#im talking into the void on tumblr specifically because I don't want to randomly rant about it again to the besties and

[badgirlcoven-official]

It's my blog i get to post about fictional/fandom things that do not matter at all in the grand scheme of things (and also @ any mutuals/friends from discord who might see this this is not about you. Or really meant to single anyone else out either tbh)

but someone liking my old post reminded me of like. How weirdly gatekeepy (idk kind of an extreme word bc of how it's usually used) the dadrius microfandom is and also how fixated they are on fanon portrayals of Darius (granted. That last part is not at all unique we know fandom at large is about sanding characters down to their most convenient to the points you want to make basic traits but it's especially noticeable because they also are like really self righteous about it like woah you removed any negative trait from the fictional man that don't contribute to the like same 5 repeated angst fanfics? Do you want an award?/lh)

Like and I could maybe excuse it if fanon Darius was at least interesting but you're kind of punished for reading into his character literally at all or at least not deliberately interpreting canon to portray him as insanely incompetent for no reason.

Like y'all cannot convince me that Darius realized belos was an evil overlord and started the rebellion years ago and has been working behind the scenes and gathering intel this whole time but somehow thinks that child fucking soldier giant ass scar on his face mentor mysteriously and suspiciously died Hunter is fine and safe and not being abused by belos and you ALSO can't convince me that him having this knowledge and doing what we see him do in canon makes him a bad person or at all problematic, past like being a nuanced person who can't go at the world with the approach of a therapist.

Like idk I got a lot of pushback whenever I talked abt my hcs like it was automatically in bad faith or something, like ok fair it fsr makes people uncomfortable, but maybe it makes me uncomfortable when the only accepted interpretation is that he's that checked out/oblivious and more specifically that this is a good thing that absolves him of some predetermined guilt.

Like idk I think it's established very well that Darius has very little room to work with in helping Hunter for a number of reasons (he has to avoid suspicion, belos is insanely possessive over Hunter and limits his contact with others, Hunter is yk. The Golden Guard and child or not Darius has 0 assurance that if Hunter found anything out or sensed disloyalty to the emperor he wouldn't turn on him. Which, btw, it seems very likely pre Hollow Mind he would have) and then all of his attempts we see in canon TO help Hunter are waved off as not actually his contribution but purely coincidental and any inclination that he might have like. Idk fuckin autonomy in the narrative/plot is somehow the same as saying he's abusive (seriously this confuses me so much. HOW does that track? "Encouraging Hunter to act any differently than how belos wants him to is like basically wanting him fuckign dead because belos will kill him" belos was going to kill him no matter what. He's literally got a sigil. Darius already knows about the draining spell even if you don't think he knows belos killed his mentor this kid is literally already condemned. Also do you hear yourself? Trying to break someone out of their brainwashing is not abuse just because they might get hurt if their abuser finds out)

Like cmon guys they went into a public place, and checked to be SURE they were being followed (Hunter has 0 fucking stealth in his white and gold fucking outfit marching through the night market come ON) to do a spell they can literally do wherever when they Literally have A Secret Hideout no one knows about after Hunter just super mysteriously got an anonymous tip about their most dangerous plan. And yeah you could chalk it up to bad writing but like where is your whimsy aren't you tired of being boring as hell and refusing to engage with canon beyond surface level interpretations

Anyway moving on before this becomes a talking abt my Darius hcs post and not a complaining about things that don't matter post

But I'm also fascinated by how like. The dadrius microfandom becomes so defensive that they loop around into being weirdly misogynist towards Camila while ALSO perpetuating the same stereotypes with Darius that allegedly are the problem with Camila as a parent figure

Like idk the biggest argument I saw against Camila being an important figure in Hunter’s life (fuckign at all let alone as a potential parent) is that she already has so much on her plate and Hunter has So Much Trauma and would be Such A Burden on her which like. Okay really making that easy to interpret uncharitably but undercurrents of ableism aside like

Considering the Staple of dadrius angst is how he steps into raising the kid that 1. He has a complicated and often painful history with and 2. Literally Has His Dead Mentor's Face and how him having basically any support system is seen as too much of a coparenting truther agenda I really think that considering Hunter's existence and its affect on his adoptive parent really isn't the priority here

Like you want this man to, upon immediately escaping a cult in which he had to mask his entire true identity for a MINIMUM of 16 years, suddenly become a parent to a mentally ill teenager who he has an insane amount of guilt towards and who also until recently was fairly combative towards him and then you very specifically want him doing this almost entirely on his own AND you want to diminish all of Hunter's relationships with the others to just kinda casual friends when the narrative calls for friends to exist and somehow this is supposed to be The Healthiest Preferable Option that they'd both choose

Like idk guys maybe, insane fucking thought, Darius would not prioritize being Hunter’s Official Only Parent Figure(tm) and instead just idk. Relax for a bit. Get a fuckign hobby that doesn't include doing things for his little emo white boy for a minute.

Like obviously theres an annoying trend in mom Camila fics/content where she prioritizes Hunter beyond what's healthy that's an issue but you don't fix that issue by going well diversity win guys we took racist stereotypes for Black women and applied it to this gnc Black man instead. Now HIS life solely revolves around the white character(s). Hashtag progessive

Like and let me reiterate I LIKE dadrius, I like that Darius is able to reconnect with Hunter and that they're able to heal together and find family in each other. It's just that I don't like the way that fanon simultaneously isolates him and sands all of his emotions and motivations down to super gentle and somber parent who sits around agonizing over Hunter and his mentor.

Anyway back to Camila, I've noticed that in arguments about this there's a tendency to very strongly erase Camila's involvement in not just Hunter's life but in all of their lives minus Luz and Vee (and let's not kid ourselves Vee is only accepted as Camila's kid because they didn't have time to get attached to her before she was interacting with primarily Camila. I see so many complaints of "everyone ignores Vee" from people who I've honestly never seen posting about her otherwise) and like the undercurrent here makes me so uncomfortable like

There's this idea that Camila is just nice and doesn't actually care about the hexsquad and is basically counting the days until she gets her house back. And theyre like "what is Camila Gus and Willow's mom now too" idk how to explain to you she fostered these kids, repeatedly risked her life for them, and then was implied to be actively invested in their adjustment period returning home. Removing her agency in that and deciding she gets no joy from them or that they exist solely as a burden isn't doing what you think it's doing. And hell y'all have no problem randomly deciding that Darius is so super attached to the Blight kids who he has literally no interactions with and deciding that Hunter and Amity are The Siblings Ever when there's nothing indicating that so again it's fine putting the entire weight of the blight family's problems on this man but not fine to think that Just Maybe what Camila wants is a support network (THAT SHE GETS! and also that literally includes Darius if you like Camila’s VA, Elizabeth Grullor's HCs) and not to get rid of these kids

And I mean the arguments get ridiculous I am never letting y'all live down "Hunter isn't standjng next to Luz and Camila during the group shot at the end so clearly he isn't in their family" that is so comically pedantic especially when the epilogue has almost no dialogue and tells us very little about everyone's living situations and they kept that shit ambiguous on purpose to avoid alienating fans.

It's so frustrating like ok I get it annoying Camila as a mom fans killed your grandma and gave you anxiety letting Darius have anything that they could criticize but do you have to make that everyone's problem or go after the "coparenting truthers" for existing in your spaces

Also going to be so fr the weird emphasis on Hunter’s last name(s) and the idea that it's upsetting/problematic to call him Hunter Noceda annoys me like who tf cares man we saw Zeno's old twitter handle or w/e it was and thought it was cute we're not personally out to get you(tm) calm down

Actually wait I'm not done I forgot how like. Insane the Camila erasure is that when someone (idr who and also they aren't the problem) drew Darius thanking Camila for saving Hunter’s life at the end of thanks to them and a bunch of people were like oh man I never thought about that woahhh like. Only caring about it now that Darius was involved as though it wasn't a Major Point in Camila's character arc in which she overcomes the metaphorical and physical obstacles separating her from her loved ones like do y'all really care about this woman or do you only care when you can diminish her contributions and say she's actually super not attached to any of the kids actually.