This Is A Safe Space For Dark Skinned People - Tumblr Posts

Hi bro I just wanna request you

Can you not specify if the female leads are black or white cuz that really shortens down the route iykwim like can you pls leave the imagination to us readers I'm from japan and its pretty hard for me enjoy college crush when there's specifically written "black fem" and I can't see myself in the story. :(

Please don't take it in a hateful way I'm not being racist my two bffs black people and they are absolutely beautiful but I just wanted to say please dont specify.

Thank you!

Hi babe ! ☆

First of all, I’m so so glad that my fics are even reaching people from Japan ! ヾ(๑ ^ ◡ ^)ﾉ" that’s crazy to me that someone from around the world has come across my content and enjoyed it. So thank you so much for taking the time to check me out and appreciate my work.

Second of all, don’t worry I do not consider your request to be hateful or racist.

I will start by thanking you for pointing out that my stories are very descriptive of the skin tone ; from now on I will definitely make an effort to write stories with description that also include brown/honey skinned people. I don’t think I’ll ever imply that they’re light-skinned in any way because there are already a lot of stories doing that.

And this brings me to something that I want to clarify : my OCs will always be of a darker skinned tone by default in every single one of my fics. This is a choice and a promise I’ve made to myself, and by extension to all the other people that look like me, when I created this blog.

I know that this can be frustrating for lighter skinned people because they are excluded by definition ; but I make them like this on purpose in reaction to the explicit AND implicit exclusion dark-skinned people have been experiencing for YEARS in fandom spaces. It hurts when, in a fandom as big as ARMY, the default character in almost every single fan fiction you come across right now is light-skinned with thin straight hair. It hurts when there is no content specifically catered to darker-skinned individuals (black people + every non-white & non-east asian including brown, latinx, south asian, and middle east people). Or the content available is ridiculously low and there is no choice nor variety in the few amount of content you’re forced to consume.

This is absolutely not a new matter, nor is it talked about because people are complacent in thinking that this situation is ok, when it does not represent the diversity that exists in this fandom (and others) in the slightest. It’s been like that for years but it’s only recently that people like me have started to take it to themselves to create the stories they want to see about them ; and unfortunately I’m gonna need you to bare the slight discomfort my fics might give you because they weren’t meant to fit you.

This user explained it in another more immersive way that may help you understand this position I take even better. + This one ask I received a while ago, about an asian woman feeling the same way — misrepresentated — even though she is literally supposed to be confirming to the default settings of the lightskin/white y/n you find in every fic ; proving that there is an absolute need for specific content like mine.

Thank you again for your ask because it made me realize that people do read what I put out and want to appreciate it even if it doesn’t cater to them specifically. I do recommend you keep reading other fics when the OC isn’t implied to be light-skinned because it will help you straighten your empathy and open you to great stories ! Have a great day/night ♡

if you (or anyone else!) have more questions you can absolutely reach out to me ! (๑ ･̑ᴗ･̑)