#happy to see the racists taking out their own trash by unfollowing

[bamf-jaskier]

Hello ! So i know you've talked about racism in the witcher fandom before and i have a question. When reading fics i am struck by the fact that very little fics portray Triss as a woman of color, as she appears in the show and an overwhelming amount portray her as a red head. So my question is this: is it racism or just a general dislike of the show and another sign that fans seem to think that the witcher 3 is the best ?

It’s racism. I am not going to sugarcoat it or say it’s because fans just “prefer” game Triss. They prefer her because of their implicit bias. There is a post about choosing to right in the Netflix Verse but keep Game Triss Here. If there is a fic that is set in the Netflix Verse and uses Jaskier instead of Dandelion, describes Geralt with no beard and as, well, Henry Cavill, and even sometimes, if you are lucky, uses Anya Chalotra as Yennefer but then uses Game Triss? That is making the specific choice to exclude a black character which if most of the fic is set in the Netflix verse, that is a very specific choice rooted in racism, whether on accident or on purpose.

While the game was popular, the fandom didn’t rise-up or become mainstream on Tumblr until the tv show came out. If you want evidence of that, just go look at Tumblr’s 2020 review. They had an entire section for The Witcher, it was #13 on the top 20 things tagged on Tumblr in 2020, Geraskier was the 4th most popular ship out of 100 (Yenralt didn’t even make the list), Jaskier was the 3rd most popular character, Geralt was the 5th, Yennefer was the 24th (yeah there’s a problem here too). 

And if you want even MORE evidence of this, here’s tumblr’s year in review for 2019 JUST for video games, not even overall things or fandom. The Witcher isn’t even in the top 50. It also wasn’t on Tumblr year in review in 2018, 2017, or 2016. Before 2020, The Witcher never made it into these lists, the tv show made the fandom we see now. 

As well let’s look at some of the fanfiction stats from AO3. 11,805 out of 21,208, aka 56% of Witcher fanfiction is explicitly tagged as the Netflix series. However, I know that many fans like to just use The Witcher - All Media Types tag and not the show one (I know I use that) so let’s look at timeline as well. 18,900 out of 21,208, aka 89% of ALL Witcher fanfiction was written after the show was released. Even if you have tried your gosh-darn best to avoid it, the trope and fandom from the Netflix series have seeped into most people’s perception of The Witcher. So again, re-stating my point, using all the Netflix characters in fanfiction BUT Triss, is anti-blackness, plain and simple. 

And a lot of fans online have used the excuse, they aren’t racist, they just don’t think she looks like the character. They say things like “it’s the same thing people said when Daniel Craig was cast as James Bond”...but it’s not. When you say a Black woman doesn’t “look right” for a role you are saying black people have no place in your story. Re-evaluate yourself when you makes those comments and think about the company you are keeping. Because you are keeping company with literal racists who use the same phrases and have the same opinions as you. 

A post about some of the backlash actor’s faced here: 

Here’s an article about the harassment 

Now a Reddit thread about Triss would look better with straight hair

More Reddit 

But “Oh” you say, that’s just specific to Reddit, Tumblr would NEVER be racist. 

Well here’s a fun collection of posts!

An Artist who draws Racist Caricatures of Triss 

A post about how people refuse to talk about fandom racism

How fandom racism isn’t just fiction vs reality

A post about shipping trends being racist (and people harassing OP in the chat)

blank-slate characters and the racial bias they deal with

Specifically a post about Yenralt and Racism (think about those Tumblr ranking while reading this...)

Another post about people refusing to talk about fandom racism

I just gave a few examples but look through the blogs of anyone whose been talking about fandom racism and you will see so many posts and examples. 

The Witcher fandom has a racism problem. It’s not just Yennefer or shipping Yenralt. It extends to how the fandom treats Netflix Triss as I have talked about here, it extends to how there’s practically no content or more specifically, engagement for characters of color. It’s about how the fandom keeps pushing POC out to the point where people I love are leaving the fandom because they aren’t welcome here. 

If you aren’t willing to listen to POC when they tell you something is racist, when they tell you something is wrong. Fuck off. 

I encourage everyone if they haven’t to read the article Who Actually Gets to “Escape” Into Fandom?

[taestfully]

(not mine). Please do take the time to read this. READ IT WELL. Don’t let your feelings or bitterness get in the way.

May I just state that unfollowing them on Twitter, YouTube, or any other platform does NOTHING? All it does is disheartens the artist and the fans. Leaving hurtful words does NOTHING expect hurt. Hateful words don’t fucking “educate” anyone.

I understand the hurt. I understand the offense that’s been made. But why does speaking your displeasure of the situation and dragging Ateez to hell have to be the same thing? Well, it doesn’t. I just don’t understand the way some people have used their hurt and pain to bash Ateez. How did “educating” become synonymous to sending death threats? Since when did cancel culture become the new way of handling situations?

And what’s worse is that so many of the people that have crucified Hongjoong, Ateez, and KQ for the sake of “education” are Atiny. Atiny. People who have watched Hongjoong do his best to be a decent human being. The people that watched Hongjoong sit in a car and cry over his love for his members. People who know about Hongjoong’s pure love for music. People who saw Hongjoong cover and remake Michael Jackson’s Black or White because he wants to strive for racial equality. People who have seen how Hongjoong leads his members with a tender heart. People that should know that Hongjoong would have never have wanted anyone to feel hurt or disrespected by his actions.

Do you feel happy? Do you feel glad that you could have very well thrown everything he’s worked for in the trash?

“Oh, Nat, but he did that to himself!” “KQ is the one that’s thrown his career in the trash! KQ made him have that hairstyle.” Yes. What they’ve done is wrong and they could have avoided all of this by just not having that hairstyle on Hongjoong. They will have to face the consequences of their actions. Yes. But you seriously think you’re making this situation any better by hating Ateez? By bashing them? By calling Hongjoong racist?

I want y’all to understand something. It is so easy to hide behind a phone or computer and say whatever you want. But just know, the people those words are aiming for will see them. They will be affected.

Does it not pain you to know that Hongjoong more than likely sees all of the hateful words? All those death threats....what if one day he ever acted on them? We’ve seen in the past few years that idols have taken their own lives because of the mental trauma they’ve suffered from online comments. And to think....you throw those horrible comments around like nothing...with no remorse...

You have every right to step away. To unstan. If you feel like you just cannot forgive Hongjoong or KQ, that’s understood. But I’m begging you...you can do that and not drag them down. You can make a quiet exit without having to make a fuss.

It can be so simple. Don’t watch the Thanxx mv. Don’t buy the Thanxx version of the album. Don’t vote for Thanxx. Don’t download that song. Don’t listen to it. Hit the skip button. Don’t buy or look at the Harper’s Bazaar magazine shoot. Literally it is so simple and yet it’s been blown way further out of proportion than it ever needed to be. This literally could have been a matter that could’ve been taken care of quietly but because of people acting out on their emotions instead of sound reasoning and blasting this situation on social media, a lot of unnecessary attention has been brought upon it.

Speak up for justice. Speak up when you’ve been wronged. Hold your faves accountable when they mess up because they WILL. No one in Kpop or in the entire human race is without faults or problems. Atiny messaged KQ and within the first 24 hours they responded with an apology — which is so unheard of in Kpop. KQ at least did what most companies wouldn’t by swiftly addressing the issue. And that should’ve been the end of it. Wrong was done and we let the one at fault know. And KQ has done what they can. Sure, I think more could be done, but like the above says it is impossible at this point for any editing to be done. I wish more people could be more understanding instead of holding onto their hurt feelings with a vice grip.

I honestly cannot even believe what’s happening before my very eyes. It breaks my heart to see people hurting, both the black Atiny that have felt disrespected and Ateez. I don’t want either party to hurt.

But I’m so sick and tired of people feeling entitled to do whatever the fuck they want just because they’ve been wronged. There’s a way to go about things and the way some of you have acted just isn’t it.

You can unfollow if you disagree with what I’ve said. That’s fine. You can crucify me right along with Hongjoong. That’s fine too.

But I’m not leaving Ateez. Not now. Not ever. I will continue to defend them when they need it. And if you’re a true Atiny that’s in it for the thick and the thin, stand with me. Stand with our boys.

[keiths-salt]

(1/6) as a kl shipper, i wanna say from the bottom of my heart: thank you thank you thank you. so many times i've wanted to shout stuff like "why do yall hate k/eith so much" and "you guys never cared abt s/hiro or a/llura, let alone s/hallura" and "why do you want so bad for this writer/artist to be a p/dophile godDAMN" like, holy shit. u beautiful salty jem of a pearl at the bottom of this tumultuous fandom ocean. -

- (2/6) even your blog title is golden, bc it feels like so many people are so deluded, trying to make a ship, something you’re supposed to sit back and enjoy, into a sort of spiteful activist bullshit-filled “movement” like what??? and telling folks to unfollow if they ship s/haladin bc they’re “cleaning out they’re blog”, like, fuck off??? sorry but here’s a salt-filled rant and i don’t know where else to put it so here! -

- (3/6) side note, i’m rly trying to get across to you that i’m NOT being sarcastic abt how much i want you to keep doing your thing, bc now they’re trying to tackle RACISM. in grosser and grosser ways every day! calling some of the only asian rep i see in media “white-passing” and saying that l/ance can’t have a last name that isn’t 1000% authentically cuban, whatever that means, buncha hypocritical racists. i have never been so angry and ashamed of a fandom. -

- (4/6) it’s gotten to the point where i, someone who ships kl and NOT sk (just my personal tastes), am rly happy to see any sk on my dash bc that poster must have been so brave! to post something as simple as sk hugging or smooching or whateverthefuck, i don’t care! you do you! fuck all these nasty haters, THEY’RE the toxic ones who just want someone to hate! yall deserve props! -

- (5/6) also, my compliments to the chef regarding that pining k/eith theory, it’s So Good, like i ghostwrote it somehow. the whole “projecting onto l/ance” thing (which is being done to a painful degree, i can testify) tries so hard to remove or overvalidate his flaws that it’s laughable. making lance into an insecure martyr angst-sponge hybrid with no agency and no room for personal growth, it’s sooo bad. -

- (6/6) and villainizing everyone else! reminds me of that jaden smith tweet: “when i die, then you will realize” shit he wrote when he was like 14. transparent af, like we get it, you’re insecure. and sometimes i WANT to hop aboard the black paladin lance train, but it’s always this idealized version of him that’s almost unrecognizable, and it’s at the expense of better black paladin candidates. goddamn ok, that was all my salt for the time being! much love, thank you and goodnight!

This is one of those asks that I’d love to keep in my inbox forever, but I’ve spent the last three days trying to come up with a response because you deserve one.

I think we’re all aware that tumblr is an explictly shitty place when it comes to “activism”. There’s this black-white-mentality that anything and anyone needs to be put in a box based on whether they agree with someone’s world views. Everything needs to conform to a specific label too, fiction is only allowed to be healthy, you condone what you enjoy etc., and the #1 argument by people on this site, also widely used by antis, is “Think about the children” but also “Expect everyone else to take care of you”.

People actively go into tags of pairings they hate and then yell about how triggered they are. Really? I’ve been repeatedly told to kill myself because I liked something they didn’t (and I’m talking about my 99.5% discourse-free main blog, not this one where I passively seek out conflict). You either conform to the popular way of thinking (shipping, in this case) or you’re irredeemable trash and a threat to the public. Any shit you get over having your own opinion will be justified because you deserve to be punished for thinking on your own. Tumblr mentality is the modern equivalent to medieval politics.

Fandom always has a terrible side - I know - but the Vo/tron fandom has become a place where people tear each other down rather than block the content they don’t want to see. Converting people to one’s own thinking has becume such an essential part of “activism” to the point where people forming their own opinions and learning about an issue on their own pose a threat.

In the Vo/tron fandom you see this toxic mentality with K/ance, rabid L/ance stans, anti Sha/adins and so on. You said everything I’ve been trying to say since I made this blog, and it saddens me that people can only safely voice their opinions and concerns when hidden behind the Anon feature.

Fandom isn’t always fun, but the Voltron fandom has become a place where people are too scared of posting their art or speaking up because they’ll legit receive death threats over liking a fictional ship. I don’t know if I’m doing a good job at pushing back against the anti side or if I’m just making it worse at this point. But salt, spite and messages like yours keep me going.