#never mention whiteness?

[knowlesian]

okay, i’m not gonna call out names because i think people deserve chances to grow and i’m not assuming any malicious intent, but i also feel a need to answer something addressed to me today, because empathy’s gotta go hand in hand with accountability.

this is why talking about race (in fandom, or otherwise) is often like slamming your face into a brick wall that keeps insisting it’s on your side.

okay. so i sort of debated how to handle this: i think i’m just gonna quote myself. you may have missed this piece, so hopefully it’ll give context for why i’m not sure exactly what to say, and remain unsure.

i am very sure that until the day i die, i will be doing the hard and frustrating and not super ego-boosting work of diving into the mental dumpster of weird bullshit i was implicitly taught and unpacking it all.

so i know i will breathe my last and i will still have all these racist ideas, rattling around my noggin fucking with how i see the world and how i treat people, even though i don’t know i’m doing the thing. when i talk about people being racist and having implicit bias, i am also talking about me!

because racist is a descriptor, not an insult. and as much as it sucks for me to unpack this shit (don’t let anybody tell you it’s not hard work or that it feels good to do; it’s really hard and it will make you feel very small and gross sometimes) the people i accidentally aim it at deserve me putting in that effort and have it much worse.

so when i’m like, it was racist stede did that? i’m not saying stede is a bad person, and i’m not saying fuck that guy.

i’m saying oh shit this show is SMART, i do that too! it’s me!

so. i don’t know why you posted this and then bounced: i don’t know why you didn’t @ me, if you wanted me to see it and respond.

like... is your issue that i’m talking about race too much? that i’m being mean or unfair when i do it? that i don’t talk enough about how hard it is for white people to think about race, or that i’m not being understanding enough that it sucks to look at people who hurt you and have to consider you might have something in common with them? because i’ve said exactly that, too. you’re right, it’s not fun to do this work, and it is work.

i guess i just don’t understand the purpose, here, or why you’d say all this and not explain what exactly you want from me as a writer to do differently. and if that’s not your goal and i’ve misunderstood, then...  i mean. i guess i remain confused as to what you want me to take away from this, other than “it’s hard to be white, and you have made me feel very uncomfortable about it so i wish you would stop”.

[crunchycrystals]

this makes me want to cry

[grapefruit185]

pete white is an oldhead goth and introduces orpheus to bauhaus! this show is so full of music refs, i am FEASTING

[midnightmah07]

White rabbit fest sketches!!!

[sweetnsour-stuff]

So since Ingo's name is a pun with the whole climbing thing in Legends Arceus, Emmet should be in Legends A-Z as head of a mining or underground construction operation or something to also be a pun

[jonniechill]

i've been kind of glib about this (and perhaps not making things any better by giving the show my attention with redesigns without making it very clear they are borne from criticsm), but speaking more bluntly i don't think vivziepop has earned any kind of congratulations for getting hazbin hotel made until she intentionally and wholly apologizes for, at the very least, her history of anti-blackness as it manifests in her show.

in particular she needs to apologize for everything involving alastor-- it is frankly quite stunning how he both encapsulates the vilification of black people's spiritual practices and long-standing stereotypes of those of african decent (portraying voudou as an evil magic and his noted cannibalism) and yet is simultaneously whitewashed of any clear signifiers that he is black/biracial. as a black louisiana creole myself (as he is as well), he is the most egregious example of the kind of disrespect she feels for black people and their cultures, and as long as he continues to exist in an official capacity in her lineup she has earned nothing but ire in my eyes.

[sentientstump]

its tc upload day, yippee!

[fromtheseventhhell]

When Jon comes back to life and gains a "ghost" moniker to match with Arya, so we get the "Ghost of Harrenhal" leading in Harrenhal and the "Ghost of the North" leading in the North

[jaeyxns]

Jake ♡ -note (230729)

[meraki-yao]

Transcription and Translation of Taylor's Little Red Book Livestream (9th December 2023, to the best of my ability)

Q: Question A: Answer

Side Banters:

H: Host T: Taylor Anything in brackets: me or additional elaboration

Q: Asking him to share his experience of city walking in Shanghai earlier today

A: They went to Yu Garden which Taylor said was incredible, and he tried 糖葫蘆 Tanghulu, a traditional Chinese sweet which is candied Chinese Hawthorn

Q: How was the past few days for him and where did he go

A: He's been in China for four nights now (He came by himself btw) First night he stayed at the J Hotel which is the third tallest building in the world and the tallest hotel in the world. After that, he went to 濮院 (the venue for the GQ event) for two nights and it was incredible

Q: How's his jetlag?

A: It's hitting right now 😂 He's been drinking a lot of tea and getting better

Q: What led him to choose to become an actor instead of a competitive swimmer

A: That was an easy choice, he swan for 10 years and then decided he didn't want to swim in college, and then decided he didn't want to be a doctor (his brother's a doctor) and maybe disappointed his parents (H: No way!) It was a hard decision but he decided to move to LA and pursue acting (H: and you made it!)

Q: How is he enjoying being an actor?

A: It's tough, ups and downs. It's kind of like swimming, it's an individual activity, but you also get to collaborate with the community, which is fun.

Q: What are his favourite three movies and why?

A: The Matrix, Fight Club and Interstellar, he likes movie with a twist

Q: What type of music does he like

A: Deep House, Tropical House, Reggaeton

And then the host taught him a couple of Chinese phrases

Q: What sparked his interest in fashion

A: His dad bought him a subscription to GQ when he was younger which started his interest in fashion, and then he started watching fashion-related movies (like Brad Pitt in Allied) which further cultivated that interest. Maybe in the future, he'll try out characters like that

Q: Did he meet any friends in the GQ event?

A: He met Li Xian who he met in Italy earlier, otherwise met a lot of new people.

Q: Why is he passionate about being eco-friendly when it comes to fashion?

A: It was inspired initially by his mom. They lived in the countryside with horses, cows, and fields away from the city, and he has seven siblings (he's the sixth oldest/ third youngest) so there are a lot of hand-me-downs and not a lot of new things, so the family kept on using the same things. He gained a deeper awareness of the issue in recent years.

Q: Talk a bit about fashion sustainability

A: A lot of fast fashion material and clothes are thrown out really soon and disposed of really quickly (despite still being in good shape) but a lot of clothing material, especially synthetic fabric can't be recycled, so it's just like throwing out plastic. Actually, a lot of clothes can keep being reused and styled. He's had the inner shirt he's currently wearing for four years.

Q: Any future plans?

A: He has a film project early next year and there are other things he's excited about but can't talk about yet

Q: Is he going to Shanghai Disneyland?

A: He wants to but he doesn't have time

H: You don't even need to go to Disney you look like a Disney character already! (Damn right!!!)

Q: What food have you had in China so far?

A: Don't get him started on the subject of food 😂 He's had a Shanghainese Lunch today and a Cantonese (YAY) lunch yesterday, and he's looking for some spicy food for tomorrow. Also, he had a really crazy allergic reaction and his lips got giant (???). He needs to be careful with food.

T: I see talk about RWRB, what do you want to know? I'll give some secret intel

(me: YESSSSSSSSSS FINALLY)

RWRB questions speedrun:

Q: sequel?

A: ... He doesn't know. He says he thinks Casey has to write another book for that.

Q: Deleted scenes?

A: They're deleted for a reason (DUDE)

Q: BTS?

A: He says he has some on his phone and he would show us but he doesn't have his phone right now, he might post it later (PLEASE DO)

H: He's leaving after three days

T: (reading off comments) Come visit Hong Kong next time? Yeah! (me, who lives in Hong Kong: AHHHHHHHHHH)

Q: Do you know any Chinese nicknames of yours?

A: 忒樂. (tei le, or "Tay"-le) meaning too happy (I made a list of the boys' Chinese nicknames here)

Annddd... That's it! The live was pretty short, like 20 minutes? He ended it by picking up the phone and showing the audience the Shanghai city view himself (I was too busy typing to get a screenshot)

All transcription or interpretation mistakes are mine

[imjustapoorwayfaringgeek]

some of my favs :3 asoiaf doodles

[leupagus]

Say what you will about Martin's writing style (and I've said plenty) but I do think he's got the White Walkers' mythos worked out for a future book and IT WOULD HAVE BEEN SO NICE IF THE SHOWRUNNERS HAD DONE 1/100TH OF THAT WORK SETTING THEM UP

Gus: I am mad all over again that there was absolutely zero explanation given as to why/how the Night King operates or how his powers work or why he chose now to attack or ANYTHING ELSE

Gus: on the plus side it means I get to make up a whole subplot that, not to brag, I'm comfortable saying is at least as good as anything D&D could've made up IF THEY HAD EVER EVEN BOTHERED

Gus: but like - okay so craster's infant sons get sacrificed to the Night King, who them magics them into White Walkers as babies

Mardia: Yep yep

Gus: so does that mean there's a white walker nursery

Mardia: Omg

Gus: do they have to change diapers

Mardia: LOOOOOOOL

Gus: is there a white walker daycare center

Gus: how does the night king TEACH his lil adopted monster babies

Gus: is there like storytime around the - well not fire

Gus: does the Night King remember what it was like to sit around a fire?

Gus: does he miss being a human and all his rage at the spell the Children of the Forest put on him to kill the First Men has curdled his brain?

Gus: what was he DOING for like 8 millennia, just hanging out?

Gus: did he get really good at ice fishing?

Gus: DO THEY EAT?

Gus: where the fuck do they get their snazzy outfits from

Gus: are there white walker tailors

Gus: what's the currency situation

Mardia: Lololololololol

Gus: I'M JUST SAYING

[brittlebutch]

every so often i Do think about how bill and ted really struggled with reading and history and still their apartment was full of history books about medieval england just so that they could try to better understand their girlfriends lives and language...

[anti-spop]

sure, a lot of fandoms are crappy, but the spop fandom is quite possibly one of the most hostile fandoms i've ever been in. like i'm not joking. i've been accused of so much shit for not liking certain characters or ships. hell, not even the r/egular show fandom was like this, when it still had the love triangle plot going on.

and it's so odd bc spop is literally the queer "power of friendship" cartoon. i mean, the show itself has its shitty things, but i never thought the fandom would be worse.

[moghedien]

like ready to be proven wrong, but I don't think that Cadsuane is necessarily gonna appear any earlier than she did in the books. I think they're just setting her up better than in the books (ie not introducing her as an important player like right before she shows up and expecting us to be impressed by that)

[sleepynegress]

Love this interview... I have been semi-checking in on Zawe's journey since before certain stans were feeling some kinda way about her recent familial additions. I do for certain Black actors/creators especially, who seem to be moving in interesting ways in entertainment/film media...

-A remnant from a period when I used to go to screenings and blog about films (and was published a few times in a major national newspaper)... So, I knew of Zawe through the grapevine of her mentorship, i.e. she is the reason why Rege Jean Page of Bridgerton fame got to work in U.S. markets, as she sponsored him. And she is known, as one of those "good eggs" who will be accessible and help/advise especially young actors of color. ...But, I have some other stuff to say. This isn't about proving that she's an amazing human being. It's about a certain brand of misogynoir that some of these people far beneath her in self-knowledge, self-love, and just plain grown-ass-woman-personhood...keep letting fly in what they *think* are compliments, but actually are just trite microaggressions. Saying things like "as long she makes [T-blank H-blank] happy then she's alright" as if he's the centered human and her attachment renders her worthy somehow. Babies, as long as SHE'S happy. Yall. He's marrying up.

WAY UP and the fact that he knows this? Actually elevates him. She's been there.

She tells a story in the above interview that reminds me of Uzo Aduba's anecdote about her name , - of an incident when she was called to an early job (at 6!) and someone there said she wasn't pretty because of her gap and her Ugandan mother took her on past this person and into the room, ANYWAY.

... She learned a specific self-knowledge and self-love, that is necessary in very white western spaces that constantly pressures a narrow sense of worthiness and beauty, especially from Black women, something a lot of these small-minded stans don't even have a notion of seeing beyond. Zawe is biracial, and her features, aside from her skin tone are very African. So while she benefits from colorism, featurism is something I've seen those bigoted stans, pick on as well. She knows those features are what makes her beautiful and knew that, w/o and before her partner saw that too. And people who aren't blind narrow-minded ignoramuses can *also* see that. This is why I assert the fact of featurism needing to be in the conversation of light/dark privilege conversations. Lips, nose, gap, and even the set of her eyes are ethnic beauty markers within quite a few spaces in the Black African diaspora... My mom was an absolute stunner because of her gap.

Even the old school white model Lauren Hutton got there because of her gap. Uzo Aduba, who I have already mentioned has a deeper skintone and has similarly large round striking eyes, gap, and a non-pinched-nose *rightly* played Glinda in NBC's production of The Wiz a few years back, with Dorothy saying she's so beautiful *because* of those features, not despite them as a very narrow white-washed gaze would wrongly assert.

And while we're here that includes sizes and shapes too. I'm saying your boy is enjoying all that plush. A lot of yall need to read or reread Maya Angelou's Phenomenal Woman, for comprehension.

Anyway... All this to say I know Zawe is and will be fine regardless.

P.S. Maya Angelou *also* had height, and gap and was very much known for her beauty/magnetism as a woman when she was alive. :