#i just think we as a fandom should at the very least recognize this aspect of ourselves

[dangerous-advantage]

thinking about how raph, april, and mikey are less focused on by the fandom than donnie and leo, the only two main characters in rottmnt with white voice actors

[writergeekrhw]

There's a Reddit screenshot going around (including here on Tumblr, Wil Wheaton reblogged a post about it) where a Trump supporter got whiny that at the Vegas convention this year, a couple of the Voyager actors were asked about their political beliefs by a fan, and they answered by praising Kamala Harris and condemning Trump and Trump supporters. This person on Reddit (not the same person who asked the politics question at the con) was upset because they felt they and their friends "learned that 7 of 9 hates them" and they were roundly made fun of for expecting that a Star Trek convention wouldn't contain anything that contradicts their MAGA beliefs given that, you know, it's such a progressive show where the future is LITERALLY luxury space communism, and where it has always spoken in favor of diversity.

This led to a bigger discussion about the place of politics in fandom spaces. I personally would understand not talking about electoral politics if we were in a normal election, like Obama vs. Romney, even though the Republicans even then advocated a lot of things that I think is at odds with what Star Trek says. But I don't think people who voted for them were necessarily hateful. I don't think they are people I can't share fandom with, you know? We can be friends. But I think with Trump people are hateful, or at the very least they're okay with hate, given how often he spews it and encourages it in his supporters. I'm a lesbian and I absolutely do feel less safe around people who wear MAGA hats in a way I just didn't around Romney or McCain or Bush supporters. My opinion personally is that it's probably a mistake and what got us to where we are today (sending this in late September 2024, where Harris is slightly up in the polls but it's still very close and Republicans are trying to ratfuck the vote in a bunch of swing states - maybe by the time you answer, the election will be over and we'll know?) that we didn't do enough to recognize that Trump support is either bigotry, or support for bigotry, in a way that should be socially unacceptable and treated as such. That we should have deployed more social shaming over it, especially in places that should be understood to be safe spaces for diverse groups of people, like the fandom of a series like Star Trek.

I was wondering what you thought about this topic. Personally, while I don't think American electoral politics need to be in every aspect of a convention, finding out that actors who played characters I like, writers who wrote shows I love, etc. are supportive of my basic civil rights, not just in broad platitudes but also in how they vote, is really heartening and makes me feel more "welcomed" in fandom. It makes me feel safer there. And the fact that Trump supporters feel excluded also makes it a safer space IMO, because I don't feel safe around those people. I have Republican friends - but none of them who have voted for Trump.

I commented on that while I was still on Xitter. I honestly worry Trump may pose an existential threat to our democracy. I think others feel similarly. I suspect Jeri Ryan, who's seen the rot inside the GOP firsthand, has particularly strong feelings about that as well. So it's no surprise she chose to speak out before the election. And it's certainly her right.

I think it's a bit silly for fans of a franchise that has a strong progressive POV to feel alienated when the artists involved in said franchise embrace its philosophy and choose to take a stand for it.

I worry for us all over the next four years, but the voters have spoken. We'll see how it goes.

[simplyclary]

Standing Up for Your Privacy

(Photo edit by me)

Entering Taylor Zakhar Perez's fandom last August 2023 was a moment of joy for me. I admired him for his talent, charm, and the authenticity he brought to his roles. However, my excitement was quickly dampened by a troubling issue: multiple accounts on Twitter threatened to out Taylor about his sexuality and private relationships. This was my first encounter with the darker side of fandom, and it's an experience that still frustrates me deeply to this day.

Outing someone without their consent is a gross violation of privacy and respect. It is an act of betrayal that no one deserves, least of all someone who has given so much joy and inspiration through their work. The fact that this threat was made during Pride Month is not just insensitive; it is a blatant disrespect to a time meant for celebrating acceptance, love, and the right to live openly and authentically.

What makes me angrier is the timing of this threat. It coincided with a particularly difficult period for Taylor and his family, as it is also around the time of the anniversary of his eldest sister Kristy's passing. In such a time of grief and need for personal space, the last thing anyone should have to deal with is an invasion of their privacy. It’s a heartless act that shows a complete lack of empathy and understanding.

It seems that some people did not learn from the powerful speech delivered by Taylor’s character, Alex Claremont-Diaz, in "Red, White & Royal Blue." The speech poignantly addresses the pain and violation of being forced out of the closet. Yet, here we are, facing a repetitive issue that disregards the very message that resonated with so many fans. It’s disheartening to see that some individuals in the fandom have missed the essence of that message entirely.

For me, it doesn’t matter whether Taylor is queer or not. What truly matters is his happiness and comfort. I want him to live his life on his own terms, without fear of being exposed or judged. His personal life should remain personal, and he deserves the same respect and privacy that we all do.

To share a personal anecdote from January 2024. I came across an old video posted by Taylor’s sister, Maria. In the video, Taylor was wearing what appeared to be a wedding ring. While some fans might have jumped to conclusions, I didn't think much of it, however, I did share some of my feelings and thoughts to some people through Twitter DMs. To me, all that mattered was that he seemed happy. His well-being is what’s truly important, not the details of his personal relationships.

Taylor owes us nothing beyond his projects and the work he shares with the world. We should respect his boundaries and allow him to share what he wants, when he wants. It’s never okay to force someone to come out, especially not an actor who has chosen to keep certain aspects of their life private.

Personally, as a Scorpio empath, I find it impossible not to be deeply affected by such invasions of privacy. Every time this issue comes up, it infuriates me. It's not just about respecting Taylor; it’s about recognizing the basic human right to privacy and autonomy. The protective energy I have for Taylor make every issue against him extra emotional for me. Sometimes, it makes me want to cry because I feel the unfairness of the situation.

To the fans who think it's acceptable to pry into someone’s personal life, I beg you to reconsider. Think about how you would feel if your privacy were invaded in such a way. Celebrities are people too, and they deserve the same respect and consideration that we all do.

To Taylor, if you ever read this, please know that there are countless fans who support you unconditionally. We admire you not only for your talent but also for your strength and authenticity. We stand with you, respecting your right to privacy and autonomy.

Let’s create a fandom that upholds these values, where we celebrate our favorite stars without crossing the lines of decency and respect. We can love and support Taylor without needing to know every detail of his personal life. Let’s focus on the incredible work he does and the joy he brings us, and let’s stand against those who seek to invade his privacy.

To wrap it up, it's never acceptable to force someone out of the closet. Respect Taylor’s privacy, celebrate his work, and remember that at the end of the day, his happiness and comfort are what truly matter. Let’s be better fans and better people by showing empathy and respect for all.

Peace!

[dreadfuldevotee]

Thank you for this last post. The discourse on this fandom can often be so annoying. I hate it when people are like "this is a Gothic horror, let them be toxic and problematic!!!!11!!!1" because it's not take they think it is? At the end of the day, they still want us to root for these characters and relationships, right? So how can we do that if they're stereotyped vampires, who is dark, cold, just hurt each other and don't have an ounce of growth, development, empathy and humanity? And this is such a dismissive opinion of the show and even the books, because their conflict with humanity and vampirism is a central aspect of the plot. That said, if you reduce them to the abuse alone, you're also missing the point of the story? I mean, you can totally have your opinion, you can see them as unforgivable even on this fictional universe, you can hate and root against them... But this show isn't about punitivism, it is about them navigating immortality. There are consequences for their actions, as there should be, but the goal is for them to find a way to make this work. You don't need to agree (idgaf about the British monarchy and still watched a few episodes of The Crown for the acting, for example), but if you expect otherwise, you're just playing yourself? But this fandom seems to have a problem with finding a good balance. Not to mention the hypocrisy of never forgiving certain characters and reducing them to their problematic actions, but treating their faves very different lol. And I'm like, okay, you don't need to love everyone, it's okay to have a favorite, but at least don't be contradictory? Your fave does the exact same thing or worse? Anyways. Thanks again for putting it so well. It's refreshing to see posts like that here.

Thank you! I'm glad that other people get anything out of my ranting and raving, as I am a chronic yapper and really only talk for my own health LOL.

But yeah, there is a lot of selective hearing in any fandom, really; but it pisses me off a lot here because of all the "Gothic Horror" handwaving going on. Interacting with the fandom, reading the books and seeing clips & bits of personal writings from Anne Rice, the image it paints for me is a profound unwillingness to engage with contents of the story if they're not fun and sexy. Shit, even my own odyssey into the books is spurred on in one part, to be able to form my own opinion and critique on the writing and secondly, realizing that book readers were straight up lying at times about how things went down.

And there is this persistent idea I've seen on here and twitter of "If you have issue with XYZ then this series isn't for you" and like, okay if you don't wanna see gay people who have everything-but-the-bagel of mental illnesses then, yeah, sure. But when someone goes "Hey there is like,,, a ton of casual pedophilia and CSA in these stories that is framed as cute n' casual and/or deeply romantic, I wonder what that's all about" and then people crawl out the woodwork trying to convince you its not weird or that you're weird or weak for think its kinda fucked up- then at that point, I think maybe there is actually a different issue occurring here, you know?

Anyway, I think where I'm going with this is- TVC is a cultural phenomenon and has a tangible impact on Vampire and Gothic Horror canon and that's good and fun. But if we can recognize something like H.P Lovecraft's racism/classism/general fear of change having a profound effect on his writing and the spark of the entire Cosmic Horror Genre, then I think we can interrogate how AR as a Rich White Woman who grew up in mid-21st century New Orleans has an effect on the kind of stories she writes and how she does it.

[dearweirdme]

In BTS, Tae has this image of being fragile, of having to have JK by his side to protect him etc. But with his performance in the military, I wonder now if he was just pretending to be this "damsel in distress" member that BH gave him to portray. Honestly, he seemed to be doing way better than JK in the military. I was expecting JK to be the one to excel the most and not Jin, Jimin and mostly not Tae. In real life, it was the complete opposite. JK didn't even receive any award during their graduation.

Hi anon!

I find myself having a completely different perspective on this. I’m not sure if your assessment of Tae’s image is correct. It’s not how I view him for sure, but I do know there’s some Tkkrs who see him as fragile and as needy towards Jk. That is not reality though. Tae is smart, he’s physically very fit, and he has a strong head on his shoulders. I am not by any means surprised about how well he seems to be doing.

I’ve been expecting all members to do well actually (a bit of an exception for Yoongi since his situation is vastly different). When you compare members against each other, sure there’s outliers; Jk being seen as the strongest, Namjoon as the smartest. But when you compare them to the average person… they are all very much above average in many aspects. They are all physically more fit, they are all used to extreme situations, they all have experience with training hard and having little sleep… the average person going into the military will not be as prepared as the members were.

I don’t think we actually know how well Jk is doing. Just because he didn’t get a medal, doesn’t mean is is doing badly, it just means there were at least six persons doing better during training. What I think is important for fans to understand, is that Jk is there against his will. I am one hundred percent sure that man did not want to go. So, so what if he doesn’t want to give them his best. The army might be able to claim his body to be present, but as long as he does what is expected.. they cannot claim anything more. Maybe he just doesn’t want to give them his best and if so.. good for him. I think fandom should be careful about putting these expectations on him. We are fans of Jk the artist, I really don’t need him to push himself for something he might not want.

Like I said, I do not recognize the ‘damsel in distress’ Tae you mention. Tae is hugely misunderstood and if you think he might’ve been faking this.. I think maybe you misunderstood him as well. In the past (when they were beginning their careers) I feel they were playing up certain emotions or actions for the sale of entertainment. I believe all members did that and it is not that odd in the entertainment business. But when they matured things evened out and I think it has been clear that Tae is not ‘just a pretty face’ (like BH also kinda pushed him to be). Jk himself described Tae as ‘some sort of genius’… and I absolutely agree.

[justblaterando]

Looking at the usual craziness of the hotd fandom for the new episodes made me realize I might have an issue w the show that might be unpopular or at least unnoticed…

The lack of personalities for like half of the characters we are supposed to care about.

For such an abundant cast half of it is relegated to make the scene look fuller in the background, relying on the over abundance of content for them online for all the infos that would make them actual flashed out characters. I think the fandom frenzies of who has the higher moral high ground perfectly feeds into it, people are so obsessed into proving their faves are better and their enemy are monsters y’all hyper analyze and throw random tropes at any lucky frame you get, make edits of anything and everything treating any assumptions made by people that like the same characters as you as canon.

I wonder what fans without a presence online and knowledge of the book get from the show, what they do and don’t remember, how they read certain aspects that the internet community has already given for certain.

This thought mainly came from the maelor question and baela and rhaena.

For Maelor, from what I understood the writer have stated that they had to change B&C partially cause it would have been weird to add a child that hadn’t been already introduce. I find this pretty ridiculous as I don’t think anyone but the obsessive side of the fan base would have realized aegon and haelena had one more child than in s1, the twins were barely in it, I’m half sure their name hadn’t even been stated and that many wouldn’t even have realized who’s kids they actually were due to how irrelevant they were made out to be, adding another one at the last minute wouldn’t have changed anything to viewing experience and I think many would agree with me here.

For rhaena and baela is another story. Their issue came to mind due to a bunch of edits I came across about them in the new episode, I couldn’t stop myself from wondering how the heck were people acting like rhaena crying for lucerys or baela being with Jace were such deep moments. They are supposedly protagonist of the war and they have yet to speak one line the both of them since the recasting, frankly had I not read all the infos about them or watched edit I would have even forget their name, I have seen multiple post pointing out moments in which the show showcases their personalities but frankly they are nowhere to be found, the actresses are giving everything they can with the materials but they were given nothing to work with, literally. How can the audience be expected to recognize a difference of importance with rhaena crying for Luke compared to the others if the only interaction we have ever seen between the two is them standing next to each other, and baela acting like a vallette to Jace isn’t that much better, at least there if you squint you can came up with a multitude of HC about it but let’s be real that was nothing. I have seen multiple edits about it, and I have never had an issue with fans creating entire cosmos out of thin air but it feels like the show is over-relaing on the fans work to improve its shortcomings.

And frankly I don’t buy the ‘there isn’t enough time’ excuse, or any other genre of this excuses ‘they don’t have enough budget’ ‘it was the only way to not traumatize the child actors’ (it wasn’t and it is frankly tiring seeing everyone accuse others of very vile things just for disagreeing) Got and many others well written shows were/are masters in showcasing characters and moving the plot forward in even the most ‘mondane’ scenes without wasting any second, Hotd and many new shows seem unable to do so but they should very much work on it or we will find ourselves w another dany goes crazy moment.

[heyclickadee]

Yeah, okay, here goes:

I think some fandom infighting would be less toxic if we a really understood that all of us are here for different reasons.

And I don’t just mean that different kinds of stories are going to be helpful for some and hurtful for others and vis-a-versa, or that different people are going to tell different stories, you know, differently, and that should do our best to let people enjoy things. I mean that, at the end of the day, there’s a spectrum of the parts of fandom people enjoy.

For example, I have a sibling who’s in some fandoms strictly for the transformative aspect of fandom. Canon is more like a jumping off point and, to some extent, an afterthought. Their primary interaction with whatever a fandom is centered on might be fanfiction and other fan works. The characters and world they interact with in those fandoms are often completely unrecognizable from canon. The goal is often to create characters—self-inserts or otherwise—to exist in completely new stories that are (vaguely) informed by canon, but not beholden to it in any way. Most everyone in that fandom has a self-insert OC or a Y/N. The whole point is taking something you like, or wanted to like, and shaping it to fit you better. That’s fandom for them. And that’s great!

And then there’s me, who’s almost the exact opposite. Canon is more of a focal point. I love seeing fanfiction and fanworks that completely veer away from canon events and characterization, I appreciate them, but I don’t like making them myself. I love to write, but I have a hard time writing fanfiction, I couldn’t write a fic-it-fix to save my life (no, not even in the highly unlikely hypothetical scenario where it turns out a lot of us are wrong and Tech is dead for real). The closest I get to fanfiction are either short little half analysis/half story blurb posts, or doodley fanart that’s either a theory for something I think could happen in the future in disguise, or silly drawings about scarves. I compartmentalize fanon, my headcanons, and actual canon a lot. And I love seeing people’s OC’s, including the self-insert ones, but I dont want to make one myself. I don’t want to be in the story, because it isn’t about me; one of the things I love most about interacting with fiction I didn’t write is that it helps me get outside my own head and see things from a different point of view. I write a lot of metas and theories, but my favorite thing is being able to look a story that’s completely told and done, and getting to tease it apart. And that’s also okay.

Now, the two points I’m using as examples aren’t really opposites; there’s a ton (A TON) of very good character analysis and interpretation in fanfiction, and there’s often (maybe even usually) transformative aspect to analysis/intepretation. And I’m betting that most people in fandom fall somewhere in the middle of the range between transformative and interpretive when it comes to what they like about fandom. A lot of people write great fanfiction and equally great meta posts, and honestly, I think being good at the one makes you better than the other. But they are different approaches to enjoying and interacting with fiction, and I think at least a little of the friction in fandom can come from not recognizing that we all often have different approaches to this fandom thing.

Edit: I need to also mention that when it comes to interpretation and analysis, there’s a lot of wiggle room for contradictory conclusions that are all equally valid. Do I think that interpretive conclusions not supported at all by the text exist? Oh boy howdy, yes. But I also think there’s a lot of space before you get there, and a lot of ways for even one person to interpret the same thing, let alone an entire fandom.

Edit 02; I should probably also acknowledge that, as a lifelong Darkwing Duck fan, I also really enjoy shows or even books where ‘canon’ is more like a loose set of guidelines or a basis premise and the whole idea of the show is to do wacky things with that premise. I’m way more likely to get involved in the transformative side of things when this is the case.

[ravenyenn19]

thoughts on the ferolind esque scene in episode eight?? Personally I was screaming at my screen the entire time 😂 I still can't stop thinking about it!!!! Freddy and Amita are so so talented. OH also what are your thoughts on show Wesper?

Hello!!! I am sorry this is a few days late- after I opened my asks the other night, I promptly realized I had left my laptop charger elsewhere... in true fanfic-authorTM fashion. <3 PS- for any others reading this, spoilers ahead for both the books & the show! Be warned, wary tag scrollers.

BUT

Regarding your first question & the Ferolind-esque scene in the Chapel... I loved loved hearing that line of dialogue on screen. It was a beautiful portrayal by both Freddy & Amita and I genuinely don't think they could have done such a pivotal scene adaptation from the books any better. <3

HOWEVER... I do wish to be honest about the fact that I think the weight of those words were not quite as heavy for non-readers. This is because in the show, we did not get a real focus on Inej's own issues regarding intimacy/ the amount of trauma she herself possesses. Now, I do firmly believe that the showrunners/writers intend for her backstory to take a firmer foothold on the screen in either the SoC spinoff or S3, but I cannot shake the belief that they should have pushed Inej's story to an equal with Kaz's in some aspect THIS season. I watched the show with someone who has not read the books, and for him, he didn't understand why Inej said those words to Kaz beyond essentially saying "Please just hurry & heal", which was never what "I will have you without your armor, Kaz Brekker, or I will not have you at all" really meant. At least, it was never so simple to me (nor I suspect most of the fandom).

I can't help but worry that this was the same for other viewers with no detailed knowledge of Inej's past. I do also recognize that netflix needed to cut much out in order to merge so much material. Yet I firmly believe without Inej's internal monologues of the book nor external flashbacks/ conversations (as they did with Kaz), it is harder to grasp her words as meaning more than literal. Or, in some contexts, almost cruel. Which Inej never was, not once.

Anyways, I almost would have preferred to see a line of dialogue in the vein of "It's not easy for me either", in order to portray Inej's own depth of understanding in how hard it is for Kaz, because she too battles her own mind & PTSD.

This is all to say, I adored the scene. I understand why the writers did it, and I am glad they did if only for ensuring we did get to see it, no matter what happens with renewals etc. I also think a few small changes could have led to a more balanced representation of Kaz & Inej's intricate relationship. I know this is a lot of thoughts, but because I've spent so long writing for kanej, I obviously value their characters too much to stop my writer's mind.

I guess, for me, the epitome of Kaz & Inej's relationship is true equality, and I don't know that it carried over to the show as much as I wish it would have. TL;DR: I loved the scene and the characterization was gorgeous. I think one or two things could have made it even better. <3

WESPER

Your second question... I honestly loved them in the show. Of course it was very different from the books, but... Idk. Somehow, the heart of it was still so very much them. I think it was genuinely sweet in a way, that they were able to just... push forward with their love story on the screen. <3

Kit & Jack are somehow ripped from SoC, their portrayal was SPOT ON. I cannot commend them enough. Sincerely. <3

Thank you for being here & asking!!! I am just excited to rave with fellow fans. <3 Also I commend you if you read this whole thing, I know I'm long winded...

[doberbutts]

I'm proship, and I'm sorry you've had a bad experience with proshippers. I'm mixed race, and I feel you. Some people take-up a certain ideology because they have a certain interest and only care about how it benefits them. But that doesn't make that person *not* part of the ideology, and those attitudes should be constantly combatted by those in the community rather than saying "Oh but they're ~not really~ proship" and washing their hands of it.

It's why a lot of POC who agree with proship ideology feel disconnected to the label as well, and why instead they're taking up different labels or just generally stepping away from it. I mostly use it because it's a recognizable label but I too feel that disconnect more and more.

I also agree that writing something doesn't mean someone is free from criticism, and there's a fine line between critiquing and harassment in fandom spaces, especially with people who are more reachable than say, a big name author or media company. Emotions fly, friend groups get angry, and people who are being talked about are going to confront the person talking about them, and it gets nasty fast when someone feels they've been insulted. Harassment is bad, but conflict is also not inherently harassment, and I wish more people in every aspect would understand that and would just block people, vent about it in private, and move on rather than making it into a moral crusade and tagging posts about it with the intent to garner more attention to it. And that part doesn't even necessarily apply to shipping discourse but can apply to any community.

Not to be all fandom old, but I really do think part of this is how mainstream fandom has become. Instead of people making and culminating their own communities with like minded people, everyone gets tossed together. I'm not saying it never happened back in the day, but when people with opposing views are now stuck together, it naturally causes tension and conflict to arise, and since again, everything in now in only a select few places that are all easily accessible to anyone with an internet connection, things get nastier faster while being more in public view

Not to BACK IN MY DAY or anything but I so miss the days of thousands of PHPBB forums and IRC rooms for every little niche of fandom and how you could really find your people very easily in that manner. I don't mind that I have a one-stop-shop for the bulk of my blorbo needs but having lost the separate fan spaces I think really changed the way fandom works nowadays.

That and how many fandoms are barely a flash in the pan before people move on to something else. It's natural that things slow down after a while but it feels like people are more willing to hop franchise to franchise rather than stay and curate a space, and so a lot of people demand that these spaces cater to them specifically without actually giving back or putting any effort into making spaces that suit them better.

Not that there wasn't plenty of fandom drama back then, don't get me wrong. But I feel the problem was different- the drama was insular, rather than someone in XYZ fandom saying someone in ABC fandom is inherently a bad person because the source material showed a titty. The Zutara vs Kataang wars of old were nothing compared to this proship antiship nonsense. And we at least recognized it was nonsense.

[leandra-kinard]

About the other day...

I’ve had a few days to think about the whole debacle and the successive fallout; I’ve talked to people outside of the tumblr-sphere about it who were various degrees of constructively critical and empathetic, and I’ve read and looked up what people elsewhere said about the very same issue. I’m not going to get into that part in detail, but I want to get something across – as a general PSA if you will.

First of, I am going to concede that it wasn’t clever to post my opposing viewpoint in the same post; I should have made my own one. People who are passionate about a point and think they’re being righteous in expressing it (because they do come from a good or at least valid starting point of wanting social justice and awareness for specific issues) don’t want someone disagreeing with them in their own post. I personally always found that to be a pity because I truly believe we need discourse to open our eyes to other viewpoints, which is needed to find common ground and to live together in society instead of succumbing to pure tribalism, group think and polarization. But it is what it is. People will get defensive (sometimes justly, sometimes irrationally), and that’s a fact I should have understood long ago instead of naively hoping for something else.

Secondly – and there was my biggest mistake – I allowed myself to be petty about it. I thought I had laid out my argumentation rationally and factually, and for the most part I did, but I slipped into smug pettiness with one part of the argument, namely the part with the slashes being too much effort. That’s not even something that matters to me in the grand scale; it’s just the surface-level ‘symptom’ of the initial conclusion and resulting claim. It was always about the logical fallacy first and foremost to me, and I didn’t bring that across in the right way.

So, for those two things – assuming other people, like me, generally welcome debate on most issues, and allowing myself some pettiness and thereby irrationality – I apologize. (Which most of you who have made up their minds about me will see as a non-apology, but I do have some integrity and am not willing to give it up to suit you).

Despite what I just said in parentheses, I can’t deny that the whole fiasco didn’t wear on me, even hurt me. I’ve had an incredibly difficult year mental-health wise; the state of the world and the political landscape more than just worry me; I’ve had personal setbacks and challenges, and on top of it, a ‘fandom war’ that’s impaired my enjoyment of my main fandom to a not insignificant extent. So, all in all, 1/10, would not recommend.  

In light of all that, what happened those few days ago on here directly but also elsewhere was tough. The wild conclusion jumping, the unchecked lies that some people found okay to spread to other users via anon messages – just blatant generalizations without context – were infuriating and hurtful. I should not care what some strangers on the internet think and say about me, and for the most part I don’t, but I do care when it affects online relationships I valued, when even mutual accept these claims without taking a moment to go “Wait a minute, is that really so?” i.e. “Is she really this and that type of bigot or are people jumping to irrational conclusions here?”

But that’s a general flaw with tumblr-culture. One person marks someone or something as problematic, and the rest of the group – or a large part at least – automatically accept it. It’s the same way with fictional characters, or themes/storylines in TV shows. When one person says Ted Templatechar is a racist/homophobe/misogynist, a good portion of the fandom who also didn’t really like Ted Templatechar will agree and will pat themselves on the shoulder for recognizing the problematic aspect in the media they consume.

Here lies the hypocrisy that I so often observe and find very frustrating, because the same people who make Ted out to be a misogynist will defend Rod against another group in fandom who accuse Rod of being a homophobe. And so on.

All of that stems from an initial bias. None of these people are completely neutral or rational when they make these claims about characters (or actors… or other fans), because they will pick and choose what they agree or disagree with and then defend their position with passion and vehemence.

And, in a way that is fine. We are allowed to defend our beliefs, and we’re allowed to “curate our experience” and to cut out people who defend beliefs that annoy us. 

What we should NOT do, in my opinion, is always setting these beliefs up as absolutes. If someone brings up enough and solid enough arguments against an initial interpretation, we should at least open ourselves up to see it as an alternative and maybe equally valid take. Few people are capable of doing that, especially here on tumblr – which is at the very least disappointing, given the level of (often academic) education people on here have as opposed to other spheres.

Now, opinions on fictional characters and how we interpret their actions should not matter as much. In an academic environment they would not (and nobody would accuse the interpreter for being a bigot just because they don’t see the same kind of bigotry in the fictional character as someone else interprets there to be), but, despite the aforementioned higher educational standard, tumblr is not academia (and here’s another of my mistakes, because I too often treat it as such).

Tumblr is a melting pot of ‘misfits’, of in large parts members of LGBT+, in large parts mentally ill or neurodivergent, predominantly female, and possibly with a larger POC percentage as other groups (not 100% sure on that part, but possible). In short, we are the ones who get ostracized by society more than people who don’t belong into those groups. I belong to three of the aforementioned groups, so I do know what that’s like, namely living in a real world that is not as accepting and supportive of issues that are specific to my identity and my struggles, and then finding likeminded people on here who just get it.

Until they don’t.

There’s a lot of “us vs. them�� group think on here, of wanting to protect oneself by identifying enemies and people that may want to harm us. That is understandable, but it is also very often wrong, and very often causes the same harm that people aim to oppose. In pointing the finger at someone else for an assumed bigotry (and yes, that includes fictional characters because there is always a projection onto the ‘messenger’ when discussing these interpretations; if Ted Templatechar is a racist, then Tumbrluser123 defending Ted is a racist too!), we easily fall into the trap of potentially becoming a bigot ourselves.

“Ted Templatechar is a racist!” – “No, he’s not. But he’s gay, so you’re actually a homophobe!!” – “You’re just saying that to hide your own racism!” – “No, you’re just saying that to hide your own homophobia!” – “I’m a lesbian.” – “Well there’s internalized homophobia.”

And so on, you catch my drift.

Which isn’t me saying it’s never okay to point out things that could, in certain contexts, fall into any of the aforementioned or other bigotries, but the blanket assumption – unchecked, unquestioned, unreflected – that something is what you initially perceive it to be is a sign of intellectual failure and dishonesty, of prejudice on your own part. And more so, the exaggerated generalizations to go from one instance that may be bigoted and mark the whole person out to be a bigot in their entirety is not only intellectually flawed, it’s dangerous in multiple ways. “That thing that you just said? You know, that’s kinda homophobic,” is a completely different challenge than “You are a homophobe.” There’s no redeeming that once you bear that mark.

I know what I stand for; I know what I’ve opposed and spoken out against, and what I've defended, not just online but actually in real life, many times. I remember conversations I’ve had where I challenged people in real life on their beliefs. I know what I believe about others and the rights and protections they deserve. I know my understanding of power structures and systemic oppression. I know what I’m about. It should not matter as much what some highly biased, close-minded strangers on the internet think about me. But, in many ways, it does. It does more than I wish it did, because I, too, am part of this group of misfits and have a ‘home’ here. There are issues that people in real life don’t understand as deeply as people here do. And beyond that, there simply are interests, a type of humor, an enthusiasm for the same things that I do not find even among my close real-life friends.

So yes, the last few days were tough for me, because this is my community. My hobby, my source of escapism from a world that doesn’t ‘vibe’ with my personality the same way the tumblr-sphere does, and from a world that isn’t always so accepting and understanding of individuals.

Apparently, neither is this world, though. People everywhere are guilty of group-think, or tribalism, of bias and close-mindedness. My need to push people to challenge their own views because I naively, desperately want to believe that we can be better than that (better than irrational, egocentric and entitled people who put their own narrow world-view above all others), means running head-first against a wall.  And as I said before, by now, I’ve been ‘concussed’ often and drastically enough to have learned my lesson. And yet…

It’s incredibly hard for me to hold back in such situations because my mind just keeps circling around these topics. I’ve had situations in which I couldn’t sleep because my brain would not STFU about it, to the point where I had to get back up and type out my reply/post on whatever matter bothered me. This is a me-problem, but it’s got a lot to do with my ADHD (for which I finally have a diagnosis now, which explains so much… If I were super petty I could accuse all of you who don’t want to empathize with that as ableist. See? This whole game of being super aware and super social-warrior-like active can backfire so easily!).

I do have to learn to let those things go, and to observe more than interfere, to understand that tribalism is – while regrettable – natural and can only be fought with gentle pushbacks at the opportune moments, and maybe not even then. You don’t deradicalize a neo-Nazi by calling them stupid, and you also don’t deradicalize the “I am offended, therefore you and everyone else who disagrees with me is a bigot” crowd by trying to win a debate contest. To assume I could achieve that was arrogant, I’ll admit that (but, as I said before, also naively idealistic, because I don’t want to be right just to be right; I want to be right to make things better.)

I also have to accept that tumblr isn’t the real world; it’s a microcosm of its own that, in many ways, is very far removed from how the real world operates, and me wanting to combine and reconcile the two spheres is an often futile endeavor. My interests are rooted here, but my mindset is much more rooted in the real world, which certainly is a challenge to balance that I have, evidently, once again failed.

This has gotten really long already, and I doubt most of you will even read the whole thing. I can’t blame you if you don’t, because ‘ain’t nobody got time for that’, but if you just skim-read this and come at me with wild accusations, I won’t take you seriously. If you want to constructively, politely debate with respectful dialogue, I’m all for that.

I’ve been on here for 13 years, and even though I was close to just leaving it all behind Marie Condo style (because yeah, no joy sparked lately whatsoever), I am not going to do that. I’m not leaving. You can’t drive me away just because some of you have set your minds on me being one of the enemies. I know you are wrong in that; like I said, I know what my beliefs are and what I stand for. If you see me vastly differently then you don’t really know me.

I am more than just my online presence. It’s time I fully understand that, too and learn to stop defining myself so much by my fandom activities.

I will also try to not engage in controversial topics (as much). There’s little point to it that actually brings me or anyone else a true benefit.

It’s regrettable, but it is what it is.

[wtheckzukasubs]

Sharing and gatekeeping in the fandom

This will be long and there’s a big chance it won’t reach those who I wish read it, but here it goes...

Though most should be aware, there have been an abusive use of subtitles in this fandom. Along with that, the fandom have been “outed” in platforms like Tiktok, where it gives over-exposition to our illegal subtitles and streamings.

Yes, making subtitles to a commercial show is illegal. Of course, streaming them is also illegal. However, we’re in a fandom that is hard to access (no subtitles in the releases, the need of specific VPNs or the high costs of using a proxy, shipping and paying for import tax—in my country the latter can be more expensive than the total I’ve paid for the product, when the product isn’t lost in the way). And we’re a fandom, we love our product, we want people to know it, and people won’t if they don’t understand it much less if they can’t have contact with them. That’s why we take these risks.

Why not just share with a friend, who we can trust not to leak us and get us sued/arrested? More than many, as someone who takes meds for anxiety and depression, I know it’s hard to become friends with people, say hello to me and I’ll take days to say hello back because I’ll be freaking about how much I should tell this stranger who wants to talk to me (and why would anyone? Did I do something wrong??). So, if it weren’t for these amazing people sharing there stuff with me, my knowledge of Takarazuka could have ended when I came back from Japan and could no longer have uninterested access to it. I wouldn’t pay my month’s salary on a video of a show I don’t even know I’ll like just to practice my Japanese, as it all started for me. That is why I know the importance of sharing beyond my real friends (there’s also that my non-zuka friends never became zuka friends lol).

However, and this becomes a cycle hard to break from, Takarazuka is a super small fandom. There may be people who will casually watch it, but those who are willing to put their time and/or money into supporting it as well as being involved in group activities only because they like the same thing, that is still a small number. We can have communities on Livejournal or servers on Discord with over 500 people, but how many are active? Even including all those who just forgot to leave the servers when they gave up on the fandom, 500 is still a small number for people all over the world supporting a company as large as Takarazuka.

My point is, we’re so so so small, anything we share is easily traced back. I have never said my name here, and you still know who I am, for example. It’s different from the anime comms who work in large teams, their subs are done in so many steps the translator would probably not recognize their own work. I’m one person. I know my word choices, I know where I tend to do things wrong.

This is not about getting credit or thanks (will never be about getting money). This is about being traceable to people who’d want to do me harm. I’m going first person, but I’m still lucky not to live in Japan (in this aspect only lol) and be the first to get the blow. Some of us, however, either live there or have ties there, which makes them sitting ducks for a lawsuit or at least a very traumatizing cease-and-desist order.

I’m keeping my subs available here. For now, I have weighed the risks for me, and I think it’s still worth it.

But if you are not sharing your stuff, things processed on your computer that could have your fingerprint on it (and probably do), you may not understand the we’re not keeping any gates but protecting our integrity. This doesn’t deny that gatekeeping exists in this fandom. It does in all fandoms. So do foreigners unaware they’re proliferating xenophobia against us foreigners enjoying Japanese media. It’s good to always ask ourselves why the hell we’re reinforcing this or that rule. Some had a reason at a point and lost importance along the way. Some were never meant to exist. Some are so selfish compared to the number of benefits nor following it would generate...

Notwithstanding that, don’t call it gatekeeping so lightly when it does endanger the individual, someone we can name and so could their lawyers.

I feel I had some more to say but I’ve forgotten. And it’s already too long.

Follow the rules of anyone sharing content with you. They’re probably the ones who personally went through the headache of making it happen, and each share to even a friend is increased liability. People sharing around are publicly exposing the very members of the fandom who make it possible to make it grow so we can have more people. The more we get, the more anonymous we become, the harder it is to point fingers. That’s how it’s becoming easier to access. But we’re still not there. We must continue to test limits to increase territory but doing it without risking others.

Lastly, thank you everyone who have alerted me, I’m not in the Tiktok generation and I never search for Takarazuka on Youtube, so I’d never know about it. And thank you all for keeping to the rules of this site.

(If anyone had the energy to read these ramblings and still want to leave their opinions, feel free.)

[bcbdrums]

I’ve actually seen many people talk about this even before i joined the fandom and recently the creators have confirmed that Shego age was between late twenties to early thirties. Even the show points out to this being the case.

And we have the live action movie which casted an age appropriate Kim and Shego and without the stylistic animation, the age difference becomes very jarring to see.

Is just that if there’s such a big age gap between Kim and Shego and has always been, then why would the writers deliberately hype the ship and play up aspects of it? I don’t know about you, but that sounds super weird.

I remember there was someone who had worked in the show (they had a sample of the last episode graduation) an d they had went on record to say that as far as they were concerned there was no delivered intent to make Kigo a thing and that the writes were seemingly against it.

But again it kinda contradicts what we saw in episode like “stop team go”.

I’m not sure, but all of this is weird.

And yeah I don’t like using words as pedo, but it’s been confirmed that Shego is at least 10 years older than Kim, which makes everything about this and the ship itself super uncomfortable to me

I should redo this and make it more organized, but here's my analysis of a canon-realistic age for Shego. This is the logic my headcanon is based on: Essay: how old is Shego? And yes, I think she starts the series in her late twenties.

I LOVE that the live-action showed a realistic age difference! I think they nailed it, and your description of "jarring" is pretty accurate when one starts to think in shipping terms. But for those of us who have always seen them as the adult and child they are, it's not really any surprise. I wish the live-action had more traction JUST for that reason. (Not to mention...Drakgo were awesome in it!)

@a113cowgirl I'm fairly certain has scans of the original script to Graduation which includes unused material, which definitely pushed Drakgo more as a couple. Now what I've heard unfortunately is that the Drakgo ending was just fanservice and not the writers' intent. What we DO know about the writers' intent, is that Kim/Ron was always endgame. It's been documented many times, and it's extremely clearly built up to in season 3, with So the Drama the always planned ending. It's season 4 that was the weird wild card.

I'll be more clear... During season 4, I don't think the writers were attempting to push the Kigo ship. I think that it was probably just recognized that hot girl on hot girl stuff...sells. The fight at the spa in Mad Dogs and Aliens... Literal mud wrestling with Shego in a bathing suit... That was wholly unnecessary. It's not trying to push the ship, it's trying to use sexuality to sell. To attract viewers. I don't care for that course of action with these characters because it encourages a child/adult ship and that is Wrong.

I feel like Stop Team Go showed a highly exaggerated version of Shego... One that ultimately probably wouldn't last in terms of friendship with Kim, because it wasn't really her and it just...wasn't real. That episode was another...pandering to fandom. A "what if they were friends" thing, clearly. Almost like fanfic onscreen.

In the end, Kim and Ron were always endgame, season four never departed from that, but the writers/animators were happy to pander to fandom a bit since they'd had quite some time to see what was popular. And in the end it's all about drawing in viewers, and thus, money.

So no, still, there was no deliberate attempt by the writers during the series to push Kigo in any way. And label it or don't label it, but Kim being a minor and Shego being a much older adult makes it not okay. If it doesn't sit right with you, it's for a reason... The reason probably being, it's a minor and an adult.

Hope this answers your questions.

[fan-clan-fun]

Right, so some friends and I were discussing kitten mortality, namely as caused by other cats. Fun fact, toms are less likely to kill kittens (maybe just based on lack of opportunity) compared to mollies, even the mothers themselves! Some moms have a tendency to kill, even eat weaker kittens, or abandon/kill them if stressed, or play with them too rough like they would a toy or prey, or just... never seem to recognize them as kittens at all (my good bud knows a feral like that).

So I got to thinking of some pretty morbid worldbuilding questions surounding this. Are permanent/regular queens partially there to intervene or otherwise discourage this? If a kitten is unwell, is it sent to the medicine cat asap, both to give it care and keep it away from mom? Are mothers seen as being more 'in-touch' with Starclan about their kittens, thus the clan accepts this behavior when it happens as a sign the kitten would have died anyway/been evil/etc? If so, would intervention be seen as going against the will of Starclan? If both toms and mollies have minor risks around kittens, might a neutered cat be the perfect nursery aid (given they tend to be more chill)? Might mollies prone to this be forbidden from having litters, or have their litters fostered to a different mom? Might it be an instinctive, impersonnal thing, or might it cause a strong emotional reaction from mom or others? Could kittens only get named once they're past the 'risky' phase when this might occcur? All the potential cultural implications, and opportunities for conflict and drama, are very juicy indeed!

Of course the whole thing could be handwaved with 'the Clans selected against this', which could give a nice little justification to bringing new blood in - steal a litter from an outsider 'for their safety', you see, for queens outside Clan borders are *so* very prone to hurting their kittens, and who knows when a roving tom might find her nest unattended.

(I love the idea of *Leopardfoot*, not Pinestar, believing she is being told to kill Tigerkit once the stress of her mate leaving gets to her, because the ambiguity of it all is far jucier imo)

Apologies for taking some time to get back on this as we discussed, but I think i can talk about it now.

I feel like a lot of warriors fans unfortunately don't take kitten mortality into consideration for their writing and worldbuilding, but its an important aspect of real life that should be discussed. Even in cases of people caring for mothers and kittens such as fostering situations, you won't always succeed in raising kittens safely. In fact my last set of fosters I sadly lost one due to medical reasons. And its even worse in the wild, because you are right, not all cats are ready to be moms. I definitely think this is something that could be further developed in clans.

Part of the risk of mothers not knowing how to care for their kits is due to many feral moms having kittens far too young, like having kittens as still kittens young. In some ways the clans fix this by not allowing anyone to have kittens before they became warriors which the fandom generally considers to be at least a year. This wouldn't solve all the issues of course but it would certainly help. I believe most reputable breeders are the same, if not starting litters at two years.

I doubt any sane clan would allow a queen to harm her kits in any way. Kits are far too valuable to waste or lose. Religious intervention and how they view kits and their health would rely entirely on each clan's worldbuilding, but again I would doubt kits would be abandoned or given up on without very specific reasons. I think being in a clan setting would cut down on a lot of mistreatment or lack of understanding about kittens since these moms have the support of other moms and the rest of the clan and hopefully education ahead of time.

I think that having permanent queens/caretakers would solve many of the other issues. Should a mother show any signs of having issues with their kits a medicine cat or caretaker would step in, though it would definitely be a case by case situation on what would be done. Some cases might require removal of kits from the mother to be fostered to another, some might require additional medical, emotional, and psychological support from the medicine cat and caretakers, or simply some extra teaching and information. Permanent queens, caretakers, etc would be the backbone of the community care for both queens and kits, and honestly are invaluable to a clan. I do think they should be developed and explored more honestly, considering how much cats share their kit-raising in community.

As for whether fixed or unfixed cats would be better, I think it is a bit subjective of worldbuilding and how realistic you want to be. But also its very dependent on the individual cats. Some un-altered females might be better with kits, but just as many might be terrible! And same with male cats. This is the case even in real life I would say. Like, both my altered female cats are NOT cuddly mothering to any of the kittens I have fostered. And they are supposed to be more chill. My cats are definitely not chill. I would almost advise people to maybe put aside certain generalizations and focus on individual characters and clans and what makes sense and fits for them.

Now personally most of my clans have naming ceremonies for kits at around a moon, because most (though not all) kit deaths tend to happen in those first few weeks. But again that's a personal choice, maybe kits are named earlier because if they dont have a name how could they find their way to Starclan? Or maybe they aren't named until apprenticeship for... reasons, idk.

As for your other speculations they could be plenty plausible! A struggling clan could use any excuse to get more kits, or a starving clan could use any excuse to have one less mouth to feed if a kitten was floundering. So many options and ideas to play with!!

[helbertinelli]

I don't mean to sound like I'm calling someone out because I'm not, but whenever I hear people defending Trophy Husband Anakin, Human Disaster Anakin, Incompetent Anakin, or Pet Anakin, they say it's just a joke.

On its own, it is a very valid reason, but that begs the question: why is it always Anakin?

Why do we never get jokes about Human Disaster Padmé or Incompetent Padmé (or jokes like thst about other characters)? They say that it's because Padmé hasn't done "human-disastery" things, but she has. Padmé is seen by many as strong-willed and courageous for going straight to helping Obi-Wan on Geonosis, but if Anakin did the same thing, he'd be called reckless. Through this, Padmé is turned into a Flawless Queen for doing the same things that turn Anakin into a Human Disaster.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not as mad as you think. This is just an observation of mine.

Maybe I should make a post about it sometime, hehe

I'm as mad as you think, so thank you for sending the ask.

I can't understand how they'd defend Pet Anakin, even as a joke. I mean Anakin started out as a child slave and then you go from that to making him a pet? Yikes.

Human Disaster and Incompetent Anakin have all been made worse by TCW, I bet. Because TCW made sure to portray him as being always kinda incompetent and basically a fuck up. No one respects him in TCW and Obi-Wan and Ahsoka constantly make fun of him, even when he's right. And there's also fanon!Anakin which basically convinced a good part of the fandom that Anakin is stupid and he doesn't even know the colors or how to read, when, you know, in canon Anakin is one of the most intelligent people in the galaxy.

Now, trophy husband Anakin, this gives me vibes of anti-Anidala and somehow Anidala people latched on to it. But its implications are basically that Padme doesn't love Anakin for anything else other than the fact that she can brag about his looks and she can fuck him. If people understood Anidala and understood that Padme loves Anakin (for way more than his body), they'd know that trophy husband Anakin is a pretty disgusting concept as it relates to their relationship. It also means that Padme is superior to Anakin in the relationship, which is not true and has never been true. And it turns Anakin into an object, which again, just like the Pet Anakin, it's really disturbing when you think about it. You're turning the guy who got out of slavery into an object again. Yikes!

I know some Padme fans get mad if someone even says the words Padme Skywalker or if they say Padme wanted to be Anakin's wife, so this whole trophy husband Anakin thing reminds me a lot of those people. It implies that Padme would have never wanted to be Anakin's wife because she loved him, but she would be his wife if it meant she had a toy basically that she can show off. So he's not her husband because she wants him to act like a husband, he's her husband because she wants to tie himself to her and to show ownership over him. It's extremely fucked up. I can't understand how people (especially those who like Anidala and Trophy Anakin) can excuse this or find this appealing for the relationship of Anakin and Padme.

One reason behind all those "tropes" would be that I've noticed that in many fandoms (and some canons... mainly in comics), it's cool to infantilize men and to make them act extremely submissive and harmless (they're incompetent, they're stupid, they're lost without another person to control their every decision and hold their hand at every step). I personally find it extremely disturbing. Was there no middle ground between men not respecting women and treating them as objects AND men acting like door mats and being treated like objects?

You are right about Padme being just as reckless as Anakin. She also jumps head-first into things and she doesn't even have the powers of the Chosen One or Force sensitivity. At least Anakin has something to back up his recklessness. So in a way, Padme is way more of a disaster than he is. But if you start saying Padme is a human disaster or a trophy wife (hell you can barely say she's a wife at all without some Padme fans going like "Anakin mind tricked her, she was only his wife to spy on him, GL was sexist for making Padme fall in love with Anakin"), or a pet people will get mad because they'll recognize how sexist and dehumanizing and disgusting it is to call someone those things now that they are applied to a woman. But if they're applied to men it's fun apparently.

One of the reasons I like Anidala is because they were extremely equal in so many aspects. Padme was a queen and Anakin was a slave from Tatooine, but she never treated him like he was any less than her. Despite their differences in power (Anakin being the most powerful Jedi and Padme being just a normal human), they were both extremely competent at what they did and they both respected each other's actions. And as a couple, they were both completely in love with the other and happy to be married, not because it meant ownership over the other, but because it brought them even closer together. The ROTS novelization puts it very nicely when it basically says that Anakin and Padme were one in the Force and her heartbeat was Anakin's heartbeat too, and they were so close and so in love that even when they were apart they were still like one entity. It's just so beautiful and it's really sad when people ruin their characters and their relationships with things like incompetent trophy Anakin or Chadme (which is the TCW and fanon version of Padme who hates Anakin and only cares about her job and acts like a macho man who just goes around punching everything).

Also, you should make a post about it. The more the merrier. Tag me in it, I’ll reblog it asap.

[midorree]

How (I Think) Quirk-based Discrimination Works In BNHA

I've seen a lot of claims about how people interpret the quirk-based discrimination from an ableism allegory (not quite) to actually comparing it to Jim Crow laws, which is completely out of pocket. Quirk based discrimination in BNHA is very unique, especially with quirks not existing for very long in the grand scheme of things. Trying to compare it to existing forms of discrimination (that, mind you, exist in the fucking show) is simply put, not accurate in the slightest. Racism has existed for long enough for it to be embedded into our everyday lives and systems. Ableism has existed long enough that it affects how we view disabled people as people and how doctors view their disabled patients. Quirk-based discrimination has not.

PART 1: Comparing and Contrasting: Ableism

I've had this conversation a couple times with my friends, and typically we find that ableism doesn't match up with qbd. First and foremost, let's define a disability.

[Image ID: disability: a physical or mental condition that limits a person's movements, senses, or activities. A disadvantage or a handicap, especially one imposed or recognized by the law. End Image ID]

Quirkless people do not meet this standard definition unless they are already disabled. Being quirkless does not limit movements, senses, or activities in any way shape or form. Being quirkless is not a hindrance in every day life when it comes to these specific criteria.

But why would people thing that being quirkless is the same as being disabled? Let's take a look at accommodations and accessibility.

In the BNHA universe, quirks have existed for long enough that people with mutation quirks that alter their body significantly can comfortably buy clothes as seen with Shoji in some occasions.

[Image ID: Shoji is wearing baggy, patterned pants tucked into laced boots and is wearing a tank top. End ID]

He is able to buy shirts with bigger sleeve holes rather than having to fix his clothing so that he may be able to wear it himself. This is also seen with UA making a uniform so that he can fit without him having to work excessively for it.

[Image ID: Shoji wearing UA uniform. The uniform has no sleeves. End ID]

Why does this matter? Because Shoji is a perfect example of how small accommodations for people mutation quirks exists idly in the BNHA universe. Everyone has a different quirk and require different accommodations, and with Quirkless people, when it comes to buying clothes, or walking up steps, or going comfortably to a restaurant it's never a problem! Assuming they are able-bodied/neurotypical, they truly won't have a problem with getting by in day to day life.

However, there is one thing I will say is similar to ableism in this aspect: how doctors would treat quirkless people. With the opening episodes/chapters of BNHA we see firsthand how a doctor treats a child who is quirkless. Uncaring, cold, and straight to the point as to let them down as hard as they can saying "you might as well get used to it." The doctor had little to no belief that Izuku would become a hero, saying that he should pursue other careers instead. It's not a perfect match up, but I'd say in my personal experience it's pretty similar.

PART 2: Racism in BNHA

I'm not going to dwell long on this one because it's frankly very tone deaf and not very thought out to be comparing qbd to actual racism.

[Image ID: White text on a black background that states: What was worse, he would now be forces to keep his family from visiting or even living in America. It was never talked about openly, but the way quirkless were treated in the States came very close to how they handled different races with the Jim Crow laws of the past. He would never subject his Izuku to that kind of hatred. End Image ID]

There's a lot to unpack here, but let me preface this by saying this: qbd and centuries upon centuries of racial discrimination are not the same thing, especially considering racism exists in the show/manga itself. Big Yikes.

Let's start by defining what Jim Crow laws were.

[Image ID: Jim Crow laws were a collection of state and local statutes that legalized racial segregation. Named after a Black minstrel show character, the laws—which existed for about 100 years from the post-Civil War era until 1968—were meant to marginalize African Americans by denying them the right to vote, hold jobs, get an education or other opportunities. Those who attempted to defy Jim Crow laws often faces arrest, fines, jail sentences, violence and death. End Image ID]

So lets make a hypothetical and say quirkless people were treated like this. Okay, what would be an identifying factor in discrimination? Would quirkless people have to tell employers their quirk status? Possibly. Would the right to vote be revoked? Due to what? Would they be held back in educational places? Why would they be?

There are too many unanswered questions as to why these things would happen. The Jim Crow laws happened due to white entitlement after the enslavement of an entire race. Qbd happens because of inherent power dynamics (which I will get into later), and while racial discrimination has that factor, it has existed way longer and is more prevalent in society. What if a quirkless person was a quirkless person of color? Think on that.

There are also heroes of color that exist in the show, and racist caricatures of people of color.

[Image ID: Pro Hero: Native with a shocked expression and some sweat dripping down his face. End Image ID]

This fucker right here.

The BNHA universe has existing racism in and out of canon, seeing as the black/brown characters are underrated outside of the show, and microaggressed within the show.

PART 3: Kacchan vs Deku 3: How Did Deku Being Quirkless Affect Their Relationship And Why?

The line "not all men are created equal" really stuck with me while writing and thinking about this meta. Deku has understood and worked through social dynamics and understandings since he was four years old. He's understood that since he's quirkless, people with quirks hold power over him that he can't defend himself against. He understands this, and chooses to roll with the punches.

Bakugou also very much understands how social dynamics work, and chooses to use it to his advantage. He bullies Deku as a boast of power rather than a boast of privileged. It's been drilled into young Katsuki's head that quirkless people are weak, and that he is strong, His teachers are seen encouraging this behavior and the adults around him tend to not view him as a person, but as an existing beam of potential. Propaganda probably exists even in his Sunday cartoons. The strongest people he looks up to all have quirks, and he makes that correlation of quirk = strong at a very young age. He learns that quirkless ≠ strong. A part of me feels like this is intentional.

Izuku being quirkless would put him at the bottom of the food chain, in a sense, and anyone who had a quirk would be listened to more than he ever would. Izuku learned that not all men are equal because of the inherent power dynamics that come with having the ability to fly, or create explosions, or use fucking fire and ice on command, because he realizes he will never be stronger than Kacchan (at least for now). Even Izuku's idols who he considered to be strong and amazing and admirable were people with quirks. People with power over him.

When Izuku got OFA, the playing field shifted, and Katsuki was afraid and confused. Just because Izuku got a quirk, that doesn't mean Katsuki's view on quirkless people changed. We don't know if it did because its never addressed. He has made significant character development and is working to atone with Deku, but would that still happen if Deku had stayed quirkless? We don't know.

PART 4: Conclusion

The BNHA fandom has a lot of views on how qbd might work, but these are just my thoughts. These are all my opinions and if you'd like to add something feel free to! I just hate the fact that qbd is being compared to actual racism when that just doesn't apply and wanted to weigh in my two cents. Qbd, in my opinion, is all about power dynamics and how easily that can be abused.

[boltwrites]

Misfits - Chapter 3

Fandom: Star Wars - Clone Wars / The Bad Batch Pairing: The Bad Batch / Reader (Polyamorous) Rating: M (Rating May Change) Tags: Polyamorous Relationship, Force-Sensitive Reader, Slow Burn

Work Summary: After a year working with the 501st, you've been assigned a new post - Clone Force 99, aka the Bad Batch. You're concerned about the transition - you found it hard enough to fit in with the 501st, and now you had to acclimate to an entirely new squad. As it turns out, the Bad Batch is very accommodating.

Chapter Summary: Hunter insists that you nap on the way to Kamino.

read it on ao3 | start from ch 1 | or read more below

“Get some sleep. It’ll be a while until we reach Kamino.”

Hunter gestured towards a bunk that you could tell was well used. You worried the inside of your lip, considering the offer.

This ship was a far cry from the accommodations you were used to. It reminded you more of quarters you once shared with a pirate crew – cramped, but cozy.

You didn’t mind it, per say… but it wasn’t what you were used to. On the Resolute, you had your own quarters, completely separate from the rest of the clones. It had been both a blessing and a curse – it afforded you some privacy, being the only female Captain, and working with a majority of clones who had never experienced such direct contact with a woman. It was honestly tiring dealing with their staring – which wasn’t even a majority sexual, honestly. They were just curious about you, and while you didn’t blame them, that didn’t mean you wanted eyes on you while you were just trying to get some rest.

The Bad Batch didn’t seem to be quite as bad as the 501st, and you suspected that perhaps because they were a smaller, elite squad, they had encountered women in different environments than just a club full of clone chasers like 79’s. You could feel Wrecker’s eyes on you half the time, and his curiosity reminded you the most of the 501st’s own sneaking glancing. You also caught Tech looking a few times as you set your meagre belongings in the cargo area – he had seemed flustered and turned away, datapad in hand. You had no idea what his fascination with you was, but you assumed you would find out soon enough. It was almost cute seeing how you flustered him, if only because your own men – or, former men – had grown so used to your presence that they had gotten harder to fluster.

But then, there was Hunter and Echo, who both reminded you of Rex. Rex hadn’t been bothered with your gender if only because he had worked so much with Ahsoka the years prior. You didn’t know who Hunter had worked with that made him so comfortable with you, nor Echo, but you were glad that at least your gender wasn’t causing any more awkward tension than it should. You felt strange enough barging into Hunter’s team, where you technically outranked him as a Captain, but knew about as much as a shiny when it came to this squad.

At least everyone was better than Crosshair, who avoided you like a bad smell. He obviously had some kind of a stick up his ass.

But that was besides the point – the real question was: did you trust these men enough to sleep out in the open like this? You didn’t think they would hurt you, or anything quite so dangerous, but you did value your privacy. And it seemed strange to sleep in their communal space while you still felt like an outsider. That was far too… intimate for your liking.

“I’m fine,” you tried to respond to Hunter’s offer with a polite smile and a nod. You didn’t want your refusal to read as rude – you just didn’t want to open yourself up to something so intimate as sleeping in another clone’s bed, even if it was simply a matter of convenience. You didn’t doubt that the clones crashed in whichever bunk was available – the blankets on the bottom two looked more worn than the top, which alluded to the fact that they shared these.

You denied the offer, even though you were tired. You hadn’t slept since the Resolute had returned to Coruscant, and the fatigue was wearing on you. But you were a force sensitive. You could draw energy that way, you hoped. And maybe with an extra cup of caf from the small galley on the ship.

Hunter frowned at you. It wasn’t that he was outright offended by your refusal – he looked exasperated instead.

“I know you’re tired. Rest. We don’t have private rooms like on the star cruisers you’re used to, but it’s safe.”

Your eyes widened, and you shook your head. “No, I- I didn’t mean-“

“I know. I know we don’t have much,” Hunter shrugged, leaning against the wall and crossing his arms. “But it’s what we’ve got. Took Echo some time to get used to. I don’t blame you.”

You sighed, remembering Echo. Hunter’s looking at you and seeing Echo – another 501st member adjusting to a new place. And, he’s right, to an extent. Maybe you’re overthinking things. The Bad Batch has been nothing but kind to you so far.

“I’m sorry,” you shook your head. “You’re right. It’s different from the 501st. Over there, I had a private Captain’s room. And here-“

“You’re right in it,” Hunter finished. You nodded, sighing. Hunter nodded at you, understanding, before he continued.

“Ain’t no use in separation here. Each member here was selected for a purpose, and each is an expert in that field. I’m a superior in name only – I’m more like a coordinator, if I’m completely honest,” Hunter admitted, and you breathed a sigh of relief.

“So, you guys operate more like pirates or something than an actual military unit?” you asked, with a raised eyebrow and a little quirk of a smile. Hunter shrugged, making a little noncommittal noise.

“I’ve never worked with pirates, but maybe.”

You laughed, relaxing. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad, taking a nap in the open. After all, you were going to be working with these men for the foreseeable future. You had to learn to trust them, and if there were any issues with boundaries, you would work it out. It would be fine, especially if the crew operated the way Hunter said they did – you understood that structure far more than you did military hierarchies of command.

“Thank you, Hunter,” you patted his shoulder gently, well aware of the armor that covered it. “If you don’t mind, I think I will take that nap. Maybe up there, though.”

You gestured to one of the top bunks, and Hunter even cracked a smile himself.

“High ground. Good choice.”

You shared a smile, shaking your head at him as he clapped you on the back and made his exit towards the cockpit.

His touch left you warm, even thought it was friendly, the sort of thing the clones took part in all the time. You kind of hated the way your cheeks flushed as you hopped on the bunk, untying your boots and kicking them to the floor, discarding your jacket and what little armor you had (shoulder plates and forearm guards, really) at the end of the bunk.

Not only was the Bad Batch different from the other clones in terms of their operation style – casual, bound by trust rather than duty – they were also different from other clones in certain physical aspects. Hunter’s hair, in particular, caught your eye far more often than it should in a professional sense, even as you tried to ignore it. And that little smile he just gave you –

No. No, you couldn’t do this. You had to work with Hunter, and if something happened between the two of you, you couldn’t count on the fact that you both would be able to remain professional.

You wrapped the blankets around you in a little cocoon as you tried to talk yourself down from all of this. It had been easier with the 501st. Those degrees of separation prevented you from forming those attachments. But here – this wasn’t a military structure. This was a team, a crew. You couldn’t get away from these men – for kark’s sake, they all shared these bunks.

The bunks, including the one you were occupying. They were homey – the blankets wrapped around you were plentiful. A couple were standard issue – you recognized the distinctive Republic insignia emblazoned on them. But some were clearly handmade. There were scraps of fabric entwined, one around another, weaving together to make a sturdy blanket. Another looked to be a quilt, hardy and thick, made to withstand the chill of space travel.

You were enveloped in them, completely cocooned, and you were already starting to warm up again despite the absence of your jacket. You tried to turn your brain off, for just a moment, and relax into the softness of the blankets, into the homey little bunk. The Bad Batch had obviously taken care to make their beds cozy and warm, and you appreciated it – it spoke to how they valued their space, their comfort. It was nice.

You started to drift off, and you couldn’t help but notice that even the blankets smelled nice. Not from a fresh wash, necessarily – no, it smelled more like it was pleasantly lived in. But didn’t it seem like the bottom bunks were the most used by the Batch?

Maybe this was Hunter’s bunk, you considered with a little smile, curling in on yourself. Hadn’t he mentioned the high ground? You imagined that a veteran officer like Hunter might care about things like that – about being able to get a jump on anyone trying to disturb his sleep. He would feel safer up here, like you did. The way this bunk was angled, there was a good view of the outside hatch, so Hunter would be able to see anyone trying to enter the ship.

Maybe it smelled like him, then. You could imagine him wrapped in these blankets too, maybe ones that thankful civilians gave him for his help.

You had told yourself you didn’t want to get attached, but as you drifted off into a light slumber, you couldn’t stop the visions that danced behind your eyes – Hunter in the bunk with you, his broad chest pressed to your back, his arms wrapped around your waist. If he snuggled too close to your shoulder, his hair would tickle your jaw. Maybe he would tell you the stories of the blankets wrapped around the both of you – his fingers tracing over yours as you thumbed over the handmade details, as his low voice hummed in your ear.

You drifted to sleep thinking of him, the thrum of his voice, rough hands against yours. And if those thoughts spilled over into your dreams – that was only for you to know.

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