#power of diversity

[lilianade-comics]

Thinking about how Dani's episode is called Kindred Spirits, which implies that her unique narrative role is to mirror Danny and act as a foil to him, and then the episode is like "Here's some ✨superficial similarities✨. She is now going to leave the plot entirely and be 💖homeless💖"

[sunlight-shunlight]

i wish bioware had not somehow regressed with their female characters. none of the veilguard female companions have a strong personality. they're all kind, soft, never overconfident or angry or abrasive, never have any unexpected hidden agendas, have no moral lines that they'll ever get angry with the pc about or leave the party for. and all extremely conventionally attractive and feminine. in 2024... not even a single woman can have like. mildly short hair? bleak 💀

even morrigan is now nice and polite? somehow flemythal reconciled with her offscreen and proved herself to be an Okay Mom™ rather than someone that morrigan hated and feared and spent years hiding from? flemythal gave up on all that stuff about revenge and betrayal and reckoning or whatever, and is now just another hapless victim of solas' schemes? mythal(2) doesn't want revenge either and is basically just there to manage solas' emotions? mythal(1) also having vallaslin and presumably slaves, despite being the "best of the evanuris" is never mentioned? NONE of these various iterations of mythal ever show autonomy in terms of doing anything unrelated to solas? isabela cares about cultural appropriation in the exact same way a modern liberal would, despite being a pirate whose main incentive is profit? her outfit is now even more sexualized, but this time in a grossly stereotypical bellydancer costume way? AUGH.

are women only allowed to look unconventional or be rude or morally murky, only if they're either minor characters, or one-note enemies with no chance at dialogue with them during their quests? andraste didn't die for this. bioware had better women characters way back in the kotor 1 era, by the incredibly low bar of "can they be rude or weird looking and still shown as sympathetic and interesting people". that bar is literally on the floor and they dug under it!

i guess it's not technically(?) sexist bc they did also make everyone else incredibly soft and mild too, but oh my god. if this is what's coming out of Progressive™ AAA companies we're in a really cringe fail cultural moment. it does not spark joy💀

[hashtagcaneven]

Get ready for a GAYme Changer!

The only way to live is by loving. The only way to love is through acceptance. And the only way to acceptance is to love and be fully yourself!

[notedchampagne]

why do you hate arcane...

its a spineless, centrist show that cares more about the aesthetics of various YA dystopia revolution, good vs evil (but both sides are actually the problem!) tropes to the point that it spent its entire budget on animated music videos hoping that the audience wouldnt recognize that it is, 1,000%, 10,000%, propaganda. i cannot fault its existence for it was based on LoL for the purpose of getting people to thirstpost about the characters in LoL, but storywise it is shallower than spit on the ground and i wouldnt trust it within 6 feet of a character arc

one could argue the first three episodes were quite good and set up the dynamic between vi and powder in such a way that you could trace their respective breaking points and their fallout, however. i am a hater and i refuse to stoop so low as to meet this show at face level. before s2 came out i still thought it was pretty pictures covering up a lot of feeble, half-formed statements about the dangers of technology or drugs or scary people or whatever. if you wanted to make a good show out of arcanes bones you would have better luck making ocs.

[jazzstarrlight]

Human AU- Lexi & Friends Pride March

Differences are a beautiful thing that should be celebrated, not shamed. Everyone is unique & to force everyone into repressing such chaotic harmony is the enemy of humanity.

[artbyblastweave]

DCAU earth vs Viltrumite invasion?

Since a Viltrumite invasion usually consists of one (1) Viltrumite and maybe a supporting thrall race for infantry and territorial control I think DCAU earth takes it.

I think I brought this up when you asked this same question about the Viltrumites invading 616 earth, but the thing about the Invincible Universe is that it's actually very specifically power-tuned so that the Viltrumites are plausibly the top dogs of the setting, and this has very visible implications for what kind of non-viltrumite heroes show up. Green Ghost is a stand-in for Green Lantern but isn't anywhere near as powerful or versatile as him. Martian Man pointedly leans into Martian Manhunter's shapeshifting but drops the telepathy and psychic abilities. There are tons of heroes and villains who derive their powersets from one-off magical curses but to the best of my recollection there are no practicing magicians on call- no Zatannas, no Dr. Fates, no Klarions or Constantines. Because the setting isn't engineered around there being One Singular Overarching Threat That Trumps Everything waiting in the wings, the DCAU is littered with characters and phenomena that could potentially be written as a one-shot ass-pull response to that threat. There's always an an amulet or a hidden contingency or a greek god to bargain with or a phantom zone projector or a time tunnel. Cloned Viltrumite Ultimen. Someone get Amazo on the line. Lex Luthor off the top rope with an anti-life-equation. Etc. Etc. Don't get me wrong, Conquest or Anisa would absolutely kill some of the second stringers. But they wouldn't still be dead by the end of the two-parter

[bucksboobs]

Gerrard encouraging Buck to try for the captaincy even though Hen is much more qualified would be the kind of commentary on current events I would expect from 911. I hope it happens and then Buck is like “but. Hen is more qualified than me? Why should I go for it instead of her?”

[fandomlife-confessions]

[clarissaweasley-10]

reblog if you love both Keefe and the other characters equally (or to an extent equally).

[aiartwerk]

"Neo-Fantasy Heroines"

A stunning collection of dynamic portraits blending realism and fantasy, featuring diverse heroines wielding swords, seeking solace in meditative moments, and reflecting in atmospheric settings. These artworks celebrate strength, introspection, and empowering narratives of powerful women.

[black-fist-order]

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[dreadeves]

hear me out. hear me out. tid features big bad dad no. 1 (mortimer; participation trophy for Worst Father Ever award via "creating" tessa), tmi features big bad dad no. 2 (valentine, reigning champion of the Worst Father Ever award), tda features big bad dad no. 3 (unseelie king, Worst Father Ever runner-up), tlh features big bad dad no. 4 (belial, Worst Father Ever third place).

our currently known potential antags for twp, off the top of my head, are janus, the seelie queen, the cohort, lucifer, and mother hawthorn.

this is how johnny rook as lucifer can still win, swooping in to win second or maybe third place (depending on how evil he gets) in the Worst Father Ever award, completing the These People Have Bad Fathers, Who Are Also Main Antagonists circle.

[alpaca-clouds]

High Fantasy Conundrums: The Diversity Paradox

I have some thoughts on High Fantasy and the way it currently is shifting in terms of the mainstream depictions. Meaning: No, this is not about books that much. It is more about the big franchises. The stuff with money behind it. Because those have stuff in common right now. I am talking about Dungeons & Dragons, The Witcher, Dragon Age, The Rings of Power and other more budget heavy fantasy.

Many words have been written, said, and screamed into the void of the internet about how these days you will usually see diversity in those. Most notably people that are not white.

And the self-proclaimed "conservatives" (who are actually white supremacists) will cry about how those are "medieval European worlds" and that hence there should not be Black or Asian people run around in them. Ignoring, of course, how there were Black and Asian people running around in medieval Europe.

And there will be leftists, that will defend any decision in this regard, on pure principle.

I will count myself among the second kind no doubt. I think it is good and important to see non-white characters in those big franchises. And frankly, I couldn't give less of a fuck whether or not whatever writer originally wrote a book that stuff was based on did imagine the world to be inhabited by people who did not have cheese-skin. I really don't.

Especially as the entire "realism" and "historically accurate" argument falls apart rather quickly if you consider one very important fact: There were no elves in medieval Europe. There were no dragons in medieval Europe. And there sure as hell was no actual magic in medieval Europe. So... Yeah, somehow I actually do think that Black and Asian characters inhabiting those fantasy worlds is less of an issue, when it comes to stuff being "historically accurate".

And yet...

There is something about this, that still very much irks me. Especially when it comes to some recent franchise stuff, like most of what Wizards of the Coasts did in regards of Dungeons & Dragons 5e in terms of lore - and something I am starting to expect from Dragon Age: The Veilguard.

And that is the lack of any actually non-white cultures within the world - and the lack of worldbuilding in this regard.

See... High Fantasy has generally speaking one big struggle in regards of the worldbuilding. A struggle that can be found in high fantasy world after high fantasy world: For the most part, the cultural worldbuilding is often lacking. While humans are often allowed to have a couple of different cultures, everyone else is usually treated like this: "This is dwarven culture", "this is elven culture", and "this is halfling culture". There is no variation in it. The dwarves in the high north have still the same culture, as the dwarves living in the south of the continent. And while humans do have a bit more in terms of different cultures, it usually also goes in broad strokes. Like: "This is the horse culture, this is the very noble culture, and this is the peasant culture". Am I saying I am blaming Tolkien? Yeah, maybe a bit.

This is one of the reasons I fell so in love with Dungeon Meshi. Because Dungeon Meshi literally is the first time I have seen that someone actually came up with differences between different elven and half-foot cultures and stuff. And I love it.

But Kui is the one writer I can think of, that really did that.

So... Let me talk about DnD, because I know my DnD Lore and I can tell you a bit of why this is bothering me here.

See: Dungeons & Dragons has this whole ass world in the Forgotten Realms as the main setting: Toril. Toril has a variety of continents. Just as you can see:

Now, originally half of those continents did not exist, I might add. Most of them were added during 2e and 3e. Especailly 3e and 3.5e did some worldbuilding in regards of those other continents. Even though, yes, if we are honest those continents are very much: Fantasy Asia, Fantasy North America, Fantasy Middle America, Fantasy Africa, Fantasy Arabia, and Fantasy Australia (about which, I might note, we know next to nothing).

But while 3e and 4e did make some use of those other settings, 5e did something else. 5e very much reverted back to focusing on Faerûn and the Sword Coast once more. But because by the time 5e released it was 2014 in the real world, they knew they could not make Faerûn this super white world. So Faerûn became diverse. There are Black and Asian and Brown people living there now. But... culturally it stay in the "generic fantasy Europe" sphere.

And that is my issue: The lack of different cultures.

I will talk a bit more about the issues with the High Fantasy "Medieval Europe" culture tomorrow, but today let me say this: Even these days, when non-white characters will be included into those fantasy worlds, they still will only be allowed to exist within a supposedly white cultural context. They are not allowed to have a non-white culture.

While this makes some sense in prescribed worlds - so worlds based on books that never had any intent on depicting anything but their "white" pseudo-European culture (like Lord of the Rings and The Wheel of Time with their respective Amazon Prime adaptions), this is less the truth for worlds that are designed around whatever they represent today.

Wizards of the Coast absolutely could put some effort into creating those other continents as good, lived in settings - and allow folks from those other continents who live in Faerûn to bring parts of their own culture with them. They could pay some PoC to actually do that worldbuilding Own Voice style. You know?

And the same is true with Bioware and Dragon Age. While I am by far not as familiar with the worldbuilding of DA, as I am with the worldbuilding of DnD, I am under the impression that there is not a lot going on in terms of non-white cultures from other continents. There are non-white people hanging around in the main plot and what not, but it does not seem as if there is a lot going on in terms of them having cultures of origin. Correct me if I am wrong. Some of those cultures seem to have names, but that is where the worldbuilding ends.

And that... You know, that is an issue. Because diversity, especially ethical diversity, is not just about the skin color. It is about culture. And somehow the culture aspect of it gets ignored a lot. Doesn't it?

[milogoestogreendale]

OMG??? CANONICALLY (OR AT LEAST HEAVILY IMPLIED) QUEER DAVID BRITTLESBEE IM LOSING MY SHIT

[spop-romanticizes-abuse]

I’m just gonna say it. Even if 80s She-Ra had Netossa as the token black girl, she was done better than in ND’s Spop.

While it’s true OG Netossa was only in about 3 episodes total and one comic appearance, she at least was well written as a character. And she was important enough to get HER OWN DOLL. Even in Netossa’s few appearances, they wrote it well enough to get her character across. She was a kind, smart, strong, and beautiful woman. She was very intelligent, hence her resourceful use of nets and teaching herself how to use them. She was compassionate, as she joined the Rebellion as soon as they wronged not just her and Netossa, but all of Whispering Woods and the inhabitants. And she’s powerful in the sense that she stands up for what she believes in and takes no shit from anyone. And yeah, not a lot of appearances, hair wasn’t drawn well, and she was probably she only actual black character of note. But it was THE 80s. I guarantee you there was real effort put into her. Bonus points for treating her like any other character, and not making her race an issue, which is a lot for a show known for teaching lessons. She wasn’t JUST the token black girl. She wasn’t stereotyped. She was a legitimate character, even if she had few appearances. And hey, a lot of white characters had few appearances too. So again, treated just like everyone else. 80s Netossa, my beloved.

Nate’s Netossa? Not so much. Yes, she technically made more appearances than her 80s counterpart. But again, it was the 80s, and a lot of characters had few appearances regardless of race. Perfuma, Spinnerella, Frosta, Entrapta, Sweet Bee, all had a handful of episode in the old show, but I digress. ND’s Netossa was often pushed to the side in favor of other (lighter skinned) characters. Don’t believe me? Perfuma, Mermista, Frosta, all had more important roles and appearances. Even the only other two black characters, Bow and Lonnie, were given more screen time. And they’re much more lighter skinned. Not that they’re written much better, still stereotyped. And speaking of stereotypes… Netossa is a huge one in this series. She’s aggressive and often calmed down by her white partner. Her first appearance had her yelling at Bow (for good reason. He didn’t even remember what she did), and then promptly having her wife soothe her. For the rest of the show she’s just either overly competitive to the point no one likes to hang out or play games with her (aggressive), a paranoid and obsessive jerk ala Batman (aggressive still), or background lesbian who loves her wife (lesbian only exists to be a lesbian). I just… I don’t like it. Not to say I don’t like Netossa herself. But I don’t like how she’s used. Even how the fandom treats her is nothing more than either Spinnerella’s wife or “Boom. Nets.” Which was a throwaway joke, kinda like her character.

Once again. 80s Netossa. My Beloved.

still haven’t continued watching the 80s she-ra so idk much about netossa, but speak your truth‼️

[riverhands]

not a jack antonoff stan or jack antonoff hater but a jack antonoff defender. have you considered that when you don’t like a song that he’s produced the artist specifically asked for it to sound like that and it might not be bc he sucks at his job