#racism.

[moralomnivore]

The colonial states America and Australia are both famous for their meat production on land seized from native populations. The animosity between cattle ranchers in America and the people they drove out and killed to replace with animals that they saw as more valuable is famous enough that you are already aware of the genre it inspired:

Landback policies pair perfectly with a reduction in land use in colonial states through ceasing the production of animal products.

[uptownthots]

anyway now that I can actually sit down I think it’s important to note that if you are a white person who spent time in bigoted/white supremacist groups and are now “”reformed””/in progressive spaces I think you really just have to accept that fact that you were racist. quite literally the first step towards reformation or change or what have you is literally acknowledging what you have done and why it is wrong. If you find yourself arguing with people of color that you weren’t actually racist because you only existed in bigoted spaces because you wanted friends or whatever you have failed step one and any and all claims of reformation or change are invalid until you complete it lol. I do not think it’s a coincidence that every self proclaimed “former” neo Nazi or miscellaneous bigot I’ve had the displeasure of interacting with has gone full mask off racist (but in the cool liberal way!) when I’ve said that there is literally is no non-racist way to engage with racist spaces. Idc about being buddy buddy with “reformed” bigots at all but I think the ability to say “yes, I was racist” without a bunch of clarifications and qualifiers is the absolute bare minimum required for you to be considered anything other than a literal piece of dogshit to me and it’s crazy that I haven’t encountered one single person capable of doing that!

[metalheadsagainstfascism]

George Floyd's niece was shot while she was sleeping

(She did survive with a punctured lung and 3 broken ribs)

4-year-old shooting victim's dad says HPD officers didn't arrive until 4 hours after incident

As the young victim recovers in the hospital, Houston police are looking into whether officers' response to the shooting was delayed.

It took 4 hours after the shooting for police to arrive.

Her father doesn't know why his house was targeted.

And police say they have no suspects.

George Floyd never wanted to be a martyr, but regardless, he's become the face of the latest BLM movement.

So, it's kind of suspicious that his brother's house was shot up, and police can't find any suspects.

Just kinda weird...

Kinda sketchy...

(Obligatory images to humanize her)

-fae

[hazelcephalopod]

If conservatives want to protect womens sports so bad maybe actually watch them? Make a public network for womens sports. Fund foundations and give grants to support women and girls sports.

But somehow I don’t think it’s actually about supporting women recently when brought up. The only reason womens sports has entered into -or perhaps back into- politics is because they want to oppress and dehumanize trans people -and oftentimes women who aren’t white.

[leafsilk]

Problems with Blue

Discussion of antiblackness, slavery, and colonialism.

WoF's third arc shills a ridiculously racist narrative with Blue as its very first spearhead. Tui crafts a character who belieaves that "Not all oppressors are bad" and the story that surrounds it validates this.

Disclaimer that right away, it is fine to have a character arc start at “If I’m just nice, oppression will just not affect me. My peers should just stay out of trouble. Perhaps that person who was clearly committing a microaggression was having a bad day.” but it must end with a realization of what will truly change oppression, and this character getting to experience anger. Especially as children, this is an unfortunately common internalization of racism people of color deal with. It offers the illusion of control and allows for room to think that everyone is good at heart. Behavioral self-blame is pretty common in the face of constant mistreatment - it’s an unhealthy coping mechanism that allows people to think “I can fix this actually.” This is a real issue that affects people of color and while I don’t think it’s Tui’s place to tell a story that starts here, in better hands that were not white this would be a fine story to tell. I specifically say nonwhite here because while I’m sure there are plenty of marginalized groups that struggle with this issue, Tui has very clearly set up arc three as a race and colonialism narrative. She draws clear, pointed parallels to struggles with colonialism. SilkWings are subjugated servants to HiveWings. They are displaced and have been robbed of their culture, homes and leaders, and are separated from their families to be put to work that is not their choice. I have avoided using the word “slave” and will continue to do so for my own comfort, but Tui is telling a very bastardized and abridged story about marginalization and liberation. As wildly inappropriate and specifically antiblack (a word I have not yet seen brought up in critiques of arc 3 even though it is wildly prevalent) that is even conceptually (this is not her story to tell), I kept turning the page to see if Tui would say something meaningful, and she sure did. Even when Blue admits to himself that he isn’t at fault for his oppression, he is hell-bent on still seeing the good in HiveWings, and seems to think that saving good HiveWings will ultimately dismantle the system. The problem with this in arc 3 is that ultimately, Blue is right and validated and presented as a morally just hero. 

Blue’s turn from “All HiveWings are good at heart and probably don’t mean to be awful towards my people or maybe we’ve earned it; They’re ultimately keeping us safe.” to “Something needs to change.” is perhaps the most impressive illusory, performative parlor trick I have ever seen from a white author in my entire god damn life. Nothing short of gold medal gymnastics to throw you off the scent that the heart of Blue’s problem has ultimately not changed. While he’s willing to reluctantly acknowledge HiveWing evil now, it is always with a “Well, not all HiveWings!” and still doesn’t recognize that simply getting rid of mustache-twirling villains like Wasp and Othermind would not, in any world, fix that his people are being kept as pets and work grunts, where HiveWings read better books in better schools lit by flamesilk that is harvested from eternally imprisoned SilkWings. Tui does a lot of sleights of hand like this throughout arc 3: Wasp isn’t even really competently evil, she’s being mind-controlled, even if still awful. Sundew gets to be angry but doesn’t get to fight, and doesn’t get to be right beyond “Your feelings are so valid”. Some HiveWings wish for the return of Wasps reign and in turn, the subjugation of SilkWings, but this is presented in the epilogue of the last book as an odd side note, not a legitimate problem that is countered. I could go on, but this is a post about Blue himself.

Blue never gets to be angry. There is not one scene in the span of all five books in arc 3 where he roughs up a deserving HiveWing, or snaps angrily at someone (he passionately tries to convince his father that you can’t work within the rules to fix them, but this does not count for obvious reasons). Blue isn’t a character so much as he is Tui’s idea of how a minority should behave, because while there are POV characters who are very angry about their mistreatment (Sundew, Luna), point B for their arcs is “maybe HiveWings aren’t so bad.” and “LeafWings have done bad things too I guess.” Blue’s turn from “All HiveWings are good at heart and probably don’t mean to be awful towards my people or maybe we’ve earned it; They’re ultimately keeping us safe.” Blue’s final version of himself, that has overcome his flaws is…. A diet version of what we originally got, a compromise. 

And ultimately, Blue is right. There never is an epic battle against willing HiveWings. The problem isn’t that the Hive systemically benefits HiveWings at the expense of SilkWings and that HiveWings are complacent beneficiaries of this system, it’s that mind control is bad. Because once the mind control is gone, we cut to the peaceful LeafSilk kingdom. I want you to think long and hard about what this character alone would mean to a child of color trying to find solace and comfort in fun dragon books, trying to navigate the same internal conflict Blue does, and just how harmful it would be for their states of mind. I’m 18, and I was excited to pick up the new WOF books I’d seen lying around my local bookstore and hop right into flying around Pyrrhia, and I imagine lots of kids were and are too. I closed each book feeling a little more furious, waiting for the turnaround and will be able to walk away saying that Blue and Tui are wrong. I don’t know if these books’ target audiences and yes, even older fans, will be able to say the same.

[callmeblakeifyoulike]

When tumblr says they’re anti-discrimination, but by the words they choose to censor, they are a huge part of the discriminatory problem...

As a ND person, I am absolutely disgusted over the fact that they banned anything we could use to stim. That is so abelist on so many levels.

As a person in the mental illness community, I’m disgusted that they blocked all of our vent tags.

And as a good person in general, the fact that they banned all of the tags we used to call out people on racism, antisemetism, abelism, homophobia, etc, is even more disgusting.

Im so disappointed in this site, but I’m not gonna leave it. I’m going to fight until we have our rights of free speech back. And I’m gonna fight until this app stops discriminating and hurting minorities. Screw this.

Anyways, remember that if you put a “.” After the tag, you can still use it <3.

[hellishfig]

i saw a video the other day which was something along the lines of “is jinx from arcane really a villain?” and within the first five minutes the guy doing the video dismissed mel medarda as a total villain, which, what?

if you watched arcane and came out of it with the conclusion that mel, who is manipulative and looks out for herself but feels strongly that war is not a solution, is a villain, but jinx, who has severe mental health issues but also murdered a bunch of people, might not be, you should re-examine your analysis, because it’s inaccurate and racist. mel is a complex character, and dismissing her as a bad guy just because she encouraged jayce to make weapons with hextech completely ignores her past in noxus and her desire for peace with the undercity.

(this doesn’t mean i think jinx is a complete villain either, she’s just as nuanced, but she’s also clearly not a good person)