starship is a trans allegory: a masterpost
this will be long as sh*t and i'll probably condense and clean up my thoughts later but for now
lets get cracking
right off the bat, bug discovers a different way of life complete with language that his world doesn't understand, especially through the internet
as all the bugs talk about their jobs and future, they all talk about what they want to DO, but bug talks about what he wants to BE. they want to do various things but his dream is to be someone else fundamentally
tell me you don't see the parallels between the way farm planet lets you name yourself after things you like and how trans/nonbinary people usually pick new names for themselves
you could parallel being trans with wanting to be a starship ranger pretty easily but then bug literally says "there's no choice involved in what you are given/one mind, one voice, one body to live in"
homeslice literally wants a new body what more do you need
just kidding we're going to keep going
"who are they to say what I am?"
"my name's bug" "like a bUG?" "...no." vehemently denying that your name is a "AGAB" name
also just the general plot line "february has never seen bug's body and thus thinks he's a human" and he doesn't know how to tell her that that's not his "natural state" or however you wanna put it
"oh bug, you're a real man" "...I sure am"
"you sure are a beautiful woman" "incorrect statement" "you don't think you're beautiful? :(" "I am not a woman" nonbinary megagirl rights
"sometimes I don't feel very much like a man..." also nonbinary tootsie noodles rights
this is the biggest reason: to achieve his goal, bug has to physically alter his body. he can't become a starship ranger without transitioning
again, repeating "there's no choice involved in what you are given/one mind, one voice, one body to live in"
and the repetition emphasizes that being a starship ranger = being a human/transitioning because the "you wanna be a starship ranger" motif comes in immediately afterwards
i mean like all of status quo
but also specifically "to always be a starship ranger/it's everything, it's everything i am"
again, the other people view their jobs as just that, jobs. but bug sees it as his core identity
okay so bug becomes a starship ranger and by all accounts he should be totally happy and vibing but no because he feels like he's lying to february since he wasn't always a human
the conflict once again doesn't stem solely from bug wanting to be a ranger, it also stems from his physical transition to get there
and how many trans ppl can relate to the "i know they love me now but they hate trans ppl so if I came out it'd ruin our relationship"? bc replace trans w bug and that's exactly what's happening
like "you're perfect and wonderful how I hoped you'd be/but it's really enough for you to be just a human being/and I know you'll agree that's all we need/to make all our dreams come true"
also, i loVE that they directly parallel commander up who has explicitly undergone changes to his body (not even considering that he's lost parts of his body that are often directly conflated with gender identity) to bug here
"what if someone likes you, a lot, but they only like you because everything they know about you is a lie?" "so this is about me...and how i've been lying to you",,, could it be more explicit
like of all the injuries Up could have gotten, he literally lost the one thing that transphobes and much of cis society says is what makes you a man
and then Up saying that if bug can accept him, february can accept bug aww
+ february "irreconcilably" hating bugs
tootsie changing his last name to megagirl :')
bug's confession that pincer helped him switch bodies and thus he is not a starship ranger bc being a ranger is inextricably bound to physical form in his eyes
+ everyone turning on him just like he feared they would
"i used to think that i was the proof you didn't need the balls to be tough, but now I know...you, you are the proof"
"why did you lie to me bug?" "...when pincer here gave me the chance not just to be with you but to be one of you? I took it. but i didn't think, because being a starship ranger has been the only thing i've wanted more than anything my whole life"
"So i lied"
"I know the truth now, everybody. I'm not a starship ranger. I'm a bug"
"bug, you may be a damn bug, but you are the finest starship ranger I have ever seen" and finally bug can see that no matter what he is he can still be a ranger
and then at the end he gets a modified job that he can still do as a bug
"well I thought I hated bugs, but there's one that makes me feel like I'm more than I ever thought I could be" "it's that bastard pincer isn't it?"
cause this is where starship differs from the little mermaid which it's loosely based on. ariel gets to keep her legs, but bug has to stay a bug. yet february and his friends love him anyway.
eep op ork this show i stg
