#can you believe a blonde is diversity for me

[liuisi]

being plagued by visions. mariam and eli both have their dad's nose but mariam has tanner skin + darker curly hair (takes after their dad - egyptian) and eli has light skin + hair a pretty light brown (takes after their mom - syrian). olivia is WHITE ! (L) (joke) she has brown eyes and dark brown hair that has a bit of waviness to it that she always keeps it in a loose bun. doesn't have the patience to deal with it. lauren has blond hair and green eyes and wears those thin rectangular glasses without a frame and always keeps her hair tied back tight in a severe-looking ponytail. she has the start of wrinkles around her mouth and between her eyebrows.

[kookies2000]

Because I feel like it.

Yellow sky? Bare footed characters? Mostly a mess? Over exaggerating some of the Hispanic features. I saw the first episode, and it was just poorly written in general. And what mother calls their son "cochinada." Roughly translates to dirty or trash.

What's good Latino/Hispanic representation?

Colombian 🇨🇴

In the Caribbean region of Colombia, they light up candles and lanterns on December 8, before sunrise. So the candle giving them magic was a wonderful detail. Generational trauma is a thing for us Latinos, and this film handled it in a healthy and matuer manner. And I love how they didn't shy away with how Spaniards attacked and colonized latin lands.

Mexicans 🇲🇽

Yes, us Mexicans love death. 🤣 But hey, I was always taught to respect death, La Muerte, and our ancestors. So, it makes sense that many Mexican films talk about death. But I also like that Maya and the Three have Aztec, Mayan, and Incan mythology. Natives to Mexico.

Dominican Puerto Rican 🇩🇴🇵🇷

Luz mom is Dominican, and Luz dad is Puerto Rican. I appreciate a good interracial couple and a mixed child. Luz name also translates to light, and some Latinos are known for doing witch craft. Or at least knowledgeable about witches and demons, and no, we aren't evil. We just know how to handle this stuff. Plus, the owl has many meanings in Latino culture. To some, I believe the owl is a messenger of death and is telling everyone that death/danger is near.

Afro Latino. Puerto Rican 🇵🇷

I am a massive sucker for interracial couples and mixed kids because of this. I was working at a hispanic store as a cashier. This woman walks past me and starts talking to the bagger. The bagger has blond hair, blue eyes, and white skin. The bagger looks at me worried because she doesn't speak English. So brown skin, black hair, me has to tell the bagger that the lady wanted ice in Spanish. I then talked to the lady in English. Her reaction? "YOU SPEAK ENGLISH!" Same for a dark skinned man. So many people skip me and talk to him in English. He's Dominican, and he only spoke Spanish. I appreciate films that show Latinos in different skin types and features. We're not all brown. So yeah, the mass diversity in this film is just beautiful. And I love how they wrote Miles relationship with his parents. Realistic conflict and healthy communication. Not falling into toxic stereotypes.

Spainard Puss 🇪🇸 Mexican Kitty & Perrito 🇲🇽

Spaniards are considered Hispanic but not Latinos like Mexicans. And again, interracial couples for the win. And I love the realism in their romance that heals through healthy therapy. Many people see Mexicans as toxic, so having Perrito as a therapist and the one helping everyone emotionally, it's nice. Not every Mexican is toxic. And I love how you can tell their Spanish and Mexican even though their animals. Puss Spanish accent, Spanish actor, him being a ginger like some Spaniards, flamingo dancing, and gazpacho. Kitty, Mexican accent, Mexican actress, black fur/hair like most Mexicans, quinceañera, and I love how they gave her a luchador mask. Something that originates from Mexico. Also, my brother and I joke how we as Mexiacns can't swim and Kitty nearky drowns in the 1st film. 🤣 Perrito, he's a chihuahua with a Mexican actor. Enough said. I also want to say death is Brazilian because of his actor.

I don't know much about Spanish culture, but someone said the wishing star has a connection to Spanish culture. Is that true? If so, COOL! Because death is connected to Mexican culture. So, Dreamworks finding a way to combine Spanish and Mexican culture in one film is 100% magical.

There are many more, like Beverly Hills Chihuahua 🇲🇽. 🤣 That film is better than Primos. Emperor's New Groove, Peru 🇵🇪, and Rio, Brazil 🇧🇷. Not Hispanic but Latino culture. But this post is getting long. Primos! A huge step down in Latino/Hispanic representation. Especially since we have so many good films and shows that have proper representation.

[sweettomyhoney]

I have this theory that Quinn is the least talked about because he is the most visibly Jewish. People talk about how they think Jack is the best for the same reason. I’m not saying it’s on purpose like I’m sure some people don’t realize but think about which one falls into the hockey player look very white/ European. I’ve been saying this for months.

Racism/ Antisemitism in Hockey

Yes Quinn is the one that looks the most ethnically Jewish. Jack and Luke are the most Eurocentric white looking. And I want to bring to attention that antisemitism and racism go hand and hand. And hockey is not stranger to both.Quinn is the first Jewish Captain the NHL has had. Jack is the first Jewish person to be a number one pick. The NHL only has a hand full of Jewish players as well as black and poc players. Still in 2023 we have players reporting racist comments.

If you don’t believe me, I want you to think back to how Nazem Kadri was treated after he won the cup with the avalanche. There were all types of racist comments directed towards him.

The NHL and its fans have a diversity problem. This issues goes beyond just the ice. It also goes down to the wife’s and girlfriends of players. Every player in the nhl is married to a white woman except a handful. Even the poc players are married to white women.Mostly the girls the guys are encouraged to date are white women. Preferably blonde. I have yet to see a WAG that is a woman of color or black. It even carries over to fanfics all of the ones on here are centered around whiteness. All the characters are pictured to be white.

Hockey is a very white space and anything out side of being white is not encouraged. I understand that hockey is trying but it’s still not enough. So I am not surprised Quinn is treated the way he is. Even when he has made history it’s still not celebrated as much as other captains.

This is a huge thing for Quinn to make history! And I want to Celebrate him as much as I can.

[toweroftickles]

re: cloud atlas, surely yellowface is bad no matter what

Well, generally speaking, yes, of course, but I don't think this is exactly that. I sincerely apologize to anyone on this blog who I offended with my post about "Cloud Atlas;" please let me explain if you're unfamiliar.

If it makes you feel any better, here are pictures from the same movie of Halle Berry (a black actress) and Xun Zhou (a Chinese actress) portraying blonde white women.

There's also another instance of an Asian actor playing a white character that I very much don't want to spoil for those who haven't seen it.

The central storytelling concept behind "Cloud Atlas" is reincarnation. Each actor plays a singular soul, essentially one character, that is reborn in different eras, places, cultures, and bodies across six smaller interlocking stories. And we, the audience, see how they evolve, and how their choices and their stories echo throughout the centuries in ways big and small. To quote the movie itself:

"Our lives are not our own. From womb to tomb, we are bound to others...past, and present. And by each crime, and every kindness, we birth our future."

Doona Bae (a Korean actress, one of the film's six lead roles) alongside Halle Berry (a black actress playing an old Korean man). No really, that's her. The makeup is fucking incredible, if you haven't noticed.

The idea of actors playing multiple ethnicities is central to movie's thesis. It's not just white people; "Cloud Atlas" has a very diverse cast and all of them share in this process. Men play women, women play men, Asians play Mexicans, black actors play Indians, white people play Koreans and vice versa, and Hugh Grant plays a cannibal. Essentially, everyone plays everyone. And if we aren't able to recognize these actors in those roles, the impact of the story is completely lost.

I don't think this is like John Wayne putting on awful slanted-eye makeup to play Genghis Khan; there's a specific purpose here that only works with an ambitious narrative of this size and scope. It's about connections that shatter the boundaries of time and space, beyond borders of race and sex. It's easy to dismiss that as drug-induced New-Agey hokum (I certainly don't believe in reincarnation IRL), but to be offended by the prosthetics, in my opinion, is to miss the point entirely. And incidentally, the only people that I've ever seen upset by this movie (so far) have all been white.

"Cloud Atlas" is an achingly beautiful and poignant film of endless imagination that doesn't deserve to be forgotten alongside the dreary garbage heap of Oscar-bait, and I'd encourage everyone to watch before judging too harshly.

Sorry for going off on a tangent to extol this movie's virtues! XD But this is something that's very important to me, and I really don't want anyone to believe that I'm the type of person who finds yellowface or minstrel shows funny. Jimmy Kimmel can get fucked.

[eagna-eilis]

Lestat Watches Star Wars

Louis, viens t'asseoir dans la chambre television! Daniel has informed me that I must watch these masterpieces of the modern cinema... called Les Guerres D'Etoilles... you see this little boy, hm? i believe he will grow up to be most maniacal! MON DIEU regarde the red hornéd one as he twirls his rapier of fire! Louis, what is this, 'ow you say, 'podracing'? Is this a new mortal diversion? I should like to try it!

*

Mon cher, I do not understand why you are not paying attention - is the beauty of Monsieur McGregor not enough to draw your eye? Is he not your type, so blonde and charmant ...I neither understand nor trust these bourgeois politiciens d'espace at all... Oh, Louuuuuuuiiiisss regarde the beautiful dresses worn by Mademoiselle Padmé, she is trés elegante! Louis, what is a 'clone'? ...PUTAIN DE MERDE the heroic boy has slain tout les Raiders Tuskens! Les hommes, les dames, ET LES ENFANTS! Louis, I do not think that Mademoiselle Padmé should marry this brute, he is 'bad news' as the mortals say... WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU KNOW HOW SHE FEELS?! PUT DOWN THE PROUST AND SAY THAT TO MY FACE!

*

Ah, Louis, I can feel myself becoming attached to Monsieur Williams' belle musique. C'est most expressive, non? I feel for Petit Ani, he suffers at the thought of his beloved dying. Ah, would that he could bestow upon her the Dark Gift! ...LOUIS THEY HAVE OPERA IN THE GALAXIE LOINISSIMENT! ...oh SACRE BLEU Petit Ani has been flambéed! I can, 'ow you say, hardcore relate? Ah, so you are listening to me! What do you mean that if I was in space I would be a Sith Lord? that is most unkind, cher, most unkind indeed! Hmph!

*

C'est le temp pour le quatrieme! Un Espoir Nouveau! ahahaha Louis we should get an amusing little talking robot, non, come Le Err-doux-dee-doux et Le Cee-trois-pay-zero! oh mon cœur regarde the sunset, but double! How I understand Luc Marche-Etoilles, he longs to leave his sandy Auvergne for the bright lights of Tosche Station! Louis, what is a power converter? Louis, why do they fight poorly with their rapiers of fire when not three films ago they were wielding them with preternatural grace? ...Louis why did the furry one not receive an accolade from La Princesse?

*

Oh, Louuuuuiiiisss regarde the handsome Monsieur Solo in his coat d'hiver! He is such a dashing rogue! He loves to be told how bad he is! Il est trés sexy. Oh, Louis, don't pout with la jalousie. ...ugh, Lou, may we please do the fast-forward? I do not like this business in the swamp, and I think you know why. No, I don't know how to work the controller-remote - you must do it. PUTAIN SACRÉ THE EVIL BEAST IS THE FATHER OF BRAVE LUC! ...what do you mean we knew that already? We did not! I am shocked, Louis, SHOCKED I tell you... Why are you laughing at me? Oh, nevermind, I do so love to hear your laugh.

*

Louis, doesn't Monsieur Le Hutt remind you of Alderman Fenwick? Bahahaha, yes, Princesse! Strangle him! Oh, what a lark! ...Louis why do L'Empire continue to create these Etoilles de Morts when clearly they are no match for the magical powers of Luc, especially now that he is aided in confidence by wearing the most beguiling boots from Madame Chanel's fine atelier? ...Mon cher we could not trust you amongst those petits Chewbaccas, I fear you would eat them! ...sniff... sniffle... no Louis I'm not crying, there's just blood leaking from my eyes... just... I'm glad that Ani and Luc reunited... sniffle...

*

Louis, I do not understand what you mean. How can a mouse grab cash? Its petit souris paws could not hold more than a few centimes! ...hush now, mon chou, it is beginning ...Louis the delectable pilot and the beautiful ex-infantryman, they are supposedly 'just friends'. Mais ce n'est pas vrai, unless they are 'just friends' the same way you and I are 'just friends'! ...NON! NON NON NON! The beautiful Monsieur Solo has been slain by the fiery claymore of his own progeny! Que triste! Que Shakespearean! Though I for one wouldn't mind being impaled by Jeune Solo's claymore if you catch my... OW LOUIS DO NOT ELBOW ME IN THE RIBS! ARRÊT!

*

Loooooouuuuuuiiiiiiissssss, viennnnnnnnn, it is time for Les Derniers Jedi! OH MON DIEU Luke Skywalker, he is a hermit! Dedicated to his dying faith! Did you know Armand was comme ça when we met? Lou, do you think the petit Jedi and Jeune Solo should be lovers? L'internet is most divided on this, 'ow you say, sheeeep. Very well, declare me problematique if you must! Would L'Internet sheep us, pense-tu? Ce qui sera notre Sheep Name? Je pense qu'il y a 'Loustat'.

*

...Louis zis one has more inconsistencies du narrative than yours and Daniel's infernal book! Le Chancellor, 'e 'as returnéd. Somehow. SOMEHOW. Ou est my beloved Rose, une femme trés capable and courageouse? Putain de merde, zis is an abomination! Treasure hunt aprés treasure hunt! I cannot continue! I refuse! I will consult Notre Propre Archive for a superior conclusion! Bon nuit!

[ganeshpnf]

Are you a fan of httyd as well?! I agree how Percabeth they are :) If you are a fan, what do you think about the live action and casting? Since everyone is debating on it. Personally I dont like race-swapping but I like Nico Parker so much!

Hello! And yes I am a fan of httyd as well, it is one of my fav childhood movies :) Now I dont usually talk about races or other stuff on this blog, but since you asked, I gotta add some warnings first:

Please remember that these are mostly my personal thoughts, if you dont agree it is okay. You are free to add your own thoughts, but please be respectful. Okay, lets go-

I love Nico Parker and know her since her role in tlou. And I gotta say I dont like actors getting hate because I also got so many racist comments when I was a child too. I had a facebook account when I was 12 and you wont believe how people can be so cruel for someone's nationality. Thats why even today, I am rather secretive on my nationality, only sharing to people I trust and call them friends. So why would I be happy seeing actors getting the hate comments bcs of their skin color now? I would never blame the actors, but- I would blame the companies and todays "new era of televizion"

Whatever we like it or not, we cant deny the fact that they only do it for the new era, marketing. Look at Nico Parker, her face looks exactly like Astrid. If they give her a blond wig, she is Astrid. But they dont, also giving her braids. And the only reason is: To show us that she is black and would appear as so. They want us to see that. I hate live actions, because even though they do this for marketing and "diversity", they realize this would get hate for the actor, they are using them. And no we cant say "No it is not for diversity or wokeness". Well, it is since we see almost every og white character is getting race-swapped: Snow White, Ariel, Rapunzel, April from Tmnt, Annie the Orphan, Triss, Hawkgirl, Annabeth, Jimmy Olsen, Doctor Who and many more. I know, whitewashing is a big problem, but I dont think its ever a way to stop the racism. To me even, It creates MORE-

It is also giving double-standarts, because people flip when you even mention changing an og black character. Not that I support that either. "Their race has a meaning in the story!" You can change Snow White but you cant change Tiara. It gives the message "You can change white characters but you cant change poc characters". I am not fully white, but it is giving also racism to me. Not to mention, this new televizion era, tries to avoid blond characters, especially blond woman in any day. New httyd cast has 0 blonds and they are Vikings. Any blond character is replaced. Oh and people say "It is a movie about the dragons!" Well, these are all fantasies. Tiara has a talking frog yk? If you think that, that we should be able to change all of them.

But in today's televizion, race is everything to them. Everything has to be about race. Which is stupid. We all want to be equal, but now they made people look onto race only. Back then, we loved movies because of their plot, acting etc. But now, every remake only focuses on one thing: diversity, how to make it more diverse? Now I also love a good diversity, which means every races together on tv, which is amazing right? It is what we all want. But today, it changed all the meaning. And the only thing companies look for MARKETING. It is not fair to audience, it is not fair to the actors. I would prefer companies to stop doing live action but to make something new with diversity, with new characters who are white, black, latinos, Hispanic, Arabic, Turkish, Indian etc. Now that IS diversity. Not changing og characters to white to black OR change to black to white. Both of them are doing nothing but upsets the audience because people are aware the point behind it.

The worse part is, I think they know it wont do anything as well, but do it for money, using actors as shield. I dont think they deserve it, at all. Especially child actors would have that scars forever. Even how much people support them, at the end, the scars stay.

So yeah, this is what I think. Oh I gotta add, costumes looks like a school play kinda...Its like they only focused on Hiccup and Toothless. But we will see, I would watch it and then share my thoughts again ^^ Thank you for your ask :)

[andydrysdalerogers]

Yours Submissively ~ Innocence

Steve Rogers X OFC Isabella Davis

Summary: Five Years after the events of Civil War, Steve Rogers has moved on from avenging and has started his own business, Grant Inc. He has a secret that would turn his world upside down. And he's good at keep that secret. Until he meets the woman with violet eyes that could bring him to his knees. Now his mission is to make her, his. But she is the key that could bring the world into balance... or chaos.

And she has no idea.

Series Warnings: slow burn at the beginning, smut, angst, sexual themes of BDSM, dom/sub dynamics, kidnapping, (and a bunch of others that will come up)

A/N Taglist is open!

Dividers by @firefly-graphics

I do NOT give permission for my work to be translated or reposted on here or any other site, even if you give me credit. DO NOT REPOST MY FICS. Reblogs, comments, likes, and feedback ALWAYS appreciated

Previous: Control

Series Masterlist ~ Main Masterlist

Isabella Davis was so close she could taste it. Graduation was weeks away.  Her internship at Stark Industries was almost done.  She was lucky to have gotten a spot even if she wasn’t in the engineering program.  But Tony Stark insisted on diversity. She was at her intern desk when the email came through.  

Unfortunately, we can no longer support as many interns as before.  However, we may have found a potential new sponsor for the program. Details will be released soon. 

Isabella’s heart sank. If she couldn’t finish the internship, her chances at landing a good position at a good school would be gone.  She put her head in her hands and just prayed that either she wouldn’t be cut or that the new sponsor would come through.  

“Hey Belle, are you alright?” 

Belle looked up to see her best friend Delilah Stevens looking at her with concern.  “Did you get the email Lila?” 

“Yeah, but I’m not worried about it.  I heard that it would be Grant that would take them over.”  

“Great, another company ran by a former Avenger. They don’t believe in supporting education.”  

“Are you serious Belle?  Steve Rogers has two scholarship programs dedicated to teachers.”  

“Too bad he wasn’t around when I needed those.”  Belle tossed her black hair into a ponytail. “Did you need something Lila?” 

“Yeah, actually, Mr. Stark needs some signatures from Grant and he asked me but I need to finish the project he asked for.  Could you go for me?” 

“Really Lila?” Belle rolled her eyes. “Fine I’ll go so at least I can prove how useful I am.” 

“Belle, c’mon. You’ll be fine.”  Delilah handed the folder with the papers. “There is a car waiting for you downstairs. Just tell reception that they are from Mr. Stark and they’ll direct you to where to go.”  

“Whatever.”  Belle trudged on her coat and headed to the car service waiting for her.  Belle thought back on Delilah’s comments.  Lila could afford to be optimistic on this turn of events.   She already had her position within her own family’s company so she really didn’t need this internship. She arrived at Grant and headed in.  At reception she was told to go to the 17th floor and Devon would assist her.  

Riding up the elevator took no time and Belle found herself in a beautiful waiting room.  “Miss Stevens?” A beautiful blonde approached her.  

“I apologize, Miss Stevens was indisposed.  I was sent in her place.  I’m Isabella Davis.”  

Devon smiled at the young woman.  “Give me just a moment. Cindy will take your coat.” 

Belle handed off her coat to a much younger looking girl and looked around the office.  The room was decorated with muted blues with paintings of America around.  The furniture was in rich mahogany.   Belle was impressed.  

“Miss Davis, if you could follow me.”  Devon smiled and gestured toward large double doors.  She opened the door and Belle moved to walk in.  She missed the ledge and tripped, tumbling to the ground.  

“Are you alright?” A strong male voice asked, reaching for her arm.  

“I’m fine.”  She looked up to see a set of ocean blue eyes looking at her.  Blonde hair, a trimmed beard set in a strong chin, Belle couldn’t help but stare.  

“Are you sure Miss Stevens?” 

That snapped Belle back.  She got up and looked the man dead on.  “Sorry, Miss Stevens couldn’t make it.  I’m Isabella Davis.” 

“Steve Rogers,” he said with an extension of his hand. Belle swallowed. She took his hand.  It was warm and strong. “You had some documents for me to sign?” 

“Oh, yes.”  She looked around and found them on the floor.  She bent over to reach for them and turned around to see Steve staring at her.  She cleared her throat.  “I’m so sorry.”  

“It’s fine.”  Steve took the papers from Belle and started to review them quickly.  Belle took the chance to look around.  She noted that the office was the same as reception but notably void of any references to the super soldier’s retired persona.  

“Miss Davis, was it?” Steve watched at the girl looked around his office. 

“Yes, sir.  Isabella or Belle, which ever you like.”  

At “sir” something inside Steve stirred.  But he concentrated on his duty.  Now was not the time. “Isabella, you’re an intern over at Stark?” 

“Yes, sir I am.  Although not sure for how much longer.” 

“Oh, why is that?” 

“I was just informed that they are either letting go or reassigning some of the interns.  Not sure what will happen to me.” 

“I’m sure you are a bright young woman, Isabella.”  

“Thank you for the compliment, Mr. Rogers but as you don’t know me it may not be warranted.”  

“I always see potential Miss Davis.” Steve grew angry at her dismissal of his assessment of her.  He took in her dark hair, those amazing eyes and perfect body. He knew his anger was irrational.  She knew nothing of him and she wasn’t his employee. Yet.  

He finished signing the papers and placed them back into the folder.  “Here you are Miss Davis.”  

Belle knew she had pissed him off by talking back but she couldn’t help it.  It was hard for her to accept an unwarranted compliment.  She took the documents back.  “Thank you, Mr. Rogers.  I’ll see myself out.”  She headed towards the door, taking care of her step this time.  

“Allow me.”  Steve opened the door for her and walked her to the elevator.  “Don’t want anything else to happen to you.  Stark would have my head.  Did you have a coat?” 

“Yes, umm…” she looked around and Cindy appeared with her coat.  “Thank you.”  

Steve took the coat and helped Belle into it. His fingers brushed the back of her neck, causing goosebumps to erupt on her skin.  The elevator arrived and Belle stepped in. Steve looked at her.  “Isabella.”  

“Steve.”  And the doors closed.  

Belle made it back to the town car without another incident and took a steadying breath. He was intense, she thought.  She closed her eyes but suddenly snapped them open.  In the darkness of her closed eyes, all she could see was his.  She shook her head and headed back to Stark Industries.  

She arrived back at her desk with a message for her to see Maria Hill as soon as possible.  Belle raced over to Maria’s office.  Before she knocked on the door, she straightened her skirt and blouse.  “Come in,” she heard after she knocked.  She walked in to the office and stood in front of a serious looking woman.  “You wanted to see me Ms. Hill.”  

“Hey Belle, yes.  We need to send an intern to sit with a guest of honor at tonight’s gala. This could be a wonderful opportunity for you to make a good first impression on a potential reference for your resume.”  

“I’m honored at the opportunity Ms. Hill.  But I don’t have a dress for something like a gala.”  

“I thought as much.  I’m sending you to the boutique on 3rd.  They will have a few options for a dress and it will be charged to the company since this would be a work event.” 

“Thank you, Ms. Hill.” 

“You leave in half an hour and then a prep team will get you ready at the boutique its self since you won’t have time. Maria stood up and headed out her door.  Thank you for being so amenable to this sudden invitation.”  She headed to the elevator leaving a stunned Belle in the office. She took the directions handed to her by Maria and made her way to close her desk.  

She noticed that Lila was already gone for the day so finished up and headed back to the town cars that would take her to the boutique. She arrived and the ladies hustled her into a dressing room. She tried on multiple gowns, finally settling on a strapless cream-colored dress. Her black hair was pulled into a French knot and her makeup was simple. Belle felt lucky that she had worn her diamond studs to work that day, a gift from her adopted father on her 16th birthday, mere days before he died. She headed back out to the town car, and it wished her to the Met for the gala.  

Once there, an escort walked her through the tables to one front and center. The other guests will be arriving shortly he told her. She sat in her designated seat and reviewed the menu in front of her. She then felt like she wasn’t alone.  

“Isabella?” 

Next

Taglist

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[thenightfolknetwork]

I've had problems with eczema for most of my life. Or at least, I thought it was eczema. What else would those patches of dry, hard, cracked skin be? It's never bothered me too much. I've always just slapped some cream on it and got on with my life (not those creams ever seemed to make much difference).

But a few weeks ago, a friend of mine (who is a creature themself) said that it looked less like eczema, and more like, well, scales. And now that I've actually thought about it, those strange patches don't really match the usual pictures of skin with eczema. They're too smooth, with an almost silver pigment in the right light.

So I've been researching, and wondering, and thinking about how I was always able to stay under the water so much longer than the other kids at swimming lessons, and contemplating the days I have when the air feels too thin, and wondering about the wrinkles on my neck.

The thing is... I've always thought I was sapio. I've tried to be a good ally to the creature community. I've tried to educate myself and support campaigns for creature rights. I've listened to the Nightfolk Network for years. I've got loads of friends who are creatures and I thought I was fully accepting. I've always said that the diversity of genuses in the world is a wonderful thing. But now that I'm wondering whether I might be a member of the creature community, I'm not sure that I'm as accepting as I've always thought. I've always talked about how members of the creature community are valid, but I'm only now realising that I saw them as definitely Other, definitely Not Me, perhaps even... not normal.

Questioning whether I'm fully sapio feels like a really drastic identity crisis. It feels uncomfortable. And surely if I really believed everything I used to say about decentering sapio narratives, I wouldn't feel this unsettled by the idea that I might be a member of the creature community. And how can I ask the creature community to accept me, if I don't really accept them as much as I want to?

I don't know what my question is really. I guess I'm just looking for a way to come to terms with this possible new information about myself. More importantly, I want to actually unlearn the idea that sapio is the norm, rather than just pretending to. Any advice?

I must say, you're being dreadfully hard on yourself, reader. You have put a tremendous amount of work into unlearning the sapio-centric narratives you've been immersed in since childhood, and it sounds as if you've made good progress to that end. But of course there is a difference between being accepting of diversity as an external question, and accepting a sudden, unexpected and unlooked-for change to your own identity.

You say you want to unlearn the idea that sapio is the norm. But I'm not sure I see any evidence here that you haven't already done that. The issue is that sapio has been your norm. That's not a matter of perspective or politics – it is simply true.

You didn't choose to be sapio, you don't think it is preferable to be a sapio than to be a person of the night. You simply believed yourself to be sapio. That's not prejudice, reader, any more than it is prejudiced to happen to have brown hair and so not consider yourself to be blonde.

I worry that your concerns on this front might be getting in the way of dealing with the emotional impact of this discovery. You are more than a mouthpiece for all the correct political opinions. You are more than a collection of opinions, each vetted and approved according to some external standard of moral purity.

You are a living, feeling, emotional person who has made a profoundly disruptive discovery about yourself, one which challenges every assumption you've held about your own identity and your place in the world. Take a moment. Breathe. Let yourself feel whatever it is you're feeling, whether or not you consider those feelings palatable. Let yourself be angry, or confused, or frightened, or any of the other very reasonable emotions this situation might have stirred up.

Your feelings don't make you a bad person. They don’t undermine the hard work you've done being a friend and ally to the creature community. And they aren't going to go away just because you argue with them.

In terms of helping you move forwards, you already have a strong network of liminal friends to lean on. Talk to them, get stuck in with the community, and learn by their example how to love your liminal self.

[For more creaturely advice, check out Monstrous Agonies on your podcast platform of choice, or visit monstrousproductions.org for more info]

[noahvember]

Noahvember Fics

Here's a collection of all the fics for Noahvember that have created so far! Please let me know if I've missed you and/or if you would like to be added to the list. The Noahvember Collection on AO3 can be accessed here.

"breaking & entering" by dxncingquxxr

"breaking and entering: [noun] the act of forcing or otherwise gaining unlawful passage into and entering another's building -merriam webster dictionary in which noah loses his contacts and team escope breaks into a house at five in the morning"

"Digging Up Memories" by CeruleanSeaScorpion

"While at a family reunion, Noah's siblings and his girlfriend take him on a diversion, and he learns a lesson in humility and accepting who he is."

"Being sick sucks" by Mothymoon

"Noah's sick. Luckily his boyfriend is there to take care of him"

"Eels and owls" by NoahCue

"It's been a about two years since world tour, Noah has been trying to recover from total drama and it's.. Oddness. One of the things he has been trying to recover from is what Izzy calls "The eel pond incident"."

"would you just skip right to the end?" by mayonaisie

“Welcome back to Total Drama! For a new season: Total- Drama- All Stars!” Chris proclaims, and Noah’s nose can’t help twitching in annoyance as he walks up to where Chris is, the robot wheeling up next to him. “As you can see, we have this fan favourite returning to be my lovely assistant, as well as the Total Drama Robot!” Noah sighs, putting a hand on the robot to lean slightly on it. Day one, and he was already exhausted.

"against all odds" by dxncingquxxr"

Being a tutor isn't all bad. It's one of the less sucky jobs on campus. He gets paid a decent amount and has flexible hours. Hardly anyone utilizes the tutoring center here anyways. On a good day, he gets paid to sit and do homework. It's not the worst job he's ever had. After all, he could be working in dining. The mere thought makes him shiver. He usually doesn't end up tutoring many people in a week. However, there's a certain blonde that's the exception. She's here week after week, studying for her statistics class. Yet no matter how much he tries to help her, she can't seem to learn anything – including his name. But like his job, she's not all horrible. Sure, the first few weeks had been rough, and extremely frustrating. But then she had started bringing him coffee, and that led into them gossiping about other students on campus, and that led into – dare he say it? – enjoying her company. If she doesn't pass her stats class? Well, he's done all he can do. That's on her. or, noah's unlikely friendship with lindsay as he tutors her in stats

"Bloodstained memories" by Mothymoon

"the wrong place, at the right time" by mayonaisie

“Have faith Noah, believe, in us.” Alejandro says, the bastard, before performing some over-the-top flip. He puts an effort into not otherwise reacting to this, as the guy probably knows it as well. He's already said his words. His soulmate.

"much ado about noah" by dxncingquxxr

"A PowerPoint is projected onto the screen. The first slide is decorated in cutesy hearts drawn around a cursive font. In large, looping letters, the text reads: Operation Alenoah. In smaller letters below: Sierra's totally awesome plan in getting Alejandro and Noah together." in which noah and alejandro's friends are totally sick of this flirting rivalry thing they've got going on and hatch a plan to get them together

[bratshaws]

through the hourglass 290.brb x oc

a/n: no rooster...but for a good reason >:3c (comments and reblogs are super welcome and encouraged!)

pairing: plus size!oc x rooster

warnings: none uwu

goodness gracious (pls read this one to know more what this fic is about!!)

chapter

1/

/253/254/255/256/257/258/259/260/261/262/263/264/265/266

/267/268/269/270/271/272/273/274/275/276/277/278/279/280/281/282/283/284/285/286/287/288/289

(pls let me know if you want to be added to the taglist! )

taglist: @mirandastuckinthe80s @roosterschanelslut @wiipes @lcahwriter @novastories @gretagerwigsmuse @frenchtoastix @lizzie-rdj @fanboyluvr @atarmychick007 @comebacktoearthpls

@peachiicherries @mak-32 @lizziespidiepridie @roosterswifey @ollyoxenfrees @piceous21 @sqrlgrl22 @hofficoffi @lexhalstead3 @lorilane33 @legendarydreamersharkparty @luckyladycreator2

@emilybradshaw @louisahale @leobabbyyy @booklover2sblog @ktjmac @graciereads @bigpoppajes @taytaylala12

@caitsymichelle13 @becks-things @caatheeriinee07 @fanboyswhore9 @jesfreedark @katiemcrae @lilmonstrjedi @hobiismyhopeu @teacupsandtopgun @insominac23 @gh0stsgoodgirl @mygyn @chavivaelisheva @kmc1989 @enchantingharmonyalpaca

-

“Nikki,come on.”

Nicole looks up to her mother, her eyes leaving the colorful toys as Beatrice pushes the cart with the twins on it. She stretches her hand down to her daughter who waddles closer to her. Beatrice is quick to put her in the kangaroo strapped to her chest.

"Mama, wha?" Nikki pointed to a display of brightly colored flowers at one of the stalls.

Beatrice smiled down at her daughter, as she pushed the cart forward. "Those are flowers, sweetheart. People buy them to decorate their homes or give them to someone special."

Nikki's eyes widened in wonder as she reached out towards the blossoms. Beatrice gently redirected her attention. "We'll look at the flowers later, okay? Right now, we need to get some fruits and veggies for dinner." she kisses her head, “And help auntie Shells…whom I already lost in here, oh God.”

 Beatrice scanned the stalls for Shells, who seemed to have disappeared into the sea of people. The lively chatter of vendors, the laughter of children, and the occasional bark of a distracted her too much in trying to hear her friend.

"Alright, guys we're on a mission to find Auntie Shells. Think we can do it?" Beatrice asked. Nikki was the only one who replies with a babble, meanwhile Gavin and Aurora just snoozed in the cart, too busy dreaming to pay attention to anything else.

She huffs, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear as she looks around, every blonde head that appeared into view was not Shells and she frowned, “She couldn’t have just disappeared in here.”

"Okay, Nikki, I cannot believe I’ll ask you this but…can you help Mama find Auntie Shells?" Beatrice suggested, making a game out of the search. Nikki clapped her hands, her eyes glinting just like Rooster’s when he was interested by something.

“I’m asking a toddler to help me,” she mutters while Nicole squirms happily in her chest, “Unbelievable…” she’s still looking around, hoping to see the blonde bob anywhere and frowning when she couldn’t.

“You know Nikki,” she begins, “Auntie Shells gets distracted very easily,so it is possible she’s stuck somewhere, looking at stuff to buy–ugh,Shells,come on, show up!”

The scent of fresh produce wafted through the air, mingling with the aroma of food and blooming flowers. Beatrice maneuvered the cart through the crowd, occasionally glancing down at Nikki's excited expressions.

"You see anything, Nikki?" Beatrice asked, pretending to scan the area. Nikki responded with another burst of laughter and pointed towards a balloon vendor, her tiny fingers reaching out in delight.

Beatrice chuckled. "Not Auntie Shells, huh? Okay, let's keep looking."

The market was a tapestry of colors and sounds, and Beatrice couldn't help but be captivated by the diverse array of goods on display.But she had something to do and she had a budget to keep intact.

So.

Shells,first.

Beatrice continued her search, weaving through the market stalls with a determined expression. Nikki giggled and babbled happily in the carrier, seemingly enjoying the adventure of searching for Auntie Shells.

The market square stretched out before her, a labyrinth of possibilities where Shells could be exploring. Beatrice made her way through the crowd, glancing left and right, her eyes scanning for that familiar blonde bob of hair. The sun cast a warm glow over the market, creating a lively and cheerful ambiance.

A sudden movement caught Beatrice's eye, and she turned to see a flash of blonde disappearing behind a stall selling handmade jewelry. "Gotcha," she muttered to herself, quickening her pace.

As she approached the stall, Beatrice found Shells engrossed in examining a display of beaded necklaces. The vendor was enthusiastically showcasing her creations.

Beatrice couldn't help but sigh at the sight. Shells, completely absorbed in admiring the jewelry, didn’t even see Bea there.

"Shells.," Beatrice calls gently, a bit tired and looking less than amused when her friend turned.

"Took you long enough! I was getting lost in the beauty of these necklaces."

“Uh-huh.”

“Which one you think I should take home?” she holds two, one red and the other mint green, “I kinda like these two.”

Beatrice blinked, propping her hand on her hip with Nicole strapped to her chest and the twins happily asleep, unaware of what was going on. If this was any other day, she’d help her friend choose, “...really?”

Beatrice couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at Shells' nonchalant attitude. Here she was, on a mission to buy groceries and manage a tight budget, and Shells was contemplating jewelry. 

"Well, Shells," Beatrice began, her tone filled with a mix of amusement and exasperation, leaning on exasperation  "Considering we're on a grocery run…I don’t know. Honestly. Can we go? Please? I gotta go home and you promised me you’d help.”

Shells blinked, her attention finally fully shifting from the jewelry to Beatrice's expression. "Oh, right, groceries. Yeah, yeah, let's go," she said, a grin spreading across her face as she handed both necklaces to the vendor without making a decision.

Beatrice sighed, rolling her neck uncomfortably. "You and your distractions. Come on, guys, let's get this over with," she muttered to her daughter, readjusting the strap of the baby carrier. “I’m almost done too, you can always come back some other day,Shells.”

“Yeah yeah…”Shells, on the other hand, continued to scan the market with the enthusiasm of a child in a candy store. Beatrice, trying to maintain her patience, couldn't help but shake her head at her friend's easily distracted nature as they walked away

As they passed by a stall selling fresh fruits, Beatrice decided to seize the opportunity to redirect Shells' attention. "How about you help me pick up some fruits for Nikki?" she suggested, hoping to steer her friend back to the main goal of their outing.

Shells grinned, her eyes lighting up at the suggestion. "Great idea! Let's get the juiciest, sweetest ones!" she says, then turns towards Bea, “Not gonna lie, you do sound a bit…stressed today,what’s up?’

Beatrice let out a tired sigh, her shoulders slumping slightly. "It's just been one of those days, you know?" she admitted, glancing down at Nikki, who seemed to be thoroughly enjoying the sights and sounds of the market. "The twins were a handful this morning, and I just need to get the groceries and head back. Rooster's going to be calling soon, and I want everything to be settled by then."

Shells raised an eyebrow, a hint of concern in her eyes. "Everything okay at home? I mean, aside from the twins being a handful."

Beatrice nodded, a small smile playing on her lips. "Yeah, everything's fine. It's just the usual chaos of managing the house and the kids on my own. But we're getting through it. I just need to focus on the essentials today."

Shells gave her a look, understanding the challenges Beatrice faced as a mother of three, especially with Rooster deployed, with her lips pursed. "Seriously, I don't know how you manage it all. And you still look fabulous while doing it."

She chuckled, appreciating the compliment. "Why,thank you."

“You are welcome babes. I mean it tho, you look great.”

Beatrice smiles thankfully, patting Shells’ arm, “Thank you,Shells. I needed that today.”

Shells nodded, the distraction of colorful fruits pulling her attention away from the jewelry stalls. Beatrice's weariness seemed to lift momentarily as she and Shells bantered about the merits of apples versus oranges.

Orange was obviously the superior fruit.

Once they had gathered a variety of fruits, Beatrice directed Shells towards the vegetable section. "We still need to grab some veggies, and then we're done. No more distractions, okay?"

Shells held up her hands in mock surrender. "No more distractions, I promise. Let's get those veggies and head back. I'll even carry the bags."

Beatrice smirked, appreciating Shells' attempt to make amends for the earlier detour. "Deal. Now, let's make this quick." 

“Sure thing.” Shells says as she follows Beatrice, her eyes shifting to the brunette, “So…the twins…being a handful? That’s new isn’t it?”

“Well, they just got home,Shells.” Bea says as she looks at the veggies once they reach the aisle, “And they are still getting used to their surroundings, it’s normal. I called their doctor though, in case they are having morning cramps.”

As they perused the vegetable aisle, Beatrice could sense Shells' lingering concern. It wasn't easy for her to mask her weariness entirely, especially when her close friendwas scrutinizing her every move. Beatrice decided to address the unspoken worry, appreciating Shells' concern but also wanting to reassure her.

"Shells, I appreciate you looking out for me," Beatrice began, carefully selecting some fresh spinach and tomatoes, "but really, it's just the usual chaos that comes with having a full house. The twins are adjusting, and it takes a bit of time."

Shells raised an eyebrow, still not entirely convinced. "Bea, you know you can tell me if something's bothering you, right? I mean, I've seen you handle a lot, but if it's getting too much, you gotta let someone know."

Beatrice sighs, checking the weight of an eggplant in her palm, “It’s just…I’m worried about Roos I guess. Did Bob tell you about—” she lowers her voice, “The breach?”

The last thing they needed was saying,out loud, what was going on in a Navy deployment.

"The breach?" Shells asked, her tone hushed in response to Beatrice's lowered voice. "Bob didn't say much, just that there was some kind of security concern. What happened, Bea?"

She continued selecting vegetables, her fingers gripping the handle of the shopping cart a bit tighter. "There was an unauthorized access attempt, Shells. They caught it in time, but it's still nerve-wracking. Rooster assured me that he's okay, but you know how it is. The uncertainty, the distance—it's hard."

 "Damn, Bob didn’t go into that much detail. That's heavy stuff. And Rooster? Is he okay?"

"Physically, yes. Mentally, I think it's taking a toll on him. He's got this strong exterior, but I know him. He feels responsible for the team, for the mission. It's a lot to carry." she says while rubbing her neck, dropping her eyes on Nikki and the twins.

Shells reached out, placing a comforting hand on Beatrice's shoulder. "And you? How are you holding up?"

Beatrice managed a small, grateful smile, appreciating Shells' genuine concern. "I'm trying, Shells. It's just... with the twins back, the house full, and now this security scare, it's a lot on my plate.I worry. I want-I need him to be safe…I can’t protect him from afar."

Shells’ mouth dropped and then she covered her flabbergasted expression with her hand, eyes watering, “Oh…my god, you two are too cute.”

“What?”

“Did you hear what you just said,Bea?”

Shells' unexpected burst of emotion caught Beatrice off guard. She blinked at her friend, confusion evident in her expression. "What are you talking about, Shells? It's not cute. It's just the reality of our situation."

Shells wiped away an imaginary tear, a playful smirk on her face. "Bea, seriously, it's like a scene from a romance movie. The tough military guy, the worried but strong wife waiting at home, pouring her heart out about how she can't protect him from afar. It's classic, and I'm living for it."

Beatrice rolled her eyes, but a small chuckle escaped her lips. "Shells, this is real life–”

“Babes, come on.” she smiles, “I get that it's hard. I really do. But you two are too precious…did you tell him that?"

Beatrice sighed, her shoulders slumping as she sank into the couch, feeling a mix of emotions. "No, Shells. I haven't. It just feels like... I don't know, he's dealing with so much out there. I don't want to add to his stress, you know?"

Shells just tilted her head at Bea, grabbing the eggplant from her friend’s hand and shoving it in a bag "I get it, Bea. But sometimes, guys need to hear that stuff.”

"I guess I just don't want to burden him. He's got a lot on his plate, and I don't want him worrying about me on top of everything else."

Shells raised an eyebrow, her expression turning serious as she props her hands on her hips. "Bea, you're his anchor. You being there for him emotionally isn't a burden. It's what will keep him going. You're not weak for needing him, and he's not weak for needing you."

"I just want him to focus on the mission, not worry about things back home that much…." Beatrice admitted, her gaze dropping to the floor.

Shells leaned in, her tone gentle. "Bea, if he knows you're okay, it'll free up space in his mind to focus on the mission. He knows you are okay, now you can tell him how you want to protect him.”

After a moment of thoughtful silence, Beatrice sighed. "You are right.” she says, checking everything in her cart before sighing, “You are right, he should know about that.”

Shells grinned, satisfied that she had gotten through to Beatrice. "Good to know, Bea. Now…am I invited for dinner?” and the brunette laughed, thinking that it wouldn’t be that bad if she said yes to that.

She was feeling better too.

[casuallivi]

The Midnight Kiss

from a thoughtful elriel piece, to this silly fest. Me in a nutshell. sorry guys, I could not find a movie reference for this one nailing the date pace killed me, I wanted to be organic, but not boring, but comical, but not too much, and here comes cass/mor screams into the void so here's a pretty pic of breadticks 😬

Enjoy. Comments are welcomed and cherished :)

Part 5: Not the girl you are used to

 “No.”

“Yes.”

“No.”

“Yes.”

“No.”

“No.”

“Do you honestly believe you can trick me into saying yes?”

Cassian grinned like an idiot, thumb swiftly skating on his phone keyboard, texting God knows who. “You used to fall for that.”

One would think he wasn’t so interest in the conversation, but Azriel knew his brother, could read the tension on his unstoppable tapping feet, the nervous twirl of the watch on his wrist, the childish attempt to beat him by exhaustion. Azriel ignored him. Cass could try all he wanted, but he was not agreeing to this insanity.

Tablet perched on his knee, he continued to work through a selection of garment choices for the winner of the Revelation Designer Award to choose from.

You see, Azriel didn’t believe in unpredictable events, because that would mean he wasn’t prepared for the “incident” happening, and Azriel was always prepared. In order to be ready, he spent a copious amount of time building back-up plans, which had proven to came in had along the years. His, wasn’t the least stressful way of managing a department, but sure was an efficient one. Needless to say he had nearly to none free time. Cassian, on the other hand, seemed to have a lot to spare, deciding to dedicate a part of his day into trying to annoy Azriel to submission.

Azriel had no interested in satisfying his brother’s current itch. A cunning, blond haired itch, who he also had no intention of getting involved with anymore. That’s why he was using this meaningless reunion - more of a one-on-one with his brother - to look through the strongest candidates’ portfolios, selecting D-Day outfits.

“Come one man, you are not thinking this straight. She’s the hottest model these days, runway elite.” Cassian moved forward, pushing a video of Morrigan in Azriel’s face, braving her latest runway in goddamn lacy red lingerie. Her color. Nope, do not go there. “She’ll be a good addition to our catalog.”

Azriel averted his eyes, crossing a giant ‘X’ in the current dress with a little more strength than necessary, the pen scratching the glass. Nope. He’d not be looking either.

“Hiring her for a sporadic shoot is doable, signing an exclusivity contract is dumb, a waste of money. She’s a runaway model, we’d have to compensate her that, pay her contract breaching, pay her even when she’s not working. You are the money man Cass, you know is not worth it.”

“She’s so fucking hot, tho. Trust me when I say she’ll raise our sales. Who wouldn’t want to see a hot girl getting delivery to their home monthly? Hell, I’d sign our magazine.”

"You don't sign our magazine?"

"Why would I sign our magazine?"

Azriel rubbed his forehead, the familiar pressure of a stress-induced headache making itself know.

That’s why his brother managed the money, not the people. The only people he got involved with, were the ones with an ass he was interested in tapping. And that is why he was pushing Azriel to sign an exclusivity contract with Morringan, as if they were a fucking model agency. Cassian might have the CEO position, but thankfully their grandfather left them the same amount of shares. Over his dead body he’d bring Morrigan closer.

“Marinos isn’t about hotness. We are a fashion magazine, Cass. A collection doesn’t sell itself simply by being clothes, is all about how we display them, the ambience, the models. It’s an art of luring the public into seeing themselves in the pages. We have to be diverse, keep it fresh.

“She is fresh!” Cassian argued, leaving his phone on the small table between them, tapping aggressively on the screen, the video rolling. “Look at her. She approaching that milf zone which makes her extra bangable to horny teens.” He held his hands up, palms flat in the air, making the universal sign of a balance. “They enhance their spank bank; we double our sales. It’s a win-win.”

Azriel slapped his brother’s phone face down, his disdain palpable. How Cass could address to someone, who he claimed to be in a serious relationship with, in such a way, was beyond him.

“You are disgusting. And she doesn’t have kids.”

Cassian laughed. “You don’t need kids to be a milf, baby bro,” he enunciated the words as if Azriel was slow. “You only need to be past a women’s prime, which we all know is in her twenties, and still be freakishly hot. Have you seen Mor? Check and check. We like to pretend they are a hot mom without the burden of a bastard running around.” Cassian winked, taking his phone. “Besides, Mor won’t be working much longer. I counting on you to help me make her retirement transition easier.”

Azriel stiffed on his chair.

Morrigan was doing what?

Bubbling laughter erupted from him, tears sliding down the corners of his eyes. Cassian stared at him as if he was insane. My god, he didn't laugh like this in ages. Morrigan would never retire, she loved her job more than life itself. That girl would probably die in a runway, her stone-cold heart finishing its complete transition into a block of ice.

"Are you having a stroke?" Cassin asked, confused.

“Did she tell you that? Did she say she was retiring?”

“She doesn’t have to tell everything, baby bro. Her man knowns.” Her man thought he leashed the untamable Morrigan. Her man knew shit. “She’s turning 34 soon,” Azriel knew that already, they were the same age, “it’s time.”

"Time for what?"

"For her retirement."

“You are so full of shit. Morrigan won't retire, she loves her job.” It’s the only thing she loves. “She won’t quit. She’ll never quit.”

Cassian slouched on the chair, spreading his legs to assert dominance.

“You are full of opinions about Mor today.”

“We were childhood friends. I believe I can judge her inability to drop her career for a man.”

The brothers have met Morrigan when they first moved to America to live with their grandparents. Their grandma quickly pairing Mor and Azriel in the same classes and extracurricular activities. Cassian was around too, but didn’t had much interest for the younger girl in pigtails running around with his brother. She sure had his attention now, wheater she liked it or not.

“Trust me, Mor is settling down. She has a man now, a provider, no need to tire herself crossing the globe all year long. Don’t give me that face. I’m telling you how man thinks.”

“I am a man.” Azriel stressed.

“You are, aren’t you. For a second there I had my doubts.” Cassian mused, remembering how he caught his brother getting cozy with Elain inside the elevator, their ride from hell…

Cassian scratched his stubble, contemplating the recent changes in Azriel's behavior.

His stoic brother, who could not get along with any women introduced to him, scaring them away with his blunt remarks and cold indifference, had been uncharacteristically catering to the girl who used to eye-fuck Cassian from across the room, giving him sunny smiles and entertaining him with dirty jokes. Now her looks where few and further apart, Elain hiding her snort behind her hand instead of giving him a full belly laughter, avoid responding to his innuendos with something dirtier, as she usually would. An unexplainable queasiness twisted in his stomach.

“Speaking of being a man. You and Lainy,”

"Elain.” Azriel corrected with annoyance. “Her name is Elain, not this ridiculous nasal stretch you do.”

“You and Lainy are close now, huh.” Cassian repeated the nickname to spite him, tapping his fingers rhythmically on the arm rest. “Close enough for you to take her home… mouth fuck under the moonlight...”

“Jesus Christ.” Azriel rubbed his face, wishing to be anywhere but here. “Your vocabulary is superb Cass, keep it up.”

“What? You were the one dry humping the girl in front of everyone.”

“No one was dry humping, your sick fuck. I don’t know what you do in your relationship, but us, normal folks, we can kiss for the sake of it, no hidden agenda.” Azriel was not cut out for the lifestyle his brother led. To kiss and bed anyone without knowing where their mouths and body might have been before? No thank you. Hard pass.

“You seriously dating the girl?” Azriel nodded, once. Cassian snorted. “Bullshit. I never saw you with a single girlfriend.”

Azriel watched his brother, his restless hand. His brow furrowed. Were Cassian and Elain closer than he anticipated? He knew they were friends, but this. This was something else.

“I didn’t see you either, now look at you.” He eyed the shinning gold band on his brother finger. A commitment ring. Ten years and he couldn’t get Mor to even address him as her fucking boyfriend, but one month was apparently enough to date his brother and get a ring stuck in her finger. Her words, not his.

“People will notice.”

“Say it a regular ring. I’ll get you an inconspicuous one.”

“I can’t have a ring constantly stuck in my finger, Az, it will give me tan lines. People will notice.”

“It’s different. I’m chick magnet, didn’t had a girlfriend by choice, fucked plenty of them, tho." His smug was presumptuous. "You, on the other hand, I never saw you with anyone. Why now? Why her?”

Because Elain is capable of shutting my mind down, she rambles so much I can’t hear myself thinking, can’t think about girls I shouldn’t be thinking. Because Elain made a crazy suggestion when I needed a light. Because Elain is the first woman I enjoyed kissing in a long time. Because Elain doesn’t make me hate myself. Because I want to live like a normal man being loved by a normal woman.

Azriel didn’t voiced the answers. None of them were for his brother’s peace of mind. His deal with Elain was private, there was no need to explain the reasons that bound them to Cass.

“You are awfully interested in my girlfriend.”

“Can you blame me? We figured you’d be coming out of the closet any day now. Then puff, you appear with a girlfriend.”

Azriel glared at him.

“I’ve told you, I’m not gay.”

“Well, now I know that. Cousin Rhys will be thrilled to know he won.”

“You and Rhys made a bet on me?" Cassian grinned. "Assholes.”

Hell yeah he bet on him. Azriel had always been a weird kid, full of don’t-touch-me, all worried about wrinkles on his clothes. Plus, the fact that never introduced a single girl to them, never talked about hook up, or dates, or dalliances of any kind was very suspicious. Cassian sat straighter in his chair, an idea occurring to him.

“Wait. Is this one of those fake-dating situations? You and Rhys working together?”

Okay, Azriel had enough. His brother had nothing of important to discuss, and he had a lot of work to do. He collected his things and got up.

“Damn, little Lainy sure is a good actress. I didn’t know she had it in her.”

Azriel flipped his brother on his way out.

.

.

.

“Marino. For two.”

The girl behind the small reception desk checked her system, confirming Azriel’s reservation.

“Follow me, please.”

Elain and Azriel walked behind the petite receptionist as they quietly moved between the tables filled with families, co-workers, friends, couples. Elain looked down to their joined hands. Azriel had taken a hold of hers soon as they were out of the car, Elain stopping dead in her track.

“What are you doing?”

“Building intimacy.”

“Over here.” The girl lead them to a round table by the window.

Tall framed glass from floor to ceiling, gave them a perfect view of the garden where the structure was built around, a magnificent fountain shooting jets in the sky, water lilies floating unbothered. Azriel pulled her chair and Elain sat down, nervous butterflies beat their wings desperately in her stomach, trying to break free. The girl gave them a set of menus, politely explaining that a waitress would take over.

Elain glanced discreetly at the other tables, trying to figure if theirs was the only one without breadsticks or if this place was too fancy to give them free munchables.

“What?” Azriel asked, following her gaze.

“Breadsticks,” she muttered.

She must have given him glutton vibes, because his eyes crinkled with amusement.

“We can order some if you’d like.”

"You a regular?" He shook his head.

"First timer. Didn't seem appropriate to take you to places I know." Did he want to keep her like a dirty little secret? Would you look at that. Elain was opening her mouth when he said, "I don't want us to make memories in soiled land. I rather start fresh, just you and I."

Elain closed her mouth. Oh, that's actually thoughtful. Her ears pinked on the tips, Azriel returning his eyes to the menu, thick black lashes nearly brushing his cheeks. Elain spied his new haircut, the slight fade on the sides making the perfect shape of his ears stand out, the glossy waves on top combed back in a stylish manner.  He looked particularly handsome tonight, reading the menu with the same keen attention he’d give to a report, as if analyzing steak options required a minuntious evaluation of each option presented. Elain got so lost studying him that when the waitress came, she was yet to choose an option.

Azriel made his order with mastery, adding a bottle of wine by the year. Elain was impressed. She generally chose her wine by category; red or white. She fumbled with the menu, grieving at the lack of breadstick or fries. The waitress took pity on her, helping her though the most requested dishes, asking for her preferences in meat, finding her the perfect dish to order.  

When she was gone, Azriel said.

“I booked us a hotel.”

Elain gasped exaggeratedly, wrapping her arms around her chest in a fake show of modesty. “How dare you? I’ve told you I’ll marry a virgin!”

The table beside their, containing what appear to be a squad of girlfriends in a night out, threw them suspicious glances, whispering heatedly amongst themselves. Azriel rolled his eyes.

“For the RD Award.” He reminded her. Elain needed no remind, she knew exactly what he meant, and she had no interest in it right now.

“Noooooo.” she let out a long-suffering whine, making him frown.

“Did you want to do that?”

“Don’t talk to me, I’m in mourning.” She used the napkin in her lap to dab the corners of her eyes, fake hiccups to match her fake tear. “I can’t believe I’m dating a man who talks about work on a night out. Lord, why have you forsaken me!”

A couple of snickers could be heard from the next table. Azriel rubbed his neck to mask his embarrassment, because her taunt was reasonable. He’d done it out of habit, used to interact with Elain in work related matters.

Despite is energetic disposition when it came to fashion, Azriel was an introvert who didn’t have much interest in anything else. In the past decade his life could be resumed in two things: Marinos and her. Azriel didn’t like people, didn’t have many friends, didn’t left his house unless he was working, didn’t travel unless he wanted to see her. After having to spend five days a week interacting with his employees, giving orders, creating back-up plans, correcting mistakes and solving endless problems, Azriel was perfectly fine spending his free time napping, eating home-made food, nursing a glass while a documentary rolled on the tv. It's how he recharged his energy. And for the dating department…

Truth be told, Azriel was a little rusty on the dating department. On the rare dates he agreed to go, he didn’t have to speak much, the women pretty content in talking about themselves, batting their lashes at him, intrigued by his silence, which they interpreted as a bad boy persona. They've read him wrong. Azriel wasn’t a bad boy, he didn’t have spare energy to invest in being one. Most times he was simple exhausted, uninterested, heartbroken, trying to distract himself to not think about her, trying to forget the woman who wasn’t a good parameter for quality time either.

Her name still caused him pain.

Mor.

He avoided using it, addressing her by the full name when necessary.

When he was with her, he was her secret, and he had to remain just that, a secret. Back them Azriel did lots of confidential encounters, last minute trips to where she’d be modeling, booking extravagant hotels for the pleasure of her company, appealing to secluded resorts if he wanted to see her outside a room, because their outings consisted in gathering with her friends, fund raisings and galas. Non-committal events that wouldn't put her in a spot she didn't want, because God forbid they were out, let’s say, enjoying a good meal, and someone spotted them.

“Now is not the time. My sponsors don’t like this kind of public attention. You know how prissy they are.”

“I’ve signed a no-dating clause, Az. I’ve told you that.”

“Please, please take me back. I won’t sign the clauses anymore, I’ll demand freedom in my personal life. I’m famous now, they have to listen to me!”

“Stop pressuring me! You are making me look like a villain. Look at everything I’ve done for you! They could sue me for being with you. Is that what you want? For me to be sue? Shunned from the spotlight?!”

“I’m sorry, Az. I’m really sorry. I don’t want it anymore; I don’t want to be a model if I can’t have you. I love you. You are my life.”

Elain rapped her knuckles gently on the table, giving him a worried look.

“What are you thinking about?” she asked gently.

Azriel sipped his water.

“That you are correct.”

Elain doubted. His expression had turned a little wistful, his shoulders sagging slightly. She decided not to comment on it, taking his lead to move the subject forward.

Azriel watched Elain sat higher in her chair, smugness pouring out of her. “That’s usually the case, but I’m glad you are finally admitting.” Her napkin went back to her lap. "Keep that energy when you wake up in the morning."

Azriel chuckled.

In the past, Azriel had judged Elain an airhead. Her eccentric persona and taste for crude jokes was far to similar to his brother’s, who couldn’t read the room to save his life. Cassian though himself the guru of flirting, but his inappropriate conducts had often rendered complains, Azriel having to arrange anti-harassment lectures to please the chief of HR. Azriel thought Cass would outgrow this childish fascination with making people uncomfortable as he grow older. He thought wrong. Turns out age was nothing but fuel to his shameless brother.

That’s why Azriel was instantly peeved with Elain, who strolled in his life with swaggering confidence and a sharp remark for everything, deeming her a female version of the brother who gave him constant headaches. Azriel was wrong again, but this time he was please to be. Now the paid her more attention, Azriel noticed Elain didn’t carry the same arrogant obliviousness as Cass. She was witty, outspoken, brazen even, having no problem in standing up to herself or what she believed, but she only joked around those closer to her, using her humor to make people at ease, to let them know she cared for them.

Sparkling chocolate eyes smiled at him.

Empathy wasn’t something Azriel was used to. It made him lightheaded.

Elain watched Azriel place one hand on top of the table, palm up, wiggling his long sumptuous fingers at her, the bronzed moisturized skin gleaming under the fluorescent lights. “Have I told you how lovely you look today?”

The word “lovely” coming out of his sinuous lips was enough to have her heart doing cartwheels. Her heart was a tramp. The useless lump of overly excited muscle had no business trying to beat out of her chest when Elain had put an extra effort in her appearance today. Gone were her everyday jeans and t-shirt, replaced by an elegant sage lily dress, the elastic ruched fabric ending with small ruffles around her knees, her pearl colored flats matching the pearl clips keeping her curls behind her ears, small sparkling dot adorning them.

Elain planted her palm in his. “Are you implying I don’t look lovely on the other days?”

“Would you drop dead if you spent a day of your life without contradicting me?” His voice lacked the usually annoyed undertone, his thumb tracing the path of her knuckles.

“Guess you’ll never find out.”

Elain put her free hand down as he had done, asking for his other hand, mimicking the strokes he gave her. Damn, this man’s hands were smooth as a baby bottom!.. is the rest of him this soft? Her thoughts slipped in a dirty tangent.

“I like your shirt.” The material of his dress shirt stretched comfortably over his chest, draping over his powerful arms, to end carefully folded around his elbows, leaving his forearms bare in a way he rarely did. The last time she had seen him sporting such a casual disposition, he stole her breath away. Literally. Elain licked her lips, her voice lower. “Black looks good on you.”

His lips tugged in the corner. “It is my color.”

“It is," she agreed in a daze

A tranquil atmosphere settled over them.

“Can I tell you something?”

“Mmh.”

“I'm glad I kissed you.”

Now she was full on blushing, her cheeks growing incredibly hot, especially when he lifted her hand to his face and kiss her palm. So, Elain did what she do best to mask embarrassment. She cracked a joke.

“My, my. I didn’t know you had it so bad. Tell me mister, how long have you been in love with me?”

“I’m not.” Azriel kissed her other palm, his gaze so intense she squirmed in her chair. Under the artificial light his eyes were all hazel, the fleeks of green hiding, waiting for the sunlight to unravel. “But I intend to be.”

[dansconcepts]

A Day in the Life of a Gamer!Kaede

Or: my talentswap au in a non-despair setting with a focus on Ult. Gamer Kaede and some moments feat. a Reserve Course Tsumugi, Ult. Bartender Shuichi, and an Ult. Magician Kokichi.

Being at Hope's Peak is strange, but in a good way. Of course, she gets to meet all kinds of people that she wouldn't have met unless they were watching her stream or are in the same lobby as her. And they're all with some quirk one way or another, which makes her feel less like a "Gamer Freak" around them.

Experiencing the diverseness of the people in her classes and even outside of it is something she loves dearly. But... of course, there's always going to be something slightly strange...

・┆✦ʚ♡ɞ✦ ┆・

Every so often, she notices a girl with very long blue hair and glasses standing in the doorway. She wears the signature black ribbon and long-sleeved white dress shirt that Reserve Course students wear. While RC students aren't banned from being around Ultimates or anything (how messed up would that be?), their classes are in different areas. It's just inconvenient for them to be walking back and forth unless they've got friends here. And evidently, this girl does, because Rantaro meets her out in the doorway. He always invites her in, but she always rejects it.

Today, she's out there again. She's almost like an NPC, following her designated pathing outside of her class door. Unfortunately for her, Rantaro had stepped out. She must not have known, because she's standing there in her idle animation.

She could:

> Go back to her game [which would probably lead to the girl just standing out there until Rantaro comes back] > Tell her about Rantaro [which would probably lead to more interesting dialogue options]

“Hey, um, Rantaro went to the bathroom, he should be back in a few minutes.”  

The girl looks up at her and quickly looks away. She frowns. Did she do something wrong?

The girl meets the blonde's stare, and her eyes widen considerably. “A-ah, please don’t mind me, I’m just very plain…” 

“Hey!” Kaede pouts. “Don’t say that, I’m sure you’re amazing! You’re very pretty, to start!” 

Tsumugi smiles, pity in her gaze. “That’s very kind of you, but I don’t have a talent. I really am plain boring…”

“No, it makes you the most interesting person here!” She gets a skeptical hmm, and she figures she'll need more interactions with her to convince her. “I’m Kaede Akamatsu, the Ultimate Gamer. Nice to meet you…?” She pauses with a tilt of her head.

“Tsumugi Shirogane, just a plain ol’ person.”

“Yeah, we’ll work on that.” She even sounds like an NPC…

・┆✦ʚ♡ɞ✦ ┆・

She's finished up a map on Project Sekai and about to start a new one, only acutely aware of the familiar purple blur that always comes up to her seatmate when-

“No, Kokichi, I’m cutting you off.” Shuichi frowns, moving a cup with dark liquid away from the boy whose arms are crossed on his desk.

Cutting him off-? 

“But Shumai!” He whines, even crying hysterically.

“A-are you serving Kokichi alcohol?!” Kaede screeches. She believes in Shuichi, but she knows he has drinks in his lab to mix with...

“He is!” Kokichi giggles.

Oh goodness, this is way worse than she thought!

Shuichi only lets out a heavy sigh. Upon catching her highly concerned look, he shakes his head. “No, he’s lying. It’s just Panta with some root beer. I don’t even know how he can drink so much of this stuff…”

She lets out a huge sigh of relief. She couldn't imagine dealing with a temporarily debuffed Ouma, and an inebriated one at that...

“Nishishi~! It's because of your amazing skills!”

“That's very kind of you, Ouma...” The boy flushes.

Kokichi frowns. “Yikes, you really believed me? It was a lie.”

“I doubt it.” She interjects. “You're very talented after all, Shuichi, so-” She yawns. “-don't listen to him.”

“Kay-ay-day, he knows that lie was a lie! Righttt, Shu?”

Shuichi blinks slowly. “...Right.” He turns to her. “You stayed up again, didn't you?”

The reminder has the bags on her eyes feel heavier than ever. “Ah, is it that obvious?” She chuckles sheepishly.

“A little.”

“Ha! More like really obvious!” Kokichi snickers. “Here, I have just the thing!” He hands her a flower. It's a sunflower.

She takes it gratefully. “Thank you Ouma, this is quite pretty.” She holds it up to her face and-

“EEP!”

Drops of water drips down her face.

“Kokichi!” Shuichi gasps.

“Kokichi...” Kaede warns lowly.

“Wow, you really are tired if you fell for the easiest trick in the book.” It comes out as a tease, but Kokichi's frowning. He pulls out some cloths from his sleeve and offers it to her.

She takes them gratefully, wiping her face off.

“Are you alright?” Shuichi asks, his brows furrowed.

She stares down Kokichi, who stares back at her.

She hears Shuichi gulp.

“Ultimate Magician? More like Ultimate Clown.” She grins.

Shuichi sags in relief.

“Heh, you really were worried, weren't you Shuichi? Haven't you dealt with tension between patrons before?”

“I have, but it's more unnerving when it's between friends...”

“Aw, you consider me as a friend, Shumai? How adorable!” Kokichi coos.

“I do too!” She pauses. “Sort of...”

“WAHHHHH! You're so mean Kaede!” Kokichi cries. “Did gaming so often make you forget how to interact with people or something?!”

Oof. She frowns. That was super effective...

She stares back down at her phone and thumbs at it.

“Quit it Kokichi.” Shuichi firmly snaps.

“I guess...” Kokichi sighs dramatically.

Later that day, she finds a tiny Kirby in her dorm. It would make a great charm for her phone.

But how did it get here? Her brows furrow.

Alas, she knows a magician never reveals his secrets.

[mallowsweetie]

My take on the Avantika Fan Cast Situation as a black person.

I’m going to be talking about the whole Avantika being FANCAST as Rapunzel. And you may be wondering, Jude, what does Avantika being fancast as Rapunzel have to do with being black in fandom spaces? My Dear Reader, I am asking you the same Question.

Let’s recap: Sometime in February 2023, someone started fan casting (meaning: Not a real casting, but someone you could see playing the character in a live-action.) Avantika, an Indian American actress (Known for Mean Girls the movie musical, Spin, Senior Year) as Rapunzel. Mind you, Disney hasn’t even greenlit any kind of tangled live action, bur Alas….some people believe everything they see on the internet. Recently, this discourse has come around on TikTok and thus bringing it to my attention.

So of course, all the racist white Disney fans are crying, screaming, peeing their pants because she doesn’t have pale skin, green eyes, and blonde hair. This has offended fans so much that they’ve resorted to (once again) threatening to cast a white woman as Tiana. Huh?

What does Tiana have to do with this? She’s not white nor is she Indian, by all means, black people didn’t have anything to do with this debate. Black people are just always on their mind no matter what and they can’t WAIT to bring us up in conversation or like, as a “Gotcha!”

The response to “What does Tiana have to do with this?” is met with “Y’all so sensitive it’s just a comparison” or “You guys are always playing the victim” as if they’re not the ones shitting bricks over a FANCAST.

I’ve also seen a good amount of people chastising black people for ‘settling for recasts’ and telling us to create our own original roles for POC. But let me remind everybody that every time that does happen, it gets called woke or forced diversity and is held to painfully high, almost impossible standards. Especially if it’s a show/movie/book not set in the one genre we’re shoehorned into or if the black character isn’t the token character.

I will be making a whole other blog post about colorblind casting and how it results in racists on the internet dogpiling onto black actresses. But in my opinion, things like this only matter if race/culture had a role to play in the original adaptation.

Movies like: Moana, Raya, Tiana, Merida, Mulan, their race or culture was important to the plot.

Movies like: Cinderella, Rapunzel, Aurora, Ariel, Snow White, Belle their race or culture was UNimportant to the plot.

All of the blonde haired girls are scream crying about representation as if they don’t have SEVERAL live-action Cinderellas, Aurora, Tinkerbell, Ariel, etc.

Not only that, but most of the disney movies came from CENTURIES if telling and retelling in different ways. If you don't like one retelling you can ALWAYS read a different one.

Not to mention people saying she wouldn't be great for Rapunzel but she would be a great Mother Gothel??? Hello? I thought we were crying bc Avantika isn't German or White.

While black people have one black princess who is a frog for most of the movie. Be so for real. At the end of the day, Avantika is NOT cast as Rapunzel and probably won’t be.as she’s going to be playing Princess Gauri on DIsney’s television adaptation of A Crown Of Wishes by Roshani Chokshi!

[bohemian-nights]

the way there’s so much to say about how the bridgerton fandom acts towards shonda and even now, jess, the new showrunner, yet CVD (the previous MALE showrunner) got no flack for those first two seasons, season 1 w/ that specific scene between simone and daphne or for season 2, the lack of screentime for kate/anthony or the lack of background for kate or the lack of family/sisterhood…why is it that the two women get the most flack. mind you, they’re on jess’s ass and they have yet to see her season… questioning her decisions because she’s being too vague for them as any showrunner would be and deciding she doesn’t know what she’s doing or it’ll be terrible, ooc writing for everyone when they haven’t seen the season yet…

Yeah these women get way more flack than that man.

I’m personally on the fence about Jess and I admit I don’t like how vague she’s being. However, I believe everyone should be given the chance to prove themselves, so I’m reserving my judgment until I find out if Benedict’s season is next and who is playing Sophie.

I can also kind of see why she’s being vague about the whole thing.

This isn’t Marvel or even GOT, but Benophie is an extremely popular couple. This should’ve been their season and yet they were skipped over in favor of Polin(I’m pretty sure they moved them up because they wanted to throw a white ship in there).

So with that in mind Sophie news might overshadow things and while I’m the furthest thing from a Polin stan it is their season 🤷🏽‍♀️

Furthermore I don’t want that ships stans next year yapping about how they were “wronged” and trying to turn Benophies season into Polin 2.0 so I’m good with the radio silence(for now).

We shall all have our day in the sun(and I can only hope it’s as beautiful as QC cause that’s the gold standard for me).

Now as for Shonda, is she perfect? No, believe me, I have had my gripes with this woman. I have had a love hate relationship with her since 2013(Scandal was a roller coaster).

She is for all intents and purposes kooky. She likes to put her characters through a lot. She can be petty, and clearly has her favorites(Penelope), but some of the accusations thrown her way make 0 sense.

I’m not trying to dismiss anybody and I’m not trying to be insensitive because we all have our faves and we all want them to shine.

My faves(Benophie) were literally skipped over and we still don’t have an exact confirmation they are next, we still don’t know who Sophie is. My second faves might be getting screwed over too(I’m not getting into it, but Francesca deserves her man) so I get it. However, some of you are all the way wrong.

Shonda has made some interesting choices, but people need to give her more credit because the reality is that Bridgerton as it exists in the show wouldn’t have happened without her.

The Bridgerton books are not diverse at all(and Julia Quinn has said some really fucked up shit to the point where Shonda should’ve adapted a Black authors work and never given that woman a larger platform, but I digress)

Simon isn’t a Black man. Kate and her family definitely aren’t Indian. Sophie is a white blonde woman. Queen Charlotte isn’t even in the books and if she did exist in them she would be white (like in reality).

Lady Danbury is white. The Stirlings are white Scott’s. The Mondrichs don’t exist. New characters like Harry Dunkworth and Lord Samadani do not exist and if they did they wouldn’t be part Asian or Persian.

I can imagine that in the furture Lucy will be played by a non-white woman(if y’all want an Asian lead it’s her) and Gareth will at least be biracial(he’s Lady Danburys grandson). In the books both are white.

Hell, Penelope’s glow up consists of her getting skinner so even Nicola doesn’t fully embody her book counterpart.

Gay people are barely touched upon(no disrespect but this is why turning these ships into queer romances won’t work) and the books as a whole are mediocre at best.

It will never be perfect, but Shonda and co. have managed to turn something no different than all the rest of these crappy regency romance books into a highly entertaining diverse show. It’s because of her vision that Bridgerton is as colorful as it is and might I argue has provided a platform for things like Mr. Malcolm’s List and The Davenports to be greenlit.

I dont want to praise this show and the creators too much, and yes there are problems with Bridgerton (for me it’s the lack of monoracial Black leads getting their HEA which is why I hope Masali is indeed Sophie), but the hate at this time is a bit much.

[northwest-cryptid]

I would like to ask you all something today, what is a "white person" and I'm being genuine here. I don't mean for you to answer in such a way as to say "they're racist" or "they're bad people" that is what we're taught yes I understand that; but it's not an actual answer to the question of race.

Is someone from the UK "White"? If so, would you also say someone who's Irish is "White"? If so, would the same be said for a Russian or a Norwegian? Are the Swedish "White"?

You might be inclined to say yes to all of the above, right? They all have pale skin and therefore they are "white" correct? Alright that's a naïve but albeit fair answer. So then let us shift our focus away from Europe and towards America.

This is Justina Bruns, she's a Lakota woman who was widely considered "white passing" though I wouldn't refer to her as such considering she literally has a whole article about why that'd be rude back in 2019 given her displeasure with such labels.

I bring this up because I want you to think about the fact that if she wasn't wearing Native jewelry you might mistake her for a "white person" and given the way we look at people, who could blame you; right? However this begs the question then, if she's "white" what is she? She has to be something, that's how humans work. You get the body features you have from your ancestry we understand that; so what is she? If you don't know she's Native and you believe her to be white, this fictitious boogeyman constructed as a scapegoat; what is her background?

Well she has dark hair, and dark eyes; which rules out most places if we don't account for the diversity of individuals which in this case, because people don't; we aren't. That means she likely isn't Scandinavian since they're known for having light hair and eyes, with straighter eyebrows. We can go ahead and rule out Russian, since again they are known for light hair, blue eyes, and rounded noses. Well that also rules out German because wait a second they're also commonly known for blue eyes and blonde hair... okay so this rules out most of Europe actually, let's check British! Well British CAN have light or dark hair, and light or dark eyes so that tracks so far, though that can be said of literally every living person so that doesn't really get us anywhere! Damn why are genetics so hard to pin down it's almost like there's a lot of diversity in modern times and trying to pull data from older records show that a lot of people from predominantly "white" locations don't have all these features obviously someone from a certain place would have ALL of the features associated commonly with their people, or at least most of them; right?! You can see she has pale skin though so what gives?! Oh wait, I know; she must be Italian! Yes that's it! Italians are known for dark hair, dark eyes; and... prominent cheek bones? Strong jawlines? Oh hey it's probably make up! That's it she's wearing make up to soften her facial features! That must be it, ha we've done it we've cracked the code using 100% absolutely irrefutable science! Wait hold on they're also known to have wavy or curly hair and we have no way of knowing if she styled her hair or if this is natural; wait maybe she dyed her hair! We can't possibly know! Fuck it's almost like trying to pinpoint someone's genetics based solely on things they can change and alter about themselves with things like make up and hair styling is a fruitless effort used by people who still think everyone from a specific place must look a specific way! Dammit now we just look like assholes, so what is it?! Wait I've got it, let's just generalize, we know she's pale skinned so let's just say "Whi- alright enough of that sarcastic shit, have you got what I'm saying here yet? Is it clear or am I using too many examples?

Well let me clear things up for those who are still lost.

What I'm trying to say with all of this is that genetics aren't an exact science like we (for some reason) believe they are, they're a kind of weird science like oingo boingo warned us about. Jokes aside, you can't just judge a skin tone to figure out what someone is. It's not that simple, and trying to simplify it down to that sort of system only hurts the very minorities you think you're protecting and fighting for. There are a ton of Natives who have lighter skin, some have darker skin, some have slanted eyes, some have blue or green eyes, and even blonde hair, others like myself might have dark hair but it's curly to the point people have called it a "fro" some of us have longer sharper facial features while some of us have shorter rounder ones, this is literally because there's no such thing in our day and age as a "pure blood" person from anywhere. That's literally not how genetics work and I wish people would stop trying to police people based on their blood.

For example, much of the Lakota people I know have French blood; this is due to the fact that there were French who peacefully integrated into our tribes and adopted our cultural practices. They even aided us in protecting our land from the US government. This doesn't account at all for how many Irish Mexicans I know who come from Mexican families who aided the Irish who fled to Mexico and became members of households there. In fact there's Natives with Asian, French, African, and European blood running through their veins; from you know back in the day when trade was a common thing and sometimes our people would even venture off with the individuals we did trade with. It's fairly well known among Lakota people that early on our people traveled off in the Four Directions before coming back and sharing what knowledge we had learned from our travels, and if you don't think we met people and intermingled you're a fool.

It's sad to me to see that such a culture has come up around Blood Quantum, it's a big thing both in and out of Native tribes. On one hand you have actual Blood Quantum which is a scam used by the US government to essentially steal what little land we have left in a few generations. However racism can come from within the tribe as well. My father was considered a "breed" since his blood was not purely Native Lakota (which is stupid since there's no such thing as pure Native blood to begin with,) he was told he had a dead soul, that he would never understand our ways or teachings. That however turned out to not be true; and I myself am living proof that he was able to pass those teachings and that culture on to someone with an even deader soul. We were essentially forced off the reservation because my great grandfather married for the sake of love; into an Italian household rather than staying a "pure blooded Native" despite the fact our people had been mingling with other races for decades. These days I get all sorts of people who see me on the street and tell me I must be white, my hair is too curly, my skin is too pale, I am no Native. Thankfully I am smart enough to have been raised in a family where I was taught that Lakota is not merely what's in your blood, it's more than that. Yes I have curly hair, yes I have pale skin; yes I practice my Lakota culture and language daily, and no you cannot take that from me even if the US Government doesn't legally consider me a Native.

People around the world continue to push this idea that "the white man is to blame" and I always get upset when I hear that, because it's a myth I used to believe as well. The White Man is a lie, he's a made up boogeyman; created by those who are actually the problem. The military marching onto Native land to continue development of the pipeline, those who would rape and kill our people daily (yes; DAILY), the government and companies responsible for our death. They don't want you to focus your attention on them, they do not want you to know their names or what they sell, they don't want you to understand who is really at fault for the racism that actually hurts our people.

You know why? Because they're scared of you, they are scared of us. Of what might happen when we as a people, as a whole; as a collective that want to see the world a better place, wake up and finally realize just how small they really are. They call us minorities because they want to condition us to believe we are the few, we are the weak, we are the victims and we always will be. They rely on us pointing our aggression and attention not towards the Government who pass bills to build toxic pipelines on our land, not towards the companies that are still around to this day that used to literally kill people and pin it on Natives so colonies wouldn't do trade with them (yes this actually happened), they want us to direct all our attention to The White Man.

There is no White Man.

There is no such thing as "White"

You are not white, you are Italian, you are French, you are Norwegian, you are British, you are Welsh, you are Russian, you are German, you are Irish, you are Scottish, you are Swedish, you are generations of people from all over the world for thousands of years who have come together whether peaceful or otherwise, you have history, you should be proud of the people who fought for the good in the world, and learn from the people who tried to stop it; if you have that hatred in your lineage be the one to put an end to it, if you have that rebellion in your blood be the one to foster it once more and actually fight the good fight. Do not let ANYONE generalize who you are or what you are.

Be proud of your history and background, there is no such thing as White. Wake up from that illusion and understand that if we keep pointing a finger at this made up White Man we will never know the true names and faces of the enemy.

The people who support the military marching on Native land? They have names, they have faces; do not let them cower behind the mask of being "The White Man"

because we will never defeat the White Man anymore than we can kill the boogeyman hiding under your bed when you were a kid. Make it clear the only people who believe that there is such a thing as a White Man are those who seek to empower the concept of "white supremacy" for their own gain. They have forsaken their right to their ancestry when they took up the mantle of "white man" for all the privilege that comes with it.

If none of this makes sense to you allow me to propose this dilemma for a moment.

Mihoyo, the company that created the hit game Genshin Impact; went on record back when the game launched saying that their main antagonist of the game were directly modeled after Native American people.

They've stated that the hilichurl are literally based on Native individuals, from their designs to their "silly dances" so I ask you this; are the Chinese developers behind Genshin Impact "White"?

Clearly not right? Sure they might have pale skin but they're Asian, they're Chinese... so they certainly couldn't be "White" right?

However they clearly have racism in their soul for Native people, they look at us as a dead race that they happily include in their game as a comical enemy known for being stupid, and they have no qualms saying such.

I want you to think back to when there was a boycott (yes there WAS a boycott it lasted 10 minutes and became something of a joke) for Genshin; I want you to imagine what it felt like to be a Native who heard the news that this game, this wildly popular game was under a boycott because of racism towards Native people. Only to then see NO MORE THAN 30 MINUTES LATER, the very people saying they were going to boycott; posting their gacha pulls, gleefully bragging about their husbandos and waifus they'd obtained by giving money to the very people they just admitted housed racism against Native American people.

Do you know what would happen, if everyone and I mean everyone; stopped playing Mihoyo's games? Well they'd go under, they'd suffer for their racism; they'd see the consequences of their racist views first hand. However I know, as well as you; that it won't ever happen. Because it's easier to tell yourself that you're a small, insignificant amount of money in their wallet; that the damage is already done, and that if you stopped giving them money, if you stopped playing a game you probably love, with characters you probably have formed some kind of attachment to; well it wouldn't make a real difference would it? It's such a popular game anyways.

It's a lot easier than admitting you support racists after all, but hey what do I know I'm just a "dumb silly Native" right?

Now hey listen, if you're getting super defensive over Mihoyo right now I need you to take a step back and remember my original question here; are the developers white? The answer is undeniably no, they're not. They're Chinese, we all know that.

What I mean to say with this is that every single person on this planet has the ability to be a racist, or to help fight racism. Your skin tone doesn't matter, your blood doesn't matter, not when it comes to whether or not you want to stand with us or against us.

There is no White Man, stop blaming the boogeyman for the problems caused by real people; start making people take accountability for their racist actions and be a force for real change in the world if you actually care about these things.

[softness-and-shattering]

Theres also so much complexity to passing depending on time and location and how queer-aware people are and a million other factors. What do we even mean by passing. And on the extreme are those weirdos convinced theyre the only cis people left, documenting random cis people in their lives and declarinflg them trans if the guys are anything other than bodybuilders and if the women are anything other than tiny and waifish and hourglass shaped. Theres I believe a trans woman on twitter who trolls them by posting pics of famous cis women, implying theyre trans, and watching these people roll in with "thats a man we can always tell".

So like. Passing is very real and also completely unpredictable and maybe largely meaningless the way we use it as a definite category?

And look at all the whiny gamer bros who think a character doesnt look like a real woman unless they have a particular figure and are super dolled up in a specific way. And there was a super dumb hot take I saw recently that all trans guys have to do to pass is put on a hoodie, like have you never seen a cis woman in a hoodie.

Ok so these are extremes but whats the middle ground? It still varies wildly. There are cis women who are incredibly tall and broad shouldered and deep voiced. There are cis men who are short and speak kinda high pitched and have curvy hips and soft lips and long hair. Women with strong cheekbones and jawlines, men with soft round faces. Theres no denying that we're sexually dimorphic but across the species, sex isnt the most different trait that we have.

Im reminded of a photo of womens volleyball, I think it was, a few years ago, when there was all this uproar about men having biological advantages over women. (Or, trans women having bio advantage over cis women, is what they meant). And the photo is of two cis women volleyball opponents. One is scandinavian, like 6 foot+ blond, wide shoulders, large. Her opponent was I think south-east asian, and absolutely tiny in comparison. At least a full head shorter, maybe head and shoulders. But theyre both cis women so theyre evenly matched, right?

(Im not making an argument for race-based spprt competition, before someone wildly misinterprets me. Just making an observation aboit human diversity. Also, sport is just inherently about biological advantage, paired with skill and training and perseverance and support etc.)

And while we're at it, apparently the only reasom sport is divided by sex/gender is because men were insecure about being beaten by women and so forestalled comparison by setting up womens sport as a separate thing. Im getting off track though.

My point is that a lot of people can pass, or not, depending on your definition of passing in any particular time and place. "Trans men can easily pass and trans women can never pass" is just as untrue as the inverse. Passing is complicated. You are who you say you are and if you are a woman then you look like a woman, dolled up or stone butch. And there are other women who look like you, cis and trans and intersex and femme and butch and the entire spectrum of womanhood.

One thing I have seen - even from other trans people! - is this specific implication that while it's inevitable that trans men pass, but trans women are essentially doomed if they want to pass.

I could talk for days about the intricacies of passing for trans people in general. I could talk for hours about why some trans people want to pass, and that it shouldn't be forced. I could talk about the intricacies for trans men and others when it comes to passing because the dynamics don't play out the way it does for cis men a lot of times. But what gets me is the idea that trans women could never pass, that those who do are essentially anomalies is... nasty. It's got nasty implications, and it's feels even nastier when trans people do it.

Trans women, trans men, trans people of all types shouldn't be required, pressured, or forced to pass. That is true. But to say that passing is nigh impossible for an entire subsect of trans people will never not read as evil.