#you can't TAKE AWAY anything when you racebend. you're just adding more dimensions and nuance to a different perspective of that muse

[ironarchived]

Has anyone ever given you crap for ethnicitybending Stark? I think it's freaking cool as hell that you did! I've always considered ethnicitybending some muses but I'm afraid of catching anon hate because of it. (I would do it with intent to do heavy research, ofc.) I was just curious if that's ever happened to you.

i would  l o ve  to see someone to try it lmao.  but no,  i’ve been pretty fortunate in that no one has, at least not to my face,  and i am extremely grateful for the level of support and appreciation i’ve received in my portrayal of an asian-american tony stark.

honestly speaking, i think the reason why no one has given me crap, openly or not, is that the choice to racebend tony was a very personal one.  i am, like him, a  second-gen. immigrant from an asian background  living in a western society.  there aren’t that many huge differences between the asian-american / asian-australian experience in terms of racism / underrepresentation / microagressions etc. so in that respect,  everything that’s gone into my portrayal is coming from genuine firsthand knowledge.  like,,, it’d be pretty embarrassing for someone to come at me for wanting to contribute to more representation of my own culture + experiences through my own muse. 

i have  a massive amount of respect  for people, poc or not, who racebend / ethnicitybend muses with backgrounds they’re not personally familiar with.  the choice takes a lot of courage just because,  yeah,  there’s alway a persistent worry about haters,  but particularly criticism       well-intentioned or not       for the way you portray certain aspects of your muse,  or how you approach a certain culture / ethnicity.   talking about race and identity is always complicated and inevitably messy.

the main thing is just to be as respectful,  thorough and committed in your writing  as you would be with any other aspect of your character.  the same way people watch the same episodes or movies over and over to capture important character moments,  or the way people pull from multiple books and comic runs and other sources to add detail and dimension to their interpretation.  race and ethnicity is fundamental to people’s identity,  but it also shouldn’t be the only feature that defines them                       that’s a really difficult line to tread,  even irl for people of color and from what i can say abt my own life.  

as long as you show that you’re coming from  a place of empathy,  that you’re investing as much  compassion and integrity  into portraying this part of the character as you would with everything else that makes them them  then people will recognize that.  drag / call out / block the haters,  but  listen to people giving you genuine constructive criticism.  if you’re writing your muse as coming from a background / ethnicity that isn’t your own,  you should absolutely be seeking primary sources.  there are lots of resources and masterposts on tumblr and google,  but if you can and if you have contacts or friends willing to talk to you and give advice on your portrayal,  definitely seek information from actual poc.  that’s probably the one thing that’s going to make a world of difference in your writing.  people,  esp. people of the ethnicity you might be trying to represent,  can always tell when you’ve just gone to a wikipedia page  (  possibly written by a white person  )   vs. when you’ve backed up your research from first-person accounts and sources.  it’s about authenticity,  and being true to the real life experiences you’re attempting to capture through your rp.

don’t let the idea of anon hate deter you from ethnicitybending your character,  don’t give them that power  because those potential anons are ignorant assholes.  there will always, always be people who appreciate your work and your writing and want to see a rp community that is  more diverse, complex and representative of the actual world  and the people living in it.