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soleminisanction · 6 months

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There are very few ""headcanons"" out there that get a bigger side-eye from me than people who try to make Stephanie Brown into a Black girl.

Firstly because that is not a headcanon. That's just a whole-ass retcon created out of thin air. A headcanon would be saying she's a natural redhead like how Morgan Kohan played her on Batwoman, or that she's mixed-race because of the curly way some artist draw her hair. There's definitely flexibility in race interpretations for comics but looking at the blue-eyed blonde-hair white girl and declaring her "actually Black" is not one of them.

Secondly, because I have seen (and sometimes gotten) a lot of harassment from Steph fans aimed specifically at Tim's actual, canon Black love interests and teammates. I still seethe at the memory of this one CBR interview I read back when YJ2019 was running, where Brian Michael Bendis and David F. Walker were clearly there to talk up Naomi and Teen Lantern, and in the middle of their heart-felt conversation about the importance of representation for young Black girls, the interviewer butted in to interject, "But you know who I want to see more of?? Stephanie!!!" This going on while Steph fans on Twitter were going on racist tirades because the book dared to highlight the history of Teen Lantern, a character who was actually advertised to be a part of the book and a new member of the team, instead of giving them more of their white-blonde fav who had never been affiliated with YJ and was never part of the advertising.

Thirdly, she was created and so often written by Chuck Dixon, a blatant racist, and as a result there are so many little scenes of her that have uncomfortable racial elements to them. Like the one where he created a pair of Black girls just so Stephanie could call them "raging morons" to their faces and then later talk about how stupid and immature they are compared to her. (Which I am still convinced was Dixon directly criticizing the much better teen pregnancy subplot from Icon & Rocket). Or the borderline-blackface white savior ""demon"" where she wears a dead gnu and maybe accidentally calls herself a bitch in Swahili. (Disclaimer: I do not speak Swahili, and thus do not know how a sentence structure that should read "I am thorn" turns into "I'm a bitch" or "I'm crazy," but I checked that translation with three different robo-translators and got the same results so, shrug.)

And finally -- god, Steph is just, such a walking avatar of white women's privilege. Her entire thing is demanding that she get her way, never letting anyone tell her no, and still being treated by the narrative as a pure-hearted ""beacon of hope"" that everybody needs to protect and nurture at all times.

The inciting incident of War Games can be boiled down to, "A white girl got told no, and made it everybody else's problem." The first attempted Black member of the Batfamly fucking died during that event and got almost entirely forgotten because people only went to bat for the white girl who caused the whole mess and the white woman who got character assassinated to kill her off.

If Stephanie were Black, she wouldn't exist anymore. Fuck, if she were a brunette or just as butch as Carrie Kelly, she probably wouldn't exist anymore. She certainly wouldn't be Batgirl, I can't imagine Dan Didio replacing Cass with another woman of color.

And it's not even just her? Her father is also a very white character. It is incredibly easy to summarize Arthur Brown as a mediocre white man lashing out at the world for not handing him the success he felt entitled to. Take that petulant entitlement away from him and you lose his entire character.

I'm ranting about it on my own blog instead of picking a fight because everybody's entitled to their own fandom experience and blah blah, but this is just. Yeah. Ugh.

#I almost want to label this a squick but that's not entirely right #what actually squicks me out in the Bat-fandom is people feminizing Jason Todd #because there's objectively nothing wrong with that it just sets off my dysphoria #whereas I am not going to attack anybody for this one but it doesn't disgust or weird me out it just makes me frustrated or mad #please appreciate the representation of actual black girls in comics instead of projecting onto the whitest white girl in gotham plz & thx #try milestone milestone is really good even if they do need more female heroes #stephanie brown critical #ranting #racism tw #race talk tw #chuck dixon critical #your friendly reminder that chuck dixon is a racist #long post #dash stretcher #sorry

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leikeliscomet · 24 days

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No, Ncuti Gatwa's Casting Isn't Regressive

Chapter 2 - Strong (White) Female Character

There are many women in Who loved by fans of all genders. In Classic Who, the female leads were the companion to the Doctor and played the role of audience surrogate. They asked questions, got in trouble and got rescued. But over time, this role would develop and gain more significance. Classic Who female representation is usually brushed off as one-dimensional compared to the girl-bosses of Nuwho, but still some representations shined through. Characters such as Sarah Jane Smith and Ace McShane are considered great female representation for the time they were created and archetypes for modern female leads in Who we see today. When the show was revived in 2005, this would be the beginning of a new type of female lead in the companion role. Women would save the day and even the Doctor. They’d gain supernatural abilities, defend galaxies, fly TARDISes, fight Time Wars and save the universe. Doctor Who makes the message (or at least tries to) that us girlies are not just the sidekicks but key parts of the journey too. Most fans agree the show has plenty of strong female leads, even if there are still critiques to be made about agency and sexualisation.

But all that glitters isn’t gold. Whilst it can be agreed women shouldn’t be limited to the role of companion, there are many demographics of women yet to be included in the companion role even if it is the bare minimum, Using intersectionality as a framework for Doctor Who’s female representation, there’s still a long way to go. There are only three women of colour who are companions in the main show. There are only two female companions of colour from them that are canonically queer. Only two are Black. Only one is South Asian. There is only one doctor who is a Black woman and she is not in the main lineup. There are no East Asian, Latina or Indigenous main female companions. There are no trans or disabled women as companions. There are no female companions that are dark-skinned women (close to Ryan or Fugitive Doctor’s complexion). When fans ask for more female representation I’ve questioned many times what or who they imagine. Even when we look at the female lead progress of the show a pattern merges; the first companion of Classic Who, the first companion of Nuwho, the first female master, the first Time Ladies and the first female leader of UNIT are all white women. Most companions of the show both classic and new are white women. So when Jodie Whittaker was cast as Thirteen I wasn’t quite sure how to feel. It was a huge moment as the Doctor themselves had never been played by a woman before. Girls across the fandom shared their excitement and joy, sharing group photos of blonde cosplayers excited for Thirteen’s era. And yet, I felt like something was missing. Whittaker got tribute videos from fans who looked up to her and was continuously asked about the importance of representation on screen, whilst Mandip Gill and Tosin Cole sat quietly beside her. I thought the first South Asian Muslim companion and first full-time Black male companion were just as big achievements as casting Whittaker for Thirteen and still do. But the show and fandom didn’t seem to think so. Some women of colour tried to express this disappointment back in 2017, but were met with ‘wait your turn’ or ‘at least you have Bill and Martha’. Don’t worry! You’ll get your POC Doctor one day!

7 years on, this progressive irony has yet to be addressed by the greater fandom. I’m not asking for Doctor Who to treat every marginalised group as a list to tick off and I don’t expect it to perfectly represent my experiences to the letter, but I do expect an allegedly progressive show and fandom to practice what they preach at the absolute bare minimum. If white marginalised genders can recognise how the companion role, despite growing to become more fulfilling and meaningful, is still the side character to a role historically played by a cishet white man, and that playing the lead themselves is, essentially, the greatest form of representation to have in the show… it begs three questions:

1. Why are Black fans then expected to settle for that ‘lesser’ companion role?

2. Why do we not deserve to have the ‘greatest form’ of representation as the lead?

3. Why is casting a Black man as the lead in a show that has only had three Black male leads, two Black male companions and only one that travelled full-time a step back, but a white woman in a show where most female leads are white women already a step forward?

Even when we finally got our ‘POC Doctor’ by Jo Martin, she was another side character. Fugitive’s role was to add to the Timeless Child Mystery and once that was completed, she was a get-out-jail-free hologram in the last series of the Whittaker era. Our first form of Black representation as the lead was still a supporting role. Women of colour in the fandom, Black women especially, had to wait our turn yet again. Ncuti Gatwa is a man and I am not, so I know there are limits on the extent I’ll relate to Fifteen in the same way there were limits for Thirteen. But looking at representation statistically, Black men in Doctor Who are not outnumbering white women, so this idea of a ‘stepback’ is just disingenuous and incredibly antiblack. Many fans shared their ideal doctor castings for after Gatwa and even in place of him. Minus the occasional Lydia West and T’Nia Miller cosign, most of these castings were white women; Olivia Coleman, Gillian Anderson, Tilda Swinton, Phoebe-Waller Bridge etc. Apart from the need to replace our first Black male doctor before his era even began being wild in itself, I thought about who is the idea of female representation in Doctor Who. Gatwa is dark-skinned, but the ‘replacements’ minus T’Nia Miller were not. I want to believe the ‘but he’s a man’ backlash and ‘oh but we only meant white men!’ rebuttals came from a genuine place of hurt from certain parts of Thirteen’s stanbase. However, the continued dismissal of Black fans of all genders who rightfully critique Chibnall’s neglect of the Fugitive, the surprise that conservative white men still rejected Ncuti Gatwa ‘even though he’s a man’ when manhood has never saved Black men from antiblack racism and the treatment of the show’s first Black female companion, Martha Jones, that is still yet to be addressed by allegedly misogyny-concerned fans has me very, very pessimistic. If Ncuti Gatwa was a woman would this response be different? Only time will tell and if we get a dark-skin Black woman in the main lineup one day, we’ll see if this support comes through for real. I’m going to wait and see what Fifteen can provide for the show and wait for my ‘perfect fit’ casting to arrive just as other fans who are Black women have done since day. I hope that white marginalised genders waiting with us ask not why they have to wait, but why is this the first time that they have ever had to.

<- Chapter 1

Chapter 3 ->

#white feminism #strong female characters #fugitive doctor #the fugitive doctor #female representation #fifteenth doctor #ncuti gatwa #doctor who #nuwho #new who #black representation #doctor who analysis #fandom analysis #doctor who fandom #fandom antiblackness #fandom racism #fandom history

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everysongineverykey · 1 year

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i love you azura books i love you luz's nerdiness given prominence throughout the show i love you "luzura" i love you amity and luz bonding over a "cringe" book series i love you lumity azura/hecate cosplay i love you young queer couple cosplaying as a queer couple that really inspired them as kids and helped bring them together i love you beautiful tribute to the power of representation in media as shown via a latina girl adoring and being heavily influenced by a book series starring a latina witch who she can see herself in i love you varied and beautiful discussions of representation in a show with heaps and heaps of just that :')

in the same vein, i love you cosmic frontier i love you chief engineer o'bailey-hunter parallels i love you gus captain avery cosplay i love you gus helping hunter confront his identity as a grimwalker by introducing him to a series with a character he can see himself in i love you star trek deep space nine reference i love you black boy cosplaying as a black space captain i love you camila connecting with luz using her own nerdy childhood obsession i love you power of stories and, again, representation in media i love you the owl house's constant message that representation matters i love you i love you💙💙💙💙

#the owl house #listen. i have SOOO many thoughts on the narrative weight of the azura books #and how it's a casual reminder of how important representation is. luz gets to see herself as a witch #fighting evil and saving the day #and this character also has a queer-coded relationship with her female rival #which undoubtedly helps luz as a young bi girl as well!!!#and also cosmic frontier like... it's a bit more of a joke but still #hunter finding comfort and solace in a character going through the same things as him. gus not forcing the grimwalker topic #and instead trying to help hunter come to terms with his identity in a gentler way. AND the captain of the ship in cosmic frontier is black #just like gus. i know rep probably isn't a problem in the boiling isles #since yknow. bigotry-free fantasy world and all #but it definitely is in the human realm! and it's good for gus to get what he can there. yknow?#also the reason i say it's a ds9 reference in particular is just cause i'm a stan. it's an educated guess.#point 1: it features a black captain called avery. ds9 has a black captain played by a man called avery.#point 2: it features a chief engineer called o'bailey. ds9's chief engineer is called o'brien. same kind of irish name.#point 3: it was written in the 90s like how ds9 aired in the 90s :]

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blackfemmecharacterdependency · 10 months

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They Should Have Never Given You the Word “Queerbait”

It’s been 5 years and I’m still thinking about this, so now I am going to vent a bit. I hate when there is a Black female protagonist who is queer coded and seemingly in a slow burn setting, and the viewers flag it as queerbait and disengage.

I feel like I have seen so many shows where people can take a character who is never even suggestively queer and nit pick even the smallest glimmers to validate reading them as such and they will be able to ship and create and support all of the ways this is a queer character and trust the writers to possibly give more.

But, when there are Black women in these areas, it falls down as soon as they aren’t given overt displays of wlw actions. I said its been 5 years, because I’m specifically thinking about Kiss Me First, but I also want to hit on Crazyhead, while I’m here because I feel like it got paid the same treatment in this regard. And both of those shows had such good writing, and as a Black queer woman WITH mental illness, both of these characters spoke to me and seeing them have potential for love stories for wlw stories was so rewarding, only to see the journey get bashed and the shows get cancelled.

So. Let me talk a minute. Starting with Kiss Me First. If you haven’t already watched it, you probably aren’t going to, so I’m not sparing potential “spoilers,” as I’ve said, its been 5 years.

Kiss Me First centers around this dynamic of an orphan, Leila, who recently lost her mom and is getting attached to a woman, Tess, that she met in this computer universe, who she also has befriended irl. Leila and Tess start off with some mystery, as you can’t tell what Tess’ intentions are for this woman, but you see very early on that Leila doesn’t necessarily trust people that are in Tess’ life. When Leila realizes that the person who Tess seems to care about the most is a dangerous and manipulative person, she does everything that she can to protect her.

The criticisms of the show were that people were “queerbaited” with the relationship between them because of the romantic and sexual relationships that these characters had with men and not with each other...

This is what is frustrating to me: So much of this series is realistic, INCLUDING the story arcs where these women are in relationships with men that don’t really serve them best. Real life queer people frequently have relationships with partners that they don’t really belong with before finding the love that they had been seeking. But, the moment it happens in media, especially with a Black woman, it is unbearable for audiences. They gotta see her eating box, or it ain’t real.

And it’s aggravating, because there is this fairy tale happening in which Leila literally is on a quest to save Tess. She knows that this guy is dangerous and her entire goal becomes making sure she rescues Tess from him. He lifts Tess on a pedestal and makes her feel like she is the most important person, but he is actually an abuser and preying upon this group that idolizes him, so Leila spends episodes working to get Tess out of his grasp.

In the end, they aren’t IN a queer relationship, but she has absolutely freed Tess and Tess is helping her to escape being framed by the enemy. They are “friends,” but if you have a queer eye, and are not racist, you’d be able to see that this is and was the entire time a fucking love story between these two women! If anything, they tossed in some dudes for the straights to pay attention. I’m livid every time somebody suggests that Kiss Me First is queerbait. To you, but not my Black, gay, bipolar ass. I loved it. I wanted to see them flourish. I wanted to be given the payoff, yes. But, I loved being able to see a beautiful love story between two fucked up people who were side by side at the end.

This happened in Crazyhead, as well.

Raquel is a target for an apocalypse and do you know how Amy saved her and the world? By telling her she loved her and giving her a kiss that brought her back from the brink of destruction...

Now... I will admit, the writers did a “no homo” type thing at the end... but the homo in me seen the homo in thee, so I wasn’t bothered by that.

I just think that it is an unfair measurement, to expect everything to be served up for you in order to support representation, and not being able to detect subtext or to envision the potential coding shows a huge amount of privilege. I adore the fact that so much queer content as of late gets spoonfed to you, but I also enjoy a slow burn, and it’s not right that Black queer women rarely get one because you give up if there’s not an automatic tonguing and huge declarations. And in the cases of these two shows, there were very clear expressions of love and several moments of intimacy, but I guess they needed to trib for true love.

Anyways, I love Kiss Me First and Crazyhead, and I consider them representation FOR ME.

#Kiss Me First #Tess x Leila #Crazyhead #Raquel x Amy #Nesha Rants #black queer representation #black female characters #commentary #Tess KMF #Raquel Francis #Simona Brown #Susan Wokoma #Disability Pride Month

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thisismisogynoir · 4 months

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If you don't adore Halle Bailey then what are you even doing. 😍

#black women #black girls #positivity #halle bailey #the little mermaid #black princess #halles get it done #halle is our ariel #black female representation #strong black heroines

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palettesofrenaissance · 10 months

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I'm asking for some help in identifying more Black and Black Biracial female characters/actresses in the MCU/Marvel live action works. This includes side characters

So far, I know there are:

Shuri, Riri, Okoye, Ramonda, Ayo, Aneka from Black Panther

Michelle Jones-Watson, Liz Allen-Toomes from MCU Spider-Man

Brunnhilde (Valkyrie) from Thor

Sarah Wilson from TFATWS/Captain America

Ororo (Storm), Angel (Tempest) from the X-Men movies

Tilda Johnson, Misty Knight, Mariah Dillard, Claire Temple from Luke Cage

Ava (Ghost) from Ant-Man and the Wasp

Mallory Book from She-Hulk

Makkari from Eternals

Gamora from GOTG (although I've heard some don't count her because of skin paint)

Monica Rambeau fron Captain Marvel/WandaVision

Domino from Deadpool

Frances (Shriek) from Venom

Evita from Cloak and Dagger

But is that it???

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troythecatfish · 5 months

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babeyvenus · 2 years

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My Future

Derek Hale x OC

Samantha, Stiles and Scott are always joking about the impossible. Who wouldn't when your best friend's dad is the sheriff of Beacon Hills? All jokes stop when they realize the impossible is indeed possible.

Chapter 51: Shadow Woman

After learning about Sam's history, Derek felt as if he understood her a bit better. He lightly dragged his thumb down her cheek as he frowned softly.

“I'm just glad you didn't die on us. I don't know what I would've done.”

He understood why she was the way she was.

“You're not alone, Derek.”

He understood why she and the boys were so close. Why she stayed with her mother. Why she acted the way she acted toward the others that they've come across.

“You haven’t given up trying to push me away, yet? It doesn’t get old?”

It made sense now.

“I'm not leaving you. I won't leave you.”

He was so curious about her and why she felt the need to be so persistent in helping him and Scott to begin with.

“I'm not gonna let you go out there if it means you're gonna die and I won't be able to do anything about it.”

It wasn't just because she cared… she was afraid. She was afraid of being alone.

“I don't wanna do that without you.”

He sighed softly, laying back against her pillows, and closed his eyes. With her brother and father missing, it messed her up. The abandonment dug a hole in her being and her friends only filled it so much.

This entire time… Derek was worried about himself. Thinking about himself and how he was the bane of everyone's pain but now he knew he wasn't just that. This wasn't his fault yet he felt like it was.

He wasn't here to protect her either.

Despite all that she's been through, she was still caring and not as cold as he expected her to be after hearing what happened.

In the beginning, he was just a stranger to her. The boys were right to have their suspicions and guards up around him, but she wasn't like them…

She could've been hostile toward him, but she wasn't. She was definitely crazy brave for standing up to him and Peter, regardless of their supernatural status. But she welcomed them all the same.

He frowned at another thought that plagued his mind. She could've been just like the Argents.

However, she was the opposite. She wasn't as threatening when she found out who bit Scott. Hell, she was on the Hales' side the entire time.

She could've hated him. He anticipated it. He wasn't supposed to care. He was supposed to gather betas for revenge. So was Peter. And he did.

But he lost his betas. His alpha spark and this girl, this once human girl, stayed by his side.

She made him think of Paige. Maybe… maybe this was his new chance. A chance to do better. To do right. To make sure he didn't relive a repeat.

He was… scared when Sam had gotten bit.

He hid it well, but he was terrified. Terrified that he'd let another innocent girl die because of his mistakes.

She could've lost her life and she didn't blame him for getting bit. She made it seem like it was a normal occurrence when she told her mother.

He thanked his lucky stars. That was, if he had any.

Even laying next to her, he felt lucky. The dim moonlight that peeked through her curtains, he saw how her usually plump cheeks were less swollen from crying so hard.

Her eyes were still a little puffy, but it didn't bother him much. She slept peacefully. At least he hoped.

This wasn't something he expected to come home to. Another family reunion? One that wasn't mysteriously his?

He wondered about her father and brother. Was the trip even worth it? Was it worth tearing her apart so emotionally?

Did they really miss her?

Derek lifted a hand to hover his fingertips over her cheek. He glanced at the small faded scar over her eyelid. He felt guilty that it hadn't healed completely before she got bit.

She'd probably tell him that it wasn't his fault. She was always like that. He kinda wished she'd just yell at him, tell him to get lost, to never see her or her friends again.

Maybe it'd hurt less if she had. He can't imagine why anyone would hurt her so bad even as a kid. She sounded so sweet and kind hearted from what Stiles had described.

It made him wish he'd met her earlier. Before the fire. Before Kate.

His thoughts paused as he heard a soft groan come from her and watched as she woke up. Her eyes slowly opened and met his, a relieved expression washed over her face.

"Hi.", she whispered softly. A small smile lifted his lips. "Hi.", he responded. "How're you feeling?"

She let out a muffled noise and rubbed her face on her pillow. "Still kinda tired, but I'm okay. You okay?"

He let out a snort. Worried about him as always… "Yeah. I'm okay."

He watched as she lifted a hand, the tips of her fingers pressed against his scruffy cheek. "You're really here…", she muttered.

He nodded. "I'm back."

She dropped her hand with a small huff and a smile. Derek returned her smile and brought her into his hold. "I missed you.", he muttered in her hair. She nuzzled into his chest. "I really missed you."

He laid a kiss on top of her forehead and looked down at her. "How come you were sick?", he asked softly.

She looked up at him, a questioning look on her face. "When I came home, I smelled you all over my couch. I smelled your pain. You were sick. Why?", he responded.

"I got drugged and kidnapped.", she muttered, looking down. Derek's face hardened. What the hell happened while he was gone?

"By who?", he asked. "A guy me, Stiles and Scott knew when we were younger.", she responded. She told him everything that happened from meeting Theo to him being dragged to hell by his dead sister.

Good riddance, Derek thought. The boy was power hungry and it didn't set Derek in a good way. Even going as far to get everyone to hate Stiles and getting Liam to kill Scott. It was too much.

He wanted to ask her so many other questions. How much had he missed out on since he left?

There was one thing that also bothered him. While he went to visit Cora, the sky suddenly changed one night. It tripped him out so much, he thought he hadn't even slept yet.

"Did a weird thing happen here? Like a sudden change in the sky?", he asked. Sam felt her cheeks heat up in embarrassment as she shrunk under her covers. That was one detail she left out of her explanation.

So her powers did reach around the world…

She hadn't meant to do that. It was an accident.

Derek looked at her in confusion. "What? What happened?", he asked quietly.

She looked up at him. "I did it…" He raised a thick eyebrow in question. "Did what?", he asked. She grumbled in embarrassment. "I changed the sky. It wasn't my fault. I had this stupid hallucination. When Stiles snapped me out of it, the next thing I know, it's night outside."

She waited for him to laugh. To let out a teasing chuckle. To tell her she was being a big baby and that it was reckless of her to do that.

He did neither of those things, to her surprise. Instead, he wrapped an arm around her, his thumb rubbing at her back. "You wanna tell me what the hallucination was about?", he asked softly.

He didn't wanna pressure her, considering the last hallucination almost made her drown herself out of guilt. He couldn't imagine what this one was like.

She frowned softly and told him what she saw. In the end, Derek was jumbled with emotions. They were bouncing everywhere. He was worried, relieved, pissed and pleased all at the same time.

He was relieved she couldn't sense chemosignals.

"I don't know. I know that house meant a lot to you, but it brings me comfort too. I don't know why. I used to get relieved when I saw it. Now the loft holds that relief for me too.", she says. He looked down at her, but she didn't meet his eyes.

Her safe place was where he resided…

He wondered if the boys had figured that out already. Maybe Peter did. It was no wonder why they smelled her all over the couch.

It was a faint smell, but potent nonetheless. If her comfort wasn't something she could explain, he wouldn't question it anymore.

She sighed and sat up. "What's wrong?", he asked.

She looked at him. "We gotta figure out who's been kidnapping people for youth.", she said.

He sat up on his elbows. "You actually wanna help them?", he asks, referring to the two that came with the info.

She frowned. "I'm not helping them. I'm helping the people who are in danger.", she corrected. "Even if it meant you had to work with them?", he asked.

She paused. Would she have to work with them? It'd be awkward and annoying. If she could avoid it, it'd be great.

She sighed through her nose. "If it can't be helped…"

She lifted herself out of the bed, floating softly on the carpet floor as she stretched. Derek watched in surprise, fully sitting up now. He really missed out on a lot.

"You can fly now?", he muttered. She turned to him. "What, jealous?", she asked, teasingly.

He scoffed with a smile as she went to freshen up. When she disappeared in her bathroom, he turned on a lamp and laid back down on her bed, looking around her room.

It seemed bigger than the last time he came. There were things that he hadn't noticed. He knew about her little bookshelf that she had acquired before he left. Her desk was neater and she ended up getting a new alarm clock.

She had a slightly bigger TV sat on an entertainment center that stood next to her bedroom door.

Looks like that spot's taken if he ever were to come back by himself. But he didn't think he'd need to sneak in the house anymore now. But, it was a force of habit.

The entertainment center was neatly occupied by DVD cases, PlayStation controllers, the console and games.

Why hadn't he noticed all of this before…?

Maybe because they were constantly running around trying to stay alive from any possible threat that harmed their lives…

Had he been doing a good job teaching her to stay alive…?

He'd like to think so, considering she was still alive.

"Your thoughts are loud.", he hears and looks over at Sam who emerged from the bathroom dressed more comfortably.

He lets out a chuckle. She smiled and walked over to him.

"What else have you learned about your new powers?", Derek asked. She hummed and used her shadow to make her float and sat on top of the black blob that floated below her.

"Well, now that I know I can change the day to night, I have to work on that before I unintentionally do that again and cause a worldwide situation.", she said.

She frowned in thought. There was a new thing she tried, but it was worth a shot. She reached for his head and plucked a strand, making him reel back, and place a hand on his head in reaction. "The hell was that for?", he fussed, scratching at his slightly sore scalp.

She floated to her carpet floor, creating a glowing resin that she had done before and placed the strand of dark hair in the middle.

It was a harmless thing, of course. She knew that, but it was still shocking to him.

He watched as the small, illuminated crescent moon appeared on her forehead and looked at his hand that seemed to glow as well.

He lifted his hand and saw a similar illuminated moon on the corner of his wrist, inspecting it as it faded.

He looked at Sam as she looked at him with a sheepish smile. "I kinda made a link to you. It'll let me know if something's wrong with you.", she explained. He understood now.

It was creative. Smart.

He smiled. "Thanks for that.", he said. Her eyes nearly sparkled at his smile. It always brought butterflies in her stomach, but brought her relief that he was still able to even after everything that happened.

She smiled.

The next day, the pack met up at Scott's house, discussing what they should do about the kidnapped.

"Where should we even look first?", Lydia asked.

"They said there were people running away from Beacon Hills, but they weren't far. So that just means that whoever's doing the kidnapping is still here.", Stiles said.

Scott turned to Sam. "Why don't we ask your grandma?", he asked. Sam looked at him in confusion. "Why my grandma?"

They looked at her, confused as well. "You… don't know?", Liam asked. She looked at him then looked at her packmates. "Know what?"

Stiles frowned. "Your mom told us your grandma pretty much knows every single supernatural thing in Beacon Hills. Including the Argents."

Sam frowned deeply, and glanced at Derek who looked at her with an expression that gave the confirmation.

The truth dropped into her stomach with a nauseating wave. Her eyes weakly blinked. "I feel sick.", she muttered.

"It's not your fault.", Derek quickly reassured.

Sam rubbed at her temples as she sat down. She knew her mom went to her grandma for help as far as protection spells, but…

It made sense that she knew about the supernatural things in Beacon Hills, but…

Why hadn't she gone to her for help before?

Sam let out a sigh, dragging a hand down her face. "Fine. We'll go to her to see what she knows."

They couldn't go to the store since it was closed on certain days so Sam drove the girls and led the boys to her grandma's house.

She stared at the house with a frown. It brought back memories that bothered her a bit. Shaking it off, she got out of her car and walked up to the porch, knocking on the door.

The pack stood behind her and waited.

Three more knocks and they could hear the old rickety door opening. To the pack's surprise, they saw an older woman that was shorter than Sam despite having some of her features.

She didn't have grey hair, rather dark hair with white streaks. Her eyes seemed approachable whilst she wore a smile that could warm anyone's heart.

It definitely warmed Sam's. She smiled and gave her grandma a hug. "Hi, granny.", she softly greeted.

The older woman greeted her back with a hug and scolded the girl. "You should've told me you were bringing company. Y'all come on in."

The pack looked at Sam for confirmation and the girl only smiled, nodding her head towards the door as she walked through.

As she looked around, she felt a sense of familiarity. She hadn't exactly been to the house in years. Seeing her at the shop was enough and she wasn't always exactly invited. Especially not recently with everything going on.

Sam was trying to avoid giving her grandmother any type of hints that she was now involved with supernatural mysteries and fights.

Now, she had no choice but to tell her. "So, why the visit?", she hears her grandma ask.

Sam turns to her, "We came here to see what you knew about the recent supernatural issues that's been happening. Something about someone kidnapping people to make themselves younger."

The older woman's face turned into a frown as she looked at her granddaughter's friends. Taking one good look at them, she pointed at each. "Werewolves," She said pointing at Liam, Scott and Derek. She pointed at Malia. "Coyote."

She looked at Kira and huffed. "Kitsune." She pointed at Lydia, "Banshee." She looked at Stiles. "You were possessed…"

Stiles looked down, scratching behind his neck. Anita turned to her granddaughter. "How long have you known?"

"About the supernatural or the recent issue?", Sam asked.

"Both, while we're at it.", Anita responded, crossing her arms. Sam sighed and glanced at her pack before looking back at her grandma.

"For a while now.", Sam responded. It wasn't completely a lie, and it was an avoidance. Anita sighed, rubbing her temple.

"I know a lot of what's here in Beacon Hills. I know what's what and weaknesses and strengths. But what you're looking for will be hard to find.", Anita determined.

Sam frowned as her grandmother walked into a hall that was lined up with bookshelves. She pulled a book out of the bookshelf in front of her.

She opened it, and walked back to Sam. "The thing you're looking for is normally called a shadow person.”, she says, handing the book over to Sam. “They drain people of their energies and life force in their sleep. But if what you're looking for is a woman, then that would be a shadow woman, of course.”

Sam looked at the description in the book then paused as she looked up at her grandma. "How'd you know it was a woman?"

Anita scoffed, "The shadow man doesn't drain people to make himself younger. More powerful, maybe, but definitely not younger. A shadow woman may be trying to make herself more physical, hence draining people out of their youth to make her look young."

Sam closed the book. "If it's just a woman, that'll be easy.", she determined, walking past her.

Anita stopped her. "Hold your horses. Why are you so confident?"

Sam turned to her, an eyebrow raised. "You don't know?", Scott asked.

Anita looked confused. What had her granddaughter not told her?

"I thought you knew every supernatural thing that happens in Beacon Hills?", Malia asked. Anita frowned. "I know of every supernatural thing in Beacon Hills. Not what happens in Beacon Hills.", she corrected and turned to her granddaughter.

"Mom's leaving you out of the loop, too, huh?", Sam said and sighed. "I can control shadows and apparently the night as well.", she confessed.

Anita was more than surprised, she was intrigued and almost seemed expectant.

"Your mom had you do some studying too, hm?", Anita asked. Sam frowned a bit, but agreed nonetheless.

If she didn't know about everything that's happened, she doesn't need to now. Sam felt no need to explain more.

"Who's been protecting you?", Anita asked. "Who's your entities?"

"Nyx and Hecate. Sometimes Eris.", Sam confessed, shocking Anita a bit.

Sam sighed. "I've done all my research and if that's all then thanks for the book, granny. I'll see you later.", she said, smiling and pushing her friends out of the door.

Anita followed and watched from the porch as the pack piled into their cars and pulled out from her driveway.

She has the power to manipulate shadows to her will and has the power of the moon…

Anita smirked.

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m0tel6mxzzy · 1 year

Text

mixed thoughts on black female rage

i understand the want for “feminine rage” to be inclusive to black women and then i remember the only black actresses some ppl know are angela bassett taraj p henson and zendaya, but also a lot of those white “feminine rage” female characters were never meant to be liked or sympathized w in their awful actions. taraj p henson in hidden figures is supposed to be bc she’s dealing w racism in a segregated time.

dre from swarm is the only character i can think of where she’s allowed to be hurt and angry but that doesn’t justify her committing serial murder. she’s the only character to the extent of say (90s film) lisa rowe or whatever where mental illness does not excuse her incredibly harmful behavior and there isn’t some barrier where there is an attempt to excuse her actions to make her “palatable.”

ginny from ginny and georgia expresses her anger and upset at her upbringing stemming from hidden depression, but again this isn’t palatable enough for fans of georgia who thinks she’s a golden egg who can do no wrong, so once again we’re rather limited in what’s considered “female rage.” it has to be palatable and excusable and stemming from trauma—racial or otherwise, and cannot impose on well liked white female main characters who may equally make rash decisions based on emotion that harm others.

ginny can be angry because hell yeah we’re progressive and love female rage, but it can’t be at how georgia refuses to communicate as a parent and keeps secrets that impose on her ability to have a normal school experience. ginny should be also marcus’s therapist for his depression and be able to notice something he has hidden, but ppl have called ginny spoiled for opening up to her father abt her own when she was struggling because she “doesn’t appear grateful enough.”

rue was also not supposed to sympathized w for her abusive behavior toward gia and jules in 2x05, but to justify her anger at feeling betrayed from the intervention, many ppl will minimize gia and jules as characters and act like their concern for her and feeling of hurt and fear is unfounded which goes against their whole idea “women need to be free to feel negative emotions.”

but then that goes down to the idea that for black women to fully express negative emotions, the people hurt in the process of feeling ours fully in a less than docile manner (even if they’re also women in minority groups equally under-represented in “female rage”) don’t matter. that we have zero responsibility for our actions and thus no agency over them when angry.

that rue is not at all responsible for her actions and who it affects if it means she gets to express being upset. which makes zero sense to me. but also, if it’s not for a reason we feel we want to identify w (ex: ginny being depressed from her mother forcing her to constantly move) suddenly they’re ungrateful, being a brat, and spoiled. because ppl can’t identify as closely w/ gia or jules who’ve dealt w/ the fear and betrayal in having a loved ones exposed to addiction, this is the exact terminology used to minimize the emotional and physical harm rue causes them when she’s incredibly violent and/or cruel with them during her withdrawals.

it can be equally true “rue lied to her loved ones because she was sick and that doesn’t excuse insulting and screaming at them to deflect from her actions” and “rue felt isolated bc her entire life she’s been seen as this poster child for sobriety she feels she can’t fulfill and is too much pressure, and not one is listening to her, making her feel all the more forced to hide her issues except from ppl who are familiar w drugs and understand why she’d turn to them” such as fezco or elliot.

which is much more complex of a way to analyze rue as a character than “because rue has mental illness, she suddenly has zero agency over her actions and can harm people however she wants and it’s by no means an active choice she’s choosing to make.” or just saying ginny is ungrateful and georgia is a perfect parent who’s done nothing wrong in raising ginny ever.

#rue bennett #andrea greene #swarm 2023 #black representation #film #tv shows #euphoria hbo #ginny and georgia #female rage #mxzzy.txt #mazzy makes a giant ramble

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