my comic for In This Life Or The Next, an Iwaoi reincarnation zine! This team was an absolute delight to work with and I couldn’t be prouder of everyone’s work
It’s not too late to preorder! Leftover sales are open for one more week (June 14) 🫶✨
What annoys me in Haikyuu fanfiction written by cishet girls:
Yes, I really enjoy fanfics and a lot of cishet women write amazing things but I've been noticing something for a long time that really annoys me and that's how often fanfic writers completely change the "bottom" into degrading stereotypes. This is even more annoying when you keep in mind that:
-Hinata always fought to grow as a player and stand as an equal to Kageyama while never letting him treat him as worthless or inferior. So no, he's not going to let himself be overpowered or intimidated by Kageyama.
-Suga is a completely chaotic and outgoing type but also a very observant and emotionally mature guy who is always the first one to notice something about his teamates, not a blushing teen, thank you very much.
-Nishinoya is a ball of energy and an absolute fighter who's without a doubt one of the most determinated characted in the show and he was always the first to speak out to Asahi when it was needed.
-Yamaguchi's entire arc is about becoming more confident and letting go of his insecurities. Also let's not forget that he literally yelled at Tsukishima to get his shit together so no, he's not a shy boy who can be walked over by Tsukki.
-Oikawa is one of the most talented player of this show and a fucking tease who always opens his mouth and annoy the shit out of everyone. He is also a literal monster on the court who can crush your hopes and dreams with a single service.
-Kenma is a teenage boy with literal social anxiety who happens to be a brilliant strategist, sarcastic as fuck, brutally honest and even a little mean when he is confident enough. So reducing him to a UWU sOft SHy BaBy ~~ is probably the thing that angers me the most, especially when we have a lot of moments where it's explicitely shown that he has a very strong personality underneath his deep social anxiety. (Yes, I'm a sucker for Dom!Kenma or any fanfic that portrays him as a little sadistic fuck).
-Akaashi is also very sarcastic despite his pokerface and he's always the one who deals with Bokuto's mood swings so I can't help but roll my eyes when he's portrayed as completely submissive to Bokuto who often embodies the big strong alpha male stereotype (that doesn't fit him at all but that's another problem about Haikyuu "tops".)
Now, with all these characters who are strong and complex, all in their own way, WHY do so many fanfics protray them as shy UWU boys? Yes, they are mainly associated with bottoming but that doesn't mean they have to fit the stereotype of the inexperimented baby who blushes and stutters all the time! It's just degrading to represent queer relationships like that, where one is always feminised and the other changed to be a "big and strong and very dominant masculine top"
I love the fanfics where they bottom but aren't completely passive, where they have real or funny interactions with their partner, where they let their personnalities shine. I want more of these stories where they are described as real, relatable characters with more nuanced sexualities where bottoming isn't necessarily equal to submitting; and where submitting in bed doesn't imply being a defensless shy boy. Basically good written fics that portrays healthy and nuanced queer relationships.