maple

Calliope Hummingbird (Selasphorus calliope), male, family Trochilidae, order Apodiformes, BC, Canada

I fucking love when people give in-universe reasons for omegaverse shenanigans being a relatively new phenomenon and not just a fact of life. And this is probably my favorite out of all of them. Insane choice, and I want to kiss the author sloppy style about it.

It begins in college football, where for many schools, the sport keeps the lights on. College coaches can make tens of millions of dollars a year at big football schools. Players are recruited with the promise of a chance at stardom, the education itself offered by the college often given a lower priority in courting these talents.

Student athletes are asked to carry their class load, keep in peak physical condition, and risk life-altering injury every week- and they do it without receiving a cut of the hundreds of millions of dollars that their blood, sweat, and talent bring in.

When the majority of the players are Black, it is hard not to see the racial implications of Black men physically toiling for free in order to make white institutions millions of dollars."

Bahia Leaf Frog (Phyllomedusa bahiana), BIG STEPPY!!!, family Hylidae, endemic to Bahia, Brazil