOVE ONTO MAKE SURE EDDIE WAS THE BEST and of good marriageable standards for the Marriage Mart.

Katharine Sharma (no I refuse to use her show government name - it's not real and it shows the writers didn't put an ounce of research into it) had roles upon roles and duties stack upon her (yes most of it she took upon herself but that's not the point I'm trying to make rn) with no one to share the burden with and she never really seemed to have grieved her father properly. She seemed like the type who threw herself into helping and raising Edwina instead of taking the time to grieve with Mary.

I don't know who needs to hear this, so due to all of this, OF COURSE she's not "gentle", she's traumatised and mentally ill! And this asshole who is not in love with her sister - who wants a love match - is trying to marry her, duh she's gonna be mean to him and protective over Eddie. People who criticise and villianised Kate for not fitting into their pliable white self-insert image of themselves, can fuck right off!! She is not responsible for the version of Kate you had in your head. She is her own person and very much Indian and this is gonna be hard for some of yall to hear but she's not for you and doesn't always need to be relatable to you.

That being said if you do see yourself in Kate, I love that for you!! But those of you who complain she's not nice or 'Kate from the books' anymore, of course she's not Kate Sheffield, she's Kate Sharma now and I still love her. I'm sorry you don't love both versions, it must be a sad existence not liking the new and amazing Kate Sharma that Simone Ashley brought to life.

Anyways, if yall read til the end, thank you so much for reading and @minim236 babes thanks for sending this ask!! Sorry I went off for a bit ahahah I just needed people to know this blog will not tolerate any Kate hate or slander.