#this but its interracial elf/human rights

[self-spaghettification]

Viren really said Wow Claudia I leave for 2 years and you got yourself an elf boyfriend. only I can have an elf boyfriend. bruh. this place falls apart without me.

[alteredphoenix]

A Question (And More) on the Matter of Human-Elf Relationships

I’ve had this thought in my head for a while, and I’ve spoken of it somewhat in notes from a couple Windrunner-centric fanfics, but I wonder if the Sylvanas novel will touch on the subject of human-elf relationships. It’s a trope that is popularized from Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings trilogy with Aragorn and Arwen and dates farther back to Lord Dunsay’s The King of Elfland’s Daughter with Alveric and Lizrael, which is most commonly attributed to a male human/female elf pairing, and World of Warcraft is no exception with the likes of Alleria and Turalyon, Sylvanas and Nathanos (however this may be interpreted), and Vereesa and Rhonin.

However, it should not come as a surprise that whenever the Windrunners are brought up in regards to the tumultuous strain Sylvanas - and, by extension, Alleria - have put on the family, the men in their lives are often brought into the fold in snide, disparaging tones. More than once I’ve heard the cracks that “they [human men] are taking away our women!” from blood elf players, remarks that the Windrunners are only known for being arm candy despite having their own goals separate from the men, making assumptions that Arator would be into men the same way his mother and are despite having little development, and calling Giramar and Galadin (and just these two, since AFAIK no one ever brings Arator into this) “abominations” for simply being half-elves. This last part especially hurts me on a personal level since I, as well as my older brother, are of mixed heritage, our father Italian and our mother Mexican with Native American ancestry, and while I’m positive I haven’t heard anything of the like from either sides of the family when they were dating it’s no secret that neither grandparents - or at least my maternal grandparents - weren’t particularly keen on seeing my parents hook up after dating for three months. Or rather my mom’s siblings didn’t want to see her get with my dad; it’s a literal crack ship made real, my mom being someone who’d fit right in with a cheesy Hallmark movie that fits every trope Under the Sun and my dad being cut straight from the cloths of Italian-American gangster period pieces and stoner flicks (and much more that fit into this topic, but for the sake of this piece let’s preserve his youthful years in this particular image).

But I digress. You get the idea.

However, I do wonder how this would translate in-universe with the Windrunner family. We don’t know of Sylvanas and Vereesa’s reactions to Alleria developing romantic feelings for Turalyon in the Second War, but since we know that Vereesa and Rhonin raised Arator once Alleria and Turalyon departed for Draenor and went missing thereafter we can assume the reception was positive. Sylvanas being close to Nathanos, however, whether or not it’s romantically reciprocal on her end or merely of a deep, platonic, unspoken fondness, is met with scorn: Nathanos was always at odds with Lor’themar in life from the moment of his induction as a Ranger Lord (a position that Kael’thas, Renthar Hawkspear, and Halduron were against, if we are to take In the Shadow of the Sun as canon), was discriminated against by the people of Silvermoon in life even as rumors began to spread of the possible romantic developments he and Sylvanas may have had, and in death is callously if rightfully disregarded for his role in the Fourth War, again by Lor’themar. This is especially odd now, in a time where we have the inclusion of an interracial couple involving Lor’themar, a blood elf man, falling in love and committing himself into a relationship with Thalyssra, a woman who was once a night elf - two races that have locked horns and butt heads with each other as far back as ten thousand years ago and were just as recently fighting right outside Suramar’s gates. However, neither is human, but this does bring up the question as to why a blood elf/nightborne coupling is acceptable but a high elf/human is not, especially when you take into account that blood elves and pre-Void ritual void elves are at their most basic high elves in all but magical and political affiliation. Let’s also not forget we also have LGBTQIA+ inclusion with Matthias Shaw and Flynn Fairwind - but again, they are a human/human coupling, not a human/elf, so this throws this double standard into a more glaring light.

Obviously we can assume that the reason why human/elf relationships might be frowned upon in elven society is because of the discrepancies of their longevity. Elves in media are either long-living or immortal and humans maintain their mortal lifespan (unless you’re of the race of Men from LotR, then you’re going to last over two centuries). An answer to this question can be found in the Warcraft RPG, where the scorn and prejudice half-elf offspring face is boiled down to disapproval toward human-elf unions as well as profiling because of their ethnicity: humans are jealous of the half-elf’s extended lifespan, the high elves see the half-elf as proof of their bloodline being diluted, and the night elves are suspicious of the half-elf due to having high elf blood, as mentioned here in this section. Unfortunately the RPG and its supplemental guides are rendered non-canon; the night elf-high elf schism remains, but nothing is spoken of toward human-elf relations, save that the honorbound pact they had established in the Troll Wars waned and then deteriorated after the Second War (although some elves remained in Lordaeron and Dalaran among their allies, disagreeing with Anasterian’s edicts to return to Silvermoon).

This leads me to believe that part of the distaste is military ability, at least where Nathanos is concerned. He was, after all, the first and only human Ranger Lord in Quel’Thalas. But Nathanos is just one person that is seen in a negative light in-universe, whereas Rhonin and Turalyon are looked upon more favorably. If only briefly, I would like to read how Lireesa and the Windrunner patriarch responded to Alleria and Sylvanas getting close to Turalyon (and perhaps Nathanos; while we don’t know what happened to Papa Windrunner, the timeline is very inconsistent in that Lireesa has three separate instances of death that contradict each other at; if we look upon Tales of the Hunt from the Trueshot Lodge, then we can assume Lireesa died during the Second War, so she may or may not have known about Turalyon).

Perhaps through the upcoming novel, we may get a more in-depth look at human-elf relationships through the context of the Windrunner family and how this extends to the blood elf, night elf, and human perspectives. Through them we might have a better understanding how this will affect half-elves, few and rare as they are in Azeroth, emotionally and where they stand in the world in canon proper, and if the same racial prejudices that we encounter in real life are either matched or nonexistent.

[damien-ward]

Your Personal Thoughts on future of the Alliance and its interracial relations??

The Alliance will continue to be Wrynn and Friends because Blizzard loves the Wrynn family. There is nothing we can do about it, as long as Anduin is alive the Alliance story will bend over backwards to fit his views and beliefs no matter how nonsensical it is for some characters to follow along. 

I would much rather the Alliance go back to pre-Cata times where there was no bullshit High King title and every race felt like they were important instead of how it is now where it feels like Humans run the show and everyone else is tagging along.

As for interracial relations, I wish this was something Blizzard shown more light on in-game or in lore because right now the only examples of such that we really have are human and Thalassian elf pairings (Turalyon and Alleria, Vereesa and Rhonin, and Sylvanas and Nathanos). Oh wait, there is also Thalysra and Lor’themar who hooked up.

Those are the only ones I can think of and they are all basically just Thalassian elves hooking up with another race, but what about other races? I mean Gilneans/Worgen were living with Kaldorei for 6 years surely they were mingling somewhat out of curiosity for each other’s culture or something. What about Draenei and Kaldorei? Dwarves and Humans? I doubt Blizzard will really give us any insight into whether other races are hooking up or not, but it would be cool to see.

Thanks for the ask @axelexwifi

[marshmallowprotection]

Random info about Lefititia (aka where Valkeria came from):

Half breeds like Valkeria are extremely rare because it's rare for two people of different species to enter a relationship that will result in children due to society's hate for half-breeds, as well as the idea of interspecial relationships (can you tell this is based off racism in the real world yet? If not, now you know! The interspecial relationships are like interracial relationships except its with species instead of races and stuffs)

Lefititia is a monarchy (its collapsing at the seams tho), but currently it is in a power struggle between parliament and the monarchy because both want to become all powerful because they are led by two corrupt old men who don't care about the people and want luxury and power and all that corrupt shitfuckery!

Valkeria's parents wanted to originally leave Lefititia and either A. Travel to another country and go in hiding (Valkeria was an accidental pregnancy, btw), or B. Find a way to leave the dimension altogether. However, whilst they were trying to sneak past the border of Lefititia and another country with 4-year-old Valkeria, they were caught by authorities, however, they were killed by a mob who was protesting (they were protesting agains interspecial integration because a member of parliament was trying to pass a bill to end segregation 😬) nearby, and 4-year-old Valkeria barely escaped. She was discovered by authorities a day later and taken to an orphanage (which are shit, might I add. Very little money goes to child care and the CPS.)

There is a huge grudge between humans and elves from a civil war from centuries ago they still haven't got over, which is why Valkeria is so hated; a human-elf hybrid is just so outrageous to most Lefititians that well, yeah. — Submission

Wow. This is really starting to get rich and deep with a layer of lore that I didn’t know was coming.  I can only hope those bad guys get what they deserve in the end because greed can be a root of all evil when people just don’t know when to use that for the right reasons. Greed for a healthy amount of love is okay but for power is not. 

[therealdragonnerdagain]

Dear Fellow Black People

Life is too short and being angry about white supremacy is a waste of energy.

I'm writing this because I'm tired of watching black people trying to reason with delusional white racists on the internet.

I'm writing this because -- for the sake of our own sanity -- black people need to stop giving a shit about white people and just make the best of our lives. I'm about to tell you why it will benefit you mentally and spiritually to focus on living your life the best you can and just ignore white people. True to Universe 25, white people are kicking and thrashing against their own crumbling empire. They knew this was coming because it happened to black people first -- In fact, it's how they took over the world from us. We don't have to do shit but watch their downfall.

This is why you should stop giving a shit:

White people enjoy having white privilege and are never going to give it up. Never. Yes, even the "good liberals." Some of them virtue signal because they are ashamed of the overt racists among them (Nazis, KKK, etc) but are in reality complacent with subtle racism (Look at their reaction to Get Out) and try to normalize shitty thoughts and behaviors by saying things like "everyone is racist" (no, everyone isn't) and "humanity in general is evil" (no, humanity is not generally evil). It's an attempt to make us all as bad as they are so they can continue to be crappy people without question.

Stop explaining racism to white people. They don't understand it and/or pretend not to understand it just to exhaust you, and the ones who do understand do not give a shit. We know that racism is an IRRATIONAL hatred of an entire group of people (what have black people as a group really ever done to white people?), but white people will never see our resentment against them and all the shit they’ve done to us as rational. They will always be forever enraged that we dare to not complacently enjoy oppression even while they deny us employment, healthcare, nutrition, decency, respect, and continue to demonize us in the media.

White people are angry about Black Panther because the movie didn’t just troll us: it trolled white people too. Most white people are aware that black people (the moor) originally ruled the world and that white people were once at the bottom of the social hierarchy. They do not like being reminded of that. Black Panther acknowledges that white supremacy is coming to an end and that white people are losing everything they unapologetically slaughtered other people for. At the same time, the movie demonizes black Americans and mocks Africans by reminding us of what was lost and what we can never get back. Because clearly, China is the next world power.

White people are on a mission to take us out with them as they die, and they can not be reasoned with. They are rabid dogs so focused on subjugating and oppressing us scary, threatening black people that they can’t even see how China is the real threat. China has been slowly placing price tags on white asses for years now. Before long, they will run everything. Their population is exploding, while white people are disappearing. It would be in their best interest to kiss China’s ass, but they are too busy shitting on black people, making racist jokes about Latinos, fighting Arabs, and fighting each other.  

You can't get through to white people because they actually believe everyone else is as bad as they are. They actually, truly believe this. They lack any and all ability to empathize with people who are not white (this is why they don't care about police brutality, why they don’t understand Black Lives Matter, why the #MeToo movement was seen as “aggressive” by them because it was black-led, and why they are always "blind" to systemic racism), and the vast majority of them can't even empathize with animals. They are the only people who enjoy killing things for sport and taking pictures with the corpses. They are the only people who disrespect nature and don’t have an issue raping it dry. They are 10% of the world's population and have managed to remain statistically the most violent. They can not be reasoned with. People who see you as less than a person will NEVER listen to a thing you say.

They constantly project, and this is why they continue to brutalize, murder, and rape us with the belief that we are like them and will do it to them. This is also why they fear black people gaining true wealth and power: they think all the hate they gave will come back on them. For this reason, weed will always be illegal in most predominantly white states, and even in the states where it becomes legal, its distribution (and therefore its wealth) will still be monitored closely so that it only monetarily benefits white people: no one will be allowed to grow pot in their house.

White people are literally a different species to us. This is why they don't see us as human, when ironically, they are the ones who aren't human. White people are the only "humans" who can't trace their evolution back to Africa. This is why they are so against teaching evolution in schools but mask it behind a Christian agenda. Yet they pretend that "we are all African" to get away with the shit they do. They are not African. They are not human. They are a different species entirely, which is why they refer to our blood as "monkey blood" because it’s primate blood and theirs is not. When two people get married, they have to get a blood test to see if their child will survive. Otherwise, the fetus will be rejected by the mother's womb as if it is a disease or a foreign object. Why? Because two different species have mixed over the years that should not be mixing.

White people are a different species entirely and it's been widely believed for years that they are actually hybrid descendants of the violent and savage Neanderthals that slaughtered their way from cave to cave (Sound familiar? That's basically white history in a nutshell). They even have fairy tales of how they came here from another planet. They rationalize their existence by saying they are descendants of angels and Tall White Aliens. Even white people don't believe they are human.

What kind of race hasn’t evolved to survive their own planet’s sun? If white people were from Earth, they would not crumble in the sunlight. They would not have stories about vampires and subterranean Martians. They would not be so diseased and frail. Because they would have evolved – as we did – to survive this planet.

The fact that we are a different species has been used to justify white people’s shitty treatment of us. Bio warfare (the invention of an AIDs virus whose origins they conveniently can’t trace and/or blame on black people), discrimination, brutalization, lynching, raping, slavery. The appropriation of our culture for their monetary gain. Constantly dictating what “human” is and telling us how to dress, think, and feel. Holding us back from our dreams. Stealing our genetics like accessories but shaming us for naturally having them. You can’t wear natural hairstyles to work or school and are expected to torture yourself with chemicals (perms) to appease them, so it’s literally illegal to be black. Brainwashing our community with Christianity. Dividing us with colorism. Keeping us poor, uneducated, and desperate. Distributing drugs among our people. Murdering every. Single. Civil rights leader. We. Ever. Had. Then having the gall to use MLK to lecture us about peaceful protests that they always slaughter our people for anyway. Then at the end of it all acting innocently appalled by our anger when we don’t quietly accept being treated like shit.

Four hundred years of consistently pulling devious shit against black people have proven their hatred for us is very real and is not going to change. It doesn't matter how "progressive" some white people appear. Most are doing it for political reasons, to sooth their own egos or to separate themselves from extremists like the KKK. White civil rights activism isn't about black people at all. It's about white people and their politics. The easiest way to look good is to pretend to give a shit about black people, right NatGeo?

White people are disappearing. They are 10% of the world's population and only maintain control because they control all the wealth. We could rise and kill them all (but we won't) which is why they are so terrified. Again, they are projecting. They think we are as bad as them, that we'll rise up and kill them all when their numbers are low, so their police brutalize us, and they encourage interracial dating in an attempt to survive through our genes, and they SUDDENLY give a shit about the environment because they won't be able to survive it in about 200 years the way our melanin-induced skin can. This is another reason why they want to get melanin in their genes.

Universe 25.

White people know they are on their way out. They have known a long time. Like I said on another post, they love writing stories about their white nightmares.

The Planet of the Apes was about a world ruled by apes (black people) and the horrified white man (Heston) who finds himself a slave there.

The Dragon Age franchise talks about Universe 25 in Inquisition. Solas is an ancient elf who watched elven civilization crumble due to wars over resources and imbalances in the social hierarchy. He foresees it all happening again to humans and it’s painfully obvious in his conversations with Varric and Sera. At first, Solas encourages Sera to actually do something to fight the system, then he quickly realizes that Universe 25 – the collapse of a system built on social inequality and/or experiencing a population explosion that divides resources – is inevitable and agrees that Sera is “fine as she is.”

Black Panther is just the latest version of these white nightmares, only white people have it wrong. When white people finally succumb to Universe 25, it is not black Africans who they need look to for salvation. The end of Black Panther preaches peace between the races and uses MLK to try and brainwash us into being kind to white people when Universe 25 finally happens to them (it’s sad that they think we’re so stupid that we can’t see through that shit) but in reality, it is not black people on whose mercy white lives will depend. That’s what the racists (some of them anyway) don’t get.

White survival is about to depend entirely on the Chinese.

White people will not be able to stand up to the Chinese, which is why they are pushing interracial dating. They want to elevate biracials to white status – just as they did with the Irish and the Scots – to improve their numbers, but it won’t be enough. So they are probably going to turn to Latin people next, who already consider themselves white and white adjacent. If they stopped being dicks to Latin people, Latin people might save them. Most Latinos are so anti-black and so thirsty for white status, you bet your ass they would do it.

 The reality is, white power has lasted this long because white people have done this before. They bred with the original indigenous black people across the globe to create most of the beige races that exist today, to survive, to continue to rule us. They will continue to do it in desperation but are slowly coming to the realization that their genes are actually weak and that they are, in fact, helping to create a world full of brown people. This is why some of them – the extremists -- are actually against interracial dating.

This is also why they won’t legalize abortion: they desperately want white women to keep having white babies and they desperately want black women to keep having black babies they can use as canon fodder in their wars.

But Universe 25 is inevitable for any civilization that experiences a population boom and starts fighting for resources. White people literally caused this population boom by raping black people to create new races.

It was already predicted long ago that white people would only rule for 600 years. They have 200 years left, and if they aren’t killed by Global Warming, they will still eventually fade away because they were never meant to survive this environment.  

White people can’t be saved from themselves. Just let them slowly die out. Let them fall in the grave they dug for themselves.

Black people are dying out too. We are the originators, the indigenous people of Earth who once populated and ruled the ancient planet, but before long, we will be gone, and it will be a planet of beige-colored people, a genetic mush of multicolored eyes and hair.

I pity that future generation, the people who will descend from us and who have to clean up our mess. Everyone will probably look the same at that point, so there will be no racism. But there will still be sexism, religion, pedophilia, terrorism, war, disease, social inequality, and poverty, because the white gene and its thirst to dominate and control will survive inside the black one.

You think I’m joking or that I’m being “racist” when I say this, but it is the reality. Black people originated true equalitarianism, a concept most white people can not even begin to grasp because their culture revolves around patriarchal power structures (in direct opposition to black matriarchal power structures), competition, selfishness, greed, “might is right,” and rewarding predators.

White people are doomed to be ruled by China. And even if white people all disappeared as they fear, we would still have to live with anti-black Chinese, Latinos, Indians, Arabs, and basically anyone who isn’t black because basically anyone who isn’t black hates us.

White people can not save themselves and are determined to take us down with them.

Let white people be. Let them be. Eat popcorn. Watch their turn at Universe 25. Watch. File your nails. Laugh. Stop stressing out over shit that’s about to be over anyway.

What can black people do in the meantime? Rediscover our spirituality. Communicate with the Source. Take care of ourselves and our communities. Be good to each other (end colorism). Practice LoA to enrich our personal lives. Move forward. Don’t look back. Detach. Observe the changing world powers from a safe distance.

Nytimes and other assbackwards websites will tell you not to ignore white people. Those are the sunken black people who can’t be saved, who have no idea what’s going on, who their ancestors were, or what happened in the past. Ignore them too.

Let them go. It is not worth the stress and life is too short to spend wringing our hands over racism.

It is out of our hands.

[tomfooleryprime]

Was Spock the first human/Vulcan hybrid?

First contact between humans and Vulcans occurred in 2063. Spock was born in 2230. If you listen to some Star Trek fans, that means 167 years passed before both our species decided to bear some sex fruit. Let’s be real though, 167 years is a long time for two civilizations to interact with each other without at least someone from one group deciding to bone someone from the other group, particularly when you consider the populations of both civilizations numbers in the billions.

We might say, “Maybe interspecies sex was just too big of a taboo! Maybe it took that long for barriers to finally start coming down.” Yeah, maybe. Or maybe it’s like Hagrid once said of Dobby the house elf: “Yeh get weirdos in every breed.” Even if 9,999,999,999 humans thought the idea of having sex with an alien was weird or unnatural, there would always be at least one exceptionally progressive person who could see beyond everyone else’s prejudices and pre-conceived notions, and I’m certain the same is true for Vulcans. I would almost be willing to bet that at least one of the first Vulcans who rolled off the T’Plana-Hath on that April morning in 2063 in Bozeman, Montana saw one of the locals and thought, “That human is aesthetically pleasing.” And all it takes is a spark, right? Besides, who wouldn’t want to hear a Vulcan pickup line?

And all the panties fell off as if by magic.

Moreover, in 1957, 106 years before official First Contact between humans and Vulcans, a small Vulcan survey ship crash-landed near Carbon Creek, Pennsylvania. There were only three survivors, and of those three, one of them just couldn’t stop himself from falling for the single mom who ran the local bar. Granted, Maggie didn’t know Mestral was Vulcan, but he definitely knew she was human, and a trivial thing like species didn’t seem to matter to him.

Smitten personified.

But wait, just because a few amorous, adventurous, or convention-hating humans and Vulcans might be willing to stand up and proudly (or maybe more discreetly) proclaim, “Love is love, fuck the haters” and get naked with each other, that doesn’t mean they were making babies because after all, humans and Vulcans are genetically incompatible and it would take a feat of medical engineering to swap gametes, right?

Argue if you want, but human/Vulcan sexy time dates back to at least 2153.

People who believe Spock must have been the first hybrid usually stake this claim on one or more of four arguments:

1.     Humans and Vulcans didn’t shack up routinely enough 2.     The science of making a hybrid baby didn’t exist until Spock came along 3.     Gene Roddenberry said so 4.     Spock clearly felt isolated as a child, but he wouldn’t have if there were more hybrids like him

I’ve already poked enough holes in the first claim. Maybe there weren’t a ton of interspecies couples, but I feel confident in saying there were at least some and some is all we need. And once people decide they like each other enough to form relationships, it’s usually not long before at least some of them start thinking, “You know what would make this better? A smaller version of us!”

As for the science behind making a hybrid baby, it existed in the mid 22nd century. Spock wasn’t the first. That’s a fact. Elizabeth, the hybrid child of Charles “Trip” Tucker and T’Pol, existed in 2154.

Pointy ears and pinchable cheeks.  

Elizabeth sadly died as a result of the improper cloning techniques used to conceive her, so there are many who would take the statement of “Spock was the first human/Vulcan hybrid” and simply add the caveat of “to survive.” Perhaps. But in the Star Trek: Enterprise episode “Terra Prime,” Trip says:

I spoke with Phlox. It turns out there was a flaw in the technique that Paxton’s doctors used in the cloning process. Human DNA and Vulcan DNA, Phlox says there’s no medical reason why they can’t combine. So if a Vulcan and a human ever decided to have a child, it’s probably be ok. And that’s sort of comforting.

So a Denobulan doctor knew a way to make hybrids a full 75 years before Spock was conceived. Maybe the technology was untested and required some refining, but by even a modern a technological timeline, 75 years is an eternity.  

There’s an interview between Gene Roddenberry and Mark Lenard which claims Spock was the first, and so a lot of people might be happy to believe whatever Roddenberry said was the gospel. In the interview, Roddenberry is interviewing Mark Lenard as Ambassador Sarek, asking him questions about humanity and his life when the subject of Spock comes up.

Mark Lenard: Spock’s mother Amanda is an extraordinary woman. Gene Roddenberry: And Spock was the result? The first human/Vulcan mixture? Mark Lenard: No, not the first, but the first to survive. As you must know, an Earth/Vulcan conception will abort during the end of the first month; the fetus is unable to continue life once it begins to develop its primary organs. The fetus Spock was removed from Amanda’s body at this time: the first such experiment ever attempted. His tiny form resided in a test tube for the following two Earth months while our physicians performed delicate chemical engineering, introducing over a 100 subtle changes we hoped would sustain life. At the end of this time, the fetus was returned to Amanda’s womb. At the ninth Earth month, the tiny form was again removed from Amanda, prematurely by Vulcan standards, and spent the following four months of Vulcan term pregnancy in a specially designed incubator. The infant Spock proved surprisingly resilient. There seemed to be something about the Earth/Vulcan mixture which created in that tiny body the fierce determination to survive.

So for some fans, maybe that counts as proof. But Gene Roddenberry had a lot of conceptual ideas about his beloved Star Trek that conflict with actual canon and modern science. For a prime example, just look at the treatment of star dates. So maybe it’s me, but I don’t think something is canon just because Roddenberry said it in an interview once. Furthermore, if we take that interview as canon, how do we explain this scene from The Final Frontier where Spock is delivered from Amanda (not a “specially designed incubator”) and presented to Sarek?

Then Sarek went and uttered one of the most dick lines in Trek history.

Lastly, there’s the isolation that Spock feels. How can we explain how lonely he is if it’s not because he’s the only hybrid? Quite easily, actually. Every single person in existence has felt misunderstood and alone at times. As children, our worlds are very small and our social circles consist of our immediate families, school mates, and our parents’ associates. That’s pretty much it. When we aren’t exposed to people like us, it’s very easy to imagine Rocket Raccoon might have been onto something when he said, “Ain’t no thing like me, except me!”

But that’s very rarely literally true, as every kid who’s ever been the only minority at their school or any teen who’s ever been the only gay person in their tiny conservative town will tell you. As we get older and achieve the freedom to strike out and meet people on our own terms, we often learn we weren’t quite as unique as we thought and there are whole groups of people out there who are black or gay or disabled or whatever it was that left us feeling so alone in our formative years. I think that’s why Spock’s character resonated so much with viewers – he was a symbol for all the misfits out there who knew just how much it sucks trying to fit into the fabric of a society that seems so different than they are.

 Proof that regardless of species, kids can be fucking awful. 

Vulcan was a big planet. By the time Nero destroyed it in Star Trek: 2009, it had more than 6 billion inhabitants. Even if there were only 100 human/Vulcan hybrids by that point in time, the odds of an average Vulcan encountering one would still be incredibly small. It’s entirely possible Spock may have felt like he was the only hybrid because he might have been the only one in his community, but the universe is a big place with plenty of room for other human/Vulcan hybrids he and those vicious bullies never met. 

Spock was clearly pretty special. Even people who hate Star Trek and know almost nothing about it know who Spock was and recognize the Vulcan salute Leonard Nimoy made famous in his portrayal of the character. But just because Spock’s human ancestry made him unusual doesn’t necessarily mean his conception was some completely novel, groundbreaking, pioneering leap for interspecies relationships either. 

I can’t say I know many Vulcans, but I think I have a pretty firm grasp on humanity. Despite homosexual, interracial, and interfaith relationships being taboo and even illegal in many countries until relatively recently (and sadly still are in some places) there have always been people who decided they didn’t care and took a chance on love. So I don’t buy the idea that humans and Vulcans could live and work together even in a limited capacity for more than a century and a half before making the jump into starting families.

[dyemelikeasunset]

i find myself rather sad that i wouldn't be able to exist in your 'inclusive' Ocean of Cycles world. In any other world i could just say 'im a latino elf' and go my way, but latino elves are not a thing in your world. latino humans are not a thing in your world. latino orcs are not a thing in your world. and the only latinos that exist are peruvians for some reason and im sure as heck NOT peruvian. its a bit unfair i dont seem to exist in your "inclusive" world. i want to cry

I doubt anything I say at this point will make you feel better, but the Fae aren’t my only Latinx-inspired race though. And they’re not strictly Peruvian. I wanted to avoid conglomerating cultures together which is why each race has several PRIMARY inspirations and physical features. But this doesn’t mean variation doesn’t exist.For example my Garuda Humans are mainly Thai, but in the past people have made more Filipinx-inspired Garuda characters in Southeast Asian solidarity. This IS a fantasy world in the end, so everyone is free to work in their own cultural influences. I absolutely welcome and encourage that.

My Ogres are also Latinx, so there are your “Latino Orcs” that you claimed I didn’t have. No, none of the Elf races had a primarily Latinx inspiration but that doesn’t mean Latinx elves don’t exist in my universe. Such as through interracial marriages– which I personally think reflects the mixed culture of many Latinx cultures. But even if you didn’t want them as a result of a mix marriage, that doesn’t break my world-building at all.

I don’t know why you didn’t bother asking if Latinx elves could exist in Ocean of Cycles, instead of just sending me such a frustrating message. And I don’t think it’s very cool to specifically ask me to make some kind of homogenized “Latino but NOT Peruvian” race– that honestly sounds really xenophobic to me....

I do sincerely want to be inclusive and grow through criticisms, please understand that my project is still a huge work in progress and I would be more than willing to add things or expand the diversity within my world. But I think I also have a right to defend myself especially when you’re coming at me with such subconsciously manipulative words, and when you accused me of something without even asking first.

[dalishious]

“Shemtits” Event - Stop. Please.

You know, it’s funny. I’ve been told people would listen to me more if I was calmer when explaining things. But apparently that makes zero difference because I was way more polite and reserved about this than deserved, and whaddya know, I was blocked and my input removed from notes anyway. And then compared to motherfucking nazis. Good to know. But this needs to be seen, so here it is again as its own post.

"Shemtits” is all kinds of uncomfortable IMO, TBH.

I just want to clarify that I am biraical. I need to clarify this because it’s important to what I’m going to try and say. And also please remember that I am speaking personally, as in, this is on my behalf and my behalf alone.

For starters, I really am curious where the tag idea “shemtits” came from. It seems kind of in poor taste.

Second, here’s the thing…. There are tons of human/elf ships I love. Especially Merribela; I have made it no secret that I absolutely adore Merrill x Isabela. And I’ve written a fic myself. What makes this thing uncomfortable for me, is not that it’s about human/elf ships. But that it’s only about human/elf ships.

As it’s been reminded (by me and others, over and over) that Dragon Age elves are linked to real life Aboriginal (First Nations/Métis/Inuk), Jewish, and Roma peoples. I am not Jewish or Roma, and as such I cannot speak about the impact for them. I can, however, link to this wonderfully written post about the importance of “Jews Being Allowed To Love Jews,” and how literature commonly presents otherwise, to the point of being a trope:

“The problem is that any old representation is not always good representation. There are a number of problems with this trope, but the first & more glaringly obvious one being: it’s super common for gentiles to write about Jews marrying out. (This may be applicable for other minorities too btw, but I see it for Jews all the time.) You’ve all seen it. The two star crossed lovers: Julia McEnglish & Aaron Jewson. Aaron’s Jewish parents don’t like that he’s dating a goy, Julia can’t imagine giving up Christmas, but they just love each other anyway. Nearly always the minority character’s (although, sometimes it’s both characters as minorities) entire culture is eroticised and Orientalised. It’s their culture that throws up boundaries and difficulties to the relationship. And the tensions and upheaval of the stories are all found in the Jew’s culture being in the way.”

Bolding that last part because it’s also very much in relation to what I want to say re: the connection to First Nations in a minute.

I don’t think white people can really realize what it’s like to be in a constant battle to keep your identity alive. And a there is a very common mindset on reserves that if you marry a nonnative person, you are betraying your people. Is this right? IMO, no, but I do understand the emotions behind it. I also think a lot of it comes down to blood quantum, which comes from the government’s bullshit way of defining Status. Without getting too much into that because I could write a ten page essay on the troubles with how Status works, the short of it is, if you want your possible children to have the same rights as you do to their culture, getting together with a nonnative may insure they don’t. This is another very subliminal way the government is enforcing assimilation.

We are put in a place where we are the ones who are supposed to give up our cultural backgrounds. Our culture is, as said above, seen as in the way. And in the extremely thin existing examples I can think of where we’re love interests, it’s usually between a white man and a beautiful “exotic” native trophy wife, for the lulz, or the Aboriginal person has parted themselves with their culture. (Or any combination of the three.)

This is why human/elf ships are tricky. The brutal history the humans have put the elves through is not something to be just forgotten. There are way too many “You’re not like the other elves” fics out there. Please people, stop other-ing characters from their race. Or what drives me even madder, people who write their elven characters as apologizing for being elven. All this is way to similar to the trope spoken about above.

I mean not to say it can’t be done, because it can. (Again, Merribela. OTP.) But this event doesn’t seem to be supporting this, but rather a “free for all.”

The last thing we need is to be encouraging fics about “shameboners.”

Screencap courtesy of @saarebitch from this thread.

And the inclusion of Cullen x Surana gives all kinds of bad vibes, for another example. Unless it’s some kind of AU where things are not cringe-y AF.

If the event was all about celebrating interracial relationships, why is it only about humans and elves? Why them specifically? Because that is why it feels targeted. And why it feels uncomfortable, to me. And why some people may easily take it as fetishistic.

[capricornicis-goat]

19 for everyone in the fantasy line up drawing you did

I have three characters not shown in that screenshot, for a heads up. Also this will get pretty long. Because I am slightly parading rpg fantasy games, I will also give their strength stat because its funny. Or I find it funny. ( 10 - 30 scale ) 

Amani Majeed (female elf, very tiny and thin): Her biggest strength is that she can pick up new skills fairly quickly, and do a decent enough job in most stuff she tries. In combat, she’s good at tracking and evasive maneuvering. Outside of that, she’s fairly good at crafting potions, and spotting what plants and roots will be good for what potions. Very ranger esc. Personality rise, well I hope I am able to portray this right, but she doesn’t let anyone try and brow beat her into a different opinion, even if she’s flexible to change.Strength: 13 Possessed: 30+Tamas Kindlerune (male dwarf): He’s good at reading people. He knows how to manipulate his words to get what he wants. He’s also a good story teller; he can captivate an audience with the sound of his voice, and he can practically charm anyone or anything. He’s great with animals and children. He’s also fairly shrewd, and plans for multiple outcomes, and can adapt fairly quickly if things don’t go his way. He also knows when to give up. Prior to the story, he was a bard, as in that was his occupation was. He’s now practicing shamanism, and is a politician. Strength: 19Saabir Majidi (male elf, hella old): Saabir has a lot of personality flaws. Like he’s an unlikable son-of-bitch, but he’s over-protective of his granddaughter, Amani. He also taught her everything he knew. He is one of the world’s top alchemist, a potions maker and blacksmith who can enchant items, and inventor. He can also tell when someone’s bullshitting. Strength: 20

Queen Oadira: A bit of preface, all her strengths are hindered by her arrogance. Oadira has a strong sense of self-preservation. She’s compassionate towards those who wronged her to a certain extent ( that being if she thinks they can do her serious harm ) She doesn’t see mortals as lessers, and for a dragon is in it self a positive. She will do what she believes is right and good for her subjects, even if her choice isn’t the popular one. Strength: 30+Cassim Malik (male elf): He has been locked up in a tower for most of his life, and so he only has books and his mother for company. He’s fantastic at researching and inventing, however, so social skills aren’t that important when he gets out. Without any help, he’s able to invent the world’s first artificial satellite that can be sent into another realm that he can control in this world. Strength: 15 LiángMei (female gnome): She’s thief, but a loyal one. She’s highly loyal and devoted to the organisation. She has a set of morals, and she never breaks them, even if they seem to be skewed.Strength: 12Enku Majidi (female elf, Saabir’s younger sister): Strong sense of duty. She crawled her way through the elf military despite the sexism she faced, and she did so without complaint. When a tyrant took over the elven city, she saw her duty was to the people, not the king and joined the only active rebel group to oust him. She is now head of the queen’s royal guard. She also doesn’t agree with any old school prejudices against other races, and argues for interracial relationship acceptanceStrength: 23

Chief Tovak (male orc): He’s much like his lover, Enku. Strong sense of duty, and justice. Honest to a fault. When he and his people immigrated to the elven city, Zema, he was the one of the few orcs to earn the respect from the elves. He’s also very genital, and is great with animals. He owns five cats. Strength: 27Rahthiya Majeed (female elf, Amani’s mother): She’s caring, and compassionate, and her status as high priestess makes her embodiment of hope for both elf and orc subjects. Strength: 11Ravi Verma (male human, maybe): He values knowledge, and technology. In the dwarven/human city neighboring Zema, he promotes multiple programs to get children in schools. He’s also all around nice guy. He’s generally honest…except for one very important thing. Strength: ????

[rafaelthompson]

The World of Coffee Talk

Welcome to the video game about barista life with socially realistic conversations.

BY CRAIG BATORY SPECIAL TO BARISTA MAGAZINE ONLINE

Photos courtesy of Toge Productions

Coffee Talk is the latest visual distraction to take your mind off of being stuck inside. It’s a game about a coffee shop set in a fantasy version of Seattle that mirrors our own current society. The game’s ’90s-inspired pixel art, the lo-fi musical soundtrack, and the complex social issues within the game are enough to immerse you in its alternate reality for several hours.

In the video game, Coffee Talk is an after-hours late night café in Seattle.

Coffee Talk was created earlier this year by Fahmi Hasni, the former marketing manager at Indonesian gaming studio Toge Productions. The game plays more like a visual novel than an actual video game. It takes place in an ethereal yet fictitious Seattle coffee shop called Coffee Talk, which only opens after the sun goes down. As the main character and café owner, you seemingly have no financial worries about running an after-hours coffee shop.

As for the rest of the game, Fahmi and his team created a cast of characters with open-ended dialogue based on his own life experiences. “We wanted Coffee Talk to mirror our real world, and therefore there are many [social] issues being brought up in the game such as interracial relationships or racial bias, immigration, etc.,” says Toge Productions PR manager Lasheli Dwitri Witjaksana. “Those issues can be really sensitive, so we tried to reflect that through the fantasy characters so that the players can take in all the discussions without any judgment and they can feel safe when the topic arises in the game.”

Coffee Talk creates a world of mythological characters, humans, and alien customers engaging about real issues in the café setting.

Coffee Talk certainly portrays a plethora of social issues at every turn. Each situation presented in the in-game dialogue mirrors a past or present happening in our current society. For example, there is mention of a virus outbreak. There’s talk of climate change and environmental issues. There are remarks about gun control, immigration, and union worker rights. “We identified big and common problems in our society, and developed them for Coffee Talk based on our crew members’ life experiences,” explains Lasheli. “For each character, we did internal role-play sessions, where we assign a certain character to one of our crew members who have a similar personality or share the same experience/problems with the character. In each session, we start discussing a certain topic. From there, the conversation became the base of how the story of each character develops. That way, we can have a realistic setting in the game.”

The game is further highlighted by the mythological characters, humans, and alien customers that you engage with. Each has their own dilemma, and you listen as they describe their relationship, their careers, and their life struggles. At times, you provide your own neutral yet optimistic response, as you serve them drinks with your unlimited quantity of supplies. The other main character is a human journalist and aspiring author named Freya who is active in almost every scene. She helps facilitate the complex dialogue between you and the other characters with her own quips and suggestions.

Freya helps facilitate dialogue between a journalist and customer in the game.

Other notable characters include an Elf named Bailey who is dating a demon named Lua against the wishes of his parents. There’s also a famous but lonely vampire supermodel, a disgruntled orc video game developer, and a werewolf hospital worker with PTSD. Each of these characters discusses realistic social issues about their families, their jobs, and life in general. And with each of these complex situations, as a character, you simply listen and whip up lattes—which, arguably, is a mirror image of a barista’s daily routine.

I made a matcha latte for Coffee Talk, and gave it some art, too.

From a coffee-brewing perspective, the game is quite simple. You prepare drinks on an automated espresso machine that has three options for “ingredients.” You can select coffee, chai, chocolate, milk (the list goes on) to craft a specific drink. You punch the ingredients into the machine, and a few animations later, you have your drink. There is also the option for latte art that allows you to “free pour” steamed milk onto the drink. The latte art is certainly fun, though unfortunately the game doesn’t do a great job of simulating pouring steamed milk. Thankfully there’s an “etching” tool that can help you fix any mistakes in your art. You can also “restart” any time you want. In line with the fantasy world that is Coffee Talk, customers never seem to be upset about the quality of the drink, or if it’s prepared incorrectly. They’ll just give a passive-aggressive statement but enjoy their drink nonetheless.

Coffee Talk wears its passion on its sleeve. It dives steadfast into social issues through its direct storytelling, and does a great job of portraying a routine bar shift for any barista. Minus the fact that your character is unperturbed about paying bills and only being open at night, the game is loaded with realism inside its fabricated world. If you like coffee and you like fantasy, this game might be for you.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Craig Batory is a coffee professional and digital marketer based in Detroit. When he’s not brewing coffee or designing websites, he’s on his bike with his dog, Angus.

The post The World of Coffee Talk appeared first on Barista Magazine Online.

The World of Coffee Talk published first on https://espressoexpertsite.tumblr.com/