#in my canon i wasn’t racist

[dancewithdeath11]

The Hangout

Pairing: CollegeYears!Bradley Bradshaw x Reader

Summary: Bradley invited reader over for a kick back

Warnings: CollegeYears!Bradley, Freshmen!Reader, Inexperienced!Reader, attending UVA, kissing, slight angst, drinking (not drunk), baby-age gap(Reader is legal, I’m fully abusing canon and making him older than the rest of them???)

Word Count: 4.8k

Part: 1/?

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Knock knock knock

With a slight huff you stepped back a little. You could hear people inside and yet nobody was answering. Half tempted to call, you pulled out your phone. 

Then the door opened quickly, making you flinch. It wasn’t who you expected at all. He was familiar though.. “Hey- sorry for spooking you..” The familiar looking stranger said, an awkward smile on his lips. Cute.. “Come in, uh- everyone is in the kitchen.” He opened the door a little wider. “I’m Bob, by the way.”

You nodded, giving him your name as the two of you walked into a kitchen-living area. There are very few people you recognize. The kitchen is bustling, the counter has a few cases of beers and bottles of wine. You clutched onto your cheap box of cocoa powder as you said a quick, excuse me to Bob and made your way deeper into the kitchen. 

You made a b-line straight to the very person you were here for. Bradley.. Clad in a tacky Hawaiian shirt and jeans. “Hey, you made it!” He smiled brightly down at you. 

Fuck, he was so hot…

“Yeah..I had to run to the store really quickly before I stopped here.” You nodded and he made his way over to the fridge. You trailed him like a goddamn puppy.

“You want anything? A drink? Alcohol or no? Or do you want food? Nat is cooking but that probably won’t be done for a bit..” He rattled off as he opened his fridge and stuck his head in. At first you hesitated, but you also knew you should probably eat if you were going to drink. And you were hungry as shit anyways. 

“I could eat..” You muttered softly to him, carefully reaching out and grabbing a can of Coors from the door. Luckily he heard you over the loudness of the kitchen. 

“Sweet or savory?” He questioned, but he didn’t let you answer before he was pulling something out. “Actually, here,” He turned, his brown eyes dropping to your hands before he met your eyes again, offering a wink. “It’s my favorite.” Looking down you see it’s a plastic package of salami. 

It had you giggling as he took the cocoa powder from you and set it down on the counter behind him. “Salami?” You asked through your laughter. 

“What?” Bradley chuckled, a deep rumble that had you wanting to lay your cheek against his chest to feel it. You shook off the thought. “It’s good.” So you just shrugged as he walked past to his friends. Promptly leaving you alone. Biting down on your bottom lip you walked towards the only other person you knew by name. Taking a seat between yet another stranger and Bob as you ate some salami from the package. 

Quickly you were swept up into a conversation with Bob. He was quieter than the rest but he was a great listener and was asking you questions. So you were more than willing to answer and talk to him about the latest things going on at school. Eventually a woman, Nat, joined in and took over on asking the questions. 

“So, is there any drama going on in the freshmen class?” She asked after you finished talking about your major for the second time over that night. 

“Not really…I’m sure there is but I don’t really get involved with that stuff.” You nodded slightly to her. Sipping on your beer, feeling how light it’s gotten already. The woman muttered something under her breath before snapping her fingers. 

“Do you know, uhmmm shoot what's his name- Alex Klarkson?” 

You perked up at the name, “Yeah, I know him, but he’s a creep. Why?” You frowned recalling one disturbing interaction with the guy. He says some of the most outrageous dirty things that you’d ever heard. Everything out of his mouth is either sexist or racist. 

“Great! I don’t like him either, he was in my orientation group.” She groaned with a roll of her eyes. But then she smiled and leaned against the counter. “So why do you hate him?” 

You were quick to run your mouth, it was maybe your one flaw. You like talking. “Well, I was hanging out with some of my freshmen guy friends and I somehow got caught in a conversation with this guy. He seemed fine and funny at first, but then he started to get really creepy. Saying some downright disgusting, demeaning things about this girl he was- well, with, which I honestly doubt because everything he says about women sounds absolute bullshit. Plus if he's this disgusting on the regular, he’s for sure a virgin.” That got a burst of laughter out of Natasha, causing some people to look our way, you couldn’t help but giggle too. “I don’t know, he makes me uncomfortable, I avoid him like the plague.”

She nodded along, “Yeah, I wouldn’t want to hang around a creep like Alex either.” Someone called Nat away, something about the food. As she left, Bradley came around. 

“What’s this about someone making you uncomfortable?” He muttered softly to you, he was close, so close you could feel the heat of him. The brush of his Hawaiian shirt against your arm. 

Looking up at him, you offered a slight smile to him. “Just some guy..” He hummed and raised a brow for you to continue. “He’s a total creep, but I’m avoiding him. Nothing to worry about..” You reassured him gently, if reassurance was even what he was looking for. 

“Good..Good girl.” He hummed, smirking as he patted your upper arm before walking off again. 

Oh… arm touch. You smiled and watched him walk away. His jeans are tight..

The other guy you were sitting next to was quick to start up a conversation. Mickey, you think his name was. He was nice and really liked talking. Almost more than you. 

Selfishly you loved it. Loved the attention, the interest. You can give and take whatever you want. Twist a story slightly to seem more interesting, nothing harmful or crazy, just something that makes it appear more..fun. Smile and shake your head at a question as you refuse to answer, watching with a cocky smirk as they insist you fess up. 

The night dragged on. You had a few beers and passed a few stories around. This was nice. Really nice.. The whole time here, other people would treat you like a kid. Teachers, orientation leaders, other upperclassmen friends. Made you feel like you were in kindergarten again.. But now you’re being asked if you want some beer and what your last escapade was.. 

“Last? Try never.” You chuckled over the rim of your can. 

The blonde's eyes widened, “No way, sweetheart! You gotta be jokin’!” He shook his head as he set his plate of pasta down, the pasta that Natasha so lovingly made for the group. “You’re too pretty to be a virgin.”

“Who’s a virgin?” 

Of course, Bradley comes back just in time to hear that part. 

“Your little freshman, that’s who.” Jake chuckled as he patted your shoulder. A blush fanning across your cheeks as you scowl at the Texan, only making him laugh harder.

All through high school you’d always wanted more. You’d talk to guys, you went on a few dates but nothing went anywhere. It wasn’t anything you were ashamed of. But you did feel like you were missing out. Frowning to yourself when your roommate would complain about her boyfriend, but you couldn’t relate to everything. But of course, you didn’t want everyone to know about your lack of experience.

“Nice, Jake, thanks for that.” You scoff and shove his hand away.

Bradley chuckles now too, “Nothing wrong with being a little inexperienced. College is about exploration, isn’t that right Jake?” The man smirked knowingly, about what, you didn’t know. But it caused Jake to shut up and take a sip of his beer. Grumbling something before grabbing his plate and taking it to the sink. You shiver as you felt Bradley lean down, his hot breath tickling your ear, “He fucked around with a senior sorority girl last year, she shoved her finger up his ass during their last romp. He called it after that. Hasn’t flirted with a sorority girl since.” Bradley whispered before leaning back and you chuckled as you looked back at him. 

“Really?”

“Oh yeah, really.” He nodded, “Hey, and the oven is free now..if you wanna bake those brownies you were talking about.” 

“Hey, I gotta take off. You comin’ Bob?” Natasha’s voice broke through the overlay of conversations. 

You looked over at her with a frown. “You’re leaving?” She was collecting her bag as Bob also stood up, muttering something to her before nodding. 

“Yeah, I have to go to a meeting tomorrow, wanna make sure I can sleep this off.” The woman chuckled before coming up to me and pulling me into a hug. “But we gotta hang out again, alright? I liked talking with you. Here,” She pulled out her phone and handed it to me with the “create new contact” screen open. You smile and quickly enter your information, then hand it back. “Thanks, I’ll text you.” Her and Bob made a quick round, also deciding to give Mickey and Reuben a ride too since they rode with Jake. And he was effectively out of service right now after chugging a six pack on a dare from Javy. 

Slowly other people remembered things they had to do this weekend. Study for a test, a hot date, club outings. Soon enough it was just you and Bradley. And a decommissioned Jake. 

The glass door slid closed again as Jake came back inside, he’d been going in and out a lot. You can only assume to puke. Right now you were looking up the ingredients you still needed and listing them off to Bradley. “That everything?” You glanced at the countertop, then back at your phone. 

“Yup!”

“Okay, what now?”

“Now I bake? What did you think we were going to do now?”

He chuckled at your sarcasm and shook his head slightly, “I meant, what did you want me to do now?” Your brows pinched together in confusion, huh?

“What do you mean want you to do?” You questioned him with a chuckle, turning back to the counter to start. Only then realizing you still did need something, “Hey, where’s the measuring cups?”

Bradley wandered over towards you and gently moved you by your waist. Fingers curling into the plushness, firm but soft. You could feel the heat of his wide hands through your shirt. You went willingly of course. Watching intently as he opened a drawer and pulled out the measuring cups and spoons. “I wanna help you bake.” He nodded with determination. 

“Uhh..I usually bake alone.” You purse your lips, timidly reaching out and grabbing the measuring utensils from him. The man scoffed and shook his head. 

“Well now you have me as a slave, you can tell me what to do. I am your assistant chef, or whatever?” He huffed a laugh making you chuckle and shake your head at him now. Taking the hair tie from your wrist, you throw your hair into a lazy updo.

“You’re ridiculous.”

It was actually fun. He did things without complaint. If he was being annoying, you’d make him mix things and he’d do it. The two of you  joked and messed around, you spilt some flour which made him cause a big fuss about it.

“It isn’t that much!”

“That’s so much! You’re a maniac!”

“Am not, you’re just dramatic- why are you taking your shirt off?”

“This is my best button down! I am not letting you tarnish it!”

“Bradley, it’s literally flour- you really are a drama queen!”

“Am not!”

You got annoyed again and made him mix the flour out of spite. He still put the tacky shirt on the counter, leaving him in his white undershirt that was honestly worse. Not that it’s a bad style, because that’s close to impossible to not look good in a plain white shirt. It’s just that he looks stupidly hot in something so simple. 

Your bottom lip trapped between your teeth as you watched him from where you leaned against the counter. Half-lidded eyes taking in the sight of his muscles rippling under that slightly too tight tee-shirt.

Jake got up again and wandered outside. 

“You think he’s really okay?” You asked, looking back at the glass door. You couldn’t see Jake outside, it was too dark and the lights inside were too bright. Bradley asked if he was alright after the first time, but he just waved him off. 

“I’ve seen Jake drunk enough times to know.” He chuckles simply, “He’s been through worse. This look good?” The man picked up the bowl to show it to you. Oh my god, his arms…his forearms- You watched in silent agony. You narrowed your eyes, lips pouting as if you were looking at the batter and trying to analyze it. But really you were ogling his arms. Perfect cover. Watching intently as the thick bands of muscle tensed under his too tan for Virginia skin as he tilted the bowl. The veins that ran up his arms and down his hands. 

“Looks…great. Fine.” You cleared your throat and picked up your beer again, taking a sip to try and mask your nerves. Jake came back in. “Hey..” He looked tired and wore a slight grimace on his face. “You okay?” You bothered to ask as he walked by. He just grumbled and rubbed his eyes. Going to the couch and flopping down on it. Promptly curling up and looking ready for a nap. 

“Buddy, y’know I got that spare room-”

“‘M fine…” Jake interrupts. You look over at Bradley, he just shrugs it off. 

So you speak up again, “You at least want some water?” He’s silent for a few beats before he mutters out something that sounded like a yes. You smile softly and grab a cup from the cabinet. Pouring some water from the battered brita pitcher and walking over to Jake, “Here..” You keep your voice quiet. 

He opens his eyes and takes the cup from you, “Thanks, hun’.” The southerner offered a tired smile. You walked back to Bradley as he was taking a drink, you distantly heard him put the cup back down. Looking back to see him grab a throw pillow and scoot down the couch to try and sleep off the alcohol. 

 “What were we talking about again?” Bradley looked over as you asked this, he just smiled for a moment before handing the bowl over to you. His smile could give an old woman a heart attack, it was that dazzling. 

“About my time traveling.” He reminded you, making you nod in return. “Anyways, I went on a whole ass trip to go see this girl that I was with through senior year. She got into some fancy college in England, and I was taking a gap year.” He crouched down and opened a cabinet. “So I was planning on visiting her for a month. She was planning everything. All of it, down from the hotels. Then, literally a week before my flight, she dumped me.” He found what he was looking for and handed you a square pyrex dish. Then he grabbed some parchment paper, finally standing up. 

“No way!” You gasped.

“Yup..”

“Did you still go?”

“Yeah, no way am I not going.” He rolled his eyes before laughing softly, you smiled and nodded. He pulled out a long strip of parchment and measured it to the dish before cutting it. “So I went, right? And it was surprisingly fun. I just went around, no plan. Just going city to city, asking locals what I should do, where I should eat, and where to go when I get bored of the place I was at. Met some cool guys in.. fuck, where was it? Doesn’t matter! We hung out for a week, going bar hopping in small towns. I actually had a lot of fun.” 

“That’s good that you still had fun.” You hummed as you started to pour the batter. Precariously holding the large bowl in one hand and pushing the batter out using a spatula with the other. You finished pouring and handed the bowl over to Bradley. Opening the oven you put the pan inside, closing it as you went to grab your phone. Turning on a timer for thirty-five minutes. 

Your eyes traveled over to him again. Sneaking a peak of him as he stood at his sink watching dishes. It was like watching the ocean. The movements of the water, the same push and pull that looked that same every time. But it was always slightly different if you were paying enough attention to it. Like how he’s washing the dishes.. Different back muscles tensing when he scrubbed in circles, how his forearm flexes when he turns the dish over to get to the back of the bowl. His head tilted to inspect it occasionally.. Squeezing the soapy sponge in his hand over the dish to get more suds on it. God bless, you wish you were that sponge-

“You like it?” What? You look up to see him still washing the dishes, your mouth falling open slightly as you try to come up with an excuse. Sorry for ogling your massive fucking muscles? “Hello? The get together? Did you like hanging out?” He looked over his shoulder to meet your eyes.

Ohhh! “Oh! Yeah, yeah. Your friends are really nice, thanks for inviting me.” It came out a little stuttered, your cheeks flushed with the previous thoughts you were having. Heart still pounding a little too hard after his question, for a second you thought he caught you. 

He glanced over his shoulder and chuckled lightly. “I’m glad, everyone seemed to like you. Mickey maybe liked you a little too much when you started geeking out with him over Star Wars, he’s such a fanboy.” That comment made your brows pinch. 

“What do you mean liked me a little too much?” He turned off the water and snatched a dish towel. Scrunching it in his hand before he glanced down. Of course, you watched. His hair flopping down over his forehead, then he looked back up and ran a hand through his hair. Crossing his arms as he smiled at you. 

“You know..” 

“Wow, thanks for the context- ohhhhh.” It dawned on you, no way Mickey liked you like that. “I don’t think so.” You brushed it off, shifting your weight to one foot as you copied him and crossed your arms. Then switching it up and reaching for your beer, but it was empty. 

“I’m his friend, I think I’d be able to tell better than you.” Bradley scoffed slightly. Why is he bringing this up anyways? You toss out the bottle in the trash near the sink.

“And guys have never been interested in me, not like that at least.” You wandered over to the fridge to look for something to drink. Trying to play cool, to make it seem like it wasn’t a big deal.

You heard him walking closer as you reached in and grabbed a can of soda. Closing the fridge you turned, flinching as you brushed against him, “oh- hi?” 

“If I kissed you right now, how would you feel?”

“Excuse me?”

“If I kissed you-“

“Please-“

Before you knew it his large hands were cupping your cheeks and his lips were smashed against yours. You could feel the scratch of his mustache on your skin as he kissed you greedily. 

Trying your best to keep up with his pace despite not being all too experienced. Hands grabbing at his shirt as he slowly started to shuffle forwards, causing you to stumble back too. His hands quickly found your hips, gently pushing you back. He ended up crowding you against the counter, the edge digging into your lower back.

It was dizzying. Hands gripping, pressing lips, panting and moaning into each other's mouths. Only thing to shock you out of it was when your feet are off the ground. You’re quick to grip his wide shoulders, gasping against his lips. The cool feeling of the counter under you makes you shiver despite the thick material of your jeans. He chuckles and you glance up. His face is flushed and his lips are slightly swollen and sticky looking from your lipgloss, you can imagine you look similar. 

Reaching up you brush your thumb over his mustache causing the corners of his lips to quirk up slightly. His hand circles your wrist as he moves your hand, pressing a quick peck to your palm, transferring some lip gloss to your skin. Then the man i’s guiding it to rest over his shoulder. Following his lead and bringing your other arm ip to loosely hug around his shoulders.  A hum leaves him before he leans back in. Softer this time, slower. His own hands find their way to your hips, pulling you to the edge of the counter.

Bradleys tongue swiped your bottom lip making you shiver slightly, but you relented. Opening your mouth to him. His tongue brushing your own, teeth knocking together as your fingers find their way into his hair.

Giving a slight tug as he licks into your mouth causes him to groan. His hands gripping the plush of your hips a little tighter in retaliation. 

“Don’t be mean..” he muttered before moving down to your neck. The scratch from his mustache was a delicious contrast to his kissing. 

“You seem to like it.” You chuckled before interrupting yourself with a stifled moan as he bit down on your bottom lip. He soothed it with his tongue before firmly kissing you once more. Eyes fluttering shut as you try to hug him closer. His calloused fingers finding their way under the hem of your top. Then sliding further up to grasp at your bare waist. 

It's a quiet but passionate exchange. Losing track of time in the heat of it. Eventually he pulls away, soft pants leaving your kiss swollen lips. Your breath stutters once more as his lips find your neck. Wet languid kisses pressed to the sensitive skin of your neck. Starting from just below your ear and traveling down to your pulse point. A sigh leaving your lips, fingers weaving their way through Bradleys hair again. 

He stood between your spread legs, your knees pinching his hips as if to keep him close. Your heart was beating out of your chest. You were more than sure that he could feel your racing pulse against his lips from where he was kissing you. 

“Bradley..”

He only hummed against your neck, dragging his lips down the skin. The feeling of his mustache appreciated as you gave a hum in return. 

The sound of the alarm buzzing from your phone made the two of you flinch away from each other. 

A subtle jingle and vibrating noise filled the kitchen. Soft pants from the both of you joined the sounds of the alarm as you two just stared at each other. Processing what was just happening. Processing how the time was lost to the two of us. How thirtysomething minutes was a blur of kisses and touches that probably shouldn’t have been happening. 

Jake groans from his spot on the couch. Bradley steps away and pulls open a random drawer. Swallowing thickly you chance a glance back at Jake. “What’s the deal?” The Texan groans as he gets up from the couch. The alarm.. 

“Sorry..” Grabbing your phone you turn off the alarm, watching as the cocky blonde goes outside once more. 

Biting your bottom lip again, you watch Bradley grab the brownies from the oven. Tilting it towards you before asking, “These good?” It came out gruff, a little like he was upset. Just then you take in the hard lines of his tensed shoulders. His closed off demeanor, like he wasn’t comfortable in his own skin. 

“Yeah..” You whispered softly, he set the pan down on the stove top. He cleared his throat, and you watched as he looked back to the door before coming back over to you. 

“Honey,” Shit..”That..That can’t happen again.” He doesn’t fully meet your eyes, only meek glances. It’s not the Bradley you're used to. And it definitely wasn't the Bradley who was sliding his hands up your shirt barely five minutes ago. 

“Why not?” It was a challenge, a frown pulling on your lips as you narrowed your eyes at him. Asking him to try pulling something out of his ass and seeing if you’d actually accept it as an answer. 

The mustached man makes a noise deep in his throat, some form of grunting-growl. “I- You’re a freshman and I’m a junior. An older junior, at that, I’m twenty-six.”

“And?” You rolled your eyes, sliding off the counter and shaking your head again. “Listen, I like you. I don’t care that you're a little older than me.” You try to laugh it off as you walk to the stove, picking up a stray knife to start cutting the hot chocolatey treat.

“Honey-” The door slides open again. 

“Okay- that didn’t make it on the grass this time.” Jake announces as he closes the door behind himself. He wandered over to the breakfast bar and sat down on one of the stools. 

Bradley inwardly sighed before giving Jake a tight lipped smile. “It’s okay, buddy. I’ll hose it tomorrow.” 

======

Whoops.. sorry not sorry pookie

kinda lazy writing, end is kinda rushed been sitting in my drafts and i wanted to write something else but wanted to post this

#Bradley Bradshaw #rooster x reader #bradley bradshaw imagine #bradley bradshaw x reader #top gun maverick #topgun fanfic #rooster imagine

[writingwithcolor]

Romani character portrayals in fanfiction

Rroma Dick Grayson, batman fanfiction

endoftheworldhere asked:

I wanted to write a fanfiction about what Dick Grayson’s life would have been like if he wasn’t adopted by Batman. It was going to have him dealing with the bad parts of Gotham City and interacting with various criminals and rouges, But I was worried that could come off as stereotypical or racist since he’s been portrayed as at least part Romani and I wanted to include some connections to his heritage as a way he clings his parents after they died so traumatically. Any advice?

The thing about Dick Greyson is that he was retconned into being part Romani, and the writers did so in a very stereotypical way. A lot of Romani people have talked about this, especially on Tumblr, and opinions do vary about how he should be written. Many think it’s best to ignore his “heritage” and just write him as white, while others disagree and think that his heritage is important representation and should be written, but more respectfully.

I honestly don’t know my personal opinion on this, but I will say that there is a huge stereotype about Romani people being criminals. If you do plan to write him as part Romani, make sure to avoid these tropes. Otherwise, I would just nix his Romani heritage.

-Mod Tess

Romani woman, curses and Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Anonymous asked:

I'm struggling a bit with a piece of fan work right now, and I was hoping you could weigh in. In Buffy season two, there's a character named Jenny, who we first meet as a techno-pagan computer science teacher, who helps Buffy and co deal with fighting demons and stuff. Only the thing is, she's Rromani. She's there to make sure a family curse stays on a vampire who killed someone beloved to them a century ago (mostly to protect people from him if Angel/Angelus gets uncursed), which everyone gets mad at her for not telling them when he loses his soul and goes on rampage.  Ordinarily, it's not hard to write her, because until that arc, she's a fun character who happens to be a Rroma woman, and as other characters use magic, that doesn't stand out. But the whole curse thing, and the depiction of her family we're given, (and the way a canon redemption arc for Angelus I can't stand starts with him getting a soul as a punishment for killing a Rroma woman in 1898), and the everyone being mad about deception all just feels like many negative stereotypes.  What would be your thoughts on depicting Jenny, and on what to keep in mind trying to rewrite how she was shown in the show. [Ask redacted for length]

Let me just start out by saying that I am not very familiar with Buffy, so thank you for the context. I think your best bet here would be to drop the curse plot line altogether, as that’s a huge stereotype about Romani people. I think it’s ok to have her do magic, as long as other characters also do, and although I do think the vampire stuff is also a stereotype (a lot of vampire lore is supposedly taken from some Romani folklore, and Romani people are often associated with vampires in pop culture), I think it’s fine given the context of the show.

-Mod Tess

#Romani #Romani women #Romani men #fanfiction #Romani stereotypes #Romani tropes #asks

[hartlesshart]

I have something to say - If you aren’t going to read the whole thing, then skip it. But I really hope you do. My intention is not to cause drama. I just felt this was important to say because I love this community and I want it to be the best it can be.

A few days ago, a very unfortunate thing happened on a certain post about Talanah and Seyka. I called someone out on what was a case of weaponizing a racist incident. Instead of having a meaningful discussion, my comments were deleted and called “inappropriate accusations.”

Long story short - several reblogged and commented on this post about how Talanah was constantly being tagged as Seyka. To be clear, this is not a good thing and I believe every single one of those post to be valid in their frustration. But I have also seen it happen the other way around to my own work (Seyka tagged as Talanah). None of this is okay but while it is exhausting, remember that mistakes do happen.

So I made a comment about my experience and my comment was dismissed because apparently it “hadn’t been seen.” I responded to this with an honest truth of how dismissals of experience affects people like me.

The thing about racism is that it doesn’t happen in a vacuum. You don’t get to pick and choose who it happens to just to fit your narrative. Dismissing it because you didn’t personally see it is harmful, especially to fans from marginalized groups who may not feel comfortable sharing their experiences in the future.

My comment was deleted and later referred to as an “inappropriate accusation” and “harassment.” Was it an accusation? Yes. Was it inappropriate? No. Was it harassment? Absolutely not - I took time to respond so it wouldn’t be seen that way. However, the comments involving Talanah mistags were kept. The comments defending a fictional character. To be clear, I am not saying these comments are not justified. It is incredibly frustrating to work so hard on a piece only for it to be tagged as another character. However, the fact other comments (including my personal experience), that challenged the narrative that these mistaggings were only happening to Talanah, were being deleted is problematic and a form of silencing. Intentional or not - this is a racist microaggression - and yes, I do deal with stuff like this in real life.

It became immediately clear to me that the goal here wasn’t to raise awareness or do anything about the racist misnaming but instead use it to put down a group in this community. And judging a whole group by the actions of a few bad apples is literally where prejudice begins. All of this pettiness stemming from - let’s face it - an unnecessary shipping war in a FICTIONAL STORY. I was incredibly disappointed and saddened because I know we are better than this.

I am not speaking out because I want to cause drama. Undoing systemic racism is something I am deeply passionate about because it affects so many people in my life. If someone calls you out on a problematic take, please take a moment to listen and reflect, even if it makes you uncomfortable. Do not follow the impulse to block or delete. This work is extremely exhausting for everyone, but it is SO important. We all carry prejudices and biases. We are human. But we can also learn because we are all human. I have been called out many times in life by my friends. I have made so many ignorant comments and mistakes. And I will still make them. Hearing I have is not easy at all but it is all part of growing.

Speaking out like this isn’t really my thing but I felt the need to make a comment that can’t be deleted by anyone. I love the Horizon community and I want it to be a safe and inclusive space for everyone no matter where you are from. That is what these games are about. Understanding people from different backgrounds, opinions and traditions in order to work together. 

You don’t have to be fans of the same characters. You can love or be disappointed with the canon. You can respectfully give and listen to critiques of these characters. And you can celebrate representation even if it’s not the direction you wanted Horizon to go in.

Whatever these games have given you is yours to keep.

Just don’t be an asshole about it (at least in public, what you do in private is none of anyone’s business so…) -> that goes to all fans in all groups. It is never okay to harass or hurt anyone - and especially over fictional characters.

(Also please respect the devs - we are lucky they are able to pour their hearts into this game for all of us to enjoy and frankly the direction is their creative choice)

This vibrant community is full of so much talent and love for this amazing series. I have made some truly incredible friends, worked on some hilarious and delightful collaborations and have seen wicked talent come together to make something special. Just look on the horizon, and you’ll see a certain 100% fan-made game coming soon, which has a little something for everyone!

Keep creating. Ignore the bad apples. Don’t be an asshole. I’m going back to drawing silly things. - from the hart 

#horizon zero dawn #horizon forbidden west #horizon critical #horizon fandom #talanah #seyka #burning shores #fight racism #microaggressions #be antiracist #horizon #hfw

[rubydubydoo122]

what do u think about talia? i talk big about Talia being an ‘amazing mother’ but i know she really wasn’t good- and i feel like her circumstances were a big reason why she didn’t make the best choices as a person, or mother.

I'll admit, when I was newer to the fandom, all I knew about Talia was the racist retcons of her character, but once I learned about how 9/11 ruined her character I will forever be her defender.

If Talia has no defenders I am dead.

Personally, I think in canon, Talia wasn't the best mother, but again, Racist Character Retcons and-- I'm gonna scream

I mean, Talia was first introduced as an Anti-Hero. In her early characterization, she had major qualms about killing people, and she only killed someone to protect Bruce. That Talia wouldn't have done what she did to Damian in the late 2000s yearly 2010s.

They've been better about her characterization recently, and they've been making sure that Damian says in narrative that he knows both of his parents love him, but the damage has been done, and a lot of fanon uses the Villain Talia characterization, instead of looking at how Talia's character actually should be. An Anti-Hero. And I would say her morals should be similar to Jason, but if we're going off of 70's and 80's Talia, her stance on killing should be "If my life, or the life of someone I love is in danger, and I can't solve this without killing then I will" and she will feel a lot of guilt about it.

but recent characterization of Talia should line up more with Jason's moral, which is "if they're scum, they should die because they've had their chance to redeem themselves but they haven't"

The LOA was originally created for peace, but again, racist retcons and post 9/11 propaganda and now all they are are to most media is a group of assassins with a bunch of cursed mountain dew fountains of youth

#talia al ghul #bruce and talia #damian wayne #jason todd #batman #batfam #dc comics #loa #asks #asks and replies #send me asks

[loveoaths]

Anakin is not racist

oh, man, that was fast!

listen. i’m gonna assume you’re an anakin fan — great! so am i! — but anakin is objectively an awful person and a canonical space-racist. that’s apparent even if you’re new to Star Wars like i am.

from Legends:

when asked about his view of the tuskens, anakin’s immediate response is “i have no use for tuskens.” i mean, i don’t know what there is to explain about that, because it’s right there. a whole race of people he doesn’t care for because they aren’t “useful,” as if that’s all people are meant to be to him. his issue with them is apparent but he won’t name it.

a’sharad hett directly names anakin’s issue: he is prejudiced. and anakin does not deny this. he “apologizes” but does not specify for what, because he knows he’s supposed to. you don’t just admit you’re a racist, especially not to a Master Jedi. which is exactly what irl racists do, lmfao.

when push comes to shove, anakin outright SAYS it.

“I know what you are — filthy, sneaking, Tusken! Animals! Hiding behind your masks! Your kind tortured and killed my mother and I’m glad I killed them all!” (Emphasis mine)

like, listen. this is racist as hell. the racist dog whistle is now a racist klaxon, alright. he sees the tuskens as subhuman, as inherently untrustworthy because of their appearance and their culture, and he is not only not bothered by killing them, but he’s happy he did it. you could argue anakin is shielding himself from his guilt with self-righteousness, which i might buy with any other character, but anakin is down right unrepentant.

it wasn’t enough for him to kill the tuskens responsible, which even a’sharad notes would have been acceptable in Tusken culture; anakin wanted them all dead, because they’re all guilty to him solely by virtue of being Tusken. this anger and hatred and bigotry pushes anakin to even lash out against a’sharad, a tusken jedi, fully dropping any pretense that he is okay with a’sharad despite him being half-tusken and a jedi. because you know what anakin is following? the ONE DROP RULE! even a drop of Tusken blood is too much tusken.

and still the wrong lessons are learned. for some godforsaken reason a’sharad learns he needs to be seen as a Jedi first and not a Tusken, which is not only antithetical to the Jedi way, but totally opposite to the point of this encounter, which is that we are all many things all at once, and pretending otherwise leads to destruction. anakin is a jedi and a murderer and a racist and the chosen one. ignoring the unsavory and cruel parts of him, never exposing him to the jedi council, and hoping his “better nature” would win out over time ensured that it never would. a’sharad is a Tusken and a jedi and many other things, but his wrongful assumption that pushing aside his heritage will gain him favor eventually causes more problems for him.

the only reason anakin and a’sharad stop fighting is because a’sharad removes his mask, revealing, tada, a hot human face! now anakin is capable of an insincere apology. but he still assumes the markings on a’sharad were forced on him, because he still believes tuskens are a barbaric and cruel people. then the moment is moved past so they can escape.

and despite this shit-ass “heart to heart,” anakin walks away with zero appreciation for a’sharad or the Tusken culture. he fails a’sharad’s lesson: it’s not that he can’t see a’sharad as human, as a person, as a jedi, it’s that he won’t, because he is attached to his view of the tuskens as lesser than, because it excuses his behavior, because it makes him righteous, because it makes him feel better, because it solidifies his entitled view of the world. which is exactly how irl racism and whiteness work.

and the final word on the subject is this. when all is said and done and anakin is asked if he would kill the tuskens again, knowing what he knows about them now, his answer is a cold, unmoved, “Yes.”

now, i know the Legends comics are not officially canon; the new canon is whatever Disney chooses to use and whatever appears in the movies. however, even if we just look at the clone wars, which are now canon to the Disney SWU, there are several instances in TCW where anakin makes disparaging comments about another species’ appearance, intelligence, and capability. i don’t have those on hand because i am not trawling through 7 seasons for quotes for you, but you can find them if you want to look.

my final thought here is this: i am not disparaging anakin fans (fanakins, if you will); like i said earlier, i am fascinated by his character, and enjoy him as a concept. what i am doing here is asking you (especially if you’re white) to consider the lengths to which fandom goes to ignore the very obvious signs that anakin is not just genocidal but racist. like him all you want but don’t ignore that part because that makes you uncomfortable. he kills kids. that’s not any better than being racist.

understanding the role of racism in his depiction, and his turn to fascism, only aids your storytelling and view of him, because it’s true to life. society is willing to ignore massive red flags if someone is white (and in Star Wars universe, we’ll add “human” to the list), male, and conventionally attractive. obi-wan is willing to ignore these things because he is the same, and because anakin does not treat HIM this way, obi-wan can blindly believe anakin would never treat anyone like this — which is, again, a phenomenon people of color call out often, where white people will say “X can’t be racist because he’s never said anything racist around me!” well yeah. because why would he? nevermind the fact that obi-wan and ahsoka witness anakin treating non-human suspects with extreme prejudice, abusing his power and authority as a jedi to get what he wants, and worse. anakin is and always has been a shitty racist cop on a power trip, but because he worked with “good cops” and knew better than to say anything out loud, he got away with it until he killed them all too.

this all feeds into the concept that while anakin’s fall is tragic, it is by no means unexpected. the only reason the main characters of the prequels are surprised is because they willingly looked away from the warning signs. the characters who didn’t — the Council, Mace, even Ahsoka at some points — are vilified by anakin, and because the main characters love anakin and have an attachment to him being the chosen one, they believe anakin over those who are suspicious of him and ignore or downplay the warnings until it’s all too late. the tragedy of anakin isn’t a tragedy of not being loved enough, or having people fail you; it’s the tragedy of refusing to get help, of refusing to let go of things even when they hurt you, it’s the tragedy of the bitter man drinking poison to kill someone ekse, and it’s the tragedy of the bystander: of what happens when we all stand by and watch people we love do terrible things without stopping them, because we’re as afraid of them not loving us anymore as we are of confronting what it means that we still want to love and be loved by cruelty.

tl;dr: anakin skywalker is racist and prejudiced. you can still like him as a character; this is not a moral judgment. but maybe you should prod at your like at him a little, and investigate the ways in which both anakin as a character and the fandom’s dismissive view of his many faults is indicative of the insidious way racism and whiteness works irl. especially if you’re white.

#this isn’t even getting into the whole clusterfuck mess of the writers fumbling a chance to half genetically half Tusken Jedi as well. fools #white mutuals pls interact with this man. i know it’s unpleasant but acknowledging this shit acfually does wonders #i mean idk. not forcing you to but ya. #walkie talkie. #not anti anakin

[beauspot]

The Bear Season 2: And Why I’m Fucking Annoyed (Full Spoilers below)

*Long Post*

The Bear is something truly special. When it dropped in June of last year it wasn’t a major hit right away. It was a sleeper and it grew its fanbase over time. If you were here this time last year you remember how small the fandom was posts on every platform could barely reach 200 interactions, but with the Golden Globe wins and the word of mouth this fandom began to grow and expand, because season one of the show was just so good.

Season 2 however is an interesting piece of media. I am well aware that I have some bias in this department and I can’t view this season objectively, but neither can the rest of you so I’ll say what I want.

To start off I really enjoyed some of the episodes this season, the first two? Excellent. The Marcus Episode(with my husband Will Poulter at his side)? Fantastic. The Richie Episode? Perfection. And let’s not even talk about Fishes, which was beyond words. I genuinely went into this season wanting to like it and praise it the way I did the previous season because I thought it was good. The writing—which is spectacular in nearly every other place—takes a nosedive with this romance plot. I still do think it’s good, but I can’t act like this whole season hasn’t left a sour taste in my mouth, because it has. Because the show runners are lying racist misogynistic nasty assholes who bullshitted us for nothing.

Toward the end of last year/beginning of this year Chef’s Kiss fans words made their way to some journalist who then asked about the potential for it with the actors and the writer( in an article stupidly named “don’t worry the bear doesn’t want carmy and sydney to kiss, either” the writer of which goes on to ship carmy and marcus so clearly they have excellent taste 😒) who all shut it down. Fine. That’s fine. That’s their opinion and it doesn’t affect us. What bothers me is the words of the co-creator Chris Storer who said this 👇🏾

He went on to say the show was also just meant to be focused on these people doing their jobs. So fine. We said even if it won’t be canon there’s no way they would bring in a new love interest cause that’s not “the vision” they have for the show, right?(He also goes on in the pic above to act like we couldn’t separate our love of the plot of the show from the ship which is…infantilizing and annoying) continuing on though, he also said this

He thought it would be cool to see a show with no romantic plot. Mind you this statement was made in January and the show starting filming in February. So unless they want me to believe they added this romance plot as some last minute thing (which very well could be the case as Claire has quite literally no personality outside of being pushy and being Carmy’s girlfriend) they knew they were having a romance plot in the second season and chose to lie about it. So the actors, the creator, basically everyone who was apart of this project said that Syd and Carmy were a weird ship (a strange thing to say to your, at the time, small audience even if that’s how you felt) just for them to turn around and have Carmy with a new love interest from school and have Sydney and marcus develop feelings for one another in the second to last episode? can y’all be fucking forreal for one minute?

Suddenly all you “yesss let men and women be friends, not every show needs romance” ass bitches want to ship something. I can tell you know Syd and Carmy have chemistry otherwise you wouldn’t have been shaking in your boots hoping the writers wouldn’t get them together. There was some dumb post i saw rooting for Claire and Carm but then adding ‘no one was better than platonic Sydcarmy’…

I see you.

I spoke about this before, but this constant sidelining of black women in these types of shows irks me. Sydney is basically hunting Carmy down for 85% of the season because he can’t do his fucking job he’s so consumed with Claire. And I know people are gonna say i’m being overdramatic, but it’s so clear they just did not want their main white boy to be with a black girl. Something that happens over and over and over again so many fucking times you can just lose count. Carmy, who in season one was so in tune with Sydney’s emotions he quelled his own anger and anxiety to ask if she was ok now ditches her at their restaurant to go help some girl he hasn’t seen since high school. He ditches her to go to a party then has the nerve to bring up Claire’s helping to inspire him.

Like yeah no shit Sydney is sorry that she’s there, y’all are opening a restaurant together which could fuck both your lives if it fails and Carmy is off doing god knows what instead of his job!

WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED?!? And yeah, Carmy fucks it up at the end with Claire but that doesn’t negate the rest of the season. Chef’s Kiss shippers are strange and delusional and the show doesn’t need romance and then Claire is half naked in Carmy’s apartment? Look Carmy deserves happiness, his life has been basically nonstop stress and trauma since he was a kid and him ending the season thinking he doesn’t deserve fun or love is heartbreaking because it isn’t true, he deserves all the love in the world especially since he is actively trying to break the cycle (along with his sister). That doesn’t negate the fact that he agreed to being partners with Syd and then left her to make decisions on her own about a business they agreed to start together. Which is why he apologized and rightfully so.

And I know for a fact annoying Sydney and Marcus shippers are going to be like “well ackshully they are clearly setting up Sydcus this season so how can they hate black women.” I love Marcus as much as the next person and honestly after I saw where the writing was going I was like fuck it why not at this point, but if Sydney and Carmy’s shippers were living off crumbs Sydney and Marcus shippers were living off the memory of food. But sure that ship had development.

also no i don’t fuck with that syd and marcus ship because why the fuck are you snapping at sydney cause she rejected you and it wasn’t even really a rejection that was very incel core and it’s not about being upset half the kitchen is always screaming about something, it’s why he snapped at her.

I’m just angry so yeah fuck this show.

I’m genuinely contemplating if I want to watch the next season at all. I said if they wanted to go no romance, fine go no romance, but to not only lie about that but bring in some whole new girl we don’t know and throw the black girl to the closest guy despite the fact Sydney and Carmy are more alike than anyone else? You clearly need to do some introspection and think about why you can view Sydney and Carmen as friends but get sick at the thought of them being more.

There is a possibility (a slight possibility) that they are playing the long game we wanted, but i am wary because they lied and put a manic pixie indie girl in as a love interest this time and it sucked. But then I remember the scene with Syd and Carmy under the table and how open and honest they were with each other and even though their relationship wasn’t the best this season I can see it’s potential, because that one scene had more chemistry than all of that other ships other scenes combined. I don’t know.

This got me thinking though Will Poulter romcom when? I will be seated. Also the consensus on twitter is that people really didn’t like Claire and thought the show should have ditched their plot all together so that’s nice. A lot of people seem to think this is a setup for sydcarmy and idk, maybe i’ll rewatch when i’m more calm.

#the only little bitch here is the show runner for being a lying sack of shit #the bear #the bear season 2 #the bear s2 #the bear fx #the bear hulu #carmen berzatto #carmy berzatto #sydney adamu #syd adamu #carmy x syd #syd x carmy #sydcarmy #chefs kiss #carmney #the bear marcus #the bear tina #black girl romance #misogynoir

[aemiron-main]

“Gay Henry Truthers Are Erasing An Interracial Relationship During The 50s”: No We Aren’t, The Struggles Of An Interracial Relationship Are Still Very Much Present Even With Gay Henry & You’re Actually The Ones That Are Erasing Key Aspects Of Both Henry and Patty

So, it’s weird to see people talking about how gay Henry analysis is “erasing an interracial love story in the 50s” as if people arent also trying to erase the story of a gay kid in the 50s & the HNL conversion therapy allegory & also erase the way that Patty’s feelings specifically being puppy love is a key part of her reclaiming her sexuality/rebelling against Mr Newby, and also the fact that even with gay Henry, the struggles of an interracial relationship are still very much present.

I just think it’s a bit odd and reductive to try and reduce it down to “gay Henry headcanons are erasing an interracial love story,” when a.) it’s not just a headcanon, it’s analysis of canon, and b.) part of Henry’s story is very much being gay and the heavy heavy conversion therapy vibes/comparisons with Hawkins Lab and Brenner and how that ties into Brenner and Henry’s dynamic AND the fact that the struggles of an interracial relationship in the 50s are STILL PRESENT with gay Henry, I’m not erasing a single thing in that regard- Henry still stands up for Patty/joins in with her at the audition after Walter makes racist remarks & Henry still goes on his dates with her & they still experience all of the same things that they would experience if Henry was straight- except with some added queecoding on top.

So, yeah. Enjoy Creelby all you want, but I do think it’s strange to try and twist the fantastic story we have here re: gay Henry and Patty & intertwining queerness with interracial relationship & the concept of “being normal,” into an “us vs them, you’re Morally Wrong for believing that Henry is gay,” debacle.

Like, could they be more obvious than the “I like the gay ones?” line from Patty? It’s not subtle. Not to mention the stuff that IS subtle re: Henry’s queercoding (him basically having his “boys only,” moment when he’s in the boys bathroom & Patty comes in & he says she’s not supposed to be in there), etc etc.

And also, ignoring the queer side of things also erases the intricacies of Henry and Patty’s dynamic with their parents. Here’s why:

So, I talked about this in my other post-TFS gay Henry post, but part of Henry’s reason for having a relationship with Patty/going on dates with her etc is due to Virginia’s emotional incest and the fact that Virginia doesn’t want him to be with Patty & that Virginia is jealous of Patty.

Now, you might be saying “but Em, isn’t rebelling against Virginia and being with Patty just a testament to Henry’s romantic love for Patty?” To which I say: no! And I say “no,” because Henry’s key “romantic” interactions with Patty happen after Virginia tells him not to be with her- it’s not that he was already asking her out on 5 million dates and super interested prior- he was happy to be around her & trying to be “normal,” etc prior to Virginia’s complaints about him being with Patty, but the main date etc happened AFTER that conversation between Henry and Virginia. Henry’s date etc with Patty is a response to Virginia’s controlling behaviour and emotional incest and Virginia’s jealousy towards Patty- Henry straight up asks Virginia if she’s jealous of Patty after Virginia says that she doesn’t want Henry around patty anymore.

So, this demonstrates how Henry may have not pursued a romantic relationship with Patty if he wasn’t a.) trying to be normal (which, Virginia literally makes him repeat “My name is Henry Creel and I am normal,” all the time), and b.) if he wasn’t trying to rebel against Virginia’s emotional incest and controlling behaviour.

And there’s also the Brenner aspect of all of this. I talked about this in another post, but in TFS, many of Brenner’s conversations with Henry tie heavily into themes of sexual assault and conversion therapy in a way that’s SPECIFICALLY tied to Henry being gay and Brenner talking about how Henry can never be “normal,” specifically in the context of going to prom/being around girls, and Brenner also talks about how “I know you like it,” re: trying to claim that Henry likes killing, but it’s written and set up in such a way that the subtext is definitely tied to “I know you like being assaulted by a man/by me because you’re gay and nothing can fix that/I’m not trying to fix you, because you can’t be fixed, and I know you like it,” which then later ties into Henry and stockholm syndrome vibes and Henry wondering if he belongs in the lab, and again, that stockholm syndrome and self-hatred vibe with Henry is specifically tied to his queercoding.

And when it comes to Patty, trying to act like her and Henry are this end-all-be-all true, reciprocated romantic love & ignoring the references to it being “puppy love,” and the direct Mileven parallels erases a key part of Patty’s dynamic (and trauma) regarding Mr. Newby, as Patty is afraid to perform in The Dark of the Moon not only because of the sexual aspect of the play, but SPECIFICALLY BECAUSE Father Newby would have an issue with her performing in a play with explicit material.

So, Patty’s puppy love with Henry/her feelings for him/going on dates with him are also rooted in rebellion against Mr Newby, just like how Henry going on dates etc with Patty is rooted in rebellion against Virginia and her emotional incest. Ignoring Henry’s queerness & how Virginia’s emotional incest pushes a queer boy towards being in a relationship with a girl AND also ignoring the way that Patty rebels against Father Newby by pursuing a rebellious puppy love relationship rather than “waiting for marriage/waiting for a relationship that’s Approved By The Church And Me Newby/a True Love Moment TM” really reduces the depth of both characters.

Like, one thing I actually really enjoy about the puppy love side of Creelby on Patty’s behalf is that Patty doesn’t have to justify her relationship with “oh but it’s True Love-“ instead, she’s simply doing it because she wants to, because it makes her happy, she’s finally getting to make her own choices and break away from Mr, Newby’s controlling behaviour. She doesn’t plead with Mr Newby about how “oh, it’s True Love, please let me be with Henry, I want to marry him and spend my life with him-“ instead, she takes matters into her own hands, and enjoys her little puppy love/fling without that “justification,” of “oh but it’s True Love,” and without continuing to try and appeal to both religious standards and Mr Newby’s standards.

And again regarding how Patty’s feelings for Henry/going on a date with him etc are tied to Patty’s dynamic with Mr Newby, Patty even has a line that she says to Henry, where she says “what are you, my dad?”

So, not only do we have the familial coding there coming from Patty, but we also have a connection between Henry and Mr Newby created via that line, which reinforces what I said about how Patty initiating a relationship with Henry isn’t just because she’s “deeply romantically in love with him,” but instead, is also very very connected to Patty’s dynamic with Mr Newby & the way he punishes and controls her & the effect that Mr Newby has had on Patty’s expression and understanding of relationships and sexuality.

There’s also the emotional incest aspect between Patty and Mr. Newby, as Mr Newby’s wife left him for Ted Wheeler’s dad- and so, Patty ends up filling that void in a weird way, and Mr Newby treats her more like a controlled wife than he does a daughter/child.

So, yeah. It’s just a little frustrating to see people try and claim some sort of moral highground re: interracial relationships and Creelby vs gay Henry while also ignoring the conversion therapy aspect of Henry’s story and how that plays into his dynamic with Brenner & Brenner’s abuse towards him, and while also ignoring the way that gay Henry/puppy love Creelby plays into both Henry and Patty’s dynamics with their parents. Frankly, that sort of attempt at moral highgrounding comes across as a “grasping at straws/trying to cope and find a moral highground because the evidence supports gay Henry,” approach, which again, is frustrating.

Like, gay Henry doesn’t erase the interracial aspect/struggles of Creelby at all- but people are trying to use Creelby’s status as an interracial relationship to sweep Henry’s heavy handed gay coding under the rug and sweep the fact that Patty’s feeling being puppy love is a key pert of her character under the rug, and prove that Creelby is a reciprocated, endgame-esque romance, which not only then erases key aspects of Henry and Patty’s characters and dynamics with their parents and with Brenner, but also frankly comes across as people trying to use the struggles of an interracial relationship as a way of “proving,” that a ship they like is endgame, while also erasing key aspects of those characters & it just feels disingenuous to try and use the fact that Patty and Henry are an interracial relationship as justification for why they’re endgame/as an attempt debunk gay Henry when that doesn’t work & when they’re reducing the depth of Patty and Henry’s characters in the process.

Like, is it just me, or is it weirder to flatten out the characters of an abused black girl and an abused gay boy simply because you want Patty and Henry to be endgame?

Hell, I ship romantic Creelby in a fanon way!! I have a bi Henry au!! But when we’re talking about analysis & trying to claim some sort of moral highground in that regard, I think it’s really important to consider what elements of character dynamics and story get erased when we remove key aspects such as the puppy love dynamic and Henry’s gayness.

#stranger things #henry creel #the first shadow #hentty #creelby #tfs spoilers #party newby

[astarions-wife]

Trying to decipher why Cazador would ever turn Yousen, a gnome into a Vampire Spawn. Like what was the point. What audience was he catering too? Like everyone else I can find a reason for:

-Astarion and Petras were conveniently attractive men. They’ll both use similar flirtatious language, so this one isn’t surprising.

-Violet, who I presume to be a singer, makes perfect sense. A young, beautiful woman is perfect for luring people back, and we know she was doing pretty well—considering she was on the favorited spawn ledger one year.

-Aurelia, a naive tiefling woman. It breaks up the species ratio a bit, but it makes sense that he’d want more than just elves and humans, it appeals to a larger audience after all.

-Dalyria, unconfirmed, but quite possibly a drow? Like Aurelia, she would appeal to a larger audience, and plus she’s a doctor. I’ve previously posted my theory (here) on how she was probably ���tortured” by being the one to tend to her siblings injuries…

-Leon is self explanatory. He made favorited spawn almost every year. He’s the only one to be recruited into this mess with a child of his own. His clearly was able to do enough to have a child, so this isn’t much of a surprise.

-And then we come down to Yousen. Who just doesn’t fit the criteria I mean, people are canonically so racist towards Gnomes—Astarion barely views them as people, considering he suggests feeding off of them. Like what. Was the point. Where did he come from. Why Yousen. He used to have dialogue saying he was recruited in the last sixty years, so it wasn’t even like he was the last one 💀 I just. I want answers.

#merry christmas and happy holidays #I give you this #it keeps me up at night #genuinely #bg3 #baldur's gate 3 #baldurs gate 3 #baldurs gate #astarion #yousen bg3 #leon bg3 #leon onufrio #victoria onufrio #Victoria bg3 #aurelia bg3 #violet bg3 #dalyria bg3 #pale petras #petras bg3 #bg3 astarion #astarion bg3 #astarion’s siblings #bg3 vampire spawn #vampire spawn bg3 #bg3 yousen #cazador szarr

[andreal831]

the subtle racism portrayed by Julie Plec and TVDU (especially Klaroline fans) fans as well towards Michael Trevino (Tyler Lockwood) is something that will always irk my soul. Both the actor and the character were done SO BADLYYYYYY. I know that since Tyler is written as a white character, technically his writing wasn’t “racist”, but I have reason to believe that Julie may have written him the way she did due to her issues with Michael Trevino.

What do you think about Tyler Lockwood? I think he definitely is one of the characters with the most potential besides Bonnie, etc. Most of the POC in the show (actors/characters) had the most potential and were sidelined.

IN FACT, I can say the same about Enzo! Yeah, Enzo St John is a canonically white character, but Michael Malarkey is a mixed race man (Italian/Palestinian-Lebanese), and we know how Julie is towards POC.

Like I’m not trying to blame all the bad writing on racism and discrimination, but all the POC actors/characters have shitty storylines and a lot of them are racist.

Lucy, Sarah Salvatore (the black Salvatore), Enzo, Tyler, Marcel, Vincent, Bonnie, Qetsiyah, etc.

Coincidence?

Whenever I discuss race, I do want to preface it by saying, I am white so I am speaking from that point of view. If you disagree or have another perspective, I would love to hear it.

That being said, I don't even think we can call what happened on the set and in the show "subtle" racism. There was such overt racism throughout the show that it is hard to discuss the show in any way without discussing racism. Just because Julie Plec doesn't view her actions as blatantly racist, it doesn't mean they are not.

Just the fact that they had two actors who are ethically not white but were portrayed as white is telling. Both Michael Trevino and Michael Malarkey were made to appear white in the show when there really wasn't a necessity for it. Tyler being Mexican could have added to the history of the wolves or it could have even come from his mom's side, allowing them to cast a Latina woman. For Malarkey, his race isn't really discussed but it would have been so easy to show him making Bonnie a nice Lebanese meal when they were staying at the cabin (cause lord knows the zionists running the show wouldn't allow him to be Palestinian). I also personally just like Tyler and Enzo more than Damon. I would have been fine with killing Damon off earlier to allow more screen time for them.

A year or so ago, my friend began watching the show for the first time and by the time we got to The Originals, as soon as Sabine walked on screen, she said "Does she get killed this episode?" People of color, especially women of color, were treated as disposable by the network. To the point that Tyler and Enzo likely only survived as long as they did because they were "white" characters. But it is also still obvious how much worse they were treated than any other side characters. Tyler and Enzo are both killed in such nonsensical ways and then they have no justice or even mourning. Tyler was a lifelong friend of the Mystic Falls gang and yet Damon isn't even sternly lectured for killing him for zero reason. Tyler had escaped the supernatural world. What was the point of dragging him back on the show just to kill him and have Damon suffer no consequences. He was Caroline's first epic love and she just forgives Damon for it? And what was the point of Enzo's death? Just to make Bonnie suffer more? Just to make her attend the wedding of his murderer? I know Stefan had his humanity off, but that doesn't change the fact that Enzo was dead and Bonnie was still grieving.

Moving on to how the fandom treats them. There is honestly so much hate in this fandom sometimes, and you're right, there is definitely a racial element to it. The way Tyler is treated by the fandom is so telling. I don't know if a lot of the fandom even knows Michael Trevino's ethnicity, but he is clearly seen as "other" or "less than" by the fandom. We also have to acknowledge how his "angry outbursts" are seen as unacceptable but when Klaus does it, it is because he is just so "passionate." The scene where Caroline keeps pushing Tyler to forgive her for sleeping with his mother's killer comes to mind. He snaps but he makes no move to touch her, and this is after repeatedly telling her to leave and her pushing his boundaries. I have seen the fandom call him "disgusting" and an "abuser" because of this, celebrating the fact that Stefan punches him. Stefan uses physical violence against Tyler's words, yet Tyler is the abuser? Then we have, Klaus, who runs her through with a coat hanger and bites her because she said something slightly rude to him and he is praised for "saving her life." It's hard to believe there isn't a racial element here. I often say Klaus gets pretty privilege, but why isn't that awarded to Tyler? Because we can't deny that Michael Trevino is attractive (I'd say more attractive than Joseph Morgan but y'all will come for me).

There was so much left of Tyler's story. The fact that they even had the Lockwoods as the protectors of Inadu's bones in TO would have been a perfect way to bring him back. Can you imagine Hayley or Klaus having to go beg him for help? It would have been such an amazing moment. But no, instead they bring Matt Davis onto the show to make sure he could infect every single spinoff.

You mention all of these characters and that's just in TVD. TO was no better. One of my mutuals recently got into a Twitter 'discussion' with one of the writers and the writer attempted to claim that the Mikaelsons were white supremacists and that was the point of TO, to show it was bad. Yet, when did they do that? How did they show being a white supremacist is bad? The Mikaelsons were at the top of the food chain the entire time. Yes, they constantly had people coming for them, yet they always won and the writing was always done in a way to make the audience root for them to win. How many POC characters were sacrificed in order to prop up the main characters throughout the shows?

Whenever we talk about racism in the show, we have to talk about Bonnie. Bonnie was constantly having to sacrifice her own wants and happiness in order for her white friends, and even enemies, to get what they want. Often when she set a boundary, the fandom villainized her. According to the writing and the fandom, her entire purpose was to serve the white characters. That is blatant racism.

But it's not just Bonnie. It's her entire ancestry. The fandom seems to believe Emily is Katherine's friend in the flashbacks, but she is clearly either being enslaved or at least some type of servant to Katherine. We can go all the way back to Ayana who Esther stole her spell to create the vampires. Or to Qetsiyah who was cheated on and used in order to aid the white doppelgangers. These things separately may not raise any flags, but the fact that we see it happen repeatedly throughout the show tells us it's more than just a coincidence.

Let's not forget Damon was not a confederate solider in the books. Julie added that. And yes I know he deserted but he says it is basically because he was missing Katherine, not because he morally opposed what he was fighting for. They added the founding families and yet didn't make the Bennetts apart of it even though they had been there longer than anyone. They were actively celebrating slave owners. Tyler's mom makes a passing comment of why they have the chains in the cellars and everyone just moves on. They chose to have the Mikaelsons live on a plantation in New Orleans. They chose to hire a very white cast and make it even whiter by white washing and killing off POCs.

Sure TVD is set in Virginia, but Virginia is only 65% white. So why was the cast 99% white? Then they create a whole show in New Orleans where 59% of the population is black, yet we still have a majority white cast? And when they introduce POCs it is usually to serve the white cast. Both Vincent and Eva were brought on so there bodies could literally be used by the white characters. Eva and Vincent's trauma were completely neglected and Eva was even killed off to allow Rebekah to use her body as she pleased whenever Claire Holt wasn't available to be on set. I've already discussed the difference in how Aurora is treated versus Celeste by the show and the fandom. You can read that here. Marcel is constantly belittled and sidelined, even after he is upgraded. There are so many witches of color in New Orleans, yet Davina is the most powerful? Why couldn't she have been played by a POC?

The show repeatedly dehumanizes people of color, especially the women. It's not a coincidence. It is pure racism. And because the show does it, the fandom does it. I am not taking responsibility away from the fandom. Each individual person should know better. But media is supposed to influence society. If we grow up with media that glorifies and celebrates different races, cultures, ethnicities, the fandom will begin to as well. Julie had no desire to do that. All she cared about was ratings and her own racist viewpoint of the world. She could have done more research, or hell, even just listened to her cast, but she chose not to. The writing of the show suffered because of it, but even worse the actors and even fans suffer because of it.

There are so many great creators in this fandom who are POCs and I highly suggest following them. They are able to give better insight in the discussion of racism in the show. But please keep in mind, they do not owe you their time or energy. It is up to each of us to do our own research and learn.

Thank you for the ask! I hope I answered it. Sorry it was so long.

#it was never subtle #julie plec is racist #anti julie plec #tyler lockwood #michael trevino #enzo st. john #michael malarkey #bonnie bennett #kat graham #tvdu #the originals #the vampire diaries #tvd #anon ask #tvd anon ask #tvd ask #fandom asks #fandom answers #tvdu metas #metas

[laundrybiscuits]

Just curious and i like hearing your thoughts on this stuff. May i ask what aspect of steddie fanon you're referring to (which don't fit IRL queer culture so accurately)?

Ahaha...okay so. IMPORTANT NOTE: fandom is not that crucial, do whatever you want, run free through daisy fields of whatever headcanons and characterizations you please. Also, fic is not real life and that's okay!!

That being said, fandom can get slightly weird about sex, especially queer sexual cultures and especially historical queer sexual cultures. I mean, I get it! Our current hegemonic understanding of sexuality is actually pretty recent; I studied sexuality from a sociological perspective as part of my undergrad degree, focusing on moral panics (gosh I wonder why Eddie's character arc appeals to me! so mysterious!), and I know just enough to know that I don't know shit. So I certainly don't expect anyone to be doing paradigm-shifting sociohistorical research for a fic. That would be ridiculous.

All of this is leading up to say that based on 1) the relayed experiences of queer mentors who were in the scene in the 80s 2) the secondary sources I’ve researched 3) personally having many gay male friends who love oversharing through the last ~15 years, I believe that if canon-compliant gay Eddie Munson is a virgin, it’s largely by choice. 

I've seen it suggested that Eddie's poor academic performance and nerdy interests would be, essentially, a dick deterrent. And like...I enjoy Eddie’s weirdo loser vibe as much as the next fan. I fully support him not being in any way smooth or cool with boys. But even when I myself was in my late teens/early twenties, many of my closest friends were awkward nerdy twinks who absolutely managed to get laid every weekend because MSM* hookup culture is eternal. 

And in the early 80s, when Eddie would’ve been in his late teens, MSM hookup culture was at its peak. AIDS still wasn’t being taken that seriously, and transmission etc. wasn’t really understood because…well, you know this story. It’s not a good story. Fuck Reagan. 

In short, I really can’t emphasize enough how certain types of sexual contact were extremely available for men seeking sex with men. A pretty young thing like Eddie could have literally as much sex as he wanted. Nobody is asking him for a high school transcript or anything about his hobbies, they’re asking if he tops. 

Now, would Eddie actually participate in the hookup culture of the time? That's a more complicated and speculative question, and not actually what you asked, but I'm going to talk about it briefly anyway.

In the 'yes' column: he has his own vehicle**, zero supervision, and a penchant for risky behavior.

In the 'no' column: the boy has at least three extremely involved hobbies eating up his spare time and energy; he's also a not-so-secret romantic.

Personally, I can see the pseudo-intimacy appealing to Eddie's tendency to keep people at arm's length, and I think it’s very plausible for him to be curious and experimental enough to want to explore a bit. I tend to land on 'tried it a few times, doesn't make a habit of it' in my backstories. I also tend to hint at the softer, friendlier side of hookup culture in my fics, just because I don’t often see it represented. 

Of course it’s like any other scene, there are bad actors and generally shitty people/situations, and sometimes the MSM scene specifically can be a bit of a soul-draining meat market. (ETA, because I am not white and neither are the vast majority of my friends and I felt increasingly weird not mentioning it even though it's not relevant to Eddie's situation: the scene is often also super racist, among other things! But that's a whooole other complicated kettle of fish, and again, not relevant to Eddie's situation.)

But there’s also space for casual sex to be part of a friendly relationship, in a way that I don’t really see in hetero circles. It’s hard to explain. It’s one of those dynamics that basically never shows up in mainstream media at all, so I absolutely don’t blame fics that don’t show it either. It’s just one of those things.

This is a step to the left, but I recommend checking out Dykes To Watch Out For: it’s practically an anthropological document depicting dyke culture in the 80s, it’s often funny as hell, and it’s just a fantastically detailed and relatively accessible window into a particular way of life that doesn’t really exist anymore. 

*MSM = men who have sex with men. It’s a sociological designation; not everyone in this category identifies as gay, bi, queer, etc. It may be useful to think about sexuality as having three distinct components: behavior, identity, and desire. The term “MSM” puts focus on the behavioral aspect, because it’s most relevant in this context. 

**As someone who has experienced several other countries' driving cultures, I just want to emphasize to non-Americans how willing many Americans are to drive for multiple hours for basically any reason whatsoever.

#askbox #GOD this got long #I will absolutely delete this and go on a blocking spree with zero notice if it sparks any discourse whatsoever #I'm not even tagging it as meta #I just get so freaking paranoid when talking about sex/sexuality publicly on this hellsite #ETA new tag: #ST meta for TS

[pippin-katz]

I just had an encounter on Twitter surrounding racism towards Guinevere in the Merlin fandom. A fan made a comment about fans ignoring the black girl in favor of the non-canon ship. I reacted too quickly to disagree with them and we exchanged replies back and forth until I realized what my issue was.

I had claimed that only a tiny part of the fandom is actively racist and hateful towards Gwen, because in my experience, that’s what I’ve seen. I’ve only ever seen love for Guinevere, and the selective moments where someone was being hateful, the fandom shut them down.

This fan informed me that they encounter it everywhere, and that it has been a prominent, majority of the fandom since the show aired.

I tried to argue with them until I realized how counter-productive and hypocritical it was of me to argue with a fan of color over whether or not there’s significant racism in the fandom.

I spoke reactively instead of thoughtfully. My gut instinct felt like they were attacking Merthur fans for shipping them, and implying that it was done out of racism toward Guinevere. I got defensive, since I myself am a Merthur shipper who has and will actively fight racist pieces of shit I encounter. But that’s just the problem, I haven’t encountered anything, so my instinct was to defend Merthur shippers under the impression that it wasn’t as big of an issue as they were making it out to be.

When I realized that’s where my reaction came from, I recognized the flaws in my behavior. I sincerely apologized and explained that I actively fight racism in the fandom, but that my behavior was counter-productive to that goal. I hope they do believe me, because it is absolutely true that I know better, and I’m angry with myself for even doing it in the first place.

But I also hope that they understand that it came from a place of wanting to believe that this fandom was better than this.

I wanted to defend the fandom and correct them about their comment, thinking that I was right just because I’ve never seen what they’re referring to. Over the last year, I was writing massive essays and other Merlin posts that gained a lot of attention. I was super active on here, and thought that that meant I would’ve seen it if it was a significant issue.

That’s obviously stupid of me, and I apologized to them for my behavior, because I know better.

This leads me to writing this post. I don’t care if no one sees this, but I need to voice this, because it’s true, and for my own sanity.

We need to be better.

I realize that just because I haven’t seen it doesn’t mean it’s not there, and it’s not my place to make that call. If they are a fan of color and telling me that it is a prominent issue, I should’ve immediately listened.

So this is directed at those racist people: get the fuck out of this fandom.

You don’t belong here, and clearly missed the fucking point of the show if you think that discriminating against Guinevere for being born a certain way is in any way okay. The entire message of the show is that no one should be treated differently because of something they cannot control, something naturally part of them.

We often use the analogy for hiding who we are for being part of the community, but you need to recognize that being shamed for being a certain way and feeling like an outsider applies to all minorities.

So I say again, if you are a racist fuck who hates Guinevere because of her race or purely because you prefer Merthur, get the fuck out.

There are valid reasons to dislike her CHARACTER, but being a black woman, and being in a relationship with Arthur, are not among them.

Thank you for reading.

#merlin #merlin bbc #bbc merlin #merlin thoughts #merlin emrys #arthur pendragon #guinevere pendragon #merthur #the once and future fandom

[sassysambucky]

Fandom Racism

If you don’t want to read this, unfollow me and anyone else who is black. I’m not playing with y’all.

I’m tired of nonblack people writing Sam Wilson in predatory roles and minimizing his trauma and need for healing and therapy like everyone else - especially given that he is a black man first, veteran second, and these are canon-based fics. If you don’t understand that nuance, literally don’t write him until you can.

Yes, I just read some shit that said Sam’s pain was okay because it wasn’t worse than Bucky’s and that Zemo is some kind of generous white martyr (mind you, he used Bucky and Sam the whole show, felt no remorse for killing the black king of a black nation, and is based off of Nazi comic material). And this isn’t an uncommon occurrence.

Black and brown fans don’t have an escape because we have to experience racist bias in real life just to then read it and writers want to cry, “It’s just fiction!” instead of doing the anti-racism work on themselves. Art includes the manifestation of real thoughts and systemic biases. Art is not an excuse.

This fandom has a lot of work to do. It’s not enough to have ‘good intentions’ when you’re still putting biases back into the world that are harmful. You’re different from your grandparents, cousins, uncles? PROVE IT instead of whining when black readers are tired of dehumanization of blackness.

PS. anti-racism is a life-long journey, not reading an article and a book and calling it a day. This also extends to POC who engage in anti-blackness. Do better and check your cousins. I should not have to.

PS2. This is not only Sam Wilson, but almost every fandom that has black characters, popular or not. The issue is widespread, Sam just happens to be where my particular offense lies at the moment given that I engage with his character often.

#ao3 #sam wilson #racism #fandom racism #ffn.net #captain america #marvel #MCU #antiblackracism #if you are an mcu fan and dont reblog this then unfollow me #this is every fandom with black character by the way i am just focusing on sam

[oneshortdamnfuse]

The Duffer’s early characterization of Billy as a racist bully is a problem, and not because Billy didn’t actually say or do anything racist. It’s because their supposed “inspiration” picked from IT (specifically Henry Bowers) and their push for Billy to have more overtly racist lines is not appropriate for the story they were telling. At all. I go back and forth over whether or not it would have been better for Billy to be this one dimensional villain, like Jason Carver was in season 4. However, given the type of story they were telling I am glad that we were given the opportunity to see a “bully” type character who had a backstory that explained his motivations. It added layers to his and Max’s character. It made the fight against the Mindflayer more dramatic and compelling. That being said, as an abuse survivor whose ACE score is an 8, it was still hard to watch and even harder dealing with the fandom fallout that is still stuck in the mindset that Billy is basically the Duffer’s version of Henry Bowers - something they never truly accomplished.

Stranger Things is not IT, no matter how many nods they try to give to it. IT is inspired by real racist and homophobic violence in a small town. Stranger Things does not touch upon either of those things with any authenticity, and it was never meant to. It doesn’t mean that fans can’t or shouldn’t care about those things. However, there is absolutely no good reason why the Duffers should have been faithful to their original vision of Billy being as overtly racist (using slurs, even) and violent as Henry Bowers because it serves no narrative purpose other than to traumatize characters and vicariously viewers with minimal long term consequence to the plot. This is not IT. They spend more time on this show tormenting abused people than they ever do addressing systemic hate. So fans should not treat it like IT, and they should certainly not treat Billy as another Henry Bowers or act like he’s ever done anything on par with that character’s actions when there is no canon proof of that.

My ongoing problem with the Duffers is that they don’t utilize trauma in a thoughtful way that connects to the overall theme. They are writing a generic good over evil story, which is okay but it’s not what people inflate it to be. Instead trauma is like decoration. You are meant to look at it and maybe it will evoke some feelings but it is just decoration. Stephen King’s IT is not that. Trauma is integral to the plot of the book where an entire town is not made “sick” by supernatural experimentation but rather the systemic hatred and disregard for life that is pervasive in their community. Henry Bowers is symbolic of that hatred in his words and his actions, which is why he becomes a willing pawn of IT unlike Billy who is taken against his will and forced to relive his trauma. For Henry, this union is liberating and exciting. Henry never stops, either. He never backs down. He is unrelentingly racist and homophobic, as opposed to Billy who leaves Max and her friends alone after a single incident. Henry also never feels bad about what he does, unlike Billy who dies apologizing.

Any time fans justify their feelings towards Billy using the Duffer’s words, I can’t take them seriously because their vision re: his characterization was never realized and it’s a good thing it wasn’t. They wouldn’t handle it, and you know how I know? The very scene where he attacks Lucas has minimal narrative consequence despite the way it made fans feel. Like I said, it’s just for decoration. This is not Henry Bowers. This is not IT. They never intended to explore racism in any meaningful way, just like they’re dragging their feet in terms of queer representation four seasons in. It. Is. Just. Decoration. Instead, we got to see fans cheer as they made Billy suffer and die while his trauma was put on full display after doing heinous things against his will. That’s not a villain’s satisfying end. That is a tragedy. It’s extremely sad, and the season 4 finale as well as the overall lack of emotional maturity in this fandom has not only reopened the wound of seeing his trauma mocked but rubbed salt in it with every screenshot of the Duffer’s words that gets reposted.

I cannot reiterate enough that trauma is decoration to the Duffers, which isn’t just evident with Billy but I digress. Yet, some fans hang on to their shallow words like everything they say or suggest is narratively true and fully realized. I can think of no better example of this than when fans say Billy is homophobic because Henry Bowers is homophobic, even though there’s no evidence he is and in fact Billy is called a f****t by his father. Just absolutely no critical thought there. If I don’t stop somewhere I will never shut up about it but to this day it makes me unbelievably angry to see anyone dare make comparisons with IT and Henry Bowers when that’s not what Stranger Things is about no matter how much they borrow aesthetically from Stephen King. Being critical of Billy is fine and encouraged by me, but not when you’re using it to make ridiculous claims or simply justify hating abuse survivors. We’re not all good little survivors who are soft and demure, but we still deserve a chance to heal. You don’t need to be a jerk about people who wanted that for Billy.

#stranger things #billy hargrove #long post cw

[teecupangel]

Tee, I'm re-reading Esama's glorious Sailing the Stars again and, a few chapters in, I thought- if the Desmond who could Hear Us got caught up in this scenario, many of us would be screaming at each other. Some in panic, some in excitement, and a few/one of us are starting to sound slightly unhinged from how long we've been laughing (read: cackling) for and how it's been growing so loud that's it's more like mad howling and it starts to drown out everyone else through sheer Awkwardness and how Unnerving it is.

Meanwhile, Desmond is just standing, awkwardly, before either a couple of Jedi or the entire Council- who are also slightly frozen in awkwardness because the Force is being as unhinged as the Cacklers but less Awkward and Unnerving and more, laughing/howling at a joke that it's decidedly Not Explaining. To Anyone.

And then the cackling suddenly stops and someone says, with a slasher grin you could almost hear: "Hey Des baby, can you go ruin the entire fucking careers of some Siths for us? Pretty please?"

Not sure which time Desmond would come out of, but I find it hilarious if Desmond manages to appear during a time when Qui Gon Jinn and Dooku were having problems later in their relationship but before he takes Vosa as his padawan and now Jinn has to deal with not only the knowledge that His Master Fucks but also has, and does occasionally, Fuck with Sifo Dyas and Madame Nu when the time and preference arises. The mental damage alone has some of Us laughing our asses off. Not to mention the implicated existence of Actual Gods/Patrons and the multiverse.

Sailing the Stars by esama (If you love Star Wars and Desmond Miles, go give it a read if you haven’t… or reread it if you already have XD)

This… isn’t exactly a fanfic of a fanfic because this can be summarized more as “Desmond gets awaken in the Star Wars timeline during maybe the Tales of the Jedi series? and he can still hear us”. I don’t think you need to have read Sailing the Stars to get this little snippet, at the very least.

.

.

Desmond has no idea what to do.

By this point, the voices in his head, the capricious ‘watchers’, would be giving him directions or suggestions but they were all still freaking out.

Because, according to what he could actually understand from their freak outs, he was not supposed to be here and this was a ‘crossover’ and “OH MY GOD” and the occasional “I don’t know enough about this!” sprinkled here and there would imply that he wasn’t in his ‘universe’ anymore.

Even the first who talked to him had fallen silent after a dreadful “fuck, this isn’t my fandom” and that was definitely not a good sign.

The other voices he could recognize were too busy freaking out and they were arguing where Desmond.

To be more exact: they were questioning if Desmond was in ‘canon’ or in ‘legends’… whatever that meant.

There a low chant of “Desmond for Darth Revan!” that was being shushed once in a while

And here he was… just… standing.

This council of what they call Jedis was staring at him with furrowed brows, something about how the Force was surrounding him and was… very ‘chaotic’?

But not in a bad way?

Like the kind of giddy chaos that children would get into?

At least, that was what that short green… alien?

Is it racist for Desmond to call him an alien?

Aren’t they all aliens anyway?

Isn’t Desmond an alien too because, apparently, he’s different from the other humans that the Jedis have on record.

Being both more primitive and also too ‘different’ to be considered one of the older ones, whatever that means.

Desmond would have assumed that it was because of his Isu-human gene ratio but the more logical reason would probably be because he was…

Well…

Not from this universe.

Not that he was going to say that.

Even if he did, they would probably just assume he meant not from this specific ‘galaxy’ or whatever.

Desmond would take any kind of distraction at this point and he finally got his wish when the door slid open and two more men entered the room.

The voices were silent for a moment before some of them began to shout, “Oh my god. Is that Count Dooku?! He’s soooo young.”

“Oooohhh, Qui Gon Jinn! Look at him! He’s so baby!”

Desmond’s eyes met the older man that he was certain was supposed to be Count Dooku and the voices hushed for a moment before someone whispered.

“300K, slowburn, corruption arc, hurt and comfort, BAMF Desmond Miles, Good Count Dooku.”

Desmond wanted to sigh.

Maybe he should just run away at this point?

#idk what i’m doing #i didn’t say it was dooku x desmond #but i also didn’t say it was qui gon jinn x desmond #honestly i don’t know what i wrote XD #assassin's creed #desmond miles #ask and answer #teecup writes/has a plot #fic idea: assassin's creed #fic idea: star wars #fic idea: crossover

[musclesandhammering]

Spn Opinions That’ll Have Me Burned at the Stake Pt. 2: Electric Boogaloo

I’m back and bitchier than ever. For reference, here’s part 1.

• Season 5 wasn’t that great.

• D*stiel isn’t real, it’s a sucky ship, and that confession scene was just the writers pandering to the rabid deancas fans cause they knew they were the only ones still watching the show lol. And they left it ambiguous enough that they could still say it was meant platonically if they needed to.

• I hate how they watered down both angels and demons post-season 5ish.

• I liked Ruby 1.0 better than Ruby 2.0.

• I hate Honey!Cas. They just did that cause they didn’t know where to take his story from there, needed him out of the way, and thought it would be funny. It was insulting.

• Jack should’ve been played by an actual child so everyone’s abuse of him would resonate with the audience for what it was (casual fans are brain dead and need to be spoon fed).

• Victor Henrikson deserved more time on the show.

• I said it in the last post, but Alex is way more interesting than Claire and should’ve been given the lead role in the wayward sisters storyline instead.

• Dean is canonically straight and for Christ sake if you guys wanted bi rep, there’s about a thousand other characters that are strongly coded or implied to be bisexual (including Sam!) but y’all didn’t focus on them because it wasn’t actually about representation, it was about making it more plausible for your dumb fetishised gay ship to actually happen (spoiler: it didn’t).

• Season 3 and Season 6 were some of the best ones, you guys just don’t have any taste.

• Claire is not Castiel’s daughter and saying she is erases Jimmy and insults her, and even Cas himself acknowledged that on the show.

• Castiel is canonically NOT gay and Misha constantly saying he is is annoying and airheaded. He’s been attracted to women IN THE SHOW and he’s not even really male, so calling him a Gay Man is reductive and just plain wrong. Also, it’s veeery sus that- given how bi/pan folks are even more underrepresented than gay people- that one of the rare times where the bi/pan label actually fits a character BETTER in CANON……. the allies and monosexuals adamantly reject it. Hm.

• “Curing” vampires or werewolves or demons shouldn’t have been a thing.

• The Winchesters cause most of the bad shit that happens and then they just force supernatural beings to fix it for them- tell me again how they’re Super Special Heroes.

• It shouldn’t be possible to make angels human by removing their grace, because (unlike demons, werewolves, etc) they were never human to start with. If you drained me of all my blood, I wouldn’t magically transform into another species, I’d fucking die.

• Making Billie go crazy was dumb.

• Rowena was one of the most interesting and charismatic characters on the whole show- they just didn’t know what to do with her character.

• The archangels, Lilith, and Azazel should’ve been the biggest threats on the show. No other knights of hell, no god and his sister, no Cain, nothing like that. Having every villain just get progressively more overpowered made the show unbelievable and repetitive and annoying.

• The kernel sanders king of hell guy was hot.

• Dean is misogynistic as HELL, homophobic, likes racist porn, is a narcissist, pervs on teen girls, & thinks all non-human people should be exterminated… and that is all CANON.

• Most of John Winchester’s abuse is fanon.

• Fans portraying Cas as a smol bby who colours in colouring books and has a bee plushie is so fucking annoying.

• Instead of having so many gigantic cosmic storylines with god and his sister and alternate dimensions and even the angel and demon tablets, they should’ve just scrapped those and made the stein family and the bmol and the alpha vampire storylines way bigger than they were. Less cosmic stuff, more earth-based stuff.

• They ruined Lucifer’s character post-season 5. Before that, he was more sympathetic and reasonable than Michael. After, he was a spoiled child hurting people for fun.

• Everything from season 7 on is garbage. All of it. There’s bits of goodness here and there but overall seasons 7-15 are trash.

• How the fuck are there actual people who are deangirls and hate Sam?? The space where your brain should be is empty, I swear to god.

• If there was gonna be any lgbt rep in the Wayward Sisters group, it should’ve been Jody and Donna instead of Claire and Kaia. Those two were boring as hell and had zero chemistry or build-up, but Jody/Donna had plenty of chemistry and was very believable.

• Meg has the best and most realistic redemption arc of anyone on the show.

• Chuck was not likeable or charismatic enough to carry off as big of a villain arc as they gave him. Also that whole thing was stupid and WAY too Out There.

• All the angels should’ve been aroace. All the demons should’ve been pan.

• I stanned Cole so hard up until he changed his mind about hating Dean. That was disappointing.

• Sam went through the same shitty childhood Dean did (plus Bonus Abuse on top of it) and he didn’t turn out Like That.

• I cannot think of a single person that was asking for a spin-off about the Winchester family, like that has to be the most boring thing.

#unpopular opinion #unpopular supernatural opinions #spn unpopular opinions #spn #supernatural #anti dean winchester #Dean winchester critical #dean critical #supernatural wank #fandom wank #castiel #sam winchester #anti destiel #anti destihellers #Misha Collins criticism

[pluckyredhead]

Roy has always been a science guy

Well, okay. Not always. But yes, before the New 52.

I think we can all agree that New 52/RHATO Roy bears little to no resemblance to pre-52 Roy. Lobdell basically just took a stock 90s hacker character (Lobdell can only write stock 90s characters) and called him “Arsenal.” Which, sigh.

HOWEVER. This idea of “science genius Roy” is really entrenched in fandom now. Plus the way my brain works is I tend to try and figure out a way to synthesize contradictory elements of canon and make them work, rather than just going “no, that’s stupid” and ignoring it. Especially since this was the only version of Roy we had for like seven years.

And the thing is, 2000s canon? Makes a pretty good argument for “tech guy Roy.”

See, after I read all of RHATO and RH/A in 2020, I went back and reread the 2001 Green Arrow series, and I noticed Roy is consistently, unquestionably the techiest Arrow. Now, admittedly that’s a bit of a tallest hobbit situation, since Ollie and Connor are staunch Luddites and Mia has the scientific know-how of an ordinary teenage girl in the early to mid-2000s. (I bet she’s great at texting on a flip phone.)

But there’s this repeated and very cute thing where whenever a member of the Arrowfam busts out new tech, they’re like “Roy gave me this. 🥰 ” Which I love, because it makes Roy feel very present and part of the family even though he lives on the opposite side of the country at this point in canon.

But it also makes Roy come across as by far the most technologically savvy member of the family.

Roy invented a stun grenade arrow for Ollie!

He provides them with weird motorcycles!

Roy begging Ollie to evolve out of the 14th century is such a good mental image.

But wait, there’s more!

A GREEK FIRE ARROW. Roy out here reinventing lost 7th century technology and putting it on arrows.

A tiny arrow to put...in your pants? Okay.

Roy is so well known for his love of tech that Dr. Light knows about it, apparently! (Yes, Connor wielding an enormous gun while Dr. Light is racist towards him fucking sucks. Fun fact: this issue is why I rage quit reading GA on a monthly basis in 2006 and didn’t pick it back up again until Rebirth. This page wasn’t the only reason but it sure didn’t help.)

When Roy does show up on the page, he continues to be tech-savvy:

I love that he just had those tiny clippers on him.

The “Roy and Connor bond” issue is a delight on many levels but Roy casually turning his Ferrari into a thing we still can’t do nearly 20 years later is one of my favorite aspects. As is Connor affectionately teasing him.

This scientific prowess carries over into Outsiders, which isn’t a surprise because Judd Winick was writing both books at the time and he loves a techy Roy:

Roy worked with S.T.A.R. Labs, the best scientists in the DCU, to reprogram a robot from the distant future. Now, obviously that wasn’t successful because she was a Brainiac, but they were able to essentially create an AI with a complete personality existing alongside the Brainiac programming, which is pretty damn impressive. (He was also able to reactivate her in Graduation Day, also by Judd Winick.)

And he created a headquarters that responds to him like this without any visual commands or pressing any kind of buttons??? What???

Plus, he canonically specifically has a kink for fucking in that souped-up airship he mentioned up above. Oh, Roy.

Also, on a much simpler level, you can make a strong case that he’s more inclined to trick arrows than Ollie (and Connor actively thinks they’re ridiculous). He likes gadgets!

Now again, this is not me arguing that New 52 Roy was well-written or that RHATO was a good book. I feel like that version of Roy is, like I said, a 90s hacker who sometimes picks up a bow, and Roy should always be archery first, tech second.

But my inclination is always to try to reconcile canon as much as I can, and incorporate as much as possible into my versions of the characters, so when I write Roy, I tend to nod to the New 52 science aspect by going back to this era. I can’t really get on board with the boy genius stuff or the Roybots, but I’ll often have him messing around with new trick arrows in his downtime, because I like the idea that he’s a tinkerer who loves toys. He’s also been an all-around weapons expert since the early 90s (rather than just arrows), so it makes sense to me that he’d want that range (pun intended) to be as wide as possible.

In conclusion, Lobdell is a hack, but Roy is still a STEM guy, and he definitely has to fix Ollie’s phone every time he goes back to Star City.

#roy harper #arsenal #arrowfam week 2022 #meta