#implied/mentioned racism

[captain-bo-bob-bobby]

It's been a long time since I had gone on Tumblr. Wanted to share something but I'm kinda nervous to, please be kind with me and don't read if this is triggering or squicky to you. 🖤

One of the whumpee versions of my Bob oc is a black guy in an all white family, who are religious and ignorant of the struggles he's gone through.

The last conversation he has with one of them is his sister, who tries to argue with him about the issues women have- which he dutifully listens to, knowing that there are several complex issues within society- only speaking up when she says he can't possibly understand the issues she goes through. "There's another difference we have, a priviledge that you have that I don't: one that people can see plainly when they take just one look at us."

Then his Whumper kidnaps him (whom has blatant racist/homophobic views and makes it known from day 1) and the family is left in pieces.

While Bob is busy getting himself physically tortured, the sister is lamenting the death of her brother... until the youngest sibling gets sent his chopped up fingers in a package and their family is torn up again.

There's also a supernatural element to this Bob's story, but I'm a bit too lazy to type that all out right now-

[thedreadvampy]

The thing is. Bad/gross food is rarely a DISH - when food is bad it's because it's been badly made, whether because of skills or available ingredients. but a dish p much only exists recognisably and has a name because someone likes at least one version of it.

which is to say. there isn't really a way of naming a dish, school of dishes or specific food culture and going EW ISN'T THIS DISH UNILATERALLY CONCEPTUALLY DISGUSTING without denigrating quite a lot of people.

like you don't have to like it in any form. but it's eaten and shared because it's good to a not insubstantial number of people when cooked right.

(and I don't really understand how you approach that with total incuriosity when it's a dish you haven't tried like. ARE rocky mountain oysters good? Maybe! I would very much eat some to find out!!!!)

this is actually something the British food poll did in a way the American ones I've seen haven't really - they described how the food they're imagining is, specifically, badly prepared (grey meat and veggies; unseasoned shepherd's pie). which is wildly tipping the scales by calling it British Food but. like. that is an on point definition of why that food is gross.

(this also applies to American chocolate, which like. Broad category but I think most of us understand this refers to low-cocoa high-sugar chocolate, probably with bucolic acid. so we are being invited to imagine Badly Made Chocolate not. the concept of chocolate)

personally I just think it's very rarely a good or funny idea to shittalk how gross any given food culture is. partly because food is important and culturally evocative for most people, partly because it's very...alienating? to be like WHO COULD EAT SUCH A THING? just because you wouldn't, and largely because to be frank it says more about you than about the food that you have so little imagination or curiosity that you can't imagine why a food might be enjoyable to folks who aren't you.

yes this includes jello salad, I would like to try it. ONCE. if it wasn't appealing to someone it wouldn't be so widespread.

[draconifay]

I just found out puppychan is on tumblr now under a different username and ngl, the whole situation with them just feels so....conflicting

On one hand a lot of the shit they did is straight up awful and stuff that should not be excused (endangering minors / innappropriate interactions with them, that racefaking incident they had for a bit 💀, the constant suicide baiting, among many other things)

But on another I just feel...man. i can't help but feel bad for him. I followed him when Antoonz was directing his bigoted ass audience towards him when he was still a minor, and all the ableist, racist, transphobic and straight up violent shit that was thrown Puppychan's way was genuinely awful - ESPECIALLY at such a young age. (I still remember the lynching art someone made on the day of his 18th birthday...ugh.) Not to mention it feels like the internet was kinda the only coping mechanism he had, and a really unhealthy one at that. It's very clear the internet just fucked him up a lot from being exposed to so much shit at a young age.

Don't get me wrong - I'm still incredibly disgusted by the things he's done and I do think people should definitely be warned about his antics. But part of me feels just...sad - sad that this clearly unwell person needs help and has been through so much shit, and they've dug themself into a hole, and because people are constantly on their tail they dig even deeper into said hole. It's like the Chris-chan thing all over again.

I will never condone any of the harmful shit that he did, but I do still hope he someday leaves the internet, finds a proper support system and works on himself. (And learn to stop blaming his harmful actions on his mental health issues). Cuz the internet is the last place he should be right now.

[gritsandbrits]

BOY DO I HAVE GREAT NEWS FOR YOU

Dylan from Bratz - conceived as a black boy and love interest to Sasha, whitewashed in the tv show and 2008 movie. Yes they're supposed to be the same character.

Example 2: Aisha went from being visibly black to little more than a clone of Bloom. Miraculously Fate the Winx Saga avoided this by casting a light skinned woman. But they also fumbled the ball which I'll go into later.

Example 3: Baxter Stockman, went from a black dude in the mirage comics to a white man in the 1987 show. One of the few good things 4kids did was change Baxter back to his original ethnicity (and gave us the best version of him PERIOD)

Back to Fate, they whitewashed Flora. In an extra scummy move they backtracked and claimed it was not actually Flora but her cousin Terra. But the damage was already done.

Perhaps one of the most infamous examples changing X Man Sunspot from Afro Brazilian to lighter skinned. One of his recurring points was the discrimination her faced for his African heritage. He's also whitewashed in the comics.

[centi-pedve]

our uncle has been ruthlessly at our throat 2nite literally all we did was wear a shirt with a camel on it cuz we got it for free and he has been telling us to talk to police officers in arabic and shit

[poseiben]

my two cents on the latest discourse: as someone who has taken race/resistance courses and queer theory classes y'all realize that oppression doesn't exist in a vacuum. you cannot isolate one specific variable to focus on, that's not how life and oppression works. all you are contributing to is dividing the community and isolating yourself, which, in turn, makes you More vulnerable to hate because you have no one to fall back on. what community will support you? you drove them all away.

[homunculusalphonse]

// f/mab critical

i keep remembering the scene where king bradley is revealed to be wrath in brotherhood, aka when he says that he was fucking pissed at elicia crying for hughes during his funeral (something like his hands were shaking not bc of sadness, but bc he was angry), and how other characters are appalled by said reaction.

the way that scene is executed is so bad, like. it's so fucking cheesy, the word choice and the commotion, but i also dislike that wrath - not only the character but the sin itself - is resumed to this. that he just gets angry or annoyed at everything. they expect you to be shocked and repulsed that someone could ever get pissed at a grieving child, but it feels forced.

i'm very aware that character depth isn't bh's forte, but there are scenes where it tries to be emotional. some of them work (i think my favorite is when ed sees al's human body for the first time in years), but since it's a generic shounen that wants you to be interested in the plot more than anything, then most emotional moments don't rlly hit you, whether happily or tragically. the first episodes are worse, since bh expects you to have seen fma 2003 priorly, therefore hughes' and, dare i say, nina's deaths don't hurt that much, because you barely spent any time with these characters to grow any sort of attachment to them.

and even then, the actual emotional moments only focus on the white characters. the ishvalans are just there to validate their pain and their "goodness", and in turn scar is villainized for taking justice in his own hands. even in his backstory episode, after losing his brother, all his other loved ones and his people, he's gruesomely dehumanized in his state of grief, becoming a monster that then kills two innocent white doctors. and in the end, all of this is about winry's feelings, not scar's. this is about whether or not she'll forgive him, and not about the fact that he survived a fucking genocide.

brotherhood tries rlly fucking hard to be touching tale, a deep political commentary, and while it may be exciting, it ultimately doesn't deliver any of these things.

[cherrybombfangirlwrites]

Screwdrivers and Cybernetic Green

Alright, finally posting a snippet for The City is Ours, yay! This is mainly character exploration for Chase, with a little bit of dynamic exploration between him and Kylee + a little bit of the rest of the team, and exploring his backstory and mental health issues. Holy shit this one got long 😅. Anyways, have Chase sad boy hours featuring the rest of the team, mainly Kylee. This takes place somewhere in Book 3 of the series, possibly late Book 2.

Word Count: 2136

Content Warnings: THIS ONE IS VERY HEAVY, PLEASE HEED THE WARNINGS- discussions of poor mental health/struggles with mental health (specifically reguarding bipolar disorder, manic and depressive episodes, medications mentioned, major struggles with depression, and other struggles that accompany bipolar disorder) mentions/implications of violent ableism and police brutality towards mentally disabled people of color, mentions of mental hospitals and the abuse of patients there, mentions/implications of violent parental abuse and escaping/still being in danger of said abuse, a fuck ton of mental health issues/struggles in general, lots of feels and angst with a healthy dose of comfort, Jason is a piece of shit and we hate him, also lots of strong cussing because Chase loves his curse words

Note: This is my first time writing Bipolar Disorder, and I intended for Chase to have Bipolar 2 specifically. I did a lot of research before writing this, both educational and the personal experiences of real people with bipolar disorder, but I am no expert. I would really like the representation I write about groups I am not a part of to be as accurate as possible- so I would love some constructive feedback on what I did good and what I can improve on, if any bipolar people would like to give me some input I would very much appreciate it. Also! it's not explicit here (but it will be elsewhere in this wip) Chase is also Pansexual and Aromantic, uses He/They pronouns, American Romani, and Jewish- in case anyone new would like to know <3

TCIO Taglist: @friendlyneighborhood-writer @jessica-writes22 @rose-bookblood @yejidoesthings @space-writes @cljordan-imperium

General Taglist: @enchanted-lightning-aes @thatprolificauthor @wip-nook @writeblrsupport @outpost51 @dustylovelyrun

Nickelle walked out of her room into the kitchen/living area of the base, and found something that made her stop in her tracks.

Chase sat on the floor, surrounded by haphazardly made and sloppy projects, intensely working on a little robot that looked like an action figure, it’s head on backwards and arms falling off. His hands were shaking, and he was grinning giddily as he worked intently.

This was the third night in a row that this had happened, so she texted Asher and Bryson to have them initiate their plan.

Asher joined Nickelle a minute later, and gently said to Chase, “Hey buddy. Have you been up all night?”

“Yeah, why?” Chase asked, not taking his eyes off his project.

“No reason, no reason,” Asher said, “Um… did you take your medications last night?”

“No,” Chase said, “Why would I need them when I can make perfect machines like this, these are all amazing and I’m the best engineer there is and I don’t need drugs for that.” They set the project down, and it immediately fell apart.

He didn't even notice as he picked up his next project and ripped the head off. Then they picked up a screwdriver as Bryson came in.

Bryson went over, and placed a hand on Chase’s shoulder as V and Kylee came out to join them.

“Chase,” Bryson said, “Let’s get you some sleep.”

“Sleep?” Chase said, his eyes bloodshot and his head drooping, “I don’t need that, I’m too busy with these.” He gestured to the projects surrounding him, all sloppy and falling apart. “Aren’t they beautiful? They’re engineering masterpieces, no one can match them…”

“Yes, they are wonderful,” Asher said, “And these projects will be waiting for you when you’ve gotten some rest.”

“But you guys need me in the chair to hack stuff. I’m so good at hacking stuff, I’m the best. I’m not tired, I don’t need sleep. I’m the hacker, the tech guy.”

“You are, you’re the best hacker and tech we have,” Nickelle said, “But we’re not doing any of that today.”

Chase’s expression turned down, and his shoulders slumped as he came crashing down from the high for the first time in days. “But I can’t, I can’t sleep. Not that it matters, nothing matters. And I’m not good at anything and I’m an imposter and a terrible worthless person and I don’t deserve sleep anyway-” He sucked in a breath and hugged himself.

“We can help you with sleeping, and don’t forget you’re a valuable member of our team,” Bryson said, “Do you have clean pajamas to change into?”

Chase nodded, and let Bryson help him up.

“Ok, go take a warm shower,” Bryson instructed, “It will help you relax, then change into clean clothes and take your medications. And if you need, there’s more we can do to help you sleep.”

“Ok,” Chase said softly, clenching his hands in fists, “I’m sorry- I’m sorry- I’m stupid- I’m-”

“No,” Bryson said gently, “No you’re not. You’re one of the smartest people I know. And even if you weren’t, you’re my friend, and I care about you.”

Asher went to his other side and placed a hand on his shoulder. “It’s not your fault, now let’s get you some sleep.”

After Chase took a shower, taken his medications, and changed into clean sweats, they put on one of his favorite movies and settled on the couch with him.

It wasn't long before Chase was fast alseep, wrapped up in a blanket with his head on V's shoulder.

~~~

“What the fuck did you just say?” Chase asked, his voice dangerously low.

The room quickly went dead silent as he looked up and glared lasers at Jason.

Jason scoffed, “You don’t get to be an asshole, just because you have a mom that doesn’t love you, that’s not an excuse-”

Chase slammed down his drink on the coffee table, splashing the liquid a little. He stood up abruptly, and the others scrambled out of the way as they stormed over and grabbed Jason by the collar.

“You don’t get to say shit about my mom, Richens. You understand?”

Jason put on a not very convincing brave face and spluttered, “I was just-”

“No,” Chase growled, “You can say whatever offensive thing you want to me, and it doesn’t hurt more than what I’ve had to deal with my whole life.” His voice got dangerously soft and even again. “But you do not get to say shit about my mother. You know why?”

Jason looked to the others for help, and they looked everywhere but him, not saying a word. “Um… why?”

“Because you will never understand that my mom tried to love me. She really did. You will never understand what she went through to get me as far away as possible from my sperm donor. You will never understand what she went through to try and keep me and stay with me, despite how she was not in a good place financially, and despite how having me triggered much worse and longer depressive episodes and she could barely care for me. You will never understand how it was in vain because even with her mom’s help, she ended up getting sent to a psych ward where she's treated like shit when I was four, and hasn’t left since.”

Chase’s voice got dangerously even. “You, asshole, will never understand what it’s like to have a mother who did so much for you to get at least a decent life, and only get to see her once. And when you do, she’s so far gone she doesn’t remember anything or recognize you. You will never understand what it’s like to inherit those disorders from her, that she inherited from her father who drove his car off a cliff, and have to live with the fact you might end up with a similar fate- crashing my car to take my own life or lifetime in a mental hospital where I won't get basic human decency.”

They let go of the shirt, and Jason let out a breath but didn’t move- frozen under Chase's icy glare.

“My mother tried to love me. She really did. It’s not her fault that she ended up with the conditions she did, that her dad killed himself when she was a teenager, and then an awful man that took advantage of her vulnerability. And it’s sure as hell not her fault that she got sent to a psych ward before I was barely old enough to form any memories about her.

So you don’t get to tell me that she didn’t love me. Maybe she didn’t. Maybe she did but only a little. Maybe did love me a lot, once, but doesn’t remember enough to love me anymore. But I do know that she did everything she could because I was just a baby, and she’s my mom and she didn’t want someone else to end up with her fate. However much she loves me, is of absolutely no concern to you- don’t speak of my mother ever again, do you understand?”

Jason nodded, staring in slight terror.

“Good,” Chase said. They grabbed their drink off the table, and then disappeared into his room.

Several minutes later, Kylee knocked on the door with her signature knock, and Chase said gruffly, “You can come in Ky’.”

She entered his room. It was dark other than the light from his computer screen and a desk lamp. Clothes and empty soda cans were strewn about the room, blankets and pillows thrown haphazardly on the bed where he sat cross legged with his laptop.

Kylee gestured to a spot next to him, and he gave a short nod. She pulled out her phone, and typed on the screen, “Are you ok?”

“I’m… fine now, I guess,” Chase said with a sigh, “I just- I’ve never talked about that before. Not to anyone but Nãni, and even then it was only a bit when I was younger, after…”

A flash drive was plugged into his computer, and he was clicking through photos. They were of a much younger boy that looked like him- with medium brown skin, and a sloped and round nose, though the boy's hair was much curlier than Chase's- and an older woman with similar features. One of the photos however, instead of the two people from before, was of a woman with very dark, long, and curly hair, a big round and sloped nose, and dark brown skin. She had a neutral expression, and in her arms was a baby that looked like her bundled up in a white blanket. They stopped on that photo.

He said softly, “I do have one memory of her, before they took her away…”

Kylee pulled their knees up to her chest, and lightly rocked as she listened.

“She took me to see robot fights, because I saw them on TV once and thought it was cool as fuck, so she got tickets for us to go see a tournament live.” A small and sad smile appeared on their face. “We got uh- tacos, at a taco stand on the way home.”

He bit his lip as tears glistened in his eyes. “A few days later, she had a psychotic episode, the neighbor reported it, the police came, they decided she wasn’t fit to care for a child even with Nãni’s help, and…” Their breathing shuttered. “The cops yelled at her- there was so much yelling- , used much more force than necessary, and then one pulled out his gun- Nãni convinced him to put it away because I was there. One even called us some slurs, though I didn't know what they meant at the time.”

After a minute he said quietly, “I don’t remember much actually, most I know of what that happened that night is what Nãni told me. I just remember yelling, so much yelling and it was loud, and my mom… begging to stay with me. She- she thought my piece of shit dad there and that he was going to take me away and hurt me.

I don’t know a lot about my father actually, my mom didn’t tell Nãni much about him, and my mom didn’t tell me anything other than I wasn’t safe with him, and Nãni told me most of what she knows. All I know is it was bad enough that my mom risked a lot to leave with me, and that I have to be careful to make sure that he can’t find me.”

After a beat of silence, Chase continued, “The cops dragged her out of the house… they used more racist slurs on top of all that too… I cried for hours and didn’t sleep at all that night- at least that's what Nãni says.”

Kylee typed on something on her phone and held it up. “You saw her once after that?”

Chase nodded, wiping away tears with the back of his sleeve. “I was eleven, in middle school, in the top of my math and science classes. I’d even made a few friends in robotics club.” They swallowed harshly, pressing his hand to his mouth for a moment.

“The um, mental hospital was cold and white all over, and the doctors there didn’t care, you could tell. Nãni had to fight tooth and nail to get them and the courts to let me see her. When I went in two of the nurses followed with a security guard. She was-” They sniffed, pulling his sleeve over his hands and holding it to their mouth as tears flowed freely now.

Chase continued in a croaked voice, “There was some furniture in there other than the bed but it was all round and smooth surfaces. Even the handles and lights. My mom was sitting on the bed, staring out the window. She didn’t recognize me, or remember anything that happened. She was mostly gone at that point.”

He smiled a bit. “I did end up hacking into the cameras of that place though, idiots didn’t even notice or realize.” His smile fell. “I stopped after I saw her psychotic episodes…. she’d see my dad taking me away and they would use a lot of force until they could put her under. Then she’d wake up and forget again…”

Kylee typed something, then backspaced and typed something else. “Question.”

Chase shrugged. “Shoot.”

“If bipolar disorder is inherited, and it comes with psychotic episodes, does that mean you get them like she does?”

“I… haven’t had any psychotic episodes yet, but, um… My psychiatrist thinks that I may get them when I’m older, like my mom and grandpa. We’ll see when we get there I guess, and we might add another medication to my already long list of meds I need to take.”

“A psychotic episode is like hallucinations, right?”

“It can include hallucinations, but psychosis itself is more like… disconnect from reality, and you don’t even realize it. I can be pretty dangerous, especially if you’re with a person who may want to hurt you, or if you end up hurting yourself.”

He took a deep, shuddering breath. “It honestly scares me that I’ll get an episode for the first time while I’m alone or with a person who doesn’t care what happens to me. Or worse they’ll hurt me, or call the police and have me thrown in a-”

He squeezed his eyes shut, clenching his fist.

Kylee leaned her head on their shoulder, and they sat in silence for a long time.

[occulticvioletdepths]

bare minimum act of dipshittery that would provoke u to fistfight a stranger in a shopping mall

I am actually quite tolerant of dipshittery. It adds spice to my life - what would life be without its ups and downs? How boring would it be if everyone agreed with whatever you wished?

Now, that does not mean I am tolerant to all forms of dipshittery. To answer the question, certain forms of discrimination. Either someone physically harrassing my Pokémon for their typings, or homophobia, transphobia, or racism.

Not only will I, with my frail arms, fight those that propagate such hatred - but I will make a personal straw voodoo doll for every person that commits to such acts in my presence.

And I have enough iron nails to permanently take care of each of them.

[sunlessea]

“ i know you’re in love with me. “ - adrifires <3

sacred romantic moments / @londonfallen

his father had told him, over and over again, that if those rumors were true, if he ever caught him with another man ... he'd string him up from the trees outside, if he didn't just shoot him dead. of course, he'd sworn every which way that they were just that, rumors, and that people were only treating them that way because of where they came from. they didn't fit in with the other people around, pristine little rich white boys with their light, shining blue eyes and perfectly placed beauty marks, like princes straight from fairytales. but there's only so much he could've done to hide his pain, aside from running.

he certainly has no business with a master of the bazaar, from one othered society to the next. on the surface he'd been a gay, hispanic man. in the neath, he's something less than nothing. rotten blood, but free to love and be whoever he wants. four hundred years later, and he's finally stopped flinching. but not everything changes, he supposes, not even within centuries.

he doesn't know if it's poetic or infuriating. now that he can love without the fear of being killed over it, he has an entire city and its old, pissant purveyors telling him those feelings aren't even real. there's just no winning. no matter what he does, it's wrong. on the surface, he's just a homosexual and nothing else, in kindred society he's just a caitiff and nothing else, in london he's just a sycophant and nothing else. there's no end to it, he can't ever just be someone.

" . . . do you? mr pages seemed pretty pleased with itself, tearing into us. because i'm a caitiff, right?" he smiles bitterly, hands kneading the dough he'd started with intent of baking bread for the coffee shop. he can't even bring himself to look up at it. it's not that he doubts fires' sincerity, but he is so very tired of people telling him the things about him that are and are not good enough. from his father's fists to london's headlines to mr pages' biting tongue ... "the way the other masters look at me..." he pauses, shoulders tensing ... his fingers press into the dough a little too hard, and it tears. it really is just like how they used to look at him, back on the surface. same evil contempt... different prejudiced fonts. "curators and kine aren't so different from each other after all, are they?"

ironic, he supposes, considering how much higher they all hold themselves above the humans they've turned kindred. he huffs and pulls his hands up, trying to flick dough from his fingers.

"it's fine, i'll survive." turning his attention to it, he isn't blind to the fact its slinked a great deal closer to him. it's about one millisecond from wrapping around him, how close its face lingers to his. it really isn't subtle. "i know i'll never be alone."

[divinitysheart]

REX AND JIN'S DYNAMIC EXPLANATION - FROM REX'S SIDE PT1 P2 COMING SOON

TW LONG POST

His first encounter with Jin is when he's recruited specifically due to having been from Leftheria. And this is where Malos tests Rex's skills to see if he can handle the job due to Nia's commentary at the time. Jin doesn't truly say much here and nothing truly happens until they discover the capsule of the AEGIS in the ship. Because Rex accidentally resonates with her by touching her sword.

This is the first major even between Rex and Jin because Jin stabs Rex right through the chest if not HIS HEART in a speed about as fast as light if not faster. And says, and I quotes,

" Don't take it personally. It's an act of mercy. At least you won't be alive to see what's coming. "

Now while at this moment, Rex is pretty much seconds away from death and likely is developing a form of hatred for Jin you may think, but that's not the first thing Rex thinks of in my interpretation. He's more so confused as to what he means, he doesn't understand Jin because he's never been around someone like him in his youth. Sure anger is quick to form, but I feel like in this moment Rex was far more worried about what may happen to his family and who's going to provide for them when he's DEAD.

But then, because of his resonation with the AEGIS, or the person who goes by the name PYRA, she gives half of her core crystal to him in which brings him right back to life, but in return he has to take her to ELYUSIM which is up in the World Tree.

( The wound scarred but it's not visible until after the events of the World Tree. )

The next event that's heavily significant between Rex and Jin is what happens in Temperantia. Because this is where Rex gets a bit more of a glimpse of Jin as a person. Because MYTHRA, the other half of the AEGIS which can switch out with PYRA physically at any time mentions their past and how Jin is standing with the man that they had all fought against almost 500 years prior to current time, and Rex gets confused, because he knows that means that something definitely had to have happened, but he knows better than to poke MYTHRA about the past when it's not something she brings up herself. And Jin's response to Mythra's question is.

" I realized he had the right of it. That's all "

In which is true, but there's more to it, but I'll elaborate Jin's side on another post. And on top of that it's revealed he's a blade too, in fact one of the strongest of his time until TORNA sunk into the cloud sea. In which Mythra caused on accident due to her LACK OF CONTROL on her powers and her poor bond with Addam, her driver of the time because he wasn't able to use her power efficiently.

Then Mythra says this, in which makes Rex all the more curious about Jin,

" There were none stronger... yet none kinder, either. And no one who HATED TO FIGHT MORE THAN HIM. Why Jin, what changed?! "

After this and a few other dialogue, the fight commences and the end of the fight scene is when Jin does something that makes Rex begin to feel a hatred towards him for. He kills Fan La Norne, someone who's been nothing but kind to him and his friends, so in the moment he doesn't think about what Jin says, but afterwords he does and he's now getting even more confused.

" Blades are granted phenomenal power from our creator, yet we are doomed to never remember. Why?! The accumulation of memories is what allows mankind, no, all life to grow, change, evolve. But Blades are fleeting, when we return to our core our memories are lost. Our growth snatched away forever. "

AND BASICALLY WHAT HE CONTINUES ON TO SAY IS:

It's unfair how humans get to remember and control when a blade can be born, especially because it's Blades who imbody the world in his eyes. He's specifically talking about how Blade's do not get to choose things for themselves and are often mistreated. Which is an issue you can see being implied within Tantal the most with the black market and a lot of other dark things such as trafficking of blades and MORE. Because Jin isn't wrong in his view, because Blades are truly treated less than human on quite a few occasions. And the darker themes are heavily implied with Tantal, you just have to pay attention to the details. Because while it takes time, Rex does realize that BLADES HAVE NEVER BEEN ALLOWED TO HAVE CULTURE. And he does very much make it his job to get Blades their own rights and protections as he grows older because he refuses to let stuff such as this keep going on without punishment. Because even if Jin was his still his enemy in the end, he knows Jin was also right about quite a lot of things.

This is only like half of it, but I'm going to have to cut it off for now because wow this is a lot to write.

[floralfemmes]

like I'm genuinely so fucking tired of white lgbts

I love being a lesbian! I love the community that lesbians of colour have built!

but it's a damn shame that we had to build our own distinct community because of how white lesbians treat us

white lesbians have like four different ways that they treat us: fetishization, disgust, erasure, and false allyship. and they're all equally bad and hurtful

constantly telling studs that you want them to beat you up. talking about lesbians of colour like we're sex objects. defending so-called "raceplay". do you really think you're better than the white men who tell woc that they're really into asian girls or latinas? it's fetishization!

and the disgust. disrespecting our cultures, our skintones. talking about your "preference" for other white girls. talking shit about black lesbians' hair.

or you try to erase us. you only acknowledge white lesbians. your wlw positivity blog is only white girls. you talk about iconic lesbians and only mention white ones. you imply or outright say that cultures of colour (especially in the global south) are inherently homophobic, like lesbians of colour don't even exist.

and the one that leaves the worst taste in my mouth? the false allyship. claiming to support us until it comes time to actually do something about it. letting people get away with racism because they're lgbt+. getting mad at us for calling out racism in the community. telling us it's okay to talk about racism, but we have to be nicer about it, that we're too judgemental or confrontational

and no matter which of these forms of white supremacy a white lesbian practices, they will always always hide behind being lgbt+ to get away with it. white lesbians will form a united front to defend each other from accountability for racism

it's no fucking wonder we've built our own communities away from you.

[verdantmeadows]

So, in case you haven't heard...

Penny, from Scarlet and Violet is officially related to both Peony and Peonia (and, well, Rose too, since he'd be her uncle)! Peony is her father, and Peonia is her sister.

For those unaware, this is Peony.

And this is Peonia!

The woman in this image is (presumably) their mother (unless Penny is a half-sibling or adopted, which I don't think is the case).

And let me just say, this makes me so, so happy, seeing this visual/genetic diversity in a family.

So many people are completely ignorant to how genetics and biracial people can exist and have their genes expressed. Two siblings from a biracial couple, such as a black and white person, can look totally different. One could have curly hair and one could have straight! One could be super light-skinned and the other dark-skinned! Two kids from two parents doesn't mean that they necessarily just get a "mix" of how they both look.

Seeing this represented makes me so happy. I really hope more people realize just how different siblings from interracial couples can look. I really hope people don't erase this aspect of Penny's character, or think that she doesn't look Black enough or enough like a POC.

For a real life example, here are a pair of biracial twins!

(Lucy and Maria Aylmer)

So, basically, the point of this post is this:

Penny is Peonia's sister and Peony's daughter! This was my headcanon for a while, considering her name is Penny and based on Peony, but seeing it confirmed makes me so happy. I want this post to end on the note to inform people that biracial people can look like this. Biracial people can pass completely as white. White-passing biracial people can have dark-skinned parents and family members. Biracial people don't owe you passing as their ethnicity and the ethnicity/race of their family.

Please embrace this aspect of Penny and learn what being biracial can look like! Understand, acknowledge, and accept how biracial people can look! I've already seen people frustrated that Penny doesn't look "Black enough" or saying that her design makes no sense, or that she couldn't possibly be Peony's daughter, which is already a huge issue for REAL LIFE BLACK PEOPLE, who are told this!!! Even if you don't realize it, these thoughts and ideas ARE racist to have. How you view people when they're not real can often be indicative of how you treat them when they ARE real!

I hope that if you didn't already know these things, that you don't feel bad about it, and instead come away with new knowledge and understanding!

Edit: Also she could just be adopted? I meant to say that in this post and forgot. Like, adoption is a thing. Like, we know that Bede was an orphan and all... (I however don't think she was adopted based on her visual similarities)

Additional edit: I'm not trying to imply that their family is Black, either—I mentioned Black biracial families as an example, and also mentioned it at the end because I specifically made this post in response to people saying Penny "isn't black enough" and directing their racism towards Black biracial families. In all likelihood, their family is probably implied to be the Pokémon equivalent of Indian.

Other additional edit: Dialogue in game

Penny also frequently refers to her dad's behaviors that align with how Peony behaves

[aroace-ventplace]

…can’t believe i need to say this in 2024, but if you see a tumblr blog that’s an obvious sockpuppet, just block them. don’t give them any attention.

for those who weren’t aware, a sockpuppet is an account that someone uses to pretend to be someone they aren't, usually for the sake of accomplishing a particular goal. "asexual" sockpuppets were used extensively in tumblr's ace discourse years (which reached their peak in 2016-2019). aphobes and exclusionists made blogs where they roleplayed as exaggerated aspec caricatures, trying to paint asexuals as childish, ignorant, bigoted, etc - in a word, "cringey." crazey-acey-in-spacey was an especially notorious example of a sockpuppet that a lot of people took at face value, since their deliberately outrageous behavior (falsely) confirmed a lot of the biases tumblr users already had about aspecs. it's NEVER worth engaging with any of these accounts - don't feed the trolls, as they used to say.

ways to spot an "asexual" sockpuppet:

makes a lot of statements that are intentionally tone-deaf and offensive. especially look out for sudden mentions of race/analogies to racism ("ace genocide," "ace reparations") - a common tactic in the acecourse days was to paint asexuality as a "white" orientation, and to suggest asexuals were racist.

references other infamous sockpuppets like crazy-acey and the "warm milk aceggot" post.

makes claims about famous people being aspec, especially people who are known for bigoted beliefs. it was very common for aphobes to make asexual moodboards of people like thatcher or trump; they did this to paint aspecs as out of touch with reality and the wider queer community, and to strengthen the association between asexuality and bigotry.

use of the words "acey" or "asexy." some people do use these words in a positive sense now, but anti-aspec shit-stirrers used them a lot back in the day to imply asexuals were stupid and childish. (and if we're being honest? autistic, too. the aphobic parts of tumblr had a VERY strong undercurrent of ableism.)

this one's a bit less common, but watch out for references to christianity. one widespread aphobic talking point is calling asexuals "puritans" and suggesting that they're aligned more with conservative christianity than the rest of the queer community. aspec christians certainly exist, but given the history of this site, it's just better to double-check aspec accounts that bring up christianity out of the blue when they're engaging with other blogs.

it can be hard to tell the difference between a sockpuppet and a genuine aspec account if you don't have the exact same amount of 2016 tumblr brainrot as me, so feel free to message me and ask about anything you're not sure about - my dms are always open 👍

[sassydefendorflower]

I want to talk about something. I want to talk about ableism in fandom. And sexism in fandom. Oh, and racism in fandom.

Mostly though, I wanna talk about how the discussion about these things often gets derailed because people don't understand what trends and typical behaviors actually are.

Whenever a Person of Color, a woman, someone disabled, someone queer (or an intersection of any of these groups) points out that certain fandom trends are bigoted in some shape or form, half the replies seem to be "but they are my comfort character! Maybe people just like them better because they are more interesting!" or even "people are allowed to have headcanons!" - the very daft even go for a "don't bring politics into fandom" which is a personal favorite because nothing exists in a vacuum and nothing is truly apolitical. But alas~

What most of these replies seemingly fail to understand is something very, very simple: it's not about you.

You, as an individual, are just one datapoint in a fandom. You are not the trend. You do not necessarily depict the typical behavior.

When someone points out that there is racism in fandom, that doesn't mean every fan is racist or perpetuating racist ideas*. By constantly mentioning your own lack of racism, quite often, you are actively derailing the conversation away from the problems at hand.

When someone names and describes a trend, they don't mean your headcanon specifically - they mean the accumulated number of headcanons perpetuating a harmful or outdated idea.

I am not saying this to forbid anyone from writing fics about their favorite characters or to keep anyone from having fun headcanons and sharing their theories and thoughts - quite the opposite actually. A critique of a general trend is not a critique of you as an individual - and you're going to have a much better, and more productive, time online if you can internalize that. If you stop growing defensive and instead allow yourself to actually digest the message of what was pointed out.

I am saying this to encourage some critical thinking.

Allow me to offer up some examples:

Case 1: A DC blogger made the daring statement that maybe Tim and Jason were such a popular fanfic focus because they are the only two undeniably white batboys. Immediately someone replied saying "no, it's all the fun traumatic situations we can put them in!". Which is an insane statement to make, considering the same can be said for literally ANY OTHER DC Batman and Batfam character.

The original post wasn't anything groundbreaking, they didn't accuse anyone, didn't name any names... but immediately there was a justification, immediately there was a reason why people might like these characters more. No one stopped to take a second and reflect on the current trends in fanfiction, no one considered that maybe this wasn't a declaration against people who like these characters but a thesis depicting the OVERALL trend of fandom once again focusing on undeniably white (and male) characters.

(don't get me started on the racebending of white characters in media that has a big Cast of Color and the implications of that)

Case 2: A meta posted on Ao3 about ableism in the Criminal Minds fandom caught my attention. A wonderful piece, very thoughtful, analyzing certain characterization choices within the fandom through the lens of an actually autistic person. The conclusion they reached: the writing of Spencer Reid as an autistic character, while often charming and comforting, tended to be incredibly infantilizing and at worst downright ableist. They came to that conclusion while CLEARLY stating that the individual fanfic wasn't the problem, but the general fandom trend in depicting this character.

Once again, looking at the replies seemed to be a mistake: while many comments furthered the discussion, there were quite a few which completely missed the point. Some were downright hostile. Because how dare this author imply that THEY are ableist when they write their favorite character using that specific characterization.

It didn't matter that the author allowed room for personal interpretation. It didn't matter that they noted something concerning about the entire fandom - people still thought they were attacking singular people.

Case 3: I wrote a fic about abortion in the FMA(b) fandom (actually I've written a weird amount of fics about abortion in a lot of fandoms, but alas) and I got hate comments for it. Because of that I addressed the bias in fandom against pro-choice depictions of pregnancies. I pointed out that the utter lack of abortion in many omegaverse stories or even mpreg or het romances, painted the picture of an unconscious bias that hurt people for whom abortion was the only option, the best possible ending. The response on the post itself was mostly positive, but I got anon hate.

(which I can unfortunately not show you since I deleted it in the months since)

And I'm not overly broken up about it, but it also underlines my point: by pointing at a general problem, a typical behavior, a larger trend... people feel personally attacked.

This inability to discuss sexism, ableism, racism, transphobia, etc in fandom without people turning defensive and hurt... well, it damages our ability to have these conversations at all.

Earlier I said YOU are not the problem - well, i think part of this discussion is acknowledging that: sometimes YOU are in fact part of the problem. And that's not the end of the world. But you can only recognize yourself as a cog in the machine, if you can examine your own actions, your own biases, your own preferences critically and without becoming defensive.

And, again, this is not to keep you from finding comfort in your favorite characters and headcanons. This is also not to say that I am free of biases and internalized bigotries - I am also very much a part of the system. A part of the problem.

This is so you can comfortably ask yourself "but why is there no abortion in this universe?" or "why are my favorite black characters always the top in my slash ships?" or "why do I write this disabled character as childish and in need of help?" - and sometimes the answer is "because I am disabled and I want comfort", and that's fine too.

There is no one shoe fits all in fiction. There is not a single trope that captures all members of a group. There is no single stereotype that isn't also someone's comfort. No group is a monolith, no experienced all-encompasing (or entirely unique).

There is never a simple answer.

But that doesn't mean you should stop questioning your own biases, your own ideals.

Especially, if you grow defensive if someone points out that a certain trend you engage in might be racist. Or sexist. Or queerphobic. Or fucking ableist.

*this does not mean negate the general anti-blackness perpetuated by most cultures as a result of colonialism and slavery