#interracial expected

[africanrefugeeswelcome]

It's beautiful to see a mixed child waiting for their next mixed sibling to be born

[hanmegumi]

man i looooved watching the movie bottoms but once again the fandom disappoints and does not serve cunt (everyone cares about jeff who's the only straight white man in the movie more than about the girls who are complex queer and some of them nd)

[thegetdownrebooter]

I liked your comments on kenstewy. I ship it, but I also find so much fic makes Stewy this pathetic guy rather than someone who is a winner and driven and loaded in his own right. the only fics I have read where Stewy is a "caretaker" which makes sense, are ones where Kendall has a total mental break and loses touch with reality and gets diagnosed as having bipolar disorder. Even in that one, Stewy is ... not selfish, but not in thrall to Kendall. His own man. not sure if that makes sense. I think it is set before the series so it makes more sense too.

no, what you're saying makes perfect sense and a fic set pre canon where stewy takes care of ken because he has lost touch with reality and is probably terrified on his behalf does make sense.

Honestly the issue with "caretaker" stewy is that the fandom and the majority of kenstewy shippers don't see him as his own person with his own life and issues, and the result is him coming across as a 2-dimensional loser with no life or purpose of his own outside of being ken's therapist/support system/replacement daddy and not only is it ooc, but it's also telling that the same shippers making those fics NEVER have ken being the one taking care of stewy in return, which means they either see stewy's purpose being ken's emotional support dildo (because they always fuck in those fics) or they are admitting to thinking that only ken deserves love/caretaking in their dynamic, which is really fucked, like why are you shipping them together if you don't like stewy at all?? and why want them together if you don't see stewy as his own person???

[a-walking-fandom-reference]

obsessed with this old man i found on imdb who reviews hallmark movies and hates them all but has watched over 600 of them

[thirst2]

Jude: They're cis? Jude, joking: Baby, what do I always say? We have to stick to our own kind. Me: But I'm cis…? Jude: Shhhhhhhhhhhhhh Jude: …I forgor

[teambyler]

Questions to ask if ever you have Byler doubt:

Do people seriously think that a show centered on nerds and social outcasts...

... shows how awful the popular kids can be...

... villainizes anti-gay bullies...

... sides against abusers...

... supports LGBT+ people...

... has interracial romance...

... embraces being different...

... turns an expected hetero romance into a beautiful platonic friendship...

... criticizes moral panic/evangelism...

... makes the "town freak" our hero...

... shows that love can overcome hate...

... and whose characters don't want to recreate the nuclear family...

... do we really think that show will let a suffering, traumatized gay boy's love be the device for a conventional white hetero couple to be the show's "main relationship"?

Has the show even set-up Mike and El, who met through trauma and circumstance while they were children and have repeatedly lied to each other, for a lifelong commitment?

Who's actually delusional?

And who sees this show for what it is? And what it's clearly setting up?

-teambyler

(This is a companion to "How the Duffers have set Will up for a happy ending in Season 5")

[beamorgan]

Favourite Reads of the Year

I will not be ranking these, because that would hurt my heart. Buckle up folks, there are a lot of amazing books out there

The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells

I know, I KNOW, I'm late to the party but omg this whole series is just as good as people say!!! I know I said I wouldn't be ranking, but if I was these would be fighting for the top spot. I have already relistened to all the audiobooks. I anticipate rereading them literally every year from now on. I would die for Murderbot, which it would think is a stupid thing for a human to do when there is a SecUnit right there. [adult, scifi]

Emily Wilde's Map of the Otherlands by Heather Fawcett

Sequel to last year's fav Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries, this follows a bullheaded academic trying find the magical door that will let her faerie boyfriend back into his faerie kingdom. Chaos ensues in the Alps. It's fabulous, and the author's approach to using folklore is very similar to my own writing, which I love and also get imposter syndrome about. 10/10 recommend [adult, historical fantasy]

Model Home by Solomon Rivers

Would you like to be repeatedly punched in the gut? Look no further than this story of racism and child abuse in a Texas McMansion, with gorgeous prose and a genderqueer protagonist and the laundry list of content warnings you can expect with the genre. It hurt so good. [adult, contemporary gothic horror]

You Should Be So Lucky by Cat Sebastian

This love affair between a baseball play and a sports reporter was recced to me by the lovely @colubrina and boy was it worth the two-day binge it inspired! Romance can be very hit-or-miss for me, but this knocked it out of the park (please enjoy my pun). I didn't even have to know anything about baseball to love it! [adult, historical (1960s) romance]

The Locked Tomb Series by Tamsyn Muir

Another tumblr fav, FOR A REASON. Gideon is hilarious. Harrow is an absolute mess. Nona is BABY, my beloved. (Camilla and Palamedes have my whole entire heart). Also, the audiobook narrator is fantastic. In the words of the author, the buns are also fried chicken. [adult, sci fantasy]

Master and Commander by Patrick O'Brian

This one is @elodieunderglass's fault. Historical buffoonery on boats. The main characters are ridiculous. The sailing jargon is incomprehensible. It's great. [adult, historical fiction]

All You Can Ever Know by Nicole Chung

This is a gorgeous memoir of an interracial adoptee trying to make contact with her birth family while pregnant with her own child. It grapples thoughtfully with reconnecting to a lost culture, the complexities of family history, and the social and legal barriers adoptees face to learning about themselves. [adult, memoir]

Death in the Spires by KJ Charles

I devour everything Charles writes, so I was EXCITED for this mystery. She made it very clear on social media "It's not a kissing book!!" (it's kinda still a kissing book). She wrote a stonking book, as usual, with an underdog protagonist revisiting the murder that happened during his toxic time at Oxford university. [adult, historical mystery]

Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar

My favourite literary fiction read of the year, this meditation on Iranian diaspora identity is written by a poet and you can tell. I would suck the prose up through a straw if I could. The protagonist is an addict and also quite suicidal. It was fun :) [adult, literary fiction]

She Who Became the Sun by Shelly Parker-Chan

and the sequel, He Who Drowned the World. I don't even know how to sell this, all I want to do is flail incoherently about how amazing it is. IT'S AMAZING. JUST READ IT. (wait I know: this satisfied the part of me that was obsessed with Mulan as a kid) [adult, historical fantasy]

A Little Trickery by Roseanna Pike

The voicey-est book I've ever read. I screenshot like every other page. It follows an orphaned girl trying to survive in Tudor England through various means, such as faking a miracle in the church where her gay best friend is priest. [adult, historical fiction]

At the End of the River Styx by Michelle Kulwiki

My friend wrote a book! It made me cry!!! They were delighted with this!!! Please give this to any teenager in your life who needs to see thoughtful representation of grief and depression and boys in love. [YA, contemporary fantasy]

[alovelyfrenchworld]

Your Neigborly Orc Part 1

Meeting an orc was not something that anyone from your village ever expected. Even with your village being the closest human civilization near the river orc territories, it was still considered strange.

Half-orcs were proof of the interracial relations, but they were rare in your part of the country. A half-orc hadn't been spotted for around 50 years. You never thought you would be one to compete with the discourse of your people.

You met your warlord lover perchance after hunting one day. THe border between the orc territory and the human territory was divided by a small river in the forest. Few ever ventured that close.

There was knowledge that other orc territories had blurred with the humans in other regions, but yours had yet to do so. The overall interactions with orcs had increased across the lands and it was becoming a small shadow in the thoughts of the human civilizations of what these interactions could mean.

Regardless of their opinions, you tried to stay near to your homestead you had established in the blissful wood. You decided a change of pace to create a space for yourself was beneficial. You lived close to the river that divided the territories as it gave you a water source, but when hunting and foraging, you tried to stay as close as possible. If one was not paying attention, it was easy to cross the borders between territories. Even in your land did the borders begin to blur.

You had begun to make a living from selling animals meats and forage herbs in your village. Living in the wood gave you access to many resources and a source for profit. Living solitarily was not as lonely as many thought.

**********

The winter was growing harsher as the weeks went by, making it all the more pertinent to stay stocked on supplies. Primarily, that meant firewood was in constant need.

After enjoying a humble breakfast and attending to your minimal, but helpful, livestock, you set out into the nearby wood to refill your kindling.

Supplied with your rucksack, simple ace, and rope for bundling, you set out for the day. The weather had killed off many of the berry bushes and herbs you often used, so meat and wood had become the primary subjects of your searches.

After finding a decent spot, you chopped away at some smaller trees that would be easier for you to carry. Carrying everything by hand was not your usual method, but your wagon was not properly equipped for travelling in the snow, so you you could only bring home what you could carry. That fateful day, you were not the only one who decided to go out deeper into the woods.

Some distance away, across the river, was a big, burly, orc chopping away at a large log. Methodically and skillfully, he was chopping the wood and bundling it together.

You were mesmerized. You had never seen an orc in person before. He fascinated you.

Having noticed your staring, you went back to chopping wood. The noise must have alerted the orc, who then took his turn to take note of you when you were looking away.

You, unknowingly being watched in return, bundled the bits of ash tree you had chopped and readied yourself to go back home.

"It won't be enough," spoke a gravelly voice.

You turned to see the orc standing closer to the river, his kindling hanging from one arm.

"I'm sorry?" you hadn't expected him to speak to you.

"A few more bits of wood will help you. It's an awfully freezing winter." He was right, but you wouldn't admit that to a stranger.

"I appreciate your input, but I can handle my own. Have a good day, sir." At that, you turned around to head back home.

Regardless of whether or not the orc was right, you wanted to be self-sufficient. You had all you could carry and that was more that what many could do, so either way, you were proud.

[legy]

i gotta tell you what ive read two hours of wholesome monster girl academia and

1. its fucking boring. but

2. its like completely uncritically set in a monstergirl residential school. the protagonist thinks about how monsters are better off at private catholic academies instead of public school. its established in the loredump at the beginning of the game that monsters were uncontacted peoples discovered via the first uses of satellite photography. they were genocided by most of human society but for whatever reason the pope declared that all are equal under the eyes of god and is stated to have allowed interspecies marriages well before it was legal. none of the monsters you get to know ever express anything regarding having a culture outside of catholicism, including one (a daywalker, the child of a human and vampire) who is actively repulsed by his vampire lineage and verbatim says that "vampires are 100% evil." crazy subtext in this thing

2.5 sorry i cannot get over that monsterfucker marriages were officiated by catholic churches, IN TEXT, before interracial or gay marriages were

3. there are many weird details that (speaking as someone who was raised catholic and went to sunday school) immediately scream that the author is either not catholic or an adult convert. which makes the choice to commit to this bit so intensely just baffling to me. like they have mass on wednesday which is (to my knowledge) exclusively a protestant practice. all the spaces you inhabit (particularly the religious ones) are not nearly as ostentatious as you would expect from a catholic church. like their chapel is more spartan than the one attached to the sunday school i went to. they wont even involve the more interesting/iconic catholic rituals like lent because its set in OCTOBER. where are my fish feast fridays.

4. the fucking vampires dont even drink blood so we dont even get the awesome lore possibility that the eucharist is filling to them because its literally the body and blood of christ

[sol-iscus]

CAN I ALSO JUST SAY

I am *so* fucking happy seeing two poc (especially a black woman love interest) in this type of media?? I have become extra attached to this show for a variety of reasons but this being the biggest one. I am aware that there is mainstream media that feature interracial relationships, but the face of so many of those relationships are white man x poc.

The acolyte was a breath of fresh air for me. I am equally obsessed with how transparent the creator of the show was with what type of relationship to expect between the main leads and didn’t tease us with something that was never going to happen.

And they’re both fine as hell

[peachhoneii]

Rio and Jefferson pulled the most wholesome “This boy did not just bring home a white girl” I’ve ever seen in a movie pertaining to an interracial romance that included a white woman/girl. Because they’re absolutely kind and respectful to Gwen, but they were not expecting a white girl. I cackled at Rio’s “I bet she doesn’t speak Spanish.” Like MA’AM.

I know a significant part of it was them learning to let Miles go and accepting he’s growing up, but another part was they genuinely didn’t expect him bringing home a white girl. That definitely caught them off guard because they didn’t see that coming at all. I love their reactions to it bc it’s similar to how my parents responded to my brother’s white gf.

“Oh, she just said my first name.” Yeah, felt that on an instinctual level. Grew up in the South, Mr. and Mrs. always came first, but this isn’t a race thing because Ganke does the same thing, which neither Rio or Jefferson appreciate. Feel this is just a generational gap sort of thing.

A tidbit about Miles. I really, really appreciate the film including his lowkey attraction to Margo Kess. Gwen and Miles are my preferred ship, but this was a nice touch where you saw Miles and Margo vibe with each other, albeit briefly. There were some sparks. In his escape, Margo hesitated when she could’ve stopped Miles and eventually turns on Miguel, realizing that while his motives may be noble, his methods are not.

There are other small, subtle nuanced concerning race and depiction of race that I genuinely respect the film for depicting so seamlessly. When Rio corrected the guidance counselor on her immigration status, “I’m from Puerto Rico. I’m from here.” But she slowly accepts the line if it means helping Miles’ succeed.

Also the contrast between Miles and 42-Miles hairstyles. That is so POIGNANT to me. Miles is such an open, caring boy and his hair reflects that bountiful spirit he has. It’s thick and open and free. 42-Miles has been damaged by the world so extensively that he’s closed off emotionally and his hair, tight, coiled braids, reflect the coldness he lives in and has become.

[anyothercomments]

“S3 rayla would never” “arc 1 raylum would never have turned out like this”

Arc 2 raylum were what- 14 yrs old? S7 raylum r 16/17 ? Ur telling me that you think that two teenagers who are going to experience more trauma than most adults have to face, break up for 2ish years, go through another serving of trauma and get back together are gonna act the exact same way? Are going to interact the exact same way with each other and their loved ones? Are going to have the exact same values and insecurities?

S1 rayla hated her parents for abandoning the dragon queen, had a strained relationship with runaan where her self worth was constantly reliant on his approval, had never left xadia before and was convinced she was meant to be an assasin

S7 rayla has mourned 2 of her parents twice, one of them once. Has had to choose which to keep living. Has been banished from her home for 2 years. Banished herself from society for 1 ish year. Has killed a person. Has met humans. Has fought in wars.

S1 callum had like 3 friend, was constantly belittled, had 0 self esteem and lived an extremely sheltered life, feeling like an imposter the entire time as the orphan step prince.

S7 callum has found magic and rayla and wouldnt sacrifice them for anything - his relationship with both things sometimes manifests in unhealthy ways and he ends up selfishly prioritising the wrong thing some times but he’s a 17 yr old boy so that’s to be expected. He had an actual support system and whilst he still struggles with his self esteem, he’s overcome a lot of his imposter syndrome.

(Also may i just say why is everyone so anti callum wanting kids? Dude says a hypothetical about how interracial babies turn out differently and all of a sudden his character’s been ruined? So what if he actually wanted 10 kids? Doesnt mean he and rayla cant still both be the best mage and warrior the continent has ever seen before or whilst they have kids? )

And you mean to tell me you expect s7 rayla to have the exact same fears and insecurities as s1 rayla? To interact with her loved ones in the same way? To prioritise them the same? She has changed- for better or for worse. It’s ok to disagree with the way they wrote her but it gets on my nerves when people say “oh she wouldnt do that in s3”.

You mean to tell me that as a teen you never prioritised friends over family? You were perfectly emotionally adjusted and never made selfish decisions that meant you let a sibling down? That callum’s all of a sudden irredeemably evil because he decided to support rayla when he really should’ve stayed and helped ezran work through his emotions?

You mean to tell me that 17 year old you adamantly stands by all of your actions at 14 and has the exact same relationships with all your most important people? Cus if you do you were either a very emotionally mature 14 yr old or you were an incredibly immature 17 year old.

All of that to say that holding arc 2 raylum to arc 1 rayllum standards is just weird to me. They’ve both changed- for better or for worse- and if they had the exact same relationship after all that, then what was the point in making an arc 2? And i hope that their relationship develops in arc 3 as well.

[longing-for-rain]

https://www.tumblr.com/atla-confessions/759438562978562048/zutara-and-azutara-both-agree-katara-would-have?source=share

Do a post on this please I don't have the energy

I see this sentiment a lot lately, and yes, it is frustrating. But I’m going to talk about it because it perfectly illustrates the way (kataang) fans take power away from Katara’s narrative and reduce her complexity as a result.

For those too tired to look at the OP (understandable) it’s an anon saying that both Zutara and Kazula would be problematic and harmful to Katara because the Fire Nation would never accept her, and that she and her family would always be in danger yada yada blah blah.

And honestly? I agree with that. It would be dangerous for Katara. But if you think that would stop Katara, you fundamentally don’t understand her character.

Do you really think Katara is some poor little damsel who needs to be protected at all costs and sent away to live a quiet life in the countryside? No; that’s never been Katara. Katara wants to fight and she has never backed down from a challenge. It’s who she is.

Katara is the girl who left her home to travel across a war-torn world to chase even a chance that she could play a part in ending the war. She’s constantly putting herself in dangerous situations because she follows her heart, she does what’s right even if it’s a risk to her safety. The Katara we know from ATLA is not some demure, unassuming girl who would be happy to sit back and become known for her healing above all else while her friends fought in her place. Katara would have hated to see her future as it was written. She is loud. She is proud. She is a fighter.

Katara not only accepts a challenge; she’s eager for it. She’s strong, she knows it, and she isn’t afraid to use her power for good.

I know someone is going to jump in the comments and accuse me of “shaming” Katara for her “choices” (nevermind the fact that she’s a fictional character so every choice she makes isn’t her own; it’s a narrative chosen for her by the male writers) but I’m not even saying that being a healer is inherently weak or bad. I’m saying it’s not Katara.

It’s a shame that so many people are willing to overlook the butchering of her story just because they’re so protective over canon and are completely unwilling to engage with it critically.

This sentiment reflects the issues many fans have with canon kataang, because it’s a very common misogynistic trope in media. A female character can be strong, but it’s only temporary. We can see her fight and triumph, but at the end she’s expected to give that up for marriage and motherhood after the war. Her identity is reduced to her relation to a man. She isn’t expected to retain her strength; she is expected to accept a quiet recognition while the world sings the man’s praises.

That was the fate of Katara in canon. And it is a disservice to her character. Katara would have wanted to continue to fight, because the fight wasn’t over. Anon’s recognition that Fire Nation nobility would have an issue with her holding power shows they understand that too. So why do you think Katara would be fine with sitting back and letting that happen? Why do you think she’d let that scare her away? Not my Katara.

Especially when love enters the picture. Let’s say Katara did canonically love Zuko, or Azula, or anyone outside of her nation for that matter. Yes, it would be more difficult for her. But do you really think Katara would back down for that reason?

In fact, do you realize how insulting it is to imply that she should to anyone in an interracial relationship? Or a same sex relationship? Yes, societal pressure and bigotry make them more difficult. But it doesn’t make them wrong. And the idea that it’s selfish or wrong because it’s endangering the family is insulting.

Especially in the case of Kazula. The Fire Nation is canonically homophobic. There would be danger and backlash for any same sex relationship, especially involving a member of the royal family like Azula. So…what then. Are gay people supposed to stop existing? Is Azula supposed to just never date or marry because it would be too dangerous?

Yeah, no. 0/10, trash take, do better.

(This part is mostly a joke but I also want to point it out)

The anon also implies that Katara’s canon relationship (with the Avatar) wouldn’t also carry the same risks. Which it would, probably even more so. Katara could be used as leverage against Aang by people trying to get to him. I mean, it already happened in canon.

And quite frankly, Aang was pretty useless at protecting Katara in that situation. Look at his face. Literal baby goo-goo-ga-ga shit. She’s lucky Fong wasn’t willing to actually kill her and that she was safely underground when Aang had his Spirit Tantrum because she would have been dead meat. So if your argument is that poor helpless little Katara would be sooooo much safer with Aang, I’m really not convinced.

If you’re going to decide who to ship Katara with based on who can protect her from danger the best, well…

I’m just saying 🤷🏻‍♀️🍵

[cardboardheartss]

PICK-A-HANNI : How Would You Spend New Years Eve With Your Bias?🦭

🦭Hanni #1 : 10oS rx, WoF • Resisting rx, Karma, Time rx

Hanni #1’s! I’m getting a feeling that your bias may force you to spend some time with them! They probably know that you went through A LOT in 2024, and they genuinely feel bad for you. So… they will drag you out, and obviously you’ll be very hesitant and sulking about the whole outing. Your bias will be lucky enough to have you stay out for an hour or two, but I see you eventually leaving and going back into self-isolation.

🦭Hanni #2 : Judgement rx, PoS rx, 4oS, 8oP • Past Life rx, Longing rx, Beauty

Ugh! Hanni #2’s!! Your bias is literally so sweet!! Orr maybe you’re the sweet person they have around!! Both of you guys will most definitely have a sleepover! You’ll just be scrolling through social media, laughing your assess off! This connection/ time spent won’t be forced at all and this will be genuine and meaningful time spent with your bias! Expect to take a million selfies or even film your own vlogs and mukbangs.

🦭Hanni #3 : PoC rx • Breaking Point rx, Silence, Elusive rx

Oh! Umm! Apologies Hanni #3’s! I don’t see you spending any time with your bias during New Year’s Eve. Sorry guys!

🦭Hanni #4 : The World, KNoC, 2oP, The Emperor, 8oC rx, 10oP rx • Healing, Bitterness, Influences, Cloudy Judgement, Ecstasy

Hmm! Hanni #4’s! I see your bias is most likely a male idol/celeb. I don’t want to feed any delusions today, but I forfeit! You and your bias, are definitely a couple, an interracial couple to be exact! I see your bias had to pick between 2 people, and they chose you. Unfortunately, I do see them trying to let you meet their family but the family will not approve of you! This will make you quite sad, but your bias will cheer you up and take you to a club and get all turnt up! Probably do some drugs too!!

🦭Hanni #5 : 5oP, QoW, Death rx, 2oS rx, 9oW, 5oS • Apology, Spying rx, Running rx, Conflicted

Hanni #5’s!! You and your bias are so wild lol! One of you are either financially struggling or living your best lives, or you yourself could portray yourself as rich but in reality you’re not rich at all! You two will meet and will not hide your meet up. The public will see you two together, partying and expect people to post you on social media. I also feel as if, your bias is a male idol/celeb and this will obviously lead to controversy. The public will be attacking you Hanni #5’s, and I see you being forced to release a public apology.

🦭Hanni #6 : KoC rx, 7oS, Strength rx, 3oS, KNoS rx • Distracted, Return rx, Soulmate, Broken

Oh! Hanni #6’s! I also see you guys not not spending any time with your bias during New Year’s Eve! You two are in an already established relationship, but i see you could’ve broken up before new years. It’s possible you’ll come across their social medias, possibly a burner account and you’ll see him living his best life, and all turnt up with other girls. At that moment you’ll be overwhelmed by so many emotions, you’ll be angry, sad, devastated and like really really pissed off all at the same time.

Welp!! This was my gift from me to you all on this blog! Thank you all for the overwhelming and undying support! Thank you for all the asks, the interactions and just your overall presence! My year’s highlight HAS to be you guys!! You all have kept me up on my feet, gave me my first self earned money?? Like how insane is that???

So thank you! thank you guys! i love and appreciate you all! Happy New Years Eve (time zone differences lol), i will try to be as active next year but it’s my final year of high school so… i need to be focused on my books!!! So… I’ll try keep you guys posted!

Love y’all’s!!🎆♾️📦

[snowbunnywatching]

You have been posting for a real long time. (Thank you for that) Did you think you would been doing this for a long time and What have you seen change in tumblr and the real world? What surprised you the most ?

No, I didn't expect to still be blogging about this after all this time.

I first started posting as an outlet for my secret fantasies about Black men while having a white boyfriend. I was staying up late at night watching interracial material, dreaming up fantasies where I, not the girls on the screen, got to experience a Black man.

I expected to quickly burn through my fantasies, and for my mind to turn to other thoughts. But my desires only got stronger, and now I find myself fantasizing about Black men when making love with my boyfriend.

I think Tumblr has changed for the worse. The no-smut policy wiped out so many great blogs overnight, and frequent bannings make it impossible to cultivate any cohesive community.

I think mixed relationships are more common in the real world than when I first started posting. It makes me think a lot about how my life would have turned out if I had been born 5-10 years later. Would I have had a better chance to live out my fantasies?