#i feel bad when i both want to defend all my bi favs

[bardandbear]

At risk of being cancelled on my fresh new blog, i wanted to get out some complex feelings I have about bi characters in video games, as a bi person.

I'm seeing the playersexual discourse raise its ugly head again and make no mistake, I am very staunchly on the bi/pan character identity defence train here. It makes me really angry when people try to erase those identities for selfish reasons, or because deep down they see bisexuality as this hybrid identity instead of its own thing. I want more bi characters in video games.

But what also annoys me is the fact that a lot of the time, bisexuality is treated like a mechanic, it's there to facilitate player enjoyment. Players will use it to pretend that Character is in fact a big fat lesbian or ignore the queer aspects of their identity so they're like Straight +. The actual bi content is seen as optional, player initiated, and often completely unexplored. Convenient, keeping the queer out of the way, neat and tidy. This is what I mean by characters appearing to be playersexual - there is more development given to the player's experience, rather than to the character's identity and how it impacts their interaction with the world.

Of course it's easier to just make everyone bi. It means everyone has equal access to content. It makes sense in a lot of more colourful settings for the definition of sexuality to be more diverse as well, so I don't even have complaints about there being 'too many' bi people for 'realism' (and hell, we often congregate irl anyway). But you can't just slap on an 'anything goes' label for the romance and call it a day. Likewise, modding characters to be 'bi' I find really squicky because there's more to bi identity than just being conveniently available all the time. Bisexuality in video games is so often more about the players and their desires than the characters themselves. That's upsetting.

This is why I will generally advocate for diverse identities, even if it means I don't get to romance my favourite character. Because then people can see their all their identities reflected, because then it makes all identities more real - part of who they are and not a mechanical convenience.

To be clear, I also don't think this phenomenon is black and white, and there are games that have really great representation and really terrible rep at the same time. I just think we can do better and we can criticise how bi people are written in games without invalidating it as an identity.

[punkeropercyjackson]

CW for incest mention incase you're uncomfy with it btw:

Hey I saw one of your reblogs from another blog on a post abt incest and the generalization/desensitisation of it online, looked through your blog on similar topics and I just wanted to say thank you thank you thank you because your posts+reblogs on the topic put into words what I've been feeling for a long time now.

I genuinely hate fandom spaces so much. One of my primary fandoms (not pjo) for an anime I like alot is just an actual nightmare to interact with every time because it's full of proshippers and I feel so helpless bc i want to post my art and media of it on my art account, I want to interact with others who like the show, I want to talk to ppl who like my fav character and hyperfixation!! But you can barely trust anyone in the fandom because it's so normal to ship or tolerate incest that people will genuinely get angry if you even express disdain towards a common incestuous pairing in the fandom, much less state that you don't want to be anywhere near proshippers. Even if I find someone who doesn't support that pairing, they still actively interact with and are mutuals with those who DO. I have like no actual friends and interaction in this fandom because i actively despise incest and proshippers and refuse to interact w people who do

This is actually the last straw for me bc one of my fav mutuals on there and like one of the few ppl I got close to when i started using Tumblr for that fandom, I went thru their blog today and turns out they're a fucking proshipper this whole time and I never knew, they reblogged posts that defend proshippers. I'm so done man, I want to expand my art blog and talk to people but it makes me sick that my art for this fandom could be consumed by people who look at actual incest and think fiction doesn't affect reality when they already dumbed down an incredibly abusive dynamic to uwu twincest. It feels so gross, like I end up feeling like I'm somehow supporting this by staying in the fandom and making art.

I genuinely wonder how you stay in Tumblr fandom spaces without going insane when majority of them on Tumblr (esp what I've experienced from the Pjo fandom too) are full of toxic disgusting people who don't know if they said anything they said online to a normal person irl they'd get decked so fast. /gen

So so sorry if this ask comes off as vent-like, i just ended up rambling since this whole situation is so exhausting. You don't have to respond to this at all if you don't want to, but it would be nice to hear your thoughts too. Ty again :)

Hey Venna!!!!Like i said in my ask to you while on post limit,don't dw,my inbox is always open for fandom vents and i'm so glad i could provide a safe space for you where you wouldn't feel bad for having a backbone and taste!!!

And since you said you wanted to hear my thoughts,i completely agree with you and objectively you're right!!Being grossed out by incest is the behavior of a good person and the normalization of incest and the following pedophillia is a bi-product of terminally online gayness-Incest as a positively potrayed story element is a white supremacy thing as a reflection of it's irl status as also a white supremacy thing,both between white families and forced onto families of color by colonizers!When incest isn't a racist thing,it's either 1.Eugenics specifically('keeping it in the family' is a version of it),2.Ageism via 'punishing kids' or 3.A misogyny thing,see ancient greece since you mentioned Pjo!Pedestary only exists because ancient greek men were so misogynistic they'd rather be pedophiles than be with women,not out of any actual gay attraction,and Percy x gods shippers can look it up if you don't believe me.Note that 'purity culture' as they love to harp on actually means 'normalizing sa as a positive thing for palpability to men and forcing young girls to surpress their sexualities to make it easier for them' and by extension 'puritan' refers to 'highup self-righteous bigot who loves the fabled dark/questionable dynamics/content' so take that as you will,from an afropunk autistic trans person with bptsd

And the way i stay in fandoms is to be with my mutuals who also know this and have the same stances as me on this i.e insta-blocking with zero tolerance for proshitting.If you're interested and want a reason to stay,i can rec you their blogs and they can support your content to encourage your creativity as you deserve as all good people who're artists do and we're all tired of the Pjo proshitter gangs too as we roast them often and we do a lot of positive posting both in our Pjo writings/appreciation and other interests so who knows,you may even become friends with them too!!

[findafight]

All the Paladins are Trekkies, You Cowards

Apparently, I am the only one brave enough to spread The Truth. I cannot believe I haven’t seen anyone ever talk about how five kids going to space school to go to actual space and be space explorers are 100% absolute nerds for iconic space pop culture?? Rude. I am here to fix that with a too long text post about Paladins loving Star Trek because I do too.

Shiro: Aight, my man. He really really admires Picard all right. Level headed mostly (but has a temper!) and stands up for his crew and tries his goddamn best and is respectable but also a badass who is captured by aliens and tortured. But also is a fan of Enterprise. (Matt lowkey is insulted becuase “They changed the Captain canon! Rude!!”)He has a fondness for TOS (as we all must) but for him? Next Gen is where it’s at. He may have been introduced to it by Matt because of course he was. (Matt’s preferred is Deep space Nine tho) One time he made a Borg joke with his Galra tech arm and Hunk nearly had a heart attack.

Lance: Everyone thinks that obviously Lance’s fave is Kirk because bi flirt out in space with literally any alien who is semi humanoid and hot? Lance’s thing! But no. oh man oh nO. He adores Captain Janeway. LIke, will fight for her and defend her honour. Don’t diss Voyager in front of Lance because you are just asking for a lecture about missed potential. He loves every character on that show please don’t get him started. (He cries about Seven?Tuvok is so cool?) Maybe it’s nostalgia, but he doesn’t care. His family would watch Star Trek together and commentate. (do you really think Lance isn’t the guy to talk through things making snarky comments?) Also? Tom Paris??? his idol. He literally wanted to BE Tom when he was a kid. Hot shot pilot in space? (warP TEN) Hell yeah. (He doesn’t tell anyone that a fictional pilot on a tv show that gets less respect than its counterparts was his inspo for being a space pilot. He lets everyone think it was Shiro, who was also inspo, but not the first)

Hunk: In a “sure buddy, choose the movies we marathon this weekend” gesture for Lance, Hunk has seen all Star Trek movies ever made, (including the two part Voyager finale because “It’s as good as, Hunk. we deserve a Voyager movie”) thus inducting him into being a fan. His fav is The Voyage Home. (“oh my gosh, he can talk to whales!” “he sure can, he’s so cool.”) Please do not ever mention the Borg ever because Hunk does not need to think about a virus species of tech enhanced people and aliens taking over the universe. He really enjoys Next Gen, though, and loves Geordi. (also B’Elanna. and Scottie. ok literally any Engineer and they are Hunk’s fave). DS9 is his all time fave though.

Pidge: Frick, man. Matt is her big bro? She’s been able to quote Rath of Kahn since she before she could walk. (Do not tell her mother that her first word was KAAAAAHN when Matt took something away from her.) She, like Lance, grew up with family Trek time. The Original Series is her favourite, obviously, with how much she watched it. (It is her dad’s ok, and no matter what you tell me she’s daddy’s little girl.) Though she has soft spots the size of a warp core for both Data and the Doctor because robots?? And holograms?? FeELING????? DISCOVERING THEIR HUMANITY AND HELPING THEIR FRIENDS KNOW THEIR OWN. YES. She is ready to drag Lance and Voyager SO HARD (even though it isn’t that bad)

Keith: brah. boi. He’s only seen the 2009 reboot and, though the rest of the team knows not to mock new fans,  what the quiznak Keith? (Lance is morrally offended and demands team bonding  binge watching) He thought it was fine?? Not worth the hype though, and take offence to all the digital screens onboard the Enterprise because “those would crack so easily why do you think NASA hardly changed cockpit designs?? because it’s sturdy and woRKS.” “oh man then wait ‘till you get a load of the original series, my man.” Once he actually watches the series TOS is his fave. Classic, and sturdy spaceship. He doesn’t care if it’s kind of hokey, it’s fun. (Though he does sometimes yell “that doesn’t make seNSE!”)

(Unfortunately, Discovery hasn’t aired yet but maybe I’ll update this when it does?) I can’t fit everyone in ST in this but anyway I love space and Star Trek and Voltron.