Is it karma? Was I a bad shipper in a previous fandom?

[lizbee]

Conversation between me and weaver:

Me: "Why are so many Mai/Zuko artists really into whitewashing? Is it to spite me personally?"
Her: "Probably."

I mean, okay, by "so many" I mean "a group of young, super-talented artists whose Tumblrs alternate between really amazing art and really terrible art that uses Justin Bieber as a model for Zuko, and posts that run, 'OMG HDU ACCUSE ME OF WHITEWASHING! IT IS SO RACIST TO SUGGEST JUSTIN BIEBER MIGHT NOT BE ASIAN! THEY DON'T ALL LOOK ALIKE, YOU KNOW."

I ain't linking, because I'm pretty sure some are under 18, but it's bringing me down, man.

Comments

[terajk]

'OMG HDU ACCUSE ME OF WHITEWASHING! IT IS SO RACIST TO SUGGEST JUSTIN BIEBER MIGHT NOT BE ASIAN! THEY DON'T ALL LOOK ALIKE, YOU KNOW."

*dying of laughter*

[terajk]

Oh, also, I haven't drawn Zuko in forever and I draw pretty cartoonily anyway, but my model for future!Zuko is now Godfrey Gao.

[lizbee]

APPROPRIATELY CHEEKBONEY! Mine is Cha Seung Won, but also Jordan Rodrigues for teen!Zuko. Not just because he plays an angsty teen with anger issues in Dance Academy...

[attackfish]

You know, I know there's serious issues here (and damn guys, why do you have to whitewash specifically my ship), but this post just cracked me up hard. Yes, you must have been a bad shipper in a past fandom.

[lizbee]

SOME ANON MEMES WOULD AGREE.

I just ... I get that a lot of these artists are super young, and I know at least one is from a non-ESL background that probably makes it harder for her to follow the debates and stuff. And there's a really fine line between "calling out racist bullshit" and "bullying" on Tumblr.

BUT STILL. GUYS, MAKO AND BOLIN ARE NOT ITALIAN.

[attackfish]

I mean, I have no leg to stand on, given that I know how racist whitewashing is, and I still have an AU where Zuko and Azula are white British (my Harry Potter AU. They're Voldemort and Bellatrix's kids) but still.

And why Justin Beiber???????

[aberration]

Yeeeah, that is a lot why I chose a real life reference for Asami even just for RP purposes. After I saw someone on tumblr dreamcast her with Megan Fox, I kind of wanted to check out of the internet.

[lizbee]

Ergh. I saw an actual argument earlier this year about whether or not Azula was IRL modelled on Fox.

[aberration]

... wow.