#native representation

[blackflash9]

No wonder why Connor is so emotionless: Imagine watching your mother dying in the burning down of your village and doing everything to help your people, only to get screwed over, deceived, manipulated and betrayed at every turn (with one of those people being your father, who deliberately hid the information of your mother's death so he could manipulate you to his side), with finally your people being expelled regardless by the people you thought you would help them (and finding out they don't give a shit about your platitude.)

My point: Fandom should stop hating Connor because he isn't Ezio.

The problem was never that Connor isn't Ezio. The problem is that we, as Western audiences, have been conditioned to reject characters who don’t conform to a familiar, Eurocentric mold of storytelling. Ezio is charming, charismatic, and effortlessly likable. He flirts. He jokes. He grows in ways that reflect our favorite power fantasies: freedom, control, and self-actualization. He’s the kind of hero we’ve been taught to root for, over and over again. He fits the mold.

Connor doesn’t.

Connor isn’t here to dazzle you. He doesn’t joke to put you at ease. He doesn’t flirt to win you over. He’s blunt. Angry. Grieving. And rightly so. His world is one of broken promises and stolen futures; he has no time or space for charm. He doesn’t perform vulnerability for our comfort. He is vulnerable, raw, young, and cracked open by the world, but never in a way that flatters the viewer’s ego.

Ask yourself: Would Connor have been more “acceptable” if he’d laughed more? If he'd made his trauma easier to swallow? If he'd flirted with Myriam or Ellen or softened his convictions for the sake of pacing?

That’s not a flaw in Connor. That’s a flaw in us.

We’ve been trained to celebrate protagonists who slot neatly into stories built on Western values of charisma, triumph, and emotional legibility. When a character refuses that mold, when he challenges us instead of charming us, we call him “boring.” Or “too serious.” Or “hard to like.”

But Connor is none of those things. Connor is essential.

Because where most protagonists in this series survive, Connor learns. He doesn’t blindly follow the Creed; he interrogates it. He studies the systems around him. He saw what gave the Templars their power, and why the Assassins keep losing ground. And even after betrayal, disillusionment, and unimaginable loss, he chooses to stay with the Assassins not because they’re flawless, but because their path is the right one.

He’s also the only Assassin to ever sincerely question whether reconciliation with the Templars is possible. He doesn’t just kill Haytham and move on; he listens. He hopes. He tries. That quiet dream of peace, followed by the heartbreaking realization that it cannot be, is unlike anything else we’ve seen in the series.

Connor isn’t just another blade in the dark. He’s the conscience of the Brotherhood.

Fandom didn’t reject him because he was poorly written. Fandom rejected him because he made injustice uncomfortable and because he refused to entertain us while doing it.

No, Connor isn’t Ezio. He was never meant to be. And that’s not just the point. That’s what makes him unforgettable.

[victusinveritas]

Members of the Navajo nation drape the Palestinian flag across their land, 2019

[alinahdee]

[the-aila-test]

I know that a lot of us are experiencing MCU fatigue but I think we owe it to Alaqua Cox and all the Natives working on Echo to really hype up this show since they couldn't do it because of the strikes.

We're going to have a Native woman as a superhero.

They went out and found an actress perfect for Maya.

Let's make a whole lot of noise for our girl <3

[petakisips]

Untitled

A painting I did last night, it’s a little rough because I haven’t painted in a while but I actually finished it so I’m happy. I want to repaint this in a different style with more colours but for now I’ll just leave this here.

[whaaaaatt]

This is why the show Shoresy is doing representation best!

I was watching episode 3x01 when my favorite character, Goody played by Andrew Antsanen (who is one of multiple Native actors on the show) was wearing this impossibly comfy/good looking green hoodie. So after a lot of zooming and squinting I read the brand name on the front: Section Thirty Five which is an Indigenous owned streetwear brand.

Down to the small wardrobe details of these characters/actors they are representing their culture and I think that is absolutely amazing.

I could make a thread with all the ways they are representing minorities in this show.

[akajustmerry]

Let's Talk Native Representation In Media: Oppenheimer Whitewashes History

[hersheysmcboom]

Please sign below👇

[glitchedgirly]

I don't keep up a ton with death family streams or anything (I love their interactions but timing doesn't work out) , so I might be wrong abt something here, but I hc q!Tallulah as indigenous mexican.

We already know that Tallulah's admin is from mexico and I absolutely adore seeing fanart that pays homage to her mexican culture, but from what I've noticed Tallulah mentions a decent amount of native culture as well (her book to q!wil about the origins of marigolds and her naming of the turtle in the recent beach event are two examples off the top of my head)

A lot of fanart depicts her with European features (not necessarily skin tone, but nose and eye shape) partly bc of her original parent. But now that he is out of the picture (and rightfully so, considering all he did) and Tallulah has been getting a redesign, I think it would be really cool to have more native!Tallulah designs

[bartohenchmanb]

I want Franky to be indigenous in OPLA

Franky is American. Oda confirmed, if Franky existed in the real world, he’d be American. That being said, America is a colonial country with multiple races and ethnicities, so saying that Franky is American can tell you his nationality, but not his race or ethnicity. So why not let him be Native American?

I don’t care if he’s dark skinned or light skinned, if he’s mixed or full native. I really don’t. And I’m not suggesting changing his entire aesthetic. Franky is a freak and a pervert, and I don’t want to change that about him (except I want him to wear more than one pair of briefs. Just… the fromunda cheese. 🤢). We are not a monolith, we don’t all look alike, and colonialism and genocide are real things that happened so a good chunk of us do not “look native” as Hollywood portrays us. But we are still here, we are still alive, and I would very much like to see someone like myself exist in the world of my favorite story. And I’m calling dibs on Franky.

[zukkaart]

I just want to say that as someone who is Native Hawaiian on my moms side and Inuk/Italian on my dads Sokka, Katara, and both of the water tribes meant so much to me as a child and even now

If there are native characters in media (ESPECIALLY INUK) usually they’re marked as token characters and not given a whole lot of depth, much less made a main character

It’s gotta be one of the largest reasons I will watch A:tLA and LoK for the rest of my life, the cultural accuracy (for the most part) and representation is unmatched in any other media

[princess-unipeg]

Kima and Judy at S.H.I

[lyledebeast]

I have seen Fancy Dance, and I don't want to spoil anything (that I haven't already spoiled in tags on my reblog spree!), but it's So Good. I knew it would be, and I was right. I had a lot of questions and spent too much time Googling when I should have trusted Tremblay because she answered most of them. I would certainly like a director's audio commentary at some point, though.

There are some very tense moments, both familial-ly and law enforcement-ly. It reminded me a little bit of a long-time favorite of mine, Winter's Bone (2010, Debra Granik.) It would also be a great movie to watch alongside Frybread Face and Me for the contrasts. Roki is only a couple of years older than Benny, but while Benny has grown up in San Deigo and largely estranged from Navajo culture and language, Roki has grown up deeply immersed in the Seneca-Cayuga way of life, and most of her conversations with her aunt Jax are in Cayuga.

It's one of those movies where the ending on screen is very clearly not the end of the story. Other things will have to happen for all the threads of the plot to be resolved. At the same time, the final scene is absolutely perfect. That is an ending that will stay with me for a long, long time.

And . . . Lily Gladstone is in it. AND she's a lesbian!

Watch it today!

[alinahdee]

"Killers of the Flower Moon" Proves Hollywood Isn't Making Movies for Native Women Like Me" - Ali Nahdee

[the-aila-test]

Forgive me for being a day late but I wanted to take the time to inform all of you that as of January 21, 2024, the Ali Nahdee Test / Aila Test is seven years old.

So much has happened since I came up with this idea back in 2017. So much has changed. So many wonderful characters and stories were introduced to me over the course of this journey. Thank you, all of you, for supporting this dream, for talking about it amongst yourself and amongst others, and for all of the Native creators who made real change in film, television, literature, animation, and any place where stories can be told and shared.

This is my greatest pride and joy. Chi Miigwech. <3

[toxiion]

Its a fresh change of pace when I see indigenous representation in pokemon games, since I'm also indigenous lmao

No I don't give a shit if Peyotes name comes from a small cactus that's also an ingredient to some drug or something. He's a flying type specialist and he's motherfucking awesome