disclaimer: this is not a fandom blog! I am happy to interact with fandom spaces and talk to people about our shared interests of course, but a lot of the things that would fall under “me creating fanwork” here is honestly just me drawing from my paracosms and as such I don’t feel comfortable tagging them traditionally. If I ever do happen to tag fanart with the actual fandom tag though that just means I’m passing by. Thank you!.
it doesn't make much sense. when people ask your f/o what they like best about you, nothing really comes to mind. "i dont know. theyre just nice. i like it when they smile i guess." and that really is it. there are no grandious feelings that make you extremely special to them. which makes it all that much more delightfull that they keep sticking to you.
Rant about how trans characters are treated in fandoms
Particularly in the TADC and FNAF as they are the ones I see doing this the most, this will focus on Zooble, Ribbit, Mangle, Funtime Foxy and somewhat Springbonnie.
This will NOT include spoilers for episode 9, because I have not seen it I won't mention anything about it- its mostly about the fandoms use of pronouns anyway than the content of the show.
tl;dr- Please use ALL of a characters pronouns [and don't debate the gender of a clearly trans character], it affects real trans people and tells us you don't respect our identities- even if it doesn't affect you, it affects others.
You may immediately notice that all those characters, minus Springbonnie, use multiple sets of pronouns, Zooble using any, Ribbit using She/They, and Mangle and Funtime Foxy using She/He.
To start- since this is sadly a debate, Mangle is referred to as 'She' and 'He' in her Ultimate custom night description. Funtime Foxy suprisingly is not known by lots to use both sets of pronouns despite being referred to by them in her original game, and being called he/him in UCN yet being in Girl's Night.
^Transcript of Hand Unit from night 3
^Transcript of 'Angsty Teen' Hand Unit from night 2
Yet despite these characters using multiple sets of pronouns, many people only use one, typically the one of the gender they lean into...
I rarely ever see Zooble being referred to by he/him, usually only being called 'they' or 'she', and he's often grouped in with the girls when people talk about Jax being sexist despite not being a girl. This is because they have a more feminine voice and main colours [Pink for their head paired with a more neutral yellow], so whilst many use 'they' rarely anybody uses 'he' because they aren't 'masculine enough' to have those pronouns in many peoples minds... And often its subconscious which is really depressing.
Ribbit's treatment is hightened by shipping culture in which people wanted them to be a man to be mlm with Jax [ironic considering the transfem Jax theory thats been going around since ep 5, since it would make them both t4t lesbians, so hey, you still have your queer ship, just a different flavour]. Because of this there were gender wars in the fandom just like there was with Mangle, so when her PRONOUNS, not gender, were released, people were acting like children. On one side you had the people sad she wasn't a boy, then you had the self righteous jerks acting like they were superior since Ribbit was confirmed to be a 'girl', then you had the normal people who were just disappointed or happy but accepted it.
The amount of blatant misgendering during this was appalling, with many ignoring the 'they' in the equation, this sadly has continued even until this day. I have seen posts talking about Ribbit in detail, yet never using 'they' at all- I kid you not I saw a post where every sentence started with 'she', 'they' was not used even once and there was over 10 sentences.... People also just assume pronouns = gender, calling them a demigirl, despite- as far as I'm aware- their gender never being confirmed, nonbinary people also can use 'she', heck Ribbit could even be genderdoe [Genderfluid but never going over masc identities] or literally anything else [This is only a pet peeve though, not really transphobia since it isn't erasing their transness]! Yet rarely anyone uses 'they' when talking about Ribbit and constantly lump them in with the girls- this was happening before we even knew they were feminine or had a feminine voice, people just wanted them to be binary for some fucking reason!
Out of all these characters Funtime Foxy is least well known nonbinary character but did have his gender debated since his description in both SL custom night and UCN used 'he' only, yet he was in the 'Girls Night' challenge in both games. Now that her masc voice has been revealed more people refer to her as 'he' and completely ignore the fact she also uses 'she'. She is the one I most often see pushed into a binary- but that might just be because I don't see a lot of content including him.
Springbonnie and Lolbit are two characters without confirmed gender, in Lolbit's case its never been brought up at all, but in Springbonnie's... The FNAF World loading screen quite literally says 'Male? Female? It's a rabbit, who cares.' and Springbonnie themself in FNAF world is androgynous, even if it wasnt on purpose Springbonnie is clearly nonbinary based on that and doesnt give a damn about how they are perceived- yet people are so quick to get nasty with those who show them as anything but male, presumably because of Springtrap being male- despite that being William and Springbonnie being her own character, just like in canon the Puppet being referred to as 'he' or 'it' whilst possessed by Charlie who is only ever referred to as 'she'.
The Great Mangle Gender debatetm is probably one of the most well known things within the early FNAF fandom, if you joined around SB you might not know it since it's calmed down a bit, but is still frustratingly relevant. People are still arguing that he's a girl- I have had to debate this bs with people so I know it's still happening despite him canonically using he/she and his gender being jokingly referred to as 'yes' for literal years, which you'd think would make it obvious his gender isn't binary, right?...
...
...Right?
Yeah, no. People are still debating she's a girl because she's fem looking with a fem voice, even despite Nightmare Mangle, an alternate version of her, also being referred to by 'he' in UCN whilst being in Girl's Night as well.
And you know the worst part? I debated this with another nonbinary person who defended it because they were also nonbinary and it didn't bother them [Good for you], another person who I was arguing with also told me to 'calm down' when I was [definitely fairly rude, but so were they] correcting the misinfo they were spreading to someone who genuinely didnt know Mangle's gender- and they were using UCN to say Mangle's a girl!
Then there was another comment section filled with people saying shit like 'she's a girl in my heart' [Almost a direct fucking quote btw- and she's still a girl, she's just also a boy] and saying that calling Mangle a girl and ignoring that he's also a boy isn't a big deal-
Maybe it's not to you- because you don't face that version of fucking transphobia, do you? And if you do, shame on you.
I am so damn lucky to have not faced that kind of transphobia myself, the kind where people put you in a binary box and refuse to use both sets of pronouns because they don't see you as your actual gender- but the only fucking reason I haven't is because I haven't told anyone!
Fiction affects reality in terms of representation, it shapes peoples view of something which is why showing trans people in a positive and correct light in media is critical. Which is why people who just say 'it's a fictional character, its not that deep' is infuriating- because this mindset affects real trans people. It shows us that if we don't look or act like what's associated with the pronouns we use, you wont see us as our damn gender or use the correct pronouns. When you use only one set of pronouns- especially when it's the one correlated with the characters birth sex or, like in Zooble's case, the one they seem 'more like' [Because Zooble is still fairly androgynous even despite the fem voice], you're just showing us you don't actually view us as our gender and dont respect us enough to even use the right pronouns...
Using only one set of pronouns is 'that deep' because you don't accept our full identity- even if you don't realize it, that's what it is, I know because I used to think like that!
And telling actual trans people to calm down because their upset about a 'subtle' form of transphobia that effects so many trans people, is appalling behaviour and you need to rethink some things.
This is important to me, because I look like my birth sex. I don't try to be androgynous and I don't tell people my pronouns at all, I've only ever set them to 'They/Them' on online profiles almost nobody IRL knows about- and heres something I haven't shared, my second set of pronouns, I'm Genderdoe/Genderfaun myself, meaning I'm Genderfluid but don't go over masc/fem [not saying which] identities, and the second set of pronouns I sometimes use is the one matching my birth sex. Whilst I am more often comfortable with they/them only I know that if I ever put my actual gender in my bio, I'll likely just get called by the pronouns matching my birth sex even though I rarely go by them...
I cannot be my full self ever unless I want to face this sort of transphobia, and people who refuse to use all of a characters pronouns just highlight how true this is- and it's not just me who thinks this, I've seen several posts about people only ever using one set of pronouns for them- even online, and the people talking about this are clearly affected by it. It's the same damn thing as calling trans people who don't pass very well the pronouns of their birth sex, it's just hidden behind "well they do use those pronouns so even though I'm ignoring a part of their identity I'm still technically using the correct pronouns".
Not using all of a characters pronouns is a form of transphobia that people refuse to recognize, and it hurts actual people- including myself.
one of these big new indie cartoons should release with an exclusive adopt of like the main character. pay up 10000 dollars to be the only one whos legally allowed to draw pomni. i feel like the resulting fandom drama would change the face of the internet it would be so cool
when a 'love you' slips out, your f/o knows you didnt mean it. they know that its a simple expression of appreciation and that none of the heaviness associated with it is real.
they understand that it is just a nice and quick statement. they treat it as a joke. and when they humoursely say it back, both of you are glad that your actual feelings are far more important than some word.
