#cultural dark matter

[runawaycarouselhorse]

I don't want to act like a snob, but, y'all... really don't read old fairy tales or mythology, do you...? You only know the sanitized, bloodless Disney versions? People get cut to pieces (Cinderella/Ashputtel, The Red Shoes), women are abducted to be wives (an upsetting practice that continued until very recently, still practiced in some countries today—horrible, but part of life that found its way into stories, like The Seal's Skin), and magical talking animal husbands / wives (The Crane's Return of a Favour; East of the Sun, West of the Moon, etc.) abound in old mythology. Kids have been raised hearing these stories and not thinking about sex for centuries...

Humans marrying Pokemon in the ancient past was frankly stated in the Japanese version of DPPt. The English version rightly assumed English-speaking fans won't take it and reworded it from used to marry to used to eat at the same table (some euphemism!)

The Typhlosion story is no different from western stories like East of the Sun, West of the Moon (the way she was advised not to look at him reminded me of that) or The Seal's Skin (selkies cannot transform and return to the sea without their pelts—the abducted wife leaves her half-human child on land, escaping with her pelt when she finds it... the half-human, half-Pokemon children are bullied by their pelts being thrown on them to transform them against their will for cruel human amusement..)

The bloody myth about the boy with the sword is Veilstone's myth, but told in detail, right down to the Pokemon exacting a toll from him for how he maimed and slew them for amusement.

A man unknowingly marries a transformed-into-human form Froslass he met once before in Pokemon Legends: Arceus and she flees when he finds out what she was... it's based on a tale about the yuki-onna, the folkloric snow woman Froslass is based on.

[music]

[cyarskj1899]

[dj-of-the-coven]

Something that strikes me a bit funny about the TWEWY fandom is how many posts I've seen praising the game for being "like if an emo game... wasn't emo". And as somebody who was emo in my younger years, and is still heavily involved in the alt scene (by way of graduating to punk), I think this take is a bit of a misunderstanding of what alt cultures are, and what they do. The World Ends With You is an emo game. I'm just gonna lay this one on the table. If you disagree, that's fine, but I'm going to explain my reasoning from the viewpoint of someone on the inside.

Being emo is not synonymous with being "edgy", despite what its reputation would have you think. Emo is a music subculture that was born of punk in the late 90s--though some sources claim that the term was used as early as 1982--and is highly contextual in the same way that goth is, meaning that the exact same object or article of clothing can be many things at once: goth, emo, or what-have-you. What differentiates one from another is mostly music, but can be more specifically tied to one's societal views; the way that you go about the world and what you care about expressing to others. Emo in particular is differentiated by its relationship to pain. It's simultaneously fascinated by the macabre and terrified of it, reveling in the agony of loneliness, abuse, and depression while maintaining a space for the victims of broken systems to find solace in each other. Being "edgy" is not the point, just like being mad at your father isn't the point of punk.

The World Ends With You is about a boy suffering from the ills of society. Neku Sakuraba is isolated from his community, having no apparent friends or family at the start of the game, and he's isolated from his pain, refusing to acknowledge how his persistent solitude and the death of his best friend negatively affected his life. Instead of dealing with his pain, he loses himself in the comfort of his music--something that many emo teenagers do at some point. But this, I think, is where the misunderstanding comes from. Being emo wasn't what was wrong with Neku, and it wasn't what was fixed by the end. Neku was initially refusing the part of himself that makes emo such an alluring concept to the people involved in the real-life subculture. He wasn't even dealing with his own shit yet. Neku's journey is what led him to embracing the way he felt, and even though his problems weren't immediately fixed, being honest about his feelings and sharing them with others was what helped him overcome his shitty attitude. Neku's problem wasn't being emo, you guys. It was being fifteen.

What emo is really about isn't being an asshole; it's about grappling with the ugly parts of yourself and the world around you, but not in the effort to convince yourself that these things make the world evil, because much like goth, emo finds beauty in the darkest parts of life. Emo romanticizes the struggle of mortal life as a way to keep its members alive. It says "I see you, I feel you, and it gets better some day". The message of TWEWY is much the same--that the world may be confusing, but opening yourself to others is how you find the beauty in its chaos.

TWEWY is an emo game. Aesthetics and music aside, it falls perfectly in line with what the members of the subculture believe, so stop claiming it isn't emo just because its message is uplifting.

[doomdoomofdoom]

This one goes out to

transfems named Alice, Jessica, Lily, or Emily

transmascs named Kai, Noah, Tyler, or Elliot

any trans person named Alex, Sam, Aiden, Charlie, Riley or

any trans person who ended up with a common trans name, knowingly or not.

You're valid and clearly have amazing taste: These names are popular for a reason! Your name isn't like a username! They don't have to all be unique! You don't have to pick the specialest name and set yourself apart from every other trans person to be valid!!

All that matters is that the name feels right for you.

You've chosen perfectly. Keep it up!

[deesi-academia]

going for war (classes) heavily wounded (headache)

[beyondwenet]

womanhood, my beloved 🤍

[blackbeautyheaven]

HI KINGS AND QUEENS

THIS AFRICAN AMERICAN ART PIECE IS NOW AVAILABLE ON AMAZON

CLICK THE LINK BELOW TO GET YOURS ON AMAZON

[chamerionwrites]

Aimé Césaire saying that colonization works to decivilize the colonizer truly lives in my head rent-free

[andthespidersfrommars]

you might not think it’s hard to be a soc fan artist on tumblr, but let me tell you about the time I called someone out for drawing inej with light skin, so they blocked me and then wrote a long post about me that I couldn’t see, along with colour samples taken from my art as examples of how inej is “too dark” in them, and then they end the post with “I’m disappointed in you” 💀

[miscellaneousjay]

As far as the Live Action “Lilo & Stitch” goes, if curiosity doesn’t get the better of me at some point and I watch it like two years after it comes out, between them casting someone who could pass as white as Nani and making Stitch ashy, I’m already not feeling it. It’s literally the Naomi Scott-as-Jasmine situation all over again (colorism; while we’re at it, the actors for Aladdin and Jafar could’ve been darker as well). Like, instead of white-passing biracial actors going out for roles meant for dark(er)-skinned actors, why not go for roles initially being written for light-skinned/white actors if you can? If you gon be out here taking roles from people, take them from the group that has the most media representation!

P.S. Shout out to the person that made that tweet/message/meme about Zendaya and Thandie Newton’s daughter taking roles meant for white actresses! Idk your name, but that last part was me indirectly quoting you!🫶🏾

[writerfae]

Since you talked a lot about Talon's family I got curious. What is the relation between kings/ queens, high lords and guards. I know guards are really respected, but I also heard you mention that Talon's his father's heir, but he is a guard and his dad's a high lord?

I hope this question makes sense

This question makes lots of sense! Let me (try to) explain.

In every court, there is one royal family. This royal family has been there since the beginning and always provides the king/queen/regent of a court.

But each court also has noble families. The leaders of those noble families are called high lords/ladies. So a high lord is simply the head of a noble family.

It’s a position you inherit, which is why one of the high lord/lady’s children gets raised as an heir. Once the current high lord/lady retires/dies, their heir takes over the family business.

Now you might wonder what a high lord/lady is there for. Except for keeping their own family running.

For that you should know that since fae courts are pretty big, they are divided into districts (usually six) and each of those districts have a noble family as their “patron”.

So basically, what a high lord/lady does is manage “their” district. Mediating neighborhood quarrels, deal with people’s requests and pass them on to the king if they see it necessary. Stuff like that.

And lastly there is the royal guard. The guard is a group of people under the regents command, whose job it is to serve the crown and the people at court.

There’s different departments but in general their task is to keep the order, help with emergencies and protect the people if necessary, among other things.

A guard is something you can train to be. Unlike the position of a high lord/lady it’s nothing you get born as or can inherit. Nowadays everyone could become guard if they make it through the start test and the training.

High lords and ladies, together with the generals of the royal guard, are part of the “inner circle” of a regent, while guards (though they are highly reputable) are a whole different instance in a court’s system.

I hope I didn’t confuse you so far. Now to apply this all to Talon’s family:

Talon was born into a noble family. (Which kinda makes him a lord, just like Halea, as the daughter of a noble family, is a lady)

His father, Cyrus, is a high lord, so the head of the family (the patriarch of you will). His “job” is to care for the family and the people of the district he patrons.

Talon actively chose the guard career, so this is his “job” now, you could say. But he’s not just a guard, he is also his father’s heir.

That means that one day he’ll most likely have to retire as a guard and take his father’s place as the head of the family and become the new high lord.

But for now he’s just a guard. Well, technically still a guard in training, but let’s not be too nitpicky xD

I hope this answers your question! ^^

[softpine]

just wanted to give my 2 cents on coco considering herself white, im hispanic and white. i know people get confused with race and ethnicity but they arent the same. hispanic can be any race so clarity is usually needed. puerto ricans are hispanic but italians are not, tho italy does not take race into account for their census the majority are white. coco could easily say shes white and since she is hispanic could also say shes poc it depends on her preference and experiences tbh

thank you for the input!! i'm under the impression that race is more of a category that society chooses based on a person's appearance while ethnicity is a person's actual cultural background. so to the original anon that asked about race, i said coco would probably consider herself white. but even that seems to be a personal preference and comes down to outside factors like where you live, who you grew up with, how people perceive you, etc. truthfully i don't know if it's very relevant for coco's story, but of course elements of her heritage, like anyone's, will come up from time to time (especially if we ever meet her family or learn more details about her upbringing). but yeah just to clarify, she absolutely would consider herself hispanic!!

[techdriveplay]

Dodge's Electric Evolution: Bringing the V8 Rumble to the Electric Arena

In an ambitious move to marry the past with the future, Dodge is setting the stage to infuse its electric cars with the soul-stirring sounds and dynamic feel of its legendary V8-powered muscle cars. This innovative endeavor aims not just to preserve the iconic auditory and tactile experience of driving a Dodge muscle car but to elevate it within the realm of electric vehicles (EVs). The Electric…

[warriorprincesstramp]

I've literally never disagreed with a take more than this. it's not pretentious or elitist to say that some films are experienced completely differently in the cinema and that it can enhance and transform that experience massively. alien isn't bad because its use of sound and its absence is ten times more effective in a cinema. shut up

[sammydem0n64]

Guys if I ever get cancelled or whatever SOLELY bc some of my ocs are abusers and stuff (not the contents/treatment/narrative framing of their abuse, just the fact some of my ocs are abusers.) I need you to white knight me into oblivion please

[grapecaseschoices]

i usually don't send asks and i would send this off anon, but im scared of getting hate on this, since ive seen quite a lot of discriminatory behaviour in if fandom spaces when it comes to poc opinions so imma just stay anonymous if that's ok with u.

i came across a post you posted a while ago regarding the if ROs and the lack of diverse characters when it comes to darker skin characters and i just wanted to say thank u for making that post. i hope it gives writers and the fandom some food for thought. ive been noticing ever since i got into the if community that black/ros of black descent tend to almost always be the less popular ros and as a mixed black person myself it's really sad to see. you also mentioned the lack of darker skinned east Asians/south East Asians if i recall correctly (if not please feel free to correct me) and I honestly couldn't agree not. ive noticed in some ifs that the characters of color that are the most popular tend to be those of east Asian descent with paler skin or poc ROs who's ethnicity is left ambigious by the author and whilst I'm really happy that there's been more progress made in terms of diversity, i would love to see more black characters who aren't sidelined to the best friend stereotype and more poc characters who's ethnicity is made clearer.

some south east Asian friends of mine who are of Hmong-Thai and Agta-Filipino descent have also mentioned they would would love to see more South East Asian ROs as well as East Asian ROs who are darker skinned, because the majority of the rep that there seems to be for Asian characters are those with paler skin. its a similar feeling for Latinx ROs, i almost always see lighter skinned Latinx ROs being represented in the majority with a lack of darker skinned Latinx ros. I'm not forcing anyone to add diversity to their game ofc, but the ratio of poc ROs to white ros on some games have made me kind of sad to see, specially when there's like 4 or 5 white ros and then 2 ros of colors who seem like they were just kind of tacked on for representation points, but their backgrounds are left ambigious and no Nationality or ethnicity is ever mentioned by the author which kind of leaves me scratching my head ngl. there's also a prominent lack of SEA and SA rep in terms of ROs, so I'm always happy when I see one! I would also love to see more biracial characters who aren't half white, since we aren't all a monolith.

regarding black ros. in my time in the community whilst ive seen an increase in the amount of black ROs, seeing them always be the least popular in polls still makes me quite sad. i hope that fandom can become more open minded and give more black ROs a chance. on the other hand I've seen a lot of greatly written black ROs in comparison to back in the day, and I'm glad people are incorporating more ROs based on their culture which is great!

sorry about this essay, but i hope it doesn't come across as rude or offensive, it's just something that has been on my mind ever since ive seen your post regarding the lack of representation in if. English isn't my first language so I hope I expressed myself alright.

negl, when i the way you started and then the length of this post, i foreal thought it was gonna be a fight. so, it was a relief that isnt the case. i honestly don't think there's anything for me to add, because you said my feelings and all i could do is nod along as i read this.

though, i'm glad that my post struck a chord for you. (is that the thing to say?? i'm not even sure. i guess my purpose for that post was pointing out the ignored part and bringing on encouragement as well. so, while i'm glad it encouraged you to share your opinion and made you feel less alone in feeling uncomfortable with what you were seeing -- it sucks that things haven't changed to a point where you can feel comfortable saying your thoughts off anon without being harassed. like yikes [not at you, but at fandom]. roflmao. like this is 2023. we really STILL at a point where we're going to make people feel bad about having a GENERAL issue with the racism and colorism that if writers & the if fandom continue to show? rather than … idk continue to DO something about it.)

i would love to see more black characters who aren't sidelined to the best friend stereotype and more poc characters who's ethnicity is made clearer.

i have actually seen some improvement, too. either from the fandom directly zeroing in and supporting black characters (i know the polls can seem disheartening - and i had a feeling that's what drew you to my inbox - but there HAVE been moments where the black character would be the most favored ro -- buuuuuut .... sadly, it is still so rare that i continue to be surprised when it occurs) or in the if writers boosting black characters because they have an awareness regarding fandom's bias. i definitely do think we need more of the latter, tho.

i still think there is a very long way to go. extremely. like i think in general, despite the imporvements we have both observed, a lot of the newer games i've seen ratio is still low like you said. it's a mix instead of being - at least from my observation - as consistently majorly white like it used to be. now i'd say the ratio is aybe 3 (white characters) to 2 (characters of color, of different races) ... as opposed to 3:1. Whoo. BUT i've seen what you mentioned too, still -- too many games are still so white. And if they're not, they're more often than not theyll be light skinned East Asian or black (or mixed... with white). Or an ambigous Latino that I can't tell if they're a white Latine or meant to be a character of color. So, yeah ... i don't know what it is. a fear of writing characters of color, not finding characters of color romanceable, or just a lack of awareness.

Like I guess I agree with you (lmao), I don't want to "pressure" people to have diversity either --- mostly because the people who get hurt in cases like that are minorities reading the story. My desire, I suppose, is a want to understand. I know a lot of IF writers have the idea that 'my story is for me', and in a sense, I agree -- I think we shouldn't expect writers to bend every bit of story to the fans (not even an interactive story). I've seen the mess that can create. However, if you wanted it to be JUST your story, you would've left it in your journal. You want engagement and participation -- you want to share, and I believe most stories should be shared. So, why as an artis wouldn't you want to make a story where .... I don't know. I'm tired. I've kind of gotten to a point where I'm just like whatever. I'm disappointed in myself for expecting better from IF writers and the IF fandom.

BUT I am glad that you and your friends are not only discussing but EXPECTING better, because you deserve it. Because your friends deserve to see and engage with characters who are SEA (of all shades, but especially of darker skinned). You deserve to see mixed raced characters who aren't half white (or light skinned), because as stated yall arent a monolith -- that isn't all there is in the world. (And it's WEIRD to me, like WHY do we AUTOMATICALLY assume mixed/biracial = partially white? I mean I KNOW why but COME ON! lol.)

*sighs*

i WILL say though, again, it's not all bleak: and i have seen variation of the TYPE of characters of color -- like it isn't always the cold e. asian or the black emotional pack mule best friend. so that's good. and i hope that continues.

and you're fine, dove. i actually appreciate your ask because like i said i was feeling kinda ho-hum about things but this sorta sparked a fire in me, roflmao. you expresse yourself just fine, and honestly despite the essay i wrote back i really didnt have anything worth adding.