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chrollohearttags · 3 months

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long winded ass post I contemplated not writing but did it anyways. read if you’d like or ignore lmao.

so I feel as though this kind of goes without saying but a lot has changed on tumblr and the vibe has shifted a lot, sadly, not for the better either :/ I thought about this for a while and although last week, I was not posting any new content due to the strike, I’ve decided to step away from writing in general after this month. I could sit here and go on a tangent about how it’s the ‘algorithm’ and ‘dying fandoms’ but to me, this boils down to the fact that I refuse to exhaust myself to be unappreciated + disrespected. That’s not to say I’m ungrateful to everyone who reblogs and comments on my works all the time because I am incredibly grateful! I love each of you and I look forward to reading your tags/thoughts. However, it’s not lost on me that the anime fandom in general is becoming shrouded in toxicity and many of us are being pushed away. We’re in an age where people are seen as content machines and not humans so others feel entitled to their art and feel no need to be kind, understanding or empathetic to that person’s feelings. I’m not wasting my time trying to teach people manners that they should’ve learned a long time ago. I refuse to share my craft with people like that. And to say the quietest part out loud: y’all don’t want black writers around, PERIOD. One scroll through the dash shows that much. As someone who’s written primarily for AOT (not changing btw) and specifically the black side of the fandom, it’s almost laughable at the extreme lengths that ppl have gone through to see it be erased. And I don’t mean getting fics hit with labels or reporting (that failed so they switched to plan B.) since I began back writing in 2020-21, it was obvious that it was the most popular among black girls and I remember ppl telling me to write for them. Hell, it’s the sole reason I even watched. Needless to say, I fell in love with the show and it holds a special place in my heart. However, I realized I didn’t need any of the original material. Not only that, in all the years I’ve been writing, it’s the first time I’ve seen so many black girls resonating and happy with a group of characters. It was the first and only time I’ve seen stories where I didn’t feel as though them being a black character was a hidden secret or toned down to appeal to others (no shade). It was in my face and proud, even if I didn’t personally resonate with the reader or concept of the story. It still felt good coming from a fandom where I was literally the ONLY black writer in it. Fast forward and I clearly see that now, it’s not welcomed. We could sit here and blame it on non-blk (yt) having the problems but that’s a load of bullshit and the only enemies we have are one another. It’s been other black writers who have littered the tags with discourse abt the same stupid topic to avoid new fics being seen. It’s been other black writers who have switched fandoms when they were no longer the ONLY ones bc coexisting is just too damn hard apparently. It’s been other black authors who have made it blatantly clear that they are only interested in seeing and creating stories that are palatable to other races so they won’t be perceived in a negative light or to be seen as one of the ‘good ones’. Even down to not using black reader tags or avoiding coded language. So much so, they are comfortable laughing at anti-black rhetoric being pushed on other apps so as long as their new favs are not the brunt of the joke.

I’m not here to tell anybody how or what to write. I’m not here to say you ONLY have to like one show but what I am saying is that i will NOT be spending hours and days agonizing over a fic for it to be minimized to a joke for a bitch on TikTok. I will not spend the little free time I have trying to crunch and finish a fic for it not do well but watch y’all pile in my mentions to argue over nonsense. And I won’t sit here and watch y’all purposely try to run other black writers away bc they don’t fit ur aesthetic. Fiction is fiction and whether you resonate with it or not, it’s expression. I’m a boring ass country bumpkin from the middle of nowhere, Florida who’s got social anxiety, chronically ill, neurodivergent and is in bed by 10:00. I don’t smoke, never had sex and I literally never leave the house unless I’m grocery shopping. I never have and never will live the life of any of my characters, even the most tame ones. But I write for EVERY black girl and want everyone of them to be seen. The one space where that seems to be allowed is obviously not welcomed anymore. Arguing and trying to defend ourselves against people who are committed to misunderstanding us is pointless. Minimizing us down to ‘baby mama’, ‘hoodrat’ fics, simply bc you no longer like certain characters (many of which you all were writing for not too long ago) is quite frankly clown and coon ass behavior. Watching y’all become enraged by tropes that are used by ever race, every fandom, etc but turning the blind eye bc it suits ur narrative is fucking hypocritical and laughable at best.

I’m not insecure in my writing. Never have been and never will be. I know I pour everything I have into creating the best work I can and it’s for that reason that I won’t allow it to be treated like trash. I have over 250 drafts in my Google docs and best believe, that’s where they’ll stay until I see fit. Although I know it’ll probably mean leaving the last place I have any sense of community and social interaction in general, it’s not worth coming on here angry everyday in defense mode. Its not worth getting out of my character over and I rather just not be around if it means I have to play mean girl. My mind may change and all of this will just have been me getting shit off my chest but as of right now, this account will be archived come February 28th. Thank you to everybody who’s supported me this far and gave me a safe space. I love all of you so very much and hope that we can enjoy the rest of this month together 🫶🏾 🤍

#cherry chats 🍒#tw rant #tw discourse #tw long post #happy black history month lmao #writing #fanfic writer

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buttercuparry · 9 months

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I know sometimes most of us are just playing around in the fandom without any insidious reason. Hell sometimes things are just a vision and we all want those visions to see the light of the day, and there truly isn't anything wrong with that! But if a fan of colour is commenting on your post about something that might be a concern of theirs and you know this concern is related to matter of fandom racism, I don't think they are doing so to personally attack you about something. And if it indeed does feel like a criticism and you know you didn't mean your art/post/whatever else to express any sort of discrimination, I think just talking about it simply can help clear things. You don't even need to go into an explanation. It's really that simple.

I know fandom can get heated and hell despite our best attempts, back and forth tangent of discourse happens. But the way the fandom treats fans of colour not just in the asoiaf side of tumblr but everywhere-it's a bit disheartening. You have people mocking a fan of colour in tags of a post and going "all this discourse for lily white starks". Well you all don't really listen or even acknowledge unless fans of colour are loud, do you? And when they do get loud, you all start having problems.

"Lily white starks" was the point of discourse. That's what many of us who are PoCs in the asoiaf fandom have been saying. They are all the most ashiest whites to have ever whited and race bending is cool as fuck but they aren't 90s animal cartoons where you have two cats having kittens and half of the litter has orange fur while the other half has brown fur. But somehow the character whom fanon deems to be "plain" ( never mind the text says the opposite), whose gender identity gets questioned every now and then ( even though in text they specifically state what they identify as), is drawn racially ambiguous while her siblings look like they don't even have a drop of melanin-you bet fans of colour are going to feel a type of way about this. And till now I haven't seen any major discussion regarding this, not even a peep of acknowledgement that it's a bit weird that the fanon trajectory where people shout "let (redacted) character be ugly" and then this (redacted) character and all who look like her is drawn with brown skin. But wait there's more! The "Helen" of asoiaf universe, even though is said to look like this (redacted) character is often argued to have looked nothing alike at all. So you see how all this shit evolved into the discourse under that art post right? Like it's not like this discontent was bred in a vacuum.

Even now when a new fan comes into asoiaf fandom, after a few months around they know what the dead ladies club is. Because it is that discussed and it should be because Grrm is shit like that. But dead ladies club evolved from being a genuine criticism to a championing a kind of womanhood that posits itself as the best of them all. And this mentality continues to this day and the race bending of certain houses comes from that. You have a fandom that dislikes one of the most important characters so much, that every thing they do is considered a devastation. This dislike is based on the fact that she doesn't really fit in with the kind of womanhood that's considered traditional. It has been literally witnessed how this character has changed the fantasy genre's notion of the "chosen one" but you have dudebros crying foul. And thus anything related to her is bashed more than it deserves to be and you have one of her deceased family members being presented as the devil incarnate. The woman this dead man has supposedly wronged is suddenly a woc, and the whole of the kingdom she belonged to is also a representation of poc culture in fanon?? Like do you see how exploitative this is? And then to further drive in the notion of evil, there came the dominant headcanon where one of the most priviledged and bloody houses in the fictional asoiaf universe is made analogous to real world indigenous pocs who are still fighting for their rights in their own country. It cannot get more batshit insane than that.

I genuinely believe that certain characters were initially drawn in darker shades out of a personal artistic vision. But then this got twisted by the fandom at large to suit their supposed intellectual narrative and bnf artists just simply followed the trend never questioning anything and years and years of this practice got cemented as natural and canon. Never was it questioned why a character ( and all who look like her) who is falsely fanonized as violent and ugly is drawn shades darker and why another character of whom we know nothing of but how violently she met her end is also a woc.

The most recent discourse that happened under the post carries a weight of this particular fandom history. I know there's artistic vision to consider which is why I personally try not to criticize an artist on their own post. This is also a fanart, something given to the fandom freely and I am of the opinion that if it cannot be celebrated then it should just be left alone. But what got to me was that how it felt like through the response there was this tone of trying to turn the tables on the fan of colour who commented. Like the sarcastic commentary on how there is an insistence on Valyrians being whitest white...like dude...hello?? Pretty sure this is on grrm and do you really think this person who is actively frustrated at the racist caricature would mind genuine attempt at being inclusive?! Like I have seen you around, I have enjoyed your posts, I think I even saw you under posts which criticized these particular trends while drawing certain Stark siblings, are you really going to pretend you don't know where the comments came from???

There is also the pointing towards how fandom casts all of dorne as poc and I think we have already established that this fandom is shit. Like I won't lie I enjoy my guilty pleasure of looking at Bollywood gifs representing Dorne, and I think there is this headcanony idea that Dorne is based on North Indian hindu hindi speaking culture. But in same post representing a particular house through this Hindu Hindi speaking culture you have the gifmaker using gifs of the Islamic hajj!!! Like ajaldleryjdlsldldlfg the headcanon then is the idea of amalgating brown bodies and meshing them in homogeneity because that's what we are all over the world right? 😂😂😂

Like I understand the frustration and you really got nothing to explain but it's trying to turn the tables for me (including calling a poc racist when they themselves were trying to address a racist issue)

EDIT IMPORTANT:

I am making this post non reblogable because the assumption on the basis of which I made this post was wrong. The person I have been referencing is a artist of colour themselves- so the core idea of the post isn't applicable. However I still don't know or can't wrap my head around how someone got dog piled on for a comment, and got called a racist ( a poc themself), when they have been one of the primary voices who pointed out many of the racist issues in the fandom.

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reddiscourse · 1 year

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I've never read an anti-transid argument that made genuine sense to me.

I'm pro-endo and all plurality too. How does someone being plural in a different way actually hurt anyone?

I guess I'm pro-be-your-ultimate-inner-self-even-if-its-cringe.

I don't want to be that guy but - we literally live on a floating rock when thinking about the vastness of the universe I don't me being trans-plural matters -

Good for you (for the pro-be-ur-ult-inner-self-even-if-cringe thing/g).

Yes, shit can hurt people, even if it isn't physical harm. Like for instance, having your disorder demedicalised (Autism, for instance, yes this is happening). Stigmatising ideas spreading faster through people faking disorders (this one applies to so many disorders, take it as a broad example). People who fetishise your nationality because they want to be cute (Take Japan for example). People who mimic your accent and the language of your ancestors because it's funny (Because having "yellow skin" and "slits for eyes" and "bucked teeth" aka "the regular Chinaman" is hilarious). People who think that it is OK to have a name of a culture that you are not apart of or involved in because they think that one to a few people speak for an entire race or culture (The entire discourse on this; of alters from Asian media who are not bodily Asian using their name from source or another name of that culture). Yes, that hurts people. Take a look through history and society before you waste your white-out on the textbook.

It isn't cringe, thank you. It's insulting. So what if we live on a floating rock? We LIVE on a floating rock. We are humans. News Flash! Humans have emotions. Humans have feelings. Animals have feelings. We have lives. We have goals and dreams and futures. We're human. Fine, downgrade everything to "existing on a floating rock in space"- that doesn't stop me from feeling hurt. From feeling insulted. Insecure. Ashamed. I don't give a shit what you identify as as long as it's an identity. There's a difference between identity and connection. Race is not an identity. I, as an Asian person, can never know what it's like to be Black. I, as a South-East Asian, can never know what it's like to be from the Middle East, or Central Asia. I, as an Asian person, can never know what it's like to be a White person. Why? Because I'm Asian. And I have emotions. And I have a history with people appropriating, making jokes at, and disrespecting me and my heritage. So my shittiest apologies for taking fucking offence, and for being hurt.

People who identify as TransAsian aren't actually, literally stabbing me. They aren't physically attacking and threatening me. But here's another news flash: people can feel fucking hurt when there is no physical damage. Someone ever yell at you for something you didn't do? Did someone ever betray you? Did someone ever make fun of you? That hurts you. They may not have pushed you or made any physical contact but it does hurt.

In the vastness of the universe, nothing fucking matters. You don't matter, I don't matter, climate change doesn't matter, nothing does. But you DO matter. I matter. Climate fucking change matters. We're human. You're human. You're alive. I'm alive. Have some fucking heart.

Apply that thinking to everything. Slavery? "Oh, we're on a rock in space, it doesn't matter how I treat you, even if it's inhuman, manipulative, abusive, selfish and fucked up." Women's rights? "We're on a rock in space, your emotions and thoughts don't matter. Your body and money does." China-Virus? "Oh, we're on a rock in space, it doesn't matter if I talk of a race of people like they are all the same. So what if people start murdering and beating up Asian people, blaming them for the virus? Not my fault. Nothing matters." Police brutality and BLM? "We're on a rock in space. Your life doesn't matter, nothing does. I will do what I fucking want."

"Actually" is where you fucked up. The fact that you made it stand out via italics doesn't help. Yes, it actually hurts people. "Actually being hurt" doesn't have to be a punch to the face or physical force and pain. Actually being hurt can mean name-calling. Actually being hurt can mean stereotypes. Actually being hurt can mean rumours. Actually being hurt can mean being betrayed. Actually being hurt can mean someone outing you. Actually being hurt can mean being persecuted to have your life taken away in a somehow legal way. Actually being hurt can mean fetishising. Actually being hurt can mean having your feelings taken as something less than a 10th of a nickel. Etc.

I know this isn't about trans-plurality like your ask states, but I'm taking a break from a majority of syscourse and system origins. I am not going to bring up trans-plural or state anything further on plurality for the time being. I know most of your ask was about plurality, so I'm sorry. This was extremely passive aggressive, or just plain aggressive. It was also very at you, anon. And my response wasn't even really connected to your ask, so the aggression was uncalled for. Just. Yk. People taking my the bullshit i've experienced and shoving them down the garbage disposal in a way of like "oh this? doesn't matter. the way that you're still thinking about this is sad and doesn't need looking into or talking about because it's not a valid experience because i can just easily identify as you and not have that experience" yk? Lol. But yes, things can actually hurt people, just FYI.

#anti transid #anti transrace #anti transx #anti diaracial #transrace discourse #anti endo #anti transracial #fucking bullshit #welcome to social studies #want a crash course on anti-asian racism? i am happy to oblige #transracial discourse #transx discourse #transid discourse #race isnt an identity thanks #its not an identity that you can pick and choose #why are so many people who are diaracial transkorean or transjapanese #kpop is why #vocaloid and anime is why #people only love japan for the food and the lights and the media #people only care for korea because of the media and that's only south korea #china has so many negative views about it and stereotypes surrounding Chinese people that I am not proud to be Chinese #I am here to talk about the racism of diaracial #that's it #that is the shit that i am most connected to and hurt by #yes hurt

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greater-than-the-sword · 2 years

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I don't per se believe in "death of the author", but I do believe that in many cases when an author refuses to specify some detail of their story, they're encouraging you to consider the validity of all possible options that they've left open.

For example, when an author leaves an ambiguous ending, they intend for you to consider the validity of all possible options. Or when the author leaves ambiguous a detail of a character's appearance that may be culturally sensitive, like skin color, they may be willing to let you consider the validity of any race of person in this scenario.

I don't per se believe in "death of the author", but I do believe in "applicability". Kind of like the writers of the First Amendment couldn't foresee the internet, King Solomon couldn't foresee your personal life when he wrote down the Proverbs, but that doesn't mean he didn't intend them to be applied in more ways than he thought of. In the same way you can often reinterpret romantic songs as platonic and platonic songs as romantic because what you're really seeing is that the writer has a good enough understanding of the concept of "love" generally that it can be applied across multiple topics.

It's my general opinion that the author only dies when you kill them (metaphorically) and sometimes you have to kill the author to get any meaning worth having out of their work. Eg. HP Lovecraft, whose stories' animating principle was racism. The important thing though is not to lie about the author's intent, just to admit your own authorship of a creative interpretation. I don't think we'd have half so many fights in Fandom if people could simply own their creative interpretations as their own brainchild while admitting it exists separately from the author's vision [at the time of writing].

Unfortunately Fandom has spawned this concept of "canon". "Canon" isn't really about the actual content of any work (see: works with continually altered or contradictory material, like the MCU). "Canon" is like a shared group interpretation, and fandom created this idea that the "canon" can be morphed or shaped by group concensus or even the opinion of an author who changed their mind, cut certain materials out of the "canon", or had a press conference. Because the actual materials of a work can be self contradictory or contain mistakes, the Fandom has to operate with a group concensus, and unfortunately this often means value judgments, wild interpretive leaps, or simply taking personal creative interpretations and forcing them on others as law. (Just take one look at the discourse on whether Cursed Child is Harry Potter canon.)

Since 'killing the author' is to some extent required to make "canon" a functional concept for fandoms, I don't really think "canon" is a helpful category for analyzing the [actual] intent of media. In fandom, concensus decides the interpretation of the work. But group concensus doesn't actually have any effect on the content of the work itself, and often actually cuts off a range of valid interpretations that the author may even have wished to leave open. I don't know where I'm going with this, but I do think we need to rethink the notion of "canon" as a vehicle for media interpretation not because it's too strict but because it's too manipulable.

#and im just saying words recreationally

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cineflections · 8 months

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You know, when I saw that live action Cinderella (like a 1000 years ago), I was pleasantly surprised in how it mingled the classic Disney animated movie with the original story as well as giving the prince and the titular princess some more scenes together. It felt innovative, it felt like it brought something new, you know? There's been tons of other remakes since then, of varying quality. I haven't watched all of them, but today I felt to watch a more recent one. A remake of a beloved Disney animated movie. I'm ofc talking about The Little Mermaid.

I would be both blind and deaf if I say I did not read or listen to the *discourse* surrounding this movie since its inception through its trailers and during its release. And I have to admit that I was hesitant to acknowledge Halle Bailey as Ariel, since in my head it made more logical sense for deep sea creatures (and mermaids) to be of a lighter skin tone. Have Eric be non-white, and the entire kingdom for that - was my thinking.

But in the end, this is fantasy. That involves talking fish and crabs and mythical sea creatures. So while I was "hesistant" I was never "against" her casting. What was, and is, important is that she *embodies* the spirit of Ariel's character. A child (of 15 I believe?) Who is curious, feels stifled by an overbearing and overprotective father, and enamored with the surface world.

And I think Halle Bailey managed that quite well.

And following that casting decision came the call to have her and her sisters be the seven sea personified (I'm guessing?), that's cool and new. But I wish we got to see what that entailed. And what seas each sister was? I guess one could guess by the actresses race, but I don't want to guess, I want to know!

So, about the characters. I think Ariel is great. Hair color nitpicks, sure, hairstyle nitpicks ok (like where's that bang?). But goddamn if her voice ain't goated. Eric is serviceable (his not exactly inspiring). The queen is there. Grimsby is mvp. I really like Sebastian. King Triton? More like King trite-on. Let's not talk about Flounder. Oh, the bird is alright, I guess.

But the true queen of this movie was surprisingly Melissa McCarthy as Ursula. Damn what an inspired casting. She chews her scene and gives it her all. Any scene she's in is where the movie is at it's liveliest and energetic. My only complaints are really the 2 monologue scene before she meets Ariel. I wish we got her motivations in a less "I'm evil cuz I'm evil" kinda way.

Sebastian and Flounder. Seeing them in the trailers did not inspire confidence. And they're a mixed bag for sure (and the bird to a degree). But while Sebastian works, Flounder, well, flounders (sorry I had to). Sebastian's design works alright. And they managed to give *some* expression through his eyes, and uh.. claws. Flounder, however, fails in all aspects. You barely see him on screen (why is he so thin? I don't care that the fish he is is supposed to look like that, change fish then!), his eyes look dead as he stares straight into the void. And the only thing "expressive" on him is his goddamn cursed "lip-ified" mouth. He sounds like Flounder, at least. I love the voice for Sebastian, though! I think they went Jamaican instead of French? Excellent choice of both accent and voice actor.

You tell me this isn't cursed.

But about the cgi and vfx. Shots of the environment and mermaids swimming in the distance look really good. And I like the intro with the ocean waves, there's cool visuals in here! But when it comes to the mermaids/men, there's something off about the heads. Especially around the hairline. It needs a bit more cooking, I would say, as the face seems "plastered" on? It looks off and, in some cases, ill-fitting. Doesn't really take away from my enjoyment (it's not "bad", but not "good") but with a budget of 250 million dollars you'd except a bit cleaner vfx, huh? (Let's leave at that and not get into the whole vfx artist crunch debacle, since it's not just this remake, it's all of Disney and Hollywood).

The music is great. I love all the songs. I don't think there's any stinker here. But there's one little hiccup I'd say and that is Eric's solo number. It kinda feels like the "I'm just Ken" song from Barbie? You know his whole melodramatic solo song? Like that but less self-aware I guess? Hell, I would almost compare it to the "AGONY" song from Into the Woods?

Ok, a bit mean to say, since I don't dislike it, but still... I like the added touch of Ariel vocalizing, symbolizing how enthralled he was of her voice.

I liked that they put some time into Ariel's and Eric's relationship. It's a story over three days, and, well, I suppose it's a fairytale and so I can forgive the true love at first listen(?).

The tone of the movie stays consistent, giving the curious feeling and joyfullness.

Quick thoughts: Ursula's lair is absolute sick and the coolest ever. "I'm auntie Ursula", "the sea-witch?" "The what?!" Hilarious delivery!

Overall:

A good and faithful retelling of the animated movie. I love that they kept the romance and expanded a bit upon it. The music is stellar (it's Lin Manuel Miranda like, what you expect??). The very end when Ariel and King Triton reconcile and he pushes her towards the unknown (literally) was beautiful. Melissa McCarthy as Ursula was inspired casting imo. Javier Bardem is such a good actor, but I wish he had a bit more to do. Did he put any effort in? Was it just a paycheck? I think all the other characters were well realized and had depth.

Complaints would be cgi and vfx, especially the heads and hair underwater. I also think they could've expanded on the human side's "antagonism" against seafolk. The seafolk's opinions about surface dwellers are explained in a couple of ways but the humans only talks about the storm (ok sure it's a real concern for island dwellers but still maybe 1 more example?).

But it's a nice watch that translated the original animated movie to live action. It doesn't bring anything new to the table but it's the comfort food you like.

#the little mermaid #movies #ariel #prince eric #king triton #ursula #halle bailey #melissa mccarthy #javier bardem #no hate against erics actor but *enter thanos* “i dont even know who you are”#the little mermaid live action remake #disney

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moesartblog · 9 months

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This is extremely ramble-y and unimportant but I’m bored and settling into my new place so

one unexpected drawback to the Disney live action remakes is the people who are upset with them for ruining the “actual “””good””” feminism” of the original animated movies. Like the Snow White discourse is killing me. The remake is yet another virtue signaling mess, yes. But stop pretending the original movie wasn’t criticized for very very valid reasons. Please stop pretending the non consentual kiss between an unconscious minor and an adult as some super romantic thing is the pinnacle of progressive values.

I understand there is an aspect to consider with race, and how women of color, and especially black women, are denied access to femininity that allows them to be seen as someone vulnerable and desirable in the way classic princesses are. I think that stories that make that a part of the narrative could be great and enjoyable.

I also think it’s important to understand these classic fairy tales are (I think) meant to be stories for a time when many women going into marriage didn’t have much of a choice in who they were marrying. And there are people who are still going through stuff like that today, and may find solace in stories like that. But I don’t think we need to be preserving the integrity of the problematic elements of movies made by a studio headed by a racist antisemitic capitalist in the early 1900s. Like the princess movies of classic Disney didn’t have a lot of… stuff going on. The stories are kinda meandering, and when it’s not, it’s reinforcing the gender politics of the studio at the time.

I mean personally my favorite remake was maleficent, and I like it more than the original movie. The original is beautiful, and I love the art, but like it’s a pretty bare bones story. I know a lot of people didn’t like it for a lot of reasons, but the most absurd reason people say it’s bad was the fact they made maleficent sympathetic and it’s like… sorry I find that a positive change. There are criticisms to be made but the putting more focus on the women’s relationships is not one of them I find valid sorry.

Anyway I don’t think there has to be a one or the other thing with these remakes. We don’t have just “Disney makes a pseudo-progressive sounding readjustment of the story” or “disneys original story should be made exactly like the original was”

Feminist examinations of the older movies are not all buzzfeed critiques. Sometimes the things in those moves were genuinely an issue. I just think the critique of “why are they updating these old movies to ruin the old stories?”

Idk I’m just free thinking and I’ve been seeing these takes more often regarding the new movies. The only reason disneys doing these remakes is money and copyright. So I’m not under any illusion that their updates are for any altruistic reason, but this doesn’t have to mean we need to be defending the originals as hard as I’ve seen. There’s a reason they’re criticized I dunno

#I’m not well read on the history so if I was wrong about something lemme know

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cursingtoji · 2 years

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𝐖𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐖𝐞 𝐒𝐭𝐢𝐥 𝐂𝐚𝐧 — 𝐀.𝐀𝐥𝐞𝐫𝐭

𝐒𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲: after he's informed about Eren and Zeke 's plan, all Armin can think is how he wants to use the little time he has left to put a baby in you before it’s too late.

𝐖𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬: canonverse, hurt/comfort, AOT Final Season spoilers (Eren and Zeke 's plan), f!reader, breeding, the word mommy is used (within the breeding context), creampie, semi-public sex. 2.1k words

𝐍𝐨𝐭𝐞: this follows an order of events kinda different from the anime for fictional purposes.

𝐂𝐡𝐞𝐜𝐤 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨: One for Myself — E.Jaeger || Main M.List || AOT M.List

Your leg shakes anxiously, heel tapping impatiently on the stone floor, your mind is racing thinking of Eren and everything that is happening above you while there’s nothing you can do being trapped in the underground prison with your fellow scouts.

How could everything change like that so fast? How could you end up in prison? How does Eren have a rebel faction?

The thing that pulls you out from drowning in your own mind is Armin’s hand on your knee, a silent plea for you to stop shaking your leg, but his gentle blue eyes also pleading you to not let dark thoughts overwhelm you.

Armin and you were thrown in his cell, some chairs, tables, beds and a sink in the small space.

Your friends are caged beside you, until some moments ago you were discussing, trying to remain close by leaning against the wall separating your cells, the only thing you could see was Jean and Connie’s arms hanging outside the bars.

At some point you all have grown tired of standing finding a place to sit and to get lost in thoughts, that was until steps were heard coming from the hallway, Onyankopon voice greeting everyone as you and Armin exchanged a concerned look standing up once again to find the man in front of your cells.

He proceeds to inform you of everything that is happening above you, he says he has managed to escape from Yelena’s watch, and he apologizes for everything before informing you of Eren and Zeke’s plan.

Euthanasia.

Your heart drops hearing that word.

Not having any kids? Ever? Remaining in this cursed island till every single person gets old and dies?

Somewhere along Onyankopon discourse you grow deaf, ears buzzing as you look at a spot on the wall in front of you.

Armin, the sweet composed guy beside you is different, he starts to shoot questions at Onyankopon, his muffled voice sounding desperate, trying to defend Eren.

Eren.

His best friend knew how much he wanted to have kids, take them to see the sea at an early age. Show them the world. Build a family.

Onyankopon leaves, you guess, after so much shouting everyone is quiet.

Armin calls your name noticing how you seem dizzy as he takes you to sit on the bed.

“Where’s Onyankopon?” you ask like you missed the last twenty minutes of conversation.

“Someone called him, he shouldn’t be here but he wanted to let us know about the Euthanasia plan.”

Your breath hitches at that word again.

“Are you okay? Do you need some water?” his hand touches your face noticing how cold you feel, you only manage to nod.

He’s quick to fill a glass of water from the sink and bring it back to you, which you gulp fast.

Jean's voice breaks the silence asking how the two of you are. You notice Armin is about to say something about your condition so you grip his shirt silently shaking your head.

Armin and you have been working side by side for so long now, both being good strategists, but more than that, both truly enjoying each other’s company. After so long fighting and planning together you gained a connection, he knows what you are thinking without you having to say it and vice versa.

He knows you don't want to worry your friends, they already have enough on their plate.

“W-We are fine” Armin shouts, “Probably needing some rest after all that information.”

“I agree, my head hurts,” Connie declares.

Everyone gets quiet again.

“Armin” you tug his sleeve so he sits down beside you, “Is that really happening?” you ask in a whisper.

Armin can see you are scared, more than him, in fact Armin has tons of doubts about that plan.

That doesn’t sound like Eren at all.

But he notices you probably haven’t heard a word from what he said some minutes ago, when he was trying to defend his friend.

The voice in Armins head is loud and scary. It says: what if you’re wrong? What if Eren actually goes on with that stupid plan?

What if you never have kids?

Now it’s you who gets concerned about him, worrying if your question triggered something in Armin’s mind, from the way his gaze is lost somewhere.

You gently take his hand guiding him to lay down on the small bed with you. Armin complies, laying on his side, face to face with you, finding a little peace in your eyes as you do in his.

“How much longer do you think we have?” he whispers.

“Until what?”

“Until Ere— Zeke” he corrects himself, “make it happen.”

“I don’t know, maybe in a few hours, days…” your mouth twists.

“My grandfather taught me so much, I can’t die without passing at least some of that knowledge forward” you bring a hand to his cheek, you have listened the way Armin talks about his grandfather from the times you told each other childhood stories, the way he misses him is evident, “I wanna be a grandfather too” he confesses shutting his eyes before he can spill any tears.

You close the space between you two to lace your arms around his neck, hugging him tight.

“A few hours… that’s enough right?” he murmurs with his face pressed on your neck.

“Armin?”

“We can do it in a few hours” he pulls away from your hold to look deeply into your eyes. You know what he’s talking about, but—

“I wanted to wait till this whole thing with Eren was over to ask you out” he confesses, making your heart race.

“You were going to ask me out?” you ask smiling.

“Yeah, take you to a picnic on top of the wall Maria, point at where I used to live in Shiganshina, kiss you at sunset” he smiles tenderly, such a beautiful sight among tragedy.

“I would love that,” you admit.

“I know I'm asking for too much here, but if this plan really happens I won’t be able to live knowing I had the chance of having a baby with you but haven’t tried” you squeeze your legs together at the realization he wanted to have a baby with you.

“What if it doesn’t work?” you ask still unsure about it.

“At least we would have tried.”

“I really want a family, Armin” you grip his shirt.

“If we make out of this, we can be a family” he takes your hips pulling you to him.

You let your imagination wander to a universe where you have a house in the rebuilt Shiganshina district, where Armin makes love to you in the morning, quietly to not wake up your kids sleeping in the rooms next to yours. He leaves to work on something he loves, taking your eldest child with him so they can learn it too, when he returns he has a surprise for his kids and you: a pie he bought on his way back, the only condition is that they all eat everything on their plates during dinner before they can have a slice. The kids sleep fast after having so much food in their bellies, that’s when he takes you to watch the stars with him outside, talking about what he learned about them from his grandfather as you look him with adoration, not being able to hold yourself from kissing him under the moonlight.

“Okay” you accept, making his eyes glow, “Let’s make a baby” you look around making sure there’s no guard passing by, everything is dead silent, “We gotta be quick okay?” you murmur, placing one leg between his.

Armin nods and takes your face on his hands, softly placing his lips on yours. You have wondered many times how kissing Armin would be, and although you wished your first kiss with him was under different circumstances, it still felt better than you expected, such passion and tenderness in just a kiss.

You rub your palm on his crotch pulling a gasp out of his lips.

“Sorry” you whisper, noticing you cough him off guard.

“It’s o-okay” his lip trembles as you lean in to take him in a more exploratory kiss, deepening it in a matter of seconds. Your own arousal starts to build, Armin removes your hand from his pants, taking your leg and putting it on his waist, so he could stimulate both of you by rubbing his bulge on your clothed core, both of you panting on each others puffy lips, trying to remain quiet. You reach down impatiently to undo his belt while he peppers kisses on your neck.

Intruding thoughts of someone walking by and seeing you getting nasty with your fellow scout is a possibility that makes your core aches in a mix of excitement and fear.

Armin gently rolls his hips against you, the roughness of his erection directly bucking against your clit.

“Let’s take them off” you suggest after some time struggling with Armin’s pants, he nods, getting up and helping you do the same.

Both of you standing, kicking off your shoes and attempting to quietly remove your belts.

As your pants fall onto floor, you are left in socks and the white button up that covers your underwear, Armin takes in your appearance, disheveled and uneven breathing.

He had thought of you in a position like that a couple of times, the first was when you two were assigned to do the cleaning one night, only the two of you scrubbing the floors, you had left to get a bucket of water, losing balance on your way back and spilling some on your white shirt.

Armin ran to help you not drop the bucket, he hadn't noticed immediately the way your shirt stuck on your torso, highlighting the shape of your body, you hadn't noticed either, only realizing how transparent your shirt had become when your partner for that evening assignment had turned into a blushing mess.

Now here you are, the reason for his many awaken nights and throbbing cock standing so pretty in front of him, he’s only sorry for not being able to see you fully naked.

In his despair, Armin doesn't wait for you to get back on bed, instead pressing you against the stone walls, taking your face in an intoxicating kiss, you comply letting him suck your tongue as you reach down to stroke his shaft, feeling the wet spot of his precum through the fabric of his boxers.

Armin doesn't think he can take any longer, he just wants to be inside you, so he lowers his underwear, taking one of your thighs to hook around his hips.

You help him by moving your underwear aside, hissing at the contact of the hot skin of his cock rubbing against your folds as he spreads your arousal on his length, surprised at how wet you have become in just a matter of minutes.

“All that because of me?” he whispers in your ear, “Wanna be a mommy that much?” his head pokes your entrance. You only nod, not thrusting yourself to respond with a decent sentence, instead biting your hand to prevent any loud sounds as he slowly split you open, burying himself until there's nothing left.

“You are so tight, fuck” he trails his hand down to squeezy your ass getting a muffled squeal from you, “Can’t wait to fill this tight pussy” his face burns, words making you arch your back, pressing your chest onto his.

If Armin had any restraining left if all went to hell when you moaned his name, fingers digging on his shoulders, he can not believe he's the one making you feel this good.

He bucks up, feeling your walls contract around him, he knows he can’t go fast, else everyone down the hall will hear the sounds of skin slapping, so he opts for hitting it hard, angling his hips to hit a spot that makes your eyes roll.

“Feels good, Armin” you cry his name, the hand not holding your thigh comes to your face caressing your cheek, thumb rubbing your bottom lip covered in spit.

When a particular deep thrust threatens to make you scream, Armin covers your mouth with his palm.

“I hope I can live to see you all round with my baby.” he places his forehead on yours, “Our baby” you find his deep blue eyes looking down at you, lost in pleasure too, but not forgetting your common goal.

It doesn’t take long till his thrusts become sloppy, you turn your head to take his fingers into your mouth, wetting them by with your tongue.

“Make me cum, Armin” you whisper, a string of saliva connecting you to his fingers until it breaks when you guide his hand down to your neglected clit.

“Yes, mommy” he kisses your cheek, circling your clit.

Your walls just feel too good, he wishes he could prolongate that feeling for hours. But unfortunately you don't have all that time, so he rubs you more urgently, taking your bottom lip in between his teeth, thrusting again and again as he explodes inside you, your walls clenching as you climax with him, hot cum filling your womb. Armin feels like your walls are trying to squeeze him dry, pussy hungry for every drop he has to give.

In his final moment of ecstasy he pulls out, using his fingers to push the cum that threatens to spill out back inside making you hiss, before he fixes your underwear to cover your pussy.

“Hold it in for me, will you?” he pats your cunt pecking your lips.

Your legs are shaking, he quickly fixes his boxers pulling his pants back on before taking you bridal style, placing your trembling body to the bed.

Carefully looking around making sure no one has seen him fuck a baby into you, he takes your pants helping you dress them back.

“I think we made it” you murmur gripping his hand as he sits on the bed, bending to kiss your knuckles.

Armin hopes you two succeeded in your possibly last chance to make a baby, but even if you don’t, he’s happy he’s got the chance to make love to you nevertheless.

taglist: @kittyymew @thekillingtimethekillingmoon @getomybeloved @crajishie @imkumichan @crybabyddl @ravenina14 @shamelessreaderthere @toobsessedsstuff @dukina @pink-apples001 @beware-of-the-rogue @sintiva @the-princess-button @mamslovebug @mixedfeeelings @stephseb @sleepy3 @wutya @novaresque @shepfics @casualtophat [wanna join the taglist? <3]

#armin x reader #attack on titan x reader #aot x reader #armin x y/n #armin smut #attack on titan smut #shingeki no kyoujin x reader #attack on titan imagine #snk x reader #aot x you

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rayalahon · 2 years

Text

season 7 is the quintessential hermitcraft season to watch

Admitedly, i’m not THAT old of a hermitcraft fan, ive only been around since s6 and will vanquish the Mic of Opinions to fans whove been around for longer, but what i CAN say to all the newbie hermitfans who want to get into the community is this:

watch season 7.

bc while hc s6 is regarded as the ‘turning point’ for hermitcraft and holds a lot of influence on the following seasons, its a fairly daunting task to backwatch and experience it in all of its glory and chaos. Its called the Season Sixfinity for a reason; it lasted nearly twice as long as any season before it, and is just not accessible for everyone. Scar alone has about ~100hrs worth of content on that season. What more if newcomers wanna backwatch the series of other hermits like xisuma, grian, falsie, etc?

And thats not even considering the fact that historical context is very relevant for this time. Season 6 was in 2018— the minecraft renaissance era was in full swing, and the minecraft community as a whole was going through a lot of changes. Its just a lot of stuff to take in for a new viewer. (in particular: new gen dsmp fans who are alr pretty burnt out by the concept of Multiple Povs I Am Obliged to Watch, and is a common reason why so many of them migrated to hermitcraft recently in the first place)

But season 7? It has the perfect balance of everything. If you comb through the hermits’ channels youd find that for most of them, their most viewed hermitcraft videos IS their s7ep1 bc thats simply how hype the season was!! Minecraft was on a good track of evolving as a game. The hermits were left flushed from the previous season and eager to ramp up their Minecrafting AND Youtubing skills.. Season 6′s main problem—immature discourse during server-wide events—began largely dying down and has become pretty much extinct by the time s8 came around (partly because grian’s clout began to bleed over to the other hermits and by the end of the season so many of them have finally, finally gotten the recognition they deserve and have passed/are so close to passing the 1mil milestone.)

Season 7 was The Return of hermits like etho and xb. keralis and bdubs’ first full season in a while. wels’s return from burnout— it tied up Old and New hermitcraft with a neat little bow. The vibes were simply IMMACULATE.

Some ppl didnt even know that season 7 is where winged!grian became a thing. [EDIT: I meant the pesky bird!variety, he's been drawn w elytra since season 6 but s7 was when he began to have floofy feathery wings :>] or that this was when scar and grian really began becoming buddies (desert duo enthusiasts know your history!!) When mumbo began letting loose his loony side. stress’s pink cardigan becomes magenta, bdubs gains his anime eyes, and joe gets his bright neon green hair. It has a fair amount of historical events of its own: the Button. the mayoral race. the Turf War. the HCBBS. the boomers. the keralis secret-base games. the first hermits helping hermits stream. the first inclusion of proximity chat. the armor stand book. Decked Out and Amogus (tango popped off this season fr!!) and the BUILDS oh my god the world was so built up this season it was insane!! the absolute madlads on this server man.

and then season 8 is easy to continue on from there. lasted very short which is good for catching up on and the hermits whose s7 DID suffer (doc, who had his little one and jevin who also went through burnout) get their redemption in s8. the addition of gem and pearl. which then brings us to hc s9 where the hermits are on top of the world and going back to their roots, and being honest w themselves about what kind of balance they want to achieve w their content (mumbo, being currently on break and taking time to recharge and we love him loads <3).

The whitelist is now at top notch quality, full capacity. Theyre on top of the world, and theyve decided to take it chill for the while before returning to your daily schedule of hermitcraft shenanigans with a fresher outlook on life. A truly inspiring and satisfying emotional journey.

tldr; dont know where to start? Start from s7.

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sharpace · 2 years

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Guess who? I come with another dose of gamer lads.

Jayce has too much music on his phone to really download mobile games so Vik has a small collection for him on his phone.

The rest of his mobile game arsenal is for himself and it mostly consists of puzzle/strategy games. Sometimes Jayce will take long trips to E3, Q2 etc and Vik will tag along so he needs something to keep him busy during the travel. It always ends up with him getting irritable about not understanding a puzzle and wordlessly thrusting the phone into Jayce's hand.

He has animal jam installed for serotonin reasons. Sometimes a cute lil kids game is needed to wind down.

***

They have a Wii. It's from Jayce's childhood, old and falling apart, but still works and is the decider for most arguments. Viktor used to complain so much about not needing the straps that Jayce eventually left him to it.

Then he broke the TV.

One minute he was boxing, the next the remote had yeeted itself across the room into the screen. He didn't even bother saying anything, just put the nunchuck down and walked out.

Their favourite game to play is mario kart because it's easier to play for long lengths of time without Vik's leg complaining. Of course Jayce insists on using the wheel and Vik refuses to put his on purely to bask in Jayce's horror.

They keep tabs on how many tournaments they've each won but there's constant discourse after Jayce forgot to count them up during one of their sessions. Vik swears he's in the lead but Jay is confident he's 2 up. It's become tradition for the loser to do the dishes.

***

They try their hand at Apex Legends and, entirely unexpectedly, Vik immediately dumps a bunch of money into the game because give him Loba immediately!

His gameplay is based around dropping behind squads and giving Jayce an opening before being downed by a different squad he forgot to look out for. He's not the best at battle royales. Fortnite was easier because it was mostly building your own fortress and sniping.

Jayce has absolutely no clue who he likes to play, there's too many characters and they all have fun ways to change his playstyle. He usually closes his eyes and randomly selects a character. He landed on Loba once and could almost hear the glare through his headset.

He is heavily carrying the team and, whilst V is improving the more they play, Jayce can hear his mounting frustration. He opts to only ask to play it every so often because he's fully aware that Vik's stubbornness would have him play until he was shaking with rage.

***

Arcade trips are few and far between. V hates the 10p game because he swears it's rigged and his prizes keep getting stuck mid fall, Jayce dominates on all race games and they both suck at the basketball one. Their hand dexterity is on point, their hand-eye coordination, less so.

They found a niche little retro arcade entirely made up of classic arcade machines. V tends to rarely play himself, mostly content to spout interesting facts about the games and how they were made as Jayce tries to beat the highscore.

Jay sometimes plays the games he has no interest in/dislikes just to hear what Vik has to say about them. It's one of his favourite places for this reason alone.

***

Jayce is godawful at setting up streams. He has a countdown for when the stream will start but his audience have taken to adding on 20 minutes to cover the inevitable 10 problems he'll have when he tries to start.

Viktor pretty much always has to walk in and fix his problems in person because apparently his incredibly helpful - entirely sarcasm filled - instructions in chat weren't getting the man any closer to fixing his audio.

Jayce once manaaged to topple his entire camera - tripod and all - mid-stream and no one (not even himself) could explain how. And that was just after restarting the stream after accidentally pulling out his entire power cord!!

***

I might start revisiting games I've played a while back for ideas. I mean any reason to play a game is a good one XD

These are one of the highlights of my week, Anon!!! I love these so much.

It's not that Jayce doesn't know how to fix his stream but it's hard to focus when you have thousands of people watching you and waiting for you to make yourself look like an idiot. Viktor has nerves of steel though so they balance each other out.

Leave a tip! (Ko-Fi) | Etsy Shop | Twitter

#jayvik #jayce talis #viktor #sharp ask

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wolken-himmel · 2 years

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Referring to this ask. I also have some opinions on this, hope it doesn’t come off as rude/ignorant ^^’ I apologize if so.

I probably wouldn’t call it racist, but disrespectful. I understand that some color them and make them blasian but, most of them (or at least from what I’ve seen) they’re always just black.

‘What if (an asian character) was black?’ ‘Turning (an asian character) into black’

I’m not sure about other medias, but most I’ve seen are anime/manga characters getting colored as black by the fandom. As an asian person myself, I understand that people want representation of their race(s) in medias but, by doing so (coloring characters into black) aren’t they erasing our representation? /g Asians are a minority too, and I don’t think there’s ‘too much representation’ in anime/manga because that’s one of the few platforms where we get huge representation.

Isn’t it better to make a black OC instead of erasing an existing character’s race? /g

I know it is all made in a lighthearted way and for fun, I agree that as long as they’re not forcing it on other people then it’s okay, but it becomes an issue when it’s the other way around. Personally I haven’t seen people draw any ‘turning black characters into asian’ art, or edit the manga panels of a black character to make them look asian, but I think that if it was ever done, the one who drew it/edited it would receive a lot of backlash for ‘turning black characters into asians’ just like how ‘asian characters turned black’.

Again, I don’t wish to start any discourse. I sincerely apologize if I worded some things wrong.

Yeah I very much get where you're coming from. Redesigning a character to change their race is kinda,, not my cup of tea. I do get why some people do it though, to get more representation since they may not feel represented enough in media. I guess that's okay as long as they're just having fun and are just doing it for entertainment, to each their own. But I dislike the hypocritical side of it (like you mentioned, when someone would redesign a black character to be white/asian/etc and would get a lot of backlash while the other way around would be okay; you could argue it's just for fun too).

AND YES, I'm all for people making new characters instead of changing an existing character's race to something else. Not just OCs, but also— Disney, stop making useless live-action remakes and give me some new original movies with racially diverse characters...

#askaskask

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ailuronymy · 3 years

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Thoughts on the new discourse? Warrior cats naming conventions and rank names being straight up stolen from native American people? So many people seem to be... Straight up leaving the Fandom or changing all of their fan content and it feels very performative and, people not actually thinking critically and just being scared of getting "cancelled"? I feel like your opinions on these matters are very informed and well written so I wanted to ask given that this blog main theme is, well, warrior cat naming system and that seems to be the main issue of the new discourse.

This is probably going to get long, since there's sort of a lot to say about it in order to talk about this whole thing fairly and constructively, because from what I’ve seen there’s a lot of hyperbole happening, and panicking, and disavowing this series and fandom, and so on, like you say, and also some people genuinely trying to have complex meaningful conversations about racism in xenofiction, and also probably some bad faith actors in the mix--as well as some just... stupid actors. Kind of inevitably what happens when two equally bad platforms for having nuanced discussions--i.e., twitter and tumblr--run headlong into each other, in a fandom space with a majority demographic of basically kids and highly anxious, pretty online teens. I don’t mean that as a criticism of fans or their desire to be liked by peers and “correct” about opinions, it’s just the social landscape of Warriors and I think it’s worth pointing out from the start.

If I’m totally honest with you, if not for this ask, I wouldn’t actually be commenting on it at all, because none of this is going to impact this blog or change how I run it in any way. But since you’ve asked and frankly I do feel some responsibility to try to disentangle things a little for everyone stressed and confused at the moment, because I know a lot of people look to this blog for guidance of all sorts, I’m going to talk about what I think has happened here, and how to navigate the situation in a reasonable way.

Quick recap for anyone blissfully unaware: from what I understand, this post (migrated over from a presumably bigger twitter thread) has got a lot of people very worried about Warriors being a racist and appropriative series, and now are trying to figure out what ethically to do about this revelation. The thing I found most interesting about this screenshotted conversation is that it makes a lot of bold claims, but misses some pretty surprising details (in my opinion). If you do look critically at what is being said, here’s a few things to notice--crucially, there are two people talking.

Person 1 says that a lot of animal fantasy fiction + xenofiction (fiction about non-human/”other” beings, such as animals) is frequently built upon stereotypes of First Nations and Indigenous people, and/or appropriates elements of Indigenous culture and tradition as basically set dressing for “strange” and “alien” races/species etc., and this is a racist, deeply othering, and inappropriate practice. This person is right.

I’ve spent years researching in this field specifically, so I feel pretty confident in vouching (for whatever that’s worth) that this person is absolutely right in making this point. Not only is it frequently in animal fiction/xenofiction, but it’s insidious, which means often it’s hard to notice when it’s happening--unless you know what you’re looking for, or you are personally familiar with the details or tropes that are being appropriated. Because of the nature of racism, white and other non-First Nations people don’t always recognise this trend within texts--even texts they’re creating--but it’s important for us all, and especially white people, to be more aware, because it’s not actually First Nations’ people’s responsibility to be the sole critics of this tradition of theft and misuse. Appropriation by non-Indigenous people is in fact the problem, which means non-Indigenous people learning and changing is the solution.

Person 1 offers Warriors as a popular example of a work that has this problem. Notably, this person hasn’t given an example of how Warriors is culpable (at least in this screenshot and I haven’t found the thread itself, because the screenshot is what’s causing this conversation), only that it’s an example of a work that has these problems. And once again, this person is correct. We’ll look at that more in a moment.

Person 2 (three tweets below the first) offers, by comparison, several more specious insights. Firstly, it’s really, really not the only time anyone’s ever talked about this, academically + creatively or in the Warriors fandom specifically, and so that reveals somewhat this person’s previous engagement in the space they’re talking into re: this topic. In other words, this person doesn’t know what has already been said or what is being talked about. Secondly, this person explicitly states that they “[don’t know] much about warrior cats specifically but from what I see it just screams appropriation,” which as a statement I think says something crucial re: the critical lens this person has applied + the amount of forethought and depth of analysis of their criticism of this particular series.

I’m not saying that using twitter to talk about your personal feelings requires you to research everything you talk about before you shoot your mouth off. However, I personally don’t go into a conversation about a topic I don’t know anything about except a cursory glance to offer bold and scathing criticisms based on what it “just screams” to me. By their own admission, this person isn’t really offering good faith, thoughtful criticism of the series, in line with Person 1′s tweet. Instead, Person 2 is talking pretty condescendingly and emphatically about--as the kids say--the vibes they get from the series, and I’m afraid that just doesn’t hold up well in this court.

So now that there’s Person 1 (i.e., very reasonable, important, interesting criticism) and Person 2 (i.e., impassioned but completely vibes-based opinion from someone who hasn’t read the books) separated, we can see there’s actually several things happening in this brief snapshot, and some of them aren’t super congruent with each other.

Person 1 didn’t say “don’t read bad books,” or that you’re a bad person for being a fan of stories that are guilty of this. They suggested people should recognise the ways xenofiction uses Indigenous people and their culture inappropriately and often for profit. My understanding of this tweet is someone offering an insight that might not have occurred to many people, but that is valuable and important to consider going forward in how they view, engage with, and create xenofiction media.

Person 2 uses high modality, evocative language that appeals to the emotions. That’s not a criticism of this person: they’re allowed to talk in whatever tone they want, and to express their personal feelings and opinions. However, rhetorically, this person is using this specific language--consciously or subconsciously--to incense their audience--i.e., you. Are you feeling called to action? What action do you feel called to when you rea their words, despite the fact their claims are not based in their own actual analysis of or engagement with the text? It’s, by their own admission, not analysis at all. Everything they evoke is purely in the name of “not good” vibes.

Earlier I mentioned that Person 1 is correct that Warriors is absolutely guilty of appropriation of First Nations and Indigenous people and culture. I also mentioned that they didn’t specify how. That’s because I think the most egregious example is in fact the tribe, which in many ways plays into the exact kind of stereotyping and appropriation of First Nations Americans that Person 1 mentions, and not the clans, contrary to Person 2′s suggestion. For instance, in addition to the very loaded name of “tribe”, there’s a lot of racist tropes present in how that group of cats is introduced and how the clan cats interact with them, as well as the more North American-inspired scenery of their home. It’s very blatant as far as racism in this series.

When it comes to the clans themselves, though, I think it’s muddier and harder to draw clear distinctions of what is directly appropriative, what is coincidentally and superficially reminiscent, and what is not related at all. Part of this difficulty in drawing hard lines comes from the fact that, on a personal level, it actually doesn’t matter: if a First Nations person reads a story and feel it is appropriative or inappropriate, it’s not actually anyone’s place to “correct” them on their reading of the text. Our experiences are unique and informed by our perspectives and values, and no group of people are a monolith, which means within community, there will always be disagreement and differenting points of view. There is no one single truth or opinion, which means that First Nations people even in the same family might have very different feelings about the same text and very different perspectives on how respectful, or not, it might be.

I’m saying this because something that gets said very often when conversations of racism and similar oppressive systems present/perpetuated in texts comes up, people frequently say: “listen to x voices.” It is excellent advice. However, the less pithy but equally valuable follow-up advice is: “listen to the voices of many people of x group, gather information and perspective, and then ultimately use your own judgement to make an informed opinion for yourself.” It means that you are responsible for you. The insight you can gain by listening to people who know topics and experiences far better than you do is truly invaluable, but if your approach to the world is simply to parrot the first voice, or loudest voice, or angriest voice you come across, you will not really learn anything or be able to develop your own understanding and you certainly won’t be making well-informed judgements.

In other words, one incomplete tweet thread from two people who are each bringing quite different topics and modes of conversation (or perhaps gripes, in Person 2′s case) to the table is not really enough to go off re: making a decision to leave a fandom, in my opinion. In fact, I think in responding to anything difficult, complex, or problematic (which doesn’t mean what popular adage bandies it about to mean) by trying to distance yourself, or cleanse of it, will ultimately harm you and will not do you any good as a person. It is better, in my opinion, to enter into complex relationships with the world and media and other people in an informed, aware way and with a willingness to learn and sometimes to make mistakes and be wrong, rather than shy away from potential conflict or fear that interacting with a text will somehow taint you or define your morality in absolutes.

So. Does Warriors have racist and appropriative elements, tropes, and issues in the series? Yes, of course it does, it’s a book-packaged series produced by corporation HarperCollins and written by a handful of white British women and their myriad ghostwriters. Racism is just one part of the picture. The books are frequently also ableist, sexist, and homophobic (or heteronormative, depending how you want to slice it, I guess), just to name some of the most evident problems.

But does the presence of these issues mean it’s contaminated and shouldn’t be touched? Personally, I don’t think so. Given the nature of existing the world, it’s not possible to find perfect media that is free of any kind of bias, prejudice, or even just ideas or topics or concepts that are challenging or uncomfortable. I think it’s more meaningful to choose to engage with these elements, discuss them, criticise them, learn from them, and acknowledge also that imperfection is the ultimate destiny of all of us, especially creators.

I’m not saying that as a pass, like, “oh enjoy your media willy-nilly, nothing matters, do what you want, think about no-one else ever because we’re all flawed beings,” but rather that it’s important not to look away from the problems in the things we enjoy, rather than cut off all contact and enjoyment when we realise the problems. That doesn’t mean you have to only criticise and always be talking about how bad a thing you like is either, publicly admonishing yourself or the text, because that’s also not a constructive way to engage with media.

As I said, there’s a lot to say here, and believe it or not, this is honestly the shortest version I could manage. There’s always more to say and plenty I haven’t talked about, but pretty much tl;dr:

I don’t find Person 2′s commentary particularly compelling, personally, because I think it’s a little broad and a little specious in its conclusions and evidence, and I also suspect that this person is speaking more from their feelings than from a genuine desire to educate or meaningfully criticise, unlike Person 1. That’s not to say Warriors isn’t frequently racist and guilty of the issues Person 1 is discussing, because it is, but I don’t think this tweet thread is a great source of insight into the ongoing history of this problem in xenofiction, or Warriors specifically, on its own. I would recommend exploring further afield to learn more from a variety of sources and form your own opinions. I hope this helps.

#just in case anyone sees this post and gets the wrong idea: i'm not inviting debate on this.#i am saying that first nations people are allowed to have ANY relationship with texts because that's how subjectivity works.#they are allowed to have negative neutral or positive experiences of texts--even 'bad' ones that have a lot of problems.#the people in this tweet are just talking about their thoughts and it's their bad luck the world's a public forum and it's spiralled.#the other thing i am saying is that if your approach to media is exclusively to cut out any problematic text like it's a cancer #that's not a great strategy. just straight up. you're better off developing critical insight and your own opinions and confidence.#by most parameters i can think of warriors as a series pretty much sucks really bad and i've been saying that for nearly ten years.#despite being so phenomenally flawed it can still have value--and much of its value in my opinion is IN these conversations about it.#so yeah tl;dr 2: i'm not here to slap-fight with teens which is what much discourse devolves to after 5 mins on tumblr so don't try it.

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burr-ell · 2 years

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Hi, i'm curious over the post you wrote about fandam hating POC, about the part talking about when the VLD fandom created the whole another au where they exotified K and L more. I just want to understand bc i was never part of that part of the fandom(who made the au) to really know what happened in that au. Was it because they changed how L and K looked and their names? Or did they change their personalities as well? (I do agree with the allura thing)

it's a LONG story and truth be told i still don't fully know all of it, i mostly tried to stay out of the deep discourse circles by that point, but basically:

after vld s7 dropped, people were furious for various reasons, most of them based on shipping. (i was one of them. i mean i can admit that; it's not like the plot was doing anybody any favors.) some klance shippers decided they were gonna make their own reboot, but make everything more diverse and add more representation.

and thus was born...leakira.

all the characters' names were changed to "better fit their ethnicity", so lance was changed to "leandro" because it sounds more cuban and keith was changed to "akira" because it sounds more...korean? even though that's a japanese name? but they insisted on keith being korean? ok anyway. what was perhaps the most offensive was that shiro's name was changed to "hachiko"...which is a name of a famous japanese dog. because i guess "takashi shirogane", the name shiro had in the original 80s anime that voltron was based on, wasn't japanese enough. and yes, they knew this at the time; no one evidently stopped to think about how bad it might look to knowingly name a gay MOC after a dog.

they also changed some of the characters' races in ways that were incredibly tone deaf; nyma and rolo (who were canonically two thieves) were made romani and "hispanic", and pidge became jewish even though her VA—who actually is jewish—was a favorite target of klance stan harassment. they also made the alteans muslim, evidently not understanding that "muslim" isn't a race, mostly so they could show off their Diverse Points by drawing characters in hijabs.

the whole thing was an ugly, racist mess, among many other things. it was made by teenagers who were mad about shipping and also thought that characters weren't "poc enough" unless they were walking talking 1920s minstrel stereotypes. unsurprisingly, it rather quickly fell apart, and the AU—like most aspects of voltron fandom—became a footnote.

(further reading can be found here and here, if you're interested in a rabbit hole)

#asks

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soul-dwelling · 3 years

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Have you heard something about Ohkubo being racist? I saw some twitter links, which due to personal reasons I cant check for myself, but otherwise couldnt find anything on.

Shared September 18, 2021

I've sat on this question for a long time, and yet my answer will still be incomplete. As I am white, I want to be aware of the white privilege I have, and I anticipate I am going to give a response that fails to address certain topics and concerns--and is just going to be flat-out wrong in a lot of parts. I anticipate I will get things wrong below, I don't like that, but I want to be open to reading more and figuring out what I'm getting wrong so I can fix what I get wrong. And I want to learn from any responses I receive--so I encourage any responses, and I will read and consider them.

At the time when I received this question, I was not aware of any Twitter links regarding accusations of Ohkubo being racist. Despite being a huge fan of Soul Eater, this was something I was unaware of, and I was purposefully ignoring--because I was ignoring any discourse around Fire Force, not around Ohkubo or Soul Eater in general. While I have followed what Soul Eater stuff is out there, I have purposefully avoided a lot of Fire Force content since the anime was announced--including muting any Fire Force stuff on Twitter. While I do not regret avoiding Fire Force stuff (there is only so much annoyance I can take from that franchise), I do regret overlooking this discussion around racism in Ohkubo’s works, I regret that, and I apologize for overlooking it right now--and in the past.

Because I have overlooked racist elements in Ohkubo’s prior works, including in Soul Eater, including on this very blog. I don’t think apologizing is enough, and I am determining what steps I can take to handle this better--and that starts with acknowledging the racist elements in his works. I think some have unfortunate implications that need to be debated.

For example, one Twitter remark I read asked why the South American meister had to be Enrique instead of a human. (And, I anticipate, how that leads to its own set of unfortunate implications, associating being from South America to being a monkey, regardless Tezca, his visual conceit, and his powers being derived from, not South American cultures only or exactly, but from Aztec and indigenous Mexican cultures.) I don’t think adding Enrique as a meister is bad, when the joke works; I think adding Enrique, and not more South American human characters, is a problem, and when your one South American meister is a non-human animal, when no other meister in the series, especially of a Death Scythe, has been a non-human animal, this is going to stick out and be offensive. I have seen and written stories with animals as meisters to weapon partners; it is a great idea, having Enrique be that character is great, but it is a missed opportunity that erases a spot where a person of South American could have been. Having Tezca as one such South American person helps, but again, this is a missed opportunity.

As an aside, this also opens up unfortunate implications to having Black Star being mistaken by Liz as a monkey, given headcanon I’ve seen from fans about Black Star’s identity with regard to Japanese ethnicities and the fact that Black Star does have dark skin.

And another set of Twitter remarks focused on the stylized designs to the band playing at the DWMA Anniversary Party (and here). Regardless whether stylization was used on white characters in that scene, the stylization on the Black characters who were performing in the band is drawing upon a history of racist images (the lips on drummer and cellist) and is racist. I’ll get to this later, but I agree with this remark that it’s bizarre that Ohkubo did this despite what he has done well with inclusiveness amongst his cast. And like I’ll also say later, it’s like me sitting here thinking “How could he do so well at writing a girl lead like Maka in an action series, then fail so badly writing Tamaki in his follow-up series?” My pathetic answer is that no creator is perfect, they make mistakes--and it becomes infuriating when they screw up so badly and don’t seem to learn from that screw-up, don’t show regret, don’t fix what they broke, and don’t improve. I’ve ranted enough here on this blog that I don’t think Ohkubo has grown with his audience: I think he keeps making the same immature mistakes (immature in terms of his craft, immature as well in terms of his humor).

And since I did bring up the monkey remarks about Enrique and Black Star, there are the major sets of discourse around racism in Ohkubo’s works, that being Maka referring to Sid, who is Black, as a gorilla (not to mention “thuggish”), and Shinra in Fire Force referring to Charon, who has dark skin, as a gorilla.

Regardless the excuses made (“racism in Japan is not the same as racism elsewhere”--which, no, fuck that, people globally including in Japan know the racist associations made where being Black or brown is associated by racists with non-human primates), I don’t get why no one, from Ohkubo to his editors to distributors to audiences including me, do not say more about this racist detail.

And I don’t get why no editor or localization staff bothered to change it. I have not sat through the Fire Force dub, but I hope someone working at localization changed the line. (It’s one thing to change a subtitled line and avoid something offensive at the cost of accuracy in translation, including accurately translating content even when it’s awful, or else you’re just covering up for the awfulness in the original work. But it’s another thing to not revise the line for dubbing, when you should have more flexibility in that kind of adaptation.)

(And that’s not getting into casting white actors as Black characters in the Soul Eater dub, but I hope I can address that another time with more depth should Soul Eater ever get a continuation or a re-dub...which, given how enough of the original dub cast have fucked over their careers and revealed their abusiveness and toxic bullshit in their personal lives, either a new anime or a new dub sounds good right about now.)

The responses to this criticism have been to rightly point out that Ohkubo does include numerous varied portrayals of Black characters (also here and here and here), drawing upon Black identities from the United States and Africa, especially for characters like Kilik and Ogun. But, me personally, pointing out what is done well does not negate what is done badly. (And yes, just because I think Maka Albarn is a great representation of a girl character in shonen doesn’t negate how Ohkubo fucked up with Chapter 113 and all of Tamaki in Fire Force).

As a creator, you’re supposed to fix what you did wrong, you don’t distract from what you did wrong by doing something else well later. You fix the character in front of you, not only make new characters and let that distract the audience from what you did wrong. You fix Sid (which, for me, means some potential adjustments to character design and not calling him a freaking gorilla); you don’t distract by creating Kilik and Ogun. You fix Tamaki (give her more to do, don’t make every joke around fanservice, stop fucking sexualizing a 17-year-old); you don’t distract by pointing to Maka or Maki. That’d be like me excusing something I did wrong in one set of responsibilities by asking you to look at something good I did: that doesn’t fix what I did wrong by mistake. Asking people to “leave the medium” is not helping: this is a debate, you get to watch something, you get to decide for yourself whether you think something is racist or misread, I’m not up for gatekeeping people to block them from either criticizing something or enjoying something.

And while your enjoyment of something can reflect on your values (if you keep liking jokes calling Sid a gorilla, what does that say about you?), I said “can,” not “does,” it is by context and debate (you can enjoy slasher movies without being a serial killer, etc).

I wish I had something more meaningful to say, and I don’t like that I don’t. I want to be a better ally, but just being aware that there are racist elements to this series, and just stating awareness, is not sufficient for me. It’s one reason why my focus is on uplifting fan content that does far better at handling inclusiveness and representation in this series. But my focus has been on representations of gender in the series--and that is my fault for not doing more to focus on representations of race and ethnicity, and I wish my apology would be enough, and it’s not, so I’m trying to figure out what I can do that is better. I will read feedback to do better.

#soul eater #atsushi ohkubo #fire force #sid barett #kilik rung #enrique

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starlightervarda · 3 years

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Not trying to be toxic at all, so I'm sorry if it appears that way, I'm just genuinely confused. Isn't TOG set in a bunch of different places? I saw the movie once when it first came out after I had some surgery, so I was little loopy. What is it people are culturally getting wrong? Feel free not to reply if this comes off rude, and I'm very sorry if it does!

Hi nonny <3

First of all, I hope you’ve recovered or are recovering smoothly.

Yes, the movie was set in at least three countries, but it’s less about the setting more about how the characters themselves, their relationships, backgrounds and histories are constantly looked through an American lens. And how it’s pushing out international fans from this fandom when they finally found a chance to engage in a popular topic and share/express/get excited.

There is so much stuff I can list culturally/religiously/etc. that are Yikes™. And I originally did, but the reply was like 4-pages long, so, I’ll spare you and try to minimize the rant.

Just...do you have any idea how many Italians and MENA people have been um akshually’d by WASP-y Americans? Or people (usually Western Europeans/Canadians) who’ve absorbed American online behaviour and tactics and utilize them to enforce their opinions? The responses that range from harassment to self-victimization to make us regret chiming in and many other give up and leave?

It’s why I avoided engaging in fandoms until I saw the dung-heaps being dumped in Joe’s fanon and the ensuing shitstorm of misinformation that mixes with Western Liberal overcompensation (see: Top!Joe is Racist, Joe is Bigger Than Nicky and Santa Hat Discourse) plus Orientalism and ‘positive discrimination’ fetishism that ends up veering into religious apologism sometimes.

Acting like he came out of the womb a Renaissance man while also holding fundamentalist ideals that weren’t widespread in his region until the 17th-19th Century. And unflinchingly devout despite being ancient and doing things like deferring to a woman? All while being artistic, liberal, romantic and gay? Did I mention he was a Fatimid from a Golden Age and would be open to changing his mind or partaking in others’ traditions and cultures and was probably way more into maths and wine-poetry than keeping a consistent prayer schedule? It makes no sense for him to be otherwise than it does for Catholic-born Nicky and Booker.

Also, Nicky. A lot of the jokes and widespread agreement that he was illiterate, filthy, useless, stupid, weak-willed or a mindlessly aggressive animal that had to be tamed and educated by Joe feed into ugly stereotypes Westerners have about Mediterranean people as hot-tempered, lazy, loud idiots. (Which, whether they know it or not, includes Joe.)

...Nicky was a priest from a maritime superpower...like how did they even communicate if he wasn’t at least bilingual? He didn’t go up to Joe like ‘Me Tarzan, You Jane’ stop it.

Plus, all the variations of ‘Joe was the only Brown Man in Europe/Nicky was the only White Man in the Middle East’ which are just -_- Sprawling empires with mixed populations have existed since Cyrus the Great. People all along the Mediterranean to this day range from Joe’s complexion and hair texture to Nicky’s. Medieval Italians weren’t discriminating against Joe for being olive-skinned with a black beard, and medieval Levantines during the Crusades weren’t horrified by Nicky’s green eyes literally what the fuck?

Also, the whole ‘White’ and ‘Brown’ thing didn’t even exist until recently.

The American definition of ‘Race’ makes no damn sense. Ethnicity/nationality/religion/sect take precedence over sharing a skin-tone. You can discriminate against your ‘own race’. To be blunt, in unpleasant parts of the Commonwealth both Nicky and Joe would be called wogs. Their differences are primarily about culture/location.

Don’t get me started on how so many act like Christianity wasn’t native to the Middle East because the world exists only in America where their basis is Anglo-Saxon Protestantism and its Puritan values are still expressed in the edgiest of atheists (which no doubt feed into how they treat Nicky), and Islam is somehow not an Abrahamic religion with over a billion adherents, multiple sects and levels of practice from lax to archaic and a laundry list of problems that should not be excused, ignored or whitewashed instead of the singular version they insist on portraying and defending.

Basically, the popular interpretations and the way they impose their beliefs and perceptions as Right are, more often than not, Bad and Ignorant.

#rant #tog #the old guard

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frankendeers · 3 years

Text

I am Made of Love and It’s Stronger Than You: Steven Universe and Models of Queer Resistance in Science-Fiction

Chapter 1. Science-Fiction and Resistance in Queer Subjectivity

“In other words, queer resistances emerge when the mechanisms of heteronormativity are exposed, when the concepts of gender and sexuality are being rearticulated in ways that defy the exclusion of subjects whose identities, desires, and practices are considered contradictory and unintelligible, and when ‘the presumption of heterosexuality’ no longer holds.” (Dhaenens, Articulations of Queer Resistance 4).

In order to articulate how Steven Universe makes use of Science-fiction conventions to explore models of queer resistance, it is first necessary to examine how queerness is woven into the fabric of its setting. Although Gems as a species are distinctly queer, their society serves as a metaphor for the various ways the centre seeks to regulate categories of identity and desire. This section will not only demonstrate how the show utilises its speculative elements to express different modes of queerness, but also argue that herein lies a possibility for resistance. In the world of Steven Universe, queerness is not merely a vector for non-normative forms of desire and expression but also a powerful tool to dismantle systems of oppression. Refusing to assimilate to the hegemonic discourse means exposing the artificial processes with which these are constructed and denaturalising them in the process. These forms of denaturalisation function simultaneously as a legitimising force for queer subjectivities. It will, furthermore become clearer, how Steven Universe sees queerness in itself as a force of positivity.

1.1. Gender and Performativity

One of the most notable aspects of the show is the fact that all members of its alien race, the Gems, are presenting as female. Due to his hybrid nature, Steven is the only alien character to exhibit a male gender identity. This immediately separates Steven Universe from the values of hegemonic society which usually sees the masculine as representative of universality: “[…] the female body is marked within masculine discourse, whereby the masculine body, in its conception with the universe, remains unmarked.” (Butler, Gender Trouble 17). The show subverts the expectation of maleness being an unquestioned neutral, by never fully explaining why the gems refer to themselves using female pronouns and to what extent they actually identify with womanhood. Instead, Steven Universe asks the viewer to accept this premise and, in the process, turn the feminine into the new “unmarked” position.

While the idea of single gender alien societies is not new, it is indicative of science-fiction’s power of questioning “heteronormative implications of progress” by “reimagining […] gender, sexuality, and identity.” (Thibodeau 263). In other words, while the Gems are repeatedly shown to be a highly advanced species, their singular gender separates them from the concept of heterosexuality. In fact, the heterosexual matrix cannot operate in Gem society, as it relies on both the existence of a rigid gender binary and the stability of the two genders it represents (cp. Butler, Gender Trouble 184).

Steven Universe’s Gem race adhere to neither standard. Thomas adds that the Gems themselves have no biological sex or gender identity, in a way that humans might understand, therefore inviting queer analysis (cp. Thomas 4). Seeing as Gems are “outside of human conceptualisations of sex and gender” (cp. Férnandez 64), it only follows that their means of reproduction must also differentiate itself from human ideas about birth and sexual intercourse. In its place, the show offers an alternative model that shows Gems as artificially grown in gigantic plantations referred to as “kindergardens” (“On the Run”). The inorganic nature of Gem production completely subverts the heterosexual narrative around the importance of birth and family making. Such an analysis harkens back to Lee Edelman’s polemic No Future: Queer Theory and The Death Drive. Here, Edelman famously argues that the centring of the Child as the symbol for heterosexual reproduction stands in direct opposition to queerness. The Child is used to always deflect political action onto the future, stalling meaningful change (cp. Edelman 3). For Gems, neither children nor heterosexual reproduction are of any concern. The show establishes that they “burst out of the earth’s crust already knowing what they’re supposed to be” (“Greg the Babysitter” 06:50— 06:59). By utilising the genre of science-fiction, Steven Universe thus suggests to the audience that a separation of creating life and heterosexuality is possible, which broadens the perspectives about queer possibilities.

The possibilities configured in the show’s alien species also expand to the realms of more profound matters of queer identity. The episode “Steven the Sword Fighter” reveals that Gem bodies are not material. A Gem’s consciousness is merely stored within her gem which in turn projects the body to the outside world. Therefore, a Gem’s appearance is merely “a conscious manifestation of light” (“Last One Out Of Beach City” 09:46—09:50). This feature of alien biology relates to Judith Butler’s theory on the performativity of gender. According to her work Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity, gender is not essential nor innate, but produced through repeated performative acts. These behaviours are regulated by cultural norms which then are projected onto the body: “[…] [A]cts, gestures, and desire produce the effect of an internal core or substance, but produce this on the surface of the body, through play of signifying absences that suggest, but not reveal, the organizing principle of identity as a cause. Such acts, gestures, enactments, generally construed, are to express fabrications manufactured and sustained through corporeal signs and other discursive means.” (Butler, Gender Trouble 188). True to this notion, the Gems reflect their identity onto their bodies, proving that, at least for them “gender is always a doing” (Butler, Gender Trouble 34). Steven Universe successfully shows by means of alien biology how femininity is a performance that can be presented by anyone or anything (cp. Thomas 6). This is a notion that is conform with queer theory’s aim of rendering essentialist notions of identity obsolete (cp. Hall 93) and contributes to the larger goal of achieving queer liberation.

The ways the different characters make use of their abilities to play with gender are manifold and reflective of their progression as characters. Valentín rightfully states that one of the more interesting aspects of the show is the unique ways in which all characters straddle the lines between masculinity and femininity (cp. Valentín 203).

Amethyst in particular promises deeper insights into the potential of different configurations of gender and identity. As Gem bodies are essentially illusions, Gems have the explicit power to shapeshift, stressing the usefulness of speculative elements for queer explorations. Here, Amethyst stands out as she makes use of this power the most, constantly shifting between different appearances. She impersonates people, turns into animals, and even embodies inanimate objects for her own amusement. The casualness with which she regards shapeshifting show cases a fluid stance towards identity that is explicitly revelling in the act of imitation and queers her abilities. Moreover, it could even be said that Amethyst constantly parodies the notion of identity itself and mocks those with a more rigid mindset. Thomas implies that her experimentation with different gender expressions suggests a complicated relationship to identity, while still remaining open and playful (cp. Thomas 6). When Steven’s father, Greg, tells her, he is uncomfortable with shapeshifting, she transforms into him and replies: “Oh, I forgot. You’re so sensitive.” (“Maximum Capacity” 09:00—09:10). For Eli Dunn, these instances can force the viewer to recognise the implications of gender as a construct in ways that hold meaning for making a queer worldview more accessible: “The ability of the Gems to change their gender representation at will is a type of magic that fundamentally disconnects notions of gender from gender identity in the mind of the viewer. When the viewer is told that the Gems bodies are constructed and unreal, the viewer is forced to reconsider the implications of the female coded body traits […]” (Dunn 47).

Regardless, Amethyst’s queer approach towards identity does not mean a complete disconnection to the concept itself. On the contrary, the effects of internalised self-hatred are most visible in Amethyst’s expressions of body variance. A later episode shows Amethyst’s physical body being repeatedly destroyed, forcing her to retreat into her Gem and regenerate (“Reformed”). Due to her impatience, she does not undergo the process as intended and returns in a deformed state. As the episode continues, her teammates chastise her to do it properly, leading to her spitefully taking on more and more ridiculous forms. While doing so, she mocks the notions of what constitutes a “proper” body at all: “Just as bodily surfaces are enacted as the natural, so these surfaces can become the site of a dissonant and denaturalizes performance that reveals the performative status of the natural itself.” (Butler, Gender Trouble 200). In this way, Amethyst’s alien abilities function as a tool of critique, revealing how the body can act as performance. The interesting part is, that Amethyst’s questioning of bodily norms does not only read as decisively queer, but also thematises how repressive norms can affect an individual.

As Gem society is extraordinarily normative, Amethysts are expected to attain a certain standard of height. Even though shapeshifting is a possibility for Gems, the ability requires conscious effort and is therefore not sustainable. It is because of this reason that Amethyst’s lack of height is considered a defect on Homeworld. Melzer states that identity performance always acts within a “highly regulative set of norms” which dictate what is considered a valid representative of any given category (cp. Melzer 43). Amethyst moves between gendered positions by means of coping with Gem society finding her to be insufficient. As height is often associated with strength and masculinity, Amethyst occasionally takes on the wrestling persona of “Purple Puma” (“Tiger Millionaire”). While in this form, she towers over ordinary people, exhibiting a flat, hairy chest and uses masculine pronouns for herself (cp. Valentín 204). Jack Halberstam recognises that some forms of female masculinity are a form of “social rebellion” or “the place of pathology” wherein women use masculine signifiers to escape restrictive expectations (cp. Halberstam, Female Masculinity 9). These observations are in accordance with Butler’s assertion that gender as a performance is “open to splitting, self-parody, self-criticism, and those hyperbolic exhibitions of “the natural” that, in their very exaggeration, reveal its fundamentally phantasmic status.” (Butler, Gender Trouble 200).

Not only does Amethyst’s repeated mockery of body and gender norms expose them as illusions, but the show itself hints at experimentation with identity possibly alleviating feelings of inadequacy. Amethyst confesses later that she does not need the figure of Purple Puma anymore, as she now accepts herself the way she is: “I needed it when I felt like I wasn’t good enough. But I don’t feel that way anymore” (“Tiger Philanthropist” 07:10—07:16). Nevertheless, the show manages to avoid pathologizing queerness. The end of the episode shows Amethyst return to her alter ego, not in search for validation but because her time as a wrestler “meant everything (to her)” (“Tiger Philanthropist” 09:03—09:06). Without disregarding the play on parodic masculinity as a coping mechanism, Steven Universe attests a healing quality to the experimentation with gender. The alien body is presented as the site of social criticism, as well as positive connotations to queerness itself. These positive feelings towards queerness are depicted as harbouring an immense power for resisting further oppression.

How an acceptance of one’s own status as a queered entity can be harvested for resistance, is perfectly encapsulated in Amethyst’s confrontation with the enemy Gem Jasper. The parallels between these two opposing factions are clear: Jasper, similarly to Amethyst, was created to be a Homeworld soldier. Contrary to Amethyst, however, Jasper is described as the perfect example of what her specific Gem type should be (cp. “Beta”). Jasper herself asserts her superiority and makes clear the consequences of not fulfilling Homeworld’s demands: “Every Gem is made for a purpose: to serve the order of the Diamonds. Those who cannot fit inside this order must be purged!” (“Earthlings” 02:00— 02:06). In this sense, Jasper functions as the embodiment of Homeworld’s hegemonic discourse that excludes undesirable bodies and identities. She looks down on queerness and explicitly connects her abilities to serve the rigid system to her own worth: “Fighting is my life! It’s what I was made for! It is what you were made for too, runt.” (“Crack the Whip” 07:35—07:42). As Jasper repeatedly judges Amethyst according to normative standards of body and identity, Amethyst’s desire for victory over Jasper is framed as Amethyst complying to Homeworld’s demands. Instead of accepting her difference and alignment to queered identities, Amethyst attempts to meet Jasper on her terms which can only result in failure: “Steven... I can't win. No matter what I do, no matter how hard I work, she came out right, and I came out... wrong...” (“Earthlings” 03:54—04:05). It is when Steven redirects her focus onto the strength of their shared status as queer subjectivities, that they decide to team up: “That's just what Jasper thinks. She's the only one who thinks you should be like her! Stop trying to be like Jasper. You're nothing like Jasper! You're like me! Because we're both not like anybody.” (“Earthlings” 04:05— 04:18). In this way, Amethyst’s acceptance of her queered body leads to a connection to Steven as an ally in shared marginalisation. Their subsequent fusion defeats Jasper with ease where both of them alone where unable to do so.

Although fusion will be examined in detail later, its role in this encounter is particularly meaningful. Fusion, as the process of merging bodies, revolves around the feminine realms of emotional connection and the queer concept of blurring the boundaries of body and mind, turning it into the perfect metaphor for the strength of acceptance and unity for queer liberation purposes. In contrast to Jasper, Amethyst’s closeness to fluid identities and queerness makes it easier for her to engage in fusion and find strength. While it is true that Steven Universe does not negate physical limitations, the show proposes queer solidarity and self-acceptance as means of liberation.

The theme of gender expression standing in direct correlation to healing is also explored from a different angle in the character of Pearl. Pearl’s relationship to gender fluidity and performative identity is best understood when analysed through the lenses of lesbianism and female masculinity. Naturally, this beckons the question of how technically genderless aliens can be regarded lesbian. This is deeply connected to the nature of the category woman itself. Jack Halberstam criticises the mindset of restricting the boundaries of womanhood while leaving the lines of masculinity open: “[…] why is it [….] that one finds the limits of femininity so quickly whereas the limits of masculinity [….] seem fairly expansive?” (Halberstam, Female Masculinity 28). The policing of womanhood can be traced back to the masculine as unquestioned neutral territory when the feminine is only allowed to be represented by a highly specific set of features. When we return to Butler, the problem starts to dissolve in her theory of performativity. Womanhood is a set of behaviours and not dictated by biology: “The very subject of women is no longer understood in stable or abiding terms.” (Butler, Gender Trouble 2). The category of woman is henceforth rendered queer, as it is unstable and subject to change.

To regard Pearl as a woman and lesbian is therefore to view her identity not in terms of heteronormative discourses of biology, but allowing for the possibility to extrapolate valuable insights about gendered positions in society: “However, in an exploration of the fundamental instability of the category “women” does not find against feminism but, in resisting the urge to foreclose prematurely that category, licenses new possibilities for a feminism that constitutes “women” as the effect of, not the prerequisite for, its inquiries.” (Jagose, Way Out 273). With regards to the popular definition of lesbians as women cultivating romantic relationship with other women, identifying Pearl as a lesbian is a valid point of analysis. Steven Universe takes great care to repeatedly emphasise and explore the relationship between Pearl and Steven’s mother, Rose. The romantic attraction Pearl harbours for Rose defines her character and affects most of her actions throughout the course of the show. Interestingly, her progression in terms of lesbian affiliations and resistance towards Homeworld’s demands are reflected onto her body in increasingly explicit ways. Pearl embodies a progression into female masculinity where her gender performance changes with her widening understanding of liberation. This harkens back to Halberstam’s identification of female masculinity as a tool to subvert masculine power by turning a “blind eye to conventional masculinities and refusing to engage” (Halberstam, Female Masculinity 9).

To understand this better, one needs to examine the role Pearl is meant to fulfil in the social hierarchy of her home planet. Pearls, as a category of Gems, are made to serve and entertain elite Gems: “[…] Pearls aren’t made for this. They are meant for looking nice and holding your stuff for you […]” (“Back to the Barn” 03:02—03:12). Pearls are therefore, more than other Gem categories, marked with femininity and womanhood. Simone de Beauvoir remarks upon women’s role as subservient to masculine powers, always forced to obey as the perpetual Other (cp. de Beauvoir 29). Pearls are not only meant for the purpose of servitude, but also reduced to their appearance which usually mirrors that of her master: Upon examining Pearl, a Homeworld Gem remarks: “It looks like a fancy one, too. Who do you belong to anyway?” (“Back to the Barn” 03:38—03:42). Pearl herself disturbs these lines and expresses liberation through a refusal of participation in the hegemony of Homeworld, going as far as to openly rebel against it.

The progression becomes ever so clearer when the programme offers a flashback to show how Pearl conducted herself on Homeworld. Her dress is designed to be decidedly feminine while she defaults to a subservient body position. As Homeworld demands conformity to the role of a “Pearl”, the parallels to earth’s gender discourse become highly visible. Despite the Gem at the core of their being serving as the only material reality behind their existence, Homeworld society expects a certain set of presentation and behaviours from each Gem. Deviation from the norm is not allowed and can be met with punishment. With regards to her latter transformation, Pearl’s position on Homeworld recalls Butler: “Femininity is taken on by a woman who ‘wishes for masculinity,’ but fears the retributive consequences of taking on the public appearance of masculinity.” (Butler, Gender Trouble 70). After Pearl flees to earth and joins a rebellion against Homeworld’s regime, her presentation and performance become masculinised. She takes up sword fighting, fully knowing that this is not acceptable for a Pearl (“Sworn to the Sword”), and her subsequent regenerations take on more masculine aspects with each iteration: “The lesbian body, then, (like every body) is discursively constructed, a cultural text, on the surface of which the constantly changing, and contradictory possible meanings of “lesbian” are inscribed and resisted.” (Jagose, Way out 280).

First, Pearl’s dress is exchanged for a pair of leggings with a tule skirt serving as a layer (“Gem Glow”), the second transformation shows her abandoning the skirt while still suggesting a feminine alignment by incorporating a large bow into her outfit (“Steven The Sword Fighter”). Meanwhile, the colour pink becomes less apparent in her design with time. The show suggests Pearl’s move from the feminine towards the masculine end of the spectrum that is used to embody resistance to Homeworld’s demands of femininity. In other words, Pearl’s female masculinity is constructed in the same way, even conceived through the same discursive means, as the hegemonic identity she inhabited before (cp. Jagose, Way out 278). Pearl’s identity becomes queered as her body proves to be signifier of gender fluidity that always changes within contexts (cp. Butler, Gender Trouble 188). This can be seen as a typical articulation of queer resistance, as it not only exposes the artificiality of gendered categories but also refuses to replicate them (cp. Butler, Gender Trouble 201). Steven Universe implies a connection between queer desires and the ways they are reflected on the body. Halberstam himself states that this mixture can be particularly dangerous to heteronormative society: “[…] when and where female masculinity conjoins with possibly queer identities, it is far less likely to meet with approval. Because female masculinity seems to be at its most threatening when coupled with lesbian desire.” (Halberstam, Female Masculinity 28).

The programme outright states that the moment of awakening for Pearl is directly incited by her love for Rose to whom she was gifted as a servant: “I was supposed to make her happy. I just never could” (“Now We’re Only Falling Apart” 03:06—03:10). Seeing how Rose is uncomfortable with the restrictions on Homeworld, Pearl incites the first sparks of rebellion in an effort to make her happy. She suggests tricking the authorities and spending a day on earth when it was explicitly forbidden for Rose to do so (“Now We’re Only Falling Apart”). This slight misdemeanour quickly spirals out of control, as both Pearl and Rose grow endeared by Earth and develop a desire to live there freely. The liberational implications of their actions are hard to miss. They harken back to the building of queer utopia which proves how queerness itself “is a longing that propels us onward, beyond romances of the negative and toiling of the present. Queerness is that thing that lets us feel that this world is not enough, that indeed something is missing.” (Muñoz 1).

However, Pearl’s freedom from authorities may be paradoxically stifled because of her connections to Rose. The programme grapples with the fact that Pearl’s wish to follow Rose may be interpreted as her remaining subservient to her former master instead of breaking free. To counter that, it can be said that Pearl’s love for Rose is completely inappropriate to Homeworld society. When Pearl attempts to fuse with Rose, she exclaims: “This is very not allowed.” (“Now We’re Only Falling Apart” 09:58—10:01). This means that their lesbian relationship is a societal taboo that gives room to further transgression and ultimately, rebellion. How exactly queer love and the war against oppression are cause and effect of one another within the show will be examined at a later point. For now, it is important to note that Pearl’s inability to let Rose go is presented as a failure to completely liberate herself. While the relationship is still queer, it is not equal and remains tenuously connected to the hierarchy out of which it was born. Various scenes suggest that even after Rose’s death, Pearl is unable to let go of their relationship: “Everything I ever did, I did for her. Now she’s gone. But I’m still here.” (“Rose’s Scabbard” 09:30—09:35). It is when Pearl accepts Rose’s death and experiences attraction to a human woman that her arch is completed. The episode “Last One Out Of Beach City” shows Pearl trying to flirt with a mysterious girl and breaking various rules in the process: “I am done thinking about the past. Tonight, I am all about the future.” (“Last One Out Of Beach City” 04:50—05:00). The symbol for overcoming the boundaries of her past and freeing herself from the last constraints of Homeworld’s oppression are encapsulated in her wearing a jacket. As a Gem’s attire is normally an inseparable part of her body, wearing clothes overstep Gem conventions and signify human territory. Here, she crosses lines between cultures to fulfil a romantic desire. Even her interest in the girl itself is significantly queered as an example of interspecies romance.

The importance of this experience can be observed with Pearl’s last regeneration. Her new form reflects the change towards a more queer, liberated identity onto her body. The colour pink is entirely absent from her design, signifying her removal from symbolic femininity as well as her freedom from Rose. The ways the design incorporates pants and a jacket recall the events of “Last One Out Of Beach City” while suggesting a close alignment to the classical butch identity (“Change Your Mind”). (Fig. 1. Pearl in her jacket. “Last One Out Of Beach City.” 02:52) Amethyst shrugs off masculinist notions about strength and overcomes her desire to fit into hegemonic society by questioning the nature of normativity itself. Pearl, on the other hand, escapes demands of femininity and her fate as a servant with the transformative power of queer desire. Consequently, Steven Universe uses the alien biological components of shapeshifting and the fantastical element of alternative societies to subvert expectations of hegemonic gender and reveal the artificiality of identity as a construct. While doing so, the programme also refers to Butler’s theories in ways that renegotiate queer subjectivities along the lines of political change: “The critical task is, rather, to locate strategies of subversive repetition enabled by those constructions, to affirm the local possibilities of intervention […]” (Butler, Gender Trouble 200). Both Amethyst and Pearl gain the strength to overcome the hegemonic oppression put upon them by their home planet through means of performativity. The queer reality of Pearl’s and Amethyst’s victories negate hegemonic assumptions about identity in ways that threaten oppressive forces. Queering one’s own identity is deeply connected to envisioning a future where categories break down. By engaging in performative practices, one is already in the process of building this exact world: “Performativity and Utopia both call into question what is epistemologically there and signal a highly ephemeral ontological field that can be characterized as a doing in futurity.” (Muñoz 26).

Works Cited:

Beauvoir, Simone de. The Second Sex. New York: Vintage Books 1989, c1952. Print.

Butler, Judith. Undoing Gender. New York: Routledge, 2004.

--. Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity. 1990.

Dhaenens, Frederik: “Articulations of queer resistance on the small screen”, Continuum 28.4, 2014. Pp. 520-531.

-- “The Fantastic Queer: Reading Gay Representations in Torchwood and True Blood as Articulations of Queer Resistance”, Critical Studies in Media Communication, 30.2, 2013. Pp. 102-116.

Dunn, Eli: “Steven Universe, Fusion Magic, and the Queer Cartoon Carnivalesque.” Gender Forum: An Internet Journal of Gender Studies 56, 2016. Pp. 44–57.

Edelman, Lee. No Future: Queer Theory and the Death Drive. 2004.

Halberstam, Jack. Female Masculinity. Durham: Duke University Press, 1998.

Hall, Donald E. Queer Theories. Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan, 2003.

Hollinger, Veronica.: “(Re)Reading Queerly: Science Fiction, Feminism, and the Defamiliarization of Gender.” Science Fiction Studies 26.1, 1999. Pp. 23–40.

Jagose, Annamarie. Queer Theory: An Introduction. New York: New York University Press, 1996. Print.

--: “Way Out: The Category ‘Lesbian’ and the Fantasy of the Utopic Space.” Journal of the History of Sexuality, 4.2, 1993. Pp. 264–287.

--: “The Trouble with Antinormativity” Differences 1 26.1, 2015. Pp. 26–47.

Jameson, Fredric. Archaeologies of the Future: The Desire Called Utopia and Other Science Fictions. London: Verso, 2005.

Melzer, Patricia. Alien Constructions: Science Fiction and Feminist Thought. University of Texas Press, 2006.

Merrick, Helen: “Gender in Science Fiction.” The Cambridge Companion to Science Fiction, edited by Edward James and Farah Mendlesohn, Cambridge University Press, 2003, pp. 241–252.

Moore, Mandy Elizabeth: "Future Visions: Queer Utopia in Steven Universe," Research on Diversity in Youth Literature 2.1, 2019. Pp. 1-17.

Muñoz, José E. Cruising Utopia: The Then and There of Queer Futurity, 2009.

Pawlak, Wendy Sue: “The Spaces between: Non-Binary Representations of Gender in Twentieth-Century American Film.” Dissertation Abstracts International, 73.11, U of ArizonaProQuest, 2013.

Pearson, Wendy Gay: “Alien Cryptographies: The View from Queer.” Science Fiction Studies 26.1, 1999. Pp. 1-22.

--: “Science Fiction and Queer Theory” Published as a book chapter in: The Cambridge Companion to Science Fiction. Edward James and Farah Mendlesohn. (Eds.), 2003. Pp. 149-160.

Roqueta Fernandez, Marta: “Posthumanism and the creation of racialised, queer identities and sexualities: An analysis of ‘Steven Universe’” Monográfico: Nuevas Amazonas, 2.7, 2019. Pp. 48-84. 78 Shelley,

Valentin, Al: “Using the Animator’s Tools to Dismantle the Master’s House? Gender, Race, Sexuality and Disability in Cartoon Network’s Adventure Time and Steven Universe.” Buffy to Batgirl: Essays on Female Power, Evolving Femininity and Gender Roles in Science Fiction and Fantasy, edited by Julie M. Still et al., McFarland & Company Publishing, 2019, pp. 175–215.

Vasques Vital, André: “Water, gender, and modern science in the Steven Universe animation”, Feminist Media Studies, 2019. Ward, Pendleton, creator. Adventure Time. Cartoon Network Studios, 2010.

Wälivaara, Josefine. Dreams of a Subversive Future: Sexuality, (Hetero)normativity, and Queer Potential in Science Fiction Film and Television. Umeå, 2016

#Steven Universe #Steven Universe meta #Steven Universe analysis #SU analysis #SU meta #SU #Queer Studies #Academia #Media analysis #Long text #Rebecca Sugar #LGBT media #My M.A thesis #at least part of

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