#cindy thinks about the implications

[cindytoast404]

this is their friendship right

[lilac-rose-writes]

Opposites Attract- Things I Initially Missed

1. buggs is continuously shown throughout the game to have problems with his weight. i wouldn't be surprised if this is due to other people mocking him for it; carla does, the female principal does, we see monty do so in kindergarten 1, we know lily feels insecure about her weight because of cindy, and though ted rectifies himself when buggs specifies it makes him uncomfortable, he too mocks buggs for his size

2. ah, justice is sweet

3. poor ted

4. THIS wonderful little interaction (plus another mention of buggs being called fat,,, leave him alone guys :[)

AND HERE'S THE KICKER-

"i'll see you tomorrow". what does she MEAN?? is this just a weird way of saying tomorrow never comes?? does she know about the loops??? what does this meANNN???

5. the implication here is that penny straight-up eats contraband, and i find that visual so freaking funny hdfjhksd

6. monty's so suspicious of everyone :'}

7. ozzy being sassy?? more likely than you think

8. i didn't miss this, but not enough people talk about danner's literal jetpack he just has on him at all times. also, his big forehead is durable. break-through-the-ceiling durable. i'm impressed

9. carla scares him <33 as she should <333

(will reblog with no. 10 as there are only 30 images allowed per post)

[sunnysunnatko]

Cindy's mom in Parent Teacher meeting HC

GO!

Cindy's mom at Parent Teacher meetings — Headcanons

CW: Mentions and implications of abuse, neglect and overall bad parenting.

I hate her so much, so don't expect anything nice said about her!

- She doesn't even go there most of the time. And when she is given a warning and has to go, it's always hell on earth for the school.

- She waltzes in there with her clanky heels, cheap and fake designer purse, and a shit ton of make-up on her face like she owns the place. Like sit down, we know you don't care about these meeting or your daughter.

- She stops mid-hallway to gossip with another trashy mom about their kids and some lady named Jessica on Facebook.

- Not a single teacher likes her. Any teacher who sadly has to talk with her is considered unlucky by the rest of the staff.

- She threatens everyone. A lot. It's usually threatening to call the police, threatening to put 'evidence of their bad teaching' on the internet, or the good ol' “Do you know who I am!?” stuff. No hun, no one cares. You're not important.

- She goes livid whenever a teacher even mentions the idea of giving Cindy punishment for her behavior. Does she actually care about her daughter? No, she only cares about her image — the other moms will judge her and people will think she's 'white trash who can't raise her daughter'. That's true, but she doesn't want to believe it.

- She tries to accuse the staff of being 'lazy and unable to fix her daughter's behavior'. Infact, she blames every problem on the school. Cindy misbehaves and bullies others? School's fault. Cindy gets bad grades? School's fault, they can't teach. Cindy is not able to pay for and eat lunch? School's fault for making the food so expensive. She's so full of herself that she blames every single one of Cindy's problems, caused by HER abuse and neglect, on the school and staff.

- She isn't afraid of badmouthing Cindy infront of her and the teacher. She even goes as far as to yell at and hit Cindy (If Cindy is present at the meeting).

–> Long story short: Basically imagine the shittiest and annoying parent at the parent-teacher meetings, double it and there you have her.

[richincolor]

New Releases - Tuesday, May 14, 2024

We missed one title last week, so we wanted to make sure to highlight it this week.

Perfect Little Monsters by Cindy X.R. He Sourcebooks Fire

Someone has murdered the queen bee of Sierton High School. All the dead girl’s friends are suspects. And each one has a reason for wanting her dead.

Ella Moore was the most popular girl in school…and also the most hated. When she’s murdered at her own party, there are too many suspects to count--and too many people who think she deserved it. The police’s prime suspect is the new girl, Dawn Foster. She was the last to hand Ella a drink on the night Ella died. Plus, all of Ella’s friends with a motive for wanting her dead are more than willing to implicate Dawn.

But Dawn refuses to go down without a fight. She’s determined to clear her name. As she delves deeper into the past, she discovers that Ella and her friends had enemies, and someone is out for revenge. She must uncover the truth before the police arrest the wrong suspect and before the next person dies.

Now on to the many books for this week:

Blood & Fury (Chaos & Flame #2) by Tessa Gratton and Justina Ireland Razorbill

A single kiss set Chaos ablaze.

Picking up months after betrayal transformed Darling Seabreak into the long-lost Phoenix and every House regent into their empyreal form, Darling struggles to make sense of her destiny as a legendary creature. How can she, an orphan with no family, be the one to reunite the fractured houses and bring about peace, if she can’t control the magic of her new Phoenix body?

Talon Goldhoard, still in love with Darling but wounded by her betrayal, is tasked with ending the vicious war that his family instigated. With the Phoenix reborn, Talon is hopeful that the bloodshed will end swiftly. Instead, the kingdom grows more fraught, with the threat of violence ever present – especially from dark, conniving forces within the walls of his own House Dragon.

As Chaos reigns, Talon and Darling must find their way back to each other – not only to survive but to save the kingdom. Can Darling harness the power of the ancient magic that runs through her blood to bring about a new peace? Or will the fury that House Dragon fueled for a hundred-year war be too strong to break?

A Crane Among Wolves by June Hur Feiwel & Friends

Hope is dangerous. Love is deadly.

1506, Joseon. The people suffer under the cruel reign of the tyrant King Yeonsan, powerless to stop him from commandeering their land for his recreational use, banning and burning books, and kidnapping and horrifically abusing women and girls as his personal playthings.

Seventeen-year-old Iseul has lived a sheltered, privileged life despite the kingdom’s turmoil. When her older sister, Suyeon, becomes the king’s latest prey, Iseul leaves the relative safety of her village, traveling through forbidden territory to reach the capital in hopes of stealing her sister back. But she soon discovers the king’s power is absolute, and to challenge his rule is to court certain death.

Prince Daehyun has lived his whole life in the terrifying shadow of his despicable half-brother, the king. Forced to watch King Yeonsan flaunt his predation through executions and rampant abuse of the common folk, Daehyun aches to find a way to dethrone his half-brother once and for all. When staging a coup, failure is fatal, and he’ll need help to pull it off—but there’s no way to know who he can trust.

When Iseul’s and Daehyun’s fates collide, their contempt for each other is transcended only by their mutual hate for the king. Armed with Iseul’s family connections and Daehyun’s royal access, they reluctantly join forces to launch the riskiest gamble the kingdom has ever

Save her sister. Free the people. Destroy a tyrant.

It Waits in the Forest by Sarah Dass Rick Riordan Presents

Unlike the other residents of the small Caribbean Island of St. Virgil, Selina DaSilva does not believe in magic. With a logical mind and a knack for botany, Selina used to dream of leaving the island to study Pharmacology—until a vicious, unsolved attack left her father dead and her mother in a coma.

Now her guilt over her mother’s condition keeps her tethered to the island, relegated to conning gullible tourists with useless talismans and phony protection rituals. But when one of those tourists ends up at the center of a string of strange murders, the truth that Selina has been denying can no longer be there is evil lurking in the forests that surround St. Virgil. Another thing that can’t be avoided? Selina’s ex-boyfriend Gabriel, newly employed at the local newspaper and eager to put his investigative skills to use.

Desperate to put an end to the killings and claim justice for Selina’s family, these two former lovers race to find answers. But evil bides its time. And as long-buried feelings and long-hidden secrets about Selina’s family’s past begin to reveal themselves, only one answer remains—and it waits in the forest.

Thirsty by Jas Hammonds Roaring Brook Press

It’s the summer before college and eighteen-year-old Blake Brenner and her girlfriend, Ella, have one goal: join the mysterious and exclusive Serena Society. The sorority promises status and lifelong connections to a network of powerful, trailblazing women of color. Ella’s acceptance is a sure thing—she’s the daughter of a Serena alum. Blake, however, has a lot more to prove.

As a former loner from a working-class background, Blake lacks Ella’s pedigree and confidence. Luckily, she finds courage at the bottom of a liquor bottle. When she drinks, she’s bold, funny, and unstoppable—and the Serenas love it. But as pledging intensifies, so does Blake’s drinking, until it’s seeping into every corner of her life. Ella assures Blake that she’s fine; partying hard is what it takes to make the cut.

But success has never felt so much like drowning. With her future hanging in the balance and her past dragging her down, Blake must decide how far she’s willing to go to achieve her glittering dreams of success—and how much of herself she’s willing to lose in the process.

10 Things I Hate About Prom by Elle Gonzalez Rose Joy Revolution

The best things in life come in pairs. Peanut butter has jelly, Taylor has Selena, and Ivelisse Santos has Joaquin Romero. They are not only next-door neighbors; they’re platonic soulmates. Ive gets Quin like no one else.

At least, she thought she did before Joaquin shocks her by revealing that he wants to ask Tessa Gordon to prom. Tessa freaking Gordon. The same Tessa Gordon who spread the rumor that Ivelisse started the infamous Second Grade Lice Outbreak. Why her?

Tessa and Joaquin are a match made in popular kid heaven. The head cheerleader and the star of the baseball team going to prom together makes more sense than Joaquin and Ivelisse—a member of tech crew—would. But just because it makes sense doesn’t mean it should happen.

To make matters worse, Joaquin wants Ivelisse’s assistance planning the grandest, most elaborate promposal Cordero High has ever seen. To win the queen bee over, he’ll have to go bigger than any of their peers have ever gone. Ivelisse would rather wrestle a bear than wingwoman Joaquin.

But with senior year coming to an end and their paths diverging, she’ll take all the quality time with Joaquin she can get. So, she swallows her pride. At first.

True Love and Other Impossible Odds by Christina Li Quill Tree Books

College freshman Grace Tang never meant to rewrite the rules of love. She came to college to move on from a grief-stricken senior year and to start anew. So she follows a predictable Attend class, study, go home and visit her dad every weekend. She doesn’t leave any room in her life for outliers or anomalies.

Then, Grace comes up with an algorithm for her statistics class to pair students with their perfect romantic partners. Though some people are skeptical, like Julia, Grace’s prickly coworker, Grace is confident that her program will take all the drama out of relationships. That’s why she keeps trying to make things work with her match, a guy named Jamie. But as the semester goes on and she grows closer to Julia, Grace starts to question who she’s really attracted to.

In award-winning author Christina Li’s YA debut, Grace will have to make a choice between the tidy equations she knows will protect her from heartbreak or the possibility that true love doesn’t follow any formula.

Road Home by Rex Ogle Norton Young Readers

This final, essential chapter in Rex Ogle’s memoir trilogy recounts being forced from his home and living on the streets after his conservative father discovered he was gay.

When Rex was outed the summer after he graduated high school, his father gave him a choice: he could stay at home, find a girlfriend, and attend church twice a week, or he could be gay―and leave. Rex left, driving toward the only other gay man he knew and a toxic relationship that would ultimately leave him homeless and desperate on the streets of New Orleans. Here, Rex tells the story of his coming out and his father’s rejection of his identity, navigating abuse and survival on the streets.

Road Home is a devastating and incandescent reflection on Rex’s hunger―for food, for love, and for a place to call home―completing the trilogy of memoirs that began with the award-winning Free Lunch.

The Dangerous Ones by Lauren Blackwood Wednesday Books

1863, Pennsylvania

War doesn’t scare Jerusalem—she’s a Saint. Thanks to powerful demigod-style reflexes, endurance, and strength, she’s fearless. And ever since the Confederates declared civil war, partnering with the vampires who benefitted off slavery, she and her battalion of Saints are essential to the Union army.

Jerusalem herself had been enslaved by a vampire, escaping North only after her family was murdered. She knows the enemy better, hates the enemy more than anyone in her battalion, and has been using it to her advantage since she joined the war a year ago. More than anything she wants revenge, but if she can help Black people gain freedom and equality without having to steal it for themselves like she had to, then all the better.

But she never expects to have to team up with a vampire to do it. Alexei is one of those handsome, arrogant Ancient Vampires. But he’s on the Union’s side, and in the year they’ve known each other, has never done anything but prove he’s on hers.

Together, they set out to change the course of the war and take down the vampire who destroyed everyone Jerusalem loved. But for her, it’s about more than justice.

It’s about killing a god.

This Night Is Ours by Ronni Davis Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

It’s the longest day of the year, and eighteen-year-old Brandy Bailey has just received the worst news of her She’s been accepted to a top nursing school, making her mother overwhelmingly proud.

The thing is, Brandy wants to be an artist. She knows all the risks of chasing her dream. She’s heard them from her mother over and over.

On top of that, Brandy’s annoying classmate from high school, the startlingly handsome Ben Nolan, is catching his far-fetched dream of being an actor. Why does he get to be fearless while she has to be practical? Ben is the last thing Brandy wants on her mind, so of course today is the day he decides to glue himself to her hip. Now his perfect face is right there in the cacophony crashing through her head.

Spinning in too many directions, Brandy’s emotions clash with the flashing lights at the town’s summer carnival. Can she have one extraordinary night before everything changes?

[gwensy]

why was the presented issue of -> i need to find elsa brock, matt murdock or cindy moon they can help me with the symbiote [CRAZY FUCKINNGNGNGG IMPLICATIONS] immediately solved with peter going "i think you should eat kale." what the fuck was that about why the fuck was that the solution what was the point of any of ghost-spider 2018 fuck you

[warningsine]

So I started watching the 6th season of OITNB and it does indeed look like an improvement over the mess that was season 5. Phew.

Loving the drama with the OGs having to snitch on each other so that they won't get more time.

Red forgiving Nicky for fucking her over? [cries in a corner]

Have yet to feel bad about Frieda for doing the same though, because you don't see her hurting or feeling remorse. Unlike Nicky, she barely hesitates. Checks out. She's a survivor.

I still love Maria (pretty sure it's because the actress is really good no matter how bad the script gets), but can't blame Gloria for getting revenge. Can't blame Blanca for turning on her either.

What pained me a lot was seeing Cindy implicate Taystee. We had already known that Cindy is selfish and a coward, but this season and her new flashbacks really drive that point home. A really nice touch that she was the one to hug Tasha during her breakdown in front of Piscatella (season 5 finale).

Why is Alex not questioned about the events in the pool though? Does that happen in the background?

Moreover, it's a delight to see the OGs (Flaca, Cindy, Lorna, Daya etc.) interacting now that their cliques are not a thing anymore.

Moving on.

A thing that feels forced to me: Red losing all sense of control when she sees Frieda and thus missing the opportunity to meet her grandchildren for the first time. Like, come on. That only happens to trigger the "SHU is cruel and gives you dementia" ending, because it makes no fucking sense.

Red's s6 characterization is so inconsistent with her s1-s4 counterpart's, who played the long game and did not make such impulsive/hasty decisions.

Not counting s5 Red, because almost every character (except for Tasha, Gloria, Soso and Sophia) was an exaggerated caricature of themselves during season 5.

Another lady whose characterization is off? Lorna's, who thinks that joining a gang is good for her baby. Antidepressants (paroxetine) do have side effects, but do not give you a personality transplant.

"Don't look at me. I'm crazy, but not Florida crazy." Oh, baby.

That's the only reason they kept her there in season 6, because she adds literally nothing to the story.

Now, as for the new characters,

Love the guard who used to be Tasha's friend and Lorna's bunkmate. Hope they both get their own background episodes, because they're the most interesting ones.

Most of the other guards seem pretty bland in comparison--cheap repetitions of previous COs, e.g., Hellman is Humps no. 2.

A good thing that Artesian is back though. She's no Fisher or Wanda, but compared to the rest of the COs... Can't wait to see her PTSD episode.

Why is the show trying to make Dixon, the guard who compared Poussey's murder to breaking a chair and murdered several people and also a girl after he had sex with her because her loved ones "would kill her anyway," goofy and lovable all of a sudden? Isn't the woobification of Tiffany's rapist enough?

I like the "crazy baby killer" (Piper's bunkmate) and want to know what turned her into Medea.

All the new inmate villains (Carol, Barb, Badison & Annalisa) are so cartoonish and over the top. Waiting to see if they'll get any depth, but I'm sensing that the baddies on this show peaked at Vee. Even Piscatella seems more nuanced in comparison.

I'm struggling to see what people saw in Carol... that she's pretty? The older actress is ok, but the younger one's acting is, um, how to put this delicately? Not ideal.

Badison has some funny lines, but she's more of a tryhard high school bully than a compelling antagonist. Waiting to see if that's intentional or not.

Annalisa is so annoying and unnecessary. Could definitely do without her. Glad to know that Lorna attacks her before being moved to Florida honestly.

"Daddy" is so physically unimposing that I find it hard to buy he* is the protector of the block. Androgyny on its own isn't enough. Waiting to see if he'll get some development, because for the time being, it looks like he's Stella no. 2: there to look hot despite the subpar acting and personality of a spoon. But I suppose he's there to trigger Daya's kingpin arc and drug addiction. My point? Missing Boo hours.

*Not sure what pronouns I should use (Annalisa says "he"), because it's not clear to me whether "Daddy" is a trans guy, nonbinary or a cis masc lesbian.

Moving on again.

I found the opening with Suzanne's hallucinations charming yet a bit out of place.

The thing is, S1-S3 were more of a comedy than a drama. S4 was the turning point and the show became more of a drama than a comedy.

Season 5 should have committed to drama, but unfortunately tried to balance the two and stumbled.

Season 6 is another attempt at balancing the two.

Nicky remains funny, but the lines lack the spark and wit of her pre-s5 ones. Maybe that can be explained due to the "We're all in Max now" development, maybe it's due to the new writers interpreting her differently.

Something is missing there for sure and is definitely not the "I'm a player, but suddenly stopped chasing women" bit.

Piper keeps asking for Alex ("a broken record" like Daya says) and then spends her time joking about their wedding. What else is new with these two?

What else indeed. Hm.

Where the hell is Sophia? I know she gets out in the finale, but in the meantime, where is she? We barely saw her in season 5 after 2 interactions with Gloria.

Oh, last but not least, missing Soso and Chang hours.

Not missing Leanne and Angie at all hours. Too bad that they replaced them with equally irritating characters.

[politeanarchy]

Every day, it's a-getting' closer/Goin' faster than a roller coaster...

It's been a running theme for so long, I'd kind of stopped paying attention to it. But then it turned out to be Gabriel and Beelzebub's song, and it's only just occurred to me to consider the implications of that.

I think it might be A Clue.

As Maggie helpfully tells us, it's the B-side of the single, the A-side being Peggy Sue. I'm not familiar with the song, so I had a look at Wikipedia to see what it had to say.

The song was originally entitled "Cindy Lou," but was later changed to "Peggy Sue" in reference to Peggy Sue Gerron (1940–2018), the girlfriend (and future wife) of Jerry Allison, the drummer for the Crickets, after the couple had temporarily broken up. (emphasis mine)

Also, Buddy Holly wrote a sequel. It's called Peggy Sue Got Married. It was played over the opening credits of a movie of the same name, which appears to be a story about time travel and regret and deciding to make choices so you end up staying with the person you had previously broken up with.

[doyelikehaggis]

25 Days of Sleighpairs: Frobby | Freddie Slater x Bobby Beale (EastEnders) + “Party”

Requested by Anonymous

They could hear the party going on without them in the front room. Cheers went up as the song changed to "Fairytale of New York" and everyone started belting out along to it, even though Christmas was 4 days ago.

Freddie, for the first time in his life, didn't care that he wasn't part of it. It was hard to care about pretty much anything other than what was happening in his room.

Bobby, on the other hand, stilled beneath him, the noise from downstairs evidently reminding him where they were.

'Maybe we should...' he started to say but stopped, his breath catching in his throat as Freddie fingers skirted along his hip, slipping beneath his jumper.

He stopped, though, and pulled his mouth from his neck to look down at him. God, he shouldn't have done that. Bobby’s face was flushed pink, but his eyes were dark and drawing him back in.

'You wanna stop?' Freddie asked, his tongue darting out across his bottom lip as he bit it, trying to get some control over himself. It should be embarassing how wound up he already was, but he really didn't care.

'No,' Bobby said quickly, then huffed out a light chuckle as Freddie grinned. 'No, I don't. It's just... well, what if someone walks in?'

Glancing at the door, he shook his head and confidently said, 'They won't.'

'They might.'

'Bob, no one's gonna come in.’

He wasn't convinced. Freddie tried to think of a speedy solution, but he was still having a hard time using the head on his shoulders.

'Well... what if we go to yours?' he asked, dropping his gaze back down to him. 'You said your dad and Cindy were going out to the Vic for drinks, didn't you?‘

They would have the house to themselves. The possibility stirred something in his stomach; since they got together, they had almost never had the opportunity to be alone. Not properly. They were always working at the chippy, or the pie and mash shop, or someone was around, making it impossible to really relax, like right now.

Bobby's eyebrows lifted at the implication, obviously thinking the same thing. He faltered, and they could hear everyone screaming the chorus of the song.

'But the party,' he began.

'There'll be other parties,' Freddie countered. 'I wasn't even that keen this year. I just said yeah 'cause Stace wanted to throw one, what with the kids at Martin's tonight. I knew I was gonna end up sneaking off to spend the night with you anyway.'

'But—‘ Bobby started to protest.

'Bob, trust me. I ain't missing out on anything,' he said sincerely. 'I'd rather be right here. I'd take this over a party any day. No competition.'

The statement seemed to stun Bobby speechless for a moment, then he was nodding, and he said, 'In that case, we should definitely go to my house.'

'Yeah?'

'Yeah.'

Freddie swallowed, his heart in his throat. He scrambled to get off the bed, pulling Bobby with him. They managed to get down the stairs and through the crowded house.

As they crossed the square to Bobby's, the doors of the Vic opened and Shrimpy stumbled out, barely propped up by Winston. From inside, there were even more cheers and bad karaoke as fireworks exploded in the sky. A countdown had started.

Bobby opened the back gate, and they slipped out of sight into the garden. A muffled cheer filled the square.

‘Think it’s midnight,’ Freddie said and took a step closer, grinning. ‘Happy New Year, Bob.’

‘Happy New Year, Freddie.’

He leaned down and kissed him, his hands instinctively finding their way to either side of his neck. He pressed forward, and Bobby blindly got the kitchen door open. They retreated into the empty house as the rest of the square brought in the bells.

[awakencities]

( 美蜀 ) ﹒✶﹑ MEMOIR 01

Trigger Warning: Alcohol consumption, Implication of an anxiety attack, Self-Degrading thoughts.

Fiorenzi Estate. Taormina, Sicily. (2006)

The young Felicity was excited to show her certificate to her parents when she arrived home, her ballet teacher praised her a lot today. Later that day, she also had a piano lesson to attend to. Despite all her duties at a young age, no one ever heard her complain about it. Her best friend, Cindy, would also question her father’s decisions at times, the young girl did have a ballet lesson, piano lesson, and academic tutor when she arrived home; anyone sane would agree that it’s too much for Felicity. She barely had time to rest, she was just five years old— turning six in a few months.

Despite being in an European household, the siblings grew accustomed to Asian traditions especially since they’re from an affluent Chinese family as well. And so, Felicity removed her shoes upon entering the foyer of their Sicilian mansion, and replaced it with her house slippers. The girl had a huge smile on her face with the hopes of finally making her parents proud. She greeted the housekeepers by waving her hands and smiling at them before she ascended the stairs to go to her father’s office. But the girl failed to notice how her light steps turned into heavy ones, her breath shortened with each step she took closer to her father’s office as anxiety started taking over.

“Felicity?” A soft voice called out to her as she opened the door to her father’s office, she looked back to see her mother with a tired smile painted on her face.

“Hello, mama. I arrived home from my ballet and piano lessons. Can I try figure skating now?” She asked, hopeful that her mother would finally agree.

“专注于芭蕾和钢琴。 ( Focus on ballet and piano ) None of your older siblings followed my steps.” Her mother told her firmly

As much as it disappointed the young girl, she didn’t show it, instead she gave her mother a reassuring smile and a nod. Her mother, Evelynn Victoria Uy, was renowned for her astounding talent in ballet and piano. After all, she was made to believe that it would be a shame if none of them followed their mother’s footsteps.

Before she enters her father’s office, Felicity walks towards her mother to softly caress her younger brother Eizo’s back. It made the younger one giggle hence, it made the girl smile genuinely.

“Knock on the door before you enter.” Her mother reminded her before going down to the living room

It felt suffocating to say the least, and the silence in their household was not helping her at all. She hesitated to knock on the door at first, but after a few minutes of contemplating. She decided to just go for it. However, as she was about to knock on the door, it flung open and she was greeted by her father who looked like a drunken mess.

“I got a c-certificate today, papa.. Can we go play outside—“ Her words were cut short when the certificate was aggressively taken from her hand, she tried her best not to flinch nor show any negative emotion.

Her father, Alessandro Mattia Fiorenzi, laughed mockingly at the young girl’s face. It made her heart sink. Felicity once again felt like a complete disappointment, she started feeling dizzy but she still managed to keep her composure.

“Pensi che quello che hai fatto sia sufficiente? vergogna su di te.” ( Do you think what you’ve done is enough? shame on you. ) After that, her father ripped her certificate and threw it in the trash bin.

Maybe he’s right, what she does will never be enough.

The girl’s shoulders slumped in defeat the moment her father slammed the door shut. She looked around, hoping to be embraced by anyone after what happened, but no one was there. Felicity shook her head to snap herself back to reality, she then acted like nothing happened as she made her way to her room.

Her nanny greeted her with a warm smile, to which she returned with a hug. “Ti stavo cercando, Kenna!” ( I’ve been looking for you, Kenna! ) Voice enthusiastic. Kenna was the closest she had to a friend in their household especially since Cindy was miles away. After sharing a tight hug, the lady made Felicity sit in front of her vanity table, gently combing the girl’s hair as she sang soft tunes familiar to the younger one.

“Pensi che i miei fratelli e sorelle torneranno presto?” ( Do you think my brothers and sisters will be back soon? ) Her tone was polite in asking the lady. However, it was out of the blue so Kenna was left speechless. With that, Felicity gave the older a reassuring smile. For the girl, Kenna shouldn’t worry because she already knows the answer. It might be a while before she reunites with her siblings, though she will never lose hope. But before she goes to bed, Felicity opens her chest box, taking a hold of her favorite ballerina stuffed toy before giving it to Kenna.

“Ho visto sua figlia ballare in giardino una volta.” ( I saw your daughter dancing in the garden once ) Felicity started, “Spero che un giorno riuscira' a perseguire la sua passione. E' bellissima!” ( I hope one day she’ll be able to pursue her passion. She’s beautiful! ) As the girl ended her statement, her nanny hugged the stuffed toy close to her chest, looking at Felicity as tears threatened to escape her eyes.

The lady crouched so that she’ll be on eye level with Felicity, “sei troppo preziosa per questo mondo, nostra principessa. Come può essere crudele con te?” ( You are too precious for this world, our princess. How can he be cruel to you? ) Kenna said, heart clenching with each word that escapes her mouth. Felicity being herself, she simply offered a warm smile, cupping the lady’s cheeks as if to reassure her she’s okay.

[jcmarchi]

Convening for cultural change

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/convening-for-cultural-change/

Convening for cultural change

Whether working with fellow students in the Netherlands to design floating cities or interning for a local community-led environmental justice organization, Cindy Xie wants to help connect people grappling with the implications of linked social and environmental crises.

The MIT senior’s belief that climate action is a collective endeavor grounded in systems change has led her to work at a variety of community organizations, and to travel as far as Malaysia and Cabo Verde to learn about the social and cultural aspects of global environmental change.

“With climate action, there is such a need for collective change. We all need to be a part of creating the solutions,” she says.

Xie recently returned from Kuala Lumpur, where she attended the Planetary Health Annual Meeting hosted by Sunway University, and met researchers, practitioners, and students from around the world who are working to address challenges facing human and planetary health.

Since January 2023, Xie has been involved with the Planetary Health Alliance, a consortium of organizations working at the intersection of human health and global environmental change. As a campus ambassador, she organized events at MIT that built on students’ interests in climate change and health while exploring themes of community and well-being.

“I think doing these events on campus and bringing people together has been my way of trying to understand how to put conceptual ideas into action,” she says.

Grassroots community-building

An urban studies and planning major with minors in anthropology and biology, Xie is also earning her master’s degree in city planning in a dual degree program, which she will finish next year.

Through her studies and numerous community activities, she has developed a multidimensional view of public health and the environment that includes spirituality and the arts as well as science and technology. “What I appreciate about being here at MIT is the opportunities to try to connect the sciences back to other disciplines,” she says.

As a campus ambassador for the Planetary Health Alliance, Xie hosted a club mixer event during Earth Month last year, that brought together climate, health, and social justice groups from across the Institute. She also created a year-long series that concluded its final event last month, called Cultural Transformation for Planetary Health. Organized with the Radius Forum and other partners, the series explored social and cultural implications of the climate crisis, with a focus on how environmental change affects health and well-being.

Xie has also worked with the Planetary Health Alliance’s Constellation Project through a Public Service Fellowship from the PKG Center, which she describes as “an effort to convene people from across different areas of the world to talk about the intersections of spirituality, the climate, and environmental change and planetary health.”

She has also interned at the Comunidades Enraizadas Community Land Trust, the National Institutes of Health, and the World Wildlife Fund U.S. Markets Institute. And, she has taken her studies abroad through MIT International Science and Technology Initiatives (MISTI). In 2023 she spent her Independent Activities Period in a pilot MISTI Global Classroom program in Amsterdam, and in the summer of 2023, she spent two months in Cabo Verde helping to start a new research collaboration tracking the impacts of climate change on human health.

The power of storytelling

Growing up, Xie was drawn to storytelling as a means of understanding the intersections of culture and health within diverse communities. This has largely driven her interest in medical anthropology and medical humanities, and impacts her work as a member of the Asian American Initiative.

The AAI is a student-led organization that provides a space for pan-Asian advocacy and community building on campus. Xie joined the group in 2022 and currently serves as a member of the executive board as well as co-leader of the Mental Health Project Team. She credits this team with inspiring discussions on holistic framings of mental health.

“Conversations on mental health stigma can sometimes frame it as a fault within certain communities,” she says. “It’s also important to highlight alternate paradigms for conceptualizing mental health beyond the highly individualized models often presented in U.S. higher education settings.”

Last spring, the AAI Mental Health team led a listening tour with Asian American clinicians, academic experts, and community organizations in Greater Boston, expanding the group’s connections. That led the group to volunteer last November at the Asian Mental Health Careers Day, hosted by the Let’s Talk! Conference at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. In March, the club also traveled to Yale University to participate in the East Coast Asian American Student Union Conference alongside hundreds of attendees from different college campuses.

On campus, the team hosts dialogue events where students convene in an informal setting to discuss topics such as family ties and burnout and overachievement. Recently, AAI also hosted a storytelling night in partnership with MIT Taara and the newly formed South Asian Initiative. “There’s been something really powerful about being in those kinds of settings and building collective stories among peers,” Xie says.

Community connections

Writing, both creative and non-fiction, is another of Xie’s longstanding interests. From 2022 to 2023, she wrote for The Yappie, a youth-led news publication covering Asian American and Pacific Islander policy and politics. She has also written articles for The Tech, MIT Science Policy Review, MISTI Blogs, and more. Last year, she was a spread writer for MIT’s fashion publication, Infinite Magazine, for which she interviewed the founder of a local streetwear company that aims to support victims of sexual violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

This year, she performed a spoken word piece in the “MIT Monologues,” an annual production at MIT that features stories of gender, relationships, race, and more. Her poetry was recently published in Sine Theta and included in MassPoetry’s 2024 Intercollegiate Showcase. Xie has previously been involved in the a capella group MIT Muses and enjoys live music and concerts as well. Tapping into her 2023 MISTI experience, Xie recently went to the concert of a Cabo Verdean artist at the Strand Theatre in Dorchester. “The crowd was packed,” she says. “It was just like being back in Cabo Verde. I feel very grateful to have seen these local connections.”

After graduating, Xie hopes to continue building interdisciplinary connections. “I’m interested in working in policy or academia or somewhere in between the two, sort of around this idea of partnership and alliance building. My experiences abroad during my time at MIT have also made me more interested in working in an international context in the future.”

[eideticspider]

Cindy pulled back the chair next to him, affectionately dubbed (by herself) to be her chair and plopped down, smiling affectionately at him. One leg drapes over the arm, the other resting on the floor. She hears him and doesn't quite want to share the shameful secrets of a lackluster date.

She picks up her coffee and takes a long sip, allowing the swirling peppermint and mocha to dance on her tongue. "It was...decent enough," she offers up. Her cheeks pinken a little as she remembers Derek's polite way of suggesting they see other people.

He stammered a little, kissed her cheek and mentioned hanging out as friends. It had stung, but she took it on the chin. She wasn't too cut up about it. Really, MJ seemed more bent out of shape about it than she did.

The foot on the ground pushed her in semi-circles as she thinks about what else to reveal. She leans over and grabs one of the other licorice sticks in the pack, setting it on her lip as she considers her story.

"He brought me flowers when he picked me up, which was sweet. He bought me a bouquet of daisies..." She doesn't point out that her favorite flowers were actually dahlias--it was a simple enough mistake. "We went ice skating at Rockefeller--it's gorgeous at night. All the lights, the twinkling...ugh, it really was the best part," Cindy admits, smiling. She's never lost the love of gliding delicately on ice, twirling and spinning.

She didn't suggest that her evening would've been better without her date, but the implication hung in the air.

"We stopped and grabbed corn dogs--well he grabbed a tofu dog, and then we walked home. It was..."

Her lips quirk up and she glances over, crinkling her nose. There's no point in sugarcoating anything--especially with Miguel. He'd been so free with his conversation and she'd been pleasantly surprised to find their humor meshed well together. He was her best friend--if she couldn't reveal the details of her date to him, what was the point of even having a best friend? "Boring. It was really fucking boring. He talked about his fantasy football league and I had to pretend to know anything about it. Look, he was a nice guy but it's not going anywhere."

Just as Thanksgiving passed, so receded Miguel's compulsion to self-scrutinize, as smoothly as indigestion. Abuse of reality was abandoned for candor bordering on ribald—a dramatic improvement nurtured by Cindy's attentions, the consistency of which testified to her resilience toward his particular flavor of conversation. Where speaking each thought impulsively or digressing on a subject would've repulsed others, and where those urges were once dutifully suppressed to spare Cindy's patience, Miguel's words now flowed freely—a serious departure from the austerity he portrayed as leader. It took him a moment to accurately—or at least somewhat confidently—deduce his awkwardness was a report of hers, and it gave him no small satisfaction to know—or at least nurse a reasonable suspicion—her preference of him was a symptom of something deeper. —That was as much as of an adjective as he was willing to specify as far as his vanity dare venture. Flattering as it was, amusing though the notion was (for despite what might've been believed, instant female attention was hardly a stranger to him), the last thing he wanted for either of them was an exercise in self-delusion.

When Cindy entered his office, he was in the midst of reviewing and approving a stack of last-minute reports and heard her approach. The cup of coffee was expertly spun around.

"Between 'I've had it' and wantin' to blow this place up, I figure I'm about..." Miguel squeezed an eye shut and gave a testing glance at the ceiling. "Maybe a four? but I'm better now that you're here."

With complete sincerity this was said, though his general manner of speaking might've suggested otherwise.

He took a sip, and the hot, creamy mixture of coffee and caramel slid down his throat. Out the corner of his eye, he perked at Cindy then tucked the long, half-eaten vine of red licorice between his teeth. His fingers fluttered along the tilted hologram keyboard.

"So. You gonna tell me how your date went, or're you gonna make me guess?"

[cindytoast404]

hatchetfield textposts: tgwdlm edition

part 1, part 2, part 3

[nitewrighter]

The Cindy Masterpost

I’ll edit and reblog this with updates as I post new bits of the Cinderella story I’m working on, but for now, here are all the current chapters out:

Part One (In Which Things Would Be Simpler If The Prince Was A Horny Piece of Shit)

Part Two (In Which No Rats Were Harmed In The Making Of These Horses)

Part Three (The OG post which technically is kind of told out of order because there’s a reblog and like, look, I could see this was becoming a thing, but I didn’t think it would be a thing-thing but now it’s a thing-thing and I have to deal with it. I mean I’m writing a masterpost for cryin’ out loud)

Part Four (In Which Cindy and the Fairy Godmother Run from the Cops)

Part Five (In Which The Prince Begins His Investigation While The Narrator yells About Foot Fetishes Because look I’m sick of that joke I’m SO FUCKING SICK of that joke it’s so fucking unoriginal.)

Part Six  (In which we meet The Queen because fuck you she was alive in the Rogers and Hammerstein version)

Part Seven (In which news of the slipper is spread throughout the kingdom and the narrator talks about this one time when they passed out at a Dickens fair and that’s totally definitely relevant.)

Part Eight (In Which the narrator wants to include more slapstick but is also wary about all the implications with regards to class differences and also the slipper is a non-euclidean object which defies all rules of mass and physics.)

Part Nine (In which Cindy is every drunk girl who has ever comforted you in a bar or club bathroom)

Part Ten (In which Cindy has no interest in being that wife chained up in the attic in Jane Eyre)

Part Eleven (In which tasty pies are consumed and also maybe the slipper fits someone or whatever)

Part Twelve (In which we meet the parents)

Part Thirteen (In which Cindy is going to be okay but also it’s not a fairy tale unless the ending has at least a little bit of threatening ambiguity towards the audience)

UPDATE: The story is now complete, and uploaded to AO3!!

UPDATE: There have been several specially requested chapters that are now included here:

Smoky Tea: An expansion on the first meeting of the King and Queen.

Ball’s In Your Court: Further notes on the King and Queen’s romance

Orphan Tears: A Fairy Godmother-centric paralogue.

The Hunt: A short conversation between Cindy and the King

[shititbe]

Anyway, Peter Parker is Bi, and I Won’t Be Convinced Otherwise.

Firstly, we have to get our bases covered. What exactly is Bi-sexuality? What is sexuality? 

Sexuality is defined as a persons identity in relation to gender(s) they are attracted to. Why is this important? Peter’s sexuality has never been specifically stated in the comics, nor in any other form of media. It’s assumed that he is straight because of his popular relationship with Mary Jane Watson in the comics, and the movies. 

Now that we have a bases for what exactly sexuality is and how it’s defined, let’s go over Peter’s partners. 

Obviously Peter and Mary Jane are a piece of comic book history. They eventually get married, though sadly, during the events of Civil War II (I think, don’t quote me) Peter and Mary Jane sell their marriage to Mephisto in order to save Aunt May

They later had their memories of their marriage restored, they have yet to get back together and it’s been a few issues if I remember correctly. Next we have Peter’s first, and most unfortunate love, Gwen Stacy. 

They dated in high school where she later died. Of course, Peter has dated other people (namely, Black Cat, Betty Brant, Carol Danvers, Anna Maria, Cindy Moon, Lian Tang, and so on). Since we have his known history of heterosexuality out there, we need to move onto another important part of Peter’s Bi-sexuality. An important implication in any media, especially queer media though, and that is the homoerotic subtext. 

Homoerotic subtext is important part of queer culture, a lot of the time it’s used to portray a characters queerness without saying it out (see: Dorian Gray by Oscar Wild or Great Gatsby By Fitz). In current decade, homoerotic subtext is often used for queer baiting or creating more realistic male friendships. 

So what’s the difference between someone creating a health male friendship (or a character comfortable in their heterosexuality) and implying a character is queer? 

Here are some examples of a healthy male character, both with himself and his friendships.  

Clearly he’s just taking the shit, and messing around with Reed. He’s comfortable enough (or as I like to see it, so traumatized because good god this guy has been Spider-Man since he was 15 good god that’s awful. He probably doesn’t care anymore). Here are some examples of Peter a little more than just a straight man shooting the shit. 

This has three meanings. Two of which I will take, one of which is just deeply embarrassing. Despite Peter’s history with humiliating events, I don’t think he would get his own spunk in his eyes. Leaving the other two options, he has experience getting spunk of - some kind - in his eyes, and/or he’s taking the shit again. Which is very likely. 

Kissing a cop? For....no reason? A little not so hetero of you Peter. 

You can practically hear his disappointment in his voice. Also could be read as taking the shit, but why would you. 

Making out with The Thing? Gay. 

This one is the most important. Peter is clearly tired, annoyed by his teammates (see wolverine being wolverine in the corner). Shits on fire, its mid battle, and Peter has the audacity to mutter “I hate men” to himself. The only people I have every heard say this in that was are lgbt and straight women, and lgbt men. This kind of expression only comes from people who date, or deal with men in a completely different world than straight men. Straight men use this phrase as an endearment, “Oh have you seen Bill today, I hate that guy.” “Man Jerry can do so many push-ups, I hate that guy.” Very different language, and implications (I also, obviously don’t know how straight men speak). 

 Now that we’ve gone over our bases, and homoerotic subtext. How else could we gather that Peter Parker is Bi? There are many tropes in media - queer media - that allure to a characters queerness. Like homoerotic subtext, there are ways to tell an audience something without specifically saying it. 

This is a gay wedding Peter went to in the recent comics. I don’t know if any of you have been to a gay wedding recently, but Peters face (the first panel above the wedding) is the same exact face I made at my first gay wedding. It’s the face of excitement for not only the couple, but for yourself. The hope that maybe, you too can actually be in a same-sex relationship. 

I’m also going to allure to queer tropes as stated previously. Such as the real, and fictional trope of lgbt people sticking together. Thousands of years of belittlement and oppression will make groups of people not want to wonder out, and subconsciously look for others like them. 

Johnny Storm (and Wade Wilson since he comes in later but I couldn’t find a picture of the confirmation) is cannon Bi-sexual (Pan-sexual). 

Their friendship is deeply homoerotic as most queer friendships in media and real life are. Johnny flirts with Peter on many occasions (saying his ideal women is a female version of Peter, inviting him over to watch is sex tape, and so on) and of course oh my god they were roommates. 

Some other popular queer tropes are: Found Family, Soulmates, and Enemies to lovers. Because it’s superhero related, this includes the Identity Porn tag as well.  

Peter Parker and Wade Wilson have a famous Love/Hate relationship. I mean, how could you expect anything less when your first meeting with this known mercenary is him throwing your civilian persona out the window of a car. Now, Wade still doesn’t know Peter is Spider-Man in the current run of comics, but that doesn’t make anything about them any less gay. 

For the Found Family Trope: 

Because it’s Peter and Wade, their whole development can be read as Enemies to Friends to Lovers, so I wont bother backing that up because, uh, it speaks for itself. One panel really does to add that cause though 

I’m not going to explain what a free-pass list is.

The Soulmates part I know I have to back up. 

For SoulMates:  

Now this panel requires a little explanation. Wade kills Peter, not knowing he’s Spider-Man. Weasel takes over for Peter (they don’t know its him) so no one suspects he’s dead. Deadpool begins to feel guilty he killed his best buds best bud, so he tries to bring Peter back to life. Losing his stunning good looks (switching back to how he looked before Weapon X making his wife Shiklah estranged (then she married Dracula but thats beside the point)). Spider-Man is Peter’s “true self” or patronus for Harry Potter fans. Wade is stupid and hasn’t connected the dots yet, effectively making him the biggest simp in history. Seriously, who destroys their marriage for the c h a n c e for getting some with their idol? A Simp, that’s who.

Peter forgives Wade for killing him (and for saving him from killing their genetic daughter itsy-bitsy). If someone killed me they better be hot as fuck before I even thing about forgiving them. Ignoring Peter’s super sexy forgiving nature, uh, he’s kinda simping. 

Died in each others arms. Nothing else is needed. 

They’re heartmates. From what I read, the feeling has to be mutual in order for it to work. The witches (long story, comics are hard to explain) that captured deadpool were expecting his wife so they could get the headmistress back. Instead, they got Peter. Basically Heartmates = soulmates but chosen for you instead of chosen by you. 

To conclude my point: 

Thank you for coming to my TED Talk. 

[bluevalleybreakingnews]

Did Courtney have a storyline outside of championing Cameron this season? Listening to the podcast and realizing that the finale fight was literally her only JSA fight of the season really brought home just how much they literally defined her entire season arc around her boyfriend. I think that’s a fairly sad thing to do when you have a kickass female lead of a show and then make it all about her boyfriend and her proximity to him for an entire season which unfortunately was their last.

I would argue that her MAIN storyline ultimately was, in fact, intended to be finding balance between being Stargirl and Courtney Whitmore. Did it come across that way? Eh….not really. Part of the problem with this season, which really only is an issue BECAUSE it’s the final season, is that as a result, she spends MOST of her time as Courtney rather than Stargirl, and the bulk of THAT screentime was spent with Cameron.

I don’t know if I’d go so far as to say she didn’t have a storyline outside of her time spent with him; I think the stuff with Cindy felt like it was potentially going somewhere (albeit in a similar direction) at the start of the season, and “Sylvester’s” “encouragement” PURPOSEFULLY was isolating her from her friends (ie. WITH Cameron). It’s super noticeable because we the audience know that it’s the final season, but I don’t think it’s abnormal for a romantic storyline to be pushed to the forefront, nor do I think it takes away from Courtney as a character (I would argue we know Courtney BETTER as a result of her time spent with Cameron, even if she didn’t display positive traits).

I’m not really bothered by Courtney’s storyline with Cameron this season because a) I like Cameron and b) I don’t think it was demeaning to Courtney (at her core, all she ever wants to do is help people, so her “helping” her boyfriend doesn’t act as an exception to the rule). That being said, I’m not a fan of the storyline being EITHER of theirs for a final season (nor would I have been happy if they continued it beyond this one), but unfortunately, that’s the way things turned out. I WILL say that I straight-up HATE the implication that that IS their endgame in terms of status quo, to the point that I have head-canonned that that essentially DOESN’T happen after, like, a month, but at the end of the day, that’s just my own interpretation.

[thevalleyisjolly]

Hi there! If you feel up to it, would you be willing to expand a bit more on the idea of white creators creating poc characters who are ‘internally white’, especially in a post-racialized or racism-free setting & how to avoid it? It’s something I’m very concerned about but I haven’t encountered a lot of info about it outside of stories set in real world settings. Thanks & have a good day!

Hey, thanks for asking, anon!  It’s a pretty nuanced topic, and different people will have different takes on it.  I’ll share my thoughts on it, but do keep in mind that other people of colour may have different thoughts on the matter, and this is by no means definitive!  These are things I’ve observed through research, trial and error, my own experiences, or just learning from other writers.

The first thing I guess I want to clarify is that I personally am not opposed to a society without racism in fiction.  It’s exhausting and frankly boring when the only stories that characters of colour get are about racism!  So it’s a relief sometimes to just get to see characters of colour exist in a story without dealing with racism.  That being said, I feel like a lot of the time when creators establish their settings as “post-racial,” they avoid racism but they also avoid race altogether.  Not aesthetically -they may have a few or even many characters with dark skin- but the way the characters act and talk and relate to the world are “race-less” (which tends to end up as default white American/British or whatever place the creator comes from).  Which I have complicated thoughts on, but the most obvious thing that springs to mind is how such an approach implies (deliberately or not) that racism is all there is to the way POC navigate the world.  It’s definitely a significant factor, particularly for POC in Western countries, but it’s not the only thing!  There’s so much more to our experiences than just racial discrimination, and it’s a shame that a lot of “post-racial” or “racism-free” settings seem to overlook that in their eagerness to not have racism (or race) in their stories.

A quick go-to question I ask when I look at characters of colour written/played by white creators is: if this was a story or transcript I was reading, with no art or actors or what have you, would I be able to tell that this character is a character of colour?  How does the creator signal to the audience that this is a character of colour?  A lot of the time, this signal stops after the physical description - “X has dark skin” and then that’s all!  (We will not discuss the issue of racial stereotypes in depth, but it should be clear that those are absolutely the wrong way to indicate a character of colour).

This expands to a wider issue of using dark skin as a be-all-end-all indication of diversity, which is what I mean by “aesthetic” characters of colour (I used the term “internally white” originally but upon further reflection, it has some very loaded implications, many of which I’m personally familiar with, so I apologize for the usage).  Yes, the character may not “look” white, but how do they interact with the world?  Where do they come from?  What is their background, their family?  A note: this can be challenging with diaspora stories in the real world and people being disconnected (forcibly or otherwise) from their heritage (in which case, those are definitely stories that outsiders should not tell).  So let’s look at fantasy.  Even the most original writer in the world bases their world building off existing things in the real world.  So what cultures are you basing your races off of?  If you have a dark skinned character in your fantasy story, what are the real world inspirations and equivalents that you drew from, and how do you acknowledge that in a respectful, non-stereotyped way?

(Gonna quickly digress here and say that there are already so many stories about characters of colour disconnected from their heritage because ‘They didn’t grow up around other people from that culture’ or ‘They moved somewhere else and grew up in that dominant culture’ or ‘It just wasn’t important to them growing up’ and so on.  These are valid stories, and important to many people!  But when told by (usually) white creators, they’re also used, intentionally or not, as a sort of cop-out to avoid having to research or think about the character’s ethnicity and how that influences who they are.  So another point of advice: avoid always situating characters outside of their heritage.  Once or twice explored with enough nuance and it can be an interesting narrative, all the time and it starts being a problem)

Another thing I want to clarify at this point is that it’s a contentious issue about whether creators should tell stories that aren’t theirs, and different people will have different opinions.  For me personally, I definitely don’t think it’s inherently bad for creators to have diverse characters in their work, and no creator can live every experience there is.  That being said, there are caveats for how such characters are handled.  For me personally, I follow a few rules of thumb which are:

Is this story one that is appropriate for this creator to tell?  Some experiences are unique and lived with a meaningful or complex history and context behind them and the people to whom those experiences belong do not want outsiders to tell those stories.

To what extent is the creator telling this story?  Is it something mentioned as part of the narrative but not significantly explored or developed upon?  Does it form a core part of the story or character?  There are some stories that translate across cultures and it’s (tentatively) ok to explore more in depth, like immigration or intergenerational differences.  There are some stories that don’t, and shouldn’t be explored in detail (or even at all) by people outside those cultures.

How is the creator approaching this story and the people who live it?  To what extent have they done their research?  What discussions have they had with sensitivity consultants/readers?  What kind of respect are they bringing to their work?  Do they default to stereotypes and folk knowledge when they reach the limits of their research?  How do they respond to feedback or criticism when audiences point things that they will inevitably get wrong?

Going back to the “race-less” point, I think that creators need to be careful that they’re (respectfully) portraying characters of colour as obvious persons of colour.  With a very definite ‘no’ on stereotyping, of course, so that’s where the research comes in (which should comprise of more than a ten minute Google search).  If your setting is in the real world, what is the background your character comes from and how might that influence the way they act or talk or see the world?  If your setting is in a fantasy world, same question!  Obviously, avoid depicting things which are closed/exclusive to that culture (such as religious beliefs, practices, etc) and again, avoid stereotyping (which I cannot stress enough), but think about how characters might live their lives and experience the world differently based on the culture or the background they come from.

As an example of a POC character written/played well by a white person, I personally like Jackson Wei and Cindy Wong from Dimension 20’s The Unsleeping City, an urban fantasy D&D campaign.  Jackson and Cindy are NPCs played by the DM, Brennan Lee Mulligan, who did a good job acknowledging their ethnicity without resorting to stereotypes and while giving them their own unique characters and personalities.  The first time he acted as Cindy, I leapt up from my chair because she was exactly like so many old Chinese aunties and grandmothers I’ve met.  The way Jackson and Cindy speak and act and think is very Chinese (without being stereotyped), but at the same time, there’s more to their characters than being Chinese, they have unique and important roles in the story that have nothing to do with their ethnicity.  So it’s obvious that they’re people of colour, that they’re Chinese, but at the same time, the DM isn’t overstepping and trying to tell stories that aren’t his to tell.  All while not having the characters face any racism, as so many “post-racialized” settings aim for, because there are quite enough stories about that!

There a couple factors that contribute to the positive example I gave above.  The DM is particularly conscientious about representation and doing his research (not to say that he never messes up, but he puts in a lot more effort than the average creator), and the show also works with a lot of sensitivity consultants.  Which takes me to the next point - the best way to portray characters of colour in your story is to interact with people from that community.  Make some new friends, reach out to people!  Consume media by creators of colour!  In my experience so far, the most authentic Chinese characters have almost universally been created/written/played by Chinese creators.  Read books, listen to podcasts, watch shows created by people of colour.  Apart from supporting marginalized creators, you also start to pick up how people from that culture or heritage see themselves and the world, what kind of stories they have to tell, and just as importantly, what kind of stories they want being told or shared.  In other words, the best way to portray an authentic character of colour that is more than just the colour of their skin is to learn from actual people of colour (without, of course, treating them just as a resource and, of course, with proper credit and acknowledgement).

Most importantly, this isn’t easy, and you will absolutely make mistakes.  I think the most important thing to keep in mind is that you will mess up.  No matter how well researched you are, how much respect you have for other cultures, how earnestly you want to do this right, you will at some point do something that makes your POC audience uncomfortable or even offends them.  Then, your responsibility comes with your response.  Yes, you’ve done something wrong.  How do you respond to the people who are hurt or disappointed?  Do you ignore them, or double down on your words, or try to defend yourself?  Just as importantly, what are you planning to do about it in the future?  If you have a second chance, what are you going to do differently?  You will make mistakes at some point.  So what are you going to do about them?  That, I think, is an even more important question than “How can I do this right?”  You may or may not portray something accurately, but when you get something wrong, how are you going to respond?

Essentially, it all comes down to your responsibility as a creator.  As a creator, you have a responsibility to do your due diligence in research, to remain respectful to your work and to your audience, and to be careful and conscientious about how you choose to create things.  It’s not about getting things absolutely perfect or being the most socially conscious creator out there, it’s about recognizing your responsibilities as a creator with a platform, no matter how big or small, and taking responsibility for your work. 

In summary:

Research, research, research

Avoid the obvious no-no’s (stereotypes, tokenization, fetishization, straight up stealing from other cultures, etc) and think critically about what creative choices you’re making and why

Do what you’re doing now, and reach out to people (who have put themselves out there as a resource).  There are tons of resources out there by people of colour, reach out when you’re not sure about something or would like some advice!

Responsibility, responsibility, responsibility

Thank you for reaching out!  Good luck with your work!