#talked about how african americans don't have culture like other people do and my mind travels to that a lot. bc it's true.

[biprotagz]

ive gotta read more Black thought books bc. my brain won't stop thinking about the cultural condition (detachment, alienation) of the african american.

[junkopottershima]

An Early 2000's Child's Observation on Zutara Shipping War.

I awoke from my slumber upon discovering the Avatar fanbase, and the absolute shipping war that I never really gave a shit about until now. Zutara is a relatively new ship to me, as is any other ship that isn’t canon, so I’m gonna run through the list of anti-zutara arguments that I’ve found, and list out my takes on them. I’m doing this, because although I see lots of love for Zutara, there’s some aspects about Katara and Zuko’s relationship in the show that makes me question how well their “chemistry” would actually work. For that, I’m genuinely curious and even politely asking “Zutarians” to please step up and respond with their takes on arguments against Zutara. Though, I should mention that there's going to be some anti-zutara takes that I don't agree with. I'll just be getting them off my chest. Welp, here we go now:

"Zutara can't work because it's Oppressor x Oppressed".

I've seen people saying this, and then saying that you can only "truly" agree/disagree with this point if you're an oppressed ethnicity, class, or whatever. Well, I guess as an African American woman, I honestly think the argument that "Zuko and Katara absolutely cannot work out because he's the colonizer and she's the victim" is rather dumb and blatantly ignores the fact that Zuko was trying to change his ways. Like, that argument is so stupid to me, it's almost offensive. We see Zuko change and try to keep changing his perspective on other nations and foreigners, and the step he takes to do that is by standing up to his father on the day of the eclipse and declaring his new mission to find and help Aang and his friends stop the war. Ozai wasted no time trying to do what he wanted since day 1 of Zuko's life, which was to end him. Zuko put his life on the line to change his ways. If we're going by the logic that Zuko can't be healthy for Katara because he's an oppressor...what the fuck was the point of him trying to gain their trust and trying to help Aang take down his father...if he's an oppressor? If we're going off the logic that Katara should not trust Zuko because he (more like his father and father's army) is an oppressor, shouldn't that apply to the rest of the Gaang as well by the fact that each of their nations and cultures were/are threatened by the Fire Nation? Going off of that logic, it becomes easy to say that Zuko should have never gotten a chance to even be friends with Aang, Sokka, Katara, Toph, and Suki just because his family consists of war-mongering assholes, but why would anyone say that when it's shown that Zuko is actively trying to change his ways at that point? Also, if we're go there (the colonizer stuff), it's almost like saying white people should never be dating any nonwhite solely because many whites in positions of power abuse it to subjugate nonwhites. It blatantly ignores the real-life contexts and instances where individual whites mean no harm and are able to get along with other races. It blatantly ignores the instances of whites being able to find genuine love with people from other races, even in hard times like the Civil Rights Era and various wars. We can see that it's fucked up to generalize...so why do we gotta do that with Zuko? Keep in mind, I'm talking about the point where Zuko is officially redeeming himself.

"It would make no sense for Katara and Zuko to end up together at the end--They only had limited time together".

Now this, I definitely agree with. I understand that Zutarians loved the hell out of Zutara and rooted for them to be together at the series finale, but the in-lore time and development Katara had with Aang, and Zuko with Mai is objectively more grounded and overwhelming than all the "evidence" that Zuko would have had a great romance with Katara. Even with Zuko having redeemed a lot about himself in his arc at season 3 and AFTER Katara learns to trust him, there's literally no time for them to develop any romantic feelings or a relationship because Sozin's Comet was just like several days away at that point. Even in the catacombs of Ba Sing Se, Katara's moment with offering to heal Zuko's scar and to really establish a bond was interrupted by Aang and Iroh before she could waste her spirit water on him--THEY HAD NO TIME. Meanwhile, Mai and Zuko were childhood friends, and knew each other for basically their whole lives. Plus, they were dating throughout the series. In practicality, isn't it going to be Mai that would make the most sense as a love interest due to the fact that of all candidates, Mai understands Zuko the most? Isn't it Mai that Zuko has took the time to write a letter for in the prison, smile and laugh for? With Mai, we see Zuko at his most happy. Point is, Mai is objectively a very important love interest to Zuko, so even though they broke up several times before, I don't think Zuko is the type to just throw his tears away and immediately move on. I mean seriously, Jin was more like a rebound fling and Zuko didn't even blink when he dipped back to the Fire Nation. And I don't think I need to pull up the entire show just to list examples of Aang and Katara having each other's backs and developing an unbreakable bond. Zuko and Katara didn't have the time to develop romantic feeling for each other at their best and even if they had an infatuation for one another, wouldn't Zuko's bond and romantic feelings for Mai predictably just bubble to the surface again? I mean Zuko lost no sleep when he basically ditched Jin and went straight back to Mai. No offense to anyone who loves Jin/Zuko, I'm just telling it as it is.

"Zuko does not consistently consider Katara's feelings".

Again, this is true. After returning to the Fire Nation, Zuko isn't shown to be shaken by his betrayal to Katara. He's just not thinking about her during his time back home. But what I definitely want to talk about is the part where he joins the Gaang, and Katara is vocally distrustful of him. This is the aspect of Zuko and Katara's relationship that has always stopped me from actually shipping them together. Katara is vocal, again and again, that she doesn't trust Zuko because of his history with basically being a serious asshole bounty hunter for the avatar, because of him betraying her trust back in Ba Sing Se, and the fact that she personally blamed Zuko for her mother's death due to associating him with Fire Nation scum. Now while Katara is clearly bothered by his presence in the Gaang, Zuko literally didn't care and was on-board to keep on trucking. It's only after it gets too annoying does Zuko now care about Katara's feelings, and what does he lead with? "This is so unfair!". Upon confronting Katara about her feelings, Zuko immediately declaring that Katara was being unfair just reveals that Zuko was thinking more about himself in this moment. That Zuko didn't do anything wrong, that Zuko must not have done anything wrong because Zuko does not even remember what he did to piss off Katara. Katara is the one that has to check him by explaining why she doesn't like him: his betrayal, her perception of his affiliation with the Fire Nation, and PROBABLY the fact that he sent 'sparky sparky boom boom' man after Aang. Right after that, Zuko goes to see Sokka about he and Katara's mother, and while that's very considerate of Zuko...it shows that he's kind of ignorant about properly apologizing for his wrongs. He skipped doing any apology for what happened in Ba Sing Se, and went straight to "Okay, what's the deal with her mom?". It's nice that Zuko gave Katara the option to do a Quentin Tarantino mission on the dude that murked her mom, but the fact that Zuko put Katara's vocal disapproval and Ba Sing Se event kind of on the back burner of his concerns isn't quite a good look. It shows that Zuko, although in redemption, still possessed from listening problems.

Also, when searching for different takes on Zutara, I found a post by a particular user that I don't remember. But basically, in critiquing Zutara the user mentioned Katara threatening Zuko that she would "end his destiny personally" was 'abuse'. I believe this user is called, 'erin-the-brave'. Well in my opinion, that just wasn't an intelligent perspective on Katara's dialogue. In Katara's perspective, Zuko has been chasing her, Sokka, and Aang across the world to capture him, which to her would mean the doom for the world. Zuko taunts Katara about her mother's necklace, using it to try bringing her into giving up Aang. Zuko is randomly living in Ba Sing Se, and right after she has a short bonding moment with him, he immediately choses to help Azula kill Aang. Zuko then sends an assassin after Aang, in which that assassin locks Katara and Toph up in a jail cell as bait. I get that Zuko helped free her dad and Suki from prison, but goddamn, how the fuck else do you expect Katara to react to Zuko's sudden redemption? Even if he IS trying? Katara isn't a fucking mind reader. Like how did you genuinely expect her to react? "Oh you poor thing! Let me welcome you with wide open arms so I can kiss your ass and wipe it with a sample of spirit water"???

"Oh Katara's being abusive to Zuko because she was telling him that she'll end his life if he hurts Aang again, even though Zuko HAS repeatedly tested everybody in the Gaang". Could it serve as an argument that Katara wasn't given much time to learn with, and trust Zuko in order for a romantic relationship to work? I think so. But would I say Katara's reaction to Zuko's second redemption is 'abuse'? No. I think it would be overreacting to even call that verbal abuse, because in Katara's shoes, who wouldn't be wary of Zuko?

"Zuko was pushing Katara to be a murderer in The Southern Raiders, he was bringing out the worst in her".

I actually disagree with this. Zuko merely told Katara that he knows the guy who killed her mother, and that would help her find him. If I recall correctly, he didn't push or pressure her into actually killing him. He merely offered her a journey to find the fucker who took her mother's life. Katara contemplating murder, going on the trip, and even blood bending during the mission was 100% her own choice. The fact that Katara almost instantly chose this journey with Zuko seems to imply that this was something she always wanted to do, but just never got the chance for: confronting her mother's killer. Even after Katara chose not to kill the guy, Zuko didn't hold her choice against her. He doesn't belittle her, nor did he ever pressure her to twist Yon Rha to death like a pretzel. Zuko actually tells Katara that her ability to be better than Yon Rha was a person strength, and Zuko even seems proud of her in that moment. He gave Katara the chance for closure, she took it, she tackled the confrontation in her own way as Zuko let her have her spotlight, and they walked away with him being proud of her.

"Zutara would be better if you just replaced Zuko with Azula in the ship".

This is a joke, right? Because the only way this could get funnier is if you threw in Ozai.

"a fic which does 'ATLA’s plot goes almost exactly as canon, except my favorite ship happens' is not clever or innovative".

....it's fanfiction with endless creativity, writing styles, and brains behind it. Rewriting the show's beginning, midsection, endgame, or all of the above is objectively creative and at least a little innovative. Fanfiction absolutely can be creative and innovative, you don't have to lie just because you don't like a ship, my brother.

"Katara offering to heal Zuko's scar is actually evidence that she does NOT fully understand Zuko"

I've seen this take and I think it's one of the best arguments against Zutara, to be honest. A user named 'Maikingsenseofit' explained it so well, I'm just gonna copy and paste it:

"Upon seeing his scar, her immediate thought is to use spirit water to heal it. While this is an outstanding demonstration of kindness for someone she is not obliged to show it to, let’s remember that right before this Zuko says:

“It's okay. I used to think this scar marked me. The mark of the banished prince, cursed to chase the Avatar forever. But lately... I've realized that I'm free to determine my own destiny, even if I'll never be free of my mark.”

This. Right here. It is so important to understand. Zuko’s scar is so much more than a scar. It represents his trauma from his father, the trials and tribulations he faced to earn Ozai’s approval, and is a further reminder that he is the black sheep of the family both figuratively (a son who could never live up to his title, who could never bend like he was supposed to) and literally (the only member of a pristine royal family with an ugly brand on his face).

But his journey with Uncle Iroh in Ba Sing Se allows him to come to terms this trauma, or moreover this scar. It’s a reminder that we cannot escape our past or try to stifle it. We must embrace it and learn to accept it. It is only then that we are fully liberated from the shackles of our trauma and can fully determine our paths forward.

Katara’s offer to get rid of Zuko’s scar represents a regression of Zuko’s hard earned realization. He had just come to terms with his troubled past and accepts the ephemeral mark on his face. He even wears it with pride. He doesn’t try to hide his past or stifle his trauma, not anymore. It is an integral part of who he is. It is what makes Zuko, Zuko.He vocalizes this to Katara immediately before this. Katara however, fails to understand the significance and the journey behind this mark, largely in part because she wasn’t there to witness it. Her attempt to heal his scar falls flat in several ways, but one main reason is because just because something is healed physically, doesn’t mean it’s healed emotionally. But it’s important to consider something else here: Zuko never explicitly asks Katara or verbalizes a desire to get rid of his scar. Based on the earlier conversation, he’s finally gotten around to embracing it and welcoming the significance behind it. What Katara offers is in stark contrast to what he said. He allows her to touch his scar, but it is evident that she would never heal it. Why?

From Belen Edwards, despite the traumatic memories associated with his scar, Zuko never seems particularly ashamed of it. Throughout season 1, his hairstyle ensures that it's completely exposed, showing his identity to the world. In the second season, Zuko tells Katara that he's beginning to accept that he won't be rid of the scar.

And yet despite hearing the last part, Katara still offers a solution to Zuko to get rid of it.

This is where we see that the so called deep understanding and caring that Zuko and Katara held for each other is beginning to crack. Where is Katara’s deep and profound, soul-ular (get it, like cellular?) understanding of Zuko that no one else, other than Iroh, had of him? It begs us to ask if Iroh was in that room, given the journey he embarked on with his nephew both physically and emotionally, would he have encouraged Katara to get rid of this mark? The answer is obviously no. If there is a deep vulnerability and intimacy that they share with each other, and no one else, it does seem pointless given on both ends neither understands the full depth of the other’s situation. This is exemplified by Zuko immediately forgetting his entire interaction with Katara (but not His interaction with Aang interestingly) afterwards and still failing to understand why Katara was mad at him, even AFTER she explicitly tells him. And this is exemplified by Katara not fully acknowledging and understanding Zuko’s acceptance of his scar and offering a surface level solution that will never address the emotional significance and tribulations that come with it. Nothing against either of the characters by the way, and I need to emphasize that in bold font. I am simply observing their interactions and dispelling these “Word of God”-like claims.

Consider Zuko’s interactions with Mai. When he first sees her after years of banishment she gently his scar and touches in it not in an attempt to get rid of it, but because it is a part of Zuko. And when it comes to kissing Zuko, it means touching his scar, touching him in his entirety- including his physical and emotional marks. There’s a deliberate reason why the storyboard artists included Zuko’s scar in the scene. Because she’s known Zuko her whole life and was there when he first received it. Zuko and his scar are not two separate entities for her. They are one and the same"

End dialogue.

What should be mentioned is that Zutarians do like to say that "Katara is the first person to ever touch his scar"...which to be honest, I just don't believe. I just don't believe that Katara got to touch his scar before Iroh or Mai ever did, because it would insinuate that Iroh and Mai have never caressed the side of Zuko's face to comfort him, and after all those years of being close with them. Then there's the claim that Katara is the only person Zuko opens up to in the Gaang, even though he talked about some of his feelings to Toph, talked about some of his feelings to Sokka, and talked about some of his feelings to Aang. When Zuko snatched Aang and hustled themselves into a cave in the middle of blizzard nowhere, Zuko opens up about his rough childhood to Aang. Yes, Aang wasn't conscious to listen, but Zuko DID talk to him. Perhaps Katara is the first member of the Gaang that Zuko opened up to (the "mom talk" in Ba Sing Se) without the other person being too out-of-conscious to listen, but she's definitely not the only one that Zuko opened up to. She's technically not the first person to give Zuko a chance, but Aang was the one who did it right after he was freed by Zuko (who was disguised as the Blue Spirit).

"Toko = Zutara = Zukka = just about any fan pairing/OT100 involving Zuko".

I don't entirely agree with this. For context, a user by the name of 'atla-recluse' posted this in regard to Zuko shipping:

"Toph, who actually wanted to go on one just to hang out with him. Toph, who tried to speak to him about her personal struggles (as they walked together in search of Aang). The sort of thing an actually compassionate and reflective boy would have at least tried to sympathize with, even if only briefly. Instead, he immediately shuts her down. Seems he didn’t have a second to waste on some dumb little girl, right? This same girl who would later on take moments out of her time to sit down with him and comfort him (The Ember Island Players). Someone’s always there when he wants support. An emotionally volatile 12 - 13 year-old comforting an even more emotionally volatile 16 - 17 year-old. Not a good look. And yet…Toko = Zutara = Zukka = just about any fan pairing/OT100 involving Zuko. And the reasons why they’re shipped always seem to be the same, save one little difference here and there. It’s always about pleasing Zuko and his you-know-what. Pardon the innuendo and my mood."

I agree that Zuko was kind of a jerk to Toph with how he dismissed her, even though he dumped his emotions out and let her give some reassurance. Zuko went on a journey to free Hadoka from prison with Sokka, and Zuko went on a journey to give Katara closure for the fucker that murdered her mother. Although Zuko has streaks of selfishness in his good deeds, it should still be noted that he does care enough about Sokka and Katara to help them in regard to their families. Meanwhile, Zuko factually never even said Toph's name during the entire show's runtime. I'm not saying that Zutara is a perfect ship, but I am saying that it IS different than Toko.

The Final Point to mention: They just ain't into each other".

And although I like checking out Zutara fics and seeing what creative combinations the Zutarans had to bring for over ten years, I still don't truly ship Katara and Zuko because they're just not into each other. Look at the Ember Island play scene that depicted Katara and Zuko being secret lovers in an affair. They literally cringed away from each other. They didn't blush or smile, they CRINGED.

So far, those are my takes on this apparent "war" with the Zutara shipping. So here's where I casually call up hardcore Zutarans to ask a genuine and polite question: what is your response to these arguments against Zutara? Will you still ship them after these arguments? I would really like to know your perspectives, and to see if my mind can change. I don't hate Zutara, though I'm not sure if I ship Zuko and Katara either. Again, that's my actual take, and I would super like to read what Zutarans would like to say about all this.

[uzumaki-rebellion]

The World-building of Wakanda: Black Panther and Afrofuturism

I've been revisiting the Wakanda Syllabus that an educator associate of mine Dr. Walter Greason put together when the first Black Panther movie came out, and also reviewing old discussions about the significance of that era as a cultural moment and movement at the same time.

The fact that I still write Black Panther fanfics is a testement to the love I have for that fandom and its importance to Afrofuturism and Black Diaspora Futurism. I'm always happy when I see other Black writers out here still churning out plots and series fics because it is a digital archive for how we perceive a fictional future where as Killmonger once annouced "We're on top."

These works are important and specifically center the Black experience. And we don't have to fit our characters inside of white story spaces where we are usually the sidekick or fetish characters. I had an interesting talk with a friend of a friend and she wanted to argue that Black characters in the MCU who were not in the Black Panther/Wakanda Forever films should be included in the discussions of Afrofuturism, and I said they didn't belong in it fully because those characters are not centering Black people's futures. They center the non-Black white leads and their American/American adjacent interests (I'm talking about War Machine, Nick Fury, Sam Wilson, Valkyrie etc). It was a good back and forth because I am always questioning how Black people can build Black solidarity/communities by always working in white spaces in the service of white global agendas.

Writing Killmonger's journey (and his parents) for over six years (Lawd six years!!!!) with numerous books has taught me a lot about my role in preserving our fandom legacy as Black fanfiction writers and as readers. Afrofuturism has allowed me to explore not only Black Liberation, but Black Queerness, ATR's (African Traditional Religions), Black Matriarchy and Black Patriarchy. I've written about things I love and participate in, and also got to play pretend like I'm a kid again playing with my Barbie dolls and action figures. Black sex. Black music. Black art. Black philosophy. Blackety Black and unapologetic.

All this to say that I hope others out there like me keep writing and reading and reblogging these free little digital seeds we are planting that will truly blossom in the future when others discover our work. I know many Black writers lament that we don't get the same traction or BNF notoriety that white writers do. However, there is joy and divine calling when one simply sits and writes a Black Panther tale to give to other Black people for free all over the world. It still boggles my mind that there are people who have read my stories for years and they live on the other side of the world. People I will probably never meet, but they read and sometimes leave sweet comments that feed me to keep going.

Keep writing y'all. Keep reading and sharing and creating. You are making Afrofuturism fanfiction that is a time capsule for Black folks who aren't even here yet. Academics are secretly reading your stuff and using it to formulate academic studies on a fictional world ! Your Black Panther creations are beautiful no matter where you live on the planet!

Pat yourself on the back and keep worldbuilding and reading.

Here is a link if you want to check out some Wakanda Syllabus stuff that has been collected for the public to use.

[angelflms]

i brought up before that i'm writing a book and am hugely insecure about it. now i've always been told i'm a good writer. i believe i'm a good writer as well. but right now i have a fear that genuinely could be solved but it's something in the back of my mind. i wanna talk about it on here because perhaps someone in the aether is struggling with the same thing (plus perhaps i can find someone who can help me too).

my mmc, river is a latino man, specifically mexican. he's not insanely connected with his family for reasons brought up in the book (can't say too much for spoiler purposes), but he does speak spanish and he does keep in touch with his culture as much as he genuinely can. now, i'm a black woman. despite apparently having dominican blood in me, i'm not a latina woman. i wasn't raised as such and was raised african-american. but, i don't wanna butcher this up at all. i'm currently learning spanish but just like with how i feel with non-black people (particularly white people) and writing their black characters with aave and butchering it, i don't wanna do the same with spanish and particular dialects that come with it.

river isn't the only latino character in my book either (there are four other characters) nor the only spanish-speaking character (five other characters). i genuinely love these characters and wanna do them as much justice as i do with my black and african-american characters. i'm hoping to find some latino sensitivity readers (currently mexican latino sensitivity readers for the first book) once i'm done with my first draft! but i also will be posting excerpts of my story here and if y'all have any critiques please let a girl know!!!

[beardedmrbean]

Oh I mean when I say do leftists see history as a Disney cartoon because how they talk about people

“Indigenous people wouldn’t do that to their native lands!” Well that because most tribes learn from the mistakes of their ancestors, like modern American farming-

Holy shit Dave is right that they never left their metropolis area

But there this complaints how geeks spaces don’t want black people in it

Black activists: Why don’t white people want us in it?!

Me: Every since we somehow switch from racial equality to black supremacy

Hmm what we done in media? Oh yeah let start in black Panther where

1. They made a oversized shantytown with different African cultures, many of which hate each other guts

2. Expect to believe that everyone with sympathies with the main antagonist, now the movie did point out Killmonger was a hypocrite because he took a mask that didn’t belong to wakandans because he felt like it. And did the exact things he bitch about white colonizers to Wakanda

Though the irony is that Killmonger represents a lot of bitter black supremacists with a pan Africa fetish

Oh oh fantasy, my Indian friend pointed out that the issued with modern fantasy is that they are using a post mayflower American structure vs any form of feudalism

Because my chimera republic made realize it more easier to create black fantasy characters in a colonial and beyond world like ones based off George Carver or Bass Revees

Also like that black elf in rings of power and black Aragon, the problem to me that they look like larpers especially the black elf

Pssst modern Hollywood hairstylists, the fade was a post ww2 thing black men started after vets return from duty, so it automatically stick out for most black people

Also if you want to use Middle Ages hairstyles for black characters. Just go to the tribes that exist as many hairstyles we use today are thousands of years old and if you stretch it to the 13 century you have enough resources for reference

Actually someone pointed out that lot of fantasy places have LA demographic structure, this got me thinking and I’m paraphrasing

Who more bigoted?

My countryhick West Virginia friend who gave me a lot of insight on American history including my people and you who help me try to research west African cultures like the Yoruba?

Or the colored hair, glasses, usually upper middle class feminists that rarely interact with non whites unless they’re genetrifed and lived in gated communities?

Keep in mind a lot of them write or influence current fantasy stuff

Oh I mean when I say do leftists see history as a Disney cartoon because how they talk about people “Indigenous people wouldn’t do that to their native lands!” Well that because most tribes learn from the mistakes of their ancestors, like modern American farming- Holy shit Dave is right that they never left their metropolis area

Not all of them, but for the most part ya, it's respect for the land created after generations of learning that it's important to respect the land, with a additional healthy sized dose of religion and remembering to thank the land and everything else that provides for their needs.

"Noble Savage" is the term you're looking for there, "soft bigotry of lowered expectations" is another one you'll see a lot and not just for natives.

Low hanging fruit in Berkeley talking about why voter ID laws are bad and racist because black people may not know how to get one, or be able to afford one, or even get to the dmv.

Forever funny

But there this complaints how geeks spaces don’t want black people in it

Geek spaces are welcoming and inclusive, they just want you to geek out with them and not start trying to force changes, I honestly don't blame some people for gatekeeping their hobbies. People are coming in and demanding changes to fit their sensibilities and what not and when they're done the 'space' completely different.

That and all the other stuff you mentioned as well.

The question to ask is, why are you in this particular fan space if you are going to change 80% of it, can you maybe just make your own instead?

Oh oh fantasy, my Indian friend pointed out that the issued with modern fantasy is that they are using a post mayflower American structure vs any form of feudalism Because my chimera republic made realize it more easier to create black fantasy characters in a colonial and beyond world like ones based off George Carver or Bass Revees

Look up the show Firefly, if you don't already know about it. There's two really good SciFi western tv shows and neither of them are Westworld, the one besides Firefly is The Adventures of Briscoe County Jr. and it's there in my list because it stars Bruce Campbell.

Which actually you might give that one a look too,

Keep forgetting how much of a giant Julius Carry was, it's got a lot of steampunk elements and it's funny as heck.

Mentioning Bass Reeves made me think of that.

Also like that black elf in rings of power and black Aragon, the problem to me that they look like larpers especially the black elf ECT

Never saw the show, but everything I did see told me they had zero respect for the source material so I didn't expect respect for anything else to appear.

Hair thing we have current year references that since as you said, they haven't really changed them up much in the last few thousand years.

Who more bigoted? My countryhick West Virginia friend who gave me a lot of insight on American history including my people and you who help me try to research west African cultures like the Yoruba? Or the colored hair, glasses, usually upper middle class feminists that rarely interact with non whites unless they’re genetrifed and lived in gated communities?

I'm sure you already know the answer. As a generalization at least.

The joke about internet racists being a tolerant group of people, 'they don't care what race you are so long as you're racist' actually pans out to be fairly true a lot of the time.

Granted a lot of them aren't actually terribly racist, they just like to be able to rip on each other and like doing it Eric Cartman style, le edgy people.

The "Anti-racists" are the ones to watch out for, that's the people from berkeley in that video up there.

It's performative for them, look at how tolerant and accepting I am.

Like this.

I know it's what you want there my whatever you are, but there's a multitude of reasons why this

won't be happening, but I'm sure you've managed to take great strides in the effort to eradicate racism and didn't just totally become a joke for millions of people of all colours.

Except maybe this creature

I love how that's become a insult to people for some reason, she just called him a individual thinker and is mad because he doesn't support the hive mind.

Granted any positive accomplishment in the black community is greeted with several different cheers about how they all share in that accomplishment, but when bad shit happens all of a sudden we're not a monolith.

That's human psychology tho so not much more to expect from that honestly.

Multimillionaire tv host saying she's oppressed and that black people can't make it in the US will forever be funny to me, also sad because that sentiment is holding people back by saying things like that, since it's discouraging, why should I try if I've got no chance to make it anyhow.

May as well just get mine any way I can or maybe lay down and give up.

[kouhaiofcolor]

i understand why you feel this way. But if u had the access to these other countries the way you have access black americans- and the way they have access to us through media you would understand the flaw in what you are saying. the desecration of our cultures and degradation of blackness is quite literally everywhere equally. I grew in trinidad, you don't see what goes on there. No eyes are covering what trinbagonians (hell they won't even cover Sudan or the Congo or Somalia or South Africa) are doing & their cultural mores the way all eyes are on America. For example while West Indians will hype carnival and the history as though it's some well respected event in tribute the ancestors - i just saw a video of a literal child - a boy under 10 yrs old trying to buss a whine on a grown ass woman bent over to let him grind on her ass- while a crowd of adults watched and laughed and egged him on. Yes black americans are flawed just like any group- but I have never seen anything like that here ever. And I see it regularly with this oh so historical revered cultural event. I am of Trinidadian and American Black heritage. I love carnival. I have played mas/ participated in carnival.I am not simply downing the culture. I just want you know the only difference is high visibility Black Americans have that allows people to speak down on Black Americans so easily. And because Black Americans don't know- through no fault of their own - some buy into denigrating each other as Black Americans- I see it all the time. And I sit there shaking my head- because if they only knew. I want to laugh when West Indians talk about American education system- yes it is lacking- but when Black folks outside of America say 'we know we come from Americans don't' - especially if you are from the caribbean- I have never heard a statement more asinine in my life. And they stand on it because eDuCaTiOn. l promise you that Black Americans do not deserve the criticism you are giving more than any other group. I get it tho. It can be frustrating and disappointing and disheartening especially if you actually love your people. I know I love mine. Blackness is as flawed and as it beautiful everywhere you go. Not trying to change your mind, just offer a different perspective.

This is about this op, right? I'll apologize if it seems like it read differently, but I have no illusions whatsoever about how global antiblackness is. I definitely do not believe (nor was I establishing) that African Americans are wholly responsible for negative perceptions of Black people as a construct — but I also wasn't standing on some sort of "bias" for seeing distortions between how Black Americans are frankly more responsible these days for things that makes us look so damn terrible in the US. Is it too forward to be frank about it like that? I think this criticism matters just as much as the issues themselves.

Frankly, if we gone get into this tho, I gotta delve. I need to get it out anyway, so I actually appreciate you checking my perspective as well as sharing yours.

The takeaways are bolded below the cut, if that helps. There's a tldr, too. #Nbdni.

Ofc there are Black People who aren't from the states capable of harming our representation. My criticisms were concentrated on the kind of self and communal destruction I've both grown up experiencing and being witness to myself that is unique to the way we live as Black Americans, though (which was more than specified for parts of the diaspora I took care to omit so that I wasn't generalizing literally everyone Black from any given part of the world).

Yeah, there's internal antiblackness all over the diaspora, but I feel like we really need to stop negating how Black Americans are by far the modern faces and voices of the worst of it on such a global scale and regular (normalized) basis. I'm also aware that being Black in the self proclaimed "freest and most opportunistic country in the world" itfp, is what makes it so easy to damage the representation of Black people at large; so we unfortunately tend to saturate visibility in general for that reason alone. I also know that in a lot of ways it is thee wedge between how Black culture is perceived in other parts of the world, as well as how Black culture is prevalently defined or associated within the US.

While I do get where you're coming from, I cannot (and did not) speak on how antiblackness among Black people from Trinidad or, say, Mozambique or Somalia works, bc those are qualities of life I haven't experienced and frankly don't think I have the range to speak on as a Black American. I spoke on the state of the Black community in the US specifically and exclusively since, as plenty diasporans can vouch for, we dominate visibility here. I went out of my way to not lump everyone together; I know what I was saying and was absolute about what I meant, just to be clear.

The anecdotal bit about the video of the underage boy dancing w the grown woman, is unfortunately nothing out of the ordinary (and p great example of what I'm talking about) when it comes to the kind of cringy behavior among Black American adults that shape the experiences, values, upbringing and development of Black children — and harm our image. Esp in the US?? You've never seen anything like that here??? Consider yourself lucky to have never been witness to something relatively commonplace to see on social media and pretty humiliating secondhand. Beats me why literally anyone thinks watching or posting content like that is cute. Or why the caliber of Black adults this too often pertains to (in most contexts) find it amusing to put Black kids in situations where their representation as actual children is totally compromised or overridden, but. Those who find this kind of stuff entertaining usually aren't the brightest individuals themselves, but this definitely does happen in the US.

You're right that we have a lot of visibility here as Black Americans that eclipses the relevance of other parts of the diaspora; you're right that this particular part of the diaspora is riddled with unpacked, inherited trauma and internalized antiblackness through, at least originally, no fault of our own — but I seriously worry we've gotten suuuuuuuuuuuuper comfortable with that. At our own expense to absolve accountability on our part for any of it. I think we've gotten accustomed to making excuses and justifications for white supremacy being to blame for the antiblackness we perpetuate ourselves, to avoid actually resolving anything plaguing our communities because of us.

I'ma just be frank: Our ancestors put in work we're too divided and self absorbed as modern Black Americans to actually replicate; esp considering the trajectory we're on now. We just do not have what it takes, esp while an increasing number of us are finding it more "lucrative" to reduce our numbers through community violence — or for a belonging or identity among people more apt to fetishize us through our own willingness. And we'll call that "freedom" or a quality of life as opposed to learning how contrary it is in the face of actual antiblack American history.

What I find myself questioning and struggling to understand more and more, is when it boils down to it, on a personal as well as community level — exactly how much of our plight as modern Black Americans isn't our fault, though. How much of what stagnance and toxicity we actively normalize, perpetuate or do nothing to change within our own communities (whether collectively or as individuals) is not our fault? How much of this do we just not "know any better" or "know enough about" to actually fight for or invest in securing a quality of life actually worth living for future generations of Black people?

How much conscious internal encouragement and investment in abandoning or outright destroying our lineage, is not our fault? There's no togetherness, no real connectivity or bonds, no real values, no real livelihood, no sustainable resources, no wealth in health, no real traditions, no real protection or safety, no real immersion in our own diaspora, no closure on the grounds of slavery or reparations for it, no real community — in being Black in America. That's no generalization; this is a straight up testament plenty of Black Americans can, have and do vouch for. And even then I have a healthy understanding that not every Black American feels this way. I hear those who do, though; because everyone isn't unreasonable or biased or self-hating about it. There's validity in being ashamed of this kind of stuff. And it's getting scary how irrefutable and insurmountable the inner discourse, as well as the external judgement for it, is becoming.

We're not responsible for any of this? We don't perpetuate any of this garbage ourselves? We're not doing ourselves and our children the biggest disservice doing the arguable minimum about antiblack propaganda and behavior? Esp among each other?? The only people who even really speak on antiblackness are Black Women — and we're torn apart or gaslit for it all day all year both on and offline even by the community. There's a lot unique to how we move and what we normalize as Black Americans that we simply do not actually address, work to reverse or resolve, or even think is problematic:

The ways we're too comfortable outright or lowkey mistreating each other; the lack of sensitivity in how too many of us raise our children; the generational affects from rampant teen pregnancy and teen fatherhood rates; the baby daddy/mama culture that has become a community staple for all the wrongest reasons; promiscuity and infidelity; low marriage rates; single parenthood; low home ownership rates; our lack of connection to or real knowledge of Black culture that isn't African American (and that being fragmented as is); our lack of awareness of anything remotely positive or economically significant about Africa (esp w/ aaaaall the modern means to research); the prevalence of colorism in our communities as well as discrimination and hate-crimes that target fully Black Women in general; "divestment" movements and antiblack eugenic intent among Black people (we can call this one straight up coonery if it's simpler); texturism; featurism; lack of real accumulative or generational wealth to pass on; lack of real investment in ourselves or avenues to sustain our survival; literally zero community leadership; the ways we masculinize Black children as Black parents; the differences in the standards and expectations we have for our Black daughters and how much more lenient we are with our Black sons in comparison; Black on Black crime; gang violence/affiliation among Black youths; drug and sex trafficking of our own people by our own people; and the educational brainrot among Black youths hinged on the glamorized behavior of Black adults (esp celebrities), for instance.

How much of that is not our fault? The list is too damn long at this point; with common denominators spanning generations. The issues are too unique in how they're not as prevalent among other races of people. This isn't a white supremacy thing in it's larger entirety anymore the way it used to be, is what I was getting at. Antiblackness has definitely been absorbed and propagandized by modern Black Americans too, and we could do a lot better at actually taking the time to look inward at the things we've conformed to and perpetuate about ourselves and each other. But that's always asking for too much or it's too expectational. To use our minds as Black People for something conducive for us as opposed to harmful lol. Use them together for our actual benefit in the long-term, at that.

I guess I say all that to emphasize that I am becoming truly embarrassed by what modern Black Americans perceive as social progress and worth fighting as well as living for — even as a Black Woman who at this point only has the energy to esteem and push other Black Women anymore. But it hurts so much worse being constantly, inescapably snared in all the noise, shiftlessness and unchanging discourse here among us that does absolutely nothing for anyone.

TLDR; It feels like the Black community in the US doesn't actually mature and hasn't ever really developed, I guess. It gets embarrassing even when you have the capacity to understand how and why things are like this itfp. Antiblackness thrives, at this point, because of how unserious we take ourselves and each other. Hard truths are still truths. It's embarrassing, and it should be okay to be real about that.

[transfemlogan]

EDIT: this post is old. Very old. And was very rushed because people kept asking me to post it. While it provides insight onto certain situations, like antiblackness or the lack of flashing lights for years, it doesn't fully go into depth about some of them (like DID & antisemitism) and only offers one opinion into most situations.

It's a great starting point or beginning into learning about certain situations and to begin your own questioning and analysis, but is not a """masterlist""" or a good, in-depth discussion on the things Thomas has done and contributed to.

Take everything in this post with a grain of salt. Take it with "I didn't know that, I will do more research" and if you discover the opposite of what this post is saying and disagree (or if you agree), then that is what I want to come out of this post. I do not want to you immediately take what I say at face value, even if I am/was "correct".

Okay, back to the original post:

Ok. Its been 2 days lets talk abt how thomas participates in anti-blackness, antisemitism, & ableism.

I do have links to almost everything mentioned here, but some of them I do not have. Whether that be because I am expressing an opinion other people have or because I could not find it.

Also, I have something called "aphasia". Some parts of this will be phrased wrong and/or difficult to read. (Look up aphasia I'm not explaining it here.)

If you are a person of colour and want to express your opinion about Thomas being racist, feel free. If you are jewish and want to express your opinion about Thomas being antisemitic, feel free. If you are disabled and want to express your opinion about Thomas being ableist, feel free. I am not trying to speak over anyone. I am a black disabled man talking about things Thomas has done and including my own opinions.

I do not think Thomas does any of this out of actively trying to harm people. This is not me "cancelling" him. This is not me telling you you cannot watch the series or whatever. I am explaining things he has done. You come to your own conclusion about this using critical thinking.

Here is a response by @/voxakumasbitch, along with my own addition, that provides clarity and a more critical response to this post.

Here is a response by @tsfander, that explains the misinformation & faults within the DID section of this post.

DO NOT TAG THIS POST AS FANDOM DISCOURSE.

Anti-blackness:

(note: if you, as a nonblack person, tries to tell me I am WRONG for saying this is racist and antiblack I will literally explode you with my mind. I am a black man, I know what is and is not antiblack & you cannot tell me what is and isnt. Dear god.)

Logan's vocab cards tend to be appropriation of AAVE (African-American Vernacular English), since it's based around what people assume is "internet slang" (for example, in Accepting Anxirty Part 1, Logan uses the phrase "You good, fam?" which is AAVE).

Another character of Thomas' that appropriates AAVE is Sleep, also referred to as "Remy" by fans, in his vines and shorts. This is because he is supposed to be a flamboyant gay man, but again, a lot white gay men appropriate AAVE from black gay men and queens (for example, "slay" is a term that people say came from queer culture, but it is a term that came from black queer culture).

Thomas made a Tik Tok talking about his roles in musicals. (I do not have this Tik Tok as I... do not have Tik Tok for mental health reasons and the idea of redownloading it is terrifying.) One (or multiple?) roles he talks about are ones of black characters. (I hope I don't have to explain how taking black roles in musicals is racist.)

The entire BLM Roman thing

During the height of the BLM protests back in 2020, a tumblr user (I will not say their user) drew a black Roman holding a trans flag. While this in itself is not racist, black people outside of the fandom (and in the fandom) expressed their discomfort with it. This art was later deleted, however their white mutual ended up creating art of black Roman angrily holding up his fist and it was captioned "I frantically drew this in a fit of rage." This user did not post about BLM before this, and also it's very weird to make a white character black to show your support of real black people being murdered.

Here is the post, along with an explanation of why this is racist by me (@/aleiimm) and my TSS mutual at the time (@/mvnte). Obviously, I do not condone the harrassment of this artist.

This sparked a weird """movement""" within the fandom where white fans, ignoring every black fander trying to explain how this is Racist, drew black roman holding up his fist. And because of this "movement", Thomas Sanders reblogged the original drawing, also ignoring every black fander. He later deleted this, without an apology or even a mention.

Here is a post by @/lamp-calm-sanders which explains it better.

(I do think this is a very big fandom problem, though Thomas contributes to it.)

Antisemitism:

This is specifically in relation to Janus Sanders' character being an antisemitic caricature. I have reblogged posts about this, but due to my awful tagging system, I couldn't find them.

(note: I am not jewish, this is me repeating what I have heard from jewish fans and my jewish friends outside of the fandom.)

I recommend finding actual jewish fans and their posts.

Obviously, making antisemitic caricatures is a lot more than just the traits you give the character. I think it's important to identify what was the original idea. In this case, Thomas meant to make a character based off of the "snake in the tree" from the Bible. I doubt he consciously meant to create an antisemitic caricature.

However, most antisemitism is unconscious. Most bigotry is. Just like how white people can be racist, even if they are actively trying not to— because racism spans over years and years— non-jewish people can be antisemitic unconsciously.

Janus is a greedy, selfish, lying half-snake character. There isn't a way to get around that. These traits on their own wouldn't necessarily be antisemitic, but combined they are.

Ableism:

This will the longest section.

In the ad "The Return of the Jam!", Roman refers to Logan Sanders as "Mr. Infodumper" negatively. (Janus also does this in Thomas' Among Us Patreon stream, if I remember correctly, though it is edited out of the YouTube video.)

As an autistic man, I dislike the use of this negatively, however, not every autistic person feels this way. I know autistic people who do not view this as ableist.

Virgil's crofters is named "Cranic Attack", based on on the word "panic attack". I do not have an anxiety disorder, though many people with anxiety disorders expressed their discomfort with this (and also many people said it was fine. Again. Not a monolith.)

Thomas Sanders does make an apology for this usage here (this link includes my response, @/gothybubby).

In this apology Thomas

one: claims that the term "infodump" is negative, which isn't true. The trait is not negative, but the way it is used by Roman (and Janus) is ableist.

two: claims that it is... the character's fault? "we were narratively depicting Roman to be in the wrong for saying it." Not a single character tells Roman off for this. It is not Roman's fault, he's a fictional character, it is the people AKA THOMAS who wrote the script.

And three: that Logan is going to get "vindication" for this. No one wants Logan to get VINDICATION, we want Roman to NOT be ableist.

Here is a response by now deleted user, @/suckerssides, and @/beeceit.

Here is a post by @/turneverybodyintopuppets

Dissociative Identity Disorder & systems

I do not have DID, this is, again, me repeating systems both in and out of the fandom. Also, again, lots of systems have different opinions about whether or not Sanders Sides is ableist towards systems.

I have a friend with DID who does not have Tumblr and is not in the fandom anymore who wants me to talk about this (this is also expressed in the tags of my reblog of my response to Thomas' apology).

I also have reblogged posts about this, but I couldn't find the ones I have reblogged that criticise this.

I recommend finding actual systems and their posts.

Sanders Sides closely resembles DID. Thomas talks about this in his video "Sanders Sides - BEHIND THE SCENES QNA" where he and Joan explains that they are not trying to represent DID, but a man and his singular (one) personality. Joan on their Tumblr made a post where they also talk about this (unable to find it, since their blog is deleted) and explained that they are trying to avoid using terms related to DID.

I know, for a fact, that thomas was going to make a video with systems to discuss DID and make sure to disconnect Sanders Sides from DID. This video was, obviously, never made. (I saw this being discussed in a discord by a system who was asked by Thomas to be in the video, but I am not a part of the discord anymore and I do not have this message.)

Still, it still resembles a system. People have express their discomfort with the sides having names for that reason. People have also expressed their discomfort with Thomas talking about the sides as if they are "real people" (unsure how to phrase this) since it makes it feel more like the sides being alters. For example, when Thomas made a tweet/instagram story where he stated "Logan has a new favourite book."

Here is a Youtube Video by The Entropy System that talks about Sanders Sides and DID

Here is a post by @/kiapet2 and my mutual @/aromanticpatton.

Here is a post by @/sticky7581

Flashing lights tagging

Thomas Sanders sucks as at tagging flashing lights. This is not an accidental, one-time thing. This is continous and has been a thing for years.

I need everyone to know that epilepsy and photosensitivity are serious. Seizures are serious and deadly. I have friends who have had seizures over his videos and I know fans who have bad seizures over his videos. Thomas Sanders and his team know that people have had seizures over his videos.

I have seen people say that he doesn't have to tag flashing and comparing it to trigger warnings. Trigger warnings are a different topic from flash warnings.

Thomas has struggled to tag flashing since 2018. This post by @/cisnesincorbata shows a timeline from 2018 to early 2021 of people sending asks to Thomas about it. I have also sent Thomas asks asking him to tag warnings, along with commenting it on his tweets.

Putting Others First was an episode that a lot of photosensitive people couldn't watch (I also know a lot of autistic people couldn't watch due to the noises and low hearing people couldn't understand Logan's voice). This video took almost a year to get a warning, and even then it is placed in the description, which is NOT a good place for a warning.

Thomas has gotten better at tagging, but this is still an issue that should be talked about. Forgetting is not a valid excuse when people's lives are on the line.

no TL;DR

Writing this post was the most difficult thing ever. If someone else wants to create a TL;DR, feel free, but I am currently out of spoons (look up spoon theory) and my aphasia is kicking my ass.

However, sometimes, things cannot have a TL;DR. Sometimes you have to take the time to read long ass things in order to understand. I acknowledge people have difficulty reading and comprehending things, especially if you are neurodivergent, but a lot of times this can be worked on. I am one of these people.

[percabeth4life]

Would you mind talking about the changes you'd like to make to HoO now?

Okay! Sorry for the delay lol, I was so busy this weekend.

Some things stayed the same from my previous notes on it. For example, the Gods are still out of the game for the most part (though there will be some of the ocean Gods). This is because of a major plot point that is part of the main conflict. A few Gods will appear, but it will be to their detriment.

Book one's main plot is completely different from canon, rescuing Hera has nothing to do with it! Though Hera does have a hand in some of the actions that are taken. The stories shorthand is TLN rather than TLH ;). Titans and Primordials are involved as I mentioned prior, I'm very excited for how that plot will be going <3.

You will be getting hints about the primordials as the story goes on, so if you're someone that likes to predict things, pay attention! The book I'm working on right now will especially have some hints!

Book 2 will have some strong similarities to canon's book 2, but has some varying conflicts and struggles beyond canon's, also the Amazon's aren't.... that.

Book three is the one I've plotted out the least so far, I'm still debating what exactly I'm going to do with it. While the Athena Parthenos isn't involved, there is a different quest for Annabeth with some similarities.

Book four is complicated. There's still gonna be a Tartarus plot but the players in that are changed a bit. There's also multiple Titans that will likely get involved, still plotting out the actual path of that. The rest of the questers have their own plot going on but things will definitely be different from canon. They're not only having to find a way to get the tartarus crew out of tartarus, but also deal with another plot of the opposing force.

Book five is based at Mount Olympus rather than Athens, and has a fun plot that does get called somewhat from mythology, but with a touch of a twist. Also, the final battle is an actual battle.

As for the characters involved- the prophecy has more than 7 people :) In fact I'm going for a very different number than the canon number overall. I'm also including one OC, which I've gone back and forth on so many times but really they're needed to balance the situation.

Additionally! Several of the canon characters have changed backgrounds and parentage! I don't like how they were all from the Olympians when there was a whole big deal made of minor Gods in the previous series, it completely ignored that! So as you can imagine, I've changed several of them to have new parentage.

I've been carefully considering the parentage of each of the characters to keep what make them themselves, while also allowing me to explore new themes and possibilities! I won't say who the parents are, though you're free to guess ;) but I like to think they'll add to the story.

I'm also considering adding a touch of different culture and maybe exploring some other pantheons a bit. This will be easiest with Frank and his whole long family history, but a little with Piper and her Native heritage and maybe Hazel as her mother had a whole witchcraft thing going on plus being African American and canonically descended from slaves.

Overall, a lot to work with and adjust from canon! I'm very excited to work on everything and have a lot of research ahead of me haha.

[tododeku-or-bust]

your post is so needed about racism, dearest! Even though I'm a white Latina, I have African origins. I'm reading a lot about ethnicity in Latin America, and how we are seen, especially sexually, as "I'm" in a Latino man's fandom, I see a lot of problematic things. I started to notice that, if you don't say or have never shown that, you may be sexually attracted to a Latino (a) or a of African descent, because they are Latino (a) or an African descent person, you're not racist. No one thinks that, American culture overly sexualizes a woman or man, who comes from Latin America, as I read, how people from Africa or African descent are seen. People think that, if they like a minority person in the United States, it's okay, because they sympathize them. No one thinks that, writing a fanfic how a Latino man or Latina woman can be a slut, in a way that, they think it's cool, because they like the Latino actor, or writing that, they've always thought what a kiss from a Latino man is like, it may make a Latina woman reading uncomfortable, white American women may not understand what a Latina is talking about. People don't think that, the inner thoughts they have say a lot about, who they really are. It's worse to think that, a character that a Latino man played is a Latino character, when it clearly isn't. I read about how men can think about women of African descent, God it's disgusting. People need to learn that, they have to open their minds more or ask a person of a different ethnicity or race, what something is like, before commenting on something. Thank you for listening to my rant. I know you're not Latina, woman and I'm a white person talking to a person of total African descent, but I think we understand a little about each other.

May the world be less racist, girl, people in the future will live in the peace and love that you and I desire.

I'm glad you felt safe enough to come to me and get this off of your chest. I'm also glad that you take the time to notice and educate yourself on the racism in the spaces that you're in, both towards the Latino community and towards the Black and Afro-Latino community as well.

If I'm understanding you correctly, people absolutely do sexualize both Latina and Black women in US media- in different ways, for sure. Our experiences are not the same in the how, but the fetishization and sexual violence from that do occur. Yesterday I saw a description of a movie from the early 2000s that had (unironically) "a feisty Latina" in it and I was like 🙄 "wow they really let this slide". And it's wild, because on the other side of the same coin, they hate us! If they can't sexualize us, they treat us as though we have no value. "It's not racist" that you're not attracted to Black women and/or Latinas, "it just is how I am" (even though, if we dig, we know that's not why).

I imagine in fanfic it is just as uncomfortable. It feels like no one takes the time to recognize that sexualizing a Latino man into their "Latin Lover" is... Racist 🤷🏾‍♀️ there are ways to describe your characters of color and/or Hispanic/Latino characters as sexually attractive and intense without falling into stereotypes. Their biases (even unconsciously) are going to affect how they write; but unfortunately, not a lot of white writers that hear that take that very well 😅.

I'm still waiting for everyone to actually question out loud why Catherine Zeta Jones has been allowed to race-fake Hispanic for literal decades lol. Because I still have heard no answers.

I too pray this world will put in the effort to unlearn their racism and bigotry in all its forms. 🙏🏾

[crowshoots]

the zemeni, their beliefs about grisha abilities, and relations to religion & belief

said that i would do this post a bit ago, so here we go. now, several things before i go into it: this is all headcannoned and lore i made myself rather than anything supported in canon, as Ieigh bardugo has offered... pretty much nothing on zemeni culture, so! again, this is primarily for my blog and how i understand it, but keep this in mind for whenever talking about (my) jesper's culture. onward we go!

to start: we know very little of the zemeni culture in canon (unfortunately). the very little we know is that grisha are seen as blessed (and the word for grisha translates as 'the blessed'), and novyi zem is one of the few places available for grisha to hide safely for their lives. they do have teachings for their abilities off to the west, and they don't believe in grisha orders like the ravkans and the rest of the world does.

the terminology of the word 'blessed' as connotations. one, it obviously indicates a positive image of zowa. even in ravka, one of the countries most well-known for their employment and treatment of grisha, they're not exactly the same way. instead, the grisha are named after one of the first grisha saints, gregori.

a lot of the older ravkan saints are tales of grisha who were brutalized, such as gregori himself (mauled to death by bears). the ravkan legends tend to commentate them for all of the things they could do, uplifting them to a pedestal rather than ridiculing them or making them out to be monsters. in the books, it's also implied that saints are not shared from country to country -- inej has her own (suli) saints, and colm has his (kaelish) saints. they likely have their own tales and beliefs.

however, the usage of the word 'blessed' by the zemeni implies that they believe that this power comes from a higher power. it implies that fate had a hand in 'blessing' someone and gifting them this power. leoni's father says --

"leoni is zowa. she has the gift too."

the way that this is phrased implies again that the zemeni believe grisha/zowa power to be a gift from someone. aditi also says that "if my gifts can help people, then it's my duty to use them", perhaps implying a (mayhaps personal or moral-related) understanding of these gifts and using them in such a way to help others. in short: in my understanding, the zemeni view zowa power as a gift from a higher power, specifically given to aid others the best they can.

however, with the zemeni seemingly lacking in saints, now it becomes a question of exactly what this higher power is. in siege and storm, alina hears from mal that the zemeni have a god of work that they pray to (also curiously enough, capitalized as God of Work but I have no coherent thoughts on that). the god of work is not given a name, and we can assume that mal wouldn't know the zemeni names. (sort of like how if you weren't kerch/grounded in kerch culture, you wouldn't exactly know what ghezen would be the god of when someone told you that they'll pray to ghezen. it's not like they say "i'll pray to ghezen, god of commerce")

the way that i interpret this is that the god of work is not one person. it is not someone grounded in history, nor is it one body and one identity. they are just... the god of work, and that's all they are.

this is also where another piece of my personal headcanoned lore comes in. as the zemeni are based in black culture, i believe some elements are inspired by african-american history, as well as other places such as haiti and west africa. for my understanding of zemeni culture, it combines spiritualism as well as animism (as the zemeni are also based on australia, which i will take to mean the aborginal people of australia). in addition, jesper also says that he believes in things such as "ghosts and gnomes", the latter of which i think is a joke but the former i think is a reference to his belief in spirits.

the zemeni seem to be very connected to the land. novyi zem is most well-known for its crops and usage of natural materials. they have shown that they are quite technologically advanced (such as their weaponry and their airships), but purposefully guard these things as their own, as they've had enough of other countries stealing their things and using them without any respect for the ground it came from or anything else in relation to its creation process.

the zemeni believe that their land is inhibited and infused by the spirits of the dead who were buried there, placed back into the earth once they died. (this is also why the zemeni always choose to bury their dead in the earth, especially close to places like trees or rivers) they tend to bury family closest to their own houses as well so the spirits can watch over and see their family. they believe spirits are in nature such as mountains or caves or more.

since the spirits are connected with the land, the zemeni do their best to ensure that its never diseased and in good health. as a reward, the spirits give them good harvest and crop. similarly, they believe that any gifts given to them (so zowa power) is the spirits of the dead looking out for them, giving them something that allows them to help others and the community.

so tldr: in my headcanons, the zemeni belief system in zowa is inherently rooted into their ancestors, believing that the dead of their family have given them gifts.

in relation to jesper, this gets... complicated. leigh wrote him without any connection to his culture. he grew up shuttering off his feelings about his zowa identity and unfortunately grew to think of it as a curse and as a misfortunate rather than the gift that his mother thought it was. for him to think this way is an inherent rejection of his own culture, and jesper has many strides to take before he's in a place where he's content with it -- in the way i write him, he goes back to novyi zem to visit his da, then goes west to meet zowa teachers (one of which knew his mom). it's a frustrating few months, but it's a start of a community, one of the most vital things in zemeni culture, and it's a step forward.

[scarletlilyy]

A flaw in the Black American Culture & flaws in different cultures overall

As an African woman I love African Americans and their culture but like many groups they genuinely have their own flaws and issues they need to really fix

and one of them happens to be the fact they simply don't value education as much as they should...

Yes systematic racism will always be a small part of the reason things are the way they are, meaning black schools are generally underfunded but the kids have no willingness to learn.

Many teachers at these majority black schools have claimed that being high achieving at school is seen as a "whitewashed" trait for black Americans and it's honestly saddening

I recently saw a video speaking on how 66% of black twelfth grades do not possess even partial mastery of basic twelfth grade math skills

and like I said it's pretty sad

Of course white supremacists never fail to add their useless commentary to stuff like this, they claim its "genetics" and black ppl are just naturally stupid

and that in itself is a stupid statement.

When people talk about "black" they assume we are all the same and obviously African Americans & Africans share similarities in culture but we still have different cultural values

As a Nigerian one thing ik and love about my country is that we really don't play when it comes to academics, most of us start exams by the first grade and we do it all throughout our school years. Usually three per each grade and depending on your school they can be very difficult/advanced. Nigerians are hardworking and any time we move to other countries we excel because of the skills we learn from our country and also by utilizing the opportunities we get from foreign countries (that we can't get from ours unfortunately)

Please keep in mind I'm not saying all this to degrade African Americans in the name of lifting up Africans.

Nigerians (and other Africans) have their own cultural flaws, ACTUALLY a lot of them actually and in some cases African Americans do it better than we do and it's important to acknowledge these things then learn from each other.

I'm just saying people love to group all black people together by not recognizing that there are different cultures within the black community as a whole. They do it to claim we are some genetic mistake that is unworthy of the title "human" and it's wrong

Every culture has its own flaws.

Someone tell the whites their biggest issue is narcissism and it is what is destroying our earth, people are only ready to see black people's flaws because it has made us "less fortunate" but what ppl don't notice is that the white community's flaws has cost the entire earth

I will go more into this on another day but to summarize their colonization of the entire earth was based of the fact they saw the way of living of other cultures as "barbaric" because they preserved the earth and didn't believe in industrialization

Keep in mind it is that industrialization and capitalist mindset that is destroying our earth today. Yes it caused evolution (according to white ppl) but who said Africans couldn't have evolved in their own way without destroying the earth and its natural resources?

And it does not just stop at the white community, even Asians, Latinos, Hispanics have their own flaws.

If only people learnt to respect, educate and support one another. If the Europeans back in the time of colonization just lent their support & collaborated to African nations to help with evolution by utilizing their nature preserves and then having a normal trade system where they could borrow from Africa/Asia's resources while providing them with technology that could support evolution

Sorry I've gone off topic but till date I wonder what the earth would be today if Europeans didn't have such a hostile narcissistic mindset back then

they had little natural resources and instead of collaborating, they stole & destroyed. It's greed and corruption.

ik it's a naive thought to wish for peace considering the big difference in cultures back then, like people didn't even understand the concept of human decency back then. Considering how most African, Asians and European countries did not agree with the way they all did things back then, we'd never really reach a state of peaceful co-existence.

but it's fun to dream!

Human nature is cruel anyway

[gb-patch]

I am the initial anon, sorry about the rainbow text, it's an extension i have for dyslexia, but i had no idea it would show up on the ask. a lot of people bring up "not knowing" their background but the thing is i think theyre looking at it in a different way.

"african american" IS its own ethnicity to me, with its own culture and everything. if an african american took a DNA test, they'd have different results from an African from africa, a jamaican, a Haitian (which is what I am), an afro-brazilian, etc. because African-American is its own ethnicity, with its own history, with its own culture, like every other black ethnicity out there and i believe saying otherwise is doing a disservice to yourself

i was including african-americans in my initial ask. because im frustrated that seemingly all your black characters are just "black" (which i believe is what you said for nate as well) when even if ALL your black characters were "African-American" i wouldve been happy because then at least you'd acknowledge that being black has more to it other than just dictating how you look.

thanks for answering my ask anyway and giving it a thought, thats all i wanted. again if you said they were all african-american i wouldnt even mind bc i admire african-american culture anyway

That's alright about the text! I can't tell other people what to think or feel about that topic, but I am sorry the way I did things was frustrating. Nate is specifically African American, that is part of his canon. However, it's definitely been multiple years since his ethnicity was mentioned in an ask because questions about those characters slowed down a great deal since 2019 and earlier. Sometimes in the past I did say he's Black without specifying, but back then it was more common knowledge that he was African American because the fandom was so small and I was talking mainly to the same few people who knew a ton about the game. Nowadays we have way more players around and I try to be more careful about not assuming how much people know. Though sometimes I still don't explain things the best or leave out information that would've been helpful.

I appreciate that people do send asks/leave comments to talk me about what they want to know, what they don't understand, and what's bothering them. That's very helpful!

[pinkpruneclodwolf]

Now that I've aired out one of my gripes time for another.

Scarabia ocs

Particularly the female ocs.

As a member of the African American community I can't speak on South Asian/Middle-eastern (I'm using an umbrella terms but please correct me) issues within the twst community but I've seen some Scarabia ocs that all follow a certain motif, especially the afab ocs.

Of course some will probably chime in saying that they don't mind these depictions but the people in the community that I follow have had some gripes about these caricatures, enough to make a bingo chart about said caricatures.

During my research on art history and architecture due to wanting to expand upon twst world building specifically ones that pertain to Scalding Sands and Afterglow Savannah, I've stumbled upon the fashion as well.

This map doesn't provide much in terms of locating where Scalding Sands or Afterglow Savannah is located but it's said that Scalding is located near/on the Peninsula, I theorized that Afterglow is nearest to the Coral Sea kinda like the "Horn of Africa"

But this isn't a geography post this is a post about fashion. As we know Scarabia had been renovated to look similar to his father's palace (that follows the Sultan's palace in Aladdin) and I'd assume that Scarabia got a uniform change as well.

The Twisted Wonderland wiki for Jamil states that:

a snake armband that curls on his upper right arm. The snake and choker match with Kalim. [They] wears a cropped black vest with gold detail and red lapels over a sleeveless black hoodie with red trim on the inside, plain other than the gold design on the hood. Like Kalim, [they] wear a belt resembling safety tape wrapped around [they're] waist, with the long end trailing down. The belt is imprinted with the name of [they're] dorm, along with a snake insignia. Under the hoodie, [they] typically have dark red cloth wrapped around [they're] waist with gold designs on it. [They] wears black parachute pants with red flame designs and black sandals with a gold scarab design.

I'm more of a visual person so I used a photo of mob students for reference:

Now, this is an all boys' school if y'all don't know, so there isn't a female dorm uniform at all meaning that anyone with an afab leaning oc can get creative with their dorm uniform.

I generally believe that female ocs can just wear the boy's uniform, albeit tailored to their shape and have proper undergarments provided for and just call it a day.

However...

Before I address the fashion I have to address how people perceive Scarabia and by proxy south asian/ middle-eastern culture.

As we know Kalim has a big family due to his father having multiple wives, and with his family being close to royalty we can only imagine how large it is on that side, which I already believe that the Al Asims are more spread out so that if Kalim up and dies there will be replacements in line.

But thats the problem. There's a common belief among twst fans that Kalim has a harem or at the very least will have one. And though I can't say he will or won't why is that the first thought comes when they see a Middle-eastern boy whose rich (and whose family is protected by slaves)?

Like, this is a teenage boy whose family is so rich that assassins are coming for his throat 24/7, he doesn't know when death is coming, he has school work he probably needs to do, why would he be worried about girls? Especially since he couldn't participate in Ghost Marriage because once he kisses Eliza he's coming with her and her posse which is a no-no considering Kalim is the heir of the Al Asims.

Now let's talk about Malleus, Tsunotaro, Hornton, poster boy of Twisted Wonderland.

The amount of fanfictions I've read where Malleus and Yuu (typically female) are star-crossed soulmates and that in of itself isn't necessarily a bad thing but when you compare the perception that Kalim is more prone to polygamy while Malleus is more inclined towards monogamy as if our lovely Malleus wouldn't be open to polygamy if he were deemed more approachable speaks volumes.

Don't get me started on the fact that yall depict Malleus as some hapless boy who isn't hundred years older than the entire twst cast and isn't one of the top 5 mages of twst. Of course fear left him bereft of social interaction but when Yuu interacts with him the player sees a more teasing and playful side to him—

I digress, I digress, I digress.

Let's delve into the reason as to why some of yall believe Kalim is prone to harems.

History lesson:

A distinct, imaginary vision of the harem emerged in the West starting from the 17th century, when Europeans became aware of Muslim harems housing numerous women. In contrast to the medieval European views, which conceived Muslim women as victimized but powerful through their charms and deceit, during the era of European colonialism the "imaginary harem" came to represent what Orientalist scholars saw as an abased and subjugated status of women in the Islamic civilization. Wikipedia on "Western Representation" of Harems.

And then came a centuries-old theme in Western culture where there are depictions of European women (who are seen as pure) think of Mozart's opera "The Abduction from the Seraglio"

Or One Thousand and One Nights, the story that kickstarted it all. By presenting harems as as a personal brothel.

This notion that harems were where numerous women lounged in suggestive poses, directing their strong but oppressed sexuality toward a single man in a form of "competitive lust" added fuel to the Western ideology that the West was more culturally superior therefore justifying colonial enterprises.

Am I blaming harems in the Middle East? Absolutely not. Colonialism was gonna happen either way, they just wanted more reasons.

Here's some articles:

This circles back to whyyyy I'm rubbed the wrong way when it comes to female Scarabia ocs.

In the twst space we've seen the trope "one girl in an all boys school" get played like it was Doja Cat's Say So, going off of each other bar for bar like Drake to Souija Boy.

Even I've fallen into that trope.

Which is why I fear that twst has become hostile to nonbinary and male presenting folks, and that worries me because I saw a post where a male twst enjoyer get asked some bullshit about being a female hater and they had to make a post about it.

After the whole Thirteen debacle where the devs used the pronouns they/them for her the vitriol that was spewed that day surpassed the eng twst whining by a longshot, I'm only speaking on these issues now because I refuse to let this baby fandom fall into that same bullshit.

But I'm circling back to my last point about the "one girl in an all boys school", as much as people try to advocate for Yuu being gender neutral, the general consensus is that the twst fandom favors afab leaning Yuu, its why Yuuken in the Twisted Comic was side eyed a like that.

The idea of a boy being summoned shattered the idea of escapism that a lot of female twst fans had:

That if NRC was real they sure as hell weren't gonna get summoned.

Which is why I'm worried about female ocs and the story beats they follow: reverse harems, getting revealed, having to hide their gender identity like Mulan.

I realize now how harmful that is to trans twst fans and how seeing this influx of binary and heteronormative views are perpetuated in a game where Pomefiore exists, that tries to break gendered stereotypes. It's why Epel is in the Dorm in the first place to unlearn that toxic masculine mindset and gendered idea.

Don't even get me started on the feminine coded characters as well.

By drawing the (assumedly singular) female oc sorted in Scarabia in a more revealing outfit as if they don't have a dorm uniform fucks me up because at the end of the day these are boys, fictional boys, but boys nonetheless.

I try to be conscience about how I present my own female oc because no teen girl (especially in this fandom) would ever feel comfortable wearing that type of clothing in a situation where they are just one girl. I still feel sick being around boys for too long bruh what.

Which is why I advocate for a better form of wear. I'm not gonna tell y'all what to do, but I am gonna tell yall to have some form of awareness.

What I mean by that is have your female Scarabia oc wear salwar kameez that follows the dorms dress code, its south asian wear for women that is more of a pants and long tailed and/or knee length shirt common in urban areas of heat, its made out of light weight fabric that is sure to keep the body relatively cool.

In some areas its said that both men and women wear a sarong, a wrapped skirt long garment. Its also found within Northern, Western, and East Africa as well as Southeast Asia, Southern Asia, and Western Asia.

Not to mention the Lungi found in the Indian Subcontinent, a garment commonly worn by men after the 12th century and is usually tied around the waist.

The Izaar is found in the Arabian peninsula but is more of a traditional Yemen garb but is still found in the "Horn of Africa" and other South Asian parts as well, but it's also worn by men so that's a no.

Middle-eastern women will wear a jilbaab but that would imply that your chara follows the practice of islam, I've only scene my aunt wear a hijab so I can't say much on muslim women,, but considering the fact that yall might be white so im just gonna drop the article and begone:

Fuxk it, mediterranean as well:

Now, I pray I did this right because I do not want female scarabia ocs created by white people to follow anymore hollow as stereotypes.

I also pray I did right by @najmaviper and @themoonsbeloved because they were the blogs most outspoken about the portrayl of poc in twst and so I was urged to do the same.

[silverrstarrr]

Headcanons of Eren with a Black s/o!🍡

(Happy black history month babes! Remember blm isn't just in this month but all year long :p)

‿‿‿‿‿‿‿‿‿‿‿‿‿‿‿‿

• You guys most likely met in your high school years.

• I feel as if Eren would stare a lot at you during freshman year. Not in a bad way but in a Curious/adoring way. I mean all his friends are white lmao💀

• He probably approached you during a class period you guys have together.

• I don't think he would be ignorant? But he'll most likely ask to touch your hair.

• Maybe you have braids, locs, or passion twist or your natural curls out/4c Afro—doesn't matter, he'll ask to touch your hair.

• Of course you can decline and tell him no, he won't really fuss over it. He'll even apologize.

• But trust me, he's going to keep staring 😭 he thinks you're really pretty, don't worry ;)

• He won't care about your Skintone/shade, lightskin, brownskin, dark-skinned. He likes them all, I don't see Eren ever have a preference in girls in general.

• Whoever he likes, he likes.

• You guys hit it off in your freshman year.

• He'll ask a lot of questions about you and your culture and your hair

"Hey, why do you wear braids??"

"Is your hair really this long? Wow 😁"

• PLEASE LMAO, I TAKE THESE AS AN INSULT BUT I KNOW HE'S JUST HE CURIOUS 😭

• You'll have to explain to him about your hair.

• You guys most likely snapped and he sent a streak of him getting out the shower and his hair is wet.

• You'll go on about how you can't wash your hair everyday, that you have a certain wash day and his reaction is like "😲"

• Poor baby is like "woooow" and ever since then, he's been hook up to learn about your lifestyle, your family, cookouts, etc. He just wants to know you.

• He calls you pretty a lot.

• Not in a flirtatious way just because he thinks YOURE really pretttyyyy. He's just stating the obvious queen🙄❗

• He offered to go to the Beauty supply store once or twice to buy your weave/pick out the next color. Or he'll just accompany you.

• Also would pick out your next nail color, maybe hairstyle.

• He doesn't care if you wear lakefront, wigs, braids, or natural. He believes they're all beautiful. Plus he understands that our hair need protective hairstyles and can't really, yjehehejehwhww iykyk.

• During BHM, he would do the mossstt.😭

• He'll buy you food and buy you hairproducts.

• He'll constantly post about African American stories on his social media.

• Talked Armin into making a poem about discrimination and racism then made him read out loud to you in the hallway😭

• Would buy a BLM shirts for him Mikasa and Armin.

"Look y/n! We're supporting your people. Remember we're on your side. BLM!!"

• IM CRACKLING TOO MUCH LMAOOOO.

• Don't worry, he's has the right attitude but mann💀

• Depends on the type of person you are: you probably confronted them and told them to relax. Or, you dealt with it and the embarrassment 😭

• You most likely ask him for Reparations 🙄❗🤞

• He deadass would give you them.

• He'll be confused at first and probably wouldn't  even understand the word 💀

• But he'll give you money though LMAO.

This was 15 year old Eren, moving on to when he's older.

‿‿‿‿‿‿‿‿‿‿‿‿‿‿‿‿

• You guys are older. You've been introduced to the rest of his friend squad. Jean, Connie, Marco, sasha etc.

• Jean most definitely thinks you're pretty and fell for you at first sight. Eren didn't like this at all.

• Eren never really understood why he didn't like it when Jean played in your braids. Eren then started to purposely make you lay between his legs so he play with your braids before Jean could.

• They probably reacted the same as Eren about regarding your hair.

• Eren would take it upon himself to explain and even tell them about Lace fronts, sew ins, braids, etc

• He'll probably show off about  how much he knows about your hair.

• Eren would ask to help you with your hair.

• He most likely looked up YouTube videos about how to plate hair or how to deal with your hair type in general.

• You could probably teach him. He wouldn't understand the first time but with practice, he's pretty good. Not better than you though 🙄🤞❗

• Carries Hair ties, brushes and combs on him just for you.

• You also carry hair ties for him because of his long hair.

• You're the person who even puts his hair into that sexy ahh man bun🤨❗

• Most likely help you on wash day. Massages oil into your scalp.

• Supplies you with hairproducts.

• Likes it when you play in his hair. During PE, you guys would sit on the bench. Him between your thighs relaxing as you caress his hair.

• You guys look so cute and perfect while doing this. Connie and Sasha would always tease you about being Eren's gf.

• Loves your food! Like literally, he's in love with it.

• During the summertime, you invited him to a cookout. A lot of your family members stared at him but you know, they're accepting and gave him some food, chatted him with etc.

• Ever since then, he would always ask your mom to come over for dinner or save him a Plate lmao😭

• Sometimes if you were to cook, he'll be in the kitchen watching you

"Why are you watching me?"

"I wanna watch you so I can learn to cook your food and surprise you one day with it."

"Suurree but you can't out-cook me."

• He'll then smirk and accept that challenge.

‿‿‿‿‿‿‿‿‿‿‿‿‿‿‿‿

Sorry I just realized I've only been talking about yall friendly part, lemme get into more intimacy 🥲

• He always have his hands on your hips, waist or ass.

• Maybe you're cuddling in the library or something, his hands are on your ass.

• Black women naturally have curvy bodies In my opinion. And curvy can mean thick, skinny or in the middle. They're still curves.

• He loves kissing your lips. Either that or your neck.

• When you're walking together he always have his hand around your waist.

• Eren seems like the type to hug you from behind and kiss the top of your head.

• I dont think he's big on PDA but that doesn't mean he won't do it.

• You're talking to Jean? Wraps his arms around your waist from behind and places his head on your shoulder- kissing your neck.

• If you so happen to have thay dump trunk in the back, he'll always caress it, give it a pat or smack it. But in the most sly way ever.

You're in the hallway, chatting up with Jean. You guys are discussing the topics of what was recently covered in class. Jean cracks a joke about how the teacher was talking and their looks. You laugh at the small insults he was throwing at your professor. Eren recently just left his class a few doors down from where you and Jean was. He notices your long box braids from down the hall and sees a tall male walking alongside with you. Eren quickly caught up with you guys. As he walked passed you, his hands slides over and grabs a good squeeze from your ass. Naturally you wouldn't mind but for some reason you got embarrassed and flustered. Most likely it was because Jean was there. Before you could respond  and complain to him, he leans over and places his lips against yours. Obviously, you kiss him back as his free hand grabs your chin, deepening the kiss. It was passionate. The kiss was probably to make up for his sudden actions but it was also because he missed your presence and touch. The way your lips felt against his own, his hands grasping and holding your hips rolled, everything. Jean rolled his eyes,

"Okay lovebirds, I get it." You break away from Eren with a small smile. You turn towards  Jean with an apologetic look, since he did just kiss you in the middle of a conversation.

Jean nodded and said his goodbyes, he'll catch up with you another. Watching as his figured faded within the crowd, you turn towards Eren and smack his arm. He let out an "ow" in response.

"Eren, what was that for? I usually don't mind it but we were chatting."

He lets out a soft groan and buries his head into your neck. He released the grip on your rear and just lays it there as his other hand slips down and does the same. You tap his back and he raises his head from it's previous position. You give him a few quick pecks, wrapping your arms around his neck, he quickly to returns the small kissed back. You both smile at one another, letting out a small giggle.

"Its okay baby, I miss you too." You peck his cheek for the last time.

"We can walk home together after school, meet me at my last period class." 

Eren face brightens up when you say those words. Mann, this boy was in love. The bell rang and you notice all the kids scrambling to get to class. He releases his arms from you and grabs your hand as you both scurry along to your next period class.

He drops you off and waves at Armin and Marco that happens to be in your last period.

"Remember your promise y/n!!" He said as he walked off to the direction of his class.

You rolled your eyes jokingly and settled in to class.

‿‿‿‿‿‿‿‿‿‿‿‿‿‿‿‿

Okay bonus:

I feel as if Eren would talk you into making those tik toks that beautiful darkskin/brownskin woman do with makeup and their cute ass hair. Of course you'll end up doing it because he kept hyping yo ass up and wouldn't let it down.

The video actually goes viral and gets a decent 345k likes with 1.1m views. Some of the kids in school  came across the video and started chatting up with you. Even some guys you never knew before started to hit you up but Eren gets so Jealous and has you hold his hands always in the halls 😭

Okay thank you loves! Please request/suggest things for him. I don't mind doing one of these for Jean, Connie, etc. Next up are my jjk men 🤨❗

[heavensenthearty]

🔥ZK Book Recs 🌊

I have talked time and again about the many published authors whose works are inspired by Zutara (yes, the one and only Zutara) or that they have admitted to be Zutara shippers themselves. And there are even authors who aren't ATLA fans, but their works give BIG Zutara vibes (said every book blog entry titled "Book recs for ATLA fans" ever). Since all of those books are some of my faves, prompted by @that-turtleduck and @aurithearmy I decided to make this Zutara published books rec list. Let's start:

Books written by Zutara shippers:

Legacy of Orïsha trilogy by Tomi Adeyemi:

Children of Blood and Bone

Children of Virtue and Vengeance

TBA

It's the trilogy I was celebrating in this post when it was published amongst the 100 best fantasy books of all times. The worldbuilding and mythology are inspired by West African culture since the author is Nigerian-American and a public, unapologetic Zutara shipper. She has talked how she is aware people tends to call her books "Zutara Fanfiction".

She has made it very clear that she doesn't mind that they do. ☺️

Oh! And the books are already in the works for film adaptations! 😁

The Witchlands series by Susan Dennard:

0.5. Sightwitch

Truthwitch

Windwitch

Bloodwitch

Witchshadow

TBA

Is it too obvious that these were written by an ATLA fan? 😅 The magic system in the books is inspired by ATLA's bending; these are perfect for the ones who still wanted some more feminism and girls supporting girls dynamics in ATLA. The main protagonists are best friends with a sisterly bond, but one of them has a very interesting relationship with a certain scarred prince/vigilante with a treacherous sister...

And Susan Dennard approves her books to be recommended as "a romance with those Zutara feels"! ☺️

Red Queen series by Victoria Aveyard:

0.1. Queen Song

0.2. Steel Scars

Red Queen

Glass Sword

King's Cage

War Storm

Broken Throne

It's the series I'm always hyping over!! 😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍

As you can see here 😅.

As I said, “stubborn brown-skinned girl with powers and an overprotective warrior older brother who joins a resistance against a tiranic goverment in a world at war/dark-haired, golden-eyed prince with fire powers, an evil, abused sibling and an abusive parent, who then joins the resistance” dynamic.

Besides, the books have their own version of Mailee going.

I can't say for sure if Victoria Aveyard is a Zutara shipper since in all my time following her I haven't seen anything ATLA-related from her... but that trope is way too specific for it to be a coincidence 🤨🧐

Jade Fire Gold by June CL Tan

It's the book I've been talking you about, the one that's scheduled to come out next year and that is being marketed as a Zutara rewrite by the author herself.

There's little info about it so far, safe for the few updates I've been giving you. The worldbuilding is inspired by Chinese mythology for the author's heritage, the female lead looks like a cinnamon but could actually kill you, male lead is way too extra for his own good, "there's only one bed meets there's only one cave" trope, and see the recent Shipping Bingo that June CL Tan tweeted.

Looking good so far! 😉

Six of Crows duology by Leigh Bardugo:

Six of Crows

Crooked Kingdom

TBA

I know I called it a duology and then listed three installments, it's just that Leigh hasn't talked much about the third book save for some few times, and she's one of those "I'll break your heart so you don't break mine" people, so I want to be cautious about it 🥺🥺🥺

Still, I absolutely adore these books!! If you follow me, you've probably seen me reblog content about them; the main couple give me such HUGE Zutara vibes, and with reason! Leigh is a multishipper: she ships Kataang and Zutara — (which explains some disagreements I may have with her other romance plots 😒)

Special mention to: Joe Abercrombie.

He hasn't written anything ZK-like, but he has tweeted about shipping Zutara and wanting to write some Zutara fanfiction, so you might as well want to give his books a chance.

Before you go, know that I'm not done yet 👇🏽

Books not written by Zutara shippers but recommended for the Zutara shippers:

These Violent Delights by Chloe Chong

Did anybody say Mafia!Romeo and Juliet retelling set in 1920's Shanghai?

We hunt the flame by Hafsah Faizal

Enemies to lovers parallelisms are everything!! 😍😍😍

A Song of Wraiths and Ruin by Roseanne A. Brown

Also West African inspired.

Serpent & Dove by Shelby Mahurin

Just 😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍!!!!!

Special mention to: Shatter Me series by Tahereh Mafi.

Must-read for every enemies to lovers fan 😎

*tired panting*

Feels good to be a bookworm! 📚🤓

[alatismeni-theitsa]

Hi! Hope you're doing well <3 I been reading some of your posts about LO and Greek culture in general! And as a non-greek I think your culture is amazing and it should be respected as any other culture, so, I had this question a little while ago

I made a couple of characters based on greek myth creatures, and I kinda had a story for them in an ancient greek inspired world (highly inspired tbh, I think it might take place in an ancient greek ambience as well), but now I think that might be insensitive (?) I don't know how to express it, but I just want to know, would it be ok if I continue with that idea or should I scratch it?

TIIIME TO FINALLY ANSWER THIS

I am really sorry for the long wait! I was trying to think how to answer this properly and also mustering the energy for it xD I will pin it so you can find it more easily, if you come back to the blog.

For starters, you can write whatever you wish. I am hesitant to say to people “you can't write this and that” because it might make people feel estranged and uncomfortable and I believe that distance serves no real purpose. Yes, it’s likely that a xenos won’t be making the story VERY culturally accurate but if the story is 30% culturally accurate as opposed to barely 5% which we see in the popular media today, then it’s still a win. Not to mention that Greeks themselves are not 100% culturally accurate most of the time in their Greek mythology stories. This happens because 1) Americanization has hit us hard 2) They write them just for fun without bothering to research much. We are also lucky if we have a 30% accuracy in our texts most of the time.

(I love percentages if you can’t tell 😂)

You might have figured out I have the tag #writing (and perhaps also #writing advice ??) where I answer these type of questions, so visiting it might help! I'm not gonna tell you if you can write it or not - you can write whatever you like - but I would advise you to treat the Greek culture like any other real or fictional culture. Do a proper “worldbuilding”, let’s say.

THE CREATURES

As you know, some are more serious and some are more playful. They don’t easily “switch” from their behaviors so it’s best to keep a serious creature serious and a playful creature playful throughout most of the story. Some reading is needed, to figure out how the ancient Greeks saw those creatures. Because assumptions are usually not helpful. If we have no clues about their behavior, that’s free real estate I guess 😂

Now, if you are going for the “almost like Greek culture but not quite” thing, that still needs similar studying. You need to know where you are basing those creatures and how they see their world - or how the world sees them. And what elements make sense to change.

You can still not base the characters nowhere and just have a gal with snakes in her head. You can do that xD However, if you like to be more in touch with the culture you need to use some context and the “ambience” you talked about. It’s another thing to say “this gal has snakes on her head“ and another to say “this is THE Medusa“.

Some Greek culture needs to shine through. I mean, it would be great if it could shine though in general, so your references and basis to Greek mythology are better. It would be safe to assume the ancient folklore creatures have some Greek culture in them since they have Greek names, they have been written in Greek stories behaving according to the Greek societal rules and ethics, and generally being symbols in Greece until our days. And your story is about Greek mythology, so you want to emphasize the Greek aspects of your heroes and world.

THE ANCIENT GREEK INSPIRED WORLD

I don't know what research you’ve done so far but I will begin from the basics anyways. Ancient Greek ambience, as you can probably guess, is not “chitons, wine, vines and white pillars” 😂 The ambience specifically doesn’t come from the aesthetics but from the feel of it - the food, the customs, the symbols, the dances, the language interjections, the behaviors and values. Parts of the culture are also how is reverence and modesty are expressed, what makes someone present “manly“ or “feminine”. So, it’s gonna take some research.

People usually write some of the aesthetic and think they are covered, even though their worldbuilding is bad, precisely because they have only presented the very top of the iceberg. No food, no dances, no certain behaviors, nothing. You could say they are “soulless Disney remakes”. 😂 You can also do that, but you need to know how it will come out. It might be quite bland and, if I am not mistaken, you said you want to avoid that. (And I think most of Greeks would tell you that they don’t mind a Greek “soulless” remake but it would be super extra great if you put cultural elements in).

Ok, I don’t mean make it like an encyclopedia, but presenting some stuff from the culture is how you get the ambience. You might as well take a writing advice list for worlbuilding stuff you must have and see which ones you can find irl from the Greek culture.

Important! Remember that nearby cultures affect each other, so if you change one element from the Greek culture it’s likely it has to be changed in other cultures next to your area. If wearing green makes you manly in Imaginary Greece, it will also make you manly in Imaginary Turkey and Imaginary Bulgaria, let’s say. (there is no “ancient Turkey” or “ancient Bulgaria” as countries - and depending on the era, “ancient Greece” is also not a thing - but you get my point xD)

For the interpersonal relationships/interactions, you can read some ancient translated texts presenting daily life situations of the ancient Greeks (start from Googling stuff, I really don’t have sources for that xD). It’s very likely that the ancient sources won’t give you a very defined feel (try it anyways, if you like). Therefore, I suggest you see interactions of modern Greek people.

Worry not! YouTube - through me xD - has you covered! Searching the tags #greek tv #greek youtuber #greek podcast and #video. On youtube you can even find vlogs of people visiting Greece and see interactions with the locals. (If you have trouble finding them, you can send me another ask).

Similarly, it might take months to find all the Greek language interjections so you can go for modern ones. Besides, many interjections like “popoo“ are ancient. Besides, if you are not making a very “serious” story, the modern touches might help it feel more in touch with the present.

Surely, people are people everywhere and humans between countries share cultural traits, but there are some slightly more predominant stuff depending on the culture. Cultures close to each other share more traits, so, if you can’t find any Greeks around, you might be able to find our neighbors. Middle Eastern, north African, or south European people (and Hispanic/Latino Americans!) around might help to understand the dynamics between friends and family members. If you already belong to some of those cultures, congrats, you have most of the formula figured out!

I gave so much space to the interpersonal relationships because that’s gonna give you an idea where the line of “respect” is. Surely, the ancient interpersonal relationships won’t be like the modern American ones  😂 There is no way a student goes to Chiron being like “hey, man, how you doin?” Knowing how Greek teachers were, as late as the 20th century, that’s gonna earn him a slap 😂

Another thing: saying “Good morning” and “good afternoon / goodnight” when you first and last see people in the day is VERY important and the best social practice! You won’t be considered rude if you don’t say them but in a slightly formal and especially professional environment, better use them. (Other modern Europeans also consider this a good practice.)

The most ancient greeting of Greeks is “be happy” (χάιρε / χαίρετε) but health is also very important and is another old greeting. Xάιρετε is more formal in our days and Γεια/Γεια σας ("have good health”) is the most used formal and informal one. Seeing how people wish health in the middle east, it might be that the Health thing has been here for centuries. Also, if you break something or something bad happens to you, we say “health” because having your health is more important than anything else.

Fun fact, “Charon“ (Χάρων) probably means “the happy one” :P It has the same root with (χάιρε / χαίρετε).

Many other social cues can be found in the tags I mentioned, but you can send me an ask if you need to know something more specific!

As for the food, you can find ancient recipes and even use modern ones (which are usually with the same ingredients). Same goes for dances and symbols. You can google stuff about them, go on Google Scholar and search there, as well. (Also, google pages where you can download those papers for free ;) ) Please do some cross examination to make sure that this element indeed exists and it’s not just one person pulling it our of their a**. 😂

If you can’t find info, you can lean on modern symbols and dances. The dances are similar through the centuries anyways. No one is going to come for you if you say you based an element on a modern Greek thing bc the ancient one was impossible to find with the resources available to you.

I don’t have many more things to add on these cultural elements because I already have tags for the modern ones. #greek cuisine #melomakarona #greek dance #greek custom #greek tradition  etc.

And, last but not least, research the weather!! I can't stress this enough 😩 We are not a desert and we are not the Tropics. If your weather is similar to the Greek one, then your creatures most likely will need some serious covering in Autumn and Winter 😂

All in all, it’s certainly not a piece of cake to write about other countries and cultures but, if they are open to let you in, you can learn stuff and do your best depicting them. It might not be perfect (and no work is actually perfect) but it would be a step to the right direction and might encourage more writers to do the same - instead of throwing some chitons in and calling it a day xD

If you have any other questions feel free to send me another message (dm or ask). You - or anyone else - REALLY WON’T BOTHER ME if you ask me many questions on my DMs or here.