#she’s so indigenous coded

[anniecrestalover]

indigenous Katniss>>>>

[birdiebats]

Katniss is so fun to draw 💃💃💃

[imaginarianisms]

[thedragonagelesbian]

bioware those are all wack responses to someone's crisis of faith.

[copaganda-clobberfest]

White Fang propaganda. how come all the bad faunus have different skin tones handle trauma in less comfortable ways fight harder against their oppressive system and in turn are more oppressed by the system. meanwhile 80-90% of the good ones are virtually all white with a handful of exceptions and also never. do. anything. about their peoples oppression. BUT THATS OK THOUGH the humans aren’t that bad they’re just scared of the black people. I mean they’re scared of the the Faunus they’re scared of……. the oppressors are scared of the minorities surely both sides are equally bad :)

Shoot me. It’d hurt less

[arcann]

I had a horrible dawntrail revelation

You see how the king of tUrAL has several kids who are not of his blood? How there's a petite young woman in the poster?

My theory is that there's going to be five children and they're going to have the most basic personalities. We already have twitterbutch catgirl which fits the fiery one, there's gonna be the serious responsible one, the shy one, the one that gets gored for being suspect of gay activities and the Girl tm.

And the villain guy that CANNOT SHOULD NOT win is going to be just. An asshole who should be in a comedy if he wasn't torturing others to the point where its cringe.

[neon-in-the-night-time]

one of my middle school best friends who i haven't talked to in years but still follow on instagram is reading the hunger games for the first time and posting her thoughts on her insta story... i am THRIVING

[vounoura]

naryu being a femme fatale bisexual stereotype and playing pretty wholesale into hypersexual bisexual stereotypes is Bad:tm: bc bisexuality, esp. re: bi women (bc as you know bi men Do Not Exist in fiction), is often very highly sexualized and is often nothing more than a titillation device to bait straight men bc girl-on-girl is hot and bi women will still fuck you and directly reinforces actual real world harmful stereotypes that are still used to harm bi people right now at this moment. additionally, naryu's sexualization combined with the fact dunmer are pretty hard coded as non-white bleeds into things like her refined character design being arguably some shade of sexist with how it's designed with sex appeal in mind first rather than the actually very established theme of the morag tong, let alone the deeper racist implications considering dunmer coding.

on the other hand, as leader of the bisexual character council naryu being completely and utterly unashamed is completely and utterly hilarious and I love her girlboss energy for it

[ongreenergrasses]

re: modern anachronisms. yesss u interpreted my opinion right and i loved ur mini essay on how american puritanism bleeds through. collins manages to keep things very vague, especially the language she uses to describe featurss of panem/district society. which imo is for the better. i wasn't specifically thinking about race when i sent the ask but that is another thing. eg ive seen ppl headcannoning the plinths as a "spanish speaking latino" family. and i just. does it make sense to call them that. even if it is the easiest descriptor for us in real life

thank you!! and i super agree she does keep the technicalities of district society really vague in general, part of that is of course Katniss is just really oblivious and we do find out more about the Capitol social structure from Coryo, but also i think it is an intentional choice on her part.

oof yeah. i just. i feel like we impose specifically American conceptions of race everywhere all the time and a) we gotta cut that out because the American view of race is narrow as hell and so does not apply to the majority of the world and b) i feel like it is important and meaningful and powerful to hc characters in a way that provides the representation and detail that is lacking in the books, and in the case of Sejanus it isn’t really a headcanon, it aligns with the actor’s ethnicity, but at the same time can we really impose modern American ideas of race and ethnicity onto these characters? idk if we can.

BUT ALSO Katniss is not white. Haymitch is not white. Lucy Gray is not white. Finnick is not white. Rue is not white and I will never ever understand the hate that Amandla Stenberg received when she was cast. (I understand that it’s just outright racism but man I hate everyone that did that, it’s disgusting.) on and on. our modern ideas of race and ethnicity may not apply perfectly or exactly to these characters but they sure as shit are not white and there is no excuse to whitewash them. i think she heavily alludes to Lucy Gray and Katniss’s identities by including important context around their characters but she does not outright name Katniss as indigenous or Lucy Gray as Romani and although it’s personally very frustrating to me i think in the end it does make sense. it’s the constraint of dystopia really

[in1-nutshell]

Can we give TFP Airachnid an opposite personality son? We’ve played with opposite personality daughters a lot and a son would be real refreshing. Like I’m thinking of a similiar fluttershy personality for this little one, who just loves all kinds of organisms and animals and wanted to explore and observe every life on every planet possible. Who was also always scared scrapless and sad whenever he walked passed his mother’s hallway of trophies.

And just for cuteness, could he be adopted by Arcee later?

(It would also be sweet if he can have a frog theme, contrast to Airachnid’s spider theme (cause real life tarantulas sometimes keep tiny frogs around), and in this case it’ll be sweet if he is named Ranidae, cause that’s the scientific name for frogs just like how Airachnid is the scientific name for spiders)

I will be adding the name to the list!

Hope you enjoy!

Arachnid with a son with the opposite personality

SFW, Platonic, Angst, Familial, Cybertronian reader

TFP

Arachnid never thought about getting ‘attached’ to anyone before.

She lived by a code.

To live for herself, by any means necessary.

It worked for her so far, the spider wasn’t going to stop now.

Arachnid would never admit it to anyone… but she started getting a bit lonely after defecting the Decepticon’s and wondering around Cybertron’s ruins.

That when she met him.

Arachnid is walking to her newest hideout when she hears rustling. She is immediately on the offense. Arachnid: “Come out or watching me will be the last thing you’ll ever do.” An old crate’s lid opens and a small helm pokes out. Arachnid: “A… sparkling?” She holds the sparkling by his pede looking him over. The sparkling just looks at her with curiosity burning in his optics. Arachnid: “Hmm…small, light…” The sparkling smiles and tries to grab her faceplate but settles on one of her extra limbs. Arachnid: “No.” The sparkling drops the limb. Arachnid: “And obedient? Oh, you’ll be a great addition, Little one.”

Arachnid took in the sparkling a couple days before she would hijack a Decepticon ship and fly out of Cybertron’s orbit.

Having the sparkling on board gave her something to do.

She’d thank him later for being the reason she didn’t go crazy from being stuck in that spaceship for so long.

It wouldn’t take long before she started using the sparkling in her newest hobby.

Hunting endanger species.

The sparkling played the perfect part as the innocent bait.

He didn’t know what was going on at first.

All he knew was that he was helping his mother be happy, something he was willing to do.

His mother didn’t smile too much these days.

As much as he loved his mother, the bot who saved him as a sparkling, he hated her hobby.

They both had a fascination with organic life and curiosity on its works.

Too bad both their definitions of ‘study’ were different.

The smaller bot looks sadly at the newest trophy on his mother’s shelf. Arachnid kneels behind him and places a servo on his shoulder. Arachnid: “Another successful hunt thanks to you, Little one.” She stands up. Arachnid: “Maybe the next planet we go, you can pick which parts I get to keep.” Arachnind walks away. The sparkling lets a tear fall and goes back to his room.

Soon they arrived on a quiet planet called Earth.

It was time for the bot to assume his position, bait.

Maybe this time he could get some more clips of this planet before leaving.

The sparkling ran into the forest as soon as his mother gave him the signal.

The plan was just to go out far enough to get back to the ship if something big came after him.

But thanks to some cute organic creatures, the sparkling ended up going farther than expected.

Maybe staying with them a bit longer wouldn’t be such a bad idea.

The smaller bot happily follows the tiny creatures to a small body of water. He watches them go into the muddy water. Ranidae: “Don’t be afraid! I’m Ranidae, I won’t hurt you.” A one of the creatures hops onto his open servo and croaks. Ranidae: “Hmm… my scans tell me the indigenous life forms call you… a frog.” The frog croaks and blinks at him. Ranidae: “You would be a great alt mode. Powerful legs, small, and no one seems to bother you too much.” He places the frog down. Ranidae: “This won’t hurt a bit.” Ranidae scans the frog and transforms to a frog. He tests out some hops before transforming back. Ranidae scoops up the frog again. Ranidae: “Thank y—” The sounds of an explosion interrupted him. It was in the direction of the ship. Ranidae: “I-I have to go. Goodbye!”

The bot started running as fast as he could.

When he made it over the ridge all he could see was the charred remains of the ship… and a limb that belonged to his mother.

Ranidae fell to his knees at the sight, not really knowing what to do or feel.

He didn’t stay there too long though.

Ranidae hears steps behind him. They were small, but too heavy to be his little friend. He turns and sees a human. Ranidae jumps a bit at the sight. Jack also jumps seeing a smaller bot near the ex-ship. Ranidae: “H-hello there.” Jack: “Umm, hi?” Ranidae: “You spoke back! You aren’t mute like my other friend!” Arcee comes walking over the rigde. Arcee: “Jack, who are you talking to?” She sees the smaller bot and instinctively takes out her blasters. Ranidae immediately backs up to a nearby tree, shaking like its leaf’s. Jack: “Woah, woah! Arcee calm down. I don’t think he’s evil.” Arcee looks carefully at the bot before realizing how young the bot look. She put away her blasters and kneeled in front of the shaking bot. Arcee: “You got a name?” He nods a bit. Ranidae: “Ranidae… your Arcee, aren’t you?” Arcee: “Yeah?” The younger bot starts shaking even more. Arcee is unsure what to think of this. Arcee: “Hey, I’m not going to hurt you Ranidae.” The bot doesn’t stop shaking as quite little sniffles are heard. Jack slowly walks to the bot. Jack: “He’s like a little kid.” Arcee: “That’s because he is one, by Cybertronian standards.” Jack slowly places a hand on the bots pede. The smaller bot jumps a bit but relaxes seeing it was the human who touched him. Jack: “I’m Jack.” Ranidae: “…Jack?” Jack: “Yeah. Look, Arcee isn’t going to hurt you, none of us are.” The younger bot relaxes a bit but look warily at Arcee. Jack: “Do you have any parents?” Ranidae quickly glances at the limb. Ranidae: “Not anymore.” Arcee notices the lack of badge on the bot. Arcee: “what side are you on?” Ranidae looks at her confused. Ranidae: “I don’t have one.” Arcee looks around before sighing. Arcee: “Ratchet’s not going to like this… come one kid, you’re with us now.”

It was a big surprise to see Arcee and Jack to come back with another young bot hot on their heels.

Ranidae stayed glued to Jack’s side the entire time, even grabbing his smaller hand and putting it in his servo when he got nervous around the bigger bots.

Miko and Raf soon came over to greet the smaller bot.

Miko: “Dude! You’re smaller than Arcee!” Ranidae flinches away a bit at the loud sound. Jack: “Miko, inside voice. Ranidae this is Miko and Raf. Raf Miko, this is Ranidae.” Raf: “Like frog?” The young bot immediately perked up hearing the word. Ranidae: “I like frogs. Are there any frogs here?” Raf: “Not here but I have pictures.” Ranidae’s smile widens seeing the little photos. Miko: “You really like frogs, don’t you?” Ranidae nods before transforming into his alt mode. Everyone looks surprised. Miko: “You really like frogs.”

The kids and bots nearly had whiplash once Ratchet found out how old Ranidae was.

In human years, he was a bit younger than Raf.

Bumblebee is quietly celebrating not being the youngest on the team.

Ranidae decided to stay with the Autobots.

It wasn’t like he had anywhere, or anyone would miss him.

As far as he knew, his mother was offline.

Better to start a new life with someone who didn’t want to hunt for fun.

It does not take long for all the bots to grow a soft spot of the youngest member of the team.

Arcee, arguably has the biggest spot for him.

Sure, the small frog was extremely hesitant to be around her or the team, but it changed after Fowler was introduced to him.

Fowler looks at the small bot slightly hiding behind Arcee’s legs. Fowler: “And you are?” Ranidae is pushed up front a bit. Ranidae: “Ranidae…” Fowler: “And?” Ranidae: “And?” Fowler: “What do you do?” Arcee: “He doesn’t have a position yet.” Fowler: “What do you mean he doesn’t have a position yet? Sure, he’s small but he has to do something. What did he do back on your planet?” Bulkhead: “Fowler, Rani just a kid.” Fowler: “Isn’t Bumblebee your youngest?” Arcee starts getting a bit frustrated. Arcee: “Ranidae is younger than Bumblebee. In human years, he’s around Raf’s age.” Fowler: “… And his parents? Or is everyone taking care of him.” Arcee: “I am.” Bulkhead: “You are?” Ranidae: “You are!”

Arcee had said that out of frustration after seeing the smaller bot start shrinking in Fowler’s gaze.

But she doesn’t regret saying it.

From staying out of Arcee’s sight to practically clinging on her back.

This does not exclude alt mode, especially after Ranidae found out that he could stick to certain objects, including bots.

Does the smaller bot get on her nerves from time to time?

Yes, but give her a break.

She never thought she’d be a parent, especially at war.

Arcee is quite protective of her little frog, and it is no secret to the others.

Arcee finishes brigding out Bulkhead and Bumblebee. Arcee: “Rani, I need you to help me out here.” Jack: “Rani isn’t here.” Arcee: “What?” Raf coming into the room. Raf: “Has anyone seen Miko?” Arcee: “… Raf do you know anything about ‘everglades?” Raf: “It’s a huge ecosystem filled with all sorts of animals, reptiles and…” Arcee, Jack, and Raf: “Frogs!” Meanwhile… Ranidae carefully carrying Miko through the marsh. Ranidae: “Are you sure there’s frogs here?” Miko: “Sure, sure, but we have to keep up with Bulk and Bee.” Ranidae: “Okay!”

[punkeropercyjackson]

Atla writers:This is our deutragonist and fem mc Katara!!She's a brown indigenous girl who was adultified and parentified after her mother's murder so she often acts older than she is but don't worry,we defied gender stereotypes instead of playing them straight by potraying it as horrific trauma she is validated on how painful it is to her by friends and they help her once they realize this and she falls in love with Aang because he's a lot more like a typical kid so their closeness throught the whole show helped her heal her inner child like she deserves!!She's also a badass nonconformist but in a super feminine way and always asserts her girlhood so nobody tries to make her out to be 'manly' for it and never tolerates men's shit,including Aang's when he's in the wrong,and her motto is 'I will never turn my back on the people who need me' as she spend the series as a revolutionary who fights oppressors with all her bite and helps out her fellow colonized people out of a thirst for justice and genuinely love for them!Oh and even as her and Aang had their kids,she stayed a strong positive influential figure in her verse and even earned the title 'Master Katara' and HE was listed as HER HUSBAND and she's so uncaring over fame in favor of street cred she never wanted a statue!!Isn't just Katara the best girl ever,we love her so much!!

Atla fandom:Ewww,why is this tween written and animated as a child🤢She's supposed to look like a REAL woman and a REAL woman would never choose Aang over Zuko!She's supposed to be the Momtara to his Dadko for equal balance!She'd hate Mai too and see her as a creepy worthless bitch she needs to save Zuko from!But more importantly,ZUKO needs to save HER from AANG!She dosen't know what's good for her,i'd never do any of what she did,that's all weird and male targeted,not girly at all!Katara likes rugged older bad boys BUT Jet won't do and Haru can only be a stepping stone to her true love Zuko!Interracial ships are so important and we were robbed when we got Kataang over Zutara,it dosen't count less one's the oppressive race over the other!We were baited-Look,blue and red,sun and moon,fire and water,yin and yang,those're romantic-coded for sure,symbolism always is when it's a boy and a girl!Katara deserved better than to not be Zuko's assimilating arm candy as a gift for getting over himself and she's also somehow a basic conservative cishet allistic girl who'd be a white girl in all but looks in a modern au and even then,she deserves to be prettier too by not passing the brown paper bag test!Also Toph learned better to be girly and Katara and Azula hate eachother because she's a horrible abusive bitch who only exists to prove Zuko superiority😍

[autismnation]

seeing people deny katniss being clearly indigenous coded really irritates me.

a lot of people use the excuse that, because she’s in the woods most of her time, she’s in the sun and gets a tan. she says that she, like everyone in the seam, has olive skin/dark hair/gray eyes. so unless everyone in the seam is also going out into the woods (spoiler alert: they’re not. in fact, they’re spending most of the time in the mines, away from the sun.) then katniss is a woman of colour.

but, okay, let’s ignore the signs that she is indigenous. she is still a person of colour! that’s the whole point of the seam/merchant sections in town.

it’s about class inequality and how race plays a part in that!

[tiredmagicalwarrior]

I think one of the things I appreciated the most about Nocturne was the protagonism on the Haitian Revolution.

This was a revolution that didn't just change Haiti, it changed the world. This was the revolution that would make the first black state. The first slaveless state. That would make every slave nation tremble with fear, from Europe To America to Asia to Oceania to Africa. It was what was never meant to happen, but did.

It's the nation that would defeat Napoleon and the British marine. Nobody could take down Haiti. You know why Napoleon went to colonize Europe? Haiti. That's why. He couldn't take down Haiti. Couldn't make it french territory again. So, he turned towards Europe.

We are talking about an undefeated nation.

AND! AND! A largely Vodu nation!

I was SO happy to see Vodu be portrayed as the wonderful religion it is, sacred and divinely intertwined with the Haitian revolution. The revolution was noted to start with Vodu chants and ritual.

White people refused to understand the link between the two worlds that could bring ancestors to meet their descendants. They created zombies as a horror trope. They made vodu dolls as a horror gimmick. They took a sacred religion and reduced it and vilanized it.

And I'm so happy to see it being positively portrayed in such a famous media. Vodu practicioners have already made media of the like. But I was positively surprised with what Nocturne had to present to us.

Of course, the knowledge that the french revolution was incomplete, that it was NOT FOR EVERYONE, is then again, something I really appreciate as a history student and a person. The french revolution killed mostly peasent and established the bourgeoisie, but did it end the Noir Code? No. Did it establish women's and black people's suffrage? No. Did it make a agrarian reform? No. Was it for the people? It had it's importance. But it was, at the very least, not for all the people.

And let's not forget that the french revolution's main intellectual current would birth biological racism, an unscientific current that claimed evidence of "different sized skulls" for example to prove humans possessed different races based on phenotypes.

Last, but certainly not least: it is absurd to see people claim that "all indigenous people have been killed". Acknowledging multi-ethnic indigenous genocide HAS to go along with the respect that there STILL are indigenous people and they continue their fight for their lives and land.

You know who the show demonstrates as such? Olrox.

While I don't appreciate the show claiming "all of his people were slaughtered" as that is historically inaccurate, I was most happy to see an Aztec vampire present and very alive, connected to his culture, protagonizing the show. The Nahua are still very much alive and kicking and I appreciated that the show took that into account.

And Annette! Sweet Annette being one of the leads makes me most joyful. I can't stand idiots that claim her presence.on France was """historically innacurate""", check again, dumbasses, free black people were all over France (especially the children of black Caribbean elites, for example, from Haiti back then known as Saint-Domingue, which did not possess universities and would sent their children to study in Europe.)

Anyway. To see her star as one of the leads made me so incredibly happy. She's a wonderful character and I appreciate how they let Annette be unapologetic and direct, especially during a moment between revolutions were she was very aware the french revolution didn't mean shit to her people.

But she was so lovely and to see her afro-caribean religion present AND source of her power made me emotional more than a few times.

Castlevania Nocturne really did hit this nail on the head.

Anyways. To make sure I give people answers to "but where's the evidence to x thing you said?" Here are my sources:

THYLEFORS, Markel; “Our Government is in Bwa Kayiman:”A Vodou Ceremony in 1791 and its Contemporary Significations, 2009

DUBOIS, Laurent; Avengers of the New World : the story of the Haitian Revolution, 2004

BUCK-MORSS, Susan; Hegel, Haiti and universal history, 2009

[cleromancy]

okay hmm quiet metal gear disability thoughts now. specifically quiet, dignity of risk & the right to refuse treatment. major spoilers for tpp ahead!!!!

i do consider quiet to be a textually disabled character primarily because of the english language parasite infection. you can, and i in fact will, make the argument that needing accommodations for how her body physically works post-burn trauma counts as disability, but on its own it wouldn't be enough for me to say so emphatically that Quiet Is A Disabled Character. but having a chronic illness that she refuses treatment for because the cost of the treatment is too great is a CLASSIC and incredibly common disability story and weaves it incontrovertibly into her narrative as a whole.

and the way this interacts with quiets choice to live with the infection by not speaking english, is so great juxtaposed with code talker (himself disabled and diné) asking her in diné bizaad if she speaks it, and her responding in the affirmative being the reveal that quiet is herself also diné (quiet not being diné is, while technically textually possible, not actually supported by the text). the scene ends with quiet telling him she was infected with the parasite but hasn't spoken english to infect anyone on motherbase, and repeating, "and i never will. i never will."

so she chooses to live with it, and the way that venom accommodates her is extremely similar to what he does with kaz-- aside from the direct parallel of rescuing kaz and later rescuing quiet in very similar ways at contrasting points in the narrative, you see a lot of venom communicating wordlessly with them both; he leans in close to kaz so kaz can see or feel him, his first impulse is to speak to quiet wordlessly through touch/looks/gestures... i feel like this is highlighted by how kaz, my best beloved bitter hypocrite, is like (paraphrased) "she doesn't talk! how could you communicate in the field?!" and venom looks at quiet and they visibly, silently exchange a thousand words. i can't get into that more rn bc it would derail the post from quiet but theres a LOT going on there w/kaz and disability, and kaz and quiet.

and similarly getting too deep into the theme of language in tpp is also beyond the scope of this post, it would derail it even more. BUT LIKE in a lot of code talkers tapes you do hear him talking about, like... being taken away to one of those assimilation schools and that being part of why he developed the language parasites the way he did. and in another he speculates that quiet refused the treatment bc she wanted to keep the possibility of revenge but considering that she is a disabled indigenous woman, and that the parasites are repeatedly referred to in terms of ethnic cleansing, and the treatment for the parasite infection does make you infertile, i would argue that the text is not necessarily presenting code talker as exclusively correct here; there is another glaringly obvious reason why quiet might have chosen not to undergo the treatment.

so instead she chooses to live with it, and all its drawbacks, including requiring accommodation for it; she chooses to put up with kazs suspicion without explaining herself; she lives with the risk that came with an active infestation; she chooses to leave when it mutates further and puts people at risk. and when venom comes to rescue her she chooses to put her own life at risk to save his by choosing to break her vow and speak english. (also, side note, Jesus Christ but vquiet is so fucking beautiful. venom saving her and getting bitten by the decoy snake in the process....! good lord. who is doing it like them.) dignity of risk is crucial to this story -- none of this would have happened if she had Simply Accepted The Cure, but shes... really not presented as being in the wrong for choosing not to. that was her decision, and she deserved the choice to make it. when her tape opens "i did not choose to be Quiet," it delves into her choices. yes, the desire for vengeance brought her to this place. yes, it pains her that they don't "share a common tongue." but also, she has made the choice to disavow vengeance, to "choose the language of gratitude," and to her that means returning to her vow of silence. this is the dignity of risk.

i do have more thoughts on this, particularly elaborating on what dignity of risk is and why its so important to the narrative of tpp, and want to come back and elaborate on this more, but im just gonna hit send for now, just... quiet 🥰

[rubberduckyrye]

I'd like to point to interpretation that Angie isn't portrayal of a native Polynesian islander because almost all the evidence around her character and what she says suggests she's not living in a village that has cult-like practices, but that she is in a straight up cult and is unaware of it. It explains a lot of stuff from the odd monotheism, why her "village" seems to only employ seemingly dark web shipping company, the police apparently bothering her "village" or her having an English name.

Referencing this Ask

I mean. That is one interpretation, sure, but to deny the fact that Angie is heavily coded to be Polynesian/Native Hawaiian is unfortunately ignoring the problem. Which is the problem I am trying to address itself.

Right in her promotional art, you can see that Angie is carving a statue--and it heavily resembles a tiki statue. Specifically this kind of Tiki Statue. Though since it is unfinished, it could be a full body version, but I digress.

She also mentions living on an island.

And the "natural disaster" that made the island smaller--that is probably heavily inspired by how Hawaii was used by US military and bombed frequently--which, naturally, made the islands smaller.

She also greets people in Salmon mode with "Alola," which is a reference to Pokemon Sun and Moon, which has it's main location heavily based off of Hawaii. Alola is a butchered way of saying "Aloha", which is a Hawaiian greeting.

Also, Angie having an English name matches with historical oppression in Hawaii. Where Hawaiians were forced to name their children with Christian White names and their Hawaiian names be their middle names. It was literally a law, at least, according to Wikipedia, for quite some time. (The fact that this is not easily verifiable is the very reason why having this discussion is so important--and why people need to stop trying to avoid the conversation.)

I understand the desire to want to dismiss the fact that she is a racist caricature because it sucks to enjoy a character who is one. I get it. However--trying to deny the fact that she is heavily coded to be Native Hawaiian/Polynesian is just sweeping the racism under the rug, and is a major problem when you have people like me who want to discuss the topic and how one should handle rectifying the canon narrative's bigotry.

The mere fact that she is so heavily coded to be Native Hawaiian/Polynesian makes the whole cult thing part of the racist caricature. Indigenous people (especially Indigenous Polynesian cultures) are subject to extreme racist stereotypes that include human sacrifices and savagery--and while Angie's culture isn't developed in canon enough to know for sure if it was truly as savage as, say, the King Kong Indigenous folk, the cult behaviors are a sort of "cousin" to that savagery. We as a society see human sacrifices as barbaric, as savage, and even when in a cult setting, we still present these topics in that fashion.

I'm sorry, anon--but I'm going to ask you only this one time to not derail the conversation I'm trying to start. I understand that there are interpretations that help explain away the bigotry--and this is one legitimate way to deal with bigotry in canon media, or so I've been told--but what I want is a full blown discussion on the subject. I don't want people trying to tell me "Oh b-b-but she can't be a racist Caricature, because (X)!" Because that is dismissing the problem to begin with.

This is a problem. This is a discussion about racism in V3's narrative. There is no getting around it--no matter how much you explain away the writing with headcanons and theories, these problems are still here.

So please stop trying to sabotage my desire for a discussion.

I'm going to note that I LOVE Angie as a character. I think that, when you remove the racism in her character stories, you have a very interesting and compelling female character of color who's intelligence rivals that of the smartest V3 characters. These aspects of her character I adore--but to ignore the racism, for me, is to just turn away from the problem and, in turn, contribute to the racist way fandom treats these kinds of characters.

So let me speak. Let me find people who will talk to me about it. Let me grow and learn. Please, for the love of god, let me learn.

[pastamansta]

While I have had my issues with "My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic" (2010-2019) since we restarted the series, and while I have already begun to realize that the show will never be as good as the peak that was achieved in Seasons 2 and 3, as Ginger and I have reached the end of Season 6, I realize that, from this point forward, finishing this show is now something of a chore, or at least a "quest."

There have been issues in the past, no doubt; (1) "bothsidesism" and indigenous peoples stereotyping in a fantasy setting, via the conduit of buffaloes, (2) a portrayal of toxic masculinity as inherent to men, via the conduit of dragons, (3) using autism-coded characters irresponsibly, to make points about "friends who annoy you," via the conduit of both Pinkie Pie and Maud Pie, (4) doing BOTH, via the conduit of Discord, (5) anti-Semitic stereotyping in a fantasy setting, via the conduit of griffins, (6) xenophobic stereotyping in a fantasy setting, via the conduit of yaks, (7) irresponsibly vague and tonally un-sound depictions of self-harm, via the conduit of S05E13 "Do Princesses Dream of Magic Sheep?", (8) inserting support of the military-industrial complex into a show for children, via the conduit of The Wonderbolts, and (9) portraying a character with a severe level of anxiety as someone who is not in need of change, via the conduit of Fluttershy. These issues, however, are, by and large, excusable. Many of these issues are contained to individual episodes, and the show's primary demographic, those from ages FOUR to SEVEN, would have to really be paying attention to notice any of these, though some stick out more than others.

Season 6 is where not only do these issues still manage to present themselves, but they also manage to get worse.

The Wonderbolts have gone from a minor annoyance as part of Rainbow Dash's character, to one of the few reasons she appears on-screen, while further and further pushing a pro-military agenda down the throats of children, with one stand-out episode this season going so far as to apologize, if not encourage, military hazing?

The "toxic masculinity as inherent to men" issue evolves into a larger, more racial issue, ironically done by no longer portraying the dragons as all-male. A new fantasy race, originally introduced as little more than hissing bugs in Season 2, is now just as bad as the dragons, though perhaps not as offensive as the buffaloes, yaks, or griffins. This new fantasy race, the "Changlings," bear a striking resemblance to the real-life conspiracies on "draconian shapeshifters," which has been historically used to demonize Jewish peoples, as well as other marginalized communities.

And as if all of that wasn't bad enough, suddenly the show feels the need to comment on real-world xenophobic attitudes toward Indian cuisine? And their idea on how to do this is to make Rarity biased? By making her worship the words of a critic? Offensive stereotyping, with no "fantasy race" excuse to fall back on, and character assassination in the same fell swoop? "Spice Up Your Life" has to be one of the most embarrassing episodes of the series.

All of this in exchange for... what, exactly? A thinly-veiled, if not entertaining for a FAR older demographic, advertisement for parent-company-owned "Dungeons & Dragons?" A cutesy musical rendition of "A Christmas Carol?" A "what if" episode about a griffin who finally answers, definitively, if non-pony characters can receive a cutie mark? Enjoyable? Sure. Worth the problematic elements and ever-decreasing enjoyability of stock plots and subpar characters writing? Not at all.

As Ginger mentioned in one of her prior posts on the subject, we rank the episodes, every season, from best to worst, and then cut that list into three categories; "Good," "Mid," and "Bad." We have an extra column for "Problem" that, as of this season, was more full than ever. This season, we added a fifth section; "Ironic," as the show has gotten so generally terrible that it is becoming hard to decide between which episodes we had a good time with on their terms... or on ours.

"Flutter Brutter," "Stranger Than Fan Fiction," and "The Cart Before the Ponies" are some of the most fun I've had all season, due to how downright, laughably bad they all are. "Hey, seven-year-old! Did you know that Fluttershy's brother is a massive fuck-up who looks and talks like Matthew McConaughey?" "Yo, pre-teen! Do you have a hot take on the Star Wars Prequels?" "What's up, little dude?! Wanna just... watch your favorite characters ignore their siblings for twenty minutes?!" I was truly in stitches, almost as much as I was during Season 5's "Hearthbreakers," where Pinkie Pie's family eats rocks for Christmas, and the Apple family is told that they HAVE to enjoy it! If you've got a craving for watching twenty-minute chunks of horse cartoons that feel far too much like "Freddy Got Fingered" (2001), this is DEFINITELY the season for you.

If you only like, you know, the show that this used to be? Stop earlier than I'm going to, because Ginger and I are in this for the long haul.