In Defense of "🍖"

No, I'm not talking about people who enjoy eating meat.

No, I'm not talking about proshippers...even though this is somewhat about them.

I'm talking about this distinct shape:

The meat with a bone sticking out from both ends. It is a distinct and delicious shape, and I love it so much! I own a few merch of the shape alone, including a small bag that I've gotten a lot of compliments on!

So, I can only hope you can understand why pretty upset at what fandom spaces have done to it recently. Apologies if I sound miffed throughout this journal entry, it's because I am lol.

For those who have read my F.A.Q, I have no interest in proshipping, nor do I go out of my way to say that proshippers should die since that kind of rhetoric sounds a lot like the Christians who go around harassing queer people, but I digress.

I'm really only here to express my annoyance in the fact that the meat icon has been used to represent the proshipping community in recent years. I mean...I guess it was recent enough? Either way, it has apparently become common enough that I've had this younger person accusing me of being a proshipper and "warning" others about me just because I used the icon in my profile biography on Twitter.

I correct them and tell them that I only use it because it's associated with Monster Hunter and Digimon and that I didn't even know about it's implications until that very interaction, and you know what? This doofus doesn't even apologize, and goes on to say, "Uh well I assumed every artist knows about it". Goddamn it, I'm a working adult in her 30s who works a full-time job with a 2-hour commute. Why the hell would you assume that "every artist" knows about it? Sorry I'm not chronically online like you!

I don't use 🍖 because I'm a proshipper or whatever derogatory thing younger people want to call me. I use it because I love the funny shape and the fact that it's associated with not one, but two of my hyperfixations:

Digimon and Monster Hunter!

Meat has been a staple to these franchises with its unique shape having appeared since the beginning!

For Digimon, it has continuously appeared in virtual pets and some video games since the late 90s. In almost every game they've appeared in, the meat is something to feed to your Digimon partners when they get hungry. There is even an entire farm dedicated to growing meat somehow!

And for Monster Hunter, the meat has appeared in every single game since 2004. In the games, the hunter can get raw meat by hunting some smaller monsters. Grilling and then eating the meat improves a hunter's stamina.

Yeah, that's pretty much all I have to say on this manner. I'm just tired of the assumptions people make about another, and the fact that the 🍖 emoji is used as a flipping dogwhistle.

Can proshippers just stick to ⚰️🕊️ (dead dove)? I don't want to see any more people 10+ years younger than me accusing me of being a horrible and bigoted person just because I use some kind of designated emoji that I don't know the meaning of. :\

Those who go around accusing others for being a proshipper, regardless whether they are or not, harassing them, and telling them to die should do some actual good, like donate to a local charity or something. Heck, for every keystroke you waste on sending a death threat, you can use it instead on a mouse click for charity.

Uh, yeah, that's kinda it! I'm going to go back to playing Monster Hunter now. Stay safe!

"Mmm...so tasty!"