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oklotea · 7 months

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MY FAVORITE TINTIN SIDE CHARACTERS

ARRGRGWHDHEH I'M VERY VERY PROUD OF THIS I'M NGL!!!!!!! I LOVE THE WAY I COLORED THE CHARACTERS, I LOVE THE POSES I DREW THEM IN, I MADE SOME DECENT COMPOSITION IN THIS ONE!!!! HATE THE EDITING I DID I FUCKING SUCK AT EDITING

Anyway, I'm going to ramble about these guys and you can't leave until I'm done ok? Ok.

First of all, MY BOY MY SON MY PERSONAL LITTLE DEMON, ABDULLAH!!!!!!! he is very endearing to me!!! But I really do wish we could've seen more of him!!!! He looks mischievous enough to sneak on adventures along with the marlinspike crew himself for shits and giggles!!!!! HIM AND HIS DAD'S DYNAMIC IN LAND OF BLACK GOLD IS MY FAVORITE IT MAKES ME SO GIDDY AND HAPPY. like no matter how obnoxious and annoying Abdullah's pranks can become, his dad will forever love him unconditionally. MY FAVORITE DYNAMIC. I MISS THEM SO MUCH.

A little note, even though a lot of poc representation in tintin is pretty influenced by the stereotypes of the time, and a bit of orientalism, tintin and the land of black gold is also the first time in my childhood where the words "assalamualaikum" Was muttered in any piece of animated media. It definitely wasn't perfect, but that was important to me as a Muslim child. Maybe that's why Abdullah and his dad hold a special place in my heart!

Next up we've got ARREGEHFHFHHGHJ!!!!!!! CHANG!!!!!!! MY FRIEND FROM SCHOOL WHO HELPED END A CRIME RING IN SHANGHAI!!!!!!! I adore him and his personality so much!!!! HE WAS ONE OF MY FAVORITE CHARACTERS AS A KID AND HE STILL IS TODAY WHEN I REWATCH BLUE LOTUS!!!!!!!! The way that the moment he was saved by Tintin in that flood he pledged his undying loyalty to Tintin will never not be sweet to me. HE IS SO TALENTED AND CUNNING, HE SAVED TINTIN FROM CERTAIN DOOM MULTIPLE TIMES IN THE LITTLE TIME THEY'VE SPENT TOGETHER, AND IN TINTIN IN TIBET, TINTIN SAVES HIM ONCE AGAIN (Tintin in tibet is also a very memorable and special episode for me) AND JUST-- ARGEHDBEHF I CAN CONTINUE ON AND ON ABOUT HOW CHANG SHOULDVE BEEN INCLUDED IN MORE ADVENTURES!!!!! actually Tintin has TONS OF CHARACTERS who should have been given more important roles in a lot of different stories!!!! Idk maybe that's just a wish that will never be fulfilled.... Still I can dream!

And last but DEFINITELY not least... THE MILANESE NIGHTINGALE HERSELF, BIANCA CASTAFIORE!!!!!!!!!!!! AGHHDHEHFHJDHV MY GORGEOUS MY BEAUTIFUL MY LOVE MY EVERYTHING I MISS HER SO MUCH

SHE WAS A HIGHLIGHT FOR ME!!!!!! AND SHE IS VERY UNDERRATED!!!! I love seeing how much she treasures her friends, how she's so dramatic about everything, how she has such an unapologetically loud and large presence and personality everywhere she goes, how she is genuinely passionate about her singing and her art, how she clearly knows her worth and won't settle for less from anyone.

Every time she was on screen she always made me feel very happy and warm inside, also I really like her voice!!!!!

AND HER DESIGN!!!!! ARRRGHWHFHH HER DESIGN!!!

I'm ngl, she was the hardest for me to draw. But at the end I'm quite satisfied with the results!!!!

She would be such an amazing friend. SHE'S ALWAYS BRINGING GIFTS AND BEING CONSIDERATE WITH HER FRIENDS, AND SHE WOULD NEVER HIDE JUST HOW MUCH PEOPLE MEAN TO HER

PLEEEEASEEEE CASTAFIORE I MISS YOU SO MUCH GIRLFRIEND COME BACK TO ME-

Anyway, the last picture is how I'd imagine Chang and Castafiore's first meeting would go. She as always, acts as sweet and polite and extra af as she always does, let's Chang know that Tintin's talked a lot about him! And then she would bring out some biscuits and pastries she bought as a gift for everyone, and then she and Chang would sit together while eating, and they get along really well, CHANG HAS A WICKED SENSE OF HUMOR THAT CASTAFIORE CAN'T GET ENOUGH OF, (haddock would be completely dumbfounded with how good at talking to Castafiore Chang is, and how anyone could talk to her for so long) but little did haddock know, in their conversations, Castafiore does a whole lot more listening than speaking, especially when Chang starts to tell his back story, and all the things that have happened to him and Tintin. After Chang ends his story, he looks up at her after a while of being lost in his story, and mascara is dripping down her face silently, her mouth is agape, and for a few moments couldn't say anything.

Suddenly she burst out loud, pulled Chang into a hug, and sobs after listening to the horrors this sweet kid has gone through.

In over a few hours she seems to have grown a strong attachment to this kid, she'll probably send a package filled with gifts a few months later, along with a long letter talking about what she's been up to and her wishes that Chang will succeed with anything he's currently busy with, and that he shall take care of himself well.

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the small character appreciation I was able to share for some obscure/underrated characters! And that they will occupy your mind just for a little while. I love these three so much, tintin shaped me as a person, tintin made my childhood, I hope you have a great day.

Click for better quality!!!!!!

#bianca castafiore #chang chong chen #tchang tchong tchen #chang #abdullah #prince abdullah #the adventures of tintin #adventures of tintin #tea art 🎨#oklo makes a post

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thstarsofsilver · 8 months

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the cancellation of 'how i met your father' is actually a much greater loss for television than i'm sure most people are going to give it credit for.

for starters, this show marked a big part of bringing back longer-format sitcoms, where seasons lasted 24 episodes and the idea was to follow the characters through several years of their lives, marking major life milestones, etc. it leaned into the comedy, both physical and witty, and allowed its audience the pleasure of following an assorted group of random but very close friends through shenanigans. it had the simple joy of good old fun.

it also seemed like a great example of very casual but genuine representation & diversity. one thing i loved about the show was how there was poc representation & lgbtq+ representation, but that wasn't the only thing those characters were there for. sid was a south asian man, but it didn't define him - even without that he would've been a fleshed out and interesting character. ellen was an east asian lesbian, and the same applied for her. in fact, her journey of self-love was an important part of her story, and yet it was not at all related to either aspect of her identity. (i know they weren't the only examples, but you get it.)

minorities were allowed to exist as humans, without existing only as minorities, which is a box many shows put their characters in, and it was nice to see it done well for a change. yes, it could have had even more diversity, but the point very much still stands, including in the fact that we never saw sophie's son because he could have been any race (a welcomed progression from the characteristic 00s all-white himym cast).

i know lots of people gave the 1st season a shot and didn't come back for the 2nd, because they found it forced and cringey and various other things.

but in s2 the writing and characters found their feet - the jokes were funnier, the stories were more enjoyable, the characters were more lovable, and it was clear that with time the show had grown into itself.

and it's a shame, for himyf, its fans & the sitcom genre as a whole, that this show will never be allowed any more time, never be afforded the opportunity, to keep growing, and conclude all those stories they set up.

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satoru-is-the-way · 1 year

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Ok well, then it's my turn. I started fanfiction back in 2012. I have been in this business and see the good and bad sides of fandoms and their writers. Normally I would reblog someone's post, or comment on my support, but very rarely do I write a post addressing problems. So where to start? How about I introduce myself?

While I rather keep my irl name hidden for privacy reasons I can disclose this. I am a 21-year-old Guatemalan, Mayan, woman, and bisexual.

When Tenoch Huerta came into rumor as playing Namor I was over the moon to see an actual dark skin man that I could see myself in. (Maybe literally since we are the same shade. 🤣). I wrote a post of why this representation would mean a lot. Not to downplay other actors in Marvel but someone I could understand. That I could stand by.

Then Namor came rising out of the water and Marvel changed his entire background to my culture, my people, and it was beautiful. I cried because since I got into the MCU starting when I watched Iron Man 2008 when I was 7 in the movies front row seat and neck cramping. I dreaming of seeing myself on the big screen.

Not as a villain, an illegal immigrant, a cartel member, the help, someone who is made fun of, or a criminal. The list sadly can go on. I wanted to see someone like me to be fighting alongside the heroes.

But I never did. I never could see the MCU that I loved and supported create a hero that could represent me, me my people.

And finally in 2022 at 21 I finally have one. .

He had been mocked, body shamed, and straightforward people are being racist towards Tenoch Huerta and the other amazing actors who play the Talokanil's.

I cried watching this movie seeing Talokan, I cried seeing my people enslaved by the the Spaniards. Who forced their beliefs, their language, and their wants on us. I cried seeing Namor who is a hero to me. Because if how he cares for his people. You can have your opinion about him but Marvel and Tenoch has confirmed he us an anti-hero. Because Tenoch said he was tired of people LIKE US being portrayed as the villains.

I have seen how many want to do White Reader x Namor. Who want him to speak Spanish instead of the Mayan language. Who portray him in a predatory way. Do you really think so little of my people? Of who we are?

I want to say from now on all of my Namor x Readers will be for Hispanic, Latino, and Indigenous readers. Or be hinted at them.

This is not to down play any other POC and WOC but for me as a Guatemalan Mayan Woman any ore I only feel comfortable writing (Y/n) // Reader Hispanic, Latino, or Indigenous.

If any of you have problem with this feel free to block me. Unfollow me. Don't read my content. Because now. At this point I'm done.

This is our time to shine. Not anyone else.

#marvel #mcu namor #namor #namor imagine #namor x reader #namor x you #tenoch huerta #tenoch huerta x reader #wakanda por siempre #wakanda forever #talokan

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captain-hen · 1 year

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re. OG vs LS, i never got why lone star was praised for its diversity when the OG show also had a very diverse cast. the only two straight white men on the show are bobby and buck, and unlike owen strand, neither of them got an overwhelming amount of screentime. ngl i would even say that bobby gets less screentime and post s1 he was more of a supporting character than any of the POC on the show.

and i think hen especially is diversity done right. she's a black lesbian, and the show never shies away from the ways that her life has been affected by both of those identities, but it never feels like tokenism. she is skilled, she is competent, she has a wife and a family and friends that love her, she has her own character arcs, and best of all, she is allowed to be deeply flawed and make mistakes without being villainized, which is something that a lot of shows struggle with especially when it comes to minority characters.

i love chimney's growth throughout the seasons, and i also think that copaganda aside, the show did a great job with athena's family dynamics. athena and michael's s1 arc isn't something i've seen very often on TV, especially not with a black family, and i like that they got to explore this complex storyline. unlike w lone star where the diversity comes first and the identity comes second, these characters have always been their own people before they were lumped into a marginalized identity box, and that just isn't how it's done on LS.

^^^ all of this! one of 911's hallmarks is that they write characters making bad and fucked up decisions all the time, but they're never villainized for it, and the characters of color definitely aren't. maybe it's the bare minimum, but it's something you rarely see in an organic way on tv, so 🤷🏽‍♀️ the show has such amazing women at the forefront and shows their struggles in the workplace, with mental health, motherhood and racism (in case of hen and athena). despite this the show is frequently accused of being misogynistic because people gave more importance to white women who were side characters and were ultimately written off because they were never meant to be anything but temporary

while i have some criticisms about how chimney has been written since season 2, the show has undoubtedly done a really good job with his overall growth and equally so in developing his relationships with the firefam. i loved how s5 made it so clear what a hole his absence left in the 118, and that he really is the heart of the firehouse. as for the grant-nash family dynamic, they're one of the best things about the show and i've enjoyed them so much, especially in s3 and s4, and i'm sure it would still be as good if rockmund hadn't left. so, yeah, i mean, all this is just my opinion, but i think tumblr.com attaches way too much importance to some vague idea of ~~representation~~ without sticking around to see if these characters are actually being written well and aren't just used as tokens for the showrunners to pat themselves on the back and call it a day. which is really how LS felt like to me.

#neethu answers #anon #obligatory apology to my mutuals who love LS #anti lone star

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bi-polar-geminii · 10 months

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i don’t mean what i’m saying with malice, however, can you please stop putting all your inbox asks regarding the issue of listener designs on the main tag. i understand you want people to know about this issue (if this is your intention), but all you’re doing is making the artists who draw as a hobby feel bad, and just adding negativity to the main tag. i understand how it feels to not see yourself represented, but that’s where you come in. for those wanting rep, you can either draw it yourself or if you can’t draw it and are so adamant on wanting rep, commission and support an artist! consistently complaining won’t get anything done but draw artists away from the fandom itself and make art we see for these characters we all love become sparse and less.

additionally, listeners, at the end of the day, are us. if an artist is an afab female, chances are that listener will also be an afab female. some artists may not draw pocs not because they just don’t want to, but because they aren’t well-versed in depicting their features and don’t want to do it an injustice. there’s no need to rush to the worst possible and negative explanation. i have never seen myself represented in a single piece of redacted fanart, however i know better than to just nonsensically complain about it — because complaining won’t get anything done (it’ll only do more harm if anything).

thank you for making your points known, and i hope what i’m saying comes across to you as i intended it to

Out of respect, I did remove the unnecessary posts from the tags bc they did clog up the main tag (my bad, but also if its that bothersome, you can literally scroll past it, your not obligated to read everything)

I’m not slamming anyone or shaming people, that was never the intention here. It was to make light on how some artists choose to make characters (not self inserts) white simply bc of mainstream/kinda racist ideas that characters in media can only be portrayed as white to be popular or liked bc of white beauty standards. I want people to reflect and think about that, but I never said ppl *couldn’t* make them white or afab. Im not trying to gatekeep or force people to suddenly get rid of all their white characters just bc i said there isn’t enough representation

Also *I do* have characters for fandom rep, I have lots of them. The only reason why I don’t post them is because they aren’t finished yet. But what’s wrong with having an opinion on something? You have to admit, people wouldn’t be in my inbox telling that *I* have to create the representation needed and that my opinion is hurting everyone’s feelings if I was a white creator. Just think about that

Also im sorry but the whole “some ppl dont draw poc characters cause they dont know how to!” is an argument thats just very fucking tiring to hear. It truly isn’t that hard, like im being serious. There are *a lot* of free recourses out there to learn if your super keen on learning how to draw the different ethnic facial features. But if you wanna create a black/brown person for example, this is what you do; draw the character, make their skin color a darker brown. Congratulations! You’ve made a poc character! Ladies and gentlemen its really not that difficult, if your not willing to challenge yourself on how to draw different types of people or your too scared to- its gonna stunt your growth as an artist

This was the first time I opened up about an opinion I had seeing in this fandom, so idk what you mean by ‘consistently complaining’ when this whole situation has only happened once (for me)

#anon

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crimsoncrim · 1 year

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For the thing -

Reborn : Adrienn

Rejuv : Alexandra

Deso : Nova

hell yea!! ty for ask <3

adrienn

sexuality headcanon: pansexual!

gender headcanon: afab, nonbinary, xe/they/fae! xe/they are canon obvi, but I love headcanoning xem using fae/faer pronouns as well.

a ship I have with said character: two primary ones! I love xem and Arclight a lot (Fairyloudshipping), they're really sweet and make my heart go :) but I've also been growing really fond of Ace/Adrienn as well (Enchantedillusionshipping). nonbinary solidarity but also there are Piles of headcanons-- I think they'd really get along and they're adorable to me.

a BROTP I have with said character: Elias, actually! I'm very fond of his character ending and I think like. a character who's all but lost faith in the city meets a character who is determined to restore xyr faith in the city is v heartwarming to me.

a NOTP I have with said character: LORD. um. really getting put through the ringer with these rn, I don't really have one 😭 I enjoy both of the ships I have with xem v dearly. also nonbinary representation in relationships always makes me really happy as nb characters tend to be forgotten in relationships.

a random headcanon: xyr friends conspire to carry them away from work to rest when they're overworking themself. Arc and Ace co-conspire to surprise them by teleporting them to places that they'd enjoy but don't necessarily have the time to get away to so they can get there and back quickly when xe can only get away from work for a few minutes.

general opinion over said character: oh the beloved. xe was one of my favorite characters before Ace pitched a tent in my head just because seeing genuine nonbinary representation made me so happy. I love them very dearly.

---

alexandra

sexuality headcanon: bisexual, female lean!

gender headcanon: afab, cis, she/they

a ship I have with said character: I like her and Karen as a ship although I don't know a ton about them after seeing all your art :> it's very cute!

a BROTP I have with said character: Sashila gang as a whole, tbh-- I think they're all really interesting.

a NOTP I have with said character: explodes and dies. don't know a ton about her enough to answer this, but I'll just say I support it as long as someone's being respectful!

a random headcanon: gives me the vibes that while she might never have much time for it with her job, enjoys drawing and painting. probably desperately needs a hug but enjoys it as a sort of relaxation.

general opinion over said character: honestly I need to know more about her before passing further judgment, hahaha. I love her design though, and poc representation as always makes me really happy. I think she's really pretty and has a really interesting role in the story as of now, and I love how you draw and portray her!

---

nova

sexuality headcanon: bisexual, female lean owo

gender headcanon: she/they icon. afab

a ship I have with said character: therapy, honestly. girl needs it

a BROTP I have with said character: I think she and Rosetta after everything winds down and stops being Everything Is Awful could be gal pals. I'd love to see them hang out and support each other.

a NOTP I have with said character: hard to answer this since Deso isn't done and knowing E6 stuff (since my lips are sealed), but Shiv and Nova I suppose. Shiv is a neat character but they both kind of deserve a healthier relationship.

a random headcanon: has a guilty pleasure for sweet things, including sweet drinks like martinis and margaritas. doesn't like to admit this.

general opinion over said character: not a favorite blorbo or anything (that is reserved for Aaron) but I do care her a lot. her development is really sweet and she's also very Pretty,, I am weak for pretty girls. if high-top tall shoes could kill.

#ask crim #chara opinions #adrienn flores #alexandra rhaela #nova pokemon desolation #pokemon reborn #pokemon rejuvenation #pokemon desolation #<3 ty for ask. love all of them #cerise-moon

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wheel-of-hyperfixation · 2 years

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//stranger things 4 spoilers ahead ig ??

(skip to the bolded part at the end for my point)

so to start, i would like to say i’m a black woman. i’m mixed, dad’s white mum’s black, and i am very much so not white-passing

so maybe it was just a random rumor but back when casting was being done for st4 i remember reading something about how they were looking for a woc for robin’s love interest. i was so beyond excited— i’m black and queer and starved for representation of interracial couples, especially queer ones. the fact that we’ve got max+lucas is wonderful and i really do appreciate them but having only one of your leads be black isn’t being diverse. i get it, it’s middle-of-nowhere indiana but there are other poc background characters seen a lot so why not have more of your new characters be something other than white, especially if they’re going to be a love interest.

when i was a little, i barely saw black people in relationships on tv. we were not being cast as the leads or the love interest; we were in the background or at best the lead’s “quirky” best friend that was really only there to advance the stories of the white characters around us. i can’t even give you one example of an interracial couple i saw in these productions— i think i can count on one hand the ones ive seen in the last 5 years. this next part isn’t the media’s fault: my parents got divorced when i was really little, my dad married a whites woman and my mom went on to date several white guys who never treated her right. seeing the only white+black couple i knew not work out and not seeing that shown as some possibility in media has royally fucked me over.

if the thing i read from casting was just some bs rumor then fine whatever. i adore amy-beth (who was cast for robin’s love interest) and i’m sure as she’s already worked with netflix before she was a good candidate, but why could the casting department not have found a woman of color to fit their roll, because we sure as hell know the poc actresses are out there just not being given even the chance a lot of the time for these rolls.

even with chrissy who we see have this really genuine connection with eddie for a bit. like i get that she mirrors jason in this very old-fashioned, typical popular “varsity sport bf+head cheerleader gf” dynamic. but hey maybe idk let eddie munson go for not the skinny girl with blonde hair and blue eyes.

and so maybe robin’s out for now, but imagine steve moving on from nancy (finally) at the end of next season and we see him nervous and getting help from robin as he gets ready for a date. we see him meeting up for a movie or something and see his date is a black woman rocking a natural fro (it’s the 80s it’s in style it’d fit so well). imagine the absolute power of this natural girl with steve “the hair” harrington— i mean come on pls they could conquer any hair issue in hawkins.

this post got really serious and then kinda light-hearted but genuinely there is still such a lack of poc representation in media. especially for these huge, successful productions that reach so many people, it really is their responsibility to cast more poc, and not just when a character’s race is the center of their character. let black women be the “it girl” in school. let them be the love interest. let them be in relationships with people outside their own race because skin tone should not be defining the people we’re allowed to love.

#st4 #stranger things #poc actors #lgbtq poc

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smokeybrandreviews · 4 months

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Monster Mash

The final episode of Monarch: Legacy of Monsters is in the books and it has been one hell of a ride. This show had no right to be as good as it was. Seriously, Monarch was a solid, refreshing, little entry that squeaked in just before the end of the year and I’m glad it did. Obviously, it’s not highbrow, intellectual fair but it is very well written, with strong characters, great performances, outstanding effects, and a whole ass realized world. I have my issues, of course. Off the top, I don’t like any of the original monsters being introduced by the Monsterverse. These things suck balls, every last one of them. Admittedly, this is an overall Monsterverse thing, not just a Monarch show thing. The US is just so uninspired with their kaiju design, always has been. Ren Watabe is kind of awful and doesn’t have the acting ability to carry such an emotionally involved role. Also, this thing just blows open gaping plot holes and raises so many questions about all of the content which came before. I like a lot of the “revelations”, I just wish they were integrated with the established lore better. There’s only a handful of films. You can’t be f*cking up that narrative like this so soon. Those are minor gripes, of course, because Monarch has been a beacon of what streaming originals can be and it has found a pretty broad audience because, and this is kind of the point of this essay, the lead is a lesbian Japanese woman and no one seems to care.

You would be forgiven if you thought this was Kurt and Wyatt Russell’s show, the marketing pushes that narrative strong, but you would be wrong. This show is about the Randa siblings, Cate and Kentaro. The aforementioned disappointment, Ren Watabe plays Kentaro but, in direct contrast to his flaccid performance, Anna Sawai plays his half-sister Cate, and she is the engine that makes this show go. You watch Cate’s character develop, spend so much time with her, learn so much about it. This is HER show and it never she’s away from who she is, which is kind of remarkable because Cate kind of checks every box of diversity bingo. Woman? Yessir. Japanese? You betcha! Lesbian? Check. Overtly carrying romantic feelings for Kiersey Clemons’ bisexual May? Check, again. Also, May is black. Just wanted to throw that in there for reference. Oh, and she basically left Kentaro FOR Cate, too. You’d think having a queer relationship presented front-and-center in the middle of A-spec Goji content would get all the neckbeards in a tizzy, but I haven’t heard a single peep. But the representation doesn’t stop there. The leader of Monarch is a woman. Mari Yamamoto plays the Randa siblings grandmother, Keiko, and she’s also a founding member of Monarch, itself. Michelle Duvall, Sandra Brody’s sister, is this bad ass Monarch operative who goes rouge with Lee Shaw, eventually taking over his band of defectors after the good Colonel goes missing for the second time. This show is riddled with POC, queer, and female representation. By all means, it’s woke as f*ck and no one has said a word. Why? Because it’s f*cking good.

I will dies on this hill, man. There is no such thing as “Go Woke, Go Broke.” There is not Superhero fatigue. The issue is that this stuff is poorly written. Identity politics can encapsulate your entire goddamn narrative, as long as you write it well. Your lead characters can be two, gay ass, men, as long as the character work is there to make those aspects part of who they are, not define them as a whole. I’m speaking, specifically, about The Last of Us. They did that sh*t twice, actually. Nick Offerman’s episode as some of the strongest television I have ever seen in my entire goddamn life. It was beautiful It was tragic. It was inspired f*cking television. That’s how you do representation and identity on television for the wide audience. That’s what Monarch has done with Cate and May. That’s what we need to see more of out of Disney, Lucasfilm, and the MCU. There has to be nuance when developing these characters and stories. They have to feel real, not just performative checkboxes for Xitter clout. You’re always going to have Neckbeards upset that The Force is Female, but don’t feed the trolls with more lazy characters like Rey. Write better ones who line up closer to Ahsoka and Dr. Aphra. Interestingly enough, Chelli is also a queer woman of visibly Asian descent. An just like that, we’ve come full circle! Monarch: Legacy of Monsters is a great show. It’s probably the best thing The Monsterverse has produced to date, and it did so while incorporating a ton of diversity, without alienating the entire audience. That, alone, I think, is worth a watch. And, more to the point, worth the entirety of Hollywood taking note. We need more shows like this, Atlanta, Beef, Reservation Dogs, and The Brothers Sun. It’s not hard to write “Woke” content for the masses, as long as what you write is organic and true to the characters. No one wants to be preached at or pandered to. Monarch towed that line beautifully and every follow it’s example.

#Monarch: Legacy of Heroes #Monsterverse #Godzilla

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smokeybrand · 4 months

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Monster Mash

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uhhbeans · 3 years

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hjbbhhh ALYX,,,,,,

#mack shut the fuck <3 #ok to rb but idk why you would lol #i’m.!!!!( ghdhdjf #i’m a gayass i’m so sorry #but imma just yell for a minute here #she looks kinda like me???? like the eye shape and the skin tone and like #ik it’s a stretch but seeing a character people love with my features makes me feel nice ig #like you never see representation of poc a lot of the time done well and not patronizing and LIKED #and like. there’s this wave of ‘hey! this character looks like me a little and people like her because she’s good! so since i have these #same traits i’m not bad for having them!’ and its way more complicated than that but #growing up Not White and everyone who was Not White around you not having the same features you did #seeing something like her is nice ig.#this is really dumb but essentially u have me a little baby mixed kid seeing someone not villainized with my traits #and when i’m villainized a lot of the time. seeing someone who isn’t who’s like you means a lot #might delete later. might not. you never know !!

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imagine-being-straight · 4 years

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A Message to the TOH Fandom

I’m tired.

I feel like everyone in the fandom can agree that the TOH fandom overall has white favoritism. If you actively deny that we have a problem with white favoritism or are offended that I said this, look at yourself and other people who have been talking about this issue. Really look at yourself and ask why you are offended by what I said. Now back to the TOH fandom’s problem with white favoritism. It’s a huge problem and I don’t think people have realized how bad it’s gotten.

Luz and Amity

Do both of them have amazing content created about them? Yes, but if you look a bit closer to the contents of their contents you’ll see a clear disparity between the two. Luz is more likely to be in Lumity art (which itself isn't a problem), but the problem lies in that she is only there for Amity. Is there still content with her alone and highlighting her character? Of course there is, but for every content that exists for Luz solely, there are at least two others for Amity. Don’t get me wrong I love Amity as much as the next person, but she still is a side character. The Owl House focuses on Eda, King, and Luz mainly. They are the main characters.

When I first joined the TOH fandom, I noticed a lot of Amity focused content. A lot more so than I expected since she is a side character. I understand that a factor in her popularity is her crush on Luz and we’re all really excited for confirmed gay characters, but it doesn’t explain how popular she is. She appears in roughly half of season one’s episodes (I know she technically appears in 11 episodes, but some of her appearances are so minor you can easily forget they happened) compared to Luz being in all 18 episodes. Yes Luz isn’t always the focus of these episodes, but she still changes and develops as a character through most of them.

The reason I’m bringing all of this up is that Amity is white and Luz is a POC. Characters of color in the past have been overlooked and underappreciated in the past, not just in this fandom, but it still happens a lot here. Whether it’s conscious or not, we all have been affected by white favoritism and it is our responsibility to recognize it and change. The Owl House brings more than just gay representation: it brings an Afro-Latina Bisexual protaganist with two major side characters, Willow and Gus, being a mixed Asian-Black character and a Black character. You still think I’m full of shit saying there’s white favoritism in the TOH fandom? Well I’m just getting started here.

Willow, Gus, and Boscha

Boscha herself is an interesting character and I think people see a lot of potential for her character, but the problem is that she overshadows a lot of other characters who are much more important and relevant. Willow is a good example of someone who has been constantly overshadowed by Boscha. Most content I see of Willow is usually Boschlow content (I’m not approving or condemning Boschlow here, this is me just stating some facts) and it’s so unfair to Willow as a character. Willow is more than just Luz’s friend or a quiet girl and more people need to realize that. If you can analyze Boscha’s character in the three episodes she is in, you can do the same thing to Willow, who has been in 14 episodes (three more than Amity). There is no excuse for the lack of Willow content and the abundance of Boscha content.

The same thing can be applied to Gus. Sure he doesn’t get very much screen time, but it is still loads more than Boscha. I have seen barely any content about Gus and the few times I do, he is usually with a group and not alone. No one talks about him and I cannot express how underrated he truly is. If you want some funny content with him, play around with his interest in humans and how he has totally misinterpreted things we know as facts. If you want Gus angst, then write about how young he is and how he could be feeling inadequate despite being smart enough to skip two grades. Amity is seen by the fandom as a whole as being extremely smart, but the fact that Gus skipped two grades, a feat Amity has not done herself, truly showcases how smart Gus really is. It’s not that hard to make Gus content and everyone is just sleeping on him.

The fandom loves to attach itself to Boscha, who may I remind you is white. Willow and Gus, who have way more plot relevance and screen time, are constantly pushed aside for more and more Boscha content. Willow and Gus are beautifully written in the show, but most people overlook it for Boscha, who in the show has been fairly one note so far. If your only argument is that you want to show the background characters some love, then where is the Skara content? Skara has just as much screen time as Boscha, but I’ve seen very little content about her. I guarantee if Boscha was a POC she would have the same level of content as Skara, but since she is white she overshadows literally every other POC supporting character, including those who have had more screen time than her. Don’t even get me started on the Detention Track kids and Emira/Viney. This post is already long enough and I don’t need to make it any longer.

Camilia and Alador/Odelia Blight

Right here is the clearest example of the white favoritism of the TOH fandom. Alador and Odalia Blight have gotten so much content about them and we still haven’t seen their faces. You can easily find so much analysis on them and how their parenting must affect the Blight siblings. You can find so much content about them and we know literally nothing about them other than the fact that they’re abusive. I know Alador is set up to be less abusive than Odalia, but it doesn’t change the fact that he is still abusive to his kids. Whether he approved what was going on or not doesn’t matter because he was still complacent with what was happening.

Now let’s look at Camilia and all her content- oh wait there is basically none for her. All the Camilia content is basically nothing other than CamilEda content (again I’m not trying to bash or approve CamilEda, I’m just trying to state some facts). Camilia did make a mistake in setting Luz to the camp, but that does not make her a bad mother. People need to remember one bad action does not make a bad person. I think Dana herself said that Luz and Camilia do love each other, but they do have their differences, which makes things hard sometimes. Camilia truly does care about Luz and tries her best to do what‘s best for Luz and more people need to recognize it. There is so much untapped potential with Camilia’s character, like how she will react to Luz not coming home or what she will do to try to get Luz back. What if she sees all of the recordings Luz has made for her? How will she react? These are all things we can make content on, yet I see so many people sleeping on it.

Now when you compare how the fandom treats both Camilia and the Blight parents, there’s a clear bias in favor for the Blight parents. The Blight parents are given more attention and content despite having less actual screen time and being actual pieces of garbage. Camilia is shoved to the side despite there being plenty to analyze about her and her relationship with Luz. Camilia is also a good person, which is clearly different to the Blight parents. It’s never been a matter of which parent/child relationship is better because they’re both written very well, but rather the fact that Camilia gets shoved aside every time we talk about parent/child relationships. I mean when you look at it, Camilia and Luz’s relationship with each other is literally the Blight family’s dynamic, except the opposite. The only difference between the two families is that one has POCs and the other is white. And to no one’s surprise, the white family gets more attention and analysis than the POC’s family.

Statistics

If you’re still not convinced here's some cold hard evidence that white characters are more favored than POC characters. I’m going to be using AO3’s (archiveofourown) data on how many works a character is tagged in.

On AO3 at around 6:35 PM EST Oct 3, 2020, The Owl House had 1921 works. As we can see Luz is number one (as she should), Willow is number three, and Gus is number four. They’re ranked fairly high (which was a surprise to me), but when you look at how many works they’re actually in, the white favoritism becomes clear. Amity is tagged in around 1480 works and Willow and Gus each are in 730 and 610 respectively. Willow and Gus are in half the works Amity is. Somehow Willow appears in half the works Amity does even though Willow appears more than Amity in the show. Boscha also has 360 works with her in it, half of what Gus and Willow’s works despite being a very minor character who has appeared only a few times. What's worse is that Edric and Emira are literally 200 to 60 works away from Willow and Gus respectively. Edric and Emira, two white characters who have appeared in literally three episodes, but are tagged in nearly the same number of works as two main POC-supporting characters. Now maybe you’re like “Oh the Blight siblings are only so popular because of Lumity, this data is skewed” so the next picture is of all the characters with all of the romantic relationship tags excluded.

The data shows that the fandom favors the white characters so drastically that there is no excuse or other explanation for it. Lumity being popular doesn’t explain why Amity is still the third most written-about character, even with the Lumity tag being blocked. Quantity of episode appearances doesn't explain why Willow has less content about her because Willow appears in three more episodes than Amity does. The only explanation is white favoritism because the most popular characters are all white (with the exception of Luz, but that’s because she is the main character). Before you tell me “Oh it's because they’re more interesting or they have more potential” actually look and analyze the POC characters because they’re amazingly well written if you actually sit down and analyze them.

Why Calling Out White Favoritism Matters

Now you may be asking: why should I care? Well you should care because the fandom as a whole is literally favoring white characters over POC characters, which is low key racist. It makes people care less about POC characters and actual people which can lead to some internalized racism if not caught early enough. The Owl House tries very hard to highlight their POC characters and actively ignoring or dismissing them is disrespecting the show itself.

I feel like I should make it clear that I’m not shaming anyone who’s favorite character just happens to be white. What I’m doing here is being critical of whether or not a person likes a character because they are white (whether that decision is conscious or not). There is a clear difference between “Oh X is my favorite character, but I recognize the other characters are good in their own ways.” and “Oh I love X and only X. I will only use the other characters to further X’s character and completely ignore everyone else’s complexity”. Please take some time and think about why you like a character and see if you unconsciously love them because they are white. No one is immune to it and even I had to realize I was unconsciously favoring white characters while writing something The Owl House related.

The sad part about all of this is that it needs to be said that racism is bad. It needs to be said that white favoritism is extremely toxic and we should make sure we don’t actively take part or be complacent in it. I know for a fact that other POC have seen this white favoritism, but are too numb to say anything about this because they feel like their voices won’t change anything. The few people who have spoken out haven't been listened too. The fact that I had to step up and make this just to try to get people to listen and I might not even make a difference is so sad to me. The fact that I’m young makes me not numb to the white favoritism. The fact that I dealt with, for the first time, racism at the age of 14, which is extremely late for a POC. The fact that the only reason I can be mad about this is because I dealt with racism so late that I have energy to speak out against this and not be numb to this all. I hate that all of this exists and we all let this happen. We all let this problem fester and now it is now our responsibility to get our priorities straight and change. If we let this problem grow and grow, then in a few years this fandom will be a shell of what it once was.

“We can do this together.” -Luz Noceda

#the owl house #toh #lumity #luz noceda #gus porter #willow park #camilia noceda #amity blight #boscha #edric blight #emira blight #alador blight #odalia blight

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marlmckitten · 2 years

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People need to stop coming after Harry Potter fans just cause it’s trendy to hate Harry Potter because of what jkr has done 20 years later. That doesn’t erase that it is a series that raised an entire generation. Trying to make people feel bad for liking a series when they had no idea about issues that might arise a decade later is ridiculous. Not to mention tons of media creators are awful. That’s the sad truth but right now the one we hear about is jkr. I see so many posts about how awful her writing is and how no one who likes fiction should like her books. Like or or not her books were phenomenal. Her story had the incredible ability to have a single line foreshadow what would happen six books later and no one pick up on it. There are still gems fans find in it. Plus there are the other factors of how many people find happiness over the years in potter puppet pals or avpm or anything else it influenced. And it influenced so much because it was the biggest series to hit literally ever. It is the top selling series of all time. Nothing has impacted an entire generation like Harry Potter has. And no one hates jkr more than Harry Potter fans because it has made us had to hide something that is so important to us because simply liking it makes us racist and transphobic and sexist apparently.

I even saw posts about how hermione has no real contribution and how jk can’t write a female character. Are you kidding me??? Hermione literally saved my life. She was the only strong female heroine a lot of us saw. So many people are forgetting that when these books came out resources were so much more limited. The internet wasn’t what it is today. We didn’t have female representation outside of things like Disney where we saw damsel in distress heroine and that was all. Jkr hid her name in initials because her series would not have sold as well if people knew it was a woman behind it. Do you have any idea how incredibly sad that it!? You can hate her all you want but it does not dismiss what she did for women all over the world with writing hermione how she did.

And the goblins!!! Uggggghhhhh!!! There is no way on earth that young kids reading the series are reading it thinking that it is racist and based off of any archetype. Maybe there are the similarities now, and it is wrong, but it doesn’t make someone racist because at 12 years old they didn’t link a fantasy book with racial propaganda they never would have seen before. I have one friend who always tells me the whole series is awful because the goblins are so obviously writing out of hate for Jewish people. Forgetting that it is not obvious and was not obvious for those of us who grew up reading them. We are expected to still read all the “great American classics” that throw around the N word and speak to horrors of black people having children with white peoples to create an inpure world but that’s okay because????? Because why? How is that better than Harry Potter?

Do they stop to think how many trans people still love Harry Potter? Despite JKR. Once again it is not as if she writes transphobia into the series. There isn’t even evident homophobia in the books. It is wrong but they were released in a time period where it was not very accepted to write LGBT characters. Jkr was already trying to get cancelled by every Christian group out there for having witchcraft! That was bad enough in the 90’s/2000’s. The world was so different 20 years ago. People are forgetting that fact. I am not saying it is okay, because it is not, none of it is. But the facts are facts and 95% of media that was available in the years Harry Potter were released had no or poorly written LGBT characters. And very few female heroines. Not a lot of disabled characters. And most mainstream media was all white except for a few POC per show/movie/book. It sucked. I am so glad gen z has so many options but we did not!!

All this aside I do not think liking something by a problematic creator makes you a bad person. Especially when you did not know at the time of its creation. There are so many awful horrible people in media who continue to be given opportunists. An example that comes to mind is Jared Leto. But you can still be a fan of his and get off the hook. He still is playing a lead role in a Marvel movie that is going to be a huge hit. People like James Charles still have a platform souly due to fans. We still live in a world where Donald Trump was elected into office. Reality shows star people at their worst and they still have fans. In general women are still paid less, inequality is still so rich in this world but you want to waste all your energy on telling an entire generation to give up something that grew up with them and raised them?

Harry Potter made me what I am today. And in the end, it is a story about love and forgiveness. It is about giving second and third chances and never judging a book by it’s colour. It is about love conquering hate and teaching patience and tolerance. It’s far from perfect but it helped countless people. You can’t erase someone’s childhood because 2 decades later the author behind something said intolerant things that the fans do not stand behind. That’s not how it works.

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thevalleyisjolly · 3 years

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Hi there! If you feel up to it, would you be willing to expand a bit more on the idea of white creators creating poc characters who are ‘internally white’, especially in a post-racialized or racism-free setting & how to avoid it? It’s something I’m very concerned about but I haven’t encountered a lot of info about it outside of stories set in real world settings. Thanks & have a good day!

Hey, thanks for asking, anon! It’s a pretty nuanced topic, and different people will have different takes on it. I’ll share my thoughts on it, but do keep in mind that other people of colour may have different thoughts on the matter, and this is by no means definitive! These are things I’ve observed through research, trial and error, my own experiences, or just learning from other writers.

The first thing I guess I want to clarify is that I personally am not opposed to a society without racism in fiction. It’s exhausting and frankly boring when the only stories that characters of colour get are about racism! So it’s a relief sometimes to just get to see characters of colour exist in a story without dealing with racism. That being said, I feel like a lot of the time when creators establish their settings as “post-racial,” they avoid racism but they also avoid race altogether. Not aesthetically -they may have a few or even many characters with dark skin- but the way the characters act and talk and relate to the world are “race-less” (which tends to end up as default white American/British or whatever place the creator comes from). Which I have complicated thoughts on, but the most obvious thing that springs to mind is how such an approach implies (deliberately or not) that racism is all there is to the way POC navigate the world. It’s definitely a significant factor, particularly for POC in Western countries, but it’s not the only thing! There’s so much more to our experiences than just racial discrimination, and it’s a shame that a lot of “post-racial” or “racism-free” settings seem to overlook that in their eagerness to not have racism (or race) in their stories.

A quick go-to question I ask when I look at characters of colour written/played by white creators is: if this was a story or transcript I was reading, with no art or actors or what have you, would I be able to tell that this character is a character of colour? How does the creator signal to the audience that this is a character of colour? A lot of the time, this signal stops after the physical description - “X has dark skin” and then that’s all! (We will not discuss the issue of racial stereotypes in depth, but it should be clear that those are absolutely the wrong way to indicate a character of colour).

This expands to a wider issue of using dark skin as a be-all-end-all indication of diversity, which is what I mean by “aesthetic” characters of colour (I used the term “internally white” originally but upon further reflection, it has some very loaded implications, many of which I’m personally familiar with, so I apologize for the usage). Yes, the character may not “look” white, but how do they interact with the world? Where do they come from? What is their background, their family? A note: this can be challenging with diaspora stories in the real world and people being disconnected (forcibly or otherwise) from their heritage (in which case, those are definitely stories that outsiders should not tell). So let’s look at fantasy. Even the most original writer in the world bases their world building off existing things in the real world. So what cultures are you basing your races off of? If you have a dark skinned character in your fantasy story, what are the real world inspirations and equivalents that you drew from, and how do you acknowledge that in a respectful, non-stereotyped way?

(Gonna quickly digress here and say that there are already so many stories about characters of colour disconnected from their heritage because ‘They didn’t grow up around other people from that culture’ or ‘They moved somewhere else and grew up in that dominant culture’ or ‘It just wasn’t important to them growing up’ and so on. These are valid stories, and important to many people! But when told by (usually) white creators, they’re also used, intentionally or not, as a sort of cop-out to avoid having to research or think about the character’s ethnicity and how that influences who they are. So another point of advice: avoid always situating characters outside of their heritage. Once or twice explored with enough nuance and it can be an interesting narrative, all the time and it starts being a problem)

Another thing I want to clarify at this point is that it’s a contentious issue about whether creators should tell stories that aren’t theirs, and different people will have different opinions. For me personally, I definitely don’t think it’s inherently bad for creators to have diverse characters in their work, and no creator can live every experience there is. That being said, there are caveats for how such characters are handled. For me personally, I follow a few rules of thumb which are:

Is this story one that is appropriate for this creator to tell? Some experiences are unique and lived with a meaningful or complex history and context behind them and the people to whom those experiences belong do not want outsiders to tell those stories.

To what extent is the creator telling this story? Is it something mentioned as part of the narrative but not significantly explored or developed upon? Does it form a core part of the story or character? There are some stories that translate across cultures and it’s (tentatively) ok to explore more in depth, like immigration or intergenerational differences. There are some stories that don’t, and shouldn’t be explored in detail (or even at all) by people outside those cultures.

How is the creator approaching this story and the people who live it? To what extent have they done their research? What discussions have they had with sensitivity consultants/readers? What kind of respect are they bringing to their work? Do they default to stereotypes and folk knowledge when they reach the limits of their research? How do they respond to feedback or criticism when audiences point things that they will inevitably get wrong?

Going back to the “race-less” point, I think that creators need to be careful that they’re (respectfully) portraying characters of colour as obvious persons of colour. With a very definite ‘no’ on stereotyping, of course, so that’s where the research comes in (which should comprise of more than a ten minute Google search). If your setting is in the real world, what is the background your character comes from and how might that influence the way they act or talk or see the world? If your setting is in a fantasy world, same question! Obviously, avoid depicting things which are closed/exclusive to that culture (such as religious beliefs, practices, etc) and again, avoid stereotyping (which I cannot stress enough), but think about how characters might live their lives and experience the world differently based on the culture or the background they come from.

As an example of a POC character written/played well by a white person, I personally like Jackson Wei and Cindy Wong from Dimension 20’s The Unsleeping City, an urban fantasy D&D campaign. Jackson and Cindy are NPCs played by the DM, Brennan Lee Mulligan, who did a good job acknowledging their ethnicity without resorting to stereotypes and while giving them their own unique characters and personalities. The first time he acted as Cindy, I leapt up from my chair because she was exactly like so many old Chinese aunties and grandmothers I’ve met. The way Jackson and Cindy speak and act and think is very Chinese (without being stereotyped), but at the same time, there’s more to their characters than being Chinese, they have unique and important roles in the story that have nothing to do with their ethnicity. So it’s obvious that they’re people of colour, that they’re Chinese, but at the same time, the DM isn’t overstepping and trying to tell stories that aren’t his to tell. All while not having the characters face any racism, as so many “post-racialized” settings aim for, because there are quite enough stories about that!

There a couple factors that contribute to the positive example I gave above. The DM is particularly conscientious about representation and doing his research (not to say that he never messes up, but he puts in a lot more effort than the average creator), and the show also works with a lot of sensitivity consultants. Which takes me to the next point - the best way to portray characters of colour in your story is to interact with people from that community. Make some new friends, reach out to people! Consume media by creators of colour! In my experience so far, the most authentic Chinese characters have almost universally been created/written/played by Chinese creators. Read books, listen to podcasts, watch shows created by people of colour. Apart from supporting marginalized creators, you also start to pick up how people from that culture or heritage see themselves and the world, what kind of stories they have to tell, and just as importantly, what kind of stories they want being told or shared. In other words, the best way to portray an authentic character of colour that is more than just the colour of their skin is to learn from actual people of colour (without, of course, treating them just as a resource and, of course, with proper credit and acknowledgement).

Most importantly, this isn’t easy, and you will absolutely make mistakes. I think the most important thing to keep in mind is that you will mess up. No matter how well researched you are, how much respect you have for other cultures, how earnestly you want to do this right, you will at some point do something that makes your POC audience uncomfortable or even offends them. Then, your responsibility comes with your response. Yes, you’ve done something wrong. How do you respond to the people who are hurt or disappointed? Do you ignore them, or double down on your words, or try to defend yourself? Just as importantly, what are you planning to do about it in the future? If you have a second chance, what are you going to do differently? You will make mistakes at some point. So what are you going to do about them? That, I think, is an even more important question than “How can I do this right?” You may or may not portray something accurately, but when you get something wrong, how are you going to respond?

Essentially, it all comes down to your responsibility as a creator. As a creator, you have a responsibility to do your due diligence in research, to remain respectful to your work and to your audience, and to be careful and conscientious about how you choose to create things. It’s not about getting things absolutely perfect or being the most socially conscious creator out there, it’s about recognizing your responsibilities as a creator with a platform, no matter how big or small, and taking responsibility for your work.

In summary:

Research, research, research

Avoid the obvious no-no’s (stereotypes, tokenization, fetishization, straight up stealing from other cultures, etc) and think critically about what creative choices you’re making and why

Do what you’re doing now, and reach out to people (who have put themselves out there as a resource). There are tons of resources out there by people of colour, reach out when you’re not sure about something or would like some advice!

Responsibility, responsibility, responsibility

Thank you for reaching out! Good luck with your work!

#the valley is posting #thanks anon!#writing advice #hope this helps! if another POC has something to add - please go ahead!

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cosplayinamerica · 3 years

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Tiana from The Princess and the Frog : dressesandcapes // photo: itsjustnovice

I'm sure everyone has heard or seen the "Historically Accurate Disney Princess" series by Claire "Shoom' lah" Hummel? Well, I stumbled upon her art a long time ago and then rediscovered it again recently and saw her version of Tiana and immediately fell in love. I have seen other people do her other princesses, but I had never seen anyone do her version of Tiana before and knew that I wanted to bring this art to life. Plus, I love doing "extra" or different versions of classic characters. If you ask any of my friends about me, they will tell you that the bigger or more "extra" the costume, the better! And that was Tiana's 1920s outfit for me!

I was pleasantly surprised about how many people recognized who I was! I thought it would be too different from Tiana’s typical outfit to be recognizable. But I even had a little girl run up to me and get my attention. But once she had my attention, she didn’t know what to do! She was so shy that she didn’t know how to interact with me. So I started singing “When I’m Human” and she started to smile but was still so shy. Her mom took a picture of us, and she waved a small goodbye. I love these small moments at cons. Whenever I dress up as a Disney character, I feel like I become that character a little bit so that I can keep their fantasy alive whenever I see a child.

I also received a great reaction from the POC cosplay community. Everyone was so kind and loved asking me about my cosplay. It was such a welcoming environment. The POC cosplay community is so supportive and I wish they would get more recognition in the bigger cosplay community. I feel that a lot of POC cosplayers are not really recognized because they don’t look exactly like the characters they cosplay (which is a bigger issue on media lacking representation) but I would love for them to receive more support. :)

The costume was put together with a lot of research. When I first saw it I asked my other cosplayer friends how they thought I should construct it. After talking to one of my friends who does historically accurate costumes, we thought that the best way to move forward was to do a robe de style type of dress that was popular in the early 1920s. Robe de style dresses are not like the typical flapper dress where it was a column, rather it was a drop waist dress with panniers for hip volume and skirts that fell well below the knees. But after doing some more research I realized that the art did not really match the structure of the classic robe de style, so I decided to draft my own pattern.

The skirt looks deceptively simple but actually has about 10 yds of tulle and chiffon other fabric for volume and ultimate twirl effect, as well as 5 yds of the decorative beaded fabric gathered for a voluminous and effortless look. It was quite the challenge assembling this all onto a drop waist skirt, but I did it!

The top…the top was a pain. In hindsight, I realize I chose the wrong type of fabric for what I was trying to achieve. Draping this fabric to get the lovely pleats shown in the picture was painful. I spent hours at my dress form hand sewing and hand tacking the pleats. However, the fabric does not really hold pleats as well as I like so I actually plan to remake the top for future shoots.

My favorite part of this cosplay is probably one of the smallest pieces, the hat. I love making hats and working on wigs so this cosplay was super fun. The hat is made out of buckram that is shaped with steam and wire to keep its shape. The hair is based on the finger wave style that was popular in the 1920s, but I kept my hair a bit longer as Tiana is always shown as having slightly longer hair than what was popular then.

Oh boy! Cosplay has become a big part of my life! I have met so many friends through the cosplay community and have found a hobby that I’m incredibly passionate about. My cosplay friends are the people I am able to really nerd out with and hang around with at cons (as well as outside of cons)! I now can walk into a con and know that there is at least one person I know and have a blast. Even if we just end up sitting in a corner we have a great time!

Some of my cosplay friends are also the ones who encourage me to continually work on improving my skills. For example, one of my friends/senpai really pushed me to participate in a masquerade with her (something I would never have done on my own). Even though I was extremely stressed working on the cosplay for the competition, the day of the masquerade I was so pumped (even though I was running on about 3 hours of sleep). I was running on pure adrenaline but it was completely worth it because we won “Best in Show”! I was completely flabbergasted and proud of myself. I was and am incredibly thankful to my friend who pushed me to take on this challenge. Without her, I never would have had that experience.

I think I would like people to know that while cosplay is incredibly fun and fulfilling it can be challenging. I have seen some wonderful people be attacked online by random strangers for simply enjoying their hobby and that breaks my heart. I hope that cosplayers and fellow nerds can create an environment of positivity where we encourage each other! I love this nerdy little hobby and am so grateful for all the wonderful people I have met along the way, so I just want to see it thrive! <3

Also, if you see me at a con please say hi! I love meeting new people! :)

Find out more https://linktr.ee/Dressesandcapes

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The Princess and the Frog on Amazon https://amzn.to/360B2bQ

#Tiana #Tiana cosplay #princess and the frog #princess and the frog cosplay #disney #disney cosplay #cosplay #cosplay interview #black cosplay #black cosplayer #poc cosplay #poc cosplayer

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thekatebridgerton · 3 years

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Is it bad that I don't want Sophie Beckett to be a POC? It's because putting a POC in a Cinderella story (which Sophie and Benedict's story is), opens up to the dangerous white savior trope with the rich white man saving the oppressed POC working woman. I cannot think of any way to carefully handle that and still stay loyal to the books. But that doesn't mean Sophie has to be an english actress. If the show makes Sophie Irish, the show can still address the same issues about working women in Regency England with added historical accuracy - as we all know the British were beyond horrid d*cks to the Irish for centuries. And that's an understatement.

I’d like to point out that Nicola Coughlan is Irish. And that I do love the implication of the Featheringtons might Irish roots. Hopefully her Irish heritage will get brought up in the show next season. Your question does makes me wonder how well Nicola would have played Sophie if she’d been casted opposite Luke Thompson tho.

Now put on your seatbelt anon you're about to hear a rant.

First of all let's get this out of the way, I am in no way opposed to seeing a black Cinderella on Bridgerton. One of the best Cinderella's in cinematic history was a black woman, which was Brandi in Roger and Hammerstein's. And Brandi's Cinderella is so great, beautiful, flawless in the way she played it that surpassing her has been the challenge of every Cinderella that came after including Lily James.

If someone like Brandi played Sophie, Bridgerton would rise so high, because there's something about a black woman not putting up with oppression any longer and quite literally giving Benedict the dressing down he deserves, that would be so cathartic for me. You wouldn't even notice the white savior trope because she would kick it out of the way with the force of her performance. The way the actress plays the role has a lot of power into how the character is perceived. Take Gugu Mbatha-Raw in any role ever. Most notably in 'Belle'. when she's on screen, the depth she gives to her performance makes white people look like they're not even trying.

If Bridgerton did cast a black actress as Sophie, unless the actress was anything short of spectacular, her performance would be compared to Brandi. Because Brandi set the standard for POC Cinderella scenes.

Now let's leave aside that Benedict is a classist duck to Sophie for a moment. And focus on the fact that Sophie Beckett has arguably the most tragic backstory out of the four Bridgerton wives. Kate, Penelope and Lucy at least had families who gave a thought to their happiness. Sophie didn’t. Her backstory is going to hurt regardless of who plays the role, it’s literally written that way.

Which brings us to my rant, if you examine the amount of times the Cinderella trope has been used in a movie or tv and cross reference that with the amount of times a non-white actress played the role, you start to see a disturbing trend. Which is this: when not performed by a white actress, Cinderella is performed by an actress of South American/Latino descent. Most recently Selena Gomez, Sofia Carson and Camilla Cabello. And Dania Ramirez in that season of OUAT I didn’t watch.

As a Latina myself if you think the slavery implication in the white savior trope is bad when Cinderella is played by a black actress then it's just as bad when it's performed by a Latina. People don't talk about it that much because Latina skin can pass for white under a certain tan booth light. But make no mistake, the implication is there.

Hot take: Actresses with South American/Latino heritage, aren't all born to play the role of maids or any other type of oppressed citizens. Despite what Jlo made Hollywood think in Maid in Manhattan. In fact neither are black women. Bridgerton at least got that right when they cast a POC as Queen Charlotte.

If you cross reference the amount of times Cinderella has been played by a black woman in movie/tv and you get 1, which is Brandi, the Cinderella who set the bar really high. 2 if you decide to count Rags where Keke Palmer plays the prince (which I don’t count) but it’s worth mentioning.

Rant ended back to Sophie and Benedict.

Now, with the exception of the casting of Daphne, ( which I think could have gone better, because Phoebe’s performance was lackluster compared to costars like Nicola Coughlan, Ruby Barker and Sabrina Bartlett) Bridgerton casting has always been really successful. I personally love who they picked as Kate and Edwina. From what I can see in the recent clips, Simone Ashley can give a lot of depth and nuance to Kate.

I hope that they do the same for the casting of Sophie and bring in an actress who can portray Sophie as someone who refuses to be the victim and has never lost hope. Which is the beauty of Sophie’s character. Personally I’ve never seen an Asian Cinderella in western tv, if they cast an actress with Asian, Pacific or Caribbean heritage, they would actually BE breaking ground and doing something that hasn’t been done before. Even another Desi actress would do well in that role.

I’m the first to raise my hand in favor of more Asian representation in Bridgerton because we didn’t get any in S1 and for a show that’s supposedly so diverse that kinda bummed me out. And it would also have less racist connotations because at that historical point in time, the British (in my limited understanding) had a less oppressive relationship with Asians. At least compared to other cultures that they were actively suppressing, enslaving or destroying.

I still trust that Sophie’s actress will be spectacular, and hopefully she might make me feel something beyond boredom towards Benedict and redeem him in my eyes. Because out of all the Bridgertons I care about his manpain the least in An Offer From A Gentleman. And I still cared about his manpain the least in Bridgerton S1 (regardless of how well Luke Thompson played the character.).

Ps: pardon if I used racial terms that offended anyone here. In my culture calling a person Black, White or Latina, isn’t seen as an insult. So if any of you got offended, it was completely unintentional.

#sophie beckett #benedict bridgerton #An Offer From A Gentleman #bridgerton diversity!#but done right #this needs to be said

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moonlitceleste · 4 years

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Miraculous New York

Okay, so I didn’t know what to expect from the New York special. And let me just say I was actually pleasantly surprised because I liked it??

I thought it was going to be super cringey and stupid and have a ton of plot holes but like... it wasn’t?? For the first time in a while I enjoyed official Miraculous Ladybug content (since Maribat doesn’t count).

But it’s like ZAG actually listened to our critiques.

Like, let me list a few great points from the episode.

Cat Noir actually listened to Ladybug’s requests at the beginning. He was thoughtful and seemed to, FOR ONCE, understand that she didn’t have to return his feelings. And instead of pressuring her like he’s done in previous seasons, he kept on giving her roses until he found one that wasn’t romantic that she would accept.

WHAT WE’VE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR: Marinette starting to get over Adrien!! Or at least realizing that obsessing over him wouldn’t get her anywhere. I was so worried that she’d spazz out the whole time and never be able to talk to him (like she does in the regular show), but she was able to muster up the confidence and even show her “Ladybug” side. (I did enjoy the short Luka cameo as well).

Introducing new heroes, and especially the option of not hiding one’s identity was super cool! The dichotomy of the ones in New York, who were able to live their life with their identities out in the open, compared to Marinette and Adrien was nice.

Cat Noir and the viewers finally realizing what his cataclysm can do to a person as well as realizing the devastation that could occur if Ladybug can’t use her cure—amazing!! I do think if Chat used cataclysm on a person rather an an android they would still be revived by the cure. Ladybug technically brings people back to life after every akuma attack; what’s different about cataclysm?

I really liked the explanation about how Ladybug’s cure works, because it seems like we’re finally starting to delve into the more technical parts of their powers and learning more.

There’s good animation—I think it’s SAMG but can’t be sure? I’m glad ZAG decided to go with whatever studio they did, because it really made the episode better.

The representation was great! I mean, mom and mom?? POC and different cultures?? ZAG was pretty good about it before but they really took this opportunity and used it.

Those were all really good parts of the show, but what really made me love this special was the development.

I was so scared the show would never get back on track based on what happened in seasons 2 and 3, but I feel like ZAG actually listened to the audience and improved.

This episode actually changed my opinion on Ladynoir. Not romantically, exactly, but just their dynamic. I never really felt like they were partners at all; Chat was useful from time to time but ultimately all he did was hinder Ladybug. It seemed like in the show all she did was fix his mistakes while he goofed around and attempted to pressure her into returning his feelings.

But it actually made me really sad when Adrien gave up the ring. You could clearly see Marinette’s devastation and anguish at losing her partner, and the animation for this scene was great.

I felt like I could really see just how important Chat is to her, and the bonding in this episode was top-notch.

Now, moving onto Adrienette:

I’m so happy that Marinette is finally making an effort to just chill out. Like, girl should have done that seasons ago. (Still love her though!)

It was nice to see Alya being a good friend to Marinette; same with Nino for Adrien. Marinette was a little awkward at times, but it’s still a huge improvement from what she was like before.

I’ve definitely already seen jokes about the sheer amount of times they said “friend” in this episode, but it actually made me happy. If thinking of Adrien as "just a friend” is what will help Marinette develop a deeper bond with him, I’m all for it!

And arguably the best part of the whole episode: THERE’S NO LILA!

Okay, I know she was there in the beginning, but at least she wasn’t there for the whole episode. That would have been infuriating.

Overall, I feel like the characters and their bonds with one another were fleshed out and explored lot more in this episode, and it was super nice to watch! It made everyone feel more real and defined, which definitely upped the emotional impact.

To be honest, the concept of the Shanghai Special is still eh to me. I don’t really like the idea of there being a whole new species of kwami cousins because it seems a bit forced; it’s like they’re pulling new ideas out of thin air in an effort to compensate for something. But based on the New York special, maybe it won’t be so bad. And maybe this is a sign that future seasons of Miraculous will be looking up too!

#miraculous new york #miraculous ladybug #ml new york #miraculous #miraculous marinette #ml marinette #marinette dupain cheng #ladybug #chat #chat noir #adrien #adrien agreste #ladynoir #adrienette #adrinette #miraculous class #miraculous thoughts

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