I wonder though how much of this “taboo-ness” of fandom was tied to fear of queerness.

When I came out to my mom she said “What’s the point of labeling that? You’re married.”

She has learned a lot since. But those words put me back in the closet for another 14 months.

They taught me that my “secret” interest in anime and games wouldn’t make me a terrible degenerate. They fully accepted me for who I was and for the things I hadn’t ever been allowed to even consider unpacking as a teen. And I love them both for that beyond what words can describe.

Then I met my best friend in college. And then I met the man I’d eventually marry. And both of them told me to play games, to watch cartoons, to just be a part of a fandom culture and be accepted for the first time in my life.

For years, I repressed any interest in nerdy things even though I wanted to explore them. And I think this is inextricably linked to how long it took me to come out as bisexual. Though being queer was never taboo in my family, exploring fandom (and is weirdness and queerness) was.

My first act of “rebellion” in college was setting up my own fanfic account and writing fan fiction. After a few missed school deadlines, I remember tearfully confessing it to my mom on the phone like I’d done something unforgivable.

I was sent extremely strong signals that what I was doing was degenerate and wrong and that it would damage me irreparably. I kept a notebook under my mattress where I wrote extremely tame fanfic and I guarded that secret. This was hard because I had an extremely close relationship with my mom.

Yeah that’s also super valid. The performativity of it is very icky especially when most of the examples are like…not what workplace abuse actually looks like. And then there are so many people out there creating actual toxic examples and nothing gets done. It sucks.

I think no one is gonna argue that the trainings are obnoxious. But as someone who has PTSD from workplace harassment, this reads as a pretty bad take.

Pretty sure I chipped a tooth on these once and the dentist was like “eh that’s fine you’re about to lose it anyway”. Hooray the 90s.

I gotta give it up to the writers tho. If NYC elects a Muslim mayor on the day Dick Cheney died, that is one hell of a slow played story arc. Every time you want to fire 2025's writers room they give you a little narrative resolution as a treat.

I love every single facial expression here. But especially Cell.