#nesha rambles

[blackfemmecharacterdependency]

The casting for this family....

First Off: This is a Black and Black biracial people’s post. Anybody else who pass through, don’t get cute. I’ll blast you right to the block.

✊🏿✊🏾✊🏼

Chile... They said: These two -

Made these two...

And I said, "Here we go..."

(8 Years Later) We saw one grow up sensibly. This casting made sense for the route we took with the original cast family.

And I said, "Perhaps they'll tell us that the two biracial kids that we saw in the opening are adopted and the parents didn't even know about the V thing or something, since it was obvious when we all looked at them last season, that those girls were not biologically those people's kids..."

THEN they said that this one:

Grew up to be...

And I said

Because they said, "Not only will we pretend we didn't give them clearly Black people two biracial daughters, but we also finna pretend we ain't do one of them and we can and we did."

And my thing is... y'all know I can't stand this.

YES, two unambiguously Black people can have light skinned kids, sometimes. They most likely will not have them, but it can and does happen. But I hate, even more than that, which is explainable and simply happens more onscreen than it does in everyday life, y'all know this... I HATE when they flipflop on the character, in universe! IN! MY! FACE! (Finally decided on a tag for it: in character racial retcons

Now... I'm not gonna continuously complain, because I love Keeya King and when it happens, I prefer going darker than going lighter (fucking movieverse Ruby Daly casting will never see God), but oh boy. OH BOY!

I wish casting would try to make Black families look real, more often, and I wish that their character evolutions made sense more. Annabeth turned dark skinned in 8 years? She just... genetically switched? After having been a visibly biracial child? At the very least, a visibly light skinned child? She didn't get that shade from going outside more.

If they're gonna do bad with casting families, they could at least keep an individual character on a realistic human development path. Even though they have superpowers, V doesn't do the thing that the casting did to them!

Shout out to Jaz Sinclair and to Keeya King. This ain't about them. They're perfect. They did everything right. And that's why I'm only gon' talk my shit about it on this post, and I do not intend to take it beyond this post. But... Girl. Do the casting thing where you get somebody to actually go, "I know they're available, but does that make sense?" Because as happy as I was to see Keeya King, whenever Marie ass said "Annabeth?" I said, "No, Girl. That's clearly not your sister. Lol." And then she simply was! Marie haven't seen her in 10 years, but Nesha saw her last season, and who I saw ain't turn into no damn Keeya King at puberty. V ain't got that in it.

End Rant. Not really a rant. Just a... ramble, I guess. I want them to put a Black person or more at every stage of the creative process, including casting. There's enough talented Black people out there with two eyes and a mind who can cast main characters and their families (ESPECIALLY if you're gonna have them relive their last moments with them). Give Black main characters and their families thoughtful and thorough casting. That should not be a stretch for a major show with a big budget.

Now, end of ramble.

And Remember: This is a Black and Black biracial people’s post. Anybody else who pass through, don’t get cute. Ain't nobody talking to you. I’ll blast you right to the block. (And I might cuss you out real good too. Don't play with me 😘) Black people... talk to me like you got sense. You know this shit don't look right. Lol.

[blackfemmecharacterdependency]

Hey! Thank you for all the references and extremely detailed tagging you do.

May is probably too soon but any Blasian and/or Pacific Islander Black or Dark skinned people (I can only think of the Rock but I know he’s not the only one) would be a good fit for then.

July is disability heritage month AND French American heritage month. If you want to space out any of your remaining characters, they may be a good fit there. I know I would love to see French-American/French-speaking Women of Color and Disabled Women of Color during that time :).

August is trans history month (that seems new to me but I’m fairly new to being trans myself) so again some can go there.

September 15-October 15 would be perfect for any Afro-Latinas and Spanish African ladies you have (I think Hispanic heritage month was originally September but a lot of schools changed it to these dates so kids have time to prepare and celebrate it properly.

October is additionally Filipino Heritage month so you could put some Black & Filipino ladies there (I know there’s a bunch but the only one coming to mind is Hailee Steinfield) and maybe some other SEAsian/mixed ladies there.

And of course November is Indigenous Month! Any Pacific Islander girls you may have not been ready for in May could go here, and Black other-Indigenous women too.

I have a feeling you already know these things but hopefully this can give you more time, it sounds like you have an important set goal and I’m hoping to help destress. God knows I have one hell of a drafts folder.

Cheers to your trans journey!

I actually have a list in the drafts of Black female celebrities with Asian heritages for May. July is always complicated because Tumblr has very little findable Black disability content. I have never thought about French, but maybe next year. Everything after July is further than I'm thinking about currently, but I don't feature Hailee Steinfeld, unless she happens to be in the post with the Sinners cast or something. She won't be in the mix of what I've got going on.

I do feel like I never really do nothing for Hispanic Heritage Month, but I also don't always know backgrounds. It's only been cool to claim to be Afro Latina in mainstream for maybe a decade and a lot of guesswork was done prior to that. (If I have to do research work to figure things out, I usually am gonna skip it.

My general method is to look at my BFCD Calendar 3 months out. So, currently, I've been looking at April, May, June. Last month, I was tinkering with March, April, May. Next month will be May, June, July. Etc. So, things that I intend to make lists for are in drafts and posts that I intend to share start going into queue about 3 months early, and whenever I don't finish, I either slap a placeholder tag on it, leave it in drafts, or take a nearby off day to rush whatever I might have in drafts into the queue.

I don't necessarily omit the mixed ladies from things formerly queued, they just don't have as many posts that fit much of what I have going on. They're usually part of the Pink Days or B&W Days, but not so much, most of the other things I focus on. (I'm Black American. Idk when a lot of other things are taking place like Filipino Heritage time - Idk if I have ever heard about it, even though, I'm sure it is a big deal to some. And I knew very few Black Filipino characters or entertainers offhand, so I probably wouldn't make that an event, because so far, it sounds like it would be a lot of work and I don't like to do a lot of work.

But. Like I said, the stuff that I've got, I'm gonna be able to get much of it out that I hadn't been able to move before, and then I can maybe think about future events that I haven't done previously. Some don't last, even. Like, I'm gonna probably run out of black and white posts within the next few months and do away with B&W Days.

A lot of babbling happened here. But, I gotta go to bed. I have work in 6 hours. Thanks for stopping by.

[blackfemmecharacterdependency]

I don't believe in chemistry between characters/actors. I've never based any shipping potential on that. It's very individual specific and usually boils down to how the person who thinks that they see or don't see chemistry sees the individuals. People who believe in chemistry see it where they want to and don't see it where they don't want to.

When I'm shipping, I generally think of how the characters interact in the story, how they look at each other, think of each other, etc. And people say, "That's chemistry!" But, I didn't see "chemistry." I saw storytelling. I saw convincing portrayals. I saw writing I appreciated.

I can't get into conversations about chemistry, because I have never seen chemistry in my life, and when people are mad that others say two characters don't have chemistry, I typically don't see whatever chemistry it is that they're seeing either.

But do the characters have a well established connection in the story? Do their actions make for a relationship that I can support? Do the actors do a good job of portraying the relationship that the story is telling us that they have?

Most of the time, the fans be like, "They have so much chemistry," when what they really mean is that they want one or more of the characters sexually, or at least find them attractive, so they want to see that character with someone that they can either project a love story they would want to see themselves in, or someone that they can fantasize about with a character that they like. Which - it's fine to behave that way. But, blame it on your hormones.

That's not chemistry between them, just because you like looking at them. Maybe it's chemistry you feel between yourself and seeing them. Chemistry isn't just seen by everyone and those who do claim to see it, want to see it.

But that other thing isn't a thing I believe is real (and none of you have described it in any kind of way that makes it more real). You imagine chemistry where you want it to be and you deny chemistry where you don't want it to be.

What I say in the moments that I enjoy a ship is "I love them together" "This is my favorite ship" etc. "They have chemistry" means nothing to me. And none of the explanations or descriptions of what y'all mean when you say this have meant nothing to me neither. Why can't y'all just say, "I wanna see them hunch?" Or on the other end, "I do not wanna see them bump uglies."

And y'all do it with real life people too and then be shook years later to find out some of them people ain't even like each other, but they know how to do their jobs, which is acting, to tell a story.

I am... not attracted to most of the people in many of the ships. I don't care about imagining chemistry or denying chemistry between them. But, sometimes characters do make me feel for them and want to see them together. I will never credit chemistry for that. That is generally writing and/or performing. I'm crediting the architects of those characters and the actors when they're responsible.

[blackfemmecharacterdependency]

Character Evolution in Secrets of Sulfur Springs

This is about casting and physical attributes, not about development. This is about a show I truly love, and not one that I hate. These are all observations and thought processing about the casting of the Tremont/Dunn family in the series.

Daisy: Kyliegh Curran | Ashley B. Jones

So! Our girlie Kyliegh played her great grandmother (or great great grandmother? - I forget, Daisy, as a kid) And, I was like, "Well... it's not perfect.

You can't tell how much darker this woman is than Kylie in her photos, but on the show, she looked a tinge too dark for me to fully invest in the idea that she was well cast, but I rationalized that maybe she was inside more as a kid and then you know, was just lightskint like a light skinned biracial because of that when she was young. (I have met people whose parents tried keeping them inside on sunny days so they wouldn't get too dark), which is wild and off topic, because I don't think that would happen with Daisy, but saying IF she was simply inside a lot more as a kid, she could be that much lighter than the child actress vs the adult actress.

Harper's mama is biracial, I think. I feel like the kid that played her mom is, though Idk if the lady is or not. I do know that Kylie's character is supposed to be fully Black, even though the actress is not, irl. And her ancestor, Daisy, who she played had two pretty unambiguously Black parents and her and her little brother came out light skinned. Him, looking like his mama, her looking like the milkman's child..

Grace (Daisy's Mom): Kenneisha Thompson

Now... this happens sometimes in real life. But like I've said before - it don't happen nearly as much irl as it do on TV. So, Kyliegh as that woman - meh. Not a great casting choice, if not a bad one.

I understand they needed them to be identical to make the plot work, but I don't understand why everybody in the family is clearly Black then come her, actually biracial, and then here she come again a couple generations later, as Harper. Lol.

Her mama though Jess Dunn: Izabela Rose | Diandra Lyle

They did better in skin tone, but I would love sometimes for productions, especially big money bitches to try to do some side by sides every now and then and be like, "Are we sure this is the right choice?" or acknowledge some of the wild changes.

Where is a wide nosed sista to play this mama? Did she get a nose job at some point? We just supposed to imagine her nose was always that dainty? It has nothing to do with the plot, but Idk how I would overlook that you have such a drastically different nose in your adult life than you did as a kid. The grandmother had a wide nose (scroll up) and she had one as a kid, then it just... went small when she grew up?

I am a big nosed bitch... and my nose was SMALLER as a child, because I was smaller. I actually was quite aware of Izabela's nose when she was Young Jess because we were going back and forth in time, from her nose to Diandra's nose. BEAUTIFUL WOMAN! They are both so lovely. They just do not look like people who grew up to be that person! Ma'am you didn't contour away all that nose. (I love both these actresses).

The fact that I dwell on this casting has nothing to do with their performances and everything to do with how badly I want casting to try to get people who actually look alike when they are playing the same character, unless for some reason within the story, they somehow look different. This Is Us only magnified my fixation on this subject. Most of them people looked just like them kids.

This is the man who plays Harper's daddy, FYI:

But like we said, we rationalizing that Mama Dunn is biracial, or at the very least so lightskinned that a biracial girl could be her daughter, especially since her negro nose with Jackson 5 nostrils turned into one of them Vogue Magazine joints in her adult life.

Now this one... Baby...

It's just absurd. This is where we gotta draw the line, throw in the towel, stop rationalizing that there is a phenotype at play skipping generations or whatever else we could do with our earlier casting choices.

This photo is lighter than the woman is and you can still see that this is a whole nother human that would not in this universe that we currently know of, under any circumstances according to our knowledge of science, would this beautiful biracial baby girl grow up to be this absolutely unambigously Black, dark skinned woman!! She just wouldn't!

Two very lovely people who acted they asses off and earned them Disney paychecks and Disney better had paid them what they was worth. Because they both said that they was gon' out act whoever in this scene when Ruby got onscreen.

Whoever did this casting said, "F**k it, Girl. Call who we know," because ain't no way, Chile. Ain't no way y'all was putting no kinda thought or planning into this woman growing up from that girl. When she said she was Ruby, I said, "RUBY WHOOOOOO?"

Ruby: Jaidyn Triplett | Joyce Guy

I won't go into any further tangent about how the darkest ones cast in the family were the ones we didn't see much of, or in Ruby's case, She was the literal Magical Negro that had to save the day........................

I truly enjoy the show. It's a fave. But, yes. It has it's issues and I have mine and now that they are out of my head, because as a wise friend once said, "Misery loves an audience" (Shoutout to Noah, a Queen of Quotes) - I can now live in peace. Yes, and continue watching this, even though they have this problem in casting.

Sometimes, people think that colorblind casting only applies to when you just cast anybody for any role, willy-nilly, but this is an offset of colorblind casting, as well. Colorism casting, maybe. Where any Black person will do, despite looking nothing like the same character that they're supposed to be portraying. Or where certain skin tone versions of that character has more screen time. Sometimes, this is done through photos or short flashbacks...

But this show had these people onscreen talking and had us getting to know them and then colorblind casted them in different eras of their life. And perhaps I only notice it in Black people, because I don't have any type of face blindness when it comes to us. If that is the issue they're having, maybe they need people who can tell the difference between Black people and their skin tones and facial features to handle that aspect of a job.

That's all I have for now. Do watch the show, though. If you can handle fw with Disney. I mean, it's out there free, but I know some people are even not for that and I commend you. I be watching some of they stuff for free still, and this lil' rant? Ramble. This lil' ramble has been sitting in my lil' brain for a time.

Idk what it is called or if there is a name for it. Whenever they do the colorblind casting or the colorism casting within the same character. It feels like it needs it's own word. It's different from when they simply change the character from one medium to the next, to be within the same universe and have a person that simply does not share that character's physical characteristics, even though they're the same character.

End ramble.

Wait. Last note: This is a Black and Black biracial people's post. Anybody else who pass through, don't get cute. I'll blast you right to the block.

[blackfemmecharacterdependency]

I be teetering on that line of missing Beth Chapel and wanting to create Beth things and not feeling like spending time creating Beth things then being upset that nobody likes my things. Lol. I'm gonna really need an attitude adjustment if I intend to participate in Hournite week.

[neshatriumphs]

Every day for quite some time, I'ma be like, "Nesha, remember that time somebody mixed up Black Excellence Sterling K. Brown with Coon Sensation Isiaiah Washington?

[neshatriumphs]

I feel so terrible, and all I wanna do is order some food, keep resting and get better. But, everything is so expensive, breathing hurts right now, and I have work tonight. Maybe I'll feel better after crying myself to sleep. Hopefully.