GoldSand

(Both are by GalXE!)

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

(Both are by Madeline Maye!)

(Both are by Cassidy Whiskey!)

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.

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.

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.

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)

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

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.

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.

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.

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.