#But I wanna have this conversation too

[penncilkid]

Alright, so I was over here thinking about various things, which led me down the path of thinking about Damien. As I sat with my thoughts, I was struck by a question: Why is Damien so often headcanoned as a person of color?

And as a person of color, I want to take a closer look at this and talk about it.

Preface: For those who may not be aware, I personally headcanon Damien as Black and Filipino. The entire DAMN crew is Black in one way or another because I wanted them to be. (I am also Black, for reference)

When I think about the reasons why I headcanon Damien as a person of color, it's largely in part because I relate to him and project my lived experiences onto him as a character. Lots of the stereotypes put onto fire elementals have been directed towards me, or I have witnessed directed towards other people of color. So if you were to look at the way he is treated on the basis of being a fire elemental and say "this is why I have this headcanon"? Sure, I can buy into it.

But then what about the vampires?

Vampires are treated poorly in canon as well. If I remember correctly, it's mentioned by Vincent in regards to him attending classes at DAMN. Separate from that, though, they are treated poorly on the basis of being "feeders". (D(a)emons could be thrown into this as well. But I have complex thoughts on some of the popular headcanons, so that's a conversation for another day). It is something that permeates their everyday lived experiences, even if not constantly acknowledged. Yet majority of the fandom regards them as white. It is rare that I see any of the vampires, speaker or otherwise, depicted as anything other pale and/or white. So to me, there isn't a universal correlation of "Canonical discrimination towards a character is regarded as POC coding".

Another argument I could see people having: "I think he's a person of color based on how his mom was treated." Let's unpack this as a concept.

In itself, I love this line of thinking. It's taking various factors into play when coming up with a headcanon, which is always fun to me. But when you examine canon, his mom is discriminated against on the basis of being humanborn. In canon, Lasko is also humanborn. It's a core part of him as a character (so much so that it's also present in the Imperium). Yet, again, he's largely regarded as white. I can count on my hand the amount of non-white Lasko designs I have encountered. And almost all of the people with those designs are POC themselves. If you take this into consideration, being humanborn is not synonymous with being POC coded (at least throughout the fandom). So there isn't any concrete justification of his mom being explicitly regarded as POC. And as such, it no longer influences what Damien could be racially speaking. So again, I ask: Why is he so often headcanoned as a person of color?

Because here's my thing about Damien. There's just as much basis for him to be white, and I would directly cite the way he talks about DAMN as a whole. He has audios with FL in Season 1 as an example, but I think extensively about his more recent audio with Gavin ("Supporting An Incubus"). Throughout that audio, I had one persisting thought. I could lead with "His heart's in the right place" and such. But that doesn't change the fact that yeah, he 100% sounds like a white savior. You could go as far to save he always sounds like one when he talks about DAMN. The only time I've thought otherwise is when I'm actively imagining him as POC, which doesn't change what is presented in canon.

But all of this is so largely ignored by the fandom in favor of other headcanons— A lot them being that he's Black. And when I see how that is paired with widely popular white Lasko headcanons, it rubs me the wrong way. Especially given that canonically, he was scared of Damien at one point (a fact affirmed in several audios). Before anyone tries to say "But it was because—", that doesn't negate or erase context and subtext.

As I said when I made my post in regards to Huxley and Darlin often being headcanoned as specifically Black, I cannot dictate anyone's thoughts/headcanons. That's not the purpose of sharing these thoughts. What I am trying to do is have a conversation about something that I think is worth discussing and examining further. There is no harm in thinking critically about media you enjoy, and that's what I'm striving to do.

Just consider what I'm saying. Please.

[sofiaruelle]

Would you dance, if i asked you to dance? 😫🫣

A wip for now,,,,

[puppyeared]

id fumble him so bad

[3-aem]

thinking about touch starved touch sensitive gojo again. Absolutely desperate for even the most grazing touches from getou and yet overwhelmed by it all.

[alluralater]

@ the gorgeous girl in my apartment building with the trans tattoo on her thigh that i met in the elevator one time last summer and now see everywhere, i need you to know i think about you randomly at night and i yearn to take you on a date. you’re so pretty and you were so nice and sweet and when you complimented me i felt my cheeks get super hot but remember i was moderately cool about it?? i could see the numbers counting down to the end of the elevator ride in my periphery and i didn’t want to waste my time being flustered so we started complimenting each other on everything, and you were blushing too?? anyways i should have asked for your number but i didn’t because all the trans girls i know are cuffed and everyone in my building is too so i didn’t wanna be weird and make you uncomfortable if you were dating someone and only looking to make friends. i think about you some random moments and everytime i go to do my laundry i question if i should dress up a tiny bit better just in case i see you. also uh… why does your laugh sound like music?

someone get this to her like a message in a bottle thrown desperately into the ocean please

[wraithsoutlaws]

smash or pass;

Name: Dagger Gender: male Height: 6'3'' / 190.5cm Sexuality: Bisexual Pros: ...Passionate Cockroach the Rat Magic tricks Cons: Murder Blood obsession Chainsmoker (smells like blood and cigarettes)

[naivety]

okay i need feedback from the autism mentall illness website um. this is going to read like an AITA post. brother vs half-sister (who are currently my dependents do to their own individual disabilities + ptsd/depression) spat i will skim the details on but i'm worried my sister will discount my take since i'm not autistic myself so. am i crazy to call it ableist to look at an autistic person (23) who is clearly going through it dealing w long term depression, a world that doesn't give a shit abt him, unemployment, very self-isolated and burnt out barely leaving his room because the world is an ableist dumpster fire with zero opportunities for him, and then bring up childhood abuse he's suffered and his diagnosis as reasonable factors on top of this to worry he'll [checks notes] abuse my cat just to hurt me or even worse have a breakdown and kill me and his other sibling in a violent episode, a train of thought i probably wouldn't even be having were he not [checks notes] mad at me for the first time in my life?

like i don't have any other read on this kind of fear-based characterization other than ableism. like those are very real things in his life but she never points out any current violent behavior, of which there are none, only the one (1) instance of him lashing out when he was like 14 and Officially Diagnosed Low Empathy she thinks is a concern and Hateful Looks toward her since he stopped getting along with her, that's it. i tried explaining to her why i, someone who's lived w him his entire life, can vouch for how unlikely he is to do anything like that, especially when it's again not based on anything he's actually currently doing except for isolating in a way that is much more indicative of him potentially being a danger to himself than anyone else, and being cold towards her specifically, and i thought she had let it go, but when i brought it up off-hand in a conversation tangentially related, she continued to defend and justify her Concern about the potential directions his behavior could lead to because [checks notes] other people in similar situations have lashed out and killed their entire families according to. true crime books or videos she's watched on youtube as far as i'm aware. ignoring the fact that her and i have had the same or Worse childhood abuse and have acted similarly isolated in the past, or for her literally just as currently as him, and she's not expressed any worry past or present about either of us doing anything like that, in my opinion obviously because i haven't cut her off due to our differences like he decided to. like am i big sibling biased because this is pissing me off so bad.

[princeanxious]

*baps @shamedump * it's the blood twins and yer littol oc Vermillion!

And for anyone interested in TSAMS and oc branch-offs, please check out their fic Vermillion! It's really cute and a nicer look on how the bloodmoon twins could have had their view changed! More doodles for this fic are absolutely incoming(and hopefully will get digitally colored lol) as I've got a bunch of little scenes I wanna draw out for little Millie and the fam they've made!!

I can't wait to see what happens next, as I have some theories on how things might play out and I'm eager to see how it all plays out!!

[bacchuschucklefuck]

the never stop blowing up vhs is where cute twinks go to get harmed

[spearxwind]

hey all, I'm tentatively closing chat dms because i have become unable to keep up with them on a regular basis and they keep building up past manageable levels for me ^^; i would like to respond to all of them but I have to accept I simply am no longer able to, super sorry about that

I know a lot of you like to send me posts you think I'll like but I cant see all of them and I can't dedicate time of the day to scrolling through them :[

asks will remain open so you can send me stuff there still though (but preferrably not links to posts, sorry)

Im not sure if ill eventually answer the ones currently in my inbox i just. havent been able to answer im rly sorry i genuinely feel embarrassed that they sit unread for so long its like an ouroboros of anxiety for me

[automatonknight]

id: a digital drawing of a blue engineer and walenty-an original character. walenty is pale, has long, black hair with horns, a tail and claws. he's wearing square glasses, fingerless gloves, a green, floral shirt over a black tank top and black shorts and shoes. kit is holding a fishing rod in kits right hand. engineer is wearing his hardhat and goggles, a blue shirt, dark blue overalls and brown boots. he also has a fishing rod swung over his shoulder. he and walenty are walking next to eachother, with walenty on the left and engie on the right. the background shows a pine forest. end id

[lightning-girl]

istg if I see someone call maps "the normal one/normal" one more time I riot 🙄 what is with yall and making sure pocs are boring af did we not learn with duke??

[happyendingsong]

fuck every other 5star prediction i need saya vs syuri in the semifinals to get footage for an olivia rodrigo obsessed amv

[lavenoon]

Sharing the blanket <3

@naffeclipse I continue keeping the bounty hunter out of trouble by sleeping on him and I will not apologize

*self insert is not a girl (he/ she)

og detective au by sunnys-aesthetic!

[bl-inkstone]

as much as i love serious no-nonsense alhaitham, i like to imagine him engaging in silly little mock arguments in different languages with a haravatat or vahumana reader that he (privately) considers one of his dearest friends. he probably spins it as a learning opportunity for both of you ("conversation is a good way to properly grasp the nuances of conversation and the little linguistic gimmicks of a language, after all") but in all honesty? alhaitham enjoys just being able to indulge in what he'd normally consider "pointless" or "childish" behavior with someone he knows won't judge him for it, and will enthusiastically join in when he offers.

(and as a personal plus for him: not only does it give him an outlet for every niche tidbit of history he's accumulated over the years in order to create not only incredibly witty responses that are also factual and accurate to the time period, but also, your company is exactly what he needs after a long day at work. there's no better pick-me-up than hearing you try to hide your snort when he drops a particularly hard line. he's glad you think he's funny. your joy is a wonderful sight to see.)

he treasures the moments where he can sit beside you, trading light jabs and in-character insults at each other in your private corner of lambad's tavern. to alhaitham, it's moments like these that remind him that there's more to life than just his work, his hobbies, and himself.

good food, good drinks, and good company mark the end of most of alhaitham's days, and his heart always leaves the tavern full and content with the promise of seeing you again soon, safe and whole and happy, in the table you've always saved a seat for him at since your days in the akademiya.

(can be read as platonic or romantic! either way, alhaitham cares greatly for you and enjoys the times you can spend together, even when it's mostly spent trading insults in languages both of you have varying levels of mastery in lmao)

[shreddeddescent]

probably oversharing at this point ive been doing that a lot. very much had the experience of everyone ive told about this going "hey. im glad youre getting whatever that is out"

hmmmmm