Ink! I love your page but please note that Manny Montana is transphobic!!! he shared a story on his instagram about a trans athlete about Fallon Fox and the event happened 2014 but Manny shared it recently to stress gender segregation among athletes! If you search up Manny Montana + transphobic, it should appear but I just wanted to let you know! I was excited to see you write Rio because he is such a powerful character but unfortunately, Manny is trash.
hi angel ! first off, thank you so much for bringing this to my attention. i did a little digging & found this, & this --- absolutely terrible. & to think it's an actor on a show that, in my opinion, handled isaiah stannard's transition so well that they wrote it into his story arc ( rather than recasting the original role ) . . . ugh. i had no idea. please come off anon so i can thank you personally ! this is what i get for not having a look at instas etc, huh. seems like the rio role is pretty cursed : this is just the cherry on top of the compounded issues that basically boil down to writers & actors don't want rio on the show any more. anyway, what does that mean for me moving forward ? well i'm so glad you are / were excited to see me write rio, but now i'm in a bit of a situation ! part of rio's allure, as it were, is the depth manny himself brings to his portrayal. originally written as an absolute stereotype, i think his portrayal surprised everyone ! obviously, therefore, that's hard to, like, separate. so ! i have a few different option, & i would love people to weigh in with their opinions. i'm going hiking today so i won't be able to get to them for a bit, but please blow up my inbox, replies etc with your thoughts. happy to make an anonymous poll if preferred !
• recast with a new face claim. on one hand, this is a blessing as it gives me more options now regarding young rio fcs. rio's ethnicity & age is never stated in the show, as he's the ' mysterious latino gangbanger ' ( ugh ) so there are multiple latinx faceclaims for me to choose from, & i can rewrite his ' background ' ( that he's never been given ) to accurately reflect that. if anyone has suggestions, please let me know ! i'm looking for someone who fits ' the vibe ' --- which i feel is one hard to grasp, unfortunately. basically - recast & make him completely my own, i suppose.
• go iconless. obviously this is the easier choice, but i feel like i would still probably be seeing manny in my head, & there'd be no imagery posts to reblog ( everyone knows i love my img posts :( ). also i rly like icons idk
• leave this blog to collect dust. easiest option & unfortunately one i'm very good at. like i said, manny's portrayal of rio is what makes him special, so i'm already a bit :| on , like , playing him now knowing the actor is transphobic, because he's what drew me to the character in the first place.
• i thought i had a fourth option, but my mind is blanking.
let me know your thoughts, & once again i sincerely thank you for bringing this to my attention. i really would like to thank you privately ! i honestly had absolutely no idea, & i'm so disheartened, disappointed, & frankly disgusted. if the show has a fifth season i don't think i'll be watching. it was on thin ice for me anyway & rio was the only reason i continued. i still love what manny brought to the bare-bones character he was given but , i can't in good conscience use a faceclaim that has shared a post calling a trans woman ' essentially a man '. it mightn't have been his words, but he clearly stood by what they said enough to share it.