Thank you so much!
Yeah, I wasn't really plugged into the scene at the time either, but I *do* remember the vibe of the weaboosphere writ large being such a tangle of really fascinating attitudes on gender and sexuality. Like, the coexistence of 2000s era "no homo" attitudes with the wild popularity of super feminine shows, fascination with crossplay and transfem coded characters, and nonchalant usage of feminine avatars and other forms of expression is super interesting to look back on. There were like, a lot of momentary and/or exploitative opportunities for gendered escapism, but serious discussion of gender stuff was not even on the table. I had a lot of fun trying to get back into that headspace and play around a little.