peachran

[peachran]

Officially can’t be on tumblr till I get a chance to watch the final episode of windbreaker. So many things have been spoiled just from scrolling 🥲

[peachran]

So many people think Suo is gonna be a traitor. I think he’s gonna get his ass kicked. Sakura made a point of saying “you’re the last person I’d expect to get beaten up” and then SPOILER in the latest chapter they put a lot of emphasis on the one Shishitoren guy who got beaten up so bad he was in a full body cast. I think Suo will be Sakura’s snap into his own beast mode like we saw with Ume in his fight on the roof.

[peachran]

i’m going to hold your hands when i say this and i am only going to be kind about it once: ai does not belong in fandom spaces, ever. not in writing, not in art, not in video, not at all. it does not matter how bad you want to see your favourite characters kiss, or how much you need a bit of help finishing a chapter, or whatever.

make friends with artists. commission somebody. learn to draw yourself. ask for a beta read. try a writing partnership. fandom spaces are communities, so engage with them! it is about the journey and the fact that we all love something enough to create and build together about that thing.

spending 30 seconds to kill a tree and get an AI to push out some soulless empty piece of “content” is antithetical to the entire point of being engaged with fandom, and if you’ve taken to doing this you should really reconsider if you belong in these spaces with the rest of us.

[peachran]

shaming and making fun of people for still engaging in fandom activities once they reach a certain age is so embarrassing because why are you giving yourself an expiration date of time you have fun? why are you not-so-indirectly saying you will stop having fun once you reach a certain age? or do you really believe you have to stop engaging in fandom activities and having fun once you turn (x)? do you not think you will, what, live that long and turn that age too? do you think fun will suddenly stop for you and life will all of a sudden lose its meaning once you reach a certain age? how sad to be giving yourself an hourglass and just waiting for your time of having fun to run out.

adults can and should engage in fandom activities if it's what makes them happy.

adults can and should continue doing whatever they like doing as teenagers if it's what makes them happy.

age is just... part of life. it's a part of me and it's a part of you. shaming people for something you will have to go through (unless you don't think you will live that long) is such a loser behavior. indirectly saying you will stop having fun once you reach a certain age isn't the flex you think it is. it doesn't make you look "cool and edgy", it makes you look miserable.

[peachran]

deleting this later but im sharing my two cents on tsubaki

tsubakis story is a universal queer experience. anyone who is queer is able to relate to it (myself included) to various extents. as such, certain aspects of his story can be interpreted as them representing a different identity (the most common being a trans female)

however, i feel like these views are counterintuitive to the message tsubakis story is trying to convey. the whole point of it is to show that the things you love don’t need to be restrict to an unnecessary gender binary. you are free to love the things you like, and present yourself however you want, because you’re you. assuming tsubaki is a girl just because they present themselves as feminine, likes things that are considered feminine, and has people address them with feminine terms even though the story explicitly states that things like these don’t need to be constricted into a specific gender binary is pretty… eh….

it just further reinforces the fact that if you like girly things you are a girl, which is just generally a terrible message to spread. tsubakis story subverts these societal norms; that boys and girls must like certain things, and if they like some thing that was ‘intended’ for the other gender binary, then they’re either part of that gender or are “weird”.

and before i see anything about the feminine terminology, drag queens (both cis and trans) also address themselves and their peers with feminine terminology. im not saying that tsubaki is a drag queen, but things like this are common even in real life

perhaps it can be argued that it’s counterintuitive to try to force tsubakino into these certain labels. but i ask you to ask yourselves this question: if tsubaki wasn’t male, then why would nii satoru write a character like them attending an all-boys school? it certainly wouldn’t harbor good implications if this was true, as it would imply the fact that even if they identify as another gender identity, they are ultimately male.

tsubakino has never used a label for themselves throughout the story, so it makes sense as to why the confusion exists. but then again, i dont think things like these need to be spelt out to the audience.

in essence, tsubaki is undoubtedly queer. his story and his character are both very important to me, and the same applies to many people in the fandom. wind breaker has not only amazing, but explicit queer representation; something which is very rare in ‘mainstream’ mangas, as nii sensei is upfront about his identity with no filter or censorship

although it is important to distinguish what exactly tsubaki represents and how it connects with queer identity and maybe even wbks themes, at the end of the day they are tsubaki. after all, gender is just a small part of who we are. im not trying to diminish their gender id, but i think people are too fixated on whether tsubaki was intended to be written as x or y, rather than understanding whats been presented in the text on an objective level and its overarching themes

in a similar vein, you are you, no matter if youre queer or not, no matter if you like to use labels for yourself or not. infighting like this is fucking stupid and pointless. lets all love tsubaki for his character and for who he is

[peachran]

Forcing Tsubaki to be transfem is not the progressive, "better", or more "politically correct" reading you think it is

Look.

I'm genuinely tired of people trying to canonically rewrite or force Tsubaki to be a trans female when he's explicitly written to be gender non-conforming, comfortable with what is traditionally seen as feminine, and open with expressing himself without conforming to rigid masculinity in Japan.

Making him a trans female is not the queer activism you think it is. Tsubaki is comfortable being a gender non-conforming man. Erasing his identity by forcing him to be a trans girl defeats his entire message of how men can be comfortable in their own bodies, even if they enjoy things not associated with their societal gender. I don't think making Tsubaki go to an all-boys school if he IDs as a trans female is any good writing either.

Forcing him to be transfem also completely erases the meaning of this scene:

They never say that lipstick is a "girl's thing", that makeup is a "girl's thing", that liking "cute and pretty things" (paraphrasing) is a "girl's thing". Because that's the whole point! Things you like don't need to be gendered! You like what you like, you can be what you are and break gender norms, you are your identity and nobody can take that expression from you. That's the fucking essence of being queer!

"Why do I like this? Normal boys don't like it" / "CUZ YOU'RE A GIRL!!!!" <- this is not the fucking progressivism you think it is!!! You are forcing him into the gender binary of being a female when he sees himself as a queer, gender non-conforming gay man!!!!

He doesn't see himself as a woman. He still accepts that he loves Umemiya. He is comfortable with both his sexuality and gender expression.

Tsubaki literally says he likes "cute and pretty" things, not "girly and feminine" things. He doesn't gender what is traditionally and societally framed as "feminine" because he isn't bound by the hierarchy of gender expectations.

People always say they want more gender non-conforming characters, that they want more men who are comfortable with traditionally feminine attire, but y'all couldn't even respect Tsubaki's identity and the outlying existence of Japan's otokonoko culture as a whole 🥸 Quoting Niisato's interview isn't a cop-out to be openly transphobic. Insisting Tsubaki is transfem does more queer erasure to his character as a gnc and openly gay man.

Like, sure, after you're done reading this and you still insist he's transfem, it means no matter what people say you're not going to change your mind, so go ahead with the queerphobia lol. Speaking as someone who's transneu and genderqueer myself, trans and gnc experience come hand in hand, I understand why people would read him like that even though it blatantly goes against what is established as his character, but I digress. But that doesn't excuse taking away Tsubaki's defiance of labels. That doesn't justify calling Niisato's writing of Tsubaki as a censored version of transness, or a refusal to commit to writing a trans character.

Tsubaki is an intentional and well-written character, he expresses everything he wants to express. He isn't a 'half-assed trans character' that Niisato didn't commit to, he is who he presents as on the tin: gnc, queer, and gay.

"He wants people to call him big sis" -> the whole concept of drag culture is tossed out of the window, I guess. And I suppose genderqueer people don't exist anymore. Anyone can do drag, but plenty of cisgender & queer men also don a drag queen/hyperfeminine identity when dressed up. That doesn't make them any less of a man. That doesn't make them a trans woman. You can also call girl 'dude, bro' and boys 'girlie'... does that change their gender? No lol 🥸

Western fandom has a serious problem of erasing people who present as gender non-conforming by forcing them to fit the binary of male/female. It's like the inverse of toxic masculinity: "this male/female character likes feminine/masculine things, so he/she must be a girl/boy!" <- how is this progressive? How is this better writing for Tsubaki? How is forcing him into another rigid box good for his character?

Let Tsubaki be a gay and genderqueer man, omfg. Gendering the things he likes into 'girly' and by default making him transfem is just an assassination of his character.

There's plenty of transfem anime characters out there that deserve your love. But Tsubaki—and on that note, all the otokonoko characters out there—are men who aren't restricted by the tight binary of gendered items/hobbies.

For the love of media literacy, please accept that men can be men while liking (unnecessarily-gendered) 'feminine' things, and in that vein, it's not that you like "girl's stuff" as a man—you like it because you like it.

Make-up, clothing, sparkly things, and long hair aren't gendered as 'feminine' to Tsubaki, even if he accepts that it is traditionally liked by girls. He likes it and that is it. That is final. He likes it so he wears it, he is honest and true to who he wants to be.

[peachran]

I actually really love Jun Wu as a character, and wish I’d see more discussion on him! He’s so compelling and so well written. His motive and mission are just fascinating and his relationship with Xie Lian in all its forms has different meanings on all levels!

[peachran]

[peachran]

214. Arson

[peachran]

[peachran]

He sillied a little too close to the sun (Xie Lian)

[peachran]

San Niang made breakfast 💕

[peachran]

I see everyone is hyped about Hua Cheng carrying Xie Lian in the new audio drama trailer. But can I suggest you Xie Lian carrying Hua Cheng?

[peachran]

Lisa wearing custom Mark Gong at the 97th Academy Awards

[peachran]

ARIANA GRANDE at the 97th Academy Awards (Oscars) (March 02, 2025)

[peachran]

look at him... just look at him

What dorks. I am so in love with this whole scene.

[peachran]

Wip of the hq charms I'm doing! (One set will be home and away outfits on diff sides) and the other will be sakura themed ! 🩷