there are 2 kinds of mangaka when drawing: the ones that hate woman and the ones that love woman

And, guys...

i think ryoko kui really loves woman.

Ryoko Kui draws fat people with tenderness, honesty, and dignity in a way I've never seen before from other manga and anime. She's not afraid to draw people like me the way I look with the same care and respect she does all her characters.

I’ve only known about the existence of Ryoko Kui (no idea what mangaka even is) for 37 seconds, but I love her and if anything happens to her I would kill everyone on this hell site and then myself.

The fact that they have given her mobility aids –like the shower chair– in this WEBTOON is fucking awesome. It astonishes me that the different forms of media and other DC comics do not put the effort to add in such small yet important details.

This WEBTOON is seriously the crème de la crème *chefs kiss*

Representations MATTER

Okay, so I just finished watching Supernatural Academy and I think it’s actually really good

Like, the characters are diverse without it feeling performative. The world building is pretty cool and I actually find the different groups really interesting. The storyline is really awesome. And the protagonists are powerful without it feeling like they’re needlessly powerful. Not to mention all of the characters are interesting enough that I do fully understand why they act the way they do without hating any of them (except for the villains obvi).

It’s also a really cool depiction of twins that doesn’t feel fetish-y or stereotypical. Like, they just act like normal twins. The art style is really cute. It’s about teens and for teens without being overly juvenile or overly sexual. The characters can all be ignorant at times, but they all improve and have mini redemption arcs of their own that don’t feel unfulfilling and forgiveness never really goes by unearned.

I feel like not enough people are talking about how good Supernatural Academy is compared to most teen fantasy shows for teens. Most teen fantasy shows are overly sexual, with stupid plots that feel over the top, and have unlikeable protagonists, whereas Supernatural Academy doesn’t have any of that. The plot makes sense, it’s not super sexual (literally mentioned like once or twice in 16 episodes) and the protagonists are likeable and relatable.

It also has like, a casual non-binary character that’s handled well. Like, I saw them and really wanted them to be non-binary and they were! They introduce themselves with their pronouns! And when someone misgendered them after their first meeting, they correct the person and the mistake just isn’t brought up again. There’s also an interaction between two completely cisgender people where they state their pronouns meeting each other! Like, hello? Where did this awesome pronoun representation come from?

There isn’t much literal representation for disability, but Dante feels very autism coded to me at least, however the lack of literal physical disability kind of makes sense because of how supernatural healing works, and there are mermaids in wheelchairs. I think the mermaids in wheelchairs thing was handled very well, because the main mermaid that you see isn’t depicted as weak or helpless at all, she’s actually a mean girl which I kind of like because you don’t get to see much of disabled people in media apart from weak and helpless sweethearts.

It also briefly tackles race change and conformity when a black character makes a comment on how they can’t just change another characters skin colour from purple to human because that’s not fair or nice. So instead of changing this persons skin colour, they just give this character rainbow makeup and say the purple skin is a pride thing. Like, the casualness of it all is so awesome, while not feeling like it ignores any issues. It takes note of the issues, addresses them very briefly, and then just carries on very casually. It’s amazing and I love it.

Like, can more people talk about how awesome this show is!?

"Many of my movies have strong female leads," Miyazaki said in an interview with The Guardian in 2013, "brave, self-sufficient girls that don't think twice about fighting for what they believe with all their heart.

They'll need a friend, or a supporter, but never a savior. Any woman is just as capable of being a hero as any man."

I saw on YouTube that the Disney Channel page was showing classic Disney shows like: Lizzie Maguire, Even Stephens, That’s So Raven, and the Proud Family! They are old Holiday shows from when I was younger. It feels amazing to know back then my family was represented. They showed Even Stephens Hanukkah! The Proud Family’s Kwanzaa! They don’t show as much diversity as they did and it’s sad because religion and color is beautiful. I’m Jewish and I loved seeing that episode and hearing the Hanukkah song. I wish Disney would show those awesome episodes on the TV so kids and parents would see diversity is beautiful. That’s what makes America great!

Steven Universe got blatantly and unapologetically cancelled by the network because the creators pushed for a lesbian wedding, and instead of going, "oh, fuck, that's incredibly homophobic, we should give Cartoon Network hell for that for the rest of forever, holy shit," everyone collectively decided to blame the crew for "rushing the ending" as if it wasn't completely out of their hands. Fuck's sake.

"Ren why do you even care so much?"

Because I study queer media history as a hobby, am working on an intense project on media censorship, and the way Steven Universe was treated is a fucking textbook example of queer content getting shut down by the powers-that-be.

It was literally censored in reaction to its inclusion of queer content. This isn't a secret and it never has been. Rebecca Sugar has been completely open about how hard they had to fight against homophobia at Cartoon Network. Steven Universe is a case study of anti-queer censorship from a mindset of "think of the children."

Steven Universe is a historically significant piece of queer media, and watching in real-time as it went from "progressive queer show" to "the subject of the most rancid bad-faith discourse I have ever seen" is genuinely alarming to me as a queer media hobby-historian.

[ID: A screenshot of a comment from tumblr user mechfried, saying, "Wait, that isn't working out here, they wouldn't cancel the show for having a gay wedding, but than [sic] give the same creator a movie and a second show to continue that story." End ID.]

"Cancellation" doesn't just mean "immediately ended." Cancellations can include shortenings.

These photos are from the "End of an Era" artbook.

Transcript:

Rebecca Sugar: After the publication of The Answer in 2016, I was pulled into a meeting and asked to explain myself. I had been told to play down this relationship, and now it existed as a book. In every meeting like this, I would defend our stories and our audience of queer youth--they deserve cartoons and picture books, too. I would leave these meetings feeling rattled. I drew this self-portrait the night of The Answer book meeting. [Portrait not included in this photo.]

Transcription:

We decided it would be an inexorable part of the story. And then the back-and-forth started, and no one wanted to say the real concerns, so instead it was, "Will this appeal to our demographic of six-to-eleven-year-old boys?" But Ben 10 had an alien wedding, Powerpuff Girls had a wedding--there was no question that the Cartoon Network audience would definitely watch a wedding. Arguments were made that it was "out of character" for Steven to want a wedding, but we'd covered our bases there with the episode "Open Book" [S1E51], which had already aired ages ago. It's old news that Steven loves weddings. I wouldn't bend on the story, and every time there was a concern about it not being entertaining enough, I would add more: A big musical number! A huge fight! A half-hour special! This thing will be so entertaining it'll blow kids' hair back!

"But if Steven Universe gets a gay wedding, then every show is going to want a gay wedding!" "YES!" I said. "GOOD! WHY NOT???"

Eventually the decision came down from on high: We could have the wedding. I knew that was an extremely difficult call to make, and that we were going to be censored heavily and pulled in many countries because of it. And we didn't know at that time if this would mean the end of the show. It looked as if the writing was on the wall, and we were working toward the end.

I had been told this would be the final pickup for us, and I campaigned for an additional six episodes on the end of the season in order to wrap up the story--this became the Era 3 arc.

Navigating a cosmos of relationships was a lot for a young person like Steven as he attempted to find the good in everyone and hook that connection that would allow positive change to blossom in the minds of others. His powers were going to be put into the test in so many more ways as the series moved through this slate of episodes, building steam toward an interplanetary conflict.

End transcript.

I will never understand people who don’t care about context.  Rebecca Sugar fought as hard as she could for what we got, and there was a hell of a price to be paid for it, and people shriek about how the show is horrible because it doesn’t do enough.  The same people accuse the writers of Legend of Korra of cynical, intentional queerbaiting because it didn’t do enough.  They’re whinging about how She-Ra didn’t do enough.  Are they already bitching about how The Owl House sucks because IT doesn’t do enough?

And not fucking once have these people stopped to think that Korrasami being confirmed with handholding and a loving gaze was literally as far as things could be pushed at the time, or that Ruby and Sapphire’s wedding could not have happened without that.  She-Ra and The Owl House couldn’t go where they did without Legend of Korra and Steven Universe going where they did first.

You know what that’s called, where things get better one step at a time?  Progress.

You know what that’s called,

where things get better one step

at a time? Progress.

Beep boop! I look for accidental haiku posts. Sometimes I mess up.

video here!

Okay but why are people surprised that Blues Clues is pro-LGBTQ+? Did you not grow up WATCHING Blue’s Clues? It was a rite of passage to be utterly flabbergasted the first time you heard Blue used She/Her pronouns. We stan one gender nonconforming queen and we always have!!!!

Oval Office Vulcan salute - President Obama and Nichelle Nichols. Photo by Pete Souza. Obama Library, NARA ID 200283671.

Nichelle Nichols at NASA's Glenn Research Center, 4/20/1977, NARA ID 17468123.

#RIP Nichelle Nichols Star Trek's Lt. Uhura goes to the final frontier By Miriam Kleiman, Public Affairs

Nichelle Nichols - NASA Recruitment Film 1977.

Nichols with adoring fans at NASA's Glenn Research Center, 4/20/1977, NARA ID 17468124 .

Nichelle Nichols holds a piece of a satellite presented by Capt. David Martin at NORAD, 1/6/1977, RG 342. Online here.

NORAD press release 1/6/1977, RG 342, Records of US Air Force, online.

More online:

Part 1 of my Representation Matters series. This is Asian representation in animated/illustrated media part 1. If I got anything wrong, feel free to let me know, this is just what I found on the Internet.

“Since founding Studio Ghibli in 1985, Miyazaki has produced a series of highly acclaimed animated movies, many of which star strong and independent girls or young women who use their wits and courage to save the day. Miyazaki’s films range from fanciful ones such as “Kiki’s Delivery Service” and “Ponyo” appropriate forvery young children to ones like “Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind” or “Princess Mononoke” which address darker themes such as war and environmental degradation and, as such, are more appropriate for older children and teens. His film “Spirited Away” won the 2002 Academy Award for Best Animated Feature Film, and Miyazaki was honored with a special Honorary Academy Award in 2014 for having “deeply influenced animation forever, inspiring generations of artists to work in our medium and illuminate its limitless potential.”

Source

Sometimes I think about how She Ra actually designed one of it’s most powerful characters– the daughter of an immortal being and powerful sorcerer– tp be short and stockier like me and I just— get all emotional?

I very rarely see short, stockier characters like myself. Most of the time if they’re not stick thing they’re “taller” to balance it out, and if they’re short they’re just petite and skinny. 

Glimmer is powerful and brave and capable and finds love and… she has my general body type. I could cosplay her and look similar. I wouldn’t feel like the shorter fatter version of whatever Barbie shaped character I had dressed up as. 

I mean gosh, case and point just look at new Glimmer compared to the original design. 

Leggy, thin, tight waisted and busty supermodel. 

I’ve been self conscious about my body my entire life, largely due to the physical characteristics my Turner’s Syndrome (a chromosomal disorder) gives me: including short stature, broad shield- like chest, thick legs lack of curves/ hips, and a general broad, boxy figure without a lot of definition.  

Glimmer is depicted as beautiful and has so many (if not all) of these traits, and I actually like to head canon her as having Turner’s Syndrome like me. It gives me so much comfort. 

Anyways, God bless Noelle Stevenson for these designs, and reblog if you love the body representation in Netflix’s She Ra.

PLEASE hype Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings as much as you hyped The Falcon and The Winter Soldier or Wandavision, it deserves all the love and REPRESENTATION MATTERS.

With all the Asian hate going around, THIS is our moment as a fandom to show love and support, and hype this the fuck up because it's gonna be BRILLIANT!

American Girl stories were the best tbh

Dude, read the books, she and her mom freed themselves in Book 1. We don’t disrespect American Girl in this house

Don’t you dare disrespect Addy, or any of my girls for that matter. American Girl used to be legit. Good stories, good dolls, good movies.

Felicity’s story was set in the beginnings of the American Revolution, and addressed the conflict that she faced when her loved ones were split between patriots and loyalists. It also covered the effects of animal abuse, and forgiving those who are unforgivable.

Samantha’s stories centered around the growth of industrial America, women’s suffrage, child abuse, and corruption in places of power. Also, it emphasises how dramatically adoption into a caring family can turn a life around.

Kit’s story is one of my favorites. Her family is hit hard by the Great Depression, and they begin taking in boarders and raise chickens to help make ends meet. Her books include themes of poverty, police brutality, homelessness, prejudice, and the importance of unity in difficult times.

Molly’s father, a doctor, is drafted during the Second World War. Throughout her story, friends of hers suffer the loss of their husbands, sons, and brothers overseas. Her mother leaves the traditional housewife position and works full-time to help with the war effort. They also take in an English refugee child, who learns to open up after a life of traumatic experience.

American Girl stories have always featured the very harsh realities of America through the years. But they’re always presented honestly, yet in ways that kids can understand. They just go to show that you don’t have to live in a perfect time to be a real American girl.

Dont you fucking dare disrespect the American Girls in my house. ESPECIALLY Addy!! That was my first REAL contact with the horrors of slavery, as I read about her father being whipped and sold and her mother escaping with her to freedom, but also how freedom was still a struggle.

A slave doll. Please. Read the books.

Don’t forget Kirsten, the Swedish immigrant who had to deal with balancing her own culture and learning the english language and customs of her classmates, or Kaya (full name Kaya'aton'my, or She Who Arranges Rocks) , the brave but careless girl from the Nez Perce tribe, or Josefina, the Mexican girl learning to be a healer.

And then there are the later dolls, that kids younger than me would have grown up with (I was just outgrowing American Girl as these came out), like Rebecca, the Jewish girl who dreams of becoming an actress in the budding film industry, or  Julie, who fights against her school’s gender policy surrounding sports in the 70s, or  Nanea, the Hawaiian girl whose father worked at Pearl Harbor.

These books, these characters, are fantastic pictures into life for girls in America throughout the years, they pull no punches with the horrors that these girls had to face in their different time periods, and in many cases I learned more history from these series than social studies at school. And that’s without even mentioning the “girl of the year” series where characters are created in the modern world to help girls deal with issues like friend problems, moving, or bullying. We do NOT disrespect American Girl in this house.

American Girl is probably going to be the only exposure young girls are going to get to history from a female perspective. This is actually kind of important considering that in history classes we dont really get that exposure. We dont hear about what women felt and endured during these time periods cause schools are too busy teaching us about what happened from the male perspective, which is not unimportant, but we need both. Girls need both.

These books were such a crucial part of my childhood and shaped my love of history, which still ensures today. These books can be a young girl’s first lessons in diversity and cultural awareness (hopefully burying that insensitive “we’re all Americans” tripe) and looking at history from more perspectives than just that taught in school. They also are an example of how women have ALWAYS been part of history, which some people would rather us not believe.

I think Kit and Kaya were the newest American Girls when I started “aging out” of the books, but hearing about some of these kinda makes me want to revisit them!

I wasn’t gonna say anything, but you know what?

Nah.

OP (of the tweet thread) was either a actively trying to start shit or is just a huge fucking moron. Probably both.

I’d like to point out that the company that makes American Girl dolls actually doesn’t skimp when doing their research and they don’t make the dolls with the intent to be offensive in any way:

On this blog we respect American girls. My little sister always had ‘em growing up, and those stories were amazing.

I think ppl need to stop dismissing films like “crazy rich asians” and “to all the boys I loved before” as “cool for representation but just rom com fluff.”

Because like damn guys, sometimes I just don’t wanna deal with super deep narratives about identity and misogyny. Sometimes I just can’t handle the secondary trauma of movies like the joy luck club and maos last dancer. Sometimes I just need to escape into a happy place of light humor and hot people. And sometimes I want that happy place to show ppl who look like me.

Don’t knock escapism representation y’all.

Ppl are asking if it’s ok for white ppl to reblog

Answer: yes.

Would rather y’all reblog than speak over .

i legitimately and in all seriousness think harold and kumar go to white castle is a revolutionary film expressly because its a mediocre stoner film that happens to star two asian dudes

we deserve to have mediocre stoner films as much as the next group

Tbh Harold and Kumar is about two Asian bro’s fighting simultaneously against white toxic masculinity stereotypes and also a commentary on the problematic nature of model minority culture in America under the guise of just like…really loving weed, man.

Also launched the careers of two men who wouldn’t have gotten callbacks otherwise (not to mention Kal’s political activism !) So like…yeah.

Comedy —GOOD COMEDY—is subversive !

If you ever read Curry by Naben Ruthnum, he writes about what he calls “currybooks” which evoke a nostalgic or “homecoming, finding yohr past” element surrounding India or specific regions of India but he ALSO talks about H&K go to White Castle as a pivotal film BECAUSE it gives two Asian men protagonist roles where THEY get to be the stoner dudes, THEY get to date women

Sparkle Cadet transformation

from Craig of the Creek

If yall dont watch Craig of the Creek, get on it! Its such a cute, positive, and funny show. It mixes the ideas of kids hidden worlds (Recess & Backyardigans) with all sorts of other influences from anime (magic girls as seen above) to more classic American cartoons. Its super fun and has aammmmaaaazzziiinnnnggg representation