#and also remember asia is a big fucking continent so theres a myriad of cultures under the Asian name w lots of history and conflict | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

constantvariations · 2 years

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Probably one of the most unfortunate things about RWBY is, for all it's inclusion of characters of color, there's no real cultural identity behind any of it

Outside of names, what is there to identify Yang or Ren or Sun as Asian? Other than skin tone, what marks Emerald as a Black woman? What marks Maria as hispanic besides her surname and clothes loosely inspired by Dio de los Muertos?

The few times crwby genuinely tried to tie these things together have ended in total failure. Flynt Coal is so unambiguously Black that his weapon and design are just Jazz... and that's his entire character. The Black One to counter our White Hero for 4.2 minutes, then claim he digs her style, thus negating every relevant real-world implication of a large, wealthy white family driving small time entrepreneurs of color out of business

Every single attempt at inclusion is through such a glaringly White lens that it's no wonder that people often mistake Sun or Ironwood as white despite being named after a Chinese deity or being modeled after their Asian VA. And that's so disappointing in ways I don't think I could ever truly put into words

#rwde #idk man #im thinking abt how all my ancestors cultures have been boiled down to nothing but White and im fucking mad #i cant even imagine how it must be on the other side #my cultures were erased to appease a power structure my ancestors wanted an in to but other folks had theirs STOLEN #to have your identity stolen then repackaged to you in the most insincere way possible by idiots who think they know best #its a disgrace unlike any other #anyway this is a v long winded way of saying please let other cultures have a chance in fantasy/sci fi settings #let black characters have kinky hair and cornrows and african specific jewelry like the lip gauges and gold neck rings #let asian characters be more than aesthetics and ramen and wisdom spouting gurus #and also remember asia is a big fucking continent so theres a myriad of cultures under the Asian name w lots of history and conflict #we are well beyond the point of pinning all Asian rep on one character a la Hikari Sulu #also also remember that indigenous people EXIST #and they exist beyond bandit stereotypes or as nObLe SaVaGeS #also middle eastern folks could def use some rep beyond evil terrorists and helpless victims in need of rescue (by americans!!1!)#this doesnt even cover shit like religious or disabled or queer cultures- all of which have rich complicated histories that affect today #there are so many things to consider when building a world from scratch and they did absolutely NOTHING AHHHHHHHHH

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