#he really said representation but not for you

[orchidbreezefc]

ok. years have passed and we've had some distance, so i'm finally gonna take the leap of faith that tma fandom is finally ready to hear me on this. let's talk about tannins.

161 was the first tma episode i heard on early release, and i felt the bit where martin declines wine and cites tannins was pretty obvious in its implications. cool, got it, say no more.

imagine my surprise when i was one of maybe three people i saw read between the lines there, in a fandom famous for red stringing--a fandom that immediately caught the much less obvious thread of ignition sources in the same episode. i'll spell it out: alcohol is an issue for martin.

maybe it just felt obvious because addiction is a pet issue for me--as it is for jonny, who has said everything he writes is filtered through a lens of addiction. i don't know if that's due to his own experience or a loved one's, and i won't speculate; i also don't know if martin personally struggled with drinking or just avoids it for fear he would, but alcohol would fit what we know of his family. his dad walking out and his mum spiralling into bitter wallowing and verbal abuse? i'd bet one or both of them drank, yeah.

on a basic level martin tries to decline alcohol, and that alone should have raised eyebrows given what we know of martin and, again, a fandom that dissects everything. we already knew martin "K" blackwood lied about his personal life and his family in particular, especially pre-canon, which is when this flashback took place. i was shocked that everyone took his flimsy excuse at face value with no further questions.

and the excuse is flimsy. martin turns down wine by--nervously--exclaiming tannins are "a proven headache trigger!" which sounds like trivia from a magazine cover and not the words of someone who actually has headaches--and it hasn't come up before or since. jon, confused, points out that tea, a drink martin consumes to a degree that is memetic both in- and out-of-universe, also contains tannins, and martin squawks a panicked, "what?!"

if tannins are enough of a concern for martin that he knew they're in wine and so avoids it, why didn't he know they're in his drink of choice? why does he still drink tea at the time of canon, and why doesn't he struggle with constant headaches from consuming 'a proven headache trigger' day in and day out? why, indeed, would someone avoid wine and not tea?

when sasha insists martin drink he caves and agrees to 'just a drop'. i imagine him pouring it in a plant, which admittedly he could have done if tannins really were the issue. i will say that i, for one, would be less likely to falsely agree to something that makes me physically ill than to a private issue that i'd rather not be pressed on any further. this scene also establishes martin's birthday was an ice cream party instead of the more traditional visit to a pub.

also, this scene was in the first episode of the final season, as one of three flashbacks that could have been to any pre-canon event in the archives. prime narrative real estate. not really time one would waste on establishing the important character context that martin has... headaches. which never comes up before or after, even regarding the week he spent in spiral town. but you know what is pretty crucial character background...?

it felt like a no-brainer, and yet all i saw was h/c fluff about jon attending to martin's headaches. and i hate feeling bitter about disability representation. i want folks with chronic headaches to feel seen and have fluffy escapist fantasies. i don't want to be mad about people portraying a character with a disability. but, guys? you got the wrong disability. jonny sent a clear message, and it went over fandom's head.

#martin blackwood #tma #the magnus archives #tma meta #the magnus archives meta #tma 161 #mag161 #sage speaks #sage original post #meta #im sure others caught it that i didnt see but listen. i was DEEP in the fandom. people getting it made up maybe 1% of the response i saw #and i had people fighting me for saying it #alcohol cw #alcoholism cw #addiction cw

[athenagranted]

actually i'm still thinking about that part of oliver's zach sang interview where he says that he doesn't think of buck as a queer character, he thinks of him as a character that is queer, who has a fully fleshed out personality and a multitude of important characteristics and who has flaws and makes mistakes, just like any real, human person. he's not that bisexual character we shoved in there for representation's sake. he's evan buckley, and his bisexuality is important and undeniable but it's not the only thing that makes him buck. that makes him so loved.

i love it because that's always how 911 has approached queerness, right from the very beginning. when i think of hen, her being a black lesbian isn't the first thing that comes to mind. what comes to mind is her brilliance and her compassion towards the people that she treats. it's the understanding with which she approaches the world. it's how fiercely protective she is of her friends and her loved ones. it's her devotion towards her wife and her family. it's her complicated feelings towards her past and the way that she's learned to heal from the scars that were left. however, hen's identity as a black lesbian is always present. it's never ignored or minimized and the show never tries to diminish how those aspects of who she is would impact her life. her identity as a black woman and a queer woman is always relevant and has played a huge part in making her who she is, but it's never, ever been her sole defining characteristic. she is a fully fledged character, and her queerness has always been allowed to exist and take up space without taking away from anything else that makes her hen.

that is always how representation should be done and i'm so grateful that it's been the norm on 911 right from day one. i'm so grateful for this show, and the love and care with which they've treated our queer characters — hen, karen, michael, david, josh, that beautiful older gay couple that quite literally defined love on this show, that sweet woman who just wanted to pass her driving test, the guy who ended up with a tapeworm in his ass because he couldn't stop eating sushi, tommy, and now, evan buckley. a character that has been so loved right from the very beginning and now gets to discover this new part of himself that brings him so much joy and so much relief. despite the hurdles they've had to face, the people making this show have given so much to their queer audience and i'm just....so grateful that we get to witness the love they have for us. they really said. we see you. there is a space for you here. come and embrace it.

#I'M EMOTIONAL!!!!! #I LOVE THIS SHOW SO MUCH #rae.txt #911 #my commentary #evan buckley #hen wilson

[celluloidbroomcloset]

I think there’s a lot to be said about shame as a driving factor in the representation of toxic masculinity in OFMD, but one thing that struck me hard in this rewatch is how Izzy desperately tries to conceal what is happening with Ed when he returns to the Revenge. He makes up a (bad) lie about Ed being sick but getting better but also can’t be seen. He tells Lucius not to mention anything that he sees on pain of death. When Lucius goes into Ed’s cabin, he’s visibly frightened of what he’ll find—and what he finds is a man hiding in a pillow fort, eating marmalade.

It’s ridiculous to even think this is shameful or frightening. We have an entire scene of Ed writing bad lyrics and trying to control his tears. He’s sad and he’s heartbroken, he has tear tracks on his face, and he keeps trying and failing to stop himself from crying again. But he’s no danger to anyone, not even himself. He’s just deeply sad, for good reason.

We never see why Ed decides to come on deck, but it’s implied that Lucius at least encourages him in it. And that’s the point where Izzy starts really losing it. Because Ed is in public, he’s singing, he’s praising the crew, he’s asking for them to join him, he’s saying he wants to be called Edward. All the mythos of Blackbeard—all the SHAME of Blackbeard—is gone. He’s just a man, and in this case, a man who fell in love and got hurt. He’s not ashamed to be the man he is, in front of everyone.

That shame comes back so powerfully of course, but part of Ed healing is the slow return to a space where he really isn’t ashamed. He’s not ashamed of wearing a cat collar and potato sack, of no longer being the badass pirate captain. He’s not ashamed of kissing Stede in public. He’s not ashamed of vulnerability or the feelings he has being known. He defeats that for the second time, not in quite the same way (because he can never really go back), but defeats it all the same.

(Of course, this is really important in a queer context and why the “namby pamby” comment shouldn’t be taken lightly. Ed is not just gay, he is being openly gay. Izzy really is every parent who ever said “I don’t care if you’re gay, but i draw the line at you being a f**.”)

#ofmd #our flag means death #stede bonnet #edward teach #izzy hands #ofmd meta #gif

[buddiebeginz]

You know I think I find this kind of thinking even worse than people who just never liked Buddie to begin with. People who claim to love Buddie or who were Buddie shippers and who are now trashing Buddie just to prop up Buck/T*mmy are literally some of the worst.

I think everyone should be allowed to like and ship who they want. I'm not a multishipper so I don't ship Buck and T*mmy and I'm not the biggest fan of T*mmy in general but I do see the significance of him in Buck's story.

What I don't get is how so many of you have become so enamored with a ship from very little buildup that you don't care anymore about how important Eddie coming out and Buddie becoming canon is. Also that you'd go back on all of your opinions on Buddie and the history they've shared.

The fact is Eddie coming out as gay is incredibly important. Just as Buck coming out as bi is ground breaking in it's own way and increasing much needed representation for bisexual characters, a character like Eddie coming out would also be ground breaking. Eddie is older, a veteran, Mexican, a single dad, struggles with mental health issues, a firefighter, fits a model of stereotypical masculinity, etc. There are so many people who would be helped to see a character like Eddie have a queer awakening in ways that are different than Buck's.

Buddie becoming canon is also equally as important as the coming out storylines for Buck and Eddie. I know people keep trying to say it's not and keep hating on anyone who dares to talk about Buddie along with Buck's bi awakening but it all matters.

It's not that Buddie has to happen for Buck and or Eddie to be queer but it should. I could write a novel on the history that is shared between these men. They are so much more than just friends honestly not sure how anyone can even see them that way. If you compare them to any other friendship on the show there is so much more there. They also know one another and are there for one another in ways no one else is. Buddie already has this epic love story built up it's why so many of us are waiting for them to reach that next level of their relationship.

Buddie would also be groundbreaking in their own way if they make it a canon ship. We have never really had a slow burn queer romance especially not with two men figuring out their sexuality later in life like this and on a primetime show. It's also not just about Buck and Eddie it's about Christopher too. We've watched Buck and Eddie basically co-parenting together for six years. It would be so amazing and important to have Buck actually recognized as Chris' other dad.

I just don't get how you can watch these men loving and supporting and fighting for one another over six long years and then trash their relationship because one of them kissed someone else and call this new guy basically his soulmate. We don't even really know T*mmy or how a relationship with him and Buck might work out because they're not even in one they're just dating.

I don't get anyone who can't see how Buddie being canon could literally change how queer ships are written in the future. We deserve to have our ships written with the same passion and care as straight ships have been. Also don't say you love Buck and then say you want his endgame love to be some guy you don't even really know. He deserves an amazing love story like the other characters have had on the show. He deserves Eddie who has fought and screamed and chosen him time and time again. Who has literally made Buck Chris' other dad, even put it down legally in writing for all intents and purposes because that's how much Eddie trusts Buck and how much he means to him.

I know the show runners/writers don't let fandom stuff influence all the decisions they make but it has some sway because I fully believe our love for Buddie has helped push things to where they are now. It does seem there is a plan already in place for Buddie to be canon but things can always change in shows I mean Tim said he was still writing and filming episodes. All I know is if the more vocal Buck/T*mmy (endgame) shippers do anything to help derail Buddie happening I'll never forgive you. I'm sure I sound ridiculously dramatic here but this isn't just about me not getting to see a fictional ship. Buddie going canon and Eddie coming out mean so much more and I'm sorry some of you can't see that.

#buddie #911!

[docholligay]

Really I think the most stupid grim dark bullshit of show Red Wedding vs book Red Wedding is no one in the show universe CARED. In the books it was a massive thing, with the perpetrators immediately losing allies and finding themselves beset from all sides because it was considered so horrible in universe. In the show it’s just considered a brilliant tactic with no negative representations. Not even the Northerners who had their families slaughtered care.

Yeah, the show is so wrong on so many levels. And, there are plenty of things to complain about in the books, so I'm not sure why the showrunners thought there was ever a need to make it worse.

I actually ragequit the show very very very early on, when they had Drogo rape Dany on their wedding night. I said to myself, "Holligay, these motherfuckers fundamentally misunderstand these books. Let's don't continue." It's such a fundamental thing! The only reason Dany feels like she can access any power at all is that, for the first time in her FUCKING LIFE, someone listens when she says no. It is such an amazing and wold-shaking moment for her. And it immediately lets us know that for all the things we might have thought about the Dothraki, they are more 'civilized' than the culture she came from. I mean it's all very 90s hamfisted shit, but whatever, that's still more than some fantasy that is still enjoyed today.

And yes! The Red Wedding in the books is A) not all that shocking, and B) is an IMMEDIATE PROBLEM for the Lannisters. The whole point being made with them is that there IS a line, even in this world, and they repeatedly cross it, which the showrunners think is very sexy and cool of them in a way that is fun when I'm talking to a fellow fan but annoying when it's people helming a huge budget adaptation of a series they don't seem to fundamentally like or understand.

Like having Jaime rape Cersei in the cavern? HAVING TWINS FUCKING NEXT TO THE CORPSE OF THEIR DEAD SON WAS NOT FUCKED UP ENOUGH FOR YOU ARE YOU KIDDING MEEEEEEEE?

I loved the series when I was in junior high, it was exactly what I was looking for when I was falling out of my affections for fantasy. I even read the fourth book despite not really being a fantasy reader by that point. I maintain that if Martin had finished the series in a timely fashion he would be remembered as having written a fantastic and influential series but now everything is fucked up by the TV show and I do not in any way blame martin for taking the money and kicking back because BITCH SO WOULD I but damn.

[bitter-rabbitholes]

Soma and Whitewashing in Anime:

Avoiding "Brown"

Here is an image of Soma comparing his skin tone from the first season of Black Butler and the current season airing now. As you can see, Soma's skin is noticeably lighter than it was in the past. I considered the lighting and took shade from his hand that looks relatively mid tone. However, that's not really a fair excuse if the anime continues to lighten Soma's face this way.

I also compared his skintone from the Book of Circus season which is relatively more recent, and chose images where he's clearly in good lighting. Soma is still noticeably lighter this time around.

Whitewashing is an incredibly common phenomenon that been happening a lot lately in anime, especially with reboots. A great example I can think of off the top of my head is One Piece where they lightened nearly everyone's skin color in the anime, despite some of the cast being characters of color?

(^^^this character is canonly black according to Oda, the mangaka.)

"Oh but Oda gives Usopp pale skin in all his color illustrations"

One, he should know better. Two, if Oda said Usopp would be African in real life, and chose a brown, Jamaican-american actor to play him, then yes, they have been ridiculously disrespectful in how they've been portraying the character's racial features so far.

In that sense, it's actually relief that anime studios in the past weren't afraid of giving their characters darker skin unlike mangakas who were terrified of even the lighest shade of brown.

For instance, I am happy that A-1 studios made Soma, Agni, and Mina, who are all the same race, slightly differ in skin tone. Mina's skin is cooler toned compared to Soma and Agni's warmer hues.

HOWEVER, and other fans pointed this out, Soma and Agni's skin leaned so far from being golden brown to straight yellow in many scenes, that they were walking around like they have jaundice which is so... Of course A-1 studios found some way to mess it up ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Another thing, do you guys honestly think being accurate to Yana's art style is always the best thing to do in adaptions? Angela Blanc, the secret villain in the anime original first season, pretends to be an abused maid and gets whipped in her very first scene. And according to Yana's concept sketches, she was originally brown. I'm actually glad the anime whitewashed her in that instance.

I'd like to point out, Sebastian's skin tone has also changed in the new season, and he's noticeably tanner than his previous anime appearances and yana's illustrations. So why is this okay for the anime to make creative changes for sebastian's skin tone, but have to stay accurate for Soma? (whose dark skin been established in anime viewers' eyes for decades now).

To be fair, I did a comparison of the anime grayscaled and Soma in the manga during the Weston arc. I checked the values and while I will say that his skin is relatively in the same as the manga, only few degrees lighter, whitewashing isn't only about skintone.

Colourism in Features

We could argue whether its just different anime styles or the way Yana draws noses, but its not a great look for Soma's nose to be made noticeably sharper compared to his flatter/rounder nose in the manga/earlier seasons of the anime.

Talking about the Mandela effect and cognitive dissonance as well... there's also something about how manga readers seen Soma with brown skin and pure black hair years in the manga, only for the anime to lighten those features.

It doesn't help that Soma canonly has purple hair and yellow eyes (if anything, I do appreciate the more natural tones they gave Soma this season. No more highly saturated purple hair/yellow eyes and skin!)

Yes, Kuroshitsuji is a fantasy story, and YES artists of color like to play with fantasy features with characters, me included! But my point is that black/brown representation in media is so little already, character artists are also averse to drawing any defining racial features.

Yana has designed brown-skinned characters in the anime with straight white hair and light-colored eyes about three times now (ie. Agni, Angela, and Hannah). The only Indians with dark skin and hair are a bunch of homeless thugs that Soma and Agni stop from mugging Ciel, proving they're "one of the good ones", and Mina whose treatment in the manga/anime is abysmal.

Discussing Racism in Fandom

Alright, so over the past few days, I've seen some fans disappointed with Soma's skin tone change and I hope my post illustrates why they would be. But I've also seen some angry and frustrated reactions to those fans! And I want to ask, why?

Why is fans bringing up racism in anime considered "discourse" but reacting harshly towards those fans is not?

Why would fans expressing disappointment about whitewashing gets you more angry than the whitewashing itself?

Why is being disappointed that an anime lightened a character's skin tone, a character who both anime-only watchers and manga readers alike saw as dark-skinned, stupid to you?

How come the fandom gets a good laugh out of the usage of "fag" potentially canceling the anime, but talking about race is a "risk" to getting a new season?

And if you disagree with my points and believe the anime is only being accurate to Yana's work, why not just say "Soma's skintone is more accurate to Yana's color illustrations, but I understand the disappointment and shock," without being condescending towards us for being concerned in the first place?

I'd be pretty happy if the anime was just using intense lighting and that Soma is darker than he appears (in fact, if that happens I'll reblog the good news to this post!) Because this post isn't "discourse" to me, I'm discussing race regarding one of my favorite characters in the fandom. Discussions like these don't ruin the fandom, but actually help it become a more welcoming place for fans of color.

#breaking out the caps for this #i really do feel spoiled by manga edits of soma #that give him dark brown skin i imagine him having #only to return to yana's art of him like oh... :') #some of yana illustrations of soma is just inconsistent anyway so im used to it #like he'll go from midtone to white... eh #also one piece fans you have my condolences #this recent season hoo boy #anyway im not even 'that' bothered by the change - its so typical at this point #but i just dont want anger towards fans of color to take root in this fandom #just because they want to discuss race #kuro #kuroshitsuji #soma asman kadar #weston arc #public school arc #b.txt #racism #whitewashing

[boyquiet]

i think that we need to get over the narrative that you can’t have gay villains because that’s a harmful stereotype because there’s a huge difference between “this character is gay and a bad person” and “this character was written specifically to equate being gay and being evil/depraved/degenerate”. it’s just such a narrow minded view of fiction that leads to people afraid to write queer characters as anything less than morally perfect and then to a bunch of palatable but bland and boring queer characters that are arguably worse representation than a gay villain because they are not allowed to do anything wrong. while it is important to write all types of gay characters a work isn’t instantly “problematic” because the villain is queer and the hero isn’t. I think this is also related to the idea of subtext vs text in gay media and how I see a lot of people get mad bc the homoerotic subtext isn’t made canon without considering the context of it at all—sometimes creators make artistic decisions for reasons other than that they didn’t want the gay people to kiss because they’re homophobic. well written queer subtext can be better than a canon gay couple with no personality or relevance and a queer villain can be a better queer character than a gay hero because the characters in-universe morality isn’t inherently tied to how much care they are written with and the quality of “queer representation” isn’t determined by the amount of times they kiss on screen.

#mainly this is brought on by mgs discourse surrounding vamp and volgin and ocelot #I was telling a friend who isn’t into mgs about how ocelot is gay and a sadist and they asked if there were any good gay characters in mgs #and I was like um well no one is really a good character in this series. but yeah I guess #and they said ‘then the game is redeemed’ #that was pretty disappointing to me im not making a callout for my friend or anything but like. you cant judge a work on its rep #by weighing the number of ‘good’ and ‘bad’ queer characters mathematically #it’s shallow and reductive both to queer rep and the concept of gray morality #never mind that ocelot is one of the most important well written and beloved characters in the franchise. hes gay and evil so that must #make him a derogatory stereotype and ‘bad representation’ #anyway I think ocelot should torture and kill more people for fun #queer #lgbtq

[rythyme]

really not a fan of boston very explicitly saying "I want to be exclusive romantically but not sexually" only to be told "You're lying to yourself. I think you should be alone."

#like... p'jojo. you gave us 3wbf??? what's going on bud #only friends the series #ofts #am i misinterpreting boston? did I miss something? is this just a poorly executed representation of something else entirely?? #idk this really just did not sit well with me #i love pretty much everything else in this show so i'm disappointed that this was the last thing we got #bc I've been saying this the whole time!! boston DOES want a romantic relationship and he's spent the whole show coming to terms with that #he really does love nick #and he wants romantic exclusivity (see: Boston getting upset and jealous when Nick is with other people) #but physical stuff doesn't need to have the same exclusiveness for him and that's literally fine #idk i just wish that last conversation had been written slightly differently. a couple different wordings could have fixed it all for me #like if Nick had SAID ''i can't do a non-exclusive relationship but i hope you find someone someday who wants that with you'' #that would have been fine #not ''i think you should be alone'' #idk. just really sat wrong with me #lgbt drama #thai drama #theo.txt #100

[whitehairedanimeboyfriend]

I feel like even in trans positive spaces trans men are seen as less authentic than trans women, because we supposedly have something to gain by transitioning or wanting to be men. (social power.) It's reflective of how we look at historical people that by today's standards we would see as trans men (Joan of Arc) or fictional characters that live as men while secretly being women. (Naoto from Persona, Sheik from Zelda.) And this is going to be an uphill battle until we get rid of gender essentialism in our spaces completely.

#transandrophobia #thinking of a post that was talking about how all fictional femboys in anime are actually trans women and if you dont acknowledge that #then youre a transmisogynist and or chaser #but if the same was said about tomboys and masc crossdressers then there would be so much whinging about representation for women #and something something delusional cringe headcanons #if i say sheik is trans thats my headcanon #but if i don't see pre-strive bridget as intended to be trans then im a transmisogynist #bridget tbh is a bizarre case #because pre-strive their experiences (being forced to live female when they saw themselves as a man) #was more akin to a transgender man #theres an elden ring character with a similar backstory #where he was forced to present as female because the cult he was apart of and raised in was female only #because the people who create these characters are cis they dont really understand what makes a person transgender #so you get weird shit like this that doesnt make any sense #er not elden ring but its one of those games

[3amclothesmonster]

Hey people who stereotype what people are like based on their looks fuck you y'all are dicks.

#Writing this through sobs cause a kid asked who was fasting for Ramadan and I said me and he said “You don't look Muslim don't lie” #Fuck you cause 1 nobody really sees my hair (I don't wear a hijab due to discrimination and also I cannot find nor make one) #And your friend who's Islam doesn't wear one so fuck you #Shoutout to Z though 🙏🏽🙏🏽 #Yes. I know my pfp and Sona have their hair out but that's still not an accurate representation of me myself</3 #Dysphoria and all that

[clumsycapitolunicorn]

it's been nearly 6 months since the ted lasso finale and im still pretty much:

#ted lasso #messing with us tedbecca shippers and giving rebecca some rando...ruining a canon ship...trying to girl boss a character- #-who you didn't even let have her own work plot when it was time... #making two men who had a beautiful relationship growth fight last minute over said girlboss and making them grossly misogynistic #leaving one of your characters in an ab*s*ve relationship was an awful woman and all the mentioned ab*s*ve moments were- #-just for sh*ts and giggles #ohhh and also making it mandatory to forgive even the sh*tty people when it's ok not to #taking your lead away from a place he was most stable and maybe or maybe not having him get back with his ex who told him he was too much.. #-got with their therapist (and you never dig deep into that mess) and maybe cheated... #yes to be with his son but there were options for him to stay in london and bring his kid and ex so they could both parent or show a- #representation of these kind of situations and maybe have henry living with each parent 6 months each and getting the best of both worlds #also your boss is more rich than she started and was providing for you your kid and ex #instead we get ted only deciding to leave after his mother told him his kid missed him (as if that isn't obvious) such a weak way to go- #-about it and tbh ted leaving his kid far away to go to london instead of like half an hour way is kind of stupid all round really #they wanted a mary poppins situation except mary poppins made some roots of her own and had connections so it didn'twork #yeah i am still...feeling a lot

[therealamperssand]

How to write a character with autism: do your research so well that you discover that you are autistic while creating the character

#abed is best boi #and I stand by that #he's treated really poorly sometimes #(fuck you buzz hickey) #but he is AMAZING representation #abed nadir #community nbc #amperssand rambles #dan harmon #also the show uses the term Asperger's but it is acknowledged as stupid #and said by the second dickiest character

[p4nishers]

diversity wins! your captors are a married gay couple!

#yes this is about sandman #neil was hilarious for that he really said 'you get PLENTY representation of evil gays dont worry' and present us with them. the corinthian #desire. dream etc etc #LOVE him for that #seriously im his biggest fan i buy his books everytime im in a bookshop not even reading the title or anything #yes I KNOW im putting all my love and faith in a white MAN ugh but im willing to take the risks #also fuck alex bow we're at it #idc if he was being logically he irritates tf out of me #the sandman #dream of the endless #neil gaiman #the sandman netflix #gay #im going to sleep wake me up if neil sees this

[faggyangel]

okay i get it but i also think its important to acknowledge that there is a difference between knowing from an audience standpoint that a character should be queer VS it firmly being acknowledged verbally within the narrative as a solid aspect of that character's identity irrefutably

#this reminds me of keeley jones from ted lasso like i get it shes “always” been bisexual but its so hard to tell if the writer is being #sincere in their representation or not #people joke about queerness bc haha lol look a gay person or look hot super model slept with woman #in keeley's case it was literally a joke intended to shock rebecca like that is not confirmation that is a joke the writer is making #it needs to be said or expressed in a way that is outside of a throwaway haha gotcha joke #the doctor has been kissed by men and kissed men in moments of celebration and theyve been laughed off #hes made comments that the audience is SUPPOSED TO think are jokes. queer audiences just see past that and straight audiences dont #its important that it was not only said but talked about even if it was in passing. it wasnt a punchline or the set up for a joke #donna comments that a man is hot > the doctor agrees enthusiastically that the man was really hot > #they both acknowledge the doctors attraction to men and his openness about it > donna says it was always obvious #its not about creating his queerness its always been there its about finally being in a place to say it out loud #from a narrative standpoint you could say now he's the kind of person who talks openly about his attraction and feelings #from an audience standpoint i hope we can acknowledge that its bc they couldnt outright say he was bisexual/lesbian/queer/trans/nombinary #now they can #thats the difference i think #doctor who

[arcaneyouth]

being a singlet who is very supportive of systems and has been for a long time makes some experiences really wild because like. ok so i experienced semi good rep of DID when i was very young. i read a brand new story by one of my favorite authors about a character with DID. the story started with the author saying it was likely not perfect representation and it's very important to listen to people with DID and not let his story overtake theirs. i had asked my mom about it and she said this was a real thing people experienced, but it probably wasn't super accurate in the story because the guy writing it didn't have DID. this was my first experience with DID. my takeaway from it was "oh that's neat! sometimes one person is actually lots of people and that's normal!" and then i moved on.

so like. genuinely growing up and realizing the world is super weird about people with DID was like a brick in the face ALIUSDHALSIUDh what do you mean. what do you mean you think these people are weird. i thought we all agreed they were normal. and i STILL experience that even now knowing more than i did before, i may have only had 1 experience with DID as a kid but that was enough to completely normalize it for me, i don't know how you can't just be normal about systems they are literally just sitting there we all know this (<- we apparently don't all know this)

#something to be said about how even flawed attempts at representation can do good #i don't think the story ever got finished but the one short snippet i had that was done in a respectful light #that was all it took for me. that was it #looking back on it it really wasn't an accurate depiction of DID. not at all. but it was kind #and my mom (who as far as i know doesn't have any kind of personal experience with DID) also told me to be kind #and both of them told me systems were very normal and we should listen and be kind to them #and it was enough that the thought of being unkind was so fucking foreign to teenage me actually learning more about DID and meeting people #who have DID that i was surprised by it #to any systems reading this i know i'm not the only person who was taught to be kind to you #there's space out there for you and people who very earnestly try even if they get it wrong sometimes #people like this author who clearly did the best research he could at the time #and people like my mom who didn't really know a lot but still thought it was important to introduce me to it so i knew to be kind #peace and love and all that

[riorangedeezguts]

hey rio what are your pronouns

"Pronouns, you say, bastard? You mean those made up thingies used by the left to push their pointless political agendas and Big Pharma? Those hormones aren't gonna sell themselves, y'know!"

It's comical to Rio just how unamused you look from that response alone. He lets the silence linger a little longer for maximum effect before changing stances entirely.

"...Kidding, kidding! I know what a goddamn pronoun is, I wasn't born yesterday! I mean, do I look like that oaf Q-taro?"

With that, the mental image of Q-taro digging wax (and potentially what little brain matter he has) out of his ear with a pinkie finger comes to mind, and Rio almost snorts to himself before deciding to move on.

"Keep staring at me like that, and I'll have to forcefully change your pronouns to fuck/you!" He threatens, though it sounded better in his head than it did out loud. Whatever, you want to know his pronouns, right? If you really care that much, you'll disregard his blunder and listen up. "My pronouns, yeah?" He asks. "Eh... honestly, I can't be bothered with all that junk."

Humans are all so predictable to him when it comes to all things immoral and offensive, which he just so happens to be both. At least that combo makes getting under their skin a piece of cake for him, but as the most human of his dad's dolls, it means he's prone to this flaw too.

That's the only reason he gives a morsel of a shit about any of this, right?

"People are alllllll soooo sensitive these days. So what if I'm a guy wearing a skirt?" Suddenly, he throws his hands up in the air, his expression cards falling all around him like confetti. "WHOOPDIEDOO! Why don't you grow a pair and put one on yourself, bastard! Don't tell me you're such a pussy that a piece of cloth is giving you the heebie jeebies! Come on, tuck like a man!"

(sorry for the 10 billion tags in this one btw, just wanted to clarify my thoughts and hcs there for anyone interested ^^)

#rio ranger #toto noel #yttd ranger #yttd #your turn to die #kimi ga shine #kgs #I do indeed think Rio would technically be some form of genderfluid #but just doesn't care enough to give it a label or to care if anyone uses a variety of pronouns for him or not #that being said I think I'll just stick to he/him on this blog unless an ask specifically asks otherwise #just for convenience y'know #and before any of you guys jump me just know I'm genderfluid myself lmao #so I'm not trying to censor anything #I just think it might be easier for new comers of the blog if I use the pronouns the game uses for Rio if that makes sense #gotta love genderfluid Rio tho thats my guy!!! my gal!!! I love self-made representation! #oh and abt that transphobic comment he makes to Alice before the bath scene #I really feel like that fits the whole “can't be botheted” nature in which Rio approaches his own gender too lmao