#like im asian so i can only speak on this from that point of view

[floralovebot]

Hi, I want to ask your opinion on something. You made a post that said changing the Winx's races is bad. I agree that it's not okay but I have a question about Helia. I thought he was Native American when I was a child but you've said he's Asian. Is it wrong to think he's Native American?

I had to think about how to answer this for a while tbh! Sorry for the late reply

Anyway, I probably could answer this with a simple yes or no but I really feel like I should explain my answer.

I'm pretty sure you're referencing this post! Anyway, the biggest issue with race changing the canon characters of color is that when you do it, you're participating in erasure. Again, it's not more representation to, for example, make Flora asian - it's erasure because you're intentionally erasing her being latina. Now like I said, I don't have an issue with like,, children not noticing their canon races or ethnicities. It's perfectly fine if a little kid sees characters as something else! The problem is grown adults ignoring and erasing their canon races.

When it comes to Helia specifically, he is very much coded as asian, specifically east asian. I want to clarify that it's not explicitly canon. Rainbow has never stated what race he's supposed to represent and they've never said if he was based on a real person. We don't even know what planet he's actually from! So his race is all coding. However, that coding is still,,, fairly obvious. And I specifically want to touch on how Rainbow depicts their east asian characters versus their indigenous characters.

Most of their east asian characters have either dark blue, black, or brown hair and more narrow eyes. Like,, that's their go-to when trying to make a character Noticeably asian. They're also fond of putting their asian characters in traditional clothing (like qi pao or hanfu) rather than casual clothing. I added Helia at the very bottom so you can see how he compares to other, canonically asian characters.

While Rainbow has absolutely depicted asian characters in offensive ways (espero...), it's usually pretty respectful. Meanwhile,,, their depiction of indigenous characters is... anything but.

Like before, I put a picture of Helia so you can compare him to the canonically indigenous characters. As you can see here, their depiction of indigenous characters is,, extremely racist! It follows a lot of racist stereotypes like red skin, face paint, headdress, feathers, etc. Just,,, all around Not Good. And you'll notice that Helia doesn't really "fit in" visually. That's not to say that he has to look like that to be indigenous but remember that this is an animated show with intentional designs made by white people. If he was meant to be seen as indigenous, he would likely share more characteristics with these characters (like having darker, red-toned skin). Again, their depiction of indigenous characters is extremely racist. I don't think there's a single indigenous character in winx that doesn't look like a walking stereotype out of an old cowboy film. Unfortunately, Helia would absolutely look different and more like those racist designs if he was meant to be indigenous.

Now, to actually answer your question. Is it okay to see Helia as indigenous, and specifically indigenous to the americas? Well... as Helia's racial coding is still just coding and not explicit, it's not a crime if you don't see him as asian. Like,, while I do absolutely think he was meant to be seen as asian, it's still technically ambiguous enough that it's not a Bad thing if you don't see him as such.

That said, you need to be extremely careful with how you think of and portray Helia as indigenous. I've talked before about Rainbow including quite a few stereotypes about east asian men with Helia, and unfortunately, most if not all of them, can also apply to indigenous men. For example, Helia is calmer and wise (often shown to give advice in poetic ways), connected to nature (ie, birds, plants, Flora), frequently meditates, etc. These are all common stereotypes for indigenous men. I'd actually recommend reading this wikipedia article!

Anyway, seeing him as indigenous isn't inherently wrong, but there's absolutely a chance that you're picking up on indigenous stereotyping rather than coding or a headcanon. Like the long hair, connection to nature, the pacifist comment, the weird and kind of cryptic one-liners he occasionally has... Unfortunately, a lot of the indigenous!Helia headcanons/redesigns I've seen have been really racist. And the common reasoning for why they think he's indigenous often comes down to these common stereotypes.

So like,,, god I know this is long but honestly the answer is complicated. It's not a simple yes or no. It really, really depends on why you think he's indigenous. Like. Just ask yourself yknow? Why do you think this? Think of an actual reason that isn't just "vibes". And if you're creating any kind of content, even if it's just daydreaming tbh, how are you depicting him? Is there even the slightest hint of a stereotypical depiction? (And again, please research stereotypical depictions because there are a lot and quite a few contradict each other)

If you're confident that you're not stereotyping him, then honestly, it's not that bad to see him as indigenous. I do ask that you try to see and understand him being asian coded, as I do think that's important, regardless of whether or not it's in your face explicit. However, it's not like. a crime if you don't see him as asian. Just be very, very, Very careful with how you think of and portray indigenous!Helia.

Also,,, I didn't know quite how to fit this into the rest of the post but,, while it's not Bad for you to not see Helia as asian, you should think about why that is. For example, there are still a lot of people in the fandom who don't see Nabu as asian, despite his coding being extremely in your face and honestly canon at this point. But because he has darker skin, he's from Andros, and he was with Aisha, a lot of people assumed he was black. That's not inherently a bad thing, but some of those people get really mad when others point out that he's very much south asian which,,, is a bad thing. I understand the feeling of losing rep and wanting to protect that, but you shouldn't bulldoze other groups to do it.

I'm not sure what your opinion of asian Helia is, but if you're like,, against him being asian or refuse to see that very intentional coding just because you really like the idea of him being indigenous,, you should think about that and reassess things.

[ugly-anarchist]

I know you're probably going to respond really immaturely to this so my expectations are low but.

I just want to say that people ARE in fact killed over romance. Some countries like Pakistan and India have strict social norms surrounding romance (and yes they frown upon even the most typical non-interfaith cishet romantic couple you can think of). They prioritise arranged marriage and while the situation is changing a bit, lots of people have and still do face violence such as honor killings, being forced into marriage, being married as literal children, etc.

Due to the fear and hatred around romance these societies have created in order to control people. Im south asian myself and my country does this about romance. Its not always so easy for people everywhere to engage in romance without facing abuse or violence. In talking about the things you do on this blog, please don't ignore the reality of people other than yourself. Just because where YOU live people only face that over sex, doesn't mean that its the same everywhere in every single culture.

And by the way, Im aromantic as well and I have to say that treating something neutral (that can be harmful or beneficial or neutral depending on how someones romance is) as inherently harmful is a dick move even if no society in the whole entire world held these views.

You are allowed to hate romance and not want anything to do with it. I think that experience is great and should always be supported. I hope romance repulsed people are able to avoid romance and have ppl respect their boundaries. The only problem comes when anyone, because I really don't think ONLY romance repulsed people do this from my experience, decides to act like romance is *inherently* immoral and harmful.

That ideology can and will harm people. Just like how being sex negative wouldn't suddenly become ok if the world happened to be completely sex positive and never sex negative in any way.

"I know you're going to respond immaturely" is a really great way to start an ask and definitely paints you as the more "mature" and "reasonable" one anon /s

It's almost like... I never actually said that romance was inherently bad and that actually what I said was that how romance is depicted in most English speaking countries there's an underlying implication of ownership that's really toxic

It's almost like I never said what you're claiming I said and you're putting words in my mouth in order to completely ignore my original point

Yes of course anon my justified anger and sass make me immature because you're clearly just trying to show me how wrong I am for saying *checks notes* things I literally never said. Round of applause because clearly you're the sole beacon of hope in this otherwise bleak world that I've created by saying "acting like you own your romantic partner is bad"

But please, keep ignoring my original point because it clearly makes you very uncomfortable that people criticize the way romance is expected to be performed in society. Whatever makes you feel better. Don't unpack that clearly deep-seated internalized amatonormativity that keeps steering you away from critical thought, I'm the bad guy for, again, things I never said.

[elumish]

#fandom#this entirely depends on what is considered apologia#is writing a story about genocide in and of itself apologia?#because there are stories where people take glee in stomping out an entire species - stories about lotr and orcs for example. would that be#considered genocide apologia?#or is it only when irl people talk about genocide in a positive light - making their irl views awful?#or is it both?#im genuinely confused#but also in regards to the regulations - what kind?#banning? making them tag their works as such?#and as for racism - what country standards would you be judging by?#because for multicultural stuff like crazy rich Asians it is both good rep and racist depending on the country#from an Asian American standpoint it’s necessary good rep. from a Singaporean standpoint it’s racist and elitist bc it portrays only a very#small part of Singaporean society - Uber rich majority - as if that’s all there is to Singapore when it’s a multicultural country#with struggles related to the widening income gap between rich and poor#so from a Singaporean viewpoint the movie is like. inaccurate and kinda racist#but both are true. so how would this be handled?#in a way that acknowledges and doesn’t hurt both sides?#there’s also a lot of dissonance between Japanese works and American interpretation of it#but fandom is international - I’m not from America so my views differ - so which standards woukd be used?#I guess my big question is - what stories would be banned#and what judgement criteria would be used for that ban? if this is about banning people from fandom @allebooklover

I debated whether to respond to these tags at all, but I have two main thoughts here:

I'm not talking about banning people from anywhere, because the ability to ban people from anywhere is not something I or almost anyone else has. There are a lot of ways to do community standards even when you have no ability to ban people or stuff from anywhere. I can't get anyone's stuff kicked off of Tumblr or AO3. But I can still follow my own standards to block people on Tumblr who are being racist, to not rec racist stories, to defend fans of color against racists. I can personally speak out against that content that I see as unacceptable, without ever harassing the person who made it. I can work, purposefully and without hurting anyone, to make the space that I engage with and the things that I amplify unwelcome to people who write things like slavery apologia or pro-slavery stories. And if we work together to do so, we can make larger and larger swaths of fandom unwelcome to people like that. Content moderation would obviously have to be figured out by those with the ability to moderate content, which includes both AO3 and other controlled fan spaces (e.g., zines, fanfic collections). I don't have a clear list of exactly what standards they should set (though efforts like End OTW Racism have suggestions), in part because I'm not a content moderation expert, but the great thing is that we don't need to reinvent the wheel here. Companies and organizations have been talking about content moderation for as long as there has been content to moderate. There are a million frameworks you can look at if you are in the position to do content moderation.

You're absolutely right that racism is not homogenous across the world! Some of these topics are definitely nuanced (being a Nazi, less so), and so there would need to be nuance applied to how we talk or think about them. So let's have that conversation. Absolutely. Please work within whatever fandom spaces you exist in to build a personal and community understanding of where the issues key to your specific fandom are and what you can do to make people like Nazi apologists unwelcome while protecting Black fans and other fans of color.

The point of this post is not to say that I have the perfect solution to the massive and intractable racism and bigotry problem in fandom, because it is a problem that is just a microcosm of the racism and bigotry problem in the world as a whole. It's hard and messy and complicated and will require nuance and cultural comptency.

But it will also require actually standing up and trying to do something, and that something starts with having meaningful discussions about it instead of just conflating any effort with harassment or even with censorship and using that to dismiss it out of hand.

You seem like you have meaningful thoughts about this. That's a great place to start. You just have to keep going.

I think one ongoing challenge to establishing any sort of meaningful community standards in fandom as to acceptable behavior or content is that a lot of people are unable to separate out the idea of standards or moderation from harassment.

There's a refrain you see a lot that amounts to, everyone who thinks that there should be content moderation (or "censorship") either harasses anyone they think is posting unacceptable content or stands with harassers.

And even ignoring the fact that harassment is done by a vocal minority and not anything amounting to a majority (by virtue of the nature of harassment, a very small number of people can make a lot of awful noise), those simply are not the same thing.

Content moderation or community standards aren't harassment, and there are a million ways that they have been done, both on and off the internet, without harassing anyone.

And harassment is done by people at every ideological position. It is not uniquely an action taken by people arguing for content moderation in fandom, and it never has been in the history of the world. Every single ideological stance has some awful people in it, and whatever position you take on anything, the total set of people who agree with you also almost certainly has people who are harassers.

So people get very caught up in conflating the ideology (content moderation or standards in fandom) with an action they perceive as being associated with holding that ideology (harassment) and refuse to meaningfully engage with the ideology because they can just argue that it is an ideology inextricably tied with harassment.

I want there, genuinely, to not be any Nazis or Nazi apologists or slavery apologists or genocide apologists in fandom. And I think that there are ways to get a lot closer to being there that don't involve any harassment at all. But if you read the first sentence in this paragraph and thought "I'm not sure I'm really okay kicking someone out of fandom just because they're a genocide apologist," or "But what if this censorship catches people who aren't really slavery apologists but just people who are horny about the idea of antebellum Southern plantations?" please know that you are part of the problem.

[cutemeat]

Speaking of taking it to 11, I'm glad Glenn stood up for not throwing away stereotypes entirely just to be subversive. Ofc it's valuable that Mac's not a gay man stereotype, but as a queer Asian who fits stereotypes, it's sad when tv goes TOTALLY in the opposite direction because they're worried they'll "do a stereotype" (obv there's good, nuanced and bad, harmful versions). There's proud defiance in leaning in sometimes. Do you think RCG worry about "bi Dennis" bc of evil bi stereotypes?

YES, i totally agree!! And it makes perfect sense that he feels that way, cuz Dennis does tend to embody a lot of common queer stereotypes from s1 all the way to s15... Way moreso than Mac ever has, imo. But its not so much that he felt like a plain caricature of those stereotypes (though obviously im not gonna act like in a lot of moments he's not being played up that way lol... 'boys are out tonight huh!?' but even Glenn admitted that was something he didn't want to be included in the episode as his character cuz it was "too broad" LMAO). He still feels like a character that has depth and is well-rounded, including those 'stereotypical' queer traits. So even before Glenn outright said that, it did feel like he had that mentality and I think that's also probably something that's gotten better with maturity lollll. But I was also rlly glad to hear him outright say that too, cuz it is, as you said, commonplace now for writers to keep trying to be "subversive" of stereotypes but that can backfire horribly and just make a lot of characters feel flat or inauthentic. So yeah it was rlly nice to hear that, and esp on the podcast which gets a lot of viewers.

And I do think that RCG are aware that there is a line they have to be be mindful of when it comes to how these characters' overall deviant nature might be perceived as being related to their queerness... Esp in the case of Dennis, and Mac as well. I think this concern was actually somewhat acknowledged in "The Janitor Always Mops Twice" (and tbh I'm surprised I haven't seen more analysis on this?? tho it definitely could've come up and just been purged at some point as a lot of s14 shit ended up being loll) because the way that episode framed not only Dennis, but Mac too, to fit into the "queer-coded villains" noir trope was--again, imo-- an acknowledgment of that. Like, they see the history of that trope in tv/film and how reductive it is. I think that the narrative is deeming that kind of characterization reductive because that episode is not told thru an objective POV, but it's filtered through Charlie's POV, and he clearly has some uh... complex feelings about his best friends' relationship and their respectively ambiguous and not-so-ambiguous sexualities LOL. But also in the past whenever a scene was through Charlie's POV (i.e. his flashback sequence in "Who Got Dee Pregnant?") it's been shown that he has pretty reductive views of the people in his life. Typically narrowing them down to a few traits, or saying shit that is very uh "ooc" (i.e. "yeah. dee inspired me. she said, "you're an awesome janitor, charlie. you can make this whole school slippery." I said, "sure, I'll give it my best shot." then she's, like, "let's be best friends." and I was, like, "sure, I'll give that my best shot, too." so we're best friends now.)... so... yeah. Plus, when you compare that episode's framing to the rest of s14 and that season's overall "oh god we're so afraid of fucking this all up" subtext (Thunder Gun 4, Right to Chop, Big Mo, etc.)... I definitely do think that's definitely a concern of theirs when it comes to that aspect of Dennis' writing as well LOL. and I think even they even sorta admitted to that dragging their feet on addressing Dennis' sexuality/his relationship with Mac as it has been the past couple of seasons in the s15 finale in a very on-the-nose way... ("oh, my god. It looks like he was dragging his feet back here. were you hanging on it?") lmaooo..

[real-godzekiel]

🥛Do nothing. Nothing works!🥛

Name: Godzekiel(Zeke)/Coconot Pronouns: Ey/Em and Prn/Prns. (Use any except they/them if you can't handle my crazy booger pronouns.)

Thanks for visiting my page! May Ezekiel be with you.

🥥ADDITIONAL INFO🦠

I am an East Asian Canadian from Shanghai China so I have many Chinese internet friends. I will speak Mandarin and reclaim sinophobic slurs. i speak crazy 😼

I identify as fictional characters. . Sorry! "is it kinning is this a mental illness are you this are you that what are you uh why are you like this uhm why just why " sorry gusy im just ezekiel . im kind of just em. sorry . i know i started from a weird funny kinning ask blog thing. i do, at the core, SERIOUSLY see myself as an ezekiel. this is a thing and i do not know how to explain/label it and i don't want to 😼

I am 14!!!! I AM 14 YEARS OLD!!!!!!!! 😼

I like many media that some may consider "problematic". I do not support romanticization of serious topics or bigotry in fiction. I am critical of everything I enjoy and will encourage others to do the same. 😼

If there’s anything that I've posted or did that you find upsetting feel free to tell me! I genuinely don’t want to irritate anyone and I try to respect all points of view. I like to always change for the better and fix problems around me. I will also answer any kind of question asked to me in my inbox./gen!!!! /gen!!!!!!!!! 😼

i draw/reblog gore and horror. it's a side interest i had since childhood and i tag them. i think it's good, but it's also bad. but mostly good. actually all bad. anyways Happy Tree Friends all the way 😼

Current interests are BRBA/BCS/LOTR/DHMIS/TUDOMP look at these acronyms and tell me you understand 😼

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[faeriejukyung]

True Beauty’s Gaping Mother Wound

*disclaimer*: I understand that all the listed traits are things which are often very common in Asian households, and it may seem that rather than being concerning, these are just a part of Asian culture. That is why, I feel that it’s necessary for me to make it clear that I am, in fact, Asian (Indian to be specific), and parental abuse is something that is extremely normalized here. As someone who has experienced it firsthand, I want to say that just because something is common/normal, doesn’t necessarily mean that it is correct. If you or anyone you know is in a situation like that, it’s very very important to speak out. And it’s not your fault, i know it’s easier to believe that way but it’s really not. We deserve to be in a loving environment, regardless of what culture we are born in.

Throughout the drama, Jukyung’s mother shows many traits of an abusive mother. I have been able to outline 4 of them. I don’t mean to write her off as an evil character,, because overall she is well intentioned, and just like any other mom, she does love Jukyung. This is shown in episode 8 too, where she shows remorse for her actions. That however, doesn’t justify her abusive behavioral patterns in any way. Because we can see how badly it affects Jukyung, her self esteem and her overall view of herself.

-

Act 1: “I’m going to kill you today and go to jail” -- Physical Violence.

Throughout the series, we see Jukyung's mother being very violent. But one scene which particularly stood out to me was the scene where she finds out about Jukyung's dad getting scammed. (in episode 1). While it is true that her dad caused a huge financial loss to the family, and anyone would feel angry in a situation like that, it is also true that there is never a good reason to physically abuse someone.

After hearing the news, Jukyung's mom is overcome by anger. It's completely okay to feel frustrated, but the way she violently jumped at her husband, clearly intentioned to hurt him, and the way she needed to be held back by juyoung and heekyung highlights her abusive nature. And this isn't a one time thing where she momentarily lost control of herself. She constantly shows similar behavioural traits throughout the drama.

In the scene where we see Jukyung's mom and dad together properly for the first time, their relationship dynamic is established. He's meekly massaging her shoulders while she orders him around. Their is an obvious power imbalance in the relationship, and the way Jukyung's dad cowers in fear around Jukyung's mom is a proof of that.

-

Act 2: "Why would you kill my precious son?" -- Conditional Love.

We see examples of Jukyung’s Mom’s conditional love in the kdrama AND in the webtoon. Conditional love is when a parent or a parental figure makes their child compete for love. They withhold their affection until the kid acts in ways that are desirable to them, and if the kid fails to do so, the parent often punishers them through different methods. This is their way of maintaining control over their children.

Jukyung’s Mom’s conditional love manifests itself in the form of favoritism towards her eldest daughter Heekyung, who’s not only conventionally beautiful but also very smart and has a high paying job, and towards her youngest child and only son, Juyoung, who is also written to be very attractive. Both Juyoung and Heekyung have gifts that Jukyung does not posses -- beauty and brains. The conditions that are established in order to attain their mother’s affection are getting good grades at school, and being conventionally attractive, which is why Jukyung often gets the shorter end of the stick

In the scene where we are first meet Heekyung is the drama, their mom’s affection towards her is very evident.

This is shown in the webtoon too.

She displays this favoritism towards Juyoung too, and even more so. In episode 1 where Jukyung tries makeup for the first time, and gets ridiculed by him for doing a bad job at it, she naturally feels angry and yells at him, “do you want to die?!”, but instead of telling Juyoung to stop, their mother yells at Jukyung for yelling at Juyoung (”why would you kill my precious son? why?”). It’s already very evident that Juyoung has picked up the habit of constantly taunting Jukyung for her face from his mom. In the webtoon, when Jukyung decides that she wants to pursue makeup arts and asks for her mom’s support and fees for academy, her mom flat-out refuses, saying that they don’t have enough money. However as we find out later, money wasn’t the problem, because she had enough money to send Juyoung to a cram school for acting.

I find it hard to believe that any good parent would constantly compare their children and pit them against each other like this. In the webtoon and the kdrama, it is made clear that Juyoung doesn’t have particularly good grades either, but he doesn’t have to face his mother’s wrath by the virtue of being good looking. Jukyung on the other hand, does not have any redeeming qualities.

-

Act 3: “I’m going to throw all your makeup away” --Excessive Anger.

Another sign of parental abuse is display of excessive anger. It’s usually used as an intimidation tactic to keep the child in line. Sometimes, it can simply happen because they lose control of themselves. Either way, parents who get angry more often than what is supposed to be normal, and hurt their children (physically or verbally) in the midst of their anger, repeatedly, are abusive. I feel like I don’t even need to elaborate on this one. Jukyung’s Mom is angry during half of her scenes. And the way she acts upon that anger crosses the limit too. Don’t get me wrong, it’s important to express your the way you feel, but the way Jukyung’s Mom does it, is extremely unhealthy and hurtful to others around her. Whether she’s jumping on Jukyung’s dad or talking down on Im Jukyung, she’s very inconsiderate of how her anger affects others. She almost always expresses herself in an extremely volatile way.

Jukyung described makeup as a hopeful light opening up a new life for her. There’s even a whole music segment of her discovering the powers of makeup, characterized by pastel and bubblegum tones, and the segment has a magical feel to it. Suffice to say that makeup brought an almost magical kind of hope and optimism to her life. In episode 6, Jukyung's Mom goes to her school to get her report card. When she sees her low grades, she gets so angry that she threatens to throw away her makeup, without once considering why Jukyung is so attached to it. In my eyes, she's actually very similar to Soojin's dad who also uses intimidation and physical violence to keep his daughter in line. If we put the same background music for the scenes where we see Jukyung's Mom threatening her, as the ones where Soojin's dad abuses her, they'd practically be identical. The only difference is that the show often plays Jukyung's Mom's behavior as a joke.

In episode 7, after seeing that Jukyung didn't improve as much as she wanted her to, she actually threw away all her makeup. Even though Jukyung did try, and did improve, it still wasn't enough for her mom. Jukyung's restlessness after not seeing her makeup on her table was palpable through the screen. Finding out that her mother threw all her makeup away sort became her breaking point. We see her yell at her mother and express her feelings for the first time.

I think it's important to note that Jukyung, who's already finds it very tough to reach out to her courageous side, was inspired by this incident to stand up to her mom, to express her outrage. Saying that makeup meant a lot to her is an understatement.

-

Act 4: "What's the point of looking beautiful with all that makeup on if you're ugly underneath?" -- Verbal Abuse.

We all get into arguments with our parents from time to time, and I’m sure we’ve all been yelled at by them at some point. Verbal abuse however, is not something that is normal, and the two shouldn’t be confused. A parent who constantly humiliates their child, yells and screams at them, talks down on them is in simple terms, an abuser. 

In episode 1, when Jukyung tries makeup on for the first time and goes to school, she gets ridiculed by her bullies and her classmates. Crestfallen, she returns back home after school and goes to her mother for reassurance. Instead of providing that, her mother ridicules her even more and calls her makeup “Ghost Makeup”. This is something abusers often do. Under the guise of teasing the victim, they often attack the victim’s self esteem, appearance etc, to make them feel insecure and to maintain their position of power over them. Jukyung’s mother isn’t very different from those bullies who told Jukyung that she was ugly and made her feel like she could never amount to anything. 

Another example that irks me a lot is from episode 3, when Jukyung’s Mom is chewing her out for being late, and suddenly the conversation turns to cosmetics and makeup. This is also one of the traits of verbal abuse. Instead of arguments surrounding the basic issue, they branch out and turn into character assassination. Her mom accuses Jukyung of wasting all her time on makeup instead of studying, even when Jukyung clarifies that she got late because she missed her bus, not because she was out buying cosmetics. But her mom doesn't listen and says to her, “What’s the point of looking beautiful with all that makeup on when you’re still ugly underneath?” 

Jukyung’s face after hearing her own mother say that was heartbreaking. Unfortunately, this type of mother-daughter relationship dynamic isn’t something  that is rare. Mothers frequently project their own insecurities on their daughters and put them down. Jukyung’s Mother’s behavior explains her self esteem issues, it gives an insight about where her insecurities really stem from. Sometimes our abuser’s thoughts and image of us start maligning our own self image. Frequently hearing them tell us that we are worthless, and that no one will ever marry us or love us, makes us believe that we are in fact, worthless and incapable of being loved unless we change something about ourselves. We frequently get an insight into how Jukyung thinks of herself throughout the drama. 

“It’s not my fault that I was born dumb�� (In episode 7, after finding out that her mother threw away her makeup.)

“You know that I’m messed up” (In episode 2, referring to her face, while asking Lee Suho to keep her bare face a secret)

The drama is yet to end so I don’t want to completely write Jukyung’s Mother off as an abuser. I hope she becomes a better mom in the show, I really do. Because Jukyung deserves a loving mother. And Jukyung's mom does in fact have a few redeeming qualities, however, simply love and caring isn’t enough, you need mutual respect, reassurance and effort in each every relationship. We know that Jukyung’s mother is also often labelled as an ugly woman, and she believes that she could only get by through studying well. (“It’s going to be okay as long as you study well” - episode 1). In a world where a woman either has to a exceptionally beautiful to be considered worthy, or be exceptionally intelligent and professional lest she isn’t blessed by beauty, it’s very easy to internalize self hatred and direct it on to other individuals (especially if those individuals are your children). That is why i genuinely find myself rooting for Jukyung’s mother and hoping for a character development arc -- because i understand where she comes from, and because i can empathize with her. 

-

Fin.

[reginarubie]

im not one of those fans taking sides for the female characters (bc i like them all lol💕) or rlly have any asoiaf ships i unfortunately didn’t see it earlier but i very much enjoyed your venus meta! tbh parts of it irked me and were reductive (not really a criticism, it’s a short fun piece) as an asian girl who’s passionate mythology and depictions of us but anyways i really found it interesting! xx

Ciao!

I am glad you like them all! I think Martin writes masterfully complex female characters and all of them (major or minor they might be) are some of the strongest, well-rounded and complex characters of the series ✨

Whilst I do have preferences mostly due to my own taste on characters; I appreciate all of them, may they be villain, heroes, anti-heroes or what else; also because I feel like these categories fall short to inscribe one or several characters to them as they are determined women fighting in a world were it was either fight and win or fight and die. So I do try to stay as neutral as I can, taking into account every aspect of what has made them follow a certain path.

For example in my meta about the responsibility of the Stark girls in the whole matter of Nymeria I have considered both Arya and Sansa’s side of the matter as well as Cersei’s (going as far as to point out how, in that kind of environment, a woman, a mother — especially a queen — had every right, with what she knew, of demanding that the men eating wolf who had wounded her son was put down; even tho we dislike it for our own modern sensibilities and because we know the truth of how the matters evolved; x).

Or when I speak about why the Starks are most probably meant to end up on top it’s because they have an advantage neither of the others seem to have had: a good example. They had a Ned Stark (with all the eventual mistakes he made).

Or like when I defend or take into account some choices Daenerys made (whilst I see a dark path ahead) based off the trauma she endured, considering some of her choice-making as a result of coping mechanisms and the lack of a good and efficient example, her youth and the people that advise her (that are not always up to the task).

I am happy you enjoyed my Venus meta (x); it is only one of a longer series (for example I have another meta which considers Sansa and the mythology figures that are linked to her, xx; or how the history of Osiris/Isis/Nephytis/Horus can be paralleled to Jon/Sansa/Arya/Bran, xxx; as well as a meta paralleling Daenerys with Cleopatra, xxxx) still ongoing (as I am writing an Orpheus/Eurydice with Lady Stoneheart and Arya).

As I always say in my pieces (may they be historical or mythological or biblical) it is not my ground of competence (I am a law graduate who is studying to become a judge so completely out of my comfort zone) so, since you are so passionate about mythology thus you clearly know way more than I do, please, if you’d like, point out to me which points you consider reductive, because mostly I like to learn and if possible I’d like to implement your view and develop the metas further, deepening their definition and making them fuller and more complete!

Thank you as always! I wish you a very nice day!

As always sending all my love~G. And hope to hear more from you soon!

[floral-poisons]

honestly vivid descriptions and scenes are the best <33 for my writing , i think i focus more on strikingly whimsical but touching lines ?? it’s because of the arabic literature i’ve grown up around. like there’s a lyric in ahebini by kadim al-saher that goes , “ and cover me , hide me beneath a roof made of flowers and sing to me ” and it never leaves my mind. also the humanities teach us communication skills ! without language and communication skills , it’d be difficult for stem people to teach or speak their ideas to others. i honestly think people should stop pinning both against each other and instead look to the importance of each one. like a lot of the ideas can go hand in hand with each other when analyzed from a different point of view. IM NOT EVEN SURPRISED ISTG MISOGYNY </3 i’ve been pressured before to do stem because being a stem woman is more respectable than a humanities/arts woman which is like ??? stop pretending writing a ten page paper on action vs inaction in hamlet is some easy task besties.

capitalism strikes once more !! honestly , that’s why my family worries i wont money after college. jobs in the humanities/arts are widely considered useless and “ not demanded ” which is ludicrous because a lot of the time we’re gaining our news from humanities majors. it’s also the critical thinking and communication skills that the humanities teaches that allows us communicate new ideas well so that others can understand them better. i can also point at racism/xenophobia when it comes to stem vs. humanities based on my own experiences. most of my fellow arabs have decided to go into stem because we are widely considered to be “corner shop owners” or “field laborers” and there’s nothing wrong with those jobs, but we’re put in the box for the sake of discrimination honestly. there’s also the fact that most of our families immigrated to america for new opportunities and going into like literature or art history is something that’s considered upsetting because it’s like we’re wasting our families hard work ??

PHILOSPHY MAKES THINGS BETTER AND I’LL GET IT ON A T-SHIRT

omg id love to hear more about your papers as well as your critiques on different films !! im horrible to watch films with because i’ll either be pointing historical accuracies/inaccuracies or pointing out the little bits of symbolism when it comes to lighting or fashion dkfjhdf

genie anon :D

collapses BEAUTIFUL! AMAZING! striking whimsical lines are also great! it adds to the idea of ephemerality and the fact that we are temporary.

humanities majors are also extremely versatile, which is what people forget. and ironically enough, for stem majors if they wanna get into med school, a lot of grad schools aren't looking for stem majors. taking a humanities major 1. makes you stand out and 2. means you learned critical thinking, communication skills, writing skills, etc. etc. which are all necessary. it's one thing to learn something but it's another thing to put it into practice.

honestly, i can also agree with the racism and xenophobia aspect. a lot of people in america who are asian end up going into stem either because their families pressure them or because they see it as lucrative. and it stems from decades ago when they only permitted asian people to immigrate from asia if they were of a certain class and job (doctors, lawyers, architects, etc.). this also further reinforced (and continues to reinforce) classism among asians in america.

HONESTLY I TOO WOULD WEAR THAT SHIRT

i've talked about some essays on my main blog actually, funny enough lol. i have a lot of essays i haven't finished but also a good chunk i've already finished. some of them i've written about include: gillian flynn's gone girl and how it's actually very anti-feminist despite the author (flynn) claiming it at feminist, shang-chi and the legend of the ten rings and how it reflects the humanity of asian women, two essays on turning red, religious fanaticism in x, and intersectionality in the craft. those are just some. i have so many others like an essay on måneskin because i think their virality is very interesting and on everything everywhere all at once. i'm such a movie buff lol and i drag my friends with me.

OKAY BUT I WOULD LOVE TO WATCH MOVIES WITH YOU!! I LOVE TALKING ABOUT CUSTOMING, MAKEUP, LIGHTING, SYMBOLISM, THE WHOLE SCHABANG. AND I WOULD LOVE TO HEAR ABOUT HISTORICAL INACCURACIES AND ACCURACIES.

[incorrectzutaraquotes]

i’m sure you’re tired of me posting non incorrect quote or non zutara things, but there are things i want to talk about. it started, i guess, as a trend on tiktok where people would share their stories and experiences with racism as people of color in the united states(or anywhere really, but everyone i’ve seen has been from the us). as a woman of color, i felt compelled to participate, but wasn’t sure how to. i didnt want my face showing up globally because i knew that with posting that, not only could people i know in real life find it, but so could the wrong side of tiktok, thus leading some nice so not comments being left under the post. with tumblr i like the anonymity. i can talk about this in as much detail as i want without anyone being able to put a face to my name. despite being here for almost 19 years, i’m still not completely comfortable talking about these experiences when people know what i look like.

i’m going to put this under a cut so it doesn’t take up too much room, and so you can skip if you want.

for starters, my name’s holly. i’m asian american. i was born in china, but shortly after i was born i was stuck in an overcrowded orphanage. this resulted in being adopted by white parents when i was about one and a half to two years old. i lost fluency with my native language and that eventually lead to losing the language completely, and i lost touch with my culture.

i was in second grade, that’s how far back i can remember my first real encounter with racism. i was seven in a classroom full of white kids. there was this boy with blonde hair and blue eyes who sat next to me for a good portion of the year. i remember walking into class everyday, and every day he would ask me the same questions. “why is your nose so flat?” and “why do you eyes look like that”. i was seven. and whether or not he intended to hurt my feelings, it stuck with me for a long time. at first i was confused, because i didn’t think i looked different. i didn’t view myself as looking different until then. until i was constantly reminded everyday that my facial features were “weird” and “odd”. that my face was undesirable. it lead to years and years of insecurity and self hatred.

i wanted so bad to look like the other white girls in my school. i wanted a cute upturned nose with a perfect bridge shape. i wanted blue eyes. i wanted eyelids that didn’t connect in the corners and eyelashes that were naturally curled and turned up unlike mine, that just rested straight forward. i wished that i had lighter skin and blonde hair. i didn’t want to be different and undesirable. i thought i was ugly, and i would look at myself in the mirror for long periods of time, picking out everything that set me apart from the other white kids at my school.

that same year i found out that i needed glasses, and i’m pretty sure i cried. i didn’t want another reason for myself to stand out. i refused to wear them for an entire year and a half, before i realized that i had to wear them if i wanted to see. i was seven, eight. i wasn’t even in the double digits yet but i had this idea in my head that i was ugly because i wasn’t white. whether that kid had meant to hurt me like that didn’t matter, because the damage had already been done. and the worst part was that i had no one i could tell, but none of my friends and none of my family would understand what i was going through. so i suffered in silence and dealt with it the best a child could.

when i was in middle school, i can vividly remember kids mocking asians for laughs. they thought it was funny. funny to be racist. i remember this one time i was out walking the track with a group of kids during gym class. i was walking just behind them and i overheard their conversation. they were making fun of asian’s eye shape, and pulling their eyes back to make them smaller. and it hurt. and they knew i was walking behind them. they knew i was there and that i could hear their whole conversation, but they didn’t care. and i was too scared to speak up for myself, so i had to sit back, listening to and watching them mock people who looked like me because they thought it was funny. i was in seventh grade.

that next year, i was in eighth grade. i had a class with a boy. (i was convinced i liked him, but i’ve come to realize that was not the case at all. i was just forced into thinking he liked me, and i felt obligated to like him back. i realize now that that is just how society (and a get normative society) has conditioned women to feel, but that these feelings were nothing more than platonic. this will make more sense as i continue to tell the story.)

as i was saying, i had a class with a boy, and we began talking and becoming friends. or, i thought we were friends. i realize now those feelings were one sided, and that he only used me to pick on me. he and his friends would take my things and hide them. they sat behind me and would move my desk during class while i was trying to work. they’d throw things at me, whatever they had available. sometimes it was paper, sometimes it was coins, i remember a few times it was a stick they’d found on the track. and now, it doesn’t seem like a racially motivated thing, and maybe it wasn’t and i’m just overreacting. but i saw how he treated other girls. i saw how he treated his girl friends. i saw how he treated my friends. i was with them all the time, and yet i was the only one who was ever on the receiving end of this treatment. and that, that sucked. but i didn’t tell anyone again, because i knew they would just tell me “that means he likes you”. but his actions went further then a playful slap in the arm, and became almost dangerous. i was only fourteen.

in high school i tried my best to stay away from those toxic people. instead, i could remember the racism i faced in those four years coming from my own family, rather than my peers at school. i cant possibly name every time my family has been racist, but i can specifically remember times when i was constantly told by them that my eyes “didn’t look asian”. that my sister looked “more asian” than i did simply because her eyes were smaller than mine. as if i didn’t already have an identity crisis because i wasn’t white enough to fit in with my predominantly white neighborhood, but i wasn’t asian enough to fit in with the few asian kids at my school. it was my dad who continually pushed me to be an engineer(which im not doing, to clarify). don’t get me wrong, he wanted all of us to be in a field where job demand was high, and he did want my sister to be an engineer, but he didn’t bring it up at the rate that he did with me. he still does it. and this plays into the stereotype that all asians are smart and that because we’re smart i have to go into a field that requires high intellect. he didn’t put that immense amount of pressure on any of my other white siblings. just me.

there’s a chinese restaurant down the street from us. we order from there a lot, and usually they’re really good with getting our orders right. in fact, this was the only time i can remember them getting our order wrong. and immediately they began to make fun of their understanding of english and their broken english. immediately they jumped on that opportunity to mock their language, using words like “ching chong” to describe their words. and the saddest part is, i wasn’t even surprised. and yet i couldn’t say anything because i didn’t want to start a fight, and i knew if i did i would be told that “it was just a joke” or that “you’re being too sensitive”. i often wonder if they’d mock me if i didn’t have perfect english. if i spoke with a “chinese accent”. it makes me wonder if i’m only really accepted because i’ve been so assimilated into whiteness that you can’t even tell i’m asian unless you look at my face. this happened mere weeks ago.

last week i went to get my hair done. because of covid everyone is required to wear masks, but there were at least 10 people in there. i was sat down in front of the mirror while my hairdresser cut my hair. in the reflection of the mirror i could see this older white women getting her hair one behind me. she wasn’t wearing her mask properly. it resting under her nose, eventually her chin, and at one point it came off completely and her hairdresser had to tell her to put it back on. the entire time i was sat in that chair, where i could only look straight ahead in that mirror, she was watching me like a hawk. giving me side eye glances and even turning her head completely towards me at times. let me remind you that there were other customers in there. it wasn’t just me and her. i could feel myself starting to get anxious, my heart starting to speed up and my fingers under the apron they put around you, tapping the side of my phone in my hands nervously. i was genuinely afraid that she would start throwing racist slurs and start blaming me for the coronavirus the entire time. i was scared. and it was literally just last week. im tired.

[baegarrick]

hi hello so i’m coming to you because you’re the only person in the zukka fandom that i’ve seen blogging about the old guard and i love that movie SO MUCH and i can’t stop thinking about immortal zukka..... aang as either nile or andy bc i can’t choose, andy wouldn’t lose her immortality, and no one would betray anyone bc i say so 😌 how do you think an atla/the old guard au would work?? (zukkababey)

ok i rly love the idea of immortal everyone but tbh!!! i really dont know enough about asian history to like... go into detail about this honestly and I really didn’t want to come off as racist by fudging some stuff, but here r some bulletpoints about Things

(also u can slide into my dms 2 talk about this if u want, or if u have a discord, sorry it too so long I literally cant stop writing when I get on Topics. I'm so sorry if this gets off topic)

Sokka & Katara

In this au they’re not biologically related, but are both Inuit

Sokka dies first in a skirmish with another group of indigenous people in northern Canada (Inuit Nunangat) sometime prior to 1800

He knows he died, his people saw him die, and he doesn’t understand what’s happening (I really don’t know enough about the Inuit people to say whether they would have rejected him or tried to help him understand what happened to him)

however, I’d like to think they’d at least tell him to talk to the angakkuq, the shaman, and would probably see this as a positive thing

Eventually his band of people would whittle down to just a dozen or so, after long winters and harsh climates, and they were forced to assimilate with other bands who didn’t have ancestors who were there when Sokka died in the first place, so he has to move on.

He travels around for a while, trading and learning and staying in bands for a few years before moving on to another group, until it’s the 1800s

Around this time, Katara is born (and dies)

She refuses to stand down against a white French hunter who wanted to take one of the young women in her village as a wife, and she’s killed, and the woman is taken anyway.

When she wakes up, she’s furious, and before she can understand what happened to her, she finds the man and kills him. She’s arrested and set to be killed when Sokka finds her.

They aren’t biological siblings, but they come from the same people, and the world is changing rapidly and they’re the only people they know who are like this. The idea of marrying Katara is the worst thing that Sokka can think of-- look at her, she’s just a baby!!-- so they call each other siblings and travel together.

Zuko

ok again i know literally 0 things about chinese history like i googled “female chinese warriors” for suki and got like 100 things for mulan

Zuko is old, probably one of the oldest of the (living) group, but younger than Aang

he was the first son of the second son of the emperor in a time of political conflict in China. His father, the prince, was at war with his own brother who Zuko considered a father figure.

zuko speaks out against his father and is killed for being a traitor, but, guess what, he doesn’t die!!! his father does it again for posterity and uhhhhhh still doesn’t die. (or rather, dies, and comes back)

here’s where my uhhhhhh lack of knowledge is Bad

would his father banish him for being cursed? for somehow being against the gods?

or would he force him to fight in his armies, against his uncle, because he can’t die?

I was going to go with “banished” but fighting for decades in a fight he doesn’t want to be in is so! much! worse!

his father wants to know the secrets of his immortality and when he can’t share it he’s tortured and tested for years, and eventually sent out to fight as an immortal soldier who can’t die.

eventually he escapes, and leaves china for a long time (he doesn’t return for centuries)

he is highly distrustful of anyone for years bc of his father!! he wanders around for years like he does in Zuko Alone (or like Quynh before Andy finds her) and while he sees small bits of humanity, he has little faith in it and their wars, because he is Not One Of Them

For money he joins bandit groups or warlords or mercenaries, because why does any of that matter to him? Everyone dies.

Eventually he meets Aang, who is Humanity Personified, and Aang asks him if he thinks they can be friends-- but they’re on opposite sides of this conflict and Zuko is too disillusioned to want that. (they part ways)

He meets a man, Iroh, who reminds him of his uncle. They travel together for far longer than Zuko normally would, because he likes having a father figure, and because Iroh lost a son about Zuko’s age. They travel for years and Zuko never ages, so eventually he has to leave. Iroh finds him a few years later, greyer and slower, but tells Zuko that he knows about Zuko.

Zuko reacts poorly to this, lashing out, but Iroh is calm. Zuko breaks down and tells him he can’t give Iroh what he wants. (what Zuko assumes he wants-- what they all want, immortality)

But Iroh’s like, why would I want that? it sounds like a curse, son. Why would I want to never see my son again?

He tells Zuko: we’re not meant to be alone

After Iroh passes a few years later, he tries to track down Aang but can’t find him. He, however, has dreams about the others.

alternatively///////// japanese zuko?????? RONIN ZUKO???? love it but im too tired to think of More Than That after typing all the chinese zuko stuff up, although im Sure a ton of it would cross over bc im vague as Hell

Aang

he’s the oldest of the group but you wouldn’t know it!!!!

Roku was his mentor, the first immortal that any of them know of. He’s thousands of years old when Aang meets him. (He’s also the first to die. He shows Aang that All Things Must Die)

Aang is Tibetan, a Buddhist monk, one of the earliest, maybe the 7th century?

He dies in a temple fire

here again my complete and utter lack of knowledge is Bad

according to Dzogchen, individuals can transform their body into an immortal rainbow light, so there’s some mention of immortality in certain parts of Tibetan Buddhist culture, but idk how widespread that is since wikipedia didnt even have a source for it

he becomes a missionary and travels around asia for decades before Roku finds him

Roku!!! he’s an Old Immortal, and probably wants to die a little bit at this point, and he eventually does!! but for awhile he and Aang travel around together, and butt heads a bit bc Aang’s pacifist nature, and Roku thinks Aang Will Change as he gets older

aang is absolutely devastated by the Mongol invasion of Tibet in the 13th century

roku dies about a hundred years after he meets aang, and aang travels around a little aimlessly for awhile, learning all kinds of things and befriending people he’ll outlive. it dampens his spirits a bit.

eventually he meets Zuko, who’s far more jaded than Roku was, even, and wants to be friends, but respects Zuko’s decision otherwise.

Eventually, aang travels with the Norse to Canada in the 15th century, but when they leave they don’t take him with them. Instead, he ends up frozen ala steve rogers. Katara and Sokka find him a few hundred years later.

alternatively////// Aang IS the newest kid. he’s the Nile of the group. He’s still a Tibetan monk, and views this as a teaching/learning opportunity. He would also probably like everyone to stop killing each other. Sokka rolls his eyes at him constantly.

Toph

toph is a struggle bc how do you deal with an IMMORTAL BLIND GIRL

I’m gonna stick w her show backstory: rich, blind daughter of a wealthy Chinese family

Is kidnapped and her throat is slit when she’s young (maybe an older teenager) and the kidnappers panic, leaving her body. She’s found, namely unharmed, and resumes life despite the fact she knows she died.

However, being a privileged young girl, she’s kept under watch and it quickly becomes known that she’s immortal.

She’s regarded as a living deity for centuries until she meets Suki, who rescues her from the place and teaches her to fight. (she becomes a myth, later, rather than a historical fact)

alternatively//////// she could have been first generation chinese-american, and therefore the youngest

Suki

Suki was a third generation female warrior of her family who guarded the boarder during the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127), and trained from a young age in martial arts. (insp by the story of Mu Guiying)

She’s a war orphan, and leads an army of war widows and orphan women, but meets her untimely end with some of her sisters in a reign of arrows. She’s buried by some of her sisters before she wakes up again, and has to claw her way to the surface.

Her sisters don’t know how to react to her (a lot like Nile’s soldiers) so she eventually leaves them.

After her death, she hears rumors of a living goddess (Toph) and goes to see if there really is another person like her, and finds one of the people from her dreams (Toph)

She trains Toph to fight despite her being blind, and the pair become an unusual duo for a couple hundred years.

eventually, they start dreaming about a pair of siblings in the New World (not that new!! people live there!!) and book passage there in the 1800s with the first major wave of Chinese immigration

They dream about each other. it happens a lot at first, but it tapers out over the years. it grows stronger whenever a new one (katara) is born, but Katara and Sokka have NO desire to leave their homeland to go look for these strange people until they find Aang. (what languages might they have in common? russian??? the russians came to settle alaska, I know bc my stepmom is native alaskan and russian--- the Mongols invaded TIbet and Mongolia is right next to Russia, so Aang might know it??)

When they find Aang, Suki and Toph start dreaming of them again, and so does Zuko and they all start making their way to San Francisco. The Chinese wouldn’t arrive in Canada until around the 1850s (according to google) so Sokka probably wouldn’t speak any Chinese (mandarin???? i dont know things), but Zuko might speak some English or Russian. [really just gonna be a bunch of chinese, inuit, and tibetan people speaking russian to each other, isn’t it??]

Aang greets Zuko like an old friend, and Zuko Does Not know what to do with that. he’s skirtish and shy and hasn’t really been around a lot of friendly people. Sokka does NOT trust him. At all!! (he wants Katara to stay FAR AWAY from him. stick with the harmless monk we found at the bottom of a lake, katara.)

They find Suki and Toph in a bar. Toph hustling people for money, and Suki drinking at the bar. It’s very strange to have all of them around, and it’s like, 1830. they all decide they like each other, after they get some good old fashioned stabbing in-- Katara is the only woman Sokka has been around whos like him, and she’s like his little sister, and all he wants to do is Protect Her, so he doesn’t know what to do with women who known knives. (get his ass handed to him, thats what)

I want Zuko to be a broody mess but honestly he’d probably revert back to yelling at people/things in ancient Chinese (mandarin? I’m not really sure what period he’s from exactly). He’s still got that Good streak in him, esp since he’s like, a hundred years off his adopted uncle Iroh.

and you know what? 1830 america is NOT a cool place for anyone!! least of all asian immigrants, native americans, or women of either group

So the Gaang take to helping those people out any way they can. (Aang wants Peace, but you know white people, we don’t listen). They actively get involved in the underground railroad, eventually the civil war, and also helping out native americans, as well as chinese immigrants working on the railroads.

also so sorry I know the ask was about Zukka but I had to write a million words about their backstories first

Zuko + Sokka eventually come to a truce as the only dudes in this entire group who are willing to fight. Sokka is interested in both men and women, but he’s never really shared his life with anyone, and it’s the same for Zuko. Sokka, because he was regarded as an elder with his people, and after that he could only stay a few years. He had lovers, like Yue, but they all eventually died and Sokka couldn’t do anything about it!! Zuko, because while he also had lovers, he couldn’t really bear to be around humanity for a long time after what happened to him. (he’s vehemently opposed to slavery)

I think they get together at first just kind of because there isn’t really anyone else. Suki + Toph are kinda their own thing (are they lovers? sisters in arms? who knows), Katara is like Sokka’s sister (and if Zuko touches her Sokka will end his destiny permanently), and Aang is... aang.

It’s sorta a friends-with-benefits thing, except its an immortal warrior reluctant companions-with-benefits thing because can you really call this a friendship?? (its a family, eventually). Eventually it’s just kind of always been a thing. Sokka checking Zuko first when he comes back to life, counting down the second to make sure Zuko comes back at all. Zuko tells people he’s the only one allowed to kill Sokka, because lets be honest, the first couple of months with rowdy immortals meant killing each other a lot. When Sokka is killed violently in the Civil War, he wakes up half an hour later (slow, slow), to find a field of bodies and Zuko sitting next to him with his dao blades in the dirt, waiting for him. Sokka tries to make a joke, but it just makes Zuko mad, because what if that was the last time. (sokka jokes that he’s young, yet, not like Zuko)

They don’t really talk about it, partially because they don’t live in a world where it’s acceptable. What kind of title fits when you can only use it with 5 other people? But this time, when Zuko was afraid Sokka might not wake up, thirty years after they met, after lifetimes of being alone for both of them?? Sokka has to let Zuko know he loves him. Loves him!!! He’s not just here for the meantime.

thats all I have rn bc its 9pm and I’ve been writing this for like 3 hours. again if u wanna slide into my dms or if u have a discord and wanna talk about this/other stuff hmu. so sorry this got off topic.

also, the order I had them born in is:

roku --> aang --> Zuko --> suki --> toph --> sokka --> Katara

which may or may not be accurate to my timeline lol

Sokka probably speaks all of the Inuit languages, as well as French, English, and Russian, being alive for long enough to learn it all.

Katara refuses to learn French. Hates it. Never wants to learn.

She and Sokka personally keep Inuit traditions and languages alive as elders of their community, though it’s so much harder in modern times to stay connected to their culture bc they don’t age!!

disclaimer: bc the show was written as a complete mashup of several cultures I had to like..... pick where ppl were from. I picked china for Zuko/Suki/Toph bc they have a beautiful culture and a lot of dynasties I have heard a lot about recently while half watching the history channel. I really, really don’t know a lot about non-white culture as a white american from FLORIDA (so like, literally the farthest place you can get from the Inuit people and still be on the same continent). if you know more about these cultures than I do and I said something blatantly wrong pls let me know and I will change it.

[la5t-res0rt]

this was written several weeks ago in response to asks i was receiving i am posting it now it is very long the longest i have ever made and it is not very well edited but here it is in this final essay i talk about how shitty rae is about black people in her writing as well as just me talking about how her writing sucks in general lets begin

hello everyone 

as you may know i have received a lot of anons in the last week or so about issues of racism in the beetlejuice community both just generally speaking and also within specific spaces 

i was very frustrated to not be getting the answers i wanted because i typically do not talk about what i do not see but in an effort to be better about discourse i went looking through discourse from before my time in the fandom and i also received some receipts and information from my followers and from some friends

keep in mind that the voices and thoughts of bipoc are not only incredibly important at all times but in this circumstance it is important that if a bipoc has something to add you listen and learn and be better

i admit that when this happened i wasnt aware of the extent of what occurred and im angry at myself for not doing more at that time and i want to work harder to make sure something like this doesnt go unnoticed again

im a hesitant to talk about months old discourse because i have been criticized for bringing up quote old new unquote but this is very important and i am willing to face whatever comes from to me

lets talk about this

content from our local racist idiot that may be months old but its important

putting my thoughts under a cut to spare the dash but before i begin obviously this is awful

lets fucking unpack this folks

right out the gate op states that she supports artistic freedom but then within a couple words she goes against that statement

being entirely canon compliant isnt artistic freedom and even so if this person has so much respect for canon they wouldnt be out here erasing lydias obvious disgust for beetlejuice in the movie or ignoring lydias age for the sake of shipping that shit isnt canon either 

also we love the quick jab at the musical there hilarious we love it dont we because god forbid a licensed and successful branch on a media have any standing in this conversation but whatever

now lets scroll down and talk about the term racebending

the term racebending was coined around 2009 in response to the avatar the last airbender movie a film in which the east asian races of the characters were erased by casting white actors in the three leading roles of aang sokka and katara 

whenever the term racebending is used in a negative light it is almost always a case of whitewashing like casting scarlett johansen in ghost in the shell or the casting of white actors of the prince of persia sands of time instead of iranian ones

this kind of racebending erases minorities from beeing seen in media and is wrong

all that being said however racebending has also been noted to have very positive after effects like the 1997 adaptation of cinderella or casting samuel jackson as nick fury in the marvel movies nick fury was originally a white guy can you even imagine

i read this piece from an academic that said quote writers can change the race and cultural specificity of central characters or pull a secondary character of color from the margins transforming them into the central protagonist unquote

racebending like the kind that rae is so heated about is the kind of creative freedom that leads to more representation of bipoc in media which will never be a bad thing ever no matter how pissy you get about it

designing a version of a character as a poc isnt serving to make them necessarily better it serves to give new perspective and perhaps the opportunity to connect even more deeply with a character it doesnt marginalize or erase white people it can uplift poc and if you think uplifting poc is wrong because it tears down white people or whatever youre a fucking moron and you need to get out of your podunk white folk town and see the real world

the numbers of times a bipoc particularly a bipoc that is also lgbt+ has been represented in media are dwarfed by what i as a white dude have seen myself represented in media is and that isnt okay that isnt equality and its something that should change not only in mainstream media but in fandom spaces as well

lets move down a bit further to the part about bullying straight people which is hilarious and lets also talk about the term fetishistic as well lets start with that

this person literally writes explicit pornography of a minor and an adult are we really going to let someone like that dictate what is and what isnt fetishistic

similarly to doing a positive racebend situation people may project lgbt+ headcanons on a character because its part of who they are and it helps them feel closer to the character and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that

depicting lgbt+ subject matter on existing characters isnt an inherently fetishistic action generally things only really become fetishistic when the media is being crafted and hyped by people who are outside of lgbt+ community for example how young teens used to flip a tit about yaoi or how chasers fetishize trans people

but drawing a character with top surgery scars or headcanoning them as trans is harmless and its just another way to interpret a character literally anone could be trans unless if their character bio says theyre cis and most of them dont go that deep so it really is open to interpretation and on the whole most creators encourage this sort of exploration because it is a good thing to get healthy representation out in the world

as for it being used to bully straights thats just funny i dont have anything else on that like if youre straight and you feel threatened and bullied because of someone headcanoning someone as anything that isnt cishet youre a fucking idiot and a weak baby idiot at that like the real world must fucking suck for you because lgbt+ people are everywhere and statistically a big chunk of your favorite characters arent cishet sorry be mad about it

lets roll down a bit further about the big meat of the issue which was when several artists were drawing interpretations of lydia as a black girl which i loved but clearly this person didnt love it because they have a very narrow and very racist and problematic view of what it means to be a black person

and before i move forward i must reiderate that i am a white person and you should listen to the thoughts of poc people like @fright-of-their-lives​ or @gender-chaotic it is not my place to explain what the black experience is like and it certainly isnt this persons either

implying that the story of a black person isnt worth telling unless if the character faces struggles like racism and prejudice is downright moronic 

why use the word kissable to describe a black persons lips now thats what i call fetishistic and its to another extreme if youre talking about a black version of lydia on top of that

the author of this post says herself that shes white so clearly shes the person whos an authority on the black experience and what it means to be a black person right am i reading that right or am i having a fucking conniption

how about allowing black characters to exist without having to struggle why cant a black version of lydia just be a goth teenager with a ghost problem who likes photography and is also black like she doesnt have to move to a hick town and get abused by racist folks she doesnt have to go through any more shit than she already goes through and if you honestly think thats the only way to tell a black persons story you need to get your brain cleaned

you know nothing about the complexities about being a black person and i dont either but you know wh odo black people who are doing black versions of canon characters they fucking know 

lets squiggle down just a bit further 

so the writer has issues with giving characters traits like a broad nose or larger lips if theyre a woman but if theyre a man suddenly its totally okay to go all ryan murphy ahs coven papa legba appropriation when approaching character design like are you fucking stupid do you hear yourself is that really how you see black men like what the fuck is wrong with you

none of the shit youre spewing takes bravery it takes ignorance and supreme levels of stupidity

do you really think you with your fic where a black lgbt+ woman is tortured and abused where you use the n word with a hard r to refer to her like that shits not okay its fucking depraved and yeah we know you love being shitty but like christ on a bike thats so much 

can we also talk about this

what the fuck is this fetishistic bull roar garbage calling this black character beyonce dressing her up in quote fuck me heels unquote are you are you seriously gonna write this and say its a shining example of how to write a black character youre basically saying ope here she is shes a sex icon haha im so progressive and i clealry understand the black experience hahahaha fuck you oh my god

on top of that theres a point where this character is only referred to as curly hair or the fact that the n word is used in the fic with the hard r like thats hands down not okay for you to use especially not in a manner like this jesus christ

oop heres a little more a sampling for you of the hell i am enduring in reading this drivel

oh boy lets put a leash on the angry black woman character lets put her in a leash and have the man imply hes a master like are you kidding me are you for real and what the fuck is with calling her shit like j lo and beyonce do you actually think thats clever at all are you just thinking of any poc that comes into your head for this 

also lydia fucking tells this girl that she shouldnt have lost her temper like she got fucking leashed im so tired why is this writing so problematic and also so bad

hold up before i lose my head lets look at some of her own comments on the matter of this character and what happens to her

hi hello youre just casually tossing the word lynch out there in the wide open world as if thats not a problem that is still real like are you fucking unhinged there have been multiple cases of this exact thing happening in our firepit of a country in the last five months alone like how can you still have shit like this up for people to read how can you be proud of work like this in this climate

and also what the fuck is that last bit 

what the actual fuck

i dont speak for black people as a white person but you do!? im sorry i had to get my punctuation out for that because wow thats fucking asinine just because one black person read your fic and didnt find the torture and abuse of your one black character abhorrant doesnt mean that the vast majority of people not only in the fandom but in the human population with decency are going to think its okay because its not 

i started this post hoping to be level headed and professional but jesus fucking christ this woman is something else white nationalism is alive and well folks and its name is rae

if you defend this woman you defend some truly abhorrant raecism

editors notes 

in order to get some perspective on these issues more fully some of the writing by the author was examined and on the whole it was pretty unreadable but i want to just call back to the very beginning of this essay where the person in question talked about holding canon in high regard but then in their writing they just go around giving people magic and shit and ignoring the end of the movie entirely like are you canon compliant or nah 

the writing doesnt even read like beetlejuice fanfic it reads as self indulgent fiction you could easily change the names and its just a bad fanfic from 2007

also can we talk about writing the lesbian character as an angry man hater like its 2020 dude and als olets touch on that girl on girl pandering while beetlejuice is just there like here we go fetishizing again wee

i cant find a way to work this into this already massive post but

im going to throw up

okay so thats a lot we have covered a lot today and im sure my ask box will regret it but this definitely should have been more picked apart when it happened

please feel free to add more to this i would love more perspectives than just my own.

[argumentl]

The Freedom of Expression - Ep 5, Quarantining of infected people in the Olympic village?

Note: *This episode was recorded in March 2020*

Hi, This is Dir en grey's Kaoru, starting another installment of The Freedom of Expression. I've revived this show on youtube, from when we did it on the radio station InterFM.

J, T: Thank you so much.

K: So, Joe san, Tasai san, we are here again, as a continuation from last time where we were talking about the corona virus....Well, how do we think things will go from now on?

J: Yes, well, if you ask reporters and such, despite the counter measures being a bit muddled, it isn't really taking hold in Japan, therefore, I really think the number of infections will start to drop. I think we'll definitely be coming to the end of this before long. No matter what, you see an exponential increase at some point, and when that happens, the absolute number of infections increases. But at the present moment, that is kind of leveling out, so there is the view that if we stick to this path until the end, the number of infections will eventuall drop. However, like you said Kaoru, even if this comes to an end, will the economy quickly revover? You know, if people get used to this new lifestyle, we'll have quite a conservative, sensitive situation. Whats it going to be like if people continue trying to avoid close contact with others? I think thats the scariest thing. And then, what about the Olympics, will it go ahead or won't it? Well, thats for Tokyo Sports right? After all your name is 'Tokyo Sports' newspaper.

T: No, no, no....but they'll do it won't they? What do you think?

K: What exactly is Tokyo Sports' view?

T: Well, we had a staff meeting recently, and we generally thought there is an atmosphere that it will go ahead.

J: Yeah, there is no option NOT to go ahead with it, but there is the option of postponing it?

T: Well, yes.

J: It could be an option.

T: I don't really think it will be postponed though.

J: One interesting thing I've heard after talking to journalists and such, is that as for the timing of the olympics, Japan can't really decide that at all. In other words, it fits with America's schedule. It fits during the time that America's sports are off seaon. It doesn't really matter to the hosting nation. So it can be postponed if America says thats ok. If thats not the case, honestly, its less a problem of Japan's corona situation, but from the American side, the issue of the huge investment in broadcasting rights. So I've a feeling this issue will be cleared up over there.

T: If it came to that, it (the olympics), will probably go ahead right?

J: I think so yes. No matter what Japan's government or the Olympic committee says, if the one with the strongest power (America) says they want to do it, then we'll have to do it, I feel.

K: But this virus mutates doesn't it?

J,.T: Yes, thats right.

K: If that happened, and things worsened, it would be terrible, wouldn't it?

J: Yes, well, at the moment a lot sporting areas, including the olympics, are thinking about spectator-less games etc.. Well, anyway, there is this problem about what to do about the virus, what to do about the olympics but I've heard that Tokyo Sports put out an article relating to the olympics and corona?

T:  Ah, yes thats right. Well, we wrote an article about how people infected with coronavirus, could be isolated in the the olympic village.

J: Thats ??? *1

T: But, isnt it the best place? No one is using it...

K: Did they already finish building it?

T: Yes, its finished.

J: Has there been any response from the government about that?

T: Nah, I don't think the government pays much attention to what Tokyo Sports says. *the others laugh loudly*

J: I wonder if any people in the government actually read Tokyo Sports?

T: Oh, a lot of them do, but they think because we are Tokyo Sports, they can ignore what we say. *the others laugh* But, there will be about 18,000 people at the olympics, so for now thats enough space, right?

J: Yes, its enough

T: So people can be properly isolated..

J: and its all set up already..

T: and then if you sterilize it properly, its still really reasonable to use. But I don't think the government will like the idea.

Kami: They sold the land for a really cheap price didn't they?

T: Yes, well...yes.

Kami: For about a tenth of the normal price?

T: Im not so sure about the details.

Kami: Shouldn't it be ok? If they sold it that cheaply? It should be ok, right? *T laughs*

J: Well, thats right. But I think this is a very reasonable suggestion from Tokyo Sports, its quite unlike you guys *K laughs*

T: Yeah, we speak sense occasionally...

J: Even though you usually only write absurd or unlikely stuff, this time its a very reasonable suggestion.

T: We get serious in times of crisis.

J: Oh, is that so? I see.

T: So, after the olympics, they plan to sell of the olympic village as regular apartments. In that case, the value will fall, right? If they have been previously used for corona patients?

J: Oh, is that it?

T: So thats an idea too.

J: I see.

Kami: Its about 30 mins from the station isn't it? So its great for isolating, right?

J: Well, yes, thats true.

Kami: Because its far away...Its perfect really.

J: It is perfect, yeh. It has all the requirements.

Kami: And there's a lot of remaining land around there, right?

T: Yeah, there is.

Kami: If you stop cars and have a bus instead or something, you could build loads of hospitals/sick bays.

T: I think thats a good idea.

J: Me too.

Kami: It would be really effective.

J: Well, testing is a problem at the moment, the number of tests..well, you can't get tested at the moment.

T: Thats right.

K: Some countries are doing drive-thru testing aren't they?

J: Yes. I can't help feeling Japan's approach is a bit muddled.

K: Hmm, but the number of people dying is under control right?

J: Right, yes.

T: Well, Japan's insurace system works really well, we are kind of blessed, medically speaking.  But in America, Tamiflu or such costs 25,000 yen.

J: Thats right.

T: So in America, theres people who want to go to hospital, but can't.

J: The cost of hospitals over there is really tough! So if you look at it from that perspective, it might be ok here....Still, the time for the Olympic judges to decide about a postponment is gradually nearing...I feel like its gonna be 'No more waiting!'.

Kami: But, no matter what happens, the olympics probably won't be postponed, right?

J: Yeh, I don't think it will be postponed.

Kami: If they push ahead with it, the athletes will come won't they?

J: Yep

Kami: Professional soccer players and other really rich athletes won't come though. So it will only be athletes who really place value on getting the gold medal, they'll risk catching corona for it, so i think it can be done. Spectators won't come though.

J: Well, there will be fewer spectators, yes. But if you do it in the Autumn, America's professional athletes won't be able to take part and America's medal count will decrease, that will be one problem. If America's medal count decreases, American TV ratings will fall, and if you think about that, it makes me think they will push to go ahead with it in the summer.

T: It looks like the golf player Dustin Johnson and other top players have given up on the olympics.

J: Oh right..

T: Its been talked about that (Tiger)Woods could come instead. Woods would be more popular maybe?

J: Is he ok with it?

T: I wonder if he is? *laughing*

K: We don't even know whether he's ok with it or not.

J: I want to know why he would come.

K: Well, yeh, there are gonna be athletes who don't want to come, right?

J: Oh yeh, there will be, though its strange to talk about. Lots of people cancelled thier trips to Japan with the radiation problem after 3/11 (Great Eastern Japan earthquake and tsunami), so when you think about that...the information coming to Japan, and the information coming to the English speaking world is probably a lot different. The media in Japan works in a very local way, but overseas, they have a lot more channels, and alternative media is really taking off. They have info from various sources, so i think there may be some athletes looking at this and deciding not to come.

K: Asian people are facing a bit of discrimination over there too, aren't they?

J: Yes, thats right.

T: Oh, yeah.

K: Even us, when we were in Europe recently, we were stared at a lot for wearing masks.

T: Really?

K: When we went into a bakery, the bread was all laid out like usual, but they were so annoyed at us.

J: Really? Wow! They treated you as if you were infected?

K: Yes, yes. We were only taking prevention measures. But they don't do that over there do they?

J: They don't.

T: Yeh, it seems like they don't.

K: Well, i don't know about now.

J: So, theres also this problem of discrimination developing now. Its possible that chaos might happen, doing the Olympis in this situation. Thats also another perspective. If someone coughs in the stadium or something, trouble might break out.

T: Thats it.

J: Its a little worrying.

Kami: I don't think there will be any spectators though.

J: Well, maybe thats right.

Kami: They havn't said 'no spectators', but there will be hardly anyone there.

K: Yeh, people won't come.

Kami: Not going ahead with the olympics would probably result in less deficit.

J: Perhaps. But its gonna be really hard for those businesses that rely on the crowds.

Kami: Yeh, bars and such.

T: Bars, and the general night life industry that has a lot of customers who are visiting from overseas.

J: There are a lot of stores near the venues who are feeling like this right now, they've already installed big TVs in advance, or prepared English menus and stuff. They were expecting these customers. So its very painful for the people who have invested, to suddenly lose that. Well, anyway, the night life is really quiet at the moment. Was it last week? I went for drinks at Keisei Tateishi.

T: Oh, cheap bars right?

J: Keisei Tateishi is, yeh, cheap bars. Theres loads of popular places there like nabe, or sushi places, its full from mid-afternoon normally. But it was empty! I was shocked!

K: I went to see a friend's fashion exhibition near Shinbashi, but at night, it was packed!

J: Oh really?

K: They were saying, 'Don't take photos of me', they were trying to keep it a secret from thier company that they had been out drinking.

J: Really? *laughing* Well, a lot of companies are doing work from home now, its awkward if you get exposed going out drinking.

K,T: Yes, it is!

K: Well, we don't know when everything will be opened back up, but to everyone watching, please wash your hands, gargle, get good nutrition, boost your immunity..

T: *laughing* Its like a health show!

J: One thing I want to say is, the virus can't infect rock, and music.

K: Right

J: No mistake about that.

K: Ok, lets finish this installment here. See you again next time. Thank you very much.

*1 Couldn't catch this

[seerofmike]

i feel like a huge portion of kpop fans are gay fetishists attracted to the idea of quote unquote feminine men and thats why theres so much bullshit

YES okay. okay let me rant for a minute. let me preface this by saying i am NOT a kpop shipper at ALL. this is going to be long so i’ll put it under a’ ‘read more’ because i’ve been holding it in for TWO FUCKING YEARS BABY!

being mlm in boygroup kpop fandom is literally so exhausting. 99% of the people who ship real life human men from boygroups are fetishists and i will tell u why

obviously we all know of a ship in a fandom where the characters' personalities are twisted to fit the heteronormative view of "top" and "bottom" --one character is hypermasculine (top) and the other one is feminine (bottom). there are typical traits associated with both. the ‘top’ is scary or mean or angry or serious while the ‘bottom’ is emotional or bubbly or shy. while this is egregious, at least its fictional characters. their personalities can be simplified or exaggerated and it doesnt cause any real life harm.

im going to define what i think of as a fetishist: a non-mlm person who overly sexualizes gay men/men they think are gay/gay ships, and forces them into heteronormative roles for their own pleasure. its not even limited to cishet women. plenty of non-mlm lgbt people do this too and its like disheartening. so anyways

enter the kpop fandom

i may be incredibly biased here because one of the most affected members [of bts] is my favorite kpop boy, but oh god is the ‘personality change/simplification’ thing AWFUL here. i do not go out of my way to find fanart or see fanfic threads, but being in the bts fandom, u will inevitably see it and i REALLY wish i didnt

so anyways. my favorite boy ever is hoseok. he is sweet and hardworking and very passionate about dance and he can be serious when needed, but ultimately he tries to be very lighthearted and will consistently laugh or make jokes or do something funny when the other members feel uncomfortable or awkward (mostly during english-speaking interviews). he kisses the members on the cheek a lot/hugs them a lot/cuddles them a lot [this is important for later okay]

of course, theres a lot more to him because he is a multi-faceted real life human being, and i don’t know him personally, but that’s a general idea of what he’s like, okay?

SHIPPERS will have you think differently. some video got popular on youtube ""proving"" that hoseok is a sadist (which is just clips of him jokingly playfighting with the younger members), and the video depicts him as secretly mean and serious, and shippers will use that to say "hoseok is a total top!" and then most fanart or imagines or fanfic threads you see are top!hoseok, using this imagined 'hoseok is a sadistic dom' narrative to fuel their fiction, because SOMEONE has to be the top, so they twist him into this hypermasculine mean person (and probably feminize the 'bottom' of their ship but more on that later)

EXCEPT it is not just fiction. this narrative bleeds into REAL LIFE. you have new armys who dont know anything about the shipping scene, and yet somehow the narrative of hoseok being a secretly mean, sadistic person has already made its way into them. in real life, hoseok likes rainbows and wearing nail stickers and putting glitter in his hair. yet people in the fandom will say shit like "hoseok hates femininity" "hoseok would never wear [thing] because he's a dom"

sometimes on twitter you have ppl like me who say uh actually you guys are really weird and this is fetishy and in real life hoseok is very nice and not sadistic at all, you will UNDOUBTEDLY get comments like "omg hoseok isnt cute/nice when will yall learn he’s secretly like [x] and [x]". you could post a video of hoseok with a puppy titled "wow cute" and u will get like 2 clowns in ur comments going 'hoseok isnt CUTE hes a sadist’ . i wish i was joking but i am not. they will do this for EVERY action hoseok does. he cannot blink without people twisting it into a sexual thing

[also, side note: its funny that, since hoseok is one of the least popular members and therefore one of the least shipped members, he is often the odd man out among pairings, and is assigned 'the straight one' by default, and 9 times out of 10 people who assign him 'the straight one' do all this 'dom daddy hoseok' shit.

which just goes to show that this is indeed a matter of heteronormativity.]

so anyways arguably the most popular ship with hoseok is with yoongi, sope. this absolutely happens to other ships probably but im just using them as an example because i see it the most, being a hobi stan

yoongi is very calm and thoughtful and kind and sometimes appears to be cold/having a bad attitude but its just because of the way he speaks, which is very bluntly. again hes a multi faceted real human and i do not know him personally but thats generally what hes like.

god the fandom. treats him SO BAD. so horribly. he's shorter than hoseok. he's shorter than hoseok and people will exaggerate that literal 1 inch height difference so bad and people will turn his whole personality into shy and blushy and In Love With Hoseok, so in love with hoseok that ‘he gets sad’ when hoseok doesn’t kiss him/hug him/or whatever and IT BLEEDS INTO REAL LIFE.

ANY time hoseok or yoongi do ANYTHING together at ALL, people will ALWAYS push the narrative that hoseok, being the mean sadist he is, is 'hurting' yoongi for not returning his undying love or whatever. hoseok did a vlive where he made bracelets for all the members and he considered putting a cat charm on yoongi's but ultimately decided not to because he was having difficulty and oh my GOD sope stans twisted it into 'hoseok HATES yoongi, yoongi would have been so happy, he would have worn that all the time, hoseok isnt affectionate he hates being close with other people after all :(' which is LITERALLY not true because hoseok gives all his homies good night kisses but okay! whatever fits your narrative!

PEOPLE ACTUALLY HATE HOSEOK BECAUSE OF THIS. BECAUSE OF A SHIP. BECAUSE OF THE MANUFACTURED NARRATIVE PUSHED ONTO HIM BY FETISHISTS SO HE COULD FIT INTO THEIR HETERONORMATIVE ‘TOP’ ROLE. not to be all wahh wahh hoseok is one of the least popular members BUT THIS IS LITERALLY A CONTRIBUTING FACTOR.

everyone """headcanons""" hoseok to be a top so they will make him a MEAN HYPERMASCULINE person. everyone """headcanons""" yoongi as a bottom so they will make him a SOFT UWU HYPERFEMININE person. shippers are literally pigeonholing the two of them into fujoshi-esque roles for jack-off material.

anyways this all boils down to: gay fetishists will do anything, ANYTHING, to twist characters or real life fucking people to fit their heteronormative view of top and bottom. top=mean and masculine, bottom=soft and feminine. hoseok is a real life human being. yoongi is a real life human being. they both have real life human personalities, and yet shippers twist their personalities into the opposite to fit their narrative, to the point where nonshippers will genuinely view the two of them as something theyre not.

you have tons of armys that theorize that hoseok's happiness is just a mask he puts on to hide a cruel nature. on twitter. on youtube. in fanart and fanfiction. you have tons of armys that truly believe that, despite literally all the evidence, believe he hates being cute, he hates being happy, he hates the members, and hes secretly a dom daddy fuckboy who wants to bend yoongi over a table. hes a real life human being and fetishists doing their fetish thing has real life consequences.

the same is true for bottom!hoseok stans: they overexaggerate his more cutesy personality traits and he does have a 'feminine' figure i.e. he has a rly small waist but they will overexaggerate that as well and give him huge hips and its disgusting but dom!hoseok is far more frequent with far more devastating consequences so i used that as an example but they’re both bad.

people who """"headcanon"""" [like actually headcanon/firmly believe and not just joking or lighthearted] that members are gay will force these types of roles onto the members. if someone genuinely believes that like, yoongi is gay/bi/whatever, and then try to force this subby soft uwu persona onto him, they have no respect for gay people. they dont. gay people are simply objects for their fantasies. their view of gay people is so one-dimensional and so driven by fetishists’ ideas that its actually disheartening.

and god bitches will deadass be homophobic yet still ship real ass human idols. not just for bts specifically but all boygroup fandoms. sometimes when you search up an idol's name, [idol] gay will be trending--whether it be because of people saying "im gay for him" or whatever, and a LOT of cishet people will try 'clearing' the searches because being gay is bad or something. people normally ‘clear’ the searches if something like [idol fat] or [idol ugly] are trending, which im telling you so you know the context that people only clear the searches when bad things are happening.

[never forget that time 'jungkook gay' was trending and bitches were like "lets clear the searches!" but their pinned tweet said some shit like "sub jungkook x dom jimin coffee shop smut au thread 🌈". bitches also be like i cant be homophobic i ship taekook]

and hoseok and yoongi arent the only ones affected ! we could get into why namjoon and jin (another popular ship) are often assigned 'dad' and 'mom' respectively, or the fact that gay fetishists not only twist members' personalities to fit their ship narrative, but will also force tropes onto them i.e. taehyung/jungkook shippers who will literally demonize jimin and call him a slut or say that he's trying to 'get in the way of' of taekook or 'steal' taehyung/jungkook but thats a whole DIFFERENT rant baby! racism/asian fetishism is also definitely a present factor in all of this but this focus was primarily on gay fetishism and heteronormativity.

oh my god i could also get into the severe transphobia/trans fetishism in this fandom too but this post is already long enough as it is

tl dr: gay fetishists will fetishize real life people and it has actual real life effects and we should ban straight women from shipping mlm

[iridescentides]

hi again dia! happy first day of december ❤️💚 i wanted to ask you what, in your opinion, are the 5 most underrated dcoms? i remember you saying before that you've watched all of them so i'd love to hear your opinions 😊 - 🎅🎁🎄

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH secret santa you are so good! asking me all the best questions 💜

okay so i literally had to make a list of all the dcoms i consider underrated and then narrow down a top 5. theres lots of dcoms that i love, but that i think got the right amount of attention and care (like lemonade mouth and the teen beach movies, for example), so this list just focuses on ones that deserved more hype for their quality level.

5. The Cheetah Girls: One World (2008)

okay so even as i type this i feel like a hypocrite. i have only watched this movie one time. BUT i can acknowledge that its one of the most criminally underrated dcoms ever, tons of people didnt watch it simply because raven wasnt in it. thats why i avoided it as a child, and i didnt get around to watching it until i did my big dcom binge in 2016. and it was so good. theres a really long post floating somewhere around tumblr full of specifics on why its actually the best cheetah girls movie (my favorite is the second one purely out of nostalgia), so to paraphrase some points from that post:

its a solid example of cultural appreciation, rather than appropriation, as the girls go and learn about bollywood and indian culture together

the indian characters arent treated like props or unimportant sides, they get their own agency and storylines that are important

the songs are good!!!

basically this movie was overlooked and slept on even though in terms of role modeling and social value, and just like the first two cheetah girls movies it was important and impactful.

4. Sharpay’s Fabulous Adventure (2011)

okay so as someone whos very neutral and occasionally negative-leaning towards the hsm franchise (mostly bc its overhyped and not really representative of all dcoms), i was pleasantly surprised by sharpays fabulous adventure. this is another one that i know lots of people skipped right over and dont hold with as much esteem as the main hsm franchise, and that doesnt sit right with me.

i do not agree with the “uwu sharpay was the real victim in hsm” arguments bc in their efforts to look galaxy brained the people who say that overlook the fact that she was a rich white woman who used her power and status to exercise control over opportunities that should have been fairly and freely available for all; they were not “making a mockery of her theater” in the first movie, they were literally just kids who wanted to try out a new school activity that everyone was supposed to be allowed to participate in; and despite allegedly learning her lesson and singing we’re all in this together with everyone at the end of the first movie, she literally showed no growth in the second movie as she fostered an openly hostile environment and favored troy so heavily that it literally cost him his friends, all as part of yet another jealous plan to take things away from people who already have less than her. she was NOT the victim in the main franchise, and she did not seem to exhibit any growth or introspection either.

and that!!! is why sharpays fabulous adventure was so important. in focusing on sharpay as the main character, they finally had to make her likeable. they did this by showing actual real growth and putting her outside of her sphere of influence and control. we saw true vulnerability from her, instead of the basic ass “mean girl is sad bc shes actually just super insecure” trope (cough cough radio rebel), and this opened us up to finally learn about and care about her character. throughout the movie we see her learn, from her love interests example, how to care for others and be considerate. she faces actual adversity and works through it, asking herself what she truly wants and what shes capable of. and in the end, when she finally has her big moment, we’re happy for her bc she worked hard to get there. she becomes a star through her own merit and determination, rather than through money and connections. this movie is not perfect by any means, but it is severely underrated for the amount of substance it adds to sharpays character.

3. The Swap (2016)

okay i know im gonna get shit for this but thats why its on this list!!! just like sharpays fabulous adventure, its not perfect and definitely misses the mark sometimes, but it deserves more attention and love for all the things it did get right!

the swap follows two kids who accidentally switch bodies because of their emotional attachment to their dead/absent parents’ phones. and while i normally HATE the tv/movie trope of a dead parent being the only thing that builds quick sympathy for a young character, they definitely expanded well enough to where we could root for these kids even without the tragedy aspect. we see them go through their daily struggles and get a feel for their motivations as characters pretty well. as a body switching movie, we expect it to be all goofy and wacky and lighthearted, but it moves beyond that in unexpected ways.

the reason the swap is on this list is for its surprisingly thoughtful commentary on gender roles. its by no means a feminist masterpiece, and its not going to radicalize kids who watch it, but it conveys a subtle, heartfelt message that deserves more appreciation. the characters struggle with the concept of gender in a very accurate way for their age, making off-base comments and feeling trapped by the weight of expectations they cant quite put their finger on. we watch them feel both at odds with and relieved by the gender roles they are expected and allowed to perform in each others bodies, and one of the most interesting parts of the movie to me is their interactions with the other kids around them. as a result of their feeling out of place in each others environments, the kids inadvertently change each others friendships for the better by introducing new communication styles and brave authenticity. 

the value of this movie is the subtle, but genuine way it shows the characters growing through being given the space to act in conflicting ways to their expected norms. ellie realizes that relationships dont have to be complex, confusing, and painful, and that its okay to not live up to appearances and images. jack learns that emotional expression is good, healthy, and especially essential to the grieving process. one of the most powerful scenes in the movie comes at the end where, after ellie confronts jacks dad in his body, jack returns as himself to a very heartfelt apology from his father for being too hard on him; the explicit message (”boys can cry”) is paired with an open expression of love and appreciation for his kids that he didnt feel comfortable displaying until his son set an example through honest communication. this is such an empowering scene and overall an empowering movie for kids who may feel stuck in their expected roles, as it sets a positive example for having the courage to break the restrictive societal mold. for its overall message of the importance of introspection and emotional intelligence, the swap is extremely underrated.

2. Freaky Friday (2018)

this is my favorite dcom, and probably my favorite movie at this point. ive always assigned a lot of personal value to this movie (and i love every freaky friday in general), for the message of selfless familial love and understanding. i know i can get carried away talking about this topic; i got an anon ask MONTHS ago asking me about the freaky friday movies and i wrote a super super long detailed response that i never posted bc i didnt quite finish talking about the 2018 movie. and thats bc on a personal level, i cant adequately convey all the love i have for this movie. so i will try to keep this short.

first lets state the obvious: the reason people dont like this movie is bc its not the lindsay lohan version. and i get that, to an extent, bc i also love the 2003 version and its one of my ultimate comfort movies, and grew up watching it and ive seen it a billion times. i even watched it a couple days ago. but the nostalgia goggles that people have on from the early 2000s severely clouds their judgement of the wonderful 2018 remake.

yes, the 2018 version is dorky, overly simplistic plot wise, a bit stiff at times, and super cheesy like any dcom. the writing isnt 100% all the time. the narrative takes a couple confusing turns. the song biology probably shouldnt have been included. i understand this. but at the heart of it all, this movies value is love. and its edge over all the other freaky friday movies is the songs.

on a personal level, the movie speaks heavily to me. i cried very early into my first viewing of the movie bc i got to see dara renee, a dark-skinned, non-skinny actress, playing the mean popular girl on disney channel. that has never happened before. growing up, i saw the sharpays and all the other super thin white women get to be the “popular” girls on tv, and ultimately they were taken down in the end for being mean, but that doesnt change the fact that they were given power and status in the first place for being conventionally beautiful. so, watching dara renee strut around confidently and sing about being the queen bee at this high school got to me immediately. and in general, the supporting cast members of color really mean a lot to me in this movie. we get to see adam, an asian male love interest for the main character. we have a second interracial relationship in the movie with katherines marriage to mike. ellies best friend karl is hispanic. and we see these characters have depth and plot significance, we see them show love, care, and passion for the things they value. the brown faces in this movie are comforting to me personally. additionally, the loving, blended family dynamic is important to me as someone in a close-knit, affectionate step-family.

but on a more general level, this movie is underrated for its skillful musical storytelling and the way it conveys all kinds of love and appreciation. in true freaky friday fashion, we watch ellie and katherine stumble and misstep in their attempts to act like each other. its goofy and fun. but through it all, the music always captures the characters’ intimate thoughts and feelings. the opening song gives us a meaningful view into ellie and katherines relationship and the fundamental misunderstandings that play a role in straining their connection. ellie sings about how she thinks her mom wants her to be perfect, and her katherine sings about all the wonderful traits she sees in her daughter and how she wants her to be more open and self assured. this is meaningful bc even as theyre mad at each other, the love comes through. the songs continue to bring on the emotional weight of the story, as ellie sings to her little brother about her feelings of hurt and abandonment in her fathers absence. the song “go” and its accompanying hunt scene always make me cry bc of the childlike wonder and sense of adventure that it brings. for the kids, its a coming of age, introspective song. for katherine who gets to participate in ellies body, its a reminder of youth and the rich, full life her daughter has ahead of her. she is overcome with excitement, both from getting to be a teenager again for a day, and from the realization that her daughter has a support network and passions that are all her own. today and ev’ry day, the second to last song, is the culmination of the lessons learned throughout the movie, a mother and daughters tearful commitment to each other to love, protect, and understand one another. the line “if today is every day, i will hold you and protect you, i wont let this thing affect you” gets to me every time. even when things are hard and dont go according to plan, they still agree, in this moment, to be there for each other. and thats what all freaky friday stories are ultimately about.

freaky friday 2018 is a beautiful, inclusive, subversive display of familial love, sacrifice, and selflessness, and it is underrated and overlooked because of its more popular predecessor.

1. Let It Shine (2012)

this is another one of my favorite dcoms and movies in the whole world. unlike the other movies on this list, it is not the viewers themselves that contribute to the underrated-ness of this movie. disney severely under-promoted and under-hyped this movie in comparison to its other big musical franchises, and i will give you five guesses as to why, but youll only need one!

let it shine is the most beautifully, unapologetically black dcom in the whole collection. (i would put jump in! at a notable second in this category, but that one wasnt underrated). this movie was clearly crafted with care and consideration. little black kids got to see an entire dcom cast that represented them. the vernacular used in the script is still tailored mostly to white-favoring audiences, but with some relevant slang thrown in there. in short, the writers got away with the most blackness they were allowed to inject into a disney channel project.

the story centers on rap music and its underground community in atlanta, georgia. it portrays misconceptions surrounding rap, using a church setting as a catalyst for a very real debate surrounding a generational, mutlicultural conflict. this was not a “safe” movie for disney, given its emphasis on religious clashes with contemporary values. it lightly touches on issues of image policing within the black community (cyrus’s father talking about how “our boys” are running around with sagging pants and “our girls” are straying away from god), which is a very real and pressing problem for black kids who feel the pressure (from all sides) of representing their whole race with their actions. its a fun, adorable story about being yourself and staying true to your art, but also a skillful representation of struggles unique to black and brown kids and children from religious backgrounds.

on top of crafting a fun, wholesome, thoughtful narrative and likeable protagonists, let it shine brought us what is in my opinion the BEST dcom soundtrack of all time. every single song is a bop. theyre fast, fun, and lyrically engaging. “me and you” is my favorite disney channel song of all time due to its narrative significance; i will never forget my first time watching the movie and seeing that big reveal unfold onstage, as a conversation and a plot summary all wrapped into a song. the amount of thought and care that went into the music of this movie should have been rewarded with a level of attention on par with that of other musical dcoms.

if disney channel had simply cared about let it shine more, it couldve spanned franchises and sold songs the way that other musical dcoms have drawn in success. i would have loved for a sequel that explored and fleshed out cyrus’s neighborhood a little bit more, and maybe dipped into that underground scene they caught a glimpse of. i wanted a follow up on the changed church community once cyrus’s father started supporting his sons vision. i want so much more for these characters and this world than disney gave them in just one movie.

for its bold, unabashed representation of blackness and religion, subtle, nuanced presentation of race-specific issues, strong, likeable characters, and complex, thoughtful songs, let it shine is the most underrated dcom.

and because i made a full list before i started writing this post, here are some honorable mentions:

going to the mat (2004)

gotta kick it up! (2002)

tru confessions (2002)

dont look under the bed (1999)

invisible sister (2015)

[scoundrels-in-love]

its xenophobia not racism. i beg you please delete that post or at the very least scroll up in the replies from POC and not white people.

yes, xenophobia is a huge problem. but when you consider points in the post referring to skin colour, its linked to this idea that they might be mistaken for being brown and therefore are being mistreated. not because "they're a different shade of white" but bx they're mistaken for another race - in such situations the words "im italian" and "im indian" will have VERY different results.

the easiest way to differentiate xenophobia from racism is of course how we are perceived. the post mentions names so consider this - we both arrive at an interview and are both called Sarah Brown. Im south asian and you're white who in this situation is more likely to be discriminated?

white privilege is the ability to hide (even though you shouldn't have to) aspects about yourself that would be discriminated against. something that poc will never have.

If you want to talk about xenophobia go ahead. but that post? that post just aint it.

Hi there love!

Thanks for dropping by - the post has been deleted. I do agree at its core, it’s a lot/mostly xeonphobia, not racism, in this specific application, and I didn’t entirely agree on sentiments of post as is, just, broken arm and hard to write tags (this post is taking a huge time to type up), plus, fear of saying the wrong thing, which in this case, in some ways I did by staying silent.

But at the same time, it’s the only post I’ve seen bringing these topics that would absolutely impact my life if I was trying to make my life in another country. I don’t have pretty English name, I have accent, there are ugly ass beliefs about my nationality in a lot of other European countries. Would I still retain white privilege when placed next to person of color? Yes. Not denying that.

I reblogged it more in heart of ‘please stop thinking that Europe is some kind of united family, treating its own white people kindly across the board, and that people haven’t always found even the slightest reason to be horrible and treat others like shit’. Which is feels like sentiment some of people here from USA almost seem to have.

I do agree that racism is the primary issue to face and fight, but one of its cornerstones is ages old xenophobia that still thrives even in much more less-known application. It is way more pervasive than I sometimes feel conversations about racism make it to be. It’s the way that even slightest perceived differences will put your head on the chopping block or at least in the line to be hanged.

And I feel like sometimes it’s overlooked (particularly with white people outside of Europe, I think), disregarding how impacting this view is, how Europeans aren’t free of it even toward its own white people.

I don’t know if there can be huge and drastic change in society and racism as a whole can be done, without facing this truth about xenophobia just being something people still breathe here about their own neighbor of slightly different shade or Slavic name or other small detail. Hence the tag ‘Europe is full of shit’. We are. To people of color, most of all, but oh boy, we’re not lazy about finding reasons to be horrible, disgusting people. It’s bred and cultivated in older generation. Newer one, too. The ‘they’re stealing our jobs’ narrative has been used by white Europeans against other white Europeans immigrants as well and immigrant white women are more vulnerable than their local native counterparts. And yes, POC are still the most affected and the most vulnerable.

I hope that between my arm and being bleary eyed and half awake at 1:30am, I’ve managed to speak properly. I didn’t reblog that post in thoughts ‘oh, I am just as oppressed as POC in Europe’, I am not making that argument and I thought the post wasn’t either. (Like you said, most of the dire consequences in it were brought up in clear ways that’d impact POC the most always, just that it’s so deeply bred even white people get some taste of it, too.) If it did and I missed, I am sorry about that. It wasn’t intention. I mostly just wanted to bring up Europe is a shithole through and through, even in much more subtler ways than USA gets to see or think about. And it’s sad it’s literally only post I’ve seen about it over like 5 years I’ve been here, so if I want to reblog something about it, it’s that post, although it’s inaccurate/misleading.

If I’ve said something wrong or been accidentally offensive, I apologize. It wasn’t my intention. You can call me out for it, I will acknowledge and I will learn, although I can’t promise a long response, because it’s truly rather taxing to write right now,

[panlyv]

ok so… i wanna talk about the “sarawatine didn’t kiss and that’s bullshit” discourse that has been going around in light of the finale.

first, people who say they wished they had kissed are only valid if they aren’t disgusting fujoshis who want a kiss just for the sake of wanting it, without understanding the context and motivations behind such action. so if you are a fujoshi, get tf out of this post.

i think the major reason why so many people are upset we didn’t get a kiss is because of cultural differences. and i speak about this matter from my own point of view, since im literally from the other side of the globe.

as a south american, more specifically as a brazilian who was born and raised here, i can say that our way of showing affection is drastically different from how ive seen most asian couples show affection to each other. (disclaimer to say im in no way an expert on this matter and what i say is based on hearing about asian friends’ experiences and documentaries lmao so don’t come for my head and if i say something wrong please point it out!)

here in brazil, you will see people kissing, hugging, holding hands, and whatever other form of physical affection there is everywhere you go, whether it be a straight or queer couple. it’s just natural for us. we greet each other with a hug and a kiss on the cheek, it doesn’t matter if you know the person you just greeted or not. we even have a whole holiday that’s basically for partying, dancing and kissing (carnaval!). brazilians already flood each other with physical affection without being in a romantic relationship, so of course for me it’s weird when i watch a couple just establishing their relationship and a kiss doesn’t follow their confessions.

a standard brazilian love confession would consist of two people declaring their love for each other, happily smiling, and then they would kiss because they love each other and they are happy to be together, and a kiss is how we were taught to express such feelings. but that doesn’t apply only for brazil, or for south america, it’s a reality in a lot of cultures in many countries around the world. but i also know that’s not universal and it doesn’t apply to everyone.

i get it, that’s not how asians were raised and perhaps for them my culture can be an absurd, but i won’t lie and say a part of me doesn’t expect a kiss every now and then in asian shows, especially after asking each other to be boyfriends or laying down in the grass under a starry night, because that would be extremely realistic and natural in the cultural context im in.

i know it’s not fair to expect elements from my own culture to feature in shows and series from a country so far away from mine, but i do get where some people might be coming from when they demand a kiss like in sarawatine’s case. because for them that would be the utmost romantic gesture, that would show us, the audience, the characters really do love and care for each other.

sarawat and tine have other ways of showing their love for each other, and they are all just as beautiful and valid as a kiss, but i feel like, after everything they went through, especially in episode 12, after solving their problems and agreeing to go back to dating, the fact that they just high fived each other was so… out of place? you would high five your friend after winning a match, or high five a kid after they finished playing around, but would you simply high five your “ex” boyfriend who just wrote a whole song for and about you when you realised everything that happened was a misunderstanding and you are willing to give it another go????? im not saying they should’ve kissed right there in front of the crowd (because that would be out of character for them, esp tine) but… they should’ve at least kissed at some point (and i would die and kill for tine to initiate a kiss tbh), once they didn’t kiss ever since they started dating and moved in together. for me, it would have made sense and would fit the story and the characters, and also make it feel even more realistic. but it didn’t happen, and that’s ok.

people have the right to be frustrated about the lack of kisses in 2gether, but those same people (including myself) have to understand they are choosing to consume a piece of midia that depicts a culture that diverges so much from their own, and that culture has its own social behaviors, manners and values. if you are bothered with the lack of good kisses in bls in general, then i guess thai bl is just not the right genre for you, especially gmm shows (we all know gmm’s poor history of kissing, both straight and queer). and this isn’t much about the thai industry, but we can’t forget how queer affection on television can be censored over the tiniest of things on asian midia which ://

so please don’t go around spreading hate to the crew and director or even to the actors themselves because you feel robbed of a kiss (esp because you can tell it was a scene from the very beginning of the filmings when bright and win were still building the beautiful friendship they have today so perhaps that’s why it felt so awkward dbhdjsj). let’s not forget that 2gether is a show way beyond a simple kiss. it’s a show about love in its purest form, and all the hardships that come with it. it’s a show about self discovery and finding your own worth. it’s a show about growth in so so so many ways. do not let a tiny thing cloud your judgment to the amazing show 2gether was and to the incredible work everybody involved did, and the efforts bright and win did to portray such beautiful and raw characters to the best of their abilities.

i guess i just used this as an excuse to vent and try to deal with the fact that, sadly, 2gether has come to an end. i’ll miss this show so so much because i hold it very close to my heart and it has a really special place in my life rn. but yeah, it did end, liking it or not, and im just so thankful for bright, win and the crew of 2gether for these fantastic 13 weeks we had together and for all they’d done for us. but hopefully season two, or an ourskyy ep, or a special ep for the new book volumes await us………….. who knows