#don't even get me started on how it seems more common for the poc characters to have to gripe and struggle

[sukibenders]

Being a woc fan of Bridgerton can be a struggle, especially when it comes to liking the poc characters on the show, especially the woc. Like I remember when s1 came out and the blatant microaggressions and just plain racism coming from this fandom was atrocious. You had people spewing very hateful things about Charlotte, Marina, and Simon and undermining the latter two's pain and trauma at the hands of the white characters---Marina was treated terribly by the Featheringtons and, whether you like Penelope or not, you cannot deny that she also played a part by releasing that letter to the Ton and Simon was violated Daphne no matter how people try to spin the story to offer her some form of sympathy (it still blows my mind that people would want to though).

S2 is just as bad (not even including how they changed the Sharma family's storyline than how it was in the books when that wasn't necessary) and the racist undertones many of the fans have towards Mary and Edwina (as well as Kate but for her it's carries more brown woman needing to be saved by a white man when Anthony is involved because a lot of you all in the fandom are quick to use this trope such as "oh, he's the only one who truly knows her"). The lack of screen time for this family really ends up hurting them to but even with that, whether you like Mary and Edwina or not, it would be a lie to deny the racism a lot in the fandom hold towards them (and how that falls onto the actresses because it was very apparent how many in the fandom couldn't let two Desi women shine without having to bring down the other and Netflix played into that too for drama) and paints every small thing they do as being terrible crimes but in the same breath will not have the same smoke for the Bridgertons, who have their own set of problems (but because they are also the main family, among other things, they are provided more grace without consequences).

#bridgerton #edwina sharma #kate sharma #mary sharma #marina thompson #queen charlotte #simon basset #like fandoms can be a very hostile place especially toward poc #and don't even get me started on some fans acting like they care about the poc characters but only still fall into the tropes i presented #im nervous for how this post will be received bc ngl when people call out the racist antics in bridgerton people love to downplay it #and that's just not right (for any fandom) #and this impacts actors too bc there should be no reason that charithra can hardly be excited about her role in the show #or how ruby had received so much hate that (probably) as a result had two breakdowns #on top of still being asked by polin and pen fans to denounce marina to uplift their white faves #dni if you can't have a calm conversation here #also seeing the creator of the show say for s3 kathony that there won't be as much angst #more happy couple scenes irks me in a way bc that amount of angst didn't have to flood s2 if they weren't so concerned with pointless drama #like the books themselves gave enough angst without the engaged to your sister plotline and such #also would have made anthony seem like less of a prick and actually respect a woman's honor but nope #don't even get me started on how it seems more common for the poc characters to have to gripe and struggle #(especially with things that....they should not be blamed for) at the hands of or as result of white characters #when in the same breath that courtesy isn't extended to said white characters #(e.g. marina having to push colin in pen's direction even though both failed her #to simon begin assaulted and then blamed for it by daphne and the narrative #to kate having to move mountains to grow (even though for most part she wasn't wrong) but don't even see anthony apologize for his actions) #all the actors especially the woc experience racism (and other forms of discrimination) from this fandom #i haven't even gotten into the shitshow from some fans towards simone and the actor who plays simon #as well as the racism the actresses for queen charlotte faced #a lot of yall need to do better

[shakespearean-snape]

Hi there! so glad to see you posting again I like a lot of what you have to say about Snape. I noticed you say a few times tho that your visual headcanon for Snape isn't conventionally attractive and I just wondered if you had any reference of what he looks like in your mind? An actor or other famous person? just someone like that?

I'm just curious how you imagine Snape because I admit I just see Alan Rickman as Snape in my head since I started with the movies as a kid and didn't read the books a few until years later. It always interests me so much when people say they read the books before the movies or read the books with the movies coming out and saw Snape as someone else.

Its ok if you can't think of anyone just thought I'd ask. thx!

Hello!

*waves enthusiastically like an idiot with zero chill*

I get so giddy when someone sends me an ask like this so I hope no one thinks I don't enjoy questions about Snape or my headcanons. As anyone who knows me knows, I think a lot and especially about those things I love so I always have lots of thoughts rolling around in my head I can be positively overeager to share with anyone interested.

So to answer your question, I don't have a specific person pinned down that is 100% like how I picture Snape in my mind but some close candidates would be a young Adrien Brody (which I think is common enough among Snape fans as a choice, right there with Adam Driver these days), obviously the man that JKR based Snape around, John Nettleship, someone like Adarsh Jaikarran as a potential Hogwarts-era and early 20s Snape (even if he is more good-looking than I usually lean, in some pictures he just channels Snape vibes for me quite a bit) and a very young Julian Richings if you've ever seen photos of him in his younger years (I have two here for you so you can see my point a bit, here and here).

Ironically, Julian Richings in the later years of his acting career would probably have been my first choice for a Voldemort fan cast back in the day when any Harry Potter reboot was purely in the realm of the hypothetical (I mean, c'mon, look at this and tell me you can't see it too) but as JKR is an unapologetic anti-feminist/TERF I provide no monetary support to any of her projects including any licensed games, the watching of future reboots or purchasing of future tie-in books in the HP universe, officially licensed HP merchandise, or even by giving traffic to what was formerly Pottermore, etc.

All I bring to the fandom now is my fan theories and love for Snape, which she not only does not benefit from but never seemed entirely at peace with given how the character got away from her and took off. I can't think of a better way to spite someone so utterly spiteful herself than to take the character she was most shocked by people loving in any capacity and celebrate him in every incarnation (gay, bi, trans, ace, autistic, poc, etc.) with my queer, gender-nonconforming little heart while she gets zero money off me for it.

Anyway I hope the visual guide gives you a little more insight into my mind. I've never seen Snape as "ugly" (even when I joke my Snape is "ugly" and I like him that way) but my mental picture of him is of a man whose looks might fall into that unconventionally attractive sphere or what some people call homely. Occasionally I veer off that a bit, as with Adarsh Jaikarran, oh, oh! And also Lee Soo Hyuk, Song Jae-Rim and Kento Yamazaki (ever since I saw him in the live-action Bloody Monday manga series adaptation)!

But yes, my favorite Snape and the Snape I love isn't usually model attractive but also not quite the gargoyle Harry describes (that kid had some ridiculously high standards of beauty tbh, about the only characters he didn't have mentally critical notes on their appearance was the unnamed Veela, Fleur, and Narcissa Malfoy so yeah he totally thought "Draco's mom has got it going on..." Lol!) but somewhere in that "unconventional" categorization of attractive which I feel really suits a man who so often defies easy categorization in general.

(Excuse all the edits. After I gave a few examples more started hitting me and I was like ohhhhh I should have shared them, why didn't I think to share them? So I may come back and make more edits throughout the day, no promises I won't! Lol)

#severus snape #pro snape #snape community #snape fandom #snapedom #snape headcanon #fuck jkr #anti jkr

[circular-time]

I wrote a rant about my dashed hopes for Season 13 months ago, during Comic Con I think? I never posted it, because I didn't want to be a wet blanket, and it was long and rambly, and maybe I just needed to get it off my chest in private. On the other hand, I'm still mourning something that really mattered to me, and I want to make a space for that before the new season starts.

WHILE acknowledging that I am not owed anything as a fan. Doctor Who has to keep changing and regenerating or it will stagnate and die. It's just my bad luck that it looked like the show was headed in a direction I've wanted for decades, and then it didn't.

[Spoilers to S13 trailers as of October 30]

TL;DR: I want a SF show with a BFF-ship between two women in the same vein as broships like those between Watson and Holmes, Kirk and Spock, Fraser and Jay, Scully and Mulder. Yes, I've gotten hit with the Thasmin bug too, but that really isn't the point.

The point is, women in the real world tend to form strong friendships and Get Shit Done thereby, and that's what I relate to. I went to a women's college. Most of my friendships and relationships have been with women. Much like PoC, I crave seeing my reality exist in the media I consume. But the last time I saw that dynamic portrayed on TV was Xena and Gabrielle over 20 years ago. It's a blind spot in an industry dominated by male writers and producers, who don't know how to portray women's friendships (And yet male bro-ships are common in all media formats).

I believe this is a loss for everybody. It omits a huge swath of human existence. Plus it misses out on a powerful interpersonal dynamic that's perfect for an effective team of adventurers/problem solvers in science fiction.

Before Xena, the last BFF-ship I can remember was Nyssa and Tegan working together in episode 1 of Castrovalva, while the Doctor was unconscious. The audios occasionally allude to their being BFFs, but again, probably thanks to male writers' blind spots, they almost never act like it, and seldom pull off anything through BFF Teamwork (tm). Barbara's friendships with Susan and Vicki were great, but she was more of a mom figure for them.

Since the Doctor's usually a he, there are very few opportunities for BFF relationships to occur on my favorite show. Thirteen's regeneration offered such a chance. I think it was even more important for Chibnall to reestablish that 3 companions are possible, and I loved the fam for two seasons. But there were very few points when Yaz and the Doc tackled something together.

Meanwhile, the synergy between Jodie and Mandip in real life was exactly the sort of BFF chemistry I wanted to see more of onscreen. But it didn't seem to occur to Chibnall and the writers to let some of that bleed into their characters.

Instead, they kept having the male characters tell Yaz and Thirteen about themselves. Ryan reminds Yaz she's a cop, the only time that thorny issue has been addressed. He has a heart-to-heart with the Doctor to help her process her identity crisis, telling her who he thinks she is and how to feel about it. And that's after the Master plays Thirteen's Evil Psychotherapist.

Graham has that lovely scene on the Cyber-ship where he talks about how impressed he is by Yaz. And when it comes time to broach the Thasmin question, we don't hear it from Yaz; instead, it's Captain Jack intuiting Yaz's unspoken feelings, comparing her relationship to the Doctor with HIS relationship to the Doctor, advising her how to cope with those feelings.

Midway through S12, I started to notice how often we saw Yaz and the Doctor as people, rather than plot agents, mostly through the eyes of the guys.

So when Ryan and Graham chose to stay behind, while I will miss them both, I couldn't help getting excited. FINALLY, the writers would have to write Yaz and the Doc doing stuff together and relating to one another, without mediating their characters through a male POV. We'd had two seasons of a TARDIS family, which I'd enjoyed, and now I was getting the female-buddy show I've always wanted, at least for one shortened season! I was so stoked.

But when I came online the next day, all hyped to talk about Team BFF, people were talking about this Bishop chap. Who? The streaming service on which I'd watched Revolution of the Daleks had not included an S13 trailer. So I hadn't gotten the memo.

I tracked down the missing trailer. And lo, my hopes were dashed. Yaz and the Doctor weren't even IN IT. It was all about this John Bishop guy's experiences; the Doctor was an enigmatic side character in HIS story, instead of Yaz and the Doctor being the protagonists (or even present) in the trailer for what I'd been thinking of as "their" season.

See why I was disappointed?

And then the interviewer at Comic-Con spent more time talking to Bishop's actor than Mandip or even Jodie, and I wrote the rant that I didn't post until now— extensively edited to remove the claws.

I'm avoiding trailers and spoilers now, as I usually do before the season starts. The fewer my expectations, the better I'll be able to take it as it comes (good advice from Chesterton.)

And I promise I will do that, instead of sitting there with my fingers in my ears griping because the writers and showrunners didn't magically cater to the precise tastes and wishes of the One True Fan (me) they don't even know exists.

I'll hold onto a glimmer of hope for Team BFF in spite of Mr Third Wheel. Maybe Chibnall's team will respond to the enthusiasm of those who are big fans of Thirteen and Yaz, instead of the frustrations of those who are already looking ahead to a new Doctor and showrunner even before this season has aired. Maybe they'll realize that hey, the one and only time you have two female leads in SF, you make the most of it. But I've tamped my hopes way, way down so as to be able to enjoy what we're given, even if I don't get what I wanted.

#series 13 #s13 #thinky thoughts #meta meta meta #thirteenth doctor #yaz #Team BFF #queue

[thehollowprince]

Well I loved the character of Inadu, she's was awesome especially when she killed Elijah, Celeste would be smiling and also I don't like her origin, I felt like she was a victim of the Elders in her tribe and their magic poisoned her own and herself. They turned into her monsters but no one can see, and the werewolves, her curse was foolproof, but how would you change her origin and the werewolf curse?

Also your blog and my friend's led me to start writing a Fanfic that rewrites the entire series and has a witch as the main character instead of the Mikaelsons,and in it I killed Hayley before Klaus could get to her, so Hope doesn't exist in this book.

Sorry one more thing, Klaus and Hope should have been half native american, and Ansel should have been native as well, instead of Julie White washing them! Geez, also I understand why the Ancestors are so angry at them, the originals and the vampires probably killed so many of their own and Ancestors that were tired decided fuck it we are going to war and Esther shouldn't have been the leader, of them. A viking witch leading a spiritual group of mostly people of color?!

Also I love Davina, but to be honest, she should have her magic taken because if think about, Marcel executed witches, for the harvest, but what about the witches who had nothing to do that, they probably suffered for their elders wrongs.

Re: Inadu - I never actually got the point where she showed up. When I stopped watching The Originals, the Hollow was possessing the vampire chick that Marcel was with (but not really). After she stabbed Elijah with the rose thorn stake thingy, I felt that was a good place to leave, because I was just upset and aggravated by everything else (particularly the whole Freya and Keelin thing).

Re: Celeste - I liked Celeste... at first. I was totally down for her to take down the Mikaelsons after everything she went through because of them. The irony was that, in her attempts to take on the Mikaelsons, she became just like them - a parasite. She willingly stole the bodies of those around her and discarded them (via suicide) when they were all used up. She became the very thing she hated in her efforts. I don't think she was a "victim of the Elders", because even back when she was in her own body during the 1800s, she seemed to be in charge. I think she was twisted by her own darkness, long before she joined the Ancestors. She turned herself into a monster.

I'm not entirely sure what you mean by changing thr werewolf curse, because that was one of the few plot lines I thought was done well, involving Marcel and Celeste/Brynne and the Crescent Wolves. It was an event that all three factions had in common that really kickststarted the story when Klaus shows up in New Orleans.

Re: fanfic - I'm glad I could help inspire you. I've always felt that this show could have benefited from being and actual ensemble show about the factions in New Orleans, rather than about the Originals themselves. Here was a chance to explore the wider world of the supernatural, outside of what was going on in Mystic Falls, and instead, they made it about a family of white narcissistic vampires who always have to have their way. This show would have been so much cooler to just see the werewolves versus the witches versus the vampires, with the humans trying to keep it all quiet from the tourists. And one of the things I never liked about the Mikaelson involvement was the magical pregnancy, just watching Julie and friends completely rewrite their own rules to pull of some weird Twilight Renaissance.

Re: Klaus, Hope and Ansel - I was upset at first, when it was revealed that Ansel was just as lily white as Esther, because the whole origin story was that werewolves were native to the Americas, thus making them Native American. And that was before we found out the specifics of the Hollow and how she cursed them. But, in hindsight, I'm glad they didn't go this way, because then we would have had to suffer through more white people writing characters of color, and quite frankly, I'd had enough of that with Bonnie and Tyler.

The only thing that would have come out of them casting an actual POC as Klaus is that people would have widespread seen him as a villain (see the way they villainous Tyler and Marcel) and The Originals probably never would have happened because Julie Plec (and The CW) don't really do POC led shows.

Re: The Ancestors - I went into this show being 100% ready to support the witches in all aspects, especially coming from The Vampire Diaries, where witches were few and far between (before they were ultimately killed off once they did the spell they were brought in for). I harp in this show a lot, but I did appreciate how the longer I watched, the more I was drawn to specific characters and not just the factions. The Ancestors, and the witches overall, were revealed to be a bunch of religious zealots and that was totally unsexy. It only got worse when they consecrated Esther and she ended up taking them over, because she was revealed to be just as bad as her children.

Re: Davina - I will go to my grave defending Davina Claire! As I said above, I went into this show, I was totally Team Witch, but the further I got into the first season (and then the second), the more I realized that you couldn't be on just one side. There were times I sided with the witches, for sure, but the more time past, the less I liked them overall. I was here for Josephine as Regent, standing up to the Mikaelsons and demanding one of their witches (Kaleb) back, but these are also the same witches that wanted to sacrifice their children, that wanted to kill a newborn infant. The vampires were the same. I didn't like Marcel at first, but the longer we had with him the more I liked him. With Davina, yes, she turned against her coven, but that's because they tried to kill her.

I said it before and I'll say it again, but I don't care if the covens were 10000% sure that the Harvest was going to work, they shouldn't have done that to their own kids! Davina was a frightened sixteen-year-old girl being hunted by the very people that were supposed to protect her so they could slit her throat in a ritual. Of course she was against them! And yes, Marcel did take advantage of the situation, but his first priority was Davina's safety (and the other young witches) when he interrupted the Harvest. Marcel's harassment of the witches was a result of both the Harvest and the ongoing war between their factions, something Davina got caught up in and ended up suffering far more than many of these other characters.

#ask and ye shall recieve #the originals #anti mikaelson #anti mikaelson family #davina claire #celeste dubois

[santaclausdeadindian]

Sorry for doing it this way, I think OP deleted their post or blocked me like a mature, balanced person would, so I have to tag you in

@mr-laugh

Oh boy, lot to unpack here.

So you didn’t even know there were that many subgenres of fantasy, one of the most popular classifications of fiction on the planet... And you think you know enough to tell ANYBODY what classic fantasy is?

And where exactly I attempted to do that, huh?

If you don’t even know the most common subgenres of this vast pool of fiction, why are you jumping into this discussion? You just admitted you don’t know anything!

There is no discussion, there is a stupid ass post. Don't flatter yourself, you don't know jack shit.

Me not knowing what exactly are the precize subgenres of a genre of literature, which, btw, are completely arbitrary and for your information, sword&magic is a legitimate category, has absolutely nothing to do with what that post you were so keen on agreeing with above. It was you who said pretty much any classic fantasy is like that: some poorly written, self-indulgent and borderline racist.

Did ya read the link, buddy? Howard talked about knowing what burning black man smelled like. He was quite approving of these things! And the books are pretty racist, it’s not hard to see, unless you ain’t looking.

Yes, I started reading and by the end of the first paragraph I was convinced he was ahorribly racist man. And? Still doesn't change the fact, that for my 12 year old self, there was nothing racist about it. I definetly wasn't looking for it, that much you got right. If I'd read it again, I'm sure I'd catch on to it now, that I know what kind of asshole he was. So the implied racism would be there. You got a point for that.

Rugged individualism? It always amuses me how that argument always pops out of the mouths of guys who are aping what they’ve heard their buddies say. If ten thousand mouths shout “rugged individualism”, how individualistic are they?

Then you should amuse yourself by looking up why this thing crops up as of late. It's coming from certain, supremely racist yet unaware of it publications that claim ridiculous shit like "rugged individualism" is a hallmark of white supremacy, among other, equally laughable things, like punctuality. It's a joke.

Again, I will give Howard to you, if someone that racist writes a black man saving the hero of the story, I bet there was something else still there to make it wrong.

Conan’s not some avatar of rugged individualism.

Uhm, yeah, he pretty much all that.

He’s as unreal and unrealistic as the dragons are,

It's called fantasy for a reason, buddy.

but more dangerous because White Men model their ideas of reality on Big Man Heroes like him;

Glad you are totally not racist, yo!!! It's such a relief that White Men are the only ones with this terrible behavior of looking up to larger than life, mythic superpeople and nobody else. Imagine what it would be like, if we would have some asshole from say, hindu indian literature massacering demons called Rakshassas, by the tens of thousands, or some bullshit japanese warlord would snatch out arrows from the air, or a chienese bodyguard would mow down hundreds of barbaric huns without dropping a sweat, or some middle eastern hero would fight literal gods and their magical beasts in some quest for eternal life.

it's a poison that weakens us, distracting us from actually trying to solve the world’s issues, or banding together to deal with shit.

This is what you just said. It's up to the white man, to get their shit together, be not racist and solve the world's problems, because those poor other people's just can't do it. If we would just not be oh, so racist, then China would surely stop with the genocides they are doing now, or blowing more than half the greenhouse emissions into the athmosphere, the muslims would stop throwing their gays from rooftops or ramming trucks into crowds and would just start treating women as equals, India's massive rape problem would be gone, subsaharan African would be magically bereft of the host of atrocities committed there on a daily, yeah, you sure have that nonracism down, buddy!

A rugged individualist would be smart enough to realize that even the most individualistic person needs others; no man’s an island, and a loner is easier to kill.

Individualism doesn't mean at all what you think it means, it's a cluster of widely differeing philosophies that puts the individual ahead of the group or state, it's ranging from anarchism to liberalism and is also has nothing to do with my point.

Central Europe?  What, Germany?  Because let me tell you, historically they are SUPER concerned about race!

Germany traditionally considered western european, central europe would be the people stuck between them and the russians, to put it very loosely. We are equally nonplussed by the self-flagellating white guilt complex and the woe me victim complex of the west. We did none of the shit those meanie white people did to the nonwhites and suffered everyting any poc ever did and then some. We don't give a shit about your color, we care about what culture you are from and if you respect our values.

I’m an American from a former Confederate state; trust me, race is everything.  It always is.

No it really isn't. How old are you? Asking without condescension, genuinly curious, because if you are in your low twenties at most, it's understandable why you think like this.

See that hike? Do you know what happened at that time that made virtually all american media suddenly go all in with racism?

Occupy Wall Street, that's what. It's a brilliant way to sow victimhood and hate and desperation amongst the people who have one common enemy, the powers that be, the banking sector, the politicians, the megacorporations.

Can't really blame you if you are in your early 20's at most, you grew up with this bullshit hammered into you. If you are older, step out of your echochamber please!

If you actually believe, that mankind doesn't progress naturally towards a more accepting society purely on the merit of there being more good people than bad and sharing a similar living with all the hardships in life, seeing that our prejudices inherited by our parents are baseless, that's how we progress, not virtue signalling courses and regressive policies. I was raised as any other kid, I had a deep resentment towards the neighbouring nations, I said vile, racist shit against people who I actually share a lot of genes with, of which fact I was in deep denial about, and then as I gradually got exposed more and more actual people of these groups, I started to realize I was wrong and everybody should be judged by their individual merits. It works throughout the generations, my grandma was thought songs about Hitler and how all jews are evil in school, she legit thought all black people at least in Africa are cannibals and shit, my mother stillsays shit that would get her cancelled in the USA, and I will probably have a mixed race kid as we stand now.

This whole racism is an eternal problem is laughable and disingenuous and I am actually sorry for you that you feel like that.

Moving on. As for Dany, the “noble white girl sold to scary dark foreign man” is a very popular trope, especially in exploitation films, which Martin draws on much more heavily than most authors do.

No, he fucking doesn't. I already wrote a bunch of examples from the books you seeminly ignore willfully. First of all, she is sold to those olive skinned savages by a white man, who is a terrible, increadibly evil man. He want's to fuck the then 11-12 ish Dany so bad, she picks his slave most resembling her and rapes her repeatedly, "until the madness pass." He also maimes children and traines them as disposable slave spies by the hundreds. There is no boundaries colour here, GRRM prtrays all kinds of people as reprehensible, evil and disgusting. Just like you can find plenty of examples to the opposite.

What is he drawing from your exploitation movies exactly? He writes about the human anture, he writes about the human heart at war with itself, that's his central philosophy of writing.

ASOFAI is basically just a porn movie with complicated feudal politics obscuring it, which is probably why it worked so well as an HBO series (up until the last two seasons or so.)

There is no gratuitous sex scene in the books, the rapes are described as rapes, they are horrible, they are very shortly described and usually just alluded to.

The people commiting them are not put into generous lights and one of the single most harrowing stories hidden behind the grand happenings of the plot is a girl named Jeyne Poole, whose suffering although never shown, is very much pointed out, along with the hypocrisy of the people who only fight to try and save her, because they think her a different person.

Honestly, if you actually read the books and they came of to you as porn, you might want to do some soulsearching.Btw, the HBO series was a terrible adaptation, it immedietly started to go further and further from the books with every passing season and the showmakers made it very clear to everybody, that they didn't understand the very much pacifist and humanist themes of Martin. And neither did you.

We also get no indication Essos will eat it when Winter comes; hell, they seem to not know Winter exists, given the way people act, even though that is also unrealistic and weird.  Essos was just super badly designed, and Dany is a terribly boring character.

to be continued