#like. i love genderweird marik i really do. but u have to remember that to him his kohl and bracelets are 100% masc.

[kujakumai]

There is a near-universal fandom throughline of depicting Marik as gnc, sometimes rising to the level of effeminate stereotype, and obviously there is a reason for this--his character design very much reads to us as gnc. But I think it's very worth thinking about that Marik grew up in a society where he is the norm! Jewelry and eye makeup appear to be universal if not mandatory for tombkeeper men. Those are literally his father's earrings. By the time we meet him, Marik doesn't appear to be rejecting the accepted standards of power and masculinity among tombkeepers (from what little we see, domination over others and control of a strict and ritualized hierarchy), and is in fact meeting them quite handily, in ways that are sort of terrible for everyone.

And obviously I really love genderweird Marik who loves his pastels, but there is a lot worth exploring in Marik and Rishid climbing out of the caves to find a society that reads femininity into what they regard as neutral, and how weird that is, and whose father would probably be way more disappointed with them for removing their earrings than for putting them on.