#native american representation in media

[karamina]

Legend of Wolf Mountain (1992)

As someone who posts a good portion of content for obscure media, I wanted to share a movie that I watched as a child and remember fondly, and give a review for it from my perspective as an adult viewer.

Plot:

I will try to be as vague as possible to avoid spoilers, but this section provides context for the review.

Our story begins with us meeting our protagonist Kerrie, as her father presents about nature and the nearby Wolf Mountain National Park at a school assembly. After a confrontation between her and another boy, Karrie and the "bully" Casey, as well as another boy that got drug into the confrontation, John, are driven home from an after-school meeting with the principal. On the way home, two escaped convicts jack the car without realizing that the kids were in the backseat.

One of the convicts convinces the other to let the kids go inside Wolf Mountain rather than killing them on the spot, but the kids sabotage the road for when the convicts will have to come back around the loop to exit the park.

Thus ensues a cat and mouse chase as the criminals pursue the kids through the wilderness with intent to kill them, while the cops and park rangers desperately try to track down and rescue the kids and bring the convicts back into custody. Throughout all this, Kerrie develops a relationship with the Native American spirit protecting the national park, who provides aid to the kids through instructions and warnings that only she can hear.

Discussion:

So this is a movie that I love to hate.

The dialogue is kind of bad at certain portions of the movie, and I spent half of the movie shouting at the screen for the convicts to do as Duane (one of the escaped convicts) keeps saying: forget hunting down and killing the kids and just hike to the road and escape to Mexico FOR GOODNESS SAKE, and the other half shouting at the kids on screen to quit engaging (even indirectly) the antagonists and just find a way down the mountain to safety.

The movie is also a product of it's time, as a fair warning. Casey gets picked on a lot, not only by other characters, but also his role in the plot for being overweight like every five minutes (and I wouldn't even say that he's overweight????).

In addition, I think it would've been really cool if the movie actually made reference to real native american mythos and legends (I couldn't find anything about a Simcoe anywhere online, and I don't know enough about native culture to speak much on this aspect of the movie and the movie doesn't specify what part of America it takes place in (though it might be somewhere in or near California due to a UCLA jersey?) so with my limited knowledge about the topic I couldn't tell what tribe they are referencing if any, even if I were to try to analyze Simcoe's dress. I'd be curious if someone more knowledgeable than me could speak on it.).

The plot is also kind of a kid's movie cliche in being a "kid(s) get kidnapped and stumble into active crime and through shenanagins manage to save the day". What sets this particular film apart is the stakes and how the characters manage them. Not only is there the 'Man vs Man' element with the criminals actively threatening and trying to kill the protagonists, but also a huge element of "Man vs Nature". Due to the kids being kidnapped straight from school and then dumped in the middle of the woods, they have no hiking/survival gear and no food and are forced to try to survive for a couple of days there, which is why they make the stupid decision partway through the movie to steal the criminals' bag which they know has food in it.

The protagonists also fit the plot. Kerrie, of course being the daughter of a park ranger, supplies the group with information about navigating and using the environment to their advantage, including picking out edible plants. John, the son of a police officer and a cub scout, thwarts the criminals by stealing the magazine from their gun and then later picking up the gun and turning the tides in the final scuffle, as well as aiding with setting up traps and providing medical care. Casey definitely could have been better handled, but he did get himself and the other kids out of the car after the main antagonist begins to talk of "punching their tickets".

Speaking of antagonists, while cliche, they do their job well. The main villian, Jocko Painter, is stereotypically hellbent on leaving no witnesses and not taking no for an answer. His partner, Duane Bixby, while on the bumbly side, juxtaposes him very well with a strong moral compass to have mercy on the unfortunate kids and to take the logical move of high-tailing it out of the country.

The humor is pretty hit or miss. A lot of the jokes are actually really funny ("What do you want me to do? Buy them some burgers and fries?!"), but some of the jokes are just repetitive, especially with the jokes about Casey being out of shape.

Finally, the spiritual stuff. Honestly, this movie could have done entirely without the pseudo-Native American subplot (which is unfortunately likely to be inaccurate to the culture of western tribes. Please, someone who is in the know, watch the movie and share your perspective, especially in what was bad representation, I would be ecstatic to hear it!), but I understand why it is there. The movie's theme is that nature is to be respected and that good will come to those who protect and live in harmony with it. However, they could have easily expressed this notion in a different way if they didn't want to take the time to do research on Native American myths and legends and then accurately portray them, but I digress.

Conclusion:

3/5

Despite it's glaring flaws, this is quite an enjoyable movie that despite being targeted for children can entertain adults as well through the dark subject matter. In fact, every few years or so I remember this movie's existence and I have to rewatch it. The full movie is available on YouTube if you are interested: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlVRK3kP6-Y.

They should totally make an updated version that pays tribute to established Native tribes and their legends, features better dialogue, and better characterizes the villians and Casey. They should emphasize the natural setting and how it can work both for and against the characters. In my opinion, a remake should also up the wilderness survival stakes, perhaps by adding in bad weather or utilizing John's broken wrist as a hinderance in maybe overcoming some physically demanding obstacle or task that requires dexterity.

Edit: Additional Notes regarding the movie that I learned of since I wrote this review

Simcoe is played by Don Shanks, who is of Cherokee and Illini descent

The sticker on the school car door reads "Piute School Disctrict", which is located in central Utah. The Paiute tribe (comprised of the Cedar, Indian Peaks, Kanosh, Koosharem, and Shivwits bands) has reservation land located in Southwestern Utah, although historically the tribe was nomadic. You can learn more about the tribe by visiting their website: https://pitu.gov/

The Paiute creation story tells of the God Esa who can take on the form of a wolf or a man, much like Simcoe in the movie; you can learn more about Esa here: https://www.native-languages.org/esa.htm

The location is further confirmed by Duane, when he states that they are using the national park to connect US I-89 to US I-15, which wouldn't you know it, cross paths in Central Utah.

There is no such Wolf Mountain National Park in Utah, but there is one in Ottowa, Canada

[gayhenrycreel]

gotta say, theres something really weird about how online queer spaces pretend that intersex people dont exist. even american queer rights orgs seem to ignore us. and then i see kiwi sites on queer communities and theres comparatively a lot of intersex stuff. i go to a local nurses office and intersex people are included in a pamphlet on representation in books. every queer rights org has a link to to sites for intersex rights. am i crazy or is america falling behind? its quite... concerning

[mastersoftheair]

on the point of including black people in the show (or any period show), a lot of the outrage can sometimes come across as performative to me. it's one thing to feel upset about how little screentime black characters get compared to white characters (a valid criticism, believe me, I Know! give me an hour and i could talk your ear off about how this constantly annoys me as a black person who's damned to enjoy period pieces), but it's another to Only get upset while not actually creating content for said black characters, Especially when fandom (not just hbo war, but in general) is famous for taking Extremely minor characters and creating entire worlds with them, to the point where you wouldn't know they're minor characters at all until you check out the source yourself. richard macon, alexander jefferson, and robert daniels each have only 20 or less posts about them (at the time of publishing this post). in my own fandom experience (within fandoms both big and small and old and new, whatever), i've seen more content (posts, art pieces, analyses, fics, etc) made for minor white characters in less than a mere week's time (it's not a competiton lol i'm just giving a perspective here). so idk. obviously, there's nothing anyone here can do about a show that's already been filmed and released. we got what we got. thas it. at least in the great wide world of fandom, you can actually do something about it, turning the big into small. there's precedent for that. otherwise it just feels like complaining for the sake of complaining

[whynotzoidbergdotorg]

Hi, I was just wondering what are the other reasons you dislike Ali Nahdee. I personally thought she had good point in native rep but she sometimes gets into anti stuff. She acts like seeing abuse relationships on tv will cause people to get into them. I personally didn’t like her but I still thought she had something to say.

she was personally racist to me.

back when all of the marketing around the princesses being in wreck it ralph 2, she had gone to the disney store to “critique” the pocahontas merchandise (totally normal behavior for someone who’s not even powhatan….) and had made a comment that a pocahontas doll was “paler than she was” (and provided an image in poor lighting—I would grab the tweet in question but not only did she block me, but she also nuked the whole thread after blocking me)

now, I didn’t follow her, and I actually had found the tweet in question in early 2019 when I was searching for reference images of disney’s pocahontas (as I had been commissioned to draw all of the disney princesses for someone) and her tweet came up in the results, because i specifically had been looking for the version from that movie (commissioner wanted me to draw those versions of the princesses in specific)

anyways I pointed out that not only was pocahontas not actually that dark skinned in the movie (providing a direct screenshot from the film as proof), but that historically she wouldn’t have been that dark skinned either (because get this, I’m actually part powhatan—and while I am admittedly white passing due to being mixed race, my maternal grandfather, who is native american, isn’t that dark either. he does have copper colored skin, and does tan rather than burn, but he isn’t like. super dark like ali was complaining pocahontas wasn’t on that specific toy.) anywho i prefaced my tweet with my heritage (I’m actually related to the real pocahontas’s family, funfact. not a direct descendant, more like…a distant cousin??? though in the past I have remarked on how in the portraits of her that exist, I look fairly similar in certain facial features, mainly my nose, eyes, hairline, and overall head shape)

anyways, after i pointed this out, and made it clear I didn’t think she was saying this maliciously, I just think she might have had a warped view of how pocahontas is meant to look…she blocked me, and then started subtweeting me…

first, she accused me of using a “poorly photoshopped image” of pocahontas to prove my point (I didn’t, I screenshotted directly from the movie off a cartoon website, so likely the source was a DVD since there was no logo in the corner, and from what I could tell the colors of other characters and scenes looked correct)

THEN she accused me of lying about my heritage—and mind you this was AFTER she blocked me so I couldn’t reply to defend myself or further expand on my native heritage—which anyone who has EVER talked to me for an extended period of time knows I am HAPPY to infodump about. Because both I and my mother have done tons of research about our family tree—and that part of our family in particular (since its one of the few parts of my mothers family thats well documented and in a language we both natively know.) I mean I even know the specific name of a shawnee chief I am directly descended from! (Cornstalk—funfact, the mothman mythos is closely tied with Cornstalk’s curse, which is an alternate belief about the strange events associated with mothman sightings)

Now, again, anyone who knows me knows there are THREE things that really really tick me off in regards to my native heritage—and that is 1) calling me, or any other woman of native descent “pocahontas” (because first of all, her name was actually Matoaka, AND she’s not event the only significant native american woman in history), 2) being asked if I am related to Pocahontas/Matoaka (I actually punched a kid over this once when i was little. ironically I then later found out I actually am distantly related to her. what a small world!), and 3) being accused of lying about my heritage for “oppression points”. (well, there’s more than three, but that would just be getting into a whole other tangent, and I’ve already gone on like, four tangents in this post alone)

This last one makes me absolutely furious because I’ve had people (all white) say I can’t be native because “don’t look native” to them. when like. that’s not even fucking true??? other native american people (specifically other cherokee people—which is one of the tribes I am descended from) have recognized me as looking native american, and like other members of their tribe. I literally have the facial features, I just happen to have fair skin, and lighter hair. I mean hell, if you looked at my baby pictures (which I don’t have any on my device right this moment unfortunately) I did not look like a “white baby”. I didn’t start “looking white” (as in my hair lightening) until I was older. I’ve had white people try to gatekeep and erase my heritage from me because of their own perceptions of my appearance (based solely on my skin-tone).

So yeah, the bitch accused me of lying about a significant part of my heritage, a part that’s very VERY important to me, a part that I refuse to let others erase (especially since I’m SURE the colonists who murdered Cornstalk and his son—both my ancestors—would love to erase that misdeed and bury it).

I mean, imagine claiming to be all about the rights of indigenous women, and then smearing and making sweeping accusations about another queer, indigenous woman! Could never be me.

But I guess I could never understand the brainrot of someone who spends all day complaining about fictional representations made by white people, instead of raising up indigenous creators who worked hard to create their own, better representation instead.

[gouinisme]

i watched calamity jane bc of that one post unfortunately i didnt consider the fact that it's a western from the 50s so obviously there's fucking racism in it. dont recommend

[teachanarchy]

How Native Women Are Revolutionizing Film Narratives

[the-lesbian-of-too-many-fandoms]

It was so uncomfy hearing fisk say Mayas name BECAUSE MY NAME IS MAYA TOO. and i was like

Nope

abort

no thanks

go away pls

Wilson Fisk is terrifying.

obviously he is, he's a villain, but I never felt scared for someone interacting with Fisk like I was while watching Maya interact with him in Echo.

He says he loves her, he says they only can trust each other. That nobody loves her like he does.

But then he doesn't learn ASL to speak to her, instead he spends so much money getting a translator who he ends up killing. And then in super high tech technology as an eye contact so Maya can understand him.

He does small things to show his "love" but I see them as calculated and honestly, not genuine at all, because he knows what he has to do to get her to believe that he truly cares and loves her. but he breaks that illusion by not doing the simplest, most obvious act of love, learning to speak to Maya. Learning ASL.

Her whole family knows ASL. and can speak ASL even after 20 years of not seeing her, even if some of their skills are rusty, they still do. and it speaks volumes.

Then when she goes back home, to her town and family, he still dares to want her back, like "come with me, these people aren't important, they'll never understand you like I do."

BITCH THEY'RE HER FAMILY THAT YOU REMOVED HER FROM WHEN SHE WAS IN PAIN AND IN PIECES YOU MANIPULATOR!!!!

So so angry at seeing a white man being entitled to someone's life choices (esp if they're of colour)

[aethersea]

I do think Blazing Saddles handled its one depiction of native americans very poorly, and the full extent of its representation of chinese workers on the railroad is they were literally just there. not even one single speaking line. unclear if this is worse or better than the redface.

it's fucking phenomenal at lampooning antiblack racism though. extremely blatant, extremely funny satire, which is constantly and loudly saying "racism is the philosophy of the terminally stupid at best and morally depraved at worst, and we should all be pointing and laughing at them 24/7"

plus the main character is a heroic black man who has to navigate a whole lot of bullshit but is constantly smirking at the extraordinarily stupid racists and inviting the audience into the joke. the one heroic white character is a guy who was suicidally depressed until he met the protagonist and they just instantly became buds, and he's firmly in a supporting role the whole time and happy to be there. the protagonist saves the day with the help of his black friends from the railroad, and uses the position of power he was given to uplift not only those friends, but all the railroad workers of other minorities too, in an explicit show of solidarity.

anyone saying "Blazing Saddles is racist" had better be talking about its treatment of non-black minorities. it had better not be such superficial takes as "oh but they say the n-word all the time" or "they have nazis and the kkk in there!" because goddamn if that's the full extent of your critique I very seriously suggest you read up on media analysis. there is too much going over your head, you need to learn to recognize satire.

[damnfandomproblems]

Response to 5474

"All art is political"

No the fuck it's not. Art for the sake of art/decoration/love of subject, has always been the majority. Fanartists aren't drawing political cartoons. They're drawing they're favorites doing beach episodes and riding go-carts and getting fucked stupid and everything in between. Nothing about that is freaking political. Nor should it be. Fandom is an escape, not activism.

As far as representation goes: this is the most America/west centric view, istg

the things mentioned are shown, but by dint of proportionality will always be in the minority. Because people with X handicap or LGBT, are the minority in the US and EU.

Asians are 6% of the country, and less if you split it by east/west/south Asian communities. 13% of the population is Black, just under 20% Hispanic, and about 2% Native. Of course there's going to be less of them in media.

It wasn't political until people politicized it. Some of the top earning actors and comedians in the 90s were black. Some of the most popular shows had 50-90% Black casts. Children's shows with real and animated casts were diverse as all hell with race and ability differences just accepted and spoken about normally and explained in ways kids easily understood and accepted and Literally No On questioned it outside of people that were rightfully considered crazy fundies.

Then the 2010s happened and someone decided it had to be freaking highlighted and made into a big deal and all of a sudden it's an issue when before it never was.

There is a ton of media out there with Latinos and Asians and every other group you can think of. They're just in different languages. Because the world doesn't stop at American/European TV. Branch out. Show the execs you don't want an empty check box character, but actual stories like They're doing overseas. Because that's what will get things shifted, not just demanding X media needs Y type of person just because, especially not when changing the race or sex or ability of a character would actively change the character and the story because they're a whole different person and will have different history and perceptions that will by default change the narrative.

Posting as a response to a previous problem.

[3liza]

i'm rewatching The Terror with my mom and i have something to say about The Terror but it's a spoiler so its below the readmore. please dont read it if you would like to watch The Terror in the future, i think it really is one of those pieces of media that benefits from going in as blind as possible

so if you google this the first result is a bunch of doofuses on Reddit saying someone who agrees with me about it is wrong, BUT, to me, Tuunbaq is very clearly and obviously modeled on the extinct Giant Shortfaced Bear, Arctodus Simus. he's not a 1:1 representation of the examples we have of fossilized A. simus, but that's okay because he is a supernatural being, and also because in general arctic versions of temperate megafauna are much larger due to the surface area:mass ratio effect on body heat conservation. and i think this is an incredibly deliberate and narratively correct choice on the part of the showrunners and i think if you cant see that you dont know enough about extinct megafauna OR the tradition of bears in native arctic north american indigenous peoples. i only know a tiny bit from reading ethnology papers, and obviously Dan Simmons (who wrote the novel The Terror) is a white (i think) dude from Peoria who is spinning his own take on Arctic North American and native stories which is usually pretty frraught so i can't defend it as factual, BUT, an unusually massive giant short-faced bear in this context is extremely perfect, and it's one of my absolute favorite things about the show!!! okay that's it class dismissed

[mightdeletelater]

A speech made at the Academy Awards by Jonathan Glazer, along with the subsequent reactions, sheds light on how people tend to distort others' words to portray themselves as victims and, more concerning, their willingness to reside in a dystopian bubble as long as it doesn't affect them directly.

Rather than idolising Hollywood, I've previously posted about the complexities of my evolving parasocial relationships. But to disregard the influence wielded by these elites would be naive. It's frustrating to witness those in power facing backlash when they attempt to bring attention to pertinent issues.

While the Oscars' prominence in Western pop culture is waning, the ceremony and the fervour surrounding the nominees and winners, especially in the major acting categories, still hold significant sway in film culture and the broader world.

So when such a speech is delivered at the Oscars, it's bound to garner attention:

All our choices were made to reflect and confront us in the present — not to say, “Look what they did then,” rather, “Look what we do now.” Our film shows where dehumanization leads, at its worst. It shaped all of our past and present. Right now we stand here as men who refute their Jewishness and the Holocaust being hijacked by an occupation, which has led to conflict for so many innocent people. Whether the victims of October the — [Applause.] Whether the victims of October the 7th in Israel or the ongoing attack on Gaza, all the victims of this dehumanization, how do we resist? [Applause.] Aleksandra Bystroń-Kołodziejczyk, the girl who glows in the film, as she did in life, chose to. I dedicate this to her memory and her resistance. Thank you.

Glazer highlighted in his speech that victims of the ongoing situation and the last 75 years, whether Palestinian and Israeli, all stem from the occupation and are casualties of entrenched ideologies like Zionism. But when he said this on stage and was immediately misquoted online on social media and by reputable news sources, alleging that he simply renounced his Jewish identity.

He also faced considerable backlash from those indicating a persistent conflation of anti-Zionism with anti-Semitism. It really parallels previous speeches of resistance at the Oscars. Boos rang loud and clear during Michael Moore's opposition to the Iraq war (which we know was a colossal failure by Geroge Bush and the US Government who perpetuated and pardoned multiple war crimes in the region after lying to their own people about evidence of weapons of mass destruction).

There was also Sacheen Littlefeather's advocacy for Native American representation and the direct of attention to the Wounded Knee Occupation, a speech that had bodyguards having to restrain people from getting on the stage and attacking her.

And, of course, Vanessa Redgrave's aim at “a small bunch of Zionist hoodlums whose behaviour is an insult to the stature of Jews all over the world and to their great and heroic record of struggle against fascism and oppression”, which still feels relevant today.

Turning to Glazer's film, I am baffled at those who vehemently objected to it: Did they actually watch it? Because if they had any negative feelings towards Glazer's speech, especially after watching his film, it suggests, to me, a deficiency in critical thinking.

Glazer's film portrays a chilling atmosphere where genocide becomes normalised, echoing real-world situations like the ongoing conflict in Gaza. The film serves as a stark reminder of humanity's ability to coexist with atrocities, often turning a blind eye for the sake of comfort.

The horrors adjacent to the characters' lives evoke contemporary parallels, particularly in regions like Gaza. With over five months of relentless violence, Israel's defiance of international court orders, and Western governments passively reprimanding while fueling the conflict with arms shipments, the spectre of genocide looms ominously. It risks becoming a mundane backdrop to daily existence. It is a stark portrayal of how affluent lifestyles can be linked to neighbouring atrocities, challenging the notion of denial and complicity.

The film doesn't centre around the Holocaust (Glazer's own words), with its specific historical context. Instead, it delves into a more universal theme: humanity's ability to coexist with atrocities and even derive some form of reconciliation or gain from them. The discomforting reflections are on purpose. It prompts us to acknowledge that the threat of annihilation of any people is always closer than we might imagine.

One of the most poignant moments in the film occurs when a package filled with clothing and lingerie pilfered from the prisoners of the camp arrives at the Höss household. The commandant's wife decides that everyone, including the servants, can select one item. She claims a coat for herself and trys on makeup discovered in one of its pockets.

How can the people who are so staunch against Glazer not draw parallels with Israeli soldiers who have recorded themselves rummaging through the lingerie of Palestinian women and slut shaming them? (Why are Israeli soldiers obsessed with Gaza women's underwear?) Or proudly displaying stolen shoes and jewellery for their partners back home (Israeli soldier loots Palestinian homes for his engagement party). Or celebrating International Women's Day with a photo of women soldiers posing for selfies against the backdrop of destruction (How an AP photographer made this image of Israeli soldiers taking a selfie at the Gaza border).

The film is rife with these parallels that it feels like a documentary. It is a grim reality: the potential emergence of the first live-streamed genocide, captured by its very architects.

Gaza doesn't mirror the systematic mass murder machinery of Auschwitz, nor does it approach the scale of Nazi atrocities. However, the entire purpose behind establishing the postwar framework of international humanitarian law was to equip us with the means to collectively recognise practices before history repeats itself on a large scale. And disturbingly, some of these practices – such as the construction of walls, creation of ghettos, mass killings, openly stated intentions of elimination, widespread starvation, plundering, gleeful dehumanisation, and deliberate humiliation – are recurring. And have been long before October 7th.

How do we disrupt the cycle of trivialisation and normalisation? What actions can we take? There are persistent protests and acts of civil disobedience to "uncommitted" votes, disrupting events, organising aid convoys, fundraising for refugees, and creating radical works of art.

And as genocide fades further into the background of our culture, some people grow too desperate for any of these efforts. I am certainly one of them.

Yet, these efforts seem insufficient, particularly when those in positions of power remain indifferent. It's insufficient when I watch a video of a little girl saying that the violence has made her feel less beautiful before she talks about her father being kidnapped by Israeli soldiers or of the orphans visiting their mother's burial spot in the street. It is insufficient when the death toll rises to exceed the daily death toll of any other major conflict of the 21st century.

Perhaps it's unfair of me to prioritise one tragedy over another, given the multitude of suffering in the world – the ones that are in the news cycle and the ones that are not. Yet, my connection to Palestine and its plight feels as personal as it can be without me actually being Palestinian, fostered from childhood teachings and further enriched through my own research. I have loved ones directly impacted by this conflict: friends in the diaspora grappling with survivor's guilt, friends in the West Bank enduring the daily hardships of occupation. And my friends in Gaza are all either dead, dying or being pushed straight into the arms of death.

The realisation that my efforts to help them are insufficient fills me with frustration. I'm angered by the indifference of those in power and by the hostility encountered by those attempting to bring the truth to the forefront.

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

Aita for not making any of my characters, that I have to crank out daily, pansexual/polysexual/omnisexual specifically and only making them bi?

🏳️‍🌈👶🏼 so i can recognize this later lmao also I'm not panphobic or anything, this isn't about the validity of the label, pan is fine.

So i (20snb bi) have a project I'm working on where I take all the characters from a specifc media I'm into and pair them up with each other to make every possible ship kid from every possible ship(excluding characters who are kids themselves or are related or something, that shit is gross). Basically taking every character and pairing them up with another and creating a kid I think they'd have. Its a big project with lots of characters and I'm easily over 400 at this point. I really enjoy this, even if I'm not even 25% complete.

However I set a schedule for myself that at least one ship kid needs to come out each day which, considering I draw them, color them and give them some development and some even have siblings, (The refs themselves easily take me an hour to an hour and a half) I have to make lots of them quickly to keep up with my daily grind. I've been doing this project for over a year and although it's stressful, I can get them out quickly with breaks for myself.

Their character sheets all have some pretty basic info like their name, gender, pronouns, personality and more but it also includes their sexuality/orientation. I have a pretty basic list of options for what their sexuality will be: straight, lesbian, gay, Enbian, bi, Aro, ace and aroace with a few random things like polyam, WLW and a good amount of the something-loving-something/juvelic terms. I did this because, well, there's not many entirely unique orientations outside of them and although I love mogai/xenogenders and complex identities, I dont want to potentially drag up discourse or bring problems to my budding art blog over it. Its just not worth it to me to turn something I really care about on its head, even if I like microlabels.

In this case, I'm using bi as an umbrella term as most of the other terms share the same definition with slight variations in wording or action but not much difference in practice. We all like everyone, it's basic stuff. However, apparently this is a problem.

I've gotten one or two anons asking me questions about my guides asking some kind stuff like is this lesbian ship kid a butch or femme or Is this picture of them now or just at the age you put on the ref and other harmless stuff. Then things got rude with some Nbphobia but thrice now I've gotten asks:

1. Asking snarkily if im a panphobe

2. insulting me for not specifically writing pan or Omni and just writing bi.

3. Saying that I "clearly dont care about pansexual representation." Then brought up how my primary oc is native american so i clearly care about representation but that oc used to be a sona and I'm native?? Its confusing. (And Lowkey racist shit to just assume any native character is a "diversity quota" character instead of just a person existing but I digress-)

Im not pan, im bi so ig these people assume I'm not cool with pan people which isnt true? I have nothing aginest them, they are just pretty similar and I dont feel like it matters if they are specfically bi or pan or poly or any other label. I don't go into details like that for any other sub-group, not even pronouns and I included combinations and some common Neopronouns. I understand the importance of representation but my project has less than 50 people looking at it every day, Im not netflix or something. I'm one guy on the most LGBT blogging site with a big project and very little audience, I'm not showing people who wouldn't already know what pan is that pansexuality exists.

This project isn't that deep considering the characters in question aren't human/dont have human characteristics.(no it's not hazbin/helluva) Also ive never spoken about lgbt discourse or stated anything remotely close to it beyond the guides just passively having characters who are an LGBT identity. I've not even mentioned all the potentional orientations they could have so I'm not sure where/why this came up in the first place. The most politcial things ive said are calling out a creator in my fandom who outed themselves as a transphobe and mentioning im pro-palestine. That's it.

I mean this is pretty low stakes, I can just block these people and be done with it and this some seriously online shit but I just wanna check.

Am I being an asshole for just writing bi instead of specifying their mspec label because I have to produce characters quickly and I don't see enough of a difference to warrant a change/specification that would ultimately slow and clog an already stressful and complex project?

I dont think I am but idk lol

What are these acronyms?

[erabu-san]

Hello!!I want to start off with the fact that i ABSOLUTELY LOVE your art!!The way you draw characters is amazing,you draw them nearly the same as i hc them

I was scrolling through your blog (the art is beautiful please dont ever stop) and i saw some anons complaining and insulting you for drawing some characters (mainly characters from natlan and sumeru) with different shades of skin.While i dont know much about this topic i just wanted to share my opinion.

Sumeru is based off of middle east,the majority of which has tanned skin (but its very mixed from what i know!).Natlan is based off of a lot of places (which is honestly another sign of racism in my opinion)I myself am from Turkey which can count as both middle east AND Europe (even turkish people dont know what we count as).I have a lot of middle eastern friends as well (Iran,Iraq,Sauda Arabia,Syria…) and they are brown or tanned and one of them is white!

i saw a lot of people say that “not every character needs to be black/brown” and i answer this with not every character has to be white.White,brown,black,asian,native american and every other race exists and every race deserves to be respected.No race should be insulted for wanting representation.No race should be seen as outcasts either.Wether that be white or black,no one deserves to feel like they are not fine the way they are.

I myself hc Zhongli as pale as a ghost to indicate that he is a god (as being pale is associated with being a superior being in chinese culture).I hc Xiao as tanned due to him spending all his time,day and night,fighting monsters.I hc Neuvilette has slightly blue-ish skin bc hes the hydro sovereign.I hc as black bc i like him that way.I hc Alhaitham as brown and so many more characters.Nobody would want to play a game in which there is no diversity.Diversity helpes the characters feel more real and gives them character depth.Diversity helps make Teyvat feel more real,like Earth itself.

But anyways this is just my opinion,i would love to learn more and hear everyone’s opinions.And if someone doesnt like your art they should just block you if they dont want to see it🤷‍♀️ Your art is amazing though so please dont mind those buffoons 🙏

Sorry it this got too long or complicated.English isnt my first language and im still learning

And dont even get me started on the body shapes of the characters

Hii !! Thank you so much ! 😭😭🙏

Yesss I completely agree with you !

And if I can be honest, I wasn't aware of this question of representation and diversity before Genshin Impact. Once, I saw a fanart with someone making a white character black, and in all of my ignorance, I was wondering why (a genuine question). So I asked my friend her thought (because I love hearing her opinions) and she makes me aware about representation in media, and issues they are facing to. And, wow, I learnt a lot ! Maybe it is a bit silly but, I always tend to focus on canon content, and all my HC was around interactions or their behaviour, and I never thought about their body appearance HC. And since I learnt that, my creativity developed a new skill ! So it is only recently I put HC on their physical appearance (like Sethos with dimples KKGEKDJS it ain't that much but it is fun, I guess HC on physical appearance is not my domain)

But it is thanks to Genshin, a game about exploring a whole world with diversity lore in each region, and what representation Hoyoverse used for making their game that I started to be into it. So yes, there is a lot of problem in genshin, making some rep worst. But without this, I wouldn't be able to learn more about SWANA culture with a thread I read on Dehya Nilou Tighnari Faruzan, Japan with Wanderer, Chinese with Yun Jin or recently on Hawai'i with Mualani and even on France United Kingdom with Emilie (i think I also read a thread about GaMing too...?). And what a surprise, I am close to France and UK but I never knew about Emilie's inspiration. Not only on character but also lore, and how some desert name in genshin is also part of culture (I don't remember where I read it tho !! Gosh i wish to reread it again).

I love genshin for its diversity whatever on region or lore but even on gameplay it offers us in our adventure. But I also agree on those who complain about character design ! Not only about representation, but about storytelling in character design (for example, you can't guess Xilonen is someone who forges ; her nails, accessories and hair would be on her way). And it happens that I receive some hate message (on tumblr and twitter. Mostly twitter) saying "this game is not for you, just leave" with some insults that I prefer to not share lol

I agree and also disagree. What do you mean this game is NOT for me ?? Searching our lost sibling, tragic lore, wholesome encounter, satisfying gameplay, vivid color landscape, with great characters, ALBEDO ??? Not for me ?! 🤨 My love for genshin is immense. But, I agree on the fact that.. yes. Indeed, I am not the target for genshin character design. I played a lot of gacha game, and it is mostly based on collectioning waifu with big boobs and big ass (you were a great game, Epic Seven...). When I look at hater's account on twitter, there is a pattern : throwaway account, account full of problematic opinion, or full of porn 2d woman with the basic hourglasses morphology big boobs big butt even on characters who are flat. It is undeniable that most of genshin characters are sexualised, and this, for sell them better. And, making them white is one of criteria to sell them better to those type of client 🙂‍↕️

I study sociology (i am a newbie tho, nothing deep) and I can extend this light analyse on what I learn : the success of Genshin, why there is such a contrast between Genshin players and their different profiles, the benefits Hoyoverse do and how difficult it is to satisfy all players (and so sacrifices are made, like characters design). It is all supposition tho BGKEJGJS but maybe if I do my last year of sociology and still into genshin, why not making my essay on it bahahaha

BACK TO THE TOPIC !!! (SORRY I HAD A LOT TO SAY) don't worry, since this anon hate, I tend to block everyone who try to argue or insult 😭 and just mostly shock how people are openly racist when they are behind a screen WOW lucky me I am not affected by those words ☠️ and all of this just because I draw Kinich black skin or Xilonen with a bit more textured hair...? That's so crazy ! Anywaaaay diversity is great and it works also on creativity too !! World is boring if everything looks the same, and it is also the same in Genshin ! Imagine in 4 years, genshin only released mondstadt 1, mondstadt 2, mondstadt 3.... I believe the game would be dead sooner if it was the case bahaha

And thank you again for all your compliments about my art anon !! I love drawing so much, and it is my source of fun and happinness <3 There is in some drawings I thought "wow !!! I improve !!" And i am so happy when people notice it too! 😭🙏

Don't worry abt your english, mine isn't the best neither BAHTVZJHGJZGAA

[uninformedartist]

I really don't like going through Viv's likes or anyone's for that matter but for evidence purposes I do. Viv liking this tweet is so... I can't describe it just wow (second tweets is more context).

Viv there is lots of valid reasons (yeah some not) that people dislike you and subsequently don't want to support/dog on your projects. You're a shitty person in many ways from transphobia, employee abuse, having a toxic work environment and not changing it at all, allowing your fans to run as your protection hounds (not once you stepping in to call out their behavior) from silencing your victims in multiple egregious ways, harassing critics/critical fans. Your show helluva boss is ableist, it fetishises queer people/relationships, inconsistent in its storytelling/identity, has staff members working on it thats problematic yet you never address the multiple call outs against them, heck Viv interacts with said problematic people regularly on twitter showing she doesn't care. Hazbin hotel has the worst poc representation I've seen in recent animation from Velvette being a black woman but looks ashey thus erasure, Alastor being creole but looks how he looks, basing him on a native American creature you been told by many native Americans to remove that aspect of him, making Alastor use Haitian Vodou when many said its used incorrectly/used in an aesthetic manner which is insensitive/wrong to use, basically making a mockery of these people's beliefs/religion. And I can go on.

Even your own staff/die hard fans shit on other idie shows in private (and some of such sentiments seep out in public social media spaces)

And lets not forget you making such a big deal on your lackadaisy donation, posting the amount & tier of executive producer credit you selected. Then when your donation was rejected you subsequently posted its rejection, which triggered your fandom to boycott lackadaisy. Also the fact Viv posted that donation rejection on the same day when lackadaisy hit an astronomical donation goal, which resulted in many of her fans pulling their donations because their "queen" feelings got hurt.

Remind, is was totally valid for lackadaisy to do, whatever the reason for the rejection they can deny/accept whatever donation, that is their production's private decision. Lackadaisy had to come out with reasonings on their rejection because of the dogpiling they received, and they even replied to Viv rejection tweet they sent a message in private/the matter could've been talked about in private.

Also this liked by viv: sorry on the gif can't post more images.

And this is all the tip of the iceberg. So yeah don't cry/like tweets of your bootlickers pitying yourself in the process Viv when people don't like you/want to support you. Play the victim all you like Viv, you're a shitty person through & through and people are starting to see it.

[blackfilmmakers]

Why are you calling Asha from Wish “ quirky biracial girl” as if it’s an insult??? And saying the braids were animated poorly proves you don’t know how animation works, expecting a group of underpaid workers to focus of animating one thing is fucking absurd. Lightskin girls also need representation, it’s clear you’re obviously insecure so you’re taking out your anger on other minorities for not being “good enough” as if it’s some type of requirement for media to have black people in it instead of yknow, actually representing minorities who barely get any good representation (asian women, Asian men, Native American men, Native American women, etc)

Pick your poision

[bestanimatedmovie]

Choose your favorite!

Vote in the other polls!

What fans say:

Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron:

I was a Horse Girl TM, so I watched this movie a million times as a kid. It's honestly the best horse animation I've ever seen, all the backgrounds are gorgeous, and the soundtrack is incredible. Also the plot is anti-colonial/anti "taming of the west". Genuinely cannot pick a favorite scene, but I love the scene where Spirit commits many acts of violence against the US military <3

horsie :) I love how they use actual horse body language instead of just turning them into a dog. Also enjoy how the protags are easily understandable with just body language and neighs. Also the 2d and 3d animation blend seamless.

I cannot begin to tell you what makes this movie so good. It's a corner stone of animated media. The societal commentary. The incredible emotion of not only the story but the animation. The songs. Sound the Bugle makes me cry every time.

This movie was a key part of my childhood and “Sound the Bugle” still makes me tear up.

This is like the greatest horse movie of all time and I will not change my mind. I watched this movie so many times as a kid that both the VHS and first cd I had for it got ruined and we had to replace it with another cd LOL. I once convinced my teacher to let us watch it in class because it had a few scenes with Native Americans and we were learning about them at the time(It's about the old west and the expansion of the United States westward so it has some Native American characters but def not enough to make it a Native American film, but it does have positive representation I think?) The main character is the horse Spirit, a lead stallion for a herd of mustangs. His thoughts are narrated but he doesn't actively talk and the horse behaviors are pretty realistic, also the ART of it all, James Baxter was one of the lead animators for this film and his work is incredible, and hand done. Some of the behind the scenes stuff in the extras makes the animation look 3d its so good, and the camera work is also insane. As a horse obsessed child this movie was a staple for me, and I prefer it even over live action movies with actual horses. ALSO THE SOUNDTRACK OH MY GODDD how can I almost forget, the soundtrack for this movie goes so hard, I used to use some of the songs as hype music not even lying.

The Mitchells vs. the Machines:

It’s in its core about family, how we can drift and argue. Not because of one true fault, but because we are different. It shows how being weird and different don’t make you less of a family while not demonizing people who do have more stereotypical ‘perfect’ families. I think it portrays our humanity and the way we bond and what we do for those we love, what we sacrifice, so well. It’s so funny and so sweet.

It's funny and the family is neurodivergent and it's just really nice v good time it looks like anti technology at first but its clearly more of a criticism on capitalism I just really like that movie its pretty to look at.

It's funky!!! hang on, bullet point list time: - has such a unique and expressive animation style - has a lot of pop culture references that don't really feel overbearing - has honestly one of the best family dynamics in a movie I've seen???? - realistic characters!!! with realistic and interesting character arcs!!! - absolutely hilarious. makes me laugh every time i watch it :) - comedic villain! gotta love me one of those. also she's badass for a smartphone so - tHERE ARE FURBIES - basically it's very chaotic but also heartwarming, and it's honestly my favourite movie :D

Heartwarming story about family! Also kickass animation

Very good stylized animation. Well written and designed characters. Super funny and sooo heart warming. Fucking rad action scenes (again the animation is fantastic). The story comes together well, it's just quite well written. + Protective dad character who's not annoying as hell (that's rare!). I love every part of when they're at the dinosaur museum thing.