Now that I've aired out one of my gripes time for another.
Scarabia ocs
Particularly the female ocs.
As a member of the African American community I can't speak on South Asian/Middle-eastern (I'm using an umbrella terms but please correct me) issues within the twst community but I've seen some Scarabia ocs that all follow a certain motif, especially the afab ocs.
Of course some will probably chime in saying that they don't mind these depictions but the people in the community that I follow have had some gripes about these caricatures, enough to make a bingo chart about said caricatures.
During my research on art history and architecture due to wanting to expand upon twst world building specifically ones that pertain to Scalding Sands and Afterglow Savannah, I've stumbled upon the fashion as well.
This map doesn't provide much in terms of locating where Scalding Sands or Afterglow Savannah is located but it's said that Scalding is located near/on the Peninsula, I theorized that Afterglow is nearest to the Coral Sea kinda like the "Horn of Africa"
But this isn't a geography post this is a post about fashion. As we know Scarabia had been renovated to look similar to his father's palace (that follows the Sultan's palace in Aladdin) and I'd assume that Scarabia got a uniform change as well.
The Twisted Wonderland wiki for Jamil states that:
a snake armband that curls on his upper right arm. The snake and choker match with Kalim. [They] wears a cropped black vest with gold detail and red lapels over a sleeveless black hoodie with red trim on the inside, plain other than the gold design on the hood. Like Kalim, [they] wear a belt resembling safety tape wrapped around [they're] waist, with the long end trailing down. The belt is imprinted with the name of [they're] dorm, along with a snake insignia. Under the hoodie, [they] typically have dark red cloth wrapped around [they're] waist with gold designs on it. [They] wears black parachute pants with red flame designs and black sandals with a gold scarab design.
I'm more of a visual person so I used a photo of mob students for reference:
Now, this is an all boys' school if y'all don't know, so there isn't a female dorm uniform at all meaning that anyone with an afab leaning oc can get creative with their dorm uniform.
I generally believe that female ocs can just wear the boy's uniform, albeit tailored to their shape and have proper undergarments provided for and just call it a day.
However...
Before I address the fashion I have to address how people perceive Scarabia and by proxy south asian/ middle-eastern culture.
As we know Kalim has a big family due to his father having multiple wives, and with his family being close to royalty we can only imagine how large it is on that side, which I already believe that the Al Asims are more spread out so that if Kalim up and dies there will be replacements in line.
But thats the problem. There's a common belief among twst fans that Kalim has a harem or at the very least will have one. And though I can't say he will or won't why is that the first thought comes when they see a Middle-eastern boy whose rich (and whose family is protected by slaves)?
Like, this is a teenage boy whose family is so rich that assassins are coming for his throat 24/7, he doesn't know when death is coming, he has school work he probably needs to do, why would he be worried about girls? Especially since he couldn't participate in Ghost Marriage because once he kisses Eliza he's coming with her and her posse which is a no-no considering Kalim is the heir of the Al Asims.
Now let's talk about Malleus, Tsunotaro, Hornton, poster boy of Twisted Wonderland.
The amount of fanfictions I've read where Malleus and Yuu (typically female) are star-crossed soulmates and that in of itself isn't necessarily a bad thing but when you compare the perception that Kalim is more prone to polygamy while Malleus is more inclined towards monogamy as if our lovely Malleus wouldn't be open to polygamy if he were deemed more approachable speaks volumes.
Don't get me started on the fact that yall depict Malleus as some hapless boy who isn't hundred years older than the entire twst cast and isn't one of the top 5 mages of twst. Of course fear left him bereft of social interaction but when Yuu interacts with him the player sees a more teasing and playful side to him—
I digress, I digress, I digress.
Let's delve into the reason as to why some of yall believe Kalim is prone to harems.
History lesson:
A distinct, imaginary vision of the harem emerged in the West starting from the 17th century, when Europeans became aware of Muslim harems housing numerous women. In contrast to the medieval European views, which conceived Muslim women as victimized but powerful through their charms and deceit, during the era of European colonialism the "imaginary harem" came to represent what Orientalist scholars saw as an abased and subjugated status of women in the Islamic civilization. Wikipedia on "Western Representation" of Harems.
And then came a centuries-old theme in Western culture where there are depictions of European women (who are seen as pure) think of Mozart's opera "The Abduction from the Seraglio"
Or One Thousand and One Nights, the story that kickstarted it all. By presenting harems as as a personal brothel.
This notion that harems were where numerous women lounged in suggestive poses, directing their strong but oppressed sexuality toward a single man in a form of "competitive lust" added fuel to the Western ideology that the West was more culturally superior therefore justifying colonial enterprises.
Am I blaming harems in the Middle East? Absolutely not. Colonialism was gonna happen either way, they just wanted more reasons.
Here's some articles:
This circles back to whyyyy I'm rubbed the wrong way when it comes to female Scarabia ocs.
In the twst space we've seen the trope "one girl in an all boys school" get played like it was Doja Cat's Say So, going off of each other bar for bar like Drake to Souija Boy.
Even I've fallen into that trope.
Which is why I fear that twst has become hostile to nonbinary and male presenting folks, and that worries me because I saw a post where a male twst enjoyer get asked some bullshit about being a female hater and they had to make a post about it.
After the whole Thirteen debacle where the devs used the pronouns they/them for her the vitriol that was spewed that day surpassed the eng twst whining by a longshot, I'm only speaking on these issues now because I refuse to let this baby fandom fall into that same bullshit.
But I'm circling back to my last point about the "one girl in an all boys school", as much as people try to advocate for Yuu being gender neutral, the general consensus is that the twst fandom favors afab leaning Yuu, its why Yuuken in the Twisted Comic was side eyed a like that.
The idea of a boy being summoned shattered the idea of escapism that a lot of female twst fans had:
That if NRC was real they sure as hell weren't gonna get summoned.
Which is why I'm worried about female ocs and the story beats they follow: reverse harems, getting revealed, having to hide their gender identity like Mulan.
I realize now how harmful that is to trans twst fans and how seeing this influx of binary and heteronormative views are perpetuated in a game where Pomefiore exists, that tries to break gendered stereotypes. It's why Epel is in the Dorm in the first place to unlearn that toxic masculine mindset and gendered idea.
Don't even get me started on the feminine coded characters as well.
By drawing the (assumedly singular) female oc sorted in Scarabia in a more revealing outfit as if they don't have a dorm uniform fucks me up because at the end of the day these are boys, fictional boys, but boys nonetheless.
I try to be conscience about how I present my own female oc because no teen girl (especially in this fandom) would ever feel comfortable wearing that type of clothing in a situation where they are just one girl. I still feel sick being around boys for too long bruh what.
Which is why I advocate for a better form of wear. I'm not gonna tell y'all what to do, but I am gonna tell yall to have some form of awareness.
What I mean by that is have your female Scarabia oc wear salwar kameez that follows the dorms dress code, its south asian wear for women that is more of a pants and long tailed and/or knee length shirt common in urban areas of heat, its made out of light weight fabric that is sure to keep the body relatively cool.
In some areas its said that both men and women wear a sarong, a wrapped skirt long garment. Its also found within Northern, Western, and East Africa as well as Southeast Asia, Southern Asia, and Western Asia.
Not to mention the Lungi found in the Indian Subcontinent, a garment commonly worn by men after the 12th century and is usually tied around the waist.
The Izaar is found in the Arabian peninsula but is more of a traditional Yemen garb but is still found in the "Horn of Africa" and other South Asian parts as well, but it's also worn by men so that's a no.
South Asia comprises India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, and Bhutan. The geographical terrain varies from mountainous regions alo
Middle-eastern women will wear a jilbaab but that would imply that your chara follows the practice of islam, I've only scene my aunt wear a hijab so I can't say much on muslim women,, but considering the fact that yall might be white so im just gonna drop the article and begone:
Female members of the Muslim and Jewish faith share the effort to stay cool while covering up according to tradition, for some, air-conditio
Fuxk it, mediterranean as well:
Mediterranean Style: Summer Outfit Ideas for Women Sunny and warm days are about to arrive, which makes the prospect of ditching wintry garm
Now, I pray I did this right because I do not want female scarabia ocs created by white people to follow anymore hollow as stereotypes.
I also pray I did right by @najmaviper and @themoonsbeloved because they were the blogs most outspoken about the portrayl of poc in twst and so I was urged to do the same.
