#yeah i'm south asian but not indian

[tonycries]

TONYYY HIIII I DIDNT KENW U WERE INDIAN? I JUST FOUND OUT YOU WERE. ALSO I LOVE UR WRITINGS SOOO MUCH PLS REPLY

[mermaidsirennikita]

I gotta say this is also very unsuprising casting when you think about it. Like as soon as the shock had worn off I was like...yeah of course she cast them.

Oh yeah, it does make sense because Emerald isn't about what's good for the project, Emerald is about what makes Emerald happy. Which is why I fundamentally can't get into her creatively.

Because of course, any creative has their aesthetic, their sensibility, their work. And I respect that, as a creative.

But you also have to kill your darlings. And we think of that in the writing sense most often—cut that sentence, that scene, that chapter if it doesn't truly serve the work. Scrap the whole thing and start over if it's truly not what it should be.

I'm a STRONG believer in that, to be fair. Brutal. Maybe too much so? Lol. Or I'd have a book out by now.

But anyway, it applies to every type of creative work, imo. You don't cast someone because YOU like them, particularly in an adaptation of a work as iconic as Wuthering Heights. You cast them because they are right for the role.

Heathcliff and Cathy, especially Heathcliff, are two of the most groundbreaking and influential characters in literature of the past 3 centuries. Heathcliff's lack of proximity (for his era) to whiteness is particularly central to the role, and I don't know anyone who seriously takes this work apart and isn't like... actively racist... who interprets Heathcliff as white. It's so crucial to his character that he is "other" in his society.

It's just TRULY a shame to me that she not only cast someone as subpar as Elordi, but someone so, so white. Like, I wouldn't want a white actor I love to play Heathcliff. And this is a fabulous role for a man of color, too.

The last adaptation did cast a man of color, but it was frankly not a very high profile project and not well done.

(I also think it would be compelling to cast a man of Roma descent OR a man of Asian, specifically South Asian descent because the text literally uses a contemporary term for Indian men to describe him... Though Nelly also speculates that he has Chinese heritage, and there are definitely some implications that he could be descended from presumably African enslaved people. The latter I could definitely see being an interpretation when you factor in the speculation that he's Mr. Earnshaw's illegitimate child. I think there's always this idea that "catch-all" terms were probably being used to describe Heathcliff's appearance, but I've thought for a while that I would personally most love to see a Roma actor or a South Asian actor play him.

But like. Literally any other than a white guy.)

This will be much more high profile, with way more attention, and it just really sucks that Emerald decided to use it to push one of her faves. It tells me that she has very little respect for the text. On what planet would anyone, even in the 1800s, look at Jacob Elordi and think that he was anything other than a white guy.

And again, I think Margot is way too old to play Cathy, and honestly doesn't read in any way as Cathy to me. I say that as someone who, again, considers her a very strong actress when she's in her element. I just. Ugh.

[fayromance]

Certain people in the confessions comments:

Russian fandom isn't racist!! Stop badmouthing the Russian fans! 😤😤

Well, let's see what these wonderful non-racist people 🥰🥰 have to say about MCs of color under the traditional "Discussing the Highlights" post on TG 🤓

1. About Devi

Yeah, apparently anyone who's slightly darker than cottage cheese is Black now. Because we all know that real Indians look like grey-eyed Amala from KCD 🥰 (/sarcasm; if that Amala is Indian, then I'm the Queen of England)

2. About Agatha

Again, some melanin in your skin automatically makes you Black according to Russians

Cause obviously Hispanic, Arab, South Asian etc. people don't exist (well, duh, they're a government conspiracy 🤓) (/sarcasm again)

This one here says ink because of the auto translate but the original was Black. Yes, they're continuing to deny the existence of Brown people

This one is straight-up calling her N-word

3. About Vyxaria

You heard it here, folks, reverse racism exists and it happens when RC sometimes posts pictures of Black MCs (alongside white ones, of course, but who cares — it's not equality those fans want but supremacy)

And this comment right here which is saying being Black doesn't suit her. And the original Russian text is even worse (the auto translate didn't translate it properly), it says that all Black MCs in RC don't look good

Welp, there you have it. Next time someone tries to gaslight you about the Russian fandom being non-racist, inclusive, humanist paradise, just show them this post

Also the worst part is the RC values these players, listens to them and caters to them in their stories

[rrcraft-and-lore]

Monkey Man and why I loved the heck out of it

At it's core, it's a Bollywood flick presented to the West with familiar nods to previous action films - I definitely picked up hints of Tony Jaa's influence on Asian action flicks throughout.

It's heavily focused on police corruption, something commented a lot about in India, and here, more importantly, Indian films. Just like America has its love affair with mobster flicks, Bollywood has a long history featuring films that showcase police corruption, sometimes tied into political extremism, fanatical or greedy religious leaders, and Monkey Man comments on all this as well and pays nods to that commonality. We've got televangelists and religious leaders in the states funnelling money, preaching prosperity gospel, and using it to influence politics and fund lavish lifestyles here.

Monkey Man shows this happening in India, and is filled with Indian culture and symbolism through out. The focus on Hanuman, the god and one worshiped by the strong, chaste, wrestlers, champions, and fighters. It's a common thing to have a household deity if you will. Some families might choose to focus worship on Ganesh, others Hanuman, some might do Mata Rani or Lakshmi. Here, it's the divine Vanara (monkey people race) - one of the Chiranjivi - immortals/forever-lived.

Hanuman. Themes of rebirth, common in South Asian history and mythology are present from Kid being a ringer, beat up fighter getting whooped for money to being reborn and facing his trauma through a ritual/meditate process that I don't want to get too much into to not spoil the movie. Post that, he begins his own self alchemy to really become the true Monkey Man. Nods to Ramayama, and an unapologetically Indian story featuring dialogues throughout in Hindi - don't worry, there are subtitles.

And of course a love for action flicks before it, all the way back to Bruce Lee. A beautiful use tbh of an autorickshaw (and you might know them as tuk-tuks in Thailand) which are popular in India with an added kick...I swear, that thing had to be modified with a hayabusa motor. Which is an actual thing people do - modding those dinky rickshaws with motorcycle engines, and considering they weigh nothing at all, they can REALLY FLY once you do that.

Monkey Man brings to the big screen other elements of India people might not know about, such as the gender non conforming and trans community that has a long history in India, presenting them as action stars as they go up against a system of corrupt elites oppressing part of the city, marginalized communities, and minority voices as depicted in the film. I'm not sure if people are going to get all of that without having the context, but I love that it does it without holding anyone's hands.

It's a fun action flick to see in the age of superhero films, and I say that as an obvious superhero/sff nerd. Also loved that Dev included a little bit about Hanuman's own story in the film, and the loss of his powers - almost mirrored by Kid's own loss of self/skills, strength until he confronts his trauma and is reborn, and in fact, remade (not necessarily the same). Also, the use of music was brilliant, including one scene with a tabla (the paired hand drums of south asia) - and Indian music is central to Indian stories.

This is a culture with evidence going back to the Paleolithic with cave murals showing art of Indian dance nearly 30,000 years ago. Yeah, that far back. As well as Mesolithic period art depicting musical instruments such as gongs, lyres, and more.

Indian music is some of the earliest we can find that has high developed beat and rhythm structures such as 5, 7, 9 and now the extremely common and known 4/4 and 3/4 - which so much of Western music is built upon. The foundations and experimentation of/in Jazz. John Coltrane and John Cage were heavily inspired by Indian music and incorporated a lot from it into their works. And Monkey Man blends Eastern and Western music through the narrative as comfortably as it does an Indian story in a very familiar Western accessible structure.

Dev did a wonderful job. And thanks to Jordan Peele for bringing it to screens.

[chilewithcarnage]

I, a very white and somewhat privileged person, am absolutely terrified to draw colored people. Because I don’t know if I’d cross the thin line of tasteful and authentic or racist and stereotypical…

Lol for starters don't refer to us as coloured people. This ain't 1955. Secondly my best advice to you is to use references of actual people of color. I would highly recommend staying away from those white men art station youtuber type artists for tutorials because they get a majority of their techniques and style from main stream video games and comic books, which to put it nicely don't have the best reputation for representing women and poc. tangent over, so yeah references. real life photographs of brown and black people.

pinterest is a site that a lot of current, especially younger artists like to use, but in all honesty it's not a very good source for someone trying to learn the fundamentals. it'll mainly show you 20 something year old ig and twitter models which is okay if you wanna just draw pretty people; but not the best if you wanna like I said learn fundamentals + have a portfolio that's varied. also it's rife with ai shit and stolen art, so yeah would only recommend that as an initial starting point/using it to make your own personal board for your saved images.

stock photo sites are my go to for refs. getty images, istock, alamy, etc. a simple right click save image or screenshot will work to get the images you want for free. of course there will be the watermarks, but they're honestly a very small issue to bypass. as long as they're not opaque and nearly covering the entire subject; you're good. a nice thing about stock photo sites is they usually give you the option to filter the image search results. say for instance you want to draw an elderly asian woman cooking or a young black man painting a picture or an indigenous child playing with dolls. you can look up certain terms you want in the search bar & specify gender, age and ethnicity to narrow down your search to what you want.

another awesome place for references i discovered during college is posespace.com

like with getty images, it gives you the option to filter your searches. they also have their models in clothed or nude shoots in the event that you want to practice some bare bones anatomy.

also also, get your info from artists of color. there's a decent amount of tutorials ive found over the years on here and youtube on coloring skintones, drawing certain hair types, how to avoid caricatures and stereotyping, different facial features, cultural hairstyles. the list goes on. don't be afraid to depict people outside of your race. literally just go about drawing us the same way you would a white person. don't be scared, as long as you remain respectful and make an honest effort to learn; you'll do fine.

resource links by and from artists of color:

'how i draw south + southeast asian people'

an example of what to avoid when stylizing east asian characters

'drawing asian people, source: i'm asian'

'lessons from drawing I: what is asian anyways?'

'how to draw indians'

'how to draw arabs'

'How I draw skin Part 2: DON”T DRAW NATIVE PEOPLE WITH RED SKIN!!!! A tutorial' (the link to the first part of this tutorial is broken sorry)

How to Draw Native People: a Tutorial/Reference Guide

How to Draw Black People by peachdeluxe

tips for drawing black people by rosheruu

drawing east asian faces by chuwenjie

how to draw black people series by Artistik Freedom (youtube)

✏️How I draw black hairstyles (simple) 🌱 by Likelihood Art (youtube)

there's also a bunch of black and brown artists on twitter and tiktok, so checking those sites for tutorials would be a good additional resource

good luck on your illustrating melanin endeavors 👍🏾

[thekatebridgerton]

With all respect, does the hope for a latina Sophie mean hopes for her to have travelled from central/South America like Kate came from India?

I just wonder if the hopes for a latina Sophie are looking at the show with too much of an American view when the leads thus far have all been exclusively British/Irish. Finding a British actress with latin roots could be exceptionally hard given they are such a tiny demographic in the UK, unless the show hires outside the UK and gives her a migration backstory - a la Kate from India or Lady Danbury from Africa.

wanting a Latina Sophie literally just means 'portrayed by actress of Hispanic ethnicity'. This is the show that as you rightfully pointed out had an INDIAN family travelling trough Britain as tho there was no British occupation in said country. We all know they can do whatever they want and just gloss over the explanation like they did with the disappearance of the Duke of Hastings.

Sophie could come from Mexico and Bridgerton would be like ' yeah she's an immigrant, shit happened in her motherland' and proceeded to brush it over with the Queen Charlotte deux ex machina wig of ' we changed society with love'. Canonically Sophie's name in the book is Sophia Maria, it's hinted that her mother was a Singer. For all we Singer could have been Guatemalan, with a little bit of the kind of editing that gave us Papa Sharma. Was Guatemala even a country in 1800?, who cares, if the show doesn't go out of it's way to point it out, I certainly wont.

But all jokes aside, Sophie is most likely going to be black, it's Shondaland, who are we kidding. Lets play a little game of probability shall we? take a look at the actors in Scandal, Grey's Anatomy and How to Get Away with Murder ( just off the top of my head) And, without counting anyone Caucasian, compare the amount of Black actors hired for speaking roles, with the amount of indian, asian, and Hispanic actors overlapping for speaking roles in the same season. Then come back and tell me what odds I'm looking at for a Latina Sophie, do it, I'll wait.

Don't get me wrong, I'm perfectly fine with whatever ethnicity Sophie ends up being, but personally when I say I support a Latina Sophie its because Latinos are possibly the only community that so far has had no speaking roles in Bridgerton. In 3 seasons of diversity and poc blind casting, that's a problem that should be addressed. They made up a reason why interracial marriage was acceptable in the show, make up a reason for a Latino to have the Gunningworth title, it's not that hard.

But hey that's just my opinion.

[scarlet--wiccan]

We're still undoing the damage done by Teen Titans 2003, I think. Jinx is another Indian sorceress from that franchise and they've really only *just* stopped whitewashing her. Starfire with afro-textured hair is still a hit or miss but with black women recently being used as a base for her visually (Zendaya, Rihanna, Anna Diop) it seems to be getting better.

Raven definitely got the worst of it though- she used to wear lehengas and saris all the time with pastel colors and actually looked Indian (Persis Khambatta, the actress she was based on, was relatively light skinned), now she's been claimed by the goth/witchy aesthetic with the purple hair and grey skin. She wears upside down pentagrams. And pants, even though I distinctly remember her hating pants and preferring skirts and dresses. She's unrecognizable- Marvel's taking measures now to fix Wanda, but DC isn't doing the same for Raven. She recently got her classic look back but I have no idea if it's sticking around.

The Jinx character in Teen Titans is so weird. This is on me, because I'm just not as much of a DC reader, but I legit believed that she was a random OC that was intended to be a Scarlet Witch knockoff. Because they give her, like, a reductive version of Wanda's hex power, and she's designed in the same 2000s goth vein as TT Raven and Evo Wanda.

But anyway, yeah, for all its merits, Teen Titans really did a number on a lot of Black and brown characters, and Raven's had it pretty rough for a long time. I was so surprised that the gender-bent version from Teen Justice was actually designed as a South Asian character with darker skin, but I was also completely unsurprised that he immediately started getting lightened and whitewashed.

I'm not totally sure how I feel about Raven's fashion choices. Her traditional clothing is important, but in the current continuity, she's a young adult who, to the extent that she's lived on Earth, mostly grew up in America. So I understand the impulse to make her feel a bit more youthful and contemporary, and I think it's possible for a character to explore different styles, especially alternative fashion, without compromising their culture and ethnicity. Obviously, the first step would be to stop drawing her like a white girl. Or a Monster High doll, for that matter. But I'm not an expert on the character-- sound off if you think I'm wrong, I guess.

[sorcerous-caress]

Hell yeah I'm back, crushed my exams, now I have more time to think about everyone's favorite loser elf 💜💜

Your post a couple days back about posting homemade porn to the xhuman forum really got me thinking

What if one day you showed up at your loser elf's house in traditional elvish clothing?

You shrug and casually mention that you bought it at a market the other day because it reminded you of him, but he's only barely registering your words.

His eyes rake over your body from head to toe and then back up again, staring unashamed at how the light, airy fabric dances around your arms and legs. He can't stop staring at how perfectly the garment hugs your body, and since humans are more supple and rounded than elves, the fabric bunches up just so on your hips, accentuating your curves and making heat rise to his face, the tips of his ears going red as you notice the visible tent in his pants.

You smile devilishly at him as you lead him towards his bed, all the while he's thinking about how the organic fabrics you're wearing would be very delicate and so easy to tear through.

You're fully aware of what seeing you in his traditional clothing would do to him, so of course you prepared accordingly. He's in for a lucky surprise when he finally gets your overclothes off to find that you picked up some elvish-inspired lingerie at the market as well.

(somewhat inspired by my realization while dressing up to go to an Indian holiday party, when I noticed that a salwar kameez and dupatta kinda reminded me of what I'd imagine elvish clothing to look like)

Good job on finishing your exams, please make sure to rest.

I really like the idea of human reader trying to learn more about elf culture for their cute loser high elf

And yes, I imagine elvish clothes to be inspired by South Asian, Middle Eastern, and anciest Greek clothes.

Instead of reader buying it randomly, what if you've put research into it? Read about elf culture and found the perfect attire to wear.

Maybe it's something only newly wedded spouces wear for each other, or maybe it is a honeymoon phase kind of outfit. Elvish clothes are airy by nature, but this one you've found is more head-turning than the rest.

Almost like it was made out of large flower petals that hug your body just right with their vibrant colours. Wrapping your hips with two petals that conjoin in the middle, their pointy tips barely covering the insides of your thighs. Each petal trailing up your body and leaving small windows of bare flesh, the outfit is on the shorter side with no shoulders or neck, just going from your hips to your chest in a colourful chain of petals.

Or maybe a translucent outfit that shimmers and brims with life magic, a dark hue that matches the night sky. Various stars in shapes and sizes swimming on the print and gently swaying from place to place with every step you take. Your skin and curves are extremely visible underneath it. It's made out of one large and very long cloth that you have to wrap around yourself to from multiple layers and give it a shape. The material is so thin that the outfit never gets thicker than human clothes no matter how many you layer.

Or it's a long pure white silk with gold leaves trim, much like an outfit a greek god would wear. The silk is akin to a second skin as even the shape of your bare stomach is visible from underneath it. There's an almost invisible pattern wooven into the silk with the occasional glimmering sparks.

Whichever it was, one thing was clear when your outfit finally arrived. It's that this was never made for a human like body.

It's your size but longer than usual, it's too tight in certain places. You can't even wear anything underneath it because it wouldn't fit then. The shape of your chest is fully on display, the way the supposed airy outfit completely hugs your figure like a glove.

Your hips and thighs being squeezed so deliciously by the fabric. The material feeling almost strange on top of a human's soft skin, elves generally have tighter skin that's not as sensitive as the humans.

How each outfit is made out of various pieces and parts you have to put together to complete the picture. Unlike humanity's preference for compact clothes that are easy to wear or come as whole pieces, elves prefer complexity and a single shirt can have up to 13 steps to put on.

There aren't any buttons or seams or zippers. It's whole pieces that are held together by either magic or jewellery. Everything from the top of your head to your ankles has a specific piece that is important to complete the outfit.

It takes a lot of effort and after so many different youtube tutorials, mostly in elvish which you couldn't understand and had to relay on visuals only, you get the hand of it.

Since it was a surprise, you decline his offer to pick you up when you send him a message saying you're coming over. Walking through the street and getting curious and confused looks from other humans on your outfit.

You passed by a couple of elves that did a doube take when they saw you, blatantly staring at your short ears then your clothes. They looked like they wanted to say something to you, one of them even walked up to you and opened their mouth.

But nothing came out, they just turned around and went back to their friend. Completely red in the face as they kept stealing glances at you while whispering in elvish to each other.

After finally making it and opening the front door with the spare key he gave you, you step inside.

Expecting you, he calls out your name with clear excitement in his voice before clearing his throat and trying to attempting to mask his excitement as he makes his way to you.

The second his eyes register what you're wearing, his mind short circuits. His eyes have to blink a couple of times as if it's a trick of the light or an illusion, complete disbelief at the fact you're actually real and standing in his doorway in these clothes.

Just like the elves from before, his mouth opens but nothing comes out.

Then he's immediately picking you up and pinning you to the door. Lips hungrily kissing yours as desperate whimpers escape him.

It's his feelings are too much for his body to handle, his hands keep switching form place to place as he can't decide where to touch you first, where to feel and grope you.

His fingers are shaking, his eyes still looking at you with disbelief as his lips refuse to let up, as if he'll run out of air without the taste of your mouth.

You feel his hardness against you. He barely pays it any attention as he continues to admire your body. Marvelling at the way the clothes cling to your skin, at the various jewellery and elven designs, on you, a human.

If only a man can die from happiness, then he'll die happily knowing your current image was the last thing he has seen.

Do you even understand the effect of your outfit on him, little human? Do you even know what it represents? For all you know, you could've been walking outside with the equivalent of elven lingerie or a nightie.

He's calling you various endearing names in his original tongue, from endearing titles to ones exclusive to married souls. He seems in a haze as he urges you towards the bedroom, eyes pleading and knees weak as he struggles to switch betwern kissing you and pulling away to talk.

[fitrahgolden]

As a woman of color, do you feel like the people running Bridgerton are performative? It was one thing for Simon to leave, but when you add Simone Ashley most likely not coming back for season 4, along with Lady Danbury’s odd plot in s3 and completely removing the Sharmas from the show, it feels like the show is just trying to check off new boxes each season. I know people online are still calling the promotion etc of s2 unfair, but as a white woman I feel like it’s not my place to comment.

First of all sorry again for being late to asks. I rarely get them, so I never think to check my inbox.

I'll try my best to tackle the parts of this I feel I can articulate my feelings on.

Do I feel TPTB at Bridgerton genuinely want a diverse and inclusive cast? Yes. However, they are very inconsistent when it comes to going for breadth versus depth. Whatever people's feelings about season one, they made a point of addressing race in scenes with Lady Danbury and Simon, and Simon actually got a decent backstory. On the other hand, Kate has been on for two seasons, and we still don't know where in India she's from or the names of her parents. And I'm not South Asian, but the attempt to create an "Indian inspired" (again, will they ever tell us where in India?) wardrobe for Kate in season 3 seemed to miss the mark completely for many viewers from that community.

There definitely is tokenism in the show, and it's kind of hard for me to talk about because my thoughts on the casting are complex and contradictory. For one, I fully endorse this fantasy version of Regency England where anyone can be a part of the gentry. But Shonda Rhimes has a fetish when it comes to interracial relationships that's well documented in her body of work, and there's a line to toe when it comes to casting the Bridgertons' spouses. And I'm not sure how I feel about how they are doing thus far. They are great at pairing actors with chemistry (with the huge exception of Nicola and Luke, ironically) and the acting tends to range somewhere from decent to spectacular, which is a feat with a cast as gigantic as Bridgerton. But, yeah, there's definitely something to be said about coming off as if they are filling up a bingo card.

I don't know.

[triviareads]

Ah yes, the "deep and entrenched" connection between England and India. Way to whitewash, Shondaland.

I think what disturbs me the most about this passage is how intent they are on whitewashing history by using disgustingly trite phrases like "deep and entrenched" and "organic part of British history". What bullshit. Call it what it is: Imperialism, colonialism, racism, and genocide.

And I don't know why Shondaland is hellbent upon using history to justify diversity in their show: Just say that you wanted viewers to appreciate and relate to diverse people falling in love and wearing pretty costumes! It's THAT simple but instead the show is whitewashing the history of British colonialism and racism and quite literally saying love cured racism.

As a result of this show, I'm seeing legitimate historical erasure and twisting of the facts. I've seen people convinced that real-life Queen Charlotte was a Black woman when in actuality, any Black ancestry she may have had is negligible (specfically through possible Portuguese Moorish ancestry) and the people who were saying she was of Black ancestry back in the day were using it to justify what they saw as un-European facial features.

I've also seen historians online try to use real women like Kitty Kirkpatrick as justification for how women of South Asian descent like Kate could have been in Britain at the time. And yeah, Kitty was one such woman, but here's what the historians won't tell you: Kitty, born Noor-un-Nissa, was forced to change her name, convert to Christianity, and forbidden from having contact with her family in India once she moved to England.

Chris van Dusen tried to liken Kate to Baiza Bai because Baiza Bai was a prolific horsewoman. But again, he didn't give the full facts and what Baiza Bai was MOST known for was her tireless efforts fighting the BRITISH and finding ways to undermine colonial oppression until the day she died.

So yeah, here is the truth of the "organic" history this book tries to whitewash between Britain and India. Obviously, none of this means, for me at least, that Queen Charlotte can't be portrayed by a Black woman, or Kate can't be portrayed by an Indian woman- just stop twisting historical facts to justify it!

[fiercynn]

i need people to know about something absolutely ridiculous happening right now related to women's soccer.

so if you're not familiar with australian soccer star sam kerr, she is one of the best players in the entire world. she's the captain of the matildas (the australian national team), and her club team is currently chelsea in the uk. she's also queer and engaged to u.s. soccer star kristie mewis. and kerr's especially close to my heart because she's multiracial and of indian origin (one of the only internationally-famous women's soccer stars of south asian descent). she's been a proud advocate for racial justice in the past.

about three weeks ago, the news came out that sam kerr was being charged with racially harassing a british police officer. initially, there was very little information on the incident except that it had to do with a dispute over a taxi fare while kerr was having a night out in southwest london after scoring a hat trick in a win over liverpool.

obviously this was shocking and confusing for the woso world. what on earth had happened, and how did it square with what we know about sam kerr? fuck the police, but also, there are ways to say fuck the police without racially harassing someone, so...

in the back of my head, i was thinking, "man, what if it was a white cop. what if they're trying to call that racial harassment." but i dismissed it as too ridiculous, and likely a product of my own parasocial affection for sam kerr. we don't actually know celebrities, and i'm all too familiar with how racist (particularly anti-black) south asian folks can be.

then the next day, the guardian reported that i had been exactly right: sam kerr allegedly called a white cop a "stupid white bastard".

yup. that's what they're calling racial harassment. CALLING A COP A WHITE BASTARD.

other details of the case have come out since – that kerr was only charged almost a year after the incident took place, that she was arrested and put in a holding cell the night of the incident, that her legal team has not yet received body cam footage or audio of her interrogation by the police, that they're trying to get the case thrown out (obviously) but if unsuccessful are apparently going to argue she said "stupid white cop" instead of "bastard".

but yeah. my only criticism of kerr now is that she shouldn't use ableist language like "stupid" as an insult (a criticism i have of a lot of people to be clear!), but other than i love her even more now, and also WHAT THE FUCK

(bonus: here's my favorite goal ever scored in woso, which happened to be by sam kerr. she's the best. fuck the police)

[kutputli]

Just some clarity on the example that you used: Keira Knightly was already cast in Pirates before Bend It was released as it was already filming. Parminder Nagra joined ER which was still a pretty big show in 2003 and remained on it until 2009. She was also in Ella Enchanted immediately after Bend It, which was supposed to be big and flopped bad. POC leads do not get a fair shake, but this is not the best example of that, neither is the IWTV cast which frankly just is not high profile full stop.

NAGRA: When Bend It first came out, there was interest in a magazine doing a cover story, and [the marketing team talked] about putting me on the cover. They were told that actually, it would be better to put Keira on it because they would get more bums in seats. It was just hurtful, like, Wow, okay.

Source: Entertainment Weekly, April 2018

"I remember asking to go for a job because an actress basically left - it was a well-known TV show here. I remember phoning my agent and I went, 'Do you think maybe you could just suggest me? The character is very non-specific in terms of family and between 35 and 40 [years of age].

"And the word that came back was that they've already got an Indian person on the cast.

"I went, 'Yeah but I'm completely different to that person'. Is that ever gonna happen when you say that, 'No we've already got a white person on the show'?"

Source: BBC April 2021

"And "I don’t understand why, if there’s a role between 35 and 45, and not specific to a family, why I can’t be seen for it. It’s frustrating.

"People say it's getting better, but I've been having this same conversation for years, and I'm bored of it."

Source: The Irish Times April 2021

"In the intervening years, once the glory of Bend It Like Beckham had subsided and movies with a majority South Asian cast were few and far between, I watched Keira Knightley emote through clenched teeth in countless blockbusters, and Jonathan Rhys Meyers exhibit maximum pout headlining The Tudors and Match Point. Parminder Nagra, meanwhile, was relegated to that most South Asian of roles, a doctor on ER. The post-racial utopia promised by Bend It Like Beckham had not eventuated. Nasser Hussein aside, it turned out Keira Knightley was the chosen one, and the joke was on us."

Source: Kill Your Darlings, October 2020

[sillygrossgirl]

India does seem to have a disproportionally high amount of attacks against women though. Like sure, every country is inherently misogynist, but it seems like Indian men are constantly attacking women. Anecdotal, but I know a few women who have travelled extensively, and all of them have been extremely close to being assaulted or have been assaulted by dudes in India specifically. It’s like Indian men specifically don’t comprehend the idea of “no” 😔

Right and i literally acknowledged this in my post. I am not denying this huge cultural problem, it just simply was not the topic i wanted to discuss.

There is a huge misogyny problem in south asian culture 100%. And i honestly feel like some of them know it is wrong- but they also know they will most probably get away with it even if there is loads of evidence because the government is corrupt as FUCK and don't do jack shit. There is a lot of nuance to this aswell. That's another aspect ppl r just ignoring. I'm seeing a lot of racist + xenophobic comments everywhere because people want to perpetuate the creepy Indian man stereotype and then just leave it at that. My point is that again yes there is a huge cultural aspect we cannot ignore but if we only address that we are overlooking the fact that it is NOT an Indian/ brown men problem, it is a men problem.

Idk like i remember researching rape statistics in the US and the UK and seeing how even in cases where the rapist is convicted and found guilty, they get like 2 years a year etc. and how everyone is and was so enraged by these statistics in the West. Now imagine if the laws were different to where there were little to no repercussions. Imagine a rapist knowing that even if their victim had all of the physical evidence and called rhe police, they'd be sent away. Imagine how much worse it'd be. I dont say this to dismiss cultural problems in India, I say this because i see so many comments saying it's Indian men being Indian. But the conversation just seems to stop there.. ppl seem to be very comfortable with their racist ideals that "well yeah i mean it's brown men ofcourse that'll happen! Moving on." Yes the idea that women just need to deal with being raped, that its their fault if they dress revealingly etc is fucked and plays a huge part.

Like yes it is a misogynistic culture (which is something most cultures rely on to function butttt thats a topic for another day) however the government is corrupt and basically refuses to change and enforce laws to protect women. This is why Indian people are doing mass protests - ofcourse culturally there's issues but they can see that change must start with legislation+ proper enforcement of it.

Also, lets take a broader perspective in terms on nationality/ countries. Ur saying Indian men specifically have a problem. The same could be said about say, Thailand where the age of consent is disgustingly low. Don't thousands of men from the western countries (US, UK, Germany etc) travel to these countries just to rape women, boys, men, children, anything really and get away with it..? So is it the "Indian men" or the "Thai men" or is it "men". This is why I am emphasising how most cultures are misogynistic because if we just leave the conversation at "Indian men specifically don't comprehend the idea of no" or "seems like Indian men are constantly attacking women" then we are disallowing our perspectives to grow and for society to evolve.

Ughhh idk, does this make sense to anyone?? I know that most ppl who follow me are white though and may not have the full perspective/ not be willing to challenge racist prejudices they carry enough to understand me.

[nerozane]

i didn't know isobel's VA was asian! what's weird is that it isn't like the game is afraid to show off representation of non eurocentric features. p sure even karlach is meant to have asian features 🤔

Yeah Isobel's VA is Mia Foo! According to her IMDb, she's only done short films and one episode television appearances until Baldurs Gate 3!

Also sadly, I disagree with Larian not being afraid of showing off representation. They are great with queer rep! But for stuff like character creator in baldurs gate 3, it's very limiting, esp for shorter races and masculine body types (male gnomes, dwarves, tieflings and half-orc do not have Asian or Black facial options). Even with the asian faces on offer for the other races, they are distinctly east asian faces, when asia is diverse! (sadly a lot of people forget south east asians, indians/south asians, turkish asians up north.)

With Karlach, I have mixed feelings about her Asian features. Initially, I didn't notice Karlachs Asian features until I saw the no makeup mod for her and I'm like "bby they were hiding her monolids!!!!?! 🥺" And even then, Karlach in early access and in concept art (as appeared in the head concepts part) she had black features which while I love release Karlachs looks and I'm glad for her to be Asian. But at the same time, they took away black rep, especially with the EA placeholder and concept art, which sucks (esp since karlach's VA is black herself). However, this is a very simplified set of feelings to a complex issue. It's actually been discussed by Alissa Stockwell who is black about the changes with EA/concept art karlach to full release Karlach.

Still, at the end of the day, there's still an issue of lack of bipoc in baldur's gate 3, either as character creator options, to prominent npcs and companions. The only prominent players/characters in the game who aren't white are Karlach, Wyll, Duke Ulder Ravengard and Cazador (ew no). And your tav/durge, if you make them a person of colour. There are tons of minor npcs who are people of colour as questgivers, people who live across faerun but idk, with the host of tons of white people in the cast and played a huge part of the story, you'll think they would be able to add more prominent bipoc to the story.

And it's not like in the early 90s of racism and lack of representation, it's 2023... :/

[bookwyrminspiration]

okay so i read the first like two chapters of trok online and like. something's confusing me a little bit. so i'm trying to get a mental picture of kihrin and at first i was like yeah, that's a south asian name, probably indian. so i pictured him as like an indian guy. but then i open up the book (jk lol i still don't have it) and this guy has blond hair and blue eyes??? so now my mental picture of him is an indian guy, except. with blonde hair and blue eyes. which feels weird to me.

but then i was like. you know this probably has something to do with the way jenn lyons set up the world, maybe race works differently or something??? so now i need an explanation of the way race works in acod. (don't get into it if it's going to spoil anything important, though. but if it's not that important to the overall story, help???)

Yeah, race works differently in the acod world. There's 4 different races (as in the human race, the vané, etc.), and it's set on a continent and planet entirely separate from ours--so tracing name origin in our world doesn't really translate.

Kihrin's got medium brown skin (typical of his area), blonde hair, and bright blue eyes (atypical of his area, but still possible and actually relevant). Which does clash with our idea of what features tend to go together.

Aside from having more than a human race, there's also wider variation within humans, too. Doltar has people who are so pale they're compared to milk without exaggeration, and their hair is white to match. There's also Jorat, where its people have markings on their skin similar to horses.

This isn't everything there is to race in the series, but I think it's enough to answer your question? Basically, yeah race is set up a little different, and that is directly relevant to the story

[irithnova]

Aph Mongolia appearance headcanons and other headcanons

This is what I'd say he would most likely look like if I were to picture him as a person rather than a 2d character. This is after hours of watching through videos of Mongolian people. So news, street interviews, podcasts, youtubers, wrestling matches, music performances, videos of nomadic people in the countryside, videos of people in Ulaanbaatar and other major towns etc.

This sounds pretty dramatic lol, I haven't just sat through hours of this in one go, I've been interested in Mongolia as a country for a while so of course over the years I've been interested in Mongolian media too (I am not stalking Mongolian people pls)

I just want to say that Mongolia, like all countries, is incredibly diverse in the way people look. I've seen some Mongolians who could honestly pass as someone who's South East Asian, others who have the more stereotypical Mongolian look, others who could pass as Korean/broadly East Asian and others who look a bit more Turkic. This isn't me trying to put Mongolians into one box but this is what I think he'd look like based off of what I've seen over the years.

Some of these headcanons will not be totally accurate too and I just put them there because I like them lol. Sorry!

When it comes to his face shape, I think he'd have a bit of a square jaw/masseter muscles that are developed slightly more compared to others. This is because of the traditional foods Mongolians eat. Traditional Mongolian foods are quite hard to bite down on and chew, and this helps with tooth/jaw development. I'm not saying he has a Chad jaw lol but it's a bit more square shaped than v line shaped if that makes sense.

When it comes to his eyes, they are evenly spaced/widely spaced. I haven't seen many Mongolians with close set eyes, they tend to be evenly set/ wide set. I like to say he has feline looking eyes because of the way Chinggis Khan was described by the Indian historian Juzjani "A man of tall stature, of vigorous build, robust in body..... with cat's eyes, possessed of great energy".

That was probably just them saying he had monolids but let me just have him be a catboy (man?) okay.... Also sorry, gonna be boring but his eyes are dark brown to me. I know Mongolians can have light eyes and hair but a majority of them don't.

Also thick eyebrows. Yesh.

Prominent cheekbones. Obviously.

Btw I headcanon him to look like he's in his late 20's, 27/28 ish.

When it comes to his nose, I think he has the classic Asian button nose and its a bit upturned (dunno if that makes sense). However I've noticed that nose bridges are more common in Mongolians so their noses aren't always so flat looking from a side on view?

When it comes to his lips, I headcanon them as being on the plumper side. No reason why, just like it lol.

His skin colour, I'd say it's tanned but not as tanned as it used to be, obviously because of government work but he does still go out to the countryside often. His cheeks also used to be a lot more ruddy when he was purely a nomad, some of the redness is still there but its not as obvious as it used to be. I think his cheeks can go quite rosy when it's cold/there's a dramatic temperature change.

I think his face is still flat-ish like most East/North East Asians. I know someone's gonna ask "how can he have a flat face when you just said he had prominent cheekbones??" well they aren't mutually exclusive.

I think his skin is naturally a bit dry. I've heard Mongolians say that Mongolians tend to have drier skin because of the climate so yeah.

Also I headcanon him to have two face scars bye its so hot,,,. I saw a hetalia artist draw him with them and fell in love instantly and there were two other hetalia artists who drew steppe nations with face scars. One of them drew aph huns with a face scar and another one drew aph Xiongnu with a face scar so yeah all major steppe riders have face scars now this is my canon 😍

When it comes to his hair, long, thick and dark brown, bordering on black, looks copper-y in the sunlight.

Also I'm sorry but I headcanon him as a tol man (6') 😢 I attribute this to his rapid growth as an empire. Not truly accurate as most Mongolians aren't really that tall but shhhhh

I've already touched upon these aspects of his appearance in different posts but I'll just get into it again for the sake of it.

Body wise I think he looks like this (at his peak when he's like, participating in sports, yes he is a jock...)

🥴

I also talked about what I think he wears on a regular basis in another post about East Asian fashion headcanons but I'll put it here again anyways plus it might have changed:

I don't think there's a colour he wouldn't wear but he tends to go for shades of blue/brown/beige/cream/black. Fave colour to wear is probably blue. The colours he wears tend to be darker in shade but he's not repulsed by brighter or bolder colours.

He wears his clothes more for function than fashion, not that he can't be fashionable and what he wears on a daily is a random mess haha not at all, but on a day to day basis he's more concerned about what will keep him warm/cool rather than what looks good.

Probably has a lot of nice wool/yak wool/camel wool/cashmere items of clothing. Makes some of his wool hats and scarves himself.

Wears accessories sometimes, I mean he most likely has his ears pierced (Mongolian men back in the day had pierced ears and wore earrings). Probably has some leather bracelets and necklaces with the soyombo symbol or Ulzii symbol (buddhist endless knot symbol). Doesn't really care about if what he's wearing is gold or silver but he tends to lean towards silver. Also necklaces with a horse pendant/rings with a horse design?? Yes 🐴 Probably has some bracelets/necklaces braided with horse hair in the design. Often wears boots.

Other headcanons:

Voice headcanon: I headcanon his voice to actually be on the soft side! Probably emphasised by the fact that he speaks a bit more softly but it's pleasing to listen to. In a lot of the videos I've watched of Mongolians, they tend to speak a bit softly? Unless I'm on a meme page where everyone in the videos are hollering lol.

I think he can sing quite well, I mean you need to have a good range to pull off a Mongolian long song. Probs shouldn't make him try to sing pop songs though.

Obviously can throat sing and is excellent at it this is out of the question ☝️‼️

He can braid his hair pretty quickly considering how long it is

Enjoys watching K-dramas and even C-dramas lol (Don't tell Yao). Also really likes Turkish dramas??

He has a pair of practical glasses for when he goes into the country but also switches between that and contacts for when he goes out there (breaking glasses is a pain in the ass)

Has a bunch of animals but obviously he cannot take care of them all the time so he has some people take care of them.

Diverse music taste but has a tendency to enjoy rock/metal!

Pretends like he doesn't know what Kpop is to annoy South Korea (he secretly does like some Kpop shhh)

Likes watching sumo on his TV and sometimes when he visits Japan, they both go and watch it together in real time (probably likes rubbing in how good Mongolians are at sumo to him, but then all Japan needs to do is mention the failed Mongol invasions of Japan to shut him up haha)

Actually enjoys bickering with China about stupid things and will send him videos of himself consuming ungodly amounts of dairy to make fun of China's lactose intolerance (Mongolians are genetically lactose intolerant but they've been consuming it for so long now, their gut has basically adapted to it. Really interesting)

Tibet helps ground him when he's feeling lost/worried <33 emotional support human fr. Often sends gifts to Tibet and checks up on him, likes getting hugs from Tibet.

Not as close to the central Asians as he feels he should be which he feels a bit of regret over

Though he and Kazakhstan do talk as they are *almost* neighbours. There's Kazakhs in Mongolias western province who have preserved traditional Kazakh culture before Russificafion (they essentially ran away from it) so he likes going there with Kazakhstan. Also Mongolia is literally a direct ancestor of Kazakhstan so yeah lol (daddy??)

For the love of God do not let him and Russia drink together alone because they do not tell each other to stop

Sharp shooter, even with a gun.

Lowkey hates the fact he has to wear glasses but also he's become attached to them??

Obviously still very much enjoys and feels comfortable with the nomadic lifestyle but ngl it feels good to just be lazy sometimes

Sends the groupchat (idk like East Asian gc?) videos of like. Baby goats or something when there's an argument going down in an attempt to calm it. Has like a bunch of recordings on his phone of animals it's eating up his storage!

He can be quite funny when he wants to be and its made more funny by the fact that he's usually reserved in what he says and is quite deadpan.

I think him being reserved in what he says gives off the impression that he has a shy persona but introverted/silence doesn't necessarily mean shy. He just is more observant during conversations and uh he has a lot of thoughts in his brain‼️ (aka, he's still trying to mentally recover from the fall of the Yuan chsxh JKJK)

Isn't actually bitter or like. Emo about his fall from grace. I'm sure he has melancholy moments, not just about his empire era but just his history as a whole (I headcanon that his childhood was insane xhjd). But honestly he knows it could have been so much worse and he very well could have ended up dead so the fact that he's still around is a testament to his resilience

He tries to be optimistic about things but with his current government it can be hard LMAO.

I don't headcanon him as like mega depressed about things all the time but eh life gets to us all (esp when you're landlocked between Russia and China haha)

When he gets drunk he gets really funny and then passes out

If he's eating something while talking to someone, he'll offer them some of his food (yassa laws who??)

Obviously very hospitable, you enter his home/apartment/ger and BOOM you don't even have to ask he's already made food and tea for you

Is surprisingly quite respectful of people's feelings/boundaries (I mean compared to when he was a teenager at least bahah)

Can be a bit superstitious. So if someone starts whistling indoors for example, he'll either get a bit on edge or straight up tells them to stop

Is still physically active, not doing anything for too long bores and kind of depresses him.

He also likes doing things that stimulates the mind too, so, chess, sudoku, mahjong, puzzles, reading etc. Yes he's a jock but he's a smart one! ☝️🙏