Harsh truths no one want to hear

Considering the current situation of the broken RWBY fandom, I’m not surprese if this post don’t have as much reach as I want, and if some of these “RWBY fans” decide to harass me just because I’m saying truths they want to see erased or because they can’t hear anyone with a different opinion of their on, because, in their tiny, toxic community, if you have a different opinion, you’re wrong and need to kill yourself. No, I’m not exaggerating. That’s literally what RWBY community is now.

But I’m not here to talk about it. This topic is like kicking a dead horse, at least to people who’s not new (if you are, and want a secure group to talk about RWBY, be careful, please).

I’m here to talk a recent incident that let lots of (good) RWBY fans angry, outraged, sad, etc. It’s the Wendigo Grimm incident.

If you have no idea of what I’m talking about, I’ll start from the beginning. Not much time ago, Rooster Teeth opened a contest in association with the Full Sail University. The contest was to to students and graduates of the university to create a new grimm design. If you’re not aware, the Grimm are evil creatures considered the main enemies of the RWBY universe. They have different forms and they hunt humans. Below some of the basic Grimms of the show:

(The images are taken from the official RWBY wikipedia. You can check here: https://rwby.fandom.com/wiki/RWBY_Wiki)

I’ll put just these for now, you will get why later.

So, the competitors needed to create their own design of these creatures. A lifetime opportunity for an artist! We have the finalists, between them, the Wendigo Grimm:

(Image taken from the artist twitter: https://twitter.com/mayukiart)

Awesome design, right? Also, a nice way to refer to the native american’s culture, right? Well, according to some RWBY “fans”, this is not. Because someone is actually having the chance of their life, receiving attention to their hard working, people with no talent nor any will to do shit, decided this design is problematic and started to harass the artist, not to tell cancel this grimm. Someone even made a post talking how “problematic” this design is. You can find the post here:https://finding-my-culture.tumblr.com/post/186633496720/on-wndigoag

Since my post is already long, I will take my time to answer every relevant point this person made (relevant to the topic), to show how they actually have no idea what they’re talking about.

- “ W*ndigoag/w*ndigo are sacred Algonquian spirits that have spread to other Anishinaabe cultures. They aren’t worshiped or whatever, they are feared. “

Wrong. Wendigos are not sacred spirits. Wendigos are evil spirits, said to possed people how commited violent acts, like murder, and the most iconic, cannibalism. Not coincidentally, we have the “Wendigo psychosis” in psychology. The term is used to point people how, in a hard situation, life threatening, but not that extreme, will choose to resort to cannibalism. Not as an act of cannibalism as a last resort to avoid die for starvation.

Making a little research is enough to find some cases of Wendigo psychosis and non-Wendigo psychosis. The term is not new, before some acultured fools say it. In 1906, Jack Fiddler, also know as Zhauwuno-geezhigo-gaubow was arrested for supposed killing a wendigo. Before some of some acultured fools ask, yeah, he was a native american. From the Oji-Cree ones, from Canada.

I’m not a genius, but to mistake a evil spirit, the one the natives you say you respect and fight for their culture, hunt themselves, as a sacred one, is QUITE a mistake.

- “ They’re the physical embodiments of evil, the result of a person falling into the trap of greed and cruelty, usually in the form of cannibalism. Our fear not only stems from the spirits and the danger they pose to others, but also their implications and the constant reminder that anyone can become a monster if they allow themselves to. “

So you’re basically contradicting what you just said on you’re ON, previous point. It’s like you don’t reread your on stuff. And you even don’t corrected yourself in the previous point? Like????

Even you’re not that wrong here (entirely), you committed an grammar mistake. “They’re the physical embodiments” is wrong. In this case, “embodiment” should be in the singular. Even I, a non-English speaker, can see it.

- “ They are not bipedal deer and I have no idea where that concept came from. Most traditional depictions show them as humanoid giants made of ice, usually with the body of the person they came from encased inside. “

I... First of all, where did this come from? You’re angry because you didn’t like the design, so “since it don’t fit my aesthetic, it’s bad and disrespectful”? Also, since when the most traditional depiction of the wendigo is an humanoid giant made of ice? Ok, I can be mistake in this, let’s make a fast google research, now see images and-

Hm, well, in this first part I see three Wendigos in snow areas, but they don’t look like they’re made of ice. Perhaps if we go more down we’ll find it more of the so traditional depiction. Let’s see.

I see with my little eyes a Wendigo with a crown face? Oh, how disrespectful this person is, isn’t they? (irony)

Oh, yeah, two more in a snow environment, but not made of ice.

Oh, look! One more in a snow environment, but not made of ice, again.

Weird. None fits exactly the description the person gave us. Let’s give a look in the pinterest!

Oh, look! Some old friends!

Ok, ok! I was planning to put more prints here, but you all get my point. Also, you can just do like me, go to google, or pinterest, search Wendigo, and see for yourself.

What have the person just said again? “ They are not bipedal deer and I have no idea where that concept came from. Most traditional depictions show them as humanoid giants made of ice, usually with the body of the person they came from encased inside.”

So, like... If not all, but 90% of the designs of depicting Wendigos ARE bipedal, and yeah, they HAVE deer horns. I barely saw them made of ice. In ice environment? Yes, after all, some of the native Americans are also from the Canadian area, so make sense.

Let’s make some more research to see what PEOPLE say about the wendigo’s depiction.

Wikipedia: “The wendigo is described as a monster with some characteristics of a human or as a spirit who has possessed a human being and made them become monstrous.” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wendigo)

Legends of America: 1- “The Wendigo was gaunt to the point of emaciation, its desiccated skin pulled tautly over its bones. With its bones pushing out against its skin, its complexion the ash gray of death, and its eyes pushed back deep into their sockets, the Wendigo looked like a gaunt skeleton recently disinterred from the grave. What lips it had were tattered and bloody. Its body was unclean and suffering from suppurations of the flesh, giving off a strange and eerie odor of decay and decomposition, of death and corruption. — Basil Johnston, Ojibwe teacher and scholar, Ontario, Canada”

2- “This creature has long been known among the Algonquian Ojibwe, Eastern Cree, Saulteaux, Westmain Swampy Cree, Naskapi, and Innu peoples who have described them as giants, many times larger than human beings. Although descriptions can vary somewhat, common to all these cultures is the view that the wendigo is a malevolent, cannibalistic, supernatural being that is strongly associated with winter, the north, coldness, famine, and starvation.”

3- “a giant with a heart of ice; sometimes it is thought to be entirely made of ice. Its body is skeletal and deformed, with missing lips and toes.”

4- “It was a large creature, as tall as a tree, with a lipless mouth and jagged teeth. Its breath was a strange hiss, its footprints full of blood, and it ate any man, woman or child who ventured into its territory. And those were the lucky ones. Sometimes, the Wendigo chose to possess a person instead, and then the luckless individual became a Wendigo himself, hunting down those he had once loved and feasting upon their flesh.”

5- “Native American versions of the creature spoke of a gigantic spirit, over fifteen feet tall, that had once been human but had been transformed into a creature by the use of magic. Though all of the descriptions of the creature vary slightly, the Wendigo is generally said to have glowing eyes, long yellowed fangs, terrible claws, and overly long tongues. Sometimes they are described as having sallow, yellowish skin and other times, depicted to be covered with matted hair.” (https://www.legendsofamerica.com/mn-wendigo/)

Interesting! Looks like, since the Wendigo came from, not one, but lots of native American’s cultures, the depiction of the Wendigo can, and will, vary depending of it’s origins! Wow! It almost like this occurrence, that happens in lots of cultures through the story of mankind, have never happened before! Spoiler: it does.

Don’t believe me? Ok, let see an example with the Sphinx. This time I will use just the wikipedia as a reference because they already have what they need.

“In Greek tradition, the sphinx has the head of a woman, the haunches of a lion, and the wings of a bird. She is mythicised as treacherous and merciless. Those who cannot answer her riddle suffer a fate typical in such mythological stories, as they are killed and eaten by this ravenous monster. This deadly version of a sphinx appears in the myth and drama of Oedipus.”

“Unlike the Greek sphinx, which was a woman, the Egyptian sphinx is typically shown as a man (an androsphinx (Ancient Greek: ανδρόσφιγξ)). In addition, the Egyptian sphinx was viewed as benevolent, but having a ferocious strength similar to the malevolent Greek version. Both were thought of as guardians, and often flank the entrances to temples.”

The exact same mythological creature, with different depicts and even different behaviors (I also discovered that are Asian Sphinxes! From Buddhism, India! Good, I love this so much!).

To finish this point: depiction of mythological creatures vary. It ALWAYS happening through story, and will. What this person is saying is, basically, is that they had never research about mythology in their live, and know so little than someone that take their time to make a 5 minutes research.

- “We censor their names because, traditionally, we’re taught not to say them out loud in case we get the attention of one or summon one. This is especially important during winter or at night.”

- “W*ndigoag are Algonquian and Anishinaabe spirits. Algonquian people are the authorities on them, other Anishinaabe people less so. Non-Anishinaabe Natives cannot say that appropriation of w*ndigoag is okay because that isn’t their culture and it’s definitely not their decision to make. You cannot give someone permission to use something that isn’t yours.”

- “The use of w*ndigoag in non-Native media is appropriation. The only exception to this is in when the creators work with Algonquian people to make respectful and accurate depictions. You’ll be very hard pressed to find cases of this.”

-” If you aren’t Anishinaabe, you cannot be “wendigokin”. Appropriation of indigenous spirituality isn’t suddenly okay because your ~soul~ is an indigenous spirit. You are not entitled to our cultures or spiritual beliefs. Jfc.”

I put all these together because my point cover them all. (DEEP BREATH). Ok, how can I start?

First, as I proved before, the Algonquian and Anishinaabe are NOT the only ones with Wendigos in their mythology. You can literally see it in a 5 minutes research, like I just did.

Now, all this thing about “cultural appropriation” is bullshit. Yeah, it is. Want me to prove it? Ok, let’s go.

You know a watch? Yeah, our old friend, the watch!

The most credited man to be the watch inventor is Peter Henlein (1485-1542), from Nuremberg, Germany. Do you have an watch? Oh, how dare you! It’s appropriation! You, reading this! You’re not from Germany? How dare you use something that don’t belong to you! Never use a watch ever again!

Oh, do you have an hourglass? Yeah, hourglass! Older than the clocks!

How dare you have on! They’re first found in Babylon and Egypt, 16th century BCE! They origin is unclear, yeah, BUT how dare you use something that your country didn’t create! You acultured! Don’t dare have one ever again!

Have you read the Lord of the Rings, written by the English author and scholar J.R.R Tolkien?

One of the masterpieces of medieval fantasy, which inspired lots and lots of people the read, to became authors themselves? Made people want to know more about the origin of the elves in our world? The origin of the Dwarfs in our world?

Oh, jokes on you, Tolkien just appropriated from others mythologies to create his masterpiece! Elves came from Germanic mythology! Dwarfs too! The orcs? Northern European, coming from the poem Beowulf, probably originally from Scandinavia! Oh, how dare Tolkien to take all these myths, and even more, to create an incredible, epic and memorable story! To make people wonder from where he take so much inspiration and start to research for themselves, to them know the origin of the myths and help to spread about not just the myths, but the culture of said old nation and helping to keep it alive!

Do you know Saint Seiya? Yeah, the anime, Saint Seiya!

The anime with Greek mythology as it’s base! Oh, and all mythology in it is all wrong too! Saint Seiya puts Athena as Earth’s protector, as a loving deity, a true saint... Even if in some of versions of Greek mythology she’s to one who turns Medusa in a monster. The anime that put the Crateris cloth as sacred because Athena supposedly draw from it, but once you read mythology, it was a constellation created by Apollo.

Oh, how dare Masami Kurumada created such disrespectful stupidity! Even if lots of people started to want to read and study Greek mythology because of it, and inspired lots of people in the career, and even to became great artists... But not, it’s disrespectful and an ugly way of appropriation, of course!

Oh, yeah. Do you watch animes? Them just stop now! Animes are from Japan! It’s something from THEIR culture! You can’t watch any of them!

Oh, and you want to critique about their some fetiches on their media? How dare you! it’s their culture! You’re not Japanese so everything you have to say about how some of their animes and mangas ARE sexist is just bullshit! How dare you though you can critique something that isn’t from your country to begin with?! 

Did you guys get my point? Basically EVERYTHING is “cultural appropriation”, and if you can’t have ANYTHING from other cultures, them we can’t have NOTHING, we can’t say nothing, we can’t THINK nothing. And THIS! This, not be able to think, is dangerous!

Or you SJW think that, because I believe everyone have their right to use whatever people want, appreciate whatever they want, and USED whatever they want, I need to be canceled? I think it say more about you than you think.

Now, back to Rooster Teeth contest (omg, this is so long! I hope I’m making it right!), because of all this commotion about the Wendigo Grimm (that was winning the contest, since lots of people wanted to support the artist that made NOTHING wrong), Rooster Teeth canceled to popular voting, deciding they’ll choose the Grimm, and the Wendigo Grimm was disqualified.

Know, since this post is GIANT already, I will finish it with a more image-based argument, and a final question. Let’s go.