#i get that it's important that everyone feel safe and welcome but jesus christ ya'll

[awkwardbreakdance]

Get ready for a ride

Regarding the Adventure Zone discourse that has erupted as of late:

I get having criticisms about racial issues. I’m a bisexual black woman raised by a family who grew up during the Civil Rights Movement. I’m extremely aware of, and have been a victim of, micro-aggression and outright bigotry.

I am not trans, latinx, nor am I Jewish, so I cannot come at these concerns from those angles

Even trying to create a 1 to 1 comparison between the black experience and those of latinx or Jewish folks isn’t possible. But I can speak of the large amount of TAZ fanart I’ve seen by creators that have headcanon’d the characters as black. Because I don’t know the creators, I have a gut reaction every time I see a black Taako being his normal rude boy self, because that is something that is heavily equated to blackness. When I see black Magnus, I feel the same way, because black people are so stereotypically violent brutes. When I see black Merle, I get sus because black men leaving their families is a HUGE stereotype. I feel these things because I feel safe in assuming (according to my typical interactions with most folks) that they have no idea/don’t care that what they’re doing can be harmful, or that it is subconsciously within them to make those connections.

When I see people going for the McElroys’ throats, I get it, but I don’t. I understand being disappointed by seeing a part of yourself portrayed a certain way, believe you me. But the McElroys have constantly put themselves out there to try and do right by their incredibly diverse listener base. All of them have done so much to be transparent and try and do the right thing. Off the top of my head:

Retcon Taako’s taco quest and his last name; also Lup’s name

Attempt to rectify the “bury your gays” with Hurley and Sloane 

Explicitly established POC/LGBT NPCs in canon

I understand that it is frustrating to see certain played out tropes/stereotypes. Don’t get me started about the fact that there are 2 women whose deaths have been for the advancement of a man’s character.

But I ask that you all remember that this started out as a bullshited DnD podcast that none of them thought was going to last this long or have such an impact. They created characters with familiar stories, ones of lost loved ones, lost connections, lost fortunes and fame, and those stories came about through the McElroys’ personal worldviews, ones that they have attempted to adapt so that more than just people like themselves could appreciate. And that is a hell of an endeavor. The story isn’t perfect; no piece of media ever will be. And that’s why thoughtful discussion is important. Consume the media, understand its flaws and why they are such. But I have never seen anything, any fandom I’ve been in before, have creators that have so attentively listened to their fans with open hearts. I want you all to think on your fandoms. How many of them have gone up in smoke because the creators were so dead set on things being one way, or were so far up their own asses about their perfect narrative?

TAZ is nothing like that, and I believe with 100% certainty that the McElroys have never come from a place of hatred or racism. 

So, to all you people (a lot of whom I’ve seen being white folks who are truly and greatly out of their depth/out of line for crying racism over POC voices) who are prepared to burn everything down because one artists non-canonical representation of Taako has green skin, or because Lup and Barry being canon isn’t true LGBT representation because it’s a straight ship (or are upset that the ship is getting more attention than gay ships), the people who raise the McElroys up on this impossible to reach pedestal (let’s be honest, you guys are like this with them because you found some non-threatening white dudes that are uwu smol soft boys or some shit) only to shit all over them when they don’t reach your standards:

The way ya’ll are acting, I honestly hope Griffin doesn’t make another campaign. He’s put so much heart and soul into this and people nit-pick him to death over it. He’s trying to do right by all of us, but for some reason, he’s not allowed to make mistakes along the way. People have complained so much that I can’t imagine that they’re having as much fun with it as they should be. Griffin was so nervous about this arc coming out that I don’t understand how he managed to work up the courage to do it. These dudes are some of the MOST receptive to other peoples’ concerns, but there is a line, one that a lot of you crossed. Bring up concerns or let them know how you feel in a respectful manner? Yes! Please do, it has been the driving force of positive change and some wonderful story elements. Make assumptions about them, harass them, or call them things that they aren’t because you don’t know how to conduct yourself? Absolutely not.