#save me asian rep save me

[oswaldpettyeyeart]

Please please please listen to The Strange Case Of Starship Iris its so so great. These are just initial design notes for my favorite asian people....

[olderthannetfic]

I am most definitely beating a dead horse with this ask, but I gotta say something cause it's just boiling up inside my chest right now.

We all don't really like the the author for Heartstopper because she put down Asian BL and it's "Bad kinky feithisatization" and basically saying her Western work is pure and non fetishy (Fucking shoot me.)

And it just reminded of an author who did that several years back, definitely to a lesser degree though. They still did it and I remember I stopped reading it because it felt so fuckin performative and it left such a bad fucking taste in my mouth.

Author of the Webtoon Castle Swimmer had a chapter come out maybe between 2021-2022 where the main character (they are guys, they are gay for each other) saw each other again after they were apart for quite some time. When they reunited, there was as scene of them kissing and it getting juuuuuust a tiny bit spicy, not much though. It was cute, it was nice.

I go down to the comments where authors can put notes down for the webtoons and the author had written something along the lines of how the story isn't gonna be icky sexual and there is going to be no fetishy bullshit when it comes to the two main characters and fucking blah blah blah and basically implying that other webtoons that do turn sexual with it's gaybies are impure scum.

Don't know if they still feel like that

But my question is - why the fuck do these supposed queer authors or authors that make queer content always trying to save face and say that their content is better than that "icky shit",

Like fuck, Castle Swimmer has pretty decent rep in its story, but I can't seem to enjoy it when I feel as if its just their as a "HEY LOOK AT MY STORY IT HAS THE RIGHTS THINGS TO LIKE"

and unfortunately that's how I feel with most lgbtq webtoons, books, etc. Idk maybe I'm just cynical and tired or maybe they just suck at writing and incorporating queer themes and characters - I have no idea.

This probably could be worderd a lot better to bring more nuance to the table, but I am so upset at Castle Swimmer because I like it a lot, I just can't past the bullshit.

--

Rest assured that the desire to shoot oneself in the foot is not restricted to authors of queer works.

"My version of this genre is so much better" is a common malady among all sorts of creators.

This particular flavor has a little more stupidass purity culture and sucking up to the mainstream, but it's not so different from the many flavors of "There's no good ___ fic, so I'm going to write some!" and "I, a ~literary~ author, know how to write genre fiction better than you hacks!"

[mjjune]

[all image descriptions are in alt text] [banner art by @jamieanovels !]

MJ's Reintroduction!

updated 09.26.23

i'm m or mj (or whatever you wish to call me tbh).

this blog is solely dedicated to my writing and inspiration. to see my friend's writing (and writing i like in general), see my side blog @mj-library !!

ask and tag games open!

i might occasionally post/reblog mature content, but it will be clearly marked. interact at your own discretion.

i write fantasy of all kinds, but always with a touch of queerness. i lean towards dark and mysterious with supernatural and magical elements.

my favs: found family, female friendship, fairytale/myth retellings, anything queer (especially sapphic & aroace), neurodivergent & mental health rep, disability rep, anything with angst, reluctant heroes, enemies to [insert anything here]

all of my wips have a taglist. if you wish to be added to one/multiple don't hesitate to message me <3

My Projects Below! [or see this tag!]

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DS // high fantasy

When their farm is raided by strange poisonous creatures from the sea, Sasha’s sibling is poisoned. She must journey into the deadliest monster-infested island in the world to find a cure. But the only person willing to help is a mysterious traveler—who she suspects is lying about who they are. She treks into the jungle and must uncover the truth of both the poison and the stranger, or else it might be not only her sister who suffers, but the entire island.

Status: Draft 1, 80k, alphas in-progress

Rep: gender stuffs

Full Page Here

WIP Intro Here

Blog Tags: #w: ds, #ds snippets

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TWTR // dark fantasy red riding hood retelling

After six years, The Wolf has returned seeking Red, and the Woodsman is tasked with finishing what he started. But as he tracks the beast, The Wolf leaves behind clues and messages that hint that the kingdom isn't what is seems; the history they all know is false... The Woodsman must uncover the lies and defeat the beast, or else lose the closest thing he's ever had to a friend.

Status: 73k, querying

Rep: aro/ace, trans/nb

Full Page Here

WIP Intro Here

Blog Tags: #w: twtr, #twtr snippets

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AVOF //dark urban fantasy duology

When a vampire sleeps with a werewolf to spite the ancient vampire order and homophobes everywhere, they accidentally reveal supernaturals to the human public. As media tensions, protests, and riots rise, the vampire must choose: risk everything to save his new lover, or hunt down the rarest creature in the world in hopes to prevent war.

Status: - Book 1 Complete, 97k words, shelved - Book 2 Draft 1, 109k words, editing

Rep: various unlabeled queer identities; asian, latine, black, jewish

Full Page Here

WIP Intro Here

Character Intros

Character Sheets

Blog Tags: #w: avof #avof snippets

[parachutingkitten]

I rlly hate comparing Ninjago and Monkie Kid, but I feel like after your video I just HAVE to say this...

So something I think Monkie Kid excels at is the women b/c while there is only one girl in the cast of main characters, if they make HER a passive character, it's almost ALWAYS because the rest of the cast are also passive. MK has to save Mei? Well that's because he has to save the rest of his friends as well!

I also bring up Monkie Kid because of the villains. Of the villains, there have been 6 main villains, three of which are women (it's only 4 seasons, but the first season is a trio of villains, which is a husband, wife, and their son, so I'm goin with 6) and the reason this is so interesting is because at no point does their being a woman ever interfere with how strong they are, the secret villain of s2/main villain of s3 is the most terrifying villain in the show.

Unlike Ninjago, Monkie Kid not only allows their powerful women to be villains without being beasts/monsters, but it also if anything allows them to be MORE impactful than any of the male villains. I say this bc the s2/s3 villain is also present in the 1st season, as a manipulative spirit possessing the main villain in the finale, and I really do not know where I'm going with this rant I just think everyone should watch Monkie Kid.

And this is something I'd like to point out. It's not about the ratio of male to female characters (necessarily, it can be a contributing factor). It's mostly about the quality of the female characters that you do have. I said this about the Asian rep in the show, but it's also true about the female rep. Ninjago and Monkie Kid feel very of their time in terms of rep. They feel almost exactly ten years of progress apart, which is weirdly incredible to me.

[piosplayhouse]

the only two east asian npcs in star stable save me. save me bad sso asian rep

[haveyoureadthisqueerbook]

the other me by xan van rooyen (trans mc)

this rebel heart by katherine lock (polyam relationship, two bisexual mcs, one gay side character)

iron widow by xiran jay zhao (polyam relationship, three bisexual mcs, mc is also possibly nb or genderqueer)

call down the hawk by maggie Stiefvater (gay mc, bisexual mc, bisexual side character)

the prey of gods by Nicky drayden (can’t remember the specific kind of rep)

it’s not like it’s a secret (lesbian characters and relationship. please maybe note on the poll that the submitter would really really not recommend this book? i think it’s important to let people know of queer books, but also this book relied on so many stereotypes — about lesbians and Asian-Americans — and had a cheating subplot and was just….)

beating heart baby by lio min (trans mc)

the borrow a boyfriend club by page powars

may the best man win by zr Ellor (trans mc, bisexual mc, nonbinary mc, queer side character)

a promise broken by Lynn o cochroft (trans, aroace guy is one of the two mcs)

not your sidekick by cb Lee (lesbian mc, sapphic relationship, trans side character)

always the almost by Edward underhill

the spirit bares its teeth and hell followed with us both by aj white

a day of fallen night and the priory of the orange tree by Samantha shannon

generation one by pittacus lore (gay mc, not a huge part of the plot though. but confirmed in-text)

last night at the telegraph club by malinda lo

you’re not supposed to die tonight by kalynn bayron

lady midnight and sword catcher both by Cassandra clare

Star Wars: black spire by delilah s Dawson (aroace mc)

Star Wars: the empire strikes back 40th anniversary short story compilation (idk if it counts as a queer book but one short story was a sapphic love story)

one of us is lying by Karen mcmanus

two tuns of fun by

birthday by Meredith russo

invisibly breathing by

i’ll give you the sun by judy Nelson (i think! not sure if i’m remembering her name right)

brooms the graphic novel by jasmine walls

this queer girl is going to be okay by dale walls

two mummies / two daddies (kids picture books)

death’s country by rm romero

redsight by Meredith mooring

the death i gave him by em li xu (tumblr would LOVE this book)

Been outside by shaz zamore

ALSO: a note to op. this blog is such a great idea, but have you considered setting up a google form for submissions instead? they work for people who don’t have Google accounts, and you can export the entries to a spreadsheet automatically instead of manually that way too. if you let submitters view previous responses you can prevent repeats too?

I've queued most of these! Exceptions below:

-Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back 40th Anniversary short story compilation: since only one of the stories is queer, I'm not going to include it. This is absolutely arbitrary, I realize, but for short story collections, I'm looking for them to be mostly queer.

-Two Tuns of Fun: I couldn't find any book by this name.

-Two Mummies / Two Daddies (kids picture books): are these individual books? I couldn't find anything with these exact titles.

-Beating Heart Baby and The Priory of the Orange Tree were already queued (they were both in my initial batch of queued books prior to going live with the blog).

The google form is a good idea and something I'll consider! At the moment, it doesn't save me any work, and actually creates more. I would need to check every submission anyway to make sure it's correct and in the format I want it in. Currently I've got a Google Sheets spreadsheet with all books (both queued and posted) for people to check if their suggestion has already been submitted. Thanks for the idea, though!

[cadybear420]

Cadybear's Reviews- It Lives in the Woods

Welcome to the fourth official Cadybear's Reviews post! Today I'll be talking about It Lives in the Woods, which I have ranked on the "Diamond Tier" at 10 stars out of a possible 10.

Honestly, there’s not much to say that hasn’t been said already by everyone and their skeleton dog in the fandom. Just about everything in this one is well done. 

Choices that actually matter and have hard potential consequences. A wide cast of memorable characters. A strong and highly compelling story. A proactive and fairly flexible MC, with some pre-set backstory that’s actually established well. 

Although I consider OG HSS to be my favorite Choices series, I’d personally consider the It Lives series to be the best made Choices series. As in, the closest to being “perfect”. I’m having a hard time deciding whether ILITW or ILB is better, but I’ll save that for the ILB review and possibly an “ILITW vs ILB” post. 

Now I generally don’t care much for the horror genre, as most of it always seemed very cheap. But this story blew me away. I can definitely have respect for horror that is actually nuanced with its storytelling rather than just being cheap jumpscares, yet still being able to be bone-chilling… and ILITW is just that. I love the focus on psychological horror and how Mr. Red (or rather, Jane) plays directly on our characters’ fears, struggles, and insecurities. The CG in chapter 1 was terrifying, and it was enough to give me this lingering feeling of dread through the story. And there is payoff for it in Chapter 15, particularly if you get mostly Haunted nerve scores. 

Andy and Lucas are certainly some of my most favorite LIs of all time. It’s really hard to choose who I love more. I’d say I relate to Lucas more, but Andy had the strongest arc. Ava is pretty damn great too with her vibrant and witty personality. 

I also love the trans rep with Andy– he’s the only trans character in the cast, but he never felt like he was just a token. We see some of the challenges he faces as a short Asian trans male athlete, yet he also has a lot of personality outside of that too. In spite of what he goes through, it’s just normal in the narrative for Andy to be trans, and not sensationalized or pathologized. 

There’s barely anything to criticize here, which is why I consider it the Choices story that’s “closest to perfect”. Most of what I can think of are very minor nitpicky things. I’ll probably save it for the “ILITW vs ILB” post.

[astralbooks]

I Feed Her to the Beast and the Beast Is Me - Jamison Shea

Read: 09/08/2023 - 18/08/2023

Rating: 5/5

Rep: Black bi main character, brown love interest, Black side character, East Asian side character, Black minor characters, Japanese minor character, sapphic minor character

CW (listed in book): depictions of blood, ritualistic self-harm. bones and corpses, body horror, an instance of body shaming relating to ballet, non-graphic torture, murder, classism, racism, referenced parental neglect & abandonment

Review:

Laure is in her final year at the ballet academy in Paris. She consistently ranks as the top performer in her cohort, but is shunned by the majority of her peers and told to her face by board members of the Paris Ballet Company that her Blackness means she wouldn’t be a good fit. As auditions for a spot as an apprentice in the company approach, a chance encounter leads Laure to an underground river of blood and the chance to make a deal. Laure’s new power unlocks a darkness inside of her that she doesn’t dislike, but when other people who’ve made deals start showing up dead, the monster within might be the only thing that can save her.

Have you ever put so much energy and effort into something, only to realise that nobody’s ever going to recognise any of it? Have you ever burnt yourself out trying to meet the ridiculous expectations being placed on you? Have you ever been so angry about this that you wished you could just destroy it all? If yes, this book is probably going to resonate with you.

I found Laure to be a fascinating character and I really enjoyed reading from her perspective, but she has the potential to be divisive. She’s determined, she’s ruthless, and she’s at times blatantly unreliable, telling the reader one thing while certain events point to the situation being at least somewhat different to her perception of it. When she hurts people she doesn’t waste time or energy regretting it. To be clear, I loved her! If you support women’s wrongs then you’ll probably love her too, but people who prefer their stories and protagonists to be clear cut good guys are probably not going to get along with this book as much. Shea has described this book as a villain origin story and that description is absolutely correct.

This is a horror novel, but it isn’t strictly the fantasy elements that make it so. The cutthroat world of ballet, the ways in which it’s institutionally interwoven with classism and white supremacy, and the lengths people will go to uphold all of these things, contribute more to the horror than the existence of the deals themselves. The deals the characters make do result in them getting more than they’d bargained for, and this alone would’ve been enough for an interesting story, but this isn’t the direction in which this story goes. Instead we get a sharp critique of the ways in which established institutions, such as the Paris Ballet, are designed to favour those who look a certain way (white) and who come from a certain background (wealthy), and an examination of just how unreasonable the expectations for those who can’t meet its ridiculously high standards are. It’s discrimination and desperation that drives Laure to make her deal in the first place. It’s white entitlement that leads to every horrific death in the book.

I also really enjoyed the romance subplot! The relationship between Laure and Andor was such a slow burn that I didn’t realise it was happening for a decently long time, but I was loving the growing friendship and closeness between them long before it took a romantic turn. Their dynamic as a couple is definitely a fun one. Get yourself a man who will literally worship you.

I would recommend this to those with an interest in performing arts and how those industries can treat the people within them, to those who like stories with complicated narrators who aren’t necessarily the quote unquote ‘hero’, to those who like stories exploring the fallout of a deal with an entity with unknowable intentions, and to anyone looking for more horror centering a Black protagonist and stemming from how that protagonist proceeds when faced with racist institutions that would rather see them gone.

Thank you to NetGalley and Hot Key Books for providing me with an e-arc in return for an honest review

[nought-shall-go-ill]

helloooo

13, 15, 16 and 17 for the ask game please

Helloooo! Thanks for the asks, my dear! Ok let’s go:

13. does your country (or family) have any specific superstitions or traditions that might seem strange to outsiders?

Oohh. This is such a good question! I thought being from the U.K., which is a pretty well known country, I wouldn’t be able to think of so many, but some friends have pointed out to me include:

1. Putting vinegar on our chips (fries). I had no idea that was so weird until my friends looked at me in disgust.

2. This one isn’t so well know nowadays, but dancing the maypole. We did it in primary school for a few occasions, including the Queen’s 50th (?) Jubilee. For those not in the know, basically you skip round and round a pole holding a ribbon attached to the top of it, all the while weaving around other dancers.

3. Not so much a tradition but a thing people do: “Save the queen” or “pennying”. Putting a penny in someone’s beer (or any alcoholic drink really) and they have to down it to “save the Queen” (because the money has the Queen’s head on it). In my uni, it was usually followed by a song that goes: “We like to drink with [NAME], coz [NAME] is our mate. And when we drink with [NAME], they down it all in 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. *Much cheering!* It’s almost certainly hazing… but it was a bit thing at the time.

4. Pancake day! Otherwise known as Shrove Tuesday. The day before Ash Wednesday in which we eat pancakes (usually British-style pancakes, which aren’t too dissimilar from crêpes, with lemon and sugar).

And that’s all about I can think of, though I’m sure there’s loads more! The country that I used to live in had so many weird and wonderful traditions too, but that would take an age to say (and I’m always a little afraid of doxing). But here’s one: chucking beans out of the door on a particular day in order to rid your house of evil energy/spirits.

15. a saying, joke, or hermetic meme that only people from your country will get?

Wow, that other one was long… so I’ll keep this one short:

“Nice to see you; to see you nice.”

16. which stereotype about your country you hate the most and which one you somewhat agree with?

I probably hate the most the one that we’re all posh/Londoners/at the very least Southern. There’s such a variety of people across the U.K. and not all them have a stiff upper lip (thankfully). Northerners need more rep beyond Sean Bean and Jon Snow!

Oh, and I dislike the stereotype that the U.K. has bad customer service. Not all of it is great, of course, but on the whole I think it is less fake than North American service (sorry, guys!), while still attending to people’s needs and being flexible (this was a massive problem in the previous country I lived in).

As for one I agree with, I have to admit we do drink a bizarrely high amount of tea for a non-East Asian country. And I’ve said before, I do think Brits can be quite arrogant and ignorant, and I know many of my continental European friends believe that stereotype.

As for 17, I answered it here, my dear! Thanks again for the asks. 🧡

(From this ask game)

[thenighttrain]

try anyway, you have nothing to lose! how did u manage to go to rep tour tokyo omg?? i know japan are so strict about only locals getting their tickets. which is frustrating because like, then she should play in other asian countries too where non locals can actually get tickets! but yes lol manifesting hard for SOMETHING 🔮🔮🔮

if i am recalling this right, i remembered registering out of the country for the tickets with a japan number and address and everything 🥴 but pick up and payment of had to be done in person at the 7/11 within 7 days or so. that wasn't going to be physically possible for me. but i had a hokkaido trip with my fam schedule late september. cue me touching down, heading straight for 7/11 at the airport and trying hard to navigate the machine. some sections were sold out but bless i was just jabbing at the screen for anything available to me. and succeeded 🤯 plane tickets and hotel for tokyo quickly followed the next two days 💭 altho i do acknowledge how lucky i was to have had sufficient savings to afford this at such short notice.

yeah 🥲 and while i understand the business aspects of all of this and hence why the asia options we have now are as such. i do feel that (and i am not sure this is discussed much) with the currency conversion (tix + accomodation + travel) for many asian countries.. it's.. really.. tough.

update: i contacted said friend with your encouragement ✨️ thank you for giving me the courage i wouldn't have otherwise have 🥰

ok wow that's a crazy story, that sounds stressful! how did u even get a japan number and address when you weren't in the country haha. glad you got to go though<3 yeah, like i know the malaysian currency is super weak (even to singapore it's like double) and it's the same with indonesia too. i just think they should've added at least 1 other south east asian country but oh well...... and yay omg all the best with your friend<3

[kimyoonmiauthor]

tags by queenbeyondthejudge: but I’ve heard similar things happening in the publishing industry#more books by bipoc authors are rejected because they’re not ‘relatable’ to the agent/publisher#like ???

BTW, I have a BA in Anthropology, which I concentrated on systems, which looks at things like racism, sexism, etc. So when I speak here, I do know what the F* I'm talking about. I also have done light activism over the years and got tons of hate for it. (Like calling out WeNeedDiverseBooks for locating it only in the YA section. Screw your "investigative committees".) Here, it gets a bit more complex and systemic, which lowkey is a good Philosophy Tube subject. (The subject is how does one overturn a corrupt system as a marginalized person when everything is stacked against you?) REJECTION RATE

So, PoCs in general, no matter what their specific race—i.e. anything outside of the white European sphere, face about a double the rejection rate compared to white peers, which, BTW, has held steady since I've been loosely tracking the rejection rate, yes all the way back to 2008-ish. (I ran surveys on Nanowrimo, Absolute Write, and tracked numbers from various PoC authors in the interim).

So, white authors usually get published twice as fast as PoC authors, but Also queer authors get a 20% increase rejection rate. (i.e. accepted when they are about 70/100 rejections). Disabled authors, which people don't really track that well, as long as they are white, get rejected at about a 10-20% increased rate. I did ask, but no one has really kept tabs on the community like they should, and sadly it follows with "More acceptable disabilities" psychology, which is terrible, but here you go. Other communities out there often have bad representation, but high publication, except with own voices (Like the Adoption community favors Birth Parents and Adoptive Parents over Adoptees and Former Foster Youth/Foster Youth.) So the majority of the narrative about Adoptee and Foster Youth is not from their perspective and thus often has people doing racist things inside of it such as "White person learns not to be racist because they were adopted by PoC family"—usually Black. Similarly with Disability "this kid was 'saved'" and also gay/trans, which you don't want to see without a "Please save me from the phobia." Yeah. 'cause people can be more AHs to children, and we lost our fights in many ways, people use it as a dumping ground for "But all this prejudice is acceptable because it has adoption in it" to the point that sometimes my fellow People of Color say racist things in the context of adoption. Wha~~ You can't be seriously saying something clearly so racist. You got brainwashed. What happened to intersectional thinking? Adoptees are allowed to publish, but usually it's OUTSIDE of the fiction areas. ONLY allowed memoirs. It's exceptionally rare for adoptees to be allowed news articles, etc. So kicked out and cloistered which is equivalent to the "African American" section (of old.)

But yeah, so, either your group gets published low amounts, but gets lots of ownvoices representation. Or your group gets published, but no one is there to rep your group, i.e. No ownvoices rep because the privileged people won. You get to choose which demon you want.

(There's fancy Social Psychological terms for this, BTW such as Stereotype Threat is somewhat mixed into this. But this is the basis of broken systems.)

CHOOSE A LANE

Philosophically, one has to choose a lane in order to get published:

Make it like the privileged version and forego the accuracy, or face a higher rejection rate.

So it is not, say East Asian kid with Asian sounding name, but one that fuzzily sounds white. It is not Kyeong Jin. That sounds "too Korean" Its "Jina" It's not Kang Jina It's Jina Lee—whatever you have to do to make it "sound more white" and then no irony over that.

This Korean person, say, doesn't live in a huge Asian center with mixed ethnicities, say Los Angeles, San Fran, San Diego, Seattle, or near New York City. They live in Nowheres whitesville.

This is how a white author would write it, so PoC authors need, in this system, to conform.

Or you choose to write it authentically and then face a higher rejection rate.

The character's name is now Kang Kyeong Jin. She (because you did your research), is not a US born person, but lives in say San Fran, which also has a high Chinese population. She is Second Gen, but embarassed of her name as a child, so goes by Kathy. So her name is Kathy Kang. She has friends from the Chinese community and Black community. (Because that literally is like San Fran.)

She's not rich, since there is a higher poverty rate for Asians than often reported.

She has a Filipina friend that can't get work and is poorer than her, but this friend is not counted as truly part of the population of Asian people and is currently restruggling through nursing school because her previous training and degree doesn't count. (I know people like that, though not located in San Fran.)

This type of story would get rejected higher, even if more accurate than Asian kid in white town. Because look, it doesn't center white people. Where are the white people? (It's the Where are the privileged people? moment that happens in 95% of media. Why aren't you centering the straight/abled person?).

This is why Chinese and Blacks worked together to elect San Fran's first Black mayor isn't likely to make public school information. (Which is a true fact, BTW) 'cause I mean "Where are the white people saving the day?" And also "Where is the violence and conflict?"

Cue Historical fiction about PoCs needing white people to be there on the horizon somewhere and so on, even if disparaging, White people need to show up, but never the reverse. All white Europe on a round world, fine, All PoC place without Europeans--well, clearly broken and not realistic. Higher rejection rate if you set it outside of the country you're targeting to get published in. And it goes up by age and demographic too. Outside of YA—it's nigh to impossible to be published as an adult book.

BTW, the acceptance rate is also lower according to some people and takes longer, therefore for people who are in in the comp and submit stage. (i.e. got an agent). It takes double the time, therefore, for particularly PoC books to get to shelves versus white counterparts. I don't have the stats on LGBT or disability. You'd have to guess.

If the person is PoC, disabled and queer, welp, welcome to a larger rejection rate.

I've estimated that if white people get accepted at 50, then the rejection rate is about 120-150—Yeah, more than a 100% increased hike for intersectional.

LARGER SYSTEMIC ISSUES

Bar all of the above. You have an agent who say, knows that and knows what to look for in that case, there is a whole education system that has set them up for failure to recognize PoCs' writing as good.

You have good intentioned agent that really wants to get those rare books sold out there. They absolutely do not want white person race swapped story, but also don't want to look for exceptionally PoC p0rn. Nuance. Joy, they want it. Kyeong Jin gets to live in this agents' eyes.

Even PoC agents fall into this trap, and sometimes they need to play this game anyway to break into the industry. They might know what to look for, but they need to CONFORM in order to change the system. So Black author needs to play, "But conflict is the only way," game, even if the majority of African American stories, Black Carribean stories and stories from Africa do not center conflict. (Mostly memory and and a certain type of morality, BTW).

Conflictless and problemless stories—clearly wrong.

An editor that consumed a lot of Japanese media told me that I didn't have conflict in my stories and that was a problem. Literally, the point of Kishotenketsu and I had a Japanese character... so... the point is...

You have a whole education system to fight, which BTW, does get talked about, but only in college settings, usually, which is kinda sad.

This would be philosophy of Pedagogy, I believe, but with more race and gender dynamics, which, BTW, if you want to learn this bell hooks is an excellent teacher about this kind of system, from the education to the big screen, she covers it well. (I get her controversies, etc, but yeah, she could be brilliant too and I think we need to nuance people more).

White agent really, really wants to get those unique books out there... wants to join the fight...

But maybe their school education was confined to mostly "acceptable" Black books—welcome to book bannings. So they got say, Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird over say, Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eyes (both get challenged, but guess who gets challenged more?) They read not Beloved, or Frederick Douglass, but say, Gone with the Wind and Uncle Tom's Cabin.

I, myself, was forced to read To Kill a Mocking bird a whopping 4-5 times in my school career. And Bluest Eyes zero. And Beloved only when I got to Uni. And other more transformative Black authors? Zero. Rasin in the Sun once. Mark Twain I read twice over in school. I mean... like you rather have white eyes tell you about slavery than Black ones and also skip Black joy. (I read widely as a kid, so I knew I was getting highway robbed).

And if you had the average High School education, you were likely not to get say, Amy Tan's Joy Luck Club, or say Marquez. Ha! Indigenous lit—never mentioned and even if it was, it's acceptable to the white gaze (as Toni Morrison calls it on Charlie Rose). You were likely to only get Black and White authors. (Book bannings are quite a thing). I mean, did anyone get taught anything about Asian Americans in High school/Secondary School?

Likewise with Gay and Disabled representation. Often teachers "fail to mention" the person is gay and avoid talking about the impact it might have on their life and writing. Aristotle gay love relationship, and let's skim over Plato... My classes on Walt Whitman were a joke. "He was gay" No follow up on that? Really? That's a good time to teach queer theory. Nope, save that for College classes where all of the books about PoCs get analyzed through white (usually male straight and abled, save maybe Foucault who was gay, but problematic as heck, which my classes skipped a lot. Everyone of them featured Foucault, but not one of them wanted to talk Authoricism of him beyond Oh, look token gay.) So something brilliant like say... Octavia Butler's Parable of the Sower, needs a white book to understand her. Say, Margaret Atwood. (Cue my frustration about here). If not Atwood, then the literature theory *is required* in the academic work to include a usually white male of some kind unless your prof is cool and lets you import well-known PoC academics. Octavia Butler, not bell hooks as a theorist, maybe you need Foucault or Althussier. You simply cannot understand PoC texts through PoC theorists. What are you talking about? (Are you catching me gagging in a corner yet?)

Also, confine such a person to usually ONE AT A TIME and token, shoved to the beginning or end of the class. (I should note I went to several colleges over the course of my studies and yes, "Liberal" hotspots and they all do this. Even the classes centered on say Asians, Blacks, etc often require a white theorist shoved in there. WTF. Plus my last uni needed to rest Foucault in a box somewhere if they were not talking about Panopticons.)

(Do I have to insert Adoption again in here— as an adoptee, not once did I get a nuanced discussion about adoption and adoption politics despite the MANY adoptees I read in assigned reading 'cause people are really ignorant.)

So, fine, the agent has now done the good fight, they've done the self education and read something beyond Natsume Soseki and probably Daigo for Japanese literature. Actually sat down and read 20 Strategems, Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Journey to the West, and realized how Chinese and Japanese literature are and aren't interconnected. They've found out that Argentinean horror will knock your socks off, because Why not? (I can keep going because I get a thrill out of consuming world media).

Consuming the media is enough, right? Right?

Unfortunately, no. 'cause there is still things like white agent has to get over African American English as "valid" (BTW, Vernacular is racist, look up the etymology). Know the difference between that and Black American English. ('cause yeah, that's a whole thing). and recognize it as "not bad English" and then they need to let go of the way they were completely taught story structure in school because it is 100% wrong and made up only in the last 100-ish years. (I cover this extensively on my blog BTW, with references).

Likewise, they need to get over the idea tha all Asian writing "needs to be poetic" with "short sentences" and other instilled racism, and prejudice.

OMG, All Latine fiction needs to be magic realism. TT I spoke to a bunch of Latine people and they would cry on this idea. C'mon. I love Allende, truly, the moving motifs, etc, but let other things be published too.

Should we go over queerness and disability too? *sighs* Mavericks are not celebrated. Your idea, as a PoC needs to stand out, but not stand out too much, and if you publish it online, it's likely someone white or more privileged will try to *steal from you* and whitewash the hell out of it. (Same with all the other kinds of washing too). (I've heard reports from people who said this happened to them and there were several public debacles like this so I didn't make this up. Like that one agent recently who said I'd like this. And the agent from before that literally tagged one of their authors on a pitching event to ask them to remake it white in the last 2 years, 2023 2024 respectively.)

Fine. By some holy chance, the agent has done all of this extra labor, read outside, done the academic reading, is not asking for trauma p0rn and is not getting inspired by large tragedy to ask for that group of people to be published, read up on the history, etc and is now accepting books that are now not plotted like white straight abled man books ('cause I cover this quite a bit too).

We're neck deep in it now.

But you have the next two hurdles: How do you convince a publisher and the undereducated public of the same thing?

You've heard of Kishotenketsu, but clearly this Chinese/Korean writer is wrong and they didn't apply a twist. WTF, the average reader says. (Uhhh... neither of the 4-acts applies a twist, but that's a whole essay. I wrote the article on wikipedia, Kishotenketsu, and gave it an overhaul.)

I've seen these comments from mostly, but not only white watchers. (Internalized racism is real and sad to see.)

"OMG, the plot is wrong because like, this was a waste of my time. Where is the happy ending."

They cannot fathom for the life of them that the whole point of qichengzhuanhe is to pull out as early as possible. That LONNNNNGGG ASS denouement is solely a USian thing. Usually when they complain like that, I know 100% they are from the US and likely white on top of it (because I read African American lit and super closed endings is not a preoccupation of the story type). And then usually other white US people are lecturing me about how I shouldn't guess other people's races. But I'm usually right more than 90% of the time. This is nunchi.

They will go onto lecture about how it NEEDS conflict and therefore, a long, long denouement.

And I've had people flat out argue with me that Korean dramas need to capitulate to—yes, you guessed it, white people "Because it's clearly they are trying to reach a worldwide market." And then complain flat out that Koreans don't need to "put in that woke stuff."

WHAT~~?

I'm seriously too afraid to look on telenovela comments section.

If you are like this—you are the problem. Go educate yourself instead of saying shit like, "I escape watching the US so I don't have to listen to woke stuff." Ummm... you haven't really watched Korean dramas, hate you 99% of it is that "woke stuff".

Yes, so the public becomes a problem, and then the publishers feel like they need to really capitulate to their uneducated asses regardless of personal beliefs (See Scholastic debacle over banned books for their kids book fair), because even if PoC book makes it to market, the PoC book needs higher marketing power than the white book and often you have to find viral tiktok creator to read it for you, and then make videos about it. But the industry doesn't want to give marketing money to PoC author and they've gutted that department in the last 20+ years.

I haven't seen hard stats yet, but Women get paid half the rate of men in the publishing industry (according to one artcle I found), and PoCs get paid bottom price. Usually 15 to 20K at most per book in advance. (Publishing Paid Me hashtag on Twitter.)

The liklihood any book will make back the advance is less than 20%. I have to imagine PoC book is less.

Publishing isn't willing to pay the PoC authors the 500K advance on book that is likely to fail. But they will for white male author's first book that failed spectacularly and has a bunch of sexism in it. (White female 200-250K, BTW, 15-30K for disabled OR Queer book. 15-20K for PoC book.) [Publishing Paid me hastag on Twitter.]

Arrggghhh.

All of this brings us back to...

Education

Education can't break the cycle if they don't have the books and the educators to know which books to look at in order to break this sort of reasoning. And if academia is being snobby, which it often is (again, bell hooks goes over educational access and how academics often think certain, usually white sources are more "valid" than others). then

Movies often fall into the same category. People don't want to "listen to Black people talk improper English" "can't see themselves reflected", etc. Which bell hooks covers in her discussion of "The Oppositional Gaze". See Rue debacle from the Hunger Games.

One big circle. How do you break that cycle? So books and other media that represent the culture are accessible?

I've gotten mocked and hit library dead ends on all of the topics I've discussed here because I learned through several projects, White men don't need to cite shit properly. People make up shit sometimes when you trace them back.

One Librarian laughed at me for wanting information. Another one gaslit me. I wish I was joking. (Don't worry, fellow Librarians got raging upset and fixed it for me when I reported what happened.) I've had to BUY books to write my books, but when I write a white topic, it's a lot cheaper. I literally had books shipped from Korea, waiting 2 weeks to get Korean view of the topic. I also had to get a book shipped from Australia to get around, "White colonized guy won on the rhetoric of Aboriginal people". And don't get me started on how pissed off I was to find out that NO ONE has done an academic study of Pride Parades since 1970's. WTF. There is so much one could do on them. I flat out could not believe that could be true. And I pulled from the Library of Congress, asked Librarians if I was Hallucinating from both my local large library and academic libraries, and NOTHING. (Sorry, ranting so hard about this).

CONCLUSION

I remember a while back there was Korean man who grew up in the midwest, who, despite everything, managed to get published, He physically grew up in that state, was writing from his own experiences, and he was lambasted by the white public for "not being accurate."

Meanwhile white man who had never ever been to North Korea, wrote about it, and was lauded by the public as "so accurate and great." even if experts in the field said it wasn't even close and the man admitted he didn't research that much, he basked in the praise.

This is the systemic thing we're dealing with here.

So the Philosophy question would be... how do you break a cycle like this that is so ingrained, so called "standard" "part of the culture and tradition", but that is soooo taken for granted and ingrained.

And here, people really, really don't agree because it is near to an impossible question to answer.

I will say this, though, as an adoptee. You can't lie down, 'cause if you do, your group is likely to end up like adoptees have been—dominated by the privileged group. I mean who among you really, really wants to be painted "Like the devil" or "offspring of the devil" "Secretly an alien", because the privileged group won? Or polarized as "Saved luckily by white people." but it's OK, because it's Adoption to have the rhetoric. I sure don't. Fuck that. Reversing the wrong rhetoric about your group is really much harder than prevention. Work intersectionally. (AKA, don't be JK Rowling and fuck up every diversity group and then throw a fit and then forget as trans activists that she started with racism with that anti-trans tweet. Just fucking don't forget she was hating on Black trans women and had a huge pattern of racism and ableism before that point. It wasn't just about you white trans folks and then she "suddenly turned".)

"Good" Acting

i have a theory that a lot of people say acting is "good" when they're emotionally moved by it, and a lot of cishet white people have a lifelong habit of not listening or empathising when minoritised people speak, so minority actors get called "bad" even when they display some pretty fucking amazing technical skill

[ihernglass]

Title: House of Flowers

Genres: original Fiction, sapphic romance, sci fi/fantasy Featuring: sapphic enemies-to-lovers, asian rep, slow-burn, female friendships Summary: Here

Chap 17: Compromise

Spring kisses her furiously. She is a wrathful tempest, daring to be quelled. Her fingers wrap around Aden’s neck insistently, clawing an uncontrollable, guttural moan out from deep inside.

But the logical side of her – the impossibly rational voice that rears its head no matter how passionate, how overwhelming any situation is – surfaces overpoweringly like a whale breaching the ocean.

“Spring,” she manages in a rasp. “You don’t have to do this.”

“Do what?” Spring blinks back at her, red lips swollen. Her eyes her dark, hungry. They dart to her lips again.

Aden pushes back against the screaming urge to kiss her again. Instead, she says, “You don’t have to use your body to get what you want.”

“Pardon me?” Spring falls back, easing the pressure on her hips.

The words tumble out, a waterfall of fears. “You don’t have to kiss me so I’ll stop avoiding you. You don’t have to be kind to me so I’ll request your participation and save you from your mandatory engagements. You don’t have to… do this –“ she gestures in between themselves “– to encourage me to end Seeding, the Blooms. Because I promise that I will do so no matter what. You don’t have to pretend to like me or want me to ensure this outcome is achieved.”

Irritation crosses over the Flower’s flushed face. “What are you talking about?“

read the rest on ao3

[k8rgrl]

More kate venting. Israel/palestine shit below the cut. If you're here to argue, go fuck yourself. Show some damn compassion.

I'm legitimately tempted to block tags related to this shit at this point. It is so fucking exhausting hearing about it constantly. Yes. I know it's a fucking genocide. Yes. I know the idf is commiting countless warcrimes. What the fuck is signal boosting going to do??? Everyone who follows me fucking knows already!! We all fucking know!

I don't have money to throw at charities, I don't have the energy or time, or resources to volunteer, I can't do jack shit!

Can't even go to protests!

I live with my dad, my grandmother, and my grandfather.

I was raised jewish, both sides of the family. I'm not anymore, I'm pagan, but my granddad and gma are still.

My grandfather is an incredibly passionate, and caring guy. He saved me from a lot of really bad shit, and goes out of his way to help people who need it.

He even tried to be a good leftist. He doesn't know that, but he's got most of the right ideas.

Except he's a fucking zionist. And not even out of bigotry. It's out of primal fuckin fear and trauma that he would rather die than address.

It's so exhausting. He's got this weird fucked up idea that being critical of israel in any way what so ever is antisemitic. It's this absolutely mind-numbing thought terminating cliché.

Any time the slightest hint of the continent comes up, he becomes the most obnoxiously staunch Israel supporter.

I know he has no hatred in him. He just genuinely cannot understand that supporting palestine isn't the same as wanting every jew dead.

I'm not kidding, that's unironically what he believes. I don't have the heart to tell him I'm pagan when he's yelling with legitimate fear for his and my safety that pro-palestine people want me dead.

He's even admitted that the only difference in our stances is where the line is as to what's supporting palestine and what's supporting hamas.

And he's said if he ever caught me going to a "pro-hamas" protest he'd kick me out without hesitation.

That's already tiring enough, but I don't go to protests, so, fine, whatever. Not taking the risk now, that's for damn sure.

And then there's the fucking internet. Gods I hate how the internet has handled this shit.

Especially in leftist spaces. At least I can comfortably call right-wingers garbage takes for what they are and discard them.

And then, people on here have the gall to say shit like "i don't want to see any white people ever again say how china, the middle east and many others asian countries are censored and that people there have no rights, don't you dare to make fun of north korea when your president wants jail for people who deny the state of isr*el" (they censored it, not me)

How fucking dare you minimize other people's suffering because one group has it horrifically bad right now.

Where were you when yemeni people were being wholesale slaughtered? How about the Uyghurs?

Lemme guess, didn't have the energy? Didn't have any way to meaningfully help? JOIN THE FUCKING CLUB.

And for those of you degrading and mocking people who say vote, or contact your reps, fuck are we SUPPOSED to do?

Grab a plane ticket to an active warzone, and get murdered for a cause it would take a lifetime of traumatic horrors, or a phd to fully comprehend?

Riot in the streets for the sake of awareness, and get labelled a terrorist and ignored?

I'm not some fucking anarchist revolutionary. I'm a transfem barely able to self-motivate, who barely finds spoons for her productive hobbies, much less genocide awareness advocacy, while living in a household with a nearly 70 year old man who is so traumatized he'd rather call his granddaughter antisemitic than accept that being critical of israel isn't wanting him and every other jew in a fucking camp.

So yeah, I sure am just going to live my life like I was. What else am I supposed to do? Uproot my life and become yet another victim of a vicious cycle of colonialism? Become another voice yelling blindly into every void I can, in the vain hopes I convince someone of something I barely understand, after hours of research?

Support and advice appreciated, anything with an aggressive tone or call me something… dude, get some sunlight. Even just through a window. Go play with your pet, if you have one. Call a friend. Do anything except yell at a stranger on the internet.

[suiciderape]

ok? so do not call someone who is experciencinf suicide racism racist bc we will rep that shit to save our lives and i literally did it just to prove a point! 2011 tumblr anihiliated i never laugh anymore it sucks daddy keeho? call him trademark orea bitch he is dead why? bc hes not u did again! i am a super fucking asian my adoptive family does not hate me they are white sasa so yes! i am racist if that gets u to stop trying to kill me 909 hell rooger? hello rooger? this is general plutar we have gone beyond the kpop idol zone no way! guys i have something 2 tell u i still dont give a fuck i hate racists they tried to kill me its my life and i only love keeho therefore leave the topic about me alone its violent i am going to save ur life get a life? hell nah mhm omg! this is so not cool what the fuck is on the tv bitch? star trek? hell nah its daddy pornstar no! i made sure i promise ok? call keeho who the fuck was that? zeerm heheh hes gone now i hope hes not gonna rape me 989

[aq2003]

my biggest criticism of cobra kai is that theres too many white people in it my second biggest criticism is that there arent enough asian people in it my third biggest criticism is that i want robby and daniel's relationship to be repaired come on season 5 do not let me down pls pls pls my fourth biggest criticism is that its so entertaining and good but you cannot recommend this show to other people at all because what do you tell them ? that its about a bunch of highschoolers beating the shit out of each other bc their teachers cannot let go of their petty high school rivalry from the 80s? i cant do that. that makes me sound like i am insane. my fifth biggest criticism is that theres still too many white people in it

[tenshindon]

you know despite the fact dragon ball evolution was like.

dragon ball evolution

its still one of the few american films ive seen that has a mostly-asian cast and that makes me feel many emotions but mostly confused yet oddly proud