Neo Tales

It's never quite that easy...

[creatingblackcharacters]

I'm gonna say this, and it's gonna spark a defensive reaction within some of you, but I need you to listen to me and let it sit for a moment before I explain further. It is not a personal stain against your morality.

From both my experience reading works by white writers, and my experience running this blog, I have come to the conclusion that many white writers are too used to relying on Whiteness being understood as the default experience of both your characters and your readers, and it makes you weaker writers with weaker technique overall.

[creatingblackcharacters]

One thought I find myself having often is "well, what do you do for your white characters?" I've grown to understand... Many of you don't 😅 you don't actually understand or apply character design techniques because it is Assumed™ that the reader understands- that the reader has the white gaze. It doesn't need to be Said that your character is white, and will do familiar white things. It is Assumed™ that white characters fall under the Magicking It Away rules automatically, while Black characters have to have reality applied to them first. You don't actually have to... Well, write.

The brilliant Toni Morrison explained this in an interview of hers (here's another; watch her doc!!!) that there's this assumption that one's readers are white. So when she would purposefully- and there's a difference!- write stories for the Black gaze, that certain things didn't have to be explained because we Understood, it would get frustrating for white readers. They felt left out, unappealed to, hurt.

And yet, that's standard fare- and everyone's not writing such specific stories like Toni! To be "fair", we did understand y'all. We had to. But those same techniques, both in writing and in media consumption, I believe are atrophied from white viewers ("I don't watch this because I don't relate!" Or projection of ones own identity into Black characters to be "relatable") because it's not Socially Required for you to apply them.

It's why I'm always telling y'all to study Black creations about Black people. Writing is a craft, and a craft has to be honed!! You have to practice!! I had a whole lesson on this and I feel like everyone glossed over it lmao. I promise it'll make your writing of EVERY character better overall. 🙏🏾

[croaksac]

the complete and total defeat in the prosecutor's voice at the very end..... im 💀💀💀

[bogleech]

Havent seen a lot about this on tumblr so maybe not a lot of people know:

He was wrongfully raided by police in 2022

He used footage and names of the specific cops in posts, videos and songs making fun of them

The cops sued for defamation and cried in court about the songs ruining their lives

He won anyway

[creatingblackcharacters]

I love how unapologetic he is. And rightfully so!! How you gone cry about being embarrassed when you weren't crying about barging into my home and threatening my life? No one was worried about anybody's children when they weren't the right color. They good. 🤷🏾‍♀️

[phoenix-before-the-flame]

Wow your "art" is UGLY! Just like all you niggers. Evil forces cannot create original, new life, but can only twist, distort, or destroy what has already been created by good forces. And this describe you perfectly, can't create anything of actual value, that's why you only blackened actually good characters. Niggers always were and would be ugly thieves, even in art.

Did you, yes you 🫵🫵🫵dearest reader know that I have commissions open right this very moment?

From options such as redesigning your favourite characters to be Black like so

For the low low price of $10! (Whoa what a steal! 😱😱😱😱)

To other options such as:

Lineart!

Character design!

Fully rendered illustrations!

And even pinup illustrations!!!

Interested? Take a hop, skip and a jump over to my kofi page and grab yourself a commission slot 😎👍

Phoenix's Commissions

Commissions Open! Click to see Phoenix's commission menu.

Not sure what my art looks like? Take a stroll through my art tag!

[creatingblackcharacters]

They be chomping at the bit to say that word huh 🤣 anonymously, of course. Anyway let's support peer 🙏🏾

[chilewithcarnage]

Sinners was extremely fun and had much more depth than your average blockbuster but when you start saying shit like it has to win every Oscar and be everyone's movie of the year or you hate Black art people are gonna start pointing out that the characters aren't as well developed as in One Battle (or Sentimental Value or The Secret Agent) the setting doesn't feel as lived in as it could be and the exposition is a lil clumsy. none of that is even a bad thing for the kind of film it is, I don't think Ryan Coogler shot for heights he didn't reach, I think he made the exact film he meant to and he made it really well. It's a masterpiece in the same way that Jurassic Park and Jaws are masterpieces and I certainly would not have been mad if it won Best Picture but I can understand why it didn't.

I don't have a succinct retort to this if you think thematically Sinners is on the same level as Jurassic fucking Park you are stupid and/or racist

[wreathofleon]

i despise this little rhetorical trick white people do when they purposely misrepresent our genuine critique of the system (racial biases of the oscars, and the history of black filmmakers getting snubbed) as a highly emotional kneejerk response that's attempting to suffocate dissent ("it has to win every oscar, and if it doesn't, everyone at the oscars is racist. and if you disagree that it should win every oscar, you are racist"). this awfully bad faith interpretation of the current discourse is not only absurd and indicative of white people's myopic colonial worldview of everything being a matter of conquer and dominion over others, but places black people in the position where they have to exonerate themselves of the fictional argument that YOU made up in YOUR OWN head at every turn to advance the shit they're ACTUALLY trying to say. which is:

have you ever considered that if it sounds unbelievable, then it shouldn't be believed? because nobody—and i mean NOBODY—is arguing that sinners is (1) a flawless movie, (2) that you're racist for not liking it, or that you have an obligation to like it, or (3) that it deserved "every oscar" (which it does, but we all know its patently unrealistic and is, again, unbelievable.)

we are still reeling from the stars of this same movie getting called the n word by a white person at another events show, and having the entire internet browbeat us about how we hate disabled people and know nothing about disability because we didn't exhibit the most nuanced, regulated response to racial trauma; all as a massive chess play by BAFTA to deliberately stoke ratings from us.

we're still having racist circlejerks on this website about how the black music tradition is a valid tradition and shouldn't be pigeonholed into the "sex, drugs, money, and gangs" genre by moral nitpickers with double standards or white people with an almost fetishistic, VAMPIRIC attachment to our art and its purposes.

for fucksakes, one of the first articles ever written about this movie on its OPENING WEEKS was variety spitballing about how it "wasn't gonna be a box office hit" because it was an "original genre film" and not the 17th "the conjuring" installation huffing its own ectoplasmic fume and rot. several movies released at around the same time that were original genre films. . . and NONE of them had articles written about how they weren't "pulling their weight."

everything regarding this movie's release and propagation on a systemic level was DESIGNED for it to fail. at every step of the way were you colonial vultures egging this movie on to suffer despite how masterful and attentive its execution was. you have people on this website fangirling over remmicKKK and giving black people their dumb nerdy fandom spiel about how personal gratification is above all even if it's tone-deaf and racist and just artistically god awful.

and all we have to say for this storm of cracker nonsense swarming around maybe what is one of the best films to be made in contemporary is "i can understand why it didn't win?" Can You? Can You Really?

[sunnyyfur]

he would have interviewed the fuck out of those vampires

[alsoknownasallison]

now i'm nawht puhticularly familiuh with how well the vampiuh mind functions aftuh a hundred yeeuhs of repeated trawmuh, but i- i do buhlieve, louis, you have recawlled multipuhl moments wheuh you tawlk to the apparishun of yuh ex-husbund whom you murduhed in cold blood....lawgically I can only be led to one conclusion....

louis, you have schizophreniuh

[creatingblackcharacters]

Before the day ends I would like to welcome everyone to

✊🏾✊🏾Melanin March✊🏾✊🏾

Yeah BHM was quite terrible this year so we gotta run it back. Whatever this month is, we're sharing together now! Happy to meet you.

[creatingblackcharacters]

Via the notes:

It's Women's History Month? Shout out to Black women!

It's OCD Month? Shout out to Black people with OCD!

It's International Ideas Month? Shout out to Black creatives and any Black person who's ever had the spark to bring something to life!

[fuckblast]

The really weird autistic sweet spot where you just say things you think and people find you super funny

[mesmir-ized]

[creatingblackcharacters]

It wasn't playful bc you were very rude about it. didn't come off as playful at all.

I'se sorry dear massa/missus for mahs joy in mah collards. Ise shoulda known that inside jokes and emotions and from Black peoples is frightnin because wese only alloweds to have joys when yous approve. Ise not allowed to dos that, ise stepped too far. Ise shoulda been mo thoughtful about howse yous would feel about a post on collard greens and ise will not make you uncomfortable no mo.

[ladiablotine]

For @creatingblackcharacters ☀ Thank you so much! 🐛 🍊 Commissions 🍊

[creatingblackcharacters]

The face that launched a thousand ships, indeed!

You did such a good job 🥹 Helen looks so divine 🙏🏾

[creatingblackcharacters]

hi! i hope you are well. if it's okay, i wanted to share a Black character that i think was made with so much love, especially for an early 2000s japanese video game!

this is Sagitta (sah-JEE-tah) (all the main characters are named after constellations from the game Sakura Wars: So Long My Love, all the way back in 2005!

the game takes place in late 1920s new york city, and Sagitta grew up in harlem where she was part of a biker gang. after seeing one of her brethren locked up due to an unfair and racist trial, she dedicated herself to becoming a lawyer to protect her community. the game characterizes Sagitta as intelligent, caring, and righteously angry – she always speaks up at injustice and she's never treated as crazy for it. AND she's romanceable! i fell head over heels for her in my playthrough.

it really surprised me how much this game written by a japanese gamedev team researched Black culture in the roaring 20s new york. an entire chapter of the game is about harlem's identity, the music, the nightlife, the church, the food, and how much Sagitta wants to protect it from poverty and gentrification. you really get the feeling the devs not only wanted to have a Black main character, but center her Black identity and the beauty of her surroundings

and her theme song is a banger!! it's so interesting hearing gospel jazz with japanese lyrics:

https://youtu.be/_-dydoFFSCQ

i wish her hair was more textured and i'm not sure how to feel about her lips honestly, but i still think she's beautiful and she's treated as such in the game as well

I assume the lady in the thumbnail is not the same one in the screenshot 🤣 but that actually does sound really interesting! Reminds me of Phoenix Wright. Yeah I don't like her lips either but other than that, for 2005, this game sounds really thoughtful.

[neotales]

I’ve always loved this character and her design. The look reminds me of my sister when we were younger and she was still in her twenties.

It’s nice for me to see black characters that look like my family with hair similar to our own. Of course, these are pictures of my sister with my mom and her husband but you get the gist.

But, beyond looks, she was my favorite character when playing Sakura Wars. Probably the reason why I bought the game since I’m not much of a gamer in general.

It genuinely did feel like they put a lot of research into making her character feel authentic.

[go-whump-in-the-night]

[silvermoon424]

I saw your post about the whole whitewashing thing to Sailor Lead Crow. Not that I condone it but you gotta remember this. Japanese culture is entirely different than the west. As messed up as it is, you're talking about a studio from another country that has a very different outlook on such topics especially due to the fact that possibly less than 1% in Japan are black and there are even people in Japan that never met someone black, Hispanic, ect in their entire life.

Oh no, I fully acknowledge that. It's just disappointing when a creator makes a character dark-skinned in the manga and then the anime adaptation makes them much lighter-skinned, you know?

[neotales]

There are dark skinned people in Japan though. In Japan, like many other countries, tend to do anything in real life to lighten their skin. Some of these things include washing their face with lemons/calamansi juice to brighten the sky.

That is why the show “Peach Girl” exists because the main girl was dark skinned and others made fun of her for it and how she wouldn’t change her color for others.

Rei Hino fit into typical Japanese beauty standards because she was fair skinned and thin. What makes Naoko different from many other writers in general is that when she introduced Setsuna (who was very dark skinned, possibly even Brazilian as there are many Brazilian who travel to Japan for work), her dark skin was portrayed as beautiful and exotic by everyone.

I would love to believe that this issue is a Western issue however that’s not the case.

Lead Crow and Pluto can be just dark skinned Japanese women… the problem is that almost every culture has a problem with dark skin people. The only people trying to be darker are white people trying to be tanned.

In Chinese and Japanese culture, it’s normal to wear makeup to make their skin as white as snow. Often, black folks make fun of their fellow black folks for having dark skin.

When people of all cultures can’t see someone who fits their tone or their beauty, it makes people insecure of who they are and what they look like.

This isn’t just for females. This is males too.

I remember EXO’s Suho telling Kai that he was much too dark while compliment Sehun and Xiumin for their “beautiful light skin.”

This is not just a western issue. It’s not one race issue. This is an issue that everyone needs to look at themselves and recognize issue.

There was nothing wrong with the dark skin design in the first place. There’s nothing wrong with having dark skin in real life.

I meant to reblog this without the long message, but I already wrote it.

[jadeazora]

*an ominous piano plays in the distance*

[blackfilmmakers]

Why is every "not everything is cultural appropriation, god!" post so hostile towards proving poc wrong? You dont think racists fall back on:

"My Black friend said it was ok I wore dreads and say the n word"

"I can wear this cuz I'm 1/25th Native, and lived on a preserve"

"Well if Ariel can be any race, then Tiana, Mulan, and Pocahontas can be white then"

And then there's a mix claiming the only ones that care about cultural appropriation are white people, because "poc are way too smart to actually care about this, right my pocs" it's so demeaning

[neotales]

And the same people who laughed at Janet Jackson for having a big butt are the same ones who love Kim Kardashian for having a big fake one.

They are also the same people who looked at a black person with dreads and said they will do nothing with their life and called them hoodlums but will look at someone like Justin Bieber and say, “I’m not usually into dreads but he makes it look so good and so much classier…”

These be the same folks who took the word “woke” and made it into a racist term, taking away what our people said when they said it as a warning and to watch out.

[anxietyproblem]

[blackfilmmakers]

Why is every "not everything is cultural appropriation, god!" post so hostile towards proving poc wrong? You dont think racists fall back on:

"My Black friend said it was ok I wore dreads and say the n word"

"I can wear this cuz I'm 1/25th Native, and lived on a preserve"

"Well if Ariel can be any race, then Tiana, Mulan, and Pocahontas can be white then"

And then there's a mix claiming the only ones that care about cultural appropriation are white people, because "poc are way too smart to actually care about this, right my pocs" it's so demeaning

[neotales]

And the same people who laughed at Janet Jackson for having a big butt are the same ones who love Kim Kardashian for having a big fake one.

They are also the same people who looked at a black person with dreads and said they will do nothing with their life and called them hoodlums but will look at someone like Justin Bieber and say, “I’m not usually into dreads but he makes it look so good and so much classier…”

These be the same folks who took the word “woke” and made it into a racist term, taking away what our people said when they said it as a warning and to watch out.

[qqchurch]

[blackfilmmakers]

It's AAVE

"Aura" "Aura Farming" "Like a Boss"

Stop calling AAVE Gen Z language