#Black Folks News

[starrynightsxo]

*jurdan at a ball*

jude: remain alert, we need to assess the threat before we raise the alarm. we must stay vigilant.

cardan reaching for his 7th drink: *confused* wait what? you didn't think to tell me this BEFORE the alcohol was in front of me???

[viivdle]

cardan attending the first council meeting:

[stealingyourbones]

Gonna start making another DPXDC writing challenge where I’ll make a bingo card generation that contains super popular tropes in the fandom.

The goal is to not write said tropes. Bingo of tropes to avoid and even more of a bonus if you do a blackout board on the tropes you didn’t do.

Reply with the most common DPxDC tropes ya can think of so I can add them to the Blackout Bingo List :)

[maingh0st]

the main reason I like Taryn/the Ghost (despite the fact we get microscopic crumbs in the text) is that it’s thematically compelling for them as characters.

the best romances aren't just about ~vibes~ and ~spice~ but about two unique, fully realized characters becoming part of one another's lives. each character carries their lifetime's worth of formative experiences, beliefs about the world, goals, strengths, habits, wounds, coping mechanisms, preferences, etc—so inevitably there's conflict and change and (ideally) growth. this is why we love Jude/Cardan so much!

like, for just one example: Jude always resented the Folk, even as she admired and envied them. she talks about wanting to be better, to be worse, to excel beyond them and rule over them, and ultimately to conquer her fear of them. part of why Jurdan is so great (aside from being The Power Couple) is because falling in love with Cardan forces Jude to accept that sometimes, the Folk can be good and safe and worthy of her trust. in my interpretation, this arc culminates when Cardan is turned into a snake and Jude has to rely on others (Fand, Grima Mog, the Court of Shadows, etc.) rather than just her romantic partner. she does conquer her fear of the Folk—partially through her cunning and tenacity, yes, but also partially through learning to trust her heart and find those with whom she is safe.

but that's not a lesson Taryn needs to learn. she wants to fit in with the fae; she craves their approval. in tcp, Locke's whole shitty test is based on Taryn's ability to prove that, even though she's human, she can live like the fae. and in twk, while Jude is isolated, exhausted, and (rightfully) paranoid about being betrayed, Taryn is constantly surrounded by the Folk. she seems to find belonging among them, yet she almost loses herself in the process. from a story perspective, Locke isn't that interesting of a romantic partner because he only confirms what she seems to already believe: that to belong in faerie, she will have to change and abandon certain parts of herself (represented most starkly by her betraying her sister). she will have to learn to love differently and live by different rules. and she's quite good at it, as we see—but it makes her miserable. so Locke's murder is narratively important (beyond just being Very Fun) because it represents her rejection of the life he insisted she live.

but the Ghost (for as little as we know about him) is half-human and spent part of his life in the human world. I think there is so much potential for the most delicious narrative tension to arise from their dynamic. they both, for their own reasons, straddle both the human and the faerie worlds, yet fully belong to neither. both of them make choices they regret (killing Liriope / betraying Jude) and both of them are harmed as a result (the Ghost's true name being used / Locke being straight-up emotionally abusive). there's a lot of common ground there, but also potential for great conflict considering the very different lives they live.

after the events of tqon, I get the sense that they're both kind of... recalibrating. of course, the Ghost is still part of the Court of Shadows, but the monarchs he serves are very different than Dain, and he's also been freed from the abuse of his true name. and Taryn is a widow, pregnant, the daughter of an exiled general, the sister of the new mortal queen, and seemingly a bit of a phenomenon in the social scene of Elfhame. who are they, and what is their place in this world that isn't built for them? how do they find belonging without losing themselves? what does living a good and fulfilling life even look like for each of them? how do they adapt to their environment without crossing into the territory of self-betrayal? truly just so many questions that are so fun to chew on

[odistole]

8/? - Bruce Springsteen lockscreens, duet edition ⚡️

[nymeere]

[ciboriaadastra]

The notes on mutual's post on Palworld is exhibit A of how people are so willingly desensitized to antiBlack racism that the first response to hearing that human slavery is a mechanic in the game is to call it "edgy" and say that other games have allowed or in some cases require such a mechanic, implying that it is ridiculous to be disturbed by slavery mechanics simply because other games exist.

[eemoo1o-animoo]

Someone’s selling this on eBay for, like. Five bucks.

ETA: There’s also this covenant necklace for a very similar price, which I’m very tempted to get.

[sunnysideaeggs]

Rhaena is a Targaryen but, is her skin color the problem or is the writing the problem?

the writing, through and through. skin color is not a problem, but the writing degrading every character that they made black is awful. the velaryons are an ancient, rich and respected house, baela and rhaena are two amazing dragonriders. the show bent their stories to prop up the (white) main characters: rhaenyra and daemon. that’s not how inclusivity works, if you’re going to make characters of color, show them respect.

why is rhaena ordered around as a glorified babysitter? why not write a single scene of her with her father or brothers? why inflict trauma on her by first making her (black) mother die a horrible death then make her relive that sending her to the same place?

rhaena is beloved. rhaena is respected. rhaena lived in the vale as a princess, showered in praise and attention. rhaena is the last dragonrider, a beacon of hope and magic in this world. rhaena got her happy ending. black rhaena deserves that as much as white rhaena.

[sadcatinapartyhat]

I have discovered THE Marauders song

“Goodbye to you my trusted friend/We’ve known each other since we were 9 or 10” Peter

“Goodbye my friend it’s hard to die/When all the birds are singing in the sky” James

“Goodbye papa please pray for me/I was the black sheep of the family” Sirius

“But the wine and the song/Like the seasons, have all gone” Remus

And it was released in 1974 which means I can reference it in my fic and still maintain Temporal Consistency :) (‘twould make a great chapter title methinks)

[thejudeduarte]

Dumb & poetic is so Jurdan coded 😭

[starrynightsxo]

"jude and cardan had a toxic relationsh-"

no actually, they did not. there were reasons for everything that happened and just because everyone is so quick to judge things these days doesn't mean it needs to happen to them. whilst in the first book there was some initial behaviours that do support the claim, there were reasons behind them and also this is how enemies to lovers works !! they BECOME lovers. there is such a thing called a redemption arc?? not to mention we get an apology from cardan for everything he has done. toxicity is not what was in their relationship - it was ferocity. The ferocity of their love.

So let's all please stop labelling everything to ever exist toxic and focus on the people who actually need support from their toxic partners / relationships

EDIT: I would just like to clarify that I meant all this for when jude and cardan were in an actual romantic relationship together! This is by no means condoning what happened at the beginning of the books as that was most definitely wrong. I DO NOT condone any form of toxic relationship. I was trying to point out that once they were in an actual romantic relationship then they were NOT toxic and this is what some people argue they were. Apologies for any misconceptions!

[viivdle]

cardan to himself when orlagh wanted punishment:

cardan after jude finally came back:

[vanalex]

Credit: drea.d.art | IG

[cyanide-sippy-cup]

Video by shesasolarbeing on Insta cause apparently unlike TikTok they don't like putting watermarks for their creators. Go check them out!

Friend sent me this and my first thought was @kianamaiart 's magical girl series. Or rather, AIKA REAL??!?1?!1

[lionheartapothecaryx]

In light of a tragedy involving Mystic Lipstick aka Akoya, here are few quick witch tips that are invaluable for practitioners of any skill level.