Being inclusive with your reader insert fic is a kindness. It tells people of color (poc) that you are considering someone who does not look like you in your fic. It shows love and dedication to our craft. It tells poc that they belong here too and they can see themselves in your story.
Poc aren’t look for activism in fic, we know fandom isn’t that serious, but we should be able to have that same level of escapism when we turn to fic and fandom. We belong here too. This space is for everyone, not just one group of people.
Just to give a few examples of how simple it can be: say “skin warmed” instead of blushed, say “cradled your head” instead of running fingers through hair, say “angles yourself to kiss” instead of standing on tiptoes, use italics to indicate Spanish to take out a throwaway line of “you didn’t understand Spanish” things like that. Small changes that do not impact the fic at all but make a world of difference in inclusivity!
And for anything you can’t/don’t want to change, simply add warning in the beginning. Things like hair descriptors, anything reader might wear, some backstory for reader (especially involving family or where the story is set), readers job, things like that. A lot of times just having that heads up before the fic makes a world of difference!
And one example of kindness we as writers always worked to change: until recently (just a couple years ago) it wasn’t common to label the gender of the reader. But those who aren’t female asked writers to label it so they know which to read and which to avoid, and now it’s common to label the gender/pronouns of the reader. So it is possible! It just takes effort! And I’m a writer myself so I know it can be done!
We can pretend to be a bartender or a bounty hunter or an actress or anything else. But we shouldn’t have to imagine we’re a white one.
It's an insane mindfuck that Tom Hiddleston is fueling Lokius by giving us more reasons to ship it. Also, Tom, I find it hard to believe you've been unaware of the name this entire time.
EVERYBODY MOVED ON I, I STAYED THERE DUST COLLECTED ON MY PINNED-UP HAIR THEY EXPECTED ME TO FIND SOMEWHERE SOME PERSPECTIVE BUT I SAT AND STARED RIGHT WHERE YOU LEEEEEFT MEEEEE YOU LEFT ME NO, YOU LEFT ME NO, YOU LEFT ME NO CHOICE BUT TO STAY HERE FOREVER
You cannot look me in the eyes and tell me this man is not divorced
He is the most divorced dad to ever live. This man is oblivious in all sense of the word and blindly loves his children. This man thinks their interests haven’t changed changed since they were 7 and goes along with whatever they say. This man is the girl dad and has worn a tiara and played imaginary tea-party. This man tries to tell his children off before he just lets them get away with it because he’s tired and the kids are cute. This man is trying. This man is so divorced.
can we talk about how INSANE it is that Loki suddenly becomes SO protective the second someone hurts Mobius / when he thinks Mobius might be in danger.
look at him. there’s no mischief there. he’s literally ready to unalive X5 if he dares do anything to Mobius