Why Wander is such an important character

Very long post below!

Ill be rambling about Wander over Yonder, specifically, WANDER!!

The show in itself is already amazing, the episodes are short and fun, each character is oozing with personality and fun interactions and there are always ways in which it is all connected. Further on the animation of the show and overall look is absolutely adorable!

For me personally, Wander is simply such an important character and not for few reasons.

I love that Wander's silly happy go lucky personality is so addictive. He's a happy person, who gets happy by helping others in need, even to points where he gets himself in trouble (every episode LOL) But regardless i think they are such an important character traits to have (Happiness, altruism, Optimism).

In today's depressing and violent world, where everyone just fights with each other, a character like Wander can be a sense of hope or inspiration!

Of course, many main characters have these traits as well, but i think a key difference between Wander and many other optimist protagonists lies in their EXPERIENCE IN LIFE!

These other protags are innocent, naive optimists, because they haven't experienced "the real world" yet. And while it makes sense to have characters like these (as an allegory to growing up), they get really tiring and repetitive really quickly. They also commonly showcase optimism and naivety to go hand in hand. And its why a lot if people commonly believe that "realsim" is inherently "pessimistic" (it isn't btw. Theres good and bad in life, denying theres good, is denying reality)

Its extremely refreshing to have a main character like Wander, actually be hinted at being millennias old, repeatedly converting villains to good throughout the eons, out of a sense of duty (and perhaps also Pacifist revenge for his childhood, where its hinted that his entire planet was destroyed and he was the only survivor.)

not only is this also something that one learns, the more one watches (keeping the viewer intrigued) but the fact that so much about Wander's life and past is a mystery is what makes him a fascinating character. At first glance hes just some helpful guy, and the more you learn about him, the more you more you think "who is this guy?" Not in a negative way, but in a complete curiosity. Is it possible he's as old as the universe himself? If so does he know it? Who is he? What actually happened in his past? How did he live before his hat? Was there a time he wasn't as helpful? What caused him to change? Who is he? But at the same time, the viewer doesn't NEED to know. Theres no stress to, no hurry to uncover a mystery. Its like "mystery but it's actually completely low-key". I like that. (Im the kind to get into conspiracy theories or get crazy over plot holes, so the show managing this is insane)

Traits like these, especially in contrast to their personality being so so happy, child-like, goofy, charitable, it makes for an extremely interesting and fascinating character, that one doesn't commonly see in media! Which is really awesome! Someone that's seen so much horrors, lived through civil wars, yet tries to help a skeleton get together with a butch lesbian??

Its awesome!

Other that just that alone, he's helped me out personally! He in many ways reminds me of myself as a kid, i too was altruistic, always trying to help, struggled to say no, was positive and happy go-lucky and adventurous (well, as all kids i suppose), recently rediscovering the show made me realise how much i missed those personality traits in myself. That i had hidden them away, due to people making fun of me of being "too naive" and "too childish". Eventually Making me not talk to people really, and develop really bad self esteem. Rediscovering this show, and specifically how these "childish" traits can be seen in a very positive charming light, helped me realise that being scared of "coming off wierd", "coming off as toxic positivity" will always be worse than not being positive.... At all.

Ive heard from other people too that this show has helped them through tough times, and allowed them to reconnect with more positive thought patterns. Which is why i think characters like Wander are insanely important for media!!

Too much is too depressing all the time! We can create media (ESPECIALLY ADULT MEDIA) that isnt depressed. Positivity and happiness are not a crime! And im so glad a character like Wander exists to exhibit that!

Where would the world be without…butches….

LIV TYLER as Corey EMPIRE RECORDS (1995)

hey if your response to lesbian visibility week is to add on saying how much you hate "xyz" lesbians then you are a lesbophobe. plain and simple. you hate lesbians who don't meet your ideal criteria for what a "real lesbian" is (ever changing and impossible to meet if you actually care about pleasing strangers). and if you're a non-lesbian you should just not make a post at all if that's how you're gonna act. we're tired of this shit

yes i will call thierry a woman. yes you may also. he is whatever you want him to be

forgot to post but happy tdov I’m a butch lesbian who’s 11 months on testosterone and I’ve never been happier :) here’s me wearing the same hoodie twice cuz I love title fight

ok ive had enough of queering judaism. can we start judaizing queerness now. or something

she should be the next weirdgirl you all post about on here

thinking about butch lesbian cyclops x men again excuse me. but. if cyclops is out about this during the silver age that kind of dominos into at least both bobby and jean during that time yeah.

"seto kaiba is so gay" cant even get obsessed with a man as a result of your own infinite inferiority superiority complex crumbling because of said mans Stable-Home-Raised-Swag completely annihilating your smoke and mirrors ego with the only choices left being "win against him or die trying to go back to how strong you used to be" or "face your own mortality and pain and weakness" on this stupid gay earth. im a lesbian im not attracted to atem. if i die trying to dominate him its ON ME and MY PERSONAL INSANITY and not attraction. some of us wanna dominate not because we are horny but because we are evil hope this helps

if the way u identify as a queer person makes people mad at you/gets you death threats on the internet i love you. you possess so much strength and vitality and i am in awe every day

.

butch lesbian aomine who looks and acts (AND SOUNDSSSSSS) the exact same way. this thought has been plaguing my mind for months

legit just a carbon copy of aomine’s personality and habits but just. butch lesbian

idk. idfk. this is definitely a thing that could turn into a paragraphs long ramble but to (try and) keep it short: she would be the exact same. putting as much emphasis on that as i can here. porn magazines and sleeping all day are still her vice. she is still 6ft+ and the shoulder to hip ratio is still crazy. the ego and arrogance are still her biggest charm points still what puts people off when they try and talk to her.

additionally: every time momoi goes to pull out photo albums, aomine will do everything in her power to absolutely not let that happen. her masc appearance is a treasure - those kiddy pics of her in dresses will never see the light of day as long as she’s around.

some more on her appearance: she thinks bras and sports bras and binders are annoying, so she tapes her chest with KT tape. sometimes she lets her hair grow out bcuz haircuts can be such a hassle and hair salons are just absolutely not her style. her choppy bangs definitely come from doing it herself. sports keep her in shape

for self indulgence: butch4butch aokaga. before kagami moved to japan, aomines closet was stacked full of the most loose-legged pants she could find and hand-me-downs from her dad. when her and kagami get together - and because kagami’s style is much more fitting to aomine’s style compared to what she first had - kagami’s closet slowly empties out into aomine’s closet

I've said it before and I'll say it again even though there's people who can say it much better than me. You're allowed to present however the fuck you want, however masculine or feminine or androgynous you want, different every single day or intensely many things at once or always mostly one way literally look and dress However you want. It's your life. Same goes with hobbies, you can be a man who likes doing makeup, you can be a woman who loves working on cars, you can be a nonbinary person who's hobbies happen to align to the gender norms society expects of men like literally just DO what YOU want. How you present in the ways you dress, ways you act, it's whatever you want. The things you spend your life doing, that you're "allowed" to do or not? Are anything you want, whatever you want. Your gender identity for that matter also does not need to fit into any neat boxes. It can if you feel it's right for you, and perhaps even your presentation you feel best with also aligns into the neat box of the particular society you live in. But society changes, and individuals change. And you are valid and awesome exactly as you are, you're real and the way you want your life to actually be matters, and always is something you deserve regardless of where those rigid boxes end up trying to shove everyone. Most people are not going to fit the Top Ideal boxes their society expects of people, you're not broken for not always fitting it, and you have a right to exist the way you want to. For necessitity, survival, to blend in, and other reasons each person may choose to conform and try to blend in with our particular society's boxes. But when it comes to actual identity, you choose it and it is however you feel. There's no hoops you have to fit through or box to smash into to deserve to be who you already are. And you don't have to follow any rules or hide parts of yourself or lie, in order to simply get to be who you are. You already are, the rest of what you do is whatever you want to do and choose to do for your sake given the circumstances we are stuck living in.

I’ve seen a post going around that discusses the history of the terms “butch”, “femme” and “Dyke” and how they are not lesbian-exclusive, and as a genderqueer lesbian, that makes me extremely happy. Especially the research they provide about the history of gay men who are butches. HOWEVER, the last addition to the post lumps in “Bi lesbians” and “pan lesbians”. While everyone has the right to identify how they want, and at the end of the day I know that labels are very personal, PLEASE understand the history of these terms. 

Words have meaning. Language and labels change with time. Both of these things are true at once. However, a bisexual or a pansexual person is someone with the capacity to feel love/attraction to multiple genders. This is a beautiful and wonderful thing, but far too often bisexuals, pansexuals, and other mspec folks are told to “pick a side.” Told they must be gay or straight. One or the other. And with mspec people facing some of the most marginalization even from within their own community, we should not ever try to uphold that. 

Lesbians are gay. The term “lesbian” has been described as a homosexual woman, women-aligned people attracted to women aligned people, non-men attracted to non-men, however you want to put it. It is a label that excludes men by design, not because of hatred for men, but out of love for each other. It is a good and beautiful thing to be a lesbian. It’s just not the same as being bisexual or pansexual. 

So “mspec lesbian” implies that those are the same thing. That they’re both equivalent and the distinction doesn’t really matter. That the unique and incredible experience of loving multiple genders can be equated to the unique and incredible experience of being a lesbian. There’s also been a lot of times where terfs will tell lesbians “if you’re attracted to a trans woman, you’re just bi”, a negative stigma that this reinforces.

Obviously, lesbianism and bisexuality (and everything under the bisexual umbrella) are incredibly personal identities and it may be impossible to find a label that perfectly encapsulates how you feel. I’m aware some people define bisexual as “loving two or more genders” and so, considering nonbinary and women two or more genders, might use this term. Here I’m specifically refering to people who want to include men in lesbianism. And if you do identify with this term I’m not saying you’re a bad person or you should change your label or anything, there are obviously much bigger problems facing our community. I’m just... I guess be careful throwing around terms in your “history of labels” posts, without actually reflecting on what that means and where it comes from. 

I’m aware I’m probably going to get hate for this post but please all be kind to each other. I’m not trying to attack anyone.

Trans women are women, trans men are men, lesbians are wonderful, mspec people are beautiful, labels are confusing, words mean things, let’s all just respect each other, yeah? 

Today is really one of those days where I'm being reminded of all the things and people I like at my job left and right. There are such good people here, and they like and appreciate me so much, which SUCKS because my department is run like SHIT and I gotta dip for my sanity