#mostly care about what transfem people have to say here in terms of my own opinions.

[sapphicscience]

no reblogs allowed bc I said so

[suffarustuffaru]

Scrolling through your blog is such a fun experience, you bring an absolutely great vibe to this fandom and I love it SO MUCH. Could even say you restored my hope in it, since there has been some aspects that made me force myself to leave it, and I hope me bringing one of them up here won't upset anyone.

Now I completely understand if you wish to not answer my ask, but I figured it's worth a shot. So, one of said aspects was a controversy regarding one of the rezero characters that made me feel like you can't mention them without being called names (mostly on tiktok, but other social media also, tho not as much).

Yeah I'm talking about Felix. I'm not transphobic by any means, and I'm fine with people headcannoning whatever they want, but seeing thousands of people calling others transphobic for calling Felix a 'he' made me so unsafe I forced myself to look for other interest. Which is funny since most of the people saying this weren't even part of the fandom. I was wondering if anyone else here had similar situations and just.. how do you deal with it? It seems silly, I know, but feeling like I can't speak about a rather important character from a media I love made me so upset.

No matter how much I tried explaining it, they either dismiss it or say Tappei made him a trans girl without knowing.

Now, if you do decide to answer this and say that Felix indeed may have been 'trans coded' a little bit (Did I used that term correcly? Idk) I'll understand (hell, I would probably agree, you character analysis are great), I'm just upset at the absolute lack of respect for any other way of referring to Felix other then she/her.

(Also in case people don't know, their proof of Felix being a trans girl is the scene from EX1, with the whole calling himself a girl in front of a mirror thing)

Sorry for this is being long and probably messy I just had to get this off my chest.. also I hope I didn't came of as offensive in any way, if I did I'm really sorry.

hi there anon! first of all - aw thank you for your compliments about me and my blog. im super passionate about rezero (though thats probably super clear to anyone whos seen any content i make for a while aljsdlkf) and well. ive been lurking about in this fandom since summer 2020 so i definitely understand having to leave/distance yourself from this fandom because outside of tumblr, the rezero fandom is kind of . well. to put it simply, theres a lot of metaphorical landmines unfortunately!! T^T and admittedly i wouldve left this fandom a lot sooner if i didnt stick to my own corner and curate spaces with other people who were super chill (like lots of people lurking about here on tumblr + rz tumblr in general!!). so i totally understand how you feel anon (and youre not silly for being upset, i promise!), though admittedly im not super super familiar with some rezero spaces (such as rz twitter) bc i 1. dont speak japanese and 2. i try very hard to avoid the negativity whenever possible!! T^T

and also i apologize for taking a while to answer your ask!! you're one of my older asks that kinda got lost in my drafts hah but i also just wanted to like. take extra care with your ask bc its a super important topic. like not just to me (though its definitely important to me) but its important in general. and i really like felix so. <3

a quick disclaimer is that i myself am not transfem. i am however afab and most likely genderqueer!! (im winging it as i go hah.) felix is also not a character id say im as well-versed in yet, but i do like felix a lot and ex1 changed my entire brain chemistry. and ill also be defaulting to he/him pronouns in this post because thats what he uses in canon.

felix is - at the end of the day - a fictional character, and tappei is a cis man who doesnt Entirely write characters like felix through a queer lens. arguably tappei is Self-Aware when he writes characters who are into other characters of the same sex (though the Representation is arguably a little bit questionable at times depending on how you look at it), but when it comes to characters like felix or subaru who have some Gender Stuff going on, it's more nebulous there. i dont know if tappei 100% realizes he's made characters that could be read as Trans/Genderqueer (emphasis on "read as", because i support different interpretations of these characters), but tappei Definitely Is Very Aware that gender and gender presentation and gender roles are super important when it comes to characters like felix, subaru, and crusch.

i think tappeis own perceptions of gender and gender roles do bleed a bit into the text as much as tappei is pretty purposeful with themes surrounding gender in rezero, but rezero itself still has all sorts of identity issues to explore with a lot of its characters and gender is a big part of that!!

so first and foremost im gonna be examining felix the best i can Purely Off Of The Canon Text, though i do like viewing rezero from a queer lens myself (and it is arguably very queer). im gonna talk first about felix and then ill move onto talking about my personal feelings on rezero fandom stuff :o !!

so felix's relationship with his gender is complicated and he Absolutely does not fit into traditional gender roles or gender presentation right now. these are undeniable. and if people headcanon felix as transfem thats totally understandable and valid!! but to say a headcanon is 100% canon and that other interpretations of a character as complex as felix are invalid isnt exactly it. for sure. i mean i myself interpret him as nonbinary haah. but felix's relationship with gender is so so so So complicated that i dont think you could just say hes transfem and then Not Elaborate More.

but regardless of how Exactly you label felix, i think you could possibly say that hes trans coded. tappei, even if he probably doesnt entirely know hes made pretty genderqueer characters, is Aware and Purposeful of how gender affects felix and his perception of himself and his identity and other peoples perception of him and this is brought up Over and Over Again in canon—felix’s gender identity, at the moment, aligns more with femininity in his presentation in every way, though he still perceives himself as masculine. felix’s case is complicated, and while im not entirely sure on this i think you could argue that hes trans coded—“coding” suggests a level of intent when making these characters, and i think that intent is present in some way with tappei. because tappei Knows just how important gender is with felix’s character and you can tell with how often and how Integral it is to felix’s entire character.

(more under the cut) (i do have a habit of being rambley/wordy sometimes if. if you couldnt tell already. but i hope this response is up to your standards!!)

these three analysis posts on felix's relationship with gender have all discussed this topic in-depth before i have, and i 1. really like the rezero content i see from all three of these people and 2. they All have slightly different takes based on the canon we have but also some similar points. because felix is complicated!! of course our takes are probably gonna be a bit different - he's a multifaceted character with such a complex relationship with his gender that it's hard to tell what every single one of his personal feelings on it is (especially when at the moment he hasnt appeared in the main story since arc 5 and he still has a Lot of character development to do). and of course fiction is fiction, we can all take away any sort of meaning from a story like this.

but you know. this is my post so im gonna try to analyze felix right now and say my two cents on what i think of his relationship with gender.

so im gonna try not to retread too much on what liquidstar, sufferu, and gourmet of gluttony have already said about felix (and i think theyre all very smart people with interesting analysis posts and theyve all explained their thoughts pretty well) and instead add on with my own thoughts - theres this felix excerpt from arc 4 wn that i think about sometimes. im gonna put it down here!!

and also important to note—like other people have mentioned, crusch and felix made a “deal” of sorts in the past where crusch takes on felix’s masculinity and felix takes on crusch’s femininity. and also like other people have said—and i myself have said in the past—i do have some mixed feelings on this wkdndn and as i said before also i do wish tappeis feelings on gender bled a little less when theyre Not Integral To The Story. bc i dont think tappei 100% knows hes made trans coded characters, but. anyway yeah so thats the whole deal with crusch felix. and in its own right i think it has So Many Interesting Implications!!

i think when it comes down to it, gender presentation IS a bit of a performance, isn't it? like i love to wear dressses and skirts and i love to keep my hair short and wear suits, but you know - these sorts of things tend to be gendered. our gender is often perceived through how we present ourselves, but in recent years gender roles being attached to clothing has gotten a bit less Rigid. but these rigid roles associated with presentation are even more dialed up to Eleven in a medieval world like the rezero fantasy world. and i dont use the word "performance" in a negative way -

what i mean is that when it comes to felix's character, does felix think he's a boy because that's what he's been told? does he think he's a boy because he TRULY sees himself that way, or does he THINK he has to see himself as one? does felix try to present and perform femininity, ie as or like a traditionally feminine girl, purely ONLY for crusch's sake, or is it because felix ALSO WANTS to? what does felix think of gender outside of crusch? who is felix outside of crusch? who is felix outside of tying his entire personality to other people? does felix’s femininity show the “radiance of ferris’ soul” bc of the deal he made with crusch or bc this truly is felix’s soul? these are like the big questions behind his entire character and character arc that would determine in the end how felix identifies in both his gender and In General.

so what is felix's identity at the moment? bc right now, felix is stuck between his feminine self, tied to crusch, a symbol of crusch, tied to his own reliance on crusch and worship of her—and his masculine self, someone broken off from crusch. felix is tied to crusch right now to worrying extents with his obsessive devotion to the point of changing himself to mold into her image, and beyond that, hes still tied to guilt surrounding fourier’s death. gourmet of gluttony puts all of this way way more intelligently than i ever could, but at the end of the day, i think the best narrative decision here would be for felix to accept himself in ALL of his entirety.

healing in rezero is noted to be a kind power, specifically by fourier and fourier saying this right to felix when hes the most talented healer in lugunica, and healing itself is often stereotypically feminine activity. knighthood is stereotypically masculine, and on top of all this, we see in ex1 that biehn argyle twists the power of healing into something grotesque—trying to bring back the dead and revive what cant be revived, which is once again another reoccurring theme in rezero.

how far can “from zero” go? what HAS to stay dead and what can be revived? who is allowed to live? HOW do you live freely? felix is someone born from a horribly abusive and neglectful family who twisted healing magic’s kindness into cruelty, felix is someone who was taken into a family that showed him kindness and now hes desperate to pay them back with everything he has and everything he is, felix is a healer who lashes out when hes cornered and a healer who treasures life and a knight who cant physically fight like the others, felix is someone stuck with the horrible knowledge that he cant save everyone—that some things just Couldnt end better no matter how much he wished for it to.

felix is stuck between all kinds of worlds, and in terms of gender, hes quite literally still stuck between boyhood and manhood in the biological sense—hes purposefully made it so that he hasnt hit puberty yet so he can better pass as feminine. he hasnt Physically Grown past puberty—which is the mark of becoming an adult. and he hates himself in a number of ways, but he also hates himself for failing to be traditionally masculine. his abusive family stole ten years of his life and the torture left him physically weaker, so he cant be strong physically, which is something associated with traditional masculinity. felix is the best healer, a traditionally feminine job and skill, but he cant save everyone. felix becomes more feminine as part of his deal with crusch, but while crusch accepts her femininity and masculinity readily, and while crusch’s memory is erased by gluttony—felix is left behind, alone, still holding onto femininity while not entirely being able to hold onto it while he also cant entirely hold onto the traditional masculinity he expects out of himself. and with arc 3 on, felix feels hes failed both fourier and crusch. the two most important male and female figures in his life.

felix is basically stuck in this liminal space where hes not Enough for himself in literally every direction, and the only way out is to accept every part of himself and move forward by trying to define who he is without other people—his birth family and his found family dont define him. they can shape him, sure, but he has to stop shaping himself to meet them and figure out how to let himself just. Be. and take up a space thats firmly his. from a queer lens, this kind of thing is pretty queer—because to stop being in between worlds, you have to accept everything instead of splitting yourself into halves over and over again. killing or maiming yourself or parts of yourself is no way to live, and felix is Life itself.

and i think regardless of the Exact Labels you could give felix, i think his arc—which is perfectly in line with all of rezeros themes—is inherently about self acceptance and the bridging of the gap and combination of femininity and masculinity. felix is both and identifies, in one way or another, with both, similar to how he loves someone who identifies with both (crusch) and just as hes loved her and fourier. imo it wouldnt be right for felix to choose one or the other in terms of feminine vs masculine—he needs to be the one learning and navigating his honest feelings on both sides bc i think he Yearns to be both. hes a boy who dresses like a girl and its up to him to know if he wants to be a man and/or a woman due to his own internal desire or if parts of that is Only due to external pressures.

--

and alright now that ive said all my thoughts on felix atm im gonna address the other questions you had in your ask!! note that this is just my opinions and thoughts regarding my own experience in the english fandom, you dont have to agree or anything 👍

but i AM very sorry about your negative experiences in this fandom. T^T people calling other transphobic for using he/him for felix (and also people being transphobic about characters like felix or subaru/natsumi in general) is something ive seen as well. the rezero fandom is sadly very often toxic and Bigoted in a lot of ways (with the exception of rezero tumblr and certain segments of rezero ao3, from what ive seen), which is Ironic for a story thats so clearly about love and self-acceptance, which is also ironic because arguably tappei and otsuka and the rezero marketing team (i Love the female characters in rezero but theres just so much sexualized or vaguely sexist merch/moments that dont add to the story, you know? kind of just. misses the point of their characters sometimes.) sort of contribute to it a little bit as much as tappei does do some really great things with his writing.

rezero is the first fandom ive been active in but its definitely not the first ive ever been in, and ive been in some insane fandoms before. like i said earlier though, i think i just cope by curating my experience to what i like, yknow? liking posts i enjoy, looking at stuff i enjoy, etc :O !! fandom is a hobby so i try not to look at negative stuff when i can help it wkdnd. which im sure youre aware about already but i always have to keep reminding myself of this bc places like rezero reddit or twitter get pretty rough!! but its really helped me just following artists and creators i like, enjoying their content, chatting with cool people i vibe with, rezero tumblr being the chillest rezero space in the whole fandom, and its also helped me a lot making rezero content of my own—like this whole blog!! its really shocked me how much people seem to value my thoughts enough to ask me things frequently but i appreciate it pfft. and i hope you guys like reading my posts!!

but yeah like. curate, curate, curate. it helps a LOT and it gets me excited to experience rezero not only by myself you know? not that i didnt have fun by myself but its its own level of fun finally finding spaces to have fun with others!! and i LOVE finding beautiful fanart!! chef’s kiss. and trying to be the change i want to see is satisfying on its own :,) i want to post random shit about rezero, so i post it. i want to make fanart for fun and share it. i want to brute force people into loving otto more so i ottopost (dont worry, i still hate him bc true otto fans also hate him at the same time <3 /lh). i want more queer rezero content so i try to make some more!! brings more personal power i think and its very fun!! and it helps with lessening the quiet despair of fandom toxicity ;-;; (which is something ive done many times and will continue to do sometimes so i feel your pain 🫂) and i promise theres cool people in the fandom 👍 i may reply late to asks or dms but im ALWAYS down to talk about rezero things its so fun 👍👍

and its really really hard sometimes to deal with fandom toxicity especially if its forcefully knocking at your door—definitely dont force yourself to stay or look at things if you cant, bc thats totally understandable!! and i myself have been harassed a little in the past. but definitely having some sort of coping—the block button, backing out of things you dont agree with or like, lots and lots of curating, etc—helps me a lot. and i think mental health wise i feel much better trying to look on the bright side of things!! its MY hobby goddammit!! ill fight people subaru-style if they try to poison it!! and however long anyone reading this decides to spend with rezero and rezero tumblr—you are welcome here 👍

but yes my very Long rambling aside - i hope this post somewhat helped you!! felix is a very important character that i like very much and need to learn more about and i have Many Feelings on the english side of this fandom, but im very grateful to all the cool people ive met over the years here for sure!! :o

also ill probably post the finished version soon but if youve read this far here is a sneak peak of felix art i did recently (just as a reward for once again reading all of my Endless Yapping)👍👍

[rainbeausobsessions]

Literally no one asked so I'm building my Sonic HC Library

Shadow

100% vibing with him being autistic

no wonder I must protec

Gives off he/they enby, but I also don't think he's thought much about it one way or the other, he just feels like he knows who he is and that's valid

Panromantic, may or may not be demisexual.

He has a type(tm) and it's Maria, I mean, the beaniest of beans, I mean, 'the gentle and hopeful and somehow still fully in love with the world despite being forced to face with the cruelest realities of it' type

(he'd probably hear silver's backstory and just suddenly fall madly in love because this bean is such a bean despite everything he's gone through)

(does this count as demiromantic (probably))

Bruh would feel so awkward with a crush but he'd probably seem mostly normal except to people who knew him pretty well (Rouge, and then she'd tease him for it), and he'd get so flustered if they ever tried to make a move on him like 'what are you doing' + internal panic

Looks like he's totally in control, but if he ever gets his own place it will be an absolute disaster cuz our boi don't know shit

Asking him for polyamory would probably result in "whatever, just spend time with me"

They'd probably get overprotective in physically dangerous situations tho

I’ve also got this theory that Shadow is a genetically modified Chao (for the breakdown, go here)

Sonic

Vibing with the transman fanon rn

I'd say he's on T if it wasn't for the fact that our boi couldn't stay in a single city to save his life

He has a type(tm) and it's Sally Acorn, uh I mean, 'the confident and self-assured but somehow still conscientious leader's type

(I can see him with some of the newer versions of Amy, considering her character growth so far)

(oh look, another demiromantic)

Man can't stick around long enough to keep a long term monogamous relationship tho, so he'd be a comet in a thousand different QPRs

Maybe he's relationship anarchist, idk but it makes sense

Definitely a solo poly guy tho. He's his own primary.

Silver

FEMBOY

My boi deserves all the love

Would probably come back from the future at some point and then just keep delaying going back to the future because all his friends are in the past and he's so lonely

(oh no, can't go back to the future, accidentally started a family in the past, whatever will I do *lives the rest of his life in happiness and adventure*)

is giving he/they/she

Espio

Transmasc goth boi

(I love him)

Seems like he's pretty stable and self-assured. Would probably be really polite and attentive as a partner. Would absolutely just ask his crush out on a date, cuz again, he's in a good place.

(and if he didn't he knows that Vector would stage an intervention for him)

Rouge the Bat

Ngl she's giving transfem/mtf vibes

Absolutely loves messing with people. Probably partly why it's so hard to pin down what her moral compass is, she *likes* keeping people guessing

Can't do that with Shadow tho, they may have even gotten in an argument about it at one point

She still loves him tho, Shadow's a found brother/sibling

Charmy Bee

Baby trans boy

I imagine his Big Brother(tm) Espio started sharing his experiences as a trans guy and Charmy was like "GASP, THAT'S ME!!"

(Someone pointed out to me that female honey bees have stingers and not males, so now it's headcanon)

Vector

Unfortunately I can't not see him as the token cishet guy in Sonic's friend group

Probably gets some loving flack about it ("when's your shell gonna crack, big guy" "you sure you don't wanna check out men? I met a really sweet guy at the bar the other day")

May have a reputation for adopting gays.

Might not suddenly be housing them, but he'd absolutely send random care packages

(is this why you're always in debt, buddy)

Definitely has bi wife energy (his wife being Vanilla (eventually))

(more to come, probably, eventually)

[anomalousmancunt]

If you believe in the right of transmascs to choose the language to describe their experiences with marginalization, why do you think this does not apply to transfems when it comes to TMA/TME?

Because the terms TMA/TME are, inherently, not about someone's own experiences. TME, specifically, is about telling someone no, you do not experience this harm.

I also don't think this is an issue with transfems. Plenty of transfems have spoken about the flaws with the TMA/TME binary, and in my experience it has been mostly self-identified "tmes" proposing it as A Flawless System Of Organization.

A common complaint about the terms TMA/TME is that it creates a false binary of experiences. Another is that it is used to diminish the experiences of transmascs. Transfems have explained that the terms are much more nuanced and this is not what they are meant for. What is the difference here?

The terms TMA/TME are a binary. There is no nuance to be added or ways to really avoid that - one of the terms means, literally, "you face this violence", and the other means "you don't". The latter is, very literally, diminishing the experiences of many other people, including transmascs, and lately it's being used to label people by something they are not (see: people referring to transmascs as "tmes" only, while calling cis people "cis men/women", even though they're supposedly also tme).

The difference is in coining and usage, basically, and in actual meaning. By definition TME cannot mean anything other than "you do not face transmisogyny", and it is used that way. It does not matter if people (again: not only transfems) say it's "not supposed" to be dismissive. It is.

Discussions using the terms TMA/TME have sometimes led to anti-transmasculinity and intersexism. Discussions using the terms transandrophobia/anti-transmasculinity have sometimes led to transmisogyny (I’m not sure if they’ve also sometimes led to intersexism but would not be surprised). Others from both groups have said that the existence of these issues does not take away from the central point of the term(s). What is the difference here?

It is not discussions using the terms TMA/TME but the actual definition of those terms. Via setting one group of people as affected and another as exempt, via setting a binary, the terms already negatively affect intersex people - specially ones that either identify as cis women or are forcibly labeled as such (both by people using TMA/TME and by, like, society at large; this is not limited to CAFAB intersex people but does mostly impact them). And defining a group of trans people by a violence you [general] think they don't experience is, by itself, transphobic. If there was a term that meant "trans people exempt from sex-based oppression" applied mostly to transfems, you'd [general] be right to be against it. That is the issue with "TME" applied to transmascs (/other non-transfem trans people; this is not an issue limited to transmascs).

If a transfem looked through your blog, would they have the same feelings about the ways that you talk about transfems? Is the only time you talk about transmisogyny to complain about the terms TMA/TME? Is the only time you talk about transfems to talk about the harm that some of them have caused to transmascs?

I would hope not, but I also don't believe people need to post about every issue ever, or, on the contrary, post positivity for every group ever. I do believe people, specially us trans people, have a duty of care towards each other, to not partake in lateral violence.

I do not believe this is what the TMA/TME debate is about, though, because -again- it is mostly self-described "tmes" who "only talk about transmascs in negative contexts but never in positive contexts or about the issues we face". I have not found these levels of vitriol on any groups of transfems, besides self-described baeddels and similar groups, and while this blog is somewhat new, I have complained about laterally transphobic transmascs since coming out almost 6 years ago. Including those that make spaces unsafe for transfems in particular.

We want non-transmascs to listen to us when we talk about our experiences, to believe us, and to uplift our voices. Are you doing this for transfems? Are you actively working to learn more about the experiences they have, the issues they face that you do not, and the ways you can be supportive? Are you listening to them when they talk about their experiences, or are you focused on poking holes in their arguments and language? Do you believe that they are the best voices of their own experiences?

I am all for transfems making their own language, as with any other group of marginalized people. I am not for anyone trying to put transfems on a pedestal, or try to tell me what violence I supposedly do not face - specially white trans people from the USA, which have been the most horrible about this entire flavor of discourse. I do not think these questions matter, though, when we're meant to be talking about whether specific language is harmful or not.

I’ve made a lot of posts on here about anti-transmasculinity, because it affects me and then I get pissed off and make a tumblr post, but now my audience is largely transmascs so I want to say this:

If you believe that you have the right to choose the terms to describe your own experience and that others should listen to you when you talk about your own experiences, in the case of anti-transmasculinity/transandrophobia, please apply those beliefs to people with different identities than you. Remember these beliefs when someone with an identity different than you starts talking about their experience. If it makes you uncomfortable, try to figure out why.

This applies to pretty much every facet of identity. I’m on trans tumblr though, so here’s some questions for people who support the term transandrophobia or anti-transmasculinity but oppose the terms TMA/TME (honestly I feel like my posts rarely break transmasc containment but if the reverse is true for you, switch the terms around in the questions):

None of these are meant to be “gotcha” questions. I’m making this post because I think self-reflection and the ability to apply your beliefs about how you deserve to be treated to your treatment of others are important to being in a community with people who are different than you, which is pretty much any community.

- If you believe in the right of transmascs to choose the language to describe their experiences with marginalization, why do you think this does not apply to transfems when it comes to TMA/TME?

- A common complaint about the term transandrophobia/anti-transmasculinity is that it insinuates that men are oppressed for being men. Another is that it is used to diminish the experiences of transfems. We have explained that the term is much more nuances and this is not what it is meant for. A common complaint about the terms TMA/TME is that it creates a false binary of experiences. Another is that it is used to diminish the experiences of transmascs. Transfems have explained that the terms are much more nuanced and this is not what they are meant for. What is the difference here?

- Discussions using the terms TMA/TME have sometimes led to anti-transmasculinity and intersexism. Discussions using the terms transandrophobia/anti-transmasculinity have sometimes led to transmisogyny (I’m not sure if they’ve also sometimes led to intersexism but would not be surprised). Others from both groups have said that the existence of these issues does not take away from the central point of the term(s). What is the difference here?

- A lot of us get mad when we see people who only talk about transmascs in negative contexts but never in positive contexts or about the issues we face. If a transfem looked through your blog, would they have the same feelings about the ways that you talk about transfems? Is the only time you talk about transmisogyny to complain about the terms TMA/TME? Is the only time you talk about transfems to talk about the harm that some of them have caused to transmascs?

- We want non-transmascs to listen to us when we talk about our experiences, to believe us, and to uplift our voices. Are you doing this for transfems? Are you actively working to learn more about the experiences they have, the issues they face that you do not, and the ways you can be supportive? Are you listening to them when they talk about their experiences, or are you focused on poking holes in their arguments and language? Do you believe that they are the best voices of their own experiences?