#racial coding

[liberalsarecool]

Republican immigration policy is always framed as a tool for protecting whiteness.

[writingwithcolor]

(Part One) Hi, I am planning this fantasy series all set in a completely fictional world. There are no humans. Looking through your blog I already know some of the do's and don'ts of fantasy species and poc, but my question is, some of my fantasy species do have real skin tones and I wanted to give them features from different real races.

I read all your asks about fantasy races but I there wasn't one that talked about a fantasy world with no humans. My question is: is still othering to have poc in that context? Should I include more humans to balance it out?

Fantasy races with features from real human races

From what I gather, you are saying you are writing a fantasy series with no humans, but a variety of fantasy species, some of which have human-like features, including skin tones. I think this is a simple problem. 

When coding cultures and traditions:

Do not:

Code whole ethnicities/ races for whole species.

This would reinforce the racist pseudoscience notions that differences between groups with different outward appearances connote different intrinsic, biological and behavioral attributes.

Do:

Show ethnicities within species.

Show societal attributes that can all be linked to the circumstances of the environment, even if the outcomes are different for different groups living in the same region. 

Avoid dehumanizing coding Lastly, I advise against creating a [human-like features] = [more human personality] / [animal-like features] = [Less human] dichotomy as this too falls in line with “dehumanizing based on physical appearance” reasoning you are looking to avoid in the event your culture-coding ends up revealing any intrinsic biases.

Marika

(Edited for repeat paragraph Dec. 11, 2023)

[historyhermann]

Hazbin Hotel Season One Spoiler-Filled Review

Hazbin Hotel is a mature animated series by Vivienne Medrano. It began as an indie animation by Medrano and her company, SpindleHorse Toons, along with Helluva Boss not long later, with both in the same universe. The franchise began as a YouTube pilot in October 2019 and garnered over ninety-four million views. Most recently, it was developed into a full-fledged animated series by the…

[troythecatfish]

Here’s my personal recommendation of a YouTube video to check out:

[spikedfearn]

Could you possibly write a one shot about Remmick with a Irish y/n where she sympathizes with him 😔😔

Hi love! Thank you so much for the request, I truly appreciate you taking the time to send one in and share an idea that resonates with you. That means a lot.

That said, I want to be honest and let you know that I won’t be able to fulfill this particular request. While I know I’ve mentioned in the past that I’d consider writing something like this, I’ve spent a lot of time since then reading and reflecting on the discourse around Remmick x reader fics, especially regarding race and inclusion in fandom spaces.

As a white writer, I’ve come to understand how important it is to be intentional about not white-coding reader inserts, especially when it comes to writing stories meant to be inclusive and welcoming to everyone.

I want to respect the Black voices in this fandom—many of whom have been incredibly thoughtful and generous in sharing their perspectives—and I feel strongly about not contributing to a dynamic that could alienate or erase those readers.

That doesn’t mean your idea isn’t valid or meaningful—just that, for me personally, I want to make sure I’m using this space to create fics where more people feel seen, especially those who have historically been excluded from reader-inserts. I hope that makes sense, and I appreciate your understanding more than you know <3

[sukibenders]

Bridgerton states from season one, through Simon and Lady Danbury, to season two, with the Sharmas, to Queen Charlotte, from the beginning episode to the end spelled out clear as day, that racism exists in this world and many of the characters of colors have been impacted by it in some way. And, supposedly, I'm supposed to believe that Marina, that Kate and Edwina, that they all had more privilege and power than Penelope? No, I don't think so, a lot of things aren't right with that statement.

[2ndquarteredquell]

honestly the only positive thing I can think of in casting a white girl as Louella is so we don't have to see a Black or indigenous girl getting tortured by the Capitol and having another girl of colour's body mutilated to look like her. But it still feels wrong. I hc Louella as a woc and still felt incredibly icky doing it whilst reading, cause of what happened to her. I think all around, Louella could've been written differently.

This is a really good point, I do agree with you. I’m largely disappointed by these castings, as well as the casting for Wyatt because I thought we would get good Black/ indigenous rep out of these characters. Even though Collins kind of beats around the bush with it, I think race plays an important role in the thematic elements of the Hunger Games, and unfortunately that won’t be explored in this movie.

Another “benefit” of this casting is that these actresses won’t get the same racist treatment/ reaction that Rue’s actress got in the first movie. This whole casting situation would have been fixed if Collins was exceedingly more explicit in telling the race of her characters. YA is wonderful at really hitting you over the head with The Point, so it’s unfortunate they’re not so able to do this with characters race.

Idk, maybe they should have just cast Rue as white.

[eternitycongregation]

YOU. YOU'RE THE TRANSFEM INTERSEX RATIO PERSON. I LOVE YOU.

:o!! It's me indeed, hello!!!

I'm glad you like the headcanon, she's everything to me tbh. You can safely assume any time I talk about Ratio that this conception of her is in my mind.

ramblings under the cut (CW: vague mentions of intersexism and transmisogyny)

About her being intersex, I usually have two sets of headcanons: one where she has nCAH and the other hyperandrogenic PCOS. Part of why I have this headcanon is projection ofc; but it's also because I like the idea of Ratio in her goal to cure the disease of ignorance, she desires to destroy the false concept of the sex binary. It makes the goal very personal to her, being affected by intersexism, in addition to the altruism.

I think Ratio struggled a lot in her transition journey, because she felt like she had to give up a lot of the things she liked about her body and herself and had to conform to beauty standards she didn't like in her attempts to achieve the Ideal Woman status. I think she used to do extensive voice training, wear full beat makeup, and tried to avoid putting on muscle to give the thin and dainty vibe. Even though she likes her deep voice, a full face is a sensory nightmare for her, and trying to keep her body mass down was unhealthy for her...that's what she thought she needed to do. Her oddly British accent (odd for a character Greek and Roman inspired) is from imitating women she thought of as elegant and refined. She used to wear pumps in her classroom and offices even though she hated how they hurt her feet, because that's what other women wear to work.

And I imagine the Ratio we have in the present is one who is secure in her gender identity that she does not feel the need to overperform femininity. She knows that she does need to be accepted by others to know her own worth. Her body is toned and built, she speaks with a deep voice, wears clothes that are comfortable for her (cutouts for ventilation and a nice pair of sandals), puts on red eyeliner and calls it a look. And you can tell she loves it because of all those statues lmao.

[thefabelmans2022]

how do i say this without getting jumped....... i do think the movies miss something in not emphasising the racial/ethnic divisions in district 12 but i also don't understand people who constantly claim that any description of "olive skin" means non-white person.

[quotidianish]

just saw someone say sunny from omori is white and him being Japanese American is just a headcanon IM GONNA DIE

[eyeballplanets]

the thing is there is so much to analyze about anissa and the systems that she and kregg and conquest are supoosed to represent and how they each embody different ill of authoritarian systems. but it feels kinda fruitless to talk about all of that when the fandom at large has not gotten to the point where they understand that this design change was not accidental. shows do not give their characters light/medium brown skin and strong cheekbones and dark two toned lips by accident. not ever. and certainly not The Sameface Show. everyone working on invincible is aware of her story (obviously). they looked at a character famous for assault and went "do we make her brown," and went yes! that does not happen accidentally nor in a vacuum.

[mabaris]

another thing that i just noticed is that the dwarves have now had done to them by the elves what we’d thought the elves had done to them by humans, at least before inquisition. cut down in their peak and permanently ruined, left to scrabble for the broken pieces of their history

not to say it’s an inherently bad choice because oppression isn’t that straightforward, but it sure was an interesting choice to shift the “they destroyed our way of life and fractured our society and we ARE allowing ourselves to feel angry about it and reclaim our history and maybe use that to rebuild what we once had” narrative from the elves to the dwarves. like if that’s the story you really wanted to tell, you could have also given it to like. bellara

[liyaklynn]

you seem surprised—

as my eyes flash from black to gold with the suggestion of a single ray how the sun draws honey from my skin as i radiate warmth— you question my sweetness have i made a mess of your expectations? or were you hoping for more— something darker, more soul? you watch my shoulder as the sleeve slips down comforting, perhaps— how my frame reflects someone you recognize my fairness the color in my cheeks safety in the shape of my lips as they smile through our polite conversation

Liya K. Lynn

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[arcadekitten]

Where are your main 5 from? Like if they were real what country would they be from?

Nowhere, because that defeats the point of making them aracial/ethnically ambigious to begin with!

[scoobydoofenshmirtz]

I guess my crazy radical opinion that I'm low key surprised isn't more common on tumblr is that I don't actually believe it's possible to have a 100% canonically straight character.

[somepancakeonline5377]

Quick Rant, I hate people who make Kanaya white because my god. LOOK AT HER. I know she’s white BUT THATS BECAUSE SHES A DAMN VAMPIRE 😭😭