#stop making Poc masculine it’s toxic

[daystarvoyage]

Hey hoping y’all get the chance to see my video essay on luz noceda May be my last one if I feel like fighting toxicity and reading the show to filth.

The masculization of luz noceda it’s a reference to this the lauryn hill album

ANWAY NEW THUMBNAIL

TIMESTAMPS

INTRO & CULTURE REP 2:50 MASCULINIZATION of BLACK WOMEN 8:41 Fashion features feminism 17:48

VIDEO GAMEs how it sees women Geek incel how poc & CONCLUSION 27:06

[androdetective]

As a poc, I have a complicated relationship to vbros. On one hand, the world is really immersive and the characters can be really great, on the other hand it is a very white show and has a racism problem. Many of the white characters have done racist things when characters have gotten punished or killed for less. There's also barely any side characters of color. And even then, many jokes get made at them regarding their races, because they're not seen as the norm. Also because it's an adult swim show made by white guys.

Off the top of my head, there are 4 side characters of color (Orpheus, Jefferson, Kano, and Dr Z). If we want to be generous, we could include Al. Maybe even Triana with her being biracial, albeit entirely passing as white. Even with those characters, Orpheus became whitewashed over the years.

However, ironically enough, he's the best written character of color. He's a very nice, multifaceted character. He's even become a fan favorite. He's also had no racist comments made towards him in the show. Which was a pleasant surprise. Especially since he lived on the compound with Rusty of all people. As happy as I am with that, it feels off because why did they spare only him but not others? I'm not sure if his race was ever figured out as the writers. It never got brought up, unlike other characters. I won't lie, that gives me a feeling they didn't write him as a brown man in mind. If they did write him with that in mind, he probably would've been written worse. It feels like they could only relate to him and made his character good by thinking he's white like them. Hell, they even projected their weird breakup feelings onto him.

With Jefferson, his character is a mixed bag. He's a cool character and very capable. He's a solid character, all things considered. It's just that he gets racist jokes thrown his way. And just, the show has one black side character, and they can't even act right. Why is racism, the hatred and otherness of one's entire existence, so funny. I noticed that each episode except one that he was in had at least one antiblack joke. That's an insane ratio. The worst joke was in the Halloween episode, where he was at the party. They specifically made his character open the door to a side character, red mantle, doing blackface. It was to make a shitty reference to some niche movie and just oh my god, can you stop being shitty white nerds for a second? People who think shit like this is funny makes me want to project years of racial trauma into their brains so that they could finally Get It. Again, this is the best black character they have, but they to make him go through cheap antiblack jokes.

At least with Kano and Dr Z their skin tones stopped being yellow. The other times we see characters of color are when they're background characters. They're either there to make a scene feel full or they're labor workers. The worst is when they were what I'd describe as background antagonists. One-off antagonists that aren't really villain villains. Moreso regular criminals. These tend to be depicted as black and latino. This was more common in early seasons and stopped happening over time. Which obviously great albeit bare fucking minimum, still doesn't change that it happened.

For a world that critiques the old mentalities from previous generations and even specifically denounces generational toxic masculinity. They don't say shit about the blatant racism of the Johnny Quest times they parody. And the times they try to, it's just showing racism and doing nothing about it. Princess Tinyfeet is the worst example of this. She's a blatant racial stereotype. Who for whatever reason, used to be married to Sgt Hatred, an American soldier. And Sgt Hatred is a whole can of worms.

With Dr Z who was apart of the Quest era, at least they tried to give him a character. The thing I will say is that he's voiced by a white guy (Publick) doing a stereotypical vaguely Eastern Asian accent. Something I wished when watching the show was for Dr Z to mention the old racist era he lived through, and maybe even how the present is still rough. The toxic masculinity of the era got mentioned, so why not that too. It would've been so obvious too.

I won't lie, a part of me is glad they didn't try to handle the racism because it would've been a horrible train wreck. I can get why they didn't delve too into it, they're white after all. I just wish there were more poc in the team and sensitivity writers because they were desperately needed. But for a show that can't even handle white women, I'm not surprised they can't handle people of color. For a show whose best thing they were able to tackle was toxic masculinity, I find it ironic how misogynistic they still were. Like quick, why were the side effects of misogyny that affect you 🫵 handled the best.

The thing is, if they did try to critique the racism, they'd alienate the audience, and it'd also be strangely hypocritical of them. Venture Bros'/Adult Swim's main audience is white cishet men. The ones least affected by bigotry. They're able to laugh at bigoted jokes, and they're the most marketable people. White guys will appeal to other white guys. In the early 2000s, white creators were able to get away with much more. Not because it was alright but because it was easier for them to shut down minorities calling them out. Despite how "normal" it was, that doesn't change how that fed into a very toxic, bigoted culture. Despite today still being hellish for minorities, it was even worse just a couple of years ago.

Venture Bros obviously did not invent racism/bigotry. The show is very much a product of their time and environment. And whenever I think about that, it feels draining. Especially having had to live through the 2000s. The show can be amazing when it wants to be. There's so much potential and a lot of charm and character. I really enjoy it, and that's why I'm so critical of it. Not only because I want it to be better but because I want something better for fans of color. We barely get anything, and the least we should get are characters that look like us and are respected. Just like their white counterparts. It's like, how am I supposed to feel when Sgt Hatred gets redeemed and made a main character before we got a character of color that didn't face racist jokes/got whitewashed. Or even before we got a female character whose existence didn't hinge on their relationship to a man. Obviously, the show doesn't hate people of color. They've tried to better over time, which again great. But it barely felt like they respected poc enough.

With the movie, despite its own problems (not helped by Adult Swim screwing them over), you could tell they were trying. And it was really appreciated. Jefferson had a big spotlight, and there weren't jokes against him. We even got to know a bit more about him. It was genuinely his best. Ignoring Orpheus still looking like he's in a perpetual state of winter, that aspect of the movie was alright.

I'm very glad to see fans who are critical of these aspects. It makes me more happy seeing them vouch for poc. However, there's still a large majority that ignores or even excuses the racism. Unsurprisingly, these tend to be the white dude bro fans. But I've seen even the more liberal fans excuse/ignore stuff. The fanbase is very white, just like a lot of other fanbases. I can get why a supportive white person feels they wouldn't be best to call out the show's shit. I just wish they'd mention it more with a simple "oh there's xyz in this episode and it wasn't alright." Something as simple as that carries a lot of power in very white environments. Also, of course, uplift other fans of color, especially when they talk about or face racism. Things as simple as that make me breathe sighs of relief. It personally encourages me to interact with communities more.

I'm unsure of how to close this off. This feels like a topic you could talk about all day. All I wish is for things to be better, you know? Hopefully this all makes sense. I just wrote shit off the top of my head. I'd love to hear thoughts expanding or adding on to stuff. Really hope this reaches the right people

[antlered-angel]

unpopular opinions about the tumblr queer community

the Tumblr Queer Community is full of white supremacy, misconceptions, misogyny, and toxic masculinity. trans beauty standards are full of skinny white people who lean heavily towards trans women being feminine and trans men being masculine. It’s okay for trans people to lean heavily towards a certain gender presentation, be skinny, and/or be white. However, for it to be a beauty standard is not only exclusionary of POC but also towards those who present in gender nonconforming ways and/or those with different body types. As a feminine trans man of color who isn’t considered skinny, this needs to stop.

Gender may be fluid, but sexuality is not. Not in the same way. You can’t make up sexualities because you don’t want to identify with labels provided. It’s okay to not be into labels, but it’s not okay to create self-contradicting identity-erasing ones because you don’t want to identify yourself with one of the many sexualities that already exist. It lowkey gives lesbophobia in a lot of cases. Speaking of which, lesbian is not an umbrella term, Saphhic is. If you’re a bi person calling yourself a lesbian, relearn what lesbian means. You’re not a lesbian because you have woman-leaning attraction but are attracted to a man every once in a while, you’re sapphic.

Ace people and lesbians are not enemies, in fact a lot of the ace people I meet ARE lesbians

Ya’ll should be nicer to femme lesbians

In general, queer women should be praised just as much for embracing femininity as queer men. The tumblr queer community doesn’t care about lesbians unless they’re masc in any way.

Stop pushing masculinity onto queer women who do not feel comfortable with it. You’re not breaking gender roles, you’re just playing into them and cishet ideals of how queer women should present themselves.

[bluemerakis]

asking anonymously is useless atp if i'm just gonna like your response the moment you post it so

sb is old as hell and he's someone who lived through times both of violent racism, the type that was protected by law AND the casual type that the 70/80s had and i do think that weird transition changed something in him BUT didn't stop him from being careless about poc lives (mms family) and making casual racist remarks that would be brushed off and seen as jokes because that's just how that time was.

people would think that making a humiliating joke about racialized people was not racist because they weren't physically harming anyone and i think soldier boy would be the same, especially considering his awful dynamic with black noir...

the homophobia too, i do believe he was mostly confused/weirded out about it being something people publicly talk about now, bc you can't tell me he didn't see STUFF during the herogasm. it's probably something he believes shouldn't be there in public for everyone to see but i do think it could become something he simply doesn't care about, only conflicting with his terrible toxic masculinity issues...

he can get better but it would take a little more of effort for him to understand that some of his "jokes" are plainly unfunny, harmful and not okay to say.

it's kinda obvious during his conversation with hughie that he has lots of regrets and he probably had so much time to think about it, he doesn't want to be violent but can't seem to be able to escape his "nature"...

NO YOU ARE SO SPOT ON WITH EVERY POINT!!!

i have no idea how much more i can add to this bc i think you’ve said it all beautifully and i so wholeheartedly agree with it. heavy on the herogasm thing because we’ve experienced a lick of it for ourselves and it’s quite literally an event made for supes to exploit and explore everything. so you’re so right when you say he’s likely seen all of it before and only upholds the homophobia to perpetuate his toxic masculinity.

he’s actually just a typical dude that thinks he has to blare problematic things at the top of his lungs bc it earns him some sort of close-minded, male validation—but i doubt he really understands the harmful weight of it all on an emotional level. or, he does, but he chooses not to indulge it bc he has trouble navigating his own emotions in fear of being called vulnerable or soft. like you said, super typical of him to spew things that he thinks is funny but is really just offensive, and it would take some educating for him to realise it’s not okay to go around saying those things.

also exactly, the hughie conversation is something i think about a lot. in a way, hughie has always been the sort of guy that invites vulnerability. think about how he connects with everybody he meets—annie, balls of steel butcher, and now soldier boy. hughie, i think, is the perfect example of a man who’s comfortable with his masculinity and has no problem being a profound soul open to discussing deeper topics, and we see this happen with soldier boy. i mean, just by spending some time alone with him, soldier boy feels safe enough to open up about his guilt on all the people he hurt. he admits things he’s kept bottled up for long, and he feels some sort of need to vouch for his goodness—which reflects how self-aware (or self conscious) he actually is and that he’s aware of how others perceive him. this is already an important detail that tells us HE’S CAPABLE OF CHANGE❗️❗️❗️

i think the dynamic between the two of them exhibits a lot of potential for sb to grow as a person. but bc it’s not a state he’s exactly accustomed to, i can see it being a trickle-effect, and when he realises it, he clamps up and resumes his hard-ass persona. but it’s something he’ll gradually improve on the more time he spends with somebody who wants to help him realise that he’s allowed to safely express himself without the fear of being judged and belittled. and you’re right—it’s going to take a while. he has so much adverse behaviour to unlearn, but it’s not impossible. and when he’s found himself in a love that grants him the stability to be everything he didn’t think he was allowed to be, it’s going to become easier for him. and i feel like he’s somebody that craves the reassurance and support because it’s everything he didn’t get growing up, and he’d finally feel safe enough to ask for it.

oh i so love these discussions!!!

[do-you-know-this-queer-character]

I'm not asking you to pull Mathias Shaw, I just want more people to be aware that white queer characters doesn't equal wokeness and the general exclusion of non whites from LGBTIQA discussions.

I also criticize media like World of Warcraft so the writers will eventually get the message that stuff like this is offensive and they should do some damage control like:

Stop depicting orcs, trolls, tauren and countless other "monsters" as purely evil villains, let them be heroes too.

Admit the countless white colonizing characters did wrong and that people like Zul'jin were wronged.

Tone down the racial coding a little bit and don't do it for new races they create.

Stop having all prominent human characters be white and for god's sakes, tone down the white savior vibes!

No having characters like a blonde blue eyed white guy from ersatz europe that worships ersatz christianity mansplaining to a PoC coded monster that his government system is inherently wrong unlike Ersatz Europe's absolute monarchy does NOT equal talking down toxic masculinity, it (unintentionally?) endorse a white supremacist vibe. PS: Did you get my other Warcraft Ask?

I know! I was just putting that in the tags because I've had problems with people making assumptions about what I stand for as a person before based on "allowing" a certain media to go through. Not targeted at you specifically! Although my knowledge of WOW is severely limited personally, I agree with everything you're saying here! Also yes, I did, I'll post it after this one. I've been holding off on answering certain asks because I just don't have the time to do thorough research right now, so I'm glad you elaborated on what you meant!

[sydneyofalltrades]

okay bc @toooliix can’t let me have peace, y’all get the complete comprehensive dream roles list

(yes this was an old draft FUCK OFF)

trust me this is very long so if you don’t wanna see it just skip it 😭

1. jane doe/penny lamb from ride the cyclone

reasons why i want to play this character:

she’s ghostly and silly and deep

her song is fucking AMAZING

i wanna be a scary baby girliepop doll head

could i play her?: i can sing tbojd effortlessly and i’m a pretty decent actor. i may be poc but what’s that to a doll’s head

what’s stopping me?: i’m a teenager with absolutely no community theater doing this show

2. ricky potts from ride the cyclone

reasons why i want to play this character:

HE IS LITERALLY GENDER?? LOOK AT HIM

singing space age bachelor man every night would definitely heal some gender dysphoria i have

he’s a scrunkly goober who wears a super sparkly costume

i am genuinely an irl ricky (without the disability)

could i play him?: i can sing space age bachelor man and i’m masculine enough?

what’s stopping me?: afab and not physically disabled (i’m neurodivergent but no physical disability and i would never want to mischaracterize him)

3. noel gruber from ride the cyclone:

reasons why i want to play this character:

he is. my favorite.

he and i are lost souls

gender?? like hello??

could i play him?: i can sing his song and act his part. but i have very little confidence in my gender fluidity

what’s stopping me?: lack of confidence. and also afab

4. veronica sawyer from heathers the musical:

reasons why i want to play this character:

my dream role since i first got into musicals

she makes me feel confident in my own horrible love life and bad decisions

she’s a badass. point blank

could i play her?: DEFINITELY! gimme a day to learn the script and two hours for choreo and i will be ronnie sawyer

what’s stopping me?: lack of practice, money, and genuine resources

5. jason dean from heathers the musical

OKAY HEAR ME OUT

reasons why i want to play this character:

gay gay homosexual gay

genderbent jd means toxic yuri which is always appreciated

a sapphic meant to be yours would genuinely break me so why not be the one to do it?

could i play him?: even with being genderbent, i think i could give it a shot! his insane spiral might be challenging to play out but i love challenges!

what’s stopping me?: afab, lack of genderblind productions, broke as a bitch

6. whizzer brown from falsettos (specifically the 2016 revival)

reasons why i want to play this character:

HIS CONFIDENCE?? makes me skyrocket honestly

andrew rannells. that’s it

honestly would be interested in taking a gender blind take on him

could i play him?: with a binder, proper choreo, and a decent haircut sure! i surprisingly fit in the range and he’s been a dream role forever! i would do the show in the original script because his story is best told the way he is

what’s stopping me?: afab. also not jewish and couldn’t think of mischaracterizing

7. super swing from six the musical

reasons why i want to play this character:

any role in six has been a dream since i was 13! so why not dream bigger and want to cover ALL SIX!

since every queen is so diverse, i wanna have the chance to express myself in them all because honestly that would be phenomenal

in case i must reassure you, i actually can sing. and six the musical is my favorite to sing on occasion so i’m prepared

could i play this role?: in a couple years with a little experience under my belt maybe! super swings are becoming less and less of a need in theater so i’m not sure but one can hope

what’s stopping me?: too young, no super swings in the US

8. christine canigula from be more chill

reasons why i want to play this character:

christine is just like me! a neurodivergent theater lover!

she’s a ball of energy and a ray of sunshine, who wouldn’t want to play her?

i actually see myself in christine, and she’s an independent and kind and funny character i’d like to reshape

could i play her?: um? YES! no script needed, i can just jump right into it without delay, it would be fun and i have her memorized to a t

what’s stopping me?: no experience or opportunities

9. the s.q.u.i.p. from be more chill

another hear me out, y’all

reasons why i want to play this character:

gender. that’s it. it’s so gender

the pitiful children has been my favorite song from bmc the moment i first listened to it, if i could perform it once, it would be a dream

i’m an oldest sibling, i can boss people around without remorse

could i play it?: ALSO YES? lemme learn the five sentences of japanese and i will jump right in without fail. i actually have several of my own thoughts about performing as the s.q.u.i.p.

what’s stopping me?: afab (it looks like keanu reeves and i.. don’t), no experience, probably would be too excited

10. eurydice from hadestown

reasons why i want to play this character:

she’s my comfort character and her songs are so solemn and beautiful

always a pleasure being a leading lady, and having a mainly poc take on a character is always amazing

eurydice is such a complex character and i’d love to portray that

could i play her?: i’m really confident in my abilities! i sang a cover of flowers you can check out here, and it’s always fun getting to sing her lines in my room.

what’s stopping me?: well. money. and lack of experience

and that’s pretty much all of them! so there you have it!

[seren-knight01]

Hey! Fantasy writers! Especially fantasy-romance writers! Listen to me.

If I had a nickel for every time I saw an art piece of a hot fantasy guy with dark hair, very tan skin, and swirly black tattoos on his upper body I’d have enough nickels to buy myself some ice cream.

Please, don’t just jump on trends when designing your characters, especially the love interest, especially if he’s a guy.

Make them vivid, make them memorable. Those are your characters! Your choices! Write for yourself first and the right audience will find your work. The “fantasy motorcyclist” thing is cute but more flavors are available.

Like, maybe make your love interest actually a POC instead of vaguely tanned with dark hair? Please???

Or make him a redhead. Or a blonde.

Give him a personality other than “I’m a moody tattooed hottie with nebulous daddy issues”. There are so many different ways to be masculine. Don’t be afraid of making your characters different.

Like at a glance, I know art of Eragon, Ganondorf, Legolas, and Jon Snow.

And if you choose to have a love triangle for the love of all that is holy don’t just simplify it to “will she choose the blond or the brunet?”

Oh, and can we stop making morally complex or evil-coded love interests have darker skin and hair than the goody-two-shoes love interest? Please? That’s a little gross. And honestly a little too simple. “Light good, dark bad” is crusty and boring and soooo overdone at this point. Why do you think that blond Joffrey was such a hit?

Unless you’re going to directly examine that sort of framework and the toxicity in that setting, let’s not.

Sorry, this started as a rant.

Tl;dr I want more aesthetic and personality variety in fantasy romance novels when it comes to male love interests, please and thank you. I am prepared to do it myself if I must but I thought I’d share my full rant.

[abiiors]

it’s hard to support him after everything that happened. i’m not sure if he will ever regret the podcast, maybe the “damage” it did to his career but it seems like he doesn’t regret what he SAID. i just wonder if he actually believes everything he said, and if so how can any minorities still support/work/ be friends with him. i think Rina is the only one who truly spoke out against it. i wish he would just stop joking about how the podcast was this silly little bump in his career as if it didn’t genuinely affect the people he made fun of. sarcasm is supposed to be punching up, if he made jokes about straight white men and shit then that’s fair. but he was punching down by making fun of people who don’t have the same privileges as him (straight, white, male, rich and not forced to live in any oppressive countries) i know at finsbury he made a speech about how there’s stuff he wishes he could take back, but that’s not the same as actually saying that he regrets and apologizes for what he has done. i could’ve tried to forget it and stuff, but now that he’s tweeting about it like it’s this funny cool thing he did, makes me feel like he genuinely might just be a bad person, sucks to see him make fun of women and poc as if they aren’t a LARGE majority of his fan base. i love the 1975 and i think their music is great, but they wouldn’t have had the huge claim to fame in 2013 if it wasn’t for fan “girls” on tumblr that supported them so heavily, a lot of the mainstream people in the music industry (men) didn’t care about them but the teenaged women that supported them so much pushed them to the top.

this weird edgelord sardonic personality he’s been trying the last 3 or so years isn’t funny, like the adam friedland, dasha/red scare crowd he is trying to be apart of. he’s not a comedian he’s a singer. not saying he can’t tell jokes, i just don’t get is obsession with teetering the line between unforgivable and good guy. i understand pointing out the internets flaws and toxic masculinity, all stuff he can comment on without problem. but when he starts talking about POC, jewish people and women it’s just weird, it’s not his place to make fun of their oppression when he will never have to go through that.

i agree with some of the things you've said here but i still don't think he's a bad person at all. but hey, we all have our opinions and that's okay <3

[medusas-stylist]

No Nuance November, the sequel:

because there is no way in hell i am getting this out before midnight so let’s pretend i live in cali

Athena is racist, stop giving her poc children

So much sex happens at camp. Stop acting like it doesn’t.

On top of that, camp isn’t band camp. It’s a 24/7 training facility for teenagers. People have literally died in the practice arena.

Percy can’t make friends to save his life. He isn’t friends with people at CHB he’s just their leader.

Annabeth does not struggle in school, she struggles to stay in school

Percy and Jason were at odds with each other more than they were friends with each other

Percy became praetor at CJ without having made more than two friends there. Once again, he can’t make friends he’s just their leader

Centaurs can get drunk off of root beer. How.

Chiron raped girls back in the day why does he care about teenagers doing the dirty.

In ancient Greece, (around) 12 was the age of sexual maturity (go see the Hymn to Demeter, Persephone is like 12 there). In ancient Greece, satyrs were symbols of sexual promiscuity (and rape; trust me, go look up the term ‘ithyphallic’). To the ancient Greeks (you know, the people whose stories Rick based his entire work around) demigods “finding out” they’re demigods (you know, maturing) at age 12 and being found by a satyr (bringing them to a centaur just to make it all worse)… well hopefully you can do the math.

Also, by the way, the ancient Greeks weren’t gay. They also weren’t straight. They also weren’t bi. Please don’t headcanon rapey gods as LGBTQ heroes please and thank you. If you want to do that go use Kevin Spacey.

Okay, back to PJO. Piper is a canonical “I’m not like other girls” girl from 2010. She’s a pick me girl.

Leo hides his pain behind toxic masculinity and incel-ism.

Frank is

Hazel is

Just kidding you can’t say anything bad about Hazel and Frank

Frank shouldn’t have become buff. It’s a poorly adapted mythological trope. It’s also fat shaming.

Hazel is black and it doesn’t matter what tone her skin is. Also her hair is black. Her eyes are brown. No more of this fucking gold shit.

Should I keep going?

Fuck it yeah.

Jason is Madison Cawthorn (I got kicked out of a discord server for saying this but we all know it’s true)

Why was Reyna so love-focused. Why.

Annabeth is very social. She’s been at camp since she was 7 the girl has connections

Everyone forgets that as much as Percy would die for Annabeth, she’s proven she’d die for him too.

If Demigods were designed by the gods to be perfect soldiers they shouldn’t have PTSD.

So why is Nico the only character with PTSD.

Why is everyone worshipping a relationship of two 13 year olds with like two lines of dialogue.

Did I fail to mention that NICO IS THIRTEEN AT THE END OF HOO??? THIRTEEN???

I’m calling the FBI on y’all.

Like actually please stop fetishizing a thirteen year old gay boy. It’s kinda gross. Also on that same note Hazel is 13 too. 16/17 yo Percy and Annabeth is enough of an issue.

Poseidon and Percy barely interact. Percy isn’t going on a fucking vacation to Atlantis.

On top of that, the gods don’t care about their children unless something really terrible is happening to them. None of them are good parents stop trying to force them into being that.

New Rome is dumb. Cut New Rome out of your own canons. #nonewrome and I will not explain myself.

Percy and Annabeth are not going to the same school.

Also what is it with slow burn senior year fanfictions where they get together right before they go across the country to separate schools? Just make it happen in Junior year.

Frank is the himbo, not Percy

A ‘swimmer’s body’ doesn’t mean what you all think it means.

All the demigods are like superhuman athletes but that doesn’t mean they have to be shredded. Abs ≠ performance.

Wow I’m on 49? Okay a few more and I stop.

Percy should not trust Paul until after TLO.

Percy doesn’t want to be a hero. He’s like Spiderman. He just wants to live a normal life. dark!Percy is hot and all but it ain’t who Percy wants to be

Luke should have waited in his reveal. He could have groomed Percy into joining him.

The demigods on Kronos’ side are literally terrified of Percy to the point of nightmares.

Percy killed demigods in the Battle of Manhattan.

My final hot take: Annabeth didn’t not join Kronos because Kronos was evil. She wanted to achieve the vision she had with the Sirens, but she knew that she’d have no control over creating that vision with Kronos. For clarity: If Kronos had convinced Annabeth she could create the Sirens’ vision, she would have joined him. He and Luke just failed to make their case.

[fuckblizzardbearlover]

I could be wrong about myself, but i do think im willing to listen to any legitimate criticsm of the cr cast and crew. I def am hyperaware about the development of parasocial relationship.(C.C. that addresses things like "what can be done". Often "constructive criticism" just means criticism. C.c. means like...including what the person SHOULD have done , discussing what is acceptable, and talking about a problem while highlighting that while the person did it it was just a byproduct of a larger issue*)

But i was just thinking about how much criticism ignores the fact that..im pretty sure alot of this thry didnt ask for. Like u start this show and people start sending u thousands of dollars of free dolls and figures and handcrafted items and food and people obsess over you. U struggle to thank em and give back to the community. U even extend your show so u can try to show off the generocity and thank each person, but it becomes to much and so u have to thank the big ones and just shout out the rest but it CONTINUES and so u make a whole show once a month to show stuff off. U pay an associate to put up the TONS of fanart and BEG fans to submit it through proper channels so they can show ppl fans amazing work and credit you properly. And all while this is happening THOUSANDS of fans are talking shit about your wife and your friends and obsessing over their every move, harrassing you left and right and u have to use all your acting talent to address criticism and fans just being horrible people to you because u know if u treat people as they deserve it will villainize you.

Just...i cant imagine the stress they are under, and how afraid they probably are at doing or saying the wrong thing. And yet regardless they try to raise tons of money for disaster relief and speak openly against bigotry and hate on their platforms. Try to depict queerness in a wonderful light and take down toxic masculinity and showcase different cultures beuatifully and respectfully.

I think its important to respectfully engage with criticism but so far from everything i heard the cast has had the patience of saints compared to the shit they have to put up with. And thats not even getting into how anima fans constantly shit talk english dubs (i.e. cr casts main job) and all the threats and harrassment bailey got for her characters actions in last of us

*going to use the latest thing as an example. Criticism of the cr3 intro ignores the fact that "the the of exploration" while yes a time of white colonialism...is the only age of exploration the west had. That is to say...they wore those costumes because thats what explorers typically wore. Its like sahing u cant wear levis because when they were first invented slavery still existed. In a vaccume they were just wearing period clothing. Then according to some they are criticizing them playing in marquet...what other alternative? U arent allowed to tell fantasy stories unless its in a fake world based on your ancestors land? Thats so stupid. As REASONABLE people have always said u can tell stories u arent an expert in if u are respectful. Which they are.

Then there is the fact that some critics are saying its weird all the characters ARENT from marquet, while others wre saying its racist for white ppl to play poc (ignoring the fact that...thats not what blackface/yellowface is). So according to critics they cant play any characters. None of these people provide solutions cus there arent any. It IS true that part of systemic racism is fetishization of other cultures and that poc roles are often given to white actors. But thats not what is happening. And so criticicm that "they should be careful of their themes so they are respectful of the cultures marquet is based on" IS a valid critcism. But "what they are doing is objectively bad and they should just stop playing the game unless they fire the whole cast and play in europe but all the new cast have to play non whites" is stuuupid. Thats not criticism thats shit.

Criticism means "the people involved should just be aware of this problematic aspect " or "they should fix this problem like this". Trying to act like they should just...stop...is not criticism

[vanillaknj]

topics that need to be brought up (kpop specific one coming up-):

- the masculinization of black women who are doing better than many of your faves.

- how traumatic it is for poc kpop stans to have their experiences & feelings about racist kpop idols erased by stans who don’t see the severity within what the idols did.

- how idols are grown when you wanna sexualize them, but not when they want to make their own decisions.

- how kpop fandoms as a whole would genuinely be a better and less toxic space if people just wouldn’t speak about idols/groups/etc that they don’t like.

- how aave is not just ‘stan twitter language’ that you use for two weeks and then throw away.

- how it isn’t ‘just hair’.

- how it should be acceptable for black people to wear bonnets & durags outside, and have it not be seen as ‘lazy’ or ‘unkempt’.

- why are non-poc so upset when it comes to poc making spaces exclusively where poc can vent & actually have a safe space?

- the toxic masculinity between black men when they see other black men simply showing affection toward each other.

- how y’all should stop pitting black female rappers against each other just because you want your daily fill of drama.

- you don’t get to be an activist only when it benefits you/makes you look good!! either you are or you aren’t, don’t parade around being such an activist for certain movements when you know it’ll give you & your motives a boost.

[laryna6]

The line where Thomas Andre admits that his entire concept of himself is ‘using violence to oppress others,’ that it’s his entire identity, so letting someone stand up to him and get away with it is an existential threat and he needs to kill them for it or he ceases to exist (as himself)...

Yeah. That’s the whole American Exceptionalism + Imperialism + White Nationalism + Toxic Masculinity complex right there.

The idea that someone going ‘stop pushing me around’ is an aggressive action and anyone who does it is bad and needs to be bombed or otherwise freedom and apple pie and shit will all cease to exist.

People who define themselves as male but like, have no idea what maleness actually is other than ‘oppresses women,’ so they think that women not obeying has anything to do with their identity? That kind of thing.

And then Thomas Andre gets the shit kicked out of him by a PoC and like. It’s not the end of the world?? It changes exactly nothing about who he is?

So it would make sense that he’s genuinely grateful to the guy afterwards? Because having to live in fear of like, basically every single person on the planet and also of failing ever has to really suck?

In his case there’s the whole Kamish trauma/survivor’s guilt package. So like, he’s not just Like That bc he’s an American White Fuckboy.

You need to be vulnerable with someone to recover from trauma, and Thomas Andre thinks he can’t afford to be vulnerable, so it’s impossible for him to deal with the Kamish thing. One of the ways to process trauma/get over shit is to ‘relive it but different,’ since like... part of the reason Trauma happens is that your brain goes ‘what happened was Unacceptable, we got to have a game plan for keeping it from happening again.’

Thomas would have lost all his comrades in the Kamish incident. The Scavengers are his de facto second guild, (with a meaningful name, gathering up what’s left after a disaster...) which is why when there’s an attack on one of its members Thomas’ frontal lobes are completely cut out of the decision making loop (like. this is a scientific thing).

When he fights Sung Jin-Woo Thomas again experiences fighting a terrifying powerful force of nature, except this time all his comrades are alive afterwards. (Except that guy, but fuck him, he put everyone else in danger.)

So yeah, it makes sense he stops being a hyper-aggressive asshole afterwards since the trauma isn’t making him irrationally angry while sabotaging his frontal lobes anymore, and part of the reason he was thumping his chest and being such a Massive Dick could have been a subconscious attempt to scare away threats to his tribe/guild.

Then he gives weapons made from Kamish’s fang (which he had bc it was still impaling him when the fight ended) to Sung Jin-woo. Symbolism!

[solarzilla]

I freaking hate this crap because guys, most of the examples below were just crap and badly written, hell most of the shows listed are just bad. steven universe never got panned for not having enough lgbt rep, it got panned bc its antiblack as fuck and had you sympathize with fascist tyrants.

She-ra is also toxic rep it was a white savior and the violent brown woman she was paired with, and being raised under the same mother figure rly makes them kissing skeevy, ESPECIALLY after finding out they were actual sisters in the conception.

like none of the criticism of a bunch of people online stopped any of those shows from happening, so why are you so mad. And like, even tho pb/marceline and korra/asami are slightly better, they were still introduced VERY late or the literal end, with only spinoff media continuing their stories

That and along with korra & marcaline being masculinized for being dark skinned poc (marcline is black). That isn't mentioning how poorly korra is treated. Also the show literally forgiving an ETHNIC CLEANSER

[stormblessed95]

About the beer ad. It shouldn't be controversial in my opinion. To say that Jimin wearing a shirt pants and slicked hair is an affront to his "gender expression" is unfounded and based on a series of assumptions. He is also wearing hoop earrings in this ad mind you not that it matters. He could be wearing a hockey mask. Who cares? Did yall see what he wore to Muster day 1? A see through blouse and a lip ring that's right. The theory that Hybe is brainwashing Jimin to want to be trad masc is weird because why now? 2013 called and it wants its concepts back.

Is it a problem when Jimin wears tailored suits? I wish people would stop projecting their own ideas onto him. There is a blogger who says they "wept" when Jimin said he's been doing cross fit. This was considered part of the pressure to be masculine I guess. Ok didn't know only manly men could do cross fit. Does the same go for kendo? Why won't people let Jimin choose what he wants to do with his own body without gendering things that don't need to be gendered? Let Jimin perform the masculinities he wants. Stop trying to make Jimin the victim in Hybe's plans to turn him into Daniel Craig. I am a non binary poc and this kind of talk frustrates the hell out of me. People can think and write what they want but how do people think they know why Jimin is quote "bulking up"? Do yall want him to be whispy so that he can be your dream of a queer ballerina unicorn? How about we shut up with this fake panic and let Jimin exercise the way he wants? Dancing also takes muscles. And it is his body. I don't understand why crossfit is the line in the sand when there are other obvious instances of "body fascism" in kpop and other pop for yall to worry about. If Jimin had a problem with looking like hoop earrings James Bond in an ad, he wouldn't have taken the bag.

Anon 2: I support everyone's right to their own opinion. Having said that, projecting archetypes of exclusively 'feminine' or androgynous masculinity onto public figures, then expressing dissapointment when those figures look or behave in ways that fall outside of this paradigm can read as just as inhibiting and prohibitive as toxic masculinity itself. A human being is not a bare canvas on which to impose our own ideals of queer identity and gender performance.

Posting these 2 anons relating to the toxic masculinity post and then closing the topic. We want to make sure to keep it respectful as well, we all sometimes see things differently. Personally, I think that if you have a problem with certain advertisements, your problem is with the company, not BH or the members themselves.

Lets all just live and let live. And let our ideals live and let live as well.

Opinions from anons. I do tend to agree with them both though. Thanks for sharing

[lizzibennet]

Is it bad if I see Percy as white? I always feel bad when I see posts about why poc!Percy makes sense bc I still just have the same picture of him in my mind :/ I'm not against it at all! It's just not the way i see him

it’s not inherently harmful to see percy as white. if i’m being honest, it’s what i think rick intended him to be when he was written. i think rick pictured a white boy too. that doesn’t mean he can’t be non-white or that him not being white goes against canon or cheapens his character. in fact, i think his character only has improvements if we read him as not white.

see hermione: some of the most defining features of her character were that she had frizzy, curly hair, that she was teased for a natural feature of her face, her teeth, so much she used magic to permanently alter it, and she was clearly one of the most intelligent students at hogwarts, but she wasn’t taken seriously and called bossy and annoying. are these struggles exclusive to black people? obviously not. do black people deal with these struggles more often than white people? absolutely, because of racism. it’s one thing to be teased for your hair when you’re white and another to be bullied for it when you’re black. the reading of hermione as black not only makes these struggles more believable, it also gives her character more layers as to why she works so hard and why she is so set on freeing house elves. her character is improved through this reading, so much so, in fact, that a black woman was cast to play her in the harry potter play. so even if jk rowling intended hermione to be white at first - which i totally think she did - she understood that this reading of the character is valid and makes sense, so she incorporated it into her canon.

the same can be said for percy: a genuinely nice kid who had a literal manhunt set for him when he was twelve, who has labelled a troublemaker for things out of his control, labelled violent for the disappearance of his mother that he had absolutely no involvement in, for who was clearly used to dealing with this from adults his entire life. again- are these struggles exclusive to non white kids? of course not. do non white kids face this more often and often in more severe ways? yes. it’s time we stop pretending they don’t. every single form of oppression exists under the weight of racism. non-white women deal with misogyny differently than white women, non-white men deal with toxic masculinity differently than white men, and non-white kids deal with prejudice because of their neurodivergences differently than white kids. to pretend it’s all the same is to excuse racism in those circles. intersectionality has to be considered in order to fully understand the situation. so does this mean percy can’t be white? of course not. does it mean that percy being a person of color gives his character more nuance in dealing with the issues named in the books? yes, it does. maybe that wasn’t a concern back in 2005 when the books were released, them dealing with neurodivergence was already pretty amazing for the time, but it’s 2020. if rick riordan is really set on writing fiction for the kids like his son who were ostracized for simply being the way they are, then he knows that making percy not white in the adaptation of the books would hold a different weight and meaning for all these groups he says he wants to help.

this is the case for non-white percy. it makes sense, and that’s not up for debate. it does. just because it makes sense doesn’t mean you have to adopt it. 

but the thing is, why wouldn’t you?

if this reading enriches the character, why wouldn’t you at least entertain it for the sake of bringing up valid issues in fandom? 

if, as you said, it’s just the way you see him and that’s all there is to it, that’s perfectly fine. but you have to remember we all live in a racist society. we all live under the pressure of it and we are all affected by it. seeing percy as a white boy in your mind is not the problem - the problem is denying that he could maybe possibly perhaps not be white, the problem is advocating against it, saying that he cannot possibly be white. he can, we’ve discussed it. why wouldn’t it be possible? is it because heroes are always white? is it because you’re so used to seeing heroes be white your brain just cannot marry the two images - a hero who is latino, black, native, asian? is it because these people are meant to stay in the sidelines?

you may think these things subconsciously. as i said, we all live in a racist world. we, white and non-white people alike, pick up on racist values from the moment we are born, and once we’re made aware of racism and xenophobia, we start a process of deconstructing these values that is lifelong. some of us have a TON of baggage that we need to deconstruct. so let’s say you have worked through the majority of it - you support blacklivesmatter and non-white artists, you think racist violence is outrageous, but you still can’t fathom the thought of percy jackson not being white. why? is it a visceral reaction you have? is it unconscious? why would you be so against it?

it’s important to question that, always, whether or not you think you’re racist. if you can honestly, truthfully tell me it’s not based on any sort of prejudice and it’s just because you sincerely imagine percy as white and that’s all there is to it - great, carry on with your day. but if you have any doubt on your reasoning, there may still be issues you need to confront. that’s normal and part of becoming a better, more respectful person. if you’re going around and advocating against non-white percy, questioning why would people think he isn’t white, replying to posts with Um Actually He’s Greek, then i desperately need you to ask yourself why, and reflect hard on your answer. “i just think he’s white” is seldom all there is to it.

tldr: it’s not bad to think he’s white, it’s bad to outright deny the possibility he could ever not be white, and to try to stop people who think he isn’t and tell them they’re wrong

[buckysboobs]

The Anthony Mackie situation isn’t something to joke about. Especially when he’s getting framed as a homophobe and being racially attacked. Variety and especially that specific interviewer set him up and has a history of doing so to black men. He was asked a question that prompted that response and y’all are really twisted his words and looking at head lines and snips of the interview instead of ACTUALLY listening to the audio to see that he was trying to say. I’m disappointed in you.

bruh please i can assume what he was trying to say and i agree with it but what YOU are going to accept is the fact that the 'exploiting something as pure as homosexuality' dialogue was out of line (personally i found it funny and slightly ridiculous) especially cause most of the sambucky shippers are lgbtq+ and along with that the whole 'superheroes go flying around beating people up is masculine' was weird as hell too and i was simply caught off guard. i'm poc myself and i get it. i am not racially attacking mackie, nor am i calling him a homophobe. that's all the bullshit going on on twitter because that's what it is— a hellhole that needs an excuse for 12 year olds to project their insecurities onto other people. 'y'all really twisted his words' except i literally didn't say anything on the matter. haven't talked about it at all, actually. all i did was make a meme out of something because i use humour to deflect from extremely serious situations and i'm not going to say anything else for this situation except that if mackie was talking about toxic masculinity then i think he could have worded it better and variety made it worse. you don't know me, anon, so you can't be disappointed in me. maybe stop hiding behind as an anonymity and judging people's characters. i didn't mean any harm, go cry to people who are actually being a little bitch about this situation because at this point nothing any celebrity says deters me. take a joke. maybe crack up some joints to ease the tension. have a nice day.