Melmel

The original push behind naming cultural appropriation and having these conversations were so that we as a society could evaluate why we were punished for our heritage while white People were not. It was supposed to be about seeking solutions. The idea was to create a society where we could celebrate our cultures with impunity. It was never about telling white people that they “weren’t allowed” to do certain things. We did ask that white People stop doing certain things because they weren’t doing them respectfully and were not invited to do them, but the primary reason we asked them to desist was to reclaim the things they had stolen and to reassign them culturally back where they belonged.

White “allies” saw these conversations happening and instead of trying to aplify our own voices or even try to learn about the complexities behind why we were saying what we were saying, they instead began screaming over us and creating a narrative that was hardly even the bones of what we originally set out to say. It was like they took the conversation we were trying to have, completely decontextualized it, and stripped it of all it’s nuance in order to gain social currency by seeming progressive.

So the conversation around cultural appropriation went from “This aspect of our heritage belongs to us and we find it egregious that we are shamed for it. What steps can we take to address the racism that’s creating this situation as well as rehome the things that have been stolen” to “you’re not allowed to do that because if you do that you’re racist, we don’t really understand why that’s racist but you’re not allowed to do that and if you do that you’re a klansman no exceptions. So you’re not allowed because because”

At the end of the day, did I like the fact that sally was wearing dreads? No. But my primary concern was not that sally was wearing dreads but rather that sally could wear dreads and I couldn’t. THAT was the intended focus of those conversations. It was about addressing the inequality. It was about us. Now the conversation is just about sally and were completely forgotten.

Shout out to that one tumblr post that was like: "You know it's not just trans people who ponder their gender, it's healthy for cis people to take a look inside and be like! Yep that's all good!" And I read this post and was like.... like what do you look at inside though T O T??? I asked my boyfriend how he knew he was a boy and he said he just felt this unexplainable intrinsic feeling he was a boy... and I'm like... I HAVE GENUINELY NO IDEA WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT WTF 😭😭😭!!!!!!!! So apparently its like. Normal for people to feel this inexplicable 'Gender' feeling or whatever,,, I feel like how asexual people feel when they discover people around them aren't making up the fact they experience sexual arousal T O T

Obviously all my sciency stuff is just speculation! But I'm the type of person who believe that everything has a rationale behind it, and like an adopted child who is curious about their biological parents, I just am just interested in my origins! The field of genetics still is mostly just like,,,, hmmm we think this whatever MIGHT be a contributing factor to a person turning out this way... maybe. If you are more interested in the topic I discussed, just look up 'Genetic Memories in Animals' and there should be some more stuff OuO!

FLY UPDATE: We’re officially 78% funded after just 7 hours.

Thank you to everyone who has backed, shared, commented, and believed in this story. Watching people rally around these characters has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life.

To celebrate, I wanted to highlight the incredible artists who created this epic piece of art, @awk3005_

I’ve been a fan of his work for years, so getting the chance to collaborate with him on FLY felt surreal. As a fellow Black artist with Ghanaian roots, his journey has always inspired me. Seeing him carve out his own path through art is a reminder of what’s possible when we bet on ourselves and our stories.

That’s why he was the perfect choice to draw the boys of FLY. This story is about discovering your power, and his work captures that feeling perfectly. Thank you so much @awk3005_ for creating this beautiful print for FLY.

We’re so close to the finish line. Let’s keep flying. BACK FLY on Kickstarter today!

A lonely moon drifting in this endless existence—will he find joy again?

Only 6 days remain until the start of our Kickstarter campaign! Be sure to join our prelaunch (link in our bio ) to stay updated.

More About This Character

Darius is a vampire turned in 1960s Alabama when he was just 17. He is one of the main love interests of our protagonist, Tammy Harris, in The Three Tomes. As a reluctant foe of Tammy, he is searching for meaning in his endless life while being forced by his adoptive brother, Alonzo, to align with the malevolent Lord Chaos.

The Three Tomes

This is a story about Tammy Harris, an ordinary girl who gains the powers of a witch from an ancient tome containing 13 spirits locked away inside. Now she must recapture those spirits throughout her hometown of Chicago to ensure the world does not fall into utter chaos. However, a mysterious foe and two vampires who have fallen for her stand in her way.

Are you interested in seeing this story unfold?

Our pilot episode is now available on YouTube, and we are kickstarting episode 2, coming on June 19th, to continue the saga of The Three Tomes and Tammy's journey of self-discovery and finding her own inner power.