#you do realize that brown skin Indian people exist?

[oceanatydes]

why the fuck is there no brown mc for south Asian players? they keep making the MCs paler and paler. they literally look like zombies

[writingwithcolor]

What Does Our "Motivations” PSA Mean?

@luminalalumini said:

I've been on your blog a lot and it has a lot of really insightful information, but I notice a theme with some of your answers where you ask the writer reaching out what their 'motivation for making a character a certain [race/religion/ethnicity/nationality] is' and it's discouraging to see, because it seems like you're automatically assigning the writer some sort of ulterior motive that must be sniffed out and identified before the writer can get any tips or guidance for their question. Can't the 'motive' simply be having/wanting to have diversity in one's work? Must there be an 'ulterior motive'? I can understand that there's a lot of stigma and stereotypes and bad influence that might lead to someone trynna add marginalized groups into their stories for wrong reasons, but people that have those bad intentions certainly won't be asking for advice on how to write good representation in the first place. Idk its just been something that seemed really discouraging to me to reach out myself, knowing i'll automatically be assigned ulterior motives that i don't have and will probably have to justify why i want to add diversity to my story as if i'm comitting some sort of crime. I don't expect you guys to change your blog or respond to this or even care all that much, I'm probably just ranting into a void. I'm just curious if theres any reason to this that I haven't realized exists I suppose. I don't want y'all to take this the wrong way because I do actually love and enjoy your blog's advice in spite of my dumb griping. Cheers :))

We assume this is in reference to the following PSA:

PSA to all of our users - Motivation Matters: This lack of clarity w/r to intent has been a general issue with many recent questions. Please remember that if you don’t explain your motivations and what you intend to communicate to your audience with your plot choices, character attributes, world-building etc., we cannot effectively advise you beyond the information you provide. We Are Not Mind Readers. If, when drafting these questions, you realize you can’t explain your motivations, that is likely a hint that you need to think more on the rationales for your narrative decisions. My recommendation is to read our archives and articles on similar topics for inspiration while you think. I will be attaching this PSA to all asks with similar issues until the volume of such questions declines. 

We have answered this in three parts.

1. Of Paved Roads and Good Intentions

Allow me to give you a personal story, in solidarity towards your feelings:

When I began writing in South Asia as an outsider, specifically in the Kashmir and Lahore areas, I was doing it out of respect for the cultures I had grown up around. I did kathak dance, I grew up on immigrant-cooked North Indian food, my babysitters were Indian. I loved Mughal society, and every detail of learning about it just made me want more. The minute you told me fantasy could be outside of Europe, I hopped into the Mughal world with two feet. I was 13. I am now 28.

And had you asked me, as a teenager, what my motives were in giving my characters’ love interests blue or green eyes, one of them blond hair, my MC having red-tinted brown hair that was very emphasized, and a whole bunch of paler skinned people, I would have told you my motives were “to represent the diversity of the region.” 

I’m sure readers of the blog will spot the really, really toxic and colourist tropes present in my choices. If you’re new here, then the summary is: giving brown people “unique” coloured eyes and hair that lines up with Eurocentric beauty standards is an orientalist trope that needs to be interrogated in your writing. And favouring pale skinned people is colourist, full stop.

Did that make me a bad person with super sneaky ulterior motives who wanted to write bad representation? No.

It made me an ignorant kid from the mostly-white suburbs who grew up with media that said brown people had to “look unique” (read: look as European as possible) to be considered valuable.

And this is where it is important to remember that motives can be pure as you want, but you were still taught all of the terrible stuff that is present in society. Which means you’re going to perpetuate it unless you stop and actually question what is under your conscious motive, and work to unlearn it. Work that will never be complete.

I know it sounds scary and judgemental (and it’s one of the reasons we allow people to ask to be anonymous, for people who are afraid). Honestly, I would’ve reacted much the same as a younger writer, had you told me I was perpetuating bad things. I was trying to do good and my motives were pure, after all! But after a few years, I realized that I had fallen short, and I had a lot more to learn in order for my motives to match my impact. Part of our job at WWC is to attempt to close that gap.

We aren’t giving judgement, when we ask questions about why you want to do certain things. We are asking you to look at the structural underpinnings of your mind and question why those traits felt natural together, and, more specifically, why those traits felt natural to give to a protagonist or other major character.

I still have blond, blue-eyed characters with sandy coloured skin. I still have green-eyed characters. Because teenage me was right, that is part of the region. But by interrogating my motive, I was able to devalue those traits within the narrative, and I stopped making those traits shorthand for “this is the person you should root for.” 

It opened up room for me to be messier with my characters of colour, even the ones who my teenage self would have deemed “extra special.” Because the European-associated traits (pale hair, not-brown-eyes) stopped being special. After years of questioning, they started lining up with my motive of just being part of the diversity of the region.

Motive is important, both in the conscious and the subconscious. It’s not a judgement and it’s not assumed to be evil. It’s simply assumed to be unquestioned, so we ask that you question it and really examine your own biases.

~Mod Lesya

2. Motivations Aren't Always "Ulterior"

You can have a positive motivation or a neutral one or a negative one. Just wanting to have diversity only means your characters aren't all white and straight and cis and able-bodied -- it doesn't explain why you decided to make this specific character specifically bi and specifically Jewish (it me). Yes, sometimes it might be completely random! But it also might be "well, my crush is Costa Rican, so I gave the love interest the same background", or "I set it in X City where the predominant marginalized ethnicity is Y, so they are Y". Neither of these count as ulterior motives. But let's say for a second that you did accidentally catch yourself doing an "ulterior." Isn't that the point of the blog, to help you find those spots and clean them up?

Try thinking of it as “finding things that need adjusting” rather than “things that are bad” and it might get less scary to realize that we all do them, subconsciously. Representation that could use some work is often the product of subconscious bias, not deliberate misrepresentation, so there's every possibility that someone who wants to improve and do better didn't do it perfectly the first time. 

--Shira

3. Dress-Making as a Metaphor

I want to echo Lesya’s sentiments here but also provide a more logistical perspective. If you check the rubber stamp guide here and the “Motivation matters” PSA above, you’ll notice that concerns with respect to asker motivation are for the purposes of providing the most relevant answer possible.

It is a lot like if someone walks into a dressmaker’s shop and asks for a blue dress/ suit (Back when getting custom-made clothes was more of a thing) . The seamstress/ tailor is likely to ask a wide variety of questions:

What material do you want the outfit to be made of?

Where do you plan to wear it?

What do you want to highlight?

How do you want to feel when you wear it?

Let’s say our theoretical customer is in England during the 1920s. A tartan walking dress/ flannel suit for the winter is not the same as a periwinkle, beaded, organza ensemble/ navy pinstripe for formal dress in the summer. When we ask for motivations, we are often asking for exactly that: the specific reasons for your inquiry so we may pinpoint the most pertinent information.

The consistent problem for many of the askers who receive the PSA is they haven’t even done the level of research necessary to know what they want to ask of us. It would be like if our English customer in the 1920s responded, “IDK, some kind of blue thing.” Even worse,  WWC doesn’t have the luxury of the back-and-forth between a dressmaker and their clientele. If our asker doesn’t communicate all the information they need in mind at the time of submission, we can only say, “Well, I’m not sure if this is right, but here’s something. I hope it works, but if you had told us more, we could have done a more thorough job.”

Answering questions without context is hard, and asking for motivations, by which I mean the narratives, themes, character arcs and other literary devices that you are looking to incorporate, is the best way for us to help you, while also helping you to determine if your understanding of the problem will benefit from outside input. Because these asks are published with the goal of helping individuals with similar questions, the PSA also serves to prompt other users.

I note that asking questions is a skill, and we all start by asking the most basic questions (Not stupid questions, because to quote a dear professor, “There are no stupid questions.”). Unfortunately, WWC is not suited for the most basic questions. To this effect, we have a very helpful FAQ and archive as a starting point. Once you have used our website to answer the more basic questions, you are more ready to approach writing with diversity and decide when we can actually be of service. This is why we are so adamant that people read the FAQ. Yes, it helps us, but it also is there to save you time and spare you the ambiguity of not even knowing where to start.

The anxiety in your ask conveys to me a fear of being judged for asking questions. That fear is not something we can help you with, other than to wholeheartedly reassure you that we do not spend our unpaid, free time answering these questions in order to assume motives we can’t confirm or sit in judgment of our users who, as you say, are just trying to do better.

Yes, I am often frustrated when an asker’s question makes it clear they haven’t read the FAQ or archives. I’ve also been upset when uncivil commenters have indicated that my efforts and contributions are not worth their consideration. However, even the most tactless question has never made me think, “Ooh this person is such a naughty racist. Let me laugh at them for being a naughty racist. Let me shame them for being a naughty racist. Mwahaha.”

What kind of sad person has time for that?*

Racism is structural. It takes time to unlearn, especially if you’re in an environment that doesn’t facilitate that process to begin with. Our first priority is to help while also preserving our own boundaries and well-being. Though I am well aware of the levels of toxic gas-lighting and virtue signaling that can be found in various corners of online writing communities in the name of “progressivism*”, WWC is not that kind of space. This space is for discussions held in good faith: for us to understand each other better, rather than for one of us to “win” and another to “lose.”

Just as we have good faith that you are doing your best, we ask that you have faith that we are trying to do our best by you and the BIPOC communities we represent.

- Marika.

*If you are in any writing or social media circles that feed these anxieties or demonstrate these behaviors, I advise you to curtail your time with them and focus on your own growth. You will find, over time, that it is easier to think clearly when you are worrying less about trying to appease people who set the bar of approval so high just for the enjoyment of watching you jump. “Internet hygiene”, as I like to call it, begins with you and the boundaries you set with those you interact with online.

[aro-comics]

Jealousy (Part 1)

Part 1/4 - finally starting the jealousy comic 🎉🥳!!! I guess it’s a weird thing to be excited about considering the subject matter but it’s a comic I’ve wanted to share for some time now. While I wish most of my comics could be positive/focused on the good parts of being aro, the fact of the matter is that its tough sometimes too. I struggle with feeling okay about my identity and I know some of you do too. I hope that this series can at least shed some light on these feelings, and remind us that we’re not alone in what we’re feeling even when it’s not great 💚 This parts mostly introducing how I was feeling a few months ago. I used to never have any sort of reaction to ship art, but these days more often than not I’m finding myself jealous. It really surprised me at first, because ... i shouldn’t technically feel this way, at least on the surface? I know I don’t want to date/feel attracted to people that way overall, so it doesn’t seem to make sense that I would feel jealousy. But after some reflection I realized what that feeling was based in (stay tuned for the next few updates 😉). P.S: just to clarify on the art of the ocs on slide 6 - they’re some really old characters I had from when I was a teen 😂 I used to think that they were my “ideal type”/the kind of people I would want to date but deep down I knew i felt nothing for them that way lmaoooo. It confused the heck out of me b/c I know that these two really would have been *perfect* for me technically. Guess it makes sense now tho cause I know I’m aro 😅

[Image Description:

Slide 1: “Sometimes, I look at art of people in (romantic) love …”

Celia sitting at a table, looking down at her phone with an uncertain expression. Her desk has a teacup and an open sketchbook where she has drawn one of her characters. 

Slide 2: A closeup of Celia’s hands holding her phone. She is on instagram, and is looking at what appears to be a sketch of two characters. A taller white person with a spiky short hairstyle with an undercut is leaning in for a kiss with a shorter south asian woman with a bob cut.  

Slide 3: “... and for some reason, I get so, so Jealous.”

Back to scene of Celia sitting at her desk. She leans down with her hand on her chin, and she looks dissatisfied. 

Slide 4: Celia talking to the viewer now. She gestures out with her left hand. “I’m not sure why, to be honest.”

Slide 5: “When I look at people in my life -”

A drawing of three different people against a green background. In the far back is a long-haired person with tan skin. In the middle ground is a girl with long, curly dark hair, light skin, and round glasses. In the foreground is a guy with light skin, wavy brown hair and a neatly trimmed goatee. 

Slide 6: “-even people I wish existed in my life -”

A coloured sketch of two characters on a piece of paper is pictured. On the left is an indian girl with long brown hair, light freckles, holding a phone and wearing a peach puff sleeve blouse. Next to her is her name, Chiara Minhas, along with her pronouns (she/her). On the right is a tall albino black man with short cropped hair and a black t-shirt with an ambiguous university crest. His name, Albion Whitham, is written along with his pronouns (he/him). To the bottom right of the sketch is a note that reads “Old characters from when I was a teen”.

Another note is written at the bottom of the slide in small text: “Note: These are old characters I used to say I would date”

Slide 7: “- I know I feel nothing for them like that. Because I would never date anyone.” Celia sitting, her hand again on her chin but in a more pensive or thoughtful way. 

Slide 8: “But somehow ... I feel this jealousy, all the same. They look so happy. Cozy, warm, safe and wanted.”

Celia looks down, with a slight frown. 

Slide 9: “And the comments are full of praise. Joy. Support.”

A close up on the scene of Celia sitting at the table from the beginning of the comic. She is trying to cover up a frown, and little popups are drawn from the phone showing the comments she is looking at. They say: “Wow! [multiple heart emojis] So cute”, “My OTP! I hope I can find that one day”, “So happy for them! [Another heart emoji]”]

[clone-bar-79s]

As a brown girl who is rarely ever represented in cinema, except to be a unique love interest, I understand why people feel so angry about the clones being whitewashed in tbb. 

However, when I first came across the tag #unwhitewashed i could not understand what it all could be about. I only fell into this fandom about a month ago, within that time I have consumed all the animated content that exists... (well almost). (I had already seen the movies tho). And I loved the clones the moment I laid my eyes on them in The Clone Wars. And one of the biggest reasons for that insurmountable love that had lit within me, was because they were ... different. Not white... so pretty, with their prominent noses and dark skin that I had never seen before... being given the importance that they were. It was just amazing... and I had been swept off my feet no question about it

Then when I saw the unfortunate tag, I realized it wasn’t all that great and Star Wars racist past opened up and it was terrible for me. The Bad Batch was tainted and I felt sick to my stomach. I understood the fans’ anger but the thing is I also really didnt understand those emotions... cuz I stopped expecting shit from white people. There was this on dude Siddiq in some random episode... and that man is white. I mean for gods sake man, thats a pakistani name. You cant do this... and then they gave indian accents to one senator and a few creatures... and I am just like... thats it? And teh item song playing in Hondo’s bar... i mean... so sexy south-asian girl trope returns? Blekh... What I am saying is i dont expect better, but thats my problem. I think its great that the people are voicing their anger... Temuera is perfect and every clone should resemble him. The first time I saw Temuera was in the Mandalorian... i almost cried he was so cool... it looked like he was wearing a kameez... and welll... i didnt know i could get that emotional tbh

Whitewashing the clones was the worst decision Filloni and crew made. I’d have loved them no matter what they looked like, and its sad that the creators cant see that we dont care. we just want our clones to look like actual clones.. 

I mean, HOW THE FUK IS THAT KID KANAN??? THEY CHANGED HIS FUKING NOSE.

And whats worse is I have Kanan’s nose and they just took it away. Like why the fuq man Shit hurts... 

[alatismeni-theitsa]

(1/2) I know this is some controversial topic and that you sometimes cover US politics, but what do you think the american left needs to improve to reach to more people and be taken more seriously?; It's unbelievable that in the very 2021, apolitical folk are still fallin into the whole "the leftist are a bunch of crazies" narrative, we may do some pushback the last three years against conservative politics.

(2/2)  But it's still not enough; on your personal opinion, what fundamental core value needs to be changed to engage to these apolitical people and that leftist want politics to improve the quality of life of the population without being labeled as a "petulant, whiney children" There's some greek-flavored advice that we can apply to our discourse? Thanks in advance :)

========================== END OF ASK ======================

Ooooo… Great question! And by “great” I mean “Do you want me to go down in flames and get cut a thousand times with pitchforks??” xD But it’s very interesting so I will answer it! And you will be subjected to an essay of 3.200 words 😘💅 (I want to be meticulous, don’t come at me)

Please assume the tone is light and conversational. I am not in a very serious or dramatic mood, and I don’t want to estrange any group by assuming the role of an all knowing tutor or someone who always has the high moral ground. This is just 1am blabbering.

I am not against leftists. On the contrary, I know their side so well that I think I have a solid opinion on its flaws. (I have friends who are left- okay I’ll stop xD) Needless to say, the right side also has flaws and the two sides often share flaws. But right now, we are only talking about the leftists. And of course, #notallleftists xD I recognize that leftists are ordinary and diverse people with empathy and capability of critical thinking and problem-solving (Did I mention I have friends who ar--) Jokes aside, I think my following is quite left leaning and I am not bashing them here. I am criticizing the movement as a whole and trying to see where it can be improved.

***** Anyways, I will generalize the bad traits for the sake of everyone’s time, it’s what I am saying! So, when I say “they” I will probably mean “some” or “the bad apples” etc.  *****

To begin, US leftists don’t want to, but they are accidentally imperialist xD Unfortunately, they don't know much about other countries, and they don’t usually have knowledge of countries they are talking about if they don’t have an immediate connection to them. Not knowing things is fine, but when people on this site are like “ugh Americans” this points to an ignorance and a sort of entitlement that doesn’t occur this often in other countries. My internet cycle is overwhelmingly leftist and yet I continue seeing willingness for ignorance all around - and when I check it’s not by conservatives.

Leftists think their (social and not) politics apply to every country and culture, that people in different countries classify themselves as they do in the US. And when people from those countries talk about their problems, there is always an American that wants to give input based on American politics, and without knowing the situation in this other country they want to talk about. Ironically, the last one is a behavior of conservative politicians. Conservative politicians and citizens sometimes think it’s fine to intervene in other countries for “the greater good”. Well, leftists do the same but on the internet. It stalls conversation and makes it messy and force foreigners to apply to American standards.

Because leftists don't understand social differences between countries, they project their own politics, and that can make them seem obsessed with skin color and blind to cultural diversity. They act like only Americans or certain countries have every lived through colonialism and suffered slaughter and slavery. (Because they don’t feel the need to study and learn further.) To an American that might not be the case, but when Americans converse with foreigners about foreign issues, they seem to have a blind spot.

They act as if only white, cis, straight people can be perpetrators of imperialism. Booyyy I have news xD Yes, of course white, cis, straight people can be perpetrators of imperialism, but the attitude that they are the first to blame, always, it’s faulted. I have many experiences, but let’s start with a very simple one, of an Indian American young woman who thought only a lota can clean you with water in the toilet, and that Europeans haven’t heard of bidets or any other means of cleanliness (or that they have the bathtub RIGHT THERE xD) One of the highlights was a Black woman insisting “Medusa was Black because my grandma told me” despite what Greeks were telling her.

Another thing that stuck with me was the case of a Greek who wanted to write about the people who happen to be a minority in the US (you would call them poc I guess). Many people from those countries were enthusiastic about the project and aided the writer as much as they could, sharing culture and realizing how many things in common they had. But it was from same populations in the US that the writer found people who blamed them for daring to write something outside of their culture. (To explain, most US Americans were fine, but only in the US were some who were hostile). Or, I have seen Chinese Americans being offended by a certain thing (I think it was something about fashion) saying “this is an offense to Chinese culture” meanwhile Chinese people from everywhere else in the world (99% of Chinese, I’d say) said “I don’t understand… this is fine!”

Many US American poc categorize all light skinned Caucasians of the world as White Americans and the rest are the “cultured” Black or Brown people. US Americans are now learning that Slavic cultures exist and it’s… something else to watch leftists realizing light skinned people can have great embroidery and they are not actually stealing Mexican traditional clothing xD (reference to an obscure “calling out” comment on tik tok).

I don’t specifically target US poc here, I am just mentioning that everyone conveniently forgets them as if they are untouchable and never said anything ignorant, while they are as active on social media causes as other Americans. In fact, if most poc are aligned to a side, that would be the Left. They are a very big part of the progressive movement – and that’s why I am giving so much space here for them – but then it seems they can’t have a share of the “bad” things of the leftist movement, only the good. Which is humanly impossible, to be always correct.

That’s one of the problems of leftism, that in a way pardons certain minorities and by doing that it not only lets the problematic bubbles grow but also infantilizes those minorities because it passes the message that “they can never do anything wrong”. While background matters when having an opinion, I see that skin-color goes ridiculously above opinion on these matters, which is not very egalitarian. When I argue with a person, the last thing I see is the person’s skin color. When someone says “ancient Greeks were actually a Black nation ad then they became White” I don’t care how this person looks like. No matter your skin color, you must take responsibility for the misinformation you are spreading. I won’t assume that because someone is a poc that they can’t study and learn more about the matter of discussion.

So… the “issue” doesn’t come from being white, cis, straight etc but from being raised as a US American. I don’t imply by any means that being a US American is bad. The last thing I want to do here is enforce guilt. (If you are feeling guilty already I must be mistaken in my wording so I am sorry for that). I am talking about certain beliefs that come with raised as a US American. Similarly, many beliefs a Greek can have are because of their environment. Everyone is affected by their background in one way or another. 

American leftists believe that even the piss poor British farmers benefited from colonialism – and still benefit perhaps on a systemic scale. So, with the same logic, even the lowest layers of the US American society benefit from imperialism and war crimes overseas. (Truth is the quality of living in the US is great and extremely progressive compared to most of the world, because of the US’ politics. I had analyzed this in a previous post). But American leftists never mention that when it comes to THEIR case, because it doesn’t give them an advantage.

To tie it up with how American leftists see the world, there is youtuber I like, who is a US American woc and one time she said “My country is bombing Brown people” in an annoyed tone and it just sounded so offensive I closed the video. It’s obvious the youtuber doesn’t support the bombing, but it was just the phrasing which left a bitter taste in my mouth the whole day. It was the fact that 1) she could make a statement in an annoyed/joking tone 2) people in those countries don’t identify as “Brown” outside the US (and you are talking about them now) 3) your country is indeed bombing them so maybe at least categorize them as they wish?? They have a certain ethnicity, so mention that and stop categorizing them like dog breeds! They already have the bombs, do you want them to hear Americans categorize them like that?

Moreover, many US leftists think they care about other countries while, in actuality, they don’t. They just want to make other countries have the exact progressive US politics - because that’s the only “correct” political system they know. That shows even in kind of superficial matters. In a movie about Greek mythology, they will make sure there is an American Arab, an American Black person, an American East Asian person etc (which would be a cast that would reflect American diversity, not Mediterranean) and are hesitant to cast Greeks or ask Greeks how the portrayal of the story and figures could be better and respecting.

Another thing, they take everything too personally. They think success and failure of a movement is highly dependent on them as an individual. It’s difficult for them to approach a harsh past or present situation in a levelheaded manner because they don’t realize this situation has been universal. So, they feel a special kind of guilt and that makes them over apologetic but also overzealous (like a righteous self-flogging zealot) and that is what drives people away. They combine that behavior with ignorance about the rest of the world, and you can see why a non-US American might want to keep their distance.

I had some Americans apologizing to me because their ancestors did something to Greeks and just… don’t. I know you have the best intentions, but it makes everyone – even me – feel bad. There is no need for apologizing because 1) you and your family did nothing wrong 2) it was centuries ago 3) this bad shit happens/happened literally everywhere. You might as well apologize for your people knowing how to cook. It’s FINE, really, it’s FINE. For instance, do you think I have a grudge on YOUR people running a slave trade six centuries ago while there was dozen active slavetrades in the area, and while Greeks of the Byzantine empire probably bought slaves some decades before they were sold to slavery themselves? Do you see what a mess this is? Not only it doesn’t fix anything, but you also put unnecessary weight on yourself, as an individual. It’s fine to be aware and trying to fix past mistakes - if it’s possible - but there is a certain delicate process that must be followed. Not… whatever this is.

To continue on the extreme individualism, leftists think it's the end of the world if they have done or said something controversial (and that's also because they have cultivated a culture where any small transgression is a potential danger to the whole society :p aka "the left eats itself"). Around them people feel they must tread on eggshells just in case they phrase a thing wrong or post something that could be linked to a person the Left doesn't like.

The left is also on the extremes, so I have to put 1000 disclaimers every time I say something. (I guarantee that the example with the Chinese people will be translated by some Americans like “Theitsa promotes Asian hate!!”) Do you know who doesn't annoy me if I don't put 1000 disclaimers? Certainly not Conservatives. I had more harassment from leftists than I had from actual nazis, even though my blog is not conservative or (god forbid!!) supportive of nazism or any type of supremacy. Even nazis completely understand my beliefs before they send hate. (It might be odd but I never had one not understanding my point xD) But the leftists who sent hate misinterpret stuff, or they don’t bother reading actual posts. The funny thing is that I usually agree with these progressives in 99% of issues but they don’t care asking or learning, they just decide our morals are opposite. I mean they don’t have to like me, but many leftists don’t even read the basics.

On top of that, leftists rarely want to have a conversation with a conservative. I don't say go and AGREE with a conservative, I say just talk. (see? I feel the need to clarify here because many leftists might say “Theitsa wants us to go and AGREE with conservatives! Does Theitsa want us to become nazis and homophobes???”) How does one feel they have to be sooo righteous and then cauterize every member of society who disagrees with them? Why do leftists rarely want to have a conversation? Some people were ready to attack me for referencing a meme which referenced Steven Crowder, as if that shows I am his supporter 😩 (Guilty by association is strong on the leftist side and it’s very reminiscent of authoritarian tactics, another thing that needs to be improved, to my opinion.)

I don’t support Crowder (I know Crowder has done awful stuff) but I shouldn’t be scared to admit I like the “change my mind” episodes. (Flash news, leftists, you might like a part from a person’s work and not 100% support that person!) I like the episodes because both sides are heard, the conversation is civil (for the most part xD) and I can see the thought process of the two speakers as they explain their worries and what solutions are out there.

Most of all, in those episodes I see how BOTH sides CARE about the SAME problems, it’s just the perspectives that differ. And those conversations highlight the issues the left hasn’t studied very well, so it helps the leftists understand what they need to learn in order to better society. But where the “immaturity“ of the leftist side can show is in the unwillingness to approach the “opponent“ as a human just like them.

(They might instead prefer to call Mexicans white supremacists and claim that “whiteness” has no color because quite a few poc voted Republican, as some leftist news sources have stated)

What is more, is it just my idea or conservatives understand leftists better than leftists understand conservatives? Of course both sides jokes about the other one but I am talking about the serious talks. Leftists just describe conservatives as horrible people who want all minorities to perish and we must not talk to them while, surprisingly, the conservatives are the ones who stereotype less the opposite side. (I am talking about the normal, moderate people). From what I have seen, most simple people who are conservatives DON’T want the US’ ethnic and sexual minorities to perish. They are worried about problems they don’t have a good understanding about. And the only way to make them understand it’s to… talk to them, show them what good the left to offer.

Some leftists think conversation is “emotional labor” but 1) that applies to actual labor as in… jobs, so stop invalidating doctors, nurses, teachers etc, 2) yeah, sorry, sometimes things get difficult and you have to explain your side. (As non US-Americans endlessly have to do for US-Americans). That was, is and will be life until the sun swallows us all. You can’t be THAT militant on social media with 100 posts per day and remembering 50 different campaigns about social issues but the moment someone genuinely asks you for directions on your side you shut them off with “why do you demand labor from me? Do your own research” (hint: most likely they have done their research, but they are stuck, and you don’t help them like this).

If you are very tired and don’t want to explain (as it is your right) you can be polite about it and not blame the individual about their circumstances when they are trying to learn. If you DO want to explain but you get tired, be more organized. Have posts and F.A.Q.s ready, or send them to someone else (a friend, a blog, a youtube channel, an article, whatever). Instead of leftists arguing their positions, sometimes they are like “Do more research and realize I am right.” Yyyeah the other person is not gonna do that – especially because you haven’t pointed them anywhere or supported your position with arguments. Moreover, leftists can have the attitude of “I stand for PROGRESS, how can I ever be wrong??” Weeell things are not black and white and me, you, everyone has the potential to not have a not that beneficial to society position at some issues no matter where we stand on the political compass.

For the “petty whiny children” thing, I believe a lot of people might think that because the youth is usually making noise about progressive issues on social media. It’s true that oftentimes in social media discussions their emotions get the best of them (it’s happened to everyone) but combined with the lack of life experience they may have about the world, the argument sounds silly. (I heard one leftist university student say that the US shouldn’t have borders because borders are bad but then they realized they don’t want people to come and go as they please in the US, so she said there should be SNIPERS in the borders to shot everyone who tries to get in…….)

And, as I mentioned, the leftists are very quick to cancel and attack for the slightest transgression so people prefer to deal with the conservatives who can, at least, take a slight misstep, than meddling with people who are going to cancel them for doing or not doing a small, insignificant, but not ‘woke enough’ thing. Leftists are constantly checking each other to see if they are doing better and better (even in silly issues) and that can be intimidating to someone who is new to politics.

Some leftists get REALLY turned on by righteousness (Frollo villain style) and instead of trying to unite the society, they aim to divide it further. They don’t want to create bridges but burn them and find themselves on the “right side“ of morals.

And, last but not least, they don’t realize leftist propaganda is a thing. Malicious people are EVERYWHERE and they don’t just magically avoid the left. Leftists are not automatically super virtuous people. There are some manipulators and bullies around, so one has to be cautious even with leftist sources. (Cross-examine stuff, always. You might have the best intentions but accidentally share something nonfactual because you trusted a source).

Ok that was all, I think. To anyone who comments, PLEASE keep the tones down, have a conversation, take it slow, remember it doesn’t help us being hateful towards each other. (And causing serious friction wasn’t the purpose of this post). Oh, and if you need a clarification on something I said, before gossiping with your friends about how awful I am, do me the courtesy of first asking me what I meant xD

[ministarfruit]

hi i love your art but i saw you talking about dark haired/dark skinned sahdmadhis on twitter and i just wanna day that as an indian person who practices hinduism the khura’in culture already feels like a mixture of stereotypes surrounding hinduism and buddhism, and making the sahdmadhis brown dives into straight up caricature territory which is something most people don’t seem to realize (1)

soj has a lot of colonial and imperialist undertones of the more modern country imposing a legal system and their values over the existing ones which were created by the wicked ethnic folk, and making the khura’in people brown considering these undertones is just achingly reminiscent of indian history that my family lived through and it’s kind of hurtful that no ones even considered stuff like that (2) 

i agree that overall it’s better character design and the mysterious white haired brown people is a trope that should die but considering soj’s storyline and messages the darker haired and dark skinned sahdmadhi designs just makes the slap in the face regarding my religion and culture and language hit even harder (3 or 4 i forgot which one i was on)

hello! I’m so sorry, you’re correct, there are definitely implications I did not consider and I sincerely apologize for that! I will reflect on the way I depict and talk about the sahdmadhis, I do not intend to offend anyone at all with the way I draw them. I understand that soj is not inherently good when it comes to depicting khura’inese culture - especially since it’s a fictional culture based on a mix-and-match of real cultures, which is already a grey area - and I appreciate you offering your perspective. I will say that I personally do not condone a lot of the content presented in soj at face-value, I will not go on about it so much as use the characters themselves in different contexts, but I understand that it is important to be mindful of how these things come off because they can be interpreted in that way.

once again, I really appreciate you stepping forward and if there’s anything you ever believe I should be aware of that I’m doing incorrectly or is offensive, please let me know. I am doing as much research as I can, and I do not want to make anyone feel uncomfortable with the changes that I make. 

[nahimjustfeelingit-writes]

Soulmate

Werewolf Erik Imprints on OC.

I don’t know what to do with this but I decided to post because it’s been sitting in my google drive for about a month now and I know Halloween is in two days so if you want you can read what I have written thus far. I may or may not finish with all the other things I have to complete.

Warnings: Fluff, slight humor, mentions of smut.

Theme: Halloween, supernatural, College

It was the middle of the Fall Semester at Florida A&M. The weather wasn’t too bad, around 80 degrees during the afternoon and dropping to as low as 72 in the evening. Currently, Erik was studying for his upcoming Advanced Physics midterm. The Kappa Alpha Psi house was relatively quiet and this gave him the perfect opportunity to study before his brothers came in to disturb him. Erik took his blue highlighter, highlighting a passage before recapping it. He flipped to the next page, adjusting his gold-rimmed glasses to read. As much as he loved physics and engineering his mind just wasn’t there. It was the middle of October now and his focus on knowledge wasn’t as interesting as he’d hoped for. This time of the year wasn’t always the best for him ever since he was twenty years old. That’s when his life changed. 

“Thermodynamics and heat transfer.”

He read the topic while rubbing his sleepy eyes, AirMax covered feet tapping the floor to help him stay alert. 

“Fuck, I can’t read this shit right now.” 

Erik angrily closes his book, sliding it away from him, causing his calculus materials to fall over onto his desk. He leans back in his reclining desk chair, eyes to the swirling ceiling fan within his room. It wasn’t like he didn’t get the information, he knew it like the back of his hand. He just needed a distraction from her. 

People on campus called her Poison Ivy; she was a lot to handle and Erik hadn’t noticed that until yesterday when something that he didn’t expect to happen, happened.

Ivy Crow. She was a journalism major. Ivy wrote for the school news column and she was also an activist on campus. Sometimes her protests didn’t go so well and other times her podcasts could piss people off but that’s who she was. You couldn’t miss her on campus with her goth aesthetic and camcorder in hand. Ivy was now Erik’s weakness. He needed to talk to someone about this, and the only person he could think of was his friend Trevor. Erik rises from his seat, grabbing his cross-body bag, shooting Trevor a quick text before exiting his bedroom.

He instructed for Trevor to meet him at the library in the ancient literature section since no one went there anyway. Erik made it there before Trevor, looking about him with sharp eyes to be sure that no one was around. He paced, impatient and antsy. He hadn’t seen Ivy all day. His body couldn’t stand it. This overpowering desire for her made him hungry as well. If he was hungry for regular food now he was afraid of what he would be hungry for at midnight…

“Erik? What’s going on I had to skip out of class.”

Trevor was a programming major, tall, skin like midnight, one eye blue and the other brown. Girls swooned over him. 

“My bad man, I got a problem.” 

Trevor grabs Erik by the shoulder, pulling him further into the aisle of books. It was dustier back against the window.

Trevor lowers his voice, “Is it a Lycanthrope thing?”

Erik hated when Trevor refers to it as that. He kisses his teeth, letting out a sigh of frustration.

“Why can’t you just say Werewolf?!” Erik argues.

“Whatever, is this what I’m here for?”

“Yeah.” 

“Did you shift and get lost somewhere you weren’t supposed to be? Remember I saved your ass from nearly dying when you landed in a trap with silver near fucking New Orleans.”

Erik could still feel the scars from that on his back. If it wasn’t for Trevor, Erik would probably be dead. His back was scarred badly from that, deep gashes diagonally across his back.

“No, I haven’t shifted in two days.”

“Two days? Why?” 

Erik looks down at his sneakers, “Some weird shit happened to me…”

Trevor waited for Erik to speak. He figured Trevor would know more since he’d been a werewolf since birth. It was a family curse.

“So, I was on my way to my calculus class when a rally was going on. You know, that rally about making sure ‘blackface’ doesn’t happen for Halloween this year.”

Two Days Ago: 

“Catch you later, bro. You know we got that party before the hazing process.”

Erik shoulders his backpack, flashing his sexy dimples, “Y’all niggas partying before the hazing? That’s some new shit.”

His fellow Kappa brother shrugs before wrapping his arm around a random chicks shoulder, “Gotta warm them, boys, up first before the fun begins.”

He shared the Kappa hand sign with his brothers before walking away towards his class. He already missed a few for his own selfish reasons so he couldn’t afford to miss another. As Erik walked he noticed a large group of students- mostly black students crowd around a gothic chick and her protest friends, holding up signs reading “BAND BLACKFACE” Erik never really invested his time into these protests because he felt like they wouldn’t change anything but the sound of her loud voice brought his eyes to her.

And that’s what did it.

He felt as if he was gravitationally pulled towards her while glowing heat filled his veins. The class suddenly became secondary. On second thought, everything became secondary to him at that moment. He couldn’t explain it but the overpowering feeling made him want to stand there and watch her. Erik had a deep need and desire to support this girl and even protect her if someone went against what she had to say. His knees buckled, Erik stumbling a little and catching strange looks from some of the students. A few white students at Florida A&M looked frustrated with her words and that made Erik’s inner wolf growl. His eyes even turned golden without his control. He blinked, afraid that someone would notice.

“NO BLACK FACE FOR HALLOWEEN!!! It’s just as disrespectful as dressing up as an Indian!”

“She needs to shut up. She’s such a freak.”

Erik caught that and the person was on the other side of the crowd. He growls, his mind confused but his actions uncontrollable.

“She just needs some dick. She’s embarrassing us, black girls. I mean, none of these white people care about that. They wouldn’t even be dumb enough to try that.”

He felt deep disgust and rage from those words. He didn’t even know the girl and he hated the way those girls talked about her. He decided to look at her again, just focus on her to make him feel better. She talked with a sense of power, her movements confident and no care in the world that people saw her being a goth or that they thought she was a “freak of nature.” 

Without being able to explain it himself, Erik walked through the crowd and towards her direction, standing at her feet while she stood on the top steps in front of the main student services building. Erik looked at her like she was a goddess. Before he could stop himself, he climbed those stairs, taking his place next to her, clapping his hands loudly and cheering her on. 

Ivy pauses mid-speech with the megaphone pressed to her lips, eyeing Erik bizarrely. 

“Aye! Don’t tell her to calm down she preaching the truth right now!” Erik yells down at a group of snickering students who clearly still lived like they were high schoolers. They had a long way to go.

“If you are not angry, you are not paying attention!” At this point, he was yelling out anything to support Ivy. What he thought he was doing the right way he was only pissing her off. Erik didn’t know a thing about Ivy and how she hated when people disrupted her protests, especially when it was a guy who didn’t even know she existed. 

Erik snatches a sign from one of Ivy’s friends, holding it up proudly. 

“Who the fuck are you?” Ivy finally speaks, not realizing the megaphone was still pressed to her mouth.

Erik lowers the sign, flashing a charming smile at her. He looked her over with an impressive eye before putting his hand out for her to shake.

“I’m Erik.”

Ivy looks from his hand to his face, “Ivy.” 

Erik awkwardly lowers his hand, “You’re a fucking badass, Ivy.” 

She blinks with sass, “really?” 

She didn’t by that. This entire situation was strange. 

“Yeah…”Erik felt that same heat in his blood. This girl, Ivy, was driving him crazy.

“Fuck these people, you can tell me about it I’ll listen.” 

She laughs, pretty smile with lips colored blood red. The spiked choker around her neck along with the spikes in her ears made her look dangerous. Little did she know, Erik was even more dangerous.

“The less I care, the happier I am.” 

She looked down at the steps, a frappe tossed at her feet with the liquid staining her platform doc martens. Erik looked down as well, eyebrows creasing with anger.

“It’s okay, Erik. I look at people sometimes and think...really? That’s the sperm that won.” Ivy simply shakes her head, lowering her megaphone. The crowd began to scatter and Ivy turns away from Erik, talking to her friends and instructing them to pack up and meet her for podcast talk.

Erik was compelled to help as well, grabbing posters and stacking them neatly. Not only did Ivy give him a strange look but her friends did as well. 

“Are you feeling well, frat boy?” She placed the back of her hand to his forehead, Erik almost losing his control if it wasn’t for his impressive already controlled nature. He was a beast of the night, he had to keep it together. 

“Maybe we should reintroduce ourselves,” she held out her hand covered in silver rings. Luckily, Erik was in his human form. 

“I’m Ivy Crow, I run on caffeine, sarcasm, and inappropriate thoughts.”

Erik smiles, shaking her hand and enjoying the warmth. Since when did a chick make him delirious?

“I’m Erik Stevens. Kappa, science wiz, irresistibly handsome.” 

“That you are,” Ivy had eyes she could see Erik was clearly a looker.

“So you like what you see then?”

Ivy shrugs, looking away, “Don’t get your hopes up, Erik.”

“Why? I mean, a girl like you can use a guy like me in your life.” 

Ivy raises a single brow, “I see, you’re one of those niggas who think by flashing a smile and flirting with me you’ll get some pussy?”

“Nah, I mean…” 

“No need. I know what this is about,” Ivy turns away with a pained expression, grabbing her bag to leave. Erik was bothered by that rejection, following her down the steps.

“Aye? What the hell did I do?”

Ivy turns to him, a glare on her face, “My middle finger salutes you right now.”

Erik felt like his world was crashing down around him. Ivy being upset with him couldn’t happen. 

“Why are you mad right now? We were starting off cool.”

“I may not be the girl that everyone wants but at least I’m not the girl that everyone’s had.”

Erik understood then. She thought that he was implying that she needed him in her life to feel accepted because of who she was. 

“Look,” Erik lets out a calming breath, “can we start over? I’m not the type of guy you think I am. I’m not tryna get to know you for the wrong reasons, Ivy.” 

Ivy looked distant for a second until her shoulders relaxed. She folded her arms across her chest, eyeing Erik cautiously.

“I’m sorry,” Ivy pinches the bridge of her nose, “I just have a history of fuck-ups with guys.”

Ivy starts walking, motioning for Erik to follow along. He does, the pain in his chest subsiding.

“It’s just...you come out of fucking nowhere and you help me at my rally? It’s so fucking confusing.”

Erik was still confused. 

“I’m confused too believe it or not.” 

He needed to figure out what was going on, maybe it’s a werewolf thing. It is getting closer and closer to Halloween. Maybe he’s just having a strong sexual craving and he could see that in Ivy as well. It could be that Erik needed to fuck Ivy before a shift to sedate him. 

“I don’t know you well, Erik, and I’m not good with people.” 

Erik wasn’t either, he preferred to be a loner.

“I guess that makes two of us, Ivy Crow.”

“Ew, people,” Ivy cringes, causing Erik to laugh.

“Uh, is it cool if I have your number?”

Erik needed to communicate with her when she wasn’t around. In under twenty minutes he felt like he needed to hear from her. 

“Sure, frat boy, I feel like you’ve earned it.”

Ivy pulls out her cell, followed by Erik, both of them exchanging numbers. 

“Cool. I can hit you up later, right?”

Ivy simply shrugs, “that’s if my fingers aren’t preoccupied, frat boy.” 

That sexual innuendo made the burning desire within him growl. His inner wolf wanted badly to spring free. What was it about this girl that had him weak in the knees and ten times more aware? Her scent was unique, very sweet smelling like berries. It made his mouth water. 

“Listen, I'd love to chat but I have a podcast later that will more than likely stir shit up on campus.” 

Ivy backs away, Erik’s eyes scanning from her white crop top with the word “Salem” down to her tight black jeans that hugged her generous curves down to her Doc Martens. 

“I’ll make sure to tune in, Baby girl, what time?”

Ivy looks at him strangely, “1:00”

Erik gives her a farewell smile, never turning to leave as he watched her disappear. He stood there until her smell was gone, a heavyweight lifted from him only to be filled with emptiness. He missed her a lot for some reason. 

That night in bed, Erik was in a cold sweat, growling like his other half and tossing. What was happening to him? He needed answers and quick. The next couple of days were going to be challenging.

Present:

“You’ve imprinted on Ivy Crow.”

Trevor didn’t hold back information. He laid it out for Erik.

“Imprinted? I thought that shit only happened in Twilight.” 

Trevor gave Erik an annoyed look, “You’ve been a Werewolf for about seven years and you don’t know what imprinting is?”

Erik shrugs, “that’s what I have you for Trevor. You’re my Werewolf brother and my teacher.” 

“Erik,” Trevor gave Erik a pointed look, “This is some serious shit, bro. You have to know everything about your Lycanthrope self or the enemies out there will hold that against you. You don’t want the enemies to know more about you than you, correct?”

Trevor did have a point, and Erik knew that. He was still trying to get over the fact that he was turned into a Lycan/ Werewolf when he was twenty years of age. 

“Aight, I’ll take it more seriously. All that other shit like silver, Mercury, angel blades to the heart…”

Erik lets out a deep sigh, “I already know about that shit.”

“Well, do you know about our origin? Why New Orleans is generally not safe for our kind? How there are vampire and witch covens there and we all equally hate each other? How imprinting can be a good and bad thing?”

Erik didn’t know everything, and it pissed him off that Trevor rubbed that shit in his face.

“You want your ass beat now or later?”

Trevor laughs, “nigga, you keep forgetting I’m stronger than you?” 

Erik bumps shoulder with him as he walks past, finally done with this conversation.

“We can meet up later tonight to discuss this imprinting situation. For the time being, try not to hound the girl, Erik. You don’t want to scare her away when you’re bound to her.”

That word, bound, wasn’t something he was prepared for. He was already bound to being a werewolf for the rest of his life. What if Ivy despises him to the point where she doesn’t want anything to do with him? What if she falls in love with someone else? All of those things scared him. 

Ivy’s POV: 

“What are you going to be for Halloween this year, Ivy?”

Ivy slips into a pair of dark turquoise high waist jeans, turning sideways to admire her outfit as a whole. She had on a black corset top with a layered silver necklace around her neck with multiple crosses on it. Her head was covered in a wig that would remind you of Uma Thurman’s hair in Pulp fiction, lips painted a glittery black and eyes Smokey. 

“Probably something DIY, maybe a corpse bride.”

Her friend, Treasure; the complete opposite of her, sat on her bed, painting her toes white. She dressed like Cher from Clueless, long curly hair in two space buns. She was ginger with freckles on her face. 

“I’m gonna be a Powerpuff Girl.” 

Ivy chuckles, “Which one?”

“Bubbles.”

“I knew it.”

Ivy grabs her coffin-shaped crossbody bag along with her Creative Writing books before her phone goes off for the fifth time. She knew exactly who it was, he was getting on her last nerve.

Erik: Why aren’t you answering my texts, beautiful?

She locks her phone, putting it away.

“Ready?” 

Treasure gives her a strange look. 

“What’s up with you?” 

Ivy shakes her head, “Just trying to prepare myself for yet another day of biting my tongue whenever Miss Petty Ass Bitch decides to piss me off. It’s not my fault I know more about your own class than you do. They just hire anyone these days.”

“You know she just does that Ivy because of your reputation around here,” Treasure reminds her, “Everyone is intimidated. Remember, they call you Poison Ivy.”

Ivy’s face lit up, a pretty smile on her glittery black lips.

“You know what, I just might have my Halloween costume in mind.” 

Erik’s POV

He waited outside of Creative Writing.

How did he find out about her class? He practically threatened one of her guy friends and supposedly her fellow band member to give him the information. The second he did that, Erik did a late enrollment for the course. Luckily, it could look good for his master's degree. Looking from one end of the hall to the other, his nostrils flared, her smell growing closer and closer. He closed his eyes, the veins in his neck protruding from holding on control. His backpack went down to cover his crotch, dick hard for the first time in two days. The more she drew closer the more his heartbeat increased and his skin reddened from heat. 

“Erik?” Ivy spoke with agitation.

His eyes snapped open from her sing-song voice, “Wassup, Baby girl?”

“It’s Ivy.” 

“Well, I like calling you Baby girl,” he teases, earning a strange look from her.

“Stop calling me that or I will pour all of this hot ass coffee down your pants.” 

He snapped his mouth shut, choosing to simply admire her. She tried looking at her phone but the scorching hot gaze he gave her made her look at him with annoyance.

“Can I ask you a question?” 

Erik smirks at her, walking over to be face to face with his gothic princess.

“What you wanna know?” He shoulders his bag, giving her his sexiest stare but it clearly didn’t change anything.

“Why do you insist on texting me ten times a fucking day?”

“Why do you insist on ignoring me? Forreal, you got a whole ass attitude, Miss Ivy. A nigga tryna get to know you and you ignoring me? Ima tell you this now, I don’t like being ignored.”

“I do a thing called what I want.” She reminded him. 

“You don’t like a nigga to be all sweet with you, huh?” 

Ivy picks at her nails, “I’m not built for a soft ass needy man, I talk back and I do not listen.” 

Erik’s dark eyes burned into hers. She didn’t fight it, looking at him with an equal amount of strength.

“I don’t like your type. You walk around here like you own the place and then you think you can have any girl you want? I’m not just any girl.” 

Ivy picks a piece of imaginary cotton from Erik’s letterman jacket.

“You are a mean girl,” he smiles down at her, “Don't get your hopes up though I’m not going anywhere. I like em fiery, you like em dominant. That’s cool, I’m that.” 

“I’m not mean, just brutally honest. It’s not my fault truth hurts. Want a bandaid?”

“As long as it’s from you I’ll take all that shit, Baby girl.” 

Ivy regrets giving him her number. She didn’t actually think he would try anything with her since she definitely wasn’t going to open her legs for him. 

“Ivy? Did you hear me?” 

She wasn’t paying him any mind, the class was filling up and she needed to take her seat.

“There is no need to repeat yourself, I ignored you just fine the first time.” 

He stood rooted to the spot, watching her disappear into that classroom. Her words literally slapped him. This is what he feared honestly. Erik couldn’t wait to meet up with Trevor so he could figure out how to work around this imprinting thing. Ivy was a lot to handle. Erik wasn’t going to back down by any means but damn, he didn’t expect a real challenge. 

Erik finally walks into the class, finding a seat just behind Ivy a row above hers. She had all her things neatly stacked in front of her, eyes focused ahead. Erik whispered “excuse me” to a girl on his right as he took his seat. He decided to just bring his Macbook instead of things to write with. This was an easy course for him, he’d already taken a similar one during his undergraduate education.

“Good morning, Everyone,” a woman who looked to be in her late thirties spoke, fuchsia and purple polka-dotted blouse with a black pencil skirt. Her thin blonde hair was pulled into a tight French roll, old stocking with tears in them and a pair of heels that looked like something his grandmother would wear. God rest her soul.

“Can I help you, sir?” She yells to the back row. Erik knew she was referring to him.

“I’m a late enrollee.” His husky voice caught the eyes of nearly all the women in that room except for Ivy who chewed on the end of her pen.

“Name?” She asked with an authoritative tone.

“Erik Stevens.” 

“I’m Professor Pettee, Why creative writing so late in the semester?”

Erik strokes his goatee, “Miss Ivy here gave me some inspiration since she’s a Journalism major and all.”

He could hear her clicking and unclicking her pen angrily. 

“Ivy Crow?” She looked at Ivy with a sarcastic smirk, “she’s your inspiration? Well,” Miss Pettee turns on her heel,  “She’s inspirational alright.” 

Tiny snickers scattered the class.

“What is this fucking high school?!” Erik blurts out with rage. Ivy turns to him then with wide eyes. 

“Excuse me?” Miss Pettee hadn’t expected that. 

“I’m referring to the snickering. What y’all fifth graders or some shit?” 

The entire lecture hall was silent, all eyes on Erik.

“What a ruckus,” Miss Pettee laughs nervously, “Are you finished, Mr. Stevens? I do have a class to teach.”

Erik sat back in his chair, motioning for her to continue. As soon as Miss Pettee’s back turned, Erik noticed Ivy staring up at him with a smoldering rage. The smile on his face turned into a blank expression. He was really getting under her skin. 

“Fuck You.” She mouthed to him before turning back in her seat to pay attention. This was going to be interesting. 

[sumukhcomedy]

Why I Wanted to Leave My Interracial Relationship

I’ve been in an interracial relationship for 10 years. Well, not 10 straight years. We dated for 1 ½ years, split up, then got back together and have been together for 8 ½ years. So, in actuality, I’ve known this person for 14 years now. She’s white. What’s happening in our country as a response to police brutality and the numerous killings of Black people opens all wounds on a personal level for many of us as well. So, the true conversation that the country is beginning to have on race and its history of racism has only amplified issues of race within our relationship.

I love this woman. That love of course includes that she is like-minded and well-meaning. But she is white. Even though I am the child of an arranged marriage, I suppose the American ideals of love set in. We don’t know who we will end up loving and the more open-minded we are to the possibilities, the more likely we are to find that person that fits us. And, perhaps growing up predominantly in a white environment made me more inclined to end up with someone white. Or maybe its my own internal systemic issues with race and beauty. I’m not sure. But I’ve been in a relationship with a white woman for a decade now.

I knew what I was getting into on a general level in an interracial relationship. I knew that with any woman of another race that I dated. I understood the history of racism and interracial relationships that existed in this country. We weren’t that far off historically from this being illegal. We certainly weren’t that far off from, in the wrong place, me being made an example of for being with a white woman. I’m aware of my race every second of my life let alone when I’m with a white woman.

This posed tension for our relationship early on and even to this day. I did not feel like she felt this same concern and connection with history because she’s white. Sometimes it was frustrating because she would behave and act as if she had no awareness at all of this history. It speaks to her good nature and why I fell in love with her but it doesn’t speak to reality and my existence which is necessary to have with a partner. To her, she is a good white person and there would be no problems. But, particularly at a time in our lives when we were drinking, I’d express to her how some of her behavior when drinking was problematic. If the possibility that the wrong people would arrive or that cops were called, I, as the person of color, could be in deep trouble. I, as the brown man with the white woman, could be susceptible to all the systemic stereotypes ingrained in our culture. I would be the one punished for even entering into a relationship with the white maiden.

    Who knew love could develop from a shoulder strength contest at age 22?

Nothing cut more deep than when she had said to me in the past, “Sometimes I forget you’re Indian” or “Sometimes I forget you’re Brown.” This is the equivalent of saying that she did not see my race. This is a tough thing for a person of color let alone to hear from the person that I love. It’s nice that she lives in an innocent, idealistic world where my race does not matter, can be forgotten, and that I am just an equal to her. But that is a punch in the stomach for me as a person of color because it isn’t reality. Every day I’m very aware of my race. I’m aware of my race in our relationship. So, for her to say that, hurt me. It made me feel that my experience, my feelings, and who I am were being erased. That’s hard to hear from my partner, from the person I live with, from the person I’m closest to, from the person I love.

Our conversations on race were always trouble and left us worse off than better. She would describe me as “angry” and “attacking her.” Because of her upbringing, if someone raised her voice at her, she would take it personally. I was understanding of that psychologically for her, but it only frustrated me more because where was the care for my psychology and the effects on psychology that systemic racism had on me? I’m angry? I should be! Everyone should be angry when you understand my experience and I’m even angrier in understanding the experiences of Black and Brown people that have even less opportunities than I had and that have been hurt even further by this system.

My partner has issues with anxiety and so often the conversations would unravel and she would have deep anxiety over her “white guilt.” This is where my status as a loving partner and as a Brown man have to separate. I ended up just doing what I could as a partner to lessen her anxiety. But, of course, this would enrage the Brown man part of me even more. Why am I responsible for soothing your “white guilt”? Why am I not receiving any soothing in this relationship for the experiences I’ve had under my brown skin? Because I’m less prone to anxiety attacks? Hell, I should be getting more anxiety attacks than you because of the effects of the “white guilt” you’re experiencing! It was even more frustrating because I felt that I was always open to listening to her and her feelings particularly in being a woman that I could never understand as a man. How could she not do the same for me as a brown-skinned person?

There is nothing more absurd and maddening to me as a person of color than feeling you have to make a white person feel better about their place in systemic racism. And that was happening regularly with the person that I love. There were many moments that I felt that I should give up on this relationship and interracial relationships in general. Things would be so much easier on a racial level and being able to connect with someone on it if I was with an Indian-American woman who cared about those issues as well.

Recent debates on race between us, the death of Ahmaud Arbery, and then a conversation she had on Facebook with a Black friend led her to ordering books on race that were suggested to her. Part of me honestly rolled my eyes. I thought to myself, “Thank you for trying. I love you but we’ve been through this for 10 years.” I was convinced none of these books or none of her Facebook friends of color were going to somehow change how her mind worked if I, her partner of 10 years, wasn’t able to. I thought again to myself, “If you can’t handle me getting mad at you, trust me, your Facebook friends of color and these books will be much angrier!”

But then the country began its reaction to the death of George Floyd. I’ll admit that the first weekend I was particularly bitter and frustrated which is likely the way I’ve felt about race and meaningful change for years. I had a conversation on Facebook that amounted to nothing productive on the use of the word “thug.” I felt like everything would just repeat itself again. Anger over the death of another Black person at the hands of the police. Black Lives Matter gets said. The rest of the country does not step up or react enough. The system certainly doesn’t react or make change. Back to the next news story after a couple days and another Black life is forgotten and police brutality and systemic racism continues on.

As the week progressed, though, I began to see a change unlike what I had seen before. White people were becoming willing to stand up, speak out, and learn. They were ready finally to be open and uncomfortable about race, an issue that they had long avoided but need to be uncomfortable with because it is uncomfortable.

This amped up our own personal conversations and realizations. She had already expressed learning more about how to be better with race but what was happening in the country was allowing her to face it head-on. It was allowing me to face it head-on as well.

She began to understand that just because she is well-meaning and white does not mean that she is innocent. She began to understand systemic racism. She ultimately apologized to me. She accepted that she didn’t allow me to express my position. She didn’t allow me to feel emotions. By doing that, she only intensified my emotions. In whatever relationship you may have, if you don’t allow the other person the ability to express themselves and the ability to feel and listen and show compassion to them on any topic, then the relationship will suffer.

And, look, there is likely some apologizing that I’m going to have to do. Not necessarily to her specifically but to the general population and to Black and Brown people. I’ve already shifted my previous perspective on the word “privilege” (which I’ll likely write about in the future). I’ve seen that as vocal as I may have been, I also allowed my bitterness, frustration, and fear to lead me to be silent in many situations. So, this isn’t just an introspective time for white people. It’s an introspective time for all of us. Many of us have benefited in some way from systemic racism. But because I’ve also been on the downside of systemic racism, where I have certainly been seen as more Black than white in many situations, I can understand this to defend those not so high up in the system while also being critical of myself for my place in the system and what effect that has had on me.

Like so many relationships, there may always be underlying issues. Mine had one with race as it should have given who I am and that I was in an interracial relationship. Now for the first time I feel like we’re beginning to have the real discussion on race that I’ve wanted and many people of color have wanted. White people appear ready to finally feel uncomfortable, honest, and raw with their place in systemic racism. And, hey, if I can say that I’m even experiencing that with someone I’ve loved, live with, and been close to for well over a decade, imagine the possibilities for you with those you love in your life.

[beautifulweird0]

Colorism 1.0

We care too much about how these ‘celeberty’ niggas moving. Y’all care too much about Chris Brown having a type. Yall care too much about various ball players having a type. Some of y’all even care about what Kodak Black ugla’ ass gotta say for whatever reason. Want to know what I think? They don’t matter when it comes to what you think or feel about yourself honey.

My self esteem is a work in progress but I refuse to allow a man ( who doesn’t realize I exist) to make me feel bad about the way I look. Besides, something is wrong with those types anyway.

Black women, we are BEAUTIFUL! So beautiful that if we aren’t seen as beautiful to some of our own, it boils down to them not loving themselves. It’s a powerful truth!

But knowing this is also a sad fact.

I wanna speak on something wholeheartedly. A certain ‘disease’ that’s been keeping a vicious cycle of self hate in the black community.

COLORISM.

For you white people who like to peek at my blogs, colorism is the prejudice or discrimation one has against their own race.

Colorism is one of the many roadblocks that we must conquer if we are going to build anything sustainable as a black community.

Why in the world do some of us look at brown skinned, dark skinned folks and automatically think ‘ugly’ or ‘dirty’? That’s bothersome and evil as hell. Why do we want babies with european features, light skin, and fine textured hair? Why is being light-skinned seen as a privilege and that not being so if you are more melainated?

Well...we didn’t plant that within ourselves. The white man did it. Which is bizarre to me cause about 80% of the white man, black woman unions I see, the black woman is darker toned. And I live in Indiana (*sips tea*).

Let’s look at it like this. Hypothetically, there’s two guys at the bar that are carrying light conversation though they didn’t know of each other before this particular night. Not too far away, a beautiful young lady is chatting with some of her homegirls. Guy 1 went to school with the lady but she wasn’t interested. Guy 2 has eyes on her and mentions her to the other guy. Guy 1, feeling intimidated and rejected tells Guy 2 that he went to school with her, she isn’t very pleasant, she was thottin and boppin’, all of that- which isn’t true whatsoever. He’s talkin’ shit because he feels intimidated (and he’s an ass). Guy 2, being under the impression that Guy 1 is a decent dude, he takes his word as is and doesn’t make a move. The plot twist? Ole girl purposely relocated closer to the bar with her friends to be seen by Guy 2. Niggas hate er’day, B.

Willie Lynch (whether he is fictional or not) had a plan; divide the hell out of these black homes. You had a little, light skinned baby girl for massa’? Cool. When she turns 5, she’s going up to the big house to be his (legitimate) daughters’ pet. But while she’s living in the big, beautiful home and not working out in the hot sun, she gets to wear decent clothes and look a lot more presentable than her darker counterparts.

Oh your baby is darker-toned? Take him/her out into the hot ass field with you. Two days old and all.

That’s like the teacher throwing a pizza party for everyone but you because you, in the eyes of the teacher, is seen as less than.

My main point within both of these scenarios is, think twice about where you’re intaking your information from. Monitor your thoughts! Too often people will sabotage what they wish they had.

While some of these black men are thinking a beautiful brown sista represents the bottom, there’s a rich white guy thinking otherwise.

What’s so messed up about it is, y’all Mamas ain’t even good enough for y’all. Apparently. Whether you niggas realize it or not. It’s a huge difference between being more attracted initially to someone than just saying “Screw that cause these black chicks are (inserts BS to deflect from them not being worth a pissy diaper).”. Whatever a nigga gotta say after that is ignorance and hurt because there’s too many different types of black women. There’s black women who like rock and roll and are chill. There’s black women who are herbalists and hate confrontation. There are black women who even identify as goth. So how in the blue hell are you niggas still boxing ALL black women into one box?

Let’s say you are a black man attracted to light skinned women, more-so. Don’t you dare dog out the darker black women and it's quite wrong to not even give them a chance. That’s wrong, period. Let me be very clear about this; there’s nothing wrong with darker toned black women!!! Period!

I’m holding back from saying vice versa due to the simple fact that light-skinned people get an advantage in this world; best believe the Asians & Indians have colorism issues too.

Folks can scream preference all day long but that’s not a preference-something is wrong. A preference is when you may like softball over football. Preference isn’t only dating light skinned women then refusing to date more melaninated shades while talking down on them.

Ladies, the same applies to us. Yeah its the jokes that go around of light skinned men but not all light skinned men act feminine (my dad Nick ain’t the guy to try). The root of light skinned men jokes come from the stereotype that they are more in touch with their emotions. This theory is true for some but that’s because they were given more room to show emotion. Little brown skinned boys are seen as menaces from jump in society; they aren't supposed to be crying. (Sarcasm)

I personally love me some brown skinned and dark skinned men but I’ve dealt with light skins before and even white (nothing beats my brothers though). To reiterate, it’s okay to be more drawn to a certain shade but access why, while ALSO not knocking the others. Have equal respect and love for all shades within the black community. Let’s stand up for each other please! If someone says something ignorant about our own, check them. We’d be quick to do it if a white person said it; keep that same energy if a black counterpart indulges in colorism too! If we can do that, we’ll be straight.

Love. Peace. Manifest.

~Monet’

[neetu-uplifts]

Fuck you racism

Dignity is a fundamental human right. At the most basic level, every person deserves to be seen and respected, to feel safe and to feel that they belong to the collective human race. Racism destroys all that. Racism divides through fear and hate. And it does so on the basis of something we didn’t choose - our skin colour. It tells people of one race (usually those with darker skin) that they are less than. Racism has existed for centuries and continues to proliferate social, economic and political structures. Colonialism, slavery, apartheid, residential schools, police brutality, food deserts, black ghettos, racial pay inequities, affirmative action, black incarceration, voter suppression, frisking, xenophobia, islamophobia.....the proof points in history and from the present day go on. And the only way that it has remained is by being systematized. Racism is systemic because it was born in and remains grounded in a dominant ethnocentric system whereby the superior, preferred or default lens is white. Everything is referenced, compared or judged against the “normal” superior white race, culture and way of life. Any deviation from the default white lens is seen as less valuable, questionable or as a threat - be it an accent, a different physical appearance and cultural dress, a different faith, different food, a different area code or a different approach to family i.e. living in an extended family. 

The scariest thing about racism though is when it’s implicit. People of colour don’t even know when racism suddenly enters their lives. They don’t see it coming. One day a racial slur, physical abuse or other act of discrimination occurs in your life, usually in childhood and your brain registers the message “I’m different” and “I am not safe”. You never thought there was anything wrong with you. As a carefree and curious child, you might not have grown up realizing that the world would treat you differently just because of the colour of your skin. You naively believed you’ll have equal access and that meritocracy is a real thing (fake news). The first time you experience racism it’s an assault to the soul. We cannot understand or ever fully appreciate that which we have never personally witnessed or experienced. If you were born into the dominant white race, you may not even realize that systemic racism is operating because you never had to explain yourself, your way of life or had first-hand discrimination for the colour of our skin. Why? Because even though it’s 2020 and Canada is a diverse country in head count, white is still the dominant and privileged race. White privilege is an outcome of a racist society. Not all white people are racist and privilege does not mean your life was/is easy but it is certainly easier in certain respects than those who experience racism.

For almost their entire lives, people of colour have had to defend, explain, hide or submit to acts of outright discrimination just because their skin is not white. As a Punjabi Sikh woman born and raised in Canada, I remember being bullied and beaten up, chased on my way home by white boys shouting “paki” and worrying about the teachers judging my parents’ accent as we went to parent-teacher meetings. I learned to be careful, to try to fit in, hiding my Indian food at recess and not walking into a mall wearing a Punjabi suit. I witnessed complete strangers harassing my family with racial slurs and attempts to break our windows in the middle of the night. And I remember thinking “why are they doing this to us?” The fear and shock in my parent’s eyes traumatized me. As an adult, I discovered that my incredibly hard working father with a Masters degree from Punjab’s best University couldn’t get an entry level manual labour job when he first came to Canada because of his turban and it was only when he cut his hair that he was given employment. Now as a grown adult woman, I have felt the distress and micro aggressions that come with being “one of one” (the only person of colour) on a team and the unspoken pressure to work extra hard to prove my capability and worthiness. Why? Because the trauma of racism imprints a deeper scar of imposter syndrome on your mind where you have to work to undo the narrative that you are different and perhaps you’re not really that great, that perhaps you’re just the token brown person who was chosen to balance things out and that perhaps everyone here is questioning your worth and the value that you bring to the table. The residue of growing up and living within a racist system also makes you stronger. You get to a point where you must find your voice and use it to speak out against injustices. I learned this as a child in elementary where my parents didn’t know what to do with me coming home with good grades but also school suspensions because I chose to fight back. The fight against racism gets draining. Perhaps most draining is having to prove, justify or validate your lived experience to white people who are so blissfully ignorant to their privilege. People of colour need not endure further trauma to prove their trauma. It crushes the soul. 

I love my skin. I am proud to be brown. I’m incredibly proud of my Sikh Punjabi roots and now I thank my parents everyday for ensuring that I fluently spoke my Mother tongue before I spoke a word of English (at the age of 6). I also realize that mostly every successful person of colour that I have ever known who immigrated to Canada made it by being an entrepreneur because the racist system would never let them rise. Even the best place to work in Canada has yet to see more people of colour and especially those with “accents” rise to the top. I don’t want it to be but racism is something I and almost every other person of colour has learned to live with - and we must continue to fight it. To my non-white friends, keep fighting the good fight. It’s on us to change the world for the next generation. We cannot normalize injustice as culture and pass it onto our children. And to my white friends, lean in. Start reading books from anti-racist people of colour, park your resistance/ego about white privilege, let yourself feel uncomfortable - listen, learn, seek out the truth and use your privilege to drive systemic change. It’s great that you may not “see colour” or think of the world in racialized ways but saying that is a cop-out. It only further undermines the experiences of racialized people who have been subjugated to a world that is racist and a world where systemically and unfortunately, colour does matter. To those who much is given (in this case privilege), much is expected. Unhinge from your privileged opinion. Listen, learn and be an ally to those who have been dealt the harsh blows of racism.The fringe needs the core to drive change from the inside out. Together, we can restore humanity to a state of oneness - the ultimate law of the Universe.

[suicunesrider]

Sometimes I look at male reactions to Captain Marvel, and comments on videos that include her or Brie Larson— for instance that clip of Engame with Carol in it— and I wonder just how much worse it would be if she was black. Like if they went with Monica Rambeau instead. Or anything similar. And wonder just how much HELL it might have been for the actress, or the fans of the actress, and her movie, or the character herself. Imagine that actress doing and saying the same things as Brie Larson, but being brown, and maybe even openly lesbian— anything like that. ditto for the character.

And I think about how I, as a white woman, can look at those comments on Carol Danvers content, and it makes my skin fucking crawl, because it forces me to see in real time just how many men haaaate women. And the comments about Carol are ten times worse than the comments on even the most hated of male characters.

And I fantasize about how much easier it would be for ME, in my privilege, if it really were Monica Rambeau instead, and I could just selfishly pretend that all the hate only exists because of her race. I could dodge the skin-crawling realization of the world’s misogyny, by simply thinking, “yikes, people really are still THAT racist.” and continue to support the characer and her fans, but still have the privilege of being removed from that feeling. It’s a selfish fantasy, but I think a lot of us white women are feeling it lately. And we gotta come to terms with it, despite how ugly it might be.

And I think about what it must be like to be a woman AND black, or a woman AND Indian, or a woman AND Asian, and lesbian, bisexual, disabled, non-conventionally attractive, etc etc etc. Because seeing those comments and dealing with that misogyny must be even worse, if it’s not the only thing you have to deal with. And if Captain Marvel were black, I could get fucking “woke” points for supporting the character, but not have to deal with the entire baggage of seeing the hate that exists. just like how a man can support Carol Danvers but not have to deal with the actual suffocating feeling of all that misogyny. And it’s all so twisted, and it’s bad enough that any of us even have to THINK about this stuff in 2019, and shit I don’t even know what my main point here is anymore. I can only hope that there are SO many diverse fucking movies, more female leads, black leads, Indiginous leads, gay leads, trans leads, combinations of all those things, and more, to the point that the angry bigot mobs can’t keep up with it all. And they get too tired to leave their shitty fucking comments on every bit of content these character live through, so nobody of any minority has to fucking SEE this shit anymore.

Maybe it’s better than we can see this stuff, so we know it exists. But I can’t help but feel like the internet not only reveals hatred, but also emboldens it by letting bigots see how many people agree with them, and leads them to spreading their garbage to other people. One way or another I hope they get drowned out by the new wave of diverse leads that’s only getting bigger, and crawl back into the holes they came from.

[medicalmissionary]

Prejudice

I was shocked to learn about a man's airway being blocked off by a police officer when that police officer put his knee on his neck. What if I told you that man was a black man? And what if I told you that police officer was a white man? Would it change your perception of what was right and what was wrong? If your perception changed, then why?

In high school, I had gotten into trouble multiple times for being friends with black people and dating black guys. At the time, I didn't understand why, and I was too scared to ask my parents why. I just knew it was wrong but it didn't make sense to me. I continued being friends with people of any skin color, despite my parent's threats. In my mind, people were just people. As children, we sang in church that "Jesus loves the little children. All the children of the world. Red and yellow. Black and white. They are precious in His sight. Jesus loves the little children of the world." So, why then couldn't I be friends with them? One time I was brave and I asked why. The response that I got was…"you know why." No, I didn't. It's why I asked. But I was fearful of saying that I didn't know because I was afraid of getting hit upside the head. Yes, I unfortunately grew up in an abused home. So I was careful in what I said and did but for some reason, I still continued to be friends with black people. And I got punished for it by my family. In fact, this one time I went to a banquet with a black boy. He had come to pick me up from my home. I told him not to drive down my driveway but he did anyway. Thankfully, he stayed in the car and waited for me to get in. (My whole school knew how my parents were.) Unfortunately, my mom saw him through the window. She tried to stop me from leaving the house but I didn't listen. She said she was going to tell my dad and I was going to be in trouble. Sure enough, when I got home, my dad yelled at me and took away all my privileges, including my job at school. I wasn't allowed to be at school any longer than I had to be, especially since that boy went to my school.  

As I got older, I realized it was my culture. My South Asian culture had learned, at some point, that it was unacceptable to be a dark skin tone. It was looked down upon, almost like a curse. Many people in my culture would try to lighten their skin tone with various beauty products. (In India, there were a ton of beauty products claiming it could lighten one's skin tone.) It was better to be white than to be black. When getting married, the families would look for an Indian boy or girl of lighter skin tone. My parents said multiple times that the girl looked pretty if she had a whitish skin tone. It was not acceptable for the girl to be darker than the boy. So sad.  

Here's the truth. There's only one heaven. If we can't get along here on earth, then heaven is going to be miserable because it will contain people of all races, tribes, tongues, and color. Nowhere in the Bible does it say there is a heaven for black people, a heaven for brown people, and a heaven for white people. It does NOT exist. I truly believe God created us different (colors, races, languages, beliefs, etc) to see if we would truly love one another. There are multiple Bible verses where God tells us to love each other. It doesn't say to only love people of a certain color, kindred, tribe, culture, etc. It simply says to love each other.

"Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God." 1 John 4:7 KJV

Here's the interesting twist. When we hate someone, we actually are breaking the 10 commandments. Say what?! Keep reading.

"If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?" 1 John 4:20 KJV

"Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer, and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him." 1 John 3:15 KJV

Here's another truth. This hatred all started by one being, Satan. He's the one using people to accomplish his agenda, which is to destroy ourselves and miss out on Heaven. Don't let him use you like that.

"For we wrestle NOT against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." Ephesians 6:12 KJV

Our fight is not with ourselves but with Satan. It's a spiritual warfare. What happened to George Floyd is absolutely tragic. Do you know why Satan wanted him put down? Because Brother Floyd was preaching the Gospel to a group of gangsters in the Third Ward in Houston, TX, which is the 15th most dangerous area in the country. He was following the Great Commission:

"Go ye therefore, and teach ALL nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen." Matthew 28:19‭-‬20 KJV

So Satan (the thief) had to put Floyd down. He couldn't let any more people turn to God.

"The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy…" John 10:10a KJV

As the country mourns for this Christian man, let us practice true love and forgiveness. Let us pray for our enemies, as the Bible asks us to do, and show them what it means to truly love our enemies.

"Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you"  Matthew 5:43-44 KJV

[devilbrew-69]

Whitewashed Anime fantasy

People often talk about how whitewashed western adaptations of anime are but what about anime that are whitewashed from day one?  I’m talking about anime set in Japan because it’s obvious why all the characters would be Japanese.  I mean fantasy anime where people of color just do not exist.

Magi is a show set in a middle eastern setting and yet the vast majority of characters are pale skinned. Yes, there are brown skin characters here and there but they are the minority in a setting where they should be a majority.  What type of holy sunscreen must they use to drive away all that melanin when they live in a dessert? Nothing against the show itself since it definitely is well put together with it’s world building but the lack of Indian looking characters is disappointing.

Rokka no yuusha caught my eye in the first episode by doing something not commonly found in media in general. It’s a fantasy world with a mesoamerican aesthetic. I love mesoamerican culture so I thought it was great to have that represented. Then you realize all the characters look like they popped straight outta a standard jrpg. All of them are pale skin people with European style clothing. So the creator has no problem with creating a Mayan setting but including actual Mesoamerican people is too much? SMH.

While fantasy and anime in general suffer from a lack of representation, those two shows stand out for lacking inclusion for people in a setting where they should be the dominant people.  This is not an attack against these shows and I don’t think they’re badly written. I’m simply disappointed at the lack of cultural awareness .

[alatismeni-theitsa]

Do Greeks consider Armenians non white? It's interesting because I keep seeing people saying the Kardashians are basic white girls (I'm not a fan of them at all but I'm sick of people treating Armenians like shit) and when people point out that they're Armenian, they get called European say Armenia was as white as Greece and Italy but then Americans will say the countries surrounding Armenia are nonwhite. What really upset me was someone saying the genocide was a "European problem"

I'll also add that as a Greek American, I hate how people use the Kardashians to put down and invalidate Armenian people. It reminds me of when the Freddie Mercury movie came out and people were whining it was another movie about a "white man" (Freddie is Parsi-Indian born in Zanzibar, people).

_______________________________

It's true, what you heard, Greeks in Greece don't consider Armenians poc. As you know, in Greece the term "poc" doesn't exist. The only criterion for POSSIBLY naming someone poc in Greece would be if they were significantly darker than the average Greeks. Skin tones of Greeks (who don't have a close ancestor from a country with a majority of Brown/Black people) can range from very pale to light bronze.

To answer this post I searched for images of Armenian people, so here are some:

(The three grandmas are survivors of the Armenian genocide!)

I found the overwhelming majority of them to be Caucasians with light skin (at least what Greeks consider light skin). Soooo "White" it is. Of course, darker Armenians exist but if they still look Caucasian we will just call them "dark".

However, an Armenian woman is not a "basic white girl" in the US because she has a different culture than the mainstream US culture. Americans need to realize that all "races" are diverse and have different cultures. A Black person could be from the US, an Arab country, Nigeria, Ghana, Somalia, South Africa etc. So many different cultures! Similarly, a White person could be from Norway, Spain, the Middle East, Brazil, India (like Freddie) etc. And yes I have seen light skinned Indians that could pass for Greeks and vice versa. Freddie looks white to me because "white" is just defined by skin colour here. That doesn't erase his religious and cultural background, though!

To get back to my point, people shouldn't use a single family to bring down a whole culture. The Kardashians have done weird things and we should judge them for that. Even if Armenians were poc (and maybe they are in the US!) that wouldn't excuse a lot of Kardashians' actions.

If your "race" plays a part in how much leeway people will give you about ignorance and mistakes, this is not justice.

Bonus point: If Armenians are poc, then Georgians must be poc, too. Thus, Stalin was a poc 😁

If you want to discuss more, send me more asks! :)

[elhoimleafar]

I demand that they pay me a dollar for every time an immigrant wearing jeans and eating cheeseburgers while drinking Coca Cola, comes to give me his absurd, incoherent and lacking speech about "cultural appropriation", at this step these idiots will demand to Native Americans "You can'tspeak English" because they "are embracing the language of their oppressors" 🤷🏻‍♂️ or something like that.

Are we going to tell Asians that they can't eat pizza? Are you going to tell Latinos not to wear jeans and shirts? Are you going to tell an African-American woman that she can't straighten her hair? You're going to deny a white boy who disguises himself as a Native Indian, Viking, Druid, Samurai, just because you are an accomplished racist and do not want to admit it?.

Do you want to gather signatures to ask all the peoples and countries of Latin America to adopt the "politically correct native customs of their ancestors" and then stop getting vaccinated, wear modern clothes and wear Microwave just because you and 2 other idiots (most likely American racists) can't accept the diversity of the world?.

Now all of a sudden "everyone" cares about the colonization, genocide and "Yankee imperialism" that is ending "poor oppressed lands in Latin America," I don't know what book litter they are reading, but they can visit Venezuela, Colombia, Argentina, Chile, Peru, Ecuador and Brazil at any time, and realize that poverty in our countries is not justified by what happened during the "massive genocide" of the colonizers, but rather is the fault and consequence of the heavy corrupt leaders that we keep in power, those who win votes under the speech "is that Yankee imperialism wants to end us and we will not leave them" and force people to focus on this nonsense while they steal shamelessly.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with "social assimilation," believe me that many of us comfortably prefer to enjoy the benefits of the modern world and be able to wear jeans and shirts, cook in an electric oven and live in a concrete house with glass windows, which Confirm with dressing animal skins, eating cooked vegetables in a cauldron and living in an open-air hut.

Where are the limits of cultural appropriation that you claim so much? Where are those limits and who puts them? The government ?, The ruler on duty ?, A wall that borders two countries just because an orde of racists asks for it ?.

Are we going to ask the presidents on duty to limit the laws just so that you feel better? That we cannot have another great African-American president in the United States, because "it is a country of white supremacy" ?, Is that what you want ?, Because if I have learned something in history classes it is "there has not been a First lady in the United States of America more charismatic, intelligent and emblematic than Michelle Obama, "are we going to change that and that African-American presidents can only govern in African countries?

I do not see (and I repeat as I do constantly) nothing wrong with being intercultural, where I come from is something so common that we don't even notice it, in Venezuela the one who sells you coffee is a Colombian, the one who sells you electronic items is a very nice Chinese who always shouts, the baker is always a Portuguese, the owners of the best restaurants in the country are mostly Italian, the ice cream makers (9 out of 10 of them) are Haitian, many teachers are from Argentina and Chile, and the clothes you buy from an Ecuadorian while the Salvadoran sells you milkshakes and cotufas, and they all dress the same, they all teach you to say "good morning, please and Thank you" in their languages, and they all send their children to The same schools.

Where the only ones come from, literally the only ones who live apart from the rest are the Jews, most of them live in very expensive residences in places away from the rest because they want it, they don't speak Spanish and they don't even make a minimum effort to learn it , they send their children to special schools for them and try not to join with others, but if from time to time you are lucky enough to cross one of them on the street, by good habit you greet him with a smile, and if he takes children Little ones you greet them too with a big smile, showing that you are willing to be their friend.

Where black and white come from are not at all offensive, and we all understand each other the same, even my sisters call me "negrito" (little black child) and it's a term of love, no, it doesn't have any racist connotation, no, it has no "history of racism and confrontation in remembrance to the times of slavery" or anything like that garbage that modern keyboard activists want to sell you.

Where I come from, your grandmother tells you "that's Lola's portrait, she was a friend I used to play as a child, she was a granddaughter of a slave who worked for your grandparents' family", and that's it, I just don't know It puts more hate on the subject, the truth is not worth doing, it is something of the past, my grandmothers are totally different from me, very short, with red skin and very long black straight hair, one of my grandparents is a German white like milk with beautiful blue eyes, and the other is a Turk with curly hair and brown eyes, and they all get along with each other.

Perhaps my country is one of the worst in terms of economy, but my country is proof that something like "cultural appropriation" only exists in the heads of racists who want to put barriers, limitations and borders on everything That crosses your path.

[the-reader-to-my-hero]

My Hero

This was one of the first things I wrote for Shinsou Hitoshi and my character Amin Kanasu. Amin Kanasu originated from @ua-imagines origins headcanons, which you can go and check out! Basically I went “THATS CUTE AS SHIT” and designed a character but w h o o p s that character started to flesh out. There’s plenty of art of her on my blog (albeit mainly aged up). She is originally from India, but has lived in Japan for most of her life, has some PTSD from events in her early life, and is rather reclusive and insecure about her quirk...

Enjoy!

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“You want to know my quirk” she stated simply, cutting right to the chase as sun filtered into the expansive library.

Her bluntness made Shinsou’s lips spread into a wide lazy grin that made most people shiver.

“I’ve already figured it out” he corrected, watching the way her eyes widened and her hackles rose. “I just want to see it” his monotone voice took on a softer approach, like coaxing a scared animal out of the corner of its cage. Her fascinating multicolored eyes lifted up to stare into him, as if trying to read his inner thoughts. He was pretty sure her quirk didn’t go that far but one couldn’t be certain. He stared coolly right back, the ball in her court.

What happened next would loop in his mind endlessly for the next 24 hours. It was like her scleras were two screens who had been turned from brightest all the way to darkest in a few moments. Except darkest was pitch black, unreflective, like pools of darkness with stunning multicolored jewels in the middle.

Then Shinsou felt a very distinct prickle on the tip of his finger, the one outstretched on the page of the book, so he dared to look over. Sitting upon his finger tip was a vibrant blue butterfly, intricately detailed, picking its way along his nail. He instinctively brought it closer, twisting his finger so it wasn’t unbalanced, and while it wobbled, it surprisingly stayed. Its miniature legs ghosted over his skin.

It didn’t take the purple-haired student long to realize something was off about it, however. It was so beautifully vibrant, just like the Indian girl’s hair, but its shine was completely detached to the current lighting, bearing its own ethereal glow. Hitoshi looked over to his shadow, and realized that despite its large appearance, the butterfly was not in the silhouette.

He emitted a deep half-laugh, as his eyes landed on the butterfly once more, turning his hand this way and that, the butterfly always climbing to the most convenient spot.

“So I was half-right” he voiced, as he watched the butterfly’s wings open and close, “I thought your quirk was just auditory”. He then reached out with his other hand, fingers reaching for the the butterfly.

They phased right through, but his lips only spread into a smile.

“But you are able to do full blown hallucinations”, the butterfly evaporated into blue dust at ‘hallucination’. Hitoshi’s smile faded. He had meant it as a compliment, but it seems he accidentally struck a nerve. He looked over at his peer, who’s eyes had returned to normal and was currently avoiding eye contact, her fingernails buried in her scalp. After a moment though, her mouth opened and she was folding her arms on top of the library table.

“I-it…” she began shakily, before letting out a faint sigh. Hitoshi just waited patiently, she wasn’t someone who could be rushed. “I - I...understand where you’re coming from...when you talk about ...people judging you for your quirk” she admitted quietly. That was probably the most she’s ever said in one go. Her accented japanese was unique, and she had a smoothy husky voice when she wasn’t overcome by nerves.

“People have attacked you for your quirk…” he outright stated. It wasn’t hard to put the pieces together: why she didn’t tell anyone about it, why she was so nervous and hesitant to use it. She glanced at him and then glanced at the textbook they were sharing, her hands moving to her lap. His tired purple eyes followed the fluid motions she made with them as she thought.

“Yeah..” is all that came out, and Hitoshi understood the simplicity of the answer. Sometimes you just didn’t know what to say when the whole world was against you.

“I get it” he replied wryly, watching her before looking back at their textbook. They were bathed in thoughtful silence for some time before she was the one who spoke up.

“You...said you thought my quirk was auditory...why?” her brow had furrowed, and she was glancing over at him every now and then.

The purple-haired student rubbed the back of his neck, a lazy grin creeping across his face “Well-sometimes in class- I swear I can hear the music you’re beating to”.

He watched her unique eyes widen, and she actually looked over at him in surprise, “Wait...really?”, her face was the perfect mix of shock and curiosity.

As a way of proving it, he hummed a little and tapped the beat on the table. The hero wanna-be must have been right because Amin’s jaw dropped. Her hands then flew to her mouth as if she had said something heinous. Truly seeing her so animated was a treat.

“Wha-I’m so sorry!” she squeaked, her brown cheeks heating up in embarrassment, “Did-did anybody else say anything? How long had it been going on? Wait- is it always that song?”

Hitoshi actually chuckled at her slew of questions, and shook his head, “Nobody else hears it, I asked...But its been around..a month or 2?” He’s honestly lost count. For all he knew it was there far longer and just escaped his notice. “The song…” he lets out a small chuckle, a little more sheepish now “I’m not familiar with your genre of music so I doubt I could really distinguish”.

She actually chuckled a little at that, instinctively hiding her smile behind her hand. He didn’t understand why, as there was nothing wrong with her smile.

“It doesn’t bother me though. I think it’s helped me focus sometimes in fact, given its nonverbal” he reassures drly, and took comfort in the way her shoulders relaxed and her eyes were filled with visible relief.

Then her eyes wandered off into thought, “That’s strange though.” she grunted, brow furrowed. Hitoshi hummed in response. She didn’t immediately continue however, staring into the wooden table, setting sun catching the scalp of her hair and setting it alight. “My quirk wasn’t...activated so to speak. Not strong enough to affect humans anyway”.

His eyebrow lifted a little at this. He hadn’t thought about how her quirk could affect other species. “How does your quirk work exactly?” he inquired curiously.

Without missing a beat, still deep in thought, she pointed to her temple, making a twirling motion. “I intercept brain waves; everything thats got a brain gives them off- But I can change them-distort them-bend them to my will so they see what I see-”. Her quick and concise answer about her quirk caught Hitoshi a little off guard, especially when she was afraid to tell anyone a few moments ago. She lets out a faint sigh, using the same finger to tap said temple, “Though if I use it on a lot of people at once-or for a long time-I get a nosebleed and even a killer headache.”

“Ah,” Hitoshi replied in understanding, “That makes sense. I can only brainwash one person at a time”.

The Indian girl’s eyebrows raised at this, and then Hitoshi watched how her eyes suddenly lit up, along with her straightening posture. Amin snapped over to look at him, something like a smile already creeping onto her lips. “Brainwash! Yes-You use your voice-but people have to reply to you as well!” She began. “Your quirk might...use some kind of...frequency?” The multicolored student began to falter, realizing her theory sounded pretty ridiculous. “Erm-Well-..”

“That’s not a bad theory,” Shinso interrupted, his voice monotone despite his attempt to compliment. He didn’t need her shrinking back into her shell now of all times. The hero-wannabe was just starting to see who she was. “Why did you bring it up though?” So far-she was a thinker-and the purple-maned boy was curious what she was thinking.

“Well-maybe-“ she began, before letting out an annoyed huff like a horse, not pleased with her disarray of words. Shinso cracked a smile, finding it entertaining to see her so animated. “Maybe because of your quirk, your brain is more...amicable. More sensitive to different frequencies”. When she caught sight of his questioning gaze, the blue-haired one shied away a little, her fingers combing through her hair. “I’ve learned how to control my quirk...how to keep it to a “frequency” nobody can hear…” she did air quotations before folding her arms. “Although I guess this means I wander a little bit-which is...a problem…” she grumbles under her breath, a grimace spreading onto her lips.

“Were you not always able to control it?” His question was blunt, as that was what stood out to him, and the way her eyes darted away and her posture shrunk was enough of an answer.

“No.” She answered, her voice monotone, as she tried to mask her discomfort.

Hitoshi decided it was best if his eyes went back to the textbook. They were practically done but...he didn’t want to be. This girl was more than met the eye and it intrigued him. “Me neither...I made most of my teachers nervous when I had a question…thought I was a little demon determined to get out of class”. He meant it as a joke, a means to reassure her, but no chuckle or laugh came from either. Sometimes it really felt like everyone saw you as a monster.

“I think...you’re pretty amazing” it was like the world had stopped. Hitoshi found himself frozen, the letters of the textbook becoming mere symbols and lines as he took in that barely audible mutter, the genuine sincerity of it, the vulnerability.

He knew she wasn’t the first to believe that. He knew people had faith in him, had hope. But she was the one person he had been certain wasn’t aware of his existence, let alone quietly cheering him on.

It slowly sinks into his mind that maybe she was the one who first believed in him at UA.

The first to believe in Shinsou Hitoshi