I Really Like Cats

_How to Socialize Your Raksura: Imprinting and Husbandry_ continuing meta about my favorite bee-dragon people. @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] #books #booksoftheraksura

The first essay in this series introduced the concept of ring species and detailed some of the basic worldbuilding of the Books of  the Raksura setting. Some comparisons to Jennifer Roberson’s Chronicles of the Cheysuli were made to address the way the Fell appear to be a “alignment: evil” species. The reasoning being, that the Ilhini in the Chronicles are literally written as being evil people…

So the Raksura operate on the base concept of inverted gender roles. Queens are the head of the colonies, and female warriors have more respect/say than male warriors. Consorts are expected to be woo-ed by Queens and are "married off" to Queens of other colonies usually. Said friend who reads a lot more romance media than I do pointed out often and when characters are involved in certain tropes associated with either male or female characters in romance works, but are inverted in the case of the Raksura. Chime is Moon's lady-in-waiting, consorts and male warriors engage in catty behavior over Queens (Moon and River's drama). Jade being the Quintessential Male love interest. Among other things. What I really like though, is how this is not just something that exists in the story, but explored within.

Moon being an gender-expectations defying Consort, is both admired and an outcast. He flounders social norms. Jade accepts him, but it's clear that it's only to an extent - she tells him that only Queens fight other Queens, never to touch consorts that way in book 2 for ex. Moon showing that he's capable doesn't necessarily "change" the system. He's just one person in a culture that has long since predated them and is strongly enforced.

And what I love more is how Wells presents a culture with a caste system goes in turn continues to "think" in the same caste system with regards to other things. How it's an "us vs them" with the Fell, who're scavengers and an entire different species with their own things. How they disparage them and have their biases towards cause of their very complex and difficult history with one another. Things like how the Fell "stink" to Raksura (smell is very sensitive for the Raksura), Stone saying how Raksura are supposed to "kill Fell" among others. And you get where it's coming from cause the Fell have destroyed colonies and kidnapped and raped Arbora and Consorts before. At the same time, it doesn't stop people from having negative assumptions about the Hybrids trying to do better such as Consolidation and her Flight and Hybrids who're just living such as Shade and Lithe.

The person with the Bad Take about the Raksura books blocked me, so I can't respond to them directly. This is a fine, rational and valid decision. However, they indirectly replied to my response to them in a reblog, so I'm going to address it, and then work on something else. (Probably still Raksura related though.)

They indicate that the "racist connotations" of the Fell "true form" (tm) being black could have been averted by creating two factions of "Good Fell" and "Bad Fell." Apparently, they do not realize this is what we like to call "racist as fuck" in polite society. Or what we can call "The Drizzt Do'Urden Gambit" (That is, singular "good" representatives of an otherwise "default evil species.)

Let's break down why this suggestion is inherently (though obviously inadvertently because it's clear the op doesn't realize) racist.

To Split the inherently Bad Group into Factions of Good and Evil replicates the problem of "Inherent good and inherent evil" that you would want to avoid. Yes, even if it's within the same species. "One of the Good Ones, Not Like the Others (who are bad/evil/lazy)," is inherently racist, and plays on positive/negative stereotypes.

So, lets talk about stereotypes! A stereotype is a generalized and assumed belief about groups of people. Stereotypes can be about behavior, philosophy, or interpretations of the customs and beliefs of the group. Stereotypes can be positive or negative, and the "positivity" or "negativity" of that stereotype can shift depending on the situation. This is why stereotypes are universally Really Terrible and should be avoided.

A racist person or a person with unexamined racism (yes, there is a difference in my opinion, and it largely depends on how hard it is to call them out on it, and the person's willingness to correct themself) will have a number of stereotypes filed away, both positive and negative for the group they are prejudiced against. This makes it easier for them to continue to hold to their prejudices when they are confronted with individuals of the group they're prejudiced against acting in ways that don't match the stereotypes they have for that group. (This is why it's difficult to educate, and why it's difficult to self-examine. You may not realize your "positive" stereotypes about a group are as racist and bad as your "negative" stereotypes.)

Now, the greater arc of of the Fell/Raksura conflict is about confronting unexamined prejudice in my opinion. (Specifically, the unexamined prejudice one might have for longstanding enemies, not necessarily for an oppressed or disenfranchised minority. The Fell are specifically the former and not the latter, and there is a difference. It's a difference of power dynamics.)

Moon and the other Raksura hate and are afraid of the Fell, with some extremely valid reasons. (Slightly more personal in the case of Moon in the sense that he's been repeatedly driven out of communities because his flighted form somewhat resembles a Fell. And of course that entire horrifying situation with that one ruler.) They do possess a number of prejudices and stereotypes concerning the Fell. It takes a long while before they come to understand that their prejudices and stereotypes are inaccurate or just plain incorrect. (Incorrect in the sense that the Fell are for the most part NOT choosing to behave the way they do, and would choose differently if they were not being controlled by the rulers and Progenitors in a toxic mind control cycle of abuse moebius reacharound.)

It's important to note here that when the Raksura realize that they were wrong, they begin to make an effort to correct their behavior toward the Fell. This results in their establishing continued social contact with Consolation's Flight. (I really do wish we could get more of Consolation's Flight from Wells. I just really want those kids to Do Well for themselves.)

Moon holding his kids after being given 0 warning about how smol they'd be:

Stone: oh yeah I knew I'd forgotten to tell him something lmao