1 Ash Lynx & Shorter Wong (Banana Fish--Banana Fish will hurt you.)
2 Sasuke Uchiha (Naruto)
3 Zuko (Avatar: The Last Airbender)
4 Edward Elric (Fullmetal Alchemist--My favorite anime. I recommend 2003 until you lose Maes, then switching to Brotherhood.)
5 Kvothe (The Name of the Wind--the most beautiful writing I have ever seen, and a love song to music.)
6 Kaul Hilo (Jade City--The audiobooks are masterful.)
"Let's be brothers again in our next life."
6.5 Wei Wuxian & Jiang Wanyin (Mo Dao Zu Shi / Chen Qing Ling)
8 Nezumi (No. 6--Leaving your boyfriend with the baby is such a move?)
6.75 Andy (The Old Guard)
7 Izaya Orihara (Durarara!!)
8.5 Mizu (Blue Eye Samurai)
9 Roronoa Zoro (One Piece--My favorite thing about Zoro is how he problem solves in the middle of a fight. He won't accept being outclassed. If he needs to level up, he does it right then and there.)
10 Mercutio (Romeo & Juliet--I once played Mercutio, and had to spend 2 hours afterwards trying to calm down from how angry I was at Romeo for doing me so fucking dirty.)
10.5 Mugen (Samurai Champloo)
10.5 Michiko Malandro (Michiko & Hatchin--She's not winning mother of the year anytime soon.)
11 Anne Bonny, and Ranger Trio in general (Black Sails)
I’ve rewritten this ask a bazillion times, but it’s something that’s been weighing on me, especially with all the many fandom dramas going on. I’m just afraid I’ll sound ignorant, or that I’m asking permission to watch racist shit, but I am genuinely trying to be as supportive as possible.
What is the best course of action when a creator or game or show or book says something or does something racist? Or has some characters or themes that are suspect? There are times when the answer is super clear, when creators are past the point of forgiveness. But what about single racist acts? When should apologies be taken seriously? What should I do if people are split online about the decision? What is the best way to get as many available opinions as I can? When is it time to press eject on the entire series? How can I best support Black people still within the fandom?
I promise I’m not asking you to hold my hand or to give me permission, I just want a basis. A general guide. Sometimes I feel frozen, because I don’t know what the best course of action is.
Well let me ask you some questions in response that might help put your panic in context:
1) why is "a single racist act" more acceptable? Why is the amount of times one has been antiblack racist the standard, and not also the impact, as well as the perpetrator's response to that single act?
2) what is YOUR standard for "too far"? That is, what is YOUR line for allowing antiblackness to slide until it is "too bad"?
3) Are you okay that the victims of said antiblackness who have a different standard of "too far" will judge you accordingly?
4) Here's what Black fans consider to be a good apology. How often have you accepted less than? Are you okay with continuing to do that for the sake of entertainment?
5) What makes you think YOU- if you are not a target of that racism- have the right to make that call of what's an "acceptable" apology?
6) Do you have Black friends within fandom? Do you listen to their opinions when they tell you what they need? Why do you hold anyone else's opinion as valuable when they are not the target group in question?
[video ID: an orange tabby cat lies next to a plasma ball.
Voice 1: "yeah?"
Voice 2: "[inaudible name] touch it"
hand reaches into frame and touches the plasma ball, causing lightning effect. Cat is visibly curious.
Hand pulls out of frame. Cat investigates and sniffs at plasma ball.
Voice 2: [giggles] "he's tapping his nose."
Cat sits up and, clearly mimicking the human's action, pokes and then places his paw on the plasma orb, creating a lightning effect which outlines his paw pads against the glass.
Voice 2: [suppressed laughter] "you can perfectly see the little beans!"
Cat removes paw from orb, sits back, and sniffs curiously in the air.
Voice 2: [through laughter] "oh my fucking god"
Voice 1: "that's the best thing I've ever seen."
Cat reaches to sniff off screen.
Voice 2: "oh now he's just going to eat my lamp." End video ID]
when I was in high school I had a literature teacher who had a policy of unlimited extra credit. All you had to do was read a book by a notable author (his discretion) and have a little chat with him after school to prove that you read it. No limits, no need for variety (one month I decided I really loved Kurt Vonnegut and just read everything of his I could get my hands on).
Yes, I was tearing through books constantly, and talking to this teacher at least weekly. Because even though I always loved reading as a kid, literature was always a very weak subject for me in terms of a teaching-to-standardized-test school setting (I just do awful on "what color were the curtains" type multiple choice questions. Those details don't stick in my memory THEY JUST DON'T). But that didn't matter for this class. I could just read my way out of any bad test score. I have always had fond memories of how I "fudged" my way through that class and "abused' the extra credit policy.
I was thinking about it again today, and only just now realized that he absolutely tricked me into being well-read, while my teenage self thought I was totally getting away with something. THAT MOTHERFUCKER. I hope he's doing well.