#Queer Character Headcanon Stuff

[yaoi-yaoieverywhere]

Cale Henituse (nee Kim Roksoo- god that is so funny to say it like that) and his experience with love is undeniably Queer.

I mean that in an extremely positive way as part of the Queer community. LGBTIA+, if you use that acronym. I'm not going to specifically assign a specific gender, sexuality, or romantic leaning to Cale during this conversation either. As a character in a novel he is made by and of the author and the reader's meshed experiences.

So let's visit the beginning of his story. (Spoilers for the novel, if you haven't read it.)

Kim Roksoo was a (so far unnamed) kid whose body was stolen as a very young child by The White Star and 'infected' with his curse which was maintained by the God of Death. His mother, clearly depicted as loving him, is not enough to save him. His soul then traverses into another universe and is born again. His parents love him there too. They die too.

Kim Roksoo grows up in a world where everything he loves falls away. Something about his being is unexplainably repelling those he thinks of with love in whatever way it can manage. Simple job opportunities as seen with his social workers all the way up to stripping others of joys until they abuse Roksoo as seen with his uncle. If nothing else works, death is their end instead. Similarly, it can be read further that even things he loves are taken from him via a deliberate lack of worldly possessions and later marveling at the taste of food once he transmigrates. This is not just Beacrox being an excellent chef- even a simple fruit he picks has him drooling at the taste. But, we're getting ahead of ourselves. Roksoo has yet to become Cale.

The apocalypse happens. This doesn't appear to be Roksoo's fault, exactly, but it certainly trails all the damage it can after his specific place in it. By the age of twenty, whether he admits it or not, Roksoo is clearly under the impression that this lack of love is his fault. Something about him has made this happen. His love. His thoughts are shaped by this guess, and for some reason, it works. It works until he can't help but feel safer and settled with Lee Soo Hyuk and Choi Jung Soo.

And then the curse sees he has loved again, that he has BEEN loved for so long, and decides they have to die. At this point, GoD has noticed and decided to nip the problem in the bud. Not by removing the curse from a child long abused by it. Not in fixing the system when it would cost him something he doesn't want to spend.

Instead, he offers Choi Jungsoo and Lee Soohyuk a chance to live... If they let Roksoo die. But, of course, they love him. You don't just let death come for someone you love if you have a say. They say no. And they both die for it. Roksoo carries that weight without crying but is unable to ever forget. To forgive himself. Not even as Cale. Not even when he knows they chose it.

Team One is the team that has never had a single death under Kim Roksoo's watch, isn't it?

At this point, you may be asking what in the fresh hell any of this has to do with being Queer. Being Queer is to have society put a crowbar between you and everything you love. Especially those that love you regardless. It can feel like loving yourself is a stigma that follows you your whole life. If left alone, without support? It shapes the very way you think about yourself and others. Love comes at an unbearable cost unless you throw yourself through three different hoops of obscurity and try not to look too hard at it. And fixing that way of thinking takes years and miles and each kind touch you could ever give.

Any reader would at least eventually agree that the way Cale thinks is intentionally contradictory and even deceitful... but to who? He is absolutely certain that Choi Han is the protagonist. There is no one who should be reading his thoughts at any point. He doesn't know yet that there was a curse, especially not that it's gone now. But subconsciously, it protects him.

(He has, in some way, just lost his whole world again. And he is convinced if he can't bury the love deep enough, it's just going to keep happening.)

But this is where the change that makes this far from a doomed gay narrative kicks in. Also, the real beginning of the novel. Roksoo wakes up as Cale. He wakes up healthy, well-off, and beautiful. Loved, as well, not that it is communicated well by any party at that point.

"It's worth a try."

To Cale though this is clearly more than 'worth a try'. This is his new Life. He loves being here. While burying his love under the layers of contradiction in his mind he grabs every opportunity at friends and family with both hands.

His story is a long one full of ups and downs as he tries to heal. Slacking, I believe he calls it, undisturbed peace where he can pretend to coalesce. But his heart only mends when he is surrounded by people who have grown to trust and love this frankly pitiful man who works himself to the bone for peace. And love. And acceptance for all. And pixie dust.

There is so MUCH about Cale that can reflect anyone in the queer community that has nothing or little to do with his misery. The transition from a body that made him viscerally uncomfortable even though many would view it as peak manhood to a body he quickly and gladly labeled as Making Anything Look Good (even himself) and promptly losing all muscle mass to maintain this idea of his ideal presentation to the world? That's body euphoria gang. It's also bucking gender roles.

The ability to categorize so many people as beautiful and lovely and good while not once hitting on or thinking of them sexually or romantically gets him in the aro and the ace community's back pocket. Hell, it can also slip him right into the bi and pan groups too. And of course, many people love the idea of him being in love with Lee Soohyuk and Choi Jungsoo at the same time, happily adding Polyamorous to that list of possible roles. (Especially considering Gender Anarchy Polyamory, which is invested in the idea that you love how you love and live with who makes you happy even if it's never more than a strong platonic bond. Even if you don't ship the three sexually, they were planning to spend the rest of their lives together on a farm. Without anyone else. That's love too.)

He just... His experiences are so lived by the community once you remove the dragons and the demonic army. Especially the way he has held on for so long in a world that just seems to hate his love. Even when clearly the people in it, individually, want him to stay and be loved back. And the fact that one day he finds himself waking up to a world that while still full of hate and vitriol in places, clearly loves him back? Learning how to trust that. Isn't that what we all want?

So yeah, I said at the start of this I wasn't assigning Cale an identity, but you know what? Cale is Queer. Even if you believe or the author believes he is straight and cis and romance inclined, he has lived this experience of love being punished, so he is ours.

[the-great-kraken]

if you see a male character kiss a male character, you assume they are gay.

if you see a female character kiss a female character, you assume they are a lesbian.

if you hear a character say they don't feel like their gender, you assume they are trans.

so why do a-spec characters have to jump through so many loops?

a character saying they've never had a crush or don't want a relationship or that they don't understand romantic love is so often ignored or used as fodder for other queer or autistic headcanons (reinforcing stereotypes that aroace people are secretly gay or always autistic)

why is it that our stories are always "up to interpretation"? why do we have to wait for the words aromantic or asexual to be said to be taken seriously? why is it that even when characters say they don't want relationships, fans will scream and cry about sex/romance favourable aspecs and qprs?

when it comes to gay and trans characters, even the likes of bisexual lighting is often treated as though it canonises their sexuality. for aroace characters, even the most explicit coding possible is swept under the rug in favour of other "interpretations"

i'm so tired of fighting for representation just to have it ignored and minimised by fans. let characters be aroace. please.

[deevotee]

a pet peeve of mine is when ppl/creators say asexual when they mean aroace, i know its expecting a lot of the average person but man i wish people would use the word aromantic more i cant help it

like i totally adore aro, ace, and aroace characters yes more please but i just wish people would use the correct terms cuz then people will ship these asexual characters romantically and people will get mad at them or (ive seen it more rarely but) people will write aromantic characters having sex and people will get mad at them like babes they are two different things! a person can be both absolutely but i, as an arospec person who is not asexual in any way and feel stupid amounts of sexual attraction, am here to tell you that you need to differentiate sometimes like ill give you a handy guide

arospec/aromantic = not feeling/rarely feeling romantic attraction

acespec/asexual = not feeling/rarely feeling sexual attraction

aroace = both

there are combinations and complexities and each real person is going to describe themselves differently, but stop acting as if people with romantic headcanons for ace characters or sexual headcanons for aro characters are bad people because theyre not

[gobstoppr]

hey guys am i allowed to say on main that i dont like metadad . am i gonna get beaten up for saying this.

guys i think we all took the term found family too literally and now everythings flattened into a boring nuclear family. guys can we stop. hello . is anybody there

[mackmp3]

my visceral reaction to the doctor doctorwho kissing a guy after spending most of the epiosde flirting with him is suggesting to me that i possibly need more queer media in my life rather than just. thinking it in my head.

[mauv-the-bluest-cat-ever]

quick summary of my headcanons for zed

[allmyandroids]

needed to gif this scene because how Lee Woods jumped onto that guy with the best smirk ever was so hot, he should do it more often tbh

[hesquietoday]

If that byclair canon anon is talking about that one line from lucas on the line when they say he was hinted at to be bi I'm going to lose it

[infestedguest]

Am I the only person who’s uncomfortable calling a group consisting of one canon lesbian and three characters who are at no point indicated to be remotely queer in the actual show “the fruity four”?

[rainbow--skies]

Fandom culture on other sites is mindboggling to me because I just saw an Insta post complaining about people’s redesigns and reimaginings of characters, and it was already an annoying ass post that people were making more annoying, but the craziest part to me is people in the comments were genuinely trying to call queer headcanons that get added on sometimes fetishization 😭

[the-everqueen]

wailing over how ppl in fandoms will bend over backwards to erase characters of color, esp. if they're women. yeah let's just make this bipoc woman a hype person for your white mlm ship. no you see it's progressive because she actually never experiences romantic or sexual attraction. oh no we can't let her be in an interracial relationship, that would be unfair to her. yeah she's a lesbian now. yas queen. werk.

[tea-earl-grey]

also the more times in fandom i see people dismissing the validity and importance of aspec characters and headcanons or reducing fandom/fanfic to shipping, the more characters i hit with my aspec laser beam and the more ships i turn into qprs.

[pidgeonishome]

Missy (the oc from my previous post about a script I’m trying to write) is autistic and nonbinary and REALLY codependent on their best friend Flora-Maya.

They grew up together being the first people to show each other genuine kindness and sort of contrasting each other’s lives (Flora-Maya spent a long time in a home that was very critical of everything she did and Artemis was raised in a very tough love, academic-focused and touch-ambivalent family) so I think Artemis views Flora-Maya as sort of the only person on their team as well as someone more important than everyone else/more deserving of love.

Artemis is isolated from everyone else and I think isn’t used to being around people who haven’t grown up with her. She’s very weird and bad with words, so she’ll often say things that don’t make sense (using incomplete sentences, abandoning context and using acronyms they completely made up).

They also are very unaffected by any judgement/mockery/bullying they may face at school due to the all the criticism she receives at home, so I don’t think that Missy ever abandoned the weird habits that a lot of kids drop after some teasing. They move weirdly, sometimes dancing for no reason, randomly stretching/wiggling their arms and legs and pull random faces just like in the middle of conversations.

They’re not used to boundaries (because they have none with Flora-Maya or their younger brother once he comes along later on) and often will just touch if they want to touch or take is she wants to take, without really thinking about it or asking for permission or providing any warning.

(It improves as they get to know other after running away, though, so it doesn’t become a really big concern)

Hahaha if I can be weird then so will every oc and fanon character I can get my hands on. Missy is a weirdo, Flora-Maya is a weirdo, Deidre is a weirdo, Tonya is weirdo- just try and stop me

[ulabewriting]

Karter Foreman-McGuire.

he/him.

TW : mention of smoking, bad relationship with parents and coming-out(going good tho)

– Nigerian, adopted in Benin City.

– Capricorn.

– Transgender / AFAB.

– Tattoo artist.

• part of the “don’t give a fuck about being rich” duo. (skyh’s bestie<3)

• rejects every single one of his parent’s “beliefs” and morals.

• will never forgive them for the poor treatment of Liz. (clearly the sibling he’s closest to, jokingly calls her his “favorite”.)

• chillest person you’ve ever met.

• until the topic is his parents. he gets very tense.

• somehow knows everything about everyone. (that means he’s the best to gossip with ;] )

• is insanely scared of love and getting into a relationship. (he freaked out soooo bad when he realized his feelings for you–)

• loves people very deeply though. There are no words to describe the intensity of his feelings for his siblings, friends and you.

• a skater guy. (the cliché one listening to some mean linkin park, yeah, yeah, yeah.)

• loves drawing and painting. he regularly adds little drawings on his skateboard.

• one of the most creative people you’ll ever meet.

• becoming a tattoo artist has always been his dream.

• would go into mind break if you ask him to tattoo you. He’d be so touched and flattered you’d trust him with something such, he could cry.

• doesn’t have any tattoos himself though.

• wears long sleeves all the time, no matter the season and temperature.

• « You ever think about, like, how… . . damn, I forgot what I was saying. . . .Anyway, you hungry ? »

• LOVES to have movie night dates with you. both of you, cuddles, coraline playing in the back. perfection.

• random guy with a random sense of humour. definitely the type to find elaborated jokes unfunny but will be cry-laughing because of a goofy horn noise.

• is into urbex. loves to find and explore the most rannndom, weirrrrd places. it kind of freaks you out sometimes but it makes him happy so oh well. :)

• « I swear ! I found the coolest place; apparently it’s an ancient hospital where patients used to summon evil spirits. We haaaave to go tonight ! Imagine if we hear like… weird laughs and little voices and shit. That’s so sick??? »

• absolutely hates alcohol. grape juice though ? he needs it to function.

• he's the jealous type. (but won't everrrr admit it; he'll pout and whine if you mention it.)

• writes lyrics of his favorite songs on the sole of his shoes.

• Oliver and him, as the « only bros of the pack », love to roleplay as exaggerated dudebros/toxic masculinity fucks from time to time and they always get cut short by Dominic and Liz’ disapproving glares, which only causes them to giggle stupidly and exchange knowing glances. dudebros in their own bubble i guess–

• draws little hearts and stars on your skin. (would definitely color your tattoos if you have some!)

• the funny introvert of the group.

• laughs very easily. he looks scary until he flashes you the whitest, largest, most genuine smile eveR.

• kind of has fangs. cute little fangs. (and he bites to show his love, so yeah, prepare yourself–)

• obsessed with belts. He has a whole collection and it’s quite impressive–

• his love languages ? quality time and acts of service.

• plays guitar.

• calls you ‘precious’.

• it was his dream to join a band when he was in high school.

• sings you sweet lullabies when you can’t sleep – he has a beautiful, soothing voice, so it never takes you long to fall asleep.

• he was scared to death about coming out. Naturally, the first person he confided in was Liz, when he was 17. She had the sweetest, most supportive reaction and it really encouraged him to fully step out of the closet. By the time he was 20, he was out to the whole family, including his parents.

• has a special spot in his heart for Oliver. After all, he’s always been his ‘masculine role model’. (cause it sure as hell wasn’t his father lmao)

• remembers everything about you. even the smallest, ‘stupidest’ details.

• jokes about hating men all the time, and blames everything on them. The dishwasher not working ? Yeah, probably some man's fault. One of Celestia's designer bags missing ? Random dog barking in the streets ? Global warming ? MEN.

• very supportive. He’s the fondest about anything you do; he's always hyping up Mickayla’s brand and still wears her first pieces, he always showed up to Skyh’s plays even though he hates theater…No matter how uninterested he may seem; he deeply cares about what is going on around him and his loved ones.

• only wears silver jewelry, and you won’t ever catch him running around in the streets without a choker on.

• loves matching with you. phone cases, necklaces, bracelets, nail art – anything. anything as long as it's you.

• likes pda. Holding hands, hugging you, squeezing your waist, locking an arm around your shoulders… there’s no way you two go out and his hands are not everywhere on you.

• never smokes when you’re around. (unless you smoke as well, in that case; he will insist to light up your cigarette, it always brings a little smile to his lips when he does it.)

• wears strawberry chapstick 24/7. He can’t live without it.

• draws you all the time. He has lots of random sketches on the corner of his notebooks’ pages and big ass paintings of you hidden under his bed – he’s scared you’d find him too obsessive and creepy if you found out how many of those he has.

• a sucker for cartoons. If you wait for him on his bed, ready to cuddle, an episode of teen titans on the tiny TV in his room, he’ll wrap himself around you like a blanket and never let go–

• reserved, but very vocal about his dislikes. Like if someone says something he has a problem with, he’ll say it. He won’t be rude about it, but he’ll definitely make it crystal clear.

• one of his dreams is to have a matching tattoo with all his siblings. Something discreet and meaningful; a symbol for the unique, disconcerting experience that being a Foreman-McGuire is.

• « You look like a whole ass museum all by yourself, precious. I could look at you forever… and as a matter of fact, I will. »

[bonker-bananas]

i mean. i’m just saying. that sure does look like the ace colors on sabine’s new armor.

[quercus-queer]

I’ll be like: choosing to interpret the disabled (canon or coded), reserved, unemotional character as ace or aro or aroace when presented with a queer ship involving them stems from the discomfort you have towards disabled people and infantilizing them. It also shows your negative perception of ace or aro or aroace people. It is a predictable stereotype that is so consistent it is more boring than annoying but no less harmful. People can be ace/aro/aroace and still have relationships romantic, sexual, or queerplatonic. These people are queer. Disabled people can be in intimate relationships, their experiences in society is queer in a greater political context.

Deciding this strange character is ace/aro/aroace as a reason as to why they cannot be in a queer relationship shows that the person does not care about representation of their identity, instead they care about not seeing queer relationships. More than that, they choose this route because they do not want to have a discussion on the queerness of that character because they see queerness only in the context of relationships and/or hypersexual people. Ace/aro/aroace people cannot be in relationships therefore we do not have to look at a queer character being queer (ie: intimate with others because that is the only thing that makes a gay person gay) therefore I am not uncomfortable.

Deciding this strange character is ace/aro/aroace as a reason as to why they cannot be in a relationship shows that the person does not care about representation of their identity, instead they care about not seeing disabled people in relationships. More than that, they choose this route because they do not want to have a discussion on the experiences of that character because they see disabilities only in the context of pity. Disabled people cannot/should not be in relationships (wrong) therefore we do not have to look at a disabled character having experiences that do not fit with my perception of that disability, therefore I am not uncomfortable.

And people will be like… you hate ace and aro people no doubt and that stereotype is better than no rep at all… This is not just about my previous post, hence me not tagging it. It is about the reoccurring stereotype and underlying sentiments of it across fandoms/media.