#white person talking about racism

[dr-drea]

Most Important Scenes - Mailin Richter

Part 7 of my essays on favorite scenes for each character.

To be honest, I was hesitating about writing one of these for Mailin, because I wasn't really in the mood to rewatch season 8 (and I probably will never be). But thinking about it, Mailin's most important scenes take place in season 6 anyways.

No, Ava. I want to clear this up now.

Being rather a background character in season 5, it took until season 6 to see Mailin growing as a person. Between a lot of Kieutou ups and downs, this is also the season where we see the Cashqueens struggling with some conflicts for the first time. And Mailin and Ava are at the center of this.

It is a conflict that doesn't revolve around little personal issues. This isn't about Mailin and Ava specifically, but about Mailin being white and Ava as a black person. The conflict revolves around privileges and ignorance, around "being an ally" and invading minority spaces. Essentially, this is about racism and systemic discrimination. A heavy topic, but one that needs to be adressed. And it is especially important considering how Mailin (a straight white neurotypical girl) is the most similar to Druck's target audience. Having Mailin saying and doing these things is so meaningful, because she is supposed to be relatable. And if you identify with Mailin, it means that at this point, you have to do some self-reflection about your behavior with and towards black persons.

The problem which occurs between Ava and Mailin (this time, specifically) is that they handle conflict differently.

Mailin isn't a conflict person. We can see that every time either Nora or Fatou are criticized, because she never joins in on the criticism. She avoids the conflict.

Neither can she bear to be in one: now that the conflict cannot be avoided by "being nice", she wants to get over it as soon as possible: "I want to clear this up now." Literally, now.

Ava, on the other hand, cannot or doesn't want to ignore things that bother her. And she cannot just hide her feelings for the sake of "group harmony". This clashes with Mailin sensing something is wrong, and so she is pressured to call Mailin out on her behavior at the vigil. Even if she doesn't want to talk about the situation at all, hoping that Mailin will eventually get it by herself.

Now, in the typical "white person learns about racism by being called out by a black person" narrative (yes, I've seen this one before, at least in German media), this would be the point where the white person 'gets it' and informs themselves about racism. This is what happens in Mailin's case as well, but with two important differences: Ava calling Mailin out is framed as something bad, she is pressured to do it, she states how uncomfortable she feels and that she never wanted to call Mailin out; Mailin educates herself, but she clearly doesn't get the problem (because she does it in front of her black friends, therefore harassing them).

My point is that Druck takes a critical look at said narrative, emphasizes that it is not Ava's job to teach Mailin about racism and that the problem is not simply "solved" by Mailin getting informed. There are a lot more nuances behind that, and I appreciate that the show tried to talk about that.

Im getting too involved again, am I?

The best intentions do not always lead to the best outcomes, and it is exemplified with Mailin's behavior. She is so obsessed with being a "good ally", that she doesn't realize how uncomfortable she made Ava and Fatou feel in the process.

This scene isn't about the Ava-Mailin conflict primarily, but about Fatou's problems in school. But Mailin, again, immediately wants to help and solve the problem. Her personality is quite literally the one of an activist, in the sense that she always wants to get active to get problems out of the way.

But this isn't always a good thing. And this scene is the moment where Mailin realizes that. She 'gets it' now: Some actions are not hers to take, some spaces are not hers to occupy and some words are not hers to say. Sometimes it is better to take a step back and watch and listen, rather than doing something.

And I wanted to apologize to you for that.

Now that Mailin finally understood how problematic her behavior was, the one thing left to do is apologize.

And I like Mailin's apology, because she states everything she did wrong in the past weeks (from trying to identify with victims of racism, to asking Ava and Fatou uncomfortable questions). Considering that Druck's target audience is mostly white and rather young, this is necessary (and I would be lying if I didn't learn something with that storyline, too).

I know everyone is tired of reading this, but: Thinking how Mailin's character development is basically 'not everything is about me', I am convinced that the original writers would have never even thought of making a season about her. It destroys the message. You don't make someone the main character whose defining learning experience is about not being in the spotlight.

The purpose of Mailin's character is to include someone similar to the general audience, and having her reflect her position in the face of her less privileged friends. You know what, maybe Mailin is the audience. Because what does an audience do? Watch and learn. Too meta? Maybe, but my point remains the same.

The audience I'm talking about already has so many characters in media to identify with. This was never supposed to be about Mailin. This show, out of many shows who tell the same stories about the same kind of people over and over, was supposed to do it differently. To tell the stories of those who usually get ignored.

(And I'll stop here, before this turns into a rant. Just as a fun fact: My take on Mailin is inspired by that one shitpost about season 8, saying that the lesson of the season should be that not everything is about Mailin, leading to a POV switch; i cannot find the post anymore, but I'm sure it exists somewhere and I always thought there was some truth behind that.)

#druck #druck mailin #mailin richter #tw racism #white person talking about racism #call me out if necessary #this was so exhausting to write im literally exhausted #mailin is so exhausting #god i wish she would have just read the room sometimes

[tariah23]

oooooo white people in my replies really saying ‘I can excuse racism but I draw the line at homophobia’

Not surprised since this is the site that only talks about racism and thinks it’s a big deal when they see it demonstrated in the cartoons and comics they like *coughs* dungeonmeshi *coughs* (for example at least. I haven’t seen THIS many white ppl talk as in depth about racism on here as much as these fandom nerds, man. I stg. Like “Ohhhh, so you all DO acknowledge that racism is real? Just not in real life even if you could feel it slapping you in the face at high speed. Gotcha.” It’s crazy.

Tumblr is like, 90% white and is extremely centered around them. That’s why you barely see stuff that’s important to black and brown people ever trending here or being talked about. It has to be something incredibly huge to the point where even white people can’t ignore it like they usually do, to talk about it here.

They only talked about George Floyd here because the topic of his death became world news. Even people in other countries were talking about it. Before him, it was probably Ferguson and Trayvon Martin… most of them are still trying their best to ignore the genocides because it’s a “touchy subject.” What do you expect from white people who live in their own bubbles of comfort and refuse to pop it with a needle??? They find comfort in their privilege and faux ignorance (they love playing stupid to avoid conversations about important things outside of fandoms like, are these mfs born with half a brain dedicated to fandom or what.) That’s literally all these mfs make a big deal out of, especially on this annoying ass platform. The ao3 mfs will go to war for the site that allows racist ff and cp like it’s no big deal. I wonder how many people here even donated to the site while actively scrolling past dono posts from folks who really do need help. They act like they’re doing a civil service by defending this site that makes over the amount of it’s intended dono goal in minutes.

Then you already know as soon as you even bring up racism in the stuff they like, they start ganging up and harassing black bloggers especially, calling them TERFs and the whole nine. Anything to make that person look bad for being concerned about the racism that they have such an intense aversion to. God, it’s absolutely exhausting knowing that these people would have no problem choosing a cartoon character over your entire existence if they COULD. Isn’t that fucking sad, man?

#:( #it’s like what can you do #as a black person I get why sm black bloggers here have ‘don’t follow me if you’re white’ in their bios #they’ll call it racist or whatever (it’s fucking not you guys just treat black ppl like shit here and most of us feel unsafe to interact #with y’all. you guys always turn on us at the drop of a hat) #i remember commenting on a HS post funny enough years ago #because the punchline of the post was literally the white mfs saying nigga #and I was so annoyed that I told them off and one of my white mutuals unfollowed meanjsjsjsl #like right after that #and another unfollowed me because I talk about racism and the like a lot like this is a really well known artist too so I was like 🧍🏾‍♀️? #because I talk about racism a lot??? it’s weird lol #like they’ll tolerate you for a while then when they feel offended they start to act weird and act like you’re not supposed to talk about #the stuff that effects you #tkf replies #karmelarts #they don’t give a shit about anything if it doesn’t personally Involve them #they act like they can’t relate to anyone or anything it they aren’t marginalized themselves (being gay or trans which they treat as a #personality trait) #notice how you never see movies/ shows about black and brown ppl trending here? it’s always white centered shit no #matter how hot and popular that show might be #you’ll never see something like the wire snowfall or power trending here #all of the black ppl are on twitter anyway so #sm black ppl got ran off of here by annoying white ppl

[buckttommy]

umm. pause. guys. guys. gay tommy has been canon this entire time. what the fuck. like. oh my god. no. like. okay. okay. so. 2x9 (hen begins), sal [deluca] is talking about his girlfriend dragging him to see twilight. he makes a homophobic joke about tommy being team jacob and tommy's like "i don't even know what that means." chimney says "he's insinuating that you're gay" and tommy blows deluca a kiss. fine. whatever. but THEN you skip to 2x12 (chimney begins), and—i stg it's a blink and you miss it moment—tommy and gerrard (racist captain) are having this conversation in the background

tommy: what about that burger place? gerrard: tommy i hate that place. hey wasn't your girlfriend supposed to come and cook us dinner? tommy: uhh. next tuesday. gerrard: promise? tommy: uhh. uh. yes. yeah. i will promise.

and it's like. number one, this sounds like a conversation they've had before. something to the tune of "hey, how come you never bring your girlfriend around" which i can't help but think was intentional considering the members of the old 118 were entirely familiar with deluca's girlfriend gina. but number two, no straight man who has a girlfriend sounds that unsure that they have a fucking girlfriend. it was very much giving "ah yes. this human lady that i love that most definitely exists. absolutely. also i like breasts." and it's just like. ok. what the fuck. like. i don't know if this was the plan all along. i don't think it was. i still maintain buck/eddie were supposed to go canon after the shooting and the powers that be got in the way. but. but. the idea that this canon queer character has been hiding in plain sight (subtext) is just. wild to me. like. i've always headcanoned tommy as gay, mostly because every character he plays seems fruity as hell. but bro. i don't think it's a headcanon anymore. and i don't think it ever has been. what the fuck.

there's also the idea that. like. so i've been watching the begins episodes again trying to figure out what, exactly, tommy's crime against the members of the 118 has been. like. he worked in a -phobic/-cist environment. he was definitely complicit in making hen/chimney feel like outsiders in their workplace yes yes all these things are true. but as far as i can tell, tommy has rarely ever actively been anything except spineless. deluca makes a homophobic joke? tommy laughs. gerrard makes a bunch of sexist and racist comments? tommy looks, but doesn't say anything to encourage (or discourage him). hen gives her monologue? he looks chagrined.

and his complicity would be absolutely shitty and inexcusable if he was just a cishet white man. no questions asked. but if — if — you view his behavior through the lens of the fact that tommy is queer himself? that tommy is, and always has been, a member of a marginalized community who felt it was easier and safer to assimilate than it was to be openly queer and have a target on his back? his behavior becomes a whole hell of a lot more understandable. yes, it's still shitty, but. there's a purpose behind it. and this idea is supported by the fact that, when gerrard leaves (flashing forward to bobby begins again), even before bobby gets there (because we always credit bobby with making the 118 the family it is today), like. the atmosphere is completely different. tommy and hen? are friendly with each other. chimney and tommy? also friendly with each other. which we also know because in 2x14 broken, he calls him up for help. which lends credibility to the idea that the problems tommy had (or thought he had) with henchim were not about them as people but more about whatever manufactured conservative boys club bullshit gerrard fostered.

and it's just like. motherfucker. bitch. what the hell. like. first of all, leave it to 9-1-1 to tell a story like this in the most subtle way possible. like if that was indeed the intended implication, i'm throwing my tv off a bridge immediately. but also. second of all. what is wrong with this show. they're crazy. i want to eat it like a loaf of bread. just shovel it in my mouth because the idea that tommy has been queer all along, that he wasn't brought back just to be a stopgap on buck's queer journey to eddie, but that he's been haunting the edges of the narrative like a gay ghost is sooo like. ohhh. okay. [throws up]. like????? okay. anyway. i'm going to be thinking about this the rest of the day.

#tommy kinard #head in hands.....................HEAD IN HANDS #tv: 911 #jack.txt #There's also something to be said about the idea of FOX main characterizing Buck/Oliver #around the same time they put a stop to Buddie #Something about like. Conventionally attractive (dark hair / light eyes) white men are not allowed to be loudly quee #and like. I KNEW there was something there #I knew it. And I love Michael and David and Karen and Hen don't get me wrong #those are my emotional support gays #but I was just like ''hm. kind of funny how every queer character connected to the mains is a person of color right?'' #and I never vocalized this thought to ANYONE but I always kept it in the back of my mind #even the men michael would be seen with *before* David — always black #and there's nothing wrong with it it's fine #but the idea becomes a LOT more insidious when I consider FOX's politics—when i consider that both racism and homophobia are inherent to #their brand. and then it's just like ''ohh. you guys made the black people dirty queers because white is right. okay got it'' #anyways. let me stop talking. lol

[starwikia]

suicide cw

look i have been in this area before mentally. it sucks and i wouldn’t wish this on anyone. but, and this is going to sound callous, but i don’t feel any sympathy for james somerton. even if i hope he’s like. not dead. But thats all the amount of goodwill im willing to give him. The more i think about this really, the more angry i am. 

ngl this entire situation is another example of how white people weaponize their mental illness to avoid consequences. Im seeing it in real time.

this man has a continuous habit of using self-harm as a get-out-of-jail-for-free card. in both of his apologies, he has worded his supposed attempts in ways that were clearly meant to guilt people who displayed his plagiarism and overall horrendous history of racism and misogyny. i say supposed because, while i’m not saying those are lies and this would he such a fucked up thing to lie about that i don’t want to think he has, unfortunately, it’s been proven again and again that his word can’t be trusted, as he’s known to lie to try get out of consequences. Hes a proven liar. him lying about this is actually the best case scenario, because no one should go through this entire situation, wouldnt wish this on anyone, but you can only do this so often before people stop sympathizing with you. is this callous? Yeah, but like. I’m actually fucking angry he cant straight up take no as an answer. that this is how he reacts realizing he cant be one of the Cool Kidz™️ on youtube anymore. he acts like he DESERVES a career, like its not a privilege hes lost due to his own actions.

He lied about apologizing and forgiving people, he lied about giving the money to hbomberguy to give to ppl he ripped off (yknow, instead of doing it himself), he lied about the jessie gender situation and rewrote the narrative to make it so he isnt the bad guy, and hes the victim all along actually!

you can’t tell me that supposed last message of his isn’t meant to be a 13 reasons why esq attempt to deflect the blame “look i’m going to kill myself and it’s all YOUR PEOPLES FAULT for not letting me achieve my DREAM of being filmmaker IN PEACE!!! I just wanted Nick’s (the guy who I have thrown under the bus again and again) portfolio up!! Im just being a good friend dont you all FEEL BAD” he refuses to take ANY ACCOUNTABILITY of any of his actions and he IS STILL trying to shove the blame over to other people again.

it’s also pretty ironic people are like “uhhh well hbomber’s fans harassed him!!!” like hbomber outright told people NOT to HARASS JAMES!!! ALSO acting as if james doesn’t have a very real documented history of STRAIGHT UP sending his fans to harass and threaten smaller creators, more notably women, trans, and bipoc creators. especially after he’s stolen typically very personal anecdotes so he could profit from them. so why can he do it but the second people are like “hey this guys an actual piece of shit.” and he can’t handle it suddenly people are trying to white knight his shit? like no he doesn’t get that. he doesn’t get that at all just because he couldn’t handle the consequences of his actions. 

what? were supposed to stay quiet about a man profiting off of other minorities because he wanted to be the spokesman for all gay people? people tried to solve this on a smaller, more private scales for YEARS and he kept doing it. it was clear that the giant public video was the ONLY way to get people to notice. HE WOULDVE GOTTEN AWAY WITH STEALING 87 FUCKING THOUSANDS WORTH OF DOLLARS. HE CANT HANDLE THE FACT HE CANT GET AWAY WITH IT. 

am i supposed to feel bad for the guy who basically threatened a trans woman with the police? i don’t care what anyone says, it’s so fucking obvious that he threatened jessie by implying he was getting the police involved in their conflict. what am i supposed to act like that didn’t happen? are we supposed to pretend like he didn’t glorify nazi’s and outright said that gay people made up a good chunk of the nazis? That he didnt say america joined ww2 bc they were jealous of the NAZIS. WHAT WOULD POSSESS YOU TO FUCKING SAY THAT. but then? He gives women (not even women most of the time, he misgenders nonbinary ppl constantly) shit for writing mlm. are we supposed to act like he doesn’t straight-up sees himself superior and better than people of color and steals their works to put himself on a pedestal? Are we supposed to act like he didnt spit on our elders by saying “only the boring gays survived aids” like man! Fuck you! He BLANTANTLY MAKES UP HISTORY TO PUT HIMSELF ON A PEDESTAL!! HE ACTIVELY TRIED TO REWRITE LGBT HISTORY TO SUIT HIS FUCKED UP NARRATIVES!

yes this sucks ! no one deserves this but no one should be making him a martyr. Thats what he fucking WANTS! He wants to be immortalized as a victim!! (again, supposedly, it was reported hes alive but its not confirmed).

The shit he got isnt near the amount of fucking callous behavior hes done again and again. Again, to drill this point, EVEN IF HE DIDNT CALL THE POLICE HE THREATENED A TRANS WOMAN INTO THINKING HE DID!!! The fact he tried to use a head injury to justify years of the outright ghoulish shit fucking astounds me. Why the fuck did anyone in his life thought it was a good idea to let him TRY to come back. in the end, he had options. he didn’t need to try to make a comeback. HE DIDNT NEED TO FUCKING LIE OR IGNORE THE SHIT HE WAS CALLED OUT ON the reality is, he wanted to come back thinking he could shove it under the rug, was told that no dude, you’re not allowed to be a youtuber anymore. you’re done. you need to move on and went full nuclear. it’s not on anyone’s hands but his own. HES BEEN DOING THIS TO HIMSELF!! But nah man we cant call his shit out bc hell may or may not kill himself. Fuck the other minorities who have the same issues but worse and sometimes BECAUSE of him. This is going to SUCKKKK so bad when other ppl, specifically white gays, are going to weaponize this shit to get away with their stuff.

#warning: do not read this post if you want me to be nice to james somerton. i am extremely mean in this post. #before anyone accuses me of shit i legit never contacted him myself or anyone involved. i am someone who witnessed this behavior repeatedly #again. i hope hes alive and well. the fact is him lying about this WOULD BE THE IDEAL SITUATION. BC NO ONE SHOULD GO THROUGH THAT. but. #he HAS to forever be the victim in his eyes. attempting doesnt automatically mean youre free of sin. #its just terrible to see that regardless whether or not he did do it #its very clear his attempts to run away from his consequences are working on some people #we need to acknowledge that if your shitty ex friend can weaponize a threat to kill themselves #so can this internet person after being called out for horrendous shit #like what was the alterative? what were people supposed to fucking do? be nice about it? #yeah as if poc and trans women arent historically given shit for being 'too mean' about wanting justice. #this isnt just the plagiarism this is the fact a white dude has been parading himself as THE speaker for the gays(tm) but has been using hi #gayness to shield himself from his misogyny racism transphobia and antisemitism #its very clear regardless this means that ppl r going to side with him and then give him benefit of doubt #if you cant handle the heat stay out of the fucking kitchen dude. this is the consequences of your fucking actions. #hes a disgusting person who cant handle being told no so hes going to drag everyone down with him #like. idk this entire situation is frustrating to me. #its also frustrating ppl trying to be moral abt it like 'see! i knew this was bad all along!' no you didnt. shut it. #for the record im like mainly talking abt twit watching those spineless uwu cutesy ppl basically saying hes done noting wrong #oh and also alt righters who are clearly weaponinizing this where u know they wouldnt give a shit if a right ytber did this. #james somerton #idk might delete this later its just. ugh...

[toss-a-coin-to-your-stan-account]

as someone who has some. well. mixed feelings about netflix witcher I fucking hate when people give it shit for the wrong (read: bigoted) reasons. like. no YOU don't like it bc they made it so triss isn't white. I don't like it bc they made eskel a tree. get fucked

#me in a discord: oh yeah i love witcher #another user (entirely unprompted): i hate what they did to triss. shes a white ginger woman dammit! #me: wow we were literally talking about trolls i was not expecting you to become a completely different person in my eyes very fast- #(...also i still like it I lied in my last line) #mine #the witcher #witcher #racism

[tiredyke]

removing “cop” from online leftists’ vocabulary until they can learn to behave

#‘you’re a cop if you [do thing unrelated to police that i personally do not like]’ go sit in timeout and think about what you’ve done #i don’t want to hear about fandom police or queer identity police. you people have never been a target of law enforcement and it shows every #time you open your fucking mouth #police brutality #1312 #white online libs: ‘you’re a cop if you try to say lesbians can’t sleep with men! 🤓’’ have you tried um. dying #racism #neon talks

[kingjasnah]

Hi kingjasnah, can I ask why you don't post cosmere stuff very often anymore?

ummm ok sure. tbh the big nebulous reason is that it's not always easy to be a person of color in this space. i don't take a lot of what people say online seriously and I never have (which is probably why ive been on this blog so long), like im secure enough in my offline life to tbh not worry about it and my experience of these books is solely personal. which i recommend to everyone. but sure the last few years have been a little grating like i think there's a reason most of the mutuals of color i had in 2020 (and before) have um moved tf on as they say. im not going to expand on this LOL if you were here you know what i mean

the slightly chiller reason is just very simply that none of the releases since ROW have captured my interest as much? the ssps were cute but whatever. im personally not an era 2 person but i love a lore dump so lost metal was fun for that reason. when the next stormlight preview season starts I plan to be fully back on my bullshit I will be posting I will be keeping up with things I will be theorizing but I'm not here to do that 24/7 in the off season anymore

#dont get me wrong tho i curate my own experience sp thoroughly that not much bothers me #i just. it was half why are you talking to me like that im a person on the Internet and half dont make me ur racism attack dog if ur white #also. minor reason but this blog got too big in 2020 the more i think about it the more im like #that was weird it was weird that i cultivated several conflicting reputations online. yeah. #idk. was it weird? whatever lol #asks

[wenellyb]

Everybody is thirsting over Tenoch Huerta, and I agree that he's so so hot but the sexiest thing about him is his soul.

Every time I'm watching an interview of him, I'm humbled by how much he brings into the conversation.

I've personally never really seen a male actor talk so vocally about colorism and racism in the entertainment industry and in soctiey (the only ones I can think about right now are John Boyega and Jesse Williams) but it's something that isn't so common.

Tenoch talks about it so unapologetically and actually says the words, he doesn't sugarcoat it or minimizes it. He not afraid to talk about how racism and colorism are still present in Mexican society.

He's not afraid to talk about what the movie means to him, he's not afraid to talk about his origins, his history, about how for hundreds of years Mexican people with Indegenous origins like him were thought to be ashamed of those origins, and how they were taught to be ashamed of their ancestors, how it's a trauma shared with all the people who were "conquered" but how proud he is of his origins now.

He's not making his way by trying to blend in but by being himself.

Another example I have in mind was in a talk show the other day he was asked a question about accents and explained how accents are part of our identity, it's our linguistic identity. He gave the example of "American English" and "British English", he went on to explain how you can't really say that one or the other is the correct accent, it's just different linguistic identity. Let me tell you, I had never thought of accent that way but, wow.

He explained how happy he was that Ryan Coogler wanted to keep his accent and didn't ask him to work on it or change it and made it part of his character.

I'm mesmerized by the way he talks about such important issues, I mesmerized by the way he talks about his castmates, I mesmerized by the way he doesn't let any question destabilize him and just choses to be unapologetically himself.

#tenoch huerta #I think a lot of actors in the industry loose their identity trying to fit in and not making to much waves #you'll never hear them saying words like racism or colorism but they'll talk about and honestly I don't blame them because #sometimes being honest about racism can get you blacklisted in the cinema industry but also in the job industry in general #being vocal is always risky because a lot of White people aren't ready to hear the truth so we always have to pay attention to what we say #and never use strong words and always use euphemism #and hearing Tenoch talk was like being given a fresh bowl or air to breathd #I don't know him or the person he is but I have so much so much admiration for him and his message #of the way he talks #namor #wakanda forever #black panther wakanda forever #ryan coogler #I know that in theory no one is perfect but that man is truly flawless.

[bambiraptorx]

I’d like to know more about your AU featuring Ferret Splinter.

I’m also a bit curious as to the associations you don’t like about the current canon design for a Rise splinter. In my AU he’s starting to slim down a little since I’m pretty sure things are a bit more rigorous.

But that is a long way of saying I’m curious as to why so please elaborate on why you don’t like the design

I'm happy to share! First things first, it's not a singular AU so much as a design I'm planning to work into all my fics. I just added the lore to the original post to make it a little more interesting and to explore what differences might arise leading to or because of Splinter being a ferret mutant instead of a rat mutant.

As for the reason for the redesign in the first place, it's not because Rise Splinter is short and chubby, I want to say that straight out of the gate. He can be an extremely competent fighter and fat at the same time. (And if you want a real-life example of this, look at sumo wrestlers. They definitely aren't thin.) My issue is specifically with him being a rat.

From here on, I'm going to be discussing racism and racist imagery, just a heads up.

In Rise, Splinter is a Japanese immigrant who gets turned into a rat. If you know anything about the anti-Asian and anti-Japanese propaganda that's been used over the years, that is very much not a good association. If you want to see examples, look at the first and third examples of WW2 anti-Japanese propaganda here, or this one here. Then compare those designs to Rise Splinter. It's bad.

(And there's other iffy parts in Rise, like the joke in the movie about him knowing what rats taste like. Given the history of anti-Asian propaganda in the US and the fact that Rise Splinter is canonically a first-generation immigrant, that's not great. The jokes about him being a bad driver when its a common stereotype of Asian people? Also not great.)

I'm not Asian or Japanese myself so I'm probably not the best person to explain this fully, but I don't particularly like the idea of using a character design that looks uncomfortably close to a racist caricature. And this problem of Splinter being an Asian-coded rat-man isn't unique to Rise by any means since it's been a staple characteristic since his character was created in the 80s, but that doesn't mean that we have to maintain that.

For me, that means redesigning his character to not be a rat, and using the redesign in my stories instead of his canon design. Does everyone have to do this? No. But I think more people should at least acknowledge that Splinter's design does have negative associations, and evaluate what that means for their own work. There's several good video essays on youtube if you want to learn more.

TLDR: Splinter being an Asian-coded rat man has racist connotations and Rise Splinter in particular looks like a racial caricature, thus my redesign of him.

#asks #bambi's rambling #cw racism #tw racism #racism mention #and again there are other people who can talk about this better than i can because i am very much a white person #but i want to at least be open about why i did the redesign in the first place #ferret splinter

[darling-valentine]

every now and then I remember that time my transfem friend and I were talking about her trauma and her transition and suddenly she said "but yeah you didn't go through any of that because trans men don't get harassed or bullied and have it overall easier" and I just felt so deeply upset at how she just assumed all the pain I went through couldn't exist because I somehow had it easier. I didn't even say anything because I didn't want her to think I was angry at her, because if I do then suddenly I'm an Angry Man that's exaggerating

#not to mention im latino and she's white #how can you say 'yeah you didn't suffer bullying' to a latino neurodivergent trans man that you've known is mentally unwell for years #maybe its because she idolizes me a lot but please i just want people to see me like a person and not like some concept they can define #also it's really sad seeing people say 'trans men have it easier' like I didn't get beat up and socially and psychologically bullied #ever since i came to Spain because of racism and homophobia and transphobia and ableism and every form of bigotry you can think #and even to this day i still have to deal with all that #even when i think im safe I'm never really safe for one reason or another #and being a man doesn't make me any less vulnerable #valentine.txt #valentime #sorry for the rant gamers I'm still upset and i haven't talked about it to her because I don't want her to feel bad

[eenochian]

it’s very funny how this fandom suddenly cares so much about sensitivity, meanwhile no one was up in arms about folks calling valeria shit like “cartel mommy” and simping for her. and, if you point this out, you get told that it’s “less important” or incomparable. way to tell victims of cartel violence that they don’t matter. y’all can’t preach about sensitivity and mindfulness while doing the exact opposite of that.

sensitivity is something that needed to be brought up a long time ago. people need to be mindful about the content they’re engaging with and producing. COD and its characters are based on very real issues and very real situations, mindfulness is needed for every single character.

seeing this only be brought up in the context of makarov and graves is honestly so, so frustrating. they’re not the only problematic characters that you need to consider when making content. western militaries like the US and UK are incredibly controversial and have devastated vulnerable people and their countries. price, ghost, soap, gaz— any member of the military, especially the special forces, is problematic. they’re not good people and should not be treated like saints, nor should they be idolized for what they do.

that all being said, the concepts of “be mindful and sensitive when making content” and “let people enjoy problematic media” can absolutely, 100%, co-exist. art is not meant to be a paradigm of moral goodness, it has always been a medium for people to explore things that are considered "taboo" in a safe space. there's a reason why "dead dove: do not eat" exists as a genre – with proper warning and precautions put in place, people can explore darker topics. for some, it's morbid interest. for others, it's a way of coping with trauma and experiences they've had in real life.

i want to repeat this just to make it very clear: be mindful and sensitive with the content you're producing. do not romanticize topics that should not be painted in a good light. don't minimize the impact of characters' actions or act like people are in the wrong for being uncomfortable with them. in this fandom especially, people treat atrocities like jokes because we're becoming desensitized to them. it's up to every individual to ensure that they don't forget how impactful a lot of this stuff is in real life. war is not a joke. terrorism is not a joke. people dying is not a joke. do not romanticize any of these things in your content, even if you're exploring the different sides of the people behind these things.

humanize the characters all you want. horrible people are still people, after all. humans are not one-dimensional beings. humanize them, but do not romanticize them.

be kind to victims, be sensitive, and be mindful about what you engage with. no one is perfect, no thing is perfect, but we can always do better. we need to approach every topic through this lens instead of picking and choosing who to support. everyone is deserving of it, everyone is entitled to basic respect. we don't need to compete and argue over who has it worse, we just need to be better across the board. support real victims. don't let media warp your perceptions of reality. be conscious of the content you make and consume.

#call of duty #cod #cod mw2 #mw2 #modern warfare #putting it in very clear words because i'm scared people may misinterpret what i'm saying: #for the love of god— LISTEN when people tell you that you're doing something wrong. #especially if these are victims or people knowledgeable of the topics you're portraying. #do your research. learn about the things you're writing or reading about. #do not portray bad people or harmful things in a positive light. #it's completely possible to “simp” for villains without disregarding or defending their actions. these characters are fictional. #it's better to get your rocks off to a set of pixels modeled after a normal person than a REAL person that does harm. #but be cognizant of what you're looking at when you do. #if you can support real victims— please do. #donate to ukraine. educate yourself on the war. learn about the harsh reality of cartels. study the impact of colonization and racism. #not only is it good to be informed of things in the real world— but it allows you to better understand these topics in the media. #i'm FAR from perfect. i'm not immune to doing wrong. i'm no exception to this criticism. #also wanted to throw this into the post but i may make another to address this specifically: #it is VERY telling that this fandom only started talking about sensitivity once (predominantly) white folks started being impacted by it. #no one cared about valeria being called “cartel mommy” or the cartel being romanticized. #graves gets criticized for being racist. but even he's often given a “pass” by the fandom.

[gothhabiba]

there's this tendency amongst white people to, when criticised for colonialist or otherwise racist logic, explain what they meant, as though the criticism arises from a misunderstanding caused by the ignorance of the critic. and I gotta say. assuming ignorance on the part of a person of colour is not helping you beat the racism allegations.

#I mean a person of colour is just as capable of not knowing a fact or of misinterpreting something as anyone else lol #but I'm talking about cases where it was not a misunderstanding but the white person in question has merely failed or refused #to understand the basis of the criticism #bonus points if the 'explanation' in question must be a lie because it would make what they said meaningless or incoherent #metablogging #racism

[kiingkiismet]

btw, saying “that was a fun debate” to someone (especially if they’re a minority themselves) who was literally explaining why human rights are human rights to you shows you don’t see this as a serious discussion that warrants your actual attention.

That person was explaining and fighting you to understand that human rights are not to be debated, but you see it as “fun” because you don’t experience it or don’t care enough.

#kis talks #randomly thinking about the serious discussions I’d have about racism and LGBTQ and a white person would hit me with this #yeah fun for you #but not for me when I’m literally explaining why I deserve rights. that’s fucked up

[ginalinettiofficial]

idk i just don’t trust ppl who say “billy is a racist abusive piece of shit” but then turn around and reblog jason content like. okay if u have that opinion that’s your prerogative but it’s MY prerogative to point out that it’s weird af to feel that way abt billy and NOT abt jason

#d speaks #st #billy hargrove #jason carver #like if u hate billy that is your prerogative esp as a black person. that said #these are white ppl i’m seeing who’re like billy is so racist!!!! btw here’s my blorbo jason #it’s just like ??????? does not compute #like if we’re comparing things that got said in canon. saying ‘there are types of ppl u stay away from and that boy is one of them’ and #saying to a black kids face ‘i thought u were one of the good ones’ like. those are. very on par with one another #like there are 4 characters on this show who made racist comments: troy. mike. billy. jason. #as far as i remember at least those are the Big Ones #and while i understand not liking billy and having his racism be one of your driving reasons behind that #i do NOT understand turning around and liking jason????? #mike okay! yes he was fully microaggressive to lucas but yeah he’s a protagonist #and the show does a lot to try and make u like him. he was younger than billy & jason and they also played that moment off for laughs so #like i get if you can sit there and be like i have no reason to dislike mike wheeler for his racism #troy tbh just doesn’t get any talk in the fandom so idk how ppl feel about him. he IS the only one to fully use a slur but #he’s also 13 and i’ve seen many ppl in the fandom who define morality based on this middle schoolers are learning high schoolers should have #already learned and should be better narrative so i wouldn’t be surprised if i saw ppl defending troy #but billy and jason are. very on par with one another in terms of the micro aggressions they committed and the level of antagonism #so i am just very thrown by seeing ppl hating one and praising the other like #it’s almost like they…… don’t actually care about racism and are in fact nowhere near as anti racist as they believe themselves to be #and instead just use the term ‘racist’ as a trump card to try and win arguments abt characters they don’t like without ever actually #putting any critical thought into this show and the way racism is intertwined into every aspect of it #because surprise!!!! it was written by blatant racists lmfao #fandom wank #i suppose lmao. wank in the tags at least #also to clarify. i think both billy AND jason are compelling and interesting multifaceted characters #they’re both good antagonists and they both present very good looks at The Type Of White Boy You Meet In Small Towns #stranger things

[starlooove]

Actually hate girlboss Steph malewife tim shit bc most of the time it’s literally just another facet of “he’s so cool and interesting” while she’s just there

#the way u talk about Steph in relation to tim says a lot about you #the feminization and woobification of tim Drake is soooo #white ppl projecting onto the rich white character who woulda guessed it #at the expense of the women woc poc and nonrich characters in general #and despite what we know y’all DO interact with dick like he’s white until it’s time to exoticize him #and i may sound like a broken record but y’all gon hear me #can’t wait for some white person to say the same shit in like 3 months #and for everyone to act like it’s brand new #already happened with Duke and partly with Jason #who do y’all think is next steph cass or Damián? #I think it’s happening with steph rn actually #y’all don’t even acknowledge that the way you treat cass is racism 💀 #like not even in the way some of y’all can acknowledge calling Damian feral is racist #some of y’all don’t like hearing shit about urselves smh

[howhow326]

Unfriendly reminder that white liberals are not your friend

#no I'm not defending the black conservatives sit down and shut up #Im saying that white people finding enjoyment from 'triggering' black people is a red flag to the type of person they really are #actually: anyone that finds enjoyment in triggering people is suspect because of that words use by therapists and misuse by neo nazis #but back to my point #Vaush and the random racist white lib in this video are two peas in a pod #the random racist white lib unironically called himself a white savior when confronted with the fact that black people don't WANT #white saviorism #and Vaush yelled #white genocide #at a black woman for like three hours for talking about land back movement #racism #antiblackness #white liberals #racist white liberals #vaush #anti vaush #do not watch this video