#beemail

It’s been a recurring theme over the years in which some fans (particularly non-white fans) want to bring up to the topic of race and racism in Tolkien and they get met with various iterations of the statement “Tolkien was a man of his time!” or “Tolkien hated n-zis!” 

Both of those statements can be considered superficially true, and that’s exactly why it’s so frustrating trying to argue more nuanced points, especially coming from places of lived experience. I can’t count how many times I’ve tried to talk about how hurtful the racially charged descriptions of the orcs were, only to be met with “well Tolkien didn’t mean that!” or, “Tolkien hated racism!” 

This attitude not only shuts down potential nuanced dialogue, but it feeds into the vicious cycle of derailing from the wider conversation of race and racism from perspectives that live with the implications of race and racism reflected in Tolkien. It takes away the agency of those who should be at the centre of discussions of race.

I also think it’s incredibly troubling that the default interpretation of Tolkien is white/Eurocentric with the only exception being the villains, and this is certainly something I’ve seen echoed on some white supremacist forums I’ve been investigating.

Moreover, it’s embarrassing. 

It’s embarrassing that the wider fandom at large still cannot reckon with the racist imagery perpetuated in Tolkien’s works and communities when white nationalists have been deriving inspiration from Tolkien since the 70s and continue to do so to this day. 

It doesn’t help that the more prominent, organised spaces in Tolkien fandom are not doing enough to condemn and combat white supremacist ideology in Tolkien fandom and communities, and this in turn can act as a deterrent for diverse perspectives, thus perpetuating the vicious cycle of silencing and harassment. 

I am critical of Tolkien because I love Arda. 

It is no longer good enough to simply argue that Tolkien is/was not a racist, but to consider the very real implications of his works regardless of the opinions he may have held as a man. 

Do you really think that those white supremacists on S--rmfront really care that Tolkien was horrified by "the treatment of colour” in Letter 61, or the wrongful appropriation of the “noble northern spirit?” in Letter 45 by the n-zis, and then later completely backtracking on the term “Nordic” in Letter 294? Of course not. 

The Prancing Pony Podcast actually published this tweet calling for more people of “diverse racial backgrounds” to participate in their podcast which hints at the aftermath of “My Statement of Tolkien 2019″ which I can confidently say has shaken several Tolkien communities to their cores.

I think the Tolkien fandom at large is generally seeing some shifts in attitude, however only time will tell how long we can keep this momentum up and see if any systemic change actually results from this resurrected dialogue on race and representation. 

So actually primarily Dream just starts as AuDHD. Just the way he thinks and communicates. Like he's neurodivergent. That's just fact and I do love giving the character the content creator's disabilities

This fucker STIMS okay. He can't stand still and he must stim. he can and will pace circles into everything. Huge motion related sensory seeker and it's his biggest regulator. Everyone has learned the hard way to not stop him

He slowly develops paranoia and depression but that evolves into a full blown case of PTSD post-prison

Also has a traumatically restrictive diet afterwards. It takes him a long time to get eating normally again, and there's still a lot of things that will just take the ability to eat away from him entirely

Starvation and isolation can severely mess with your brain and I honestly think it could trigger a latent physical health issue as well. So not only is Dream struggling to cope with recovery from the hell he threw himself in, he's also contending with new chronic issues

I'm always super compelled for it to be a joint issue for some reason. probably because I see him as extremely flexible. So potentially dealing with severe joint inflammation of some kind.

He would be a very reluctant user of mobility aids. This man does not want to sit in the wheelchair, but he'll learn eventually. You can put fun patterns on your tire covers, Dream. Come on it's fun.

Punz - (Any)

I think somewhere along the way Dream could have been diagnosed with his earlier problems. I think Punz has been stubbornly avoiding the doctor as long as they've been alive. And they will continue to do

So there are some SIGNIFICANT problems they just aren't acknowledging. Likely ADHD or AuDHD. It's okay, they have systems for coping with things

Definitely Schizophrenia and Depersonalization Derealization disorder. This can either just be a thing or backstory relevant but between the two they give Punz a really just interesting grasp of reality and a complete lack of connection to their body.

In Like Real People Do Punz has a version of Congenital Insensitivity to Pain and as a result had an accidental hemiglossectomy (they bit off their tongue) that gives them a speech impediment. Tongue trauma is really common in conditions like that

I just think Punz needs to wear wrist braces. I think they've fucked up their wrists a bit and could benefit from a brace that actually provides some support. Like the tingling and tension in their wrists isn't normal but they're not going to acknowledge it.

Purpled - (He/They/It)

I just remember the post i saw one time of cc!Purpled discussing his adhd diangosis as not hindering him in school because he was hyperfixated on being the best. I have never been able to track down a clip to confirm this but it's real in my heart at least and also how c!Purpled is

I definitely think he was like sick as a baby. Got a nasty infection that he couldn't just fight off being too young and also did not receive sufficient care for. This is why you don't leave a 7/8 year old in charge of a baby

He's mostly fine now, but when he's sick he's really really fucking sick. So just don't get sick, as if that's easy at all

Biggest issue they have overall in my mind is insomnia. I think it's reoccurrent and very much connected to stress levels. He just goes through phases where his sleep schedule gets decimated and he sleeps for like 2 hours a night at most and it just makes everything bad

Tommy - (She/They)

So the content creator decidedly does not have ADHD. I keep constantly flipping back and forth on whether I want to write c!Tommy with ADHD but regardless of any actual diagnosis I think she hits a ceiling somewhere of what she can handle and it becomes pretty clear something is giving her issues

That could just be the PTSD she does develop. I think she's stuck playing "was this a thing for me before I got this disorder and needs looked into alone or is this just part of this disorder" for the rest of her life.

I do think her PTSD developed not just from like one thing like exile or whatever but from repeatedly dealing with things that hurt her and made her feel unsafe. PTSD doesn't always have just one inciting incident. She might have something closer to C-PTSD

I think they've got like a LisFranc foot amputation from walking into the tundra woefully unprepared from walking into the tundra and getting a shoe wet. She got frostbite on a lot of places but since one of her feet got wet, that one did not recover properly

I don't think she gets a prosthetic for a while. I think she's stuffing her shoe and coping until she's allowed back in l'manburg. then she can finally pay a visit to whoever passes for a prosthetician or at least knows SOMETHING about orthopedics

Technoblade - (He/It)

Number 1 fucked up knee haver. number 2 resistant to using mobility aids because unlike Phil he's not old

But prison still takes a lot out of him so he's at MINIMUM temporarily incapacitated while recovering from all of that. he's not listening to doctors orders (Phil and Niki repeatedly telling him to lay down)

Generally actually gets sicker than most people. he's not from the overworld. his immune system doesn't DO pollen what do you MEAN the plants want to kill him. Shitty immune system is what eventually does kill him tbh

He's had a pretty steady build in ptsd symptoms as time goes on but it only really flares his head when he's stuck in a situation he has to wait out.

Worst of his disorders is really OCD. like he just has it and the voices just make it worse. they're basically agents of "if you don't do X, Y bad thing will happen". Except when that old man is around then they're poggin

On the same audhd wavelength with Dream, and also Philza at the same time. He does not want to do what you tell him. he also cannot do something you want without specific clear instructions. he will do it his own way anyways.

i don't think he has Schizophrenia. he might have some kind of psychosis but I'm personally just hesitant to give him Schizophrenia because it feels like reducing it to just hearing voices which is definitely a symptom but he doesn't really have negative symptoms to me. I could write an essay on this

Philza - (He/Him)

Old man has so much wrong with him. Doctors can't fix this. He's just like this now. His big god wife loves how messed up of a little man he is

He has no concept of how time actually moves, his perception of time has just been stretched out wildly and he is fully capable of dissociating through a whole year

His autism manifests most apparently as a kind of rigidity. Especially socially. It can be really hard for him to accept change. he's trying but like, that doesn't mean it's not still hard to work with or around it

Sometimes my system makes the colorzas a loose kind of OSDD-1a system. They're all Phil just different flavors. I haven't ever written this before but it's kinda fun. I get it

Losing his wings severely messed up his balance so he was using a cane for a while until he sorted that out. He doesn't have enough residual limb for a prosthetic, but he's learning to be okay with the loss

Phantom pain is a bitch though and he and Tommy are both learning to cope with it around the same time. They have wildly different ways they cope with it though