#and like it’s very very common with white people

[local-limebug]

DBDA characters + formal desi attire: Charles and Edwin (Pt. 1)

This is not fanart, because I cannot draw, but if any fanartists want to use this as inspo, go ahead. And, before we begin, my fashion sense is not the best, so if any fellow desi people see this and have anything to add, go ahead. These aren't very detailed either tbh, because I am much more well versed in women's desi fashion than men's. Ok, now, let's go.

Charles Rowland

You know I had to start with my favourite desi boy of all time. I'm putting my man in a sherwani because he deserves it. Red's his colour, and it's also the colour associated with weddings in south asian culture, so yes, these pictures are technically bridegroom inspo.

So, I absolutely adore embroidered sherwanis, and I do think Charles would slay one of these beyond imagination. For full outfit references, see below.

Golden and red go together amazingly in desi wear, although they do usually denote wedding wear. But sherwanis fit so wonderfully on the shoulders + Charles' dangly gold earring would go so so well with the outfit !!

Edwin Payne

Yes, I'm imagining the British Raj era white boy in desi attire. Sue me. We all know blue's his colour, so of course I went for the blue sherwanis.

Now, blue and golden are an amazing colour combination and my original choice, because I wanted there to be a common colour between Charles and Edwin, but blue and silver/white was easier to find on Pinterest. You can see golden highlights on a few of these, though, and this next one.

This one is a bit plain but to be quite honest, it has a simple elegance to it that reminded me of Edwin. Its golden highlights mean that it would work best with golden trousers, like Charles' outfits up top.

BUT I also saw this amazing formal shalwar kameez in blue that I do think Edwin would look so so good in, so I have to add it here as a bonus idea.

+ Bonus Payneland

So, desi men's attire also has this thing where the sherwani itself is a muted colour and the man wears a cloth draped around himself in the highlighted colour (IDK what the cloth is called 😭). But I found these similar ones in blue/white and red/golden combo, and yes, it reminded me of Payneland.

LIKE. You can't tell me they wouldn't absolutely slay it. Like these are their wedding outfits to me, like for when they get married to each other.

Anyway, that's the limit for the pictures I can put on this post. Next one up is Crystal and Niko! I am so excited for Niko.

taglist because people seemed to want this and i don't want anyone to miss it. just say the word and i'll tag you for the next part: @queen-of-hobgobblers @mirabel-on-a-bicycle @shipspainfulships @read-write-thrive @justalunaticfangirl @guardianspirits13

[creatingblackcharacters]

Okay so what I was trying to explain on my blog was I noticed an instance of racism that doesn't get talked about often in black spaces , I noticed "anti racist" white ppl are only interested in ending racism or cancelling racism when it suits them or when it isn't inconvenient for them like for example: cancelling racist brands if they don't make products that they enjoy, not cancelling racists that happen to be very attractive and only cancelling racists if they dont make content they enjoy hence why the racist singer Camilla Cabello is being cancelled for being racist(she doesn't make good music) while Lana del ray gets idolised and supported(she makes good music) but in this case im talking about tim Burton who takes part in making good famous spooky movies. He makes scary content and his works either have non-humans,white/light skins,white passing(for his dead characters) but no poc and when asked for rep by his black fans he replied with "black ppl do not fit his style/aesthetic" and yeah at the time it happened he was faced with backlash but the backlash was stopped and he wasn't cancelled because of his several non black fans who defended him by saying "maybe he means that black ppl cant fit his aesthetic because they aren't pale hence it wont look spooky " , "4c hair would look goofy in a spooky movie and wouldn't look spooky/creepy as straight hair(I believe its cuz most ghosts in media have long straight hair)" and some of his fans being very obviously racist without even sugarcoating or sounding nice about it by saying "there musn't be representation in every single media"

People aren't usually willing to give up their faves, yes. It's a common occurrence; it's why there's such a defensiveness about confronting racism, in this case in fandom. Acknowledging that your fave media or creator is racist means acknowledging that you might have to... stop liking them, or at least put effort into recognizing when things are an issue. And people don't want to "be a racist", but they also.... Enjoy the content. They don't want to think about it critically. So by denying the truth, they can continue to enjoy it without moral stress. Tis a choice!

[queenwille]

before anything, please let me mention, though lebanon, same as israel, is the size of a peanut, hezbollah rules very defined regions and the attack was not ALL over lebanon, as the media likes to overdramatize. next- israel planted that in very outdated, new (pre distribution) communication devices specifically requested by nasrallah to be used by hezbollah terrorists, when israel confirmed it had breached hezbollah’s communication network months ago.

yet:

sympathizers are not worried that so many pagers purchased solely for communication purposes between people affiliated with a designated terror organization had be distributed and found a trusty owner?

a 9 year old girl was allowed near a pager used for terror purposes.

how fucking common it is to be affiliated and rank high enough to get a fucking encrypted communication device for a terror organization.

never in the history of the war against terror has there been a more precise in such a large scale attack on a terror organization, yet the antisemites still be antisemitizing.

if so many doctors got hurt, this begs the question, why did public medical personal had communication devices purchased by a terror organization in a country with a functioning government?

and most importantly: how fucking easy it is to activate the west’s white savior complex and get its pity, even when it’s absolutely ridiculous.

[alt-wannabe]

MCSR As Chemical Compounds

idk either man. expect very little actual explanation and a lot of chemical yapping from a very big nerd

Silverr as Silver Nitrate:

AgNO3

the above is the crystal structure

appearance is just a white crystal kinda like sugar

it took everything in me to not just make silverr plain Ag

silver nitrate is the most common precursor for all other important silver salts

also an extremely important compound in the development of photography! (and iirc silverr is a film major)

Feinberg as Ozone:

O3

produced during lightning strikes

pale blue at high ppm

only leaves gas state at cryogenic temperatures

naturally occurring in the stratosphere and absorbs UV rays from the sun

Fruit as Nickel(II) Chloride Hexahydrate:

NiCl2•6H2O

green

the non-hydrate form is a sort of olive-y yellow color

used to absorb ammonia in gas masks

Raddles as Potassium Permanganate:

KMnO4

Sometimes referred to as Purple Potion Powder

goes CRAZY purple when dissolved and is lowkey my favorite chemical

very strong oxidizing agent

one time i stained my hand purple through my glove with this shit idk how it happened

if made in specific solvents can look extremely similar to dragon's breath in minecraft imo

K4 as Octathio[8]circulene:

C16S8

also referred to as Sulflower (like sulfur and sunflower haha get it)

planar which is fairly uncommon for molecules of this size

can be stacked together to make sheets of sulflowers

Cube as Cubane:

C8H8

yeah this is self-explanatory

what is interesting though is that ring strain in 4 membered rings/squares is really high, so cubane existing is a bit of a chemical anomaly

i havent read into it enough to know for sure but i suspect that ring strain is why cubane is a precursor to a HELLA STRONG explosive compound

Reignex as PPTA:

Poly-p-paraphenylene terephthalamide

[-CO-C6H4-CO-NH-C6H4-NH-]n

the name is complicated as shit but this is just kevlar!

aka bulletproof vest material

looks fluffy when not woven completely together

aligning of polymer chains w hydrogen bonds creates EXTREMELY high tensile strength

Mime as Phenylmagnesium Bromide:

C6H5MgBr

a common grignard reagent aka a compound that can be used in a grignard reaction, an extremely important reaction in organic synthesis as it creates new C-C bonds

another fun fact about grignard reagents is that if water is added to them- or even if they're handled in particularly moist air- they fucking explode

extremely strong nucleophile and base

Poundcake as Xenon Hexafluoride:

XeF6

Noble gases don't react unless you REALLY make them

so a compound containing xenon is really interesting

colorless as a solid but sublimes (aka skips straight from solid to gas) into a bright yellow gas

fun fact a lot of instances where typical chemistry rules are broken (noble gases not reacting, octet rule in general, etc) involve fluorine to the point ive heard it referred to as a "batshit electron thief"

Fulham as Iron Hexacyanidoferrate:

C18Fe7N18

also known as prussian blue

extremely common pigment in paints and the first modern synthetic pigment

used extensively in The Great Wave

another one of my favorite molecules bc im biased and like inorganic chem aka things that contain metals

used as an antidote for heavy metal poisoning which is interesting bc it contains cyanide ligands!

Couriway as Bullvalene:

C10H10

in a state of constant resonance

aka the double bonds are CONSTANTLY shifting and reforming bullvalene into... itself but moved around a little

the bonds fluctuate so rapidly that in nmr analysis each carbon and hydrogen in the entire molecule is read as equivalent (for my non-chem people that's very uncommon and very cool)

formed through photolysis (aka using light/photons to fuel a reaction)

[euniexenoblade]

'having a parasocial relationship with joss whedon so badly that you start having one with his family members' it's not a 'parasocial relationship' it's not like i was stalking through anyone's socmed, she literally wrote an article in the wrap about how the man is a bad feminist for how he treated her. it's a large part of why he no longer has a career lmao.

Sweetheart you very specifically keep talking about Joss Whedon, a monogamous man in a monogamous relationship who used his power to hurt a woman, and are trying to tool that into some kind of "poly people aren't oppressed" post because you saw a post I made about how poly people are often abused by previous monogamous partners.

You are clearly obsessed with Joss Whedon because you've sent that exact argument to multiple people and he's always your example. Why should polyamorous trans gay people have their oppression denied because a cis white monogamous man used his place of power and wealth to hurt someone?

Your argument is weak and unrelated. And frankly it's not my business. You have an obsession with Joss Whedon, yes you do, and you are bigoted against polyamorous people, yes it's true. Monogamy is not inherently jealous or abusive, but people like you who act this way I fully believe are using your "monogamy" as a form of control. You're using another person's trauma to deny the lived personal experiences of thousands and reclassify abuse victims as "actually they're the abusers"

It's wild to me how media constantly repurposes the story of a woman rushed into a marriage with someone she knew as a kid that turns out abusive and traps her in a marriage and she meets someone and cheats on her abusive husband (for the record, one of my favorite adaptations of this is the Brian Fallon song "Vincent"). This is a very common story in media because it's based on a very real occurrence women deal with. Yet, you make that woman polyamorous and now suddenly everyone that believes she was right froth at the mouth and "she's a cheater she deserves the abuse don't ya know Joss Whedon"

Grow up. You're a loser. And frankly I hope all partners you ever have cheat on you. Misogynist scum.

[machveil]

Beautiful, cute, dulzura, A quick question, do you have any advice for drawing? I see your drawings and I just fell in love with them, I just started drawing again but it's difficult...

I don't know, sorry, English is not my first language, using translator jiji 🤎🍁

(note: this post is long, grab a snack lol) ah! no problem, don’t worry about the translator haha (pinterest link - this is my masterboard for human references! I’ll talk about it more below)

I think my best advice for anyone wanting to draw is to break down your piece into shapes! (also, depending on your style, using different line weights)

from my experience, while looking at the whole reference is good, it’s easier to break down individual parts! while some parts can look complicated, a lot of things can be broken down into triangles, squares, and circles (or half circles)

I focus on character art, so I’ll be speaking about that - but it can applied to scenery and objects too. a lot of characters clothes are broken up into colored articles already - in the top reference, Ghost has a red bandanna on his arm! that bandanna helps break up his arm: the top near his shoulder is triangular, the bandanna itself is overall rectangular, and the bottom of his sleeve is a square

of course, depending on how you’re posing the character it can change the angle of what we’re seeing - there’s also an accommodation that your art probably won’t be a 1-to-1 copy with your reference. Ghost’s right arm (bandanna) has a white rolled up sleeve - while the model’s sleeve is square, I prefer to draw rolled sleeves more triangular

I think line weight is also important depending on your style! I prefer thicker lines around the entire character, and defining qualities also get thicker lines

I like thinner lines inside the character to help define dimensional shape and form. I use thicker lines on the inside of the body if there’s a shape/area that’s more in the foreground - example: König’s chest and midsection have thick line art to help differentiate from his left arm (behind his body)

I know a common piece of advice is to use real life references, and I agree… but, I never hear people talk about how to use references in a way that actually helps (“just draw from real life”, or “drawing with a reference is good practice”). I experienced that and wasn’t able to take anything away for years!

within the past year or so I seriously took a look at how using references can help me, so I want to try and talk about that - if I had trouble learning from references I’d wager someone else has

here’s my best example of using a reference because I actually remembered to! I labeled the figure to make it a little easier to follow

(1) my first tip is using a reference to figure out how the body ‘flows’. the human body has a lot of soft, rounded lines when you look at a picture - very few things are legitimately straight and sharp. I used the reference specifically to figure out how men’s pecs are shaped (of course, this is just one reference… because this is my headcanon for König’s body type haha)

(1) looking at references can help you understand how muscles move. in the reference with the woman, you notice how her right arm (down) muscles are layered - the shape portrayed by the reference lets you see how an arm’s muscles might be laid out in that position

(2) my second tip from the König reference is to look at negative space! the highlighted red portion between the arm and midsection is roughly the same negative space as the reference. if you’re using a reference and something feels off with the placement of what you’ve drawn I’d recommend looking at the space your reference takes up

(2) the negative space trick helps me line up where proportions should meet up - the distance between her arms lets me gauge how the rest of her body should be proportioned

(2) while it doesn’t match up 1-to-1 with the reference when layered overtop, it doesn’t have to! the negative space between the arms was enough for the sketch to mimic what the reference looks like. art doesn’t have to be a 1-to-1, but negative space can help you figure out ‘why does that arm look funny?’, “that arm looks funny because, compared to the negative space of your reference, it’s too (far away/close) to the body.”

(3) my last tip is the simplest, so I’ll just be referring to the König figure! when using references I look to gauge the distance between different body parts - it helps me get more realistic proportions. the bit I specifically compared to was the man’s stomach placement compared to his waist. I didn’t copy it 1-to-1 because I like the idea König has more of a tummy, but the reference allowed me to figure out an anatomical placement for where König’s stomach would be compared to his waist

I hope my advice wasn’t terrible haha everyone’s art journey is different, but these are tips I would have liked to know a few years ago (specifically the reference material ones lol). I wanted to focus more on the reference material because when people say ‘just use a reference, it’ll help’ it didn’t do it for me

I personally needed a more in depth explanation on why I would use a reference, what should I be looking at - because just drawing a person doesn’t necessarily help, and how should I be learning from it - I accidentally taught myself negative space before I knew what it was

but uhm… yeah, I hope this wasn’t awful! good luck on everyone’s art journeys, just remember that you’re allowed to take your time and try different things

if you guys have any other questions about my art feel free to jump into my inbox; process wise, inspiration, etc - I’ll answer anything I can<3

[lostryu]

just saying people need to look up what they’re naming their pet because 9/10 the obscure name you chose is a racial slur.

[cyanbeetle]

I’ve tried like 500 times to articulate my thoughts about nonwhite superman and how much that adds to his childhood of loneliness and every time I hit a stumbling block because the topic makes me too insane to think but please hold my hand and imagine this little boy trying to grow up in rural Kansas and being the only person he’s ever known who looks like he does. This little boy who never has a proper answer when people ask where he’s really from, and even once he knows the truth of himself he can never safely share it. Please imagine him fighting every single day to belong and never being able to no matter how hard he tries because people will always find something questionable in the very way he looks. A lot of the superman mythos is dependant on Clark’s ability to assimilate but when you take that away what is left?? He’s just a kid fighting so hard for a belonging he’ll never have a hope in hell of being handed. Oh it hurts my heart

[dykedvonte]

If Ulysses has a million haters, then I'm one of them. If Ulysses has one hater, then I'm THAT ONE. If Ulysses has no haters, that means I'm dead. If the world is with Ulysses than I’m against the world.

[zooweemama143]

last rb had me thinking of how lame bif would actually be as a person

[sukibenders]

Being a woc fan of Bridgerton can be a struggle, especially when it comes to liking the poc characters on the show, especially the woc. Like I remember when s1 came out and the blatant microaggressions and just plain racism coming from this fandom was atrocious. You had people spewing very hateful things about Charlotte, Marina, and Simon and undermining the latter two's pain and trauma at the hands of the white characters---Marina was treated terribly by the Featheringtons and, whether you like Penelope or not, you cannot deny that she also played a part by releasing that letter to the Ton and Simon was violated Daphne no matter how people try to spin the story to offer her some form of sympathy (it still blows my mind that people would want to though).

S2 is just as bad (not even including how they changed the Sharma family's storyline than how it was in the books when that wasn't necessary) and the racist undertones many of the fans have towards Mary and Edwina (as well as Kate but for her it's carries more brown woman needing to be saved by a white man when Anthony is involved because a lot of you all in the fandom are quick to use this trope such as "oh, he's the only one who truly knows her"). The lack of screen time for this family really ends up hurting them to but even with that, whether you like Mary and Edwina or not, it would be a lie to deny the racism a lot in the fandom hold towards them (and how that falls onto the actresses because it was very apparent how many in the fandom couldn't let two Desi women shine without having to bring down the other and Netflix played into that too for drama) and paints every small thing they do as being terrible crimes but in the same breath will not have the same smoke for the Bridgertons, who have their own set of problems (but because they are also the main family, among other things, they are provided more grace without consequences).

[creatingblackcharacters]

Also gonna send my criticisms of The Walking Dead TV show's treatment of Black characters as a separate ask.

So, to put it simply. The Walking Dead show has a horrible tendency of killing off its Black characters. Like, to the point it's a semi-common joke/theory that they have a quota on how many Black characters they can have.

Spoilers for most of the TV show, continue at your own risk

At the start of the show, we have two Black characters; Jacqui and T-dog. Jacqui only appears in the first season (7 episodes). She had very little presence in the show, only showing up for brief dialogue or to guide the other characters. She dies comforting a (white) man, who she decided to not leave alone in his final moments.

T-dog lasts three seasons (22 episodes) and gets more time in the spotlight. He's quiet, compassionate, and very selfless, the kind of guy who spent the early days of the apocalypse transporting old people to safety in a church van.

He also gets called the n-word and is beaten horribly within the first few episodes by Merle (...who is widely loved by the fandom despite this). T-dog still attempts to save Merle's life later, as Merle was, himself beaten up and cuffed to a pipe after committing a hate crime.

Throughout most of the series he's a pretty regular good guy. He's resistant to hurting people (even in self defense), he helps out other survivors, very normal stuff.

Then he dies while saving another (white) character.

Then we meet Big Tiny, Andrew, and Oscar, a trio of Black prisoners. Big Tiny dies almost instantly. Andrew is killed by Oscar. Oscar is killed during a rescue mission for two other characters (one white).

Then we meet Bob! He's another normal, decent man, doesn't stand out much. Then he's bitten by a zombie and has his leg eaten by (mostly white) cannibals. Tyreese puts him out of his misery.

Tyreese and Sasha are a pair of siblings. Sasha survives for most of the show, Tyreese survives a couple seasons. He's strong, protective, quiet, and wise. He beats up zombies with a hammer, pretty cool.

He is bitten by a zombie and dies not long after a new Black character is introduced.

That brings us to Noah; he's polite, helpful, intelligent, and interested in architecture. He even builds a close friendship with another member of the main cast.

Then a white man sacrifices him to zombies to survives. And he just... kinda allows it so the other guy present can survive.

Let's not forget about Sasha. She gets a pretty long run on the show; she's loyal, practical, has strong morals, is a great leader, and is amazing with a gun. She even has a couple romance arcs... one with Bob (the guy who got eaten), and the other is a man who is violently beaten to death in front of her.

She commits suicide and becomes a zombie to avenge her second boyfriend (who was white), attempting to bite the man who killed him.

I'm sure you can see the pattern... Black characters die and are replaced by a shiny new Black character. When they die, it's often directly connected to a white character.

If I remember right... around three Black main characters made it to the end of the show.

In comparison, three of the four Telltale games put their Black characters front and centre (the third game stars a Latino man, but a Black girl is still the deuteragonist). These characters are varied, loved by their peers, people sacrifice for them, people want to save them.

Well I guess I have no interest in ever watching this, huh 🤣 my reactions

Jacqui: 🙄 of course

T-Dog: shoulda left dude stuck to that pipe. Let a zombie get him, even. How do you find time to be racist during a zombie apocalypse? Nah, I'd let him die. He better than me.

Big Tiny, Andrew, and Oscar: here one moment gone the next

Bob: poor Bob 😭

Tyreese and Sasha: no, Tyreese 😭

Noah: is Noah the one that was played by Tyler James Williams?? Where he got caught in the spinning door? Because I remember that shit! I remember being HORRIFIED bc omg that's 1) Chris and 2) WHY IS HE DYING?? 3) now im scared of revolving doors

Sasha: 🙄🙄🙄🤦🏾‍♀️🤦🏾‍♀️🤦🏾‍♀️🤦🏾‍♀️🤦🏾‍♀️ now Sasha. Girl.

That is too much lmao damn.

[lwcina]

the fact that the us government can continue funding and arming a genocide despite massive public opposition really highlights how inherently non-democratic the united states is

[llycaons]

the reason teeth decay and bones do not is because teeth are literally not bones and do not act like them

[softquietsteadylove]

Ok ok… here me out for a second…

Thenamesh Addams Family AU…

The Lee Family: business associates of Father's who were coming to meet with them over real estate (or some such). Mister Lee dealt in property, and also possessed quite a lot of the railways, according to Father. Missus Lee was as much of a matriarch as Mother, although they were going to talk about their poison gardens, or some other such.

Thena stared at the family standing in the foyer. They were like the picture perfect opposite of herself and her own family. They were dressed entirely in black, even the son in a smart black suit. They had mild expressions but warmer seeming eyes, all a gentle brown.

Mother and Father had perfectly sculpted smiles, but eyes as cold as the tundra. They were dressed in all white, just like Thena was, with her white-blonde hair braided over her shoulder.

"Mister and Missus Lee," Father greeted them with a falsely warm tone. Before they had arrived, he had said that they were horrid people to do business with, despite his very warm tone.

"Such a pleasure," Mother purred as she exchanged air-cheek-kisses with Missus Lee. She had said that she would rather let Theseus - the young iguana currently hiding in Thena's room - sit on her lap than align herself with 'Mister Lee's wife'.

Such walking contradictions her parents were.

"This is our son," Mister Lee smiled more genuinely, putting his hands on his son's (broad) shoulders. "Gilgamesh."

"Pleasure to meet you." He had a soft voice.

Thena stared at the young man. He was big for their age, with a young moustache coming in on his upper lip. Thena's lips twitched; it suited him, in a funny sort of way.

"Gilgamesh," Mister Lee clapped his hands on his son's back as the parents began moving into the drawing room, "greet the young lady properly."

Not that they stuck around to see that it happened.

Thena looked at the young man again, extending her hand, her palm facing the floor. Her face was still impassive, and she hadn't said a word, just like Father always taught her.

Gilgamesh looked at her with some intrigue in his eyes, bending further than he needed to as he accepted her hand in his. He bowed his head completely, nothing short of reverent as he said, "my pleasure."

Thena tilted her head as he kissed the back of her hand. It was gentle, and he even held it softly with his other hand as his lips touched her knuckle. She smiled; she could feel his moustache tickle her skin, "enchante."

"Bless you," he extended a handkerchief.

Thena laughed before quickly raising her hand between her mouth and his eyes. She was forgetting her etiquette with their guest; Mother would be furious.

"What, are you not allowed to laugh?"

Thena looked at him again, and, without his parents to loom over him, Gilgamesh seemed more relaxed. His shoulders were still wider than any she had seen, but they were slouched, his hands in his trouser pockets. She had never seen anyone look so comfortable in their own skin before.

"It's okay," he shrugged as he smiled, attempting to encourage her into doing the same, "I won't tell."

She almost - almost! - let another laugh escape her before fixing her lips into a perfect smile. It was rigid and hard to maintain, but it was the only one she knew how to do. "I thank you for your consideration."

"So, uh," Gilgamesh leaned back just for a second before walking closer to her, away from the doorway where their parents' business mutterings were happening. "We're supposed to...talk, I guess?"

"Indeed."

"Okay," he looked at her, hands still in his pockets. His eyes ran over her, and Thena briefly forgot what she had put on that day (Mother always picked her clothes for her anyway). "What do you wanna talk about?"

Thena blinked. She had read about trains and business economics and stock options all night in preparation to meet the magnate's son. And he was asking her? "Me?"

"Yeah, you," he smiled, even more naturally than before. He had a nice smile. "What do you like to do?"

What did she like to do? What was she allowed to do? Her days were filled with lessons, and then after that, she was left to her own devices. "Sometimes Mother lets me assist her in the poison garden."

"Oh yeah, Ma has the same kind of thing at home," Gilgamesh made a face that betrayed his lack of interest in the topic. "She just gets mad when I'm outside because she always thinks I'll step on it, though."

Thena felt her lips twitch, aching to leave the practised posture of the smile she had on. "Mother is similarly protective of ours. She gets furious when Theseus crawls around in the soil."

"Who's Theseus?"

Again, Thena felt caught off guard by the question, even though they were the only ones speaking. She wasn't used to being asked so many questions that weren't on a preordained subject. "Theseus is my iguana."

"You have a pet?" Gilgamesh beamed, so utterly delighted by even the idea of having an animal companion. He stepped closer to her, "can I see him?"

"I-I suppose," she uttered before she had a chance to think better of it. Was this what she was supposed to be doing? She was told to be hospitable to the Lee Family et al, so surely that included indulging Gilgamesh too...right? "Come with me."

"Allow me," he smiled, holding out his hand for her.

Thena paused just for a moment before slipping her hand into his, the way she had seen Mother do when Father held her hand as they walked the halls of their cold and sprawling estate. The way a gentleman did with a lady.

Gilgamesh held her hand so gently she felt as if she would collapse.

Thena looked down at the steps as she lead him upstairs, opting to walk to the left first. "Mother and Father have been anticipating your visit for quite some time."

"My folks too," he concurred, in much more casual phrasing. He looked around as they walked, his other hand still in his pocket. "They're all excited for it, and yet they keep saying what a drag it is."

Thena smiled as much as she was able without practising, "my parents are the same. I haven't the faintest idea why they insist on referring to things they claim are good to be so awful."

"They're funny like that, huh?" Gilgamesh looked away from the family portraits lining the upper walls to her again. "Should I have said it was quite awful to make your acquaintance?"

Thena let another tiny little laugh escape. She peeked at Gilgamesh, just to make sure he didn't mind. But he was smiling right at her. "Abysmal to meet you as well."

"See?" he grinned so freely, so uninhibited by the gilded cage around them. "Maybe that should be our code for things. If they're going to pretend shit it so great, then we can say just the opposite."

They reached the top of the staircase, where it split from its other half. Still, he didn't let go of her hand, waiting for to lead him wherever they pleased.

"Then I am having," she paused, her lips pressing together in threat of another smile, "an awful time."

His hand squeezed around hers faintly. But it was nice. "Me too."

[ignitesthestxrs]

are you a kiwi? I'm american myself, but honestly feel like I haven't seen enough kiwis talk about the locked tomb (though i think im partly just missing most of the discourse anyway somehow??)..

if you ever feel like layin out some more thoughts ab tlt id love to read em! <3

i am a kiwi! there is a small but thriving kiwi sf/f community, but overall people are not...terribly online, or terribly into fiction lol. i definitely know there are kiwi fans of the series out there but in general i can imagine most of them simply not wanting to get into it. i don't really want to get into it! i just saw a reply on a post i reblogged and lost my mind about it for a couple of seconds.

as a pākehā/white kiwi i am like, both protective of these books, critical of them, and kind of ill-equipped to be the person criticising how māori characters and māoritanga/māori culture is depicted in them.

tamsyn muir is a pākehā author writing māori characters that she didn't initially identify as such getting like,,,increasingly more māori in depiction as the books go on and she learns more about the general consensus on how white people should write characters of colour. and those māori characters are involved in instituting, recreating, participating in a uh....very roman? sort of societal structure? and in the latest book there's this further māorification of Jod while also depicting him as a radical under fire from the government in a compound, and act which has both deep historical and very recent (2007!!)roots in aotearoa nz culture.

this māorification of gideon too with the prince kiriona stuff is also: something. what is it? i don't know. i don't think it's Cancellable Offense Bad, or even bad at all. but there's an overall freedom of mishmashing aspects of kiwi and māori culture into a broader sf/f context that muir has kind of taken it upon herself to perform, when ultimately it's not her who should have been the person who got to do it, you know? the structural racism of the global publishing industry means that a pākehā writer can step up onto that stage with an ease and popularity that a māori writer is going to have institutional difficulty accessing in the same way. do i think carl tor editor picks up these books if they're written by a brown author? idk man

and then on the flip side - this is a part of her lived experience too. as a pākehā writer, choosing to write, do you include your pākehā-ness? your kiwi-ness? choosing to do that, do you include your knowledge and understanding of te ao māori/the māori world? are you stealing or are you sharing? what is yours to share in the first place?

these are questions that i think every pākehā writer should ask themselves as they're writing and they're also questions that i don't think have a Correct Answer, or even an answer full stop. they're things that i think muir started asking around book 3 lol which is a very better late than never kind of thing, but it's also clear as the books go on that she's laying down her road as she runs on it, so to speak.

i think muir is Trying In Public, which is a deeply vulnerable thing to do, but also, she is right now a very popular pākehā writer introducing māori character and culture to a broader audience, many who have not encountered any of this before, in an environment where very few māori writers have an opportunity to do the same.

so when that broader american audience comes and picks up what muir has put down and then unthinkingly applies their own american cultural lens to what they have in their hands - it's weird, right? it's weird in ways that many (i generalise - not all, obviously, there are also many americans who do have global context) americans can't understand, because those americans don't live in a world where they are outsiders on the global stage. even americans who understand that the rest of the world is not america have not necessarily experienced that in a way that is intrinsic, intuitive.

the world is shaped by america, either by its presence or by its absence. so when a pākehā writer creates māori characters and uses te reo māori/the māori language in her work, which then gets read and used and consumed by an american audience as though it is a creation that belongs in their worldview - it becomes disconnected entirely from the source muir borrowed, or stole from, or grew up with. it forces the conversation into this place of whether or not the americans playing with this particular doll know what they're doing or where the doll came from or why it's a doll anyway, instead of like, why has muir made this doll and should she have and are there other people making dolls, or are other people making different things entirely.

links to some sf/f by māori writers:

THE DAWNHOUNDS by Sascha Stronach

LEGACY by Whiti Hereaka

WATCHED by Tihema Baker

PŪRAKAU, ed. Witi Ihimaera and Whiti Hereka

GUARDIAN MAIA