Elf

They want buckskin and face paint, drumming, songs in languages they can’t understand recorded for them but with English subtitles, of course. They want educated, well spoken, but not too smart. Christian, well behaved, never question. They want to learn the history of the people, but not the ones that are here now, waving signs in their faces, asking them for clean drinking water, asking them why their women are going missing, asking them why their land is being ruined.

They want fantastical stories of Indians that used to roam this land. They want my culture behind glass in a museum.

this post is inspired in part by this one by @cheshirepirouette and sponsored in part by convos w @asteriis and @indouscurse here’s to y’all!! this post also goes out to my brothers, who are pale as hell for reasons unbeknownst to all of us (this is a joke).

like any good headcanon, this started as a joke because i thought to myself: Ryland sounds like the type of name that somebody’s Black child would have and only use on church sundays. nobody actually has ever called him that in his whole entire life, except maybe his mama SOMETIMES and that’s why he doesn’t remember it right away. i feel like every Black person knows somebody who is called literally anything except their god given name. people call him lil r, lil grace, gracie, ry, ryry, riri, RG, lando, mr. grace, dr. grace, but nobody calls him Ryland, which is part of why he Can’t Remember for so long.

so of course i went back to the source material to see if he ever actually mentioned being white anywhere and unfortunately it is very much at the beginning of the book. so THEN i started to think about how i could get around that while remaining at least largely canon compliant (as a little treat for myself). what i came up with is what i have affectionately dubbed my “litebrite baby” headcanon.

[some kind of sparkly banner]

This post has been Certified as a Treasure by the Old Man of Ten Great Campaigns!

[links to his carrd and askbox]

“And we loved it, we were all having a great time, but then he saw my sister and I, and he just got this - this look in his eyes, and then-”

She hesitated, worrying the coarse material between her fingers. “Things got pretty bad after that,” she muttered. “I know it’s silly, but I try to keep - her - comfortable. We don’t know if she can still hear us, or see us, or if she’s even still in here, but I like to think she is. I talk to her when I can, I leave music on when I’m out of the house. I tried to convince my parents to bring her with us when we went to Disneyland, but they didn’t - didn’t really take that well.”

~ Later ~

If you’ll all pardon my Americentrism for a moment, the amount, visibility, and flamboyance of Pride merch available in clothing, home goods, and comestibles stores is a DIRECT reflection of how safe it is to be queer in public in the United States.

How? Simple. Out groups aren’t profitable. If you’re not “acceptable” in the current social climate, big franchise businesses will not market to you. (Prime example - Look how quickly Target dropped all their Pride merch after having been wall-to-wall rainbows every June for almost a decade prior.)

Sure, capitalism sucks and being viewed as an exploitable marketing demographic isn’t a fun concept.

HOWEVER.

The grim truth is that being normalized enough to be considered profitable by corporations IS A GOOD THING in terms of the barometer of social acceptance.

Same thing goes for smaller businesses that throw kitschy Pride events or even just put a token rainbow flag in the window or somewhere inside the shop. That’s a level of acceptance that DID NOT EXIST thirty years ago, and I can tell you because I was there.

The fact that we can scoff and bitch about being an exploitable marketing demographic nowadays means we have made GIGANTIC strides since the 1990s. It also speaks to the fact that the drive and the conversation surrounding LGBTQ+ rights and acceptance are continuing. And getting louder.

You can be cynical about it if you want. But I will take a store that puts out lip-service rainbow merch over a world that pretends we don’t exist any day of the week. Because that will always mean something.

-not allowed on furniture. remain standing or kneel on the floor, no sitting

-not allowed to make eye contact 

-being silenced immediately every time they try to speak 

-casual manhandling, being dragged alone because they’re not trusted to move by themselves 

-casual, nonconsensual touch. randomly pulling them closer, absently playing with hair, manually adjusting their posture

-giving orders without explanation 

-giving orders they know are arbitrary, just to exercise power

-talking about them like they aren’t even in the room 

-authorizing other people to monitor and control them

-being kept in restraints 24/7, with movement restricted even further in their downtime 

-degrading their natural behaviors and reflexes. stare is creepy, smile is ugly, flinching is disrespectful, etc…

-putting down their hobbies/interests

But I'm also scared, because I just know the "critics" will find excuses to hate and spite their dumb critiques. This is literally what they always do. They always find excuse to hate, even when the show gives them what they want.

I will keep ignoring them and enjoy the show like I always did, but I just know it will happen.

Honestly, that's kinda my mindset going into any future episode. I mean, "boy, I'm so excited for the actual show, but not the drama that will come out of it", you know?

The thing with Stella's character, at least based on what we currently know, is that you can tell it's in her nature to be cruel AND she was nurtured that that attitude is how she can get through life. The first time we ever see Stella (chronologically) is that photo of her choking a pet, so there was definitely already something wrong long before Stolas ever came into her life.

The broad idea of Stella's character is already very clear. A woman who's a victim of the system by being treated like a trophy wife, but also a cruel woman who knows how she can benefit from the system by acting the way she does. It's mainly the details that still need to be laid out. Like, how she reacted to being told she was engaged to a random dude she never met, how she started noticing how "weak" Stolas is and how she could use that to her advantage. Etc.

This is so terribly sad.

The doctors saw an elderly black woman, and decided they couldn't be bothered to do their jobs.

She attended the emergency room with shortness of breath, and needed a cardiac examination.

Nothing fancy, or out there. Just the standard tests everyone is meant to gets for shortness of breath.

The sort that starts with an asking a few questions, and seeing if your skin is dusky.

Checking your blood pressure.

Then using a stethoscope to check how your heart sounds.

And finally moves on to a EKG, with the little stickers over your chest.

You're probably had all of these checks.

You've probably also been sent for a chest X-ray after just to be sure, right?

Nichelle didn't get any of this extreme basic care. She was stuck in a bed in a ward; but not seen by anyone.

They left her.

And then they discharged her to a non medical facility the next morning. Claiming this woman the didn't check was fine.

She died just seven hours later.

If we are lucky we will all get old. And with that comes helplessness, and and not being listened to. We could all be in Nichelle's position.

Fame was not enough to guarantee her a very low level of care.

You cannot guarantee your own privilege will keep you safe in hospital, as you age.

This could be any of us is what I'm trying to explain.

And there's probably nothing that would have made these gits listen to her...

But I wanted to give some general advice for others below:

Don't let anyone attend hospital alone. Lone patients get ignored and forgotten.

If you're are part of group with less privilege, like you're black; try to buddy up with someone with more privilege.

Women get ignored a lot. Especially older or disabled women get ignored. Taking a male friend with, who knows he's job is repeat the information you give, or requests you have; can be a literal life saver.

Chase up information. If you were told you'd go have Y test done at 8am, and it now 12pm; stop a nurse and ask what is happening.

That goes doubly for the Dr. You might only see them once per day. Don't let them forget to turn up to see you on ward rounds.

If you can Google you're hospital's uniforms so you're asking the right person. Ward sisters/ ward manages are usually a good bet.

Use the halo effect if you can manage it. Hospital staff give better care, and treatment; to people who appear less messily sick. 🙄If you can attend the hospitas dressed clean and tidy, I'd recommend doing so.

Demon Shang Qinghua who thought it'd be no big deal if he just said hello to his favorite character. Like one (1) time.