GoldSand

[golden-sandwing]

toxic Fandoms be like

"A complex character with bad deeds and a redemption arc, he reveals both his good and bad sides, showing just how human he is"-The character is a man

Fandom: Oh wow, he's so deep and complex, I'd love to know more about him—and he's so handsome

"A complex character with bad deeds and a redemption arc, he reveals both his good and bad sides, showing just how human he is"-The character is a woman

Fandom: WHAT A BITCH, heartless, annoying, totally useless, spoiled, unnecessary

I hate the normalization of sexism in fandoms

[66kenobi66]

Here's some good Hazbin/Helluva critical videos I've seen (since it's so hard to find good ones on YT)

(Both are by GalXE!)

(Left one is by HezuReviews, right is by Autistic Swag!)

(Both are by Madeline Maye!)

(Both are by Cassidy Whiskey!)

Please go check these people out, all of them are extremely talented. Some of them even shared some insight and clever criticism into this series that I hadn't even thought of! (I especially like the Madeline Mayne ones as they poke into how both HB and HH fail at their queer representation.)

[scpo35]

My One Wings of Fire post on this blog

Edit. If you are going to comment on the fact that Anemone did more than just be rude once: Yes. I know. I read the books. I did not make the original bluesky post. It is just about how there is a severe double standard with male vs female characters in fandom. I read the books. No more reblogs or comments about that. Thank you.

Edit two. No (insert character here) would likely not be a better comparison, as they are a beloved character within the fandom. The response to this post has proven that the fandom misogyny is alive and well, even if it has died down since when I was in the community.

[golden-sandwing]

Even sexism affects transgender male characters precisely because of this:

"Crocomom hahahahaha"

Honestly, i hope that everyone who still uses the headcanon of Sir Crocodile being a trans man solely to create perverse images of a pregnant man submissive to stereotypes of women being treated solely as mothers, goes to hell

"Oh, but what's the problem with pregnant or effeminate trans men?"

Zero, the problem is when you define the character solely by that, Sir Crocodile has many characteristics to his character, he has many actions, and most importantly, he is a villain, which many forget, using a character who is literally a villain in a headcanon where he has a biological son and is automatically a sweetheart is ignoring the very basis of the character, Sir Crocodile is clearly a pure reference to the mafia, but rarely do people who use the term "crocodile" use this fact only to make the character extremely effeminate and simply ignore the fact that he is a trans man and not a cis woman

I'll just repeat one more time, the term "Crocomom" is a transphobic term for a transgender headcanon character

[nikassys]

🌙 for the last time, if you're talking abt the theory that Crocodile birthed Luffy and then transitioned through Ivankov's powers, CALL HIM CROCODAD NOT CROCOMOM pregnant men are not a joke, there are men in real life that want to get pregnant and there's nothing to laugh at that about unless you're a literal 5th grader.

[kelsochronicles]

Well, it seems I have reached a new badge of honor by having my art fed into the ai slop machine bc somebody was butthurt about my anti ai post. There is a word for people like this: pathetic.

So! Congrats you are now going to be put on blast for all to see and block now. Cry and whine all you want. You just fucked around and now you’re about to find out.

Everyone this is @revengeofboudica in case you can’t see their name in the screen grab.

[sidyashchiy-na-plakhe]

Oh Ochre.... my poor Ochre

The headcanon is that Ochre eats a lot not to enjoy the food, but because he has an eating disorder and eats out of stress.

The poor guy has no friends, no siblings. He's surrounded by dragons who see him as either a function or "that fat, gluttonous one."

The fandom doesn't like him either, even giggling at how Flame wishes he were dead.

As my condition worsens, I understand this character better now and want to take him in my arms and give him all the fanart in the world.

[wings-of-fire-confessions]

Some WoF fans I question if they read the books at all with some of the wild takes they have. It really does piss me off when people will be just spreading lies about the source material or completely missing the point of what the book is trying to tell them. When I can I try to correct people as nicely as possible but with some of these takes it's SO hard.

Here's a brief collection of some of the dumbest takes I've heard:

- Darkstalker did nothing wrong. (This person in particular believed Darkstalker was morally correct to start killing random icewings because his dad and grandmother were jerks who happened to be icewings.)

- Tui is racist because she presented Hivewings as nuanced instead of I guess just making every Hivewing a moustache twirling villain

- Tui is a misandrist because she wrote less canonically gay characters than canonical lesbians

- Anemone is actually an unforgivable villain and doesn't deserve redemption

- Peril is also an unforgivable sociopath who doesn't deserve redemption

- Dragons should re-enact the scorching and kill all humans despite knowing they're sentient now

- Someone who said Sunny was "arrogant" (???)

- Whirlpool is a better character than Qibli (I'm not a Qibli liker myself but c'mon dude)

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[wings-of-fire-confessions]

“you’re only saying sunny’s aroace because she’s cute and innocent!”

no i’m saying she’s aroace because she’s never had a single crush and the only dragon who confessed to her got turned down

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[wings-of-fire-confessions]

I wish people used African fashion more when drawing clothing on Pantallian dragons instead of using BORING, OVERDONE medieval European Fashion.

The SilkWings literally SPIN SILK, A TEXTILE. Africa has an amazing, rich history of textile manufacturing. People need to take advantage of this!

Also, you can't tell me that Swordtail wouldn't wear a dashiki and jeans to all events.

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[femmekinkajou]

CELEBRATORY KINKAJOODLES

[golden-sandwing]

Some WoF fans are up to a new, not-so-funny joke: "(that Animus character) definitely uses AI or is pro AI haha"

This joke is simply ridiculous, AI is no joke, it's literally killing our planet much faster, my city is experiencing power outages and water problems because of AI

Furthermore, a powerful Animus is only strong because of its creativity, this is an offense to the universe-building of the Animus and to Tui herself

Playing with AI is not being responsible, being responsible means understanding the damage it causes to nature and people, and not treating it as a joke to mock creative characters, especially Turtle

[wings-of-fire-confessions]

qibli is the worst and peril is amazing. specifically the scene in EP where moon lowkey just says 'hey stop thinking about killing us, i'm sure qibli had already thought of 10 ways to kill YOU anyway >:(' and qibli says 'actually only 9 pwincess 🥹' boils my blood. (sidenote this is NOT moon hate that's my baby)

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[wings-of-fire-confessions]

ok, i have some new thoughts about the "drawing burn with darker colors is racist" controversy. i used to not really agree with the sentiment, but after some thinking, i absolutely think there is merit to it.

for those who aren't aware, there is a long, racist history of people with darker skin (notably black people) being portrayed as savage, evil, and violent, and that stereotype is incredibly dehumanizing. with this in mind, burn (the most openly violent, militaristic sandwing sister) regularly being drawn or described as the darkest among her sisters (who are viewed as more proper and civilized) in fandom content is rather questionable...

and obviously, burn is named burn, which is where people claim the idea of giving her darker, burnt colors comes from. i do think that reasoning can be neat, but here's the thing: blisters and blazes can be darker colors too... and yet blister and blaze are often portrayed as very light in fan designs.

and reminder that burn is not originally supposed to have super dark colors. she is described as having "pale golden scales" in the books, and her design in the graphic novel follows this. i'm not saying this to be the "design police" or "whimsy police," but only to highlight that there are people making the deliberate choice to make burn darkly colored while usually staying close to the original, light colors blister and burn are described to have.

in my opinion, giving burn darker colors isn't bad in of itself. it just becomes kinda iffy when other factors are considered... so, please be mindful when making designs for characters. i don't believe that most (hopefully all, but, sadly, who knows) of the people who give burn way darker colors are doing so out of malice, but there is probably some subconscious racism or biases welling up.

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[wings-of-fire-confessions]

This writing is kind of going to serve as a piggyback/extension to the "all mudwings are fat gives me weird vibes" confession that was submitted here, as this was originally going to be a reply to that confession... and then it got long 😭

Basically, I also find it odd how people can insist on ALL MudWings being fat. I do believe that the average MudWing is bigger (since that's how they appear in the guide), but just like with body types in real life, there are exceptions to the average. Now, if most MudWings are being drawn as skinny, I do think that raises a valid concern of fatphobia; however, portraying a skinnier MudWing every once in a while should not warrant criticism or even an explanation.

Here's the other thing, though: There are other tribes in the guide that also appear to have some fat, such as NightWings. And yet I don't see many general fandom portrayals that reflect this... and I don't think I've ever seen someone criticize those portrayals (for not showing enough fat). Instead, this controversy largely centers around MudWings.

Why is that? Is it because NightWings aren't as associated with food as MudWings are? Is it because they're perceived as intelligent, elegant dragons, and elegance/intelligence and fatness couldn't possibly mix? (That last sentence was sarcastic btw)

Of course, I also understand that modern NightWings suffered from starvation on the island, and a lot of those NightWings likely do appear skinny (but do note it is possible to be malnourished and not loose body weight). These NightWings then relocated to the Rainforest Kingdom, though, and while it can take a while to heal from starvation, many NightWings will probably return to the average body type with time.

I can't really think of a reason to portray so many ancient NightWings as skinny, though... Having fat might even be respectable in NightWing culture, as Listener's fat (yes, she is canonically described as having curves) is noted as sign of being a successful hunter (not as a sign of laziness or incompetence). I'm suddenly wondering if skinnier, starved modern NightWings feel insecure about their bodies...

TL;DR: I feel like many people are only get so weirdly defensive about MudWings being fat because a couple of MudWings were mentioned to like food, and MudWings are also stereotyped as sloppy and dumb. Most of these people conveniently allow the other tribes to be portrayed as skinny, despite some of these tribes actually having more fat. I believe this is because these tribes align less with gross stereotypes about fat (such as liking food and being dumb, as previously mentioned). Essentially, being fat should not be so confined to MudWings.

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[wings-of-fire-confessions]

I find it interesting that Whirlpool’s presence seems to help show how bad Coral is.

The fact that Coral wants Whirlpool (slimy old dragon) to eventually marry one of her young daughters someday. That Coral winks at Tsunami while asking her isn’t Whirlpool handsome, literally right on the same day Tsunami arrived at the Summer Palace. That Anemone stated that she was so worried that she’d had to marry Whirlpool (who’s also assigned by Coral as her teacher) before Tsunami arrived. The fact that Whirlpool helps Coral attempt to make Anemone into a weapon of war by making her use her animus magic, which is thought to erode a dragon’s soul. The fact that Whirlpool supports Coral’s beliefs in eugenics (he likes her eugenics scroll On the Differences between Oysters and Clams). Also the fact that Whirlpool is the dragon to make Turtle go to the Talons of Power ceremony (testing if royal dragonets have animus powers) when he was four years old.

It’s as if Whirlpool is being used as a reflection or a highlighter to the worst parts of Coral herself, especially as a mother.

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[wings-of-fire-confessions]

I think the Fandom needs to stop treating Whirlpool like “that one guy we don’t talk about”

Moreover, I think we need to call him a groomer instead of a pedophile. He’s not a pedophile, and relates to none of the definition. Calling him a pedophile instead of a groomer only puts the wrong label to the wrong behaviour, which can make it confusing for any reader to differentiate the behaviour if they so need it in the future.

Whirlpool is not a pedophile. He is a groomer. He manipulated Anemone (and Coral) in order to weasel his way into high ranks. He expressed no romantic or otherwise intimate attraction to Anemone.

When explaining his attempt to kill Tsunami, he clearly says “I needed a more agreeable heir”. His motives were not led by any means of attraction. I derailed quite a bit. My original point is that it does no good to treat Whirlpool as a hush-hush character as that ultimately minimises / ignores his motives and actions.

(Throwing this in here because I don’t like him, Darkstalker also groomed both Moonwatcher and Anemone, yet I’ve seen plenty of fans say they can “fix him” or otherwise ignore his actions because he is “troubled” and “misunderstood”)

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