all of the Moomin anime is up on youtube now and none of you ever told me?

I love how multiple episodes end with the Moomins realizing they'll have to explain something to a confused/angry/expectant mob going "well, fuck this" and sailing off into the ocean until everyone's forgotten about it

the Moomins is a fantasy world where a weird family of accidental anarchists and commies joined together to create an eternally welcoming and self-sufficient community for anyone who needs or simply wants it, without presenting that as a conflict-free uwutopia

despite its deserved reputation for softness and sweetness, Tove Jansson based them off her weird left-wing friends and life as a queer woman in a country where that was illegal, and that is why big conflicts like comets and magic hats are solvable, but the quiet ones last

Moomin is a good and supportive friend, but also is a clingy, immature, needy gay disaster. Snufkin loves Moomin, but also can't bear feeling constrained by Moomin's affection and expectations. Moomin, being empathetic and kind, can't bear knowing he's constraining Snufkin.

Their relationship is one of alternating intense longing and stifling confinement. This can't be resolved aside from Moomin just accepting that Snufkin needs to dick off for months and Snufkin accepting this will hurt Moomin.

there's a great short story from Snufkin's point of view where he's heading back to Moominvalley after his extended leave, but not ready to face Moomin and his affection and expectations, so he's camping and dreading it when this little pathetic shit pops up...

scrambles up to Snufkin and just BARRAGES him. "Oh you're Snufkin! You're on your way to see Moomin I bet! You two are the best, we all love how much you love each other! We all love how free and cool you are. I wish I could be that, but I can't. I suck. I don't even have a name"

and Snufkin's just sitting there, fuming, thinking "I don't give a shit. Leave me the fuck alone. Why does everyone want me to be something FOR them? Why do I have a FANDOM?"

and this pathetic little critter is trying its darndest to communicate what it wants, to have a name and a home and a community like Snufkin and the Moomins, and Snufkin has absolutely no sympathy at all. Its HARSH.

And finally, the creature just sits there, spent, terrified, and silent. Snufkin finally has a chance to think in that silence, and thinks about being alone as a choice versus being alone because its thrust upon you, and thinks about desire from affection vs desire from fantasy

and he goes to the thing "um, do you want a name? I mean, its not much but how about 'Teety-woo'? Because birds go 'teet teet' endlessly and are happy, but then there's some sadness at the end" which is kind of a huge burn by Snufkin standards, even if he's making an effort.

and the thing just goes "HOLY SHIT. I'M TEETY-WOO. I'M REAL NOW." and dashes off to go live its life for the first time. And Snufkin is alone and glad, but it keeps nagging at him how, like, maybe he wasn't at his best, or maybe want to help pathetic creatures that look up to him

so later that same night he goes out looking for Teety-Woo, to try and connect a bit more or figure this out. And he finally finds Teety-Woo who just goes "Oh. Hey. So, um, now that I have a name and I'm an actual person I kind of have, like, friends and family and my own life...

"... so, yeah, I kind of have to go focus on that now, y'know? But hey! Super seeing you again. Really. Let's hang out some time. Let's definitely plan to make time to hang out some time!" and then fucks off forever, leaving Snufkin standing there.

and Snufkin just kind of stands there before finally going "hmmm, yeah, I don't think I'd feel bad if I saw Moomin's longing, expectant face anymore" and heads off to the valley.

and, like, I don't know for sure that Tove Jansson wrote that story to be about being an older or visible queer grappling with expectations and newly out or questioning or just lonely, scared queers projecting onto you...

and the moments between someone who looks up to you and sees you as strong and aspirational and you just thinking "I'm not a fucking object for your story, you don't actually know me, I'm dealing with shit"...

or the paradoxical moments where you're in a state where you feel you really can help or maybe need connection too but there's no longer any time or space for you because, y'know, they're now ready for real friends rather than idols...

But damn if most of us here haven't been both Snufkin and Teety-woo, in both situations, at some point on this site alone, to say nothing of the larger queer world, huh?

there's also the very first episode of the anime which has a sequence where Moomin is cursed by a magic hat and given a body that is entirely alien to him, and none of his friends believe its him and its not played for laughs much, its accompanied by horror movie music stings

a moomin is having a full breakdown while everyone just glares at him, and then his mom enters he begs her to recognize him and call him his actual name. And there's a pause...

And she just says this and holds him, and this simple act of recognizing him for who he says he is, despite what everyone sees, is what gives him back his body, and how many queers haven't ached for that moment to come from their own parent?