1: I don't like it when Kotetsu and Barnaby are only partially genderbent. If one is a girl, the other should be too. It feels like either femmeslash is getting totally gypped, or the yaoi fandom is trying to rationalize the pairing by making one of the men literally 'the woman' otherwise. And that bugs me. I'm totally fine with them both being chicks provided that changes NOTHING about their personalities, lives, etc, except what equipment they're packing. That's frequently not how it works, though.
2:
This is how Barnaby tops from the bottom. Stumbled across this earlier tonight and felt like it pretty well illustrated the way I see Barnaby in a potential relationship. If he were in one, he'd be controlling and paranoid and maybe a little weird, yes. Slow to trust, but then completely trusting. Manipulative. The manipulative aspect of him, that is cold and controlling and takes what he wants, seeing it as a fair trade for his trust, is what makes his character interesting to me. When I don't see these elements in Barnaby in fan portrayals (sometimes, depressingly, my own included) I feel bummed, because it means the Barnaby portrayed feels hollow to me.
3: Maverick sexually abusing Barnaby: not as scary as Maverick mentally abusing Barnaby. I personally don't want there to have been sexual abuse, I think it's more interesting if Maverick had a fatherly love towards Barnaby and felt like Barnaby owed him filial piety back, but I'm also not enraged by the idea of Maverick going around town fucking whoever he wanted. I mean, if he had, I'd be pissed on behalf of his victims, but he had the resources and the exact power you would need to do that if he wanted to. The important thing, though, is that his character, while kind of stupid in practice, was
more interesting than that, just as Jake was more interesting than that. I'm frequently disappointed that fandom has as yet given so little credit to these two characters. I see them as potentially quite interesting mines for ideas.
4:
I just want to link to this but it also showcases the Kotetsu I see as being most...accurate? to the show. A guy who's terrified and lonely, but is not ready to share it. That's why Barnaby's desire to have Kotetsu's trust is such a huge request for the guy. He's the kind of person who stopped trusting when his wife died, because she made him leave her, she didn't call him to her side. That's hard, because even though it'd be devastating to be by her side, at least he wouldn't have to live with the question
was she happy when she died did she need me was she calling for me I didn't get to be there for her I wasn't there. This brings me to the real reason I'm making this post.
5: Recently I've seen some folk talking about Kotetsu's relationship with Tomoe. Some fans like to joke that Tomoe's ghost would be cool with Kotetsu moving on, others take this very seriously and as fact, others still take it very seriously as fact that Kotetsu is Devoted Damn It and there would be problems if Tomoe had any say. My stance is: The only way Kotetsu could betray Tomoe is quitting the HeroTV business without being forced. Her dying wish was that he go fight crime and be a hero. That's what
she wanted. I see their entire relationship being characterized by that. Yes, Kotetsu wanted to be a Hero, too-- but this is a guy who thought he could never have anything normal. Then something normal and perfect was handed to him on a silver platter in the form of Tomoe and Kaede. All he wanted was to be a family man from then on, and have them and cherish them. But when Tomoe died, she gave him the task to stay a hero indefinitely, and while that's an easy burden to accept when you're first given the task, it can become lonely and exhausting when you do it for a long time. I basically think the real struggle of the show was Kotetsu realizing it's okay to let go of that promise to her and live his life for himself. He needs to be allowed to make his own damned decisions, because he's the one who's going to be affected by them. And if that means he wants to see his daughter grow up, or wants to keep being a hero, he needs to figure that out for himself.
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