#fuck you for reducing us to 'by default perfect and pure relationship'

[katyspersonal]

Tbh I am trying very hard to avoid double standards with how I perceive media, especially if it is about relationship. Like for example... Everyone remembers Alphyne? The ship from Undertale that was soooooo cute... right?

However, imagine if Alphys was a man. In that scenario, I don’t think the ship would fly just as good because... Let’s admit it, Alphys is a very weird person. Clingy, nerdy, desperate. If Aphys was a man, people would say he’d be a creep for thinking about Undyne constantly, naming variables after her, drawing her at the margins of his notes, writing fanfic about him and her in domestic situations... People would switch from endearing to "look at this incel being gross about women".

And like, yeah some gender things are applicable, but... until when? Until when we are going to milk this ‘b-but MEN have PRIVILEGE that women DON’T so women being creepy/weird/dangerous is cute lesbian antics whereas men doing this is perpetuation o-of the cycle!!!’ cow? What IS the better time to start being more egalitarian than right now?

Using this particular example, there are three potential ways:

1) Both, if Alphys was male and if she stays as female character, situations are fucked and should not be presented as the cute ship Toby made it be (kinda cringe, no nuance to life but okay?)

2) Both, if Alphys was male and if she stays as female character, situations are okay and kinda adorable (also kinda meh but less so, keep in mind that Undyne ends up admiring Alphys’ passion + they both end up being happy)

3) Regardless of gender, recognise that this dynamic is strange (if not dangerously close to problematic) - whether they are lesbians, whether Alphys was male, whether they were both gay men, whether Undyne was a male and Alphys was female. But yet it is allowed to exist! Some people are fucking cringe to say it the nicest way. And yet some people find their passion endearing. And most importantly - in the media, anything is allowed to exist if this serves the core message of the media! The best way in my opinion.

Basically, I can’t stretch this enough. The best way to ‘check’ your gay ship is to speculate as if to, if it was hetero. If something changes drastically - there are things to consider in my opinion. I feel like we cannot milk ‘male privilege’ cow FOREVER and at some point, equally weird/scary/manipulative behaviour should be perceived through the same lense regardless of the groups involved.