#white people will show their racism so fast

[loisfreakinglane]

so many buffyverse characters were written to be oneoffs but became vital characters for many years to come. it feels organic and helps the worldbuilding so much.

but not kendra. not kendra!!!!!!!!!! who is IMMEDIATELY so vibrant and fascinating, bubbly and headstrong and proud and judgmental, a huge bookworm who laughs about excessive footnotes, who stammers in front of boys, who loves crop tops and makeup and heavy jewelry. kendra who trades insults with buffy, then softly asks for her help. calls buffy weird for dating a vampire, mocks her for dying, then tells her she learned so much just from their short time together. kendra who was taken from her parents so young she doesn't remember them, who's never had friends, who isn't allowed to speak to boys or go to school or have a life.

of all characters who deserved to be written into the narrative, or be resurrected after they died, she makes the top of the list

[majorbaby]

it takes a conscious effort to break your patterns of consumption and unlearn the notion beauty, interiority, diverse ways of existence aren't exclusive to whiteness or maleness. part of that isn't your fault. certain music is played on the radio, certain shows survive cancellation no matter what, certain people seem to be able to commit the worst possible acts against other human beings and are excused on account of their creative genius. others are selectively punished, with good reason sure, but still, selectively.

now more than ever it's easier to immerse yourself in art made by people outside of the mainstream. reading lists, free resources, playlists... all this stuff is more accessible than ever, but you've got to make an effort to give it a try. it's black history month, the recs are pouring in, go have a look. or take a chance on something absolutely no one has recommended anywhere and if you find something you like, rec it to someone else because the likelihood is they haven't heard of it.

tracy chapman's "fast car" is one of eleven songs that appears on her self-titled debut album. can you name the second hit single from it? if you're american and you fell anywhere left of center as of the 2016 election, it should be on the tip of your tongue if you were engaged in your country's politics at the time, regardless of your level of actual investment in the system. if not, the next time you're doing a task you need both hands with, washing the dishes, having dinner, doing your makeup, put that album on.

there's a post with over 100K notes on here that i see all the time of bruce springsteen and clarence clemons kissing. there's a part of that that is immediately meaningful to many if you're lgbtq, and a part that is harder for non-black lgbtq people to feel the weight of. but it is worth trying to do and was part of the reason why they kissed so often in the first place. clarence clemons was from norfolk, virginia. he released multiple albums outside of his work with the e street band. they may not be for you, but give them a try.

give enough music, or movies, or books that aren't a part of the approved canon a try, and there's no way you won't find something you don't feel as passionate about as you do about springsteen, siken, the beatles, what have you.

james baldwin was a prolific artist. see if you can't find something of his you like more than giovanni's room.

immerse yourself in ringo sheena, who mitski cites as one of her influences.

if you have difficulty paying attention to music you don't recognize, (i get it) make a playlist that alternates tracks you know and love with brand new tracks. start small. 5 faves of all time, 5 you're going to try out. you won't like everything, but you might find yourself looking forward to 6 songs instead of 5 eventually.

for movies, pick an actor whose performance you loved in something and explore their work. last year i picked whoopi goldberg, also a prolific artist, with a vast body of work that's pretty accessible as a result of her constant, intentional effort.

if you're an artist yourself, you can only stand to improve by getting to know your fellow artists better. so expand your notion of what art is. you can do it for free in lots of cases, and you're spending that time listening to music or reading or watching movies or series anyway, what have you got to lose?

anti-racism sometimes means engaging in real-world narratives of pain endured by brown and black people. that pain permeates much of our art, but we're just as three-dimensional as everybody else, and every aspect of our experiences come through in our work. you know that already, because what else is happening when you indulge in various genres. for everything you love or enjoy, there's a brown or black person who's doing something along those lines, in many cases, those genres wouldn't exist in their current form without the influence of our communities, some more than others, depending on where you're from. you can actually keep one foot inside your comfort zone and dip your toe into something else. that choice is both a joy and a luxury.

[icystorm76]

I’m stuck in this intense cycle of “Oh my god Interview is going to be on Netflix I hope I blows up.” And “Oh my god if this show blows up then the fandom is going to get SO BAD”

I love this fandom as it is. There is some drama and discourse (looking at you Marius) but for the most people at least respect that the books and show are complicated and people can come away with different takes. There are a few bad apples but not so much that you can’t block them. People seem to respect that even if you don’t ship the same things those ships are still valid. My worst nightmare is a giant fandom and the black and white picture that comes with it.

The larger the fandom the more discourse there is and OH MAN does Interview have room for discourse. The nuance of Loustat and Loumand and Devils minion (to a lesser extent) are so important and the generally gray morality of most characters leads to a situation where things can turn very ugly very fast.

A list of my worst case scenario predictions:

- Lestat and/or Armand are deemed extremely problematic and shipping them with Louis is seen as a major red flag.

- Claudia and Madeline’s relationship is bashed, likely due to age difference.

-Armand is written off as a completely unredeemable monster (and subsequently Devils minion is written off as abusive and toxic)

- Daniel is either lauded as a perfect beacon of truth or a random old guy with very little importance or a pervert.

- FUCKING RACISM. This is my main sticking point. Large fandoms can get really fucking racist and with 3/5 main characters being POC things could get really shitty.

Those are just my worst case scenarios, but I think it’s worth thinking about. I don’t endorse gatekeeping and I absolutely love new people getting into the show (at this point I’ve forced 3 people to watch it with me), but we need to let people know that that shit, ESPECIALLY racism, sexism and homophobia is absolutely not something we will tolerate.

[salvidida]

Everything about Scar's treatment in Brotherhood sucks so bad, but there was something specific that has been bothering me for awhile. I hadn't been able to quite put my finger on what it was since watching FMAB for the first time recently (as a lifelong 03 fan). So I rewatched FMA 03 again and it finally clicked what it was that further upsets me about Brotherhood regarding Scar, besides the more obvious imperialist propaganda and racism:

The Elric's relationship to him.

Now obviously Ed's racism towards Scar in Brotherhood is pointed out frequently enough, but it doesn't stop there. It's the way that Brohood Ed is incapable and fully resistant to ever bridging that gap besides a deeply uneasy allyship-of-convenience. Al is also fully distant from Scar, besides their mutual antagonism in the earlier arc. And nothing more is really explored here between these characters.

And I didn't realize how much I valued the way 03's Scar, Ed, and Al contrast, overlap, mirror, battle, and support one another. Their fates and goals are inseparable. Alchemy's impact on the Elrics' lives is reflected with Scar's life and his brother's, as well as their familial relationship to their own brothers; many point out the similarities between 03 Scar and Al, with some noting how Ed and Scar's brother match each other. And the way the Elrics here are more able to engage with the harsh realities that inform Scar's choices and actions versus that of their place as Amestrians, and for Ed as an active member of the military who, despite wanting to cling to his principle of never taking a life, at times can see Scar's point of view and even, with reticence, sympathize with him (Al even more so).

There are layers to the relationship across these three characters. The tension and humanity that arises is a driving force in revealing the dialectics of this show. It's to the point that Al and even at times Ed defend Scar when talking with other characters towards the end of the show, and they even ultimately owe their lives to him (the philosopher stone and grand arcanum that allowed both Ed and Al to live, and for Al to regain his body). And the bond between the Elrics help Scar to forgive his brother, to speak aloud that he loves him in his final moments, before triumphantly accomplishing his goal against the Amestrian military, saving the remaining Liorans, and saving Al from becoming Kimbly's final bomb.

And there are other moments, such as Scar helping Al in Lab 5, telling him he sees his unmistakable humanity after Al helps him save Ishbalan refugees. Scar attempting to help Ed in Lab 5 after he refuses to sacrifice the prisoners for the Philosopher Stone, because he sees the humanity in Ed too, the humanity that can resist merely being a ruthless military dog and scientist. The way Scar treats Al almost like a little brother of his own, and when he mentions that Ed and his older brother share the same kind eyes- said at a time when Scar still harbours ill feelings for his brother's taboos and his sacrifice; which becomes all the more poignant when he forgives his brother before creating a Stone passed down to the Elrics. Scar mentions having sworn off specifically targetting state alchemists post-Lab 5, and this feels like his way of sparing the Elrics of his wrath, even as he holds fast to fighting against an oppressive system with necessary violence. The material here is rich for analysis and appreciation! It doesn't settle on more digestible, black-and-white character archetypes and plot conveniences.

There's a reason why the final outro for 03, where it flashes across four deceased characters who mattered to the Elrics, includes Scar. The man is in the ranks of Trisha, Nina, and Hughes! This isn't a mistake, the writers are intentionally showing the indelible impacts of these people who they cared about.

But with FMAB, it's exceptionally flat here and entirely derogatory. Ed hates Scar, and the narrative treats him as wholly right to do so. Scar needs to repent and reform to the side of his genociders, and never shall these characters interact or converse beyond putting a stop to Father. Scar was nothing more than a vehicle to reach his murdered brother's alchemic research, and an example to be made of any radical who so much as raises a finger against the State. All three of these characters want nothing to do with each other, and that's about as far as we get with them. In Scar's own words, he's nothing more than the 'ooze' (the poison) that arises from military conquest, and by the end of the show it's clear that, even with Scar saving the entire country that destroyed his life, to the Elrics, he will always be that 'ooze'.

In Brotherhood Scar committed what the Elrics clearly considers to be the ultimate sin: he killed Winry's parents, and no matter the circumstances surrounding that event, no matter what else changes, no matter which mass murderers, monsters, and genociders the Elrics can sympathize with, humanize, befriend, and forgive, Scar will never be anything more than an unforgivable murderer. The best everyone gets here is moving on and living seperate lives. Nothing more.

The fact that Ed openly wishes he could beat the shit out of Scar, he verbalizes as such while Winry patches him up and Miles lectures him about the value of reforming the military regime to include more racialized people for its imperialist complex. And the big mercy Ed in this moment offers to Scar is... Not kicking the shit out of him after all.

The juxtaposition between these adaptations, the cold hatred of FMAB versus the entangled, poetic antagonism and comradery of FMA 03 makes experiencing the former anime so depressing. Until watching Broho it never dawned on me just how much I truly appreciated the complexities between Scar and the Elrics in 03. Finding Scar's Earth counterpart at the end of Shambala wasn't just a fun cameo: it feels like a road that leads back to an ally.

At least now I have something I can more consciously enjoy whenever I revisit 03, while articulating yet another reason why I can't stand Broho.

[rjalker]

after reading Sphereland and finding out the creator of the 2007 Flatland film is a raging conservative so racist even the republicans had to dissavow his political ad, I'm no longer excited to read the Planiverse.

someone who's already read the Planiverse tell me. is it racist? because

[ID: A two panel image. Panel 1 is labeled, "Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions, 1884:, and shows a purple Square with a single eye, saying,

"I've had a lot of time to think during my seven years of imprisonment, and I no longer believe that the Circles are the perfect beings they claim to be. I think the Sphere was right when he said I should have more respect for women and lower class people. I was wrong about there only being two dimensions, and it's clear to me know that I was wrong about a lot of things, including the way my society treats minorities. Bigotry of any kind is wrong. All people are born equals, it is only arbitrary categories created and violently enforced by people in power that try to trick us into believing otherwise. But Nature and her truth will always win in the end. Bigotry and oppression are not an inevitable phenomomon, and they will be killed someday." The second panel is labeled, "Flatland adaptations and fan-sequels", and reads, in all caps:

"Racism and misogyny are awesome and cool and phrenology and eugenics are epic and just a natural part of white suprema -- I mean civilization!!! Wooohooooooo I love real world racist stereotypes isn't racism great don't you just love eugenics?!?!?!? Look how many racist stereotypes I can fit into this thing!!! Ahahahhahah!!!!" End ID.]

Edit: September 10th 2024. Well I've read it now. It's not actively racist, but it did get really boring and cowardly really fast right at the end. There's no real plot, it's all worldbuilding. The worldbuilding is good, and I would mind the lack of plot less if the author hadn't kept teasing that an actual plot would develop at some point. Also the boring cowardly boringness at the end was annoying.

but if you want ideas for 2D worldbuilding, I recommend it.

[breezybeej]

This is nuts. Avery Brooks (actor who plays Commander Sisko) directed this episode. The Abandoned, season three episode six.

It's just straight up about the way the government fueled racism in the 80s and 90s. The episode starts with a black child literally being purchased. The Federation puts an end to that "sale" and takes custody of the baby. Sisko is holding him for a time and says "he's just like my son" and this child is growing extremely fast. Sisko is watching his son grow up in front of him here. And he watches this accelerated experience of racism play out on his station. This child was born already mmmmm addicted to a drug called "ketrecel white" and the government, the federation, supplies it to the child. Once he has the drug in his system, he is more aggressive, violent, and difficult to contain. Everyone says he's just to dangerous to have around. Odo, the station's resident cop, "adopts" the boy (who doesn't ever get a name by the way), his reasoning is "my people made them this way (in the show it is genetic engineering. he is talking about the "making them born addicted to drugs" thing.) It is my responsibility to raise him and maybe teach him how to not be violent." They literally gave him white guilt. He says "What do you want more than anything? Don't think, just the very first thought in your head" Kid says "I want to know more about my people." Odo shows this child a video of his people just absolutely brutalizing starfleet personnel. He literally says "Your people" are brutal warriors, genetically predisposed to violence. we can channel all that aggression somewhere else that isn't violence So he takes him to the holodeck to let him Fight to the Death as a Sport. The drug makes him so fast and strong that he maxes out the hologram's difficulty levels. The next conversation they have, the kid keeps saying "I know you are better than me. I owe you everything." and it's like... yeah he never stood a chance. His entire situation was manufactured by generations of oppression. Eventually, he says "This shit sucks. I want to actually be with my people." and everyone says "No way. That's ridiculous." Plans have to be concocted to make that happen but eventually he does reconnect. Also, this kid's alien race is known as the most fearsome warrior race. They are known to do anything and everything to keep up their supply of white. They were definitely gesturing at the whole Superpredator legislation push. Something interesting happened when they connected Jake growing up with this alien growing up. Jake has always had his father. This kid was an orphan. He goes through the first half of the episode being passed around to different people (almost like a foster system) and he gets finally adopted by the fucking cop.

AND to have the episode end with the system having completely failed this child.

[mischievouslittlecreature]

Part 21: The Shadow of the Abattoir

Fandom: Peaky Blinders

Pairing: Tommy Shelby x OC

Summary: Arthur is missing and Luca considers just how much of a threat Thomas Shelby's little Red Demon poses.  

Word Count: 4,320

Notes: Warnings for depictions of racism towards Romani people and references to violence.

Previous Chapter • Series • Fic • Next Chapter

Chapter 8: Miscalculation

His pen scratched against the paper he was scribbling on, eyes blinking rapidly behind his glasses, battling back the strain that was settling in them from having spent so long reading paper after paper. His fingers ached from holding a pen for so long, as did his back and neck after being hunched over his desk for hours. 

The fire crackled and popped in the fireplace in front of the circular table that Lucy was seated at, hunched over her own paperwork, taking brief breaks only to puff at her cigarette or take a sip from her glass of whiskey.

When the door opened, it startled him somewhat out of the focused daze he’d been locked in while he worked, eyes snapping up irritably to glare at whoever had burst in to disturb them.

Polly pulled off her hat. She’d gotten her hair cut, shorter than Lucy's or even Lizzie’s, and styled in careful curls around her head. And some new clothes, from the look of things. She’d straightened herself out fast. Faster than he had even expected, truth be told. 

“I need to show you something,” she announced without preamble, shucking off her coat and hanging it up, stalking across the office to him. Tommy raised an eyebrow, irritability replaced by curiosity as he capped his pen. He could feel Lucy peering over at them from her spot at the table.

As if just remembering the red-head’s presence herself, Polly looked over her shoulder at her. “Both of you.”

Lucy’s eyes darted over Polly’s shoulder to meet his, wide with surprise and intrigue. He shrugged minisculely at her. Fuck if he knew what this was all about. Lucy set down her pen and got up from her chair, moving to take one of the armchairs positioned in front of his desk. Polly seated herself in the other one beside her.     

“Just after Christmas, I got this,” Polly held out a simple, white envelope to him. Tommy looked from it to her, then took the letter with a sigh, flipping open the flap of the already torn envelope and pulling out the folded paper inside. He recognized the handwriting within immediately. The same handwriting that had been scrawled alongside the black hand he’d received in the mail on Christmas Eve. He read over the contents twice, then passed it over to Lucy, fixing his gaze on Polly and wetting his lips. 

“I take it by you showing me this, that you aren’t going to give me up?”

Polly cocked her head, a very small glimmer of amusement finding its way into her eyes. “I thought about it,” she admitted. “But no.” 

“Not even in exchange for him sparing Michael’s life?” Tommy asked, parroting what he’d just read in Luca’s letter.

“I don’t trust him to keep his word,” Polly said simply. Tommy nodded, ignoring the slight twinge of hurt that followed her words. Lucy handed the letter back to him, hand raising to settle on her face as she thought, her eyes focused on the window, but not really seeing it, her mind somewhere far away. Tommy set the letter down in front of him. Now that he’d heard Luca speak, he could hear his voice echoing in the twisting words scrawled out onto the paper.

“I was just going to leave it unanswered…” Polly started, then shrugged. “But I wanted to know what you thought.”

He again raised an eyebrow. Apparently she had really meant it when she had promised him her help once more. Looking back at Lucy, he found that her eyes had moved to fix on him. The beginnings of an idea had started to formulate in his head, and he pushed it towards her, seeking her input. She cocked her head, thinking it over. 

“I’ll be coming with you.”

He opened his mouth to argue, protectiveness flaring within him at the idea of placing her in harm’s way. But Lucy narrowed her eyes at him stubbornly, jaw setting in a way that he knew meant he would have better luck picking up a mountain and moving it than getting her to change her mind. He sighed.

“Fine.”

“What are you two talking about?” Polly asked, perturbed, watching the two of them have their half silent conversation with her lips pursed. Tommy turned his gaze back onto her. 

“You’re going to give me up.”

Polly, who had lit one of her clove cigarettes while he was conversing with Lucy, frowned. “Are you sure?”

He nodded. “We set up a spot and a date. We can scope it out and store weapons there ahead of time.”

“I think I can get our hands on some machine guns, maybe,” Lucy chimed in. 

“When Luca comes for me with his men, Lucy and I will dispatch them.”

“How do you know Luca himself will come?”

“He’ll want to pull the trigger on me himself.”

Polly considered this. “Arthur wants to be the one to kill Luca.”

Tommy sighed, thinking of the bullet Arthur had scratched Luca’s name into. “I think that this situation is dire enough that we can dispose of tradition.” It may hurt Arthur, but it was the truth; if anyone got a shot at Luca, they needed to take it.  

“He won’t like that.”

“He’ll like it less if Tommy is dead,” Lucy pointed out. 

“I’ll bring it up at the meeting tomorrow. We can take a vote,” Tommy pulled off his glasses to rub at his eyes. “Maybe we can get him to see reason on it.”

Lucy nodded. Polly cocked her head, but didn’t say anything for a moment, turning her black cigarette over and over between her fingers. “I’ll write Luca a response and post it today requesting that we meet.”

Tommy tensed. “If you do that, he could lure you into a trap–”

Polly waved away his concerns. “I’ll request a public place. Besides,” she eyed the letter sitting on the desk. “I think he’s genuine.”

Anxiety built up in his throat, lodging in there stubbornly like a rock. Losing John had already been too powerful of a blow. He didn’t know if he could take losing anymore of them. But Polly’s eyes were steadfast and just as stubborn as Lucy’s had been a moment ago. There would be no moving her on this.  

“Right,” his thumbs twiddled against each other. “We’ll iron out the details later. For now, just establish contact with him.”

Polly nodded. He turned back to Lucy. “Any progress with the cousin?”

“Nothing solid yet. I think he’s still staying in Birmingham. Maybe he’s with Luca. Maybe not. Our boys are still looking,” she hesitated, clearly thinking something over. “Are we sure that there’s only fifteen of them?”

He looked up at her sharply. “What do you mean?”

“Luca may have brought fifteen men with him from America, but that’s not counting anyone that Sabini may have loaned out to him. Or any of the people who have remained sympathetic to the Changrettas, or who live in their former territories or in other parts of Birmingham. Not to mention the people here who simply hate us enough to potentially side with Luca instead of us.”

Tommy massaged at his brow, closing his eyes. She was right. They needed to assume that Luca had more men than the fifteen they’d been accounting for. 

“The longer he’s here, the more power he’s likely to accumulate,” Polly agreed. Tommy groaned, and fought back the temptation to just rest his forehead against the cool wood of his desk and cease functioning for the remainder of the day. 

“Why is it whenever you two agree, it’s on something that’s bound to give me a headache?” he asked. Lucy chuckled, and when he cracked his eyes open, it was to see her standing, reaching across the desk to give him a pat on the shoulder. “Look into it.”

“Yes, boss,” she gave him one of those two-finger salutes that made him fondly roll his eyes, returning to her papers at the circular table in front of the fireplace. When he looked back at Polly, he could have sworn he saw a glimmer of amusement in her eyes. 

Hm. Perhaps Lucy’s charms had finally started to wear away at her a little, after all. 

“So we have a plan?” Polly asked, looking at him assessingly. He nodded, ignoring the way that his stomach twisted with fear for all those he held dear. 

“Yes, we have a plan.”  

∗ ∗ ∗

They were the first ones to show up at the hospital. That was to be expected, of course, considering they were early.

“Hello, Michael,” Lucy greeted him where he was sitting at the round table in the middle of the hospital room, dressed in pajamas and a robe. “You’re looking better.”

He gave her a grimace of a smile. “Morphine does wonders.”

Tommy set down his briefcase, clicking it open and handing papers to Michael, spreading others out onto the table. Lucy removed her coat and the suit jacket layered underneath, stretching her arms before sitting down in the chair Tommy had already picked for himself. There was a peculiar scent in the air: a rich, overwhelming perfume that was certainly a scent Polly would never choose to wear on herself. Nor Ada or even Lizzie. 

She shot Tommy a knowing look which he returned, though neither of them commented on it.    

Tommy pulled off his coat and suit jacket, leaving him in just his waistcoat and white button down shirt, pulling his glasses from their case and setting them upon his nose. He pulled out his cigarette case, offering her one, then taking another for himself.

“They’re late,” Lucy commented, checking her watch after the three of them had sat in growingly uncomfortable silence for several minutes. 

“They’ll be here soon,” Michael said placatingly. Lucy fought back the urge to grind her teeth. Lack of punctuality had always annoyed her. 

A good five more minutes ticked by, and she was half considering suggesting to Tommy that they just start going over things with Michael and catch Polly, Ada, and Lizzie up on everything later, when she heard the click of heels approaching from down the hall. 

The three girls entered the room, disposing of their coats and taking their seats at the table. Polly grumbled out an apology for being late, setting a bouquet of flowers on Michael’s hospital bed. Lucy shared a greeting nod and smile towards both Ada and Lizzie from across the table while they sat down and Tommy stood. When he asked where Arthur was, Polly snapped at him. 

“Let’s just start. We can catch him up on everything later,” Lucy suggested. Tommy nodded in agreement, beginning to pass out papers to everyone. He verbally checked things off the list he kept in his head as they moved through them: reinstating Polly as company treasurer, and passing Michael’s duties to Ada while he was still in the hospital. Once those were both done declared the meeting of Shelby Company Limited over, and then they moved on to the real business. 

“But for that, we need Arthur,” Tommy’s jaw ticked as he looked around the room. “Where the fuck is Arthur?”

An odd look passed across Polly’s eyes as she watched him. Lucy cocked her head, but decided that it would be better not to comment on it. Instead, she offered a cigarette to Lizzie before leaning back in her chair with a deep sigh. Beneath the table, Tommy’s leg pressed against hers. 

“We’ll wait, for a little while,” he decided, and they all started to get more comfortable. Polly stood from her chair, prowling around the hospital room like a caged tiger. 

“So, who was doing my job while I was away?” she asked, filling the deep silence that had settled throughout the room. 

“Lizzie and I shared your duties,” Lucy explained. 

Polly nodded, continuing to pace about the room, her heels clicking across the floor. Lucy sighed, staring up at the ceiling. Normally the sound of heels didn’t bother her, but she had a headache and was tired. She’d rather this meeting just ended as soon as possible.  

Ada, Lizzie, and Michael all made small talk while Polly continued to flit about. Lucy listened quietly to the conversation, interjecting a reply or comment every once in a while, but mostly she remained silent. She wasn’t in the mood for much conversation at the moment. Beside her, she could sense Tommy growing more anxious and irritable with every passing second that Arthur didn’t walk through the doors. He was fidgeting with his cigarette, twitching in his seat. 

“Do you want me to go find him?” she offered, aware that his mind was likely already filled with horrid visions of what could have happened to make Arthur nearly an hour late to a meeting. 

“No,” he said softly, and she internally heaved a great, fond but exasperated sigh at his overprotectiveness. They were going to have to have a talk about that, and soon. It might even turn into an argument. But he needed to be using her more strategically. Keeping her at his side at all times limited just what kind of damage she could be causing to Luca’s forces. 

But in front of a good share of the family was not the place for such a discussion, so she held her tongue. 

Tommy looked at his watch, again, and she could practically feel it as his worry and irritation finally hit its breaking point and his temper snapped. 

“All right. He’s an hour late. Fuck him,” he stood from his chair, and began to explain the business in which they needed to vote on. Polly opened a briefcase, and began passing around copies of the photograph from Alessio Changretta’s wedding, including an enlarged one of Luca. Lucy looked over the copy Polly had handed to her carefully. She’d stared at the copy Isiah had given her already for more minutes than she’d care to count, committing every face from the picture to memory. Should she cross paths with any of them, she would know immediately. 

At Polly’s verbalization of the proposal that they give a copy of the photo to Aberama, Ada looked up sharply, already understanding what they were getting at. She started to argue that they needed to wait for Arthur, before offering his job of killing Luca away to someone else, but Polly dismissed her worries. 

“We need Luca Changretta dead. That’s it,” Tommy concurred.

“Lucy?” Lizzie asked. “What do you think?”

She shifted in her seat, fumbling with her cigarette. The sterilized scent of the hospital room was making her headache worse. “I think that if anyone gets a shot at Luca, they should take it. We can’t afford anyone hesitating in the name of tradition.”

Tommy called for a vote, including a promise that he would personally deal with Arthur. Lucy raised her hand in favor. Everyone–even Ada, after a brief hesitation–followed suit. Tommy declared the motion carried, and Lucy rose from her seat, setting about helping to pack up their things.  

Polly threw a small fit over Michael’s mother having come to visit him before they’d all arrived, storming out with the other girls in tow. Tommy sighed, looking like he either wanted to scream or take a very long nap in a nice, quiet place. Lucy shot him a sympathetic look, tugging lightly on his arm.

“Come on. Good to see you’re feeling better, Michael,” she added. Michael nodded at her silently, eyes tired.

Briefcase in hand, Tommy let her pull him from the room and down the hall. She let out a deep, relieved sigh once they were out of the hospital and in the fresh air–or as fresh as the air could possibly be in Birmingham. 

“You all right?” he asked, taking note of her closed eyes and upturned face. 

“Mhm. The smell of disinfectant was giving me a headache.”

He touched her arm in sympathy, looking around the street worriedly, paranoia etched into his face. He did that a lot more, these days, scanning rooms the second they’d entered them, head on a swivel as they walked down the smoky streets. 

She supposed that they both did, actually. 

Worry was revealing itself in the crease between his brows and the clench in his jaw, and she knew that behind his eyelids, he probably was having horrid visions: Arthur, dead in the gutter, Arthur, strung up like a piece of meat in the back of a warehouse, Arthur, cut into so many little pieces that they’d never find all of them. 

It hadn’t been all that long since they’d seen him; at the factory, selecting men who were willing to work and keep things running despite the strike that had been called. 

Lucy had stood at Tommy’s side as she watched the scabs filter into the factory. They were hungry men, many of them inexperienced, but they would have to take who they could find until the strike was over.

But things could happen fast, in situations like these. 

“Let’s go to the office,” she suggested. “Maybe he just lost track of time. Or got held up at home.”

Tommy’s fingers tightened around his briefcase, and while the worry didn’t leave his face, he nodded, taking her hand with his free one, and walking side by side with her in the direction of the betting shop.  

∗ ∗ ∗ 

Luca stared down at the papers spread out across his desk, fiddling with the matchstick between his teeth. He examined, briefly, two photographs, side by side. One of Thomas Shelby from his days spent during the war, the other a photograph of the whole family, taken at the opening of an orphanage in honor of Shelby’s late wife. 

He shuffled through the pictures on his desk until he found the one of Grace Burgess. A beautiful woman with wavy blonde hair, intelligent eyes staring back at him in the photograph. 

Such a shame, what had happened to her. Though, if they had not gone after Angel, she would still be alive today. 

Amazing, how Shelby seemed to play so carelessly with the lives of those closest to him. Had he kept his family close, it would have been harder for them to have gotten the second youngest brother as easily as they did. 

“What about her?” Matteo asked, seated on the other side of the desk from him, fiddling with a little, rectangular photograph. He slid it across the desk towards Luca, and he picked it up, looking down at the image of a woman who could be only a year or two younger than Shelby, the fair skin of her cheeks and nose dusted with freckles, her cheekbones lightly prominent. She had full, naturally pouty lips, and wide eyes that were just a little too large to be in proper proportion to the rest of her face. But she was pretty. Almost doll-like. Her hair was sheared off at the chin, falling in tousled, barely tamed loose curls around her face. 

The expression with which she met the camera was serious, but there was a sparkle of something–be it madness or simple mischievousness, it was hard to discern–in her eyes.

Luca’s teeth scraped against the matchstick, gnawing it slightly as he considered the image of Lucy Winters before him. He knew, from having seen her in person, that those eyes were a dark forest green. Her hair, a deep, rich, dark auburn. And she was tiny. Laughably so, for someone who was supposed to be so terrifying. The top of her head would probably barely come up to his shoulder, and he was pretty sure that if he wanted to, he could lift her up with one arm. 

She’d looked at him from across the long table in the room where he’d confronted Shelby with the expression of someone gathering information from every twitch, every little glance or stutter of speech. She was smart, of that he was sure. She likely wouldn’t have managed to claw her way so high up in the Shelby’s organization if she wasn’t. 

Even if she was also fucking the boss. 

“I keep hearing rumors about her, Luca. On the streets. From our informants. From the people we’ve talked to who hate the Shelbys almost as much as we do. They all say similar things about her. Should we be worried?”   

Luca turned the photograph over in his hand thoughtfully. Thomas Shelby’s Whore, that was what his mother had called her. His concubine. The Red Demon. She said that Winters had been working for Shelby since before his late wife had been in the picture, and that rumors about their relationship had been rampant. Shelby’s attachment towards the red-head had not diminished, even after his marriage. The woman even fucking lived with him and his wife in their big fucking mansion in Warwickshire. So either his wife was in on the affair–some of them were into that kind of thing, after all, and who knows with these Romani and their strange customs–or she was dumber than a bag of rocks. 

After Grace Shelby’s death, Winters had continued to remain at Shelby’s side. Comforting him in his time of grief. His mother had spoken with disdain and disgust of the whole arrangement. The words husband stealer and slut were both used quite liberally in all her assessments of the little red head. 

Murderer, bitch, assassin, spy, and dangerous had all been included in the mix as well. His mother had been insistent: Lucy Winters must be one of the first in Shelby’s organization to die. 

“If Thomas Shelby is killed, she will come after you. And she will bring all of hell with her, Luca, mark my words. She will never stop. You have to get her first,” his mother’s lips had curled into a cruel smile, then. “It’ll hurt him more, too. To hold the body of another woman he loves while she dies in his arms.”

Luca had taken her seriously, at first. Of course, Thomas Shelby’s assassin needed to be dealt with. But then he had seen her, sitting there in the office. She’d been caught unawares by him just as her lover had been.

Yes, he was sure that his mother’s stories of her being a good shot with a revolver and particularly fond of castrating rapists were both true, but he was beginning to suspect that the other stories, the ones of her slaughtering a group of men in a pub or murdering her own brother in her family’s home in London, were all just tall tales. Likely spread by Shelby himself to ensure that no man was stupid enough to try to lay a hand on his woman. 

No, he was not worried about the tiny little girl playing gangster because her lover let her. Yes, he would ensure she was dead before the vendetta was done. That was a certainty. But it would be to punish Shelby. To force him to confront the pain of having everyone and everything he’d ever cared for ripped away. Not because he saw her to be a legitimate threat that ought to be feared. 

What was there to be afraid of, really? She was so small he doubted she would be able to hold her own against even just two of his men. 

Not listening to his mother was not something he made a habit out of. Since she had come to him in New York, eyes red and swollen from crying, but mouth set with quiet wrath, he had listened to everything she had said. Every morsel of information she had on the Shelbys was invaluable in planning the vendetta. In ensuring victory against the Peaky Blinders scum who thought themselves grand enough to take both his father and brother away from him. 

But not every scrap of information she had given him may be correct, and he had to adjust when necessary. He had evaluated the red-headed girl. Looked her in the eye and saw nothing that indicated the promise of violence and death that his mother had warned him of. And she had admitted herself to him that she had not once seen any physical evidence of the Red Demon’s rumored ferocious violence herself. Only heard of it through secondhand stories and rumors. And Luca was not about to lose resources or spend precious time being paranoid over what he had known from the moment he made eye contact with Lucy Winters were just tall tales.  

She would not be a problem. His men would deal with her easily. Fucking hell, she and Shelby had both allowed an unknown man to sneak into their office and unload their weapons without their knowledge. That they’d left their guns hanging out in the open like that at all was a sign of either great stupidity or colossal arrogance. Like a dog who had grown too fat, lazy, and comfortable that it rolled over to show its belly to all who approached it. Not taking the time to carefully scent their hands to tell if they were friend or foe before revealing the weakest part of itself.   

It showed just how weak and unprepared they were to face an organization as well-oiled and ruthless as he and his men. They would make quick work out of them. And, if Winters surprised him and turned out to be more than she initially appeared, he could always just deal with her himself.  

“Luca?” Matteo pressed, still waiting for an answer. Luca raised his eyes to him, lips pulling back to reveal his teeth, matchstick still gritted between them, in a smile. 

“Don’t worry about her, Matteo,” he took one last look at the picture, then tossed it aside to settle on the far right edge of the desk, unworriedly. “Don’t worry about her at all.”

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Thank you for reading! Please consider leaving a comment, reblog, or like. I always appreciate feedback and love getting the opportunity to interact with you and hear your thoughts!

[educatingmerlin]

Hi and thank you if you answer this one!

Is it just me or does any content with Gwen/Elyan/both of them gets so much less attention from fandom?

ArWen is much less popular than Merthur, despite it being canon. As an artist, who loves drawing Gwen, it's sad to say that Gwen/ArWen arts don't get as much likes and reblogs than Merlin/Arthur. I don't even want to start on Elyan.

And I wanted to know what if it's about art quality? I tried many different stuff with Gwen. Fast and lively sketches, full rendered arts I spent hours and hours of my life, etc etc. Many experimental things to see if there's any difference. But a simple sketch with Merthur gets much more attention in just minutes :/

I can't understand if that's racism towards the character? Or people in fandom just generally love gay characters, absolutely ignoring one of the main characters who IS a female? ://

It really is frustrating to see. As an artist I, of course, love attention (there aren't much who doesn't). But I also don't want to be stuck drawing two same white dudes just to get more likes&reblogs, considering that I myself AM NOT a white man and I do want more diversity in art.

And there's this dilemma in what should I draw to satisfy fandom's needs or should I draw for myself only and suffer from no attention

Thank you for your submission and for sharing your experience.

I am sorry that you have had to go through this, especially with working countless hours making artwork only for it to go unappreciated.

First of all, it is important to know that this is not due to you personally or the quality of your artwork, but it is an issue with the fandom and how they interact with certain content. So please do not blame yourself!

What you have said is right. The fandom is largely dominated by fans of the white characters or non-canon ships (who are mostly white themselves). Whilst there are fans of Arwen/Gwen/Elyan, there are not nearly as many fans for characters such as Merlin, Arthur or Morgana.

Of course the racism has affected the situation too.

It is likely a mix of both things. As there are more fans for the white characters, they are only interested in seeing content of the people they love. This is not a bad thing, but it does impact the way they interact with content. And with racism they usually do not want to see any content of the Black characters.

With the fandom being majority Merlin/Arthur/Merthur fans it is pretty easy for them to gain a lot of interactions with their content and it has often led to certain posts becoming viral (or at least semi viral with thousands and thousands of reblogs).

It is a really difficult situation to be in when you are constantly trying to get your work out there and appreciated. The fandom needs to be a lot more welcoming to content which celebrates a wider part of the show and the characters.

I have a post about this planned which I will share soon but I am striving to do this within this page. It is so important to support creators and artists of color in the Merlin fandom.

For now, there are a few things that I would suggest:

Try to follow and interact with artists who also focus on Gwen/Elyan. Finding a circle where you are on the same page as other fans may be helpful in building up your page and interactions.

No doubt you are doing this already but make sure that you are tagging correctly. For example on Gwen artwork, do not solely tag Gwen related things. Often the hashtags for Black Merlin characters get bombarded with non-Gwen related posts. Many fans follow Gwen tags to see Gwen content but end up unfollowing as posts about her are usually lost in a sea of white Merlin characters.

Make sure you are on different social media platforms. I have spoken about this before but on each site, the fandom is different. One site may be more welcoming and supportive of your artwork than another.

I know this is difficult as this is something which is out of our control and we have to rely on others to support us. It would not surprise me if you have already tried these things, but if you have not, I hope that they do help.

I also hope that other artists share their own tips about this!

My future post will be asking artists what this page can do to help other artists (of color) in supporting them so please look out for it or feel free to submit something here.

[intheholler]

reading an article for a class (appalachian studies) and i kept being reminded of u

https://www.guernicamag.com/lost-in-a-misgendered-appalachia/

[positive] [with no foul intent] [its a good article]

i have read this article a few times since you sent it in and i still don't exactly know how to express my thoughts on it.

first: amen

second: yall literally have no idea how it makes me feel when you say somethin appalachian-related reminded yall of me. for real <3333

third: time to get long winded and sentimental, because i've never considered it this way, but it's so true. when i think of appalachia, i dont think about lifted trucks and gun shows.

i think about my badass grandma who was a fiery divorced, sex-positive, weed smoking, unapologetic feminist in her day and who didn't take no shit from no mountain men.

i think about my gospel loving, soft spoken mama who loudly loved jesus, a woman anyone would write off as an average "southern christian white lady" on the surface. how she didn't bat an eye when i nervously told her i was gay as a preteen. i think about how she hugged me and told me how much she loved me, how not everyone was gonna be nice about it or understand but that i was going to be safe and it was gonna be okay. how when i was a kid she stood up to that fire n brimstone southern baptist preacher and got us the fuck out of there.

i think about one of my best friends in high school, a visibly queer butch lesbian in our tiny bible beating western NC town. how fucking brave and cool she was for being one of maybe three "out" queers at school and so visibly queer at that. i think about how she got married to a pretty girl last year in that same town.

i think about two of my close friends who had to grow up so heartbreakingly fast, a pair of sisters who were at the time so young but selflessly spent their free time caring for their terminally ill mother by themselves up in their lonely holler without ever lodging a complaint

i think about my sister who dropped everything to raise me when she was only 23, breaking her back and making shit work because no one else was gonna make it work for us. i think about how one of my great aunts literally cleaned out her bedroom to furnish mine when she learned i was sleepin on a shitty couch in a cold basement.

i think about my other great aunt who apologizes for absolutely no part of who she was and holds fast to her beliefs no matter what. i think about her filling her house with the warm smell of soup beans and biscuits that were gonna feed the whole family when they come later.

when i think about appalachia, i think about the women in my life. appalachia is divine and it is absolutely divinely feminine. it's the heart of these hills and patriarchy taints it like it does everything fuckin else.

as an aside, i really loved this section here. it was kind of empowering:

Despite our region’s diversity and passionate socialist and pro-union roots, many have bought into the capitalist terms and definitions inflicted upon us. The religiosity of the place exacerbates this messaging, and the prevalence of evangelical Christianity in rural hollers means we often internalize toxic ideas about ourselves. Or perhaps we have simply tired of fighting to be seen. The pressure of religious and economic patriarchy, particularly in an exploited region like this one, means we live inside a perpetually loaded question. Nothing is more exhausting than trying to prove you exist. But the consequences of surrendering are stark: worsening wealth gaps, lost histories, continued erasures of diverse people and ecosystems. To live in Appalachia nowadays is to live with our failure to break down systemic racism, and with our complicity in the abuse of our bodies, labor, and land by unregulated corporations and himbo charlatans.

whew, okay. anyway, thanks for sending this in <33 it really made me think. yall should check it out. it's a long read but its worth every syllable!

[sailorplutoirl]

Hey I’m SailorPlutoIRL and this is my tumblr! I’m 21, very into Mlp, all generations EXCEPT g5 (I’m sorry maybe one day), Twisted Wonderland (I don’t actually play the game because Disney is a wanker for supporting the bad state) and Magical Girls! I also do make art and would appreciate it if it were reblogged!

DNI if you..

-Believe "Blackwashing" is real. Sometimes, a character is just gonna be Black today. Cry about it you poser.

-Are Gender Critical or a TERF. If you are Trans you are safe around me and if you don't respect Trans people you're not safe or welcome here.

-If you don't respect the LGBTQ+ community

-Are a proshipper

-Complain about poc complaining about representation.

-Are a MAP

-You support Israel in any way. You won't be received well here and I don't have time for ignorance.

-If you think we are past things like Racism or Sexism or Ableism.

-If you are a self-identified Hotep

-Like, create, or fw NFTs or AI art

-If you like Vivziepop. I have a weird relationship with the series where I tolerate it but I don't like it. I like it when people redesign it like when artists of color do it and breathe more life into it than Vivziepop. Also if you are a White Hellaverse fan I might not trust you.

-Like Southpark

-Don't question the writing of rwby or high guardian Spice and the staff of those shows in a leftist way.

-Support Yana Toboso. That woman is not my god.

-FW Rollo Flamme. Fuck that cracker

If I find out you are any of these things, I will block you SO fast. If anyone I'm following is like any of the ways described above, please lmk and I will block accordingly

[jennycalendar]

your tags on that fandom post got me thinking of how... defensive fandom is of the status quo kinda? like I'm white so this might come off like I'm absolving myself which I'm not, but so often I see "fandom is a queer run space that fixes canon! buuuut we're going to focus on the white men because they're the only ones with depth :) and we're going to make actually good female characters cookie cutter. and we're going to ignore black men and especially black women. but queer run safe space!!"

the minute i got this ask i knew i had to wait until i was at home with my laptop because my fingers cannot fly as fast on my phone as they can on the computer keys. this is literally so much of what is happening in the buffy fandom. the whole thing is built on intrinsic systemic racism n misogyny that's reinforced within the show and that many in the fandom do not critically engage with in the slightest. it is absolutely objectively insane to me that i can make a post going, for example, "hey, isn't it fucked up as hell that the show treats the romani people as evil for wanting angel to suffer?" and then people will come into my inbox or land in my reblogs and go "well, actually, the show treats the romani people as shortsighted and bad at long-term planning, and i choose to read them that way too :)" and fully not see that there is a hell of a problem with THAT statement as well (real thing that happened). OR that kennedy hate is still hugely in vogue because she's mean and bratty and terrible and doesn't know her place!!! OR kendra's death & how easily she is forgotten by the fandom!!!!! OR the entire trend of handing buffy to a person's favorite character like a little trophy they've earned for being tortured and sad, reducing her to a facet of a romantic relationship & implying that this is what she needs to feel and be complete!

OR OH MY GOD THE ENTIRETY OF EVERYTHING SURROUNDING SPIKE. where do i even start with spike. completely serious, i am honestly endlessly impressed by the people who can still handle being fans of spike, because being a fan of spike means having to wade through 20 million fics where That Bitch Buffy must be narratively punished for abusing poor baby spike who only ever wanted to love her and was totally out of character every time he hurt her (and also drusilla is a vapid whore who didn't love spike, ever.) like i am not at this point in time always strong enough to engage with spike content simply because there is so much spike content that is SOAKED in violent misogyny repackaged as Deep, Torrid Romance. it's exhausting to try and find the good stuff when sometimes even the good stuff will throw you a curveball in chapter five or shy uncomfortably away from the racist realities of spike's character. the fact that robin wood has been hated for so long because he had the Nerve and the Audacity to want retribution for his mom, and that he is framed as in the wrong for wanting that, is in and of itself so fucking upsetting to me.

AN Y WAY. i agree with you. and i get what you're saying. i think an awareness of the pattern and a willingness to feel uncomfortable within your own mistakes is always a good place to start. i try so hard never to dig my heels in if i can avoid it.

[silvermags]

RWBY Reaction Part 1

So! Storytime: When the RT shutdown was announced, I was of course very sad, but I also got anxious, because a very dear friend of mine, @ajelementus had previously expressed the desire to watch RWBY with me, and at the announcement I was worried that we would not be able to, since at the time we didn't know if RWBY would be coming back. So, we found a time, and we marathoned all the way through RWBY over the course of about four days, finishing just ahead of the website deletion. I spent the whole time writing down our reactions, and now, in honor of RWBY being so back (!) I'm releasing them. This will be part 1, covering volumes 1-6. I'll do a second post later with V7-Beyond, and maybe I'll even release the RWBYxJustice League reactions too!

Actual reactions under the cut. Important note, I had already watched RWBY before, but AJ never had. My reactions will be black, AJ's green, quotes from the show in bolded red, and any other notes in purple italics. With that, let's get to it!

-AJ twigged to Ruby's reference fast.

-I forgot how much of a piece of work Weiss is.

-“No one will know we're working together” “Sweetheart, everyone knows you're working together.”

-“I drink milk” “There we go.”

-”I'm pretty sure they'd actually intervene.”   “Let's hope.”

-”YoU wiLL bE fAlLiNg”

-AJ’s current favorites:  Ruby and Jaune, but "Ren and Nora's dynamic is fun."

-About Pyrrha:  “Good shot.”

-Ruby Weiss partnership “Mwahaha.”  “Seems fitting.”

-“Attacked out of turn”  I forgot about that.  Man Weiss was sheltered.

-Yang watching Ruby “You and I know what that was.”  “My baby sister’s doing it!”

-”Why would you ask if they’ve been discriminated against?  It's like asking if anyone's experienced racism!”

-This is pretty humiliating for Cardin, Jaune's not even trained and he's holding his own better than him.

-I love Penny 

-”Wait, you weren't supposed to know she's a faunus yet.” “I'm not?  But her last name, it makes sense she's part beast.”

-”I like Blake's music.”

-Before docks fight “I can't wait to see what Penny does because I know she's gonna be OP.” 

-After: “I was right.”

-”Is she an android?” “You keep figuring things out way faster than you should.”

-“There's plenty of fish in the sea.” In unison: “Hint.  Hint.”  “He'll get a clue eventually.”

-“I've made friends that will last a lifetime.” Me internally:  aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

-AJ’s favorites as of the dance:  Blake and Pyrrha.

-”She's gonna lose because of the shoes, isn't she?”

-About the white fang “They are very bad shots.” “Although I suppose if they did hit we might not notice because of aura.”  “True.”

-“this doesn't make sense.”  Three seconds later “this doesn't make sense!”

-Blake kicks Torchwick’s head.  “Good shot.”  “He deserves that.”

-During the V2 finale “I don't trust them [Atlas] one bit.  They're gonna be the enemy, mark my words.”

-”I feel like there's something about the Grimm we're missing.”

-”I don't trust him.”  Ironwood “You have to trust me.” “I don't!”

-”The Amity colosseum flies.”  “Until it falls.  That's how it usually goes.”

-“I don't know who to trust.  These people are either evil or really bad at not being ominous.”

-”Silver, why are they being so stupid.”  

-”I don't want her to change. They're cute.  Don't ruin it.  Aaaaa!”

-“Wait, is this a show where people die?” (I laughed so hard at this.)

-We had to skip over Penny's death.  I told her what happened, but it was too much.

-“Grimm attack incoming” “Oh good, everyone's feeling super emotionally stable right now.”

-”They do not have enough airships for the evacuation.” 

-How did they get the Grimm on the airships?

-”Roman is way too casual to be participating in total civilizational collapse.”  “I get the feeling he doesn't know the big picture.  Then again, he's participating.”

-”Aha, they [the robots] ARE the problem.  Just not the way I thought.  Go Ruby go!”

-When the dragon emerged “That's great.”  (The most sarcastic I have ever heard her.)

-AJ’s least favorite character as of v3e11: Mercury.

-“Lie, steal, cheat, and survi-” “Well that was unexpected.  It was so random!”

-about Adam: “creep”

-”Well we're just dropping like flies.”

-AJ is doubtful that Oz is dead.

-In the tiniest voice I've ever heard from her:  “Pyrrha.”

-Wow that animation jump is bigger than I remembered.

-”I'm glad Ruby teamed up with Team Juniper.”

-Ooh boy, here she comes.

-I don't know what's wrong with Tyrian,  but it is not a small thing.

-Seriously, what is Oscar doing?  And why? 

-“I don't think that's gonna work.”  “big mistake.”

-“Right, then I will” Run for it.

-I forgot how great this music is.

-Me @ Jacques Schnee:  Blech.

-AJ about ironwood:  “I like him now, I was wrong, but I was right about the robots!”

-I reiterate:  whatever is wrong with Tyrian is not a small thing.

-Jacques is a terrible person.

-”Weiss needs to go to Ironwood.”

-As of now, Jacques is riding in AJ’s least favorite list, along with Tyrian.  Favorites are Jaune and Ruby again.

-”Qrow and Tyrian fight is cool.”

-”It's the shire moment.  [For Oscar]”

-Baby Ren is adorable and this episode tears my heartstrings.

-AJ doesn't think that the flashback in Kuroyuri has the characters' accents matching Ren.

-Poor baby Nora

-“You didn't drag us along, you gave us the courage to follow you.” “I knew I'd like this guy.”

-I'm literally crying, I forgot how much Ren losing his parents hurt.

-I hate the nuckelavee so, so much.  It makes the WORST sounds.

-“Go Nora!  Only close one of your boyfriend's hands around his ancestral weapon so he doesn't cut himself!”

-Weiss escapes:  “finally!”

-Watts really did just put his feet on the table, didn't he.

-AJ thinks Shay’s name is great.  I think he's a sleazeball.

-You startled my dog, Mr. Pilot man.

-Oscar's switch is creepy.

-AJ agrees with Nora.  

-I think Weiss would literally rather die than go back to Jacques, which is fair and valid.

-Oscar has jumped to AJ’s favorite.

-I love the old West music they keep giving Yang.  On a related note, AJ burst out laughing when Shay said he's dead.

-“I've known that Vernal is spring since the first time we saw her.”  (Me internally:  are you sure?)

-Qrow's list.  “That's not a good sign.”

-Raven’s voice is really nasal.

-I cannot believe a nomadic bandit tribe is hauling around all this crap.

-“Raven is a nosey spy.”

-“There's revelations left and right.”

-It's strange and amazing seeing Weiss defend Blake.

-“Someone didn't have her aura up and got the wind knocked out of her when she got divebombed.”

-“Oh look, he took off his armor.” “What was he saying about…”

-Watching this knowing all the songs is so cool, I'm catching way more details than the first time.

-“The return of the gun-chucks!”

-“Fennick is not so bright.”

-I love that Blake's crisscross straps are a Menagerie style.

-“[Cinder] needs to go down.”

-There's something wrong with Hazel too.

-AJ has called the healing semblance nearly ten minutes early.  Best guesser I've ever met.

-“That's a perfect semblance for Jaune.”

-After the raven reveal, “Should have gone with my original instinct.  We didn't know about the maidens then, but there was something.”

-Forever Fall playing when Jaune says he still believes Pyrrha!

-“I love how [Jaune's] semblance is what Pyrrha did for him.”

-“Why would you pose on something that's actively falling?”  “She can fly.”

-“It's interesting how there's layers of villains.  We don't like Raven, but we really don't like Cinder.”

-”What the heck is up with Emerald’s understanding of bones?”

-I forgot about Dee and Dudley.

-I didn't realize how early the diagonal checkerboard pattern showed up.  I think I saw it clear back at initiation.  Something to keep in mind for v9

-Cinder appears alive “Awwww”.

-“I was wondering what was up with the lady in the last season.”

-I never noticed that og Ozma sounds just like Oscar 

-Me and AJ @ the brother of light:  “what the heck?”

-Oh goodness, the unison guards.

-Ruby's theme in the background of the silver eye conversation, followed by “This'll Be the Day.”  So cool!

-“Emerald needs to put on a freaking shirt.”

-“They were all searching the city for him, and he literally just went shopping and came back to cook dinner.”

-Watching Lost was emotional for us.

-As of v6e9 AJ's favorite character would be Pyrrha if she was alive but is currently Oscar.

-We decided it would be easier and include less ads if we just found supercuts on youtube for the Adam vs. Blake and Yang and Cordovan fights, so some stuff here may be out of order.

-“Man Adam is a creep.”

-Me @ Adam every time he opens his mouth:  gagging noises.

-“Well, I think he's dead.”

-“An impressive mech.”

-“What is even the point of this [for cordovan]?” "Ego?”

-I feel like if you hadn't brought the giant robot out to try and beat up a bunch of teenagers, it would still be operational to fight the giant monster.

-“Oh boy, this one has a breath weapon.”   “That's no fair.”

-“Better go, before [Cordovan] changes her mind again.”  

-“All these floating things make me nervous.”

-I forgot they put the northern lights behind Atlas.  So pretty!

-“Oh boy, now she has flying monkeys!”   “I love all the things they throw in, they're fun.  Bad, but fun.”

[bohemian-nights]

Team Black weirdly hates on Sara Snow but because they just love Baela so much and often times talk about the optics of a white man leaving a black woman for another white woman, but they’re the same people who ship Daemyra after what happened to Laena….🫠

Yep, and these are the same people calling Baela’s mother a monkey and the N-word. They are also the same people who say that the show cuts the only in-canon Black character because it doesn’t need any more Black people.

The racism angle, which could be solved if Sara was also made mixed, is just an excuse for them.

They’ve got no problem with cheating(if they did yeah they wouldn’t constantly disrespect Laena and Jace and Cregan wouldn’t be a thing).

Now the real reason why they hype up Baela with him is because Weak Boy#1 isn’t a fandom hottie. He’s lame asf:

His weak a** doesn’t know how to throw a punch. Aemond barely moved 🤣

If he was viewed in the same light as Daemon or Aemond, you’d see these people turn on Baela so fast and come up with every excuse on why she doesn’t matter and how Sara Snow was Jace’s one true love.

These people use Baela for cheap brownie points that way they don’t look racist when they go off about Laena and act like Nettles is the plague They could care less about this ship.

Baela has a man and he’s way better than Jace(well at least he doesn’t go flying across the floor from one push)💅🏽

Jace is so dry. Sara Snow would actually make him more interesting, but whatever

[theliterarywolf]

You'll find puritans in the weirdest fandoms, I s2g...

Fuckers are really saying "incest shippers dni" in The Incest Fandom (Game of Thrones).

Why are people making fan art of Eric Cartman saying variations of Racism Bad? Literally the only reason he hasn't dropped a Hard-R N-Bomb on the show is cuz his VA is white.

What's next? An anti-shotacon movement in the Boku No Pico fandom?

Oh my God, could you imagine seeing someone say some wild shite like 'it's time to reclaim Boku No Pico from the shotacons'?

I mean, we already have people trying to rewrite media reception and say that Bayonetta and Lollipop Chainsaw were 'always intended for queer audiences', so I don't doubt that that will be a circle of hell we'll see in the coming years.

Anywho, I hold fast to the stance that the best thing that we got out of Boku No Pico's existence is the infamous 'Don't Watch an Anime Called 'Boku'.' audio.

[tododeku-or-bust]

hey I just wanted to ask about the ofmd post. I know you called the show racist so I’d like some elaboration if you’re open to that? I’m a bit confused as to what you mean. But there definitely is a racist interpretation that many people on tumblr ascribe to in which Izzy is a good guy.

Okay so I'm going to preface this by saying I did not watch OFMD. I personally don't find Taika Waititi's form of humor funny in general. (And now, with the whole Zionist thing, ����🏾‍♀️) So I can't sit here and point out scene for scene. But that's not really my issue to begin with.

The first part of my issue is the characters involved in the main romance. Both of them were slave traders/owners. It didn't HAVE to be those two people. The writers could have come up with completely fictional people for this pirate story, so... why? But that happened. Okay.

The second part is that it makes sense then, right, that some Black people would find themselves uncomfortable romanticizing people involved in their violent oppression irl. Because as far as I remember (before I blocked the tag out of sheer annoyance) no one was really saying "don't watch the show". They were saying "I'm not going to watch this show because-". If an important part of the show is relating to and liking these guys, and you think of your enslavement when you see them, then you probably won't want to relate or care lmao.

And what really bothered me was that when Black people would point out this discomfort ever since the show dropped- a completely valid discomfort to have- fans of the show would jump on the bit to be incredibly anti-Black racist, under the guise of "queer representation" and often considering themselves and their opinion simultaneously that of a white savior.

This whole video here (it goes kinda fast) is a joke, but it really does encompass that entire blow up of someone truly being shocked and appalled that "if we don't let our show with our racist ship exist, you'll RUIN QUEER REP FOR EVERYONE" type shit and tbh, it's a very white perspective to have. The vitriol, as though their rights were actually threatened, was honestly batshit (calling pointing racism out "infighting" 🙄). Queer rep doesn't just die because someone told you to not be racist or to consider how your creations may affect others (gasp! Brown queer people exist too!!) 🤣.

and while this person clearly had a meltdown live action, there are people all over fandom who unironically and consistently behave like this, who hide their racism behind their queer identity and act like they can't be called out and held accountable because of it.

It was and is disgusting behavior, it just got put on blast in a hilarious way that doesn't often happen bc the majority usually agrees with the racist assessment.

(It's why so many closeted racist posts on here get tens of thousands of likes and reblogs by people who really think they're not racist, yet don't even hear the dogwhistles behind what they're saying or sharing. But that's a tangent.)

In summary: it was the behavior of the fandom for me that was incredibly racist, and the thoughtlessness of the premise of the show's main romance that was racist. The show itself, I didn't watch, so I can't tell you about that. 👍🏾

[mommalosthermind]

How do you block and filter fics with rampant racist micro aggression since that's never tagged properly and the writer will have a white meltdown if they're ever confronted with the fact their fic is racist?

I honestly can’t tell if this was in earnest or if it’s meant to be another Gotcha! Attempt from one of the anti-censorship posts I’ve annoyed people with, so I’m going to assume it’s the first and do my best to answer.

As a white woman, I am definitely not someone who should be speaking on racism, since the systemic issues I deal with are very very different.

Unfortunately, though, your experience with such a fic is going to mirror what I’d imagine is also your experience with most other forms of media which don’t flag that kind of behavior: bail. Back out. Don’t finish the thing that is upsetting you. Possibly, (as I’ve done with authors on issues that hit home for me) take note of who’s behind the thing so you know to avoid them in the future, as they’ve broken that trust.

This is also known as curating your space. I don’t remember if I go on that rant in the other two (three?) posts that seem to have picked up, but that’s the READER’s side of the equation. Find your garden and tend it well, keep it how you like it, because it is for you and you alone.

My job as a writer is to tag to the best of my ability so you know exactly what you’re bringing into your garden. I don’t want to spoil your flowers anymore than I want someone to trample on mine.

Hopefully, as people talk about this more, authors will be more open to tagging/ modifying and/or adding a footnote for things exactly like this.

Micro aggressions are especially difficult, since (again, pulling purely from my lived experiences) getting folk to agree on what ‘counts’ is rough. But as an author— I want to share my stories. That’s the point! If I’ve written it, then I damn well better be self-aware enough to tag it, and be willing to ADD TAGS so I’m not breaking trust with the people I’m trying to give nice things to. Hopefully that makes sense?

I’m gonna say that again since I feel it needs it: if you’re comfortable enough to write the Real World problem happening, you’re fully capable of being able to recognize why someone might like the warning. Be kind. Tags only work if you use them.

On AO3, I believe they recently made it possible to block an author entirely, so they no longer show up in the results for your searches.

I’ve run across exactly one author I’d have blocked if it was possible at the time, because he refused to add tags to a story that… really needed tags. And, going through the comments in later chapters, dozens of people have asked him to update tags. He claims that doing so will ‘ruin the story’ despite the graphic raped-to-death-then-magically-revived bit having literally nothing to do with the plot at all. Instead, it comes out of literally nowhere in an otherwise really well written tale, and was deeply deeply upsetting to the point that his response to my first chapter squee was “yeah, tell me if you still like it after chapter X”. (Unfortunately i am a very fast reader and had already gotten that far and bailed immediately. Dude if you KNOW it’s THAT upsetting to so many people ADD THE TAG.)

I’ll never read anything he’s written again, just like I refuse to read anything by JKR ( awful human) or Terry Goodkind (I can’t stand how he handles his female characters. At all.)

Obviously these two examples are not identical, but it’s the main comparison I have on hand.

This isn’t meant to sound like I’m belittling or downplaying that concern at all. But until people get better at tagging—and I really wish traditional books and other media would ALSO tag, because I’m very very tired of running into Specific Things without any fucking warning— you have to protect yourself and your happy place by putting up a fence, and booting unsavory things right back over it.

—side note: for those worried about spoiling the plot you can…skip the tags... just know you’re choosing to walk in blind. OR! And I wish i could figure it out—you can add! A hyperlink! That takes you to the footnote at the BOTTOM to add things that deserve a warning but might be spoilers! There’s even a tag for that! ‘More tags in notes!’ These are good and useful things! Use them so your readers can better curate their spaces!—

The system isn’t perfect by any means. There are a million ways to improve, and we’re trying! But please, please y’all use the damn tags because right now it’s the only system we’ve got. Take care of each other.