o.supreme wrote:D-Maximal_Primal wrote:o. supreme, I think you are misinterpretting what the focus is.
This isn't transgenderism.
Nightshade was literally born, and chose to not identify as directly male or female. They have always been a them, they didn't "transition" or anything.
And if anything, an alien species should be most open to that, they have no reason to be binary.
All this is is Nightshade identifying as they, and everyone else respecting that. That is the base and all of it.
What about the human child Nightshade interacts with in a later episode? While I agree that in a fictional world, fictional robots can be whatever they are ; in the real world things are different.
I never personally understood the strong desire to identify with any fictional character. Sure I have my favorites, but I was never looking for any individual in television or movies thanking "Yeah THAT's ME", which apparently is common.
One would have to be pretty oblivious to look at the interaction between Nightshade and blue hair girl and not see the obvious. I mean if you want to say that this show takes place in a fictional world, so people who have an subjective view of themselves, and expect others to do the same is valid because it is fiction, Sure. But unfortunately that's not how children process things.
While I am far from the right person to respond to this, seeing as how I am a cis male individual, I just see that as validation for Nightshade.
Until that point, Nightshade did not have someone else who could share their opinions on their life choices. In many ways, that was Nightshade feeling validation for their choice, and finding a word, in this case "non-binary", that could finally describe them.
In addition, as the Terrans are Transformers born on earth, they are a sort of hybrid of Cybertronian and earth native, hence their scientific name of "Cybertronis Terran". So Nightshade would feel some degree of validation from what could be described as a species "cousin".
Again, i am not the person to truly interpret this, but it was validation for Nightshade, and it helped many people relate to them. Everyone, whether they intend to or not, has that once character that they feel a special connection with because they are so alike. It's a big deal for many people to relate to a fictional character, it helps pull them into a story more, and allows them to feel that fiction recognizes that someone with their personality/quirks/etc. is there and is part of those worlds.
I have friends both online and IRL that feel that way about Nightshade for that reason. Same way I have a couple friends who feel a connection with Jawbreaker for the hints of autism that are written into his character. Bumblebee and Blastwave for the vocally impaired. And there are many other examples. Characters who are well written that have something included into that character, not necessarily someone who is written around a "gimmick".
So for them, Nightshade is a cherished character, and not just because they are well written either. This one is not a gimmick, they are actually a well written character who just so happens to be non-binary. And i am happy for them to have that character, and at least for me, Nightshade is a good character in a good show with a good story line going.
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