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This is so true, I mean we obviously know Shannon doesn’t have negative intent, but it’s still so stupid! This whole post is spot on. I love Linh so much, and it sucks that her character and family are full of stereotypes.

Let’s talk about how the Song family is written. Especially Linh.

I know it’s long but please try to read all of it

Shannon does not give the Song twins, or the whole entire family for that matter, a specific nationality. They’re described to look like Kpop models and anime (that comes from Japan), yet have Vietnamese names and a Chinese surname. On top of that, Quan (the father) is a Chinese name and Mai (the mother) is given a Vietnamese/Japanese/Chinese name (the origins are dubious, but Mai is also a romanticized spelling of a Chinese surname, transcribed in Mandurin dialect).

At this, some people are bending over backwards to remind the fact that “thEy’Re ELveS thEy DoNT hAVe a CouNtRy”. It still doesn’t excuse it much.

Throughout history and a few personal anecdotes, so many people do not understand the concept that different countries in Asia exist. Innumerable times I have been asked if I was Chinese or Japanese, and been told that all asian languages “are basically the same”, yet I am one of the lucky ones. As a Korean, a country who’s culture has popularly been introduced in the western part of the world, I do not experience as much erasure as others such as southeastern Asians. Southeastern Asians very rarely show up on media thanks to whitewashing and are even barely considered “real” Asians. But overall, the concept that the whole entire continent of Asia is the same has been perpetuated throughout the west’s culture of ignorance and racism. (And I can assure you, every single asian person who lives in America has experienced at least one of these incidents of racism and ignorance. Ask any asian. I’m serious.)

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The Songs’ last name was originally Tong, but it was changed due to the family’s profession; songwriting. It actually encourages the stereotype that Asians are supposed to be good at music. I cannot tell you how many times the kids at my school told me that it “doesn’t count if I’m good at music because Asians are supposed to be good at it anyway”.

And I am forever grateful that Shannon didn’t write in the typical “tiger mom” for Mai. The “tiger mom” stereotype is the concept of angry, harsh, and strict mothers in asian households, similar to the false notion of abusive black fathers with belts. But it’s still a huge stereotype that asian parents are conservative, strict, and sometimes abusive. Quan and Mai are a direct personification of that concept.

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Now, let’s explore Linh’s character. Linh is a quiet, kind, humble, and sweet person, often dubbed a “cinnamon roll” by the fandom. She is written not to be comfortable with violence, gore, blood, and war. She also takes on a very whimsical vibe, controlling water, usually having a calm demeanor, and having very light eyes compared to the fact that almost every single asian has dark colored eyes.

It’s pretty racist.

The western culture has a huge problem with fetishizing Asians, especially Asian women. Asians are so, so sexualized to the point where East Asian girls are specifically targeted by sex trafficking systems. Asian girls are stereotyped as bubbly, cute, innocent, sweet, and submissive. Linh is written as your stereotypical innocent, docile kawai uwu soft girl. She is every stereotype of an asian girl (while keeping it child appropriate) shoved into one arbitrary box of “representation”.

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Now, let’s talk about her appearance. Tam’s, too.

Despite the fact that almost every asian has dark colored eyes, typically brown eyes, Shannon makes sure that she creates the only asian characters with the lightest eye color. Tam and Linh are the only ones with a mutation in their hair (other than Marella with her braids and Livvy with her jewels, but Marella and Livvy are not main characters). Overall, Tam and Linh generally look much different than the rest of the group. It’s just another stereotype that Asians are considered to be exotic. When the twins are introduced, they appear to be malnourished from the poor food given in Exilium. They’re skinny. It’s yet another addition of Asia’s fat shaming culture leaking into the western areas of the world as an expectation of thinness.

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The whole entire Song family, especially the twins, and especially Linh, was just a poor attempt to engage in some “diversity” and ended up compiling every single stereotype of Asians and shoving them into Barbie doll package with labels slapped on their foreheads. The Song family is just “general East Asian”. The parents are strict and conservative. Tam and Linh are skinny and exotic. Linh is humble, cute, soft, whimsical, quiet, and not prominently present in many of the books. It’s all. Just. Stereotype. After. Stereotype. And I am sick of it.

I cannot tell you how I happy I was when Neverseen came out with the introduction of Linh because finally, finally there was someone like me. It was at the time when I was still struggling with my internalized racism. I tried my best to project myself into Linh. I said she was my favorite character. I only drew her when drawing fanart. But at the end of the day, I was not like Linh, because I did not fall under the category of the picture perfect “China doll”.

I am not your China doll, and Linh shouldn’t have been, either.

✨*Non-asian keeper fans should reblog*✨