#misrepresentation

[hauntedcats-tales]

[tomatoandeggs]

Why do people find the need to invalidate aro/ace characters' identities just because they want to ship or simp for that character

As someone on the aroace spectrum, I've only ever seen allos mention the spectrum and microlabels to use as loopholes to ship. They also dont use queerplatonic relationships right. I am not against these bc i identify with aro and ace microlabels and i like to see microlabels and queerplatonic relationships getting recognized properly but not as loopholes

Its like me shipping a gay and lesbian character and calling it queerplatonic as an excuse

Its aphobic and arophobic. Especially when the character shows no interest, and even disgust, at romance and sex

Why do we, the aromantic and/or asexual community, excuse nsfw/ship drawings/fics? It wouldn't fly if you made ship art or fic of a gay and female character, so why does it fly to make an aroace character allo or sexualize them? We deserve respect

Idc what your headcanons are. It still upsets me as someone on this spectrum who uses microlabels

I just had to get my thoughts out

[haxypaxybobaxy]

My brother just told me that my father told him “Aro-ace people don’t have feelings”

THATS HOW HE TOLD MY BROTHER WHAT BEING ASEXUAL AND/OR AROMANTIC IS?!?!!!? JUST OHH YEAH THEY DONT HAVE FEELINGS AT ALL. WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK.

When I tell you the unfathomable rage that stirred up in my stomach. I was absolutely speechless. Like that slapped me across the face I legitimately couldn’t.

[my-kids-made-me-play-minecraft]

Okay, genuine question:

When — the fuck — will Mojang make different skins for villagers? And by skins I mean different body types, variations of gender/gender presentations and multiple skin colours.

I know the game is 15 years old. But having them all be thin, white men with big noses just isn't it. None of that aged well.

Oh and they even added kids... who look exactly the same. So it's not because they can't, they just choose not to.

EDIT TO ADD: I learned about how the villagers and golems are also antisemitic charicatures. Check out reblogs and replies

[athenadarling21]

So I found this in the library and I thought I'd take a moment to give my two cents here.

I'm sure most of you instantly know this book is clickbait and you're right but I still think this is worth talking about. So basically the study they use to back up that vegans have smaller brains is this,

https://www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1073/pnas.1301816110

This study however is about vitamin B12 supplementation in alzheimers and has nothing about vegans. Vegans of course have multiple ways of getting their needed vitamins though fortified cereals, plant based milks and nutritional yeasts.

The book in general is full of pseudoscience and agenda driven stuff like this but really I feel this book can be debunked on its surface. Like I know you shouldn't judge a book by its cover but that title is just well... Dogshit.

"why vegans have smaller brains and how cows reverse climate change." One does not simply put their most extraordinary claims in a title especially so tactlessly. It's just contrarian clickbait plain and simple. Btw fun fact cows are like Uber bad for the environment. Like they take up a bunch of space and they produce so much methane.

Also saying all this I am going to admit I eat beef and meat and despise veggies. Yet still it's fucked up that vegans who have their diet by choice or not get bullied like this. To my vegans besties I salute you and you should know you're brains are very wrinkly and full of wisdom.

Anyways these are just my two cents please feel free to add extra information if ya can.

[panicinthestudio]

They Didn't Make Dire Wolves, They Made Something…Else, April 8, 2025

TL;DW: 1. Dire wolves are probably not that closely related to gray wolves, though Colossal says that's not true, they haven't produced anything to back that up. 2. Dire wolf-like animals will never be ecologically important to our current world because they ecosystems they existed inside of do not exist anymore. 3. Collossal's goal isn't de-extinction, is creating new species to fill in niches left behind by extinct species, which is an idea worthy of debate! But it's not what you think of when you hear "de-extinction." 4. There's lots of really cool science here, which does include maybe kinda creating the frist large mammalian synthetic species.

Fixing my Direwolf Mistake, April 11, 2025

This has been an interesting journey...there is obviously something to like about de-extinction hype, which is that we're talking about the biodiversity crisis, which is absolutely great, because usually we do not! Is lying about making direwolves worth that? I dunno, maybe! Probably even!!

[punksforchrist]

So, really quick, I wanna talk about my opinions on Nico Parker as Astrid. I am someone of Viking descent, and thus, I feel like my take on this situation holds a great amount of value. I find it a bit offensive that Hollywood would race-swap a character from a culture that is white specifically because her culture directly ties into her character. Like, I can excuse Ariel as there is no specific culture tied to her character. But this situation is incredibly different. Now, for the record, I hold no ill-will to Nico Parker. She is a talented actor and deserves lots of love. My problem is with the producers. Apparently, misrepresenting a white culture is 100% fine to them. Who cares about the people of that culture /sarc. To me, this would be like if they white washed Moana. Just as offensive

[juicebokks]

What is the problem with Latinos in the media? 

In the midst of Hispanic Heritage Month, I think it’s very important to acknowledge the problems and faults of Latinos in media. When many people think of a Latino influencer, they may thing of this stereotypical “copy paste” Latino that encourage or try to normalize problematic behavior. Now, while this “type” of Mexican or Latino identity in and of itself is not necessarily bad, it does portray Latinos in a bad light. That is where I would like to bring up the question, “What is the problem with Latinos in the media?”. 

The types of people we chose to allow to represent us are the people we are showing to the world to say, “This is what Mexican is”. In hindsight, many of these people represent an uneducated, toxic, and sexualized culture. Again, just to preface, there is nothing wrong with being less intelligent, or having faults, or being a sexual person, however, I do believe that it isn’t fair to the people that try to represent Latinos as hard working, strong, smart, creative, and accountable. These issues are what the problem is with Latinos in the media. 

Many of us Latinos tend to feel underrepresented in places like Hollywood, most of the biggest names in the entertainment industry playing a lot of the same roles. Instead of embracing this “copy paste Latino” we should embrace the differences we all have. All Latinos are different, we have different interests, we look different, we pursue different jobs. A single visual trait does not define what you are or what you aren’t. Curly hair, straight hair, blondes, brunettes, redheads, big noses, small noses, tall, short, skinny, fat, and others are all traits that any Latino can have. One characteristic does not “make you Mexican”.  

The big issue with Latinos in the media is the people we chose to let represent us. Women like Antonia Hernández, the first Latina staff to the counsel of the Senate Judiciary, and men like José Moreno Hernández, a Mexican American engineer and astronaut are forgotten and marginalized. Famous names like Jenni Rivera, Selena Quintanilla, Juan Gabriel, Vicente Fernandez, and Ana Gabriel, represent so much of our culture and our struggles as a community, but are slowly being drowned out by modern influencers that want to normalize high school dropouts, sexualizing minors, toxic relationships, and people who want to misguide our youth. 

Hispanics make up a large chunk of the students that drop out of school every year. Latinos throughout history have always prided themselves on being hardworking and having grit. However, our education rates don’t reflect that aspect at all. There are many Hispanics who have reasons as to why they are incapable of finishing school, but so many of us have the facilities and resources to help us complete our lowest levels of education, but for some reason we ignore them. We choose to embrace this stereotype that Latinos are dumb or uneducated.  

Our youth are being sexualized and preyed on before our eyes, but these issues go unnoticed by our community because we are so caught up in toxic influencer culture. These are the harmful pieces of representation that we are choosing to let represent our community. 12-year-olds online have grown men and women sexualizing them and shaming them for being themselves. These destructive routines create unpromising futures for our youth and future generations if these are the experiences that kids from today are having. 

The rate of domestic abuse in Hispanics is getting higher and higher, and the number of influencers that regularize abuse and toxicity is not going to help bring that rate down. Domestic abuse is a serious issue that isn’t spoken about very often. Teaching kids and other adults the things to look out for is what will help our community break through this cycle of generational abuse and trauma. 

In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, we should use platforms to spread kindness, to embrace the positive aspects of our culture, and reform the way that Latinos in media are being represented. We can all bring unity back to our community, but it all starts with yourself. 

Happy Hispanic Heritage month, and si, somos Latinos! 

[dark-nimbus]

My Opinions on Anime and Manga in Western Countries

CW: fetishization, oversexualization, racial stereotyping, as always lmk if I’m missing anything

Everytime I tell someone I'm not an avid fan of anime or manga, the usual response is shock and confusion, paired with "how?? But you're Asian!"

What hasn't occurred to them, I assume, is that those kinds of stereotypes are part of why I'm not a huge fan

Do I hate all anime and manga? No, not at all. In fact I do have a few books and shows that I enjoy, my favorite manga of all time being Arslan Senki (go check it out, the series is criminally underrated). However, I'm very picky about which ones I read and watch, and for very good reason. To be more specific, I'm not a fan of anime and manga as it's been generally received by Western countries

For the record: if you're from the Americas and like manga and anime, this is not me dogging on you. Everyone has the right to enjoy what they do, as long as they aren't harming anyone or their integrity

Now unfortunately, in my experience I've had to deal with the not harmless enjoyers more often than not

Take the first sentence of this post as an example. People always expect me to be largely enthusiastic about East Asian-originating media, despite knowing I've spent the vast majority of my life living in the middle of the US and was raised by people who are the furthest thing from Asian. I know next to nothing about my heritage or my culture and have grown up completely in American society, but even with this knowledge I'll still be met with shocked expressions when I say I've never watched whatever show or how anime isn't my favorite thing in the world. All because I look a certain way

That stereotyping attachment of race to media is just one of the many reasons I don't like anime or manga, and it unfortunately goes deeper than that

Japan already has an issue of oversexualizing women in their media, and you can see it in the skimpy outfits, big boobs, giant eyes, petite forms, and overall simping mannerisms they have towards male characters. This is by no means found in every show or book, but it's present in most. Even Arslan Senki, my favorite manga, favors putting Farangis, a priestess, in a sexualizing outfit over living up to the rest of the story's historical authenticity. With anime and manga growing more popular in the West, the impact of how women are portrayed is reflected in how people interact more and more

I can't tell you how many times I've had to hear about how people, from first dates to classmates to random strangers have fetishized Asian women because they wanted someone to live out their weird anime fantasies with. Hell, I have some stories of my own too. I've known Asian content creators who've been left creepy comments from viewers, some of which asking for them to talk in a high-pitched whiney "anime girl" voice and say a sexualized line using Japanese honorifics in a fetishizing manner. Asian cosplayers will constantly get demands to dress up in a maid outfit or cosplay certain anime characters for them to "simp" over

Even other cosplayers aren't safe from fetishizers. Other PoC cosplayers, black cosplayers especially, are consistently put on blast for cosplaying anime characters because those characters "aren't black." If it's not an Asian cosplayer, the creeps' fetishizing fantasies can't be lived up to, so they give black cosplayers shit instead. But gods forbid they do the same to white cosplayers, since being white is always the default to them apparently. How dare anyone try to give a white cosplayer shit for cosplaying a Japanese character when all anime characters are Japanese, that's unfair to them, right? But it's okay to have a double standard because the characters look white enough, right?

There was even a Japanese boxer from a few months ago that people latched onto, because apparently any East Asian guy with messy blond hair looks like Bakugo. MHA fangirls, many of which being minors, went crazy on him, making comments that are far from appropriate for that kind of interaction and fully reimagining this completely real human being as a fictional character for their own fetishizing purposes

If we're not stereotyped, we're being sexualized. The spreading influence of fetishizing Asian people only grows with the popularity of anime and manga in countries further west. It's been used to thirst, hit on, even threaten East Asian people, women especially. Our safety and comfort has been royally screwed by anime "simps" and it only continues to worsen, even more so for Asian Americans and content creators

One of the worst things about being Asian and growing up in America is how anime was the closest thing to connecting to my culture, and what did anime tell little me about being Asian? That my skin had to be pale, my eyes wide, I had to be short and curvy, and I had to sound ultra-feminine. Those were the values that the world expected out of me. Cassandra Cain was there to be my saving grace, thankfully, but the impression anime girls have on others will never be a positive or realistic one unless Japan re-evaluates its media as a whole and non-Asian viewers can find the maturity to not implement the same things on other people

[hiso03]

I wish I could work for DC because I’d make sure that NO character would be misrepresented even if I don’t like the character or don’t know that character, I absolutely hate how comics do that a lot

Too real.

One of the most problems I always have when I read comics where there is a group or many characters involved at the same time is just their problem. The main characters are fine, they usually have good writing and their storytelling is amazing, but the rest of the characters have really poor writing and that many times is there to favor situations or other characters. In many occasions these characters are portrayed in a burlesque or stupid way to favor the situation and make the rest shine, which in my opinion seems silly and regrettable. You don't need to take away the personality of the extras to make the main characters shine, it's silly to do that and many times it makes several comics boring or tedious to read because of that detail.

Which brings me to my other point.

When they do that they only hurt themselves and the readers, because they make the audience unable to empathize with them, see them as mediocre and boring characters JUST because of a bad representation that neither now nor ever represents the real character of the character. And that, instead of attracting the public, drives them away. People stop buying products because of a single poorly represented character and don't even bother to check out the good work they have.

So many times I've heard people talk about how terrible a character is and most of the time, it's not that it was terrible, it's that you had the misfortune of coming across a bad comic book where you get a terrible representation of the character. That's about it.

Bad representation can lead to division, fights and silly hatreds between fans. All this could be avoided if as you comment anon, they hired people who at least made an effort to know the character and give a good representation to all the characters in general and not favor some and minimize others.

(I will clarify that there are also many solo comics of the characters themselves that do a terrible job exploring the character in question and all their environment and history, but I highlighted the team comics because personally it is where I have seen the most persistent misrepresentation of amazing characters.)

[slimethought]

It's time to explore the origins, history, and diversity of Black Anarchism.

The list of artists used is in the outro.

Introduction - 0:00 Pre-Colonial African "Anarchism" - 0:58 What is Anarchism? - 4:09 The Rise of Black Power - 6:53 The Rise of Black Anarchisms - 11:05 Lorenzo Kom'boa Ervin - 11:08 Martin Sostre - 14:03 Kuwasi Balagoon - 17:06 Ojore Lutalo - 19:47 Ashanti Alston - 22:15 Anarchist People of Colour - 25:08 Anarkata - 28:48 African Anarchism - 30:49 Conclusion - 34:40

Support me on Patreon!   / saintdrew   on Twitter!   / _saintdrew   on Medium.com   / saint-drew   https://saint-drew.carrd.co

Music: Sun (prod.   / salmontheghost   ) Rodeo days (prod. Zeus The God x Greg Sekeres)

[caterpillarinacave]

“Rick Riordan’s portrayal of Greek and Roman gods is very inaccurate to the actual mythology, and he needs to treat the culture he profits off with respect” and “Rick Riordan’s books mean a lot to people and bring a lot of joy” are statements that can, and should, coexist.

[nando161mando]

DU Jewish Students in Support of Gaza Solidarity Encampment Claim Misrepresentation by admin

[twstedpometea]

Archival Updates: Tracing, context and misrepresentation.

Hello again folks! It's been a while since my last post but I'm back to give an update on cataloging for the sources of Ugigiugi's tracing, and would like to discuss something else that has come to light during this search. I’m going to be a bit more serious for this topic as there’s been an alarming number of discoveries involved. First off, content warning: This post will contain discussions on the subject of Sexual Harassment as I’ll be discussing one of Ugigiugi’s comics and how her tracing of other's artwork changes the context of the original images.

If this topic disturbs or makes you uncomfortable, I would recommend skipping this post entirely.  However, if you can handle the discussion and the image samples, please feel free to click below.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The most obvious issue with Ugigiugi is her massive tracing history. This is well documented. As of now we have a total of 85 found sources from her tracings alone. I’m certain there is more out there waiting to be discovered and confirmed. But, I felt with number of sourced images being so high and continuing to climb, it was enough to warrant this update. The amount of tracing uncovered so far is pretty alarming and given how many different types of media/fanart/comics/etc have been sourced, she's clearly been at this for YEARS. I’ve personally never dealt with this big of a serial art tracer before in a fandom space and there's an important discussion that needs to be had on why this behavior is so damaging beyond the obvious. I’ve already gone over the differences between tracing, copying and referencing in my last big post. We know based on the current art pieces already in public that Ugigiugi had no issues with taking stuff without permission nor crediting (aside from Alchemivich's resource blog of in-game sprites) and just blatantly putting her self-insert into artwork. However there’s another trend that I've uncovered with her tracing method: Changing the context and tone of the original art in order for Ugigiugi to “create” her “fanworks”. Most of the time she tends to draw her self-insert in various scenarios but there are other things she does. Let’s go over her “Play With Us” comic featuring herself and the tweels, Jade and Floyd. Like so many other fanart pieces, Ugigiugi once again has traced and copied to create her comic. Here are the sources we have so far in a side by side comparison. I apologize for the quality of some of the images. These were sent in by various people.

Artists: (All have been added to the Artist source list!)   Picture 1 - yyy1205u, Picture 2 - 71 Picture 3 - びた / bi__ta Picture 4 - mekoorou For those who need a translation, the first image is a simple Floyd/Prefect fanart. The second image is from a three image panel where the twins are teasing Azul by hanging on Yuu and wondering if Azul will do anything. The third is a comic panel from a page that's Azul/Yuu with the twins coming in and standing by Azul while he’s talking with Yuu and playfully disrupting him. The last one is a Yuu image reference with Ace and Deuce also present. None of the original art pieces we have sourced had any connotations of “raunchy humor” if you can even call it that. Ugigiugi traced panels/images and stitched them together to make her "fraken-comic", completely changing the tone of innocent fanart and comics to make her own, ruining the original subject matter. I'll be frank: People can choose to interpret characters however they wish in fanwork, including exploring problematic subjects. This is why fandom space is separated from canon space. In the end, it's personal preference if you choose to engage with that sort of content or not. That being said there is something very wrong with Ugi twisting other’s people artwork to serve her needs for this comic. When this comic was originally called out for it's subject matter, Ugigiugi had stated it was all “teasing”. Some will agree. Others will disagree. That's not the issue here. The real issue is that the original fanworks she stole/copied from have been misinterpreted and bastardized to make her own poor crafted "comic". And the blatant tracing isn't the only red flag. While I understand that the TWST cast are marketed as the “Villain inspired or Bad boy” themed with their own personalities and flaws, there is a fine line between knowing what is “mature” teasing/flirting vs what obviously has the undertones of sexual harassment. Here are just a few samples of the comic that we will show with the undertones.

The language used and the images she drew give this comic a very jarring case of tonal whiplash given how the comic started out so innocently with the twins simply walking with her. She even has her self-insert telling the twins to stop and get their hands off her, and Floyd clearly has his hands around her neck, choking her.

There’s nothing really “teasing” if it’s obvious one side of the party is uncomfortable but then there’s a complete 180 with her self-insert's reaction that makes zero sense given how she responded a few panels ago.

It's one thing if a fan wants to explore darker and more mature subject matter with characters or cast them in roles of sexual harassers/ Yanderes/serial killers/etc. However, it’s another thing to take another artist's work and repurpose in a way that was not intended to be. That is beyond insulting. In fact, it's down right disgusting. This  "comic" was done in incredibly poor taste. It wasn’t even tagged properly. (No “S-Harrasment” warning tag, only a basic “read more” warning). Ugigiugi took light hearted fanart pieces and jumbled them up to create this total mess therefore ruining the actual context of the source materials she stole. There’s also one more thing I do have to address with this discovery!

We don’t have all the sources for every panel in this comic, and I can’t say whether or not certain panels were taken from anything 18+, Yandere comics or  other “mature” media. However, I can say that with Ugigiugi having copied and mixed in different pieces to create this "franken-comic", she’s chosen to use other people's art to present one story while the original art tell another. That adds further insult to the injury of having art stolen. Because when the context is changed, it's harder to know which tags or categories we should be looking through to find the actual sources. She has no respect for the integrity of the original art nor respects the original creator's time, effort, or storytelling within each art piece she’s taken. I’m uncertain how much else will be discovered given the amount of things we’ve found so far, but should we eventually run out of leads and can no longer find anything else; I’ll work with a few others and consider creating a tally of all the art pieces we have for an archive. We'll likely make some type of master post with all sources and side by side comparisons as proof along with the number tally. But those will have to wait until we can no longer find anything else as we’d like to find as many artists as we can for that post. So please bear in mind that! In the meantime, I would like to stress again that while I am immensely critical and dislike Ugigiugi, I’m once going to remind everyone that my findings aren’t meant to be used for harassment of Ugigiugi or anyone else who still followers her. This is merely an update for archival purposes and adding another bullet point to the discussion of why tracing is bad in the long run, especially when it comes to changing the context and tone of an art piece or a comic. ~TwstedPomeTea

[nelligekata]

У китайських соцмережах поширювали діпфейки з українською дівчиною про дружбу з Росією

using someone else's personality for selfish gain purposes

Один із акаунтів мав понад 300 000 підписників. 

Невідомі створили тисячі оброблених штучним інтелектом відео з використанням обличчя і голосу справжньої людини, українки Ольги Лоїк. Фейкова дівчина розповідала про дружбу з Росією та рекламувала їжу, пише BBC.

Сама Ольга дізналася про промоцію Росії від свого імені випадково – хтось із знайомих побачив її обличчя на відео і надіслав їй. Дівчина вирішила з'ясувати, що відбувається, і знайшла десятки акаунтів під різними іменами, які використовували її обличчя та поширювали контент, який вона ніколи не створювала.

Софія, Наташа, Ейпріл, Стейсі – всі ці "дівчата" говорили діалектом китайської мови мандарин, який справжня Ольга не знає і ніколи не вивчала. 

"Я бачила, що 90% відео були про Китай і Росію, дружбу між Китаєм і Росією, про те, що вони повинні бути сильними союзниками, а також про рекламу їжі", – розповіла Ольга журналістам. 

Одним із найбільших акаунтів був "Наташа імпортувала їжу" з понад 300 000 підписників. Ця "Наташа" прославляла Росію і рекламувала продукти. 

Це особисто розлютило Ольгу, родина якої досі перебуває в Україні. Сама дівчина навчається в Університеті Пенсильванії. 

Мандариномовні ШІ-двійники Ольги почали з’являтися у 2023 – незабаром після того, як справжня дівчина запустила канал YouTube, який не дуже регулярно оновлюється.

Приблизно через місяць вона почала отримувати повідомлення від людей, які стверджували, що бачили, як вона говорить мандаринською мовою в китайських соціальних мережах Xiaohongshu – платформі, схожій на Instagram, та Bilibili – відеосайті, схожому на YouTube. 

Хлопець Ольги написав про це в твіттері, на що відповіла компанія HeyGen, яка, як вона стверджує, розробила інструмент, що в��користовується для створення подібностей ШІ.

Компанія сказала, що з обличчям Ольги були створені понад 4900 відео. Зображення Ольги заблокували для подальшого використання. 

Представник компанії сказав журналістам, що їхню систему зламали, і що вони оновили протоколи безпеки для запобігання зловживань. 

Але Анджела Чжан з Університету Гонконгу каже, що те, що сталося з Ольгою, "дуже поширене явище в Китаї".

Підозрілим є й наративів, який просували акаунти – дружба Росії та Китаю.

"Незрозуміло, чи ці облікові записи координувалися з колективною метою, але просування повідомлення, яке відповідає урядовій пропаганді, безумовно, приносить їм користь", – висловлює свою точку зору дослідниця права та технологій з Болонського університету та KU Leuven Еммі Хайн.

Вона додала, що "навіть якщо ці облікові записи явно не пов’язані з Комуністичною партією Китаю, просування узгодженого повідомлення може знизити ймовірність того, що їхні публікації будуть видалені".

Приклад із Ольгою демонструє загальну складність регулювання сфери штучного інтелекту в світі.