#splatoon bottom feeders

[conkreetmonkey]

Still funny how Nintendo accidentally made a transfem splatband member by giving a betta woman long, flowing fins that look like long hair and a dress despite only the male betta fish having fins like that. There's no way it was intentional, and it was totally a "frilly and pretty = girl" type mindset that backed them into this corner. Finn Feeder has features that only a biologically male betta has, yet goes by she/her pronouns and presents very femininely. How else can this possibly be interpreted. That fish is trans and, in a meta sense, it's entirely by accident.

[punk-rockrz]

No more fin on tangle violence. They are friends.

[peck2neck]

💥💥💥💥hi fin bottom hi tangle bottom

[boiledegghole]

bottom feeders doodles +one salmonid

[id0ntwantyourbloodmoney]

I need bottom feeders fans

please if i do not see a dude who also likes bottom feeders, the best splatbands in splatoon, i will cry

[splatoon-confession-box]

I LOVE BOTTOM FEEDERS SOOOO MUCH THEYRE THE BESTEST FOREVER AND EVER fin bottom is soo cool and i love the designs of the characters and their personalities + the ink theory rivalry is SO COOL (i also love ink theory) and when i listen to their music i get all giddy and start kicking my feet and squealing like a girl in a disney sitcom or somethign. theyre actually soo cool i luv them heehehe❤️

also i think itd be pretty cool to see them return in splatoon 3 !!!!!! hoping for more bands in splat3 generally but them specifically would be neat!! not only cuz im super biased but also i think they fit with the chaossy theme of the game :3

[pansiesart]

Splatband doodles

[ryotaronogami]

“Seafoam Shanty” (by Bottom Feeders from Splatoon) stimboard

Credits: x-x-x | x-x-x | x-x-x

[003soy]

[cephalocrow]

the t hthe t he

[splatoonpolls]

Slide im using as a reference

[leixo-demo]

Underpass new member, and his inevitable first defeat

[malama-art]

splatband doodles

[veeloopz]

My page for the splatplanner zine!!

[fishhjuice]

[Also available on Twitter]

Disclaimer: Content warnings for Discussions of Xenophobia, Racism and Transmisogyny. This is not at all meant to be a hit piece for Finn or anyone who likes Finn. I love Finn, hence why i'm writing all about the said unfortunate implications of Finn's characterization, so we can acknowledge them and act accordingly.

Firstly, we have to talk about the said characterization.

Finn is the crown-tail betta fish violinist of Bottom Feeders, the celtic rock band of Splatoon 2, and has also been featured in Riot Act's "No Plan Survives". Finn, due to her stubborn personality, and how she does things in her own way, frequently clashes with the other members of her band, leading to the band nearly dissolving on several instances. [X] She has been portrayed as getting physical towards other members of her band (namely Tangle) as depicted in the art above, which has led the fandom to speculate this is Finn showing aggression due to being a betta, (a ""male"" betta to be specific, getting to that)

A thing to note about Finn is that although in canon she has been referenced in a feminine way (through Beika), in betta fish it is the males, not females that have the colorful, long fins, which has made her trans-coded.

So basically we have a possibly trans woman character who has darker skin and is implied to be celtic/Irish due to her genre. Let's unpack the implications of portraying her through her aggression.

Black-Coding and Finn

Black characters are at times portrayed as angry, overly hostile and aggressive in dominant media due to systematic racism and prejudice we exist in. These depictions have a long racist history, and been used to justify racist practices by portraying black people as more primitive, more susceptible to their base instincts, compared to the logical, calm white race. So you can see one of the big reasons to why it is so imporant to not portray Finn as always angry and ready to fight as a darker skinned character even if canon text doesn't per say treat her as a black person.

For the record, there is nothing wrong with Black people, or Finn for that matter, to be angry, or to have fights. It is through constant depiction of a black or black-coded character like that which is harmful and only contibutes to and reinforces marginalization of black people.

Trans-Coding and Finn

Another issue starts with portraying Finn as aggressive due to her nature as a "biologically male betta". For the uninitiated, bettas are known to be Siamese Fighting Fish for a reason, and male bettas are especially known for being more aggressive than their female counterparts, due to them not being able to live with other males. However, the fact they show less aggression doesn't mean that females show no aggression. Female betta will establish hierarchies and enforce them, and bite an chase each other as males do to do so. [X] I tell you all this to point out how it is no justification to portray Finn's aggression as a result of her being amab, because any narrative with Finn that portrays that aggression as innate to Finn's male nature is dangerously close to to transmisogynist/TERF rhetoric that it is men's biological innate nature to be aggressive, and trans women who are biologically male are inherently aggressive and a threat.

Irish-Coding and Finn

Then you might say, Finn is Irish, that might be it, the Angry Irish streotype (which is possibly what the devs were going for). Even if anti-Irish sentiment has died down considerably (especially compared to anti-black or anti-trans sentiment) and even if due to that this is the arguably most ""innocent"" portrayal of Finn's aggression, i still think it needs to be acknowledged that Irish prone to anger and violence is a colonial streotype perpetuated by Britain against the Irish who were resisting their colonization, portraying them as rude and barbarous to their expense. Although this streotype arguably lost it's bite (depends on who's arguing), it still persists to this day, and that alone makes it important to acknowledge.

Finn and Fandom

So what now? Splatoon has a very delicate to portray character that is often mishandled due to her "aggression"?

Well, Let's rip the bandaid off.

Even if Finn is portrayed as fighting her bandmates, the canon text never calls Finn aggressive. The Haikara Walker blurb never uses the word aggressive. The word they use to describe Finn is stubborn. According to canonical text, Finn gets into fights because she is stubborn, and wants things to be done in her way. That in itself does not at all imply she is aggressive. I emphasize this, because I want you to understand Finn as constantly aggressive and hostile and ready to start fights is a fandom invention. You can interpret the band fight to imply Finn is an aggressive person, sure, but it would be your interpretation of the White Day art at the end of the day (in which Tangle is also fighting back but you know, it's only Finn who is characterized in a certain way).

The fact charitable interpretations of Finn are rarer than they should be is a problem.

I think it is a thing in itself to be examined that "Finn is acting like a betta" is also fandom attribution to Finn. In Splatoon, although characters might have animal impulses (inklings and octolings) they are not defined by their animal traits. Another example to an "aggressive fish" in Splatoon canon is Kikura, whose species is a very aggressive cichlid, and yet Kikura is not portrayed with any aggression, making us see it is not canon but fanon that portrays Finn this way.

And even if it was concrete canon that Finn was influenced by her nature as a betta or male betta for that matter, or somewhat imply Finn is an inherently aggressive person, it would be fandom's responsibility to navigate that with utmost care as to not further marginalize marginalized people and not contribute to it.

The fact we are having this talk shows we've failed in this or that reality.

Why is Finn's passion for music making is not a driving force in her characterization? The fact she wants to share the music she loves? The fact she is described to be glamorous? Why has this one debatable aspect of Finn's characterization became all there is to Finn when it has such unfortunate implications no matter which angle you take? I leave that question up to you, and I ask you to be more mindful of all of things.

Thank you for reading.

[splat-details]

its a shame it seems like for splatoon 3 were not gonna get the sorta slice of life splatband art that we got for splatoon 2