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beabythemountains · 4 years ago

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First of all, I want to thank those who did their best to make me look beautiful in this shoot. Will forever be in gratitude to you 💗

Secondly, I want to warn everyone who reads this that I am reserving my right to this post and whoever tries to use this in any way in prejudice against me, without my consent, shall be faced with legal consequences under the Privacy Act of 2012 (RA 10173) and other relevant laws. (I basically chose this platform because I want to be privately open about my experience without having to attack anyone who knows me in social media.)

I guess this is an open letter to people who are yet to open their minds. I wrote this August 21, 2020 after crying about it.

I received the final edits of my photos today. I have a cup of tea beside me, and cases and books on this table I am yet to read (I’m now in my fourth year in a post-graduate course.) But I just needed to pause and think about something for a bit. Today, my heart mourned.

Today was also the day I decided to color my hair back to dark brown/black.

As many people I know know, I work in government service. It has been 2 years and 1 month since I entered. Since entering, I’ve witnessed and experienced my fair share of Filipino government office gossip and, having been raised in a family and having had chosen church friends who do not condone this kind of culture, it has been one heck of an emotional ride and plenty adjustments had to be made. Many deep breaths were taken and many “it is what it is” have been whispered just to get to this level of adjustment I’m in now.

And I think I have finally adjusted to it — you meet different people everyday, you work with different age groups, and you have to adjust to a certain level of response to each different person.

And so, one day, I decided to color my hair purple/violet. Basically, the way people who like to color their hair blonde (or ash or light brown) like to do so, that’s the same way I like to color my hair purple, only in a different color. But aside from that, it’s my favorite color. I like different. I like unconventional. And not that I like it loud, I just don’t like common (similarly to how I am not a fan of mainstream stuff; but I don’t hate it, disclaimer). And it’s not that I decided to do it out of spite or out of a moment. I studied it and thought about it for a long time. I also love research so I enjoyed how I studied it and making it happen. About the color, I’ve always wanted to have purple hair, for aesthetics. The color matches well with green/blue green/pale yellow (actually any pastel color) because of contrast and looks soooo good with white — colors that do not usually compliment my skin color when worn. I’m not really cautious or conscious with what I wear because I’ve always thought that it doesn’t really matter as long as one is comfortable in it and doesn’t really affect people around him/her. I’ve also been very adventurous with my hair — I’ve tried very long, very short, straight, curly, wavy. I just don’t care what other people think of what I do to my hair or what I wear. I mean, it’s just my hair, if you don’t like it then don’t do it to yourself! 😂 What has been stopping me to color it before was just because I do not have the resources. I was only a student, imagining what it would be like to color my hair. And now I have the means to do it!

I studied it. Of course, first of all, I studied if it was prohibited. I researched every manual or regulation I could find about dress code and stuff in the government service. I found that it says in the civil service that with regard to hair, it shall be governed by the internal rules and regulations promulgated by the respective agencies/office. As to our office, there is no such rule or regulation.

So I figured, it was okay. I would not be violating anything. So the next thing I studied was how to do it. I also figured it would be cheaper if I do it at home than have it done at a salon (you know how expensive it is!) I studied it very closely and thoroughly in a way that I can do it successfully in a cheaper way and in the least damaging way possible. All in all, I only spent between 1,100-1,500 pesos to achieve this color at this length and still keep it healthy. And I was successful! It wasn’t perfect (see the colors are not even), but I was really happy. ☺️😊💜 I was very patient with my hair. I did bleach it then rested it for two weeks. Bleached then rested. Bleached then rested, until it’s light enough to have it colored (a total of 6 weeks I think.) I bought hair mask and hair treatment to keep it alive (included in the estimate) so I achieved my violet hair while keeping it healthy.

The first week of going to office with this hair, of course, was fun, and shocking for people. My friends were happy with me and supportive. I was so happy that time. I wake up everyday smiling, filled with joy and ideas of how I can wear my hair. I still got my work done the way I should, everything else is normal and the same, except for my hair. Everyone else also got to do their work the same. I expected also some retaliation. Of course, it’s new! Waaahhh “girl with violet hair!” — stuff like that. But I just laughed at it knowing that I did not violate anything. I tried my best to always keep the mood light when they talk about my hair and I was saying things that they can relate it to like cartoons or anime or kpop, or things that have similar color like rambutan or dragon fruit. Overall, it was a fun week.

The second week, some people started talking to me about changing it back to blonde (I was blonde for a few weeks while I was patient for it to lighten). Some are threatening me that I will receive a memo regarding this. Some are saying it’s bawal daw kasi nasa office ako. It started getting toxic. I know full well I am not violating anything. They also know full well there is no regulation against it. (They tried looking for it too!) When they say “bawal” I just tell them “wala naman pong regulation.” They answer “ehh oo, pero palitan mo na a?” or “first time kasi na may ganyan kaya palitan mo na a?”

Similarly, I was also still able to do my work without my hair affecting my job, or even affecting other people’s jobs. My immediate boss does not really talk to me or react to my hair. She still asks me to work on things to the advancement of our office’s goals and missions. My hair has never been an issue between us.

But gossip still spread like wildfire in the office. I wasn’t speaking much, but the talk continued. By the end of the second week, I’m exhausted from all that I hear. By the end of the week, I received no memo.

Of course, I have a friend I opened this up to because I’m an emotional baby and I would cry about it. I would cry about it because I really love my hair. I would cry about it because I spent so much time and effort and resources in researching, studying, and buying stuff to be able to achieve it. I’m crying over it because I’m not violating anything yet I’m receiving retaliation to the point that people are scaring me to bring it back to normal or blonde out of mere gossip that some people are not fond of it.

My friend, still very supportive and in agreeing that she also does not understand why they are terrorizing me, asked me whether I still think it’s worth it. At that time I answered “YES!” with all vigor because I was just so sure that I wanted this, and it doesn’t really matter because it doesn’t affect my work and the gossip didn’t hurt me too much yet to rid me of my freedom of expression. She’s supportive but worried about me. She knows that I can stand on my decision but worried my emotional self will get hurt by all these.

So I went to office again the third week with purple hair (as you can see I’m interchanging purple and violet in the whole passage because I’m not sure which is which 😂😂), bracing myself for gossip but still keeping my joyous self and keeping my cool. I continued my work, people still stare at me, whisper in my back, and that’s fine with me. I was getting used to my hair being like that that I sometimes forget it’s purple. However, longer (it’s already long) story short, the gossip has gotten worse. And this time, people who were once supportive or once indifferent to my hair color change were suddenly mobbing me. Their comments were loud but without basis. They would say it repeatedly, like a ringing in my head, whenever they see me. Some would even laugh at me, touch my hair then laugh to my face, or even on my back. They would continually scare me saying I would be disciplined, or called to the investigative office, even if I was not violating anything. What they just keep saying is that it’s “bawal” and that it’s the first time they saw something like it in their years of government service.

I felt like I was back in primary school, and in a private one. Which instead of only the kids bullying me, even the teachers are terrorizing me for something I did that wasn’t disallowed in the policy. The people are so loud in my head. They were talking without so much reflection. Was it just out of gossip? Or do they think it’s ugly? Why can’t they just say so? Will the office be hurt? My thoughts were exploding with questions no one provided me the answer to. Imagine one girl against that much noise. Their noise was louder than my hair color, honestly, because people will get used to my hair, but I will forever be marred by how I was bullied by people in my office (AND I’M 24!) It was kind of traumatic. I thought about what my friend asked me: is it still worth it?

So I dyed most of my hair back to a darker color (I left remnants of my colored hair in not-so-seen parts). But I leave these questions for people to reflect on:

* Are we still in a time when hair style, what we wear, or tattoos on our bodies still define how we look at a person? Does it really matter? Does it matter at work? At school?

* How will people be able to express themselves if at the first sight of change, we are hampering it, without understanding it or giving it a chance? Can you imagine how much potential would have occurred or blossomed if we didn’t hamper it?

* Will we keep looking down on youth? Will we always impose hierarchy against young potentials? Will we never open our minds to their views which actually make sense if we just reflect on it?

So I dyed my hair back to dark brown/black. Not because I caved in (or maybe I did). Not for you, but for my peace. I don’t want to go on another day facing judgment and tyranny from people who refuse to open their minds and who I don’t affect AT ALL. I want my peace back.

But I mourn for you. I mourn for all the people who have kept their minds closed. I mourn for all the people who have already experienced such, and I hope that you will not experience it again. I hope your daughters and sons will not experience the same trauma I felt.

I browsed through these edits and, while admiring my hair, I cried a little bit for the people who did not appreciate it and for those against it. I hope I can wake up one day when hair color is no longer an issue in the workplace. And reminder lang din na ang government issues ngayon ay COVID, corruption (pariiiin eh it’s 2020), politicians na hindi nakikinig sa mga taong bumoto sakanila, etc.

Bow. 😊😊😊💜

#hair #haircolor #purple #violet #hair ideas #toxic office culture #gossips #what gossip does #privacy

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bitter-opal · 5 years ago

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Yellowface is Alive and Well in Steven Universe

Ok, so I know this post is going to get a lot of hate, but

Steven Universe treats its POC horribly. Today Is I’ll be talking about the racism towards Asians and Asian-coded characters in the show since I have personal experience with that.

Definitions and Terms:

A quick overview of Yellowface: Yellowface consists of very narrow eyes, buck teeth or tooth gaps, and very yellow skin. This was used as justification to keep Chinese people out of the US using Chinese Exclusion Acts during the 19th century after Chinese immigrants were used to build railroads or clean laundry. It was used as an argument for US imperialism of the Philippines after the Spanish-American War concluded. It was also used as anti-Japanese sentiment to justify the shameful Japanese internment camps of the 1940s.

Remember the episode “Steven’s Dream” where Greg and Steven go to visit Korea. They made an anti-Asian joke. The joke here was that all Asians look the same. Asians have to deal with this kind of shit everyday. That we all look alike or that our cultures are interchangeable. But oh, it gets even worse than that.

Connie: Connie is Southeast Asian. But she constantly gets shunted to the side as Steven’s sidekick. First, Connie is portrayed as a nerd, and although I am a nerd, that is a hint that they would go the stereotypical route. The nerdy Asian is a stereotype used to hold Asians to perfectionistic standards and justify being shunted to the side because we’re “nerds.” In season 2, Pearl conditions her to serve Steven and put her own safety last, which is extremely unhealthy. She’s even called a “pet” by Blue Diamond, which is super racist. A brown kid should never ever be called a pet. And then I see people on Tumblr defending Blue Diamond, but if you want to avoid being racist, awful epithets like this are something to avoid completely. Also, whenever she fuses with Steven into Stevonnie, their fusion is sexualized, which is typical of Asian fetishization (something I have had to deal with unfortunately irl) When she is rightfully upset at Steven, her concerns and feelings are considered non-issues. Why? Because she’s a POC and POC don’t matter in Steven Universe.

Lars: just everything about his character was done completely wrong by the crew. Lars has always been colored orange on the show, which is pretty weird unless you contextualize it as another form of racism. If they were going for tan, then the tan they did was really shitty. Lars is implied to be Filipino based on the dish he makes right before he gets kidnapped. His dish ends up thrown in the trash out of shame, which is a big old middle finger to Asian culture and food. He’s portrayed as a jerk before he gets kidnapped. He’s the only human character to explicitly die...Apparently the only way an Asian character is good is if they die for the white hero and/or get their skin turned much, much lighter. And then, Steven leaves him stranded in space. Like hell, this kid had a very high chance of dying again, and you fucking left him?! But if it was your racist Uncle Andy, I’m sure you wouldn’t leave him behind. That is pure racism. But here’s what really shocked me to the core:

Blatant Yellowface with Jade: This one may require some historical context since many people think that it’s impossible in modern day cartoons, but I see it on a regular basis. Yellowface is defined above. Can you figure out what’s wrong here? Hint: It’s the facial features of the fusion. Neither of Jade’s components have the features of the fusion: specifically the tooth gap and the “slanted eyes.” Jade is also stereotypically associated with East Asian cultures especially China. When using such a culturally charged gemstone, you need to make sure that you’re not being racist about it. This is what the crewinverse failed to do. They gave the fusion “slanted” eyes and a tooth gap even though a quick Internet search says this screams Yellowface. This blatant example of Yellowface is not talked about a lot and I wished to draw more attention to this extremely problematic depiction. When I watched the episode that night, that shit seriously traumatized me. It made me stop watching the show for any kind of pleasure because a show that shows this much disrespect and mockery of Asians does not deserve my viewership.

Conclusion: This kind of racist motherfuckery by the show is extremely upsetting especially to kids who grew up in racist or intolerant environments. All the time, Asians are often considered foreign even if they were born and/or raised here. Asians are often fetishized, which often leads to sexual harassment and/or assault. Just because something claims to be “progressive” or “racially diverse” does not mean it is unproblematic or anti-racist. Because this allegedly progressive cartoon committed at least 4 majorly racist acts against just Asian people..

#su crit #anti asian racism #anti racism #tw: yellowface #tw: racism

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jbbuckybarnes · 5 years ago

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Distant Connection - 5/11

Pairing: Bucky x Harmonia (OC) Warnings: a lot of domestic fluff Summary: After an unknown group of goons took her mom’s life and tried to get her for the dark magic powers she possesses, this untaught witch is saved by the Avengers and brought to the compound where her new life unfolds.

MASTERLIST || Distant Connection Masterlist

She was drawing in her book in the silence of the early morning hours when only Steve and Sam were up because of their military habits. The brush was just dipped into the blue to fill out the eyes of James standing in the elevator with her hands cupping his face when somebody knocked on her door. “Who?” She just asked concentrated on the brush in front of her. James would just come in and Steve wasn’t really someone to interrupt others, especially her. “Wanda. Can I come in?” A female voice answered. “Sure,” she said while covering her current painting with a loose paper and looking towards the little mini hallway leading to her door. The redhead showed herself shortly after with a little smile on her face to show that she wasn’t there to annoy her. “Do you wanna train with me maybe? Or relax together? Whatever you want,” she said with a soft voice. After looking at her covered notebook for a second an back at her, Harmony answered “Sure. Let’s do a little bit of both.” A short smile was interchanged before she stood up and both of them left for the training room.

“What things can you do?” Wanda asked curious after both of them got ready in the room. “Self defense, psychological changes, a little bit of materializing, I think that’s all,” she said scratching her neck. “Did you ever train offense?” She asked further. “With what? I don’t wanna hurt living beings and I don’t have a lot of ideas what else to use,” she said a little bit confused by the question. “I’m also not training it enough and I think nobody can truly control that kind of power but I train a lot with rocks or big fruits like melons...maybe that could help you too?” She suggested to Harmony. “Do you think I could control it well enough?” Her shy and insecure voice came back. “Of course. And even if there is something going wrong I’m there and able to stop it. This is why I wanted to train with you. We can control each other.” Wanda said smiling and took Harmony’s hands. “Uuuh, well I guess we are destroying some stones?” She asked with an unsure smile back and got dragged out a few dozen yards away from the compound into an area that was very upkept and had a rock circle. It was on the backside of the building and that’s why she never noticed it. “They get replaced frequently if I destroy them. Go ahead. Try it out. I’m here to stop you whenever it’s needed.” Wanda encouraged her. Harmony placed herself in the middle of the rock circle and moved her hands like she learned from the books and articles she researched all the weeks she sat in the library. Red energy lit up between her hands and while Wanda built a protection shield around the small field to make her feel more save. Her eyes became ultra-focused and she aimed at the stone in front of her and moved all her energy against it. With a red energy ball the 3ft x 7ft x 3ft stone just pulverized. There was a moment of complete silence and a impressed face towards her hands before she started trying out more. Pulverizing three in a row, making one fly, making another fly and throw it, make a domino effect with three others and kicking one away with her red magic. The later breaking the safety shield Wanda had created and slamming into a storage room door of the compound. The power flew out of her instantly with a wide eyed “Fuck!” coming out of her mouth. Wanda’s and Harmony’s eyes met and there was a little giggle starting between them which was only stopped by Tony in his suit landing in front of them. “Ladies? Can you explain?” He asked after the mask opened. “Overestimated my power. Looks like you need more areas for us where we can’t destroy your property.” Harmony answered still chuckling at what just happened which threw Tony off. “I guess you’re right,” he said with a resigning face. A billionaire couldn’t be mad at a door being destroyed. “And ordering more melons and human-like things would be nice. If you ever want her to help in missions.” Wanda started talking. “I’ll make sure to install a protection shield over the whole building, create a wall here and buy the ladies some more melons to smash against it. Anything else?” He asked a little more suave now. “No, that’s it.” They smiled at him like two children and he flew back to the main building again after an eye roll. “We should maybe move on to the relax part now.” Harmony still said chuckling and looking over at the destroyed door.

They sat down on the biggest rock that was still standing and started talking about magic. “Why can you do magic? Where does it come from?” Wanda asked after explaining the experiments that were tried on her. “I don’t know. I think I got it from the family of my father and my mother knew and never told me to protect me from possible enemies. But me not knowing is the reason why I couldn’t defend us when they came. I knew there was something different about me when I learned spells for witchcraft that I got into...but I didn’t know how deep this went until it was too late and you came and rescued me out of there,” she answered with her speculation. “So it’s genetical and others might be having it too. Do you know if it could originate from something like experiments or if it’s based on mythology?” She thought out loud. “I think it’s more of a mythology thing. Pretty sure I will find out at some point. They will probably continue to look for me. For whatever reason.” Harmony speculated further. “Maybe you’re some important part of their power construct? You’ve learned about your power only a few weeks ago and you’re already so great at so many things from just reading? It’s incredible, there must be something special about you when it comes to dark magic.” Wanda answered with a smile. “Well, let’s just hope they won’t kidnap me cause I’m not good with torture and I don’t know if I can fight against other magic people that are grouped up.” She shrugged her shoulders. “I’d come find you alone if I need to and I wouldn’t come to play,” she said chuckling lightly with a bright smile. “Thank you...you know, for helping me figure this out and understanding.” Harmony said more serious. “Of course! If you ever need a ear or help just come to me.” Wanda put a hand on her shoulder with an empathic smile and got a nod back before they stood up and went back inside. Steve was just walking down the hallway from his room to the common area when he saw the two witches and started smiling. “I heard you’ve been acting up?” He chuckled when they were a little closer. “It wasn’t my fault the compound was so close to where I wanted that rock to go,” she said holding her hands up with a smile. “Small energy ball,” he said laughing while messing up her hair like she did with his the last time they spoke. “Still want me to look into your brain big boy?” She asked with her face looking up at him. “Now?” He got a nod back “Sure.” “Come!” She dragged him towards the training room like a little child at a funfair which earned her a little eye roll and a soft smile.

“So I just sit here and do nothing?” He asked with one brow up and a bit of nervousness. “Yes, and not being afraid would help.” She giggled before letting blue magic shine bright from her right hand while having her other hand on his shoulder. His eyes widened when he saw her hand, he’d never seen her do magic before and this was more cold turkey than he had imagined in his head. “Relax,” she said softly before putting her fingers onto his forehead and seeing his eyes turn black. She went through a lot of beautiful and bittersweet memories and giggled at some of the 30s and 40s memories. “Didn’t know James looked so adorable as a teenager.” She giggled looking at a memory of them running through the streets of Brooklyn. There were some gruesome things but nothing could ever top what she saw with James and she was determined to learn self healing in the upcoming months. She put the bad memories into the back again and the good ones in the main focus before taking her hand away again and seeing a happy and hazy-minded Steve sitting in front of her. “Wow.” He blinked a few times and shook his head before looking at her again. “If this is what you did to James I’m sure he is doing much better than before. That was amazing, Harmony!” He smiled, stood up and enveloped her into a hug. “Thank you. I’m still learning self healing and can’t really experience it for myself right now. One day,” she mumbled into his chest. “And also...yes he looked pretty adorable compared to how he looks now.” She could feel the smile in her hair. She gave him a slight slap on the back “He still looks adorable.” She spoke out the facts. “You sure you’re not in love?” He smiled down at her after parting the hug again. She shrugged with a innocent smile back as they started leaving the room again. The first thing she saw was long brown hair from the back when they left the room and her first instinct was to yell “James!” and come running towards him while he turned around. She ran right into him with a dull sound and an “I’m so tireeed!” He chuckled after balancing himself out, “Why are you tired little witch?” “I practiced magic. A lot. I actually destroyed a door with a rock. Ask Tony!” She said muffled by his shoulder. He laughed out loud at the picture of that in his head, “Well, I actually wanted to make myself some coffee but if you wanna go back to sleep.” Steve and James looked at each other with a little smile before James threw Harmony over his shoulder and walked towards her room.

“You’re still adorable. Just a little bit more...hot.” She tried to explain to him and earned a smirk before being attacked with a kiss. His left brow went up, “Wh-” The explanation hit him “Oooh! Yeah, I guess I looked pretty, uuuh, soft when I was younger.” He gave her a heartwarming smile. “You’re still adorable. Just a little bit more...hot.” She tried to explain to him and earned a smirk before being attacked with a kiss.

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bigskydreaming · 5 years ago

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gingerjab replied to your post “ANYWAY. The petition/prayer circle for Michael Trevino to be cast as...”

I’m forever an asshole obsessed with fire/ice ships so Thunderbird or Sunfire, fuck the inhumans one off and St. John. Also, Rahul Kohli as Neal Shaara/Thunderbird/Agni. Also I’m sposed to be asleep so ignore if this is a shit idea.

For the record, I actually kinda like the Inhuman guy, cuz I mean, its not his fault he’s part of a trash franchise. I think it probably helps that I’ve only ever read one issue with him, so as to render it absolutely impossible for his writing to piss me off. I like to just close my eyes and pretend he’s a mutant. Y’know. Like I do with Kamala!

Who is obviously a mutant.

(And like.....let’s be real. The dude is a pyrokinetic with a demon form, the codename INFERNO, and his REAL name is DANTE Pertuz. DANTE. INFERNO. Like, that’s the on-the-nose-fuck-your-subtlety-we-came-here-to-be-pretentious-as-fuck-with-our-literary-references-look-how-dignified-it-makes-our-character balls to the wall character concept I am HERE for. I’m like OH HAI I SEE WHAT U DID THAR. And they’re like “oh yeah? You got it? Hahaha, we were worried nobody would, phew, good job tho. Totally adds to the character right? Pretty clever of us.” And then I’d be like Hahahaha no, not even a little bit, but ‘scool, I like him anyway cuz I’m easy like that. I put out for puns.” And then they’d be like awwwww, dammit, we worked so hard on that. And I’d be like....well, that doesn’t speak highly of your abilities, I mean it was a super obvious joke. And then I stopped making up conversations with hypothetical people in my head.)

Also, in defense of comic book St. John Allerdyce and absolutely NO OTHER VERSIONS EVER because agreed, they all suck....

Comic book St. John is a snarky Australian asshole who in between acts of mutant mass destruction, has a side career as a successful romance novelist under a pen name.

(I’m not even joking. Comic book St. John, in canon, writes romance novels in his spare time as a hobby. LOLOLOL c’mon, how is that not a great character beat for a supervillain slash occasional kinda-if-you-squint-superhero).

Anyway.

I too am also trash for fire/ice ships because SCREW SUBTLETY, WE SHIP THEMATICALLY. But like, its gotta be the RIGHT fire/ice ship. I weirdly have standards with my fire/ice ships? Probably just because I’m obsessed with Bobby Drake but whatever, who cares, how is that relevant.

I mean, OBVIOUSLY, you have your proto-fire/ice ship, the one, the original, the Word I came out of the womb prepared to preach and ship and like, spread to the masses....Bobby Drake/Johnny Storm. Because like. They are elemental dorks whose competitiveness is only matched by their dumbness, how can you not love them, I DEFY YOU TO SAY.

I’m kinda meh on Iceman/Pyro, because like, original comic book Pyro and Bobby never even interacted I think? And in cartoons they’re always totally different generations/age groups, and in the movies they’re like....boring and stale and not even all that attractive and also did I mention boring, omg no offense to whomever wrote them, but I tried reading Bobby/Pyro movie fanfic years ago because like, that’s the only movie Bobby fic there is, unless you want to read about him being an asshole to Rogue and/or cheating with Kitty and just generally driving Rogue into the arms of the much (much much much much, like ewww) older Logan or Gambit. Because srsly, so appealing. So obviously, I caved and tried reading Bobby/Pyro fics because like, they had the word ‘Bobby’ in them, and the bar is too low in my X-Men fic reading habits. And omg I fell asleep. I just. It was all just the standard m/m cookie cutter generic ‘good boy plus bad boy uwu yaoi-zowey’ bleh starring two not at all deeply written or well-acted meh-looking white dudes, and just. Why.

But that’s what I mean when I say I’m wary of fire/ice ships, because sometimes with powered characters like, authors think oh hey, LOOK ONE IS FIRE AND ONE IS ICE, THIS TOTALLY COUNTS AS THEM HAVING OPPOSITES ATTRACT PERSONALITIES AND THUS I DONT NEED TO GIVE THEM A PERSONALITY, RIGHT? Like. They’re just very boring and unimaginative in execution, just because they expect the basic premise of fire and ice/’obvious opposites attract, obviously’ to do all the work for them.

(Katey if you’re reading this I’m super for sure not talking about YOUR superpowered romances, because you are wonderful and GOOD at writing and imaginative, and thus none of this applies to you. Requisite disclaimer.)

So, when they did this random Bobby/’New Pyro Dude like where did he even come from I still dont know’ hook-up, I was prepared to like, yawn endlessly, because I figured it would be more boring imaginationless ‘ooh look what an obvious pair they are and yet still praise me for how clever I am for pairing them’ crap.

And I was absolutely right!

(But I mean, it was written by Marc Guggenheim, the odds of it sucking were totally in my favor. Betting against them being well-written under his pen might feasibly be construed as cheating. Whatever).

And also, the art did them ZERO favors, like I know they’re both generic blond dudes in their twenties, but I LITERALLY COULD NOT TELL WHICH WAS SUPPOSED TO BE WHICH in any of the panels that they were like, in bed together or dressing or talking or literally anything until they started using their powers to fight bad guys. It was soooooooo bad. Like the art just manifested every ‘look at the white gay date his mirror reflection lol what is variety even’ cliche and beat you over the head with it.

(Also Bobby is supposed to have brown hair, which at least would’ve helped a LITTLE bit. Meh. Still was gonna suck because like, nobody had any intention of WRITING them together, like, developing their characters and laying the groundwork for a possible relationship. It was just ‘oh look, the fire and ice dude got drunk at a wedding and hooked up, cool deal, now on with the story.’)

Anyway, the ONLY redeeming potential for a Bobby/Simon relationship in my opinion is ENTIRELY due to a fic I read with them. Its probably the only fic written about Simon ever, lmfao, so its not like the writer’s characterization of him has any competition among either canon or other fans’ renditions of him. But it was pretty well written, I actually liked their portrayal of Bobby, which I’m SUPER picky about in fanfics, and they actually invested time in developing Simon and his POV and giving him an actual personality and shit, that wasn’t half bad. So if Simon was written like that in the comics and their relationship progressed in similar ways, I could feasibly be on board with them.

But it won’t, so I’m not. Meh. Anyway.

I actually really REALLY like both Shiro AND Neal, with the caveat that I hate Neal’s stupid offensive-ass codename, I know Claremont only named him Thunderbird because he introduced him in an anniversary issue that was supposed to be a call-back to the original Giant Size lineup, and he needed a stand-in for John Proudstar, but like....wtf Claremont, just use your brain and save Neal to introduce a whole issue later and stick Jamie in John’s place the way everyone else does. He literally went by Thunderbird in the comics already in his Hellion days, which YOU wrote, so why the fuck did you feel the need to be stupidly offensive and act like Native American people and traditions are interchangeable with those of a guy from India? Ugh he’s so....gah.

Anyway. So I actually like both Shiro and Neal, though pretty much only when people other than Claremont are writing them, lololol. Which is admittedly...rare. Because of all his pet characters, they’re both at the top of the list of ones nobody else has any interest in touching. Bizarrely, my favorite run involving Shiro was when he was randomly shoe-horned into that Alpha Flight relaunch in the late 90s, that only lasted a couple years? Dunno if you know what I’m talking about, the team with Radius, Flex, Murmur, Heather as Vindicator and Mac was a robot or some weird shit.

I have no real thoughts on either of them with Bobby though, for a fire and ice pairing. Tbh I can’t really see Bobby/Shiro like, at ALL lmfao. For one, Shiro’s always felt written as though he’s a good ten years older than Bobby at least. Like they’re not really compatible dialogue-wise lol. And he’s pretty much never had any patience for Bobby in the comics, which has a lot to do with most of their interactions being written by Claremont himself, and Claremont infamously haaaaaaates Bobby’s character and trashes him any chance he gets, aka the few times editorial makes him actually use Bobby in a script. But I also think even under other writers, like....Shiro honestly is not the type to have any patience for Bobby’s antics or brand of humor, like.....he’s like JP but without the superficial crush JP used in canon to view Bobby’s idiosyncrasies as endearing instead of migraine inducing. I don’t think any readers would buy someone of JP or Shiro’s personality-type crushing on Bobby twice, lololol.

I DO however kinda like the idea of Neal/Bobby? If someone ever actually brought Neal back and gave him a new codename and stuck him on a team with Bobby? They’ve also barely interacted in canon, and the only time I can think of, Neal was super rude and dismissive of Bobby, because like, Claremont was writing it of course, so it made total sense for him to have the dude who’s literally been an X-Man for two issues talk down to the X-Man of several decades like the latter had no clue what he was doing, lol. Oops, still slightly salty there.

But honestly, I doubt anyone who didn’t have hyperfixation fueled grudges on a fictional fave’s behalf would ever even remember that one canon interaction, and tbh Neal’s pretty much a blank slate character wise. His only defining traits from what little he’s been used are that he’s fairly young, in his early to mid-twenties, from a wealthy family, a little full of himself but in a ‘really wants to impress people and prove himself’ kinda way instead of an overly entitled ‘i genuinely believe I am superior to all you buffoons’ kinda way. And he was always endearingly enthusiastic and eager about new stuff he encountered from being with the X-Men.

(He was also randomly obsessed with Psylocke, but I truly think Claremont was like, well I’m just gonna write him like I would Warren Worthington because why not. So yeah, obvsly he’s super obsessed with Betsy. Duh.)

Anyway - I would like someone to do something interesting with Neal, and I think his and Bobby’s chemistry has a lot of potential and they could bounce off each other well.

Also, I like Rahul, but I was randomly fancasting some of the more obscure X-Men awhile back for Reasons (I forget what they were tbh, but I’m sure I had them. I usually do). I came across this Indian actor named Karan Tacker and was like ohhhhhhh he totally looks like he could be Neal Shaara.

I mean, I’ve literally never seen him act, so who knows what his acting is like, but since we’ve established Neal’s character is essentially whatever the person to actually use him next wants it to be, I don’t think that’s a big deal lol.

So this is totally superficially based casting, like I think this guy looks and ‘feels’ the way Neal’s typically been drawn and the kinda vibe he gives off.

Also, incidentally, having absolutely nothing to do with anything, let alone my selection process, by pure coincidence the dude just so happens to have abs for daaaaaaays.

But I mean. Like I said, that is neither here nor there. Obviously.

Of no relevance whatsoever. I didn’t even notice, tbh. Don’t even know who hijacked my body and ghost wrote these last few sentences, quick, call an exorcist.

....oh noes, is this one of the consequences of being an ‘anti’? IS THIS MY COMEUPPANCE? *flees*

#gingerjab

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sabot-surgeon-blog · 6 years ago

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Bio: Kazuhira Khaki

LAST NAME, FIRST NAME: Khaki, Kazuhira

(TLDR Info)

Name: Kazuhira Khaki

Color relating to name: Khaki Brown

Age: 29

Height: 200cm

Gender:

Male

Race:

Human

Family:

Carmina Khaki - Sister

Khansim Khaki - Father

Kashmir Khaki - Mother

Sparta - 13 Year Old pet cat

Occupation:

Council Spy / Operative

Affiliation: Remnant Council

Semblance Name: Philm

Semblance Description:

Philm allows Kazuhira to wield strings capable of absorbing impacts and vibrations ranging from attacks to sound waves to even fall damage and acrobatic maneuvers. Philm can also be used in close quarters combat to constrict opponents and deflect standard weapon based attacks. However, despite incorporating this into his own close quarters combat style, they are very weak to direct slash damage and is a far better utility semblance than a close quarters weapon.

Aura Color: Red

Personnel File

Color Correlation: Khaki

Apparent Age: 20

Actual Age: 29

Gender: Male

Species: Human

Height: 200CM

Weight: 66KG

Hair: Slicked white hair, straight as an arrow.

Eye Color: Deep, Earthen brown.

Positive Traits:

1: Kaz is highly hesitant to take actions with very high consequences

2: He loves to offer help and education in any form he can, though this can lead to negative scenarios

3: Kaz display qualities of an excellent communicator and tactician.

Negative Traits:

1: Kaz doesn’t necessarily listen to emotion as much as he should do.

2: He is certainly the type to berate competition and enemies.

3. He is not the type to play second fiddle.

Loyalties: A servant of the Council as a Secret Serviceman, loyal to each and his fellow countrymen.

Snapshots: A brief outline of your character's history. It should be presented in a similar manner as show below.

Age 0: Born on a small Vauco estate.

Age 7: Began huntsman training with his younger sister, Carmina

Age 12: Received a letter of recommendation to work at a ‘higher level’ after accidently detaining a high ranking White Fang Commander

Age 14: Entered a coma after being crushed by a Goliath and received his semblance which allows him to manipulate aura enhanced strings.

Age 17: Became a spy for the Atlesian Government to observe the secrets of the growing criminal underworld dealings involving their technology

Age 21: Returned from Menagerie after surviving an attempt on his life during a Faunus Rights Riot.

Age 24: Remembered to finally pass Huntsman training as he got sidetracked at some point.

Age 27: Finally entered the services of the Council.

Physical Specifications

Physical Description:

Kazuhira is a tall, nigh-foreboding man with nary a hair on his body. His skin has a slight tan to it, showing the exotic history of his career. This also frames a muscular body awarded with souvenirs, be it burns from a hot torture iron or even an imprint of his bones against his back from the Goliath Incident. He is certainly the kind of person who would rather cut off his own hands rather than to put his hands in his pockets. His clothes are usually storing his weapon Hermecius’ Nail, as several custom-made cylinders for the compact gun. In or out of clothes, Kazuhira carries himself with a no-nonse persona, ever ready for life to spring a trap upon him.

Clothes:

Standard: Kazuhira dresses typically in an immaculately ironed beige shirt, buttoned up to the very top, and a double breasted white suit jacket with a small red handkerchief tucked in the breast pocket. This also pairs with a pair of pinstripe pants, a thick beige belt and brown loafers. This outfit is usually interchanged with several pairs of different loafers, shirts and even ties for the more formal occasions the Council requires him to attend.

Workout: A white vest paired with oddly short red sweatpants striped along the legs. Upon his feet he wears darker red sneakers and ankle socks. This outfit is more commonly worn in early morning exercises or meditation. However, despite this more casual attire, he vows to never wear this for something as trivial as pajamas.

Formal: This is wear Kazuhira dons more traditional Black and White Tuxedos and bowties. Depending on his location, this may also incorporate a large fur coat or leather gloves to add comfort in colder environments. Typically, his pockets could contain anything from cologne to any array of gadgets.

Desert: A long, scarlet colourful shirt, with a filtered scarf, fitted with white jockey pants and sleek leather boots. This outfit is designed to incorporate fashion and function whilst navigating Vacuo and its hazardous desserts.

Psychological Profile

Personality: Kazuhira is a frighteningly calm man, occasionally whipping out the Bond-esque charisma if the situation is needed for it. Despite his reserved and professional persona, he is not one to occupy a lonely seat in a function, formal or otherwise. He finds making friends genuinely to be a task unlike infiltration or extraction. He will flex his emotional acrobatics in most encounters, enabling regret in the young man’s mind if he thinks back on the people he’s met, hence he entertains himself with constant missions, exercise and vocal exercises..

Goals:

Aims to retire under the age of 40.

Wishes to find a partner who isn’t just some fling for a night and wants to find genuine happiness in a spouse or partner.

Kazuhira plans on gifting his knowledge to an apprentice once he firmly gets away from his life of espionage. This means that whilst he can’t save the world whilst his health deteriorates, someone will keep the seat warm.

Achievements:

Survived an assault on an Atlesian Embassy by an underground Faunus smuggling ring armed with stolen weapons.

Successfully extracted Black Market information upon trading routes and Paladin part manufacturing plants.

Remained undercover during the previously mentioned period via the Alias of Onyx Sedarr.

Indoctrinated into the council as a servant of espionage and intelligence after securing a tome of information surrounding the origins and story of an ancient dust production facility located off of the coast of Menagerie kept in the libraries of a Dr Arthur Watts.

Hunter/Huntress File

Semblance: Philm allows Kazuhira to wield strings capable of absorbing impacts and vibrations ranging from attacks to sound waves to even fall damage and acrobatic maneuvers. Philm can also be used in close quarters combat to constrict opponents and deflect standard weapon based attacks. However, despite incorporating this into his own close quarters combat style, they are very weak to direct slash damage and is a far better utility semblance than a close quarters weapon.

Weapon: Hermecius’ Nail is an eight shot revolver with a series of triggers within the guard, as well as the guard itself, designed to discharge heavy bullets in terms of stopping power, a mirror of his highly brutal techniques to combat. The real ability of this hand cannon is it’s ability to discharge all eight rounds in one pull of the trigger guard, coming with the side effect of homing in on targets to increase efficiency, the barrel still needing to vent after the Octoshot. Additionally, the revolver can transform into a small, disc-like shield to prevent point-blank injury with a pull of the smaller trigger.

Origin: From his childhood on the estate in Vacuo, raised in an air-conditioned bedroom with very few parents around, Kazuhira was quickly told from the house maid that he could live very comfortably along with his sister Carmina. His destiny was to end up as a Dust Mine Baron as one of the few standing up to the dominance of the SDC. However, this did not concern the two and they spent as much time as possible in the less air conditioned zones of the unforgiving desert. This was no act of rebellion, rather simple curiosity, even with the young boy’s emotional constipation taking place after he and Carmina were sent to separate Academies. Even after being assigned to a team in Mistral, formerly PYNK, he had no interest in co-operation with his comrades. This got to the point in which his leader, Priscilla, personally saw to training him in the wee hours of the morning, to the sheer breaking point of his young body. Fast-forward six years, the two had developed a relationship as the dance drawled nearer, missions scarring the two with the small collection of souvenirs he was yet to become a connoisseur of.

However, the two made off from the occasion and ran into the forest to gaze at the stars. This was unfortunate, as this lead to the crushing of both Kazuhira and Priscilla, the former being the survivor.

After being informed that the surrounding area was home to an ancient Grimm stomping ground, Kazuhira had his ideas of becoming a straight up huntsman destroyed as he was not ready to face such beasts. So, he flew back home and spent the remainder of his childhood using his newly learned lesson and contrastingly old tenacity to pursue a career to gain the eye of who he was informed held the real power in this world of mighty monsters and primordial evil: The Council of Remnant. This was to be done with a certain set of means that involved what he saw to be the real power to be feared: people. Unsavoury people.

Rise to Power: After tossing off his memories of his time spent in the Huntsman training course, he delved into the underbelly of such procedures. Using his more diplomatic skills and a few years, he found a few loopholes that allowed him to pass off the identity of an exotic Dust Mine Baron. After all, in that position and being under the shadow of the SDC, Kazuhira presumed he would remain fairly unharmed. After a brief ‘toe-dipping’, the young boy used all the influence he could muster, as well as the letter of recommendation from his accidental detainment of the White Fang commander at the age of 12, to swaggle his way into a position of espionage, attending dozens of auctions selling all manners of illegal cargo, such as former legendary huntsman weapons to the deeds to grimm infested land, ripe with opportunity. After collecting fame and property under this false persona for many months, the young baron faked his death and left all property claimed, over 500,000,000 Lien worth, over to the council. This little fling of a part time relationship prospered over the next seven years, allowing the slightly less young baron to gain influence amongst the members, using false names and similar identities each time. It was only when he finally decided to face them with his truest, most honest face to the most powerful people on the planet.

It was only then that he got to act as a man that he had finally wanted to be. Nothing more and nothing less.

Call to Action: Kazuhira doubted himself after claiming his position as the spymaster of the council and his residence in a snowy estate in Atlas. He wondered if he should even consider the idea of a treasure hunt for all of his assets. He had an idea for another identity in mind, already.. However, this changed abruptly one evening when he received an invitation for a meeting with the council. His addition to this critical speaking contest enabled him to learn about the coming conflicts presented amongst the world. He took this opportunity with both hands, feeling almost nostalgic for the days of the auctions. No. This was greater. He was ready to make his mark on the world, but not obviously. He would feel quite at home just otherwise.

#bio #rwby oc

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iamartemisday · 6 years ago

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Lokane Week Day Three (Fun Fun Fun)

Day 80

Loki Laufeyson

This is much better than being cooped up on that sad little island. He should've suggested taking a day trip ages ago. Now they can explore this charming city Jane calls Los Angeles all day long. It's late in the evening and there's much to do. He dresses them appropriately for a night out, ignoring Jane's pout as she pulls her skirt down over her legs.

"Why hide them?" he asks as they enter the street and a passing car honks. "Your legs are your best physical attribute."

"One, I never wear anything shorter than biker pants." She pulls again fruitlessly. Were he less mature, he might shrink it another few inches. "Two, I know you have some kind of snarky aside planned to turn that compliment into an insult. Get on with it so we can move."

"I would," Loki says, glaring off a man who is a bit too preoccupied with Jane's backside, "but I can't let myself become predictable, now can I?"

He links an arm through hers and they stroll down the street towards a chic restaurant with a line around the corner. They pass the end of the line and approach the door where a man in a suit prepares his speech telling them to go wait their turn. Loki drops a bag of gold coins in his hands and keeps walking. The man's jaw is on the floor and neither he nor anyone else stops them from sitting at the closest empty table. Jane doesn't even question it.

"The cheapest thing on this menu is more than I make in a month," she says.

"Which is exactly why we're here. You deserve only the finest in life."

"I thought earth food was tasteless and inedible."

"It is."

Even he doesn't know why he continues to argue that point. No, he doesn't like Midgardian cuisine. The flavors don't suit his palette and aside from the miracle that is Reeses, the overprocessing of fats and (what were they called again? Oh yes) preservatives make him feel like he's gained ten pounds after only one bite. He's not surprised to learn Thor loved the food here. He's been kind enough to try both pop-tarts and coffee. Both made him question Thor's intelligence even more than he already does.

Still, it's not so important to him that he must remind her every other day that her people are abject failures at one more thing. He would've lost interest in the debate ages ago, except she always has the same reaction. Puffed out cheeks, balled fists, heavy breaths. His lower half tingles each time. He just wants to pound her into the nearest flat surface until she can no longer think, let alone speak.

Why oh why does he give her so much power over him?

Their meal is uneventful. He replaces his roast duck with a plate full of Reese's which no one but Jane can see. She only doesn't because she's intent on finishing her chicken cacciatore and not looking away from the plate until every morsel is down her throat.

"Enjoying yourself?" he asks.

She mumbles through a mouthful of food. Crumbs fall from her lips onto her dress. She didn't put a napkin in her lap. He realizes now what a favor he's done her. She'd never be accepted by the royal court with manners like this, so it's a good thing she won't become Thor's queen after all.

Back at their suite, Jane flips through twenty channels of interchangeable programs before switching the television off. She rolls on her back and stares at the ceiling. There's something on her mind and he knows it.

"Want to play a game?"

They've played games before, all of which involved some manner of nudity. He has a feeling this won't be one of them.

"What kind of game?"

"Any kind." She sits up. Her legs are crossed as she pulls her dress down again. "Truth or dare?"

"Excuse me?"

"You have to pick one," she says. "You pick truth and you have to answer a question truthfully. You pick dare and you have to do one thing I tell you to do."

Loki blinks. "This is a game or a torture method?"

"Both. Truth or dare?"

Perhaps there's more to be said for Midgard than he gave credit for.

"If I say truth, will you force me to reveal a humiliating secret from my past?"

Jane shrugs. "You said it, not me."

"In that case, I choose dare."

"I dare you to reveal a humiliating secret from your past."

She smiles. She thinks she's clever. At no point does she consider that rules only apply to him when he wants them to..

And yet, all the many colorful yarns he dreams up in the ensuing silence will remain unspoken. "When I was a boy, I decided I would impress my father by conjuring a live goat to be butchered for dinner that night. I did it in front of the entire court."

"And it didn't work?"

"It did. The animal merely appeared inside out."

A pause. Jane is expressionless and then, slowly, the mask cracks. She grins so hard, it pains him to look, but her laughter eases the ache.

"Oh my god," she wheezes. That can't be good for her lungs. "Wow, that really humanizes you for me."

"Thank you kindly," he says. He waits for her to regain composure, but it's taking far longer than it should. His mother liked to repeat that story to her friends every so often. No one else has ever found it so funny. "Now, I believe it's time for you to make a choice?"

She's still smiling, her eyes bright and brown like chocolate. He needs another Reeses. "Okay… truth."

Loki raises an eyebrow. "Are you sure?"

"If I say dare, you'll ask for some depraved sexual act. So truth."

"Very well." She's just given him the power to break her and she doesn't even know it. "Then tell me truthfully… what is your embarrassing story?"

She hides a blush behind her hair and audibly scoffs. He commends her for trying, but he hears the whimper beneath it. "Can't think of your own question, so you steal mine?"

"I have sacrificed to your whims a significant portion of my dignity," he says. "I'm only asking you to do the same."

Jane Foster

'Oh he's good,' she thinks. She twirls a lock of hair around her finger. 'Really good.'

Too good.

What possessed her to challenge him to a game of truth-telling to begin with? That might not even be a real story what he told her. It sounded like a scene from a movie she saw once.

"Okay." She is, sadly, not much of a storyteller. Her creativity all goes to her scientific theories. Without it, she is regulated to the truth. "When I was in high school, there was this guy I had a huge crush on. My friends all told me to play hard to get, so whenever he asked me something, I was aloof and only gave him one-word answers. Eventually, he stopped talking to me as much and I freaked out. Figured my friends were wrong and I should've been more upfront about my feelings."

"That would be the logical course of action," Loki says because he can probably tell any woman on the street in Asgard to get naked and they'll do it.

"So I cornered him in the lunchroom, asked him out on a date, and he very nervously informed me that he was gay, which was apparently common knowledge at that point to everyone who wasn't me."

"Oh dear. That can't have helped your budding relationship."

"You think?" Jane picks up the TV guide and pretends to read it. "I was utterly humiliated, he ended up dating a guy on the football team, and we more or less stayed away from each other for the rest of the school year. The end."

"A riveting tale," Loki says, "It has been an honor listening to you."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Jane tosses a pillow his way. It doesn't hit him. Not even close. "Okay, come now. Truth or dare."

"Dare," he says automatically.

Jane snorts. "Coward. Okay… take your clothes off."

Loki's face lights up. "Finally, something good."

He raises his hand, ready to magick them away.

"Hang on," Jane says, "not like that."

Loki frowns. "I'm sorry?"

"Take them off slowly." She sits at the foot of the bed, her eyes intent on his lean body. "One piece at a time. With your hands."

His subsequent smile, as it dawns on him that she's not joking, is so evil she expects him to go out and step on a ladybug before coming back inside and fucking her until she forgets her own name.

"If that's what you wish," he says as he undoes his shirt buttons.

A/N: And I think that’s a good place to cut off. Have a good night everyone! :D

#Lokane #Loki #Jane Foster #Fun Fun Fun #Lokane Week 2018

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toasttz · 6 years ago

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How to make games: RPGs

Hey! You like RPGs, right? If you don't I have to wonder how the hell you found FAN, given our two most-active subboards being vidya and tabletop RPGs, but, whatever! Let's, for the sake of argument, assume you like RPGs. If you don't, fuck off, Greg! ... I don't know anyone named Greg, I just wanted to see if I could screw with people named Greg. Anyways, RPGs, like the houses in Harry Potter, come in four distinct flavors: traditionalist, gonzo/comedy, h-game, and "Inspired by EarthBound/The Mother Trilogy". And much akin to Harry Potter, only two of these houses actually fucking matter and the other two are just hangers-on of different genres and ages. If you're going to waste the player's time by making your H-game an RPG, you are going about it entirely wrong. Please stop dumping this unabashed garbage-fire of a subgenre on Steam, the market is beyond saturation point and requires arm floaties to compensate. And for those of you who played/know of EarthBound and want to make a "spiritual successor"... just stop. Please for the love of God, stop. There never really was a demand for this kind of thing and EarthBound was not a commercial success, so just stop if you have any humanity left in you. I don't think I can stomach anymore fucking quirkiness after the last installment - anymore stuffed down my gullet and I'm gonna shit out a My Hero Academia OC next time my bowels move. So, in truth, you have two flavors of RPG: the traditionalist and the comedian routes and both can be equally terrible. Traditionalist RPGs range from the swords-n-sorcery setting found in Ultima, Dragon Quest, and good Final Fantasy installments to the sci-fi, cyberpunk, steampunk, and emo shit found in bad Final Fantasy installments - it's a wide gauntlet. The only prereq is that you take your own storytelling relatively seriously, with some level of gravity involved in the overall major story beats. Since traditionalist RPGs are made by people with crippling insecurities about change, and the game will largely succeed or fail on the quality of its characters, I'll go ahead and make your cast for you. I'll avoid giving them names so you can customize them: I mean, some people like their fantasy heroes to be named something like "Bulk McUlraeoth Sword Arm of Jupiter" and some people like their fantasy protags to be named "Jim". Who am I to judge your self-insert fanfiction? Sword McHero Man - The guy with short brown or black hair and a generic face done by a B-list manga-ka and, depending on if you want to make him a chillaxed everyman or an edgy edgelord, you can add or subtract belts, zippers, pouches, and black clothing items according to need. He'll almost always use a generic one-handed sword and have fairly short hair. If your game strongly favors an element system, he'll be either fire or light-affinity, but not have any actual strong convictions beyond the fact that he hates 'bad guys' and probably gets his head dunked in toilets by at least 3 NPCs in the starting town. Anything else about him is ultimately superfluous and interchangeable with the next Sword McHero Man over. Childhood McBestfriend - Oftentimes a female foil to the above, but not required by law to be so. Sometimes this doubles as Sword McHero Man's Suave Cool McLancer. They will usually fill a supplementary combat role in the party, either the thief or the healbot as the story requires. If they are the love interest, they are required to be Worst Waifu(TM) by law and be replaced as soon as a competent party member fills out the roster. Typically wind or water elemented in nature, they'll either help calm the hero-man down if he is the hotblooded sort, or cheer him up if he's currently got his head dunked in a toilet. Suave Cool McLancer - Either a rival or thematic foil of the hero and maybe a rival for Childhood McBestfriend's affections, depending on story necessity. He will be a more specialized unit, either the rogue, the heavy-armor knight, or the attack mage. If male, this character will be Best Hasbando and be incredibly pretty or horrifically scarred and/or disfigured with no potential in-betweens. If female, uncommon but not unheard-of, she'll be the team's big sis figure and likely the most powerful, physically speaking. Potential for Best Waifu(TM) is high, but can also potentially double as Back McStabberton. Back McStabberton - The dark, angsty, clearly-untrustworthy one who the player will see their betrayal coming from a mile off, but will completely blindside the naive heroes. Usually they'll have stats inconsistent with the party (being either over or under-powered depending on context) and clash with their bright, anime-esque color scheme by wearing blacks or dark purples. Either a thief or attack mage of some flavor. Almost universally a male or a "devilish handsome rogue" if they get redeemed at some point. If female, they will always be DOUBLE AGENTS acting with the hero's own good in mind and will promptly be forgiven. Usually dies before the game is out. Grandpa McTeacherperson - Some plot-pivotal character who exists to either give the party a special tool, weapon, or ability they wouldn't have gotten otherwise, or elsewise transfer their own talents to the party in some fashion. Virtually irrelevant as characters since these exist exclusively as jaded props to die off to make the villains' actions more personal. Please stop using this archetype or at least TRY to subvert it into something interesting, you talentless lazy fucks. Sexy McFaceTurn - Invariably one of the bad guy's hot ladies will see a boyish charm in the hero, even if the hero is supposed to be projected upon and therefore would actually have the social skills of a duck - or worse, me. What? I did that joke already? Fuck you, this joke's still more inspired than the Tales games RPGs. Anyways, upon getting wet for the hero, she will abandon her post and all its luxuries and join the party, clad in tight, black leather and probably using either knives or whips and will be your prereq dark-affinity character. She will be the sex appeal your game sells on, so be sure to slap her on all your promo materials even though she doesn't join until the mid-late game. Male versions of this idea die. I can't explain it - it's some straight-up Mr. Poofers dark magic, they just die. Annoying McMascot - Your game needs something bizarre to round the party out with. A talking dog is common. A fantasy creature with bright neon colors is also acceptable. Just make sure that players hate it with every fiber of their being. If the design alone isn't enough, give it an annoying speech habit - like a verbal tic or a lisp - and have it talk a lot and repeat the obvious a lot. It is by law that this must be implemented. However, unlike any of the above, this, coupled with the hero, cannot be killed off. And that should more or less do ya, unless you're the type who wanted to pour dozens upon dozens of dudes into your game. In which case, congrats, you understand that doing the absolute base minimum to be called a "game" isn't the bar you should be shooting for and therefore are already on your way to being better than Squeenix. Next, you need to get to codin'! So go on Steam and buy the latest RPG Maker software when it goes on sale. You won't need to wait long, between the Summer and Winter sales. Once you have that, you already have built-in art, music, and character makers. Fuck it - creativity is hard, so let the software tend to that itself. Make some characters and name some locations, jot up a map with some landmarks and treasure, then make a bad guy. Bad guy making is easy, they all wear black or dark reds and purples and tend to always call themselves "The [Whatever] Empire". You don't even need to be arsed to make a motivation for their evil schemes. Have you seen how much Fire Emblem Fates raked in just on the goodwill left over from Awakening? I'm surprised JRPGs aren't made by fucking algorithm these days! Anyways, that just about does it for the traditional RPG. Comedy RPGs aren't quite as bound to the above and are, in fact, encouraged to break the mold. If you need some ideas to get the creative juices flowin', there's a game you can try out, you might have heard about it since I haven't stopped fellating the damn thing since I did the LP back in 2013: Hourai High. Your plot doesn't need to make sense and is better off if any causality is merely coincidental. Your characters shouldn't really be trying to 'save the world', per se, but should do so by side-effect of their selfishness and/or incompetence. Your team should have robots, aliens, fucking CheetahMen, I don't fucking know, but take everything I said above this paragraph and throw it into a shredder, make it confetti, and wail on established convention! Sweet fucking mother - BE CREATIVE. I'm gonna temporarily break facade here for just a second and say this: you know how you bitched about Final Fantasy 15? How it's a fucking boyband music video with a fucking car commercial crammed in it?! How you hated the hallway simulator of FF13? How no one bought Bravely Second? How Dragon Quest keeps getting away with remaking the same fucking game?! Here's your chance. Flaunt on the establishment. Fuck what is "popular". Make something new. Don't try to be Shigesato Itoi. Do your own thing. Break the conditioning. Get out there and make a fucking game. Make it so when people say "RPG Maker Title" on Steam, they aren't saying it like it's a four-letter word. Put some God-damn soul into it, people! And now, off the soap box. Bonus points if you add a dating sim. Just saying. Rune Factory 5 just got announced. Now, get to work. Congrats. You now know how to be the most fucking boring milquetoast thing on the planet and how to avoid that ass-cancer and do something that actually expresses your individuality and possible talent. This is the one time I'm allowing these rants to be somewhat uplifting. You're welcome.

#satire #comedy #RPG #video games #games

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belonglab · 6 years ago

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Growing Up Brown in America: When Every Day is Halloween

By Neha Sampat, Esq.

October 16, 2018

(Previously published in News India Times, The Teal Mango, and Thrive GlobaI)

Sometimes, taking off the mask is what is really scary.

I’ve been working on that the past few years. I found myself struggling to process a personal loss, mainly because I was more worried about how others perceived my loss and my reaction to it than allowing myself to just feel what I felt and honor those feelings. I realized I had become so swift to gauge others’ needs and so preoccupied with telling them what they wanted to hear, that I had forgotten in some ways who I was. I had covered myself in a cloak of expectation, carefully crafted over four decades of my life, and it was suffocating me.

“How did I get here?” I wondered. I thought back to kindergarten, when I proudly raised my hand when the teacher asked who knew the alphabet. Upon her request, I began to recite it, but was brutally stopped at “H” by my classmates’ uproarious laughter. I couldn’t comprehend why they were laughing at me, which only added to my distress. Finally, someone explained to me that it was pronounced “aych,” not “etch,” as my mom had taught me through her Indian accent. From there sprouted a seed of self-consciousness, a ceaseless suspicion that there was the equivalent of a “Kick me” sign taped to my back, and the silencing shame of being different.

I started to adapt by downplaying my differences. I figured I had to try to be like them in order to be with them, and I had to say what they wanted to hear so they would listen to me. And thus, I gathered the fabric of fitting-in and the string of assimilation, and I began to assemble my costume.

Once I had a passable prototype, I began to perfect it with the right props. For me, one such prop was the simple fork. In my Indian-American family, I remember from early childhood eating with our hands. My mom and grandmother would use their hands to carefully and evenly work warm jaggery into crumbled wheat rotis to create glistening spheres of goodness, which they would lovingly pop into my mouth. Even in the moments we resorted to silverware, we went straight for the spoons, effectively cutting food by forcefully and frantically sawing with the spoon’s side. When invited to a white friend’s home for a meal, I initially feared the fork. I would meticulously study how my friend’s family ate, marveling at their mastery of interchangeably using three utensils in one meal, and I would bring home with me those lessons in “civility, normalcy, and good manners.”

In middle school, I was thrilled to discover another useful prop: Lip gloss in the perfect shimmery shade of frosty pink. It made all the white girls look so shiny-sparkly-good, and that’s what I needed to be! But with my darker lips asserting themselves from beneath the cotton candy sheen, I couldn’t quite achieve the desired effect. Yet, there was no room in my world for the question my mom gently proffered as to what was the right shade of lip gloss for me, so I persisted with the pink.

Thankfully, we all grew out of the Bonne Bell stage. But for many of us brown folks, that just meant our costumes needed to be updated. I observed with an eagle-eye every expression, every choice, every quiet movement made by my white counterparts, and I plotted how I could improve my costume to make it more real and more believable. I started to become more accustomed to wearing the costume and, soon enough, was rarely taking it off. In the safe space at home with my Indian-American friends, I thought I was taking the costume off, but I realize now that remnants of the deception remained: an expression, a choice, a quiet movement.

All of this seemed to work well enough for me as I graduated from my educational endeavors and entered the professional world. I knew how to dress like a white girl, talk like a white girl, and for the most part, act enough like a white girl to get by. And trust me when I tell you that this is what it takes to get by in many professions. Even worse is that in most professions, mimicking a white girl isn’t even enough to excel, due to a cultural bias against women leaders.

In spite of this set-up, I took some risks. Once, when I was a summer intern at a law firm, I asked my assigned mentor attorney if I could wear an Indian outfit to an off-the-clock gathering at a law firm partner’s house. My mentor shook her head incredulously and issued a resounding “Noooooo!” Curiously and quite distressingly, despite my consistently well-received work product, I later was denied a position with the firm for reason of “not being a good fit.” It doesn’t take more than one or two outcomes like that to shake your confidence and chase you right back into your costume, which then is what begins to feel like the safe space.

Without even consciously realizing it, my M.O. became more and more about flying under the radar. If they didn’t notice me, it meant that I was fitting in. That my disguise was working.

Eventually, my costume started to fray from overuse, and the seams started to split to reveal more of my true personality, which, as it turns out, does not want to fly under the radar. I want to do something big and important! I’m tired of the same ineffective solutions to the same problems in business and society, particularly when it comes to diversity. And I’m tired of listening to people tell me their stories and then walk away before hearing mine.

I’ve tried to share with some people how much I was bullied as a child because I was different, but I often find they start to get visibly uncomfortable or try to tell me that my race may not have been a reason, for they, too, were bullied for being nerdy or not wearing the right clothes. I’ve learned through my now well-honed observational skills that people don’t really want to hear me talk about how I was called a “sand n_____” by my elementary school classmates. Or how, even after being the last one picked in 6th grade gym class, my square dance partner considered my brown skin too dirty to even touch, and we both miserably do-si-doed with a deep, dark chasm between our outstretched hands. Or how my high school English teacher told my mom that my potential was less than that of my white classmates since I was “English as a second language.” All of those stories make people break eye contact with me, wriggle in their seats, and try to change the subject.

I have this friend who is Jewish. She and I often have connected over some of the similar traits of our cultures. She is a gifted storyteller who doesn’t shy away from questions that help her understand others’ experiences, and I accordingly have found her to be compassionately and sincerely open to my stories. I recently relayed to her a detailed version of the story about my request to wear Indian clothes to the law firm gathering. Her eyes welled up as I related the events that led to me being dinged from the firm. I could see that it was hard for her to hear. As it should be, because it was hard for me to tell and even harder to experience. In fact, there was a new pain I felt in relating that experience. It was the pain of knowing better. It was the ache of wisdom telling me that I shouldn’t have put up with that and regretting that, as a young, female law student of color eager to make a good impression, I felt disempowered and showed up to that event costumed up, asking them to drop a treat in my bag.

Unfortunately, yet understandably, this form of disempowerment is common among minorities and women. In the 1960’s, sociologist Erving Goffman coined as “covering” this behavior of a known stigmatized individual attempting to mitigate the obtrusiveness of the stigma. It is difficult to metrically ascertain the impact of covering, when it includes lost professional opportunities, decreased confidence, identity and self-worth, and a whole lot of cognitive dissonance. But as law professor Kenji Yoshino recognized, “covering” amounts to a civil rights issue: African-Americans have lost their jobs over wearing their hair in cornrows; Women have been demoted for choosing to become mothers; and Jews have been terminated from the military for wearing yarmulkes. Professor Yoshino explains that courts are willing to protect immutable traits such as the color of one’s skin and one’s sex, but “will not protect mutable traits, because individuals can alter them to fade into the mainstream…If individuals choose not to engage in that form of self-help, they must suffer the consequences.” Such consequences are too often dire in these days of rampant racial profiling, especially for our African-American brothers and sisters who might wear a dark hoody on a candy run. And so, as incentivized by some of our classmates, teachers, neighbors, mentors, and bosses, and also by the law of the land, we cover, hiding our true selves behind masks of the majority and resigning our society to a persistent and oppressive homogeneity.

Abby Norman, in her article about liberal progressives not enrolling their children in her predominantly black neighborhood school, asks, “Really, if we are experiencing diversity on white terms, what good is that diversity anyway?” I’d guess that Ms. Norman and I would agree that the answer is, “not very good at all,” but you don’t have to take our word for it; the data speaks loudly and clearly. In spite of ongoing claims of diversity as a top value and mission of many organizations, African-Americans and Latina/o-Americans remain significantly underrepresented in many industries, even more so in senior leadership roles. Even in a legal profession charged with upholding justice, barely modest strides have been made in diversity metrics.

Clearly, “success” needs to be redefined when it comes to diversity, and innovative and diverse approaches must be welcomed, supported, and earnestly attempted to reap the many benefits of diversity and inclusion. To genuinely engage our underrepresented brothers and sisters, we all must battle our own implicit biases, in part by expanding our own social networks to be genuinely inclusive of others who have different backgrounds and experiences from us. If organizations truly seek diversity and inclusion (and that is a question meriting candid organizational introspection), they must make space for everyone, especially minorities and women, to bring their true selves to the table. Most, like me, have learned the art of “covering” to survive in organizations because that is what our society has required of us. It is now on our society and our organizational leaders to undo that to allow minorities and women to thrive and offer their unique perspectives and ideas for assured organizational and societal improvements. Seats at the table aren’t enough; organizational leaders must warmly and earnestly ask minorities and women to share their stories and then must listen, especially when it is painful and uncomfortable.

At the same time, we minorities and women must be more aware of and intentional about when we put on our costumes. There always will be some amount of care and strategy we employ in determining with whom, in what scenarios, and to what extent we show our true colors. However, it is important that we not be scared by past risks that didn’t pay off and continue to share our stories with the people in our lives who will be moved and impacted, and who will remind us of the power of our true narratives.

For me, that means remembering the way food always tasted better to me as a child when it was fed to me by my mom’s or grandmother’s hand instead of a cold-clawed fork. And it means acknowledging that the pretty pink lip gloss made me look like the living dead.

I’ll save that costume for Halloween.

Neha Sampat is founder, consultant, trainer, and coach at GenLead|BelongLab, where she collaborates with clients through consulting, training, and individual coaching to innovate approaches to leadership, inclusion, and professional development that are both data-driven and grounded in the subjective experience. Her best Halloween costume to date was Buffila Slayerjee (the South Asian vampire slayer), and when she wears lip gloss, it is in the shade of coco plum. Find her on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram (@belonglab) and Twitter (@nehamsampat and @BelongLab).

#belonging #covering #inclusion #diversity #dei #southasian #browngirl #halloween #costume #assimilation #lawyer #legalprofession #discrimination

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breezytealy · 7 years ago

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Question: do you have headcanons about which kanji/symbols the next-gen uses on their gis/fighting clothes?

What have I done recently to deserve such wonderful questions, thank you so much for thinking of me! I do have some (read: many) thoughts - most definite, some I’m still mulling over trying to balance characterisation so they may change if they appear later in the infinite expanse of the “Super7AU/Groundbreaking Science”, haha! Please hit me up with yours too everyone :D!

(answer under the cut, if you’re on mobile you may have to click through to the blog, sorry but long answer X’D)

I feel like Chichi would make the actual gis up for people? I mean, Piccolo could magic them I know but there’s something amazing about the effort gone into hand making something. It’s feels nice. And they’re all p much family any way!

( Re actual symbols - they’re supposed to be for when you finish your training under a school, right? That was my understanding. If so —)

In no particular order

Uub - Goku’s ‘Go’ 悟 symbol. Whilst he does have a Goku-esque gi, (that green from GT needs a showing!) he will often default to the warrior’s garb from his home island, like at End of Z? The lustrous reddish-brown colour is from the tannins of the yellow mangroves that the island is famous for. :) He’s also got the P for Papayaman on his Papayaman outfit’s helmet - can’t forget that one!

Marron - I have her training and having been trained with ki, but not to act in front line, so her gi doesn’t often get blasted to pieces! It’s well looked after (any repairs needed are done neatly), and mimics her father’s style and colouring (but with wrist-length sleeves to reduce the possibility of obvious scratches from a fight). She has the good-old turtle symbol 亀 to recognise her Dad and his training, though he won’t restart the school until Age 821 (when he’s NINETY FIVE GO DAD).

Goten - He doesn’t seem to have one EoZ, but I can see him having Go 悟 for a while but asking to change it to Son. Whilst Chichi doesn’t have Son as a surname, Goten thought ‘Son’ 孫 included her more than just the Go of Goku and Gohan, and she blubbed. He’ll try and repair his when he can to be nice with surprisingly neat stitching… for the first five minutes! Often he’ll end up using any-old colour thread as it does the job, which makes Pan shake her head. He changes the symbol to King Kai’s (界王 stacked) for a while after he has a brief, uh, surprise, stint in the afterlife, mostly just to rub it in people’s faces he’s had godly training. He stopped after Trunks pointed out he was advertising the fact he was an idiot to get killed once.

Pan - if she was going to put all the badges on she’d look like a NASCAR driver. There’s training with her Dad, Grampa, Master Roshi, Piccolo and of course Gramps (he may not be a ki user, but he has valuable skills to pass on)! And that’s not forgetting learning from Grandma and her Mom, picking things up from Goten and Trunks, even Vegeta when she’d tag along to Bra’s torture sessions. She has a lot of gis, especially as she’s running the Pan Fighting Network so will spend all day in them sometimes. If she’s training with a former teacher she’ll wear their name out of respect, but when she has to grab something with a second’s notice? It’ll be the handmade one from Grandma Chichi, with ‘Son’ 孫 on the front over the heart, and the ‘Ma’ 魔 of Demon King Piccolo on the back that the bad guys can read and weep as she walks away from their broken ass.

Trunks - Has a gi (not from Chichi), but mostly for training/just to have one and interchanges with general gym stuff for training really. Will definitely go for Saiyan formal wear for the big fights, grey skin-tight with the white and gold chest armour. He has the shoulders removed not to restrict his sword movements, so very Resurrection F Vegeta in style, but has two little golden slots/nubs on the shoulders where, traditionally, a royal cape/train is supposed to go. By Age 801, after Geets and Goku leave for their final fight, Trunks is the defacto King, after all! He does have the cape! But he wore it like twice to scare the shit out of people who Knew of Saiyans and it’s just not come out the closet since. He wears the Vegeta royal crest on his armour (Though I’d like to try a combination of the crest and CC but I can’t nail a design and it’s driving me crazy)

Bra - Much the same as her bro! Though older uniform with slightly more length in the armour, less in the arms and legs of the blue skin-tight. No chunky boots for Bra, either very tight low-rise boots (not quite tai chi slippers, more sneakers I guess???) or straight up barefoot - she takes a very physical, brawler approach to fighting. She also wears the royal crest. And nail polish. Don’t forget the nail polish. She won’t damage it at all, trust her.

The crest has dual meanings - in the first case, (and I did have the associated weapons names for this but it’s midnight and I can’t find them so whoops) the outer is a pinning kind of weapon - corner your enemy first (around the neck). The inner trident is saying to then go in for the kill with a weapon that, with the barbs, will be impossible to extract and would have to be torn out, doing massive damage. :D The second meaning is a flower - with three main petals and two leaves near the flower itself - that grew on planet Salada. It only blooms on blood-soaked battlefields - triggered by the iron to exit dormancy as it ‘knows’ the decaying bodies the blood is from will nourish it and its seeds. The idea being the wearers are fresh from a battlefield they just survived. Both meanings are equally awesome to Trunks and Bra.

Mai - STILL rocking the coat, although occasionally a jumpsuit (tough like a motorcyclists, with utility belt and all that jazz) should that be more suitable for the challenge ahead. Symbols are Pilaf’s star (he wouldn’t let her get rid of it, not like she’d want to) and CC underneath :).

They all completely separately have “allblacks” - full head-to-toe jump suits made with a Vantablack-like material that absorbs all light. They wear them to go unidentified helping out in times of natural disasters (can’t wish people back from natural deaths and I guess death by nature is pretty natural) and the unnerving property of the suits earn them the nickname Shadows. It doesn’t help matters that they deliberately don’t speak to the public in uniform (Trunks and Bra would be instantly twigged being so famous), so kids in particular are obsessed and yet terrified off them x’D. Sadly no visible logo given the material, but there is an obnoxious CC for Capsule Corp on the arm that can be felt in the form of stitching should you know what you’re looking (feeling) out for!

#thank you so much for the question!#had fun putting it all in one place haha!#goten #trunks.marron #pan #bra #mai #uub #super7au #my content #breezytealytalks #Anonymous

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bethestaryouareradio · 4 years ago

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Apologies on Freedom Day

Read more: http://hosted.verticalresponse.com/672296/2c1f13214d/288055965/bbd34d3431/

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MIRACLE MOMENT®

“I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality.” Martin Luther King Jr.

MESSAGE FROM CYNTHIA BRIAN, Founder/Executive Director

Juneteenth, also known as Freedom Day, marks the end of slavery in the South on June 19, 1865. As PBS proclaims, “in this sixth month of the non-stop stunner that is 2020, the country finds itself in a period of education and reckoning of the racism embedded in its birth.”

I write this message to apologize for using the “color blind” analogy in our previous newsletter. After sending out the newsletter to share solidarity, a few of our dedicated BTSYA volunteers politely emailed to inform me that the use of the words “color blind” is offensive in todays vernacular. (You may read excerpts below) I thank these brave individuals for their courage to stand up, express themselves, and educate all of us,

specifically me. One of my mottos has always been “Failure is fertilizer. Throw your mistakes on the compost pile and grow a new garden.” I made a mistake and from that I learned so much. I am sorry.

We are living in unprecedented times and the world is in chaos with Covid-19 and the largest wave of civil unrest since the 1960s, spurred by outrage over police brutality and racism. Here at Be the Star You Are!® we are INCLUSIVE. We don’t tolerate bigotry, racism, or any other negative attitude towards any race, religion, gender, culture, or viewpoint. We stand together as a colorful united family of brothers and sisters from many different countries and backgrounds. Take a peek at our website, https://www.BetheStarYouAre.org or our teen radio show at http://www.expressyourselfteenradio.com and you’ll see that our volunteers represent the nations of the world. We are very proud to stand for freedom and equality for all.

My acting union, SAG-AFTRA released the following statement from President Gabrielle Carteris and National Executive Director David P. White on the murder of George Floyd. It states more eloquently what we at Be the Star You Are!® believe so I share this with you.

“The murder of George Floyd is deeply emblematic of a corrosive inequality and injustice at the heart of America. As protests spread across the country it is not enough to condemn injustice. It’s not enough to demand change. We must recognize that racism lives in our culture and only we can change that. We must speak up in the face of injustice and fight back against the indignities our fellow citizens face every day. We must be defenders and allies. We must be better than this.The ugly truth is that Mr. Floyd's killing was one among many murders of black people over many years. Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, Philando Castile, Michael Brown, Jr., Marsha P. Johnson, Emmett Till, and the list goes painfully on and on stretching back for centuries. It must end. Black lives do matter.”

Again, I apologize if the newsletter offended, Please forgive me. It was never my intention to be offensive in any way.

There is no room for bigotry, brutality, or racism in our world. We are all on a learning curve and open to all feedback. Although we are all sailing together in this time of pandemic, I recognize that we are not in the same boat.

This is a time to be kind. To help one another. To be inclusive. We will not tolerate injustice. When we embrace diversity we increase peacefulness. Let’s remember that love always wins when kindness prevails. Smiles will keep us happy.

Juneteenth is not currently recognized as a Federal holiday but by celebrating it, we take one step forward towards reconciliation and the fight for freedom for all.

We want to hear from you. How do you demonstrate that Black Lives Matter? We’re interested in your thoughts and actions. Send your comments (less than 50 words) to our Kindness Coordinator, Karen Kitchel at [email protected] by June 30. We will include a variety of responses (first name only) in our July newsletter.

I know I'm going to make many more mistakes. We all will. But let's learn and grow from them. We are COLOR BRAVE!

Be strong, be brave, be safe.

And don’t forget to also celebrate Father’s Day on June 21. A salute to all the great dads of every color and creed.

In solidarity,

Cynthia Brian Founder/Executive Director Be the Star You Are!® PO Box 376 Moraga, California 94556 [email protected] https://www.BetheStarYouAre.org http://www.BTSYA.org

DONATE: https://www.paypal.com/fundraiser/charity/1504

EXCERPTS FROM TWO POWERFUL EMAILS WITH RESOURCE LINKS

"I'm emailing you now about the newsletter I recently received that was titled Become Color Blind. I understand the need to be in unity in this fight against institutional racism and police brutality, so I do appreciate your response on this. But I feel that asking everyone to "become color blind" is counterproductive and incredibly tone deaf in light of recent events.

Saying you are color blind says that you ignore the fact that oppression/racism exists for people of color like me. As recent events have shown, we are all not treated equally, unfortunately. I in no way mean to attack you, but this was something I found to be offensive. Put short, I feel there are better ways voicing your support.

Here is a video that might help explain some of what I said better. https://www.ted.com/talks/mellody_hobson_color_blind_or_color_brave Sincerely, Anika "

"I admire all of the work you do in order to enrich the lives of young people. I received your email earlier this week regarding the Black Lives Matter movement and in it you stated that your organization is ‘Color Blind’, I know this statement is not meant to have malice or be hurtful. So I felt obligated to explain why this popular statement is damaging and can make people of color feel uncomfortable.

I am Latina and for me this statement, while well intentioned, can feel as if my unique experiences with being Mexican are overlooked. We can no longer be colorblind, we must recognize people’s experiences and understand that someone who is Black has had a different experience than someone who is Asian. To say that your organization is ‘Color Blind’ diminishes the experiences of POC. While we all bleed the same blood we are all experiencing a different reality, while some of us may never struggle because of the color of our skin others will have to live in fear because of theirs. And these differences need to be acknowledged. What you must strive for instead is to not be color blind, but to be actively Anti-Racist. Being anti-racist means that you are actively acknowledging other experiences while educating yourself on how to be a better ally. We must realize and digest how Black people in our country carry the weight of hundreds of years of systematic oppression and learn how to fight for a system that values Black lives. Color blind and anti-racist are not interchangeable and while one diminishes the existence of oppression and experience the other acknowledges oppression and actively tries to counteract it.

I wanted to contact you to explain this because I know that your email had the best intentions and did not mean to diminish any experiences. I am very happy to see your organization be so accepting and so against discrimination. I wanted to mention that I mean no disrespect in sending this email to you and solely wanted to let you know how this term has changed and evolved. I understand that the words I use today when it comes to fighting against discrimination will be replaced in the future with other terms better suited for the fight against racism. I am very happy that I worked with a group that has taken a firm stance on this issue and I wish you all the best.

If my definition was not very clear here are some resources that may explain it better than I could:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2018/10/05/white-parents-teach-their-children-be- colorblind-heres-why-thats-bad-everyone/

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/culturally-speaking/201112/colorblind-ideology- is-form-racism

Thank you for reading this and hearing my perspective in this issue. Best, Olivia"

FREE WOMEN'S SUMMIT

Don't live your life by default, live by design.

Passions into Profits Women's Summit

Hosted by Jane Applegath at http://JaneApplegath.com.

Summit begins on June 20th, 2020 with a special guest featured each day .Be the heroine of your own epic life. Watch and learn from a league of leaders and trailblazers to help you to lead a life you love. Your dreams can be your reality!

Cynthia Brian is the featured guest on June 25th. FREE registration.

http://www.janeapplegath.com. WRITER WEDNESDAYS and SUPER SMART SUNDAYS

As part of our Be the Star You Are! Disaster Relief Outreach program (https://www.bethestaryouare.org/copy-of- operation-hurricane-disaste), Be the Star You Are!® has collaborated with the Authors Guild to showcase the new books launched by many authors from around the country in a variety of genres. We will also be showcasing artists, actors, and musicians, all of whom had had their gigs canceled and are out of work. We believe in supporting creativity and believe that books, art, music, and film provide escape and

joy, especially during tough times. For the next few months, make sure you are tuned in to both StarStyle®-Be the Star You Are!® on Wednesdays at 4pm PT for “Writers Wednesdays” LIVE http://www.voiceamerica.com/show/2206/be-the-star-you-are as well as our teen program, Express Yourself!TM airing on Sundays at 3pm PT for “Super Smart Sundays”, https://www.voiceamerica.com/show/2014/express-yourself

Both programs broadcast on the Voice America Network, Empowerment Channel and will be archived on that site as well as iTunes, Stitcher, etc. It’s a giant artistic festival!

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mzminola · 3 years ago

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I tend to fall into three explanation camps for this one: Doylist, Watsonian, and fic-Watsonian. And I also haven’t read the Todd books or Gina’s one, so I will only be addressing Anne McCaffrey’s work here.

Doylist: AM’s early works in the verse were made out of vibes, not structured plans, and she chose to make the vibes into the structure rather than retconning them later, except when she did retcon (such as changing Lytol’s dragon from green to brown). Weyr Search was a short story that got expanded into a novel, which then formed the basis for the series. In Weyr Search she’d made an all-men pseudo-military group with dragons closer to bees than later books did: one female queen, a handful of male bronzes, and then brown/blue/green drones who the humans happen to use “he/him” for.

In Weyr Search it completely works for dragonets to first aim for a gender match, and then within that a personality match. It ALSO works to assume dragons DON’T care about gender, and that they go for physical proximity first, then personality, so that humans removing the gold egg from the clutch, literally dragging it to a higher pile of sand, keeping boys many yards away and girls very close is the reason for that gender match.

Then of course AM expanded the short story into Dragonflight, and first introduced the idea that greens are both female and are chased in mating flights the same way as golds, but don’t lay eggs. Rather than give the Weyr gender equality, she continued using the term dragonrider interchangeably with dragonman, letting Fax’s insulting use of the term dragonwomen stand, and implying but not stating that this group of men are having dragon-driven sex with each other in the background of the book the whole time.

The idea that the blue-green Impression divide is based on masculine-feminine qualities of the candidate in question is not canon text, it’s word of author. We get too few green & blue riders in the books with personality enough to assign gender vibes as a pattern (rather than individually), so even a subtext reading is difficult.

So Doylist reading boils down to: the dragonets are making choices based on AM not planning ahead, then reinforcing period-typical gender and sexuality ideas.

Of note: I’ve heard a number of older LGBT+ people talk about their social spheres in the 1960′s - 1980′s viewing cisgender gay men and transgender (straight or bi) women as one category, or a very close venn diagram, and so “some gay men are demigender enough to be psychically accessible to greens” wasn’t a particularly odd stance at the time, even if the execution was uh... not great.

[editing to add: this was in no way a universal view, it just did happen to be a view in multiple LGBT+ communities, and may have influenced some writers]

(This also comes up in Mercedes Lackey’s Heralds of Valdemar series in which gay presumed-cis man Firesong is considered balanced in his feminine and masculine natures enough to temporarily wield the magical sword “Need” who is gaesed to only and always work for women.)

None of the above prohibits the idea that AM was also shoving everyone into strict het roles, especially as her actual het pairings get flattened too into a very specific type of sexist dynamic (looking hard at Iantine forcing a kiss on Debra when he never acted like that kind of jerk earlier in Dragonseye).

Watsonian: dragonets may have some innate preferences for gender and personality, but are also highly psychically open and desperate for connection in order to survive so that they’re both yanking “rules for who I need to find” out of the heads of humans (and maybe older dragons) around them, and making their choice fast.

This is honestly the only way I can accept the idea that when holders & crafters stopped letting their girls come to the Weyr as candidates, the greens did not simply choose from the weyrgirls in the stands all the damn time. The boys are closer, and hundreds of human minds are telling the dragonets that those nearby boys in white robes are the first choice. That’s also consistent with Stands Impressions being rare, and Mirrim happening after Brekke suggested it, because there’s good odds multiple attendees at that hatching were thinking about Mirrim specifically Impressing.

I do assume that the sex/gender matches of the first clutch in Dragonsdawn were a total coincidence (or influenced by the candidates, who were well aware of firelizard mating flights, thinking about what kind of dragon they wanted), which humans then took as a rule and reinforced by loudly thinking about it at the next hatching, and so on down time.

I also assume that Exceptions To The Rules happen way more than we were presented with than in canon, but that they are erased from history.

Canonically, the events of Moreta are different from their depiction in the The Ballad of Moreta’s Ride. In the book she’s on another rider’s gold, because her own is on the hatching sands. In the ballad she’s on her own queen. The harper to compose it explicitly says he’s choosing to depict her on her own dragon to make Holder audiences more comfortable.

Holy historical revision, Batman!

This a world in which harpers’ teaching ballads are the primary sources for preserving and learning history!

So all you need to erase gay bronzeriders, straight men greenriders, disabled blueriders, ace queenriders, women brownriders, etc, is to leave things out of the archives and songs, or to outright lie.

Of course bronzerider Ed’ward had all his limbs when he Impressed, and lost the leg and arm to Thread, or some horrible accident if this is an Interval, of course the dragonets didn’t choose a disabled kid, please don’t look to closely at how the logbook entry for the Thread/accident is clearly faked.

Cis woman bluerider Menolly is always entered in the patrol logs as M’noll & he/him.

Trans man goldrider R’xas is referred to in archives and songs as Roxas & she/her.

It doesn’t need to be restricted to records either, just that post-Dragonseye and pre-Mirrim fighting dragonriders always had their names contracted, and goldriders never do.

Fic Watsonian: take all the above Watsonian explanation, then add

“golds like novelty” (so they’re more likely to pick an outWeyr candidate than a Weyr-raised on, and strong or unusual psychic powers),

“greens like neuroatypical humans”*,

“I have no idea what the blue/brown/bronze dragons prefer”.

It could easily be “golds don’t care about novelty, but weyrleaders chose to restrict candidacy to outweyr girls so that the weyrbred bronzeriders don’t commit incest during a mating flight, or inhibit (if possible) their bronze from chasing due to incest” or “weyrleaders restrict candidacy to ouweyr girls so they don’t know as much about the Weyr as a weyrbred girl would, don’t have family here to support them, etc, so they’re easier to control, because the weyrleaders are all fucking bastards”.

I’m just...going with “golds like novelty” because it gives me a consistent rule that’s not dependent on the human characters’ choices.

*I’m neuroatypical and the way canon characters dismissively talk about green dragons and their riders is very, very, very familiar to me, so I scooped them all up, yelled “MINE!” and made them the protagonists.

sensitive topic warning: do not be weird on this post pls.

what actually are dragonets looking for when they pick a rider?

based on the canon taxonomy, greens and golds *should* pick women, right? (cis women, specifically, maybe? the question is open.) but when the availability of women candidates changed, greens adapted by impressing men instead, yet golds did not seem to do as much adapting.

to what extent is golds' refusal to choose men an in-universe difference between golds and greens, versus its existence as a narrative device? is there something about greens that is different that lets them choose men, or was their choice of rider just a convenient place to slot gay men?

and what the hell was AM on about with feminine and masculine-tempered gayness being the difference between impressing blue and green?? was it always about aping het sexual roles for flights? or was she implying, using today's language, that some gay men (the bottoms) are demigender enough to be psychically accessible to greens?

and what about bluerider xhinna?? is that part of pern even canon?

#ableism #queerphobia #sexism #Pern

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theloganshannon · 7 years ago

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Black LIVES Matter

This title may seem slightly off-base from our country’s latest event of current news in race relations, but this is something I’ve been meaning to put together for quite some time and haven’t been able to until now. Needless to say, this is going to be pretty exhaustive. The latest events that happened in Charlottesville have added some nuance to the situation, as well as deepened my understanding and strengthened my conclusions. There’s a lot to say and a lot of different angles to take, most of which only add fuel to the flame. This is because the issue at hand is so emotionally centered that most people’s initial response is one purely of emotion; though at first hand this seems admirable, because the human heart is so unreliable it is actually just counterintuitive. The people who act out of hate are simply acting on a dangerous emotion of the human heart. Don’t get me wrong, there is great pain when it comes to the topic, but for one to respond with the feelings associated with the natural gut reaction to the horror we see puts one in a very precarious position. Your only logical progression will be for you to end up reacting with the same dangerous emotion. To let your feelings dictate your response leaves you prone to hatred. If you are perpetually emotional towards these scenarios, you WILL hate! And by now the majority of us surely realize just how illogical that is. But as I get started, it sadly appears to me that far too many still just don’t get this.

Now before you question me on how I could so easily separate emotion from this issue, let me stop you, because that’s not what I’m saying at all. In the last paragraph notice how I said, “If you are perpetually emotional towards these scenarios, you WILL hate!” The problem I’m pointing out is not that we get emotional about racism, but that we remain emotional about racism. Out of some self described righteous indignation we feel entitled to rage against the moral failures and despicable acts of others. Yeah, it makes sense, it does. At least in the most juvenile sense possible, it makes sense. But that’s the thing, it’s childish! And it’s foolish! We are going to get upset about bigotry, we will, but we cannot act on that emotion. This is because, as James 1:20 (AMP) says, “The [resentful, deep-seated] anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God [that standard of behavior which He requires from us].” Instead, we can only act on what we know is true. Truth transcends emotion. It’s much more natural for a human to be emotional than truthful. It is so difficult to look at this objectively, but we must view it this way if we want there to be any improvement. In Psalm 11, verse 3 we find these words, “If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?” The answer to that question is at the beginning of the verse, the righteous must restore the foundations where men have destroyed them. To restore and continue in that which is right we must return to the truth of the matter! So let me share with you a few things that are true.

1. You are angry! I am angry! Believe me I am angry. We are all angry! Well, anyone with their eyes opened at least a quarter of the way is angry. Here, though wrong (because we are incapable of righteousness on our own), anger seems to be the only reasonable reaction. We find it absolutely ridiculous and unnecessary to rid ourselves of our “admissible” malice, because after all we’re right. The guilty party is wrong. And anyone who doesn’t express how right the people with the right view are and how wrong the guilty are, are wrong too. And anyone who doesn’t express how right the people with the right view are and how wrong the guilty are, in the correct amount or manner that we believe they should, are wrong too. Whoa, that jump was a little extreme, wasn’t it?! And yet, that is it exactly what everyone and his brother, mother, and significant other is doing! Somehow we forget, and even a good number don’t believe, that we ourselves are personally capable of committing the same evil acts that literally every single other human has committed. We are all so much more alike than we are different, and the same goes for this idea of what we’re capable of. Given the correct circumstances, anyone of us could commit crimes the likes of Hitler, Stalin, Mao, etc. Perhaps you find that comparison a bit severe, but I had to take it to the maximum intensity in order for you to get where I’m coming from. Let me start by being honest about myself, and I hope you’ll follow suit. I am completely capable of racism. I am completely capable of bigotry. I am completely capable of favoritism. I am completely capable of divisiveness. I am completely capable of hate. In fact I know I’m guilty of a number of these. In a word, because I’m capable of evil, I am evil. Forgive me if you disagree, but all of this is true for each and every one of us, not just me. We’d like to think that we’re all inherently good, and that doing wrong is the exception, but (without going too far down that rabbit trail) that’s simply not consistent with reality.

“As it is written and forever remains written, “There is none righteous (none that meets God’s standard), not even one.” Romans 3:10

2. Okay, let’s get back to my title, Black LIVES Matter. I remind you, curb your emotions, because I can see several different groups getting upset about a few of the things I’m about to say. Let me first make it clear, actually, ALL lives matter! This is true; it’s not up for debate. Nor is it shameful to make this statement, as some are making it out to be. It’s true, and it’s okay for you to say, but it does happen to be beside the point. I’ll explain… We need to approach every aspect of existence with the assumption that life is valuable. Whether it’s in correlation to ethnicity, disability, or unborn children. I may have just smacked a hornet’s nest, but I’m still speaking the truth and if you’re peering through the lens of reality, not sentiment, there’s no legitimate rhyme or reason for you to disagree. With that being said, to act like the term “black lives matter” is unnecessary and offensive is completely ridiculous. “All lives matter” and “black lives matter” are virtually interchangeable phrases. As well are the phrases “brown lives matter”, “yellow lives matter”, “red lives matter”, “white lives matter”, and simply “lives matter”. So yes, “All Lives Matter” as well as “Black Lives Matter” are both true and acceptable to say. To get up in arms at anyone for either one, though you have your reasons, is just well, emotional. It’s a symptom of childish offense. Being upset about not being categorically included is petty and pointless. Being upset about people being upset for the previous reason is petty and pointless as well. On top of that, the reason that the term, idea, and even organization BLACK Lives Matter even originated is that systematically, historically a specific group of people, African Americans, has been mistreated and dehumanized throughout our country’s entire existence. That’s undeniably true. A large majority of this group does still feel marginalized and they’re simply attempting to make people aware. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that! Many supporters of this idea are promoting it without violence or emotion. But it cannot be left unsaid that there are certainly organized elements of the movement that are acting on their unreliable emotions, resulting in their commitment of acts of violence. That is uncalled for, unwise, and unacceptable! I, at least at a surface level, get it, but that is not the answer. Because I am not personally experienced here, I’m going to leave that at that. I cannot speak beyond the logic. Have one more look back at my title, Black LIVES Matter, the reason I have “lives” in all caps is that life is what is at stake, which is the important thing! The reason I use the word “black” instead of “all” is because, though all lives matter, it is this people group that have the unfortunate necessity to question whether or not those around them think their specific lives matter!

“Do we not all have one Father? Has not one God created us?...” Malachi 2:10

3. White supremacist groups exist in our country even to this day. Obviously. And their ideas are still much more alive than many of us of realized. This is what we witnessed in Charlottesville several days ago. Neo-Nazis, the KKK, and their acolytes all gathered together for a protest. What exactly were they protesting? There’s really no answer to that question. This extremely troubled group of people feel like they have been left unheard, and they are angry about it. They have allowed their emotions, fueled by baseless prejudices, to take control of them. Hate has consumed them! Their corrupt notions of racial superiority mingled with their feelings have resulted in a horrifyingly obscene display! What transpired was nothing short of a riot. It got so disgustingly out-of-control that Heather Heyer, an extremely admirable and innocent woman, lost her life at the hands of a rampaging terrorist! The man is deeply troubled, he is so detestably wrong, he deserves justice, but he also needs help. Everyone must do his part to denounce the evil that exists, but as I’ve spoken of before, we must do it with the recognition that it easily could’ve been us! If we’re truly honest with ourselves, we cannot claim to be better. Besides, look what is happening when we respond out of self-righteous rage... Certain people are retaliating with the same type of violence! The people of Antifa, etc. have shown themselves to be no better in the midst of their belief that they are. Violence and hatred toward the violent and hateful is violent and hateful. It feels justified, but it quite frankly isn’t! So yeah, one side is to blame for initializing the incitement and the tragic loss. No one’s arguing against that! But there were certainly several groups that negatively contributed. It’s just true. Yes, motives were different and only one side clearly has race relations right, but angry violence is unacceptable from whoever exhibits it! Now let me briefly address the myriad of people who are criticizing President Trump for not speaking out in the way that you desire… I understand what your plight is, that the leader of our nation ought to immediately, eloquently, and intensely criticize these groups. I agree. But I also do think the president is trying. Feel free to disagree with him, I do on several things, but I don’t think anyone has the right to judge his motives or the state of his heart. According to James 4:12 (AMP), God’s word says, “There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the One who is able to save and to destroy [the one God who has the absolute power of life and death]; but who are you to [hypocritically or self-righteously] pass judgment on your neighbor?” You may not like it, but when it comes to this, that’s the end of the matter. In case I haven’t made it clear enough yet, once again: White supremacy is completely unacceptable! It has no place anywhere! It is inconsistent with reality and completely void of morality! It is awful, nasty, and vile! But there is only one effective response, one of reason and peace. Each one of us is only responsible for our own reaction and subsequent action.

“What leads to quarrels and conflicts among you? Do they not come from your (hedonistic) desires that wage war in your members (fighting for control over you)? You are jealous and covet (what others have) and your lust goes unfulfilled; so you murder. You are envious and cannot obtain (the object of your envy); so you fight and battle. You do not have because you do not ask (it of God).” James 4:1-2 (AMP)

4. Love is rooted in truth. There is only one source of truth. God is the source of truth. God is the very essence of truth. God is truth. God is also love. So love is truth. Throughout the Bible, once you are reconciled to God through his grace, we are shown that to exemplify, extend, and multiply love is what it takes to fulfill the will of the Father. Through a relationship with Christ, God intends and does equip and enable every true follower of His with everything they need in order to walk in love for their Lord and for everyone around them! With that in mind I say the following things: I love white supremacists! I detest what they stand for and do. I love the violent opposers! I detest what they do. I love the violent members of the Black Lives Matter movement! I detest what they do. I love corrupt cops that abuse and misuse their power! I detest what they do. I love those who stand up for what is right! I love those who do this and politically disagree with me! I love the misled with good intentions! I love everyone! I don’t always feel like doing this, nor do I always succeed, but love is the truth so I pursue it. And, though I have the facilities to love, because of the fallibility of man I am unable to accomplish loving anyone and loving them well on my own. As Matthew 19:26 says, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Only through the transforming, restoring, and redemptive power of Christ is anyone ever able to truly love and accomplish the change needed to eradicate the world of hate and all other wicked forms of evil! I choose to love because I choose to be consistent with truth! I will love by listening to all points of view when it comes to whatever issue, correcting where correction is needed, assisting where assistance is needed, and comforting where comfort is needed! So should you if you want to walk in what is right and what is real. Let dealing with the truth in love be what dictates your motives, decisions, and responses.

“Love does no wrong to a neighbor. Therefore (unselfish) love is the fulfillment of the Law.” Romans 13:10

“For the whole Law (concerning human relationships) is fulfilled in one precept, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (that is, you shall have an unselfish concern for others and do things for their benefit).” Galatians 5:14 (AMP)

There really is only one answer to the issue at hand. His name is Jesus! Even the most optimistic individual is prone to anger, hatred, cynicism, and sharpness. The only thing that will truly satisfy our souls and heal our great divide is a relationship with the God of Love! The one and only Creator of all things. You and I belong to Him and He loves us all equally! May He draw you near and extend His many blessings to you today!

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never-ending-choices · 7 years ago

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@lizzybeth1986 I agree. South Asians are hardly ever potrayed in a non-stereotypical light (especially in the case of men), and it is frustrating to see the only strong non-stereotypical South Asian rep who is a major part of the story without a paywall turn sour. The most common representation of South Asians on TV is Shy, Awkward, Nerdy, and almost always, not 'sexy' or desirable(again, because stereotypes). There have been other South Asian characters in the choices universe, but most of them were not extremely important to the story, or again, fit into the stereotype some way or the other. Priya was truely the first SA character who was completely opposite of that. She was strong, sexy, confident and extremely important to the story. I, as a South Asian woman, am allowed to feel upset to see such a breakthrough character be written as abusive. We already had 3 assholes in the group (Castellanos, Baron and Vega). Why did they need to make Priya abusive? She could still be a strong character, why make her abusive too?

Next point, no body said POC cannot be villains. We acknowledge that she is an antagonist. We are just bringing into light, the fact how Castellanos and Priya can easily have dialogues interchanged, and one would be considered creepy, while the other is considered hot (Ps. You can find Priya hot. *I will lowkey judge you, but my opinion isn't relevant in your choice or who you are attracted to, you do you booboo.) Both the character's behaviour is unacceptable. It is not okay. Both make advances without consent, and Priya is worse in my opinion , because she doesn't seem like the type who stops making advances when told no. The situation MC 'consented' in, wasn't a situation a person can rationally consent in. It is blackmail, doesn't matter if the blackmailer is sexy. There are people complaining how 'Adrian doesn't let MC do what I want?'. It is what any decent person would (or at least should) act when they see a situation like that. Not to mention, he has known Priya for longer, he knew what she would do with her if she got her hands on MC (play with her, break her back, drain her, and toss her away). It was responsible of him to do what he did. Just because Priya is sexy as a character, doesn't mean what Adrian did was 'annoying' or 'cockblocking you'. He was doing the responsible thing, saving MC.

It was not only the fact that Priya was a brown woman turned into a villain that people are complaining (infact, it is not the matter behind the uproar at all, rather just an my opinion as a South Asian woman, expressing my dissapointment). It was the fact that Castellanos and Priya are essentially the same, but one was called creepy (deservingly so, I agree he is creepy af) and the other has people thirsting over her (even though she commited worse actions, just as a show of power). One was an unnattractive old man, while the other was an attractive young woman. Do not try and tell me that there is nothing hypocritical about the overall average reactions to both the characters, while both their actions are inexcusable.

I guess a side effect of Choices being so diverse is that People of color can and will be a villains. Of course that's not a bad thing as it does give these people a lot more different roles they can play. Not to mention it is bad to paint a picture that POC can do no wrong. I probably can say more about this but that's all I can think of right now.

Warning: Long post. Mobile Tumblr doesn’t allow me to tag this but I’m doing it here and putting it under a read-more. For those who feel uncomfortable about the discourse on Priya Lacroix, I would like to warn you that I discuss her under the cut, and there are mentions of bullying, no detailed descriptions.

There is this documentary film I watched recently. It’s called “The Problem With Apu”. Forgive me because I’m going to rant about it for a bit.

As you may have guessed, the documentary is about the Simpsons character Apu Nahasapeemapetilon (a surname that, I can assure you, you will NEVER find anywhere in South Asia). It’s about the South Asian (but majorly Indian) diaspora, specifically in America, and their issues with *this* particular character.

Numerous South Asian comedian/ennes, actors and people from other professions spoke to Hari Kondabolu, about how that portrayal haunted them. How “Thank You Come Again!” was used to bully and mock them. How when the Simpsons began, there were perhaps very few South Asian characters in the media an immigrant desi child could look up to. Mind you, Apu himself was a parody of a brown character, written mostly by white people, voiced by a white man.

These immigrant children spoke about how they understood that the Simpsons itself parodied and made fun of everyone, BUT it still stung. Because how much representation did they really have back then? Apu with his exaggeratedly pronounced accent that was really a copy of Peter Seller’s crude attempt at an “Indian” accent? *That* was how the general public saw South Asian kids and their parents? Their parents - who came to these countries to make a living and help their families, who shed blood and sweat and faced immense racism - were suddenly the butt of jokes. To the point where people were shocked if you were Indian, didn’t speak like Apu and didn’t do a head-bobble at the same time.

SPOILER: The entire film is directed at trying to get Hank Azaria, the voice actor for Apu, to talk to Hari Kondabolu, the man making this film. Azaria later rejects this offer in an email, stating that he is uncomfortable with the idea of speaking for the cast and crew of the sitcom…and that he will be “at the mercy of [Hari’s] edit”. The most poignant moment in the film happens here.

Hari looks directly at the camera, sighs, and says “He gets to choose how he wants to be portrayed. What a privilege.”

Keep reading

#choices bloodbound #bloodbound #playchoices

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lifeonashelf · 4 years ago

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CLARKSON, KELLY

Since we’ve already tackled a fairly diverse musical sampling in this tome, it may not shock you to learn that I sincerely think Kelly Clarkson is awesome-sauce. And I’m not just referring to her talent (which is obviously abundant) or her register of great songs (which is also obviously abundant), I’m referring to her essence—the authenticity she embodies, and how much more fundamentally likeable she is than any other pop star of her stature or epoch. I have not met Kelly Clarkson, yet her entire vocational ethos has been so blessedly free of pretention that I kind of feel like I know her, even though the only thing I know for a fact about Kelly Clarkson is that she is a singer named Kelly Clarkson.

I never viewed one episode of the American Idol season she won and I have never seen her interviewed as far as I can recall. The impressions I have of her character are intrinsic, based on nothing more than the calmative sound of her voice and the traits I instinctively suppose a person whose voice sounds like hers must surely possess (certain voices are just like that—I don’t think anyone on the planet assumes Morgan Freeman is a dick, for instance). By that criteria alone, I am led to believe Kelly Clarkson is a kind human being, the sort of gentle soul who gleans authentic happiness from making other people happy. I am led to believe she is a humble human being, the sort of grateful and unaffected luminary who lends her resources to numerous charitable causes without requiring any fanfare for it. I am led to believe she is a wonderful mother, although I am merely presuming she has kids since I don’t actually know anything about her personal life. And I am so innately certain of these things that if someone told me they have it on good authority that Kelly Clarkson bathes in the blood of kittens to preserve her youth, I wouldn’t believe that person for a second, even if they had pictures (conversely, if someone told me the same thing about Taylor Swift, they wouldn’t even need photos to convince me).

I have an anecdote which supports my hypotheses, even if the anecdote isn’t my own. My cousin Lauren worked at a restaurant in Hawaii for a few years, and on her last day at this café, a vacationing Kelly Clarkson happened to stop in to eat there. Since it was Lauren’s final shift, her co-workers were scribbling farewell messages on her uniform with magic markers throughout the day, inscribing it like the pages of a yearbook. My cousin’s engraved vestment drew the notice of the eatery’s eminent visitor, who amiably asked about its significance; when Lauren explained the circumstances to this world-renowned superstar in her establishment, Clarkson proceeded to gush about how delightful she thought the gesture was and asked if she could add her signature to the shirt. As a result, my cousin is now the proud owner of a decidedly unique piece of apparel which is autographed by a slew of her former hospitality industry peers… and Kelly Clarkson. When Lauren told me this story, I was acutely charmed and—yes, I admit—a little envious. But I was not a bit surprised, because that is exactly the sort of genial exchange I imagine everybody who meets Kelly Clarkson probably has with her (conversely, if Lauren told me that Taylor Swift came into her restaurant, wrote “fuck you” on her t-shirt, then defecated on the floor, she wouldn’t even need the signed garment to convince me).

While artists like Lady Gaga and Nicki Minaj have allocated periods of their careers to embodying post-apocalyptic femme-bots or community-theater sorceresses or whatever-the-fuck, Kelly Clarkson has exclusively devoted her career to embodying a performer named Kelly Clarkson who doesn’t come across as markedly different than the self-effacing lass named Kelly Clarkson who curls up on her tour bus after her concerts to watch old episodes of Friends (granted, I have no idea if Clarkson is a fan of that particular show, but she sounds like she must be). The only way I would ever recognize Lady Gaga in the wild is if she walked up to me and said, “Hi, my name is Lady Gaga”—and after I nodded and remarked, “oh, that’s kinda neat for you,” I can’t imagine I’d have much else to say to her. Yet if I happened to be at a craft store and I spotted Clarkson browsing the yarn aisles (for some reason, I also presuppose she knits a mean sweater), I would instantly know who I was spotting because she would probably look exactly like Kelly Clarkson always does, and I’d feel duty-bound to approach her, shake her hand, and thank her for being all of the things I assume she is. And if she wanted to hang out for a little while and chat about patterns, I would totally hear her out, because listening to Kelly Clarkson extrapolate on the textile arts sounds like a perfectly pleasant way to spend an afternoon. I have a strong sense that if I were to meet up with Kelly Clarkson for coffee—actually, now that I think about it, she probably prefers tea—we would totally get along; I also have a strong sense that Kelly Clarkson is precisely the kind of celebrity who actually would meet up with a fan for tea (not me, obviously, because I clearly sound like a lunatic right now).

“The Girl Next Door” is such a tired trope (especially in my case, since the girls who live next door to me are a Goth lesbian couple), but that is indeed the model Clarkson educes: an ingenuous small-town gal-done-good who spent her teenaged weekends canning homemade jam with her grandmother and reading YA romance novels on her porch with a glass of fresh-squeezed lemonade beside her (again, I’m not sure Kelly Clarkson did any of these things; regrettably, my insights into small-town living are limited to the saccharine tableaus represented in the Lifetime Original movies I’ve watched over the years—which, consequently, I presume Clarkson also enjoys). Her comportment evokes a high-spirited yet enduringly sweet kid sister you impulsively want to protect from the leering eyes of the world, and while she is certainly a beautiful woman, my attraction to her has never ventured anywhere near the realm of the erotic (my pop chanteuse crush is Demi Lovato, whose open struggles with bi-polar disorder, depression, and substance abuse—perhaps unfortunately—make her way more my type than Clarkson is). Honestly, I can’t envision making out with Kelly Clarkson; any fantasies my brain might entertain about her would be more likely to involve tracking down whatever scoundrel inspired the fervent pathos in her performance of “Behind These Hazel Eyes” and defending her honor by punching that fucker in the face.

I guess the word I’m really looking for here is “refreshing.” While Clarkson built her renown in a realm of play-acting, her career has been defined by an absence of artifice, which is ultimately a much more substantive thing to define oneself by than prowling around in spangled booty shorts. At her peak, Clarkson’s implicit message to the young women in her fanbase seemed to be, “you don’t have to pretend to be something you’re not; just be who you are and great things will happen.” I’m certainly no prig, but if I had a music-consuming daughter who looked to pop idols for guidance, I’d much rather her absorb that philosophy than the one proffered by, say, Rihanna—whose well-publicized turbulent coupling with Chris Brown would instead tacitly edify my fictional offspring that “ride-or-die” means sticking by your man even after he beats the absolute fucking shit out of you.

Of course, Kelly Clarkson’s ascent was predominantly reliant on her faculty—I doubt millions of people bought her records solely because she’s a nice person—yet in that respect also, she handily outshined her contemporaries. While most of the circa-aughts female pop icons were essentially sonically interchangeable, Clarkson’s soaring vocals always had enough distinctive character to render them unmistakably hers—surely, no amount of Auto-Tune could have endowed the bottom-scraping likes of Fergie with enough juice to do “Because of You” justice. She was also savvy beyond her years, and it was her refusal to let her handlers dictate the course of her career that ultimately allowed her to flourish when so many of her fellow American Idol graduates floundered.

Clarkson’s sophomore album—2004’s Breakaway—turned out to be the best-selling entry in her discography, and will likely forever remain her most iconic opus. But she had to fire her manager and battle just about everyone else in her camp to make that disc happen on her terms. After riding the wave of Idol worship which lifted her safe and satisfactory debut Faithful to its logical ceiling, she was tenacious in her resolve to transcend that threshold and announce herself as an artist capable of achieving far greater heights than triumphing in a televised popularity contest. As preparations for Breakaway began, Clarkson insisted on being heavily involved in the songwriting process—disregarding the protests of her mostly-male producers, who myopically deemed that a twenty-something woman couldn’t possibly possess any insight into what the twenty-something women who comprised the largest audience for the record they were making wanted to hear. She was also adamant about integrating more diverse and dynamic elements into her sound instead of simply settling upon another cycle of tepid pop-contemporary numbers. The result was a monster of a record that offered up five chart-igniting classics and a supporting cast of remarkably strong deep cuts. As evidenced on Breakaway, Kelly Clarkson’s vision of her craft encompassed something much weightier than a series of Pez-dispenser singles and shark-costume dance numbers. She clearly wanted to make a cohesive album that never gave the listener occasion to reach for the Track-Skip button, and she succeeded brilliantly. Commencing with the anthemic title cut, the feisty “Since U Been Gone”, the masterful “Behind These Hazel Eyes”, and the show-stopping apogee “Because of You” in immediate succession, Breakaway is surely a front-loaded disc, but it’s nevertheless one that continues delivering gems long after it exhausts its radio bait: “Addicted” is as solid as anything else on the record, “Walk Away” brims with irresistible quirk, and despite being buried near the tail-end of the track listing, “You Found Me” is more indelible than most other artists’ biggest hits.

This, too, illustrates a refreshing component of Clarkson’s mien—she made an entire record worth listening to, a feat which regrettably few artists on the pop landscape ever seem to bother themselves with. None of the tunes on Breakaway resonate as throwaways; each has something to offer beyond a hummable chorus, and each is solely Clarkson’s domain, firmly entrenched in her esthetic wheelhouse and blessedly devoid of any posturized pandering or blundering Ja Rule cameos. Even at this early stage of her artistic development, she possessed a seasoned understanding of the clear difference between making a song marketable and making a song memorable, and a keen awareness that those two things are not mutually exclusive. Surely, Clarkson was just as aggressively promoted as any of her peers, but her product wasn’t aimed at the audience hungry for gyrating, hypersexual caprice—peddlers like Christina Aguilera already had that demographic covered. Kelly Clarkson wasn’t selling her navel, she was selling a much more durable commodity: fantastic songs performed by an exceptional singer. And the grandeur of her vocal acumen elevated her wares beyond the disposable and into the timeless—indeed, as of this writing, Breakaway remains a thoroughly satisfying listen; meanwhile, nobody would bother spinning an Ashlee Simpson album from start to finish today, not even Ashlee Simpson.

And unlike far too many of her colleagues, Clarkson didn’t require a force-field of studio trickery to bolster her transmission. The organic nuance and passion in her voice floated atop the reverb rather than drowning in it, and the intricate, exquisite descants she conjured revealed hours spent mining her soul for the best way to communicate the emotion each track called for instead of pondering what shoes to wear in the eventual video. Which is probably why “Since U Been Gone” still makes me pogo around my apartment every time I put it on, while every Katy Perry song sounds like it was specifically written for a lipgloss commercial.

Clarkson’s output has waned in the last decade or so—though “Stronger” is a notable high-point—but even if her most significant work is destined to remain behind her, the legacy she built for herself transcends her standing as the first and most successful American Idol victor (at press time, that is; I’m willing to entertain the possibility that Lee DeWyze or one of the seven other winners whose names nobody remembers might still create the most amazing record ever made). After weathering an era replete with shameful moments like the skinhead meltdown of Britney Spears, The Pussycat Dolls pledging the drooling males in their litterbox echelons of filthy sluttery their lowly mortal girlfriends could never aspire to, and Lindsay Lohan being Lindsay Lohan, Kelly Clarkson emerged with her class, her dignity, and her career intact. The reality-TV platform that introduced her to the world is now a footnote, but her catalog continues to stand the test of time. And even though I actually shook Randy Jackson’s hand when he ate at the restaurant where I work (take that, Lauren), Clarkson will always be the American Idol alumnus I feel most closely connected to.

Speaking of… Kelly, if you’re reading this: my last shift at Eureka is on Monday, January 28. If you happen to be in the vicinity of Claremont that night and feel like swinging by, I’d be honored to have you sign my shirt. Just don’t invite Taylor Swift, please; I heard she does some really gnarly shit to kittens.

January 17, 2019

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