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CW for images that discuss or showcase rape. Tread cautiously.

First, let’s look at the Glitz and Glam Valentines merch. In this merch, they’re seen groping each other and making a scissoring pose.

The common excuse for this is that they’re just playing into those twincest tropes because that’s their whole brand in the show. But the merch exists outside of the show. This merch was not made in the show to show how the porn company will do any depraved fetish for a quick buck. This merch was made for people in the real world, people who have actual twincest fetishes. You can have merch of them playing into the fact that they’re twins without making it to where they are sexualizing one another like that.  An example of this trope done right are Hikaru and Kaoru from Ouran High School Host Club. These 2 often times play into the twincest trope for money, it’s their whole brand. But the show is very clear in showing us that this is not truly them. We never see them behave this way outside of work. Outside of work, they act like actual brothers. They’re doing it just for money. (And it’s also kind of trauma, but watch OHSHC if you want to see that in depth lol)

I was discussing something with my friend, how fiction does affect reality, since fiction is a direct byproduct of reality, which is why things like incest or age gap ships are inherently wrong. My friend (who is a big Hannibal fan) goes “I get where you’re coming from and I agree, but I’m also a simp for fictional cannibals.” And to that I said you are less likely to meet someone who is a cannibal or done that heinous crime than you are to find someone who’s a victim to incest abuse. It’s similar to how Vox doesn’t receive hate from the fandom for killing lower income workers, because that’s almost cartoonish in how bad it is.

Then there’s Val. The show is constantly fluctuating between him between a genuine, sinister threat and then him being a ridiculously silly evil man that we shouldn’t take seriously. I can almost understand what they’re going for, showing that he’s an absolute loser that we’re meant to point and laugh at, because he is a loser (fuck sexual abusers). However, there’s a huge disconnect. It’s jarring when you switch between the two on a dime. And I think part of the reason they do this is because of his relationship with Vox. Vox is meant to be a silly, goofy villain and so pairing him with the genuine sinister and disgusting version of Val that we all know and hate, it would feel weird. But here’s the thing. NONE of the Vees should feel cartoonish and stupid like this. They’re supposed to be perceived as actual threats, apparently. So, instead, make Vox genuinely sinister and evil too! ACKNOWLEDGE HIS CAMERA IN ANGEL’S DRESSING ROOM! ACKNOWLEDGE HIM MARKETING VAL’S DATE RAPE DRUG! Don’t add these background details if you’re not going to acknowledge that Vox is a predator as well. 

And then there’s Charlie, who has the power and authority to take Val down if she wanted to. But why doesn’t she? Because, in her words, “That would be so meaaaaan.” …I have nothing to say to that. 

And then there’s Angel. He is not deep in the slightest. They tried so hard but failed miserably. He’s supposedly from a mafia background. You would never know because he’s never seen outside of anything sexual. Sex jokes, comments on how he’s sexy, talking about how he’s a sex worker, all that jazz. He has nothing going for him outside of sex. Which is bad when his whole arc is meant to be how he hates being sexualized deep down! I understand that the show is trying to show us that he’s hypersexualizing himself because of his trauma. But this rings hollow when the show refuses to show us literally anything outside of him being sexual! Apparently, he likes to sing and dance. But you wouldn’t know that! (I know he sings, BUT EVERYONE SINGS. IT’S A MUSICAL. Even Vaggie sings when she clearly didn’t like it in the first episode, so Poison doesn’t count). You wouldn’t know anything about his interests because all he’s used for is for sex. It doesn’t help that literally almost all of his merch surrounds him being sexualized in some way, feeding into the idea of him hypersexualizing himself not being taken seriously. 

This is especially bad when you remember that when Viv was marketing the music video for Poison, THIS WOMAN MADE A CUM JOKE! Yknow, the music video all about sexual abuse? Ya, let’s make a stupid sex pun because that’s not tone deaf at all! Fuck you Viv.

And only certain characters get their sexual abuse shined on. But if you’re, say, Blitzo, Sir Pentious, or Husk, your SA experience is completely swept under the rug and ignored. Why? Well, because Blitzo and Husk are more masculine characters than her twinks who get acknowledged for their abuse. And Pentious is a character we’re supposed to be pointing and laughing at. 

And don’t even get me started on Raphielle. This person is a storyboard artist for the show, and the storyboard artist for Poison. AND THIS MOTHERFUCKER HAS A RAPE FETISH! I kid you not! This person has even drawn art of Angel being raped by Vox and Val. I refuse to believe Viv cares about abuse victims when she has someone like this on her pay roll (whom she actively defends, mind you). She even lied, saying that this person is a victim of sexual abuse, to which this person admitted was a LIE. 

Also, how she treats fans who are also victims of SA. Everytime someone comes forward, saying that they didn’t like the depiction of sexual abuse in the show, Viv will dogpile on them (the most famous example of this being Limus). But then if a fan who is a victim of SA praises the depiction, she will put them on a pedestal. This is tokenization at its finest!

And, hey, let’s talk about Viv’s catcalling comic, too!