#like the characters you like without trying to whitewash them please and thank you

[imfromthemiddlekingdom]

I don’t understand the fandoms love for Daemon, by all rights he should be as hated as Joffrey was. Not only did he do almost everything Joffrey did, he also did worse. Even Tywin wouldn’t hold a candle to his cruelty. I understand liking a villainous character, I do too with Cersei and Tywin, but I’ve never went out of my way to whitewash their characters. I love them because they are villainous and practically irredeemable, if team black stans liked Daemon for his villainous actions before and during the Dance of Dragons I wouldn’t have any problems with it. But the fact that they go out of their way to defend him killing Rhea Royce because “he was forced into a marriage he didn’t like!!!!” As if she wasn’t too. And the fact that they defend him sending Blood and Cheese to psychologically torture Haelena and kill Jaehaerys due to “a son for a son it’s only right” when they despise Alicents moment of madness when her son was denied justice, makes me want to hurl.

It’s alright to like villainous characters, it doesn’t make you a bad person if you like them. But you know what makes you a moronic person? Whitewashing everything that makes a character compelling because you want to like them without seeming like a ‘bad person’. Your opinion on a character does not determine your own morality, it doesn’t make you better or worse than someone who hates them. But what it does, when you erase their entire identity as a rouge to make them more palatable to you, is make you seem moronic, stupid, and lacking any critical thinking and reading comprehension skills.

Rhaenyra is a compelling character because she is entitled and spoiled and lacks any political experience, she shows how badly Viserys fucked up when he tried to compensate for his guilt of murdering Aemma. Alicent is a compelling character because she is a mother who is trying her best to protect her children from the reality that if Daemon took the throne for Rhaenyra, he would kill all of them because they are a threat. She is even more of a compelling character in the books because of her ambition and cunning and want for her family to rise far above the ‘station’ of being a noble house in the Reach (as if house Hightower aren’t the oldest house in Westeros who could trace their lineage back to both the Garth Greenhand the high king of the first men and the Andal Kings that came afterwards). Daemon, for all that I dislike him as a character, is compelling for his ruthlessness and shortsightedness in his pursuit of the throne. He didn’t raise an army for Viserys because he thought he was a competent leader, he did it because it raised his own standing within Westeros, he groomed Rhaenyra not because he loved her, but because having him in her good graces means that he stood a better chance of being king after she was named heir. His ruthlessness is compelling. Taking it away to make him into a ‘malewife’ or a ‘loving father’ or a man who is lacking any ambition beyond wanting a valyrian wife is taking away his agency. It makes him seem like a Gary Sue who only wants the throne because his brother said Rhaenyra was heir. It makes it so that he is so completely white bread like that not even I, someone who loved the more morally bankrupt characters in ASOIAF can find him agreeable in any way shape or form.

Daemon is a fundamentally morally bankrupt character and he should stay that way. If you like him you should acknowledge and accept that he is one of the ‘bad guys’. Just as Cersei fans acknowledge and accept that she is fundamentally a morally bankrupt person who is selfish to the extreme. We like morally black characters because they are morally black. To make excuses for their actions is to take away their agency which makes them unlikable and very hate-able.

Daemons actions aren’t justifiable, blood and cheese would never be justified. A son for a son is akin to the visceral disgust the fandom had to Alicent when she asked for Lucerys’ eye, yet I bet when season two comes out and Blood and Cheese happens we’d see Daemon fans applauding and trying to justify it as ‘not that bad’ and ‘team green deserved it because of Aemond’s actions’ when little Jaehaerys, a boy of 6, was as far removed from the incident as can be. It would be akin to Team Green saying that due to Jaehaerys’ death, Aegon III or Viserys II deserved to have their head cut off in front of Rhaenyra.

Let morally bankrupt characters be morally bankrupt. You aren’t morally bankrupt because you like said character, it’s a fictional story loosely based on Empress Matilda. It’s not that deep. Like the characters you like without trying to justify their actions. They might be monstrous but you aren’t because you like them. It’s not a measure of your own character because you like said character. But it is a measure of your intelligence when you try to change said character’s entire personality to make it so that they are more digestible to you and everyone else.

[toplines]

FOR THE LOVE OF GOD PLEASE STOP REPOSTING GIFS.

“bu…bubu- but they’re just wittle pixels and digital images rwight 🥺” no. we spend hours on gifs or even one singular gif to make edits for FREE on tumblr dot com. name a person who asked us to do this. no one!! exactly!! we make gifs bc its enjoyable and fun but people like reposters suck the fun out of it!!! and do NOT go and tell us that “gifs aren’t that hard to make” baby girl what do u think we do? go online and search for a video downloader and download it at like a crappy 720p and go to like literal ezgif dot com and all the gifs just MAGICALLY have their effects, typography, colouring, blending, animation, quality all up and ready? why dont u try and make a gif. hm.

and also, @ all of you “gif collectors” or some fanfic writers. lemme tell u a secret. an itty bitty secret. did u know… theres this really cool thing called PROPERLY CREDITING? im not talking about a stupid “credits to the owners” no. it isn’t that hard to properly source the creators or accounts.

that wasn’t so hard, hm?

also oh my god, do NOT go around saying you made these gifs when it is so obvious you didn’t. no bff, it isn’t a coincidence we have the same sharpening AND colouring settings.

and hey, i’ll stop my angry typing for a minute and just say that if you wanna learn how to make gifs there are plenty of amazing accounts and tutorials that are incredibly detailed. here are a few i recommend:

how to: make high quality gifs by sith-maul

giffing 101 by cillianmurphy

giffing and colouring tutorial by sashafierce

how to fix and avoid orangewashing characters by maxchapman

how to fix and avoid white/pink/yellowwashing by jeonwonwoo

how to: colouring east & southeast asians by blueshelp

pastel gifs: a tutorial by completeresources

how to fix and avoid whitewashing in pastel gifs by fadenet

and for those who don’t want to pay/ t*rr*nt photoshop:

free giffing tutorial by ashleysolsen

photopea gif tutorial by lacebird

and @usergif has a bunch of directories and navigation for tutorials and inspiration!

again, there are so many useful tutorials if you’d just look.

i know this probably won’t stop all reposters (unfortunately) but i hope those reposters that are reading this realise how messed up stealing gifs are. it isn’t funny or cool to see gifs that you’ve spent so much time on only to be reposted here or on other sites without credit or being claimed as someone elses.

we’re just asking for a proper credit on your post or maybe even stop reposting in whole. im sure you had good intentions in making those posts, but you have to understand how much it hurts. at this point, we have to put our watermarks in the middle of our gifs to avoid people cropping them out.

and please, PLEASE reblog edits. you have no idea how diminishing it is to see such a crappy like to reblog ratio. remember this hellsite has such a crappy algorithm so reblogging is essentially one of the only ways to give posts more traction

AGAIN. dont repost gifs. dont steal gifs without credit. dont belittle gifmakers. just stop being so disrespectful and rude and have a brain for once. thank you for reading.

edit: ive noticed ppl asking why i kinda like insulted those who use 720p and ezgif, im really sorry if i made it sound like a bad thing !! i was just very angry writing this aaaadjskdks gifmaking, HQ or not is valid and nobody deserves to get their creations stolen !

[darkficsyouneveraskedfor]

By His Command 2

Summary: you meet the wife. (Handmaid AU)

Warning: this series will contain violence, dystopian aspects, rape and noncon, blood, coercion, possible pregnancy and other dark elements. Please read these warnings and beware.

Character: Lloyd Hansen

Note: Thank you for reading! Also feedback and comments if you dont mind. Maybe a reblog. 💕💕💕💕

“Take your boots off,” the martha girds.

You unbutton the red boots and step out of them. You scoop of your valise once more and face the woman in green. She is already marching further inside.

The martha leads you down a long hallways without a word. You keep your head straight. The aunts always told you to keep your eyes to yourself. Those lessons did not come easy. Reflexively, you put your hand over your ear, expecting a blow at the very thought of peeking.

You pass open doorways but your attention is fixed on the hem of the martha’s dull green smock. She goes to the left, another wing of the hallway, not as far until she turns again, then stops completely. She steps to the side and puts her hand against her apron.

“Your room. You will sleep here and in the mornings you will not come out until you are summoned. Understood?” She explains sternly.

“Yes,” you answer.

“Go inside, put your bag down, and wait.”

You look at her but she refuses to meet your gaze. You quickly retract and turn instead to the closed door. She reaches to twist the handle and push in inside. You don’t miss the sliding latch on the outside.

You enter and she pulls the door shut. It brushes your skirt, nearly catching the fabric as it hits the frame. You spin and stare at the barrier, the metal bar on the other side scraping into the hoop. You’re locked in.

The iciness of the exterior seeps into the small room and nips at your layers. You shiver and place your valise on the low dresser against the wall, the paint peeling away from the aged wood. The weight of your bag causes it to creak.

You slip your gloves off and lay them beside the valise. You tuck your hands in your sleeves and retreat. Not far as the room isn’t very spacious. A bed with a rusting metal frame, a contrast to the pure white bedding pulled taught across the mattress. You push your hand beneath the pillow and feel the lumpy surface. It is at least a place to sleep. 

You look up and stare at the metal bars across the window. The frame was recently whitewashed but cannot hide the scratch marks etched into the wood. You try not to think of it.

Your steps groan in the floor as you carry on to the doorway to the left, the only aside from the entrance. A simple bathroom with only a toilet and a sink. There is a slightly dingy smell to it. Odd to think that in a house so resplendent from the outside, that it should hold such a pathetic cell.

You flinch as you hear a metal schlock and you back out of the bathroom. You turn and face the door as it opens. A woman in blue enters, a hat pinned to her spiral blonde locks, a hit of brown reaching to her ears. Her thick straight brows draw together as she raises her chin. You gape at her senselessly. This is the wife.

“Closer,” she beckons you forward with a fine leather glove.

You obey, edging nearer as her eyes bore into you. You watch the wall over her shoulder as you force your shoulders straight. You squeak as she yanks on the string of your bonnet and tears it away. She drops it and grabs your arms, turning you as she clicks her tongue.

When you face her again, she braces your hips and squeezes, feeling along your stomach as you try not to squirm. She lets you go but frightens you as she latches onto your chin, forcing you to look her in the face.

“Pray that you can do your duty,” she sneers.

You swallow tightly, trembling as her dark eyes pierce you like daggers.

“Blessed be the fruit,” you recite.

She glares at you, stepping forward as she bears down on you, walking you back as she grips tighter and tighter.

“I asked for a strong one,” she shoves you and you flail back onto the bed in a heap of flapping fabric, “don’t fear, it won’t be long. He’ll make short work of you.”

You prop yourself up on your elbows and blink at her dumbly. She scoffs and shakes her head, turning on her heel and strutting out. She slams the door in her stead and the lock chafes into the ring. 

The hollowness of that place settles over you. Not like the center where the other girls cowered with you, where their weeps kept you company. It’s only you now.

[whumpy-wyrms]

Masterpost

Welcome to my whump blog! I’m Jay :) and here is where I’ll post my whump series, writing, art, and more! my g/t blog is @tiny-wyrms :3 !! Read my whumptroduction (whump introduction) for more info about me and my favorite whump tropes and squicks! There will never be any nsfw here.

All my art and writing will be tagged with #my art and #my writing, and my general whump prompts/drabbles will be tagged with #wyrms whumps!

My inbox is always open for questions or anything else! (sometimes I hold onto asks for a while, I’m not ignoring you, I’m most likely just busy or forgot lol). Feel free to ask questions directly to my characters or interact with them too! My DMs are always open, though I get nervous talking to people sometimes so I might not respond right away.

if you make fanart or fanfiction of my ocs i will literally love you (platonically) forever!!! but i only ask three things: nothing sexual, no hate speech, and don’t whitewash. thanks!

My Writing:

🧪 The Last Lab Rat: Dew's relatively average and uneventful life changed when he was kidnapped by a mad scientist named Anton, who planned to use Dew as his new human test subject for experimentation. Dew, who is scared out of his mind, now has to try gaining his captor's trust while he slowly plans his escape, all while enduring experiments that make him not quite human anymore.

Also here’s the TLLR AU masterlist for extra content (vampire Dew, borrower Basil, alien Anton and more!)

🩸Blood Runs Cold: Silas, an eccentric but alluring vampire with a hunger for human flesh and blood, feeds from the corpses that are sent to his morgue. Aspen, a strange but friendly human, dies and wakes up in that cold morgue, alive and well, as if he never died in the first place. Silas, now with access to an infinite source of fresh, delicious blood, decides to keep this immortal human as his bloodbag. But Aspen isn't willing to accept his new life, not without solving the mystery of his death first.

Let me know if you want to be added to a taglist for anything!

Finally, please read my DNI list (under the read more) before following or interacting with me.

Do NOT interact:

bigots of any kind (LGBTQIA+phobic (transphobic, homophobic, etc.), racists, antisemites, sexists, ableists etc.)

ped0s or z00s

TERFs, transmed

“proshippers”: sexualizes ped0philia, incest, beast!ality etc.

pro-life / anti abortions

republican / right wing / trump supporters / conservatives

AI “art” / NFTs / crypto bros

supports autism speaks / thinks autism should be cured

also, please don’t repost (separately post my art without credit or claim it as your own) or trace my art. if you wanna use my art as a pfp or banner for some reason, feel free to but just credit me!

[heretherebedork]

Have to say I am utterly perplexed why everyone is up in arms about Ton. I think it is entirely consistent with his character that he couldn't be "the boyfriend" that Nick wanted. That is not him & would have been weird message, implying that all a man needs is to find the "right man". No Ton likes to fuck around, the end. I'm proud Nick stopped hurting himself & said 'thanks, but no thanks' no bitterness or hate either. Mew is a bitch and Ton is better of without him, but also, I get Mew POV he don't need to forgive shit, Ton was awful to him & barely showed remorse until Mew flexed that Ton sex tape & then he was sorry. We see the journey that Ton has been on, his friends haven't. To his friends, he fucked Top, got caught, turned up at hostel, told Mew he had top first & without him he would never had gotten Top. Screwd his friends little brother (SA friends brother, turns out to be lies), only truly showed remorse with Mew threatened him with his own Sx tape, gets kicked off the group project....and then weeks later turns up at new Year party to apologise. He was not a good friend. I don't think he's terrible guy, but him going to New York for a new life make sense. The whitewashing of his character & the upset at his ending just confuses the heck out of me.

Look, if the ending made you happy and you feel this way? Enjoy it.

There's no reason to ask me impossible questions or to stand up for an entire fanbase of people when you think the narrative of the show and the character choices were correct. Just... enjoy? If my two dozen posts over the post two weeks about him haven't convinced you of anything, nothing I say here can change that and that's okay!

I also want to be clear that, yes, Boston is an asshole but so is goddamn everyone else in the show so why is he only one condemned to be alone and to never change and to be told repeatedly that he doesn't deserve to be loved?

I loved the scenes between him Nick and I loved that their relationship ended with the understanding that some people simply aren't monogamous but other people need that. My only issue with that is the part where Nick tells him he's better alone rather than trying to find a relationship that fits him but that's okay.

Again. Again. If you enjoyed the narrative the show told us and you feel this way about Boston... why are you here? I don't want to debate people. I don't want to be in arguments or try to defend something I've made so many posts about I don't know what else to say.

Everyone in the show was an asshole, many of them refused to apologize or accept that they might be wrong or move on from being wronged. But only Boston, in the end, is told that he cannot change, that he cannot be loved and should not be loved, that he cannot be forgiven, that he is not allowed back in no matter if he apologizes and that no one will apologize to him.

I have nothing else to say. I can't argue with this because what you're saying is that you enjoyed the narrative of the show and agree with it. So... please, sincerely, enjoy it! Just... enjoy it.

Boston is an asshole. He was and he is. But so is everyone else. So id Mew, so is Ray, so is Sand, so is Cheum. I am not, and never have, tried to cover up that Boston has made mistake. I am only upset that the show decided he's the only one who gets punished.

[tiana4evahh]

i apologize in advance if this adds on any additional stress for you over the italian song twins but it Is a bit of an issue. its a bit ironic that you dont consider kotlc characters, specifically the song twins, having a race or ethnicity bc theyre not human ... to headcanon them with another human ethnicity? you probably dont have any ill intentions about the headcanons but the basis of it is found in ignorance/naievity. although the song twins may not have an actual 'race' their characters are inarguably tied to real cultures and ethnicities. their family names have to vietnamese and chinese and korean origins. their family home features east asian architecture. to erase this background is akin to, as stated by another user, whitewashing(song twins with italian looks..? as an example). even if you aren't realizing it the headcanon essentially removes representation from actual asian people like myself(and i understand that these are not canon and made by fans and no one has to take headcanons as the real deal, but the idea in general is still harmful). there is a multitude of other characters which you could headcanon as italian without changing their original race. and before you get carried away, please don't perceive constructive criticism as 'hate anons'; we mean well and would like you to understand the outside perspective.

Yeah i 100% realize what I did wrong. I wasn’t trying to be racist, I really wasn’t. I honestly was just curious if I could headcanon that, but now I realize I sorta can’t. Thank you very much for clearing this up! (I also appreciate that you didn’t make it sound rude or mean). Thank you!

[banschivs]

𝙲𝙰𝚁𝚁𝙳 ⋙ 𝙰𝚁𝙲 ( 𝚂𝚄𝙱 𝙰𝚁𝙲 ) ⋙ 𝙽𝙿𝙲 𝙻𝙸𝚂𝚃 ⋙ 𝙲𝙷𝙰𝚁𝙰𝙲𝚃𝙴𝚁 ⋙ 𝙹𝙾𝙺𝙴𝚁

☠ 𝙰𝚄𝚃𝙷𝙾𝚁𝙸𝚉𝙴𝙳 𝙿𝙴𝚁𝚂𝙾𝙽𝙽𝙴𝙻 𝙾𝙽𝙻𝚈 ☠

In the name of love

#𝙱𝙰𝙽𝚂𝙲𝙷𝙸𝚅𝚂 ⋙ independent   𝙽𝙸𝚇 𝙳𝙴𝙶𝚁𝙰𝚅𝙴𝚂  of 2019′s guns akimbo.  post-canon,  and developed far beyond it now.  affiliated with 2019′s JOKER and 2022′s the batman.  other half of @jokethur. violence and substance abuse present front and centre,  not tagged.  written by abigail,  twenty-one plus.

KILLER QUEEN

𝙿𝙾𝚁𝚃𝚁𝙰𝚈𝙰𝙻: tied heavily to 2019′s Joker and, as of 2022, The Batman. Shrapnel City is Gotham, Gotham is Shrapnel City. Meaning that all the context of Joker and The Batman have taken place within Nix’s understanding and canon. Nix's own canon from Guns Akimbo is now in the past, and further details regarding her and where she's been can be found on her carrd/in-universe fansite as well as dataclaw, the in-universe Court of Owls database.

Given that she is such a niche character, you're always more than welcome to hit me with any questions in regards to plotting and/or tossing out something random. I'm aware that most people haven't seen the film, and that's totally fine!

𝚂𝙴𝚃𝚃𝙸𝙽𝙶 & 𝚂𝙷𝙸𝙿𝙿𝙸𝙽𝙶: single ship, single story-driven. exclusive to @jokethur's Arthur Fleck, who Nix is married to. They have three children together who are likely to be featured. Romance and nsfw are present with Arthur on main — as an adult writing an adult, the whole nsfw sideblog trend is just weird to me. It is all tagged, and you're welcome to block that tag.

@jokethur and I have operated as one giant blog for many years and are a real-life couple ourselves. Everything between us is shared, one's interactions are canon to the other, everything we do is interconnected.

I am happy to write with other versions of Joker even if plotting would need be involved, but no more Arthur Fleck's, please and thank-you.

𝙳𝙽𝙸: I won't be following any characters related to the 2024 Joker musical, nor will I follow any blogs using Gaga as an fc or who are in support of said musical. I will not budge on this, and will block.

I will softblock any Joker-specific personal fan blogs as soon as I see them in my follows, especially any self-shippers as I've had terrible experiences in the past with these types of blogs. In addition please don't breathe near me if you rp or rp any MCU Wanda Maximoffs, or any other whitewashed roles — following from that I have a zero-strike policy on seeing the word g*psy. I'm Romanichal myself; i see it used, you're gone. It's not my job to educate you.

𝙸𝙼𝙿𝙾𝚁𝚃𝙰𝙽𝚃: 𝙿𝙻𝙴𝙰𝚂𝙴 𝚄𝚂𝙴 𝙳𝙸𝚂𝙲𝚁𝙴𝚃𝙸𝙾𝙽

If you follow me, you need to be aware Nix is a killer, en masse. She is criminally insane, lacks empathy, and is ultimately selfish in her end-goal. She is a drug addict, and an addict in general. All things problematic, before even going into her own origins or exactly what made her. Bear the above in mind when following. She's also just really weird and often crude. If this isn't your scene, you don't need to stick around. Respect all this this when we are roleplaying, I don't want to be measuring dicks with you.

I suffer from Irlens Syndrome which can decidedly effect both my reading comprehension and general cognitive functionality on a daily basis. As said above, i’m not fast, and I'm tired a lot, and can go a while without doing much of anything. In extension to this i do ask that you don't put any screenshotted or photoshop-style image replies on my dash. I cannot process them and it causes me a lot of problems. If this isn't something you can adhere to, then this might not be the blog for you. See this post for a more extensive explanation, this is very important for me to be able to use my dashboard.

I dare you to try

[melodramaschild]

Funeral prompt :

Remus giving beating reader the “go ahead princess, see what happens” look from across the room (full of people) right before she does something bratty

Robie’s funeral

Funeral

In memory, prompt with any character you want. All your comfort characters are dead and you’re remembering them, just remembering on good old day when they were alive.

It is posted here!

And please before you read Funeral by Phoebe Bridgers:

Thank you so much for requesting that and reading this.

This story means a lot to me. It’s also a first story I’m writing after almost two years of a writing block.

I was so hard on myself those last three years that I felt I can’t write anymore. I felt like I’m not meant to write anymore.

I wanted to write something where I put some work into. So I did that. I gave myself the time to put my ideas a words down and I made that. With this story I’m trying to free myself from my bad habits so thank you so much for being with me and reading that.

I also wanted to write a story where I can say “Look what I made!” without feeling guilt of not working enough on that or without feeling shame that it’s too cliché and plot too fast.

So thank you once again for allowing me to present you that story.

Also: something that I do find very important.

First of all; I’m not black. But Dorcas is and she’s dark skinned too.

I read articles and some accounts on how to write for a black character because: 1. THATS LIKE THE BARE MINIMUM OF ME

2. I wanted you all to know that she’s black since Dorcas been whitewashed way too many times.

3. I didn’t want it to sounds like I’m fetishising her (I think that this is the word, correct me if I’m wrong please) because I listed to black women and they agreed that being described as “Dark chocolate.” or “Exotic fruit.” isn’t something that they desire to be described as.

Which I wouldn’t say, it’s only for the point here. If you get me.

So please, when you get into Dorcas part and you’ll see something that isn’t sitting right with a description of black woman, please definitely let me know.

4. Representation matters and since I’m writing Y/n as neutral as possible, I saw that as a right and the most bare minimum thing to do.

Second of all; I’m not disabled that I need to use walking cane.

Again; I tried to avoid any sentences that could look like I’m fetishising or overhyping it. But if you see any, please let me know.

Third of all; I’m not welsh. But Hope (Remus’ mother) and Remus are.

I also did my research on this one and used many websites and translations on how to use welsh slang or what are the most common welsh words.

So if you see something that isn’t… when you see that the welsh isn’t welshing also please reach out to me.

Also for some reason I wrote that they’re in Yorkshire because well… maybe they moved out there! Maybe they like there! Maybe it was just fitting to my plot!

Plus Remus looks like Yorkshire too- (like the ugly ass dog)

And also I probably didn’t use any of British slang, so sorry Sirius and James but I simply forgot-

Now it would be great and brilliant to say something about Y/n being dead but uh… whatever is fitting your imagination about why Y/n is dead… it happened.

Enjoy your reading 🤍

[fadenet]

hello everyone! under the cut you’ll find a tutorial explaining how to make pale and pastel gifs without turning the subject into casper the friendly ghost. please keep in mind that this is not strictly a step-by-step coloring tutorial - i won’t be teaching you how to recreate the exact look featured in the header. it will be more of a "foundational” guide that teaches you the basic techniques of anti-whitewashing, so that you can apply them to all sorts of different scenes. with that being said, let’s get right into it!

all you need for this tutorial is a version of photoshop with a timeline option, and a basic understanding of adjustment layers.

the first and most important step is picking the right scene to gif. you’ll want to select a scene with a solid background. since red and yellow are the predominant colors in most people’s skin, it’s important that you pick scenes where those colors are easy to isolate - meaning you’ll want to use a scene with a white, black, blue, green, or purple background. it can even be a combination of all those colors. (you can also use red and yellow, but the process is a bit more complicated and involves layer masks, which i won’t be explaining today). for example’s sake i’ll use this scene of jasmine from aladdin, since it has a simple dark blue background:

it’s at this point that we’ll want to start isolating the reds and changing the background color of the gif. for this step i don’t do anything fancy - usually a selective color adjustment layer does the trick. it’s at this stage that you can go crazy and change the background to whatever you like, but for this tutorial i’ll just keep it simple. here’s my gif after i’ve removed the yellows and cyans, and made the blues more of a purplish hue:

as you can see, the gif is desaturated but it’s still dark, not pastel or pale by any stretch. this is where your brightness and curves layers come into play. brighten the scene to your heart’s content - for now you don’t have to worry about how it affects the character’s skintone. you can make your own coloring, or you can use a psd - i prefer to layer one of odairannies’ stunning psds with a bunch of my own adjustments. here’s what my gif looks like after i crank up the brightness and make everything more pastel/washed out:

as you can see, the background is a nice lavender shade now, but jasmine’s skin is also significantly lighter and ashier. we don’t want this of course, so we’re going to return to our best friend the selective color adjustment layer. since we isolated the reds earlier, all we have to do is play with their brightness and saturation to get jasmine’s natural brown skincolor back. i also added another selective color layer to brighten the purples even more, and a hue/saturation layer to deepen her skincolor further. here’s what she looks like now:

at this stage, you might think to yourself: “this looks pretty good. she’s not so pale anymore, i can go ahead and post this.” no. please remember that you can’t always rely on your naked eyes to determine whether or not something is whitewashed. especially if you’re making a lot of gifs at once, you might develop tunnel vision or color blindness and not truly process what you’re looking at, even if you toggle the psd on/off. i highly, highly recommend creating a layer mask to double-check  your work, like so:

now that i have a direct before/after comparison, i can see that jasmine’s skin is a little lighter and more yellow-toned than it was before. normally this is something i would fix, but remember that we changed this gif from a night scene into a “day scene” with our adjustments. because of factors like this, you don’t always have to match the “after” skincolor to be exactly 100% the same hex code as the “before” skincolor. when you take into account the lighting, it’s normal to have a bit of discrepancy - it might look more natural to make the skin a bit brighter or yellower. for example, if i tried to adjust jasmine’s skincolor to match the original gif to a T, she would look like this:

as you can see, she looks too dark and almost purple. because we changed the "lighting” of the scene, it’s natural for her skin to be a slightly different hue. that being said, you should always try to stay within the same color range, and never lighten the subject’s skin by more than 1 or 2 shades. with that in mind, here’s how my final gif turned out:

like i said earlier, this process will vary from film-to-film, scene-to-scene, person-to-person, which is why you can’t always use the same psd. it’s also a bit easier with 2d animation, since characters will have one “flat” skin color, whereas in 3d they will have varying shades of beige, yellow, and pink that you also have to pay attention to. that’s not to say it can’t be done on 3d or live action footage though. i’ll include a few examples from all different types of media to show you that it’s not only possible, but that it is necessary. i implore all of you to follow this method if you truly believe in inclusion and making aesthetic tumblr a safe space for poc, especially dark-sinned poc. thank you for reading, and happy photoshopping~

[thesoulspulse]

And finally, I present to you the full Unseelie Vlad AU main cast! I know I’m repeating myself but I am so SO happy I can share these again without having an anxiety attack.

Ok, so real talk for a second here...

As many of you know, I’ve had my ups and downs with the various different fanart pictures I’ve drawn of Valerie and Tucker for one reason or another when I’ve received unexpectedly harsh or deeply negative comments. Ever since what happened on that other Danny Phantom artist discord run by Risayume that led to four former friends of mine cruelly ditching me one after another in the worst way possible when I thought they knew me better than that and trusted me enough to know that I don’t create anything to be hurtful, I’ve been struggling to move past the pain and heartache those events caused.

Honestly, I’m only here to spread happiness drawing characters I love along with the rest of the phandom. Also, one very important thing everyone should know about me is that I care deeply about people, especially my friends and family, regardless of their ethnicity, religion, or lgbtq orientation. I’m not judgemental in the least and all I care about is is you’re a good person who is kind to others and respectful even if and especially when and if you disagree on something. It’s wrong to take your own insecurities out on others by making a big deal out of something that is clearly not meant to cause offense.

I won’t rehash the whole story but, let’s just say I had a lot going on in my personal life too so I was in a really bad place when on top of all that I ended up getting deeply hurt by several artists I respected who jumped down my throat over minor issues in my own character designs for Valerie which weren’t perfect by any means but was still clearly a labor of love. But instead of getting my side of the story or checking on me when I was sent spiraling into a full on panic attack, the next day I was issued a strike accusing me of still whitewashing Valerie because I used her CANON skin tone and treated like absolute garbage over something I quite obviously wasn’t doing only to be told “intentionally or not” that I was the one in the wrong no matter what I said to plead my case.

I literally just didn’t know what to say because I was so stunned and overwhelmed by the suddenness of it all, not to mention felt backed into a corner unable to defend myself. And only ONE person on there bothered to see if I was doing alright since I was clearly very upset by the whole thing since I had never had issues sharing my fanart of Valerie before until out of the blue, it was suddenly a big problem.

That’s why I can’t thank the rest of you enough for supporting, being so kind, and patient with me throughout the process of getting back on my feet again to reach this point where I’m not scared to share my fanart of Tucker and Valerie anymore. Because ultimately, that’s what helped me find the courage again to finally bring these drawings back into the light. That means the world to me.

So in a way, it’s been sort of a blessing in disguise since I’ve fixed some of the “issues” those people pointed out before which stressed me out in the first place, but only because now I figured out how to make them look so much better. But for future reference, please don’t get mad at someone for playing it safe when they’re not as confident using anything other than the canon skin tone of an ethnic character at first, that doesn’t mean someone is trying to whitewash them. And if you genuinely want to help someone improve, try giving them a proper critique and friendly tips on how to do something better if you’re more experienced they are without sounding accusatory or condescending or shutting them down by TELLING them their intentions behind their artwork because all that does is discourage other artists.

Translation, don’t be like Butch and tell people they’re not a ‘real artist’ if they’re not an animator or have a job in the industry either.

Anyways, hopefully I can put this all behind me now and stop talking about all that past drama, but I just wanted to explain one more time that I’m just here to have a good time, share cool ideas, and nothing else. I refuse to let anyone suck the joy out drawing my Danny Phantom fanart again. I’m going to keep doing what makes me happy from now on. True, I might still get hurtful comments from time to time, but the love and support of my friends and phans of my work is all that matters in the end.

I’m not going to let these Spectra wannabe’s make me miserable like them anymore either because I’ve got a Fenton Thermos with their name on it to yeet them back to the Ghost Zone with the block button! So to those potential jerkwads still lurking out there somewhere online...

BEWARE!!!

[chaoticpuff17]

I’m the anon that sent you about whitewashing your characters and I regret it so much now.

I feel like trash cuz my intentions was never to hurt you or make you beat yourself up for it. You’re doing great. I just expect so much more than the normal... especially cuz I’m always bombarded by writers that cater to white skin and features. Years of it got me tired af. But it’s in no way, right to project that on you.

Please accept my apologies. I’ve now read your other responses and I’m glad you’ll be trying to be even more inclusive. So thank you for that.

I think what ticked me off was that y/n and Iyla was Americans that was instantly “accepted” and “embraced” by Koreans without a question, and that MOSTLY happens to white girls... as WOC often face prejudice in Korean societies. Also the privilege they seemed to have, yes, even in their struggles. All of these things combined made the assumption very easy that they could be WHITE Americans.

No! please don't feel bad! If there is something I am doing that needs to be corrected it's good that I know. I never meant to make any of my readers feel excluded especially not my poc readers.

I think it hit me hard because I know the post you were talking about, and I had just talked about it with my dear friend @chimchimsauce the other day as she is a poc BTS fic writer.

If there are things I can do to make any of my readers feel more included, I'm happy to listen and make changes.

As for them being American, I think there's a certain suspension of belief. For the most part the only people that y/n and iyla interact with are the boys and the people who work for them. They aren't out in society as a whole and aren't experiencing Korea as they would in normal circumstances.

They could be white americans if the reader wishes them to be, or they could be asian american, or black americans or any other poc in america. I never meant to make them white coded, and if I did that's something I need to fix. So please, please don't feel bad.

[djarrex]

Hi everyone, just wanted to address what happened last night along with some other things from before that all tie in together.

There’s multiple parts to the following post - please make sure you read all of it if you’re gonna take the time to even start.

It was midnight and y'all were still jumping in on anon and telling me how I'm awful for not commenting, owning up, or taking responsibility - I should have been in bed. I have a life and job outside this app; and with the several of you in my inbox and it being too late at night to address each, I’m gonna do it now. I can’t not say something about all of this. I just can’t keep quiet and ignore the problem - it’s not fair to you all. Deleting one post already has you guys even more riled up and all I wanted to do was offer something better than a “half-hearted apology” (it was very late at night when I wrote that very short apology, and wanted a redo tbh). 

I really didn't want to make a long post like this. I reached out to a select few on here because I care about them (there's more of you, but like I said, it was at the time after midnight and I was fucking exhausted). but I was being demanded for accountability. So here I am.

Allow me to be real with you all, if that's ok. If it's not, well, idk. First I wanna address all you anons, who, instead of speaking to me one on one about all this, want to criticize me and shame me and my writing when truthfully it feels like you haven't even read more than a handful of my work. I didn’t realize that I write the clones all the same way? That I always make them super aggressive and uncaring and dom? “you write every single clone as so dominant instead as unique individual men with their own personalities” Interesting. See, that right there tells me you haven't read nearly enough of my stuff for me to believe that's true. That's one accusation I absolutely will not back you on because I know it’s inaccurate - saying how I group the clones into some overly-aggressive, and uncaring category - that I always write all of them as mean in bed because they're men of color. And hey, if I do write rough smut - which yeah, it's out there and I write it, as do a lot of you - there are warnings at the beginning, aftercare, dialogue, reader sharing their feelings, and most importantly... consent between the two. That’s what warnings are for, so that you know what you’re going to be reading. That’s why I, as we all do, appreciate warnings listed at the tops of fics; honestly, write them sub or dom or switch or however you want but don’t come at me like that. I’m sorry if I'm coming across as rude because I'm usually not, I’m one of the nicest people you’ll meet, but I will not stand idly by while you chastise my writing (writing that is pretty much the same type of stuff a lot of you write & rb with the same characters) that you haven’t read enough of to back such claims.

Next: Sincerely, from the bottom of my heart,

I get it. Really, I do. I fully understand the problem of whitewashing in SW along with almost everywhere else, and I do not agree with it. It's a huge problem, and it needs to be rectified. Now just because I don't speak publicly about it and opt out of publicly shaming TBB, doesn't mean that I agree with what’s going on. Not everyone is comfortable with sharing their opinions on a subject, no matter what that subject is or which side they're on. You live and you learn when it comes to that. 

It has never been my intention to fetishize POC in my writing, which btw, the same people who are saying that it is my intention are the ones claiming I portray all of the clones as the same, aggressive men, lacking their individuality. It’s a claim that is simply not true, and I know I have followers on here to back me up on that. I know what I've written; how about you check it out and tell me that you don't see the words "soft" or "fluff" or "cuddling" or “gentle” or “tender” within my work linked in my ML. Clone character being a good partner and father? Tender love making? Holding each others faces in their hands? “We/you survived” sex? Taking care of their partner? Saying “I love you” to one another? Confirming the safe word and going slow at first? Oh my - riveting and harsh stuff - totally unacceptable.  

Now: My admittedly problematic writings of Rex + Zygerria,

I went into writing that rp fic totally unaware and unknowing of the true implications. For that, I sincerely apologize. When I posted the NSFW alphabet, that’s when I was called out on that rp fic - not when I first posted it. Which the timeline doesn’t matter, I know that, but it concerns me a little bit that no one spoke up about it sooner - letting me dig myself deeper into a hole that I didn’t realize I was inside of in the first place. I've apologized once, and I know that doesn't negate what happened; I acknowledged my mistake back then, but I suppose that wasn’t good enough. I had asked you, anon, to message me to give me guidance, to teach me on what to do about the fic - you stayed hidden. Well, respectfully, what the fuck? I know we're all adults but don't lecture me and avoid me when I’d literally reached out for guidance on how to properly rectify the issue. I fixed my wording in some of my fics (the things I’ve caught upon rereading them) because I recognized and more importantly learned about and from my mistakes along with the unintentional negative implications of how I wrote those characters. Some of y'all wanna tell me that I "haven't learned"? Who are you, my personal blog police? My professor? My life coach? Are you even my friend? If I'm wrong and haven't learned, then fucking educate me. I worked hard on that rp fic, just like I do with a majority of what I write, but it doesn’t matter because I will delete it knowing that it’s harmful to others and I apologize for inadvertently romanticizing slavery with what I wrote - it was unintentional, and I’m truly sorry to those who have been hurt by it. I know it’s wrong, and there’s no proper excuse for it. Can’t go back in time, but consider it gone now.

Since that first wakeup call, I’ve been working hard to ensure I avoid using certain words and ideas when describing the clones in my fics. If there’s still something you see that isn’t correct or is inappropriate, please tell me! Don’t hold it in but then jump on the “attack M” bandwagon. Private message me, or come peacefully off or on anon, there will be no hard feelings. I don’t mind being corrected when I make a mistake - that’s just part of life, we all make mistakes and we live and learn from them. Making mistakes doesn’t = scumbag human. When you hold your breath and choose not to take the time to guide me, and if I appear to still be making the same mistakes, well, idk. I’m telling you right now that I do not mind if you message me with the good intention of pushing me in the right direction. When you come at me with hostility on anon, well, no thank you. To the anons that came without rage: thank you! I read what you wrote, and I have a better understanding as to how my writing had hurt the lovely followers of mine, and tried to address as much as possible in this post. See, angry mob anons? It costs zero credits to be kind and offer up your thoughts and advice with a good heart. I’m not going to hate you or block you if you try to correct me. I don’t block unless you’re a snoopin’ minor. Just don’t hold a knife to my throat.

Now: Why did I delete the tags and then my response to that anon ask? 

Simply put: I felt awful. Deleting it doesn’t immediately mean I’m hiding from it and ignoring the issue. I wanted to come up with a better apology, explanation, whatever you wanna call it, because my followers deserve that. The ones who enjoy my work, the ones who interact, the ones who I call my friends, the ones who know that I’m a good person. Didn’t want to leave the tags/post floating around all night, giving more people time to sharpen their pitchforks and join the mob while I attempted to sleep. Trust me, I know saying that I had no ill intentions when tagging that post doesn’t make it better nor does it make it go away. I’m just trying to show you my point of view, that I knew immediately how I should not have tagged it that way, so that’s why I deleted them. I corrected my mistake. But y’all are too fucking quick I swear.

One more thing:

I know some of you who had called me out with the passive-aggressive inbox messages are still following me, and for what? You don’t like what I post, which is why one would follow another in the first place, so why bother sticking around? Do you feel like you need to police my blog? You want to be there the literal minute I make a mistake? I’m gonna turn off anon for a bit, so if you wanna discuss, message me. Just know that if you’re going to come at me with knives out, I probably won’t reply to you. 

To conclude:

I’m sorry. Truly sorry for the entire Rex + Zygerria outfit + slaver ordeal with both the fic from a while ago and then the tags from last night. We can’t go back in time; the only option is to correct past mistakes that are able to be corrected, and then move on with new knowledge that’ll aid in me working even harder to ensure my writing isn’t inappropriate or offensive, and doesn’t hurt my followers nor the characters I write for. I’m still going to write self-indulgent filth and fluff, post-order 66 Rex, and other misc shit. I enjoy writing fanfic, as I know a lot of you enjoy reading what I write and love to talk to me about it. I hope that this didn’t come off as me being a bitch, because I’m really not. I enjoy interacting with the handful of people on here that I’d call my friends, and I love reading your reactions and tags to my fics when you’re excited and/or horny (LOL). It’s just after lunch time where I’m at, so I hope you have a great rest of the day/night/morning whatever for wherever you are.  

<3 

M

[zaptrapp]

Vin’s Bad Batch Rant -ep 1

Welcome to this part of Tumblr where, after I watch each BB episode, I’ll give you my detailed (yeah lmao as if) analysis and emotional ramble. SPOILERS AHEAD!! Let’s gooo (this is gonna be a long one, 70 minutes of ep!!):

First of all HOW DARE THEY. Filoniiiiii.

I was NOT expecting to start with a mission right before Order 66 are you fucking kidding me? I immediately went “Nope, not doing this.”

Look at the initial flashback of the clone wars. I was shaking, too many memories.

I haven’t watched Rebels but I know some things and I know who Caleb is. So HI Padawan Caleb, good to see you. But... wasn’t Kanan’s skin complex a bit darker?

It’s going nicely, some comedy thrown in, The Bad Batch being wholesome and just destroying clankas! Tech is growing on me.

Master Billaba why are you so disappointed omg ahah thank them immediately!?!?

Yo I fucking swear, I swear to god that when tbb was leaving and the Captain turned to receive Order 66 I jumped from the seat so fast. Like I yeeted myself so fucking far you cannot understand. Literally, fuck fuck fuck this. My anxiety and ptsd from the clone wars went 📈📈📈📈📈📈

Rip Jedi Master Billaba.

Run Caleb, just run.

(I’m so fucking glad to see The Bad Batch is immune to Order 66. Like so glad.)

Ok Crosshair and Hunter go rescue Mr Padawan there.

CROSSHAIR WHAT THE FUCK CHIILLLLL

nope nope nope this is not going well. I was wrong, I fucked up, I spoke too soon.

“Good soldiers follow orders” noooooooo

Hunter being wholesome omg, what a dad energy he has. I already love him.

Omg Hunter’s scream when Kanan jumps.

Crosshair literally chill dude, let’s all vibe together.

Also uhm... it hurts to see them all so pale. Please for the love of god fix that, it’s unsettling.

The way they return to Kamino so oblivious of what’s going on. It hurts

“Coruscant guard is here” YES SHOW ME FOX YOU COWARDS

Uhm.... Filoni can we talk for a second? Yeah I would like to ask you WHY? Y’know, was it really necessary to show the corpse of a dead Jedi and the hand with the lightsaber falling off? This scene is gonna be stuck in my mind forever. I’m crying.

Can we also talk about the music? Haunting, a masterpiece throughout the whole episode.

This is not a kid’s show.

Love that they have their own personal barrack filled with their stuff, so precious. Plus the Tooka doll, omg😩

The amount of times I’ve said “Crosshair chill” by now is over 9000. Spoiler: it gets worse.

Absolutely love the tension between Hunter and Crosshair. Live for these moments.

Tech listing the characteristics of his mates and then “my exceptional mind” LMAO brag about it.

“The attempt on my life has left me scarred and deformed”. “You can say that again” Wrecker OMG I wheezed. Echo’s like “bruh”. That’s what I need. Right here. God I love this.

“Still don’t think the regs are programmed?” This part made me shiver. It literally terrifies me. Also Tech is growing so much on me...

Hello Omega, nice to meet you.

“adolescent human female” Tech what the fuck it’s just a girl.😂 I love her accent and her smile! And she’s a medical assistant, love that too!!!!!!

Omega really said 😃😃👋🏼👋🏼

Here comes Tarkin ugh

Why does it hurt to see regular clones without helmet? Probably cause they all look like Fives, Kix, and the others. My heart is crying

Also, why is no one bald anymore? Guess that’s old fashioned uh... (yeah I know it’s because they want them to have no characterization whatsoever, but what’s wrong in being bald?) I miss my bald-with-crazy-tattooes- regs❤️

“Hello again” 😁😁👋🏼👋🏼 the way they look at her LMAO 😶😐😑🤔😕

Food fight, yay! (Crosshair was just trying to chill but ooop guess it’s time to fight)

EXCUSE ME?!?!?

No seriously. They really threw AZ in curing Echo’s injury??? You don’t know how much I was crying. I thought they were gonna throw a “Fives” in and I wasn’t ready at all, not now. Glad they didn’t but still... fuck me Filoni

Look at Echo’s reaction. Fuck. He’s scared as hell, probably though he was back on Skako Minor being a lab rat.

Yeah what a shocking revelation for them AZ.

Headcanon: Tarkin hates his life. He’s so bitter.

The fact that they’re being tested against real threats and guns while they have stupid toy guns it’s so fucking wrong and ridiculous.

“Five are all that remain” but Echo’s not genetically enhanced. That means... (i was putting 2 and 2 together)

Here we go with a mission... this stinks from miles away just telling you

Omega and Hunter talks, ughh the feelings

The way Omega calls softly Hunter’s name ugh I’m sold. They already have a bond “something about her I can’t figure out.” 😩😩

“I guess kids aren’t your area of expertise” Crosshair what a subtle shade😂

Crosshair was not really going to shoot at kids and elder people. Right?

Oh hello Saw, good to see ya. Always a pleasure.

GENERAL SKYWALKER AND CAPTAIN REX mention here we goooo🤪🤪🤪

This is chilling and unsettling....

Great a snitch droid or whatever the fuck that is.

*dramatic stare between Crosshair and Hunter* plus toothpick action going on

Crosshair literally stfu

And here’s Tech dropping facts. Omega’s an enhanced clone. I wonder how they made it possible for her to be a female taking Jango’s DNA but whatever, this is Star Wars.

I am legitimately pissed that Crosshair threw away the toothpick. Justice for toothpick.

Omg she found a picture of the squad😭😭😭😭😭 flashback to Rex’s picture with Echo, Fives and Cody I’m crying

Look at them walking right into the trap.

Hunter looks totally offended but c’mon, you know what you were going against.

Yo, I’m really here trying not to SIMP and they fucking throw TBB in their blacks on my face. I don’t have to look at them, I don’t have to— HELLO HUNTER, how’s you booty doing?

Crosshair CHILL amigo ok io quando mi incazzo devo passare all’italiano quindi o ti calmi o ti calmi, capito brooo??!! Le bestemmie che mi fai tirare.

Ok he’s struggling, I see that. No need to be an ass tho 😶

“I know it’s not your fault. You can’t help it.” Yes I’m crying why aren’t you. The way he looks at her... I’m dead.

CT-9904. Okay... also why did they have to kick Hunter. He’s so precious, trying to defend him regardless of him being under the effect of the chip.

Oh shit oh fuck oh shit here we go. (I didn’t want to watch this part.)

Ehm, Hunter why did you have to lay down like that, you sexy beast. I’m waiting for a gifset of him like that. I’m waiting.

Not Omega copying his moves😂😂😂😂😂

“Abnormal individual” lmao the look on Tech and Hunter’s faces. So done.

Ugh the anxiety is spiraling in me. Also how did they suit up so fast lmao.

Oh no. Oh no. NO NO NO

oh shit.

He looks good tho ngl🥴 (toothpick’s back.)

Oh the look on Hunter’s face, the music... breaks my heart.

Oh I was kinda ready for this part but still..... 😭😩

Yo can you not throw the toothpick away in every damn scene please? That’s my emotional support character object.

Yo jumpscare I lost 10 years of my life what the fuck

The amount of times Wrecker got hurt just in this episode is concerning.

Your move. AHHHHHH

Yoooo Omega with that blaster rifle saved the day😃✨

BYE Crosshair see ya later 💔

Kaminoans hiding to the Empire that BB escaped? This is gonna be no good I’m telling you

Omega is precious. Must be protected.

Dad Hunter DAD HUNTER DAD HUNTER IM SOBBING

Short list of friends. One is on coordinates J-19. Saleucami sector system. CUT LAWQUANE confirmed. Fuck yes. I’m happy. Now I can rest.

Sike I will never rest. Strap in and let’s gooo

Well well well. I LOVED IT. FILONI THANKS FOR THE UNWANTED FEELINGS that made me remind I’m a human capable of emotions❤️ I owe you one but I’m also hurt and also in love. Yes, there are things that did not sit really nicely with me: the obvious whitewashing, Omega being a clone of Jango (yes I was kinda expecting it but as I think through about it... makes less sense. Literally how?), but overall I enjoyed it.

Also if you wanna chat about TBB and feelings dm me or send in an ask! See ya bad bitches💕💕

[thyon-nero]

So. How do you feel about the litjoy crate strange the dreamer collection? The art with the setting and places is beautiful, and I love the miracle for breakfast art. On the other... the characters just look... a bit white? All the godspawn has a POC parent... no way they all look Eurocentric. Idk. I feel like I will regret not collecting it, but I already have the books and it seems kinda a waste...

Hi! Thanks for sending this in—I didn’t know that litjoy was making a Strange the Dreamer collection so thank you for bringing it to my attention. And sorry for taking so long to respond! I had quite a bit to say and wanted to make sure that my thoughts were at least a little coherent. Since tumblr doesn’t like links in posts, I’ll be dropping the litjoy link in the replies for people to see what we’re talking about. Also, to the anon who sent this in, I’ll be using the generic pronoun “you” to talk to everyone reading this, so don’t feel like I’m calling you out specifically!

Your ask brings up several good points for discussion that I’m going to try and apply to a broader conversation. Namely, the whitewashing in art and consumerism in the book community. I’m only one perspective so please feel free to continue this conversation in a respectful way: if there’s one thing that Strange the Dreamer should have taught us, it’s that only through communication and understanding can we resolve conflict.

First of all: the Eurocentrism in the art. I’m not sure what policies are for reposting the art on a separate site, so I’d encourage everyone to look on the litjoy website to see it for themselves.

Is the art beautiful? Yes. Does it depict characters canonically described as brown with Eurocentric features? Also yes.

Although Weep is a fictional place, we can still fairly easily draw some parallels between the people of Weep and real world people and cultures. Off the top of my head, @readingbooksinisrael made a post (linked in replies) noticing how the words at the beginning of each chapters sounded Semitic, @inkwingart created incredible artwork of Sarai (linked in replies) without the Eurocentric features of the official art, rightfully calling out the differences between how the characters are described and how some artists choose to depict them, and I’m sure that others have spoken on this as well.

Despite the written portrayal of the people of Weep and godspawn as non-white, it’s easy for artists to avoid depicting them with non-Eurocentric features and only use blue skin as a defining feature.

Within the broader art community, I’ve seen conversations on how to depict characters of different racial and ethnic backgrounds without just changing the skin color and keeping all of the other features identical. Some art styles (typically more cartoony and stylized) definitely do draw all characters with the same face and rely on clothing, hair, and other distinctive characteristics to tell them apart. But this isn’t really enough. When artists provide enough detail to show Eurocentric features but consider using a different shade of brown (or in this case, blue) to be “enough” in terms of drawing diversely, they aren’t hitting the mark.

Ultimately there is no “right” way to visually depict these characters. However, I would encourage artists to think deeper about their designs and question why they chose certain features for certain characters, and if these features are consistent with the source material. I’d like to give the artists involved with the litjoy crate the benefit of the doubt and assume that they weren’t thinking about the implications of their art erasing the godspawn’s brown heritage, but unless any of them have made a statement, I think it’s up to everyone to decide for themselves whether these portrayals are worth supporting.

(That being said, I do adore the landscapes! It’s incredible to see these magical places brought to life. Highly, highly recommend looking at the art just for that!)

I also want to talk a bit about consumerism within the book community and whether this set is worth it, especially if you already own the books. Please keep in mind that I don’t intend this as a callout for anyone or a be-all-end-all for this discussion. My thoughts are my own and do not affect how you spend your money!

Personally, I’m not the sort of person who buys more than one copy of a book. With my current living situation, I don’t have infinite room for books and I (tragically) don’t have the money to buy every beautiful book I see! Although I only own Strange the Dreamer and not Muse of Nightmares, I still won’t be buying this collection because I know that the second copy of Strange the Dreamer will just be collecting dust on my bookshelf and taking up space from other books that I don’t already own copies of.

As of writing this (March 14, 2021) preorders haven’t opened yet so I don’t know how expensive this set is, but if you don’t already have the books and want them, this looks like a great set that’s definitely worth looking in to! However, and here’s where I circle back to your point about regretting not collecting it, I personally don’t think it’s worth buying just for the sake of collecting everything to do with this series.

If owning these editions will make you happy in the long term and you have the resources to purchase them, go for it. I think it’s important to remember though that regardless of which editions you own or whether you’ve read the books through your public library, you still have the story. This world and these characters will always exist in your mind! That being said, I think a lot of people within the book community look to special editions, different cover art, and other merch as a way to become closer to the stories that we love. Even though these may offer new visuals or (in some cases) deleted scenes and extra written material, they don’t change the fundamental story. The experience of reading these stories doesn’t depend on owning special editions. Ultimately, if you’re buying multiple copies of a book, you’re pretty much only paying for the experience of having a pretty cover on your shelves. There’s nothing wrong with that (I know I’ve been guilty of paying extra for a slightly prettier cover!) but that’s the only thing you’re missing out on when you don’t buy these editions.

Especially with the rise of BookTube and Bookstagram as ways of seeing what other readers’ shelves look like, I’ve noticed people putting more stock into what others own as opposed to what they’ve read. Although not perpetrated by everyone in the community, there is some pressure to own all of your favorite books and have the fanciest editions to show just how much of a fan you are, when ultimately that doesn’t mean anything. The person who owns every special edition and the person who checked out their library’s copy can both love the story just as much. We as readers shouldn’t have to “prove” our loyalty to different stories or authors to enjoy them. It’s perfectly alright to not own your favorite books or everything by your favorite author! It’s the experience of reading these stories that brings us together as a community, not the experience of buying everything relating to these stories.

All that being said, it’s still a personal decision whether you want to buy these editions or not. Do what brings you joy! And if that’s owning these books, more power to you. If anyone wants to chime in with more thoughts on the artwork or whether these copies are worth buying, I’d love to discuss it further and have an open discussion. We all have different perspectives and can learn so much from each other through respectful conversation.

[nikatyler]

𝒘𝒆 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒃𝒐𝒕𝒉 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒊 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝒔𝒂𝒘 𝒚𝒐𝒖 ✨

I wasn’t going to post this yet, in fact, at first I wanted to keep it a secret until these guys are born in the rebooted Raven Legacy, but I couldn’t resist. Thought you’d never see them again, huh?

Zoey and Isaac’s children. 2017//2021. I always say my sims style doesn’t change at all (also, hooray same face syndrome), but it has changed, even if just a little bit.

Anyway, let me introduce you to these guys again, tell you what’s the same and what has changed. And yes I have classes tomorrow, but I also drank too much coffee today so I won’t be able to fall asleep for a while, let’s do this.

𝑪𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒆 𝑳𝒚𝒏𝒏 𝑹𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒏

The main star, heir of gen 3 ✨

Fellow bi 👉😎👉

Walking stereotype but in a good way. We don’t do the harmful biphobic stereotypes here. (We did them accidentally without realizing we’re falling into a stereotype *cough* Ross dating a million people *cough* but we’re careful now. Why am I talking about myself in plural. But also the reason why Ross dated a million people didn’t come from the fact he’s bi at all, he was just a dick in high school. I didn’t connect those two things in my head.)

More piercings?? I kinda want to give her more piercings

And tattoos! She used to have some small ones, but I have since then deleted the files 🙃

Named after her grandma (Lynn) and great-grandma (Carrie)

She didn’t (and couldn’t) meet either of them...if you know, you know

Probably isn’t going to end up with Chris eventually, sorry Chris, you won’t even exist in the reboot

It’s not Carrie. It’s not Lynn. Use both her names or die. (Her words, not mine.)

Plays a violin. Terribly. On purpose. She’s actually really good though.

She was an entertainer originally but I think that when/if we get to her this time, I’ll try a newer career with her. Maybe I’ll want your input on that later.

She would be such great friends with Tyler. I’m so sad they couldn’t ever meet. She’d 100% be his favourite niece.

*takes notes to mayhaps make that possible in the reboot*

No, she won’t take off the hat

𝑨𝒏 𝑹𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒏

They/he

Originally, four years ago, I wanted them to be a trans guy, but I chickened out of it in the last minute because I was worried someone would say he doesn’t look trans enough...I’m sorry about thinking that way. I have learned since then.

He’s using they/he in this version to kinda reflect both who I originally wanted them to be in the legacy and who they were, if that makes any sense.

(yes they’re the sim that was called Anastasia previously but they don’t use it anymore so forget it)

I don’t remember much about him from the original legacy. They liked pirates and worked for a charity shop or something like that? Their girlfriend was an adoptive daughter of Malcolm Landgraab and Caleb Vatore. (thanks MCCC, and yes Caleb really wants to be included in all my legacies in some way, it’s his only goal and purpose in life).

Really close with Carrie Lynn

I changed his skintone because no one in their family has it anymore. Elizabeth had it, but I changed it, so I changed An’s skin as well.

𝑭𝒓𝒆𝒚𝒂 𝑹𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒏

Originally, for some reason the game made her thicker than her siblings, and I’m thankful for that because knowing 2017 me I’d be too much of a coward to make a plus sized sim myself.

With that being said, cc creators, could you please make your necklaces work on bigger sims?

I changed her traits but I already don’t remember what I gave her. One of them was from Eco Living.

I remember I originally said something like “she wants to be an architect but she hates maths”. So now she wants to be an architect and she actually doesn’t struggle with maths at all because that makes more sense.

Is she a genius? Are you a genius, Freya? 🤔

I can’t tell you much about her tbh. I have no memory of her left. I even memorized her face wrong whoops.

Hey look it’s midnight and also this post is becoming a trainwreck yay

It’s now 0.30 when I’m rereading this. Yay tomorrow will be fun, I wanna get up at 6am

𝑭𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒔 𝑹𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒏

Yes it’s Faye but I changed her name and most of her appearance

It’s like when they replaced Flora with Terra in the terrible Winx live action. Minus whitewashing.

I now realize it’s really a Terra situation minus whitewashing here (what’s there to whitewash, Faye was already white), because I also made Frances a bit chubbier. Like they did with Flora/Terra.

(speaking of which I actually adjusted the bodies of all four of them)

I actually made her bit more tan than she used to be! Originally, all four kids took after Isaac, who is rather pale compared to Zoey. I also gave her Zoey’s eyecolour.

I really like the name Frances tbh

She kinda reminds me of that one girl from Mean Girls. Forgot her name. But you know the one.

“Hello LGBTQ community”

Yeah Faye/Frances has always given me big lesbian vibes so...

Again, I was a coward in 2017

She likes pink, sweets, cats and she’s lazy and that’s all I remember about her

We started this post with me saying “let me reintroduce you to these characters” but like to do that I’d have to actually still know something about them

Okay, so...the moral of this post is: don’t make posts when you’ve had too much coffee so you feel effects of that BUT at the same time you’re pretty tired already.

No, jokes aside, I’m really excited to explore these guys again someday.

Now I have to go do my daily writing because I forgot about it and I can’t skip a day and then I swear I’ll go to bed. Note to self, don’t drink that much coffee tomorrow.

[mvthr]

Hi, I just wanted to bring to your attention that the group you just did a shoutout for hollywoodundeadhq is doing some racist behavior. They allowed an asian fc to be switched to a white fc without changing the name or bio and therefore whitewashing her. They deleted the fc change post and have changed the original acceptance to try and cover up the whitewashing. And they are trying to say the fc switch was only so the player could use the fc for another character when they could have just as easily opened that fc by choosing another fcoc for the character. Thank you for your time and understanding.

Hi there anon, thank you so much for bringing this to my attention. I had no idea this was going on as I have a hard time keeping up with the tags lately and haven’t kept tabs with the rp since giving them a shoutout. I have taken the liberty of deleting said shoutout from existence. It’s so disappointing to hear that this kind of behavior is still happening and being covered up in this day and age.

With that said, if I ever happen to give a shoutout to a group that becomes problematic or anything of the sort please feel free to kindly send a dm or ask like this my way and I’ll be sure to terminate the post as well as spread the word. 💜