#it was time for this post

[house-of-mirrors]

On Unconscious Bias in Evolution (Under the cut for discussion of racism)

[Disclaimer that I am white]

I know the game doesn't get into time period discrimination, but the story is called Evolution, the protagonist is a Black man, and the Great Chain already functions as a metaphor for Social Darwinism. Instead of this story challenging the Great Chain, the game presents a narrative in which the only way to escape this oppressive system of predeterminism is to go through torture and sacrifice your humanity, and for whatever reason the revolutionaries are on the side of 'fate' on this one. Ignoring everything else that I'm about to discuss, it was jarring for me because the theme of the games in recent years generally has been "Great Chain bad and you have the power to be whatever you want"

I tried to think of how many other named Black men characters there are in the game. I can only think of the Bishop of St Fiacre's off the top of my head, but he isn't human, and… steals faces. How about Black women? Horatia comes to mind right away… and she's in a caretaking/housekeeper role. Hm. Oh yes and the Implacable Detective is a cop

This is a horror game, and most characters will not have a happy ending. However, I feel like the Youthful Naturalist got a much bleaker story than most of the characters in FL. Railway had multiple methods for saving Furnace at the end, but Evolution had powerlessness. The Youthful Naturalist also experiences more visceral body horror than many other characters in the game. If you get down to it, it's a story about a Black man suffering and failing to escape suffering. I might feel different if he wasn't one of the only Black characters. While typing this post, I realized becoming the boatman means being forced into servitude... Yikes™️

When I pick apart work, I try to be gracious and assume ignorance instead of jumping to maliciousness. Given that fbg is mostly white authors, it's likely no one stopped to consider how this would come across. Imagine you're sitting down to write a story, you plot it out and decide a character happens to belong to a certain minority group. Here, we have a story exploring a loose end in HD and the shapeling arts with a main character that happens to be Black. Tropes have vastly different origins and consequences for different demographics, however. A story about being forced into fate and servitude has worse implications and ties to real-world oppression for a Black character than a white character. Once I saw someone describe fbg with "clumsy attempts at diversity" and yeah!

I'm not saying you can't write minorities in horror. The horror genre belongs to all of us and the alternative is only having white dude characters forever. You just gotta be aware of pitfalls, especially when you're writing about a demographic you aren't a part of. Especially when you have hardly any other characters of that demographic.

I'd like not to believe the writers had intention to come across poorly, but that's why it's called unconscious bias. Creators need to do their due diligence with sensitivity and bias training. In 2023, there's no excuse for it in a world where you can quickly google "racist tropes in the horror genre." Stop for a second while writing and reflect on how you're portraying a character from a demographic you aren't a part of. I do it all the time in my own work. As fiction writers, we create a world where anything can happen, and it's essential to carefully consider diversity and inclusion.

[demadogs]

this happened months ago. i cannot keep it in any longer. a while ago i went on a porn site ive never been to and it asked if i was over 18 and i misclicked and said no and it automatically sent me to google images of puppies and kittens. i still cannot get over how funny this is.

[climbingthefloors]

obsessed with this baby hippo from thailand's khao khew zoo.. she has been so utterly betrayed by the world

[its-arson-time]

this post is meant for mobile users

[mroddmod]

the queen of the disco or whatever

[roboticnebula]

Pros of re-reading your own fic

a good time;

Has exactly the tropes you like and the characterization you want to read;

Gratification: yes you did finish a thing and yes you did do good;

just a very fun time all around.

Cons of re-reading your own fic:

Is that another TYpO

[stemmmm]

bad youtube clickbait thumbnail that reads "I think I just had a therapy session with a DEMON???"

[artsymeeshee]

Haven’t collabed with @renconner in a long while for a mini comic (minus our big one, Instinct). We were talking about one of Stan’s lowest moments involving being outside with that damn sign, so we decided to make a comic with Stan remembering it. I’ve also kinda of assumed Filbrick would lie to Ford about what’s going on with Stan (Stan probably did too to some extent).

[mias-back-from-the-dead]

tbh i think the funniest phenomena that's been happening in the last couple years is "youtuber, having gone too deep into the research hole, has been made an investigative journalist against their will"

[vamprisms]

i feel like a lot of the 'i hate kids' crowd would be more tolerant if they understood that due to a kid's limited experience of the world that 4 hour flight might just be the longest they've ever had to sit still for or that trapped finger might literally be the most pain they've ever felt in their short life or they might not have ever seen a person with pink hair ever so of course they want to touch it or nobody's told them yet that they can't run around the museum and they only just learned cheetahs are the fastest animals so of course they want to put that to the test. how were they supposed to know etc etc.

[broadwayfangirl222]

Not on TikTok often but I heard this audio I had to make this edit with it. Here's a link to the original

[butchfalin]

the funniest meltdown ive ever had was in college when i got so overstimulated that i could Not speak, including over text. one of my friends was trying to talk me through it but i was solely using emojis because they were easier than trying to come up with words so he started using primarily emojis as well just to make things feel balanced. this was not the Most effective strategy... until. he tried to ask me "you okay?" but the way he chose to do that was by sending "👉🏼👌🏼❓" and i was so shocked by suddenly being asked if i was dtf that i was like WHAT???? WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY TO ME?????????? and thus was verbal again

[parientou]

big brother duties are never over

[frostplays]

CHAT THEY DISCOVERED A NEW COAT TYPE IN CATS

IT'S CALLED "SALMIAK" OR "SALTY LICORICE" AND IT LOOKS LIKE THIS

[keithbutgay]

hi!

um

yeah

notes goal post

because i really need motivation

(i stole some of these but shhhhh)

if this post gets 50 notes i'll drink water right now

100 i'll go to bed at midnight for the rest of the week

200 i'll actually do my laundry

500 i'll take a shower every day for the rest of the week

1,000 i'll brush my teeth every night for a full week

2,000 i'll stop binding for an unhealthy amount of time for a full week

3,000 i'll start actually wearing my ankle braces consistently

4,000 i'll eat breakfast every day for the rest of the week

5,000 i'll stop binding while sleeping

6,000 i'll stop wearing earrings i'm allergic to for a full week

7,000 i'll start doing makeup again

8,000 i'll stop eating chocolate for the rest of the week

9,000 i'll make my autodale masks

10,000 i'll touch grass every day for the rest of the month

11,000 i'll water my plants twice a week for the rest of the month

12,000 i'll put on my lotion when i need to for a full week

13,000 i'll eat at least two meals every day for the rest of the week

14,000 i'll finish my water bottle every day for a full week

15,000 i'll write more for forest files

18,000 i'll clean out my backpack

19,000 i'll take my vitamins every day for the rest of the week

20,000 i'll finish my stained glass project

21,000 i'll go to bed before midnight for the rest of the week

22,000 i'll do my summer reading

23,000 i'll move the knife out of my room

24,000 i'll eat three meals every day for three days

25,000 i'll stop purposefully triggering myself for a full week

50,000 i'll try my best to stay clean for two full weeks

i'll probably add more goals if this somehow get past 5k, but there it is for now :)

spam allowed

tagging allowed

ummm the deadline is halloween

*thumbs up*

go for it