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florelia12 · 13 days

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well flora is the magix version of latina, so saying she might not be is a bit inaccurate. especially because she was based on someone with latin ethnicity.

and the design choices are interesting to me because it's clear that planets in magix don't follow a certain pattern. in melody musa is based on a chinese actress and so is her family, but the princess of melody looks german. same with flora and her lynphean people or stella compared to chimera.

but for helia, I don't believe you should get that defensive. I think the specialists are up for interpretation. helia isn't based on anyone in particular and I also read on his page that he was supposed to be a female character too. with the way he was designed, that's pretty much obvious.

it's like when people hc him as gay or transgender based on his looks, but that does not mean asian people look that way or are like that. it's just that he's a fun character to play with that isn't suited to a single stereotype.

helia is very much bishounen or androgynous, whatever you wanna call it. I notice his design is similar to female characters from winx rather than looking like brandon, sky or timmy. same goes with riven's eyes for example.

I'd say riven is the equivalent of a korean man, especially with the colored hair.

going back to the differences between the winx and people from their planets, I think the winx and specialist designs were just made exclusively to be immersive and present different cultures. it's also why I hate that they killed nabu when he was representing indian and south asians very well, then aisha had to choose between two white guys. they're white right?

so if I had to describe helia according to irl traits, he looks half caucasian half asian (like japanese) to me, especially because saladin is a white old man. although at first I didn't even think he was more asian until people mentioned it, then I changed my perspective. the drawing style is also a bit inconsistent with the body built and height, but helia looks like he could be very tall.

I agree with you that he could be the tallest because he just gives the vibe. around 1.84 and 1.85 suits him a lot.

but still, helia is the specialist people have the most fun with, just because he's not just supposed to fit one appearance.

Despite the diversity in the main characters, the show itself has its moments. It is not perfect and free of making mistakes such as the princess of the realms of Flora/Musa looking different.

We have to take into account that these are entire planets they are talking about. We have the unique genetics and features we do because our bodies adapted to the regions they were inhabiting. So even these realms could have countries and colder or hotter regions. But of course, it’s mostly obvious when it is whitewashing that is happening and not world-building that is being done here.

I apologise if I came off as making it seem as though my statement was that Helia is Asian and every other perception of him is wrong. But I do think it is rather problematic when some refuse to see his Asian coding because most of the time, there is underlying prejudice or ignorance. I would have not snapped the way I did if I thought they were coming from a good place. I don’t believe they were.

To say that it is obvious Helia was meant to be a female character would be unfair imo. Also to say “when people hc him as gay or transgender based on his looks its not to say asian people look that way or are like that” is not entirely true.

When it comes to assigning or discussing races, gender and sexualities or even religions of a character, there needs to be an understanding there there are intersections here.

Firstly, when it comes to the opinion that Helia was meant to be a female character, there are quite a bit inconcistencies. To start with, I don’t see the point in them wanting to either introduce another female character (they did that with Aisha) or change the gender to “give Flora a boyfriend”. Helia was introduced to be Flora’s boyfriend, there is no doubt in that. So for that, considering this was early 90s and 2000s and a kids cartoon, it was always meant to be a guy they wanted to introduce in season 2. Changing the gender would imply that Helia as a character (regardless of his gender) was meant to serve a plot point or at least be relevant outside of being Flora’s partner before they decided to make him her partner. Did Helia have that? No. We saw next to nothing of his interactions with the other Specialists or Winx or any other character. Almost every time we see Helia, it was to further his development with Flora.

Secondly, it is the reasons why they say Helia was meant to be a female character that I wouldn’t entirely agree with either. For example, his hair. Avalon, Valtor, Tritannus, Nereus and a lot of extras have long hair too. It’s not something unique to their depictions of asian-coded characters or considered female characteristics in the Winx world. Another one would be his name, which has feminine and Greek origins. Maybe that could be a reason, but then there would be the meaning behind the name which is sun. Then following the Winx naming conventions (“Flora” for a flower fairy, “Musa” for a Music Fairy, Tecna and etc) it could imply that he was supposed to be a sun fairy or have sun magic. But then Helia as a character doesn’t really give me ‘sunny’ vibes. Funnily enough, I like to think of it as a contradiction to his character.

Though one point I haven’t seen around is that Helia could have also been added for diversity. Aisha was admittedly added for diversity, but at least the main Winx already had 2 other poc characters. The Specialists had none that were explicitly said to be poc. So it makes more sense to me that they would add him as an Asian or poc character rather than change the gender of a character that doesn’t truly serve the plot. Then again, I don’t think they cared that much because even if it was to include diversity, they still fell into stereotypes about Asian men.

This brings us to his “androgynous” features and the intersectionality I was talking about earlier. Because it all comes back to stereotypes we have to be extremely mindful of when it comes to perceiving or interpreting characters.

Poc and specifically Asian men have a history of being stereotyped as “feminine” for their appearances and personality by white people. It could stem from wanting to put them down or to emasculate them and a sexist way to do that is compare them to the “weaker gender” aka females. Even the pacifist hcs can be harmful because “feminine men” are considered weak or emasculine for not being aggressive or wanting to fight. So it is not the same as changing up Sky’s gender or sexuality ( I say this as he is a character who with blonde hair and blue eyes that’s mostly associated with white people) because he has longer hair than what would normally be considered masculine. Outside of that, to immediately also go since Helia has long hair and “feminine” features he can’t be masculine or was meant to be a girl has its issues because you’re feeding into the stereotype that guys have to look a certain way to be accepted as a male.

Helia is absolutely a fun character to work with but not because he is entirely a blank canvas. He has certain characteristics that when changed, twisted or ignored can cause more harm than good. Helia having close to no development or backstory are some of the things that make him the fun character to play with.

In the end there is nothing inherently wrong in perceiving him as androgynous or ‘feminine’ but you always have to ask yourself why you see him that way and why not the other Specialists. Because if you want to go along with stereotypes, Timmy is almost always seen as white and with a leaner body type in his civilian clothes, is considered meek, and sometimes emasculine. But we avoid it because it is harmful to consider men who aren’t super macho or bulky as weak or feminine. Yet we don’t hold that same reservation with poc or poc-coded characters.

But then to also make Helia make super violent without reason could be harmful because poc men are at more risk for being assumed to be dangerous.

So yes it is a grey area, but it’s also not too complicated once you ask yourself why. Just one small question can help you differentiate amongst the intentions behind wanting to assign certain races, genders or sexualities to specific characters. Once you do, you can always tell when it comes from a place of experience and knowledge (such as a trans person seeing Helia as trans compared to a cis or white person doing it) or ignorance. Because informed takes on Helia’s gender or expression or sexuality are often quite interesting. I love seeing non-binary Helia and I also see him as bi.

At one point, I too explored Helia being half-white and half-asian. But, I also wouldn’t say Saladin is definitely an old white man. I think his design is also ambigious as there was one scene of him where they showed the company of light in their younger days and he looked very similar to Helia.

I do see Riven as Asian too, I think there is a lot to explore with that. And, yes definitely killing off Nabu then attempting to replace him with supposedly white guys is harmful. Though Nex could be Latino if he’s from Linphea since he studied in Linphea College but Thoren from Eraklyon is also there so they both could come from other realms or Thoren could be mixed since he is Sky’s cousin. So yeah, there’s a lot to explore and everyone is free to do it. Just be mindful and don’t be careless with how you describe races, genders or sexualities.

I used to think about his body built too as he looks leaner in his normal clothes. But I would assume the Specialists uniform would have the necessary paddings in certain ares for protection that gives him the built he has when he is in uniform.

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fearofahumanplanet · 2 years

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I've honestly just been contemplating what Vermont is like all day so far, like, idk maybe my perception is fucky because I'm a skier but I fully did not expect Vermont to be hick?? Like????? That's where the bougie ski resorts are ski manufacturers are, what do you mean they're surrounded by hicks?

(This very chill ask game is kinda fun ngl @andromedatalksaboutstuff)

Okay for some context to everyone who isn't Andi: I was born in Vermont and I was telling him about how perplexing its mere existence is. Now, my perspective is that of a poor person, so I have no idea what's going on in the ski industry, but when it comes to the rest of it....

Like, just to illustrate how fucking weird this state is (obviously this is all anecdotal):

The culture and aesthetic, I think, can be best described as some bizarre mixture of standard New English, Canadian, and Southern (???)

The houses and such are all very New English. Everyone in Vermont seems to love hockey an absurd amount (don't go to a sports bar during the Stanley, you will die a horrible death from your ears bleeding out) and we're basically renowned for our maple syrup, so we've got all the Canadian stereotypes. Also Vermont's politics are mostly incredibly left, especially by American standards - they have pretty much always been a very blue state, the queer acceptance is off the charts (there's still some shitheads in rural areas, but would you expect anything else?) like it tends to be one of the very first states to pass any queer bills whatsoever

I say "mostly" because everyone in Vermont has a goddamn gun. Literally everyone. There's actually not much crime there that I've ever seen, mostly bc if you tried to rob a store fifteen patrons would draw guns on you and shoot you dead. Now I'm pro-gun control, for the record, to a LARGE degree, however seeing the way this shit works in a mostly leftist state is incredibly odd. I'm pretty sure I knew how to fire a rifle before I knew how to talk

The Southern culture exists in that everyone in Vermont ever seems to spend all their time fishing, drinking, four-wheeling, hunting, or otherwise giving Cabela's good reason to put up twenty-five stores in every square mile of this state. (Don't bring up Bass Pro in Vermont, you will spark a lynch mob). Which is really bizarre in combination with its politics? Also, everyone listens to country and classic/Southern rock for some reason, like, compulsively, everywhere.

The FOOD is great. It's all a bunch of East Coast standards, a lot of seafood (a LOT of seafood) and (again, oddly) a lot of Southern staples (chili in particular I tend to find a lot)

We also have a lot of odd vernacular and slang that I've never seen literally anywhere else. Like they say "hamburg" to separate hamburger meat from hamburger (as in the full meal), or they say "idear" instead of idea (?????)

Every winter is just a war waged upon the inhabitants by Mother Nature. It is quite common to have to dig out of your own goddamn home when it snows over, and Vermonters ELEVATE THEIR HOUSES TOO. Also, the hail is no joke, that shit will take your head off (literally)

There aren't that many big cities outside of Burlington and even that is only big in comparison to Vermont and not the whole of America, most people just live in scattered rural towns and/or ass-deep 2 miles into the woods away from civilization (I used to do that and I miss it)

Literally everyone is white and yet I have seen very little racism in Vermont for some reason (it exists, don't get me wrong, it exists everywhere, but comparatively?? very little). Also a lot of religious nutjobs but the only problems I've had being trans and gay in Vermont came exclusively from my family, who I do not think are indicative of the entire state (my family is batshit insane, for the record)

Also I don't think this is indicative of the entire state either but my aunt literally has a full decked-out bar in her basement, it's not public or anything it's just her personal bar that looks like it got plucked out of a noir novel. People in Vermont are just incredibly weird

Oh yeah and sometimes I'd have bears wander into my front yard. You know, as you do. :P

#besties tag #asks

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thepenultimateword · 2 years

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Billionaire Supervillain x Poor Villain Part 3

Yoooo, it's back! Nobody even asked for it, I just really like these guys 😆

Part one here

Part two here

...

Supervillain rested their arm cavalierly on the back of Villain's chair, exuding a level of malice that Villain usually only ever saw on the job, not while in their civilian alter-ego. But then again, it wasn't every day they met up with their archnemesis for dinner.

Supervillain had decided that if they were going to show their hand it had better be soon and somewhere public. There was much less likelihood of Hero making a fuss when it could involve dozens of innocent people. However, there was also the matter of Supervillain's notoriety as a civilian, meaning anywhere too high-class would draw attention and anything too low-class would be overcrowded. So reservations at a middle-tier steakhouse it was.

Villain sipped awkwardly at their honey limeade as Supervillain glared through their sunglasses at a very eager, very oblivious, Dean Ashley of LimeLight Weekly. Supervillain had called the reporter not even half an hour after fighting Hero, spouting some nonsense about wanting to give him an exclusive interview after he took such good care of Villain at the party. Supervillain also insisted that it must be that very night because they would be flying to Europe in the morning and wouldn't be back for the next month. Not true, but meeting with Dean directly after a fight was absolutely necessary. It was one last assurance that Hero and Dean were one and the same, and sure enough...

Dean's pale hair, usually so carefully fingered back in his internet photos, was dripping water onto his left ear while sticking out like a duck's tail feathers in the back. He'd probably only had time for a change of clothes and a quick slick back with water before running out the door. More than that, his knuckles were battered, and a small bruise was beginning to form on the side of his neck where Supervillain had pressed their thumb, hard, in the midst of a mock strangle. Either Dean was off his game tonight with the secret identity business or he thought they were stupid.

"So was there anything particularly newsworthy you wanted to talk about?" Dean asked, getting his recorder ready.

"Perhaps secrets would be a good starting point," Supervillain said.

"Secrets?"

"Yes." Supervillain took a sip of their own drink, crunching a piece of ice between their teeth before adjusting the glass primly on its coaster. "Such as a silly little gossip reporter daylighting as a hero in his off-hours."

Dean's face went paler than his hair. "Do you mean Hero? I'm not sure what you're saying but--"

"Why don't we save the denials? Villain found you out the day of the gala." Supervillain caressed Villain's cheek with the back of their finger as they spoke their name. "The same day you verified our identities, isn't that right?"

Dean curled both hands around his hair. "Who calls a reporter right after a fight? Really smart, Dean." He sighed deeply. "Alright, I admit it. So what? You want me to report on myself? Tell the truth or forfeit everything I love?"

"That actually sounds way better than what I was thinking," Supervillain grinned, perfect white teeth gleaming predatorily.

"But no," Villain finished. They were on equal footing here, no use risking themselves for Hero's humiliation. Besides, secret identity or not, Villain still felt some inexplicable gratitude toward him. "It's a proposition."

"What sort of proposition?"

Supervillain leaned forward on folded hands. "You stay quiet or say hello to every villain and low-life in this city. You know there's a lot of public information on Dean Ashley, phone number, email, work address, even a home address with a little digging. You think your life is hectic now? You haven't seen a fraction of how miserable I can make you."

Dean held up his hands. "Now, wait a minute. Who said I wanted to expose you?" He looked at Villain. "Did I ever give you a hard time?"

"You tricked me."

"I inferred, I inquired, I confirmed. I honestly felt for you that night, no ulterior motives."

"So you say," Supervillain said.

"The only thing I reported on from that party was [Sv Civilian name]'s hair. Real." He made a quick search on his phone and held it up for them to see. "Look, front page."

"Really?" Villain reached across the table for the phone, a laugh forcing its way up their throat as their eyes scanned back and forth across the article. "'A long speculated mystery...always laughed off during television interviews...thought almost certainly to be fake...' Ah! 'A conversation with [Sv civilian name]'s current partner, [Villain civilian name], at the annual city gala brought this query to a close. They confirmed with confidence the authenticity of our favorite billionaire's hair.'" They did laugh at that. "Look at that shot, baby." Grinning, Villain turned a photo of Supervillain, a couple years younger and black hair pulled into a paintbrush ponytail, towards them. "So handsome."

Supervillain spared a scathing glance.

Villain scrolled further. "Oh, comments!"

Supervillain snatched the phone out of Villain's hand, winding their arm back as if to throw it. They stopped themselves short and with some effort dropped the phone back into Dean's hand.

"Hey! I wanted to read those," Villain complained, pushing their forehead into Supervillain's shoulder.

Supervillain slipped their own phone from the breast pocket of their great, grey fur coat and stared at the screen stubbornly for at least ten seconds before grumbling, "What's the name of the article?"

"Hero Hair," Dean responded. "You know since there's the image stereotype. The people eat it up."

"Stupid." Tap, tap, tap. They passed the phone over into Villain's eager fingers. "And no one has ever made this big deal about my hair. You're just exaggerating for page views."

"Not according to Sweet_Styles1570," Villain said. "She says you hesitate on that question a lot. There's even a theory video."

"You're going to be on this for a while, aren't you?" Supervillain sighed.

Villain only hummed in confirmation, consumed by the number of people spreading content, good or bad, about their lover. Even if it was entertaining, a bit of Villain ached at really awful ones. How did Supervillain stand it? They could only imagine what would have happened if their identity had actually gotten out. Villain would have been fine, no one ever expected much of them anyway, but Supervillain...

Villain clicked the screen off and placed the phone on the table in front of Supervillain. They rested their chin in the crook of Supervillain's arm.

"What?"

Villain shrugged and ran their finger around the perimeter Supervillain's fancy gold watch.

"If you're feeling guilty again then quit it. I already told you it wasn't your fault. I never should have yelled at you in the first place."

A chuckle from Dean caused Villain's eyes to flick toward the reporter.

"See, this is why I didn't want to expose either of you."

"Don't spout nonsense," Supervillain said coldly. "I haven't forgotten about you yet."

Dean shivered. "Wow, I'm never going to get used to how different you are when you're not being a civilian, but no, I'm serious. I'm going to hunt you two down every day. I'm going to put all my energy into thwarting your plans. One day, if peace necessitates it, I may even get rid of you permanently. But I'm not one for tragedies. Call me a hopeless romantic, but I'm staying quiet because the moment your identities go public is the moment this," he waved his finger back and forth between them, "ends. One or both of you are bound to be imprisoned. Or killed. There's enough hurt in this world without me adding to it. Not when we haven't come to that point. It also appears we're at a stalemate so there's that too."

Supervillain snorted and stood up from the table. "Sure, Hero. Whatever helps you sleep at night. Just remember what we talked about today. Oh, and stick around for your food." They threw the payment for three meals on the table in cash. "Dinner's on me."

With one last smirk, they wrapped a warm arm around Villain's waist and guided them to the front of the restaurant where they smoothly hooked the paper bag of pre-boxed food on one finger and swished out the door without a word or even a glance at anyone there.

"Feel cool?" Villain asked, enjoying the pressure of Supervillan's hand on their hip and the strong scent of cinnamon wafting from their coat. They'd been seated next to each other all evening, but there was something different about being this close.

"Hm. A little."

Supervillain could be so dramatic sometimes. They'd planned that little storm out from the start, talked to the kitchen and everything for carry-away on two of the meals. All to make Hero insecure.

"I think he's telling the truth," Villain said.

"I think he's going to stay quiet," Supervillain said in half-agreement.

"You don't think any of that tragedy of stuff could really happen? That Hero could...er...do something final to us?"

Supervillain chuckled darkly. “He allows us to live out of endearment? Well I allow him to live out of mercy. I wonder which bends first.” They kissed Villain’s forehead reassuringly. “No. Hero only wants to sound big. Though perhaps the tone of our little chat warrants a few extra precautions.”

Some tags I had to remove in order for the post to actually show up:

#Dean is the ship captain#he a soft hero#but also scary?#like he ready to kill them if they cross the line#psh#like Supervillain would let that happen

#villain x villain #supervillain x villain #hero x villain #villain #supervillain #fiction #heroes and villains #writing snippet #heroes and villains community

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skittlewaffle · 4 years

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Heartstrings

Chapter Two: A Sign

☆*:.｡.⭐️.｡.:*☆

A glint of orange light from the sun hit against my closed eyes. Morning had come, its rays flooding the atmosphere. With a sigh, I pushed myself off the concave wall of glass, looking down to spot the layered cliffs below. Thinking about my plan for today’s expedition, I wearily started to pick myself up. But suddenly, as I looked beyond my dull reflection in the glass, something not too far away caught my attention, sending a shock through me. It was a faint glimmer coming from a mountain slightly shorter than mine. I rubbed my eyes, not believing what they were showing me. I went through the facts in my mind. Firstly, I know that it’s not nighttime; there can’t be any stars out. Secondly, I might not be fully awake. Maybe my dreams were trying to make its way into my perception of reality? But thirdly, this has never happened to me before. Could it be…

“Good morning, Ametrine.”

Her voice startled me into a standing position. “Stratus, what’s going on out there?” I said, pointing to a large platform of pinkish rock. From the middle of that point stood one of those small pedestals. Right above it rested a floating octahedron. But what was normally a dormant white was now a mixture of colors joining into one blinking light.

“I am detecting signals from the Diamonds’ palace. The communicators still appear to be functional and are receiving these signals as well.”

Without another word, I nodded and dashed off to the elevator.

I knew in my head that whatever was going on with the communicators had nothing to do with me. The Lilac Plateaus had no place on any living being’s map; by extension, there was no reason to be contacting anyone who lived here. Whatever they have to say to me will probably mean nothing. But there was still that desire in me to see something more than rocks and flowers. One current event going on somewhere in the universe, many of which I’ve missed out on until this very moment. The chance to see something actively unfolding elsewhere the barren mountains in which I’ve been isolated.

I ran across bridges, climbed some rocks, and jumped between cliffs. Hundreds of years of living here provided me extensive knowledge of this place, like every feature was part of a map built into my brain. Not only that, but I was very skilled in traversing terrain as difficult as this.

It wasn’t too long before I finally made it to the communicator. The message had long since stopped playing, but the light was still blinking. Up this close, I could see the exact colors the device was made of: the colors of every Diamond. With every flash of light, the device made an electronic beep. For the first time in my life, I took the communicator into my own hands. I simply let the light flood me… I don’t know how to work these things.

But with just one light tap, the octahedron became two pyramids, drawing away from each other to pull out a screen. It expanded slowly, letting out short glitches before blurry images on the screen began to take a sharper form. My eyes widened.

“Once upon a time, the Gem Homeworld was ruled by Diamonds: White, Yellow, Blue, and the littlest Diamond, Pink.”

…Was?

“While the other Diamonds conquered many worlds across the galaxy, Pink had only one — the planet Earth. One day, Pink fled the comforts of Homeworld. On Earth, she made a new home, new friends, and finally, new life, giving up her form to bequeath her gem to her half-human son.”

Majorly confusing, but… intriguing.

“Without Pink, gemkind entered an era of despair. But when Steven Universe learned of his heritage, he reunited with his fellow Diamonds and championed a new era of peace and freedom across the furthest reaches of space.”

The view shifted to reveal the face of the very owner of my home colony, White Diamond. I eagerly leaned forward, taking in every single word.

“And now, dear gems everywhere, I’m pleased to announce that Steven is finally ready to take his rightful place on Pink Diamond’s throne!”

I tilted my head as the screen showing White Diamond’s face went down to a strange new gem called Steven.

“How’s it going, everybody? I know you all might be thinking of me as the new Pink Diamond, but you don't have to put me on a throne.”

...?

“I already have a rightful place, and it's on Earth. It's a beach house where I live with my friends, Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl. As much as I loved dismantling the empire and saving all your planets, I can't wait to get home and spend some quality time with my friends.”

She- I mean.. he... had a friendly sparkle in his eyes as the broadcast ended, shortly after a few murmurs were exchanged by a couple other gems in the background. I was honestly so full of questions. This is a feeling I haven’t had in a while.. curiosity. The kind that really makes you think. Somehow, this one short message was enough to power on my imagination again. How long ago was this? What all happened during this supposed previous era? Who exactly were Pink’s friends? ...Where was Pink?

The communicator immediately shut itself closed. I looked up at the morning sky and pondered these unanswered questions in my head. When stumped, I replayed the message from Steven and the Diamonds, trying to pick up missed clues.

All the buzzing thoughts were hard to keep track of. From out of my glowing gem I pulled out a device visually similar to the communicator. This is a projector, a tool invented exclusively for Ametrines to take notes on and write their thoughts. I compiled my questions and possible answers on organized slides. I kept the communicator and brought it back to my Cloud, knowing I’d have a lot of thinking to do.

☆*:.｡.⭐️.｡.:*☆

This new occurrence actually brought me and Stratus something worthy of discussion. I exchanged my own theories to her about the history of the eras I have missed. She replied with approval of my creativity, as well as with a bit of knowledge about the roles of higher ranked gem authorities. For the rest of the day, instead of exploring again, I remained on my own mountain, pondering the message from this Steven.

On my own, after writing down everything I thought about the message as it applied to history, I began to wonder how this applied to me.

The main point of the message I picked up was that, for some reason, Pink was no longer part of the Diamond Authority; and the empire was dismantled, rendering the conquered worlds independent. This was the doing of Steven, after he took her place.

I don’t know Steven. I don’t even know the Diamonds. I don’t know a society or friends. If I’m being real, I hardly know myself.

But if there’s something I do know, it’s that none of these people had any effect on me. I was never obligated to answer to anyone, or even to follow the Diamonds’ established laws. As a result of Steven’s newfound authority, the colonies were set free; but this one never mattered. I had always been free to do as I pleased in the plateaus.

So… The new event was fun while it lasted. It brought about exciting development, even if only for a moment.

But I think I’m happy where I am now.

☆*:.｡.⭐️.｡.:*☆

(A/N: Surprise, fools >:D New chapter is out!! uwu I need advice tho.. at some point should I switch to third person omniscient? If possible, please reply / reblog and lemme know ur opinion! Feedback on the fic overall is also welcome~ I hope u enjoy 💖 Have another Ametrine you’ve already seen cuz I still don’t have a cover-)

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famous-aces · 5 years

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Alfredo Guttero

Who: Alfredo Guttero

What: Artist and Art Promoter

Where: Argentinian (active in Argentina and throughout Western Europe)

When: May 26, 1882 - December 1, 1932

(Image Description: Retrato del pintor, Victorica, 1929 [a self portrait]. It shows Guttero in his apartment. Outside is a very geometric skyline of smokestacks, steep roofs, and a brown sky. His room is slate colored and he sits in a chair in the foreground. He has a jacket thrown over the back of his chair. His pose is casual and he looks as if we [the viewer] have just distracted him from painting. He sits with his legs to one side, turned almost unnaturally toward the viewer. One leg is lifted slightly and one hand is on the chair's seat as if he is in the middle of turning completely to the viewer. He is a man with a receding hairline and a high forehead. He has a dark mustache and dark hair and low eyebrows. He is wearing a white shirt and bowtie and has his sleeves rolled up to the elbow and his collar is ruffled and loosened. The whole thing hangs very loose but you can still see some of his body's lines of musculature. His tie undone and hanging around his neck. His pants are ordinary and green/brown. His expression is calm but confident and he looks directly at the viewer. The colors are bold but not really bright. The style blends geometry and flatness and realism in a way I am explaining very poorly. End ID)

Guttero is not terribly well remembered today, which is too bad. Looking through his oeuvre I quite like his work. Maybe it is because he lacked the bombastic personality of many modernist artists, maybe it is due to his diversity of styles without one that seems to define his work, or maybe it is because he was one of so many talented artists of his generation. He was well renown in his era, however, and used his popularity and skill to foster the next generation of Argentinian artists.

Guttero's life began mundanely enough. He always loved art, appreciating it and creating it, but pursued a legal career instead. But he was unhappy with his life as a lawyer, so Guttero left it to become a painter. He pursued his dream and passion, inspired and pushed by other Argentine artists. In 1904 his reputation was good enough that the Argentinian government sponsored his move to Paris, then the epicenter of the truly exciting and revolutionary art world, its influence expanding outward. He studied there for a few years under Maurice Denis before appearing in the Salon.

He remained in Paris until 1916 when he began to travel extensively across Western Europe for more than a decade, first to Spain, then Germany, Austria, and beyond. He traveled to nearly every country in the area between the years of 1916 and 1927. His work was shown in various exhibitions around the continent from being featured in the Salon in Paris to a major solo exhibition in Genoa.

After that he returned to Argentina for the first time since his initial departure in 1904. Guttero remained active in his native country including creating free art classes called, aptly enough, Cursos Libres de Arte Plástico, with other Argentine artists. During this time he focused on his work as an art promotor, perhaps even more than his own art. During this time he introduced and showed new Argentinian artists to a wider audience. Indeed he created an organization for this purpose: the Hall of Modern Painters. He was dedicated to promoting and preserving modern art in the face of a world growing increasingly dark and reactionary. He died young and without much warning.

His art is undeniably modernist but trickier to pin to a specific movement. He has many different styles he utilizes with different degrees of naturalism and curves vs geometry. His scenes are by and large mundane and human, he uses bright colors, often huge central subjects, kinetic poses and positions, modern settings, and by and large human or urban subjects. He often painted on plaster using a "cooked plaster" technique of his own devising.

(Image Description: Martigues for Charles Jacques [1909], a brightly colored painting showing a scene in a Martigues canal. It is not completely realistic nor completely geometric and abstract. He favors color over outlines. In the background is a bright blue sky interrupted by yellow buildings with tile roofs, maybe houses, lit by the unseen sun. One of the building's lower doors is open. There is a small tree to the far right. In the foreground in the sparkling water of the canal are several small work boats, probably fishing boats judging by the silvery nets lying over the hulls. On the right a boat is coming in, there is a pale skinned, dark haired man working on one of the nets. His sail is red and white. On the left is a pale man in an orange hat and yellow shirt. He is stooped and just by his pose appears older, both of the men are too far away for many identifying details. End ID)

Possible Orientation: Mspec ace, gay ace, or aroace with an aesthetic attraction to multiple genders. (I am so unsure I have changed "probable" to "possible.")

I admit this one is a stretch on my part.

I am classifying Guttero based largely on absence, i.e. the absence of a remembered/recorded spouse, sexual/romantic partner, or liasian. I have no quotes or historical documents to prove my point. I have none of his personal philosophy or writings to draw from. Just the fact that he dedicated his life to art more than human relationshipa. That this is something I have seen before: Cause and its role in the life of many aros/aces/aroaces (outlined in Weil's entry the other day) and the fact that he had no recorded romantic/sexual partners that I can find in hours of research.

This illustrates why it is so, so difficult to find aspecs in history. We are not, as aphobes believe, impossible to locate, there is externally visible evidence, but it is less obvious than most other orientations. And cishets would rather we didn't exist so we are often buried under excuses. The easiest ways to find them are 1) if they were notably "married to their job" in their lifetimes (e.g. Jeanette Rankin and Carter Woodson), they talked/wrote about it in some capacity (e.g. T.E. Lawrence or Frédéric Chopin), they were distrusted because of it (John Ruskin and James Barrie), they made it part of their persona (Nikola Tesla and Florence Nightingale), aside from that I really need to search deep into their personal lives. Information not always available.

And often even when people essentially say "I am aromantic and/or asexual" the general population will not accept that. After all Newton is often remembered as allo and gay, despite never expressing interest in men. Chopin is often listed as allo and bi. Rankin is often considered cishet but too deeply concerned with her work. Barrie gets called a pedophile despite showing no interest in children. For eccentric aspecs like Weil/Tesla/etc. their being aspec becomes part of their oddness. If they weren't Like That they would be allo. Their being aspec becomes a symptom of their weirdness and would be unacceptable in a "normal" person.

History with a capital H does not want to acknowledge aspecs and, as with other queer identities, will go to insane measures to erase them. But even other queer historians will do this to aspecs. I am shocked how many people do exactly to Newton/Lewis/and the like what cishet historians do to Alexander the Great. In the case of Alexander the cishets ignore the obvious accounts that he loved Hephestian in nearly every way possible and queer historians and history buffs call them out, then often the non-aspec ones look at Newton and Lewis who had no interest in men and say they must have been gay. And it isn't really just history, Tim Gunn is by his own admission both gay and ace and the second part of that statement is either erased or, even crazier, I have seen aphobes say that he is mistaken about his own identity.

Anyway the root cause of this lack of nuance in the discussion of sexual orientation is a long sidebar that this is not the place to explore. I have left Guttero behind paragraphs ago. I have written a lot about how aces and aros end up getting erased from history and this isn't about that.

This is about Guttero and the difficulty of finding aros and aces. The presence of something is so much easier to find than the alternative, obviously, like if Historical Figure X exclusively slept with/courted men and was a man we can say he was (most likely) gay. But if Historical Figure Y didn't sleep with anyone/court anyone it is harder to prove. This is obviously severely simplifying identity but for the purposes of this example I beg your apology.

Long Story Short: the absence of evidence of something is not proof of the absence of something. A lot of aphobes will point this out and utterly ignore the fact that sometimes it is.

So, Guttero. The only thing I can say conclusively is that he never married and he was romantically or sexually tied to anyone as far as I can find. He was, in his time, very active in the art world. If he had been involved someone would probably have taken note. Especially considering his art is often very appreciative of the human form, especially the male one, it would not be hard to believe he was allo and gay or mspec.

I am going to take his art another way putting some dusty analysis/critique/art history skills to good use. Here's the thing, those who follow me on my personal blog or even here know I find the Death of the Author extremely important but it is also extremely complicated (it was actually the topic of my senior thesis). I don't want to use an artist's work to talk about their personal lives because art is often not reflective of life, but there is always some cross contamination in one way or another. I am going to explain what I mean on a superficial level, using myself as an example so I can say this is 100% accurate. I love the found family trope, and I think those relationships are the best in the world. So whenever I write something you can be damned sure if I can get some found family goodness in there I will. What I am saying is, I don't love or even approve of everything I write about, but I do write about some things because I love them and want to explore them and experience them on some level. The same may be true for Guttero and the subjects he painted.

Guttero often pays a lot of attention to human form. Look at his work The Market (I couldn't find a large enough image to put it in this post) and you will see his appreciation for amab musculature and on the other side of the male spectrum...

(image description: Retrato de Lucien Cavarry [1911] It shows a thin, lanky, and well dressed young man reclining on a green floral patterned couch and a black pillow. He is pale with neat, dark hair. He has a shadow of 5 o'clock shadow on his super hero jaw. His suit is white, his slightly rumpled tie is black, as are his socks and polished shoes. One arm is across the back of the couch and a red and gold pillow the other is dangling. This style is very different from the other portraits I showed/referenced. Still a modern but more realistic style, more flowing, less geometric. The man is drop dead gorgeous by Western beauty standards. End ID)

As for women...he seems to find them colder, more distant, but there is still a physical appreciation there. (Linking Mujeres Indolentes so I don't get flagged for "female presenting nipples" or whatever Tumblr's BS is. [The name alone tells you a lot]). Or the somewhat judgemental gaze of the woman below:

(Image Description: Georgelina. It shows a portrait of a pretty young woman sitting in front of a field. She is pale and long and beautiful. She has red hair, sharp eyes, a long flowing white dress with a gold sash around her waist, and a white hat with a black bow that is blowing in the wind. She takes up most of the frame and her expression is challenging and she holds eye contact with the viewer. The colors are bright and she is almost porciline in color. The background is mostly flat planes of color. In style it is somewhere between the self portrait and the portrait of Cavarry. End ID.)

Not all of his portraits of women have them so sour/distant but they all have a sort of challenging look. Beauty tinged with something dangerous, while the men always seem more innocent.

So here is why I say aspec rather than allo using his work alone, none of his work is particularly sexually inviting even with the sexiness/physical European attractiveness. The men are bashful or unaware of the viewer, the women are certainly not interested.

And back to the self portrait at the top: Guttero is in a fairly sexy pose, but it is sexy without being sexual. He is rumpled but the thing he was doing was painting, there is a sexless explanation. He is looking at the viewer, but you are distracting him from working. At first glance I thought his legs were spread, but they are simply in motion so he can face his guest more comfortably. This all could mean nothing, but I found it striking that this is how he chose to depict himself, at first he appears to be inviting the viewer in for a more physical interaction, but then it seems he is doing exactly the opposite, his passionate energy has been instead put into painting.

And in reality toward the end of his life that was what he did. He dedicated himself to his own art and the art of others.

So again, this could mean nothing. But...it could mean he is aspec.

And that is how the person I am least sure about got the longest entry.

(image description: Elevadores [1928]. A painting showing a factory complex. There is a raised platform running around it and several buildings in bright colors. There is a tree to the right side and a green hill. The building in the near-center [lightly left] is red. The sky is yellow and blue, perhaps the unseen sun is rising up behind the right-hand buildings. In style it is mostly geometric and flat color. End ID.)

#queer #lgbtq #asexual #ace #history #aromantic #aro #gay #mspec #20th century #artists #south america #Argentina #Argentinian #Alfredo Guttero

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alanwilsonwatts · 7 years

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what does alan watts say about the evil in the world ? and how to... stop getting so bogged down with it. i don't think Leibniz's concept of optimism is the answer so i was wondering what he has to say on the matter, if he does. thank.

All emboldened words are direct quotes from Alan Watts’ texts and/or lectures (with the exception of one short phrase by Carl Jung). All remaining text is mine.

Gosh, this is a question with a set of inexhaustible answers. I really appreciate you asking it but I apologise in advance for what will be a lengthy response.

Alan Watts’ most concise response would have been that “All opposition has its resolution in an underlying unity.” If you’d like to stop here and take away one generalised message that can be applied to all aspects of life just as much as it can to the concept of evil itself, let it be that. If not, buckle in!

So, what does Watts mean by that? Central to many of his lectures was an attempt to demonstrate the limitations of polarity. Humans (particularly those raised with a Western mindset) have a tendency to view the universe as a complex amalgamation of mutually exclusive concepts that exist in constant opposition to each other. What Watts sought to reveal was that such polarised thinking failed to acknowledge the underlying unity of all things. He fervently rejected the “Disastrous and absurd hypothesis that there is an absolute and radical conflict between good and evil (or light and darkness) that can never be harmonised.”

Within this already too long response, I couldn’t easily summarise the wide array of concepts and ideas with which Watts harmonised good and evil. That said, I’ll still give it a try.

All things are dependent upon all other things for their existence. In the specific case of good and evil, a person could not recognise either without having knowledge of the other. Furthermore, these seemingly opposed concepts arise from each other in a mutual way. “If you’re going to have black, you won’t know that it’s black unless you have some white. And if you’re going to have white, you won’t know that it’s white unless you have some black.” Following this idea of a mutually dependent recognition, Watts proposed that “It is evil which makes possible the recognition of virtue.”

You’ve indicated that you don’t wish to get so “bogged down” in the fact that evil exists in this world. I’m not deeply familiar with Leibniz’s concept of optimism but I assume that it feels unsatisfactory to you insofar as it requires you to have blind faith in God’s judicious choice between all possible worlds—a choice from which our world emerged as the best and most good. In other words, it might feel unsatisfactory to the extent that it fails to deeply restructure your emotional and intellectual relationship with evil (and the inescapable fact of its existence). Instead, it only invites you to tolerate things as they are by accepting that they aren’t much worse. What, then, are we to do with our negative emotional reactions to the existence of evil in this world?

“Our rage against evil things which occur in this world must not overstep itself. [Because] if we require as a justification for our rage a fundamental and metaphysical division between good and evil, we [create] an insane and schizophrenic universe of which no sense whatsoever can be made.” Some of the sense to which Watts is referring here is the aforementioned idea of being able to recognise virtue by its comparison to evil. Allow me to reference a different lecture in which Watts was once asked by a member of his audience how he would ameliorate evil in the world if he were God. In the spirit of that lecture, Watts responded as if he were actually God himself. His answer was thus:

“I begin with the point that I [as God] am responsible for the way the world is. If I couldn’t feel that, I would have to blame somebody else. I’m not willing to do that because I know that under various changing circumstances, it might be appropriate for me to be as a big a rascal as rascals have been […] As for improving the world, the world is always improving. It may look to some people slow but it’s improving even when it is declining. The world works in an undulatory process, like a wave. It goes up and it goes down. It goes up and it goes down. It couldn’t go up all the time because if it did we wouldn’t know that that was up. So it goes down some of the time so that we can know when it goes up.”

Now, before you personally lump Watts with Leibniz into that group of philosophers with unsatisfactory solutions to the problem of evil, I will add that Watts himself said that these ideas were “NOT a philosophy of condoning evil.” Instead, Watts is inviting each of us to conceptualise evil as something that must fundamentally exist if the concept of good can also do the same. He is not proposing that we should be passive or calmly tolerant of evil—maybe even quite the opposite. While discussing Adolf Eichmann (one of the most infamous organisers of the Holocaust) Watts acknowledged that he himself would have experienced a tremendously negative emotional reaction should they have met:

“Human emotions are deeply and rightly aroused. I would say that if I were in any situation where an Eichmann was operating, I would be roused to a degree of fury that I can hardly imagine in my present existence. I would oppose those sorts of villains with all the energy that I have. But, at the same time, I would recognise the relativity of my own emotional involvement. I would not be able to regard my adversary as a metaphysical devil—as one who represented the principle of absolute and unresolvable evil.”

Here again we return to the proposition that “All opposition has its resolution in an underlying unity.” The difference here, however, is that Alan Watts is now asking us to recognise that unity in our own psychological selves. Here he is proposing that we each have an “element of irreducible rascality in us.” The following block quote expounds upon this idea of rascality being present in each of us. You are likely to disagree with it but the conclusion that Watts is asking us to draw from it isn’t immediately obvious. Watts is inviting us to recognise a simple idea proposed by a man whom he deeply respected and admired: “Condemnation does not lead to liberation.”–Carl Jung

“To the degree that you condemn and find evil in others, you are to that degree unconscious of the same thing in yourself. Or at least of the potentiality of it. There can be Eichmanns and Hitlers and Himmlers just because there are people who are unconscious of their own dark sides. [These people] project that darkness outward into Jews or Communists or whatever the enemy may be and say ‘There is the darkness; it is not in me. And therefore because the darkness is not in me, I am justified in annihilating this enemy!’”

If one stands any hope of not being “bogged down” by evil and its existence in the world, one needn’t condemn it in others nor in oneself. Instead, one should conceptualise good and evil not as exclusive opposites but rather as universal concepts that are mutually interdependent. You can’t have one without the other. More to the point, you needn’t try to abolish one so that the other may prevail; that is an impossibility. Rather, by dissolving the illusory opposition and revealing an underlying unity, one is likely to develop a broader perspective from which evil isn’t to be abhorred and vilified on a metaphysical level.

I could go on and on but I’ll stop here. I’ve done my best to clarify Watts’ position (as I understand it thus far). I’m still learning. I hope I’ve helped even a little. Thanks for your question! If I haven’t explained something here coherently enough then please let me know.

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