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zukoesestupido · 2 years

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A Note About the Cloudbabies and Appearance

Hey so I wanted to write this a while back but I got sick (not Covid) and then I just got distracted but I wanted to mention something I’ve noticed about people discussing the appearance of Aang and Katara’s kids. Namely that the character designs didn’t look “mixed enough” to depict children from an interracial couple.

Now, I do get the idea that having two lighter-skinned characters coming from a light-skinned character and a dark-skinned character provoking sort of a visceral reaction. I also understand that people feel that some of the characters’ features were white-washed, and that’s a fair criticism, given that Kya especially seemed to be based off her VA and not actually someone who had indigenous and East Asian ancestry.

But as someone who is biracial, I’d just ask people to be really careful in making determinations about who looks “mixed” enough and who doesn’t, because that can be a tricky and really touchy subject for many of us.

My dad’s white and my mom’s Black. My twin brother and I have what probably a lot of people consider to be the “biracial” look when it comes to Black/White parentage. We’re both light-skinned with curly hair (3b if you keep track of those things.) It’s obvious that we have Black ancestry -- we cannot “pass” for white. But people look at us and can usually tell we’re mixed.

Our little sister on the other hand? Has our dad’s red hair and gray eyes, and has pale skin. Our mother was often mistaken for her nanny or babysitter when she was younger, and now at 15 when she is leaning more into her experiences as a woman with Black heritage who can pass for white, she’s finding a lot of doors closed to her because she doesn’t “look” like my brother or me or like Zendaya or Tinashe or anyone else who is biracial and has certain features that has been strereotyped as what Black/White people look like.

We all look different, though. Zendaya and Laura Harrier both have white moms and Black dads. Jurnee Smolett and Duchess Meghan both have white dads and Black moms. The “mixed” look Is based in broad generalizations, and while there’s some truth in any generalization, it’s important to note that there’s no one way to look mixed, just as there’s no one way to look Black, no one way to look Asian, no one way to look Latine, and obv no one way to look white.

So bringing this back to the cloudbabies: Tenzin is no less a Water Tribe man because he doesn’t look as much like one as Bumi does. Kya is no less a direct descendant of an Air Nomad because she has more of a Water Tribe “look” to her. And just because Bumi seems to be more of a direct synthesis of Aang and Katara, that doesn’t mean Tenzin and Kya aren’t just as biracial as he is.

So, tl;dr, we mixed people don’t have any one look, and it’s a little weird when there’s this desire to brand someone not looking like they’re mixed enough to be what they are. Just a thought! Thanks for reading.

#cloudbabies #kataang #katara & aang #aang & katara #mixed race dynamics #meta(ish)?

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burntarepa · 3 years

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I saw it on ig, but we were truly robbed

If only producers had enough balls to portray queer relationships at that time outside of the “gay friend/ couple” strereotype. 😔🥊

#legally blonde #reese witherspoon #selma blair #lgbtq #saphic #movies

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christinaroseandrews · 3 years

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Blessed—or cursed, depending on how you look at it—With an eidetic memory, Elle Burns is one of the union’s most secret weapons. A spy embedded in a southern senators household as a slave. Keeping her head down, she’s able to pass on secret messages to Washington to help aid the union in the Civil War. But all of this changes when she meets one Malcolm McCall. A Pinkerton detective, Malcolm is on a mission. Already a veteran of several successful espionage missions he’s heard word of something big is going down and he’s on the hunt for what. Unfortunately he never expected his contact in Richmond to be the utterly bewitching Elle. As a white man posing as a Confederate soldier, It would be dangerous for him to act upon his attraction. But he’s somehow can’t seem to stop himself. Cans to manage to track down the mystery in Richmond while keeping their emotions in check? Or will they end up falling in love?

What a fun historical romance! There’s all of the action and adventure of some of the best romantic suspense in this with all of the heartbreaking and aww-inducing moments of a great romance. The story centers around two spies for the union, one black and one white. One female and one male. And how working together with their series of contacts they’re able to uncover a fairly major threat to the union. I don’t want to give that threat away, but if you’re a fan of history, it’s pretty easy to figure out where the plot is going and it’s quite fun to go there. When I figured out my jaw dropped and i went “oooooohhhhh” and rubbed my hands in glee.

I really liked Elle as a main character. I liked that she had her roots in a real life spy who was also an enslaved women with a eidetic memory. Seeing her taking the reins and using the Southerners and white people’s preconceptions against them was cool. I was here for it. I like to relationships with the other enslaved people in the household as well as that with Malcolm. I liked that the story never forgot the huge gulf in opportunity and respect that stood between them. I found Malcolm a fun hero. He was alpha without being annoying. He knew his strengths and he played into them. his backstory mirrored Elle’s in an odd way -- he’s Scottish and one of the refugees from the Highland Clearances. It wasn’t fully the same--it can’t be--but it gave the characters a place to communicate and understand each other from. I liked that his skills wasn’t in his arm but in his voice. That he used his words to get what he wanted. He was charismatic and a skilled liar which served him well until all of a sudden it really really didn’t. He was a good foil for Elle and together they made a good team.

I also liked how Southerners were portrayed that they weren’t just a melodramatic villain twirling their mustaches. They were complex characters with wants and layers, and even though they were truly on the side of inhumanity they weren’t themselves portrayed as a monolith. There were Southerners who fit the strereotypes and others who really did not. I also liked that one of the most horrific characters in the novel was a white woman aka the stereotypical southern belle. She was Scarlett O’Hara as she really would have been if she hadn’t been the designated heroine of Gone with the Wind—Spoiled, horrible, deceitful.

You know, like the actual Scarlett... but not glamorized.

Frankly this book needs to be turned into a movie or Netflix needs to be developing this into a new series. I would watch the heck out of it.

Trigger warnings because this books does need them include: Racism, racist language, discussion of rape, attempted rape, slavery and all of it’s trauma, so yeah. Make sure you are in a good place before reading this.

But if you’re looking for something to read this Juneteenth, consider this book by a Black author that actually has great historical basis (and cites its sources--I stan a romance that cites its sources) about the Civil War and the fight for African American Emancipation, then you’ll want to read this.

Five Stars

If this is your jam, you can get it here.

If you like these kind of honest reviews, please consider supporting us here!

#Romance review #historical romance #interracial romance #civil war #juneteenth #black woman #white man #scottish character #lots of triggers #american civil war #alyssa cole #author of color #five stars #Rose and Lark review books

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fandumbug · 2 years

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Tcw Special/movie thingy

The fuckign trooper that just straight up PUNCHES a droid is my favorite.

OMFG BBY AHSOKA SHES SO YOUNG

Man, the animation was so stiff back then.

Hey, uh, isn’t declaring surrender and then attacking afterwards uh, a war crime? I guess they don’t have Geneva in space.

“With some training and patience (Ahsoka) could really amount to something” oh boy, if he only knew.

Bby slug! Stinky boye.

Dooku looks so damn goofy I swear.

*Artoo scream*

Ah, Ventress, the problematic fave.

Alien dragonflies!

*Artoo scream again*

I know it’s for comic relief but why did the separatists program the droids to be stupid?

Ok so I’d like to say imo Ziro isn’t completely a gay strereotype, he’s also Southern as fuck.

I like tcw Padme a lot more than movie Padme.

Wait, isn’t this not that long after anakin slaughtered the tuskens?

All this fuss over the huttlet but I don’t think we ever hear about him again?

Filoni has been at this for a long time, huh?

#bug watches tcw

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mdhwrites · 3 years

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Jumbled Thoughts: High Society Characters Featuring The Blights From The Owl House

The elite. The privileged. The powerful. Those who seem untouchable and look down upon others because they think it is their right, whether this be because of birthright, reputation, wealth, or all of the above. These figures that seem so much larger than everyone else... but are still human. Still characters, just with a dimension to them that is specific to their stature and their unique perspectives from on high. There’s a lot of different ways to write high society characters and a lot of general pitfalls with these characters. Fortunately, we have a whole family of five to help us both examine different archtypes amongst these characters, pitfalls with each, and considerations that can be made based off of both what they do and, more importantly, ESPECIALLY for high society characters, what they don’t. There will be spoilers and this is your warning now.

We’ll start with the characters we know the least about from the show: Alador and Odalia Blight. They are the parents to three children and are closer to what people would consider the stereotypical high society character. The token or straw man version of them. They’re severe, they care about legacy, and are brutal about that legacy. They appear evil to most people, especially in forcing their daughter to abandon a friend they perceive as unworthy of spending time with their family so she may befriend the friends they ‘approve’ of, or are simply convenient because they are available by being children of people they work with.

This is pretty common for antagonistic high society characters as, from 99% of the population’s view, these actions are abusive, evil, and reprehensible. And... they are... to some extent. These characters, ideally, show a high level of pragmatism. They have obvious goals, obvious priorities, often to do with appearance, status, strength, etc. that go hand in hand with keeping their position of power and are often ruthless in achieving these goals. They were raised in a way to perceive weakness as humiliating and needing help as failure. This actually makes this a good archtype too as parents to a high society character seeking redemption because your plucky hero (or heroine) can teach them that friends are in fact important and that clear strength isn’t all there is. But these strereotypical characters are often too far gone to see that as anything other than repulsive.

...WHY!? This is the pitfall of these characters and making them exceedingly token. One note. Boring. If all they do is crush happiness, you lose the concept of them doing this to protect their legacy and devolve into them being cackling, mustache twirling villains which really sucks because these character’s pragmatism is their greatest strength. That weird person who is one of a kind in the world and has a special power? A bad author may immediately have these high society twats reject them. A good author may have these characters consider long term plans with them. If their unique qualities can take them somewhere, perhaps that’s a useful asset. If they can claim to have fostered, or at least befriended, this unique talent then that is an accomplishment that their family will have above all others. That will increase the prestige of their name. And that is the unique twist on these characters to keep in mind. They think on a macro scale. A scale that encompasses all levels of society and how to at all times turn things into opportunities in their favor. At least, if you want to sell the idea that there’s a reason they were able to become and stay members of high society rather than just being privileged assholes.

Speaking of, second type with the second and third best known characters: Emira and Edric as the privileged assholes! These characters make for great minor antagonists and bullies and that’s a lot of what we at least hear of these two twins. They skip class, they pull pranks, they break into places they aren’t supposed to, and they seek retribution upon those who try to ruin their fun. This even went as far as trying to ruin their little sister’s life by publishing her diary at one point. These characters are hedonistic, selfish, and entirely out for their personal enjoyment, all of which they can pursue relentlessly because they know their status gives them immunity to the consequences that society would wish to place on them.

So, the pitfall? Well, the first comes in the form of motivation. Why are they like this? It’s easy to just make them spoiled but was that the whole point to it? These characters benefit the most from their parental figures actually in general, rather than just themselves. After all, their desires override any sort of pain, anger, etc. that may lead them to the escapism. I’ll come back to these two more though when I start talking about the entire context of the family but these two are treated so drastically different from their sister, and their temperament so against what is ‘proper’ for high society that it has very interesting ramifications to the dynamics of the family, at least if you want them to be there.

But, we have one last member. A main supporting character of the show and the archtype of the next generation/redeemable high society character: Amity Blight. She has straight hair, straight As, moves straight towards her goals, and is in all ways Little Miss Perfect at the beginning of the show.

Check this out if you don’t get the reference. It’s a very good song.

She is inherently a good person, but instead holds the weight of her name on her shoulders. She knows what a Blight is supposed to look like, act like, and what they’re supposed to aim for as the best of the best. She knows what that takes, she knows how hard she needs to work, and she does everything right. Which also means that when things go wrong, she snaps like a twig because she is so ready to explode from all of the doubts in her mind about whether or not she can do this.

And all of this is pretty stock for the high society character you want to have the flavor of this trait, but also to make likable. This actually isn’t even a dig at the show. They’re simply the most obviously relatable traits that can make a viewer like a character so far removed from their reality. They want them to be free of the pressure. Allowed to be the person they are/want to be rather than the one that they obviously are being made to be.

Aaaand *drops you in a hole* DO YOU SEE THE PROBLEM!? This is one that’s probably the easiest to overlook as a problem but it’s entirely a matter of whether or not you get rid of the flavor of who they used to be in redemption. This is admittedly a problem with any character who is redeemed but it should never feel like this character, who used to be so focused on one goal because of their heritage, has given up on those goals or simply wears fancier clothes than everyone else because their parents have money. You started from this deep base of pressure that was likely enforced for years and that’s not something that simply vanishes from a pretty pair of brown eyes. Of course, depending on the amount of time you can spend on this or the tone you’re going for, abandoning some of these elements is also fine. After all, Amity is a part of the main supporting cast, but still not the main character and maybe in half of the episodes in the first season, if not less, and for most of those she likely gets less than five minutes of screentime. There’s only so much character development you can do with that so if you want to expedite some of the uglier parts of a character like her’s arc to get them where they can properly be working with the good guys, that’s entirely fine.

In other words, this is your reminder that not all things that may appear as problems are all of the time. It all depends on execution and what is important to your story. After all, if you need token characters for a one time excursion into high society, the first archtype makes for great main foes for your heroes to face, the second work well as either nuisances or unlikely assistants, and the last one can quickly be made into a fast ally to take with you, especially if you make it that they want to be more like the second archtype and so want out from under the pressure they’re under. If that’s something that needs to happen within 20k words or three episodes, etc. then GO FOR IT. Do not feel bad if you have to make them less than the deepest characters because if they always had to be, these archtypes wouldn’t exist as they do.

Last section: What these archtypes say in tandem. Or, in other words, what’s not being said? Let’s review real quick. This will feature the heaviest spoilers, especially for Amity, so there’s your warning. Also, I have my own conclusions and suggestions on where to take the questions I plan to present but that’s not the point of this blog. It’s to get you to start considering these characters and archtypes from different angles than simply ‘High Society = Bad.’ If you want to see me talk more about those conclusions and my reasoning though, let me know.

Odalia and Alador Blight are severe enough to tell their daughter that she cannot be friends with someone who is too weak to associate with Blights. They also fairly obviously are a large part of where Amity’s pressure comes from since that scene is one of the few where we see an outside influence on Amity’s perception of these things.

Emira and Edric are bullies to their sister, jokesters, lazy, blatantly break the rules, and in general are characters who at best know how to behave as members of high society but in general do not act like high society members. That is a stark contrast to how severe their parents treat something like simply a weak friend, isn’t it? Especially since these two are the OLDER siblings, by a few years even from what we can tell. What happened there? Why are they given this level of freedom? How are they able to so freely ignore the pressure when it’s obvious that Amity has been given reasons to think that failing to measure up will lead to some level of consequences?

Amity by the end of the first season has become friends again with the friend that she was told to tell to never associate with, hangs out with a complete weirdo human who can barely cast magic, and has gone from constantly being serious and severe to being amicable and flustered much of the time. There are still elements of her severity admittedly, but they’re targeted more at the things she once thought were all important like her old friends. HOW!? I talked about how it’s acceptable to skip the uglier parts of a redemption arc, and I don’t have any real issue with how they did it, but if you want to expand on a character like this, you need to answer where the pressure goes to let them make such a drastic change in personality when originally they seemed to be crushed under the weight of their responsibilities. A smile doesn’t get rid of years of worry and a distant dream of success, especially if your parents are pushing you harder and harder to be like them. To be pragmatic. To do everything you can to succeed, no matter who you hurt. To find retribution for even simply perceived slights, let alone actual wrongs done to you.

And you may notice that a lot of these questions swing back to Alador and Odalia. As the last generation of High Society members, it was their responsibility to make sure these lessons would stick. What do their children’s behavior say about their behavior? Are they simply absentee now? Did they relax? Do they not know?

In other words: What are their relationships? What is their CHARACTER? Most people may not actually understand that level of society as we have to sit on the ground instead of from gilded thrones, but we cannot forget that these are still people with motivations, flaws, and goals and reasons for how they behave. If you do that, all you have is a fancy chess piece that fits in its place but will never be more interesting than a predictable game of chess between two masters.

Thank you, I hope I’ve given you something to think about, let me know what other topics, concepts, etc. you may want me to talk about, follow for whatever I may have next, and have a wonderful rest of your day.

#The Owl House #Amity Blight #Writing Analysis

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