#by kazi

[thoughtkick]

Eye contact is way more intimate than words will ever be.

Faraaz Kazi

[quotefeeling]

Eye contact is way more intimate than words will ever be.

Faraaz Kazi

[perfectquote]

Eye contact is way more intimate than words will ever be.

Faraaz Kazi

[surqrised]

Eye contact is way more intimate than words will ever be.

Faraaz Kazi

[andyacklesspn]

« Kazuya... I promise I'll save you »

[forgotten-daydreamer]

I love how inclusivity is handled in The Dragon Prince, here's why.

In most shows, as much as it bothers me to admit so, some people are right, inclusivity does feel forced sometimes. But it's not the characters' fault, it's not because of them being part of the lgbtq+ community, or being disabled, or being POC, or being strong women who do not conform to patriarchal standards.

It's not that.

It's that the show they are part of is a straight, white, abled parade - and notice, most of said shows won't even pass the Bechdel test.

So yes, in a show written by and aimed to straight, white, abled people, even I, a gay, non-binary, chronically ill person feel weird seeing charcters that are there just for the sake of inclusivity, albeit 'inorganic'.

In a show with the premise of "straight, white, abled men are the indiscussed MCs", seeing that one side-character that stands out and is often ridiculed and/or reduced to a single trait of their 'personality', such as 'the gay one', 'the asian one', 'the disabled one' (etc) is upsetting and feels uncomfortable as hell.

But TDP is different.

They immediately introduced powerful women, people of color, characters that are openly part of the lgbtq+ community, disabled characters etc. And not one of them per 'category', no. For the lgbtq+ community we have Amaya, Janai, Runaan, Ethari, Terry, Kazi. For the disabled community, we have Amaya again, Villads, and even a disabled wolf Ava. For the POC community, we have literally half of the cast, starting from King Harrow, then Ezran, every sunfire elf, Terry as well, etc. Same goes for women, who take up on roles that are rarely considered 'for women', like Opeli being the main member of the High Council, Amaya being the General, Rayla being the main Dragon Guard, Claudia being one of the main antagonists, etc.

Both main and side-characters are part of the communities, everything is so much more organic, enjoyable, thrilling.

We do not come in 'minor quantity'.

We are everywhere, among others, living our lives, doing our best, existing, thriving, proud. It's not just one or two of us among thousands. Surprise, 'categories' can mix! Just like I, a real human being, can be gay, enby as well as chronically ill, we can have characters like that as well! Amaya being lesbian and disabled, Terry being black and trans, Janai being black and lesbian, etc. And, another surprise, 'categories' don't define us. We don't 'shove it' in anyone's face like they say we do, we're just being us and cishets are upset because we don't conform to their sick standards.

Inclusivity is organic in TDP because nobody in that universe questions anyone else's color, gender, orientation, etc. And it's organic because we didn't have to wait half a season to see a black character, or a disabled character, or a gay character.

The key to inclusivity is to realise that we aren't just 'bonuses'. Fill shows and comics with lgbtq+, POC, disabled, and female characters. Not just one every 15, 20 characters. Everywhere.

We are everywhere! We are proud! We deserve to be seen! We deserve to be depicted as the normal people we are, without diminishing our traits but without making them our whole personality either. Treat us like human beings, be considerate like you should be with everyone on the planet of course, but treat us like humans.

Antagonising people who are 'different' (in the mind of straight, white, abled people) will not suppress us. We will keep insisting until you hear us. It's literally one of the main messages, one of the main teachings of TDP and it's so damn important.

Every single person on Earth should watch it. Every single kid should be introduced to TDP at an early age. Every old bigot should watch it, as well. Everybody. Even if it's considered a y7 (y10 for s4 and s5 apparently) show, everyone, no matter their age, should give it a try and watch it thoroughly.

Lots of love to the creators and everyone, literelly everyone involved in the production of one the best, most entertaining, most exciting, most formative shows ever. Please, keep it up! And thank you so much!

[random-brushstrokes]

Kazys Šimonis - The city of fairy tales (1920)

[a-certain-elf]

Our favorite nonbinary sunfire bookworm and interpreter is actually quite tall

Taller than Amaya too, and she`s wearing her armor.

Even without the horns.

[sersi]

Hawkeye (2021) dirs. Rhys Thomas and Bert & Bertie Echo (2024) dirs. Sydney Freeland and Catriona McKenzie

[tempelbeast]

Renders of the Voya Nui Matoran Resistance, with the bonus Matoran Makuta render:

Sparckle black-copper is the the only thing that looked rust.

[thoughtkick]

Eye contact is way more intimate than words will ever be.

Faraaz Kazi

[infantisimo]

every now and then it takes hold of me. the title of a poem. i speak it with a snarl a cockiness a defiance almost like an amen. we sons of bitches are doing fine. i know it's miya poetry i know it's a translation i know it's got cultural historical political colours. i respect that. but it transcends all of that because ultimately it's a poem and a good one and you can give it a beat and sing it too. it's about everything. it's not shrunk and squared into a keyword a theme a motif a classification a hierarchy a theory a tea time talking point a section of a syllabus a dsm 5 entry. who wants to live life like that, come on. we sons of bitches are doing fine. by kazi neel. what a title, catches me by the collar. it thumbs its nose, cocks a snook, taunts with tongue, flips the bird. we sons of bitches are doing fine.

[quotemadness]

Seeing her cry still made me feel the same way it did earlier.

Faraaz Kazi

[surqrised]

Eye contact is way more intimate than words will ever be.

Faraaz Kazi

[nerd-with-a-cause]

Given that Kazi is a nonbinary linguist, I bet they have some detailed thoughts on gendered language:

Kazi: Technically, I don't "use" they/them pronouns because I rarely talk about myself in the third person, so it's more accurate to say, I use I/me as my pronouns and other people use they/them pronouns for me. I used to use he/him because there is linguistic precedent for "he" as a non-gendered pronoun, but then I worried that it would be confusing, so I switched to they/them, which, by the way, has been in use as a singular pronoun for over four centuries! I briefly used "ze" but then I realized that "ze" and "she" look similar for people who rely on lipreading, because the difference between Z and S is really just a difference in voiced versus unvoiced oral sibilants, and if I'm serious about working as an interpreter, I want to make sure my pronouns are clear to the people I'm working with. So I usually just tell people to use they/them. Anyways, what are your pronouns?

Amaya: [points at herself]

Kazi, nodding seriously: That makes sense.

Janai: What the fuck are you two talking about?

[andyacklesspn]

« So that was a dream... »