Guest Post: Happy Thanksgiving

Squiddy again.

It's currently thanksgiving in the states, and you know what that means! ... Actually, no I didn't and neither do you. So here's the deal. I've got a guest post from the She-Elf. I was supposed to do this one but I was unable to because reasons. What this means is that this is in all likelihood a one off thing. That's why I'm posting this on behalf of the Elf.

Incidentally, if you're going to claim this is a violation of the Elf's word not to post about Ryuu, I'd like to point out that the agreement was that the Elf wouldn't post anything about Ryuu until the situation was resolved one way or the other.

The issue with Ryuu was that he was a massively bigoted, inflexible, sanctimonious art-stealing chode who couldn't take criticism worth a shit.

We gave him that criticism because we hoped it would help Ryuu be able to become a better artist by developing his own characters instead of stealing everything. Additionally, we kinda hoped that maybe he'd eventually become less inflexible and hate-filled.

I've been given ample evidence that this has not been the case.

So in short, the situation has been resolved and it's not the way any of us would've preferred. So... enjoy, if you can.

Thanksgiving is a time for family. Or, at least, that’s what people say when they’re pretending the holiday has any actual merit instead of being Black Friday act one, a day of greed and gluttony in the hollowed out shell of ignored colonialism in the shadow of —

Look, the post isn’t about Thanksgiving. This is just a shallow segue. Thanksgiving is nominally a time for family. Despite its flaws, I like my family, but I don’t believe the modern interpretation of blood is thicker than water.

(I say ‘modern’ because the original was the blood of the covenant is stronger than the waters of the womb, and thus meant the opposite of what it is taken to mean, now. I’m full of digression tonight.)

My uncle is not biologically related to me. I learned that when I was ten and he married my aunt. My uncle and my aunt are actually my father’s best friend and my mother’s best friend, who happened to marry as well. I still recall my parents telling me that they were still my real aunt and uncle anyway, and I’d hurt them if I said otherwise.

Conversely, I have a couple of biological ‘uncles’ for whom I hold no regard. I deny their claim to be my family.

Family is more than sharing DNA. At least, it must be if you want the word to mean anything worth celebrating. But Ryuu doesn’t think that. Real family to Ryuu is defined by the waters of the womb. By shared blood. By semen.

Ryuu will literally call a rapist a real father, but will not call an adoptive father a real father. A rapist’s ability to fire semen into someone’s body and then accept no responsibility for it is a real father. A man who saves a child and raises her in a safe environment and takes care of her is not a real father.

Cherry’s mother, Maria, was enslaved, and owned by a man named Marco Magnifi. He was not merely her abusive husband. He was not her husband at all. He decided slave-owner and husband were close enough terms, so he took his slave into his bed. Note that this cannot be anything but rape. Maria does not have the ability to consent. No amount of compliance will ever make it consent. It doesn’t matter if the word was used or not. Marco Magnifi was a rapist. He raped a woman because he owned her and felt he had the right to use her body. In Ryuu’s own words:

“Having bought her and by law of property she belongs to him, Marco figured that was as good as marrying someone. So at age 20, Maria bore a daughter who she affectionately named Cherry. But all was not well with this distorted 'family' for Marco merely planned to make this little one another one of his performers, rather than treat her like a daughter.”

I’m sure some of you might try to argue using the quotation marks around the word family. Nice try. Ryuu also in his own words calls Marco the real father. No quotes.

“Marco, Cherry's real father,” verbatim. And, in a follow-up piece, he says, “I thought I'd take time to make another fatherly picture. This time, with a real father in the story.”

That is not an isolated event. In a character quiz, using Vassi, Ryuu denies adoptive fathers any place as real fathers. That right only goes to the ones with the relevant semen samples.

Q: Do you smoke?
A: No. Reminds me too much of Cherry's real father.

I… don’t really have anything else to say to that. This is not a man I can respect. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. I hope your family model is better than Ryuu’s family model.

With Love,
a she elf