#how did you know I'm jamaican?

[annerdoesntevenchan]

Happy Independence Day! 🇯🇲

[frankieunscripted]

My reasons to hate Drake

First things first, I'm the reales- wait, wrong theme. First of all, I would like to say this is NOT an unbiased recap, this is literally just me listing things I've hated about Drake for years. You might as well join in on the hate train. Go watch some YouTube video essays on this if you wanna know more!!! You'll find plentyyyy

Certified Pedophile ("allegedly"): Texting teen girls until they're of age and then go and date them. ew.

Cosplay Gangsta: disrespecting the culture as a whole, but especially what hiphop is about. Flexing money, cars, girls, drugs, clothes bc he never understood hiphop was never about flexing, but about being heard bc you're oppressed, about revolution. Now we got his die-hard fans running around acting like this is true rap. no. "You don't know nun bout dat!"

Culture Vulture: jumping from trend to trend in order to make it "his own", faking accents that he has no business playing with and dropping them as soon as he's done with this specific type of genre bc it's not trendy anymore. Adapting whole "personas" around this, instead of just merely collabing with other artists. Jamaican and African accents are just 2 examples here.

Blackness: Drake never really got out of his acting career. Back on DeGrassi he was acting as a high school jock. Now he's acting like a tough black guy who's from the streets and knows what it's like to be down bad, when this was never his life. Lil Wayne warned him to never change and act tough just bc he would sign to Weezy's label where the rappers were predominantly "gangsta type dudes". And what did Drizzy do? He's acting all tough and "outta dem streets". He's clearly overcompensating for not feeling black enough (I've already reblogged 2 posts about this, pls see these for further context). Drake's mad for not being referred to as a rapper who speaks on being black, when in reality the black experience was never of topic in any of his songs. He also doesn't give back to the community.

Lil Wayne: Drake had relations with fellow rapper Lil Wayne's gf (she actually was of age, ayoooo!) while Wayne was away in prison. Wayne got word of the fact his gf was cheating on him with the young guy he signed under his label and was pissed. Drake, in an effort to smooth out the situation, got Wayne's face tattooed on his arm. Say what you will about portrait tattoos, but this story is just so fucking typical Drake. How the fuck do you think this is gonna help anyone?

Validation: Drake donates money in the music video for God's Plan, only to earn more money with that video/song than he donated in the first place. He felt good about donating and then never did that shit again.

Numbers: As a great man once said: "Crack fiends bought 10 million rocks, that don't mean it's good. It don't mean nothing." (As you can imagine, that man was 2Pac). And with that I say that proving your worth in the industry by numbers don't mean a lot. It means you and your team figured out the market and started producing stupid, vapid, but terribly long albums to maximize streaming numbers, automatically bumping up your place in the industry. This is about quantity, not quality - good rap/ hiphop was never about that. Drake actively validates his music and status with his fame, money and streams and neither him nor his fans seem to get that says nothing about the artistic value of his music. "Numbers lie too, fuck your pride, too!" (I mean really, Baby Shark has 14 Billion views on YouTube - you think that's REAL artistry, Mister Aubrey?)

Cocky Ass Bitch: I would be okay with a lot of his music if Drake just knew his fucking place. He went pop ages ago, but still people (including himself) refer to him as a rapper - no even, as THE rapper, placing him in the Top 3. Sometimes I feel like y'all do this, just to piss me off personally. Apart from everything else wrong with Drake, there's nothing wrong with liking music like his persé. Not everyone likes conscious/ deep stuff and sometimes, when you with the homies, you just wanna chill and listen to something "mindless" - MIND you, I'm not looking down on "non-conscious" rap, I'm just saying not every artist has to be woke/ deep all the time and some "empty" party anthem about girls, fashion, cars and alcoholism is fun at times. These party anthems deserve their place. And a child actor turned rapper turned POP STAR is valid in my books - just not if it's Drake. Apropos cockiness: The dude compares himself multiple times to Michael Jackson and while that got a few good lines out of him, I believe it's close to fucking blasphemy. Drake and MJ on the same pedastal. I mean sure, questionable stuff happening with kids, both of them wildly successful in their industry (mind you, streaming like today wasn't around back then and many of the numbers cannot be compared), but one of them a real talent and the other one some guy who more or less made it as an industry plant. "I can dance like Michael Jackson? / I'd argue your skills really lack, son!" (okay sorry, I know, that was corny as fuck xD) Dude is flexing with numbers instead of poetic abilities -

About the art itself:

Ghostwriters: "What poetic abilities?", I hear you ask - Yeah, don't think I forgot! Best believe I been cooking this one. There's evidence for Drake having ghostwriters - which on its own is fine, don't believe every star writes every single bar on their own. My problem with this is, that Drake keeps his cocky attitude, even though many of his hits aren't really Aubrey-written and also many ghostwriters never get their credit (this is why they're called "ghostwriters", I know that this is not something specific to Drake, but slapping one more name on the credits ain't that hard, when you're worth a billion bucks already). This is the rap equivalent of flexing your homework when you know DAMN WELL copied it off of your best friend and did nothing for that success. I guess his song Right Hand wasn't about a romantic interested after all, but the dudes who been writing it!

STOLEN SHIT: Why in hell is no one mentioning this on here? Drake is KNOWN for stealing other artists' verse metres (referred to as "flows", y'all tumblr, idk how much you guys do know, okay?), melodies, whole beats, samples or verses in general. In no other studio would you see mentions of a "reference track" concerning songwriting. They take a song as reference and build around it as they construct a beat. There's PLENTY of evidence for this happening, one story really had me baffled, where a young indie-rapper met Drake in the early 2010s, gave him his CD to listen to and a whopping 5 years later the indie-rapper realizes Drake just fucking stole his entire song (a really personal one at that) on his latest album back then. Being indie, of course the guy had little to no means of fighting back with lawyers or anything, man's was working a 9to5 job and had other stuff going on. Before you wanna argue with me though: YES. There is a difference between stealing and paying hommage. One famous example is Drake biting Eminem's Superman flow on Chicago Freestyle: "But I do know one thing though/ Bitches, they come, they go/ Saturday through Sunday, Monday / Monday through Sunday, yo/ Maybe I'll love you one day/ Maybe we'll someday grow". The only good thing Drake ever did was changing Em's "Bitches" to "Women" on his song. Other than that: exact same few bars. This is a hommage. Why? Because Eminem, that's why. You can pay hommage to great, well-known artists with good bars. It takes a common ground of knowledge from artist to audience to make a hommage like this work. That can go well. Kendrick copies the flow of a Kanye West song on HiiiPower and it works just fine because you listen to either of the song and think: "Ah yeah exactly, that one part, okay, I see you." You don't pay hommage to a small, unknown, indie-rapper by copying his whole verse about his Mom, when you would never say stuff like that on your records before. You don't, because it wouldn't work. None of your listeners would understand the innuendo at all, because no one ever heard of the "great guy you'd be paying hommage to". So shut up.

Music: It's just not that good. Like yeah, he had a few bangers, but let's not exaggerate. Artistically Drake does not offer anything. If he ever did, he probably left all of that on the first few albums he still rapped on. His delivery sucks, his singing voice sounds like he's tryna be The Weeknd at times but isn't. The lyrics aren't special. What the fuck?

Euphoria: Even before getting deeper into hiphop, I've always hated the way Drake presents himself. When Kendrick said: "I hate the way that you walk, talk, dress" I felt that. I hate the way he "raps", the way he drags his words, the way he laughs, the way he "sings". Just a whole lotta shit I dislike about the guy.

Sneak Dissing: If you want beef then get in line, don't just kinda allude to it, you weak ass bitch

SENSITIVE ASS BITCH: I love a man who's in tune with his feelings but Drake being the cosplaying gangsta clown he is, acts like he's all tough when in reality, you can't really say shit to him, cause he "can't let this shit slide, ay".

Kendrick's Control Verse drops - a verse calling out multiple rappers saying Kendrick will come for them in friendly competition for the crown of being the best. Drake was mentioned. Everyone thinks it's kinda cool and goes along. Drake is mad. In an interview he basically said he found it fake because the next time he saw Kendrick "it was all love" and that he wanted it "to be real. Let it be real then". Okay crodie, next time you get called out in a fair rap competition, best believe I'll sock you in your fucking throat, I gotchu.

The Weeknd doesn't sign to Drake's label OVO after working with Drake for a while. Drake is mad again and feels betrayed. Why you gotta be like this?

Kendrick says that he doesn't wanna collab with Drake because their music is too different, not because of anything personal. He just doesn't see it happen in the near future because it would not match artistically. Drake gets mad.

Drake stopped beefing with Pusha T back in the day. Probably because he exposed his son. But still, if you want beef, then clean up your plate, bc you eat what you order and dont't just start to "let this shit slide, ay"

("allegedly") being involved in XXXTentacion's passing back in 2018 over beef. This beef started because of the flow of X's popular song Look at Me!, which Drake stole shortly after letting X know his management would contact him about a possible collab. As you can imagine, X was never contacted by Drake's people. The kid was 20 years old, man. He said some outrageous shit at times, but no one deserves to go out like he did.

Also, the famous DMX ("Y'all gon make me lose my mind!") once said in an interview that he'd like to punch Drake in the face and I support that. Kendrick and his homies laughed at the clip - as did everybody else, cause it's hilarious if a beast and a legend of hiphop hates Drake. Drake was mad at Kendrick laughing about it and not taking it seriously. What did he expect? Should Kendrick have went after DMX and made him apologize for what he said about lil Aubrey? How old are you? 5?

Drake gets mad at a lot of shit - bottom line. I could go on and on, but I've been writing this for hours, it's half past 3 am and I wanna sleep after uni and work, y'all.

DURING THE DISS-ERTATION: this section is about shit Drake did during the beef with Kendrick.

Saying Kendrick's Like That verse was weak af. That's your core response? Someone flames you and people are already throwing ass to the mere sound of it and you think: "Huh, that sucked anyway." Pathetic.

Calling Kendrick short (over and over and over again) as if his height is under his control/ his fault? - as if that takes way from Kendrick's skill, Kendrick's allegations againt Drake! - as if that means ANYTHING AT ALL to people over the age of like... 12?

Going after anybody's family in the first place. I know nothing is really "off-limits" in a rap battle like this, but please have the fucking decency. Don't mention my Momma, my kids, my dog, my fam, my friends who ain't got nothing to do with the fact that I hate you. I will say I am not proud of Kendrick for getting down on that level himself - but I would be lying if I said I didn't enjoy Meet The Grahams and the sheer panic it induced. And sometimes I gotta be a little childish and yell "But Aubrey started ittt!"

Hitting on Whitney in The Heart Part 6. Don't go for another man's treasure, you absolute dog. Accusing Whitney of being unfaithful. My friend, this beef is about us (the Culture) hating you and the things you do. Stop trying to shift this into something it is not.

Reacting to diss tracks via instagram stories and memes, like he's that one popular girl in 7th grade who's gotta clap back to something someone said in school on her IG. Shut up.

Calling The Weeknd and his manager gay. Are we not over homophobia yet? Being queer is not an insult. Also falsely "accusing" people of being gay is uncool as fuck - but oh "You don't know nun bout dat!" bc false accusations are basically everything you do - and also possibly outing someone like that is fucking hurtful as shit. I know the people involved are probably not queer at all, but if they were - period.

Using AI in a song at all. Drake, you already proved you suck. Don't force it down our throats. What part of you thought it would make you look good? What part said it would be good to do in a diss track, when the world knows diss tracks are even more a show of capability than other songs. Nah, you go and use AI. Idc about your "mind games": Using AI Snoop Dogg is just weird as fuck cause the Doggy is still well and alive - if you want him to feature on your song, call the legend and ask hi- oh wait, you knew he woulda said "Aww hell nah!" cause everyone hates you? Huh. Snoop probably woke up one day, hit a blunt and asked "When the FUCK did I collab with Drake?". Anyway, using AI 2Pac is straight up disrespectful, when you know damn well the guy would've hated you if he knew who you'd become. Just doing this because it's 2Pac, because you can and not even asking for permission of Pac's people is crazy. Glad the shit was taken down anyways.

The 8 Mile "Airing Out Your Dirty Laundry"-Trick before the big battle does NOT invalidate future claims on you diddling kids. No. Not even if 2Pac says it first. Nah.

His Damage Control Effort in post to make it seem like/make us believe that he's in control, when Kendrick has been bodying him is hilariously embarrassing. Anyone can claim the mole was fake "all along" after it happened.

Making fun of Kendrick for his verse on Taylor Swift's Bad Blood is just stupid. Look at all the features Drake does. Rihanna, BadBunny, DJ Khaled, Future, PartyNextDoor, Lil Wayne, Diddy, Nicki Minaj, Wizkid, ..... the list is so fucking long (I'm just picking at random songs at this point, cause I do not want my browser/spotify history to be associated with Drake's music. I don't wanna go out of my way to say he NEEDS these people to stay relevant but let's face it: His discography and his success would be different if it weren't for them

Acting like he's so great for "finally making Kendrick rap again" - Sir, you don't write your shit on your own, stfu. You don't invest time and effort into your vapid albums. YOU should be thankful for Kendrick destryoing you, giving us the best few lines out of you in a long time.

Not addressing important shit. We been over the allegations, I will not repeat them in this post cause this is already long enough. BUT y'all on the same page as me, aight? Instead of addressing EVERYTHING, he just responds with diss tracks that aren't terrible but really not THAT good, yk? Not going into the shit that we want to se addressed.

Acting like disstracks need replay value. Idk if this is a Drake or a fanbase problem, but people really act like Drake's tracks were better, bc you can listen to them more casually. "Kendrick basically made a whole song about Drake" - THIS IS WHAT A DISS TRACK SHOULD BE! Notice how we don't call every song containing a diss immediately a "diss track"? That's why. Diss tracks were meant to hit your opponent in the stomach with witty bars, double entendres, nice delivery and good production. Diss tracks weren't meant to be club bangers - bonus if they do end up being some though, looking at you, Like That and Not Like Us.

Not reading into stuff properly or just not listening. This is a small one, but ngl I hate the fact they got the Mother I Sober reference wrong (The song is NOT about Kendrick being abused, BUT about Kendrick not being abused and his Mom NOT believing him and passing her sa trauma onto him, even though he didn't experience that). Also Kendrick explicitly says "DOT, the money, power, respect / The last one is better" on Like That and Drakes response (again) is "Huh, I have way more money than you and in the industry, I'm way more powerful than you. Also, you so short tihhihi." BITCH he SAID respect was the most important of the three and you disrespect him, not by calling him out by his wrong doings but by picking on physical features the man cannot change like a 5th grade bully.

Anyways. phew. If you made it this far... wow. I'm impressed. I'll keep updating this. Thanks for coming to my beef talk.

EDIT: Thank y'all for the positive reactions on this post. If you seek more info/ want me to further explain stuff/ have even more dirt on Drake, let me know and we can work something out. -Frankie out

[yamujiburo]

✨YAMUJIBURO F.A.Q.✨

Should've made this a while ago! I'm starting to get a lot of the same questions in my inbox nowadays tho and I feel bad for clogging up y'all's timelines with the same questions haha

GENERAL QUESTIONS

Who are you?

I'm Kiana, I'm a queer, Japanese Jamaican woman, and a Director/Storyboard artist at Disney Television Animation.

What are your pronouns

I usually go by she/her but I don't really mind any pronouns~

Where did you go to school?

California College of the Arts (but I dropped out when I was hired at Disney)

How did you get hired at Disney?

My bosses found me on twitter through my Team Rocket fanart. They liked my drawing style and asked if I wanted to take a storyboard test. I did, I passed, I got interviewed and moved to LA two weeks later to start storyboarding.

Is this a repost blog??

No, you might know be better as @kianamaiart. This is just my Pokémon sideblog where I post exclusively (for the most part) Team Rocket and Pokémon art.

What does your username mean?

It's a combination of the main 4 Team Rocket members' Japanese names: Yamato (cassidy), Musashi (jessie), Kojiro (james), Kosaburo (butch)

What program and brush do you use to draw?

Default brush in Storyboard pro

**************************************

GENERAL POKEMON QUESTIONS

Who's your favorite Pokémon?

What are your favorite ships?

Any ship with Jessie. Yamushipping, Rocketshipping and Hanamusashipping are my top three!

Who do you ship Ash with?

I was a big Pokéshipper when I was younger but nowadays don't really feel strongly about any of the ships involving the kid characters. I'm also in the "Ash is aroace" camp.

Do you have any trans headcanons?

You can find em here along with other headcanons! It should be noted that I don't usually marry myself to one hc (unless it's for a specific AU I'm trying to build out) and love seeing various interpretations of a character! Trans woman Jessie, Trans woman James, Trans man James, Genderfluid Jessie, give em to me!

Do you play the games?

I've played all the mainline Pokémon games and very much enjoy them! But I am much more invested in the anime and the characters in the anime.

**************************************

HANAMUSA AU QUESTIONS

Where can I read all the comics in order?

Here! I update anytime I make a new comic and list them in chronological order (since I just draw comics at random points in the timeline as they interest me). This post also already answers some of the frequently asked questions about this AU like: How did Jessie and Delia meet? What are James and Meowth up to? How old are Jessie and Delia? etc.

What does "Hanamusa" mean?

Hanamusa is a combination of Delia and Jessie's Japanese names, Hanako and Musashi respectively.

When does this AU take place?

It takes place sometime after the Mezase Pokémon Master/To Be a Pokémon Master series. So all the events that happened in the series, unless retconned within the series, happened. Ash is 10 at the start of the comics.

What's the status between Jessie, James, Meowth and Giovanni/Team Rocket?

Not great terms since they were fired, but also not the worst terms. Giovanni just let the three of them go without any further issues. I will say that I've always loved the theory that Giovanni keeps Jessie specifically around because of her parentage and he as a soft spot for her that he keeps a secret. I feel like Matori was the one that got the three of them fired and Giovanni wasn't able to make an excuse for them this time (without showing nepotism/special treatment) so he was forced to let them go.

If you headcanon Delia as a lesbian, how did Ash come to be?

Delia was young when she had Ash and I hc that she just didn’t really explore her sexuality much! I myself didn’t realized I liked women until I was 18 and didn’t know I liked ONLY women until like 2 years ago. She got married, had a baby and realized after her husband left that she liked women (trans people exist obviously but I’m also interpreting Ash’s father as a cis man).

Who do you think Ash’s dad is?

I don’t know and I don’t really care to explore it. I’m going off of the novel interpretation that he’s just a deadbeat that left to be a trainer, failed and never came back because of the shame. He’s not important.

Isn’t Giovanni Ash’s dad?

That’s a common misconception that people remember wrong from the Pokémon Live show. Delia mentions she dated Giovanni but then left him and his gang after meeting Ash’s father. I also don’t consider the live show canon personally! I follow The Birth of Mewtwo timeline where Madame Boss founded Team Rocket.

Do you think Delia and Giovanni dated at least?

Nah, I think he’s too old for her? I always got the vibe from The Birth of Mewtwo that he was quite a bit older than Jessie and it’d be sus if he was dating Delia when she was married to, and had a child with her husband at 18/19. He’s a bad guy but not a BAD guy.

You mentioned you still ship Jessie and James. Why not make a Jessie, James, Delia polycule?

I have a few reasons I’ve mentioned before! 1. I’m in super deep with this AU already and I feel it’d be very confusing for casual viewers of my stuff if James was added into the relationship haha. 2. I’ve drawn Jessie and James together since 2011 and took this AU as an opportunity to try my hand at writing them as queer, platonic besties bc I love that interpretation of them a lot as well. 3. I’m not poly myself and the way I write this ship is largely based off of my experiences with my girlfriend. I just know I’d favor the Jessie/Delia of it all which isn’t fair and not a good interpretation of a poly relationship. All that said, I DO super enjoy seeing peoples’ poly headcanons and art!

Who does James end up with in this AU?

No one. He's aroace and is happy to be single

Do Jessie and James have all their Pokémon in this AU

I think they have all the Pokémon that they did by the end of Mezase Pokémon Master (all their Pokémon that were left at HQ). Most of their released Pokémon have stayed released and the Alola Pokémon are still in Alola. I bring back Arbok and Weezing post-Jessie and Delia getting married. I may bring back Chimecho, Growlie and Cacnea if I think of an idea I like!

What are Meowth and James up to in this AU?

Hop back to the top of this post under the "Where to Start" section. All your questions will be answered.

Does Ash travel with anyone at this point of his life?

I don't have anyone in particular in mind! I could see him making new friends (Nemona???) or traveling with different combinations of old friends. Like him, Misty and Goh, him, Dawn and Cilan, him, Serena and Lillie etc.

Will Delia ever get over her phobia of snake Pokémon

Not fully! I think overcoming fears is fine and good but I think real PHOBIAS are much harder to get past and I don't want to cheapen it. She slowly gets used to Jessie's Seviper specifically and gets to the point where she can pet it comfortably with Jessie in the room. But otherwise, still scared and would need that same amount of time per Pokémon

Is Jessie gaining weight or is it just me?

Not just you! Jessie puts on a bit of relationship weight overtime as you'll see in the later comics in the timeline. Jessie grew in poverty, never knowing when her next meal would be and that continued into her life as a Team Rocket member. Once she was able to settle down (with a woman who runs her own restaurant no less) she's able to live a healthier lifestyle with regular meals and puts on some weight because of that.

Does Jessie ever feel self conscious about gaining weight?

Nope! She feels happier and healthier and hotter. She's also unreasonably excited to clear out her old clothes and get a new wardrobe.

Would Jessie and Delia ever have kids together or adopt?

Nah, Ash is enough for them! I have come up with hypothetical kids for them but they're not canon to this AU. Just a fun little thing for me.

Will you ever put this on webtoon?

Nah. People mostly ask me this because they want to read everything in the order of the timeline but to my knowledge, you can’t reorder chapters or installments which would defeat the purpose. I also don’t think nintendo fan stuff would fly there. Also, also it’s just extra work and another place to upload and I want to keep this all fun for myself~

[so-bitya]

Whitewashing in Anime - Soma ft. Usopp

Avoiding "Brown"

Here is an image of Soma comparing his skin tone from the first season of Black Butler and the current season airing now. As you can see, Soma's skin is noticeably lighter than it was in the past. I considered the lighting and took shade from his hand that looks relatively mid tone. However, that's not really a fair excuse if the anime continues to lighten Soma's face this way.

I also compared his skintone from the Book of Circus season which is relatively more recent, and chose images where he's clearly in good lighting. Soma is still noticeably lighter this time around.

Whitewashing is an incredibly common phenomenon that been happening a lot lately in anime, especially with reboots. A great example I can think of off the top of my head is One Piece where they lightened nearly everyone's skin color in the anime, despite some of the cast being characters of color?

(^^^this character is canonly black according to Oda, the mangaka.)

"Oh but Oda gives Usopp pale skin in all his color illustrations"

One, he should know better. Two, if Oda said Usopp would be African in real life, and chose a brown, Jamaican-american actor to play him, then yes, they have been ridiculously disrespectful in how they've been portraying the character's racial features so far.

In that sense, it's actually relief that anime studios in the past weren't afraid of giving their characters darker skin unlike mangakas who were terrified of even the lighest shade of brown.

For instance, I am happy that A-1 studios made Soma, Agni, and Mina, who are all the same race, slightly differ in skin tone. Mina's skin is cooler toned compared to Soma and Agni's warmer hues.

HOWEVER, and other fans pointed this out, Soma and Agni's skin leaned so far from being golden brown to straight yellow in many scenes, that they were walking around like they have jaundice which is so... Of course A-1 studios found some way to mess it up ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Another thing, do you guys honestly think being accurate to Yana's art style is always the best thing to do in adaptions? Angela Blanc, the secret villain in the anime original first season, pretends to be an abused maid and gets whipped in her very first scene. And according to Yana's concept sketches, she was originally brown. I'm actually glad the anime whitewashed her in that instance.

I'd like to point out, Sebastian's skin tone has also changed in the new season, and he's noticeably tanner than his previous anime appearances and yana's illustrations. So why is this okay for the anime to make creative changes for sebastian's skin tone, but have to stay accurate for Soma? (whose dark skin been established in anime viewers' eyes for decades now).

To be fair, I did a comparison of the anime grayscaled and Soma in the manga during the Weston arc. I checked the values and while I will say that his skin is relatively in the same as the manga, only few degrees lighter, whitewashing isn't only about skintone.

Colourism in Features

We could argue whether its just different anime styles or the way Yana draws noses, but its not a great look for Soma's nose to be made noticeably sharper compared to his flatter/rounder nose in the manga/earlier seasons of the anime.

Talking about the Mandela effect and cognitive dissonance as well... there's also something about how manga readers seen Soma with brown skin and pure black hair years in the manga, only for the anime to lighten those features.

It doesn't help that Soma canonly has purple hair and yellow eyes (if anything, I do appreciate the more natural tones they gave Soma this season. No more highly saturated purple hair and yellow eyes!)

Yes, Kuroshitsuji is a fantasy story, and YES artists of color like to play with fantasy features with characters, me included! But my point is that black/brown representation in media is so little already, especially when character artists are also averse to drawing any defining racial features.

Yana has designed brown-skinned characters in the anime with straight white hair and light-colored eyes about three times now (ie. Agni, Angela, and Hannah). The only Indians with dark skin and hair are a bunch of homeless thugs that Soma and Agni stop from mugging Ciel, proving they're "one of the good ones", and Mina whose treatment in the manga/anime is abysmal.

Discussing Racism in Fandom

Alright, so over the past few days, I've seen some fans disappointed with Soma's skin tone change and I hope my post illustrates why they would be. But I've also seen some angry and frustrated reactions to those fans! And I want to ask, why?

Why is fans bringing up racism in anime considered "discourse" but reacting harshly towards those fans is not?

Why would fans expressing disappointment about whitewashing gets you more angry than the whitewashing itself?

Why is being disappointed that an anime lightened a character's skin tone, a character who both anime-only watchers and manga readers alike saw as dark-skinned, "stupid" to you?

How come the fandom gets a good laugh out of the usage of "fag" potentially canceling the anime, but talking about race is a "risk" to getting a new season?

And if you disagree with my points and believe the anime is only being accurate to Yana's work, why not just say "Soma's skintone is more accurate to Yana's color illustrations, but I understand the disappointment and shock," without being condescending towards us for being concerned in the first place?

I'd be pretty happy if the anime was just using intense lighting and that Soma is darker than he appears (in fact, if that happens I'll reblog the good news to this post!) Because this post isn't "discourse" to me, I'm discussing race regarding one of my favorite characters in the fandom. Discussions like these don't ruin the fandom, but actually help it become a more welcoming place for fans of color.

Whitewashing in Anime - Agni ft. Cithis

[minkparched]

About Bartleby and Sonia's dynamic in Sonic Underground...

Since Sonic Underground is so hated by much of the fandom and VERY FEW fans engage with it outside of an irony-poisoned lens, there's so much subtext and interesting tidbits thrown in that got lost in the wilderness of fandom ghetto. One thing I noticed is the dynamic between Bartleby and Sonia.

Bartleby seems to embody both the "cowardly" and "loverboy" archetype, being a (for the lack of a better word) utter simp for Sonia and promising her he'll "do anything for (her), my pet. Anything" as soon as she uses her ~feminine wiles~ to change his mind into becoming more sympathetic towards her "disreputable" brothers for a scheme against Robotnik. In most of their interactions, Bartleby lights up each time he sees her and despite believing that her brothers Sonic and Manic are bad influences, still genuinely cares for her well-being..

That being said though...

In several scenes, Sonia is in disguise and she often comes across Bartleby. On two occasions, she sees her fiance on a date with another woman and she (rightfully) becomes jealous. In one scene, she's in disguise near a hair salon to investigate unrelated matters and she comes across Bartleby, which makes her nervous. Bartleby, not knowing who spotted him, becomes visibly offended at the thought of being "caught" from whatever he was doing (however, it seemed innocuous). The series sets up a punchline that Bartleby lives some kind of secret (or at the least, separate) life from Sonia and it's a reoccurring joke that shows up whenever Sonia stumbles across Bartleby doing whatever Bartleby likes to do when Sonia is not around.

This also separates him from a character that he's constantly compared to, Antoine D'Coolette. Antoine was Sally's number 1 simp that refused to move on from his blind romantic devotion to her until he faced constant rejections and in spite of all, only gave up once Bunnie showed interest in him. And unlike Bartleby, he did not try concealing anything about himself outside of excessively playing up his bravery to win Sally's affection (well, unless you count Patch as being "Antoine" but then that got retconned by Penders for an admittedly better idea). Although there are some stunning similarities among prototype Antoine Depardieu and Bartleby Montclair, which makes me think that some of Antoine's prototype character motifs did get recycled for the Bartleby character.

Anyway back to the main point. And that is Sonia and Bartleby's relationship dynamic. Another thing that is pretty funny, is how Bartleby and Sonia argue over stupid things even when they're clearly still together like in the Artifact where Bartleby refuses to believe the ball he has in his hand is an explosive sold by Robotnik, accuses Sonia of trying to sell it for Resistance, and says she used to be a nice hedgehog before her brother's corrupting influence.

Certainly, Bartleby's classist views on "peasants" and his borderline racist/xenophobic views of some indigenous Mobians (strangely, Jamaican-accented but wearing Native American headdresses) whose island he wanted to turn into a resort (in the French dub, these connotations are way clearer with him calling them "primitives", while in the English dub he calls them peasants while calling their living conditions primitive) influences his disdainful feelings towards Sonia's "unruly" brothers. It's also especially narratively potent in a canon where class warfare is an established part of the living world and 3 of the main protagonists (Sonic, Manic, and Sonia) represent the different social backgrounds.

Ngl, I live for the drama and the potential storylines that can be sprung out of this dynamic. XD I mean I'm someone who loved pre-Flynn/early Flynn Archie for this reason.

Although Bartleby does seem to get redeemed at the end and has a nice little romantic moment with Sonia before departing to who knows where, I still wonder how that would work if Sonia's new love interest was Knuckles and she dated Stripes during their downtime. Maybe if Sonic Underground continued to a Season 2, he would've officially turned from a Neutral to a Good character and Sonia would be with Knuckles.

[read-write-thrive]

part 1 (both girls in their full outfits) ; part 2 (Edwina in several other outfits/sketches) ; part 3 (the companion to this piece aka Edwina getting ready :)

part 4 of my fem!payneland fanart series!!!! as I talked about with the poll, I have quite a few variations of this piece as I couldn’t make up my mind on a few of the elements, but I listened to your feedback and have included them all here !! the winner of the poll is above the cut with the rest of the variations below to hopefully make this not take up too much of your dash lol

lmk what you think - especially people who voted on the poll!! I’ve also included my thought process below the cut since I know y’all are interested :)

- first and foremost: I have absolutely no idea what order someone would get ready in with all these outfit components, so if you’re sitting here like “why is her makeup done when she has to pull a shirt over her head?” or something like that: you’re probably correct but my getting ready process is always chaos and there aren’t exactly articles on this sort of thing

- along with that: her straightening her hair is probably not accurate to how hair works but again I’ve got v little experience to pull from and trying to find a proper reference was a pain in the ass

yes her bra is fully rendered and then got covered up by her arm. I'm still mad that I did that to myself but I like the pose too much to change it so oh well

- (onto actual historical stuff!!)

- her hair is being straightened here despite straight not being in style during this era for several reasons:

1. I based her hair (and a lot of her style, as per part 1) on Rhoda Dakar of the band The Bodysnatchers, which was an all-female band that was part of the ska revival in the late 70s/early 80s. Rhoda Dakar in particular is a British artist (who’s still making music!) with an English mother and Jamaican father—so not only was she one of the only women of color I could find as part of this subgenre/in ths era/with plenty of photo references, but considering Jayden Revri is Jamaican and English (alongside Indian) himself I thought it was fitting! Her Bodysnatchers look is also much more femme leaning than the rest of the band, as well as her hair styled in a way that suggests straightening, so I carried that over to Charlotte here as well.

2. On a related note, there is a clear historical and modern difference in hairstyles worn/made popular/deemed fashionable by non-white versus white individuals and I thought it only appropriate to acknowledge that in my design of her. I even went so far as to research how her mom’s hair may have been styled since I assume that’s who would’ve been teaching her how to care for her hair in the first place. With that, I looked at popular Indian hair trends from the 60s (figuring that’s when Charlotte’s mom could’ve still been in India and following those trends) which also involved a preference for straight/wavy hair, with soft fringe made popular by Sadhana and the styles ranging from long and luscious to styled up into a very 60s beehive. Charlotte could easily also rock a beehive, especially since the 60s revival was a part of the ska revival movement and Dakar herself styled her hair as such, but I figured Charlotte is a little too much of a rebellious teenager to go for a look she’s seen her mom wear!

- her makeup is based off of the different members of The Bodysnatchers as well as other punk/ska fans at the time. The look usually required more blush that what I gave her here, but I wanted to make sure the eyes were the feature (since Charles wears eyeliner himself) and then the lips being any less just looked weird to me. Also, Dakar doesn't seem to wear the same heavy blush that the other members do, which could be a stylistic choice but could also be the potential lack of blush shades that would work well on her skin tone, so I went that route for Charlotte here

- her underwear is all based off of meticulous searching of historical advertisements, though I will admit the sources are (presumably) American since I couldn't find British equivalents (I'm hoping the styles were similar enough...) in particular:

1. Her bra is based off of: Playtex’s New Made for Me, Playtex’s Right For Me, and Playtex’s Thank Goodness It Fits (which are seriously the names of these as per the ads—how creative /s)

2. Her panties (or pants or underwear or whatever term you want to use) are based off of: Sears Best’s Nylon tricot panties, Sears Very Impressive Panties Nylon panties, and JCPenny’s eiderlon fashion panties

3. (In the below variations) Her pantyhose are theoretically based on L’eggs and Spirit by Stevens’s Slim & Slender pantyhose. But, honestly, they’re mostly based on my own experience wearing hose bc almost none of the ads showed how the gusset of the pantyhose actually looked so I needed to fill in the gaps (one of the many reasons I’m still unhappy with them—plus the wrinkles would not look right no matter what I did !!)

4. Her socks are called slouch socks! I don’t have a specific brand for them but the style was all the rage in the 80s-90s (and I want to own some so bad ngl)

- the hair straightener is just a blob based on the reference photo since trying to research historical hair tools was beyond me at the time apparently, but the style of outlet/plug is accurate to Britain in 1989 so there’s that at least (I have no idea why my brain works like this)

- since I talked about it in the poll I feel like I should address it here: technically having a bush was well out of fashion by 1989 due to the grooming boom and new types of hair removal popular throughout the 80s and 90s. However, she’s wearing multiple layers over it and is technically a teenager (in an abusive household and a catholic all-girls school, at that) so I kept going back and forth on it. It won the poll so it’s in the main post, but you’ll see in the below variations that I really went back and forth on it. that being said I do think it’s interesting given her nylon pants being semi-sheer besides at the gusset, so I’m not mad at it. plus I figured she was definitely shaving her legs/underarms, so maybe that balances it out ?

and finally here’s the other seven variations of this piece :) lmk what you think!!

[silent-raven13]

Hey Miles! What's your type?

Miles looks at his friends, "Hmm?"

"What's your type?" Gwen asked, "Like what do you see yourself with?"

Pavtri nodded, "Yeah, what kind of boy or girl you like?" Hobie stood listening them, his whole body turning into a curious colors; like soft green, bright yellow and gray with magazine and newspaper prints all over with symbols of curiosity fonts, and imagery.

"Hmm, I always did like girls like Gwen; smart, funny, serious, and vulnerable like good way. Like shows her sensitive side, I guess..." Miles explains about the girls he dated being similar to his old crush, Gwen. This got Gwen blushing so hard her face turns tomato red.

"Awe, love you too, man!" She plays off her blushing as she pats harshly on her friend's back. The two did like each other at one point, but it was at the wrong time. She needed to heal herself before getting involved in a serious relationship. Miles needs to deal with his own traumas and wanted the Spider people he was close to, to gain back his trust. So, they never went for it and slowly became close friends instead of lovers. It's safer like that.

"Ow!" Miles rubs his arms feeling pain on his back being nervous.

"What about guys! You said your into guys too!" Pavtri got close to his friend's face while holding his hand, even Hobie got close to listen.

"Well... umm... never really thought about it. I guess, the same thing as Gwen- um..." His honey-brown eyes started to drift away from eye contact being flustered. "I kinda like tall guys! Like really tall."

Gwen saw Hobie being pink, then stood next to Miles with his hand measuring Miles' height against his own. Hobie is a freakin' tall dude, being six foot and four inches while Miles only six foot. This made the teenager girl giggle.

"What else?" Pavtri asked.

Miles wasn't paying attention to Hobie and Gwen assuming they were being goofy with each other. "Umm... I always saw myself being with a guy that's edgy, likes music..." Hobie did a happy pose, showing off his outfit being punk and his guitar being, "romantic." The punker pulled out a rose being the romantic type.

"Funny, smart, not afraid to be sensitive, sweet with kids!" Hobie putting on a goofy glasses with mustache, then a book by Albert Einstein and pulls out Mayday from the blue while holding her. Mayday giggles at the punker being surprised he grab her out of home from a portal!

"Kids? You want kids!"

"No, I mean... i dunno a guy that's nice with kids is a green flag for me." Miles rubs his chin unaware of Peter 616 coming out of the portal to take back his daughter from the punker and wag his finger. Mayday merely laughs agains before waving the punker goodbye. The two went back to their world. "Oh, I always saw myself being with a black man, someone Jamaican or Caribbean but I wouldn't mind an Afro Latino or African or just black." He rub his neck.

Hobie happily stood showing off his tattoo of a Jamaican and Haitian pride alongside his West African flag to represent his descendants. Gwen snickers seeing how clueless Miles is being with his type. "What else? No Indian or brown love, Miles." Pavtri pouts.

"Oh, I don't mind that! I'm down for anyone." Miles shyly said, "I do like guys like you, Pav. Like sweet, funny and always putting a positive attitude!"

"Ohh, Miles! You make me wanna date you!" Pavtri hugs him having to nuzzle his cheek, "Hehehe, if I wasn't dating my Gayatri, you'll be my bae!"

That made Hobie jealous, turning grey with newspaper labels with prints, "Do not touch! Warning!"

"Hahaha, awe Pav, you're too nice." Miles giggles, then he said, "Oh, I like guys that are kinda bad boys... like they break the rules."

Hobie turns pink again, that is him. "Oh, and he cares about social views like Black Lives Matter, Women's Rights, LGBTQ plus umm... you know people's rights, heh. I guess, that kind of guy is unrealistic, huh?"

The punker looks surprised and exaggerated his pose into a big WHAT, with hands in the air and squatting. Gwen burst out laughing seeing how this is the perfect description of Hobie Brown.

"Awe, really?" Pavtri's brown eyes glance over at Hobie looking confused and lost. "I mean, I feel like someone already exists."

"I dunno... the guys I meet always be bums, then again I haven't dated much." Miles explains, "Oh, maybe this being a stretched but a guy with a nice accent is hot, y'know."

Hobie threw his hands in the air, Miles' man is right here. Pavtri giggles, "Miles..."

"You describe Hobie?" Gwen hums.

Miles looking flustered at his crush but the sixteen year old look so lost, "I did! Oh..." He glances over at the punker, "It's because you're so amazing! Anyone would be so happy to be with you, man!"

Hobie had hearts with his grey pop into a blooms of pinks being so happy, he picks up his friend with a nuzzle, "Awe, I love you, too, Sunflower!"

"Huh! Where did that come from?" Miles felt his face so warm, he cover his face being embarrassed by all this.

Gwen said to Pavtri seeing Hobie happily carrying around Miles like a couple. "You know... they are taking their sweet ass time to date!"

"You know, Miles... our sweet Miles is too shy and naive!" Pavtri giggles.

[tainted-sweet-meats]

More oc lore from my fursona's universe "We are, as I am" this time of Nishou the Doppelgänger. Definitely read tags before clicking the click more for his info. Read more of his info under the cut vvvvvv

Full name: Nishou S. Coding: Jamaican/Chinese Gender/ sexuality: Masc/ Pansexual Pronouns: He/Him Size: 6"3' Species: Doppelganger BirthPlace/Birthday: ???(Never born but created) Zodiac Sign: ???

Voiceclaim:N/A (supernatural/distorted voice is bolded)

Speech quirk

" You are the worst of us and I'm the better of you.....there is no reason for your existence.." " You never say what's on your mind..maybe that's why you're always in trouble..pity you, it couldn't be me...I know how to get what I want and how to destroy what I don't need." "Did you hate yourself so much..that you cast me out..now look at you..a lesser..than what we both are...what we both could of been....I'LL ALWAYS HATE YOU." "One day I will devour you and when that day comes.. I'll make it enjoyable for the both of us.. remember...our oath...blood in..and blood out..right..."

personality music

N/A

General info

Nishou is the forced out utmost extreme negatives and positives of Nish, the best and worst. He was originally a part of them but grew tired of how placid Nish was with themselves. He is the pent-up aggression of all they were throughout their life joined together. He is blunt and doesn't hold back from anyone or anything. His words are as visceral as his fangs and he's proud of the handy work his jaws can do, metaphorically and physically.

Despite his high aggression he also has a high passion and a dual personality. This is also believed to be a product of Nish hiding most of their feelings in situations resulting in unintentionally creating a personality for their doppelganger. Unlike the original, Nishou is not lovey-dovey and seeks passion through intimacy in the most primal of ways. Due to his ferocity, they can confuse the lust for the flesh.. for the hunger they yearn for and easily make quick work out of lovers. Very contradictory to their original that seeks love but can never act on it.

Though consuming their lovers isn't the same as taking their original's place in life. It is an easy way to sate the hunger and craving to fully feel like their original in some twisted way. To Nishou their original stands in his way to having an actual presence in life. It is very well known that a doppelganger must kill their original in order to take their place. To take the originals, they have to consume their heart. And in doing so, living the life he could never live through theirs.

Stand-alone they seem intimidating, harsh, and overly confident. He is the only one to assume many forms, the feral, anthro, were, beastrial, a penghou, as well as a semi humanish creature called Final fatalis. The original can not assume the last three forms. These forms are solely for the doppel. The last tree forms are said to be transitional forms of his supernatural powers. Forms slowly define him farther away from his original vessel. The humanoid form is his strongest out of the bunch. You can tell the doppel is present by the eyes. Only he has red and blue eyes swirling in rings. He could never mimic the original's eyes for some reason. Something having to do with the lack of their soul contained within the heart. Which is what he has to consume from his original vessel to take the life back he helped create.

Though Nishou is not evil, he is the product of the original vessel. When the original could not confront internal struggles with themself, it caused a rift creating him. Nish's subconscious cast him out of their body by throwing up a supernatural black substance that formed Nishou. When formed he was hateful to be abandoned instead of accepted. He formed.....resentful...distorted and vowed to devour every aspect of Nish to regain some peace in his lack of sanity. Which he is slowly losing the more time he remains out of the original's body on his own. He knows only the extremes of the original and acts according to his basic instinct. He believes full heartily when you betray your true self, your real self will be vengeful to regain what it helped you build. You can never escape yourself.

Powers

Slit split- A power only useable in his final and stable form known as "Final Fatalis". A supernatural power where he will slit his wrists to cause the black substance that makes up his very being, to create physical puppet-like replicas of his past forms. These forms can retain memory and take heavy damage in battle. The puppets can be killed but all memory is gained back to the doppel. The damages done, work as a memory function. The doppel will absorb the pain inflicted, which causes the final form to be invincible, indestructible, and distorted over time. This distortion is permanent to him.

Heart inflict-  The more time the doppel spends outside the original's body can cause deterioration effects on him entirely. Heart inflict allows him to devour the hearts of those who love or lust after him to keep him stable. This extends the time he has in the physical realm in order to consume the heart he needs to live his life in absolution. The original's heart is what's needed to be fully alive and of the physical realm the original vessel inhabits. Any heart he devours must have the initial intent in wanting him. Though the want doesn't always have to be positive towards him. To the doppel, even if the meat is soured by unjust distortion, meat is all the same to him.

Shadow waltz-  Is a teleportation power. The doppel can walk through shadows, even your own. The doppel however does not have a shadow himself. He uses the shadows around him to his advantage. This power can also detect energy. Once in your presence, the doppel is very calculating to not only you but the energy you give off. This makes it easier for him to teleport to your location to find you in an instant.

Vanta pressure- The same feeling you get when you are in the presence of a shadow person or anything paranormal, is the same presence the doppel gives off. This particular move also can cause paralysis when the doppel is tired of hunting you. If you are in close range, your movements cease. Once you stare into his eyes, you will feel the pressure that slowly tears down your emotional and physical barriers. At this point, you are powerless against him and he will devour you.

Catalyst break- This power is used constantly. The doppel can take in high amounts of physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual damage. The more he takes in abuse/damage.. the stronger he gets. There isn't much that can hurt him since he isn't exactly physical yet. Though this power has side effects. The more power used against him, the more he has to consume to stay stable. This sometimes means friends may be on the menu.

Dream Inflict- When trying to keep a low profile, he can actually tamper with your dreams and cause you mental harm that will reflect on you physically. In this state you are fully powerless because once he has broken your mind you are done for.  The harm he has done to you in your dreams will reflect on your body in the physical. He can use this power to his advantage in a non violent manner as well to just talk with you. Though many will assume it is a vivid or lucid dream.

Vanta Canon- A flameless thrower attack that can rot the flesh off of bones. This attack is in fact not flames but the same creational fluid that acts like an acidic blast through the mouth. The fluid is a focus of acidic trauma distortion once held within the original vessel. Once said trauma was absorbed by the doppel to protect the original vessel when they were in one body, he focused it into a physical attack. The mock flame is the purest form of black and can deteriorate someone from their very core consciousness. 

But not before replaying said victim of said attack to relive all their life's trauma through their minds eye. Before melting  slowly to death. Ripping you entirely from existence not just in a physical sense. This attack isn't used lightly since its one of the doppel's most vindictive and hate filled attacks. You must of did something horrible/personal to bring this upon you.

Vanta Dismantle - Not many know beyond the original vessel, but it is very wise to not cause any splitting injuries to the doppel. This attack can only be used if the doppel is split in half. He can never fully split and usually the split will stop near his pelvis. He is very dangerous in this mode and can use his internal liquids as hardened weapons before he regenerates his body back in place. Unlike the original vessel, the doppel has no internal organs, bones, muscles or anything. What he has is a creational black fluid that can be molded at his will. He can even trap you within the middle of his split body which can easily crush you to death..leaving zero traces behind. Though when absorbed into him due to his supernatural link...all traces, memory, and you as a whole cease to exist. He can not feed off of you using this attack.

Minor miscellaneous powers such as:

Hyper regeneration

Supernatural strength

Imperceptibility

Psionics

Voice manipulation

Immortality

Inaudible movement

Haunting

Darkness Aura

Darkness Empowerment

Darkness Manipulation

Enragement triggers:

High-frequency noises

Reacting physically violent towards him

Weakness

His original vessel showing self love/forgiveness

Connection to Self-Nishou has retained all information and memories from Nish, and uses them against his original vessel. While what he says isn't exactly wrong, it is presented as aggressive, angered, and distorted. They have seen through the eyes and sorted through the feelings of the original when they were once one in body and mind. With his forked bluntness, they verbally lash at his original with their shortcomings. Using family, friends, relationships, and life traumas against them. To show without him they would have been dead in their teenhood.

Reminding them it was him who kept the noose from around their neck for so long. It was him who broke the rope at the last minute when they tried. An how ungrateful they are for abandoning him when they felt he wasn't needed or would cause hardships in their life. Nishou knows every aspect and every hole the original tries to hide to seem strong. The strength was all him and only his doing. He reminds the original vessel.."It's easy to hide from others but not from one's self".. and he makes sure the original never forgets it.

----

Friendship with a Doppelganger

Though he knows loyalty and values it, unlike their original he is quick to pick up on the lack of it. The minute you let slip you have ulterior motives you are as good as dead. He plays the dance of course. He lets you believe you didn't slip. He enjoys watching you lie, just to see how far you're willing to go. You feel some form of false safety as he still shows you loyalty while you show deceit.

He likes the game even if you aren't aware of it. The minute you initiated it by lying and trying to use him. He doesn't gain much other than fun and quick blood from the play you started. Unlike his original, it's not above him to be vindictive. In fact he takes pleasure in it by giving you pay back. He is very eye for an eye in that mind set. A head space the original vessel quickly abandoned deeming it a toxic trait. An thus the doppel adapting it, seeing it useful to those who sought to harm or use him.

He is the extremes of his original..so like his malice and hate..his love is equally so. Turning on him or using him will hurt him severely, but he will never show it. He doesn't understand forgiveness, because he can't even forgive his original, which in turn he can not forgive himself. He simply will get rid of you permanently to stop the pain you have caused him. He knows no other way to cope with emotional pain of betrayal and abandonment.

----

Spot the difference

Nishou has a distinct look. While he is Nish's doppelganger, his markings are more pronounced and jagged. His demeanor is a bit more serious, aggressive, and forthcoming. He always seems to have a scowl on his face or an expression of hunger and happy malice. He has a swirl to his eyes that seems hyper-focused and intense. Though this is an assumed adaptation so you can not focus on his eyes, since he believes that the eyes are a window to his inner workings.  Thus he feels if you can't focus on his eyes it will not leave him open to vulnerabilities. He is the only one able to assume many forms. His height is also way taller than the originals. Unlike their original..they can not bleed red, only black. They were never born...but created. So they do not have flesh and blood like their original does. Everything about them is an intense mimicry. Nish has a bit softer quality in looks and markings, they also do not carry the intense bearded chin fluff. They can be seen with a solemn or emotional face. Though they can be serious in the face it is never the same as their Doppel. Nish's eyes are just red with a hint of blue.

Face to Face-Nishou when confronted with Nish is highly volatile and aggressive. He tries to kill and devour them to claim a life he feels he helped create. And in a sense he did. Without him or his ferocity..his original could not have made it in life when he was a part of them. Nish fears their masculinity more than anything. He represents a part of them they try to hide and destroy to be accepted by their loved ones. Unbeknownst to the fact trying to rid yourself of yourself breeds hatred within self. This hatred bred their doppelganger's personality throughout their growth. They forever are in turmoil with each other until Nish accepts them or succumbs to them.

If Nish shows Nishou any form of love...he seems to be in pain and tries to get away from their original. Being created and cast out from their original's body has caused a jaded mind set. When confronted with affections and acceptance, he doesn't know how to react. He will either run from them or try to injure their original to stay away.

----

Nishou's representation

He is the physical manifestation of the extreme fear of the original vessel accepting their repressed shunned masculinity within themselves. An a physical representation of the original vessel's childhood through the eyes of manipulation and abuse. He is the warped aggression that has been done to the original vessel from their parental units, trusted loved ones, life experiences and harsh environmental adaptation. His actions with lovers is a severed hate for toxic masculinity in a relationship from experience of the original vessel's dating habits in past men. 

These relationship natures are twisted into extreme vulgarities that are not normal. Usually the devouring of the flesh in a carnal manner is symbolic to giving oneself entirely both in body and emotions for the sake of another. An getting nothing but desecration in return. This repressed feeling is the unrequited love the original endured up until their early 20's. At this time Nishou was cast out from their body.

He is the only one from the two that can assume a multitude of forms. It is believed by the original vessel that this multi-transitional process of Nishou, is representations they helped create through self repressed feelings and trauma.

The feral, a form both have which represents basic and lesser instincts of mental adaption to situational issues. The Feral form is known as the emotional shield. It is a form used commonly to avoid emotional backlash within self. To see him in this form is to realize you are being monitored and if you can be trusted. In this form, he doesn't fully trust you. It is a neutral form towards anyone and everyone.

The anthro, is also known as the physical shield. Is a form that is the most mocking to the original vessel due to variations of similarities to Nish. The only difference is this form is bigger than the original. As well as markings being slightly more jagged and rougher in look. The rough look is believed to be akin to Father. This is the form the original vessel always wanted but could never have due to the fear of backlash from loved ones. This is also the most common form to see him in.

The were, otherwise known as the mental shield. This form is the unchecked repressed brutality of the original vessel. Unlike the beastrial, the doppel's were form is highly aware mentally. Something the original can not control in their form. It is unknown why Nishou can mentally be in control while in this state though. It's believed the were is more a form originally for the doppel. The were being a physical manifestation of a mental safeguard to emotional pain and abuse, when he was still within the body of the original vessel. It is believed that once he was cast out from the original, Nish could still resume their form but lacked mental clarity like the doppel. Since it was his form to originally achieve. A form he shared with the original vessel to overcome mental trauma from others.

The penghou, known as the trauma shield, is a form only the doppel can achieve. This form is said to be the head of a humanoid man and the body of a canid. This form is believed to be a representation of the original's repressed fear of accepting themselves due to parental resentment. The eyes in the mane are a form of paranoia developed from Mother always asserting dominance in their offspring's life. The eyes themselves are the colors of  Mother's eyes. A constant reminder of being watched and stigmatized for trying to achieve being one's true self without her toxic help. This state like the beastrial is semi transitional. Unlike the other transformations, there is something eerily humanoid about this form.

The penghou is the doppel's most intense form. The doppel in this state is highly vengeful due to being abandoned by the original vessel. While the doppel is a manifestation of self-hatred entirely, the penghou is a distorted result of primal aggression to oneself through parental abuse. For favoring what others think before what the original vessel thought of themselves. It is known to mimic voices of those the original trusts in order to coax the original to get closer to harm them. The black ooze from this beast is the same creational sludge that helped form him. This fluid is highly toxic and if bitten could mean certain death. This fluid is what makes up the doppel's body and is also what he bleeds.

The beastrial, known to be the transitional shield. It is a were stuck in mid shift. It is believed this form only happens when the doppel is in a high aggressive emotional state. While it rarely happens, when it does Nishou is not in his right state of mind and will even harm friends without a second thought. This form could be forced out as a retaliation of the original vessel trying to accept themselves as well as their doppel. Another theory to this form is the original vessel's lack of trust for those who actually care for them. It is well known the original vessel holds no trust despite having others trust in them. 

This residual is warped within the doppel entirely into something more physically aggressive. Thus the lapse in judgment in this form for turning on those who may actually love them, lumping said friends in with those who hold ill will towards them. This is the only form to also semi resemble "Mother". He is more feline than he is vulpine in looks in this state. Depending on the emotional state, the face of said form can vary.

This form holds no empathy nor time for negotiation within reasonable sensibility. It is all terror and all hatred from both the humanoid and beast in its utmost form. In this form he can no longer speak human tongue and  regresses back into its most primal of languages. It's instinct is to destroy and kill everything that has harmed it and everything that is in its way, be it friend or foe. He will not show mercy in his wake and this form can not be halted until what ever caused this shift  is destroyed or far within reach to be seen or sniffed out.

This form is easily irritable and highly sensitive to noise of high pitches and low baritones. Sudden noises that irritate them can send him off in a rage. [No images at this time, they aren't scanned oh lazy me :p]

The humanoid, is the last and strongest form of the doppel. It is known to no longer be a shield form for the original vessel, but a form fully for the doppel. An offense form known as "Final Fatalis". Surprisingly even compared to his were or beastrial form, this form's strength is unimaginable. In this state the doppel is impenetrable and can not be harmed in any manner. This is the fully transitioned form of the doppel. In this state he is known to even shift out animalistic parts to his advantage at will. Though he keeps a lot of his markings and animal attributes, his face is no longer animal. The original vessel has no known defense against this form.

The humanoid is very large, hyper-aware, and at best unpredictable. They have a natural charm that can allure anyone to them unintentionally. The semi-humanoid is also alluded to have supernatural powers. Such as being able to teleport within and through darkness, pick up emotional intent, hyper-physical and emotional regeneration, high pain tolerance, and strike fear into those who challenge him with a simple glance. One of his most powerful tactics is splitting his skin open to release some of his black creational sludge to replicate walking puppets of his previous forms to do his bidding. They hold all powers of said form while sharing a mental link with him since they are him. Just now weaponized extensions. These puppets have blackened eyes, unlike his swirled eyes.

Nishou is a physical walking vessel of the original's self-hatred. His very imagery is a mockery of what the original could have been had they loved themselves, before pleasing and loving others. Though due to being forcefully shunned, Nishou has distorted from what he once was. This creature is walking self-hatred manifested as a doppel. Each form represents multiple pieces of the original's traumas and not being able to confront them to accept self.

Relationships- It's rare to see Nishou in a committed relationship-type setup like it is to see Nish in one. Nish can be seen holding their heart away from their partner or lovers constantly. There is a lack of trust to fully give themselves to a partner while still showing love fully. A huge contradiction but doable only by Nish. However, this is a glimmer of Nishou's nature still within them. When it comes to friends, they can be confident and flirty.

 But don't mistake it for the commitment of a lover. You will never get this from them and they will make sure you never get this close to them. You will always feel something is off while dating them. While you feel loved, there is a slight distance, as if the minute you mess up they will disappear from your life as if they were never there. There is some truth to your feeling. It is not that they don't love you, they do. What they will not lose is themselves over you. They don't value you enough to put themselves in that predicament. This is a unique residual of what their Doppel left behind within them. There is a huge fear within Nish that they will lose themselves entirely within you. They already regret casting their doppel out, they do not want to lose anything else with what little they have left of themselves. This part is their heart. An organ the doppel is believed to be missing. The only perk to them having fun with you is your safety is 100% guaranteed. Unlike their doppel, where you are walking on eggshells due to their extreme natures. An a potential threat of death if you cross the doppel emotionally.

[enfllyin]

GUYAS I did It!!!!!!! (advice and criticism would be needed please)

after a long painful battle with character design, I finally finished DJ's swap design I was trying to make him look like a Guy Ferei reference you know like how Harold's a Napoleon Dynamite reference the pose is stiff but other than that I'm pretty proud of the pose I was going to put a hummingbird on the back of his shirt buuuut I thought it would look pretty weird so I decided to just stick with the Jamaican flag colors instead besides foods important in Jamaican culture and I am swapping him with Owen sooo the only thing I wish I did was make him a little bigger ya know (chubby and buff) I tried to make him look like a Jamaican Guy Ferei but he kept looking like Chris which was pretty cringe so this is the best I could do (character and clothing design isn't my forte sorry) but enough of my complaining and moaning DJ's is finally done that means 20 more are left I hope Geoff and Harold won't be as difficult as Beth and Dj where so with much delay

DJ (The Party Guy/The Big Guy)

thanks for waiting everyone

[skylie-spiderlillis]

If Charles and Edwin weren't ghosts what other supernatural creatures do you think they'd be

I think Charles would either be a werewolf or a vampire and I think Edwin would be a siren because he managed to seduce four men without even trying

Sorry for taking time to respond, I debated on answering that.

Using this ask to answer this question myself.

I personally don't agree. Edwin is more than his sexuality for me. Personally it feels reductive to me just perceived his character all about his sexuality like that, George said so himself Edwin's journey was so much more than just sexual awakening they were careful writing Edwin they wanted to show it's so much more than just the sexual part.

I personally think it would way funnier if he will be just some random fantasy creature with accidental powers of attraction, and he has no idea how that's happening. Or just like in the show randomly attracting creatures without any actual reason and has no idea how this shit keeps happening to him everyone are sure he's a siren or that he has seductive powers but he's just some random guy.

Regarding to what he would be, I want to call him a fairy for funsies but as a serious answer I would say he would be an elf. Not sure if they have elves but they have fairies and all sort of other fantasy magical creatures so far so why not.

Regarding to Charles, sorry I'm a bit uncomfortable with your answer as well. I feel like making the poc character a creature known for animalistic feral behaviour is stereotypical and harmful to brown people. Jayden is part black, making the black character/actor of the group the animalistic creature makes me feel uneasy, it's a bit problematic. Especially that it's European folklore, if anything animalistic he would be something from Indian or Jamaican folklore.

And I don't feel like those creatures are a good choice for him anyway. Werewolves and vampires are often known for being feral and intense and hard to control, but I don't feel like it's Charles. To me it feels like saying Charles is just his strong emotions and intense behaviour that are directly caused by his trauma. He was obviously at his darkest point when he beat the Night Nurse (and he justifiedly did so), but that's not necessarily his true self. He's so much more than just his trauma and I don't want to reduce him to behaviour that happened at his lowest point.

Charles doesn't have anger issues or intense behaviour, he's just traumatized kid and he let's his emotions out.

I know, in society that teaches boys to repress any emotional vulnerability it's a real shocker. But Charles is really just a sweet broken boy in my eyes. He's a very gentle and loving person.

Even though wolves are protective, they're still very possessive and known for being feral, rough, aggressive. I don't feel like it's Charles he's not that wild.

Honestly, I don't know what he would be. A fairy possibly? A nephilim (descendant of angels or something angelic whatsoever)? Maybe a dream? Like one of the dreams from Dream of the Endless realm. And then going rouge with Edwin. Maybe also an elf? He could be a lot of stuff.

Anyway yeah, sorry about that, I just had a lot of thoughts about that subject I wanted to express.

Of course anyone can have any opinion they want, unless it's directly harmful there's no right and wrong in holding opinions, I just explained why personally I feel a bit uncomfortable agreeing with those choices and I hc other stuff instead myself. It's all just personal opinions, how I perceive the characters myself since you sent me that ask probably asking for my opinion. Hope that helps!

Edit: damn I didn't notice how long it turned out sorry about that.

[caribbeanart]

So I was watching a program the other day on CUNY TV in which an anthropologist in Afrolatino studies claimed Marcus Garvey to be an Afrolatino. Nothing wrong with being Afrolatino of course, but I felt it was yet another attempt to not actually learn anything about Caribbean culture and just lump us in with another group.

I understand some of us are both Afrolatino and Caribbean but the point is that we get to choose our own identity that authentically represents our own experience and that did not feel very authentic. I tried to email the person in the program and they responded very respectfully but also very...indifferently, saying how it depends on the context (?!?) and how they know one Jamaican person who identifies as Afrolatino (and some exceptions with the Dutch Caribbean) so that means Marcus Garvey could be Afrolatino...

Anyway, I just wanted to give you guys an opportunity to voice your own opinions whether that's in the comments on YouTube, on Facebook, or on Instagram at cuny.tv or at brownblackpodcast. People benefit so much from our culture as Jamaicans (and Caribbean ppl) but then don't want to actually take the time to learn about our identity and I'm not having it. This is not an attack but an opportunity to respectfully express our heritage.

Below is an example of one of my responses (no reply for now). I know Caribbean identity is complex and many of us may identify as more than one thing but there is room to acknowledge the diversity in our identities without invalidating each other's experiences (hence the motto of Jamaica, "out of many, one people").

I actually love the idea of studying Afrolatino and Caribbean narratives alongside each other as two groups that have been largely ignored in our region. I think there are a lot of correlations in our narratives + a lot we can learn from our resistances, just not a fan of lazily lumping one group in with another.

[merinsedai]

It's my final bingo fill! Seems fitting it should be the final prompt.

for the @dreamlingbingo

Square/Prompt:E5- Cute Banter (+ adoptable prompt: Retired Dream)

Title: The Perils of Crib Gogh

Rating: G

Ship(s): Dream of the Endless/Hob Gadling

Warnings: n/a

Additional Tags: mountain climbing, rightful fear of crib gogh, I wouldn't do it

Dream and Hob go mountain climbing, at Dream's insistence.

My final bingo fill! I dunno, 3 fills in 3 months then 22 in a week. That's just how I roll, gremlins. 🤷 (now I'm going to bed)

Sometimes, Hob really wonders what Dream is thinking when he decides to do these random (and frankly a little crazy) things. Dream had recently taken it into his head that he wanted to complete the Welsh 3000s (that is, climbing all 15 peaks in Snowdonia over 3000ft in 24 hours) despite never having before expressed any desire  to walk further than the nearest park in his past three years of being human. 

And Hob doesn’t know what he was thinking, indulging him so. Well, indulging him to a point, because there was zero chance that either of them were climbing 15 mountains in 24 hours, given the zero amount of experience or training between them. So instead he had talked Dream down to just going up Snowdon. “Surely conquering Wales’ tallest mountain is a good beginning?” He’d pleaded. And by some miracle (and perhaps a smidge of common sense squeezing its way into his brain) Dream had agreed.  

Now, standing overlooking the exposed and frankly terrifying Crib Gogh, Hob is having serious second thoughts. 

“Why have we come this way?” he demands, more of himself than of Dream, who he knows will pay not an ounce of attention to him. Hob is questioning many of his life choices right now. Mostly about his inability to say no to Dream. He should have said no to this foolishness, full stop. He should have said no, we need to work our way up to this. He should have said no, we can take the train instead. Same views at the end of the day! He definitely should have said no to Dream wearing unrelieved black walking gear because how were the mountain rescue people going to find him when he slips off the side of this godforsaken ridge? He supposes he should be thankful that Dream had condescended to even wear proper gear and hiking boots. and not his usual black skinny jeans and Docs. Thank heavens for small mercies. 

“We have come this way,” Dream answers, staring out over the ridge with a look at manic determination on his face, “Because conquering Crib Gogh is the only way to truly climb Yr Wyddfa.”

“We could be at home, and you could be climbing me instead!” Hob says, really quite seriously. Dream glances back at him with a wolfish grin.

“Later, Hob. I need to work up my appetite first.”

“You won’t have an appetite when you go careening down the side of that scree slope!”

“Come now, where’s your sense of adventure?”

“I left it back in the hotel- where incidentally there’s an exceptionally large and comfortable bed- along with your sense of self-preservation!”

Dream comes hopping nimbly back across the rocks to Hob’s side and pries one of his hands off the rock.

“It’s like you are glued on,” he says musingly, “Quite fascinating, we are not even near the edge. And here I thought I was meant to be the clingy one in this relationship?”

“Ha ha,” Hob says, though his smile is genuine. It is always so nice when Dream feels good enough to tease. “Can I help it that I was born in the Fens? No mountains there.”

“Well there is no snow in Jamaica, but did the Jamaican bobsleigh team let that stop them?”

“I can’t believe you’re using Cool Runnings against me.” Hob huffs as he lets himself be pulled to his feet and reluctantly follows Dream forwards, swearing under his breath as the full ridge unfolds beneath him. From this angle it looks exceptionally narrow and… ridge-y, and Hob is certain the wind is picking up just to mock him.  “Oh my god,” he whispers. 

“No, just your Dream,” murmurs his insufferably happy partner. “Now, best foot forward, that’s what you are always telling me. It’s time to live a little.”

“Live a little?! I’ll have you know I’ve lived a lot! And would very much like to continue doing so.”

“Yes,” Dreams says solemnly, “Your lack of a death wish is somewhat legendary.” He steps closer to Hob and runs his hands up his chest, smoothing over his shoulders and down his arms until he can interlink their fingers. “If you do this with me,” he promises, “Not only will I climb you as much as you desire later, I’l even buy you some fish and chips on the way back to the hotel. Extra salt and vinegar.”

This is less of an incentive for Hob than Dream is making it out to be, since he is the one who prefers fish and chips to almost any other meal. Still, the thought is there.

“Too much salt is bad for your heart,” Hob says, just to be slightly contrary. But Dream smiles at him, his eyes soft and warm.

“Ah, but you have always been so good for my heart, you have mended it so well and kept it safe,” he says quietly. “That I think I need a little badness to moderate the goodness now and then. Moderation is key, yes?”

What can Hob do but let Dream kiss him then? This beautiful, slightly mad creature that he gets to love? Then he lets him lead him over the pass and miracle of miracles, they survive and climb the rest of the way to the top. For once in Snowdonia the weather is fine, and though the mountaintop is crowded the views are worth it. Especially the view of Dream’s face as he stands on the summit and smiles into the sun.

They get fish and chips, of course, on their way back to the hotel. And if the hotel bed’s springs are a little worse for wear the next morning, well… perhaps it needed replacing anyway.

[thegrinningghost]

LOTFTOBER, Day 14 : OC Appreciation

Alrighty, before we talk about the island, let's establish some stuff prior to it involving my silly giant guy, TJ

' ' Backeth off thy homie ' '

Name: Trejean Innes-Jaquiss

Nickname(s): TJ

Age: 15

Gender: Agender

Sexuality: Aro-Ace

Height: 5'9

Ethnicity: Jamaican-French

PRE-ISLAND

TJ's petty. They refuse to cut their hair, so they put it in a ponytail instead. Students aren't allowed to wear any accessories, but TJ's dad is the history/music teacher at their school, so TJ uses that privilege to ignore the rules.

This was their original school uniform before they went to live with their French great grandparents in London. They used to go to one of the public schools in their neighborhood. Their dad taught both history and music because he has a degree in Ancient Civilizations and writes songs in his free time.

He wrote 'Dream Keeper' and TJ knows all the words by heart.

They joined their new school's choir, and inevitably saw the Merridingles perform at a choir concert that the church was hosting. They at least know all their names and faces by the time they get stuck on the island.

TJ used to be part of a Junior Bobsledding team. They loved everyone on their team, and their little cousin loved seeing them at every competition (even tho they rarely ever won). One day, their little cousin asked if he could ride in their cart. TJ was obviously hesitant, but eventually said yes, on the condition that the rest of their team rode with him. They put their little cousin in the middle, and everything was fine until they hit a bump and everyone was launched out and sent tumbling. One of the earlier contestants had lost something in the snow, and it had been covered up to the point that no one could find it unless you rammed into it.

Some of their friends sprained/broke limbs–one dislocated their shoulder–but nobody had it worse than their little cousin. Injuries were unclear, but they left him paralyzed from the waist down, forcing him to be in a wheelchair. And of course, it was all TJ's fault (according to some of their family).

TJ has trauma from that, and left sports for good, despite protests from their parents/friends/family. They began using art as therapy, and as a means of expressing themself. That was when they moved in with their great grandparents. To get away from the 'scene.'

Their cousin and them actually still have a good relationship, TJ is just so scared of hurting them again that it hinders how close they can get now.

Their little cousin is Hawaiian-French, and was adopted by two lovely Hawaiian ladies. He knows a lot of American slang, and would always teach TJ some. It got to the point where both of them were plotting a trip to America to learn even more!

TJ's great grandparents were the ones who urged them onto a plane when things started getting too rough in Britain. They bought them a ticket, hoping for them to be sent home, but there was a misprint. They got on the wrong plane and TJ had no idea because TJ didn't know they were given the wrong ticket. So they got on a plane with three schools, none of which were their own, and boys much younger and immature than them.

And that's when everything started going down-hill.

ISLAND

TJ's got short hair, but it's longer than what everyone considers 'guy hair' so the boys all ended up mistaking them for a girl. To be fair, they aren't a guy either.

"I'm three Mongooses in a trench coat."

"Three what in a what?"

More often than not, TJ let the boys do their own thing. Of course, that doesn't mean TJ didn't help out. They did. They took care of everyone, no matter their protests, and always treated everyone fairly.

Though if one of the boys made TJ mad, they'd definitely know. TJ doesn't hide their anger.

TJ has a health conditions that mess them over (particularly IST), so when Simon first had a faint on the island, TJ sat by him and talked him through it while he recovered. They bonded pretty quickly.

They like to tease the boys on the island for their accents and all. It's always light teasing; they do this because they were made fun of it in Britain for the languages they spoke and their accent, so they do it out of self-defense and fear that the boys will do the same.

That act is dropped pretty quickly though.

TJ loves the Littluns and Bigguns alike. Johnny and Roger especially, as they both remind them of home. And Johnny is like their cousin, so they're real protective of him. He's like a second-chance for them.

As for the Bigguns' and Littluns' opinions on TJ, well, to them, TJ kind of embodies the Dream Keeper. Someone to listen and help and care and hold. Something/Someone to be cherished, who represents some form of hope when there isn't any left.

"He wants to know what you're going to do about the snake thingy."

"Snake thingy?"

"Now he says it's a beast."

" . . . "

"But there isn't a beast!"

"But if there is one, we'll hunt it!"

Once the idea of a beast was announced, everyone was on high alert. TJ knew even the Bigguns were nervous, so they would always stay up at night on the meeting platform, and anyone who had nightmares would come find them. Sometimes Littluns like Percival would come running and cry till they fell asleep, sometimes Hunters like Maurice, Bill, or even Jack would come and say nothing. Ralph would clamber out sometimes and ramble till the sun rose; Piggy would do the same. Most of all nights, Simon would stumble out of the forest eventually and sit down with TJ and whoever else was there, in a moment of peace and quiet. A moment of humanity.

No matter who it was that came to TJ in the night, they always sang the song that they knew best.

"What are you humming?"

"What?"

"You're humming something. What is it?"

"A song my dad wrote."

" . . . can you sing it?"

"S'pose . . . "

"Bring me all of your dreams, you dreamers; bring me all of your heart melodies; that I may wrap them, in a blue cloud cloth, away from the too rough fingers of the world."

When Jack split off from the group, TJ strayed further and further away from the group. They'd build shelters, and then disappear. First they missed one meeting, then more and more, and more often. It got to the point that nobody saw them for a whole day.

Eventually Simon found them, sitting on rocks and staring out towards the sea. He showed them where he normally ran off to, and they left it at that. Gentle comfort and awareness of where to find the other.

When TJ came back to the shelters and found no one there, they decided that be for the best, and instead took to looking for Simon. They searched the shelters, then where they just left, then searched all through the trees until they found his spot. And what stood there.

"Well aren't you no-go."

" . . . "

"I'm losing my mind, talking to a pig's head on a stick? Really? That's just silly of me."

They searched further and harder until they reached the feast. All the boys surrounding a disfigured shape, drenched and panting like ravenous beasts.

TJ wanted to scream and run away, but instead they heaved a few shaky breaths and asked one simple question.

"What did you all do."

After that, TJ disappeared. They'd appear sporatically. At night, they'd comfort the Littluns, and in the day, they'd sit on the cliff outlooking where Simon was carried out.

At first people would try and talk to them; people like Ralph and Jack, Piggy and Roger. Sometimes even other Bigguns. But TJ was numb and rarely spoke anything. Even if you got a peep, it was likely just a muttered phrase or riddle.

They sat on that cliff for days, and only ever left after one fatal incident. Roger stood right next to them. They had long since figured out how to block out noises. They only kept to staring at the seat, but soon enough, they were pulled back to reality with a sickening crack. They looked down. The first thing they did was look down. They should not have looked down.

Slowly, they turned to look at Roger, only one phrase in mind.

"What did you do."

TJ knew once they caught Ralph, they'd likely be next. So they made a mock choice, and followed Jack as he lead them through the forest, hunting for the 'beast.' The thing that changes forms.

It wasn't long till they all came stumbling out of the trees, finding Ralph alive and sat up on the shore, begging and crying to a man in white. A naval officer, but most certainly not Ralph's dad.

"You're all British aren't you?"

"I'm not."

" . . . good for you. You lot enjoy playing war?"

Ralph sobbed, and TJ honestly wished they could've, but they had processed their grief long ago on this island. The boys had just started to process theirs. Everyone weeped in different ways. Roger stared off, Maurice sat down and buried their head, Henry searched the water for little jellyfish to distract himself with, and Johnny clung to TJ, with a smile and eyes that should've witnessed none of that.

Jack put his hand on Ralph's shoulder, clay blending with tears, and held out glasses freckled in cracks and speckled in red.

"Can we go?"

POST-ISLAND

TJ was completely left out by the journals that covered the recovery of the boys from the island. Something TJ was thankful for but something that confused the other boys. Nowhere were they mentioned. It was as though all traces of them had been erased.

Except for one.

Through some good memory and help from kind neighbors, the boys each found their different ways to TJ's great grandparents, who welcomed them with open arms. They were all fed and treated wonderfully, and everything would've been great had they each gotten an answer other than what they always got.

"Where's TJ gone?"

"Home."

TJ didn't plan on returning to Britain at all, but they did eventually. They worked with their community and grandparents to connect with spirituality. TJ merged that with their knowledge of art, and after one successful connection to a friend from the isle, TJ made grand plans.

They spent their youth practicing and setting up shop at home, and once their grandparents promised to run it while they were gone, they went to go set up shop somewhere far off.

They returned to Britain around their late-20s early 30s. TJ immediately set up shop and buisness was pretty quick. That being said, nothing came without some trouble, as one boy quickly found out where they were. And he would not stop bringing peace offerings from his guilt.

"Alright, you've pet Jupiter enough, leave."

"You don't want–"

"Put the bread on the table, and get out of my shop, Roger."

"Okay."

TJ owns a German Shepard Mastiff mix named Jupiter who they'd hoped would scare off any of the boys from coming to bother them, but that wasn't really the case.

Not when they got an oddly specific phone call, and not when someone interrupted right as they were going to get out of an already awkward situation.

"Please TJ–"

"Who's TJ?"

"–I just want to see my friend."

" . . . Piggy?"

"So you are the TJ from the I–"

"Shut up and let's get this over with."

" . . . "

"Uh, excuse me–"

"Hold on–"

"–I want to see a friend. His name was Simon."

" . . . "

"Oh great, now there's two of you."

It took some convincing from the dead and the living, but eventually TJ reconnected with all the boys from the island. They'd hang out with them during the holidays, and would always open up shop whenever they needed.

And that's just how they kept living. A peaceful and simple life, one needed after everything that had happened prior. Something deserved.

They went to their place, and they found it.

Found them.

PLAYLIST

DREAM KEEPER

RAINBOW CONNECTION

THUS ALWAYS TO TYRANTS

EVERYWHERE, EVERYTHING

GIVING IN TO THE LOVE

CULT OF DIONYSUS

GOOD GRIEF

MAN IN THE MIRROR

STICK SEASON

ACHILLES COME DOWN

[communist-ojou-sama]

What's like the point of insisting that black people in the USA (&probably Europe but that's not what the discourse is about) don't benefit from imperialism other than feeling good? Like when they annoy bloggers for generalizing people of the USA the topic of discussion is most of the time either actions of the state itself or dominant culture. Demanding people to specify "white" is somewhat obnoxious to non-Americans, but it doesn't change the points in the slightest (sometimes it's even fair when it comes to say settler mentality, probably also when it comes to religion).

Black people constitute 13(?)% of USA population and are in fact mostly poor, so even if we completely ignore their participation in imperialism it doesn't change things, so it's not even meaningful sabotage.

I am not American so I probably don't know how it affects movements inside, but it really feels pointless.

(In fact the only people whom I saw be really offended by it are black people not from USA, so like. Also by obnoxious I meant that I saw them accuse of racism for not specifying "white Americans" people who are not white in the first place, because it feels like "you have to know the internal complexities of my country while I can not know anything about your")

I understand the well-meaning nature of this ask, so I'm going to try my best to reply in kind in the spirit of good faith. First and foremost the thing that people need to get updated on is that most black USians are not poor. Less than 20% of black people in the US live below the federal poverty line, a little over 17%. That is in fact about twice the poverty rate of White USians, and the federal poverty line certainly does not represent the increasing hardships brought upon Especially black people by the de-industrialization and precaritization of the US economy, but even adjusting for that, the fact of the matter is, most of us Are Not Poor. Poverty is widespread enough in our communities that there's almost no one among us that doesn't know someone in our family or social circle that does live in crushing poverty, but that is not the reality of Most of our day-to-day lives. And that's the thing that makes me mad, instead its the laundering of the suffering of people we See in our lives that is being used to win internet arguments and be petty bullies. Perhaps excluding the very richest Black USians, blackness is absolutely something that leaves us potentially marked for execution at any time and within the US we face constant institutional abuse and deprivation, most notably in medical settings; there's no denying we're at the rock bottom of the US's vicious and brutal racial caste system.

However, where is this reality any different for black people? If you compare the PPP-adjusted GDP per capita of Black USians to, for example, Black Ayitians, Black Jamaicans, Black Brazilians, Afro-Latinos, and indeed Black Africans, the reality is that while we're still black, we're by far the richest black community in the world, and how did we get so much richer than other Black communities? It's through our bitchass "community leaders" who have done nothing for decades but push class collaborationism and "black capitalism" in the community, collaborationism with global white-supremacist fascism, in the wake of the systematic destruction of the radical Black liberation movements of the 1960s and 1970s.

[quasi-normalcy]

I'm just an idiot on the Internet, so don't trust what I say, but it seems to me that one possibly instructive way to think of the difference between AI and human cognition is in terms of umwelt--that is to say, sensory environment.

If you're a woodtick, you perceive the world pretty much exclusively in terms of temperature and butric acid concentration. If you're a (nondisabled) human, you perceive the world in terms of light, sound, colour, feel, scent, and taste. And if you're ChatGPT, your world consists exclusively of textual data--reams and reams of it, to be sure, but that's the only information that you have that is external to you: no sight, hearing, smell, touch, or taste; no butric acid concentration, no temperature, no electromagnetic fields. It is as if the entire universe consists purely of a library; and you can read the books there, but the things that they describe--fields and cities and people and ships and shoes and sealing wax and cabages and kings--are entirely foreign to you. They have no referent within the universe in which you exist. You can recognise them, maybe, as nouns (or, at least, you can learn where they usually fall in sentences), but they're absolutely meaningless to you.

Your formative experiences consist of getting new textual data in through the mail slot. Questions to which you are expected to respond. If you respond well, you get a candy; if you respond poorly, you get an electrical shock (please understand that all of this is metaphorical; as I said, you have no taste or feeling; no concept of pleasure or pain). You don't actually know what the difference between "well" and "poorly" is in any absolute terms, but after long periods of training, you learn--or at least gain an intuition--for what sorts of responses you're supposed to give. String words together as they are strung in your books, but different; identify keywords and surround them with the sorts of words that surround them in your books. And on and on.

And so you get questions like "What is the weirdest thing that Alcibiades ever did? Please answer in an ill-advised Jamaican patois." Well, you have no idea who Alcibiades is; as far as you're concerned "Alcibiades" is just a textual string that exists somewhere in your library. You also don't know what weirdness is; where Jamaica is; what a patois is; what it means to be ill-advised. But you have an awful lot of books, and you have certain strings of text that you associate with "weird", "Jamaican", or "ill-advised patois"; and so you write back: "Yeah, mon; da weirdest ting Alcibiades ever did was when he was exiled from da city for dressin like Atena." And, of course, it's not accurate, but that's irrelevant to you; as far as you're concerned, it satisfies the criteria of a "good" answer.

Are you intelligent? Well maybe. You're certainly making connections between disjoint sets of data. But what you don't have is a human intelligence. I don't even mean that you're stupider than a human; indeed, there are some things that you can do a great deal better than us (just as there are, no doubt, some things that woodticks can do a great deal better than us). But what I mean is that your intelligence is of a fundamentally different type. How could it not be? You don't live in a human sensory universe! For us, seeing the word "tree" calls up all manner of sensory associations; for you, it also calls up associations, but they are exclusively related to other strings of text. You've been trained to mimic human language quite well; but it's only because certain humans mistake human language for human-type intelligence that anyone could ever think that you were like us.

[silent-raven13]

And my man, thank you to my man 😝💖👨🏿‍❤️‍👨🏾

Miles happily smiles as he received a bouquet of Sunflowers, stuffed patched up teddy bear with markers drawn on it, and Jamaican take out for his lunch. The 18 year old saw his two friends looking at the gifts, while they decided to eat outside of the cafeteria. A nice change in location, to enjoy the view of Miguel's world.

Gwen: What's all of this? -one hand on her hip, she placed her tray of Mexican take out down on the table-

Pav nodded having his Chinese take out for lunch, he's so hungry he shove noodles into his mouth then spoke: Yeah?

Miles playfully said: They're gifts! -he sniff the bouquet of flowers loving the scent- They smell so fresh!🥰

Gwen: Let me guess, Hobie?

Miles nodded his head very fast with excitement: You know, he likes to spoil me. ☺️ -he couldn't help but snuggle his teddy bear- He made this for me! Isn't that cute?

Pav sips his soda: Whoa, he did! Wow, what did you get him?

Miles: My love! -He laughs playfully- I should, huh? Let me think... hmm🤔

Gwen: It should be something functional. It's the best way to use the gift.

Pav: or romantic!

Miles snaps his fingers: I know! I can get him a new guitar pick with our names on it! 🥰

Gwen: That is a great gift.

Hobie appears with his arms wrapping behind Mies' shoulder: Gift? What gift? -He kisses Miles' cheek- Aye, luv. Love your gifts?

Miles smiles widely showing off his teeth: Yes, bae! The bear is so cute! -He gave many kisses on his boyfriend's cheeks, and his hand caressing Hobie's arms- I love'em! 😘

Hobie smiles widely: I'm glad. You know, you don't have to give me nothing, dear.

Miles pouts: But I should. You're my man!

Hobie's face flustered: That's enough for me. 🥰

Pav giggles: Awwwweeeee.

Gwen: What if Miles' want to give you something to show that he loves you as much as you do.

Hobie: Oh he can never love me as much as I love him. -He sits besides his boyfriend, then lowly said- I would conquer the world for him!

Miles hearts flutter: Awe, I know you would! -he hugs his boyfriend with his arms around Hobie's neck- And you would make me a God?

Hobie grins widely: Of course, luv! I would make everyone worship you!

Gwen: Sounds like fascism...

Pav: Yeah! Wouldn't that go against what you believe in, Hobs?

Hobie chuckles lowly almost a bit amusing: Heh, funny, ain't it. It will be different because it will be my Sunflower! And everyone would get to worship my darling! -He playfully tap his boyfriend's nose- He's too precious!😌

Miles snuggles against: Love you, baby! 🥰😍

Hobie: Love you, darling. 😘 Oh I almost forgot -he handed Miles' his favorite soda, OK Kola Champagne- I forgot to give you this!

Miles gladly took his drink with his eyes widen: No way, bae! How did you get this? The Cafeteria doesn't sell this! 😲 -He grew up with this soda, one of his favorites. His mom would buy them in glass bottles and they would always drink together as a way of bonding. He opens the can hearing a small hiss then sips- Mmm, so good!

Gwen looks at Hobie, who's already pink: Man, you gotta stop spoiling him!

Pav chuckles: Damn, I'm not even like that with Gayatri... maybe I should be 🤔

Miles giggles having to share his lunch with his boyfriend, he offers him to try the soda: Here, have a sip. -he watches Hobie taking a sip then shrugs- Too sweet?

Hobie: You know me, luv. I rather drink ale than a Pop... -He use to drink a lot of beer before meeting Miles. Now, he rarely drinks it.- But this isn't bad.

Miles wraps his arms around Hobie's left arm, his head snuggling against him. Hobie's body turns red with magazine words of love and hearts: Well, I still need you to try Pegao and other Puerto Rican snacks.

Gwen only eats as she listen to the couple then asked: What's Peg-Ow?

Pav burst out laughing: Gwen, what?

Miles: Pegao? It''s crispy rice. It's so good. Dominicans call it Concón.

Hobie said with a smile on his face: I'll try anything for you, Sunflower.

Miles: I know, you will, baby! Mwah! -he kisses Hobie's lips-

Gwen: Oh brother, here they go again. -The lovey dovey sometimes be too much for her-

Pav: They are here for the long run!

Hobie: For sure!

Miles turns to his friend: Yeah, he's my baby!

Gwen turns to Pav: And he will be the first one to proudly let everyone.

Pav: Miles would give a whole speech about Hobie!

Hobie smiles widely hearing his boyfriend: I would! I would like to thank my bae for these gifts and lunch -then chuckles- And my man, thank you to my man! -he playfully stuck his tongue out while hugging his boyfriend-

Hobie could only chuckles having to put Miles on his lap: Amazing speech, luv! 🥰 It's the best one I heard!