#anacostia quartermain | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

blackfemmecharacterdependency · 2 years

Text

The Casual Killing of Black Female Characters on Camera

This is a rant of sorts. An outcry, if you will, about the number of times that TV will find entertainment in the onscreen deaths of Black female characters, whether or not it makes sense.

And even at times when it does narratively, the fact that we have to see it, and the fact that she could be recurring, even a main character does not strike confidence within any Black female viewer who might want to use television as an escape from Black femicide and misogynoir.

It is literally inescapable.

Sometimes, you could say, "Well, its the nature of that show, to show us death onscreen. Seeing a Black female character die shouldn't effect you any more than any of the deaths in this fandom..." but... how many Black women were even there? How much representation was provided for them? Even in a show filled with them, seeing another Black woman killed, especially if done so brutally, can be hurtful to witness.

This is magnified when she was the only one present in the work, one of very few in the work, or in a series where there was not very satisfactory representation in the first place. And this is the truth for most fandoms, even your faves, even ones that get heralded as progressive or praised for having diversity.

So, whether or not the genre or the content had death and murder regularly, if there wasn’t enough Black female representation to pad the death of the Black female character, I’ma be offended and upset and often times traumatized by the shit. Let me make you a list of the ones that especially hurt me:

Dualla.

Anastasia Dualla, aka Dee, was the most prominent Black female character of Battlestar Galactica. She was a side character, having her only big storylines being a love interest, the wife of a cheater who was in love with somebody else, from an area that faced racism, never finding her family after the attacks, divorce... do you get the gist? Dee had about 3 times that we were allowed to see her happy. I know, times were tough for everybody, so I shouldn’t expect “special treatment” for Dee. God forbid that she be given any storyline that gave her actual joy sometimes.

But. She killed herself, on my screen, in my face, without any apparent provocation. As a suicidal person, I know that it can just hit you. I know that things can seem fine whenever it takes place. As a Black viewer who had been watching this show for years and happy to see one of Dee’s seldom smiles only moments before, it was crushing. The biggest problem is that it didn’t need to happen for the narrative and was unnecessarily hurtful, and for what? All these years later, what was the point of making us watch Dee kill herself? It didn’t advance the story, and it took away the only Black female character in the series before the ending. (The only others being a delegate that I don’t even remember really, played by Judith Maxie, and Elosha, played by Lorena Gale, who ALSO died on screen and was only used to further a white woman’s plot. - Something that I was willing to get over at the time, even though it was messed up, I was willing to get over it, because at least we had a regular and she was okay).

Until she wasn’t. And to this day (it’s been since 2009), and TO THIS DAY, whenever I have to endure another Black regular or main character die, I get thrown back into that scene, that hurt, that senselessness that the Battlestar Galactica writers inflicted on us for no good reason, over a decade ago.

So, whenever I saw the actress, Kandyse McClure a few years later on Hemlock Grove, I was glad to see that she appeared to be a main character and while I wasn’t really interested in much else about the show (the premise was okay, but it didn’t look like a great production from a glance), I decided that I’d put it on my watchlist to see Kandyse working again...

Clementine.

Dr. Clementine Chasseur was the only Black woman that I recall from Hemlock Grove, a show that was not good at all, and I only was watching for her, to be honest. This show took the one Black woman they had, had her skinned and flayed, then left in misery until another character came along and suffocated her to her death. It was horrifying. The show wasn’t even good. I wasted my time and got mentally and visually assaulted with one of the most ugly acts of violence I’ve seen in a show. I have a mental image of something genuinely disturbing from a show that I hated. Fuck Hemlock Grove. I wish it could get canceled twice.

Donna.

Donna was a mermaid and the sister of the main mermaid character in the series, Siren on Freeform. From the first moment we see Donna to her last breath, she was fucked over. They captured her, kidnapped her, enslaved her, researched her, and when she escaped and sought vengeance, she was murdered. So many other decisions could have been made. Later on, they brought in her lightskint daughter as a character, seeking vengeance for her mother... But. What happened to Donna was heartbreaking, through and through. Nobody else on that show went through worse in the time that I was watching it.

I never finished, because it went down the drain after a while, but whenever I WAS watching it, I had to see one of the only two dark skinned women on the show have the most miserable experience on land, and then get shot and killed. (The other dark skinned woman was an unstable drug addict who abandoned her family). Sidenote: Whenever you find a show and the Black women are written with garbage skills, divest. Because it is almost a guarantee that the fandom will be racist pieces of shit, something that we learned early in the Siren existence. They literally harassed the main Black female actress (not the one who played Donna, but Maddie, the one who was in a relationship with the main characters) so much that she fled social media during the show’s run.

*Try not to get attached to shows and characters with poor writing for their Black female characters. They will be unsafe places eventually.*

Tara.

Tara Thornton was a True Blood regular for 6 full seasons. Not the only Black woman in the show, but the one with the most writing. She unfortunately was under the influence of a popular trope of being the best friend to a white magical girl and having to bear the brunt of a bunch of bad shit because of it. (Like Bonnie Bennett but without magic)

At first, it was indirect. Having to see shit go down and be exposed to danger because of her best friend’s proximity to vampires and shit. Then, it was direct. Being targeted because of her proximity to vampires and shit.

She’s been kidnapped, taken as a hostage and sex slave, and even killed, yes, shot down dead because of a friendship with someone who wasn’t any good for her.

Then, she was turned into a vampire, at her friend’s request. She didn’t want to be a vampire or ask to be a vampire, but her selfish ass friend, who she died for had her turned into one because SHE didn’t want to lose her...

And after all that, they turned Tara into a pile of vampire goo at the opening of the last season, and added insult to injury, insult to memory, by having her spirit take a journey to make amends with the people who abused her in her childhood. It was the most disrespectful send off for one of the most disrespected characters that I had ever seen in my life. I wish I would have followed my first mind and not even tried to watch the final season, because I had been stopped watching it by the time that it aired, and I think I found out that Tara died, so I wasn’t that interested anyways. But then to actually see their final decision? Insulting. Revolting. Among the worst pieces of television of my life.

I say all of this to get to my most recent reason to rant...

Anacostia.

She deserved better. First of all, the fact that they continued the Salem Accords instead of freeing witches from the bondage of the military, especially after how easy it had been for human terrorists to overthrow it and gain control from the inside. They should have done away with the obligation.

Then. They should have either killed off someone else or brought Anacostia back to life or let us see her peacefully on the other side. War took another good witch, and the rest of us had to not only see it, but BARELY had the chance to process it, and DIDN'T get any real closure. The way that we had to see the decoy of a dead Kelly Wade, the murdered, dismembered body of Charvel Bellweather at her own wedding, and the Sacrificial Negro Trope in action with Anacostia's death scene, they could have at least given her a last image of light and love.

The least, the VERY LEAST that they could have done for us was to let her be seated next to Alder as the Mother gives our girls their final words, and to grant us the image of her moving on peacefully. The last time we get to see this beautiful soul is crushed, pinned against something as her love has to walk away from her dead body.

Her mother, her daughters, didn't get to properly send her off. They cried and kept fighting and I GET that that's war. But, why so much for these types of things does one of the few Black women have to be offered up. Even in a show like this, with diversity and representation?

Easily one of the worse finales of my life, and it could have been salvaged by just not doing this one grossly disrespectful thing to a brilliant and beautiful character. Fuck Motherland: Fort Salem's ending. Suck dicks in hell for doing that to Anacostia Quartermain.

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

Other onscreen unnecessary/pointless Black women’s deaths:

Jordan Gladwell on iZombie. She was the only Black girl and she died for no good reason. It sort of promoted a white man’s story, but... not to the point where it was justified. (That show did miserably with Black women).

Abbie Mills (I didn’t see it, but I heard from the fans that were still there when it happened and WOOO, they was PISSED!) I had stopped watching the show by then.

Goddamn near EVERY Black woman that appeared in The Vampire Diaries. And from what I am told (I stopped watching that mess too) the one that lived was the person who had to save everybody else. BUT, whenever I WAS watching it, she actually DID die (and came back later), so I will include Bonnie Bennett in all the Black women TVD killed in front of our faces.

Which reminds me Amanda Fisher of Ash VS Evil Dead. I am reminded, because that show, too, killed every last Black woman in the characters.

The Fairy Godmother on OUAT, The Faerie Elder on True Blood, that fairy on Shadowhunters (Lanaia), tbh... Shadowhunters is one of those shows that don’t get the slander it deserved for the antiblackness/misogynoir in the writing while under the shield of a diverse cast, but that’s a whole nother post entirely)

Nikki on Misfits (and Tulip on Preacher - I DO NOT CARE if they brought her back. You made me see this woman get shot and die and the people who saw her return only did so because they weren’t so scarred that they had to cut ties with the show. They knew what the fuck they was doing ending that like that, making us see that)

Breeze Clair Browne’s mom in The Good Doctor

Jean in The Oval. Look. I know that’s a Black show, but that was a terrible death for a good person and it hurt like hell.

Angela in Mortel... and here’s the thing about Mortel... you don’t get a lot of death scenes. You have some death scenes and you have a lot of deaths spoken of, and there are grim portrayals of violence. But it was not lost on me that the dark skinned Black woman died gruesomely. Mortel will really play in your face. Somebody down there is colorist and somebody down there love some whites. That’s a very different conversation, for another rant, if I feel like it some time.

Missandei - I’ma be honest, I ain’t watch that show, so idk how important it was to plot or nothing, but I know that I remember saying, “Whoa, the Black girl on that show lived the whole way through?” and like, the next week or that week, she was getting her damn head lopped off. Shame. They got all the way to the end and swiped her ass outta there. Smh.

Ol’ girl from Charmed... I didn’t watch that either, but the girls was really upset about it... Macy?

Candy from Pose. WHY DID THEY SHOW US HER DEAD BODY? WHAT WAS THE REASON?? WE WERE ALREADY FUCKING SAD ABOUT THE SHIT!!!

POUSSEY. I SHOULDN’T HAVE TO FUCKING EXPLAIN.

Honorable Mentions for Hannah Grose and Rebecca Jessell, Because since so many people died in that story, them dying in bad ways and onscreen were unfair and hurtful, but not outside of the scope of the material. HOWEVER, them being murdered, and then having to STILL somehow be sacrificial negroes for the kids and them... THAT was just extra misogynoir and I ain’t like it. Of the ones that did survive, you didn’t get the two important Black characters. Not even one? And then they both had to give more to protect the others? Y’all gave me Ghost Mammies? FOH.

Not completely pointless, but unnecessary or unfair, to say the least:

Alisha in Misfits. The way that I had to watch this was troubling. Like. Yes, it was that kinda genre, but I didn’t wanna see it. Like... I’m upset every time.

Jaden in Nikita. She was doing right, doing what they were supposed to and after all that animosity they had her throw out, she seemed like she was getting to not be the bitchy Black girl, and they killed her right in front of me. Then they killed Emily Robinson, who was killed specifically to further a white man’s character arc.

Joss Carter could have easily been written out of Person of Interest peacefully if Taraji was moving on to other things. Characters CAN just leave. People do this in real life. Sometimes, they just leave.

Diana Tilton in The Shannara Chronicles... They so unceremoniously killed her off, and it was like... not on screen, if I recall, so you didn’t really know and then if they mentioned it later, it was very casually.

And Because This Also Happens in Cartoons:

THE SUNFIRE QUEEN, KHESSA From The Dragon Prince. That. Was. Horrifying. Hated it.

And a friend said Allura, which reminded me of all the times I saw people mourning Allura, even though I know nothing about that media. I don’t even know the name... Voltron Action Adventurer or whatever.

Edited 2/22/23

267 notes · View notes

silver-cleo-fanfiction · 23 days

Text

Motherland: Fort Salem

fanfiction links below, with summary, works with smut are indicated

Raelle's return

A recount of Realle's experiences after episode 2x07.

The Marriage

Where before Tally starts basic training at Fort Salem she is officially handfasted to General Alder and the insistence of the Hague and the Imperetrix. Tally’s mother, the Leader of the American Matrifocal communities (The Matriarch), expressed disconnection between the military and young witches.Tally was volunteered to handfasten to the general for 10 years.

The Marriage: Missing scenes

A collection of scenes from The Marriage that I chose not to include either because they didn't fit or they would have changed the rating of the overall fic. Chapter 1 & 2 link to chapter 9 of "The Marriage" Chapter 3 links to chapter 14 of "The Marriage" (Smut)

5+1=6

Five times Tally makes Alder smile and one time Alder makes Tally smile

Oops

A quick little thing that ran through my mind for the infirmary scene between Tally and Alder. You know the one. (The Infirmary scene)

"It's a good secret Mommy"

Talder child catches one of their mothers kissing Santa (the other). This is the story of a curious young girl who goes wandering and exploring the music in her house on a night where she is better off asleep.

Your first words

The first words your soulmate says directly to you are written on your skin, after many false attempts and near misses Raelle and M finally meet their soulmate in each other, but will Rae accept this after being forced to separate from her ex-girlfriend Scylla.

DISCONTINUED

Waiting for Midnight

Talder, Adigial and Raylla celebrate new years civilian style, getting drunk down the pub. Just a bit of fluff for the new year.

Escape rooms are meant to be fun

Escape rooms are only fun when they work properly. Fic for day 2 of bellcollar week, Trapped together.

Being alone is no fun

Day 3 of bellcollar week: hurt/comfort | sick!fic. Rae gets the flu and is put in isolation in the infirmary, of course Abigail can't leaver her there alone.

They made it work

Day 4 of bellcollar week: Nightmares.

Under the stars

Day 5 of Bellcollar week, Abi and Rae's first date.

It's official

Day 7 of bellcollar week, Abi and Rae have thier first kiss at beltane just days after thier first date in "under the stars" and things quickly develop. (Smut)

The Honeymoon

Season 2, follows on directly from "The Marriage". How does Tally cope with being biddied? How does Sarah cope having Tally as a biddy? Do they ever get to have that conversation? Where are Raelle and Abigail? So many questions. So much to learn. Where will they end up after everything that has happened and everything that is yet to happen?

Glass houses are built with love

Domestic!Talder. On Valentine's Day, General Alder surprises Tally with a romantic dinner. Never in her life Tally Craven thought that Sarah Alder would be capable of such corny things such as rose petal bath, handmade chocolates and all those civilian stuffs; until Tally finds Alder on her knee with a handfasting cord in her hands at the end of the night.

New hair, General

Everyone notices when Alder starts to put her hair up in a braided bun. The rumour is that it's just her new style or with Carmarila now active again you never know when they'll attack and Alder of all people wouldn't let herself be killed because they caught her by her classic braid. The reality: Alder really likes when Tally and Nicte pull her hair so she's adopted the new style so no one else gets that privilege. Day 3 of Nictalder week: Domestic fluff.

"I didn't know you had it in you Red, I knew you had it Sarah"

A night out takes a turn for the worst and then for the best and Tally and Sarah rush to Nicte’s defence, who joyfully thanks them as they celebrate their one year anniversary. (Smut)

So this is happening

Tally, Sarah and Nicte get invited to Raelle and Scylla's wedding, the only thing is that they are dating but Tally hasn't told her friends yet, except they seem to already know. Cue relationship shenanigans as Tally tries to figure out how they know Private relationship turned public. No powers au. Day 5: humor and 6: wildcard of Nictalder (Smut)

DISCONTINUED

Time to relax

Tally and Sarah share a bath.

Pen Pals

What if Raelle and Abigail knew each other before conscription? A pen pal community for teenage witches.

DISCONTINUED

Sarah's secret talent

Sarah has her secrets, her gifts her talents, after 300+ years why wouldn't she.

Not like this

When the last American witches execution was Sarah Alder’s in 1692 how will she cope with having to be the one called to execute her ex-lover and founder of the spree Nicte Batan, in front of her army and the highest government officials.

A day in the flowers

A slice of life between Sarah and Anacostia on a rare day off

Unexpected events

Tally proposes to Sarah, Top!Tally fic. Established relationship, post-season 3, Beltane. Spontaneous proposal. (Smut)

Are we too young for this?

Sekhmet coven gets drunk and they start talking and sharing their feelings, what could possibly get said.

How stories end

Tally discovers Sarah’s secret library and reads all of Sarah’s favourites to her, one a night Sarah starts to join her on the sofa instead of the armchair she was previously using. Only to fall asleep in Tally's lap.

A 45 minute flight between us

Tally and Sarah are finally reunited after months apart. For Day 1 of Talder week 2022: Reunion

"Just one night"

Tally and Sarah run away for a night together. For day 3 of talder week: sharing a bed

Picture perfect

Where in every life altering decision a person gets part of a picture that will one day make up an image if their soulmate's face. The half picture is the only thing keeping Sarah going for most of her life and her desire to find out who the person with hair of flames is. Talder week, day 6: soulmates

Just once

Sarah promises just once to return something

Just once...Again

Sarah keeps her promise

Nice catch

A fix it because I am in Denial about Anacostia’s death

This isn't goodbye...is it?

Sarah kisses Tally on the mouth instead of on the forehead

Love on ice

A different take on the ice cave scene from Season 3, Episode 8

Time for a drink

Sarah and Anacostia share a drink before Sarah and Tally share a private moment

Sarah Alder: The Phoenix Risen

charachter study

Takes one to know one

Beyond the finale, years later when Tally is General and Alder storms into her office just like she did in s2. Tally’s hair is down and she’s sitting and drinking whiskey and Alder tilts her head “General is a good look on you.” Mentions of sex, but No graphic description

A song and dance

Prompt: Human/Modern/Actor AU. Sarah is performing in a theatre and Tally is attending the show. Tally catches Sarah’s attention after the show.

B.D. Woman's Blues

Tally finally asks why Sarah played the song she did that night in the office.

Snow drift

Tally having to go down a mountain in the snow after thinking her girl is dead in a cave and almost dying before the Mycelium can get her.

Coffee shop AU

Your standard coffee shop au, but with a bit of a twist

One moment

Another telling of the 2x01 infirmary scene

Life is painful, but thats how you know you're alive

Talder soulmates Au where they feel each others pain.

inconsolable

Prompt: Reverse the roles? Instead of Tally being the one to think Alder's dead it's Alder who thinks Tally is dead. A mission gone wrong and she's assumed dead

The Stolen Heart job

Sarah Alder is one of the most notorious and wanted art thieves in the world, only known as "The General" , she's hired to steal the entire "Heart Bearer" painting and sculpture collection within Gerit Buttonwood's high security vault room. Curiosity gets the better of Alder and she convinces her client to meet in person. Sarah finds herself immediately enamoured with the woman sitting across from her in the restaurant; Tally Craven's beauty puts every piece of art Sarah’s ever stolen to shame. How will Alder handle the story behind why Tally desperately needs the art that claims is rightfully hers returned? Will they be able to keep the obvious tension at bay until the job is complete? Inspired by Leverage: Season 5, episode 10 "The Frame-Up Job"

Watch the date

Prompt: Alder forgets it’s Yule and when a Tally Craven comes barging into her chambers. She isn’t expecting to find a very drunk girlfriend. Humour, and fluff.

Shall we?

Neither of them realise they are dating until they get a joint invitation to a couples only Valentine's Day Party hosted by Abigail and Adil at Petra's house and decide to attend together, to not miss out. Except all of their friends think they are dating, and just aren't ready to be public about it. (Modern Au) (No Powers Au)

Tears that fall

Sarah has a breakdown but Tally is there to pick up the pieces and help start the healing journey of over 300 years of trauma.

Really?

Everyone else knows that they are dating, or at least having sex. They just think that Alder is cheating on Nicte with Tally. But they haven’t caught on to the fact that Nicte and Tally are better at hiding their relationship than Sarah is with either one of them. Of course when they find out about these rumours they decide to have some fun with them.

In Sicknes and In Health

Prompt: Sarah has a splitting migraine, Tally notices and cares for her. Fluffy, wholesome, and/or intimate; pre-relationship/Unresolved Sexual Tension or friends to lovers.

Izadora's dance with mushrooms

Izadora tries a new way of identifying an unknown mushroom with some unexpected results.

Let me care

Tally comes home from training injured, emotions ensue while Sarah patches her up and they talk about how protective Sarah is and how Tally needs to be able to deal with things herself.

Breaking down walls

Prompt: Sarah is trying to hide her pain from all the loss she’s experienced during her long life from Tally, but will Tally tear down those walls?

So, will you?

Prompt: "I was not meant for casual. I was born for soul-crushing devotion."

Bandaid

Training either went exceptionally right or exceptionally wrong. They hadn't decided yet, but whichever it was Abigail was in need of some exceptional first aid. Luckily there was one such exceptional fixer able to do that.

dance

Walking home from a fancy date, Abigail and Raelle cut through a park where a busker is playing on the guitar. They couldn't not stop and dance to the music.