Text
i notice frequently this rhetoric of white people mocking other white people for their political involvement/racial politics/sjw behavior (outdated term i know but i have been seeing this attitude for a long time) that amounts to creating basically an anti-strawman? in essence it’s like. there are these white people getting up in arms about racial issues that no person of color actually cares about. no real person of color cares about racist jokes, that’s just sensitive white people. no real people of color (pre-2020) are advocating THAT strongly against the police, that’s just sensitive white people. as a result, i don’t have to do anything about these issues because they’re all being entirely made up by white savior types who all of us hate. (side note: I also used to see this rhetoric with a LOT of other issues like how sjw girls are campaigning against homophobia towards gay men that gay men don’t care about, or for trans people that trans people don’t care about, or for disabled people etc., but i feel like it only really still survives in racial politics)
i think about this often, but i’m especially thinking about an experience i had recently that made it so actually visible to me how much of a lie it is. my campus had an encampment and there was a lot of social media presence saying how everyone there was just rich and privileged white people who could afford to play pretend at protesting and have never had to be scared of the cops in their lives. and i saw how, while there was still a majority of white people because that’s the make up of my school, there was a HIGH percentage of students of color, of Black students, of Muslim students; way higher than i have seen in just a headcount of my classes. and they were bringing with them writings from authors of color and learnings from histories of other protests which they had also been arrested at. i knew people there personally who i know are not just well off kids who can afford whatever happens to them. people WERE making sacrifices doing stuff that can enact change that helps palestinians. there were palestinians there!!!
idk. it’s just very common and very suspect rhetoric and it boggles me that people still use it. tldr: if someone is taking you that an issue affecting marginalized people is only being advocated about by those who are not, question why they only hear it from the people not being harmed before you dismiss the issue. people may not feel safe around them, or they may be willfully manipulating the facts
#this is definitely one of those white people talking to other white people type posts#i feel like people of color like. obviously already know what issues they care about no matter what some white people say#but i’m still interested in pointing it out
616 notes
·
View notes
Text
I got this comment on one of my other posts where I talk about how antizionists who claim they want to deradicalize zionists fail to do so and with their current approach are far more likely to "radicalize" jews.
Whilst this type of set up for a post usually leads into something negative, the comment isn't and I agree with it, I just wanna turn the idea I had of a response into its own post lol
On its own, it is not a radical idea, however it is radical in the sense of it forces a lot of western leftists to either reevaluate their ideas surronding colonialism, indigenousness, peace and justice, or ignore any opportunities of reflection and be bigoted. And obviously one is a lot easier than the other.
Jews and Palestinians don't fall into the classic colonizers vs. colonized categories as well, our history is different than in the west. Palestinians were not originally arab and were arabinzed through consensual and non-consensual means, and jews have been forcibly removed from the region from multiple groups. It does not play into the dichotomy of "white people came to the land, were violent and gained control and oppressed the native population" which is the overly simplified version of what has happened in the majority of western countries.
In the west, to achieve true peace and justice, you have to hand over control either fully or in part to indigenous folk. But because jews and Palestinians don't fall into western understanding of colonization, peace and justice doesn't look like that. It looks like coexistence with both groups holding power and self determination simultaneously.
Then you have the western view of race also in play. Jews don't fall into the western view of race and ethnicity. Because of multiple exoduses, jews come in a wide range of colors. We aren't just white or brown. Jew as an ethnicity comes from the middle east and is not a European ethnicity. Then wherever jews ended up after being forced out of the land complicates things. If they ended up in Africa, you get black jews like those from Beta Israel (in Ethiopia), if they ended up in other parts of the middle east you get Mizrahi jews (some people consider jews from beta Israel also Mizrahi and some don't, as I am not from beta Israel it is not a conversation I need to be a part of). You also have Sephardic jews, and ofc Ashkenazi jews. You have jews from all parts of Asia. Then you have mixed race/interfaith relationships too, which is how you get black folk in the US who are Ashkenazi jewish or Māori who are Ashkenazi like Taika Waititi.
And the whole forcing western ideals surrounding race, history, etc, onto non western countries, is problematic.
Whilst I'm definitely not the first to call it this in this sense, it is western leftism. It may even fall under white leftism.
And to those in which their belief system is entrenched in western and/or white leftism, the idea that jews don't fall into it, is radical to them.
(Tagging the person who made the addition is screenshotted as I feel weird if I don't @boreal-sea
173 notes
·
View notes
Text
Dealing with Healing and Disability in fantasy: Writing Disability
[ID: An image of the main character from Eragon, a white teenage boy with blond hair in silver armour as he sits, with his hand outstretched. On his hand is a glowing blue mark. He is visibly straining as he attempts to heal a large creature in front of him. /End ID]
I'm a massive fan of the fantasy genre, which is why it's so incredibly frustrating when I see so much resistance to adding disability representation to fantasy works. People's go-to reason for leaving us out is usually something to the effect of "But my setting has magic so disability wouldn't exist, it can just be healed!" so let's talk about magic, specifically healing magic, in these settings, and how you can use it without erasing disability from your story.
Ok, let's start with why you would even want to avoid erasing disability from a setting in the first place. I talked about this in a lot more detail in my post on The Miracle Cure. this line of thinking is another version of this trope, but applied to a whole setting (or at least, to the majority of people in the setting) instead of an individual, so it's going to run into the same issues I discussed there. To summarise the points that are relevant to this particular version of the trope though:
Not every disabled person wants or needs a cure - many of us see our disability as a part of our identity. Do difficulties come with being disabled? absolutely! It's literally part of the definition, but for some people in the disabled community, if you took our disabilities away, we would be entirely different people. While it is far from universal, there is a significant number of us who, if given a magical cure with no strings attached, would not take it. Saying no one in your setting would be disabled because these healing spells exists ignores this part of the community.
It messes with the stakes of your story - Just like how resurrecting characters or showing that this is something that is indeed possible in the setting can leave your audience feeling cheated or like they don't have to worry about a character *actually* ever dying. healing a character's disability, or establishing that disability doesn't exist in your setting because "magic" runs into the same problem. It will leave your readers or viewers feeling like they don't have to worry about your characters getting seriously hurt because it will only be temporary, which means your hero's actions carry significantly less risk, which in turn, lowers the stakes and tension if not handled very, very carefully.
It's an over-used trope - quite plainly and simply, this trope shows up a lot in the fantasy genre, to the point where I'd say it's just overused and kind of boring.
So with the "why should you avoid it" covered, let's look at how you can actually handle the topic.
Limited Access and Expensive Costs
One of the most common ways to deal with healing and disability in a fantasy setting, is to make the healing magic available, but inaccessible to most of the population. The most popular way to do that is by making the services of a magical healer capable of curing a disability really expensive to the point that most people just can't afford it. If this is the approach you're going to use, you also typically have to make that type of magic quite rare. To use D&D terms, if every first level sorcerer, bard, cleric and druid can heal a spinal injury, it's going to result in a lot of people who are able to undercut those massive prices and the expense will drop as demand goes down. If that last sentence didn't give you a hint, this is really popular method in stories that are critiquing capitalistic mindsets and ideologies, and is most commonly used by authors from the USA and other countries with a similar medical system, since it mirrors a lot of the difficulties faced by disabled Americans. If done right, this approach can be very effective, but it does need to be thought through more carefully than I think people tend to do. Mainly because a lot of fantasy stories end with the main character becoming rich and/or powerful, and so these prohibitively expensive cure become attainable by the story's end, which a lot of authors and writer's just never address. Of course, another approach is to make the availability of the magic itself the barrier. Maybe there just aren't that many people around who know the magic required for that kind of healing, so even without a prohibitive price tag, it's just not something that's an option for most people. If we're looking at a D&D-type setting, maybe you need to be an exceptionally high level to cast the more powerful healing spell, or maybe the spell requires some rare or lost material component. I'd personally advise people to be careful using this approach, since it often leads to stories centred around finding a miracle cure, which then just falls back into that trope more often than not.
Just outright state that some characters don't want/need it
Another, admittedly more direct approach, is to make it that these "cures" exist and are easily attainable, but to just make it that your character or others they encounter don't want or need it. This approach works best for characters who are born with their disabilities or who already had them for a long time before a cure was made available to them. Even within those groups though, this method works better with some types of characters than others depending on many other traits (personality, cultural beliefs, etc), and isn't really a one-size-fits-all solution, but to be fair, that's kind of the point. Some people will want a cure for their disabilities, others are content with their body's the way they are. There's a few caveats I have with this kind of approach though:
you want to make sure you, as the author, understand why some people in real life don't want a cure, and not just in a "yeah I know these people exist but I don't really get it" kind of way. I'm not saying you have to have a deep, personal understanding or anything, but some degree of understanding is required unless you want to sound like one of those "inspirational" body positivity posts that used to show up on Instagram back in the day.
Be wary when using cultural beliefs as a reasoning. It can work, but when media uses cultural beliefs as a reason for turning down some kind of cure, it's often intending to critique extreme beliefs about medicine, such as the ones seen in some New Age Spirituality groups and particularly intense Christian churches. As a general rule of thumb, it's probably not a good idea to connect these kinds of beliefs to disabled people just being happy in their bodies. Alternatively, you also need to be mindful of the "stuck in time" trope - a trope about indigenous people who are depicted as primitive or, as the name suggests, stuck in an earlier time, for "spurning the ways of the white man" which usually includes medicine or the setting's equivalent magic. I'm not the best person to advise you on how to avoid this specific trope, but my partner (who's Taino) has informed me of how often it shows up in fantasy specifically and we both thought it was worth including a warning at least so creators who are interested in this method know to do some further research.
Give the "cures" long-lasting side effects
Often in the real world, when a "cure" for a disability does exist, it's not a perfect solution and comes with a lot of side effects. For example, if you loose part of your arm in an accident, but you're able to get to a hospital quickly with said severed arm, it can sometimes be reattached, but doing so comes at a cost. Most people I know who had this done had a lot of issues with nerve damage, reduced strength, reduced fine-motor control and often a great deal of pain with no clear source. Two of the people I know who's limbs were saved ended up having them optionally re-amputated only a few years later. Likewise, I know many people who are paraplegics and quadriplegics via spinal injuries, who were able to regain the use of their arms and/or legs. However, the process was not an easy one, and involved years of intense physiotherapy and strength training. For some of them, they need to continue to do this work permanently just to maintain use of the effected limbs, so much so that it impacts their ability to do things like work a full-time job and engage in their hobbies regularly, and even then, none of them will be able bodied again. Even with all that work, they all still experience reduced strength and reduced control of the limbs. depending on the type, place and severity of the injury, some people are able to get back to "almost able bodied" again - such was the case for my childhood best friend's dad, but they often still have to deal with chronic pain from the injury or chronic fatigue.
Even though we are talking about magic in a fantasy setting, we can still look to real-life examples of "cures" to get ideas. Perhaps the magic used has a similar side effect. Yes, your paraplegic character can be "cured" enough to walk again, but the magic maintaining the spell needs a power source to keep it going, so it draws on the person's innate energy within their body, using the very energy the body needs to function and do things like move their limbs. They are cured, but constantly exhausted unless they're very careful, and if the spell is especially strong, the body might struggle to move at all, resulting in something that looks and functions similar to the nerve damage folks with spinal injuries sometimes deal with that causes that muscle weakness and motor control issues. Your amputee might be able to have their leg regrown, but it will always be slightly off. The regrown leg is weaker and causes them to walk with a limp, maybe even requiring them to use a cane or other mobility aid.
Some characters might decide these trade-offs are worth it, and while this cures their initial disability, it leaves them with another. Others might simply decide the initial disability is less trouble than these side effects, and choose to stay as they are.
Consider if these are actually cures
Speaking of looking to the real world for ideas, you might also want to consider whether these cures are doing what the people peddling them are claiming they do. Let's look at the so-called autism cures that spring up every couple of months as an example.
Without getting into the… hotly debated specifics, there are many therapies that are often labelled as "cures" for autism, but in reality, all they are doing is teaching autistic people how to make their autistic traits less noticeable to others. This is called masking, and it's a skill that often comes at great cost to an autistic person's mental health, especially when it's a behaviour that is forced on them. Many of these therapies give the appearance of being a cure, but the disability is still there, as are the needs and difficulties that come with it, they're just hidden away. From an outside perspective though, it often does look like a success, at least in the short-term. Then there are the entirely fake cures with no basis in reality, the things you'll find from your classic snake-oil salesmen. Even in a fantasy setting where real magic exists, these kinds of scams and misleading treatments can still exist. In fact, I think it would make them even more common than they are in the real world, since there's less suspension of disbelief required for people to fall for them. "What do you mean this miracle tonic is a scam? Phil next door can conjure flames in his hand and make the plants grow with a snap of his fingers, why is it so hard to believe this tonic could regrow my missing limb?"
I think the only example of this approach I've seen, at least recently, is from The Owl House. The magic in this world can do incredible things, but it works in very specific and defined ways. Eda's curse (which can be viewed as an allegory for many disabilities and chronic illnesses) is seemingly an exception to this, and as such, nothing is able to cure it. Treat it, yes, but not cure it. Eda's mother doesn't accept this though, and seeks out a cure anyway and ends up falling for a scam who's "treatments" just make things worse.
In your own stories, you can either have these scams just not work, or kind of work, but in ways that are harmful and just not worth it, like worse versions of the examples in the previous point. Alternatively, like Eda, it's entirely reasonable that a character who's been the target of these scams before might just not want to bother anymore. Eda is a really good example of this approach handled in a way that doesn't make her sad and depressed about it either. She's tried her mum's methods, they didn't work, and now she's found her own way of dealing with it that she's happy with. She only gets upset when her boundaries are ignored by Luz and her mother.
Think about how the healing magic is actually working
If you have a magic system that leans more on the "hard magic" side of things, a great way to get around the issue of healing magic erasing disability is to stop and think about how your healing magic actually works.
My favourite way of doing this is to make healing magic work by accelerating the natural processes of your body. Your body will, given enough time (assuming it remains infection-free) close a slash from a sword and mend a broken bone, but it will never regrow it's own limbs. It will never heal damage to it's own spinal cord. It will never undo whatever causes autism or fix it's own irregularities. Not without help. Likewise, healing magic alone won't do any of these things either, it's just accelerating the existing process and usually, by extension making it safer, since a wound staying open for an hour before you get to a healer is much less likely to get infected than one that slowly and naturally heals over a few weeks. In one of my own works, I take this even further by making it that the healing magic is only accelerating cell growth and repair, but the healer has to direct it. In order to actually heal, the healer needs to know the anatomy of what they're fixing to the finest detail. A spell can reconnect a torn muscle to a bone, but if you don't understand the structures that allow that to happen in the first place, you're likely going to make things worse. For this reason, you won't really see people using this kind of magic to, say, regrow limbs, even though it technically is possible. A limb is a complicated thing. The healer needs to be able to perfectly envision all the bones, the cartilage, the tendons and ligaments, the muscles (including the little ones, like those found in your skin that make your hair stand on end and give you goose bumps), the fat and skin tissues, all the nerves, all the blood vessels, all the structures within the bone that create your blood. Everything, and they need to know how it all connects, how it is supposed to move and be able to keep that clearly in their mind simultaneously while casting. Their mental image also has to match with the patient's internal "map" of the body and the lost limb, or they'll continue to experience phantom limb sensation even if the healing is successful. It's technically possible, but the chances they'll mess something up is too high, and so it's just not worth the risk to most people, including my main character.
Put Restrictions on the magic
This is mostly just the same advice as above, but for softer magic systems. put limits and restrictions on your healing magic. These can be innate (so things the magic itself is just incapable of doing) or external (things like laws that put limitations on certain types of magic and spells).
An example of internal restriction can be seen in how some people interpret D&D's higher level healing spells like regenerate (a 7th level spell-something most characters won't have access to for quite some time). The rules as written specify that disabilities like lost limbs can be healed using this spell, but some players take this to mean that if a character was born with the disability in question, say, born without a limb, regenerate would only heal them back to their body's natural state, which for them, is still disabled.
An external restriction would be that your setting has outlawed healing magic, perhaps because healing magic carries a lot of risks for some reason, eithe to the caster or the person being healed, or maybe because the healing magic here works by selectively reviving and altering the function of cells, which makes it a form of necromancy, just on a smaller scale. Of course, you can also use the tried and true, "all magic is outlawed" approach too. In either case, it's something that will prevent some people from being able to access it, despite it being technically possible. Other external restrictions could look like not being illegal, per say, but culturally frowned upon or taboo where your character is from.
But what if I don't want to do any of this?
Well you don't have to. These are just suggestions to get you thinking about how to make a world where healing magic and disability exist, but they aren't the only ways. Just the ones I thought of.
Of course, if you'd still rather make a setting where all disability is cured because magic and you just don't want to think about it any deeper, I can't stop you. I do however, want to ask you to at least consider where you are going to draw the line. Disability, in essence, is what happens when the body stops (or never started) functioning "normally". Sometimes that happens because of an injury, sometimes it's just bad luck, but the boundary between disabled and not disabled is not as solid as I think a lot of people expect it to be, and we as a society have a lot of weird ideas about what is and isn't a disability that just, quite plainly and simply, aren't consistent. You have to remember, a magic system won't pick and choose the way we humans do, it will apply universally, regardless of our societal hang-ups about disability.
What do I mean about this?
Well, consider for a moment, what causes aging? it's the result of our body not being able to repair itself as effectively as it used to. It's the body not being able to perform that function "normally". So in a setting where all disability is cured, there would be no aging. No elderly people. No death from old age. If you erase disability, you also erase natural processes like aging. magic won't pick and choose like that, not if you want it to be consistent.
Ok, ok, maybe that's too much of a stretch, so instead, let's look at our stereotypical buff hero covered in scars because he's a badass warrior. but in a world where you can heal anything, why would anything scar? Even if it did, could another healing spell not correct that too? Scars are part of the body's natural healing process, but if no natural healing occurred, why would a scar form? Scars are also considered disabling in and of themselves too, especially large ones, since they aren't as flexible or durable as normal skin and can even restrict growth and movement.
Even common things like needing glasses are, using this definition of disability at least, a disability. glasses are a socially accepted disability aid used to correct your eyes when they do not function "normally".
Now to be fair, in reality, there are several definitions of disability, most of which include something about the impact of society. For example, in Australia (according to the Disability Royal Commission), we define disability as "An evolving concept that results from the interaction between a person with impairment(s) and attitudinal and environmental barriers that hinder their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others." - or in laymen's terms, the interaction between a person's impairment and societal barriers like people not making things accessible or holding misinformed beliefs about your impairment (e.g. people in wheelchairs are weaker than people who walk). Under a definition like this, things like scars and needing glasses aren't necessarily disabilities (most of the time) but that's because of how our modern society sees them. The problem with using a definition like this though to guide what your magic system will get rid of, is that something like a magic system won't differentiate between an "impairment" that has social impacts that and one that doesn't. It will still probably get rid of anything that is technically an example of your body functioning imperfectly, which all three of these things are. The society in your setting might apply these criteria indirectly, but really, why would they? Very few people like the side effects of aging on the body (and most people typically don't want to die), the issues that come with scars or glasses are annoying (speaking as someone with both) and I can see a lot of people getting rid of them when possible too. If they don't then it's just using the "not everyone wants it approach" I mentioned earlier. If there's some law or some kind of external pressure to push people away from fixing these more normalised issues, then it's using the "restrictions" method I mentioned earlier too.
Once again, you can do whatever you like with your fantasy setting, but it's something I think that would be worth thinking about at least.
#Writing disability with Cy Cyborg#Long Post#Disability#Disabled#Disability Representation#Writing Disability#Writing#Writeblr#Authors#Creators#Writing Advice#Disabled Characters#On Writing#Disability in Media#Tropes#Disability Tropes#magic#fantasy#worldbuilding#magic systems
272 notes
·
View notes
Text
Reconnecting Cherokee Masterpost
I’ve had a few Cherokee posts blow up on here and as a result I’ve gotten lots of ‘my grandma said she was cherokee’ ‘I’m supposed to have Cherokee roots I wish I knew anything about it’ ‘I was never taught anything about my Cherokee ancestry’ type sentiments in my activity. So! I wanna make a little masterpost with some resources on how to verify or disprove these types of family stories and how to get started for those interested in reconnecting!
A little about me and a disclaimer. I’ve not been reconnecting that long, about a year and a half, and before that I didn’t know I was Cherokee. I did not grow up Cherokee and I am white. What I’m going to be talking about is simply resources for genealogy, language, good places to connect online, etc. these are all things I’ve dealt with as I reconnect, but I am not any sort of authority on Cherokee issues or culture. The purpose of this post is to get people who know absolutely nothing about Cherokee identity and community started in learning more and seeing what needs to be done before reconnecting. And I acknowledge that the genealogical records and resources available for Freedmen descendants and Afro-indigenous people may not be as conclusive, and I simply urge Afro-indigenous people to do what research you can. I am also only Cherokee, I can’t speak for how any of this works for other tribes. Now, to get started
I’ll be talking about
Genealogy
Enrollment
Basic info about Reconnecting
and Language
Genealogy
Genealogy is the most important first step for anyone wanting to reconnect, or even just wanting to claim Cherokee ancestry at all. Unless you have done genealogy research that has shown ancestry connecting you to ancestors on the accepted Cherokee rolls or you are or have family who are citizens of one of the 3 federally recognized Cherokee tribes, please do not make claims of Cherokee identity or ancestry.
Fake ‘granny stories’ of Cherokee ancestry are very common, particularly in the South / Appalachia. These stories often go something like ‘my great-grandmother was fullblood Cherokee. She hid out from the soldiers rounding the Cherokee up for the Trail of Tears.’ There are many many variants, such as children being adopted by a white family, being traded away, or just otherwise being left behind or abandoned. I also frequently see ‘they escaped and hid in the mountains,’ ‘they pretended to be white / black,’ etc. Remember, the Trail of Tears happened in 1838, 185 years ago. My ggg grandfather was 2, so unless you are 60+ it would be unlikely that a great grandparent was alive during that period. This mythical great-grandmother is also occasionally an ‘Indian princess.’ There are many excuses for why ancestors might not show up on known Cherokee records, such as ‘the records were burned in a courthouse fire’ or ‘they were intentionally removed from the records,’ etc. Physical features are also claimed to prove stories, such as high cheekbones, dark hair, darker skin, etc. Old family photos showing grandparents with tan skin, etc, are also brought up pretty frequently. None of those prove anything, as many people of European or mixed ancestry can have these traits. Stories like this are also not exclusive to white families, they can definitely be present in Black families as well. These stories are most often entirely fabricated or resulting from a misunderstanding. It’s pretty common to have someone be familiar with the fake stories but convinced that their family story is the one exception and has to be real, which ends up being instantly caught as fake by anyone that knows the history, you’d be surprised haha. Here is a post I’ve made talking about fake stories in more depth.
DNA testing cannot prove descent from any specific Native tribe. An ‘indigenous American’ result on a DNA test does not prove native ancestry, as DNA tests are frequently wrong especially when it comes to ‘trace ancestry’. Nor does a DNA test showing 0 native DNA prove that one doesn’t have native ancestry. DNA tests are a novelty and irrelevant to native genealogy. The only time they are useful is in finding cousins through DNA matches, which can be especially useful for adoptees.
Now, getting into actual genealogy, the main process with Cherokee genealogy is fairly simple. I’m not going to go in depth on the process of genealogy in general, there are plenty of resources for that. Get what info you can from your family [names, birthdates, places people lived] of your recent ancestors, then find their census records [census records from 1950 and earlier are publicly available] or what records you can, and go back, finding their parents, etc. The goal is to get around to 1900. See where they were living at that point, as that will effect what rolls they might be on. There are three main Cherokee rolls that are looked at for determining ancestry [but there are other rolls as well]
The Dawes Rolls taken between 1898 - 1914 recorded the Cherokees living in the Western Cherokee Nation, Indian Territory before Oklahoma Statehood. This roll came with allotments, parcels of land given to the Cherokees. Cherokee Freedmen are also recorded on this roll, along with Intermarried and Adopted Whites. This is the roll that CNO and UKB uses for enrollment. Here is where it can be searched.
The Baker Rolls taken between 1924 - 1929 recorded the Cherokees living on the Qualla Boundary in western North Carolina. This is the roll that the EBCI uses for enrollment
The Guion Miller Roll taken between 1906 - 1911 recorded Cherokees living anywhere and was associated with a cash payout.
I can’t find free searchable databases of the Baker or Miller rolls, but you can find them on some ancestry sites like ancestry.com with a membership or free trial. Also, be aware that these rolls all have “Declined” sections of people who applied and were declined for having no proof of ancestry, mostly just applying to try to get money or land meant for Cherokees. This is especially true of the Miller roll, where 2/3rds of the applicants were declined.
If your ancestors aren’t on any of these rolls, can be found in US census records before 1900, or aren’t living in the Cherokee homelands in the early 1800s, they are almost surely not Cherokee. Also, be wary of results on ancestry sites that start cropping up in the 1700s where the only evidence is another person’s family trees. There are many people claiming descent from Dragging Canoe, Chief Moytoy, and others that put these things on their ancestry trees when none of these people have any descendants. And people will just make up entirely fictional people. Just be sure there are actual documents tying them to the Cherokee and to your ancestors [as people will make up fake children of real figures like Nancy Ward as well]
There is a fantastic resource for Cherokee genealogy in the Cherokee Research and Genealogy Facebook group. The researchers are experts on Cherokee genealogy and will run your lines for FREE and determine conclusively whether you have Cherokee ancestry or not. When they find someone with Cherokee ancestry, they will also find your ancestors’ enrollment applications, allotment locations, etc. they’re really fantastic and I highly recommend checking them out and saving yourself the trouble of doing the research yourself. Just read their rules thoroughly. Even if you did do some research, if you hit a wall or just want confirmation, check them out! Especially if you think you found legitimate ancestry, getting them to double check will remove any doubt.
Enrollment
There are three federally-recognized Cherokee tribes. Each has their own community, resources, and different requirements for enrollment. These are: the United Keetoowah Band [UKB] located in Tahlequah, OK, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians [EBCI] in Cherokee, North Carolina, and the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma [CN or CNO] in Tahlequah, OK. Each of these have distinct histories. Cherokee Nation is the largest by far.
Be wary of fraudulent state-recognized Cherokee tribes. If a Cherokee tribe is not one of the three mentioned above, then it is not recognized by the others as legitimate. These state tribes often take resources that are supposed to be going to legitimate native communities [such as school funding], spread misinformation, etc. These communities often have obviously fake non-Cherokee traits such as ‘naming ceremonies’ and members with laughably stereotypical names like ‘spirit wolf’ and ‘white owl’ lol [also, this is specifically about state tribes claiming to be Cherokee, I can’t speak to the legitimacy of other groups.]
Two of the three Cherokee tribes have a blood quantum requirement. Blood quantum [BQ] is how much ‘native blood’ one has, depicted as a fraction. BQ is a very complex topic in native communities, which I won’t get into here. EBCI has a 1/16 BQ requirement, so to be a citizen you must has 1/16 Eastern Cherokee blood, as well as have an ancestor on the Baker Roll. UKB has a 1/4 BQ requirement, so citizens must have 1/4 Cherokee blood and an ancestor on the Dawes Rolls or the 1949 UKB roll. CNO has no BQ requirement, if an ancestor is listed as By Blood on the Cherokee Dawes Rolls, or listed as a Cherokee Freedman, then you are eligible for CNO citizenship.
Do not come into Cherokee spaces just asking what sort of benefits enrollment can get you. It’s pretty disrespectful and makes it seem like you only care about what you can take from us.
Reconnection
So you did your genealogy and found that you have documented Cherokee ancestry, what next? Reconnection is a long and difficult process and I’ve barely even started, but I’ll try to give what resources and info I can.
Who can reconnect? This can vary between people, but most often I see people [biased towards Cherokees who are active online] saying that anyone with legitimate documented Cherokee ancestry can reconnect. Some people prefer reconnectors are able to enroll in one of the 3 tribes, some prefer people have connected living family, it varies a lot. In my experience as someone who is white and not a citizen yet, if you are respectful and humble, people are pretty accepting. It’s also important to think about why you want to reconnect. You need to be prepared to give back to your people as much if not more than you get. That means learning the language, the history, learn about current issues, etc. Don’t go into it just wanting to be able to say you’re Cherokee as a fun fact or get some sort of monetary benefit. It’s also important to remember that you will get asked to prove yourself. Don’t be offended if you’re asked if you’re enrolled, who your family is, how you’re Cherokee, etc. This is part of our cultural protocols. Not only do we want to keep people with fake family stories from getting into our spaces, we also just like finding relatives! It’s also very important to remember your place as a reconnecting Cherokee. Don’t think having legitimate ancestry suddenly means you’re able to talk with authority on native issues or suddenly claim to be oppressed. If you’re white, don’t suddenly start claiming to be a POC or “white-passing,” you can be white and Cherokee. Cherokee is not a race.
Reconnecting is a difficult process, especially if you are far from any Cherokee communities. You cannot reconnect alone. You aren’t reconnecting to some distant past, or to stories in a book, you are reconnecting to a living community. This can be tough for people who are far from Oklahoma or North Carolina, and there are some things that are not really possible to learn except in person. But you can still learn, and there are some online spaces. I particularly find the ᎠᏂᏣᎳᎩ ᏍᎦᏚᎩ (Cherokee Community) Facebook Group valuable. It’s kinda small, but it’s one of the best ways to engage with Cherokee community online. Sorry if you’re a Facebook hater, Facebook is going to be your best bet for actually meeting people and engaging. The Cherokee Community group requires proof of ancestry before members can join. This usually just means sending your tribal ID or your thread in the Cherokee Research and Genealogy group to an admin and they’ll let you in.
Here are some good basic things to check out for reconnecting
OsiyoTV
Cherokee Nation YouTube
Museum of the Cherokee People YouTube
Cherokee Stories of the Turtle Island Liars Club by Chris B Teuton, Hastings Shade, Sequoyah Guess, Sammy Still, and Woody Hansen
Cherokee Earth Dwellers by Chris B Teuton and Hastings Shade
Mooney’s Myths of the Cherokee [note: this was written by a white man in 1910 after after spending some time with the Eastern Cherokee. The history is iffy, but the stories were recorded directly from Cherokee storytellers.]
Trail of Tears: The Rise and Fall of the Cherokee Nation by John Ehle
Do your own research, but be extremely wary of Anything posted publicly online. There is lots of misinformation about Cherokee culture. Personally, I mostly do my learning in the vetted Cherokee Facebook groups, in books written by actual citizens, and by talking with connected friends. Google is rarely your friend in this case.
Language
The language is the center of our culture, it is what makes us Cherokee. It is our duty as Cherokees and as reconnecting people to learn the language. I can’t stress enough how important it is. If you aren’t putting any effort to learn the language, it shows others that you aren’t committed and you will likely have trouble getting any help reconnecting from others, it just looks bad haha. Not saying you have to be fluent overnight, I’ve been reconnecting for a year and I still am very much a beginner, ‘it doesn’t matter how slow you go, as long as you don’t stop’ as CNO language teacher Ed Fields says. Luckily, there are plenty of resources for learning online!
It’s good to learn the syllabary or at least familiarize yourself with it early, as it’s a good introduction to the sounds present in the language. It’s an important part of our culture and the language too. There are also many learning resources that are only in syllabary, so you’re missing out on those if you don’t know it. Here are some good resources for learning:
Simply Cherokee Syllabary by Marc W Case [HIGHLY recommended. I got reasonably confident in syllabary in like a weekend thanks to this book. You can find fairly cheap ebooks versions. It has a story for each character that makes it so easy to remember and associate the characters with their sounds.]
Learn Cherokee Syllabary app [Apple] [Android]
Syllabary fonts and keyboard
There are lots of resources for learning the language. It’s really good to hear it as often as possible when learning vs just reading it, as I’ve messing up so much in my pronunciation from just reading it and now I’m having to break habits. You preferably want to hear first language speakers. There are two main dialects of Cherokee, usually roughly split between Eastern and Western. Dialects vary a lot within those communities as well. If you still have contact with any relatives that speak Cherokee, it’s always better to learn as much as you can from them.
youtube
Cherokee Nation language department [just explore this site, they have lots of resources!]
Cherokee Learner site [explore this site too, this is a great compilation of pretty much every Cherokee language resource, eastern and western]
Online Cherokee Class with first language speaker Ed Fields
RSU Cherokee Lessons [youtube]
Mango lessons
Other apps, including the Memrise course
Online Cherokee dictionary
That’s all I can think to say right now! I’ll probably add to this later as I learn more, find more resources, and get suggestions from others. But for now, good luck, ᏩᏙ, ᏙᏓᏓᎪᎲᎢ !
#Cherokee#tsalagi#ᏣᎳᎩ#ndn#reconnecting#ndn tag#indigenous#Native American#definitely open to corrections and suggestions. please let me know if anything here is wrong or misleading
116 notes
·
View notes
Note
Hey! I hope you’re doing well!! I read in one of your previous posts that things were a little hard right now. I hope they get better soon, if they haven’t already!
I wanted to ask about your TF141 mer au:
Do the shark mers like Soap, Price and Gaz go into tonic immobility if they get flipped upside down?
Cuz you mentioned they might beef with orcas from time to time, and that’s how orcas often kill great whites: they turn them upside down and hold them like that so they can’t fight back. This paper discusses the strategies used by killer whales to hunt great white sharks that have been observed in South Africa (TW: for pretty lengthy description of killer whales hunting sharks, as well as some slightly graphic descriptions of how the orcas ate the sharks). They also talk about strategies the sharks used to get away from the orcas being similar to how the sharks’ normal prey, seals and sea turtles, try to evade them! Which might mean the sharks are learning how to escape orcas based off how their prey escape them! And they hint in the conclusions that the hunting of sharks might even be a culturally transmitted thing from parent orcas to their calves! Which is insanely cool!! It’s a bit dry because it is a scientific paper, but definitely worth reading, if you’re interested!
But back to the point: If they do go into tonic immobility when flipped upside-down, how do they handle that in the case of dangerous creatures/divers doing that to them? I hope the guys are staying safe out there 😰
(Also, ps. Tonic immobility is theorized to be a sex thing, since sex underwater is hard. So I dunno if you wanna integrate that into your kinky headcannons about the shark mers :) )
yes, thank you!! wild. i have indeed been looking for ways to write in other types of mer, especially orcas. the problem is orcas are way, way overpowered in real life. even the ones that don't kill great whites for their livers are big enough to eviscerate anything that looks at them funny and smart enough to (as you mention) to develop these unique ways of hunting down prey. like… how do you introduce someone based on that without breaking the whole dang worldbuilding structure?
and the study, especially this bit--
In one case, a killer whale attempted to roll and invert a white shark into a position that would result in tonic immobility (Henningsen, 1994; Pyle et al., 1999) before biting into its abdomen just behind the pectoral fins.
so yeah. this particular group of orcas 1) noticed sharks are vulnerable to tonic immobility, and 2) weaponized that vulnerability to basically hypnotize, kill, and butcher them. and those orcas do so with this, like, insane technical precision. they know exactly where to tear into the great whites to reach their livers. iirc, they don't even eat the other parts of the shark--just the liver. all that murder just for a decadent lil treat <3
but yeah! tonic immobility. the idea of building that into a kink thing for the mer 141 is. hmm. phenomenal actually. people apparently speculate that tonic immobility puts a shark into a calm or rapturous/ecstatic (!) state of mind.
like…. cmon...... hypnosis kink.
imagine knowing how to drop any one of the 141 into subspace. you'd have a pod of horny monster men at your beck and call to bottom for you whenever you feel like it ;) shark sex isn't easy! there's teeth and claws and rutting and tail-winding and so much biting. if you knew how to turn any one of them into easygoing submissive mers instead of bitey aggressive doms, who would blame you for flipping that switch occasionally?? as long as you do with them what you want to do before that 15-minute window of tonic immobility trance time is up, of course, and they regain their senses. then all bets are off.
that would need to be a closely guarded secret indeed ( *︾▽︾)
(mer au tag)
#mine#ask#mermay#mermaid reader#mer reader#mer au#x reader#fem reader#cod x reader#tf 141 x reader#merman#poly!141#monster lover#monster fucker#call of duty x reader#terato#monster romance#teratophillia#monster boyfriend#theartgremlin
142 notes
·
View notes
Text
your future spouse’s love language
hi! i'm pearl and i’m so happy you chose this reading ♡ today’s reading is all about the love language of your future spouse and how they express it. this is my first pac on this blog so I hope you enjoy!
♡ disclaimer ♡ please remember that all tarot readings posted on this blog are for fun and entertainment; you should not refer to these readings as a replacement for advice or guidance on serious matters.
reblogs are appreciated, as is feedback! find more pac’s in my masterlist! check out my paid readings and exchange readings! and donations are greatly appreciated ♡
© lueurais — please do not copy, steal or repost anywhere.
♥︎ pile 1 ♥︎
♡ love language ♡
quality time + acts of service
♡ how they express love ♡
i immediately see that this person is not a touchy–feely type; they don’t particularly enjoy or feel comfortable with physical touch, especially the type you might expect in a relationship. so, physical touch is definitely on the bottom of the list of their love languages. however, they do like holding your hand and burying their face in your body. and it is clear to me that quality time is very important to them.
this person loves deep conversations; i’m hearing, in particular, the half–full/half–empty debate. i believe it is of importance to them and may be a deciding factor in whether or not they want to pursue you. they seem like the type of person who would use this debate or others like it to judge other people. but regardless, i think they are genuinely a philosophical person; they love talking with you, getting to the roots of your brain and heart, finding out how you feel and why you feel those things so they can know you better.
i think they’re quite a sensitive person; i have reason to believe that for some of you reading this, your future spouse may have grown up with separated or divorced parents, or a broken family in general. this reflects a lot in how they allow themselves to love. they don’t like touch or pda because they very rarely saw it with their own parents. they also may have not received a lot of attention as a child, and this is why quality time is important to them.
i’m seeing art very prominently, so either them or you could be artists. i said quality time and i definitely think expressing yourselves together creatively would be fun to do. maybe art dates, or walks in nature and under the stars to gain inspiration for art. and other activities like pottery class or bouquet making, they might take you to a wreath making class do you can make one together for your home in the holidays; if there's anything fun and creative to do, they want to do it with you.
they have a rough edge that is hard to crack through. but they are driven and if they are serious about you, they will put in the effort. i’m seeing acts of service, like always paying for meals and bringing/making you coffee and driving you to where you need to go. it would also be hard to read their facial expressions, but they are soft for you on the inside and you will know this because of all the little things they do for you.
♡ symbols and signs ♡
clouds, paint/drawing/art, crying, the letter s, a white horse or other white animals (such as a dog or cat), heterochromia, gemini, 5, tree, stars, 32, mythology, leo/5th house, opiuchus, dark brown hair, roses, water signs.
♡ cards ♡
the artist, knight of swords, the lovers rv, five of cups rv
♥︎ pile 2 ♥︎
♡ love language ♡
acts of service, gift giving + quality time
♡ how they express love ♡
from them, i am getting the image of an angel who gives. they are a generous person; they like giving to support you. whether it is extravagant gifts or simply helping you in giving you what you need to get by. i see both ends of the spectrum — for some of you, they will be able to give you expensive and fancy things, and for some of you, they will not be as disposable with their income but will still give to you because they care about you.
gold is popping out a lot, so maybe gold jewellery or other gold gifts, or maybe they like gold wrapping paper. and it is not subjective – it can be anything deemed precious, like gold. but i also see they are quite moderate, so they prefer to give gifts with deep thought and meanings to them rather than going straight for the most expensive and fancy looking item in the store.
i see this person with a lot of fears and anxieties in regards to the relationship they have with you, and they may also worry you feel the same way. and it’s normal to have these feelings at some point in a relationship. so, i think they’d be urged to give more gifts when they have those worries. they want to appeal to you with generosity which could turn into an unhealthy habit, so keep an eye out for those who this resonates with.
bringing you water on a hot day — this image feels really clear. maybe those of you reading this live in a hot country, or really like hot weather. i see the sun bright in the sky and they’re worried you may be dehydrated or suffering from heatstroke, so they will always make sure you are drinking enough water, especially during hot weather.
and carrying on with the topic of sun, there’s a scene where the sun is touching the horizon. perhaps you guys went to watch the sun set after a date. gold rays are coming in strongly, so it might be your guys’ thing – watching the sun set or rise and leaving the curtains open in your home so the rooms can fill with warm, bright light from the sun. consistency is important to them, so little routines like these that you both enjoy makes them feel so special and they love being reminded that you are there to experience these moments with them.
♡ symbols and signs ♡
sagittarius, water signs, flowing water, nightmares, sun, jupiter, marigolds, sunset and/or sunrise, 10, wings, studio ghibli, unhealthy habits, summer, 444
♡ cards ♡
temperance, nine of swords, knight of cups, seven of wands.
♥︎ pile 3 ♥︎
♡ love language ♡
physical touch, quality time + words of affirmation
♡ how they express love ♡
with two kings here, i definitely see they are very vocal and confident with their words. they seem like the person who always speaks their mind, whether they are expressing happy thoughts or bad ones. that also means they will make it clear when they are upset or angry, but it also means they will clear any doubts you have and make sure you know that they love you.
although, for some of you, i see that your future spouse could be the type who falls silent when they are angry, but even in this case, they will eventually tell you what the issue is and make it clear that their feelings for you don’t change so easily.
in particular, i hear “you’re the best!” and grabbing your head and kissing you on the forehead. “i’m so lucky,” “i couldn’t have figured this out without you,” and “you look great in that outfit,” are what i’m also hearing. i think for some of you, your future spouse will be the type of person who has a catchphrase, like “i’m impressed,” or something along those lines. this is just what i heard, but it could be anything, and they will tend to use it to boost your confidence, and also when they are trying to flirt with you.
they obviously love to spend time with you, but i think they will particularly love holidays with you. i’m seeing quiet villas in countries along the equator, maybe that resonates with some of you. for others, i see the coast. peaceful getaways are like a goldmine to them; they may not happen a lot but when they do, they have the best times of their lives with you.
and holding hands is so prominent. just hands in general. even if you’re holding something else in your hand, they will take it and replace it with their own hand. physical touch like cuddling and kissing would take place, but for them, touching you with their hands is what fulfils them. it’s the fact that you are real and touchable so they always need that reality check to ensure you’re really there. and if you like all the touching, then they will do it tenfold. holding hands, or their hands roaming all over your body; whatever it is, they will almost always have their hands on you.
♡ symbols and signs ♡
323, twice (kpop girl group), coasts, nice hands, black birds, italy, blue skies, 11, magpies, graduation, purple gown, olives, pastel colours, chameleon, green, greece
♡ cards ♡
ace of swords, two of wands, king of wands, king of swords
#pac#tarot#tarot reading#tarot pac#pick a card#tarot pick a card#tarot pick a pile#future spouse#future spouse tarot reading#fs pac#jella’s readings
1K notes
·
View notes
Text
Nuanced and Multifaceted Conflict vs. “Good v. Evil” in fiction
So. This is another thing I’ve wanted to talk about for a while. I promise I won’t always be focusing on Helluva Boss in my critiques, and I actually have quite a few other series I want to talk about.
There’s a big chance that I’ll be saying everything other people have already said, but I can’t help but WANT to talk about this specific character in regard to the story’s conflict. I think that it’s important to recognize when a character is written to be a complex person, and when a character is written to be an enemy to be defeated, and how not following through with your set-up can affect your story.
And HB does that A LOT in my opinion.
So. Let’s get into it. This time I’ll be talking about complex conflict between characters vs. black and white conflict, and I’ll also be touching on story set-ups and audience expectations.
I want to talk about a character who could have really made some of the internal character conflicts have so much more depth and intrigue. I want to talk about Stella Goetia
*as a side note this post is MUCH longer than I intended but I really wanted to get into a lot of the background and reasons for how Stella’s character development has actually completely changed what HB’d story conflict could have looked like. I’ll try and sum up everything in the end in a TLDR for y’all
So. Most of the reviews of her character I see talk about how she’s been “ruined” by the writing team revealing that she’s always been very abusive towards Stolas
I have to start off by saying I actually don’t think that Stella or her portrayal was “ruined” by the writing direction her character has been taken in.
In fact, this critique bothers me, because it doesn’t really get to what I think the actual root of why people are disappointed in Stella’s characterization, and the type of conflict that now exists between her and Stolas.
The main reason I believe people are unsatisfied with Stella is because they believed that her character was being set up for a complex and nuanced conflict between her and Stolas, and then that turned out not to be the case.
A quick disclaimer- I do think it’s possible to subvert audience expectations about story and characters in a satisfying way. But it has to be done in a way that respects the audiences intelligence and willingness to think about the story.
If your plot-twist, unreliable narrator, subversion, or what-have-you is done well, the audience should be able to either figure out what’s going based on the little information you’ve given them, and if they don’t, the change or subversion should still make sense and CLICK in hindsight.
Otherwise, your subversion will end up feeling cheap or confusing. Or worse, like a lie.
And this is one of the MAIN issues I think people have with Stella.
As the audience, we were NOT given enough information on her or her character before it’s revealed that she’s just “evil” and always has been, apparently since she was a literal child.
Again, I don’t think it’s an inherently bad decision to have a flat or pure evil villain. I’m fine with Stella being one, even if it’s less interesting to me personally.
But it’s definitely very different from what was initially implied and set-up, and the audience can pick up on that.
Before S2E1 “The Circus” we see Stella a total of 3 times in person, with one time being a flashback.
I’m going to go over those times to analyze if anything set-up in Stella’s appearances points towards her being. Well, totally and irredeemably awful and abusive I guess.
The very first time we see Stella is in the same bed with Stolas—Octavia calls for her parents, both Stolas AND Stella. Stella grumbles and refuses to get up and tells Stolas to go. This doesn’t immediately strike me as a sign of her being a terrible person. That exact scenario is present in a lot of family comedies, kids’ movies, and sitcoms.
Nothing about this screams that Stella is a terrible parent or an abusive partner to me. It just tells me she’s tired and doesn’t want to get up, which again, is not uncommon.
The next time we see her, she’s yelling at Stolas, and she throws a servant at him in anger.
Now, there’s no excuse for this, her behavior here is not okay, regardless of her feelings. But we understand why she’s acting the way she is--she’s furious with Stolas for cheating on her. At this point with the information we have, it’s also very reasonable to believe her feelings have been hurt.
Later Octavia talks about how her parents didn’t used to hate each other, and the way Stolas’ tries to explain their failing marriage to her comes across like his relationship with Stella is one that’s always had difficulties that they have tried and failed to overcome.
None of this information is enough to really convey or hint that Stella is and has always been abusive or evil. It shows that Stella and Stolas have a very rough relationship, and that Stella most likely has anger management difficulties, but you have to do lot of extra work to come to the conclusion that Stella is completely at fault here.
The next time we see her though, things have clearly escalated, because it’s revealed that she’s one that hired Striker to assassinate Stolas.
Now. Usually. Yeah. That would be a HUGE red flag. And I mean. It still obviously is.
But, and I never thought I’d use this uno reverse card, this is one of the few times where the explanation of “But it’s hell, what did you expect???” actually makes sense to me.
Because yeah, it is hell. It’s the end of episode 5 when we learn this, and our protagonists have killed and assassinated multiple people. Taking a hit out on people really doesn’t seem to be that uncommon of a thing in hell.
Even the next scene after the reveal that Stella is the one who hired Striker makes light of how serious this is, by showing that Stella was basically yelling her assassination plot right to Stolas’ face.
This is played for laughs! I genuinely am not sure if the writers intended for this to be foreshadowing of Stella’s abuse or not because if so, they turned her attempting to kill her husband into a joke!
If you cannot keep your themes or tone consistent, how is the audience supposed to follow your story?
There is subtle storytelling, and then there’s tacking information and character points later on in your writing. And this can have two causes.
Either your audience has to do the work of story-telling for you and make up their own reasons for what’s happening to make the story coherent OR they will be disappointed and dissatisfied by the final product.
I think that’s the main reason why S2E1 of Helluva Boss felt so jarring story-wise, and why Stella, to me at least, suddenly felt like a brand new character.
Like I haven’t been this confused by a character being suddenly evil since Hans from Frozen.
(like seriously why the hell did they put this scene in if not to just trick the audience. This isn’t giving us any plot info it’s only giving us contradictory info on his character. Like I talked about before, Hans’ heel-face-turn doesn’t feel like a twist. It feels like a lie.)
Okay so, how does any of this actually affect anything? Who cares if Stella is evil, that doesn’t automatically make the story bad!
Well. Yeah, of course not. Ironically, having the main conflict your story being a battle between “Good v. Bad” characters is neither good nor bad. It’s just a story decision. And ultimately at the end of the day, the writers of Helluva Boss can choose to tell their story however they’d like.
But, depending on how this is executed, good v evil stories can be a lot less interesting than morally grey or complicated conflicts and characters.
I am more interested in the version of the story where Stella and Stolas are imperfect and messy people. I am more interested in the story where Stolas has an affair to escape being in an arranged marriage, and Stella overreacts by arranging a hit on her husband (unless calling out a hit is normal in hell, but we can’t know b/c there is no baseline for what is considered normal in hell)
I am so much more interested in the story where Stolas and Stella are both depicted as being in the wrong, as being incredibly hurt by each other’s actions, and as not knowing how to repair their broken relationship for the sake of their daughter.
That story feels very real to me. It’s one I want to engage and invest in.
I want to see if these characters can grow to accept their mistakes and learn and change for the sake of Octavia and having to co-exist with each other, or if they’ll slip back into mutual destruction and toxicity.
But that’s not the story we’ll get to see, because it seems like the writers are more interested in keeping Stolas from having to grow as a character. And because of that, Stella has been turned into an evil obstacle that must be defeated, instead of a nuanced and real person.
I also feel like I have to say. I know I would be MUCH less frustrated by this if I hadn’t seen an HB crew member talking about how their show is similar to Bojack Horseman.
Because. It’s just not. I’m sorry, I’m not saying that to be mean, or condescending, or rude, but the way characters are written in Helluva Boss is almost completely black and white at this point.
Regardless of the writer’s intent, the vast majority of the choices they have made in Season 2 come off as explanations to excuse the protagonist’s mistakes, and give them a “get out of being potentially in the wrong” free card.
Compared to the writing decisions in Bojack, which almost always has characters confront their wrongdoings, for better or worse, HB honestly feels like it’s the Anti-Bojack.
It would take a TON of character development and time to make HB’s characters as interesting, fleshed-out, and as real as Bojack’s are, and at this point that’s I don’t think it will ever happen.
Again. Having black and white conflict is FINE. It is a choice in story telling that can be done very effectively. But if you are making a black and white story where one side is always terrible and evil, and one side can do no wrong, you can’t act like you’ve written something that is deeper and more emotionally complex and grey than that.
And the first time the writers gave Stella more than 3 sentences to string together, they made it very clear that any chance of her being a more complex and engaging character was being tossed out the window.
————
TLDR:
The main reason people are upset about Stella being shown as abusive in S2E1 of HB is probably because the initial depictions of her didn’t give us enough information on her character to tell that she was just evil/a terrible person.
The way the story was written in S1 to set up the possibility of a very interesting and complex conflict between Stella and Stolas, and when it was revealed that she’s just. The worst. There were people that were disappointed by this, because they expected more.
Audiences actually aren’t idiots, and when you subtly foreshadow something and then completely change things, that can be frustrating.
It’s MORE than okay to write a straightforward good v evil story, but it depending on the way it’s written and executed, it may not be as interesting to mature audiences as a more morally grey story would be.
If you can’t write characters confronting their flaws and being in the wrong, please don’t compare your writing to Bojack, I mean. C’mon.
#helluva boss critical#helluva boss critique#character critique#stella goetia#hb stella#helluva boss stella#media conversation#media critique#media criticism#writing female characters#writing critique#writing#funhouse convo
187 notes
·
View notes
Note
I want you to know I respect your opinion and at the end of the day you can do whatever you want on your own page, which I love all the art you do. Your White Diamond AU is so remarkable I've added it to my own headcanon idea of Steven meeting his alternate selves.
With that said, why are you responding to posts or asks that talk about blatant shattering of other gems? Real SU fans don't immediately go "death to the enemy." Real SU fans understand that SU is about love, acceptance, second chances, and pacifism. I'll admit, there have been more idiots in the fandom since the show's end, but in my humble opinion, it's best to not give any of them attention, even if they are annoying.
Sorry if I sound rude, I just didn't get responding to that one ANONYMOUS comment.
It's not rude at all! And it's a great question! One I understand the reasoning of.
But I have my own reasoning for doing the things I do.
Mainly, I think that while ignoring SOME behaviors is definitely good.... talking about OTHER behaviors actively is the fastest and healthiest way to immunize the greater community against them.
Let me explain.
I've been in this fandom a long time now, and I agree with you - there's a solid possibility, a real chance that whoever sent that message is just a passing non-fan who decided to be weirdly edgy in my inbox. No big deal. It happens.
But in my experience, the SU fandom is.... wide and varied. There are people of all ages, and many opinions. It would be easier, of course, if the only 'true fans' were those who perfectly understood the show's themes. But to me, that veers dangerously close to a No True Scotsman type of thinking. The reality is that many different people watch SU. And while many of them do inherently agree with the message and understand the nuance, many more just watch the show because... they like the surface level graphics and cool fights and interesting worldbuilding. In fact, many of the show's fans are edgy teens (sorry edgy teens) who are in a life-stage where violence and being strong and cool and decisive in a morally black and white manner is the only way they can possibly imagine solving any problem. And... that's kinda the opposite of what SU teaches! But that's also the point. SU teaches those things on purpose.
And yeah, I can absolutely just ignore this part of the population. But ignoring a behavior does not actually make it go away 100% of the time. If a child in a supermarket comes up to you and starts smacking you with a wooden spoon from Aisle 4, then... sure... you can ignore them and see if their parent comes to get them, or they go away, especially if it's a very small child and they're not hurting you a lot.
But that's not the only option. You can ALSO opt to teach them - and any other spoon-wielding children watching - what COULD happen if they are crude or cruel to a stranger in public. Namely, you can snap 'stop it' and at the very least glare at that child. This is a lesson that will arguably teach them more about the interaction than a complete lack of reaction would.
Now, I'm not saying people who send me asks are all children and I'm doling out some moral lessons here. This is just a metaphor.
I'm simply a person in a social space (tumblr) who is driving my own blog. And while I DO ignore a very large part of cruel/rude asks I get (trust me, I do ignore many!) I sometimes also just post a reply to show what ELSE could happen if you say a borderline silly and arguably tonally inappropriate ask to a person. You could get replied to! In a sarcastic or snappy manner!
And maybe - just maybe - the other people reading my blog can learn something from the experience, and think 'ah, so doing it like THAT will maybe make people kinda annoyed, now I know and will not do that'.
I cannot deny that overall I agree with you, though. I don't think that these types of messages deserve attention on the regular. But I'd hope that my replies to these things are not really... regular. I ignore probably... 80% of these sort of things? I guess maybe it just feels like a lot less, since, well. The public ones are 100% of the ones you get to see!
#chekhov answers#it is a scientifically proven fact that people learn not only by experiencing things directly#but also by watching things happen to others#idk you could disagree with me#i try to space out the weird asks with the nicer ones and the lore ones#but no matter what i do no one is 100% satisfied#that's life i guess!
248 notes
·
View notes
Note
hi!!
i don’t feel right putting my opinion here as i am white and from the us so im not even close to the demographic of people you’re talking about, but i just wanted to say i like reading your posts!
now i don’t know everything that dan and/or phil has said, but i do think it’s important to realize the context
i really do wish they were going to other countries, as it does suck that they aren’t able to see everyone, but i’m also sure they have a valid reason for not, whatever that reason may be…i can’t see them deliberately avoiding other countries just cause there’s “better” options (not saying there are better options i just couldn’t think of another word hehe)
i feel very privileged to be in a place financially (barely) and geographically to see it
i don’t think it’s that outlandish to say that they’ll do something to attempt to make up to the people who couldn’t see it, but i know it won’t be as good as it should be, which isn’t fun
also, i will agree that i don’t like the arguments of other countries not accepting of gay rights, as there’s not much weight there. not only do gay people live there too, but they’ve been to japan three different times. they love it there, and while there’s other countries that are definitely worse when it comes to queer rights, gay marriage isn’t legal there and they obviously know that
jesus christ i yap so fucking much i apologize
tl;dr, i completely understand what your saying, and while calling them “racist” is a little harsh, i definitely understand that not going to other places is not ideal and wish they are able to be more inclusive to everyone
i know they’re touring cause they love it, especially dan, and that going everywhere is impossible, but that does not mean that people can’t complain about them not going over to where they live
i’m sorry this is so long, i just can not stop typing ffs
<3
Hey! So yeah again as I've said many times but feel the need to reiterate: what originally started the discussions from poc and particularly non western blogs was that they have made disparaging remarks particularly to do with tours like come to brazil type remarks and then not taken time to add on like, one line or anything somewhere about not touring in entire continents.
Also obviously we don't think they aren't visiting because they think we're lower to them or whatever, and I'd say you'd be hard pressed to find a post on my blog that says that. Seriously, try it, no implications of the sort have been made, we are just saying it's clear that they've never felt the need to makeup for past mistakes either, and then the phandom defends them each time and all of that together feels very alienating, especially when western fans talk down to us constantly and feel the need to tell us to chill out or whatever and make it out to be that the tour is the primary issue
It isn't! This isn't about the tour!!! The tour was the latest thing that sparked the discussions again because some people, especially LATAM fans who have microagressed So Often, were understandably thinking "seriously they aren't gonna say anything about it?"
And again, I will ask that you try because you'll be hard pressed to find a post on my blog where we day dnp "are racists". My previous ask to this also explains this but just because someone "isn't racist" doesn't mean that when they do racist things we don't call those things "racist behaviours". Racist microagressions are still racist even when coming from goody two shoes progressives. Please understand this and don't get defensive over the language, it's a humble request
And if I may for anyone else looking to talk with me about this in any way, please please stop bringing up the tour with me. I don't care about the tour, I promise you I do not care about the tour, you can talk with me about the other stuff but I've just said it in almost every post I've made: I Do Not Care About Them Not Touring Here, it's small fucking potatoes and it's more western fans' defensiveness and racist remarks while trying to defend them for no reason that are Far Far more of a problem racism (and orientalism) wise than DnP not talking about the tour yet, I don't carrrreee About that I care about what you all are directly saying to US which is more hurtful
I hope this clears stuff up for you and others, again, no hard feelings whatsoever, you were genuinely reaching out and I appreciate that ❤️
63 notes
·
View notes
Note
Helloo, I'm the one who requested the best friends headcanons. Sorry I disappeared but *cough exams *cough. Anyway if it's still ok I would like to send in another request inspired by the last one as I mentioned before.
So please picture me this: Nilou's fem best friend is in love with Cyno because he's amazing *dreamy sigh, anyway she's a shy, introverted and timid type of person and isn't exactly beautiful or smart and Cyno is like high profile, insanely attractive so she believes he's way out of her league and doesn't intend to make a move. Sooo Nilou takes matters into her own hands and becomes a wingwoman.
Um this turned out lengthy, feel free to ignore it. Anyway please remember to take care of yourself and have a lovely day.
Wingwoman! (Cyno x Fem! Reader)
Scenario: Nilou plays matchmaker/wingwoman for her best friend, setting then up with Cyno!
Genre: Fluff
I'm SO SORRY this took absolutely FOREVER to get out. I died internally and came back SO SO SORRY.
THIS IS SUCH AN AWESOME REQUEST. I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THIS. And bro I feel you on disappearances I'm trying to be active and I'll be like "eh I'll post tmrw" and there goes 2 weeks like help
Ok anyways freaking love this request and had so much fun writing this!!
If you're wondering yes I did Google the joke Cyno made thanks
Nilou's show was today. A show all of Sumeru was bound to attend. You were looking forward to her show of course, as she was your best friend, but you were almost more excited for the debrief you would have afterwards.
After every event, one of you would go to the others place, talking about everything, who was at the show, who was with who, who didn't show up, and so on. It's what best friend do!
You helped her get ready for her show, finding her makeup and touching up her hair where it was needed. You sent her off and she gave you a pre-performance hug as she ran off. You took your place in the crowd, settling yourself between the many people of Sumeru, who came from all over to watch her performance.
She was stunning, her hair glistening so perfectly in the Sumeran sun. You spotted a few familiar faces in the crowd, those who attended frequently, including Kaveh, Collei, (who dragged Tighnari along) and even Faruzan were all recognized.
You couldn't help but notice somebody familiar, but unfamiliar at Nilous shows. White hair and eyes that could kill, the general
Mahamatra stood confidently. You knew him of course, everybody did, but you had never seen him at one of Nilous performances.
You had to admit to yourself, he was attractive. The way he watched everything so carefully and was observant of everything made you want to decode him. It made you want to tear down his mysterious demeanor and get to know him. You caught yourself staring for too long and flicked your attention back to Nilou.
Her performance ended gracefully, and you caught up with her soon after. The two of you quickly made a line for her house where you two could finally have some quiet, away from the paparazzi, interviews, and flashing lights.
The two of you gathered on her couch, snacks and drinks surrounding you. You complimented her performance, telling her how in awe the crows was, including yourself.
"Thank you so much!" She said genuinely, every time. "It means a lot to me, it truly does." She swung giddily, she then turned excitedly to you. "Tell me, who all did you see?" She asked quickly.
"The usuals, a few new faces too." You bit a grape off a vine, putting the fruit back down. "Did you know the General Mahamatra was there?"
You were unaware as to why she was giggling. "I noticed; you were watching him for quite some time." She smiled; she had definitely caught on.
"You should talk to him!" She suggested excitedly, unaware of your lack of self-confidence, especially when it came to talking to someone so significant to both the nation, and you.
"I don't know about that." You replied nervously. "He doesn't seem like the type of person to indulge in relationships, and I don't think he'd be interested in me." You didn't think, you knew, deep down.
"You'll never know until you try!" She clasped her hands; you could see her scheming behind her bright eyes. "I think he was there for you, Nilou." She laughed a little harder. "No silly, he was there for security measures. We knew it would be a large turnout, and his group was called in just in case something was to go down regarding eremites. It was strictly business. However, being on stage I did see how he looked at you when you weren't looking." She grinned largely.
You couldn't tell if she was joking or not, but you felt your face heat up at the thought.
"I only know a little bit about him, I heard he likes playing cards." She admitted, trying to give you a lead on him.
With that information given, Nilou tried her hardest to get you to talk to him or reach out. It ended in utter failure as you didn't try, uncertain of what the future would hold if you did.
You could be content with your situation now, instead of worrying about rejection.
Nilou however, had other plans. She would not be content with your situation and was tired of the eye contact she would see the two of you lock without any further advancement.
It was obvious to any third party that each of you had some feelings or interest in each other, but the two of you were too dense to act on it or see it in general.
"He's into you, I'm telling you!" Nilou exclaimed after another show, you brushed her off each time. There was absolutely no way he was, and Nilou was trying to embed wishful thinking into your brain.
You continued to ignore your growing feelings, as not acting on them would do no harm.
You wouldn't act out on them, but who was to say your best friend wouldn't work her own magic?
"Y/n! They want me to perform at an event a the Bazaar this weekend, the most exciting part is they'll be hosting a TCG tournament at this event, alongside food, drinks, and other activities. You can't tell me that wouldn't make an awesome date!" Nilou ran up to you excitedly, practically jumping with joy.
"And who are you trying to go on a date with?" You asked her, head tilted with a mischievous grin. "No one! However, I'm sure Cyno will be there, this is your chance!"
You sighed as she was still yet to give up on her idea, even though her performance that sparked this whole situation was over a month ago.
"Nilou, he's not into me, I promise you that."
"Please, just come to this event. For me?" You'd do anything for her, she was your best friend. "I'll do it for you, but that's it." She smiled and you grew instantly worried.
Nilou had various connections around Sumeru, and it wouldn't have surprised you if she rigged something to her benefit. (Not in a selfish way.)
Thats exactly what she did too. Like she said, Cyno was present at the event, with a focus of becoming the Sumeru City TCG champion. You couldn't help but laugh to yourself, however nothing was funny when you realized you were entered, with a match against said Cyno.
You swore to hide Nilous hairspray or shrink her next show dress. She definitely did this. You sat across from Cyno at a small table, surrounded by the crowds of Sumeran people walking throughout the event, nobody paying any mind to either of you.
"I recognize you. You're one of Nilous friends, right? I always see the two of you together." He said, skipping a greeting.
"Yeah, I've been friends with Nilou for many years, we've been mistaken for sisters a few times." You laughed it off.
"The difference is A-parent." He joked.
You tried to laugh, you really did, but ended up feeling all the blood rush to your face for no particular reason.
"Do you get it? The difference between you two is apparent, however there is also a parental difference between you two."
You understood the joke fine and couldn't help but laugh. Not at the joke, but the way it caught you off guard.
"I get it, it was good." You admitted. He smiled lightly, light enough for just you to catch it. You watched as his eyes lit up too. "Really? I guess I'll have to use it another time if it was that good."
The two of you began to play cards, you watched as someone so powerful moved his hands with such gentleness, and you got to witness someone so distant, up close.
He ended up beating you, that was no surprise, and you had fun playing which was the best part. You thanked him for playing and began to walk off. You wanted to go tell Nilou everything while kicking your feet in her bed.
"Would you like to watch Nilous performance with me?" He said lowly, almost nervously.
"I'd love to." You smiled, walking over to the stage with him. You talked about many things as the two of you waited for the performance to start. You learned that it wasn't very hard to get past the cold demeanor, and all someone had to give him was a chance.
Nilou's performance started, and you waved to her from the middle of the crowd. As your hand went up, it brushed Cynos. He pulled back for a second on instinct, and let it relax again.
Nilou acknowledged the two of you, waving back before she started.
You watched Nilou as you did every time, focusing on the parts she talked about frequently. Furthermore, you couldn't help but also watch Cyno, who was dangerously close to you.
So close you could feel the heat radiating off his body.
He shuffled as the crowd shifted, shifting you two closer together. "Sorry, there isn't much space." You apologized for the proximity; one side of your body practically pressed up against his.
Your arm brushed him as somebody in the crowd bumped into you. He wasn't slow on noticing the disruption beside you, and wrapped an arm around your back, moving you away from the pushing. He did it out of protection, you knew, but couldn't help your stomach that was doing cartwheels.
His arm lingered loosely, just barely resting on your own arm. He looked over at you, trying to check your reaction, you smiled over at him, nodding a thank you.
No words were exchanged, but the two of you collectively enjoyed the others presence, even if you were pressed up against each other by force.
Nilous performance ended, alongside the night which was slowly coming to an end. "Thank you for tonight, it really was great." You tripped over your words a few times, hoping he would ignore it.
"I enjoyed it too, and I'd like to beat you in TCG again sometime. I'll catch you again for food sometime. Get home safely, and alert me if anything is wrong. Tell Nilou I said thank you as well." He said his goodbyes, and you were sent back home, too caught up in bliss to realize the last part of his goodbye.
Thank Nilou for what??
You met up with Nilou for breakfast the next morning, she looked guiltier than anything, but was so extremely proud of yourself.
"Last night went well." She giggled happily. You couldn't be upset, there was no possible way.
"He says thank you by the way." You told her and she smiled again.
"He's thanking me for setting the night up with you."
89 notes
·
View notes
Note
Oooh I'm really interested in your opinions on the flaming trainwreck that is gojo's relationship with women!
I wanted to respond to this topic in this ask, but then I realized it would be better as a part of something else. So I will link you to my yapfest that happens to delve into what I think are Gojo's woman issues.
So thanks for sending me into a mini crisis within a crisis! It gave me that nice little missing piece to pull apart Gojo even more.
I'm also shoehorning your tags on this post into this ask since they contributed to that analysis.
#fjddjdjs hiiii I apologize right back for subjecting you to my yelling in your tags almost all the time fjdjfjd #but WHAT a time for you to post this bc I literally just typed out a whole rant on gojo's sexuality that I bravely chose to not post djdjfjf hj
Post the rant anyways. Or whenever you feel brave enough. The perspective unique to you is valuable even if the topic has already been discussed.
#but you absolutely hit the nail on the head on why satosugu was and is n will always be doomed bc of COURSE gojo would never act on anything #like his whole thing in this story is witnessing human rights violations and only acting when the consequences are fatal
#hes absolutely my favorite jjk character but hes so very full of his own prejudices that I think the fandom doesnt acknowledge bc hes fruity #like we see him let a LOT of shit slip by bc to him (one of the most privileged cogs in the machine) they aren't real problems #which reminds me of cis white gays whose complections and even the random bouts of misogyny and mild racism he matches up with #he has a lil bit of that 'I can't be shitty to women I'm literally gay kinda' vibes and we see how he talks to utahime #and how he doesn't stand up for maki like you mentioned
That's usually my biggest complaint with fan culture in general. They shave off the yucky parts to make characters more palatable. Gojo's racist reveal post-mortem made me love him even more. He's my favorite character in JJK too and he has also unseated my most favorite fictional racist: Oliver Fire Emblem. (Yes, I have a fictional racists tier list. I'm giving myself a pass to have one as a person with a unique skeletal structure and muscles as Mr. Gojo Satoru would say.)
I think the reason people try to ignore these things is because of how subtle/realistic it is. Gojo's unsavory behaviors are the kinds people are most likely to have themselves. He kind of forces you to look at those flaws and that can be a deeply uncomfortable experience.
Also I think Gojo would be more like "I can't be a misogynist, I'm not a Zenin."
(Cough more on my racists tier list. It's more of "Were they written well? Was the racism properly condemned by the narrative? Is the racism relevant to themes? If they try to get better, is the racism properly addressed? Is it funny in the pathetic loser way?")
#but I also have this different vibe that he. despite how much he says so and maybe wants to. does NOT care about 'the weak' beyond his job #we see him literally step on people in shibuya to get to where he needs to quicker #he doesn't even bother remembering the names of the kyoto kids besides maybe todo and mechamaru (strong)
Well the thing is teen Gojo definitely didn't care about the weak. Post-Geto break up and after he started mimicking all of Geto's moral teachings? No idea. Gojo treats people he loves poorly so it's hard to tell when he really hates or doesn't care about someone. And he does posture about those things like with Megumi's body being used by Sukuna.
During the Shibuya incident, he does step on all those people's heads and let them be thrown against his Infinity like objects. But he doesn't hurt them. This is a guy who stepped on ants and made sure his Infinity prevented them from being crushed.
Kenjaku's group uses his love for other people against him here. Gojo tries to posture during it, but his composure breaks a few times when they start killing a lot of them. He also checked in on their survival after he UV'd them.
That being said, he probably cares more about them as living things than as equals. He has a very clear bias for the strong when it comes to putting in time and effort. ...But also Ijichi is so weak and Gojo trusts him the most. Gojo went out of his way to care for him when he was suffering. ...And he also relentlessly bullies him. (As you can see Gojo's true feelings on the topic are iffy as fudge.)
#imo the only reason he cares enough to correct nanamis language when talking abt yuuji is that he simply has a lot of potential to be strong #he took maki in hoping to make another toji out of her but bc he doesn't know how a toji is made he basically gives up #which is why I think he didn't even think to call suguru out for the way he talks to her
That would be really fudged up if he was trying to make another Toji and I wouldn't put it past him. He does put his students in really questionable predicaments in the name of growth. That might also explain why he corrected Nanami with Yuji. Someone with his power experiencing immense discrimination could churn out another Geto.
#like gojo has really lofty goals but his day to day consists of ignoring it all until there's a problem or he needs to talk about his goals #he's very much running around aimlessly like a headless chicken mostly bc of the higher ups so it's understandable that he doesn't have time #to even think about let alone try to unlearn all that internalized shit stopping him from achieving his goals #also everything about your tags YES TO ALL OF IT YOU'RE SO RIGHT AND BIG BRAINED
So true! Gojo is stretched so thin that I think he defaults to "cold logic" as Mahito puts it. If he's going to change things for the better, he has to invest in strong people, so they get all his attention and time. All the little systemic issues can be ignored because he was raised to only care about the big things.
It's such a frustrating predicament because I want to be mad at him for this, but it's also [Joker Voice] Society. I've settled on calling it out as a character flaw that can be explained (not excused) by circumstances.
#also uwu thank you 4 talking about kirara shes my everything and gojos an idiot for losing that entire years worth of students (2 whole ppl) #anyway I am sorry for clogging your tags yet again your posts make the gears in my brain turn very fast
Thank you as well. Clogging my tags makes me reexamine things more. I think after reading this response you'll be able to see the parts of your tags that influenced certain parts of the Ok Dad Gojo Analysis.
#cactus yaps?#Gojo is such a unique can of worms and I don't think I'll ever be able to express it in full.#I'm praying the light novels and anime give him more character interactions.#My biggest complaint about this series is all those relationships being glossed over.#Please for the love of fudge I want to see his falling out with Hakari and Kiara.#I also view him as trans because it adds another layer of Funny to his decisions and character interactions. Especially with Kiara.#Like if the Utahime stuff is T4T Trans Inclusive Radical Misogyny? Kino. Peak.#asks#jujutsu kaisen#gojo satoru#jjk spoilers
41 notes
·
View notes
Text
💞TF2 First Date Headcanons💞
This is my first time writing them! God this took so fucking long anyway
⚾Scout- To be honest, if he’s not that much into you (and even if he is), he probably wants to fuck on the first date. Or at least he thinks he wants to, but doesn’t make that much of a move. I think that the first date consists of intense planning that more than likely doesn’t work out. Maybe you guys just grab food or go to a game or something. He’s a baseball guy. He definitely seems like one too. A lot of the date is him talking to you, maybe you get a word in. Give the guy a break, he’s excited. His ideal date I think would be something active, or a place where you guys can talk and be loud. Think concerts. Although I don’t think he would go to those often. For some reason I can see him liking the zoo. At the end of the date, he might ask you to hang around. Just to have your company and have something like a little sleepover.
🗡Spy- Oh it is fancy. It is fancy and it is elaborate. You are stunning, gorgeous, dashing, beautiful, a sight to behold, all of the above. He says this to you. He’s all about first impressions, and second ones. And third and fourths. Eventually you get through and he’s a little more normal, if that’s what you wanna say. But that’s a different post. I don’t know whether he would take you somewhere or think of something himself, but I think he would take you somewhere real fancy. The base is too hectic for a real date in his eyes. You probably don’t care. The date is small talk and classic. He pays, you feel a little bad. I imagine this isn’t something you’re used to. You’re definitely going home with this guy, though.
🦘Sniper-I imagine this guy is the type of person to teach his s/o, maybe everyone, to shoot a gun. So that’s what you do. It’s you two alone in the desert, shooting cans, shooting other shit, maybe you light a fire at some point when it gets dark. I like to think that despite him being very outdoorsy and Like That, he doesn’t mind staying in for his s/o. So maybe you guys cook something up in the camper. I don’t think you stick around in the camper in the middle of nowhere with a guy you just had a first date with. Or maybe you do! Cause like, how do you expect to get home?
🛠Engineer-You know that scene in the Barbie movie where Ken sings at Barbie and plays his guitar at the fire? You do now. That’s the date, but a lot less awkward. You and Engie’s date is a big ol’ bondfire and some guitar strumming. If you’re interested, he’ll show you the stuff he made. If you guys decide to cook over this fire, don’t be surprised if it gets interrupted with a few of the other guys. Or just Pyro. Definitely Pyro. He doesn’t mind too much, and hopefully neither do you. The date is sweet, and if you know how to play a guitar, then he’ll definitely let you take a crack at it. Good or bad, he’s kind of smitten. Most of the night consists of just sharing stories and enjoying each other’s presence, at some points you forget it’s a date. It just feels like a night out with a friend.
💣Demoman-Look me in the eyes and tell me what YOU think. Kidding. Kind of. Drinking will be involved at some point, but if you’re not up for a bar and getting shitfaced then WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING READING DEMOMAN’S SECTION? Kidding. His ideal first date is very mellow, surprisingly. Cooking together, showing you around. It’s been a white since I’ve been in the fandom, but he strikes me as kind of a book worm. Maybe it’s the hat. That motherfucker definitely read Moby Dick once or twice. Anyway, I think he likes to dance with his s/o! Very much just some slowdancing in the middle of a living room or kitchen or something. Maybe not the kitchen because people go in there. But if you don’t care then neither does he. To reference some book I read, he’s more than the [growing] alcoholic you took him for…he’s also a friend. I haven’t read the comics either in a while, but he’s a funny guy I know that.
🔥Pyro-Yeah so there’s fire involved. What do I even tell you man. There’s fire and they tell you a lot of things, none of which you really understand, but it results in you guys drawing together too. Their drawings are pretty graphic, so you say fuck it. Now you both are sharing the red crayon. After this, you throw them into a large fire that you two lit. It used to be a tree. You have to admit it’s pretty beautiful. Especially when the sky turns dark, and not just from smoke. Maybe this guy does know what he’s doing. If it’s not a tree that’s caught on fire, then you too mosey on over to Engineer’s previously mentioned fire. Don’t think about it too hard.
💉Medic-If it’s not canon, I imagine him as kind of a hermit. Maybe a major one. He’s definitely the type of guy to be working in the lab late one night. So, if you two are going to be a thing, you have to get used to said lab. Hopefully you’re not squeamish. The date is dissection. Whatever he is working on, you are too, but most things you’re not allowed to touch just yet, so you stick by the birds. He doesn’t mind for a while, but it is a date. Once this hits him, he lets you disembowel the corpse. Aw. Isn’t that sweet? You didn’t learn a thing, but the conversation and act itself was kind of fun!
🐻Heavy-A first date for him means getting to know each other. Very classic. I imagine, however, that his idea of getting to know each other means meeting the family. We all know he’s a family man, so you’re gonna meet them all. Haha funny reference. Anyway, you might fight a bear. Stories are shared, it’s a lot like Engineer’s date in that regard. You two have fun though. If you’re not up to meeting an entire family, though, that’s reasonable. He likes books. You probably do too. So you guys can read. Nothing like sharing other people’s stories
🦅Soldier- Oh you thought this was going to be nice. This was going to be nice and normal like the rest of them. Listen pal. Buddy. Chum. This is a first date. Nudity is involved, maybe not your own nudity, but someone’s definitely naked. I want to say you’re naked and covered in honey, but someone else did that two years ago. So like, maybe fight a bear man, snap a few necks. Make this man proud with the sweet sound of freedom (freedom to snap necks).
👓Miss Pauling-Goodluck. She gets one day off a year, and she is not spending it on another first date. If you’re going on a date with her, you’re probably already together. It’s not your fault! Her schedule is shit. A date with her is most likely going to be staying in, ordering takeout, and watching some shows. She probably loves you if she’s spending her day off with you, but she’s not exactly the most energetic considering her job.
#team fortress 2#tf2#tf2 medic#marble hornets#tf2 scout#tf2 sniper#tf2 spy#tf2 heavy#tf2 miss pauling#tf2 pyro#tf2 soldier#tf2 engineer#tf2 demoman#tf2 x reader#tf2 headcanons#x reader#headcanons
240 notes
·
View notes
Note
I find it interesting that the most controversial/widespread posts have been those relating to physical appearance/visual medium. Lbh's hair and body type and sqq's eyes. I wonder what's the underlying cause for this. Maybe because people get attached to designs they feel more protective of them? Just a thought.
Oh, I would say this is absolutely the case. Visual design choices are, after all, often symbolic reflections of parts of individuals' own selves in some way, or of other things that are important to them. Artists will also spend a lot of time and thought on creating their designs-- and in some ways, visual media and written media are also quite different. You don't need the visual contrast so much in a book, but you do need it more when it's pictures, because characters with good contrasts are pleasant to look at together.
I actually think the donghua designs create a sort of contrast too-- both by SQQ's lighter eyes to LBH's, but as well as with the broader silhouettes, where SQQ has flowing robes and hair and LBH's silhouette is tighter. Also in general, the black robes of adult LBH vs the teal & white. Western stylization just focuses more on body type+hair texture silhouette diversity, while eastern stylization is more about the clothing and hair-styling silhouette, in a broad generalization, so it's only natural that when people create their designs, especially for a media that is only written, like SVSSS before the donghua or official cover art came out, that they will draw influence from the background of their own culture in creating these designs, in addition to their own experiences.
It's difficult too in my position, because while I genuinely want to take a neutral look at trends and history and patterns and cultural influence as a scientific sort of examination, there are so many instances of attacks on character designs, which make both the artists and designers and the people who like those designs feel bad and just isn't productive, even if criticisms are genuine. Things should be talked over civily, without bashing, because a space where people are belittled and attacked is not a space where people can learn.
Anyway, everyone has reasons for their designs. Sometimes these may be rooted in stereotyping or westernization, but other times, they're based on personal reasons and don't actually have those roots. It's not my or anyone's place to declare, definitively, that someone is stereotyping (of course, there are some instances when things are very very obvious and that's a different story), I only try to explain what things i can so that people are then able to examine things for themselves. I do think it's everyone's own responsibility to look at their own biases and think about where their portrayal choices are sourced from, especially when engaging with a culture that isn't one's own. But I don't want people to get into a justification loop, because that's not going to help anyone-- just to honestly take a look at the why of things. Sometimes there's subconscious biases, sometimes it isn't about that. I don't know peoples' own experiences, so I'm not going to say what it is or isn't.
In the end, accountability is something that is definitely needed in sensitive areas like westernization or stereotyping. However, accountability is not dogpiling on someone. Instead, it's personally being open to consideration, to change, and to growth-- and we'll never have that in a hostile environment. People need to focus more on holding themselves accountable, and less on holding others accountable-- we all have unconscious biases. It's part of existing in any culture or environment, and it's a life-long process of examining them and growing in experience and knowledge. And I hope to contribute that knowledge wherever I can, and use what platform I have to foster that sort of gentler environment, where it's not about making people who genuinely didn't know things feel bad, but where it's okay to be wrong, and to learn and grow.
It's up to an individual to examine themselves when they hear new information. That doesn't mean everyone needs to change their designs to conform with Chinese beauty standards-- which have plenty of issues of their own, and shouldn't be taken as more "morally correct!" It's just so that as many people as possible can have as much information as possible, so they can make the best and most informed judgments and decisions they can about their own viewpoints and thought processes.
But yes, even saying all this, I can perfectly acknowledge that fan-designs of beloved characters hold a bit of their creator's heart. While creators can be imperfect, the experiences and emotions and care that these designs stem from is still genuine, and should be treated with gentleness and understanding.
No matter if someone's viewpoint is erroneous or just different from yours, it's important to remember that every person on the internet is a real, human person. Fandom culture can be so notoriously toxic-- and it's high time that people remember each other's humanity, and treat one another with compassion and understanding. That's the only way to create a better fandom space-- and ultimately, a better world.
#answered#psa#this got very very long#i was actually going to make a whole post of my own on this#there are a lot of important things to consider#but most importantly we are all people#all enjoying something together#all existing on this planet and in the end we want to be happy and live and be treated fairly#and when getting caught up in fandom wank or anything else really#this can get forgotten#there's a place for anger and a place for calling things out#but if a gentler option can be just as effective there's no reason not to use that#better to take the time and understand than to lash out incorrectly#long post
82 notes
·
View notes
Text
Bestiaryposting Results: Shonweak
This is an unusual one in terms of whether people have preconceptions on what it looks like. On one hand, the medieval interpretation of this animal is widespread and generally known, at least in comparison to other bestiary material -- shows up in modern fantasy and everything -- so it's possible that people familiar with medieval stuff recognized it on sight and had to work against those preconceptions. On the other hand, the medieval interpretation is pretty much completely divorced from reality, so anyone coming at it from a background of Actually Knowing Animals rather than one of Knowing Medieval Nonsense is likely going to be baffled.
Anyway, as usual, if you're confused by what I'm talking about, please refer to https://maniculum.tumblr.com/bestiaryposting. And you can find the entry that artists are working from here:
Art below the cut, roughly chronological, &c.
@silverhart-makes-art (link here) says that they wanted to draw a Weird Little Creature, and... mission accomplished, that creature sure can Weird and Little. I kind of love it; it's got that vibe that makes something simultaneously cute and kind of unsettling. The linked post goes into some detail about design decisions and the real-world animals they used for inspiration. Something I think is particularly clever is how they not only incorporated the carapace from the beetle they were inspired by, but they also made the profile of the head fit with that, so that it also looks kind of beetle-like despite being obviously mammalian.
@cheapsweets (link to post here) also had Beetle Thoughts and decided to just run with them, creating an impressively-realistic-looking drawing of a beetle. (I think I'm just a sucker for black-and-white naturalist-style art, because lately I keep looking at CheapSweets's work and going "ooh, look at the stippling and everything". Plus I'm perennially impressed that they do this with a fountain pen.) There's some detailed discussion in the linked post about what specific beetles this design takes inspiration from, as well as how they envision this animal functioning in general, and that's really interesting, so I recommend checking it out. (Did you know there was a beetle known as the "diabolical ironclad beetle"? Delightful.) Additionally, they note that we should imagine bright warning colors, but they didn't have time to add them. Also, thank you CheapSweets for providing alt text.
@sweetlyfez (link to post here) also notes that this critter would have bright warning colors if she'd had time to color it. Apparently this design is inspired by poison-type Pokemon, which I can definitely see: that's a credible Pokemon design. It's all gloopy for putting out fires. I find it interesting that there's a degree of consensus on this entry being interpreted in this way -- replies on the original post expressed that That Is A Pokemon, and seemingly SweetlyFez agrees. I like the side-eye it's giving, too. (And thank you for including alt text.)
@pomrania (link to post here) was the one to label this a Pokemon in the replies, and we can see that they've run with that a bit, as this is also a credible Pokemon design. It's a little bit cat, a little bit dragon, and a little bit liquid so it can put out fire. I like that it looks so pleased with itself while causing problems.
@coolest-capybara (link to post here) has decided that the Shonweak is an armadillo. This illustration shows some very nice Stylized Trees, I must say, and I particularly like the visual effect showing that the Shonweaks are poisoning the one on the left. (Coolest-Capybara also makes note of the Pokemon thing.) For an explanation of why they are armadillos, please see the linked post.
@strixcattus (link to post here) has drawn a very charming little creature. I love the puffed-up cheeks & throat sac, and the effect that has on its facial expression. If you check out the linked post for a proper description of this beast, you'll find it's quite interesting -- I particularly like the idea that it spits poison by filling its throat sac with water and then allowing its natural poison to seep into that water. I think that's pretty clever.
Now, to the Aberdeen Bestiary, where the illustrator has done a Scene that takes up most of the page:
That's a heck of a thing, right? I really like it, to be honest. We've got the cool Stylized Tree with critters wrapping around the branches, we've got the ones in the fire doing kind of a flame-like pose, and of course we have a dead guy at the bottom. The last of these just strikes me as funny for some reason.
Anyway, as I think multiple people guessed, this is the salamander.
No, the illustrator had apparently never seen one, so they've drawn snakes instead, probably because of the association with poison.
Anyway, I was surprised to learn (just now actually) that salamanders really are quite poisonous. I have no idea whether they can poison food and water in the way that the author describes -- that seems a bit extreme -- but I don't think I know enough to rule it out.
The fire thing... well, that's definitely not the case. I'm not really sure where that came from. I've heard the explanation that people in the past would occasionally see salamanders crawling out of fires, and thus form the idea that they were fireproof, unaware of the fact that the salamanders were just hiding in their firewood and are fleeing the fire as a result of being Definitely Not Fireproof. I don't know how credible that is, though.
This fire association may have been amplified by... well, look at this:
That's Salamandra salamandra, aka the fire salamander. It's pretty common and widespread in Europe, and is also among the largest salamanders on the continent, so it's reasonable to think this is the one that pre-modern Europeans would have in mind. And you know, that coloring definitely gives the impression of "this is a Fire Guy". If one were to see this salamander crawling out of a fire (worth noting that the Wikipedia article does say they like to hide under fallen wood, so maybe that idea tracks), and knew nothing about zoology, you could see how they might think "yes, that looks like something that was supposed to be in there."
58 notes
·
View notes
Note
Please tell me about your IHNMAIMS headcanons!!! :3 I will eat them up
HEHEHEHE HIHIHI!!!
:3 multiple people asked me to talk about it and I talked about it with people in DMs too so here's the post for group discussion where I tag you all @average-hyperfixator @paig-does-it @infectiousliterature @a-st3r hello!!
God where to begin?
I was mainly talking about Ellen last night. I like. For context, I have this huge ihnmaims doc just *filled* with headcanons, how I would rewrite their backstories and psychodramas and such. Things like that!!! I only have like. Ted filled out coherently at this point, but I've been thinking about the others too. Like Ellen!!!
I really want to write her in a light where she's not. That soft-spoken, sweet, submissive and cowardly person that she's like all across the franchise. Like, she is, but not until AM messed with her, yk???
The Ellen I imagine...
Grew up in a very loving and very supportive family. She definitely doesn't come from money, but she's not really well-off either. She's kind of in Ted's situation in terms of financially, maybe a bit worse.
But!! That doesn't stop her or her family. She was loved. She was taken care of. She was encouraged. And as such, she's a very confident, strong-willed, determined woman when she grows up. She loves to learn, loves to do whatever she can get her hands on; stem, psychology, anthropology, history, computer science, engineering, etc, etc. She just wants to know all she can!!!
And man, with that type of determination + love of learning, it gets her places. She's a high achiever, maybe a bit of a perfectionist and hard on herself, but she's done so many great things in her life, she's admirable!
The only issue is... While family and friends may support her. While she's still achieved so much. It leaves a bitter aftertaste knowing that...
Well, she's still a black woman. Yk?
And that means she has to limit herself. Keep her light dimmed. In order to really... get anywhere she wants. Even if she hates it. Because, society only sees her in that light and nothing more. No matter what she does, her race and gender will still hold her down. If that makes sense?
She's kind. She's caring. She's a good person. She always has been, but wouldn't you also be kind of snarky and passive-aggressive if people diminish the things you do, just because of what you are? Being constantly compared to a white woman, or even a white man, being asked when you'll finally settle and start your "true calling" (marriage and kids), etc?
I like to think she's witty and cunning and just so smart, and seldom few people want to accept it due to their racism and misogyny. And it's awful
And then... The world ends. It blows up. Now you're the only black woman left on Earth alive, surrounded by men, and a sentient AI strips you of all those things that made you *you*. Turns you into someone you don't recognize.
It was AM's doing. Her becoming that soft-spoken, motherly, cowardly woman. That's not who she is. That's AM forcing her to take on a more traditional role; a wife, a mother. An accessory to a man. Because what would be more humiliating than that, to a woman who was so much more?
She's trapped in a box she can't get out of. One with a sliding door, always reminding her of what she could be, but it's too far out of reach. Trying to grab it will risk in your arm getting chopped off, or worse. (Thank you to paige-does-it for this idea specifically <333)
But still
The door can open. And she can see the light at the end of the tunnel.
So she has hope. She keeps it, close to her chest, and tries to give others the same. That they can survive this. That things can be better than they are now.
Not necessarily because she believes it, but...
She'd go insane without it.
#ihnmaims#i have no mouth and i must scream#sara speaks :3#ellen ihnmaims#I HOPE THIS ALL MAKES SENSE FOR WHERE I'M GOING WITH HER???#DOES THIS SOUND CORRECT???#GIVE ME YOUR OPINIONS!!!#Let her say fuck you guys PLEASE
21 notes
·
View notes
Note
do u mind giving me the definition of jirai ? from everything ive seen, i do seem to be one but im only basing this off of how most jirai related posts relate to me and id like to figure out if i actually am one, but cant find a solid definition anywhere T_T
(Little disclaimer - this is very casual conversation type post I'm literally just yapping so yk do with that what you will this isn't like a super thought-out essay or anything like that T-T)
Yeah, there really isn't a solid definition anywhere. IDK if there really can be a solid definition either; it's a really big subculture and what it means kind of depends on who you ask. A lot of people will go through the history when trying to explain it (myself included haha) because it's kind of the most solid thing to point towards because there are different sections of the subculture at this point, and conversation abt the current state of the subculture is lacking a little bit. Subcultures tend to be kind of fluid like that - especially new ones and large ones and Jirai Kei is cursed with both of those so it's a bit weird at times. The closest thing we have to a solid definition is the name: landmine type. Like a landmine. It's solid - but it's not actually helpful.
I won't talk your ear off about the history of it - many many people have spoken about it. Highly recommend looking into Toyoko Kids, Host Clubs, Underground Idol Culture, and the "Jirai Kei" makeup trend of 2019/2020 because those are the big things that kind of kicked it off and started the subculture / large aspects of the subculture.
The one overall disclaimer I will give is that the subculture was born out of nightlife in Japan - the subculture has grown a lot since its birth but it still is very much associated with nightlife, mental illness, and other triggering topics such as alcoholism, sex work, self-harm, addiction & obsession among other things. There are triggering things in the Jirai Kei tags - there's no way around that & honestly, for a lot of people that's part of the point - anyone who says there isn't is either lying or hasn't looked much - and if you're just into the fashions and not interested in things about mental health I highly recommend avoiding the tags (especially on tumblr / twitter). No shame in it! Just yk, there's triggering shit in there and if that's not your vibe no worries. A lot of people recommend using the tag "Dark Girly Kei" or "Girly Kei" if you're just interested in the fashion - but those tags are pretty much dead on anything other than Tumblr. You're better off using #ryousangata although the aesthetic tends to be lighter. Also if you go far back enough in those tags (not that you ever would) but like back in the 2000s ryousangata was used to describe more Gyaru-type clothing because it just means "mass-produced" so at some point those tags will likely be a different fashion but we've got a few years until that happens. Like as much as I want there to be a solution for this there kind of... isn't. At least not at this moment.
Overall, people tend to agree that it's a mental health & fashion based subculture - although it's grown away from the classic Jirai Kei / Dark Girly Kei look and branches out into other j-fashions like Jirai Subcul, Tenshi Kaiwai, and even Lolita. Back in 2019 or 2020 if you were to talk about "Jirai Fashion" people would know you were talking about that kind of subsection of Dark Girly Kei (and as a note there is a debate to be had about whether the appropriate name for the fashion is Jirai Kei or Dark Girly Kei - which to be honest I don't feel like delving into at this exact moment T-T), but, at this point, if you say "Jirai Fashion" you could be talking about a whole variety of different things, so typically if people are referring to clothes as "Jirai Kei" they mean that very classic black/pink/white Dark Girly type vibe, and usually they're including the pien makeup and the twin-tails in that because those are really the two mainstays of Jirai Kei aesthetics.
Although a lot of (especially foreign) landmine types don't wear the fashions often if at all. It seems people agree that being interested in or liking the associated fashions / aesthetics is part of it; a lot of vent jirai blogs will also repost coords or things like that. It's definitely a part of the Jirai Kei subculture, but how big of a part really depends on the person. I don't personally think you have to wear Dark Girly or anything to be part of the Jirai Kei community but that's just my opinion.
The Jirai Kei community especially on Tumblr is mostly a space for people to talk about their mental health struggles. There is the overall vibe of "struggling but cute" but for the most part, it's where people go to talk about things they can't really talk about anywhere else. A lot of landmine types are people who used to be menhera but left that subculture because menhera is very much recovery-focused and I've found that as menhera got larger and especially over the past few years some menhera spaces have gotten kind of pushy about recovery? Don't get me wrong, I associate with and love both subcultures, but some of the menhera spaces can be a little preachy sometimes, so some people like Jirai Kei better. It's not a recovery-based or awareness-based subculture (it's also not like really "reclaiming" the insult "Jirai" as much as it is a play on it - which is a mistake I have made in the past so just if anyone saw that I've learned since then I promise T-T), it's purely just "Hey we're all mentally ill let's all be mentally ill and cute together". A lot of people note that not being pushed to recovery or people accepting them without pressuring them to recover is a big part of why they like the Jirai Kei subculture. A lot of landmines are also both, although I will note: the menhera tag on Tumblr has been completely overrun with Jirai Kei stuff and it does make me a little bit sad.
People have mixed feelings on this - there's kind of a scale to it. Some people hate that recovery isn't front and center - to those people I highly recommend menhera? Recovery is great if you're in a space to be able to do that, but for a lot of people, it may not be a viable option right now. You can't make someone recover that doesn't want to, and you can only help someone so much if they don't have access to things like therapy, medications, and a stable home environment. All of those things are a big part of the recovery process and if they don't have access to that recovery isn't IMPOSSIBLE but it does make it much harder for sure. A lot of people like it because they feel like Jirai Kei is more forgiving of people who don't want to recover or people who relapse. And some people go on rants about how Jirai Kei is ONLY for people who aren't recovering or actively want to get worse and NO ONE can recover if they're Jirai Kei - a vast majority of the community dislikes that sentiment and disagrees heavily with it.
One note about it I will make is that if you are trying to recover - especially at the beginning - you may want to limit your interaction with the Jirai Kei tags just because there are people who aren't interested in recovery in those tags and there are triggering things in those tags - which again is to be expected and there's nothing wrong with that - it's just if you're trying to recover I don't want you to end up triggering yourself. The block button and tag filter tools are your best friend. (And I'm so sad that Twitter does not have this function - twitter doesn't even let you block people anymore bc Elon got butthurt that he was the most blocked person on the website (allegedly)).
There are like different types of "Jirais" which kind of boil down to: 1) Mentally struggling and looking for a community to talk about those struggles with 2) Maybe not mentally struggling so much now but know what its like and likes the general vibe / aesthetic so they stick around. 3) Just likes the aesthetics. (Generally okay so long as you know that you're going to see triggering stuff and you're not mean to anyone because of those struggles or trying to erase the mental illness aspect from the subculture)
Another note while I'm just blabbering on about nothing is that if you see someone wearing the associated fashions but they're not using the term "Jirai" in their posts or tags - pleASE do not label them as "jirai". It is still an offensive term. Unless someone is claiming it for themselves, pls don't call them that, even if you mean well it can still be hurtful.
My general idea (and again I'm not like the Jirai Kei gatekeeper or anything like that) is that if you like the community and you're not an asshole you're all good.
ANYWAY I've just kind of brain-dumped all of this out here so it's not like super comprehensive or like.. extremely well thought out I'm kind of falling asleep rn so if anyone has anything to add or anything to correct pls feel free to ask or comment or anything ♡
13 notes
·
View notes