Even If That Means Not Using She/her Pronouns Or Being Feminine Or Even Being Thin. - Tumblr Posts
hi. going to speak on something that's been bothering me for the past... however long, since it seems like complaint posts have been cropping up lately. putting this under the cut.
Maybe I'm reading too far into things. Maybe I'm wrong. But I feel like there is a massive difference in how this fandom treats the women versus the men.
Again. Maybe I'm wrong. I sincerely hope I'm just wrong. It's hard to think that, though, when I see the differences in how people treat the major antagonists of the series.
John Juniper is a fandom favorite. I feel like people have talked about him more than any other character I've seen, save for Agent Phoenix and perhaps the Handler. I see people come up with any reason for him to not actually be as bad of a person as we see in canon - despite the fact that he wants to launch nuclear weapons. He wants to kidnap and impersonate public figures. He's having a good time playing the villain. I've seen his actions excused in any number of ways.
Meanwhile... When people do talk about Solaris, it tends to be to remind people of very surface level information, rather than to do any sort of in depth analysis style posts. I see information that's incomplete or just not really true passed around a lot. The Fabricator is flattened down so incredibly often to just one character trait - her anger, typically exaggerated to be comical hatred of John Juniper in particular or just... Violence in general. And yes, she gets angry frequently, but I never see her given the same depth to that anger as John Juniper is given to his. And Prism? An antagonist that gets as much screen time as Juniper, if not more? I hardly see her mentioned at all these days. And even when she was talked about, I don't recall seeing many people analyze her character. Or talk about her motivations. Definitely not in the same way Juniper gets talked about, at the very least. All three of them are mischaracterized often, from my observations, flattened to pave the way for... John Juniper, mostly.
And that's not even getting into the background women who aren't talked about at all when compared to the men with similar story roles.
It's... Frustrating. I surround myself with people who enjoy the characters I do, who find it interesting to talk about the women in this game. I make the content I want to see. But the last time I said anything outside of those close circles, I was told to... Make the content I want to see. To engage with the content that's out there. And that frustrates me, too. Because I'm making it. I had been making it. I was actively working on Biomechatronic at the time. I was drawing, posting my art, and ever since I entered the fandom I've focused mainly on the women - The Fabricator, in particular. And I don't make art just for views or internet points or what have you, but it is discouraging to feel like the fandom doesn't care about what I have to offer.
Like whatever characters you want to like. I'm not trying to tell anyone to stop making the art or posts they enjoy making. But... I have noticed a trend, and it's one I find somewhat concerning. That's all.