So… I have a lot to say about this post I saw on my feed today. I took screenshots and blocked out the username for the sake of the OP. I didn’t want this to be a callout post for one specific user, and do not wish them any hate or harm. I DO have a whole heap to say about this and the treatment Charles gets from the rdr fandom as a whole, not only the OP in the screenshot.
I have a lot of problems with this post, and I have been wanting to talk about this issue and pattern I’ve noticed in the rdr community. Again, I do not mean to send any hate in OP’s direction or suggest that OP is racist in any sense. With that being said…
It’s an inherently racial stereotype to assume that Charles, a black and native man, is illiterate with such a lack of evidence or real reasoning behind it. He was isolated for most of his life after the age of thirteen, and he’s been with a gang for only six months. He is very private, and he is shy. He doesn’t talk much at all, much less about reading. I have never seen this sort of assumption made about any other character, claiming they’re illiterate, because they’re never seen reading at camp.
This is the most ridiculous take I have ever seen. Charles is the one who buried Arthur with his own two hands and created his gravestone. He was the only person who knew where Arthur was buried, hence being the sole creator of Arthur’s final resting place. Charles’ handwriting is the one we see on the gravestone. Charles is the one who wrote the inscription on the cross. He is not illiterate.
I think a problem I have with a lot of Charles fans is that they see him as a blank slate. They see Charles, a physically attractive man, who is quiet and take him for that alone. He is often seen as a blank canvas to project their own ideas onto and sort of mold to their own use and convince. And often times, whether knowingly or not, Charles is consistently watered down to racial stereotypes. Race is obviously a part of who he is, and it affects a lot of his actions, as it does with everyone, but that is not all who he is.
Charles is clinging to the fringes of what little of his culture that he does have. His mother was taken from him as a boy, and he holds onto what little he does have and that absence of his mother, and both of his cultures (because people also tend to ignore the fact that he is also black) is a huge part of who he is. But a lot of folks would rather see his shyness as blankness. He is not levelheaded, but he is moral. He is not always morally correct though. It’s frustrating to constantly see who he is being ignored for the sake of the false persona that’s been created for him.
I think a lot of folks need to listen to the one dialogue of Charles opening up at the campfire. Yes it is a relatable speech for a lot of reasons, but it is also about his race, how he experiences the world, and how he feels as though he has no place because of the loss of his mother, the lack of knowing who he is, his culture, and a whole host of other things. He is one of the best written characters in the game, and to brush that aside to make him into this ‘softhearted super caring ideal s/o’ is so frustrating. This is the same man who was ready to kill Uncle if the need arose. He is moral, but they are morals of his own, and he is not always correct. He is also flawed, just like everyone else. He is not a saint. He is a flawed and conflicted man.
To disregard Charles for who he is, is such a great disservice to the character and to all the work put into him, his story, and other people who have and continue to share the same experiences as he does.
So I randomly thought how Charles and Arthur at some point might have thought they made each others lives better. Charles was lonely... Arthur made him feel less lonely. Arthur had trouble with his honor... Seeing Charles being honorable made him want to be better. They improved each other lives in the short period they knew each other and it makes me sad they didn't have more time together...
transmasc erasure is crazy because there will be a character who has presented as masculine for most of their life, refers to themselves as masculine, etc, and who has canonically experienced femininity with a visual metaphor likening it to being trapped/crushed to death, and people will still exclusively use she/her and treat them like a woman playing dress-up. which has absolutely no historical precedent for how transmasc people have been treated in the past and certainly no current issues with how they are often treated now (sarcasm).
Guys. “Na’vi don’t have a word for lie” is cut content. It’s NOT cannon. We need to stop putting that stuff everywhere and treating it as a piece of lore when it isn’t, cuz I can’t even begin to describe how deeply problematic the implications of that phrase is. It was cut for a reason!
Na’v are capable of lying. They did it long before RDA and will do it after because they’re an intelligent race of intelligent people. STOP SPREADING MISINFORMATION. It’s weird.
R.I.P. The 2976 American people that lost their lives on 9/11 and R.I.P. the 48,644 Afghan and 1,690,903 Iraqi and 35000 Pakistani people that paid the ultimate price for a crime they did not commit
R.I.P. to the more than 4,500,000 people of Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Yemen, and Syria, who have lost their lives as a result of American occupation.
people saying that the live action how to train your dragon is good actually because it's basically just a shot for shot remake of the original... then why the fuck would I watch it when I can just watch the (more visually stunning, not a blatant cash grab) original
Some of my favourite tiny details in some jayvik scenes (s1)
The look Viktor has on his face and how he keeps glancing at Jayce after saying "all yours"
Viktor's head nod as Jayce's "I guess it's time"
Jayce inclining his head to hear Viktor when he asks "You had a vision" also him not really questioning it and just being like yeah that's something that happens
Viktor waiting for Jayce even though upset and Jayce keeping his hand on Viktor until the bottle is thrown + his look of anger/protectiveness
