Comment on AO3 Ship Stats 2023

  1. VampireHusbands on Chapter 1 Mon 07 Aug 2023 09:56PM UTC

    Loustat hug in S2 finale

    Yeah that stood out to me too. That would be due to the actor who plays Hob (Ferdinand Kingsley) being of partial Indian descent, but I think it's very misleading to refer to them as a White/Asian pair since Ferdinand would be considered white by most people. I think at best this should get a White/Ambiguous label. 🤷 And I say at best since although the actor who plays him is mixed race I don't think Hob Gadling is meant to be, I think he's just meant to be white. It's moreso Dream that's ambiguous when it comes to race, so due to him a White/Ambiguous label might still fit. 😅

    Last Edited Mon 07 Aug 2023 10:01PM UTC

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    1. Vulgarweed on Chapter 1 Wed 09 Aug 2023 07:59AM UTC

      In Sandman comics canon, Dream is FAR more racially ambiguous than Hob. He has appeared in stories as Black, Asian, Middle-eastern, and also...a cat. He's an anthropomorphic personification whose appearance changes depending on who he is communicating with. (We get a glimpse of him in the Black form that Nada knew in the series we have so far, and I think in S2 that story will be developed more) Even though he's played by a white actor in the show most of the time, I feel like HE is the more racially ambiguous character of the two, and he really belongs in the Not Human category.

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      1. centreoftheselights on Chapter 1 Wed 09 Aug 2023 11:19AM UTC

        The N.H. category is for non-human skin tones, i.e. skin which is green, blue, grey, etc.

        If Dream is portrayed on-screen by multiple actors of different races for more than a few seconds, I would change his listing to "Ambiguous", but merely being a fantasy creature is not sufficient reason for this list (or it would apply to a whole bunch of characters!).

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        1. I_need_sleep_or_fanfiction on Chapter 1 Tue 05 Sep 2023 08:52PM UTC

          Actually in the series he appeared as white, black and a cat so maybe the ambiguous tag would be more appropriate for him?

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    3. centreoftheselights on Chapter 1 Wed 09 Aug 2023 11:21AM UTC

      Real people cannot be racially ambiguous in this classification. Honestly I'm deeply uncomfortable with the idea that anyone should be allowed to just decide that a mixed-race actor is... not Asian enough to "count", I guess? I admit my categories are not perfect, especially when it comes to handling mixed-race people, but I'd rather err on the side of acknowledging diversity here.

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      1. IThinkIMightBeLost925 on Chapter 1 Mon 04 Sep 2023 04:38AM UTC

        I was confused too but I fully respect your mindset on this and so I agree with you. Thanks for the list and Dreamling FTW!!

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      2. CynicofCynicism on Chapter 1 Thu 07 Sep 2023 12:07PM UTC

        According to his Wikipedia page, Ferdinand Kingsley is of "predominantly English descent; his paternal grandfather was of Khoja Gujarati descent." I understand your desire to capture diversity, but classifying someone who's 75% white as Asian seems a bit disingenuous and, in its own way, potentially problematic. Perhaps next time you could include a mixed-race category? Just a thought. I really appreciate you putting the stats out there.

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