#poc anon

[pleasantspark]

I don’t care if it’s for your AU or rewrite, removing racial coding from a character is still wrong. Emily is stated to be Black coded in her audition sheet

https://64.media.tumblr.com/8a83eb4452e774949855ca3db49709d8/774ab433c55bf7a0-23/s2048x3072/b01ce012568499f8288b3d51d84a5631363f785c.jpg

Other artists that have redesigns of Sera and Emily include and make their Black features more pronounced, you removing her racial coding does come off as whitewashing

You’re better off creating a whole brand new character instead of using Emily :/

Someone else literally did the exact same idea. Plus, reminder. Her Redesign is nearly identical to her old design. I don't see the issue at all? I literally removed race from the equation because it's not important for an Angel to MENTION Race. This was to avoid the issue to begin with.

Also.

Her hair is slightlythe same, minus the extra stuff. It's not all about color theory. In fact. Let me show you what I look like. There is Lightskinned black people. Not all black people are black.

Semi face reveal? I'm not dark fucking skinned, and your issue is because I made someone slightly lightskinned? I am sorry but what the fuck kind of shit that is. If anything her redesigns skintone is somewhat nearly as light as mine.

If I am better off creating something else then fine. Fine, let me fix the drawing.

I didn't mean to start discourse for this exact reason, I didn't want race to be coorelated with creations that don't depict the proper race, if I was better off making my own characters I would have.

"But Orion your OC in your PFP is-"

Yes, because I made it myself. I literally am working with ANGELS. Angels that can theoretically change anything about them. I'm simply racist for making a character slightly whiter? Well guess I ain't black either. Because I ain't black enough.

Imagine telling someone they are RACIST because they went sligtly off the color spectrum for a character they wanted to not assign any race to, now imagine the person is lighter and black.

How does that make them feel? Makes me feel like I ain't black enough. You heard it folks, apparently there's a certain tone that fits the bill of being black.

No disrespect anon, but like, I literally seen others that remove black coded characters to avoid this type of allegations. But like, literally me being racist for lightening up something? That's a far stretch. None of y'all this pissed off at blackwashing so I don't know why you don't also do this amount of anger.

Yes, whitewashing is bad. But I wasn't intentionally doing it, because I am simply removing code so I won't cause any future mistakes. I sincerely apologize if I come across that.

But this is fantasy, I am simply removing something that I find to be difficult to do, if I see it's gonna be an issue in the future for me, then I should BE ABLE to, I literally told you in the post itself that it's literally not that deep, and that Angels shouldn't have assigned races. But no, we have another Rose Quartz situation.

Instead of slightly skinny rose.

It's a fucking slightly pale Emily (Lucina.)

There, you had it fixed. Guess I gotta tan out myself because apparently light skinned AA are also not "black enough" I shouldn't be told what counts as racism and what doesn't when I already question my own skin.

Sorry for doing this ig.

[natashacoco]

Writing Tips and Tools For Non-POC Writers

hey! i’m planning on writing a book, and i want to include poc representation. do you have any tips that could help me with like, describing them and representing them correctly? i don’t want to misrepresent any group. if you could help me i would appreciate it so much!

First off, let me start off with saying that I am EXTREMELY honored by you saying this. I put my answer under the read more cause it got a little long. 

For starters I would consider what kind of POC characters you want to write for because POC is a vast group. Are you writing for African-Americans/Africans, Latinx, Asians (although there is some debate about whether or not they are considered POC, you should ask somebody who is Asian on their views since i’m not Asian myself and I can’t speak for the Asian community), Native Americans/First Nations, Middle Eastern, Pacific Islander/etc. When you figure out what type of POC you’re writing for, I suggest using these two posts, Creating BIPOC Characters and this Character Chart you can further deepen your character.

Representation, or the lack of representation in writing is very evident. You have to realize that not every POC have the same cultures, backgrounds, history, etc. skin color, hair color, etc. I think the biggest mistake that non-POC make when writing for POC is the fact that sometimes we’re all generalized into groups based off of the writers preconceived notion of what they know about said group. Is your POC the villain, if so why can’t the non-POC be it? Same thing if you write a non-POC as the hero/ine. Does the POC in your story die or suffer some kind of tragedy that further develops the story line of your non-POC? Why do they specifically have to die, suffer, endure, etc. for the non-POC to futher their story? It’s questions like these that you need to ask yourself as you come to think about your character(s).

Take me for example, I have a fic that i’m in the process of doing for the British actor Dev Patel. Dev is not only English, but he also comes from immigrant Indian parents who are both from Kenya. In my mind when writing about him, I have to take into consideration that he grew up as a first gen-English/Indian, possibly have some sort of African influences because of where his parents grew up and potentially brought with them, etc. I also have to take into account that I as a biracial black woman, have to also remember that how he interacts with other Indians, be them English-Indian like himself (the younger gen), how he interacts with non-Indians because he’s a POC (if that makes sense?). There are so many different things to think about, and once you do, it helps to flesh out your character.

I will say that knowing certain stereotypes about whatever POC character you write and being able to a.) acknowledge them as a non-POC, and b.) break them and not continue the cycle of repeating them. Here are some articles that suggest how to do so. Dear White Writers, this post that I found has links that can really help you with Writing Characters of Different Races and Ethnicities.

You can even watch videos on YouTube or online that you ca watch if you’re more of a visual person.

I would suggest these (x) and (x)

Even stereotypes of PoC that seem positive on the surface (a really smart Asian person! A sassy Black woman!) are still harmful if they are stereotypes. This isn’t about censorship or being PC, but being extremely aware of the fact that as a non-PoC person, your depictions (or lack thereof) of less represented people can carry untold consequences to the people of that community who do not have the privilege of having diverse mainstream representations of themselves to choose from.

—Yumi Sakugawa, author and illustrator of I Think I Am in Friend-Love with You

I usually tag anything for characters or character creation on my blog, so you’re more than welcome to search the tag. The more info you gather, the better you can fill in any holes for that character. I would suggest doing research and if you come across something you don’t know or understand why a POC/culture/community does something, you can write down questions and ask. For me personally, I feel like it’s sometimes the small details like those that really mean a lot and shows that the writer took the time to learn and develop their characters. Like any great writing, the Who, What, Where, When, Why and Because can be even better tools to figuring out your character, their motivations and themselves as well. Also having a strong beta reader whom you know won’t sugarcoat things can be an extraordinary tool you can use as well.

I hope this helps you anon, and for any other POC author, please sound off on any tips or recs you guys have about this and I’ll make another post, or even a POC Character Masterpost that people can use in the future. 

[pleasantspark]

Saw your Emily redesign

Emily is black-coded and you giving her straight hair and a lighter skin tone isn’t the best look

NOTE: BOTH EMILY AND SERA ARE NOT BLACKCODED IN THIS AU TO PREVENT ANY DISCOURSE AND MISCONCEPTS.

In my AU she doesn't have a coded skintone. Angels aren't supposed to have coded skintones. I forgot to mention she wasn't meant to be coded anything.

If ANYTHING the OG Design didn't have any indicator of her being Black (I am a Black POC.)

If someone uses this response as a means to harass me for NOT knowing the OG design and making it to where Angels don't have a coded skin color.

Then I don't know. Sera's redesign is gonna be more different however, I might actually stick with the main design.

No matter what I do, people are gonna accuse me of "Whitewashing" lmfaoo, what? Also saying all POC have straight hair is kinda false. I grew up with nappy hair and I straighten it.

Nothing in Emily's redesign Bio says any indicator she's black, nor does it say it in the show. I don't feel comfortable assigning skintone to Angels regardless. So if you want an POC Rep, I have Husk.

I just find it ridiculous people are trying to avoid this type of response just for remaking it to where there's no color involved. I mentioned that Emily was created out of a void as all angels come from.

Yeah, sorry if it came off as me whitewashing but she's not coded black because it doesn't make sense in the OG when the OG Design had no indicators (especially when I heard this from someone describing them: "The Council of the Whitest Black People") I am extending yet another apology. But I do NOT want to write a fully coded black person. Which is why both Sera and Emily don't have coded ethnicities.

Also, reminder Emily's hair is similar to her old hairstyle but shorter. I don't know why you're complaining about me sticking with what the OG Design has.

I don't feel comfortable with trying to make characters the same as their counterparts beforehand. I just feel absolutely uncomfortable. If it were my own OCs, I would, but it's a preexisting character that I am rewriting from the start.

It's not just a redesign it's a rewrite. It's simple as that.

[twopoppies]

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[cat-sapphics]

okay but honestly, not only white people deserve to be held accountable. so do black people for their racism towards asian people, and so do asian people for their racism towards black people. this isn't a "all white people are evil" thing. white people are not evil because of their skin color but because they have grown up, just like black and asian people. racism is taught. and before i get hate or called "whitey", too, for saying this: i'm literally not white. :-)

yeah true, i'm not gonna say much on that itself since i'm literally white but i do know this is an issue going on and i'm gonna uplift voices of non-black (and other) poc who talk about this cause it's not my place to.

i wouldn't use the word "evil" to describe white people (ofc we can be but i wouldn't use that generally, NOT because i'm offended by it or anything but just because i don't think it's the right fitting term, it doesn't come off as that serious imo?? which it needs to so??), i'd more just say that we are responsible not only for what our ancestors have done (not directly but it's our responsibility to do better and fix it), but because those of us who are "good" still uphold inherently racist systems, ideologies, stereotypes, and other things like that, even if we don't realize it. which is why EVERY white person needs to be held accountable even if we didn’t directly make a mistake or actually do something, especially to a higher degree than when other poc attack each other.

i was going to say that when poc are racist to other poc that like... not that it's not as bad as when white people are racist, but just that it's not as... what's the word... it's not systemic or out of a place of supremacy or whatever, just more of like a "you're not as oppressed as us" gatekeeping type of thing on the internet for the most part as far as i'm aware. but like i said at the start of this post, i don't wanna speak over anyone and i genuinely don't have any confidence in my point here. i just thought it'd be worth getting out there so that it can be either confirmed or denied, if you know what i mean.

but yes, i agree with you for the most part!! and i really appreciate having a person of color in my inbox telling me this because i didn't point it out initially. i feel better about my stance too, which is good. please do feel free to tell me more about anything racism-related anytime, you're always welcome!! i'm not gonna give you shit if you don't give me (undeserved) shit, so don't worry about me making fun of or dismissing you or whatever. what you have to say is needed and very important!! <- that's not a "you're valid uwu" thing btw, i'm just saying that i recognize that.

[undiscoveredstory]

@ that poc anon that hasn't been sleeping well because of issues w/ poc in America: I honestly understand what you're feeling (me + my family are poc too) and all I can say is just stay strong. You and I and our families are going to et through this. It may not seem like it, but things will get better. I know they will and I believe they will. Things will get better. Stay strong, you got this✊🏽✊🏽✊🏽❤️❤️❤️

^^^

for you, poc anon <333333

[dear-indies]

I am in one of the smallest groups in Ireland, Irish Jews. There's more Irish Jews in the United States than there are here. And I am in one other very tiny group, because my father is Maori. My sister gets cast as "Black (Spanish) Irish" in almost every television program you can picture in Ireland. I agree with Egyptian-Japanese anon. Do your best to find the right person, and if you can't, don't erase the ethnicity of the FC you use by acknowledging it somewhere in your rules.

[dear-indies]

I mean personally for that anon Id say do your best to match it up I mean if its someone like wentworth miller or rowan blanchard try to get most of the ethnicity and write a disclaimer as an explanation why you couldnt find the perfect fcs if that still makes you uncomfortable then adoption and step-siblings are still valid options as well you can have just a great backstory with an adopted sibling as with blood siblings